Elba Sessions

As I researched the extensive, exclusive Record Store Day releases to try and write something about this year’s vinyl splurge-fest I was drawn to a rather strange collection of material. Usually there are rarities and new releases that I develop an intensity about owning weeks in advance. This year I imagined Ingrid Volume 1, the Animal Collective 12″ release of their Guggenheim performance, a new Guided By Voices single, an Of Montreal/Deerhoof split or new-favourite-band-ever-ever-Django Django’s Storm 7″ would fit my habitual pattern.

Worryingly, these did not cause anywhere near the stir that the following did. Before I proceed I wish to note that I MUST be experiencing some sort of late-twenties crisis or at least a peak in hormonal levels. Or something else. Anything else. There has to be a reason for this regression.

The first sign that something was off was my reaction to details of a ZINE with unreleased music from Dirty Projectors, Real Estate, Cass McCombs, John Maus and Villegers on multi-coloured flexi disc. You had me at zine, dominorecordco! Yet, further to this, the zine will include a short story by James Yorkston, a poem by Laura Marling and some doodles from Alison Mosshart. Oh and not forgetting a cover designed by Bjorn Copeland. A 15 year old Kim would have squealed over a release like this and once attained would clutch the prize to her chest with crazed possessiveness shining from widened eyes. Then it occurred to me that this wasn’t a projection about my adolescent taste but an actual manifestation of my enthusiasm for the product. The picture I have described may well materialise on April 21st in Monorail.

It was mostly downhill from there. Internal bursts of delirium along with defensive thoughts bounced around my head when reading of:

David Bowie – Starman (I don’t care that it is unnecessary to own this!)

She & Him – Volume One (On coloured vinyl!)

Django Django – Storm (What? I still WANT it!)

The Supremes – Baby Love (On-heart-shaped-vinyl. LOOK at it!)

The Velvet Underground – Loaded (ON PINK VINYL!)

THE BREAKFAST CLUB SOUNDTRACK!

At this point I closed the browser tab, regained some control over my sanity and began to type. In fact, disclosing these fleeting thoughts has proven quite therapeutic. I’ve managed to go back, glance again and note that the vast material produced for this muso holiday serves many tastes and various moods. I don’t believe that I will purchase all of the above when RSD rolls around. I do, however, admit that some better preparation and planning may be required to curb any impulse buys.

Then, once it’s all over, I can relax in the assurance that I will once again regain the composure of my adult self. Until May 5th or after this arrives, whichever comes last.

It’s maybe just me, but this would make an excellent title for a Scooby Doo episode. Excellent name aside, this is a wee gem of a homemade record which has found itself a limited casette release on Peenko Records. And when I say limited, i think there is only 20 or 30 available. For those who are either not lucky enough to grab a tape before they sell out or for those firmly now rooted in the digital age, there will of course also be a download option.

I believe this was predominantly a collection of bedroom recordings made by frontman Adam Ross but the lo-fi almost ramshackle sound of it, coupled with RL’s fairly unique lyrics make this a really endearing listen.

My first encounter with Randolph’s Leap was a few years ago with a song called Cassie O’Tone which I’m pleased to say is included on this album. It still contains some of my favourite lyrics;

I sit here in the bath and pretend i’m doing the luge

If my fantasies are failures then what hope has real life got

The album is released on Monday and if you want to try them for yourself you can download Dying In My Sleep over on Randolph’s Leap’s bandcamp page. You can also catch them play in Glasgow tomorrow night (Feb 18th) at the Captains Rest where they will supported by Donna Maciocia and Kith & Kin. There is also possibly another very special guest but we’ve got no idea who that could be.

I think there’s a time and a place for a cover version and I realise they are not for everyone. I’ve read numerous lengthy rants about why they shouldn’t be tolerated but from time to time, I quite like the odd cover. In fact, Jonnie Common’s Deskjob is a fine example of an album of covers.

Today’s example of a cover version comes courtesy of Portland’s Chromatics and is a re-working of Neil Young’s Hey Hey My My (Into the Black). I’ve heard a couple of covers of this in the past, by some pretty below average bands which haven’t really done very much for me but Chromatic’s echoey and sparse take on it has certainly got me repeating it on my iPod. This is the second single to be taken from their forthcoming album, Kill For Love. I hope you enjoy.

A few weeks ago we mentioned the Rob St. John and Ian Humberstone split 7″ that recently came out on Song, By Toad Records.

The Rob St. John half of that release also doubled as the first single from his forthcoming album, Weald, which is out this month. The second single from the album is now out and in even better news, you can download it for free below.

Enjoy!

