Wednesday 31 July 2013

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 24th July 2013


Behold!  It's Behold The Old Bear live in session for Scottish Fiction.  Or at least one third of the band.  Raindeer MacFarlane, lead man of BTOB and all-round animal lover, joined me in the studio for a couple of live tracks.  We also chatted about the band's sound and progression, the differences between BTOB and Mitchell Museum, and the merits or otherwise of crowd funding. 

Ahead of last weekend's jaunt to Wickerman, I also spoke to Chay Woodman, curator of the Solus Tent at the festival.  And there's new music from the likes of Le Thug, Friends In America, So Many Animal Calls and more!

Franz Ferdinand - Right Action

Pink Floyd - Nobody Home - As chosen by Behold The Old Bear

Behold The Old Bear - Remember When You Were Fun - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Thee More Shallows - Night At The Knight School - As chosen by Behold The Old Bear

Behold The Old Bear - Blessings Or Bruises - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio
Behold The Old Bear - Home Space - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio 

Fog - The Rabbit - As chosen by Behold The Old Bear

Honeyblood - Super Rat

Interview with Chay Woodman - Solus Tent at Wickerman 2013

Fat Goth - Creepy Lounge
Calum K. West - Chooning Gum
The Last Battle - Wherever Our Feet Take Us
Friends In America - Gaffe
So Many Animal Calls - Almost Something Is Better Than Nothing
Sweethearts Of The Prison Rodeo - The Solitary Rabbit 
Le Thug - Tenerife
Antibloom - Gutslime
A Band Called Quinn - Forget About It


Subscribe/listen to the podcast via iTunes.

Scottish Fiction - 24th July 2013 by Scottish Fiction on Mixcloud



We're Only Here For The Banter - The Cherry Wave


The Cherry Wave are a four piece shoegaze bunch from Glasgow, who recently played one of our Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs, Peenko gigs.  They are a busy bunch, as well as recording their debut album, they've also got their fingers in the DIY label pie.  I caught up with lead singer Paul to find oot more.

Hello, how are you?

No' bad.

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

We play loud, noisy, fuzzy shoegaze influenced by My Bloody Valentine, Black Flag, Ringo Deathstarr, Fugazi, No Joy, Sarcofago, Astrobrite, Jesus And Mary Chain, Sebadoh, Vomir, Dinosaur Jr, Shellac, Bardo Pond, Earth, Crass and about a million other bands.  Glasgow Podcart once said their 'problem' with us was that they'd heard it 20 years ago, which I take huge umbrage with.  Not only do I disagree with the statement, as I think what we're doing is different than the first wave of shoegaze that they're most likely referring to, but I find it particularly rich coming from a blog that loves bands such as PAWS.  Don't get me wrong, we all love PAWS too, but you can't tell me they don't take their queue from bands from the '90s.  The other problem I had with that statement was the insinuation that the only worthwhile art is art that's entirely innovative.  I believe all worthwhile modern music is derivative of each band's collective influences.  I'd rather listen to a guy playing say, awesome 1980s style hardcore songs than listen to a guy making bird noises at random intervals through a 10-foot long kazoo because it's not been done before.

What's your song-writing / creative process like?


We generally write separately and bring finished songs into rehearsal, then everyone will add their own bits if need be.

What could we expect to see from a live show?

Live we tend to play more aggressive than your average shoegaze band.  We've mostly come from hardcore backgrounds to this, so we're probably approaching it in a different way than most shoegaze bands, who maybe come from indie/alternative backgrounds.

What would you say has been your greatest achievement?

Probably having our second EP put in the jukebox at The 13th Note, or being asked to support The Telescopes at King Tut's.  We're also just really proud to have put out two EP's that we love and we've recently started our own label Lamppost Records and have put out a shoegaze compilation featuring some amazing bands from the UK and the USA that we're pretty chuffed with.

What have you got planned for the rest 2013?

We're working on our album right now. It'll hopefully be out this year, but might need to wait until the start of 2014. We plan on playing a lot less shows too.

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

Not Scottish: Shallow, Beach Volleyball, Fluorescent Tiger.

Scottish: Young Philadelphia, Dead Temple, The Yawns, Clocked Out, Skullwizard, Cosmic Dead, Cutty's Gym, Galoshins, His Name Is Codeine, Halfrican, Los Tentakills, Le Thug, No Island.

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


What do you do if you have a trumpet in your garden?  Root it oot.


Check out more from The Cherry Wave

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Algernon Doll - Scottish Fiction Session - Videos


Responsible for one of 2013's best album's so far, I was delighted to be joined for a Scottish Fiction Session by Ewan Grant, a.k.a. Algernon Doll.  Genuinely one of the nicest and most modest men out there, he is extremely talented guitarist and gifted lyricist.  With his grungy alt-rock guitar playing he played three acoustic tracks in the 98.4 FM studio including a cover of a lesser known Fugazi track. You can hear the full session and interview here should you wish.




Below are the videos for session tracks 'Venus', 'Unaligned' and a cover of Fugazi track 'I'm So Tired'.  Enjoy, and check out YouTube page for all session videos.



Scottish Fiction Football League Sweepstake - Pulse Community Radio Fundraiser


Everyone knows that music and football go together like John Barnes and New Order.  And this being a Scottish music blog, it's a well known fact that football is one of our countries other great passions (although unlike the music we aren't that good at it).

The community radio station, Pulse Community Radio on 98.4 FM, that gives Scottish Fiction a weekly slot, as well as airing other great shows, is a register charity and completely volunteer run organisation.  The station is faced with footing a large bill for the cost of relocating to another premise by the end of 2013.  Therefore over the next few months, here at Scottish Fiction, I'll be doing small bits and pieces aimed at raising some much needed funds to help both keep the station running and go towards the money needed for relocation.

The first of these is an idea I was going to do for fun anyway, so I've attached a fund-raising element along with it, and I present the very first Scottish Fiction Football League Sweepstake.

The concept is very simple.  Simply select which football team you think will win each respective league.  I've included the top four leagues in both Scotland and England, meaning in total you should have selected eight teams.  The winner is the person who guess all eight correctly, or in the event of no-one guessing all eight correctly, the winner will be the person with the most correct answers.  Simple?  Here's the small print.

