Friday 29 March 2013

Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs. Peenko - Gig Tomorrow!


This is most likely the simplest gig plug you'll ever read.  So rather than me prattling on, I'll let the music do the talking.  See you there!

Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs. Peenko

Saturday 30th March.

Doors 8:00.

Tickets £6 on the door.

The 13th Note.

Pinact



Saint Death



Le Thug

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 27 March 2012


There's only so many times I can start the intro to the podcast with 'more live music'.  But that's exactly what what we have in the latest Scottish Fiction show.  There's new music from Sparrow And The Workshop, Night Noise Team, Homework and Holy Esque.  There's chat about Saturday's Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs. Peenko, with music from Le Thug and Pinact.  And there's 'Tweet-a-track' and 'Re-Mixing It Up features too.

Aaaaaaaaand our live guest is the wonderful Panda Su, who treated us to some live music and chat about her upcoming tour.  It's positively, absolutely, definitely superb.  


Father Sculptor - Sault
Le Thug - Swam

Tweet-a-track - Primal Scream - Loaded - As chosen by @BryanMcManus

Homework - Cairo

Re-Mixing It Up - CHVRCHES - Recover (CURXES 1996 Remix)

Sufjan Stevens - I Walked - As chosen by Panda Su

Panda Su - Bee Song - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Stealing Sheep - Shut Eye - As chosen by Panda Su

Where We Lay Our Heads - Keanu Leaves
Reverieme - Build A Home

Panda Su - Alphabet Song - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Land Of Talk - Some Are Lakes - As chosen by Panda Su

Pinact - Flake
Holy Esque - St.
Night Noise Team - A Man Makes
Biffy Clyro - Black Chandelier
Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You
Sparrow And The Workshop - Murderpolis
Le Thug - Swam


Subscribe/listen to the podcast via iTunes.


Wednesday 27 March 2013

We're Only Here For The Banter - Le Thug


Ahead of this weekend's Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs. Peenko gig, which takes place on Saturday at The 13th Note (which you should totally come along to), we caught up with Dann from our headline act, Le Thug.  Have a swatch at what they say, before grabbing your ticket online right here and rocking on down to the gig on Saturday.


Hello, how are you?


I'm good thanks! How are you?

Very well thanks, looking forward to Saturday!  It's the question everyone hates, but could you tell us a little bit about your music and your influences?

We just try to blend fuzzy, effect laden guitars, synths and loops into some sort of abrasive, ambient, melodic noise.

What's your song writing process like?


Usually with a simple guitar or synth part.  Or loop.  Then we just add stuff to it as we go along, whatever sounds good.  We try to keep it minimal.

What could we expect to see from a live show?


Nothing visually spectacular.  We rely on the music being loud and coherent enough to make an impact.  We could probably do with some visuals to be honest.

If it were all to end tomorrow, what would you say has been your greatest achievement?


Probably getting played on Estonian radio.  And the Scottish Fiction podcast too of course.

What have you got planned for 2013?

We've got a split 12" coming out on Song By Toad Records .  I think there might be a launch night gig in Edinburgh for that as well.  We also recorded a few new songs recently so hope to put them out in some format, probably on Bandcamp as an EP as soon as we can.  We have a few gigs in Glasgow coming up in the coming weeks too.  (This one in particular!  Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs. Peenko)

You've got a rather lovely split 12" coming out on the brilliant Song By Toad records soon. Other than the bands featured on that, what four artists would you like to see do a split EP?


Super Furry Animals, MBV, Brian Eno and Iron Maiden,

What other artists (Scottish or not) would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?


Recently been listening to MBV, Hivver, Blanck Mass, Machines in Heaven, Oneohtrix Point Never, John Maus, Konx-om-Pax, Women, Xander Harris, The Yawns...

Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?


A termite walks into a pub and asks, "Is the bar tender here?"


