The Toadcast - the weekly podcast from Song, by Toad

Videos: Vimeo - YouTube
Photos: Flickr
Audio: download for free below...

Every time a drum kit comes into our house I am kinda worried that the cafe downstairs is going to have a tantrum about the noise, but we've been lucky so far, and long may it continue.  More worrisome in this instance was probably Jonnie Common's incredible box of tricks.

In a slight change to the usual lineup, my wee brother happened to be over from the States visiting when we recorded this, so he did the sound for this.  He has his own company over there, called Red Cottage Audio, and spends most of his time as the sound designer/recording engineer for the Boston Ballet, so I am not sure quite how he took the change from that to trying make a bunch of pop songs sound good in our living room. Still, it's all about the results, and the results are fantastic.

The pictures are also especially good this time around.  Fee has contributed photos before - most notably to, I think, the Shenandoah Davis and Pictish Trail sessions - but this time she really has excelled herself.  I generally cut the photo sets down to about twenty pics, but in this case I really couldn't manage any fewer than thirty, I liked them that much.  Head over to Flickr to see the set.

As per usual, all the Toad Session recordings are made available for free sharing/downloading/whatever, just after the full interview podcast, which is below, and as well as the main video at the top of the page, we have individual videos of every song as well (see a bit further down) as well, finally, as the full tracklisting for the podcast itself at the bottom of the page. 

Oh, and this wouldn't be a proper plug if I didn't point out that Inspector Tapehead's debut album, Duress Code, can now be purchased from Song, by Toad Records.

Inspector Tapehead - WCMJ (Toad Session)
[audio:http://matthewjamesyoung.com/ToadSessions/InspectorTapehead-WCMJ-ToadSession.mp3]

Inspector Tapehead - A Fillet of Bozo (Toad Session)
[audio:http://matthewjamesyoung.com/ToadSessions/InspectorTapehead-AFilletofBozo-ToadSession.mp3]

Inspector Tapehead - Pherenzil Tear (Toad Session)
[audio:http://matthewjamesyoung.com/ToadSessions/InspectorTapehead-PherenzikTear-ToadSession.mp3]

01. Inspector Tapehead - Yarvil (Toad Session) (05.37)
02. Adam Beattie & the Consultants - We'll Wave From the Shore (15.23)
03. Jonnie Common - Photosynth (19.24)
04. Inspector Tapehead - WCMJ (Toad Session) (28.27)
05. Charlot Webster - Stay What You Are (40.40)
06. dBASS - Garden (44.35)
07. Inspector Tapehead - A Fillet of Bozo (Toad Session) (56.59)
08. Django Django - WOR (63.51)
09. Inspector Tapehead - Pherenzik Tear (Toad Session) (80.24)

 I seemed to forget why this was called the Fallcast until the very end, so it clearly isn't a very central concept to the podcast itself.  Basically, I just rattle on about some new music for a bit, which means there's hardly an excuse to call this bloody podcast anything, really.

Still, next week we have the Inspector Tapehead Toad Session, which is nearly finished, and then after that I was thinking about doing podcasts from vinyl.  I reckon I can probably just run a lead into to the microphone jack of the computer, straight from the Tape Out RCA connection on the back of the amp, although that may well not work I guess.  I could just get myself an mp3 turntable, but that's expensive.  Still, doing the podcasts straight from vinyl seems like a good idea to me for the future.

For now, though, it's just me sitting and talking shit to my computer, sorry.

01. Broken Records - Modern Worksong (00.17)
02. Kurt Vile - In My Time (09.09) 
03. Twin Shadow - When We're Dancing (12.28)
04. Husband - Feelings (20.39) 
05. Houses - Endless Spring (27.00)
06. Laku Noc - Sleep (29.53)
07. Brown Brogues - Treet U Beta (37.22)
08. Shapers - Virginia Reel (41.29)
09. FOUND - String Theory (44.33)
10. Ravens & Chimes - Division Street (54.31) 

The Fishcast?  Yes, because the fishmonger opposite our house is today auctioning off for charity the largest lobster ever to be fished out of the Firth of Forth, and the fucking thing is ma-hooo-sive!  Honestly, if that little bastard ever got its claws on you I don't think you'd stand a fucking chance.

Anyhow, yes, I do know that a lobster isn't a fish, don't worry, but the Fishcast just had a better ring to it than the Fuckinggreatbiglobstercast, and the word Crustacean didn't seem to have an obvious way of crunching down into the Somethingcast.  So Fishcast it is, deal with it.