In the event of two people correctly guessing all eight, or an equal number of people sharing the most correct answers, there is a tie break question, 'Which team will score the most goals per league games during the season (not including play-offs)?'  For example: Burnley score a total of 120 goals over 46 games giving a goals per game ratio of 2.61 whereas Kilmarnock score a total of 100 goals over 38 games giving a goals per game ratio of 2.63.  Therefore Kilmarnock has a higher goals per games ratio.  Make sense?  Good.  As the question states, end of season play off games do not count, and it is only league goals that are applicable.

Now you know how to win what exactly do you win and why should you even care?  Well, to enter the sweepstake costs a mere £2.  Exactly £1 of this goes straight to Pulse Community Radio, and the other £1 goes straight into the winners prize pot.  That's it, no frills, no administration, no dodgy underhanded deals.  You can enter as many times as you like thus boosting your chances of winning, although each entry is £2.  The more people who take part, the higher the prize is, and the more money we can raise for Pulse Community Radio so please spread the word!

Below is the entry form, as well as a web link right here.  To enter simply complete the form, including your name and a valid email.  You will receive an email back confirming your choices, of which I will keep a copy of, and a request to make a PayPal payment for £2.  There are no administration fees with this payment and the money will be held by the Pulse Community Radio management committee with the winner receiving their prize at the conclusion of the 2013-2014 football season.  The closing date for entry is midnight on Sunday 18th August.  The cut off for payment to be received will be midnight on Sunday 25th August.  Any entrants who have not paid by this time, will have their entry made null and void.  Payment is by PayPal only.

Thanks in advance for taking part, and good luck!  It might seem like a long way off, but if you win a wee cash boost come May 2014 will be most welcome!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Why should you care about Pulse Community Radio?  Well rather selfishly without Pulse 98.4 FM there would be no Scottish Fiction radio show, no weekly airing of new Scottish music from unsigned, unheard and independent Scottish musicians, and no live sessions from some of Scotland's finest artists.  But more than that, community radio, of which Pulse is just one of many stations, offers a different voice on the radio.  It's a chance for radio programmes that wouldn't or can't find a home on commercial radio to get played.  On Pulse 98.4 FM we have Scotland's biggest Polish language radio show, Scotland's biggest FM wrestling show, Scotland's only football show dedicated 100% to junior and amateur football, Scotland's only FM NFL show, shows dedicated to things such as spoken word and poetry, hip-hop, soul, funk, metal plus a wide selection of chat shows, magazine shows, and music programming.  The station also prides itself on the work it carries out with young people, providing real training and radio broadcasting experience to school children from across East Renfrewshire and beyond.

Hopefully if you've found your way to this blog, you are a fan of promoting Scottish music, but more than that I hope you wish to keep radio alive as a format, and community radio is fast becoming the only place where real creativity and innovation can prosper given the cutbacks being made in the commercial radio sector.

Tuesday 30 July 2013

Wickerman Review - Friday


Wickerman hooooooo!  If the size and commercialism of T in the Park turns you off, and the dance-heavy line up of RockNess doesn't inspire you, then you may very well find a festival home at Scotland's 'alternative festival', which at the weekend celebrated it's 12th year in the fields of East Kirkcarswell Farm, Dundrennan.

Taking in the experience for Scottish Fiction in what was our maiden trip to Wickerman, myself and freelance photographer Chris Rocks set off from Glasgow in the basking sunshine, weaving our way through the simply stunning Scottish landscapes that bless Dumfries and Galloway.  The scenery is one of the things that Wickerman has in it's favour, and with blue skies, rolling hills and lush greenery as far as the eye could see, it's no exaggeration to say the festival rivals RockNess for some of the best views on offer for festival goers.

Past noon, and with our car park, tent pitched, wristband acquired and first beer cracked, and having sadly already missed some great talent in the forms of Lidh, Behold The Old Bear, Young Philadelphia, Siobhan Wilson and Pinact, it's time to put some music into this music festival review.


Ain't no better way of doing that than with the slacker-garage rock pull of the irresistible Honeyblood.  With Shona on drummers, and Stina rocking the guitar and vocals, the duo emit an effortlessly cool look and sound.  'Super Rat' grinds round the tent, fresh with the venom and ire it was written with, almost as if each airing it gets is like poking at an open sore.  It's that passion though, that paints Honeyblood as the real deal.  Other stand out tracks include 'Choker', which peels back the sound to expose girl-pop influences and 'Killer Bangs', a feral grunge number.  Forthcoming single 'Bud' proves unsurprisingly popular with the crowed, who are complemented in their "great taste in music", a reference to answers given to the question 'who are you all going to see later'?  For everyone who has made the choice to check out Honeyblood, the same complement applies.


As Honeyblood finish in the Solus Tent, neighbouring goNORTH Festival Tour Tent offer up the fuzzy alt-rock of Plastic Animals.  As one of five bands playing Wickerman, who have previously played a Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs, Peenko gig, I'm already a huge fan of their atmospheric sound.  The band seem to evolve and progress each time I see them and front man Mario grows in confidence, although much of the obligatory 'banter' is left to bassist Dave.  Shoe-gaze number 'Piznek' delights with dreamy cloud grasping vocals, whilst the newer songs show the band haven't lost the ability to knock out a splendid drone.

A quick nip for some tender hog roast and a jaunt back to the campsite lets us take in some of the other attractions on display at the festival.  Topping the list has to be a 14ft Jimmy Carr head, aptly named the 'Jimmy Barr'.  For those not wishing to buy alcoholic beverages from a comedians mouth, there's also laser tag, yoga, Segway's, hill-sledging, bike tracks, and much more.  Walking around you really do feel the friendly atmosphere that Wickerman prides itself on.  It's at this point I should give an honorary mention to our campsite neighbourhood watch, and drinking buddies, Chloe, Holly, Susanna, Ruiri and Johnny.  Top company for us to spend the weekend with, cheers guys!


