
With the New Year fast approaches, here's the last in my series of Artists Albums of the Year for 2011. To finish off the year we have some pretty fine choices from the likes of Aerials Up, Inspector Tapehead, Miaoux Miaoux, Woodenbox, The Seventeenth Century, Edinburgh School for the Deaf, Ghost Pants and Sojourner. Villagers by Becoming a Jackel chosen by Debbie Kate ( Aerials Up ) On a bored [...]

Frightened Rabbit Just when I thought I had this weeks Freebies post all finished up cropped two free tunes from two of my favourite bands. First off we have the Frabbit boys with their new Christmas tune, Cheap Gold which you can download for nowt from their Soundcloud page. The band have also just announced that they'll be playing at the HMV Picture House in Edinburgh on the 10th of February. Tickets for the gig are on sale now . The Twilight Sad The other surprise freebie came from [...]

First things first, I must inevitably apologise for the horrendous lateness of this podcast. Between my mum visiting, the gig on Sunday and the Samantha Crain Toad Session we recorded on Monday there just hasn't been enough time to catch up. It's that end of year time, too, when lists are being made, accounts submitted, the last releases of the year tended to and plans for next year being finalised, so just when I thought that I could coast into Christmas, it turns out I actually have just as much work now as at any other time of [...]

Track Listing 1. First Day Of Your Life/Fighting For Breath 2. Easy Life Download

Festival Season makes us a little bit insatiable here at Muso's Guide. We've already had Natalie Shaw's review of the festival, but we were so excited about T in the Park, we sent two writers. Here's Steve McGillivray's perspective on the festivities... [...]
This week's live events will all have to get along happily without the encouragement of my excellent self, as my only live music experiences this week will be taking place in Anstruther, Fife, at the Fence Collective's fucking marvelous Homegame Festival. It actually looks a bit thin in my absence, I have to confess, but there are a couple of early gigs next week worth bearing in mind, because I might not get the chance to write this post in anything like a timely fashion on Monday, depending on how we do getting back from Homegame. [...]

Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers. It's a name you're not going to forget in a hurry isn't it? And they are a band that you will not forget in a hurry either, of that I promise. Starting off as a solo project simply called Woodenbox, Ali Downer has built around him a fine set of musicians who call themselves A Fistful of Fivers. However, there is definitely more of a band vibe to this lot than a solo artist with associated backing band. Anyways, I remember seeing them a while back at one of the excellent Rubix nights (R.I.P) at the [...]
Well the mammoth video nightmare of the last week is nearly over. This week I will be working in the Meursault tour diary from when they went away to the North of England for a few days in our big green van. They recorded some excellent sessions while they were touring, including three songs in the back of the van from some campsite in, erm, Lancashire somewhere I think, and also a few songs at a bandstand in Newcastle. The tour diary itself might just be mental, and but for some judicial editing could easily become the most offensive musical [...]
Of course there is one and only one gig worth attending in Edinburgh this week: the Song, by Toad Records Launch Party! It is the official line of this publication that no other gigs are even happening, never mind worth turning up to. Some arse has managed to sneak in some rogue listings [...]