01. The Generationals - Trust (00.17)
02. The Divine Comedy - The Seafood Song (09.51)
03. The Driftwood Singers - Coco Ellis (17.33)
04.  The Tragically Hip - Chagrin Falls (25.59)
05. Toby Richardson - King of All the Moves (30.06) 
06. Utidur - Grasping for Thoughts (39.35) 
07. Slow Talk - Fashion Sense (42.43) 
08. King Post Kitsch - I'd Sooner Laugh (Demo) (53.34) 
09. Bear Driver - Golden Touch (Demo) (55.31) 
10. Saharan Gazelle Boy -Halfhair Girl (61.24) 

So, initially I was going to call this post the Gigcast because I have spent the last week furiously booking gigs, arranging gigs and very much hoping people will turn up to gigs.

Then, over the course of the podcast, I consistently forgot to actually talk about the Yusuf Azak tour I have been helping to book, the Honeytrap gig I have had to organise, the Savings and Loan House Gig I have been preparing and the Toad Records Christmas Party to try and find a home for.

This is all pretty much sorted by now I think - and I'll give you full details tomorrow in the Sunday Supplement - so what ended up dominating the podcast was me saying bone-headed things like 'the name escapes me' every time I had to refer to an album, a label, or pretty much anything over the course of the whole hour.  So in a last-minute change of emphasis I decided that by far the dominant feature of this podcast was not me talking about booking gigs or any of that rubbish, it was me being under-prepared and not knowing the things I was supposed to know.  Again.  Sorry.

01. Hot Panda - Mindlessnesslessness (00.03)
02. Cotton Jones - Somehow to Keep it Going (06.02)
03. Soft Cat - Dark When it Should be Violet Hour (15.37)
04. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins - The Big Guns (19.44)
05. Family Fodder - Oneliest Thing (25.04)
06. Fire Engines - Meat Whiplash (31.44)
07. The Son(s) - Radar (38.26)
08. The Phantom Band - The None of One (41.29)
09. Jenny & Johnny - Wild is the Wind (52.12 )
10. Adam Beattie & the Consultants - Bone Dry (59.53) 

Hoarse.  Horse.  Hoarse.  Horse.  Geddit geddit, see what I did there?  Yes, another tedious pun, but I know you know to expect no better from me these days.  Anyway, it's only called the Hoarsecast because I have a bit of a phlegmy flu which, whilst not fun, is hardly very debilitating so there is no need for me to moan really.  Not that this usually stops me, but anyhewww...

It's a funny old mix, this playlist.  I rearranged the songs time and again, swapped a few in and out here and there and just couldn't find a way to make them click together for some reason, so for all I like everything that's on here it is still a little bitty, as a single coherent mix.

Mind you, with me talking pish between all the songs, there's fuck all chance of these things really flowing in the first place.

01. Wilco - I Can't Stand It (00.17)
02. Hooray for the Riff-raff - Slow Walk (08.32)
03. Interpol - Evil (15.49)
04. Jose Delhart - Broken Hearted Chant (22.17)
05. Flower Orgy - Boneyard (25.12)
06. Willie Nelson - Good-hearted Woman (31.59)
07. Willard Grant Conspiracy - Notes From the Waiting Room (38.07)
08. Dumbo Gets Mad - Eclectic Prawn (40.33)
09. Sexual Objects - Here Come the Rubber Cops (47.56)
10. Grinderman - Star Charmer (57.53)

So, we are off to Eigg this weekend for the Fence Away Game.  Being a gallant sort I booked tickets for Mrs. Toad as well, as I thought she would enjoy such a picturesque setting, but the grumbling noises emanating from my better half over the last week or so have suggested that she is planning on weaselling out at the last minute.  Fucking typical, is all I can say.

Anyhow, this week's podcast is the usual mixed bag of new stuff and old stuff, and also includes an expectation of the dubious concept of Mixtape Infidelity, as well as new tracks from Honeytrap, British Sea Power, Mount Erie, The Scottish Enlightenment and the Savings and Loan.

Please do not confuse this with the Eggcast, by the way.  I know the names are awfully similar, but I only have a limited imagination and couldn't be arsed thinking of anything more original.

01. Honeytrap - Roslin in a Cylon (00.17)
02. Mount Erie - I Whale (06.50)
03. Timber Timbre - Lay Down in the Tall Grass (15.17)
04. Wilmer Watts & the Lonely Eagles - She's a Hard-boiled R0se (20.12)
05. British Sea Power - Zeus (27.30)
06. The Scottish Enlightenment - Drip Feed (36.22) 
07. Grant Lee Buffalo - Crashing at Corona (45.45)
08. The Raincoats - Don't be Mean (49.47)
09. The Savings and Loan - Pale Water (58.01.)
10. Neutral Milk Hotel - Snow Song Pt.1 (63.15) 

Despite the title (and the first song) there is very little ranting about the fucking Pope on this podcast, I promise.  He may be a vicious, decaying old scorpion in charge of one of the most corrupt and evil institutions on Earth, but after a little bit of gentle joshing at the beginning I promise I do let it drop and carry on with the music.

