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!

Randolph’s Leap, after selling out their first EP ‘Battleships & Kettle Chips’, have now released a double A-side single titled ‘Counting Sheep’. It came out today on Olive Grove Records and can be bought from the usual download outlets, links are at the bottom of the page.

To go along with the single release they are having a wee party to celebrate at Mono tomorrow night (17th May). Joining them on the bill are Burnt Island and the brilliant Moth & The Mirror. I had just been thinking recently that I hadn’t seen the Moth & The Mirror’s name about recently so it was good to see them on the lineup!!

Bandcamp
iTunes
other quality emporiums of download

In the lead up to this year’s Hinterland Festival, we’ll be taking a closer look at some of the artists that we’re looking forward to seeing. We’ll keep our ‘Top 5′s’ under wraps for the moment but to kick us off please welcome The Boy Who Trapped The Sun aka Colin McLeod.

Colin was originally from the Isle of Lewis, but is now based in London. He has come via Aberdeen where he was discovered hanging off the roof, playing Deep Purple covers, and as he puts it ‘generally acting like an arse’. A long way from the Deep Purple covers, his latest EP ‘Home’ is a highly accomplished piece of songwriting which has rootsy blues undertones and is a great listen.

For those of us not in the know, please introduce yourself.

Hello, my name is Colin and I play under the name of the boy who trapped the sun

Where did the name ‘The Boy Who Trapped The Sun’ come from?

The name is a secret. If I told you I’d have to kill you.

Do you take any musical influence from growing up in the Western Isles or are your influences more broad?

Musically I take influence from everywhere, almost anything I listen to seems to influence me, I’m a bit of a musical sponge. I guess the traditional gaelic music and singing from home had more of an influence on my singing style than I thought because I can hear alot of it in the stuff I’ve recorded, but I guess that’s only natural. My dad has it on the radio night and day, you can’t escape it.

There is obviously a huge music scene in London, but do you like coming back up and playing gigs in Scotland? Where is your favourite venue in Scotland?

Scotland is def my home, I’ve always felt more connected to Glasgow than London. I suppose it’s because when I was younger at home, Glasgow was the music capital of the world to me, and London felt like a different planet!! Just because it was so far away. So the draw was always to Glasgow and that scene. I love London, it’s such a great city for music it really feels like you’re at the centre of the world but I never felt a part of the scene there, just a spectator! I think my fav venue though is a toss up between King Tuts and The Taphouse Bar in St.Agnes, Cornwall.

We’re excited about seeing you play the Hinterland Festival, are there any other bands on the Hinterland bill that you are hoping to catch?

I love Jeffrey Lewis, I’m quite excited he’s playing cos I missed him at All Tomorrows Parties last year and I love British Sea Power, they’re always entertaining. I’m really looking forward to seeing Kitty the Lion as well, that’s a band full of talented people if ever there was one!

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

DotJR, The Moth And The Mirror, Brother Louis Collective, Strike the Colours, Amber Wilson, Cant Swim. I should stop now.

Finally, what can we expect from you in the coming months?

I’ve got an album coming out in the summer hopefully, and I’ve got a couple of shows coming up supporting the John Butler Trio that im really excited about. I’m really looking forward to festival time, I’m going to be busy, which is nice.

The Boy Who Trapped The Sun plays the Hinterland Festival in Glasgow on April 3rd (tickets here). His latest EP ‘Home’ is out now and can be purchased here. For the most up to date news check out the links below.

http://www.myspace.com/theboywhotrappedthesun

http://www.facebook.com/theboywhotrappedthesun

http://twitter.com/trappedthesun

Up first, for his first of three Elba engagements, was Conor Mason. Just off the boat from Derry, Conor started with a set of songs from his debut LP ‘When It’s Over’.

Next up, one of my new favourite bands, Rags and Feathers. It was the first time I’d seen them and already I can’t wait to go and see them again. They are well worth checking out and a lovely bunch. Julian and Andrea even had an impromptu DJ set on the Opry Wheels of Steel. All I can say is that they are just a huge slice of folky goodness!

The third band of the evening were The Moth and The Mirror. Fresh from a couple of dates with Frightened Rabbit (they also support them at their Dec 22nd ABC show) they were on top form and went down well with everyone. They were the perfect build up to the last band of the night, Le Reno Amps.

This was to be Lindsey’s last show with the Amps and the rest of the band ‘suited’ up for the occasion. After a country heavy opening set, the Amps fired on all cylinders with tracks from all three of their albums, with a couple of extras added in. There was even time for an onstage plea for a new bass player which I am to believe has still not proved successful. Finishing with a rendition of Johnny Cash’s ‘Daddy Sang Bass’, it was a fitting send off for Wolfie.

If anyone knows a bass player…???? (There is a strict criteria!)

