For this podcast I am joined by Ian, who is now a member of the Song, by Toad Records team, to go through a bit of a run-down of what's going to be happening on the label this year. We've got a couple of our more recent releases, like Rob St. John and Lil Daggers, as well as some of our confirmed and ready new albums for next year, by the likes of The Leg, Jesus H. Foxx and Yusuf Azak. I've also got a couple of tracks from bands we'll be releasing on a split [...]
Sparkcast? Spark? YES, any kind of fucking spark whatsoever will do the trick. I remember getting in trouble at my former day job a couple of years ago for writing something rather negative about that awful sensation of being back at your desk after the excesses and indolence of Christmas. I am not feeling negative about it now, which is good given I am self-employed, but I am certainly struggling to spark my brain back into something resembling life at the moment. So yes, I have two new releases to get moving, by Jesus H. Foxx [...]
Johnny Lynch very kindly suggested that I put together the bill for an all day hangover-buster/refueller the day after the Fence Collective's Hott Loggz! Festival (see, Hott Toadzz - get it? get it?). So, I have compiled a collection of the very finest Song, by Toad Records bands, as well as a couple of Toad Pals, and Johnny has arranged for us to use the Hew Scott hall from 2pm to 10pm, to allow those who have to be at work on the Monday to get back to their various homes. There will be a bar [...]
Chad VanGaalen, by Kenny McMurtrie August 19, 2011 Forsaking the Canadian backwoods for a road trip in support of the recently released Diaper Island album, proceedings tonight kick off with the final track from it - 'Shave My Pussy' - delivered solo with ukelele by Chad VanGaalen who, it turns out, is a veritable man mountain at something close to six foot six. Seemingly as much of a recluse as his biogs like to make out, things look set to carry on in a [...]
Yoo hoo internets, I'm ba-aack! With a friend visiting, and in no mood to waste his holiday watching me fanny about on the computer, I ended up taking an unplanned day off yesterday. We even did one of those tourist things which it is so easy to ignore when you actually live in a city: we climbed Arthur's Seat . And it was bloody amazing! So what, after a weekend of endurance drinking, does this week hold in store? Well, the general idea was 'as much sleep as I can manage', but it looks like this might [...]
Most live scenes tend to peter out a little from late June/early July onwards as the Festival season starts to cannibalise what remains of the audience after the students have gone home, and people tend to take what little chance they get to be outside in the sun, if it ever appears, rather than in a sweaty basement listening to pale young men complaining about their feelings. The Edinburgh live scene, on the other hand, tends not to be as dependent on students, not to have to fear too much from oft promised but never delivered good weather, [...]
Another week, another bank holiday in which we self-employed folks don't get to indulge. Working for yourself is great, but watching everyone else get days off when all you can do is stare at the steady trickle into your inbox and the pile of promotional copies of releases waiting to be posted, can be a little demoralising. And it's sunny, too. Fuckers. Anyhow, The Brainlove Festival was bloody good fun, only slightly ruined by an awful football match. My personal highlight was an absolutely awesome set by Mat Riviere. He was playing with a cellist whose name I [...]
Excellent news, the very generous folk at Edinburgh indie Song, By Toad have uploaded a label sampler for your aural pleasure. You can have a listen to the sampler via their bandcamp or alternatively take a listen via the embedded player below. Some crackers on here. My favourite is either Alaska by King Post Kitsch or Elegy for the Good by Jesus H Foxx , though there are other belters here too. <p>&amp;lt;p&a mp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt; a href=" http://songbytoadrecords.bandc amp.com/album/song-by-toad-rec ords-sampler-2011"&amp ;amp;amp;gt;Song, by Toad Records Sampler 2011 by Song, by Toad Records&amp;amp;amp;lt ;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;&am p;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;gt ;</p> [...]
Apparently no-one visits websites anymore, because it's all about the social media and so on and so forth, so I suppose most of you have already seen this. In case you haven't, however, I have uploaded a free Song, by Toad Records sampler to Bandcamp, with songs from some of our more recent releases, as well as a healthy dose of new material from the releases we have planned for the rest of the year. Our release schedule is slowly filling up, as well. Before a brief break for the Edinburgh Festival we have four-song 73 [...]
This is my annual World of Song, by Toad Records podcast, where I prattle on a bit about the stuff we have coming up in the new year. I play a couple of things we released towards the tail end of the year, and some stuff by some of the new bands we're going to be working with for the first time in 2011. I also prattle on at immensely tedious length about the ins and outs of running a record label, which may or may not actually interest you at all, but it's there whether you like [...]