We have a fair bit of new stuff this week, such as Belle & Sebastian, Broken Records, Li'l Daggers and various other bits, and then a brief detour into Mrs. Toad and my drunken late night vinyl escapades last night.

Enjoy!

01. Tom Lehrer - The Vatican Rag (00.17)
02. Li'l Daggers - King Corpse (06.26) 
03. Bastardgeist - Flee to the Hills (11.26)
04. Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love (20.23)
05. Broken Records - Ailene (23.10)
06. The Walkmen - Blue as Your Blood (31.31)
07. Common Grackle - At the Grindcore Show (36.07)
08. The Meteors - Out of Time (40.42)
09. The Housemartins - Five Get Over Excited (43.46)
10. The Delfields - Claire (50.03)

 Having weaselled out of our Fresh Air show yesterday because I was too busy trying to get Loch Lomond sessions edited and generally ready to go away on holiday, so Ruth missed out on her weekly opportunity to take the piss out of me, which must have been a shame for the poor lass.

Anyhow, we decided to remedy this by recording a podcast for publishing while we're away, so Ruth came round with a CD of twenty songs and we bumbled our way through an evening chattering nonsense (as per usual).

We're a teeny-tiny bit short of cutting edge new tunes for this week, but I think we can live with that for a week, eh.  As Ruth would insist, her choices are all better than things I would have chosen anyway...

01. Animal Magic Tricks - Pinkening (05.04)
02. Eurythmics - Love is a Stranger (11.21)
03. Iron & Wine - Upward Over the Mountain (19.11) 
04. Mountain Man - Mouthwings (25.54)
05. Yo La Tengo - Take Care (28.04) 
06. Fred Astaire - Top Hat, White Tie & Tails (35.42) 
07. Gomez - 78 Stone Wobble (41.43) 
08. The Everley Brothers - Be Bop a-lula (49.21) 
09. Edith Piaf - Non, Je ne Regrette Rien (51.37) 
10. Pulp - The Boss (Demo) (58.23) 

Video: Vimeo - YouTube
Photos: Flickr
Audio: freely downloadable below...

Loch Lomond came over to the UK in May to play some dates in Scotland, so we took the opportunity to record a Toad Session with them.  We first met the band when we went out to Pickathon in 2008 and interviewed them there.  Since then we have released a split 12" and an EP by them over here on Song, by Toad Records.

Elephants & Little Girls is actually from that split 12" release, but the other three songs are new, and from their next album.  That album has been finished for about three months now I believe, although I have yet to hear it, so all I know about it is from these three songs.

Many thanks to Gavin Tarling for recording and mixing the session, to Matthew Swan and Fiona Buckle for their help with the photography and video cameras, and to Chris Bryant for being in the band for the day.  Feel free to help yourselves to the downloads, and enjoy the videos.  The whole interview can be heard on the podcast below, the video at the top of the page is sort of a general video of the whole day, and those of the individual songs are embedded below.

01. Loch Lomond - Blood Bank (Toad Session) (04.39)
02. Run On Sentence - Out in the Woods (11.07)
03. Sallie Ford - Danger (14.35)
04. Loch Lomond - Egg Song (Toad Session) (22.10)
05. Vadoinmessico - In Spain (27.02)
06. Brothers Young - Good Deeds (32.35)
07. Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer (37.10)
08. Loch Lomond - I Love Me (Toad Session) (45.00)
09. The Generationals - When They Fight They Fight (48.24)
10. Loch Lomond - Elephants & Little Girls (Toad Session) (59.35)

I may only have lived in the Wiltshire village of Seend for about four or five months about ten years ago (seriously, ten?) but the fact that I had no job, nor was able to find one, meant that the music I listened to ended up with an extra resonance.

Apart from looking for jobs I didn't know how to find, I spent an inordinate amount of time browsing through copies of Uncut magazine, back before it turned to shit, and buying albums based on how well I liked the songs they chose for their covermount CDs.

There are a couple of other songs on this podcast, but I think the memories of Seend (including my goal in a 3-2 victory, having been 2-0 behind at half time) are still surprisingly strong.

01. Meursault - Bulletproof (La Roux/Radiohead Cover) (02.52)
02.The Czars - Lullaby 6000 (09.19)
03. Hamell on Trial - Choochtown (20.30)
04. Lambchop - Bon Soir, Bon Soir (24.10)
05. The Savings and Loan - The Virgin's Lullaby (31.09)
06. Phillistine's Jr. - The Bus Stop Song (36.55)
07. Vado in Messico - Sisma (38.50)
08. Billy Bragg - Take Down the Union Jack (47.12)
09. Kevin Tihista's Red Terror - Sucker (51.46)
10. Cinerama - Health and Efficiency (58.49)