The Son(s) It's been a few months since I last mentioned anything about The Son(s), that's not to say that they've not been busy. They're currently working on a new EP which is due out later in the year (from the demo's that I've heard it sounds very promising). They've just released their new single ' Slow & Easy ', which is made up of three songs, two of which are new and the other being Dogs, Boys & Men, which now has a cracking wee video to go with it. It's an animated wee number [...]
Steven Milne I know I am about to lose a lot of credibility in a lot of eyes, by saying this, but I don't really care for Bob Dylan. There I have said it, I know that we're all supposed to bow down to his suppose genius, however, I really couldn't give less of a fuck about him or his music. So in the week when the world celebrated his 70th birthday, I shrugged my shoulders and moved on. God, that was a terrible introduction to this freebie, I'll stop rambling and get to the point. Singer song-writer [...]
This is one of those weeks where there could be two of you and you'd still probably not quite manage to get to all the decent gigs in the city this week. Personally I am going to try and keep it a bit calm, but I have my doubts as to whether or not I am likely to succeed. Mrs. Toad, no doubt, will be wildly impressed. I had fun down in London last week, incidentally. As I mentioned, I did a quick interview with Tom Robinson for BBC 6Music while I was there and, in typical fashion, [...]
The Last Battle It's been quite a year for the Edinburgh folk act. Having garnered a bit of a buzz about them at the start of the year, they went on to sign to Scottish blogger 17 Seconds label and released one of the most critically acclaimed albums to have come out of this wee nation in 2010. To round the year off the band are setting off an a tour of the country (weather permitting/sadly they couldn't make it through to Glasgow). To celebrate their adventures the band have very kindly posted up their new single [...]
It's a busy week this week, and actually I am quite happy with this fact. Sometimes busy weeks of gigs feel like a forest of looming obligations, but I don't think there's anything I feel any real guilty pressure to attend this time around, so this week may for once be assigned to fun and fun alone. Having delivered a shitty Summer, Edinburgh is doing its usual trick of starting Autumn brilliantly. It is cold now, but the sun has been dazzling, leaving me wondering why I didn't spend more time in the garden this Summer. The answer, [...]
Firstly, the flurry of posts yesterday, from my rather tardy podcast to radio show post, meant that my brother's Sunday Supplement - a rant about classical music - was buried rather too fast, so please do go back and check it out if you have a little time to waste this afternoon. Secondly, the Edge Festival goes bloody nuts this week, and if I listed all the gigs then I'd be here all day, and there really is no need for that, so you can have it in paragraph form instead: on Monday 23rd we have Field [...]
Well, apart from the usual gigs, we have a couple of ongoing Festival specials this week to add to the general level of giddy excitement. Firstly, the Acoustic Cafe is running all week downstairs at the Roxy Art House featuring this week, amongst others, The Pictish Trail and Wounded Knee. Secondly, Lach's Antihoot is an ongoing, late night, at the Gilded Balloon, and is an open mic night in which Lach brings his legendary New York institution, and initial nurturing ground of so many artists we love, to Edinburgh for the duration [...]
Monday - I posted a wee recording of an Eagleowl session recorded for the ever wonderful Sub City, plus there was the double bonus of Swimmer One doing a bit of Fresh Meat Tuesday - Teenage Fanclub 's session for Vic G Wednesday - Our eighteenth entry into the Scots Way-Hay club was synthpop wonder kid Tokyo Knife Attack , if you missed it make sure you check this as it's a corker Thursday - A live recording of Errors [...]
Okay, there aren't any titans, but there are plenty of clashes in this week's gig calendar. Look at Saturday for instance - The Fall, The Leg or Bear in Heaven? - it depends on the precise length and angle of your fringe I suppose. Well, that and the cut of your jeans. And Wednesday, what do I do? Go and butter up Yusuf Azak and try and get him to join the label, or go and butter up the Foxxes and try and make sure they stay? That's the music industry for you: so many arses to kiss [...]
Monday - Ross Drummond aka Electro-pop outfit 'Lies' were my Fresh Meat Tuesday - Vic Galloway's return from the other side pond meant that I could get back onto recording some sessions. It was North Atlantic Oscillation , again (?!), thankfully this time round the session went well. The less said about the first two songs from the Radio One session, the better. Wednesday - The Hubmeister General (RM Hubbert) became the 11th 'member' of the Scots Way-Hay club, giving one of the [...]