This week there will be fuck all happening in Edinburgh, or at least there better be, because I will be participating in none of it. Apparently there's some pagan bollocks going on at the end of the week related to a fat man and some reindeer, but I wouldn't bother paying that too much attention if I were you. Actually, there is the Christmas Songwriters' Club down in Leith on Thursday which looks rather excellent. I have been trying to buy tickets, but am finding WeGotTickets to be an unspeakable shitfest of password requirements and expired [...]
So, a day late with this, sorry. I blame a combination of Virgin Media and vast amounts of drinking. I woke up yesterday, still slightly hungover, and found that Virgin have managed to break our internet. Here I am today a day and a half later and it is still fucking broken. They offered us a fiver refund without me even asking for it, so I assume they must have fucked up something pretty significant, but I felt too shitey to venture out to find an internet cafe to write this, sorry. All of this meant that I [...]
So, a day late with this, sorry. I blame a combination of Virgin Media and vast amounts of drinking. I woke up yesterday, still slightly hungover, and found that Virgin have managed to break our internet. Here I am today a day and a half later and it is still fucking broken. They offered us a fiver refund without me even asking for it, so I assume they must have fucked up something pretty significant, but I felt too shitey to venture out to find an internet cafe to write this, sorry. All of this meant that I [...]
Well well well, this should be fun. And messy. And fun. But probably mostly messy, I should imagine. I've booked out both floors of the Queen Charlotte Rooms down in Leith, so we are going to have two stages. The downstairs room will be with a full PA, with Jesus H. Foxx, Inspector Tapehead and Meursault playing. And the upstairs room will be a bit more acoustic, with Yusuf Azak, Rob St. John and The Savings and Loan. It won't be entirely acoustic, but the room itself has no sound-proofing so we'll have to keep things relatively quiet [...]
After a weekend of alcoholic liver-punching with the awful cunts from Gerry Loves Records I find myself back in Edinburgh with Mrs. Toad off in Australia and nothing between me and an entire week spent on the internet in my pants with a jar of pickled onions and a jumbo packet of pork scratchings. In fact, that sounds like a pretty good plan, all told. Balls to dignity, self-respect and hygiene. Wednesday 10th November 2010: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone & My Tiny Robots at Sneaky Pete's . [...]
Before we get onto the tedious ritual of me listing good gigs every week and you ungrateful fuckers not going to any of them, I felt the need to share something quite special with you. I spent my entire weekend going through lists of blogs who might be interested in the music we release and building mailing lists of people who have bought things from the label in the past and so on and so forth, so it's not been the most exciting weekend of our lives, I have to confess. Consequently, by bedtime last night, having spent [...]
Ohhh what jolly fun it's been this week. Now I know why bands find it so hard to find booking agents: because it's a shit job and no-one in their right mind would want to do it. Then, just as I was hating promoters for all I was worth, I started into the organisation for all my own gigs that I had to book and suddenly developed a new-found sympathy for them too. So WHO IS TO BLAME FOR MY SHIT WEEK, THEN? I can't think of anyone, it's most frustrating. Anyhow, I think I am [...]
So, whilst the first half of 2010 was relatively quiet on the live music front, August was absolute mayhem. And as the dust settles on another festival period, and we try to assess the physical and financial damage in a calm and orderly fashion, it doesn't look like things are slowing down on the gig radar. Which I'm rather pleased about. Monday 6 th September 2010: Miaoux Miaoux and Wounded Knee at Electric Circus . Bart's House . Sneaky [...]
This is one of those weeks where I think that I really haven't got much on, but then I look at every single evening and they all look jammed full of jobs to do. Gripe whinge piss moan etc etc etc... Anyhow, as well as various other little crappy jobs, I have to collect our two Pioneer amps from the amp repair shop, which is good news. We keep on burning these fuckers out by playing things far too loud, and so we've been without music in our house for the last week, apart from a shitey pair [...]
This is one of those weeks where I think that I really haven't got much on, but then I look at every single evening and they all look jammed full of jobs to do. Gripe whinge piss moan etc etc etc... Anyhow, as well as various other little crappy jobs, I have to collect our two Pioneer amps from the amp repair shop, which is good news. We keep on burning these fuckers out by playing things far too loud, and so we've been without music in our house for the last week, apart from a shitey pair [...]
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