The Toadcast - the weekly podcast from Song, by Toad

The Toadcast - the weekly podcast from Song, by Toad

By Mr. ToadMusic
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The Toadcast - the weekly podcast from Song, by Toad episodes

  • Toadcast #15 - The Homeless Toadcast

    We are bloody well homeless, which is making it very tricky to

    record podcasts at the moment, so I apologise for the enormous wait
    since the last one.  I promise I’m not losing interest, it’s just been
    a logistical nightmare to find the time and space to actually sit down
    and record of late.  It takes a few hours, not least because my
    computer is depressingly slow, so please bear with me.

    I’ve got a couple of new singles by The Indelicates and The

    National, as well as a couple of groups I’ve seen live recently, and
    then some more esoteric stuff towards the end including the highly
    uncharacteristic Nicole Atkins and a potentially naughty sneak preview
    of the new Raveonettes album.  Enjoy, Toadlings, enjoy yourselves all
    to pieces.

    Toadcast #15 - The Homeless Podcast

    01. Dragons - Here Are the Roses (01.50)

    02. Killing Joke - Eighties (08.28)
    03. The Indelicates - Sixteen (13.42)
    04. The National - Apartment Story (18.30)
    05. Arcade Fire - Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels) (21.51)
    06. The Parish Music Box - Heavy Drinkers (30.40)
    07. Rick Redbeard - Dreams of the Trees (35.45)
    08. Loch Lomond - Tic (41.49)
    09. Over the Rhine - Don’t Wait For Tom (48.10)
    10. Ravens & Chimes - The House Where You Were Born (52.10)
    11. Siberian - Islands Forever (59.27)
    12. Ice Cream Socialists - Mr Crazy (65.42)
    13. 586 - Rags & Tags (71.47)
    14. Nicole Atkins - Brooklyn’s On Fire (75.03)
    15. The Raveonettes - Aly Walk With Me (82.22)
    16. The Sugars - Monsters (88.27)

    1 hr 32 min
  • Toadcast #14 - Total Self Indulgence

    What a lovely, lovely podcast this is.  No Mrs. Toad this week

    (yeah, yeah, I know, fuck off the lot of you) partly because she is
    away in the States being important and businesslike and so forth and
    partly because you are all a bunch of cunts for liking her best, you
    shower of ungrateful bastards.

    Anyway, needless alienation of

    one's audience aside, I am a little tired of doing themed podcasts. 
    Nothing particularly pressing leapt to mind this month so I thought I'd
    just throw on a pile of stuff I was really enjoying and sod having a
    coherent theme - that's for the professionals anyway.  So it's just a
    big old mish-mash of stuff I'm enjoying at the moment, but I think it's
    quite a good playlist for all that.

    There are actually a couple of songs chosen for other

    women in my life!  Oh shock horror! One is our reception lady here at
    work who revealed a surprisingly excellent vinyl collection when a few
    of us went round to her place after a staff night out recently,
    including Pavement and The Pixies.  Who would have thought it!  The
    other lady song is from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, after I was entirely
    charmed by the niece of our next door neighbour who apparently used to
    go out with their keyboard player.  She is trying to move to New York
    at the moment actually, where there are plans to play fiddle and harp
    on the new Au Revoir Simone album, which is splendid news.  Apparently
    this one is to be more folky than the last, which bodes very well
    indeed.  So go Ruth!  I can't wait to hear it.

    Better stop

    talking about ze laydees now of course, before I get skelped by my
    lovely lady.  Not one of of 'em a patch on the sparkling gem that is
    the delectable Mrs. Toad of course, not even close!  *ahem* 

