Scottish Fiction EP - Hidden Tracks EP

A few months ago we ran the Scottish Fiction free music treasure hunt featured twelve free tracks from some of our favourite Scottish artists.  These tracks were then hidden amongst our EP's for you to find and discover, all in aid of celebrating one year's worth of free music via our Scottish Fiction EP's.

As the EP's have come to a, hopefully temporary, stop, we thought it would be good to put all of the tracks together for the first time, and let you get a hold of them all if you haven't already done so.

So get downloading, and share with your pals.  Here's what's on the EP:

The Son(s) - Karl a.k.a. The Son(s) has dusted down an old unreleased track, 'Wanton' and given it to us to finally give it a home!

Randolph's Leap - The eight piece indie folksters have never been bigger, with T In The Park and King Tut's Summer Nights safely tucked under their belts.  For our treasure hunt they have contributed 'Wack' a track from their mega special 'The Way Of The Mollusc' EP.

Discopolis - Electronic three piece Discopolis are one of Scottish music's hottest property.  With a whole heap of new material on the way, they have kindly given us an exclusive brand new track 'Indiependance'.

Ambulances - Responsible for one of my favourite albums of 2012 so far, Ambulances offer up a remix of their album track 'Falling Apart' by Cian Ciaran of the Super Furry Animals.

Lovers Turn To Monsters - Kyle Wood, a.k.a. Lovers Turn To Monsters is a creative dynamo.  He also has a penchant for covering lo-fi punk songs, and has given us a cover of 'The Goldheart Mountain Top Queen Directory' by Guided By Voices.  Kyle's version has been mixed and edited by Craig McConnell.

DOLFiNZ - Another brand new exclusive track from the DOLFiNZ lads called 'Protein Shake Brain'.

Miniature Dinosaurs - Having recently signed to Integrity Records this can only mean good things, hopefully in the form of new material.  Meanwhile we've got an acoustic recording of old favourite 'Alligator'.

The Mouse That Ate The Cat - The indie electro pop duo have whipped up a new track with the help of Kerr Okan of The LaFontaines called 'Going Away'

Satellite Dub - Craig Brown is Satellite Dub, responsible for some of the best beats around.  He's given us a brand new and exclusive track 'Kizuna Encounter' for our EP.  Enjoy!

IndianRedLopez - The Aberdeen five piece are tucked away in the studio working on album number two.  On the EP's is an alternative version of 'Silence/Vacuum' which will feature on that new album.

Run/Lucky/Free -We love a good live track, and Run/Lucky/Free have given us just that!  A live acoustic version of their track 'Denim Skyes'.

Mitchell Museum - We were majorly chuffed when Mitchell Museum reformed, and even more so when they generously gave us a brand new exclusive track 'The Closer We Got The Harder We Fell'.

Scottish Fiction EP Treasure Hunt

It's on!!!!!!!!!

We have released our twelfth FREE EP today in the form of Scottish Fiction July 2012 EP and as promised we have scattered 12 exclusive tracks from some of Scotland's finest artists across our 12 EP's which you can find on our Bandcamp.

Here's a reminder of the 12 artists and a little synopsis of their tracks:

The Son(s) - Karl a.k.a. The Son(s) has dusted down an old unreleased track, 'Wanton' and given it to us to finally give it a home.  Just where that home is however is up to you to find out!

Randolph's Leap - The eight piece indie folksters have never been bigger, with T In The Park and King Tut's Summer Nights safely tucked under their belts.  For our treasure hunt they have contributed 'Wack' a track from their mega special 'The Way Of The Mollusc' EP.

Discopolis - Electronic three piece Discopolis are one of Scottish music's hottest property.  With a whole heap of new material on the way, they have kindly given us an exclusive brand new track 'Indiependance'.

Ambulances - Responsible for one of my favourite albums of 2012 so far, Ambulances offer up a remix of their album track 'Falling Apart' by Cian Ciaran of the Super Furry Animals.

Lovers Turn To Monsters - Kyle Wood, a.k.a. Lovers Turn To Monsters is a creative dynamo.  He also has a penchant for covering lo-fi punk songs, and has given us a cover of 'The Goldheart Mountain Top Queen Directory' by Guided By Voices.  Kyle's version has been mixed and edited by Craig McConnell.

DOLFiNZ - Another brand new exclusive track from the DOLFiNZ lads.  Get searching to find their track 'Protein Shake Brain'.