Check out more from Le Thug

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Grab tickets to see Le Thug live at Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs, Peenko on Saturday 30th March at The 13th Note right here

Friday 22 March 2013

Scottish Fiction - 20th March 2013



Keeping live music at the forefront of our radio show and podcasts, this week we welcome Dave Hughes sans his Renegade Folk Punk Band into the homely studios of Pulse 98.4 FM.  Dave was along to chat about the bands new album 'In Death Do We Part?' and as all our guests do, brought with him a healthy selection of music to play during the first hour.  Peppered in amongst that are three live studio tracks from Dave himself.

And where would we be without our 'Aye Tunes Friday Freebie' track this week provided by Let's Talk About Space, a 'Cover Lover' selection, which is the wonderful Cairn String Quartet's take on CHVRCHES 'The Mother We Share', plus 'Re-Mixing It Up' and 'Tweet-a-track'.  Check out all this, plus new music from Conquering Animal Sound, Steve Mason, TeenCanteen, Jokes, Copper Lungs and more.  Hugs.


Mischief Brew / Guignol - Off The Books - As chosen by Dave Hughes

Dave Hughes - As You Are - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Turtle Lamone - Goodbye To Abington - As chosen by Dave Hughes

Dave Hughes - She Dreams Of Toronto - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Dave Hughes - My Mother's House - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Lucy Ward - Bricks And Stones - As chosen by Dave Hughes

The Deadline Shakes - Boy

Aye Tunes Friday Freebie - Let's Talk About Space - Hadley's Hope

Steve Mason - Oh My Lord
Conquering Animal Sound - Warn Me

Cover Lover - Cairn String Quartet - The Mother We Share

Garden Of Elks - Floaty
Copper Lungs - On Board

Tweet-a-track - Bear Arms - Vultures - As chosen by @RealBeat13

Jokes - Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?
TeenCanteen - You're So Analog

Re-Mixing It Up - Forest Fires - Culture Shock (Fonik Remix)

Woodenbox - Roll For Me


Subscribe/listen to the podcast via iTunes.


Scottish Fiction - 20th March 2013 by Scottish Fiction on Mixcloud

Wednesday 20 March 2013

We're Only Here For The Banter - The Darien Venture


Some ventures prove to be folly.  Like the decision to try 'colonise' a swamp land by some foolhardy Scots in the late 1690's.  However to NOT venture into the music of The Darien Venture would as daft a decision as that of the exploration scheme from which the band draw their name.  Signed onto the very good Overlook Records label, the band have a brand new EP out now!  Read about it, and other things below!

Hello, how are you?

Very well thanks, you?

Can't complain!  It's the question everyone hates, but could you tell us a little bit about your music and your influences?

Sure, we all contribute to the song writing so everyone brings their own influences.  We all love Mimas, Tool, Michael Jackson, Queen, The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Jackson 5 after that we all listen to different things that sometimes overlap.

What's your song writing process like?

When we're writing the most important things are finding the right rhythms, making sure all the individual parts compliment each other and finding the strongest melodies and harmonies.  Each song is put together differently, sometimes we write each others parts others come from jamming.  There's a lot of arguing involved!  We get have short attention spans so what we're playing only sticks if we don't get bored.  I write most of the lyrics walking with an instrumental version of the song on repeat.

What could we expect to see from a live show?

The worst between song banter ever uttered mainly by Liam and an energetic performance.  We get a little sing-a-long at some of our shows now and it's the best feeling having people shout your words back at you.  Live performance is everyone's favourite part of being in the band, we're happy to play to the sound guy.  Plus Jonny is one of the best drummers around just now, worth the ticket price to see him alone!

If it were all to end tomorrow, what would you say has been your greatest achievement?


I think our new record 'A Kite, A Key And A Storm' is the best thing we've done together.  There's been a lot of fun shows, we've met some great people and discovered some of our favourite bands playing in different parts of the country.

What have you got planned for 2013?

We've had a lot of set backs in trying to get the EP finished and released so a lot of our plans have been postponed but we want to play as many shows as possible this year and get to places we've not been before.  We've started writing a lot of new songs so it'd be good to get them finished and eventually recorded.

