KA-POW! We’ve gone all comic book with the poster for this month’s Elba gig (Thursday August 5th), courtesy of Kyle Wood. (Thanks Kyle!)

So, here it is edition #9 of Elba Sessions Presents… at The Liquid Ship and our line up is headed by Lovers Turn To Monsters, who if you happen to be unfamiliar with, he’s a pretty generous dude so scoot on over to his bandcamp page for copious downloads!

Also, joining Lovers Turn To Monsters on the bill are two glasgow based singer/songwriters. Over the next few months, well, maybe even ongoing, we thought we’d try to bring you ‘People You May Not Have Heard About’ (might try and come up with a catchier title than this off the cuff effort.) and make an effort to find some new names that you may not be familiar with. Kicking this series off is Steve Cotter, who we have also just recorded a podcast with. Joining Mr Cotter on the Liquid Ship stage (well, floor) is Jennifer Andrew. Jennifer has been gigging low key in Glasgow for several years now and we’re amazed she isn’t a bit more well known! Her songs are lovely, honest songs and we’d recommend checking her out!

As usual, the gig is free to get in and doors are at 9pm.

First up, on Tuesday night is the A-T Society Fundraiser at Stereo. On the bill is former Elba Sessions guest, My Cousin I Bid You Farewell along with Ross Clark and Scott Hutchison from Frightened Rabbit. It’s all for a great cause and you can read a bit more about the A-T Society here.

On Thursday (15th July), Elba favourites Cuddly Shark play the Captain’s Rest. Word on the street is that those sharklings have been holed up on the Moray-shire coast writing some new material so expect a mix of old an possibly new songs. Also on the bill are The Lava Experiments and The Red Show.

Thursday night also sees the start of ‘Summer Nights at King Tuts’ featuring a stellar line up over the next couple of weeks of local unsigned indie darlings and cool kids! There is quite a few cracking looking line-ups over the fortnight and it all kicks of with a headline set from Silver Columns including support from MOPP, Midnight Lion and Nevada Base. You can check the full line up here and suffice to say a few of the gigs look pretty appealing to us at Elba. Astral Planes w/ Cancel The Astronauts and Galleries, French Wives, and Kitty The Lion with Julia and The Doogans on the same bill (oh lordy!).

On Saturday night our June guests, in both the pod and at The Liquid Ship, Blue Sky Archives, play Nice n Sleazy along with We See Lights. However, if it’s a blogging mecca that you are after, get yourself down to the 13th Note for the second Peenko vs Aye Tunes gig. The line up includes we’re only afraid of NYC, Randolph’s Leap (who incidentally have supplied one of my favourite lyrics for a long time and have an EP titled ‘Eeerie Indie Adam’) and Little Yellow Ukuleles. It costs a fiver to get in and if the last gig was anything to go by, you’d be advised to get your tickets in advance. You can buy from Peenko here or the much more generous Aye Tunes here! I say more generous cos you get a couple of downloads of the bands that are playing. Great idea!

I’m very excited about this month’s line up. In truth, I’m excited with every month’s line up but this month it’s gonna be a good un! Headlining for us this month is RM Hubbert. A stalwart of cult Glasgow band, El Hombre Trajeado, he has recently released his debut album ‘First & Last’ which is a gorgeous collection of, if you want a description in a very flowery kind of way, ‘instrumental acoustic sketches’. It also has the perfect amount of flamenco in there so what better music to listen to in the summer.

Joining ‘Hubby’ on the bill are Croy’s finest, Campfires in Winter. These lads are currently a drummer down so they are going to treat us to an acoustic set. I’ve not seen them live before but some respected, and some less respected bloggers (i.e Peenko (wink!!)) tell me very good things!!

Finally, a late but very welcome addition to the bill is Yusuf Azak. I downloaded the two EP’s from his myspace page and have listened to them regularly since. I find it hard to describe Yusuf’s music but the best way to put it in layman’s terms would be hushed vocals with some nice guitar playing. In fact, I quite liked Matthew at Song, By Toad’s description from a while back. “like a ghostly set of old bellows, wheezing in and out and managing to rather surprisingly generate some fantastic songs whilst doing so“. And mentioning Song, By Toad, Yusuf may have a release out on the label later this year.

Gig Info:

Where: The Liquid Ship, Great Western Road, Glasgow
When: Thursday July 1st 2010 at 9pm
Tax: Free

A friend commented to me before this gig, that going to see Teenage Fanclub was “just like catching up with old friends”. He’s not wrong. The room is filled with couples and groups of men who clearly have been acquainted with Teenage Fanclub from the early days, probably even before the release of their first album ‘A Catholic Education’. Nobody appears to be able to get around the room without seeing a face they haven’t seen since, well, probably the last Glasgow TFC gig! It’s a nice atmosphere and an atmosphere which I’ve experienced every time i’ve seen TFC.

