Elba Sessions

I just wanted to quickly post to let you all know of a great project which is ongoing at the moment, and as you will get from the title, it’s for a good cause. The Smith/Chesnutt/Linkous project (unsure if this is the official name) has been set up by Euan from The Steinberg Principle to raise money for Depression Alliance UK. The remit is basically that Euan has asked musicians to record a song by one of the above artists (Elliott Smith, Vic Chesnutt and Mark Linkous) which he will make available for download, for the price of £1. All proceeds go to the worthwhile charity that is Depression Alliance UK.

So far there has been a veritable feast of good artists including Pink Pills, Lovers Turn To Monsters, Lotte Kestner, The Unwinding Hours and RM Hubbert submitting songs and you can listen and download the lot over here on the bandcamp page.

Depression is an illness which affects so many peoples everyday lives and whilst I’ve sat here for a while trying to formulate some sort of words to describe my understanding of depression through experiences which I have had in my life with friends and family, this is how Depression Alliance put it; pretty accurate…

“The word ‘depression’ is used to describe everyday feelings of low mood which can affect us all from time to time. Feeling sad or fed up is a normal reaction to experiences that are upsetting, stressful or difficult; those feelings will usually pass.

Sometimes people may not realise how depressed they are, especially if they have been feeling the same for a long time, if they have been trying to cope with their depression by keeping themselves busy, or if their depressive symptoms are more physical than emotional.”

So yeah, check out this project, good people, good music, great cause.

x

Whilst i’m off in Paris munching on amazing pastries and lazing about here, there are some pretty good gigs going on in Glasgow.

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!

When it comes to liking music, I have many many weaknesses. It’s fair to say if one or several of the following things are present in any music that I listen to, there’s a chance I’m going to like it. These weaknesses may include, but are not restricted to, banjos, ukelele’s, pianos with strings and male/female duo’s. Bella Ruse falls into the latter.

I’d come across one of their songs a few months ago and their myspace page has sat in my browser’s ‘To Check Out’ folder ever since. I noticed that Peenko had a link to download an EP by them in his Friday Freebies last month and this was just the kick up the backside I needed to give them a proper listen, and I’m glad I did!

The Bella Ruse EP is a lovely collection of songs. The vocals are endearing and intimate and the acoustic guitar understated. Push On, the EP’s opener is probably the stand out track but every track is a winner. I’ve seen them described as folk jazz and whilst that description generally doesn’t grab me, it probably sums them up quite well. The folk comes through in the songwriting and the voice is very soulful and reminiscent of great jazz/soul singers like Ella Fitzgerald. There’s even a track in French, another one of my weaknesses!

If you’re curious, you can check them out at the below places!

Official Website
Bandcamp
MySpace

Shambles Miller is a delightful ‘folker’ from Glasgow ways. I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to get a little insight into his world of tiny guitars and wizards. Quite possibly the nicest (not to mention most patient) artist I’ve had the pleasure of picking the brain of, I encourage you to mosey on over to his myspace. There awaits some enthralling little tales that you can immerse yourself in.

There have been some charming photos of you in your youth with various musical instruments added to your blog recently. When did you start playing and writing your own material?

Well, my mum will always insist that I wrote my first song when I was about three, singing about being in bed. I don’t think that counts though and much to her chagrin, I doubt I’ll be releasing it as my first single.

I’ve been playing the guitar and writing songs since I was about 14, but it was only a year or so ago that I felt I had the kind of material I was really confident in sharing with a wider audience. Wider than my mum, dad and dog, anyway.

You released your EP Shambles Vs The Dragonwizard late last year. What were the themes you were working with when you started putting it together.

Well, being my first E.P. I wanted to try and showcase a good range of the sort of stuff I do, so it incorporates the humorous side as well as a slightly darker stuff. A lot of it is about fighting against certain things: be it myself or some kind of authority or the idea that everyone has to be the same in someway. Or, y’know, evil wizards.

Are you pleased with the finished work?

I am, yeah, I’m very proud of the record. Although a year on I can definitely hear areas where I feel I’ve improved, (especially after nearly a year of gigging at least every fortnight) I think that’s natural. You have to be your own worst critic. There’s a saying that “art is never finished; only abandoned” and I’m sure that with unlimited time and money I’d have added certain elements, but this is always the sound I wanted from my first E.P. I originally put out a limited run of 50 copies and I sold the last one a week or so ago, which was a little strange, seeing it go. If there’s enough demand in the future though I’ll hopefully do another run.

