Curses! Curses and poppycock!
Monday night's show on Pulse Community Radio featured one of the best live performances we've had. Joining me in the studio were Sean Gilles and Lauren Reilly a.k.a. Lonely And Lola who shared some great music, jovial banter including why they could defeat Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in battle. And they also treated us to some fantastic live songs including an impromptu version of 'Happy Birthday'.
I've been troubled by technical difficulties in the past, but this time it's particularly galling as the live performance by Lonely And Lola was excellent. However the recording equipment decided to crash during the show, meaning unfortunately only those lucky enough to have heard the show will ever hear it. Sorry guys!
Here's the playlist in full from Monday night's show:
Lonely And Lola chose:
Lonely And Lola - Dont Go Changing
Tegan And Sara - The Con
Hall And Oates - You Make My Dreams
Simon And Garfunkel - A Hazy Shade Of Winter
Joni Mitchell - River
Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons - Walk Like A Man
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
The rest of the show went something like this:
Wake The President - Elaine
The Shivers - Kisses
Wrongnote - You've Got Some Optic Nerve
The Spook School - Are You Who You Think You Are?
Ed Muirhead - Like Like Unlike, Tweet Tweet Share
Rob St. John - Sargasso Sea
Bottle Of Evil - The Boatman
The Celestians - Carriers
Maydays - Eternal Optimist
Honey - Nowhere Floating
Lil' Daggers - Dada Brown
Bwani Junction - Middle Meadow
Blog. Radio Show. Podcast. Music. Etc.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Michael Cassidy - Videos
It takes a brave man to brace the cold air of a November evening in Glasgow sitting in the Necropolis playing songs. So let's thank our stars that Michael Cassidy is brave enough, or daft enough, to do just that!
Here's a few videos that have popped up over the past weeks, Michael took his guitar down to the Necropolis and armed with a camera (and a willing cameraman Frasier Urie) made a few videos. It should be no secret that I think Michael Cassidy's music is the bees knees and hopefully 2012 will see another live appearance on the show. In the meantime enough these videos, great songs and a great backdrop.
Here's a few videos that have popped up over the past weeks, Michael took his guitar down to the Necropolis and armed with a camera (and a willing cameraman Frasier Urie) made a few videos. It should be no secret that I think Michael Cassidy's music is the bees knees and hopefully 2012 will see another live appearance on the show. In the meantime enough these videos, great songs and a great backdrop.
Michael Cassidy - Dance The Night Away (The Mavericks cover)
Michael Cassidy - Montpellier
Michael Cassidy - 99 Red Balloons (Nena cover)
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Scottish Fiction Teaser
Guess who's back? Back again!
No not him. Me. Last week saw a rare break in the relentless drive to showcase great new Scottish music. So I'm back in style this week. Another guest live in the studio, joining me on Monday's show is Lonely And Lola who are picking the tracks for the first hour and talking about their music. Oh and some live songs to boot.
And here's a taste of what you might hear in the second hour of the show...
Tune in from 9pm tomorrow night, you know you want to...
98.4 FM
www.pulseonair.co.uk
No not him. Me. Last week saw a rare break in the relentless drive to showcase great new Scottish music. So I'm back in style this week. Another guest live in the studio, joining me on Monday's show is Lonely And Lola who are picking the tracks for the first hour and talking about their music. Oh and some live songs to boot.
And here's a taste of what you might hear in the second hour of the show...
Tune in from 9pm tomorrow night, you know you want to...
98.4 FM
www.pulseonair.co.uk
We're Only Here For The Banter - If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now
If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now are a Glasgow band who staddled the line between Kate Bush and Tom Waits. With 3 EP's to their name, their latest offering 'A Room Dim At Noon' was released on 7th November.
Hello, how are you?
I'm very well :) I'm on holiday.
Tell us a little bit about your music and influences.
The songs are quite simple and I try, in keeping everything simple to generate a feeling of unrest and use unpleasant sounds, hopefully to pleasant effect... I like old singers and old songs like Sammy Davis Jnr, Liza Minelli, Elvis.
Scotland has a thriving music scene. How do you find being a part of that?