    Toadcast #14 - Total Self-Indulgence

    01. The White Stripes - 300mph Torrential Outpour Blues (03.04)

    02. Rachel Unthank & the Winterset - Blue Bleezin' Blind Drunk (12.34)
    03. Jonquil - Lions (18.58)
    04. Misophone - The Sea Has Spoken (20.46)
    05. The Pixies - Where is My Mind (29.25)
    06. The Sequins - Let's Go Drinking in the Morning (36.09)
    07. The Monochrome Set - Tomorrow Will Be Too Long (39.37)
    08. iLiKETRAiNS - Death of an Idealist (44.10)
    09. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Over and Over Again (Lost & Found) (50.23)
    10. Ringo Deathstarr - Starrsha (55.00)
    11. Babyshambles - UnBiloTitled (57.02)
    12. New Pornographers - Adventures in Solitude (64.29)
    13. Phil Ochs - Here's to the State of Mississippi (75.18)
    14. The Mabuses - Bonus Track (82.46)
    15. The Real Tuesday Weld - Waltz For One (86.49)
    16. Kenneth Williams - When the Toad Came Home (88.40)

    Song, by Toad


    1 hr 30 min
  • Toadcast #13 - The Mrs. Toadcast

    My dearest Toadlings it is with enormous pleasure and brimming pride

    that I present the light of my silly life, the bright and shining star
    at the centre of my universe and the bad tempered little Scottish
    strumpet to whom my every waking hour is devoted.  That sounds
    sarcastic, but it isn’t.

    She treats the music I play with a sort of contemptuous indifference

    and has some truly shocking stuff in her rather limited collection. 
    But she has a punk side, she loves Bob Dylan and has taken to some
    unexpected groups recently, like The Sequins, The Builders & the
    Butchers and Grandaddy.  It slowly started to dawn on me that actually,
    Dolly Parton aside for the moment, she could probably put together a
    better playlist than I could, and I was absolutely mortified to be
    proved absolutely right.

    So I thought I’d get her along to co-present too, which seemed like

    it might be fun.  It was a bit odd at first, but we warm up a bit by
    the end and it turns slowly into what I think it a pretty decent
    podcast, all told.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to talk her into doing
    this too often, but if it proves a success I promise to do my best.

    Toadcast #13 - The Mrs. Toadcast

    01. Lambchop - Dallas Theme Song (00.00)

    02. Sham 69 - Borstal Breakout (03.10)
    03. The Clash - I Fought the Law (06.49)
    04. Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster (10.53)
    05. Depeche Mode - Just Can’t Enough (16.18)
    06. The Cure - Just Like Heaven (19.50)
    07. Ennio Morricone - The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (26.14)
    08. Nirvana - Sliver (33.02)
    09. Guns ‘n’ Roses - Get in the Ring (38.32)
    10. Bob Dylan - Tangled Up in Blue (48.21)
    11. Eels - Fresh Feeling (53.58)
    12. The Von Bondies - No Regrets (61.31)
    13. The 63 Crayons - Spoils For Survivors (66.16)
    14. Honeytrap - Andy the Freefaller (71.15)
    15. The Builders & the Butchers - Black Dresses (76.11)
    16. Night Jar - Poor Man’s Son (81.46)
    17. The Indelicates - Waiting For Pete Doherty to Die (89.54)

    1 hr 37 min
  • Toadcast #12 - The End of the Roadcast

    My what a splendid festival.  You’ve read what I had to say about the thing (overview, day one, day two & day three), now here’s the ‘downloadable in one easy to digest chunk’ version, with more tunes.

    I had a splendid time at this, I really did.  The line-up was

    spectacularly good and, despite being not much more than a
    well-executed variant on the standard festival format, I would highly
    recommend it to those of you sick of the exercise in cattle-herding and
    aggressively intrusive marketing that the modern festival has become.

    Anyhow, I’ve gone through the festival in chronological order,

    playing songs from artists in the order in which I attended them over
    the weekend.  Hopefully I give you a decent overview of the festival
    itself as well as a taster of the quality of the lineup, from the indie
    legends to the connoisseur’s selection of emerging acts that made this
    such a quality bill.  No ranting in this one either, or at least, very
    little.  What a relief for you all.

