Elba Sessions

We love making lists here at Elba, so as well as our annual posts in December this year, we’ll intersperse the blog with some tracks that we each think are worthy to go in the history books as an ‘Elba Track of The Year’. They might be singles or they might be a hidden album track, but every one, in our book at least, is deemed worthy as we remember 2011…

I’ve found that the best way to explain why this track is here, is as follows…

A great track from a brilliant album with an excellent video to boot.

Call me a man of few words…

Track: The Copper Top
Album: Everything’s Getting Older

‘i *heart*…is a semi regular musing about the little things which may be obsessing us around about now. Sometimes within a few days we’ll move on, sometimes we stay smitten for quite a while…’

I took a little long in getting into Slow Club. Not in the sense that the music had to grow on me, it didn’t, seconds into ‘Trophy Room’ and i was completely taken, more in the sense that I heard the name and saw they were supporting bands a lot but never really got round to actually listening to them. One near miss was when they supported Tilly & The Wall at King Tuts. Arriving slightly late, I bumped into some friends in the bar and by the time i had made it up the stairs, the band had finished. A work colleague still asks me to this day ‘are you going upstairs to see Slow Club’.

The Sheffield boy/girl duo play sweeter than sweet folky pop which rarely fails to put a smile on my face. Although the lyrics in some songs are tinged with sadness, there’s a buzz and energy which almost blows the bad things away. Their debut album, ‘Yeah So’, was released in 2008 and is about to be followed up by their second album ‘Paradise’.

Pitchfork are currently streaming their forthcoming single ‘Where I’m Waking’ over here.

I’ve yet to see Slow Club live but as luck would have it, they’ll be back at King Tuts in Glasgow on the 18th of September.

The new album is out on September the 12th and pre-orders can be made here. There’s a bonus disc version which has a unique take on the track ‘Two Cousins’ re-done by Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton.

You can hear it below, courtesy of The Quietus
Aidan Moffat & Malcolm Middleton – Two Cousins 1999 by theQuietus

Well, March is here already and it seems a bit like the year has flown by. It was maybe just me but I felt that the year started fairly quietly and that there was a distinct lack of good albums coming out but that seems to have perked up recently with releases from PJ Harvey, Smith Westerns and Ringo Deathstarr, the latter is an album that i am hugely enjoying at the moment. We are also looking forward here at Elba to upcoming releases from Aidan Moffat, Josh T. Pearson, FOUND and Le Reno Amps, once again, the latter is an absolute belter, which can be pre-ordered here. It’s shaping up to be a decent year!

The Glasgow Film Festival has finished for another year. Kim enjoyed a wall of noise at 65 Days of Static, Chris met legendary Spinal Tap bassist and voice of Mr Burns from The Simpsons, Harry Shearer whilst I now count Duglas T Stewart of the BMX Bandits in the highest regard after he nonchalantly tucked in to an apple onstage, midway through the opening song of the Mondo Morricone gig. There will be a bit more about those shenanigans on these pages in the coming days and weeks. We are already looking forward to 2012!

Next year is a long way away though so in the more immediate future here’s a few things you might want to check out. This weekend Trapped Mice launch their new EP which was recorded in our big cousin Elba Studio’s recording space in January this year. Having heard some of the results, it’s a lovely wee EP and worth checking out. Anyhoo, the launch is in Edinburgh tomorrow (5th March) at the Wee Red Bar and support comes from Elba faves Loch Awe. Oh, and the EP is called Waving and Pointing!

Also, looking quite good this weekend in Glasgow is Croc v Croc at The Art School. There’s a huge list of people playing including Remember Remember, Ultimate Thrush, Divorce, Pro Life, North American War, BONG MONSTER, Holy Mountain, The Cosmic Dead, The John Knox Sex Club, Gropetown and Tangles. Check out their Facebook info page for a little more info!

Next weekend sees the return of Brain Burner to The Liquid Ship a mere two weeks after their last show. In short if you like things noisy and a little bit out there, Brain Burner do exactly what they say on the tin. The line up on Sunday 13th at The Liquid Ship includes Helhesten & Fritz Welch, Blue Sabbath, Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo and Hivver.