Never one to miss an Admiral Fallow performance, I sauntered back inside the arena down to the mainstage.  It's great that a festival like Wickerman gives Admiral Fallow the 'mainstage' billing, which they have been building up for over the last three years.  An opening brace 'Beetle In The Box' and 'The Paper Trench' lift the crowd into a party mood, which continues with the Bar Bloc inspired 'Guest Of The Government', a truly wonderful pop anthem, which is greeted with enthusiasm by the early evening audience.   There's room also for some more tender moments, courtesy of Louis' haunting vocals, and Sarah's wavering flute moments.  Old favourite, 'Old Balloons' pumps and builds into an explosion of drums and woodwind, followed by set highlight 'Squealing Pigs', both tracks reminding any newer fans, just how good the band's first album was. A sarcastic self-poking 'sunglasses' jibe at himself, and a tumbling bassist amidst the uproar on stage, prove that despite moving up stage sizes, Admiral Fallow are having no less fun as their star rises.


Sometimes it's hard to review the same bands twice in quick succession.  Having seen Hector Bizerk play T in the Park only a fortnight ago, you might imagine I'd struggle to say anything new.  However with a frontman as energetic, charming, and on top of his game as Louie, there's no chance of any two Hector set's being the same.  Kicking off with 'Burst Love' before seguing into a rendition Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' which morphs fiendishly into 'Orchastrate'.  As drum maestro Audrey churns out drum fill after drum fill, Louie bounds from end to end of the stage, Hector Bizerk flag in hand soaking up the chants of 'Hector, Hector' and feeding right back off that energy.  With the crowd firmly in camp Bizerk, there's room for a little tete-a-tete singalong during, what should be a new single, 'Welcome To Nowhere'.  Take a second to hear through the energy and enthusiasm of the delivery and there's real insight and social commentary present in Louie's rhymes, the kind that we need back in music during these times of right leaning social policies.  With machine gun style quick fire delivery, 'Bury The Hatchet' keeps the momentum high.  The future of Scottish hip-hop is on stage.  Wickerman, and their earlier T in the Park set, were ground zero.

Over on the Summerisle Stage it's Chic time baby!  Never one to let a good time pass, Chic frontman, and all round legend Nile Rodgers was on top form.  The band worked their way through a formidable repertoire of hits, including 'Everybody Dance', 'I Want Your Love', 'Le Freak' and 'Good Times', the latter two bringing the set to a close and the crowd to the point of audio orgasm.  Across the sea of revellers gathered at the Summerisle Stage, there's not a hip that isn't swaying, a foot that isn't tapping, or a booty that isn't engaging in some disco shakin'.  Young, old and everyone in between are in full party mood, and with Rodgers able to call on his bag of 'hits for other people' there's also space for Bowie's 'Let's Dance', and Sister Sledge's 'We Are Family'.  Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the festival, and based on this performance could have easily headlined without any problems or anyone feeling short changed.

Speaking of headliners, Primal Scream fresh of the back of latest album 'More Light' opened with the saxophone driven track '2013' from that album.  A bold choice, given that many of the crowd gathered are in no mood for any "this is off our new record" chat.  The sun has been shining, the drinks have been flowing, all this indie rock party needs now is the acid house riffs of early '90's Primal Scream.  Eager to oblige 'Moving On Up' gets an early airing, before the darker, more raucous 'Swastika Eyes'.  From there on in though, the Scream's set feels like a bit of a chore, both for the band who appear to go through the motions a bit, and the fans who, to coin a phrase, "wanna have a good time".  It's not that Primal Scream were particulary bad, but following Chic, who I think really surprised a lot of the young members of the crowd, Primal Scream less well known songs are a bit, well stodgy.  'Country Girl' provides a much needed injection of fun, and as the night draws to an end 'Loaded' gives everyone what they wanted.  A full blown 9 minute '90's trance memory, as I bounce up and down on a closed up well, it's time to get get loaded and have a good time. 

Right if you'll excuse me, I have some hills to roll down.  Coming next... Saturday's review.


Monday 29 July 2013

#KTSN13 - Scottish Fiction Playlist


Last Tuesday night, I was tasked with pumping up a bar full of gig goers as part of King Tut's Summer Nights.  Before bands, Sienna, The Youth and Young and Critters, entertained upstairs, it was down to yours truly to spin some tunes and keep the bar busy.  Was cracking fun, and a huge thanks to King Tuts, DF Concerts, and Craig Johnston for asking me along.  Sticking with what I know, my set comprised mainly of new Scottish music, dotted with some classics.  If you liked what I played, we should be friends and I'm available for Bar Mitzahs.  If not, well we never that close anyway.

Casual Sex - Stroh 80
We Were Promised Jetpacks - It's Thunder And It's Lightning
Baby Strange - Pure Evil
The Pastels - Check My Heart
Camera Obscura - Do It Again
Campfires In Winter - White Lights
Prides - Out Of The Blue
Blood Relatives - Dead Hip
Fake Major - Little Researcher
Frightened Rabbit - Backyard Skulls
Adam Stafford - Vanishing Tanks
Giant Fang - Aqualung
Miaoux Miaoux - Virtua Fighter
Young Father - iHeard
Django Django - Default
The Invisible - Wings
CHVRCHES - Gun
Herman Dune - I Wish That I Could See You Soon
Lovers Turn To Monsters - Skeletor
The National - Mr November
Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - Glasgow Jubilee
Withered Hand - Heart Heart
Outkast - So Fresh, So Clean
Machines In Heaven - Mumbo Jingo
Nevada Base - Foresight
Miaoux Miaoux - Better For Now (Discopolis Remix)
Skee-Lo - I Wish
Gil Scott Heron & Jamie xx - I'll Take Care Of You
Conquering Animal Sound - The Future Does Not Require
Hector Bizerk - Burst Love
Pronto Mama - Fruit Loop
Shambles Miller - Confessions
PAWS - Catherine 1956
Vasa - Cynthia
Chris Devotion & The Expectations - A Modest Refusal
Naked - Lie Follows Lie
RM Hubbert feat. Aidan Moffat & Alex Kapranos - Car Song
Danananakroyd - Black Wax

Friday 26 July 2013

Wickerman - It's here!



Behold, the burning man of wicker, informing you all that the Wickerman Festival is now upon us like a weekend blessing of orgasmic music.  Returning for it's 12th year, Wickerman is firmly establish amidst the Scottish music festival calendar as Scotland's 'alternative' offering, and probably the biggest of the smaller festivals behind Rockness and T in the Park.