    Toadcast #12 - The End of the Roadcast

    1. Midlake - Young Bride (02.08)

    2. Yo La Tengo - By the Time it Gets Dark (07.43)
    3. My Brightest Diamond - Dragonfly (14.17)
    4. King Creosote - You’ve No Clue Do You (23.19)
    5. Monkey Swallows the Universe - Sheffield Shanty (28.29)
    6. David Thomas Broughton - Unmarked Grave (34.56)
    7. British Sea Power - Remember Me (46.11)
    8. Port O’Brien - Five & Dime (51.39)
    9. The Young Republic - Excuses to See You (56.14)
    10. The Wave Pictures - Long Island (63.28)
    11. Johnny Flynn & the Sussex Wit - Tickle Me Pink (70.44)
    12. Paris Motel - My Demeter (77.20)
    13. Charlie Parr - Worried Blues (80.53)
    14. Howe Gelb - Get to Leave (88.34)
    15. Lambchop - Up With People (95.35)

    Song, by Toad


    1 hr 42 min
  • Toadcast #11 - Not Sure What This One's About
    There’s no real theme to this week’s podcast, but there’s plenty of
    splendid new music. Basically I felt so guilty about the crazy rant
    that the Pink Podcast descended into that I have tried to say as little as possible in this one.

    I’m off to the End of the Road Festival this weekend, which is why I

    recorded an advance post, so you’ll be enjoying this while I’m away
    getting rained on. The lineup is just phenomenal actually, so it should
    be really quite a splendid weekend. Tim from the Daily Growl will be there, as will Jamie from the Runout Groove and I believe possibly Sweeping the Nation
    as well, so it may turn into quite a blog-in. Tragically, however, I
    will be without my Midget Companion. Mrs. Toad is away in Australia
    (jammy bitch) with work and doesn’t get back in time to come along, so
    I will be taking a book and enjoying the pleasure of my own company as
    best I can.

    There was at least one inevitable balls-up though - when describing

    the Catherine Howe song I said ‘I can’t believe this is current - it
    sounds so old-fashioned!’ and I have since discovered that in fact it
    is a 2007 re-release of a 1971 record which may just explain that. In
    the process I also discovered that I am something of a fucking idiot.

    So, End of the Road, and in the meantime, enjoy the podcast - Toad on his very best behaviour!

    Toadcast #11 - Not Sure What This One’s About

    01. A.A. Bondy - Vice Rag (00.52)

    02. White Rabbits - The Plot (03.39)
    03. The Courteeners - Cavorting (08.19)
    04. Alaska in Winter - Close Your Eyes/We Are Blind (11.46)
    05. Beirut - Fork & Knife (La Fete) (18.32)
    06. Band of Horses - Is There a Ghost (21.57)
    07. Nathan Lawr & the Minotaurs - We Go Down (26.52)
    08. David Dondero - Rothko Chapel (30.34)
    09. Jackson C. Clarke - Blues Run the Game (38.15)
    10. Calexico - All the Pretty Horses (41.45)
    11. Catherine Howe - In the Hot Summer (48.53)
    12. Little Name - How to Swim & Live (53.31)
    13. Emma Pollock - Adrenaline (56.36)
    14. George Pringle - Fellini For Prime Minister (63.52)
    15. Octoberman - By the Wayside (67.27)
    16. The 1900s - When I Say Go (74.54)
    17. (The Real) Tuesday Weld - Kix (79.44)

    1 hr 23 min
  • Toadcast #10 - The Pink Podcast

    The tenth Toadcast is a Pink Podcast, celebrating all things gay in

    indie music, but trying to steer well clear of any sort of annoying
    Graham Norton stereotypes. So, in avoiding anything that
    might have seen this lapse into the Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
    podcast I enlisted the help of my friend James, who was Mrs. Toad’s
    best man at our wedding.

    As well as being gay, James is a real indie fan so I though he’d be

    perfect to consult with on the playlist and most of these songs are his
    choices.It’s surprising actually, just how indie this ended up being.I
    left off quite a few things I really wanted to play and it’s still the
    longest ever Toadcast.

    Ultimately, I’ve tried to explore the relationship between the gay

    community and indie music, but needless to say there are times where it
    descends into slightly angry ranting. Hopefully not too much to allow
    you to enjoy the music though. It’s also not really ended up being as
    much of a discussion of gay culture as I’d hoped and that is almost
    entirely down to my own ignorance. I should probably have got James
    round to help actually present, but that would have been a right pain
    the arse logistically, as well as technically in terms of capturing
    both voices on one shitty little webcam microphone.