Thanks to Steph Mulligan for the pictures, some can be viewed at a better size here…(more to come). Also, a huuuuuuuuuuuge thanks to Mags and her staff at the venue, you are unlikely to find more welcoming venue staff anywhere!

Album of The Year – The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love

Hopes for 2010/Things You’re Looking Forward To – I’m going on holiday! A real holiday! To Kenya! To see a lion!

Lindsey has her final fling tonight at The Grand Ole Opry with support from The Moth and The Mirror, Rags and Feathers and Conor Mason. Doors are 8pm, £4 (that’s a pound per band!) and it would be amazing to see y’all there!

Album of The Year

Scott: Heavy Trash – “Midnight Soul Serenade”

Al: Bloody Hell just one! I’d probably plump for… De Rosa – Prevention,

but worthy mentions…
St Vincent – Actor
Golden Silvers – True Romance
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
Jason Lytle – Yours Truely, The Commuter

Favourite New Band

Scott: Last ‘new to me’ band I heard and keep returning to are Empire of the Sun, reckon that album’s going to be with me for years to come. How very populist of me! I’m also currently very taken with the Dirty Projectors – or possibly not! They did a brilliant track with David Byrne on ‘Dark was the Night’, investigating further I learned they did a concept album in 2007 called ‘Rise Above’, which is (Wiki quote) “…an attempt by band leader Dave Longstreth to remember and reinterpret the entire Black Flag album Damaged after not hearing it for almost 15 years”. Now, I learned to play guitar by listening to Black Flag and the Circle Jerks – unless Dave Longstreth heard Black Flag through a coma from his hospital bed, this album is short on remembering and heavy on re-interpretation! I think I may love it, but it’s too early to say, I may wake up one morning and realise I actually hate it and forever refer to them as fucking BAWC’S! (Brooklyn Art Wanker Cunt Students)

Al: I really love the Golden Silvers album so yeah Golden Silvers. I’ve been listening to Super Adventure Club’s “Chalk Horror!” album a lot of late too, so yeah they’d both be my favourite “new” bands!

Best Gig – Le Reno Amps

Scott: The Windmill in Brixton

Al: Ooh this year, eh, we had a couple of belting London shows at The Windmill in Brixton and The Sheep Walk in Leytonstone back in April, they were both really great. More recently we did a Merchant City Festival show with Super Adventure Club and The Elvis Suicide. It were a lot of fun too.

Best Gig – Other

Scott: Faith No More at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh

Al: I cannae mind what I did last week let alone all year but Morrissey at Barras in May was totally amazing. Wilco at Greenman was brilliant, I was very very merry on cheap red wine. Eh what else, Field Music very recently at Captains Rest in Glasgow was great too. There’s been too many. I should stay in more.

Best Memories of 2009

Scott: Touring and gigging to promote the album – i.e. playing with Brakes, spending time with our friends from Drift and Cottonmouth Rocks. OF COURSE – THE ELBA SESSION AND GIG! YAAY! (ed: clearly a man of taste)

Al: Being right up the front for Field Music, literally felt like I was invading Peter Brewis personal space it was so rammed in the Captains Rest. That band deserve a bigger stage for sure! I was grinning something awful.

Hopes for 2010/Things You’re Looking Forward To

Scott: Hope I don’t drop the baby (ed: you’ve been in a band with Al for years. You’ll be just fine!). Looking forward to FINALLY finishing this next album, hoping it sounds as good as its current promise. Also, hoping my PC doesn’t pack in before I finish the bloody album.

Al: I’ve been working hard on setting up a record label with a collective spirit. It’s called Armellodie. I’ve been doing it for a while but having just released our first longplayer (Cuddly Shark’s eponymous debut) I’m getting my teeth into it now and am set to release some corking records next year. You can check out Armellodie at www.armellodie.com. The website is launched in December 09.

I also cannae wait for Spoon at Tuts on Valentines Night. My better half’s not bothered about Spoon but I love them. So much so I persuaded her to get us tickets cos I’m skinto, of course I’ll buy her a drink at it, I’m romantic like that!

Le Reno Amps play ‘The Wolf’s Last Stand‘ at the Grand Ole Opry, Glasgow, this Thursday 3rd December with The Moth and The Mirror, Rags and Feathers and Conor Mason.

When we heard that Elba favourites Le Reno Amps were soon to be a man down, we couldn’t just stand by and simply watch, we had to mark this sad occasion and the best way, it was decided, was to have a right good hoe down, and where better to have said ‘hoe down’ than the institution that is The Grand Ole Opry. A stellar bill has been assembled for Zinzi’s last ‘Amps’ gig on Thurs 3rd December including The Moth & The Mirror, Rags & Feathers and Conor Mason.

We hope you will join us to give Wolfie the send off she deserves on what should be the event of the week!!!!

Tickets can be had here…