If you could set out on your very own venture, where would you go and what would be your mode of transport?

I'd like to take a venture in a Delorean and we each take it in turns to hang of the back getting pulled along on a hoverboard.  We'd go anywhere happily if there was a gig at the end of the journey.

What other artists (Scottish or not) would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?

Lightguides, Crusades, Vasa, Bellow Below, Trapped In Kansas, Sucioperro, Mimas, Tubelord, Press To Meco, Maps And Atlases and The Jackson 5

Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?


My friend Mobbs told me this stinker this morning.

Turns out Kevin Bacon and his wife are related.  That makes them a bacon sandwich because they're inbred.

Badaboom!


Check out more from The Darien Venture

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Friday 15 March 2013

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 13th March 2013



It's an absolute pleasure to have been joined on this podcast by Rick Redbeard, lead singer of The Phantom Band and solo artist in his own right.  During the first hour, there's some wonderful folk music hand picked by Rick, chat about the 'No Selfish Heart' album, the Chemikal Underground mansion, the future of music consumption and much more.  An as if that wasn't enough, prepare your ears for three wonderful live tracks.

Following that there's new music from The Twilight Sad, Sun Dogs, Roddy Woomble, The State Broadcasters and more!  Plus all our usual features and gig chat.


Huun Huur Tu - Eshten Charlyyry Berge - As chosen by Rick Redbeard

Rick Redbeard - Cold As Clay (The Grave) - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Tom Waits - You Can Never Hold Back Spring - As chosen by Rick Redbeard

Rick Redbeard - Now We're Dancing - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Rick Redbeard - Any Way I Can - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Cass McCombs - Country Line - As chosen by Rick Redbeard

The State Broadcasters - Be The Someone
Sun Dogs - Dream And Machine

Aye Tunes Friday Freebie - Bianca - Wood Pigeon

The Silent Forest - Model Couple
Roddy Woomble - The Universe Is On My Side

Cover Lover - a is to b - Bela Lugosi's Dead

Pinact - Limbs

Tweet-a-track - Seedhill Bruiser - Trees - As chosen by @HelenDThomas1

The Twilight Sad - Tell Me When We're Having Fun

Re-Mixing It Up - Mogwai - Auto Rock (Errors Remix)

Dave Hughes And The Renegade Folk Punk Band - Evermore


Subscribe/listen to the podcast via iTunes.




Tuesday 12 March 2013

We're Only Here For The Banter - Pinact



If you've been looking at the latest Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs. Peenko line up for Saturday 30th March and thinking who are Pinact, then think no more!  The answer to that very puzzling question is a two piece DIY alt-fuzz-rock band, and further detail is contained within the banter below!  It's an education!


Hello, how are you?

Hey Neil!  Very well thanks!

It's the question everyone hates, but could you tell us a little bit about your music and your influences?

We play noisy repetitive fuzzed up pop songs pretty loudly.  When we started hanging out in high school the first bands we really bonded over were The Pixies and Placebo and ever since then we've been telling each other about "this band you've got to check out".  We've both had a pretty big impact on each other with regards to discovering bands so I guess we've sort of influenced each other to want to be in a band and write and play our own music.

What's your song writing process like?

We don't have any particular process.  Sometimes I have a full song written and I'll send over a rough recording to Lewis, other times little ideas like a drum beat or chord progression can spark the start of a song and we just go from there.  We try not to spend too much time agonising over the songs.  If something isn't working for whatever reason we'll leave it alone and put it to the side for a while.  We get bored really easily so we're constantly working on new songs.

What could we expect to see from a live show?

Playing live is the best thing about being in a band so hopefully you see us having fun.

If it were all to end tomorrow, what would you say has been your greatest achievement?

Being asked to play the Scottish Fiction Present Aye Tunes vs. Peenko night with Le Thug and Saint Death at The 13th Note on the 30th of this month.*  You should like totally come if you're free.