Neil Slorance’s artwork for the EP is absolutely adorable. How long have you known one another?

We’ve been best friends for over 10 years now, since secondary school. He painted my guitar for me and when I decided I was going to put out my own E.P., there was no question about who I was going to get to do the artwork. He also does the odd poster or flyer for me and of course my badges feature his work too. I usually have to pay him by taking him for dinner. Most people actually recognise the Neil Slorance version of me before they’d recognise me in the street. Even in reviews, features and on blogs folk will use a wee Slorance Shambles. I quite like that.

You’re often noted for singing in your native accent. Why do you think that there is such great focus on that?

I think it’s because for so long, so many people seemed to sing in a faux-american accent, and singing in your own accent for a Scottish person meant comparisons to The Proclaimers. I think partly the success of Biffy Clyro and the rise in popularity of folk music means it has become more acceptable to hear someone sing in a Scottish accent. To me it just sounds more true. So many singers nowadays modify their voice, either to sound different to everyone else, or possibly even to imitate whatever sound or accent is in vogue, but it often comes off sounding forced. It just sounds false.

Where did the tiny guitar come from?

Haha, the tiny guitar. I think a lot of people expect to see it at every gig because I mentioned it on my myspace page, but it only features on one song so far. It was a present from my mum and dad after they’d been on holiday. I think it was intended to be a toy for children but with some jiggery-pokery I managed to turn it into a playable (albeit temperamental) instrument.

You’ll be playing Sloans Ballroom again on the eighth of June. Are you looking forward to the show?

Definitely, I really enjoyed it last time and this time I’m sharing the bill with some great acts who happen to be some of my closest friends, so it’s that wee bit extra-special. Plus it looks like it’ll be my first gig back after the first month off from gigging that I’ve taken in nearly a year.

Are you quite fond of the venue?

Very much so, it’s gorgeous. The sound is great and it has a really lovely atmosphere, plus it’s not every day you get to play in a ballroom.

We try to ask (though I always forget) anyone involved in a podcast or interview for Elba Sessions if there are any bands we should be checking out? Any recommendations?

Well, I would definitely recommend Florence and Lauren, one of the bands I’m playing with on the 8th of June. They change their name a lot (its a woman’s prerogative I understand) and seem to have invented the genre “folk-pop melodrama.” There’s Mr. Andrew Lindsay, also appearing on the bill on the 8th. He plays some really catchy folky pop too and has a voice that’s just as impressive as his haircut. I’d also keep an eye out for Reverie, soon to release her debut album, and Anavris; one of the best unsigned bands in the business just now.

Finally, what will the next venture for Shambles Miller be?

Well, I’d absolutely love to get to play any wee festivals this year, so if anyone will have me it’ll make my summer. I’ll also be recording my next as-yet-untitled E.P, which I can’t wait to get into. Apart from that, I’ll be back gigging regularly within the next couple of weeks and hopefully I’ll manage to fit in a wee Scottish tour. I might try and lose my beer belly too, that’d be a plus.

Shambles Miller will be playing Sloans Ballroom on the 8th of June

Also, Shamble Miller is looking for your vote in his bid to open Green Man this year. You can head along here to cast your vote!

Fun Anxiety – A condition known to afflict members of rock combination group Kill The Captains, born from a sense that everyone is having fun without them. Symptoms include leaving conversations hanging because your neighbour’s conversation sounds more interesting, a pathological refusal to go to bed despite the fact that everyone else went to bed days ago, a phobia of clowns.
Related forms: Funmnesia

Today we welcome Armellodie’s southernmost batallion Kill The Captains to the Elba Sessions. Having just released their debut long player, Fun Anxiety, we caught up with front man and axe-wielder Leon for a few words.

Firstly, would you care to introduce the band?

Of course- I go by the name of Captain Carter, I am co-axe wielder and chief warbler. My fellow axe grinder and gnasher of teeth is Dr Pickavance. Captain Scarlett pounds the traps like his life depends on it, Bifidus Digestivum does the sub-sonic pulses and throbs recently filling in the clown sized shoes of his forbear Yoz Hughes.

