Not so Wee Jimmies.....big night out!

So it's been a hectic few days and I'm a bit knackered what with GoNorth up in Inverness on the 6th and 7th and there's more good stuff coming over the weekend!  So This is just a quickie and no apologies for loads of cutting and pasting (ok sorry....sorry) as my paws are nearly bleeding from doin' the GoNorth blog.

One big highlight is at Wee Jimmies in Cowdenbeath (where apparently the Old Man used to spend some time back in the day) who are hosting what might just be the gig of the night.....an' deffo the bargain of the night with tickets a snip at only £6.  Headlining is.....

Rod Jones is best known as a songwriter/guitarist in the Scottish group Idlewild. Alongside Roddy Woomble and Colin Newton he formed the band in 1995. Over a period spanning 15 years the band have toured the world as headliners and also in support of 
Pearl Jam, R.E.M., U2, The Rolling Stones and many more. Their album “100 Broken Windows” was recently voted Scottish album 
of the last decade by fans in the Skinny magazine and continues to have a fanatical following. Their follow up album “The Remote 
Part” debuted at number 3 in the UK charts with the single “You held the world in your arms” reaching number 9. The band have released seven studio albums to critical acclaim and continue to sell out concerts across the globe.

Aside from his work with Idlewild, Rod is also a singer songwriter under his own name, releasing a debut solo album “A sentimental education” in 2010. He has also collaborated on several other projects including the currently unreleased “George is Jones” album
with American singer Inara George.

Given the busy schedule Rod has kept up for the last 15 years you might think he would want to take a break whilst Idlewild were 
on down time but no! His new band are called "The Birthday Suit" who sound more akin to the early Idlewild. This is Rod's second 
visit to Wee Jimmies, as he played the venue in March 2011.

                                       

  

                                        

The Coaltown Daises fuse together the musical stylings of two established singer-songwriters. Both have an abundance of experience in a variety of areas of music from organising one of Fife's most successful music nights to recording in Hollywood with highest calibre of session musicians. It is no surprise that their shared passion for music in all shapes and sizes steered them towards meeting in the middle and collaborating just last year. Detailing their music with dual harmonies, intelligent lyrics and raw emotion, they want nothing more than to perform in front of a great audience.  The Coaltown Daisies are Lynzy Moutter and Vivienne Bern.

And if you happen to find yourself in Edinburgh over the weekend, the place to be is Electric Circus where The Merrylees, Modern Faces (who I love dearly), Caravan Club and Boot Magna (blogging them next week) will be performing.  It'll be a bangin' gig,   In the meantime here's a wee quickie fae Boot Magna ,





And if you're like me and goin' to be at home over the weekend go and have a swatch at Kingdom Cuts on Facebook who'll keep you updated on what's hot and what's not (stole that fae some old DJ bampot on Radio 1.


Now apparently it could be Cuts by name an' cuts by nature if word on the street is to be believed as listening figures have dipped a wee bit....so use 'em or loose 'em!

They're showcasing all the local bands you know, love and go to see most weekends so tune in every Thursday around 9.30pm.

So here's me an' Mr Snuggles
lissenin' to Modern Faces on Kingdom FM.

White men can rap.....Hop up to Inverness and get yer Rocks off

One of the outstandingly different acts on over the two days of GoNorth is the highly acclaimed Stanley Odd who's got a new single out now, touring and was in the last 3 for a MOBO UnSung award.  Check out the excellent 'Get Out Ma Headspace' (sounds like me moanin' at the Old Man) below. As Harry Hill would say...."It's Bangin".

So I'm lookin' a bit miserable here 'cause it's rainin' cats 'n' dogs (ironically) here in St Helens so I'm stuck inside with nowt to do when in comes a bit of interesting Twitterage from those lovely people at Netsounds Unsigned tellin' me that the place to be is Inverness to check out the GoNorth line up and have a swatch at the Rockhopper Sessions.
For my part I'll be keeping my pointy little ears pointed in the direction of the Netsounds Podcast to keep me up on 'what's happening' (got them plugged in and lissenin' as I Blog.  Currently on is three Danish girlies called Nelson Can singin' Apple Pie.....yummy!