Indeed, I feel that in my mid-twenties that I’m a youngster in the room, something that doesn’t happen often at gigs these days but despite my age, I remember Bandwagonesque as my earliest TFC memory. Growing up with a brother eight years my elder, I always wanted to listen to whatever music he was listening to. (Incidentally, just done some research and I would have been around 8 when Bandwagonesque was out. Are kids these days listening to The Phantom Band or even the new Teenage Fanclub album. I kinda hope so!)

The sun was shining again on Wednesday evening and really, there is no better weather to get you in the mood for a bit of Teenage Fanclub action. Veronica Falls kicked off the evening as support and it took me a while to decide on them. I think a few sound issues and the slowly filling up venue took it’s toll but the songs sounded good and I’ll definitely be trying to check them out again, maybe in a smaller venue.

The TFC set was mainly made up with songs from the new album ‘Shadows’ as well as a collection of classics from Bandwagonesque, Grand Prix and Songs From Northern Britain with a few others added for good measure. New songs Shock and Awe, The Past and recent single Baby Lee sounded just as good as you would have expected all the old classics to sound. Personal favourites for me on the night were the tracks from the ‘…Northern Britain’ album. Perfect for an early summers eve. Possibly a surprise for me as I regard Grand Prix as my favourite TFC album.

The main set ended with fan favourite Sparky’s Dream but the encore was a real treat. ‘Howdy!’ opener I Need Direction and Everything Flows from first album, ‘A Catholic Education’ finished off proceedings…or so we thought. After the house lights began to come back up we were treated to a rendition of Star Sign. A perfect end to a perfect evening!

Setlist:

Start Again
Sometimes I Don’t Need To Believe In Anything
The Past
It’s All In My Mind
Don’t Look Back
Baby Lee
Can’t Feel My Soul
Shock and Awe
I Don’t Want Control Of You
About You
Sweet Days Waiting
Your Love Is The Place I Come From
The Concept
Ain’t That Enough
When I Still Have Thee
Sparky’s Dream

Today Never Ends
I Need Direction
Everything Flows

Starsign

The new album ‘Shadows is out now from all good retailers!

Summer’s here and it’s been a bit of a scorcher this week. Hopefully it continues but as it’s Glasgow, there’s always the threat of rain just ten minutes away. We’ve had this listed on myspace, facebook, last fm and songkick for a while but I just realised I’d not stuck it on the blog! How foolish of me.

June 3rd sees us ‘Present’ at the Liquid Ship for the 7th time and we have a belting line up! It’s a very acoustic affair this time with stripped back sets from Blue Sky Archives and My Cousin I Bid You Farewell as well as including the acoustic storytelling of Shambles Miller.

House rules apply, free to get in for 3 brilliant artists.

P.S. We hear that Blue Sky Archives are awaiting a shipment of shiny EP’s, if we’re lucky, they might take some along to the gig. If we’re unlucky, you can get it here, on their bandcamp page!

I’ve only recently taken up photography and find taking pictures in a dark basement a bit of a challenge! If anyone has any tips, please let me know!

The Elba Sessions return to the Liquid Ship in Glasgow once again for the sixth Elba Sessions Presents… evening on May 6th. It falls on Election Day so what better way to spend the early part of your evening before toddling off home to watch Peter Snow on BBC with the official Houses of Parliament swingometer?

This month, it’s straight up acoustic goodness. Heading us up we have an acoustic set from local scoundrels Bad Bad Men who will treat us to their very own brand of rootsy folk. Also on the bill are the comforting songs of David Bova and all the way from sunny Gourock, marky:boyofdestiny.

As always the music starts at 9pm and it’s FREE FREE FREE to get in. Do it!

Well this weekend seems to be dedicated to the resurgence of awful nineties acts in the fair city of Glasgow. Not only are we being honoured with an appearance by Reef but also the one hit wonder duo Shakespear’s Sister. What a worry. Anyway, onto some live music that we want to tell you about. We’ll keep it short but very sweet.

For those of you lucky enough to have received tickets, like Elba’s very own Phil Smith (we are not speaking due to this), The Phantom Band, Race Horses, And So I Watch You From Afar and Chickenhawk play King Tuts as part of the BBC United Nations tour tonight (15.04.2010). That is a ridiculously tasty line up. Do enjoy, you select few.

If psychadellic rock is calling you this weekend, Californian Wooden Shjips play Stereo Saturday.

RM Hubbert and Moon Unit will be in Mono as part of their Record Store Day festivities. Not only that but it’s free!

*UPDATE TO THE ABOVE* Them pesky Zombie avoiders Super Adventure Club play Avalanche on Saturday 17th as part of their record store day celebrations. That’s at 3pm.