Miniature Dinosaurs - Having recently signed to Integrity Records this can only mean good things, hopefully in the form of new material.  Meanwhile we've got an acoustic recording of old favourite 'Alligator' hiding in amongst our previous EP's.

The Mouse That Ate The Cat - The indie electro pop duo have whipped up a new track with the help of Kerr Okan of The LaFontaines.  Get looking for 'Going Away' and enjoy!

Satellite Dub - Craig Brown is Satellite Dub, responsible for some of the best beats around.  He's given us a brand new and exclusive track 'Kizuna Encounter' for our EP treasure hunt.  Enjoy!

IndianRedLopez - The Aberdeen five piece are tucked away in the studio working on album number two.  Lurking in amongst our previous EP's is hidden an alternative version of 'Silence/Vacuum' which will feature on that new album.

Run/Lucky/Free -We love a good live track, and Run/Lucky/Free have given us just that!  A live acoustic version of their track 'Denim Skyes'.

Mitchell Museum - We were majorly chuffed when Mitchell Museum reformed, and even more so when they generously gave us a brand new exclusive track 'The Closer We Got The Harder We Fell'.

Now you know what's up for grabs the only place to get them is by going in with our treasure hunt.  Each of the above tracks is hidden in one of our 12 FREE EP's.  So head over to our Bandcamp page and get downloading each of our FREE EP's to discover each of these hidden gems!  For those of you who like things made even easier, just click on each of the 12 links below to be taken directly to the relevant EP and download it there.

Scottish Fiction July 2011 EP
Scottish Fiction August 2011 EP
Scottish Fiction September 2011 EP
Scottish Fiction October 2011 EP
Scottish Fiction November 2011 EP
Scottish Fiction January 2012 EP
Scottish Fiction February 2012 EP
Scottish Fiction March 2012 EP
Scottish Fiction April 2012 EP
Scottish Fiction May 2012 EP
Scottish Fiction June 2012 EP
Scottish Fiction July 2012 EP

Enjoy!

Also please take the time to listen to the other music which is on each of these EP's.  They are from hugely talented Scottish artists, and whilst we are excited about offering some exclusive tracks, we also want to promote as much Scottish talent as possible!

Scottish Fiction EP - The Treasure Hunt

We know how much you love free stuff, after all who doesn't!  We certainly like giving away free stuff, in the form of our FREE monthly EP's.  And with July's EP due at the end of this month, it's a milestone of sorts.  July's EP will be our 12th* and we're doing something a little bit special to mark the occasion.

* Technically we've done 13, but our Christmas one was a special EP for the charity Shelter so it wasn't free.

On the release of this month's EP, we are going to be hiding 12 tracks in amongst our existing 12 EP's.  We've asked 12 of our favourite Scottish artists to contribute a track each, amongst them are some exclusive brand spanking new tracks, and every one of them is a topper!

To add to the suspense and secrecy, we won't be revealing where the tracks are hidden, so to find them you're going to have to download each of our previous EP's to get the full lot.  But that's a good thing, because already on those 12 EP's is great music from the likes of Shambles Miller, The Spook School, The King Hats, Plastic Animals and many more!  So we'd like you to download them all because, and I guarantee this*, there will be something that will excite you in ways you've only experienced with the lights off.

* As the EP's are free, even if I break this guarantee, there's no refund.

To help whet your musical appetite here are the names of some of the artists involved.  We'll unveil the full 12 nearer the time!


Satellite Dub - Responsible for the blistering and sonically orgasmic 'Velikovsky Said' EP, Craig Brown (no not that one) a.k.a. Satellite Dub draws influence from Krautrock and Psychedelica to create textured synth inspired music.  Already a big favourite in Scotland's electronica scene, he's featured on BBC Radio 1 and played with Calvin Harris.  Sweeeeeeeeet!  Expect a new tune of epic proportions!

Lovers Turn To Monsters - A self billed lo-fi superhero, Kyle Wood, a.k.a. Lovers Turn To Monsters, specialises in acoustic emo-indie pop.  Armed with his guitar and a tape deck, LTTM has a prolific work rate, and when at his best stirs emotions that you stored away the last time you listened to early Bright Eyes.  Coming your way is a beautiful, and unheard/unreleased, cover version of a Guided By Voices track.