Well the Trampoline show for this Friday, with Ziggy Campbell and Yusuf Azak has been cancelled, which is a bit of a tragedy for my music fun, but at least spares me some of the Olympic amounts of typing this post is going to require all through bloody August. Fucking hell, it's like a mini novel. Fortunately I don't think much was actually on yesterday, when the sort of hangover generated only by consuming an entire bottle of gin prevented me from doing anything productive at all. So this post is being written now and dated two days [...]
There's a lot to talk about when describing this gig, so I will have to keep it brief as possible per band or I will end up writing a bloody novel. It was a fucking good night though, that's for sure, and has been very nicely documented indeed by Dylan over at Blueback Hotrod , for those of you who are photographically inclined. White Heath These guys are, to my view, approaching something of a watershed. They could be on the verge of becoming a very, very good band indeed, but [...]
Having just got back from a weekend spent in the sunshine at the Wickerman Festival , I will be spending all of Monday at a client meeting, and not returning to Edinburgh until Tuesday, so there would appear to be precious little in terms of rest for the wicked this week. And that means that you're going to be somewhat on your own with this post today, as I will be sitting in an eight hour meeting with a full bladder of rotten instant coffee. Bart very kindly rote a fantastic summary of the musical August we [...]
So August is almost upon us. Traditionally - or at least for as long as I've been living here - most bands and promoters in Edinburgh tend to just take the month off and make way for the festival. It's a bit of a monolith. Every available venue (and most non-venue) space is booked up months in advance, and with so much happening every single day in August, it becomes rather difficult for smaller operations putting on shows. Of course there are exceptions – a lot of the bigger clubs just keep on trucking, and nights like Acoustic Edinburgh embrace [...]
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 [...]
Well, after a bit of a lull last week there's all sorts of crap going on in and around Edinburgh this week, so choose wisely because trying to attend everything could just be the end of you. As well as the usual recommendations there are a couple of half-recommendations this week; gigs I feel I should want to go to, but am actually not that fussed about. Crystal Antlers (I mean, come on, they have Crystal in their name, they have to be good, almost as guaranteed as having Fuck in your name last year, or Bear the [...]
My liver is grateful for the small mercy which is the relatively empty Edinburgh gig calendar this week. Last week was rough. The Song, by Toad party was a heavy one, and then Broken Records the next day was just total carnage, so an easy week of video editing and IKEA furniture assembly will be most welcome. Meursault are embarking on a mini tour of the North of England this weekend as well. I started trying to book them a tour myself, and soon realised that it would need far more time and experience than I myself actually [...]
Avalanche Records in Edinburgh sent me an email yesterday saying that they had nearly sold of their stock of Meursault albums, which was splendid news. Apparently it was the biggest seller in the shop, apart from Animal Collective, which is rather nice. Well there's really nothing going on this week at all as far as I can tell. Cabaret Voltaire is doing its week of Duty Free gigs , with the notable participants being Y'All is Fantasy Island tomorrow (Tuesday 20th), Jesus H. Foxx on Thursday and Dead Boy Robotics playing [...]
You can't fucking move in Edinburgh this week but for accidentally walking in on a quality gig. Honestly, you could end up with a liver like a cricket ball if you went to all of the bastards, so there may be a few orange juice gigs (yes, I know, boom-tish and all that) for me this week, or I'll have to spend all of December sobering up. Given what Christmas is generally like anyway, I suspect that's what January is likely to be for but, as with Christmas itself, it seems that the party season is starting earlier [...]
You won't see much of me at gigs this week, because my little brother is visiting. I am gutted at having to miss the Major Matt Mason gig last night, but I just ended up being too tired and having too much to do in too little time. Samamidon is playing in Edinburgh next Monday, so that needs to be publicised. He's a bit good, and Meursault are doing an acoustic slot in support, so it promises to be an amazing night. The gig is going to be at the Bowery , which is [...]
Peenko
Song, by Toad
![Niki & The Dove - The Fox [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/l2f6UbMnlq4_130.jpg)
Chromatics: “Into The Black”
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Introducing a Mix of New Irish Music #10 Vantastival Special
Listen: Burial - Kindred [EP]