Awful question, but, who are your main influences. Having seen you live, I’m guessing it’s varied throughout the band!?

We are a ramshackled pile up of the best of Kraut rock, post rock, Brighton rock, roll and rock. Love Slint, love My Bloody Valentine, love Kyuss, love Can, love Le Savy Fav, love seventies folkie stuff, love it love it love it.

You seem to be quite a busy band what with having your own studio and putting on monthly ‘Mutiny’ nights. Do you think more bands should get involved with taking a wider approach to their band i.e. putting on gigs for themselves etc…

If you can handle the extra stress and strain of putting on an event it can be massively rewarding. We started Mutiny quite simply because we felt there weren’t enough nights like it in Sheffield. When we go out for a night of live music we want to see something fresh, non-generic and exciting, and we knew there were lots of people in our city similarly like of mind and taste. So it was a no brainer really. One of the obvious key benefits is that you get to put yourself on the bill with bands that genuinely excite you, rather than being at the mercy of a promoter who might not share your taste in music or sense. And then there’s the general principle of the evening where we aim to make the nights as good experience as possible for the bands we put on- we’ll promote the ass off it, whip up a great atmosphere and, importantly, all profits are shared. It is criminal that too many top bands play without being paid their dues.

Has doing this helped you as a band?

Greatly- we’ve played with some incredible bands as a result and reached their audiences where potentially we might not have. As a result we’ve shared the bill with the the likes of Bilge Pump, Acoustic Ladyland, Fists, Wooderson, Corleone, Johnny Foreigner, and our amazing label mates Cuddly Shark and Le Reno Amps.

How did signing to Armellodie come about being that you are based in Sheffield and them in Glasgow?

It was a strange meeting of minds that came about in 2007. My old school friend was passing through Sheffield with his band Actress Hands co-touring with Le Reno Amps. We all hit it off, sank booze, chewed the metaphysical fat, exchanged musical tips. Al Nero of the Amps got in touch a few weeks later expressing an interest in putting out some records on his fledgeling Armellodie label. The rest they say is history. We couldn’t be happier. To be on the roster of bands that Al has put together is an absolute dream. I genuinely believe we’re on one of the best labels in the UK. Cuddly Shark, Super Adventure Club and the Amps all deserve to be massive.

The new album ‘Fun Anxiety’ was released on May 5th. Has it been a long time in the pipeline?

As we went for the DIY approach, recording it in our studio ourselves, it probably took us a bit longer to piece together than it should. But it was our aim to try and do something a bit different- an album lover’s album. Hopefully something that you want to listen to from the first track through to the last, in one sitting. We consciously avoided simply recording the live renditions of the tunes, instead looking at different ways of interpreting songs that we had got used to playing a certain way. Hence stuff like Lebanese has been transformed from its live thrashy origins into something more ethereal and stoner for the record.

It struck me when listening to the album that it was very different and very cleverly put together, do you have a different approach to songwriting than your average band would?

Each song is different. Some stuff is the result of jams that have been recorded, replicated, structured, recorded and restructured. Other times I’ll come to the band with a song that’s ¾ finished, we’ll hammer it out and see what direction we can pull it in. As a general rule, we try to avoid the conventional verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus route. But there is always something to be said about convention from time to time.

Does having your own studio help with developing the songs and how they eventually end up sounding on the record?

Absolutely. Our studio is a modest set up, but has served us fantastically well over the years as a recording and songwriting tool. For the most part, it’s instant feedback. If you’re working something out and unsure where to take it, recording and listening back is great for stimulating creativity, and making you look at the song more objectively. It’s also useful for documenting and logging jams, ensuring they’re not lost to the moment. Some of our best moments as a band have been born from recorded jams.

It is standard at Elba that we try to get some ‘local’ knowledge out of all the bands we speak to. Is there any bands that we should be looking out for either from Sheffield or that you’ve come across on your travels?

Loads – Wooderson are great band from Sheffield which we played with just the other night, Bilge Pump are awesome, hilarious and technically absurd, Bad Guys rock some serious ass and obviously our aforementioned label mates. Super Adventure Club have to be seen to be believed.

What does the rest of the year hold for KTC?

