The Toadcast - the weekly podcast from Song, by Toad

It's been a very, very long time since we had a nice simple podcast of me just chattering about music without extraneous distractions of various drunken people babbling to one another over the top of it.

Last week was Ruth, Michael and Dylan, the week before that was Vic and Peej, then me and Mrs. Toad and then there was the one from Homegame, which was nuts, so this one is just calm and sensible and plain vanilla and basically just me playing some songs, wondering how to pronounce names like Borcherdt, and talking pish like usual.

Next week will be the Mumford & Sons Toad Session, which is nice.

01. The Van Allen Belt - The Way You Look (02:14)
02. Songdog - Gene Autry's Ghost (08.50)
03. Over the Wall - Settle Down (16.56)
04. Deathpodal - Squirrel and the Fox (20.55)
05. Brian Borcherdt - While I was Asleep (28.27)
06. Emit Bloch - Dorothy (34.34)
07. David Thomas Broughton - Perfect Louse (40.49)
08. Mat Riviere - FYH (43.09)
09. Member of the Wedding - New Century (51.37)
10. The Sequins - Offside & Beautiful (57.09)

The Toadcasts stumble from one clusterfuck to the next, each one more incoherent than the last.  This, I think it's fair to say, makes the Homegame one look good by comparison.  Not that the songs aren't good, just that the instances of people talking over one another and two conversations going on at once and so on and so forth are notably worse on this.

However, the music is excellent, and surprisingly up to the minute by my standards.  We even managed to sneak the new National song in there, which they only released on Thursday - how's that for happening and newsworthy and so on and so forth.

We have some new Sam Amidon as well, a track by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti which dropped through my letterbox while I was away in Austin, and some splendid stuff by Harlem and Clogs.  If only it wasn't for the pish chat, this would be a great podcast, actually.

1. Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou - Ruth Drink My Whisky (05.12) 2. The National - Blood Buzz Ohio (13.40) 3. Loch Lomond - Spine (MMIX) (25.50) 4. Sam Amidon - Way Go Lily (29.43) 5. Harlem - Friendly Ghost (34.49) 6. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round (44.02) 7. Ghostkeeper - By Morning (49.10) 8. Love is All - Bigger Bolder (53.57) 9. Grand Champeen - Broken Records (62.16) 10. Clogs - Last Song (68.24)

Another stunt podcast for you, this was recorded on Sunday night after and afternoon of beer and Margaritas on South Congress in Austin - probably the most enjoyable day of the whole festival for me actually, and one which involved no more music than walking past the queue for an Alejandro Escovedo show.

What it did involve, however, was breakfast tacos, a splendid Mexican tat shop, a Western supply shop full of incredibly cool cowboy boots and shirts and so on, and then an afternoon sitting in the sun and shooting the breeze with Peej, Vic, Alex from Fatcat and Ben from Instinctive Raccoon.  Oh, and repeatedly having people spill beer on my jeans, there was that as well.

Anyhow, in the evening we were joined by Stuart from the Scottish Arts Council (who does a highly passable impersonation of Groundskeeper Willie from the Simpsons) and recorded this rather messy podcast before, erm... going bowling with Broken Social Scene and We Were Promised Jetpacks, sort of.  Actually, that's rather an exaggeration.  We went to a fantastically cool bowling alley place to eat, and then those two bands, who seem to have become friends, wandered in, ate something, said hello and then proceeded to spend the rest of the evening bowling.  I wouldn't recognise Broken Social Scene of course, but apparently that's who they were, and it did lend the evening a slightly surreal tinge.

01. We Were Promised Jetpacks - It's Thunder and it's Lightning (02.53)
02. The Entrance Band - Grim Reaper Blues (11.33)
03. Shearwater - Black Eyes (20.49)
04. Broken Social Scene - Let's Get Out of Here (Live at Radio Aligre) (24.17)
05. Hudson Mohawke - Fuse (33.59)
06. Midlake - Young Bride (41.31)
07. The Real Heroes - Baby Must've Known (46.07)
08. Plants & Animals - Jacques (56.19)
09. Dan Mangan - Robots (63.09)
10. Gay Witch Abortion - Down With Giants (73.07)

We're in Anstruther this weekend for Homegame, and so we got incredibly pissed late at night and recorded a podcast for you all, just as a special extra Sunday Supplement.

This should give you a taste of our Homegame fun and, sadly, also an idea of just how much of a wreck we all make of ourselves in Fife once a year.
Honestly, this is my favourite festival in the fucking universe, possibly only equalled by Pickathon, which is incredibl e.

01.Withered Hand - No Cigarettes (01.34)
02.Silver Columns - Yes and Dance (Silver Columns Remix) (08.31)
03.Findo Gask - Wrapped in Plastic (Live) (14.00)
04.Adem - Everything You Need (20.02)
05.Django Django - Love's Dart (29.52)
06.FOUND - Freaky Freaky Chancer (33.37)
07.Cold Seeds - The Perfume of Mexican Birds (43.43)
08.Love.Stop.Repeat - The Ghost of What You Used to Be (50.52)
09.FOUND & eagleowl - Some R. Kelly Cover (58.52)

eagleowl Toad Session from Song, by Toad on Vimeo.