Miniature Dinosaurs - As well as hosting five-a-side football tourneys, the MD lads also made pretty darned good music!  The Stirling pop/rock four piece have in the past received praise from the likes of Ally McCrae, and have released singles on Saraseto Records and Electric Honey, and their new single 'Lemonade' will be out on Integrity Records on 13th August.  Get ready to go hunting for an acoustic version of a firm favourite.

DOLFiNZ - I'm showing my age when the first thing I can think of saying about Stonehaven three piece DOLFiNZ relates to grammar.  The uber cool use of a 'Z' instead of 'S', coupled with their fast and furious grunge/garage rock and an actual dolphin cursor on their website, means I'm more than willing to push past their penchant for over-using text speak.  With releases by Tuff Wx, CATH Records and more recently Song, By Toad all tucked in their baggy jeans, DOLFiNZ are ones to be excited about.  We've got something a little bit different in the form of an acoustic recording ready for your ears.

Ambulances - Having just released their second album 'Flying Simply Explained', which is fantastic by the way, the Fife 6-piece have also had the track 'Feeling Sick' remixed by Steve Mason.  Dubby!  With an ability to create insanely catchy hooks, and mix electronica with indie-rock effortless, we are excited to hear the track Ambulances are contributing from their vault.  You can bet it'll be good!

Randolph's Leap - Having recently had lead singer Adam on our radio show as a very special guest, it's no surprise that I'm a big Randolph's Leap fan.  And with good reason too!  This summer has seen the 8-piece take their quirky indie folk-pop to T In The Park, and with a headline slot at King Tut's Summer Nights as well as playing Fence Record's Away Game, they'll hopefully be filling the ears of more and more people.  Hiding away on one of our 12 EP's is a track from their very secret 'The Way Of The Mollusc' bonus EP.  Exciting!

The Son(s) - The Son(s) is as talented as he is mysterious.  Specialising in dreamy Americana, The Son(s) music at times is so easy going and laid back that you'd be forgiving for mistakenly thinking you were drifting down the Mississippi river on a warm summer day.  With the 'Leviathian' EP released on Olive Grove Records recently, we've managed to get our hands on the wonderful track 'Wanton', which, until now, has been previously unreleased.  It's, in our opinion, as good a track as any on the recent EP.

IndianRedLopez - Despite not knowing what the spacebar is for, Peterhead four piece IndianRedLopez know damned well how to make infectious indie-electronic music.  Their last album 'Empty Your Lungs And Breath' delivered plenty of promise, making it onto our top 20 albums of 2011, and with the band currently working on album number two we won't have to wait too long to hear that promise fulfilled.  Get a sneak preview of what's to come by getting a hold of an exclusive track!


We'll be announcing the remaining four artists in due course, and I can assure you they are just as exciting and talented as the eight acts above.  So mark Sunday 29th July in your diaries, not only for the release of July's EP, but for the release of these 12 secret tracks.  In the meantime you can check out what's already available by heading over to our Bandcamp page.

Scottish Fiction Submissions - 3rd June 2012

You've not done one of these for a while, I hear you say.  This is true, and whilst my inbox has been bulging with submissions I've been both busy and lazy.  So I owe an apology to you for not passing on these fine pieces of music, and also to the artists who've sent me stuff.  There's lots more still sitting in my inbox, but for the time being here's a short and sweet post about a few of my favourites. 

(Some are relatively old news now, but still deserve a mention 'cause they are that good!)

Satellite Dub - 'Velikovsky Said'

This bad boy came out on 17th April (yes that's how far behind I am) and is a behemoth of electronica and dance music.  With the spirit of Kraftwerk in his sails Craig, a.k.a. Satellite Dub, set off on an intergalactic stellar trip.  Mind that bit in the the song 'I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor' that says, "just banging tunes and DJ sets"?  This is that, but better.  Get it on a 'pay-what-you-want' basis or buy a CD with download for £4.


Lost Ghosts - 'Summer Nothing'

A new band from Glasgow, so new in fact that I can't find any information on them other than that Daniel Young of Where We Lay Our Heads is involved, and that there's four of them.  I'm actually a fool for sitting on this track for so long and doing nothing about it.  Consider myself well and truly scolded.  This is really good.  A little rough albeit, but good.  With the female vocals they sound a little bit like my favourite band ever (ok not EVER, but I still like them) The Spook School but heavier.  Terrible description I know.  Just listen eh.  And you can download this song plus another, 'Seven', for free on their Soundcloud.  Braw!