*Editors note - Those boys have just bagged themselves free pints!

What have you got planned for 2013?

We have another release lined up for April which is pretty cool but I can't say too much about it yet.  In summer we're gonna write a record and we're currently organising a UK/Euro tour for August.  I guess the overall plan is pretty simple.  Keep writing songs and playing as many different places as we can.

You do a lot of DIY stuff when it comes to your releases?  What do you think is the appeal of DIY releases such as cassettes, 'zines, etc.?

We don't really see any other way to go about it at this stage.  The whole DIY thing just makes sense.  It's good to give some sort of physical element to a song and with things like 'zines you can get a load of friends involved with the artwork which is always fun.  There are some great DIY labels in the UK right now releasing a load of great songs by great bands in really interesting formats.   There's also a real sense of camaraderie and community between the bands and the labels which I guess is the best thing about it all.

What other artists (Scottish or not) would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?


Min Diesel, Poledo, Birdskulls, Nai Harvest, Galoshins, Poor Things, Dolfinz, Cavalcades, No Island, Honeyblood, Playlounge, JOEY FOURR, Joanna Gruesome, Dirt Drinker, Crusades, Babystrange, Divorce, Everythingwesayisfact, The Yawns, Battery Face, China Rats, The Shithawks, YRRS, Carson Wells, Keel Her, Menace Beach....  That's just a quick list, there's a lot of great bands doing their thing at the moment. Go check them out if you haven't heard of any of them!

Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?

Well since Lewis isn't around while I'm writing this I'll go for a drummer joke:

How can you tell a drummer's at the door?

The knocking speeds up!


Check out more from Pinact

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Grab tickets to see Pinact live at Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs, Peenko on Saturday 30th March at The 13th Note right here

 

Thursday 7 March 2013

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 6th March 2013


No live guests this week, just a orgy of wonderful new music from Scottish shores, including a track from the brand new Kid Canaveral album, 'Now That You Are A Dancer' (I might mention it's brilliant a few times), and also music from Three Blind Wolves, Man Without Machines, Walker Smith Jr., Golden Grrrls, The Darien Venture, and heaps more.

'Aye Tunes Friday Freebie' returns with a track from DanDanDan, there's a funky little jazz remix in our 'Re-Mixing It Up' feature with Bill Wells doing the remixing duties for A Band Called Quinn, and our 'Cover Lover' track is a Frightened Rabbit b-side.  On top of all that, let's welcome a brand new feature 'Tweet-a-track', which quite simply asks YOU to tweet your suggestion to @scotfiction984 during the week, and we will pick one to play.  Treat your ears and have a listen.


Three Blind Wolves - In Here Somewhere
Tremors - Kisses In The Cinema

Aye Tunes Friday Freebie - DanDanDan - You've Wasted Fire

Fake Major - Little Researcher
Lenzie Moss - Kelvin British Summertime
Adam Stafford - Vanishing Tanks
Ardent John - In The Morning
Cover Lover - Frightened Rabbit - Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Golden Grrrls - Past Tense
Roy's Iron DNA - Under My Skin
Walker Smith Jr. - I Like Those Odds
The Darien Venture - Catapult

Tweet-a-track chosen by @AOTDFEst - The Jesus And The Mary Chain - Tower Of Song

Brown Bear And The Bandits - Olive Tree
Kid Canaveral - Breaking Up Is The New Getting Married
Le Thug - New Balance
Rick Redbeard - No Selfish Heart

Re-Mixing It Up - A Band Called Quinn - Ghosts From The War (Bill Wills Remix)

Machines In Heaven - Mumbo Jingo
Inuit - We Don't Go There In Winter
Man Without Machines - Falling Star

Subscribe/listen to the podcast via iTunes.


Wednesday 6 March 2013

Scottish Fiction Rresents: Aye Tunes vs. Peenko - Saturday 30th March


Last Saturday of the month and it's time for another does of blogger's delight as Scottish Fiction, Aye Tunes and Peenko serve up our choice of live music. We return to The 13th Note for this one with a line up to rattle your bones and intrigue your ears.