Well we’ve had a chocker year so far but after a gig with Clinic at the Harley in Sheffield in June, followed by the Peace in the Park festival we’ll take a short break from the gigs to return to the studio to record a new EP.

‘Fun Anxiety’ is out now on Armellodie Records and you can get your grubby paws on a copy here.

Howdy people. This is another of those posts which start off with one thing in mind and then end up encompassing a whole load of stuff floating about my emails and head.

First up a shout out to fellow bloggers Peenko and Aye Tunes. They are having a first foray into the promotion game this Friday (27/4/10) with a rather good line up at the Captain’s Rest. Joining Campfires In Winter and Kid Canaveral are Mitchell Museum who have been wearing out my iPod in the last few weeks. Tickets are £5 on the door but if you contact either blogger in advance, they’ll knock a quid off the price cos they are just like that!

Also gigging this week are young upstarts The Girobabies who launch their brand new EP ‘Social Not Working’ with a launch party this Friday at The Buff Club. It all kicks off at 7pm and only costs the princely sum of £3. You can have a wee listen to the EP on their bandcamp page.

If the previous two gigs weren’t enough for a Friday night, there’s an absolute corker going down at our home from home The Liquid Ship. Gracing the basement once again is the wonderful Julia and the Doogans along with Stevie and The Moon and Lovers Turn To Monsters. Cracking line up, I would presume gig times will run as we run it, so first act will be on at 9pm.

Then on Saturday night, Eagleowl take on the Captains Rest in the second leg of their Edinburgh/Glasgow EP launch parties. Support comes from My Kappa Roots and Rob St John. You can pre order the EP on their bandcamp page.

The readers of this blog don’t need to be told by us that Glasgow’s music scene is buzzing and the guys over at UNESCO City of Music are putting together a music stream aiming to promote all that’s good and local going on in the city. They are looking for submissions which can be uploaded to their soundcloud page or sent in by good old fashioned mail to the following address;

Glasgow City of Music
20 Trongate
Glasgow
G1 5ES

For further information you can email info@glasgowcityofmusic.com

The Glasgow Oxjam Team are on the lookout for people wanting to help out at this years Oxjam takeover, which will take place in October. There is more details on their myspace blog and you can download an application on the Oxjam website. I went along to the takeover last year and saw some great bands, Yahweh being one that stands out the memory. The best thing is that it’s all for a great cause.

Greetings! We here at Elba wish to offer our sincerest apologies for being quite so hushed last week. As already mentioned in our brief appearances there was some recovery required. We’re back now! Aren’t you glad?

What a lovely week for us to re-appear again as well. Record Store Day falls this Saturday (17th April) and we’ll be talking about that more extensively later in the week. We just wanted to mention it now and encourage you to get yourselves along to Mono, Avalanche and Mixed Up who will be heading up the Glasgow festivities with live bands, silliness (face painting!!!), the token limited edition releases and lots more.

Its also a good week for Swedish music. Former Bon Iver touring companion The Tallest Man on Earth releases The Wild Hunt today. This is Kristian Mattson’s second full length release under his alter ego. He’s a songwriter who echoes Dylan but not in that awful way that you are thinking. That comparison alone would usually put me off were I to read it but it really is an apt summary of his music. However, if your tastes lay more on the grander side, EF return with another great release. They have that magical quality inherent to a lot of Scandinavian music that completely alludes. They make your heart raw with the delicateness of their songs and then make it swell with grand, energetic arrangements.

We’ll have our usual peek at gigs midweek but just wanted to highlight a couple of things happening early this week. Julia & the Doogans, Aspen Tide and Dougie Greig play Pivo Pivo tonight as part of the Exposure Scotland run.

Also over at Oran Mor this very eve a concert for Chilean Earthquake Disaster Fund is taking place with a full and varied line up: Pauline Goldsmith(compere), Ballboy, Ken McCluskey, The Low Miffs, Kid Canaveral, The Boppin Heads, Bruce Morton (comedy), Susan Calman (comedy), “The Wee Man” (comedy), Carlos Arredondo & Galo Ceron, Tam Dean Burn (political theatre), Amy Duncan, Cora Bissett, Rustic City Fathers, Skye Lonegran, Drew Taylor (poetry), Brokeback Jockstrap, Ali Macrae, Mike Gonzalez (guest speaker).

