The Toadcast - the weekly podcast from Song, by Toad

Ian and myself were down in Brighton for most of last week with The Great Escape, and that's pretty much what this podcast is about from start to finish.  It's hardly a studied analysis of course - and I sincerely doubt you'd expect one - instead it's more of a chatter about the Brighton fun we've had and the people we've met.

Scotland is actually rather isolated when it comes to music.  Hence, I suppose, the importance of the local Scottish music community to bands and labels based up here. Nevertheless, it is really important to connect with the rest of the UK.

A lot of our most appreciated supporters are people I know only from Twitter and the other end of an email, be they fans, label customers, writers and broadcasters who have supported us or labels who have inspired us.  So, in the interests of cementing these relationships, meeting new people and drinking an absolute fucking shitload of beer, off to Brighton we went...

01. Hot Panda - Fuck Shit Up (00.24)
02. Slow Down, Molasses - Light (07.44)
03. Born Gold - Lawn Knives (16.19)
04. Odonis Odonis - Tick Tock (23.07)
05. PAWS - Bainz (26.17)
06. The Black Tambourines - Let You Down (Toad Session Sneak Preview) (34.15)
07. Fear of Men - Doldrums (44.06)
08. PINS - Eleventh Hour (47.13)
09. Perfume Genius - Lookout, Lookout (55.02)
10. Fanzine - L.A. (62.51)

The Nightcast.  Yes, night.  I am recording this at about two in the morning for the simple reason that for all I aim to do these once a week, on the weekend, once again it has been just plain impossible to actually get the damn thing done on the weekend just gone, so here I am squeezing it into the ungodly hours of Tuesday night.

Well, Wednesday now.

And of course I am off to The Great Escape in the morning.  Actually, it already is the morning.  Oh all right then, by the time this is uploaded and ready to go and I can actually get some sleep, I think I might be due to get out of bed in two hours time.  Cock and balls.  I thought the night time was supposed to be a little more glamorous than this.

01. The Pictish Trail - Of Course You Exist (FOUND Remix) (00.26)
02. Plastic Animals - Ghosts (07.56)
03. Playlounge - Boner Hit (Keel Her cover) (15.24)
04. Yoofs - Love at 140 (18.17)
05. Dead Rat Orchestra - The Geshin & the Guga (23.15)
06. The See See - Fix Me Up (30.24)
07. Meursault - Flittin' (36.26)
08. Woody Guthrie - So Long, it's Been Good to Know You (40.37)
09. PAWS - Misled Youth (46.20)
10. Blank Canvas - Golden (53.53)
11. The Eighteenth Day of May - Cold Early Morning (59.04)

This is called the Repeatcast because I sometimes wonder that the constant flow of new music I fire into these podcasts might just passing you by.  I know I struggle to stay on top of things sometimes myself, so maybe you just listen when you can be bothered and sometimes things just go in one ear and out the other.

I've been considering doing an artist of the week thing, like Ted from http://www.cloudsounds.co.uk/ where he plays two tracks from an artist one week (well, one month now that the show's monthly) and then one from the same artist the next week as well, so there is a degree of reinforcement

Knowing me, I doubt I'll ever get round to it, honestly, but you know, it seems like a good idea.  Or something vaguely like it seems like a good idea, because it would be a shame if all this music just vanished into the ether.  So this week we have a lot of repetition of bands already played on the podcasts, just to make sure you're paying attention properly.  Like you should be.

01. Easter - Damp Patch (00.21)
02. The Spyrals - Long Road Out (06.40)
03. Mac DeMarco - She's Really All I Need (11.40)
04. Apostille - Journal (17.42)
05. Apostle of Hustle - National Anthem of Nowhere (28.26)
06. The Babies - My Name (35.46)
07. Islet - A Warrior Who Longs to Grow Herbs (41.17)
08. Niilo Smeds - Summer Air (45.26)
09. Kalle Mattson - Miles (51.35)
10. Slowcoaches - We're So Heavy (58.19)

This is called the Justcast because, whilst it may well be late, it is entirely justifiably late, so piss off and stop moaning at me. And come on, stop being coy, I know you're secretly tutting.  Or at least I fucking hope you are, because the other option is that you don't really give a fuck, and where would that leave us?

So, having worked all through the working week, and then having spent all of Saturday working at Record Store Day stuff, I got to Sunday and was honestly just not up for doing anything at all, sorry. I was pooped.  Bushed.  Knackered. Tuckered. Done for.  So I did fuck all, and I actually felt guilty about this for a while, and then realised that actually, every cunt gets a fucking weekend, so stop feeling sorry for yourself, embrace a day of doing bugger all, and just do the podcast as soon as you can reasonably manage.  So there you go.