It's my first year at the festival, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to the whole experience.  And if a giant Jimmy Carr head, a burning pagan effigy and feel good atmosphere wasn't enough, there's lashings of great music on offer too.  Here's our Scottish Fiction:

Friday - Summerisle Stage - Admiral Fallow


I don't really need to introduce this load do I?  Louis and the gang, fresh on the heels of their SAY Award short-list nomination for second album 'Treebursts In Snow', will be playing as the afternoon drifts into the evening on Friday.  Always a stand-up bunch of perfomers, AF's set will get you jigging and enjoying the mild Scottish air!

Friday - Solus Tent - Honeyblood


Glasgow two piece Honeyblood embrace vocal harmonies, sweet melodies and super strong drums all with a coating of kick ass sugar.  Really infectious indie-pop, listen out for forthcoming single 'Bud' during their set in the Solus Tent.

Friday - goNORTH Festival Tour Tent - Hector Bizerk



Phenomenal hip-hop straight of the streets of Glasgow.  Combining the teutonic power of Audrey's drum beats with the blistering insight of Louie's rhymes, and padded out with bass and samples, Hector Bizerk will blow your square little minds.

Friday - Solus Tent - Machines In Heaven


Mumblecore experts (note - in joke) Machines In Heaven will rip your fleshy face from your skulls, caress it with electronic salvation, then reassemble.  Having headlined the T-Break Stage at T in the Park, the band continue their summer festival melee with an early evening slot in the Solus Tent.


Friday - goNORTH Festival Tour Tent - Plastic Animals


I like to judge bands on two things.  How they sound, and how they taste if they were a beer.  Plastic Animals get top marks on both counts.  Their alt-rock fuzz sound ticks all the boxes my ears require, and, as part of Song By Toad's RSD 'Beer vs. Records' escapades, the Plastic Animals ale delighted my taste buds too.  Yah!

Saturday - Solus Tent - Vasa



Thoroughly one of the most enjoyable bands I caught at T in the Park, Vasa rip it up on stage like a post-rock behemoth set loose in a delicate guitar shop.  Raw power, building riffs and layers, face gurning bass.  Don't miss some mid-afternoon rock out action down at the Solus Tent.

Saturday - goNORTH Festival Tour Tent - The Yawns



The Yawns are previous Scottish Fiction gig buddies, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how they've progressed since playing for us back in January of this year.  Indie from the mould of Teenage Fanclub and The Pastels, they are effortlessly good.
Saturday - goNORTH Festival Tour Tent - Prides




'Out Of The Blue' was always destined to be an anthem, and if you catch Prides headline slot in the goNORTH Festival Tour Tent on Saturday, I guarantee you it will be stuck in your noggin' for ever.  There's no shortage of passion, sweat and electro-pop vibes when these guys get into their stride.


So there's some picks for you, however there's a raft of other bands you should consider checking out should stage times and general festival milling about allow. 

Swing by for Lidh, Pinact, Friends In America, Blood Relatives, Solareye, Young Philadelphia, Siobhan Wilson, Behold The Old Bear, Blochersta, Woodenbox and Holy Esque on Friday.

And on Saturday check out Book Group, Garden Of Elks, Casual Sex, Giant Fang, Fake Major, Fat Got and Flues.

Wednesday 24 July 2013

We're Only Here For The Banter - Poor Things


Having first met Craig from Poor Things a while back in The 13th Note, and then enjoyed a rancorous set from the band at T in the Park, they've swiftly moved up the scale in my 'bands I really like' list.  So I thought I should get to know them better, which in turn by publishing this on my blog means you can get to know them better too.  Enjoy!

Hello, how are you? 

Hello, I'm Craig and we are Poor Things.  We're great thank you very much.  Tired though, my sleeping patterns are fair ruined at the moment, keep waking up at 3am on the dot with the urge to play Football Manager or watch Peep Show or even just indulge in a snack, or midnight feast (at 3am).   I'm sitting with a coffee people watching the population of Dumbarton Road.  What kind of pants always joins in?  Participants.  Let us begin.

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

Everyone hates this question?   Whit?   I positively adore this question.  I think we fall in to the welcoming bracket of 'alternative rock' and then file us in the guitar section of that particular cupboard.  We make melodic, guitar-based alternative rock.  I would say our primary influences as a unit are your Teenage Fanclubs, Lemonheads and Pavement.  But don't pigeon-hole us because we're totally working on doing a kinda Bothy Ballad meets Os Mutantes meets Nine Inch Nails thing.  Man I hate this question so much.

What's your song-writing / creative process like?


Richard and I both write songs for the band and then we do a big fight to see what songs get kept and what ones don't get kept.  He usually wins, I am a shoddy athlete with a wimpish frame.  I actually started recording my own demos this time last year and I was the best thing I could have possibly done in terms of the 'songwriting process'.  Every single idea gets put down, sometimes I leave it and sometimes it becomes a song straight away.  Sometimes I'll pick a riff out and place it somewhere else.  This is the way I keep myself busy.  We're recording an album later in the year so right now it's all systems go with the songwriting.  Richard tends to write pretty immediate stuff effortlessly, and I tend to fire out a lot of crap before the keepers emerge.

I started setting myself challenges as a writer, to try and write a song about the sort of stuff I wouldn't normally touch - purely to try and break out of the whole 'romance/insecurity' routine.  On one hand you get 'A Drunk Man Considers the Royal Wedding at Kelvingrove Park', which we kept, but also stuff like 'The Family Cat' (a song about celebrity cats) and 'Retirement' (a song about a retiring tennis player).  None of those got kept and nobody gets to hear them.

What could we expect to see from a live show?


Fans throwing bras on stage, wearing Sir Alan Sugar masks, discussion over the member of JLS most likely to go solo.  We'll blast through 8 or 9 songs in a 30 minute set, bam bam bam, and like that - we were gone.  Something like that?

What would you say has been your greatest achievement?


We just got home from our maiden performance at T in the Park so hands down - that.  It was an absolute riot.  I think being picked for that was our biggest achievement - and then finishing the set with a much, much bigger crowd than any of us had imagined possible.  It was great.  I took a while to calm down and relax and then once I did I got MWI.  An amazing weekend.