       

Next on the Netsounds Podcast is French Wives (who I plugged lately) doin' the brilliant Me Vs Me......did he just say You vs Me....hmmmm.....anyhoo......I digress......big up of the day might just be for West Coasters, Campfires in Winter.  Check out their excellent sounds below....it's free!  The guys are comin' on in leaps and bounds (me Old Man thinks they sound like the Proclaimers) as can be heard on their 2012 Album Demos either on their Facebook page or on Soundcloud.  Now if you're lucky enough to be up in Inverness today go and check them out ( for my part I'm stuck here waitin' for them to come somewhere near St Helens) or you can catch them on the 13th June at Bar Bloc in Glasgow, an' it's free.....are they mental!
 




Now the acts on show today are legion and therefor too many for me to mention here (mainly due to the fact that I'm a Jack Russell and therefor got an attention span of 20 seconds) so I'll check out with one last mention for local guys Naked Red.

 Formed in 2007 as a 6-piece band including trumpet, piano, and additional female vocals, Naked Red gathered a steady following playing their own pop take on the more mainstream rock scene. After a year and a half of doing the pop thing however, it was time for a change.

Several changes in the make-up of the band saw singer/songwriter/guitarist Andy Forbes, along with fellow founding members Garth Coates (Bass) and Jamie Douglas (Drums) searching for the missing link to drive Naked Red in their next direction. Enter Tony Baxter, a time served session guitarist and master of the blues. This sound - brought to the band in the form of it's newest member - adds a great dynamic to Andy's songs, now fusing folk, funk, metal, and blues to create their very own sound.

The Band have now finished recording their debut E.P, recorded and co-produced under the watchful eye of Mop Youngson (Ex. Wolfstone, Old Blind Dogs) and is available from Imperial Music, Victorian Market, Inverness, at Naked Red gigs, or by contacting the band.

The band are currently in the process of gathering a new following, and are planning a major assault on local music scenes in 2012.  Go and catch them today ay the Rockhopper sessions, tell 'em I sent you!

                            

Ok so I'm knackered (you try typing with paws) and off for a kip before I have to go get me Kennel Cough injections (bastard)....you guys enjoy the Rockhopper vibes!

 

A Shed load of songs....don't give it the brush off

So here's me heading up to 
the shed to give it a good clean out

OK well it was nice an' sunny earlier an' there was me cleaning out the shed when it got a bit cloudy so I nipped in to check the Twitter.  Now what's the chances that I get a message from Songs From The Shed sayin' that they've just done their first ever Shedcast.

Now for me a shed cast means another bliddy haircut 'cause me Old Git complains about having to hoover up after me ten times a day when I'm casting and so he bought a set of clippers and does it himself, the bastard.....but for these guys it means a cracking blend of sessions direct from a garden shed in Somerset. 

Only in the Sun!

All the sessions are acoustic (which means they can actually play a bit) and they say "It's not about studio quality, it's about a moment in a shed" but the sounds are crystal clear and you can hear a raw honesty (I think I stole that one from some other pretentious blogger) in their music.  I'm getting a bit of a friendly kicked back vibe from these guys, although they will try and sell you stuff.....but who can complain at £7 for a CD that kills woodworm...check it out!


        

The shed is a former army billet based in the Somerset countryside just off junction 20 of the M5, it contains a fascinating collection of curiosities and is the perfect location to take a break from the madness of touring, kick back for a while and watch some intimate lo-fi acoustic performances.

The collections in the shed were initially put together for meetings of a small group of friends with a love of Cheese and Cider during one of our regular meetings in The Royal Oak it was suggested we tried to get some musicians to play at the first meeting. The Cheese and Cider society was immediately dropped and Songs From The Shed was born.

Since that decision the shed has seen many acts play and has featured in several national newspapers, on BBC Radio 1,2,3 and 5, as well as many local stations. They've been discussed on blogs all over the world and have featured in a BBC documentary.