Video: Vimeo - YouTube
Photos: Flickr - Blueback Hotrod
Audio: below

A large part of me thinks there should be an Eagleowl Interviewers' Support Group.  They are some of the loveliest people you will ever meet, but getting them to talk is like trying to learn Kung-Fu in an afternoon.   I've been down the pub with these guys, so I know it's not like they don't have anything to say for themselves, it's just that teasing it out of them with cameras and microphones present requires a black belt in interviewing people which I quite simply do not have yet.  Next time I will be prepared.  Possibly no more successful, but prepared nevertheless.

The music has come out beautifully, recorded by Neil Pennycook and Gavin Tarling, and mixed by Neil - eventually.  Dylan took the pictures, and I have a Song, by Toad set on our Flickr page, but Dylan's full set can be found on his own site at Blueback Hotrod.  I've made videos of the songs themselves and there is of course the main video at the top of the page which gives a not-entirely honest and rather heavily edited impression of what the whole day was like.

The playlist for the interview podcast is at the bottom of the page and as per usual all the Toad Session recordings are available for free for you to download and generally do as you please with.  Hope you like it.

eagleowl -Blanket (Toad Session)
[audio:http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/ToadSessions/eagleowl-Blanket-ToadSession.mp3]

eagleowl - Laughter (Toad Session)
[audio:http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/ToadSessions/eagleowl-Laughter-ToadSession.mp3]

eagleowl - Sleep the Winter (Toad Session)
[audio:http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/ToadSessions/eagleowl-SleeptheWinter-ToadSession.mp3]

Toadcast Playlist:

01. eagleowl - Into the Fold (Toad Session) (07.03)
02. Rob St. John - December & Whiskey (Live) (16.26)
03. Silver Jews - How to Rent a Room (19.31)
04. eagleowl - Blanket (Toad Session) (30.25)
05. Spokane - Proud Graduates (36.12)
06. eagleowl - Laughter (Toad Session) (49.21)
07. Adrian Crowley - Bless our Tiny Hearts (54.54)
08. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - The Willow Garden (57.34)
09. eagleowl - Sleep the Winter (Toad Session) (66.42)

Well in all the chatter about the Beeb this week I was strongly considering ignoring it completely in this podcast and giving everyone a welcome break from the wailing and gnashing of teeth... but naah, that was never going to happen, was it.

So there's a lot of railing against the Beeb and the threat to 6Music and yaddah yaddah you know the script don't you.  Sadly, and somewhat ironically, we spend so much time talking about the state of the Beeb and the loss their support of small bands will represent, that we actually forgot to talk much about the small bands we ourselves put on the bloody podcast.

01. Ballboy - All the Records on the Radio are Shite (03.21)
02. Love is All - Bigger Bolder (13.02)
03. Fredrik - Vinterbarn (15.53)
04. Exrays - Everything Goes (27.16)
05. Phil Ochs - Automation Song (34.33)
06. Ghostkeeper - By Morning (37.26)
07. The Light Footwork - Carlsbad Irrigation Project (47.54)
08. Mondrian - Rise and Fall of a Golden Boy Seen by a Porn Star Using No Sextoy (50.21)
09. The Leaf Library - Losing Places (ISAN Remix) (63.00)

You know, I'm not exactly naive when it comes to the internet.  I've done perfectly innocent Google image searches at work and then hurriedly had to cover up or stove in my monitor as all manner of filth made its appearance, irrespective of the tame nature of the search terms.

So I was up quite late recording this podcast and because only pervs and loonies seem to be up late* using the internet I reckoned that this should be called the Pervcast.  Particularly as I recorded most of it with a glass of wine in one hand and my nuts in the other - hey, it's just comfortable alright, stop being so judgmental.

Anyhow, the minute I hit return on the search for a banner image for this Toadcast... well, I realised my mistake pretty much immediately.  I didn't even realise most of that shit was even physically possible, never mind sought after.  Yeauch.  You internet people - you're all wrong 'uns, that's what you are!

01. The Silver Columns - Brow Beaten (04.50)
02. The Morning Benders - Promises (14.10)
03. Inspector Tapehead - Phenrenzik Tear (17.10)
04. Amanaz - Khala My Friend (28.15)
05. The Tim & Sam Band - Choices (34.57)
06. Japandroids - Art Czars (48.24)
07. Waskerley Way - Yonder (52.19)
08. Fire Engines - Get Up and Use Me (56.32)
09. Patrick Bower & the World Without Magic - One Day Soon, I Will Break You (58.37)
10. Woozy Viper - Whoah, Baby! (66.12)

*Yes, I know, it was made up for (faintly) comical purposes - fuck off.