Next week I might do a bit of a podcast on my Record Store Day purchases (and there were many) but not this week, because I haven't had the chance to sit down and listen to them yet.  Maybe Thursday that might happen.  And/or Wednesday.  And then I will waffle on about them on the internet next week, for which I am sure you will all be truly grateful.

01. The Leg - Witch on the Speaker (00.15)
02. Algiers - Blood (05.33)
03. The Walkmen - Heaven (14.17)
04. Milk Maid - Do Right (18.49)
05. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - The Powers and the Glory of Love (23.44)
06. Daily Life - Alabaster (29.26)
07. Possimiste - Clockworkbird (33.17)
08. Liars - No.1 Against the Rush (40.16)
09. Richard Hawley - Leave Your Body Behind You (46.13)
10. The Babies - My Name (57.33)

We are in St. Andrews this weekend for the Fence Collective's Eye of the Dug Festival.  Needless to say, The Dugcast or something to that effect might have been more suitable, but there are so many golf twats around town that I really couldn't ignore them, not after all the effort they make to look like complete prats.

I get the impression that with golf, the costumes became so ludicrous that really the only way to look cool, instead of dressing like a normal person, was to try and look like an even bigger fuckwit than the rest of them.  Which, given the exceptionally high bar that has already been set, takes some doing.

Anyhow, there is no danger of me ever taking up golf.  None at all.  I already find playing pool frustrating enough, and it strikes me as really quite similar in the following crucial way: you play what turns out to be a perfect shot, then the next time you do what feels like the exact same fucking thing, and yet somehow the shot you produce is dreadful.  With no clue what you've done differently.  It would drive me round the fucking bend.  Anyhow... erm, oh yes, the podcast:

01. Broncho - Try Me Out Sometime (00.09)
02. Silence at Sea - Gladiators on Repeat (05:13)
03. Fat Bicth - The Seagull (12.49)
04. Slowcoaches - 54 (15.57)
05. Mac DeMarco - Baby's Wearing Blue Jeans (20.54)
06. Islet - This Fortune (27.15)
07. Werk - Giant Isopods Have Stolen My Gameboy (33.54)
08. Ziggy Bolus & the Thomas Fergusson Band - Me, Myself and Isopod (37.10)
09. The Spyrals - Calling Out Your Name (42.39)
10. Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler (46.27)
11. R.M. Hubbert - Sandwalks (with Stevie Jones & Paul Savage) (55.54)

The Dutchcast was named after football.  I was at the pub all day watching United play QPR and City getting done by Arsenal.  For some reason this reminded me of living in Holland, primarily because Arsenal have dropped off the pace in the Premier League a lot recently, but when I was in Holland it was the height of the Wenger vs. Ferguson clashes, so watching the team play again and actually caring about the result reminded me really strongly of a time when Arsenal actually mattered as a football club.  Harsh, but fair.

So yes, in my reminiscences of my time spent living in Holland I have popped in a couple of songs I was introduced to by pals when I lived out there, as well as a cracking track by Bettie Serveert, one of the most well-respected Dutch indie bands out there.

Added to that are a couple of new things from the internet, not least the new track from Owen Ashworth's new project Advance Base, as well as a demo from our pal Tom Western, who recorded four gorgeous demos in our living room about a month ago.  These songs are awaiting a proper recording, but for now the demos themselves are lovely enough.

01. Supergrass - Cheapskate (00.26)
02. Weeping Willows - Failing in Love (08.51)
03. Bettie Serveert - I'll Keep it With Mine (12.45)
04. Tom Western - Green Broom (Demo) (19.52)
05. Advance Base - New Gospel (27.53)
06. Dennis Driscoll - Bury Me Beneath the Weeping Willow (33.06)
07. Niilo Smeds - Summer Air (37.46)
08. The Verve - Lucky Man (45.26)
09. Grandaddy - Summer Here Kids (52.41)
10. Symphonic Pictures - Feathers (59.35)

April Fool's Day really does bore me to tears.  The jokes are so weak and obvious most of the time that they really are pointless, although Avalanche's Withered Hand futon did make me laugh.

It's the forced bonhomie which I find the most tedious, I have to confess. 'Oh yes, ha ha, very funny, well done you, gosh how everso fucking hilarious'.

And then just occasionally you hear news, like Viva Brother splitting up which, whilst it is painfully obviously an April Fool, is just too close to real, actual good news we'd actually all want to hear to cause any real merriment.