Laura Marling will be appearing at The Old Fruitmarket on Tuesday night. I’m a sucker for pretty folk and she’s just lovely live accompanied by her full band.

Finally, in other live news, Stag and Dagger announced more of their now very busy bill for the May event last week (we’re playing catch up, sorry). Go have a gander here.

Photo by Alan Roney

At the moment we keep going back and forth here at Elba trying to decide who we want to go and see at Hinterland next week. When we sent our initial lists to each other I wasn’t particularly surprised that some of the same names were on each others list. I mean, I’d like to think we have pretty discerning tastes here at Elba (ahem, if you knew about one of our collective’s cheesy pop collection, you’d surely disagree). Several of those names also seem to have animal names in them – nearly every band I seem to like these days has an animal in the title! Anyway, today’s feature is no exception to that rule and someone we’ll definitely be going to see next weekend. I present to you Anna from Kitty the Lion…

You used to perform as ‘Anna Meldrum’. Why the change, and do you enjoy having a full band behind you?

When I was gigging as Anna someone asked me what my real name was because they thought it was a stage name. I thought that was a bit bizarre because my name is really ordinary, but maybe that’s only because I read it on envelopes a lot. Anyway, we decided to change because when I started playing gigs with a band behind me it felt really awkward when we’d get introduced as ‘Anna Meldrum’…and there were three of us. I absolutely love having a full band together now, I get all grumpy when I have to do acoustic things nowadays. The songs sound the way they always did inside my head, but everyone else gets to hear it too!

You released your single ‘Lion in the Bed’ in November. Any plans for more releases? Or maybe an album?

We’re definitely going to have another release at some point this year, not sure what it’ll be yet but most likely an EP sort of idea. A single and an album’s baby.

Glasgow has a reputation for having a lot of good venues to play in, what’s your favourite?

I like the Captain’s Rest and Nice n Sleazy. The sweaty dank ones where you get no phone signal. There are good memories hanging about in those places.

Stornoway is listed in your recent gigography, if you could play a gig anywhere, where would it be?

I’d really like to go to Iceland and imagine I was Björk.

Hinterland 2010 is fast approaching and we are looking forward to seeing your set. Is there anybody else playing the festival who you’re hoping to catch?

As many as I can! It will be cool to see the bigger names but will also be nice to see some local people I’ve listened to but not seen live, like Panda Su and The Boy Who Trapped the Sun.

We always ask anyone who does a podcast or interview on for Elba Sessions if there are any bands we should be checking out? Any recommendations?

Findlay Napier, Kristina Cox, Julia and the Doogans, Matt Norris and the Moon, Sparrow and the Workshop…

What can we expect to see from Kitty the Lion in the next year?

More commitment because I’ll have graduated from Uni!

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Kitty’s aforementioned single is out now and available for download at i-tunes, get yer mitts on a copy. For all the latest news on the band be friends over on myspace.

You can catch Kitty the Lion as part of this year’s Hinterland Festival, next Saturday (3/4/10) at various Glasgow venues (tickets here).

*The lovely photo above was brought to you by the lens of Alan Roney

This post is brought to you by some sticky, doughnut icing covered, fingers. Yum.

Optimo e-closio
Kim: Sad sad sad sad news. I feel a lot like my Glasgow music institutions have been closing around me for a couple of years now. This one just seems too sad though. Where the heck is everyone gonna go on a Sunday night now? I just remember turning of age in the drinking manner of the word and my best friend and I having starry eyes when it came to Optimo.

Phil: I feel too old to comment. I mean going out on a Sunday night! Jeeeez! Seriously though, it seems like everything is shutting down to be replaced with things which are less good. Optimo is one of those institutions though, but I can’t help but wondering whether it became too big a thing? It seemed to start being populated by people who just thought that was the trendy place to go and they weren’t going for the music. That said it had a really large band of regular followers. It is sad though, the optimo dj’s spun some cracking tunes in their day.

K: Oh dear, I clearly have yet to learn that I’m too old to go out on a Sunday night. I just loved the astoundingly good tastes of Twitch and Wilkes. From bringing great acts to play the Subby to finding and/or reviving some astounding music, they were a class of their own. A real treasure. It’s true that all things must end and there is an air of inevitability about this news. I mostly worry about what we have to replace these guys right now. Someone put Dolby Anol on as residents somewhere. Keep me happy. It appears from the Optimo announcement that they are going to be doing occasional spots and help out with programming of events here and there, which is definitely good news.