Your most recent EP is called 'Hurricane Poor Things'. For bonus science points, can you tell us the difference between a hurricane and a tornado?


You hear on the news about Hurricane Katrina, but never Tornado Clive, or Tornado Steve. (editors note - Nil points guys.  One is a large weather system and the other is an isolated weather event. A hurricane is a huge air mass that can be more than 1000 miles across, while a tornado is seldom more than 1 mile across, and often much less.  Who says we don't kick knowledge here at SF)

What have you got planned for the rest of 2013?


We're taking some time out of gigging to finish writing tunes for the album, I think we're probably about 3 quarters through the actual writing, so we're going to blitz it out over the rest of the summer.  We're doing a mini-Scottish tour in October, during which we're supporting The Electric Soft Parade at King Tuts, which is bloody class and can't wait for that - I'm a big fan - hopefully we'll be back in Aberdeen and Edinburgh as well.  Aberdeen is a great gig, we did Cellar 35 recently and it was hoora fun.  Then we're recording the album in November, I don't know the tracklisting or title or anything like that but I guarantee it will be our finest work to date.

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


Your readers should investigate the following artists if they already haven't:

Secret Motorbikes, Baby Strange, Pinact, Fat Goth, Reverieme, Claire McKay, Saint Max, Hector Bizerk (go see them live), The Yawns - and the Sean Armstrong Experience, Min Diesel, The Shithawks, Sparrowhawk Orkestrel, Garden of Elks, Vasa, Honeyblood, Tuff Love, Young Aviators, PAWS, Battery Face, Black International - fucking everything man.

This is such a sweet place to be if you like/love music, I'm (really) sorry if I've forgotten anyone in that exhaustive list.

I'll do two proper recommendations from that list.  Fat Goth have morphed into one of my favourite bands on the planet, 4 real.  It's a good sign not only when you like a band but they turn you onto a whole new area you'd previously been a bit unsure of.   So basically Fat Goth opened my eyes to Metallica, in the Kill Em All way and not in the St. Anger way.   I wouldn't say they sound like Metallica so much though,  I don't know what they sound like - I'm going to define them as 'character metal' and they are the least boring band in the world.

Secret Motorbikes are the absolute masters of three minute garage rock tunes and they're all handsome men with great vocabularies and hair.  Roll me up and smoke me, barge on/barge off.

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


Have you heard the one by the shit comedian who moonlights as a postman?

Oh fuck, messed up the delivery.


Check out more from Poor Things

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Scottish Fiction Podcast - 17th July 2013


Jammed packed is the most apt way to describe this episode of Scottish Fiction.  Expect interviews from the likes of Michael Cassidy, PAWS and Honeyblood straight from the jaws of T in the Park.  Expect a live phone interview with King Tut's guru Craig Johnston as we chat about this year's Summer Nights run of gigs.  Expect new music from RM Hubbert, Cafe Disco and Bianca.  Expect live session guest Algernon Doll, rocking it with some acoustic tracks from his acclaimed album 'Citalo-pop'.  In short expect awesomeness.


RM Hubbert - Dec 11

Kaddish - To Another - As chosen by Algernon Doll

Algernon Doll - Venus - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Little Anchors - Lost And Leaving - As chosen by Algernon Doll

Algernon Doll - Unaligned - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Cavalcades - Counting Breaths - As chosen by Algernon Doll

Algernon Doll - I'm So Tired (Fugazi cover) - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

T in the Park Interview - Michael Cassidy

Bianca - Aniseed

Interview with Craig Johnston - King Tuts Summer Nights 2013

Prides - Out Of The Blue

T in the Park Interview - Honeyblood

Holobeams - Glass Shards

T in the Park Interview - Hector Bizerk
T in the Park Interview - Poor Things

The Cherry Wave - Under Dull Grey Skies

T in the Park Interview - PAWS

Cafe Disco - What Do You Love?

T in the Park Interview - Machines In Heaven

Watchfires - Dream, Parisienne


Subscribe/listen to the podcast via iTunes.

Scottish Fiction - 17th July 2013 by Scottish Fiction on Mixcloud

Friday 19 July 2013

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 10th July 2013


There's dedication, and then there's dedication.  Driving just shy of 90 miles from Anstruther to Barrhead, to do a live radio session in a ridiculous warm radio studio shows Eilidh Rose a.k.a. 18 year old singer songwriter Lidh has the latter.  Crafter of fuzz folk tunes and inspired by the musical heritage that lives and breathes in Anstruther, she is also the owner of a fabulous voice and a penchant for writing cutesy lyrics.  Fulfilling the usual 'session guest' duties, Lidh picked some music, chatted, and treated us to three live tracks, all of which you can revisit right here.

Bookending the show are tracks from CHVRCHES and Machines In Heaven, just two of the acts that played T in the Park last weekend.  I go through some of the picks of the festival, with a unashamedly heavy slant on the T-Break stage.  There's plenty to enjoy!


CHVRCHES - Gun

David Bowie - Heroes - As chosen by Lidh

Lidh - Rockpool Hospital - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Harry Nilsson - Me And My Arrow - As chosen by Lidh

Lidh - Peace Now - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Throwing Muses - Counting Backwards - As chosen by Lidh

Lidh - Murmur - Live in Pulse 98.4 FM Studio

Hector Bizerk - Orchastrate
Fake Major - Little Researcher
Michael Cassidy - Battleships
Frightened Rabbit - Backyard Skulls
PAWS - Jellyfish
Baby Strange - Pure Evil
Poor Things - Morgan
Pronto Mama - Still Swimming
Prides - Out Of The Blue
Vasa - Cynthia
Machines In Heaven - Mumbo Jingo


Subscribe/listen to the podcast via iTunes.


Tuesday 16 July 2013

We're Only Here For The Banter - Colin's Godson


Colin's Godson played an absolutely cracking gig for Scottish Fiction and our gig buddies Aye Tunes and Peenko back in May.  It lead me to realise that quite criminally we haven't ever featured the band on the blog in any shape or form.  So let's right that wrong, and let you read a charming chat with lead Godson Joe.

Hello, how are you?