Rob St. John – Sargasso Sea by Song, by Toad

I sometimes find myself sceptical of a split single or EP. I find that on many occasions the bands don’t particularly compliment one another or they are completely different styles or just plainly that I like one band and not the other, probably with no real reason.

However, with the above release, I most definitely like the whole release. I’m familiar with Rob St.John by name and not a huge amount of his music and I’m not familiar with Ian Humberstone at all, although I get the feeling that shouldn’t be the case and it’s probably completely through fault of my own. There is a cohesion to the 7″ which kind of tallies up when I read the accompanying press release to find that the pair have collaborated together in the past and that both tracks were recorded in Humberstone’s kitchen on a Tascam reel to reel.

There’s something about Ian Humberstone’s voice which reminds me a bit of Bill Callahan but I’m not really one for making observations and comparisons so we’ll leave it at that. It is a subtle and gently crafted release, both songs different but very much alike. It meanders along beautifully and if truth be told, I get a bit disappointed when we reach the end, although, I can always go back to the start and listen again.

The 7″ is available now from Song, By Toad records and various other outlets. You can peruse and make your purchase here.

‘Your Phantom Limb’ is the first single from Rob St John’s album which is due for release on Song, By Toad Records in November. He takes off to London, Oxford and lands back in Edinburgh for a couple of release shows. We’d like to point out here that if you are in London, he’s playing with the fantastic Birdengine, so it should be quite a gig. Full dates are below;

14th Oct London – King’s Place with Viking Moses and Birdengine
15th Oct Oxford – Modern Art Oxford with Viking Moses and Petrels
22nd Oct Edinburgh – Pilrig St. Paul’s with Meursault, eagleowl & Viking Moses

Rob St. John & Ian Humberstone Split 7″ by Song, by Toad

The title says it all, we’ve got a few things to mention and tell you about, so look sharp.

You may remember a few months back we talked about a couple of releases from South Coast based Lynched Recordings. We thoroughly enjoyed the Clowns 7″ and you can still pick up a free Masked Eldorados of the Americas track here. Anyhoo, the label has come up trumps with a lovely little EP by Birdengine. Turn your pointers here for a little listen and more importantly to buy the digital or 7″ version.

Closer to home, Olive Grove Records have released details of the forthcoming album by The Moth & The Mirror. ‘Honestly, This World’ will be released on October 10th through the usual good record buying channels.

It’s been a while since we dipped our toes in the promoting waters, nearly a year since our voluntary sabbatical, but news of a return to gigging is imminent, so keep your peepers open for that.

In the past, The Liquid Ship has been our home and hopefully we’ll return one day but alas, The Ship has closed and is undergoing a bit of a refurb. We hear it will open again soon under the name The Roxy 171. You can keep up to date with happenings on their facebook page.

We’ve got a theme going here, so, even closer to home, Elba Studio’s have let us know about a wee autumn deal they are running, should you be looking to get some stuff recorded. I’ll leave it to Stephen, heid honcho at the studio, to tell all…

“Hey folks, we are running an Autumn recording deal of 3 days in The Tracking Room at Elba Studios for £450 (usual price £540) or 2 days in The Tracking Room at Elba Studios and 1 day mixing at Underworld Mixing & Production for £480.”

Sounds like a good deal and it’s a cosy wee studio to work in. We record our podcast s there which brings us on to the final piece of housekeeping.

You can hear September’s podcast with Andrea Marini on the mixcloud player below and look out for October’s podcast with Sparrow & The Workshop who are popping down to Elba tomorrow before their jaunt to Europe.

There’s always plenty to tell but that’ll do us for now. Look out in the next few days though, for a post about the aforementioned gig we’re helping to put on with one of our favourite bands and labels. It’s exciting stuff!

Amongst the many things that Elba love, The Muppets are pretty high on the list. From excitement about the upcoming movie to trips to Edinburgh Filmhouse to watch long-lost footage (my cherished programme can be seen below), we’re having a pretty muppetational year.

Out this month is a compilation featuring covers of classic Muppet songs from the original TV series as well as some off-shoot shows and films.  The artists are what make this a very desirable listen. Did you ever think you could own a version of Bein’ Green as sung by Andrew Bird?  Neither did I. Some of the artists may lead you to turn your nose up a little, however, all the renditions are heart-warming.  It is nice to revisit these numbers that we loved when we were younger and for it to be by artists who clearly feel the same.

So head over to NPR to dip your toe in; they have the full album available to stream. I’m adding this to my collection. Are you green with envy, eeeeh? WAKA WAKA!