And then there's the Republican candidates for the presidency of the United States.  Tragic, frightening, comical, and depressing. And sadly not an April Fool's joke either.

01. Two Tears - Heisse Hexe (00.22)
02. Magic Eye - Flamin' Teenage (06.49)
03. North American War - Me & My G.I. Joes (14.02)
04. Palms  - Wolf (18.57)
05. Habibi Band - Sunsets (25.39)
06. Woodsman - Supernal Radionics (30.55)
07. Sex Hands - The Moist Maker (39.25)
08. The Leg - Bake Yourself Silly (43.30)
09. Father Sculptor - Ember (48.39)
10. Kurt Vile - Freak Train (57.09)

The Procast is so called because this week has been an awfy professional one.  The third Meursault album is approaching, and because there are publishers, managers, bookers and all sorts involved in this one we had to have a Serious Meeting about it and make sure the planning was all being done properly.

We did all the grown-up stuff like minute the meeting, assign people deliverables and all sorts of stuff.  It was the closest to being back at my old job that I have experienced since I left, in all honesty - lists, management, timescales, budget discussions and all sorts.

That sounds dismal, I know, but it was quite fun actually.  I know I like releasing under the radar, awkward releases, but at the same time, if a band starts doing well and achieving things I don't want them to have to necessarily leave our label in order to do so, and it's quite satisfying (and actually quite interesting too) to be involved in a project on a slightly larger scale to usual.

01. John Knox Sex Club - Above Us the Waves (00.17)
02. Interpol - Obstacle #1 (10.44)
03. Elbow - Any Day Now (15.07)
04. Hiva Oa - Badger (26.47)
05. The Soft Walls - Black Cat (34.00)
06. King of Prussia - Black Cat (38.11)
07. British Sea Power - Oh Larsen B (45.07)
08. iLiKETRAiNS - The Beeching Report (50.40)
09. Unknown Artist - Bird Cage (56.09)
10. eagleowl - Into the Fold (62.11)

After last year's relatively sensible podcast (I think the BBC cameras scared us into some degree of sensibleness), this years is far, far less sensible.  I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it's probably a little more honest.

This time around, as well as the more usual suspects of Messrs. Galloway, Reid, Thomas and myself, we are joined by The Two Jamies: Webster who manages Three Blind Wolves and Gilmour who manages We Were Promised Jetpacks.  This is helpful because instead of drunken fuckwits gabbling at one another, we actually have some proper insight from people who have brought bands out to SXSW and have something useful to add.

And for the rest of it me, Vic, Peej and Stuart just take the piss out of one another.  So umm... well, you have to take the rough with the smooth I suppose.

01. Grave Babies - Nightmare (00.21)
02. Pond - Leisure Pony (5.59)
03. The Animals - We Gotta Get Outta This Place (16.28)
04. Bruce Springsteen - Excerpt from SXSW keynote speech (19.37)
05. Roy Orbison - Crying (21.33)
06. BITCHES - Cage Babies (27.26)
07. Yellow Ostrich - The Shakedown (34.32)
08. The Twilight Sad - Sick (45.21)
09. We Were Promised Jetpacks - The Walls Are Wearing Thin (59.56)
10. OFF - Jeffrey Lee Pierce (61.47)
11. Thulebasen - Gate 5 (77.22)
12. Samuel L. Jackson - Go the Fuck to Sleep (83.00)

 The Airconcast?  Yes, because I am recording this in our hotel room in Austin, surrounded by a noisy fridge and an even noisier air-conditioning unit.  It was so loud I actually turned it off during the recording, but the room then quickly became uncomfortably stuffy, so this podcast was recorded with me sitting in my pants in a slightly uncomfortable  sweat - picture that if you will.

We are, as you will have guessed, out here for SXSW again, but seeing as next week's podcast is going to be our now-traditional chat with Peej, Vic Galloway and Stuart Thomas about this year's festival, I figured you probably didn't want two SXSW podcasts in one week so I'd lay off this time and just make it about music.

01. Trogons - Solo Amor (00.10)
02. Pond - Mystery (06.45)
03. FLATS - Foxtrot (13:14)
04. Mariee Sioux & Bonnie Prince Billy - Mad Mad Me (19.49)
05. Monster Rally & RUMTUM - Andes (23.47)
06. Ender Belongs to Me - New Light (28.33)
07. Ira Lee - Drinking Alone in Paris (feat. Scream Dream Baby) (38.13)
08. The Teardrops - Tears Come Tumbling (44.26)
09. Robert George Saull - A Jug of This (47.19)
10. Stagnant Pools - Consistency (53.57)