I’m fine thanks for asking.

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

In short, we’re a five piece pop group and we make simple melodic offbeat guitar based pop.  I suppose like most bands I don’t really think it there necessarily needs to be a simple category we fit into.  Because we write songs about things people don’t usually write songs about and that we don’t take ourselves too seriously we’re often compared to the likes of Half Man Half Biscuit and the Sultans of Ping FC. Our first album was even favourably compared to the Toy Dolls. While I like all of those bands I definitely don’t like the 'comedy' tag that often comes with those comparisons.

My first counter point to that argument is always simply The Smiths, a great band who deservedly revered as such but if you listen to Morrissey’s lyrics they are all hilarious and tongue in cheek, by those standards he’s probably the best comic song writer of all time.  Yet somehow they managed to escape being lumped in that category.  Basically I just want people to judge us on our own merits (or lack thereof) rather than writing us off as a particular type of band.

Musically we have lots of influences ranging from '60’s pop through to glam rock through to punk and post punk, C86 and Britpop.  We’re all children of the Britpop era though which has left it’s indelible mark on us.  It’s easy to forget how big it all was at the time.  It was an era when original music made by "proper" bands came into the mainstream and probably the last big movement before the music industry ate itself.  I’m sure anyone of my age in a band was inspired by seeing the likes of Echobelly, Pulp and Symposium on TOTP on an equal stage with all the boy band and manufactured trash of the day.

Anyways, that was the period where I learned to embrace music and I have a particular fondness for it, so I suppose from an aesthetic point of view we’re partially trying to recreate our childhoods by emulating those mid-late '90’s major label values on a shoestring budget.  Musically however our influences are a lot more varied.  We owe as much to The Beatles, The Kinks and Queen as we do to any of the bands from that era.  To cut a long story short, we just want to make unpretentious melodic pop music.

What's your song-writing / creative process like?

Our song-writing process is pretty boring, either a song will appear in my head pretty much fully formed and I’ll demo it on a multi track recorder at home or I’ll just go in to my home studio and write a song and demo a song in the space of an hour or two.  My demos aren’t great (my keyboard playing is particularly awful) but you get the jist of the song.  Our creative process goes up a notch when we reach the studio and everyone else in the band adds their own bits to the song, we experiment with a few different things until we get the right backing vocals or keyboard part.  The finished result is more than the sum of it’s parts and a million times better than my home demos.  So from that point of view song writing in the band is a real collaborative process.  I’d never dream of taking a sole writer credit for anything and you’d probably agree if you heard the difference between some of my demos and the final versions of the songs.

What could we expect to see from a live show?

Live we are just finding our feet as this incarnation of the band has mainly been a studio thing but we’ve done a few gigs in the last few months which have gone down well.  We wear our custom football tops and jump around a bit but everyone in the band is a veteran of the live scene so we can keep it together musically.  I suppose what to expect would be to hear some good tunes and to have fun.  We’re definitely not morose or shoegazy in any way.

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

I think if it all ended tomorrow I’d be proudest of the fact that we did it in the first place.  We didn’t hang about waiting to have anything handed to us on a plate and went out and did what we wanted to do without compromise.  I think it’s a really good thing to not hang about waiting to be discovered or for any external validation.  I know bands who have been about basically playing the same set of songs for 7 years waiting to get signed or for their big break that never comes.

We avoid getting stale by recording a new album every 6 months regardless if anyone actually listened to the last one and that process has helped us evolve as a band and stay fresh.  We aren’t the same band as we were when we started and I don’t think many bands these days can boast that sort of evolution unless they are doing things completely for themselves.  We stayed true to our DIY roots.  That said I’d also quite happily accept a million pounds to record our next album.

For each gig you usually put together a Colin's Godson comic. Is doing that little bit extra important for bands?

We don’t do a comic for every gig as that would be a bit labour intensive but yes I think in this day and age it’s very important for bands to make the effort into having a visual identity and the comic book stuff that the brilliant Adam Smith does for us really fit’s into that.   Each Colin's Godson release is very carefully thought out and packaged, the artwork is as integral to the release as the music itself.  That’s also why we limit the availability of our music digitally.  People can’t see the full picture (literally) through purely downloading our music.  It’s also too easy for bands to record and upload music to iTunes etc these days.  The quality control has gone out of the window.  At least by going the extra mile with your artwork and packaging you can demonstrate to people that you’ve actually gone to some effort for them.

It’s the same with the uniform at gigs, it’s just a courtesy to the people that have gone out of their way to see you or buy your music in a tidal wave of increasing apathy.

What have you got planned for 2013?

For the rest of 2013 we’ll probably play a few more gigs (open to offers) and finish writing/raising money to record our next album: Colin’s Godson 3D.

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

There’s lots of good bands around Scotland at the moment for the sake of modesty and the wrath of accidentally missing someone out, I won’t mention any acts that we have a vested interest in (quite a few great bands I might add).

Bands I’ve seen recently would recommend include Eddy and The T-Bolts who have a great stage energy and some awesome rocking tunes, Spook School who we’ve played a few gigs with and they do a mix of C86 type stuff.  They quite remind me of pre-baggy bandwagon Soup Dragons when they were doing Hang-Ten! and all that stuff but before they went all Kingdom Chairs.  Other bands of note include The Girobabies, Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5, Orphans and many more I’ve forgotten.

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

Cheers!  I'm not a big one for jokes but one of my favourites is:

How many bassists does it take to change a light bulb?

None the keyboard player does it with his left hand.


Check out more from Colin's Godson

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Monday 15 July 2013

T in the Park - Day 3



As much as I was glad to have a warm cosy bed to sleep in each night, the two hours drive each way was causing some major sleep deprivation!  Mind you, judging by the weary state of some of the T20 punters, sleep was the last thing happening back at the camp site after Saturday night.

Sticking to the same script as Friday and Saturday, I headed on down to the T-Break stage for some tasty new Scottish music.