First up are two piece noise monsters Pinact, who employ the DIY attitude we love. Oh and they also sound rather awesome with their blend of alt punk rock.



Cranking up the noise levels are 6 piece behemoth Saint Death. Armed with drums, bass, synth, three guitars and layered vocals, when Saint Death roll out their post rock sound it's like the Kraken unleashed.



And topping of the bill are Le Thug, self confessed abrasive ambience makers. Expect part drone, part shoe-gaze and full on awesome. With a split 12" out on Song By Toad Records in March, this three piece are going places.



Saturday 30th March.  Doors from 8:30pm.  The 13th Note.  Tickets £6 online or at the door.  See you there!



We're Only Here For The Banter - Machines In Heaven


Electronic music in Scotland has never been in a healthier place.  Last year's releases from Miaoux Miaoux, Errors, Human Don't Be Angry, plus the emergence of the unstoppable CHVRCHES machine showcase the creativity and production talent that exists here, and just bubbling below that surface there's a raft of artists such as Giant Fang and our banter guests Machines In Heaven, waiting to burst through.  It won't be too long before Machines In Heaven pop that metaphorical bubble as they've got an album out soon hot on the heels of their recently released 'Glasgow Jihad' EP, which coupled with some great live performances has got me weak at the news in anticipation.  We spoke to band head yin Graham Crossan.

Hello, how are you?

Hello, where am I?

It's the question everyone hates, but could you tell us a little bit about your music and your influences?


We've been trying to soundtrack the internal struggle between dark and light (hence the EP being titled 'Glasgow Jihad'; the 'Greater Jihad' being this very struggle) using huge kick-drums, basslines, synths and guitars in a building (and hopefully transcendent) musical journey you can dance to.  We're basically romantics, and there's pain in amongst the euphoria. 

Some influences are; Nirvana, Pixies, Clark, Nathan Fake, Eno, Byrne/Talking Heads, Joy Division/New Order, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Radiohead, Slayer, Timbaland, Classical, RZA as Bobby Digital, lots of Warp Records' stuff, 2 Step/Garage/UK Bass, and going for long walks/nights out/lie downs.

What's your song writing process like?

I don't know if any musician really has one set songwriting process, we're sort of like a weird kritarchy which grew out of an initial benevolent liberal dictatorship by Graham.  We're all huge fans of each others non-MiH projects, so, there's great musical empathy between us.  We try to maintain an atmosphere whereby we can voice opinions and shoot from the hip regarding what each other is doing without it turning personal (which is easy when you're working with musicians/producers that you respect).  Someone has an idea, bounces a relatively rough draft around, everyone suggests what can be added/taken away/shortened, and someone produces it.  We're jamming as much as we can too, and that worked immediately.

What could we expect to see from a live show?

We try to make everything as lovely and layered and huge as possible and we've some great live visuals by Stuart Silver of The Psychogeographical Commission.  Apart from that, double-speed headbanging, possible occurrences of band members gettin' aff wi each other mid-song, and sporadic orgasmic facial expressions from both audience and band.

If it were all to end tomorrow, what would you say has been your greatest achievement?

Getting so much praise and support when we'd not released anything and had only played a handful of shows, some of our musical heroes getting into us, and doing Miaoux Miaoux's merch table - we stole SO much stuff.

What have you got planned for 2013?

We'll bring our debut album out in spring/early summer, try and follow it fairly sharpish with an EP.  We've got some great festivals and support slots lined up, and we want to gig as far and wide as possible.

Leaving aside the question of whether there is an afterlive or not, what one machine would you take to heaven with you?

If there's an afterlife there's going to be a lot of time to kill, so we'd either take a Gameboy or a foot spa.  We'd maybe bring Napoleon a toaster or something.

What other artists (Scottish or not) would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?