There’s a couple of labels who when they release a new record i’ve always got a pretty good idea that before I’ve even heard it, I’m probably going to dig it. Song, By Toad Records definitely fit into this category, ever since they got me hooked with Meursault’s All Creatures Will Make Merry, there’s always been some anticipation whenever an email from SBT announcing a forthcoming release finds it’s way to my inbox. This is further backed up by my social networking declaration earlier in the year that King Post Kitch’s ‘Don’t Touch My Fucking Honeytone’ was a “bona-fide beezer!”

One of the latest releases on Song, By Toad Records is from Florida (yeah, Florida, in America, the land of the free, a long way from Leith) natives Lil’ Daggers, a move incidentally I think is to be applauded. Why in this digital age must we stick to releasing records by bands from our neighbourhood? The world’s a big, big place!

The simple facts are, this is a great EP. Lo-Fi in an ever so slightly polished way, catchy and there’s something about it which I can’t quite put my finger on, but it whispers some similarities to The Strokes first record. There’s also some hammond floating through the songs which gives it a bit of a psychadelic feel, maybe more California than the Florida Coast but it evokes a bit of sunshine either way so I guess that fits. It’s probably also why I like it so much.

‘King Corpse’ is out now on Song, By Toad Records – Buy here

I quite liked that it was appropriate for me to use the title of a Public Enemy track for this post, y’know the song that Anthrax featured on?

Anyway, the title of the post isn’t about rap music, it’s about noisy stuff.

Firstly, we were delighted to see that our friends at Brain Burner, after a brief hiatus, have returned to The Liquid Ship for some more experimental noise gigs. The first in the current run will take place on Aug 14th with a 9pm start. On the bill are Now Wakes The Sea whose ‘lush ambient folk drones’ we gave a live debut to at one of our Elba gigs last year. There’s some free NWTS downloads here if you wish to have a listen. Also in the line-up is Boom Edan, Neil A.Simpson, Falconry and Uzuruzu. These nights are always ‘a little different’ and they’re free so get yourself along to it if you’re stuck for something to do on the 14th! The event page is here.

Keeping on the same lines, we picked up this free download by The Masked Eldorados of the Americas recorded at the School of Noise in Falmouth. Now, that’s the second mention of Falmouth on this blog in the past few weeks, which is a bit strange for a blog based in Glasgow, but we came by this download after a recommendation from Lynch(ed) Records who are based down there. It turns out now that Lynch(ed) have ‘signed’ them up and they’ve got an EP out called If You Are Prepared To Eat It You Can Kill It.

The members of the band have been kept under lock and key with their live performance being performed by two men behind animal masks. Their numbers have now swelled to four and the EP sounds rather different to the live drone improvisation mentioned earlier. What we have on the E.P. is four instrumental ‘pop’ tracks lasting around 3-5 minutes each. It was absolutely not what I expected to sound like but it’s enjoyable listening with riffs and hooks abound. The tracks were all recorded remotely with each member retreating to their own home studio to bash out their parts of the record. It’s a worthy listen from a label who seem to really be putting out a really varying selection of music.

As a footnote, after going on to Lynch(ed) bandcamp I notice that they have the new single from Birdengine coming out at the end of this month. If you aren’t already familiar with Birdengine, we’d recommend you right that wrong.

I’ve been meaning to write about this album for ages. I suppose ever since I got a copy of their single ‘RE:Peater” sent over to me last year, I knew I couldn’t wait for the album. So here we are some 7 months later, i’ve been listening to the album for a couple of months and I’m glad to say it doesn’t disappoint in the slightest.

The first thing that hits me, as it did with the single, is that She’s Hit are loud, like really loud and not in a horrible thrashy racket way, loud in the way that you just know the person recording the album has a volume button that goes up to 11, not 10. It’s a bit like when you’re watching the telly and all of a sudden the adverts come on 10 times louder than the programme was. So, top marks on the volume front.

The album opens with title track ‘Pleasure’ and sets it’s stall out as an album which will give you a good kick up the backside. The vocals almost sneer and spit at you and guitars clunk and echo around your ears. It’s a full on aural assault which continues throughout the rest of the album. ‘Part 1′ and then ‘Lustless’, still mercilessly feedbacking and wailing, give a brief respite but is immediately trumped by my standout track RE:Peater.

All in all, it’s a great album, sure you could say that they take influence from the Jesus and Mary Chain and Iggy Pop, but at the same time they sound like nothing else going about here at the moment. Also, if you do get your paws on a copy of the album you will be rewarded by a second album with each track on the album receiving a remix courtesy of a variety of different artists including, Dam Mantle, Remember Remember, The Unwinding Hours and Fox Gut Daata.

‘Pleasure’ is out now on RE:Peater Records and you can pick up a copy over here at the RE:Peater store.