    On a technical point, there is a bit of an echo on the vocal recording. This

    is because I we have moved out of our house for a couple of months
    while builders tear it to pieces and I am having to rather make do in
    terms of recording location. I’ll try and sort this out by next week.
    Also, I at one point described the Book of Ruth as being in the New
    Testament, which is also wrong. What a muppet.

    Toadcast #10 - The Pink Podcast

    01. Pet Shop Boys - It’s a Sin (01.20)

    02. The Mamas & the Papas - Dream a Little Dream of Me (08.35)
    03. Bloc Party - This Modern Love (13.55)
    04. Rufus Wainwright - The Rebel Prince (18.08)
    05. The Radiators - Under Clery’s Clock (24.34)
    06. The Magnetic Fields - When My Boy Walks Down the Street (29.15)
    07. Donna Summer - I Feel Love (35.28)
    08. Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf (41.36)
    09. The Ballet - I Hate the War (47.52)
    10. Madonna - Ray of Light (51.02)
    11. Blur - Girls & Boys (60.00)
    12. M.J. Hibbett & the Validators - The Gay Train (67.25)
    13. David Bowie - China Girl (71.50)
    14. Morrissey - November Spawned a Monster (80.40)
    15. R.E.M. - First We Take Manhattan, Then We Take Berlin (90.27)
    16. Scissor Sisters - Return to Oz (103.20)
    17. Elton John - Ballad of a Well-Known Gun (112.12)

    Song, by Toad


    1 hr 58 min
  • Toadcast #9 - The Folly of Youth

    I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone with this podcast. 

    Firstly, I am throwing in a couple of songs that I wanted to put on the
    Contrast Podcast episode entitled Young a few weeks ago.  I was away at my brother's wedding at the time, and I never got the chance so here they are.

    Secondly, a good while ago a regular reader of mine called Allen Lulu tagged me with one of these internetty meme thingies

    whereby you write about the music that was in the charts the year you
    turned 18.  Well for me that year was 1993, but the chart music was
    abysmal, so I couldn't possibly do that to you.  Instead I had a look
    at what I was listening to myself from that year and came across so
    many excellent old songs I haven't heard for ages that a quick post
    turned into an entire podcast.  And this is that podcast - me at age 18.

    Toadcast #9 - The Folly of Youth

    1. The Spin Doctors - Two Princes (03.21)
    2. Stereo MCs - Connected (09.08)
    3. Radiohead - Anyone Can Play Guitar (13.41)
    4. Stone Temple Pilots - Plush (17.30)
    5. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Loverman (25.12)
    6. Levellers - This Garden (31.29)
    7. James - Five-O (38.24)
    8. The Long Blondes - Once & Never Again (6Music Acoustic Session) (43.12)
    9. Gogol Bordello - Never Want to be Young Again (49.48)
    10. The Mathletes - Linger (Cranberries Cover) (55.27)
    11. Pearl Jam - Daughter (57.45)
    12. Blind Melon - No Rain (63.19)
    13. Soul Asylum - New World (67.57)
    14. The Lemonheads - If I Could Talk I'd Tell You (71.50)
    15. Portishead - Mysterons (75.24)
    16. Engine Alley - Song For Someone (82.26)

    Song, by Toad

    1 hr 27 min
  • Toadcast #8 - New Things & Englishness

    This, ladies and gentlemen, is a quite splendid podcast.  Not the

    chat - there's actually blessed little of that for a change - but the
    actual music.  There may not be the one or two big names I tend to try
    and slip in to make sure that casual listeners are more likely to have
    a listen and thus bring an audience to the smaller bands, and also
    because I quite like to throw in a few for my own benefit as well but
    it just didn't quite happen.  For some reason they just didn't quite
    get a look in this week, although I did throw in a rather obscure
    Pogues track, but it just seemed fine without them.