Tomorrow night (Friday 9th) there is a couple of things on our radar. First up an artist who we unfortunately didn’t manage to get along to at Hinterland (sad faces and regret all round), The Boy Who Trapped The Sun, is supporting Australian bluesman (with a penchant for Hip Hop beats) the John Butler Trio at the O2 Academy. Heading back over the River Clyde, recent visitors to Elba Studios, Inner Sight, launch their forthcoming single with a support slot for Edinburgh favourites Isa & The Filthy Tongues who also launch their album on the night. The ‘cosmic dance rockers’ take to the Stereo stage tomorrow night and it’s £7 to get in. We’ve been told to expect some surprises????????

On Saturday, it’s a veritable feast. I’ve had serious trouble deciding where I’ll drag the better half, behold the options…

A) Another good gig at Stereo featuring a rather stellar line up headed up by Three Blind Wolves who are launching their new album ‘Sound of The Storm’ (looking forward to hearing that one), one of last weeks ‘Elba Hinterland highlight‘ bands, French Wives and the chaotic but excellently named John Knox Sex Club. Tickets are fiver.

B) The Ruck In The Duck. (The poster leaves me no choice but to use boxing lingo…apologies.) A heavyweight bout of champions. A battle between Glasgow’s two best, unknown, record labels. Taking place at (the name gives it away) The Flying Duck, the line up includes She’s Hit and Calacas representing the awesome Lucky Number Nine Records and in the ‘other’ corner showing off the Armellodie stable are Sheffield’s ‘tough as steel’ upstarts Kill The Captains and Cuddly Shark. The first bell rings at 8pm so get in early for your ringside seat.

So there you have it, two options for Friday and Saturday. Take your pick!

*This is in no way meant to be a definitive gig guide, just gigs we like the sound of. If you do have a gig coming up that you think we should know about, just holler at us, we’re always looking for somewhere to go!

We set off on our quest with the aid of some excellent scran and a lot of caffeine on the part of one of the Elba team following excess the previous evening; we shall let you decide who was so irresponsible the night before the big event. We opened our evening at Ivory Blacks with Make Sparks; a band who command your attention. Now I’m struggling to come up with an analogy that is not so hugely inappropriate that you’ll close your browser window in disgust… I think it is the lingering effects of the holiday weekend. So, I will just say: this band are tight. They even made an Eminem cover work. They closed with their single Rewind, which is the most sensitive, beautiful guitar driven pop song. This band surely have big things ahead.

We scooted off promptly to enjoy something that would please all in our little collective at The Admiral. Kitty The Lion brought (and clearly stole – read on) a lot of the sunshine of the day. Their little stage was just right for them and they charmed the pants off of everyone in the room. A hiccup in song announcement was endearing and handled gracefully and hilariously. Bird Flu was the song that had me singing their praises for the day with some beautiful harmonies to the ‘grovel song.’ Of the whole festival, these guys were definitely my favourite band.

We bounced out of the Admiral into the rain, which was rather ironic as we had spent the afternoon commenting on how nice a day it was proving to be, and dashed to Macsorley’s. Our hope was to catch Spectrals before heading to The Arches. Unfortunately this was not to be as we were informed along with a crowd of other soggy gig goers that the venue was full. We dashed back to catch ten minutes of The Darien Venture at Ivory Blacks who blasted us back out the door with their pounding tracks in the direction of The Arches.

Here we remained for the rest of the evening and this was where things got a little weird. The combination of the sound sucking venue and our high hopes took a little of the enjoyment out of the next couple of hours. Ambulances suffered worst in terms of sound. Their particular brand of melancholy music would have to be sonically spot on to work live. Mixed in with the nerves of their first big Glasgow show they came off shaky but they held tough and delivered some great moments. What I Thought of worked really well despite the interferences.

French Wives got the majority vote Elba posse when it came to picking their band of the day. Live this band are just going from strength to strength. They have picked up the reigns of the masters of twee in Glasgow. Its all violins, guitars, little quirks and dancing. French Wives even managed to make you look past the terrible sound.  Though there is a chance we were just distracted by Stuart, the tallest man alive, showing his dancing skills.

Jeffrey Lewis drew a huge crowd and told stories then sang stories then put his foot in it big time with a geographical mistake that confounds international acts more than our nation would hope but won most over in the end. As a particularly small person I missed out on being able to see a thing for the duration and was subject to some ranting by a merry fellow to my left. Plus the beginning of set was plagued by a strange high pitched tone. These factors left me confused and distracted. I believe the hard core of NY anti-folk fans were in heaven for the duration, alas I could not quite reach that elysium.

The last stop for us was Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Now, as the only one out of our few who enjoys, nay, cannot resist a little boogie, I was itching to get a dance in as soon as he took to the stage. Decked in lizardish-head-wear the set that was delivered even managed to put a smile on the face of Phil ‘I don’t do dancing’ Smith.

So our day was most delightful musically, not to mention catching up with some rather sound blogging peers. The new setting for the festival definitely worked as we managed to catch a lot of music even though we were running from venue to venue. The atmosphere was great in every gig. The two day recovery period tends to point towards the success of the one day extravaganza. Here’s hoping this has set the bar for years to come.