Poor Things were the first flavour on offer today, smearing some sun-kissed alternative rock all over the eager crowd gathered in the T-Break stage.  'Summer Clutch' has the kind of kick ass drum beat that spurs the crowd into action, drummer Gavin channelling all the anticipation of a gig like this into turbulently smashing cymbal and snare crashes.  The band showcase some new tracks in amongst their recent 'Hurricane Poor Things' EP, eagerly teasing people to lose those early afternoon inhibitions and throw some shapes.  Penultimate track 'Festival' could be more aptly named, raising the ghosts of influences Teenage Fanclub, Pavement and Grandaddy and giving them fresh shake.  As often with these T-Break slots, it's over too soon, recent free single 'Morgan' closing the set, a melodic pop-rock tune played by three guys with the biggest smiles on their faces ever.



After a quick catch up with Poor Things backstage, I managed to catch the tail end of the set from Arches, who had a pretty big pre-festival buzz about them.  Providing that buzzes do convert to people in tents, the band played a strong pop-rock set to an bulging T-Break tent.  Powerful tunes, which you could see one day filling a larger stage than this.


"We're the only band on the T-Break stage with a brass section.  That'll draw 'em in!" quipped the Pronto Mama lads when I caught up with them before going on.  It's true enough, and for those who've seen the six piece before you'll know it's far from some gimmick to make themselves 'different', the trumpet and trombone parts weaved into their upbeat and exuberant tracks effortlessly.  After a rip-roaring start of tightly knitted melodies, things were cooled down a notch with the laid back 'Safety Net' off their most recent EP 'Lickety Split'.  It's a momentary lull as the band frantically launch into the bombastic 'Fruit Loop' where Ciaran and Michael fight for the most powerful vocals.  A new (untitled) song towards the end of the set sounded promising, however it's 'Still Swimming' which proves the real highlight, as the crowd unanimously were feeding off the infectious energy of the band, whooping and cheering as the delicate keyboard intro unravels into a sickeningly catchy chorus and swirling declarations of love.


"It was about a year ago today that we played our first gig as CHVRCHES" admits lead singer Lauren Mayberry.  That's worth remembering given just how much promotion and hype surround the three piece.  Yet there's no airs of graces about them, as Lauren jokes it's nice to be back playing a crowd that understands their Glaswegian patter.  Starting things at full blast, 'Lies' dominates the tent instantly drawing the crowd into their clutches as well as mopping in passers by.  Gripped by bassy hooks and polished electronic melodies there's no letting up as we've drenched in trippy feel good electronica such as current single 'Gun'.  'Recover', where Lauren's vocals echo in the shimmery mists of smoke and final track 'The Mother We Share' showcase the pop-polished side of CHVRCHES.  Keeping alive the hype, which on this showing is well deserved, the band play tracks from their forthcoming dĂ©but album including one where Martin Doherty grabs lead vocals, exploding with a powerful performance culminating in the crowd pleasing yelp of "T in the f*cking Park!", which earned him £100 as Lauren and Ian bet he wouldn't do it!  For many of the crowd, this may have been the first live experience of the hottest tipped Scottish band at the moment, and with a date now announced at Glasgow's O2 ABC on 10th October, I'm betting it won't be the last.


If you like loud and experimental music and you weren't at the T-Break stage for Vasa, then you simply weren't doing it right.  With influences taken from prog-rock and post-rock the band, who play entirely instrumental tracks were a brave choice for T-Break organisers, especially latter in the day paired against the heavy hitters on the bigger stages.  Thankfully though there's an eager enough crowd assembled to enjoy the full on assault that ensues.  The second track in revels in a tidy little loop, as drummer Alex crashes on top with intent.  Each track takes time to showcase each members musicianship, with bassist John, beasting bass lines front and centre.  Each track ran pretty smoothly into the next, as the sound ebbed and flowed, some slightly more shoe-gaze moments and mellowed out math-rock allowing the band to layer and build up towards crushing crescendos.  As I stood watching, while the over enthusiastic smoke machine shielded the view of the band, it was painstakingly clear that Vasa are a band whose music can stand shoulder to shoulder with their peers and idols.

Thanks to T-Break's 30 minute slots, I was able to dash over to the King Tut's Tent and catch the opening part of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's set.  With a backdrop of massive Y's and a flame licking light show, Karen O, wearing what looks like a Burger King crown, dominated proceedings.  The band kicked things off with 'Sacrilege' and powered straight on into the brilliant 'Gold Lion'.  Time however dictated it was time to return to the T-Break stage...


For it was here that Dennistoun (as guitarist Graham occasionally reminded people) band Machines In Heaven were gearing up for the headline slot on the T-Break stage.  Despite the prestige that may come with having 'T-Break headliners' on the CV, it is a difficult slot to fill especially against the popular crowd pleasers of The Killers (boke) and David Guetta (double boke), the sound of the former of which bled into the tent a bit.  However once in their stride, the band nailed a set full of whizzes, bleeps, whirrs and insatiable synth rhythms all feed through a techno filter.  Speaking to them earlier in the day, we chatted about how good previous night headliners Kraftwerk and My Bloody Valentine had been, and it's poetic justice perhaps that these two bands were playing, as the influence of both is evident.  As the smoky haze removed the human instrument players from view, multi-layered synth-pop caressed and delighted the tent.  As much as I loved their heavenly mechanistic grooves, the real highlight of their set (and perhaps the T-Break stage in generally) was when a random punter turned and asked who the band on stage were.  Replying 'Machines in Heaven', he replied, "they are the best band I've seen all weekend".  THAT is what T-Break is there for.

Sunday 14 July 2013

T in the Park - Day 2


T in the PAAAAARK!  

Day two and the sun showed no sign of letting up!  


Continuing my journey of checking out the Scottish bands on display at T20, I headed on down for an early afternoon mosh with PAWS.  Introduced on stage by Uncle Vic himself lead singer Philip snarls,  "Are you ready to throw your life in the gutter and scrap it out?". The answer, it would appear is a resounding yes!  There's probably no better way to start your day than with a bout of headbanging and sound tracking that was tracks off their SAY Award long listed album 'Cokefloat!' such as the brilliant 'Sore Tummy'.  Smattered in amongst them were a couple of new songs including the promising 'Let's All Let Go', a fasted paced attack of track.  