Filmstars in music
K: Well, I’ll try to not talk about the obvious just yet. Though I feel it might be necessary by the time we’re spoken of the truly terrible Marion Cottilard and Franz Ferdinand collab. What exactly is this? It’s something to do with Dior, yes? I’m sure I read that? Stereogum have the vid up just now. If you last the whole duration of the song I think you should get a prize.

P: Yuck. I had to turn off about 1 min 30, when it looked like the Robert Palmer ‘Addicted to Love’ video. I can’t make up my mind whether Franz and Marion Cottiard make a good match, instinct says yes, listening to this, it’s a no. It is interesting though how Hollywood stars are now becoming a lot more involved in music. Over the last couple of years there’s been Juliette Lewis, Minnie Driver, Scarlett Johannson and of course Elba fave Zooey Deschanel. Hmmm, all seems to be females, did Keanu’s Dogstar put all male filmstars off music?

K: Perhaps female actresses just get more attention in their musical pursuits? Jared Leto still has his band if that balances things out… not the best example I feel. Russel Crowe? Even worse. Joaquin Pheonix: rapper? Lets not go there. Juliette Lewis seems a lot more involved with The Licks than I’d believe any of the others to be (other than the lovely Zooey). Though, I am completely addicted to the Pete Yorn/Scarlett single Relator.

What we’re listening to so far this year
K: I love Field Music. It had turned out to be my album I turn to when I’m not sure what sort of mood I’m in. They remind me a little of Of Montreal. Otherwise, I finally got a listen to The xx, which turned out to be the opposite of what I expected. I wasn’t prepared for how mellow and pleasant the record is. Joanna Newsom, of course, has been my little gem of the year so far. I won’t ramble on about her again. There’s a whole post should anyone wish to revisit my ode-ing.

P: I too love the Field Music album. I haven’t caught them live yet and I hear they are incredible in the flesh. The Los Campesinos! album is also very good, a lot more robust for want of another term than their last offering, which is no bad thing. I’m also liking the Lightspeed Champion album, it’s quite grand and theatrical in places. Looking through the Elba diary though there is loads of exciting things out over the coming months.

K: I think we’d both recommend Mitchell Museum right now (as Phil you nagged me until I listened to them), a free download is floating here waiting to make ears here, there and everywhere happy.

OH! Lest we forget, a little well done from us both to SeMPeR Fi for qualifying for the Area Final of Live and Unsigned held in Newcastle in April. A well deserved victory!

This weekend there is a wide range of exciting events that could put bounce into even the most tired step. It is in this light that the below list is presented to you. If you make it all the way through this list without feeling the slightest pique in your interest then we at Elba have failed in our quest to inform and delight. We do, however, have a small trick up our sleeve in the form of a link at the end that should have you breaking out in a full smile. Enjoy!

11.03.2010 Upcoming folk songstre-teers Julia and The Doogans are supported by Be A Familiar at The Mill. Just text Mill74k to 82500 to get in for nothing.

11.03.2010 Also tonight the Vintage Sounds fashion/music event arrives at the QMU. The Catwalk is run from vintage providers Tatty Bon and We Love to Boogie whilst live music features Pooch and Tango in the Attic. Proceeds are going to Oxfam.

12.03.2010 Weird Tapes/Memory Cassette helmer Davey Hawk presents his hybrid Memory Tapes outfit at Stereo on Friday. Last year’s hazy debut Seek Magic showed the full length potential of this act following the hype of some high profile remixes.

13.03.2010 For those of you who devote your time to finding that band on the cusp of greatness look no further than the regional finals of Live & Unsigned 2010 at The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Please allow us to go fully biased and off piste for a brief moment and give our support to SeMPer Fi (WE KNOW THEM! WE KNOW THEM!)

14.03.2010 Sunday night at Stereo fantastic folky Alasdair Roberts will be supported by psychedelic Fins Kiila. Go. Just go.

Finally, and as promised, Pitchfork posted a little video by Elba favourites She and Him on Tuesday.
Let your eyes dazzle at In The Sun. Get all doe eyed for the doe eyed, here