I don't know what the damn hell it is about dressing formally which makes me feel so uncomfortable, but it does.  Presumably just because I'm such a scruffy fucker for the entire rest of my life, those few hours every year I spend in a (vaguely) ironed shirt and pair of proper shoes just seem so completely out of character as to be really quite discomfiting.

Still, at our age everyone we know seems to be either getting married or breeding (and not infrequently both) so the old whistle is going to have to get used to seeing a little bit more action over the next few years, it seems.  The ludicrous thing is that I actually have a couple of really nice suits, but I never get round to wearing the fuckers because it just all seems too much like hard work.

This weekend, people.  In a suit.  Me!  Would you believe it.  I really should thank all these marrying bastards for saving my investment in suits from being complete waste of money it would be if I actually was left to my own devices.

01. Joker's Daughter - The Bouncing Liquorice (02.22)
02. Lloyd Cole - Undressed (05.52)
03. The Besnard Lakes - Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent Pt.1: The Innocent (11.53)
04. Shearwater - God Made Me (18.52)
05. King Post Kitsch - Alaska (24.52)
06. Cold Lake Flight School - Driftwood (30.16)
07. Dan Sartain - Ruby Carol (32.52)
08. The Japanese War Effort - Lanark (38.01)
09. Oreaganomics - Self-assembled Martyr (45.35)
10. The Stands - Some Weekend Night (53.45)

Hooray for us - possibly the vilest and least romantic Valentine's Day Podcast yet!  And before anyone whinges about that picture, go to fucking Wikipedia and complain, because that's where we bloody got it from.  I know!  Scandalous!  Someone should complain.

So erm, yes.  I don't think we left anyone unoffended this year.  I sincerely hope not because I don't like to think of people out there nurturing an anticipated false outrage complex only to be let down.

We do not like romance, we do not like being told when to have fun by people who are simply hoping to exploit our disposable income, we do not like it being implied that being single is some sort of failure, we do not like people measuring their self-worth by how much their partner can be emotionally blackmailed into spending on them, we do not like having to live up to commercially defined standards to demonstrate that we love one another, we do not like having to skip the football just cos we're supposed to behave one some particular day or other, we do not like fucking teddy bears or fucking chocolates, we do not like sitting in tumbleweed-infested restaurants whilst people glance nervously around them wondering if they've done it right, and we do not like having a list of things to live up to before our relationship is considered functional thank you very fucking much.

We do like lazy Saturdays in the garden, crackling fires, meals with friends, new places, fresh flowers when we feel like it and walks on Porty beach that just happen.  Listening to vinyl so loud the floor shakes, a bit too much to drink with people that you really like, laughing at films, arguing about the side of the bed, swearing blind it's not your turn with the chores when you know damn well it is, drinking coffee in the garden when it's sunny, slagging off almost everyone, shouting at reactionaries on TV, emailing stuff that interests us, insulting the cat (he is an inbred retard, I like to think he's a member of the Royal Family), surprise cups of tea, buying shit on the internet when we're drunk, coping with the washing mountain when it threatens to start a SARs epidemic, watering the plants only minutes before death and walking hand in hand through the park and peering at cool old dudes chuntering around at the allotments or sailing model boats in the park pond.

Now, isn't that a better basis for a relationship than trotting out a box of chocolates 1/365?

01. Cracker - Mr. Wrong (03.10) 02. Billy Bragg & Wilco - Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key (09.57) 03. The Smiths - Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me (17.11) 04. Eels - Love of the Loveless (20.16) 05. The Clash - Brand New Cadillac (29.40) 06. Bill Hicks - Pussywhipped Satan (31.41) 07. Evan Dando - Hard Drive (44.33) 08. The Coathangers - Nestle in My Boobies (48.11) 09. Virgin of the Birds - She's in the Moon Again (59.10) 10. David Cross - Your Baby is FUCKING BORING! (65.59)

Erm, really sorry that this is so very, very late, but life rather caught up with me this week.  So I never quite managed to find time to get my shit together until this evening, unfortunately.

It's surprising how much of my time these weekly podcasts seem to take up - it can be quite hard to find an evening every single week to record these things.  What I find amazing is that I don't run out of blather.  I don't recall ever saying anything profound or all that intelligent either, so this little collection must represent hours and hours of inconsequential rambling.

On Friday a nice young lady in the pub asked me "Has anyone ever told you that you talk loads and loads."  I suppose, looking back at a hundred and some podcasts the miracle is that actually the answer to that question is 'no, not really, not that I can remember'.

Oh, and yes, that is Tina Turner and Kim Carnes you see there.  Suck it up, hipsters.

01. The Walkmen - This Job is Killing Me (03.30)
02. Grandaddy - Hey Cowboy, the Phone's For You (09.57)
03. Comaneci - Satisfied Girl (15.51)
04. Tina Turner - Private Dancer (17.50)
05. Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou - England (27.33)
06. Ruth Theodore - False Alarm (34.09)
07. The Waterboys - Sweet Thing (40.54)
08. Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes (48.04)
09. R.E.M. - Half a World Away (53.55)
10. Radiohead - Creep (Acoustic) (59.59)