Le Thug, The Wayne Devro Set/Scientific Support Dept., Miaoux Miaoux, United Fruit, Vasa, Loki, Texture, Kromatic, Atomic League, Casual Sex, Nevada Base, Hector Bizerk, (a is to b), The DDN, Bill Breaks, lots & lots from the 'Aural Sects' netlabel, Death Grips, Holy Other, Ghosts, Twos, Mano Le Tough, Grimes, and too many more...

Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?

A guy walks into a pub and the bowl of nuts on the bar goes, "Evening sir, you look fantastic!", then he goes in the toilet and the condom machine goes, "Here fannybaws, you're an arsehole!"  Puzzled, he asks the barman what's going on, and the barman says, "The nuts are complimentary and the condom machine's out of order!"


Check out more from Machines In Heaven

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Monday 4 March 2013

Video Killed The Radio Star - Round Up

Time for more music videos up in yo grill.  Here's some of the best cinematic viewings of the past few weeks, plus a rather special dollop of bearded men raving...


Let's start with recent live guests Campfires In Winter, who not only released their new single 'White Lights' today, but also put out an accompanying video too.


More new releases today, this time Fence Record's inde darlings Kid Canaveral, who by all accounts stormed The Glad Cafe last Friday and Saturday for their album launch.  Being launched was 'Now That You Are A Dancer', and here's a video to accompany opening track 'The Wrench'.


Perhaps you saw Three Blind Wolves at last year's West End Festival closing party at Oran Mor?  Did you stumble across a giant lego man?  Watch the video for the band's latest single 'In Here Somewhere' and try and spot yourself.



This video's a wee bit older, but given how good 'Pedestrian Verse' is we haven't posted enough Frightened Rabbit on the blog.  This is the video for recent single 'Backyard Skulls'.



Wasn't everyone sad when Dananananakroyd split up?  Still intent on having fun, from the ashes of their demise rose Alarm Bells.  Made up of former members, this is their latest video for track 'Speeding Ticket'.



This track found a home on the playlist for last week's show, and it's out today!  This is the lead single from Homework's dĂ©but album '13 Towers' and it's called 'It's All Over'.



This track found a home on the playlist for last week's show, and it's out today!  This is the lead single from Homework's dĂ©but album '13 Towers' and it's called 'It's All Over'.


Let's end as we began, with another Campfires In Winter video.  Can't embed this one, so just follow the link for what is their finest music video to date.

WATCH IT HERE

Friday 1 March 2013

That's My Jam #3


T
hree jams this time round for two reasons.  A) I haven't done this wee feature in a while.  B) This weekend sees three great Scottish bands at three different points in their careers playing live in Glasgow.

First up is Frightened Rabbit, who technically were playing last night but this is a generous Glasgow weekend and everyone knows that starts on a Thursday night down the Barra's!  The band have taken to the road in promotion of fourth album 'The Pedestrian Verse', their first released on major label Atlantic.  Reaching #9 in the UK album charts and having sessions on Radio 1.  Frabbit are no longer the Scottish indie music underdogs.  If you were at the Barrowland's gig last night, hope it was a magical night.  Here's their latest single, 'Backyard Skulls'.




Second album's can be tricky.  Everyone knows that.  But having heard 'Now You Are A Dancer' earlier today, fans of Kid Canaveral need have no fear.  The band have nailed it.  They're in Glasgow tonight and tomorrow for two sold out nights at the cracking Southside venue The Glad Cafe to launch it.  Out on Fence Records on Monday 4th March, this sophomore release shows the Kid's have grown up and will be hot on the heels of Frightened Rabbit in gaining indie stardom.  Check out 'The Wrench' to whet your appetite.




Maxi Jazz once sang, "This is my church, this is where I heal my hurt".  For those lucky enough to have bagged tickets for Saturday night's show at The Arches, that phrase will ring true as CHVRCHES make the legendary Glasgow venue the place to be.  This is a band who need no introduction, yet remain only on the first tentative steps.  All the signs are there to say CHVRCHES will be filling the musical worshipping role for sometime.