                        

                          

And this one really blew the Old Git away when I showed him 'cause it's some old bloke and he's called Steve Harley and he played in a group called Cockney Rebel (apparently he refused to become the Pearly King) who were a bit famous and who he  remembers from what he lovingly calls the '70's which apparently was when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

                    





So give your ears and eyes a treat, check out Songs From The Shed (Winner of Shed of the year 2011).....you wont be disappointed.  Oh and, they've got chickens which would be good to chase and Admiral Fallow who as you all know I love to listen to. 

One of the latest (and recently blogged by Ralph) bands to do a session in The Shed was The Travelling Band...and you can check out one of their tracks right here.

    
              

Bonjour mes amis......meet French Wives encore.....

                

                     Mr Snuggles in French Knickers                Checkin' out the French Poodles

So there's me an' Mr Snuggles Googling for some ahem, arty pictures of French Poodles when I must have clicked on the wrong link and came up with French Wives instead.  They've recently released a debut album recorded at The Castle of Doom studios (worth checking out for any up and coming young band) in Glasgow and if the free download of the track 'Younger' is anything to go by we're going to be hearing much more of this exciting young band

                                            .
             Phwoaaaaarrrrrr                                                      Dream of the Inbetween


             

So my recommendation would be, give yer ears a treat, listen to 'Younger' for free in their online shop (enterprising buggers) or just under this here writing and go dip yer hand in yer hipper, pull out some Beer Tokens and go and purchase this piece of pure gold music!  A real steal though is the chance to buy the Album plus the EP 'Feel Safe Small' plus the singles Me vs Me and Halloween for the ridiculously low price of £15.


Here's a list of the band's August gigs


Fri 3rd August - Belladrum Tartan Hearts Festival (Seedlings Stage 18:05)

Wed 8th August - Old Oak, Cork

Fri 10th August - Whelans, Dublin

Sat 11th August - Roisin Dubh, Galway

And if you don't believe me check out this review by The Herald reporter Alan Morrison of the new release.

 
  

French Wives, 

Dream of the Inbetween 

(Electric Honey)

Frightened Rabbit laid the groundwork for the blossoming of indie-folk music in Scotland, but it's the bands who followed who stopped the scene from stagnating by branching off in so many different directions.

French Wives' sound is built on more mainstream bones than most, and perhaps that's why they don't quite get the critical kudos of, say, Admiral Fallow or Woodenbox: ultimately, they're more Radio 2 than 6 Music.

Well, snobbery be damned because every one of the 10 songs on this debut album could be a single in its own right. Some already have – Me Vs Me, with its infectious handclap beat; Halloween, with its ambitious strings arrangement. Others have a rockier flavour, where power chords are as significant as Siobhan Anderson's lead fiddle lines, or pay their dues to the likes of Deacon Blue when she provides backing vocals. If we're in namedropping mode, throw in Arcade Fire and Noah And The Whale too, because French Wives' massive tunes are tailor-made to please the crowds. With this album under their belt, expect them to leapfrog from T Break/BBC Introducing levels to the main stages in a single bound.

Well they're just back from touring America (show offs) so I'll be keeping an eye open for some major tourage now they're back in the old country so hopefully you can go check out the new toons live!  Later dudes.....

                          

Don't let this offer lie Fallow!

So I'm waking up this morning and as per normal I goes and checks my Facebook and guess what..... those nice guys at Admiral Fallow have gone mental and are having a sale!

For just a ten spot you can have their 'Boots Met My Face' album PLUS their new and highly acclaimed 'Tree Bursts in Snow' on Mp3.....yes folks that's the two for just £10!!!


                   

Simples....you gotta love this video!

 

I've been checking out some funky videos and whilst checking out Stevie Agnew (more of whom later) I came across this little gem by Chris Agnew  (I'm detecting a theme here) from that seat of all things good and great new music wise, Dunfermline.  You can check out this video and some of his other stuff on the interesting Zohogg Facebook pages and Vimeo.  And the good news is you don't even have to like Meerkats to enjoy listening to the funky toon and then it wont be long before you're doing the Meerkat too......simples!  


                           

And despite The Valves saying "there ain't no surf in Portobello"

....this video proves them wrong!

              

              So if you find yourself wanting to 'do the meerkat' 

(ok that sounds a bit dodgy and worthy of attention from the RSPCA) 

seek out this young man and let's make him 

and this video as famous as they deserve to be!