Its great because there's loads of folk to talk to and to go and see. We've recorded at the Green Door Studio and all the bands are amazing.
Which Scottish artists would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?
What is your songwriting process like?
Just spending time in my living room. Trying to get an idea out of your head.
What could we expect to see/hear from your live shows?
Our live shows aim to be more theatrical than a simple gig format. We try and move about a bit on stage and our shows often include a dancer where space permits.
What does the rest of 2011/ the beginning of 2012 hold for you?
A christmas song with Black Jash, more recording with stranger sounds... some more harmonies. More shows hopefully in different places and a video!
Your third EP 'A Room Dim At Noon' is out now. How has your sound progressed since your last release?
During the recording process of this album I had a much more hands on approach. It's in a way less band based than the last albums as a few songs are solo and it's much more stripped back. Without going into loads of detail, I managed to get ideas in my head onto the recording far more than I ever have.
What's been your biggest achievement so far?
Music wise, this new album is. And otherwise, eating food!
Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?
I have two.
What do you call cheese that's not yours?
NACHO CHEESE!
What did the policeman say to his tummy?
You're under a vest!
YEAH!
You can check out more of If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud and a lovely website. The EP 'A Room Dim At Noon' is available to buy from LOVE Music Glasgow and Avalanche Records Edinburgh as well as online via their website or iTunes.
Save BBC Introducing in Scotland Busk
Howdy everyone!
Most of you should be well aware of the ongoing petition and campaign to save BBC Introducing Scotland from proposed BBC cuts. The campaign has been well supported and if you haven't already done so add your name to the petition which will be submitted December 21st to the BBC Trust (http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/introducingscotland). There's also a Facebook page which is keeping right up to date with all the work being done and progress made (https://www.facebook.com/savebbcintroducing).
In the next stage of the campaign join the Save BBC Introducing In Scotland team TODAY from 1pm to 3pm for what is being called a protest busk outside BBC Scotland at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. It's a great opportunity to add your voice to the cause, and also to have a bit of fun with some live acoustic performances from Blochestra and Aerials Up.
Make sure to bring along banners, signs, healthy voices and some spare changes as there will be buckets for Children In Need as well. Also it will be outside so be prepared. The event is also to be as fun as possible so be prepared to get involved and keep spirits high.
Hope to see you there!
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Super Vinyl Adventure Club
I've been debating this idea for the Super Vinyl Adventure Club for a while now, for reasons that I'm sure you'll understand. But my reasoning for doing it is that online shops and shopping are becoming a stable fixture of buying vinyl whether we like it or not. So basically this post is to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of fuelling my record collection via the internet.
There are two types of online shops. Those that act as an online version of a real record shop, such as Rocks Mail Order which serves as an online shop for Glasgow based record shop LOVE Music. Then there are those which as only online, they have no physical building that you can browse through the racks of. Now the romantic side of record shops is that you get the interactive experience, and I've talked about my love of that in the past. So you might wonder, what's the point of an online store, where you don't get the smell of the sleeves in the racks, you don't get the music playing in the background, you don't get the chat and recommendations. Well here's my account of buying from Insularis Records.
Venue
The home page on Insularis Records website is extremely well put together. An iTunes style scroller displays new additions, a tweet feed lets you keep up with recent announcements, such as discount codes and competitions, and below that features quick link banners to recommended purchases. The website as a whole is very easy to navigate, and kudos must be given for placing a tab for Scottish Releases right at the front. This also showcases some great Scottish labels, including Song, By Toad Records, Chemikal Underground and more. So yes you don't the the satisifaction of trawling through racks, but you do get the ease of being able to find what you're looking for pretty much within a few clicks of your mouse.
So what other benefits is there to shopping online? You might think that you'd lose out on the customer service side of things, but I have to say the guys at Insularis are on the ball. Offering free shipping for orders over £50 thus encouraging you to spend that extra penny, and also offering regular discount codes. In fact I was rather impressed by the fact that they tweeted me the discount code which was specially reserved for the Scottish Independent Record Fair even though I couldn't make it along. They also keep you up to date with order confirmations, dispatch details and thank you emails, all of which I suppose are pretty much standard, but still nice to have.