Time for a stroll over to the T-Break stage where limbering up were previous Scottish Fiction session guests Fake Major.  Beefed up to a five piece for the occasion the four armed singer-songwriter produced a stunning display of indie-folk.  Their vocal melodies drip with emotion and perfect timing.  Recent single 'Little Researcher' buoyed the crowd, while 'We're The Same' bounced along with joyful purpose.  For any new comers to the band via this set, I can't fail to see how they wouldn't be converted.


Michael Cassidy sets the Balado crowd a challenge to really test how up for it they are.  The Paisley singer has a strong hometown contingent at his set in the T-Break stage and the T crowd are urged to "out-woo" the Paisley folk.  Tough ask, but with Michael and his band sounding as strong and right as they do, it's not long until they oblige.  Set favourite 'Battleships' gets a roof raising applause, and 'Run Rabbit Run' kicks off a massive tent clap along.  The band sound like an interesting mix of Scottish folk and American country, really adding oomph and depth behind Cassidy's stunning vocals.  


It was a long wait for me until my next dose of music, the time in between spent chatting to some bands, and grabbing food from the ever delightful Healthy T.  A full on re-charge was needed to as the blistering sun fair takes it out of you.  Evidenced by many lobster red, slightly groggy festival goers. 

It was worth the wait though as the anticipation of Frightened Rabbit was bubbling over down at the Radio 1/NME stage.  Their heads self-admittedly firmly up their own backsides now with a MASSIVE Frabbit styled cross, they struck across the sage with an energetic opener of 'Living In Colour'.  And as if things couldn't get more epic, fan favourite 'The Modern Leper' prompts a massive crowd sing-a-long.  Lead Frabbit Scott Hutchison admits the band have been waiting "f*cking ages for this".  They reveal that this wait has been 10 years as they played the spellbinding 'Backwards Walk'.  As you'd imagine the set is littered with tracks of the new album such as 'Holy', 'Backyard Skulls' and 'Late March, Death March', the latter of which is accompanied by some sound life advice of "just all get along" from Scott.  As always with FRabbit there's room for dancing and for 3 and a bit minutes the front of the crowd resembles a massive hoe-down with 'Old Old Fashioned'. Penultimate track 'Swim Until You Can't See Land' was as roaring as ever and set closer 'Keep Yourself Warm' fuels a testosterone and alcohol response the kind which the track was written for.  Each time I've seen Frightened Rabbit they have stepped it up a notch, and today was no difference.  Band of the day for me.

Saturday 13 July 2013

T in the Park - Day 1


As the Pulse 98.4 FM team walked through into the arena, the dulcet tones of Craig and Charlie Reid could be heard singing 'Sunshine On Leith'.  They got the weather right, the venue however is some 30 miles north in the airfield of Balado, home to T in the Park, Scotland's biggest festival now in it's 20th year.

T in the Park is kind of a big deal in Scotland.  85,000+ festival goers.  Some of the biggest bands.  And a right of passage and highlight of the summer for many.  As you might guess however, here at Scottish Fiction, it's all about the local talent, the bands right on our doorstep rather than flown across the Atlantic for the occasion.  So for the next three days, I'll be covering as much of the Scottish music on display at T, with a few select exceptions of course.  So stick around, read what happened yesterday, and stay up to date with me on Twitter where I'll be tweeting under @scotfiction984 and @pulse984.

First up for me, Honeyblood at the T-Break stage.  The duo, Stina and Shona, who list a long line of influences such as The Breeders, Hole and contemporaries Haim, Deap Valley and Daughter, blistered onto the stage.  With their now quite distinctive guitar and drum combo, they make the most of this set up, grooving away with a 'slacker-pop' vibe while trading on some sweet female vocals.  Highlights include 'Super-rat' and forthcoming single 'Bud', both of which got the crowd, which swelled in numbers during their set hopefully bringing in some curious passer-bys, nodding along to the Honeyblood beat.


Following on from Honeyblood were Hector Bizerk.  Enjoying a somewhat devout following in their hometown of Glasgow, the rap/drums duo (now bolstered with bass and a range of other instruments), wasted no time at all in getting to know the Balado crowd.  Hector Bizerk masks were distributed out amongst the crowd, generating a buzz of excitement.  Frontman Louie announced, 'We are Hector Bizerk.  This is hip-hop' before bursting into 'Burst Love' a verbose assault of lyrical genius.  At the back of the stage during 'Orchastrate', Audrey displays exactly why she is one of Scotland's best drummers, each deep bassy thump of the drum complementing Louie's hard hitting vocals.  Encouraging the enthusiastic crowd to get involved during the chorus of 'Man Up', it's clear that Louie is revelling in this spotlight.  Again, the numbers in the tent grow as the set goes on, and as I mentioned to Louie afterwards, it's great to see that in amongst a bill of US hip-hop artists, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, et. al, that Scottish hip-hop is given an outing too.  Maybe one day it'll be further up a bill on a bigger stage.  The highlight of the set for me is the brilliant 'Bury The Hatchet', beats and rhymes so tight they wouldn't have failed to win over a few more to the Bizerk clan.


"How many chances will you ever get to see Kraftwerk?"  "Calvin Harris?  He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Kraftwerk!"  Two arguments put forward during a urinal discussion about which of the headliners people should go see.  And I can't argue with the logic.  German electronica Gods Kraftwerk were headlining the King Tut's Stage, the competition being Calvin Harris and Mumford & Sons.  Case closed your honour.  With my 3D glasses at the ready (yes 3D glasses), I, and thousands of others, let out a rapturous roar as four middle aged men walked on stage in their iconic suits to fill the empty spaces at the four synths on stage.  At that point the cold, lifeless machines become one with their human operators, bringing to life the sound and music of Kraftwerk.  What better way to start that with the iconic 'Robots'.  A special mention must go to the visuals, the screen at the back illuminating with music notes, numbers, and Matrix style coding.  During the brilliant 'Autobahn' we drove off on a car journey, and for 'Trans-Europe Express' the freight train was our mode of transport.  All the hits were here; 'It's More Fun To Compute', 'Computerworld', 'Computer Love', 'Numbers', 'Radioactivity', pretty much all staple tracks that have been reference, sampled and loved by electronica bands and fans alike since their inception.  This performance was a musical education for many in the crowd, and a trip down memory lane for some of the older folk in the crowd.  It'll be hard to top this!