On the subject of DIY gigs, we came across this tumblr called Tartanalia Underground this week which is pretty cool. It’s a nice wee collection of DIY posters, some really cool ones in there so far and I noticed theres an upload button so get adding!

Anyway, enough rambling for now! Have a great weekend, see y’all soon!

It is hump day again. We take it upon ourselves to be as moody as we wish until the end of the working day when we officially reach the latter part of the week. Then and only then shall we be in a place where we might communicate without a slight snarl. It is in this spirit that Phil and I address some of the goings on in music land this week. Please enjoy and feel free to join in.

6 Music
Phil: I have mixed feelings on this, well not mixed really, it seems sad for them to get rid of it. Not a George Lamb fan and although I don’t generally listen to the radio, it would probably be the first place I would turn the dial to. They certainly seem to be a high profile supporter of less well-known music.
Kim: I am also quite adamant that George Lamb is the devil. That aside, there is a whole host of programming and content here, not to mention the support for emerging and left-field talent that it would really be sad to lose.

Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
P: I’ll give it a go soon I’m sure but I’ve never got round to their first album. Controversial?
K: Well yes and I’m taking your delay on this one quite personally. Frightened Rabbit are the working band that got far thanks to some clever US TV drama syncs. I really got attached to The Midnight Organ Fight. I’m really liking the sound of the new album. Swim Until You Can’t See Land is sorta like a folkier version of Pete Townshend’s Let My Love Open the Door.
P: I’ll take your word on this. Come back to me in a couple of weeks.

Musicbox
P: http://elbasessions.co.uk/2010/02/musicbox-march-2010/ – Antimatter and our big brother Elba Studios showcase a unique night of music and photography at Universal this Thursday (4th March).
K: Any multi-art based event always intrigues me. I’m sad I’m not free to head along to this on Thursday.
P: Favourite multi arts event? Ballads of The Book at The Tramway in (07??) was pretty good! I miss Triptych.
K: It was 2007. I missed quite a bit of this due to all the effort and exhaustion of putting the festival together. It was a perfect pulling together of all of the elements from the album. Plus Jenny Soep was there doing some art in action. Me likey.

King James – Elba Podcast
P: King James podcast continues to sound beautiful. Listen/Download ‘here’.
K: Simple Folk Radio are also (and quite rightly) keen on this.
P: Indeed, Johny in retrospect finds the interview slightly Spinal Tap. Personally a walking tour of Devon and Cornwall sounds spectacular!

Macca at Hampden
P: I really feel like I should go and see him? I mean he’s a little questionable, if you believe what you read but he was a Beatle and it’s only a 20 minute walk. I’d imagine it won’t be cheap though. In fact, this could turn into a summer of geriatric shows, I’m planning Crosby, Stills and Nash too but tempted to pay the extra £40 on tickets for that one to see them when I’m in Paris rather than at the cow shed (sorry, SECC).
K: Ugh the price tag alone would put me off both of these. The problem is, once great performers still draw huge crowds and a lot of the time it just isn’t worth it. I’m definitely one who is against this revival spirit floating around right now. I get that the ‘I SAW THEM IN THE FLESH’ brag/closure is something that people strive for. However, the ‘I saw the wrinklier, 30 years after their heyday, not really all that talented anymore version’ is the less impressive reality.
P: Yeah, that’s the other half of my brain speaking. Although only with Macca. Crosby, Stills and Nash are fantastic. Stephen Stills probably never was always there anyway!

Other interesting gigs
P: Burnt Island (who I am quite digging at the moment) host their single launch on Sunday at Mono along with The Second Hand Marching Band, Benni Hemm Hemm and everyones favourite miserable storyteller Aidan Moffat.
K: Burnt Island are the sort of band that make me breath a little slower and steadier. Their music is that teetering on the edge of heartbreaking. Sorrowful and beautiful. This is a nice little line up for Mono. My heart as ever belongs to Arab Strap and all the bearded glory of Mr Moffat.