Purchases
Remember Remember - The Quickening
Arctic Monkey's - Suck It And See
Fair Ohs - Everything Is Dancing
Male Bonding - Endless Now
Mogwai - Earth Division EP
The Avalances - Since I Left You
I'll be honest I'm not going to review all these, fair to say that they were all rather reasonably priced, certainly no more that one would pay in a shop, and all arrived in perfect condition. (I lied, have a read of a review of Mogwai's 'Eart Division' here.)
So all in all, I would certainly recommend Insularis Records for purchasing vinyl. My personal preference will always be the visit a record shop, trawl the racks and have the whole 'shop' experience. But it would be folly to overlook the benefits of buying online, and when the circumstances conspire to keep me housebound, then Insularis Records is a happy substitute.
Preview - RM Hubbert - 'Gus Am Bris An Latha'
Those of you who listen to my show on Pulse Community Radio may recall with some fondness a wonderful guest appearance from RM Hubbert a few months ago. (You can listen to the whole show again here.)
Well Hubby is going be releasing 'Thirteen Lost & Found' as the much anticipated follow up album to his beautiful debut 'First & Last' on 30th January 2012. To whet your appetite for this the guys at Chemikal have put out a sneak preview in the form of track 'Gus Am Bris An Latha' which is available to listen to here.
The track features John Ferguson and is instantly familiar as an RM Hubbert track, the intricate finger picking retained and backed up by a fuller sound provided by Ferguson. The last third of the song really kicks of and showcases Hubbert's excellent playing. Have a listen yourself and let your ears make up their own mind.
Other exciting RM Hubbert developments include the release of the album 'Thirteen Lost & Found' artwork and full tracklisting. Have a wee swatch below.
1. We Radioed (w/ Luke Sutherland)
2. Car Song (w/ Aidan Moffat & Alex Kapranos)
3. For Joe
4. Gus Am Bris An Latha (w/John Ferguson)
5. Sunbeam Melts The Hour (w/ Marion Kenny & Hanna Tuulikki)
6. V
7. Sandwalks (w/ Stevie Jones & Paul Savage)
8. Half Light (w/ Emma Pollock & Rafe Fitzpatrick)
9. Hungarian Notation (w/ Shane Connolly, Alex Kapranos & Michael John McCarthy)
10. Switches Part 2
11. The False Bride (w/ Alasdair Roberts)
(You can hear live versions of the tracks 'For Joe' and 'Switches Part 2' here, when Hubby performed the tracks live in the studio at Pulse Community Radio.)
Well Hubby is going be releasing 'Thirteen Lost & Found' as the much anticipated follow up album to his beautiful debut 'First & Last' on 30th January 2012. To whet your appetite for this the guys at Chemikal have put out a sneak preview in the form of track 'Gus Am Bris An Latha' which is available to listen to here.
The track features John Ferguson and is instantly familiar as an RM Hubbert track, the intricate finger picking retained and backed up by a fuller sound provided by Ferguson. The last third of the song really kicks of and showcases Hubbert's excellent playing. Have a listen yourself and let your ears make up their own mind.
Other exciting RM Hubbert developments include the release of the album 'Thirteen Lost & Found' artwork and full tracklisting. Have a wee swatch below.
1. We Radioed (w/ Luke Sutherland)
2. Car Song (w/ Aidan Moffat & Alex Kapranos)
3. For Joe
4. Gus Am Bris An Latha (w/John Ferguson)
5. Sunbeam Melts The Hour (w/ Marion Kenny & Hanna Tuulikki)
6. V
7. Sandwalks (w/ Stevie Jones & Paul Savage)
8. Half Light (w/ Emma Pollock & Rafe Fitzpatrick)
9. Hungarian Notation (w/ Shane Connolly, Alex Kapranos & Michael John McCarthy)
10. Switches Part 2
11. The False Bride (w/ Alasdair Roberts)
(You can hear live versions of the tracks 'For Joe' and 'Switches Part 2' here, when Hubby performed the tracks live in the studio at Pulse Community Radio.)
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