The Machine Room - 'Love From A Distance'

Crikey!  You though April was ages ago, try March when this brilliant EP came out.  Further proof that my head is up my arse in terms of keeping up to date with new music (not good advertising for the blog).  Anyhow now that I've devoted full attention to this, you should too.  It's a four track EP from the Edinburgh band.  They describe it as 'bewitching pop music' and that pretty much does it for me. (They also do a really good cover of Bronski Beat's 'Small Town Boy' which you can hear here.)


Wolves Of Winter - 'The Thaw'

Finally a track which I haven't completely neglected!  The lads from Wolves Of Winter featured on our February EP with their brilliant track 'The Art Of Temptation'.  The follow up isn't half bad either, with it's other-worldly feel and dark beauty.  I played the track on our radio show recently which shows that not everything passes me by idly.  'The Thaw' is available as a free download so you've no excuses.


Plastic Animals - 'Automaton'

Slightly more up to date now as this EP by Edinburgh's Plastic Animals was released yesterday.  'Automaton' is the band's first new material since their 'A Dark Spring' EP, and it's well and truly worth the wait.  It's probably deserving of a bigger spot on the blog, and it may well get that if I can squeeze in some time amidst all the cucumber sandwiches and sub-servitude during the jubilee.  For now though, I can tell you that this is good stuff.  Available as a 'pay-what-you-want' download, you should give them some cash because it's worth it.  'Yellowcraig' itself is an atmospheric post-rock inspired doozy.


Olympic Swimmers - 'No Flags Will Fly'

This is another submission which is definitely worthy of more attention, as it is the debut album from one of Scotland's most talented unsigned group Olympic Swimmers.  I first saw them supporting Admiral Fallow some time ago in The Arches, and they've taken their time to produce a stunning debut album, full of melody, landscaped guitars, and shimmering strings.  This one is released on Monday 4th June, but you can pre-order it now from the link above.  Here's the track 'Where It Snows' to convince you why you should buy the album.



The Seven Deadly Sins - 'Misery Lake'

Another Edinburgh band, this time it's the biblical named The Seven Deadly Sins.  Despite being sinful, they are actually rather good, even if what they do is nothing new (I always wonder why that's a criticism).  Unless of course they sold their souls to the devil, Robert Johnson style, in which case everything makes sense.  Rambling?  Me?  Musically, their EP is pretty strong, slightly darker indie rock.  Below is a video for the EP track 'Yesterday' and you can buy the full 'Misery Lake' EP from the link above.

North American War - 'Ivory And'/'Geraniums'

And to end this rather long (yet fully awesome) post of recent submissions, something that you can buy on 7" vinyl.  North American War are a Glasgwegian based four piece making some rather good alternative pop/rock music.  This double A-Side is a prelude to their forthcoming album, which I'm told is dropping in August this year, and showcases two different sides to their sound.  'Ivory And' goes down the loud '80's new-wave path that lots of people are treading currently, and 'Geraniums' is a softer approach.  The 7" is available on a limited 250 run and can be found on the above link for £5, as can a download only copy for £2.


Aaaaaaand that's your lot for today.  I promise the next Scottish Fiction Submissions post won't be too far off, mainly because there is plenty more excellent music lurking in the depth of my inbox.  Toodles.

Scottish Fiction Podcast - 16th April 2012

Despite the mysterious looking tree up above, there's no mystery behind the music on this week's podcast.  Featuring plenty of new Scottish music, including five tracks from artists nominated for The SAY Award.  Listen back and enjoy!

Any Colour Black - You

Mixing It Up - Counting Crows - Mr Jones - As chosen by Jamie Sparks

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Human Error
Satellite Dub - Trying To Stop A Tank With Your Hands
Mike Nisbet - Not Long
Vladimir - Cold Winter Grasp
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Bats In The Attic
Collar Up - The Fear Of Love

Peenko Friday Freebie - Seams - 8

Adam Holmes And The Embers - Autumn Leaves
Wrongnote - Heart Of A Rat
Thula Borah - Murder
Bwani Junction - Middle Meadow
Father Sculptor - Blue
Johnny And The Giros - For Ourselves
Stanley - Join Hands
Jonny - Goldmine
Aggi Doom - Bring Me The Head
A Band Called Quinn feat. Kid Loco - Oh Jackie
Without Aeroplanes - Just So You're Warm
Steve Mason & Dennis Bovell - Understand My Dub
Admiral Fallow - The Paper Trench

Scottish Fiction - 16th April 2012 by Scottish Fiction on Mixcloud