    I really like

    this one though, and there are some excellent new things to hear, so
    get stuck in.  It has quite an acoustic folk-pop sort of atmosphere,
    so I hope that sort of thing is your bag, but I've thrown in a couple
    of slightly different things, like David Cronenberg's Wife, Mother
    & the Addicts and A Hawk & a Hacksaw to make sure it's not too
    one-paced.  So get stuck in, my little Toadlings, music a-plenty and
    jolly fine stuff too!

    Toadcast #8 - New Things & Englishness

    1. Donny Hue & the Colours - Humming With the Flowerbirds (01.01)
    2. Monkey Swallows the Universe - Jimmy Down the Well (06.19)
    3. Emmy the Great - Canopies & Grapes (10.26)
    4. Mother & the Addicts - Are Others (14.30)
    5. Champion Kickboxer - Perforations (20.42)
    6. Jake Flowers & the Carol-Anne Showband - Annabel (26.06)
    7. Johnny Flynn & the Sussex Wit - Tickle Me Pink (28.07)
    8. Mirah & Spectratone International - Supper (34.09)
    9. Patti Page - Old Cape Cod (38.01)
    10. A Hawk & a Hacksaw - The Way the Wind Blows (41.52)
    11. David Cronenberg's Wife - My Ukrainian Girlfriend (47.20)
    12. The Pogues - First Day of Forever (54.08)
    13. Iron & Wine - Kingdom of the Animals (57.22)
    14. The Ralfe Band - Albatross Waltz (63.23)
    15. A Hawk & a Hacksaw - Portlandtown (68.19)

    Song, by Toad
    1 hr 13 min
  • Toadcast #7 - The Chillout Tent

    Yes, we’re back and this time we’ve relaxed a little.  There’s a bit

    less cussing and ranting in this podcast than usual - in fact virtually
    no ranting at all, which is probably as much of a surprise to me as it
    is to you.

    I’m looking at late evening music this week because Mrs. Toad and I

    were recently talking about the Chillout craze which kicked off about
    six or seven years ago. It descended into electronic muzak
    unfortunately, but there were some good things in there at the
    beginning, so I thought I’d have a look at it.  I’ve thrown in some
    stuff I find nice and eveningy and relaxing as well just to stop it
    becoming too tedious.

    Toadcast #7 - The Chillout Tent

    01. Groove Armada - At The River (01.31)

    02. The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist (04.32)
    03. Calexico - Human (10.31)
    04. Cinerama - Diamonds Are Forever (15.14)
    05. Jazzy Jeff - For Love of Da Game (19.02)
    06. Fear of Pop - In Love (23.12)
    07. The 18th Day of May - Cold Early Morning (31.11)
    08. Lucinda Williams - Ventura (35.40)
    09. Lemonjelly - In the Bath (41.51)
    10. Sandy Bull - Carmina Burana Fantasy (48.28)
    11. The Hold Steady - The Chillout Tent (54.04)
    12. RJD2 - Ghostwriter (57.36)
    13. Edith Piaf - La Vie en Rose (63.22)
    14. Marilyn Monroe - Through With Love (67.02)
    15. The Divine Comedy - Theme From Casanova (69.50)

    Song, by Toad


    1 hr 16 min
  • Toadcast #6 - About a Boy

    Erm, I ave no idea how to explain what you're in for if you bother

    to listen to this I'm afraid.  The story goes like this: it was our
    anniversary, we were drinking and chatting and listening to music. A
    classic came on the stereo and we got talking about songs that would be
    so popular and so ingrained in popular culture that the writer of them
    would never have to work again and could live off the royalties, be
    they from television, advertising, movies or everyone wanting to cover
    your song.  Like that chap in about a boy, for example.

    Unfortunately,

    we were far from sober already and by the end of this, honestly: take
    my gin consumption, take the equivalent volume of water out of Noah's
    flood, and the Ark would have run aground on Clapham Common.  In Toad
    world, apart from slurring, that means ranting and a relatively
    well-conceived podcast about commercial immortality descends into a
    rambling, incoherent tirade against the advertising industry, with
    songs.

    So listen to it at your peril, you have been warned. 

    Toadcast #6 - About a Boy

    1. Blur - Song 2 (02.38)

    2. Eileen Carr - What a Feeling (04.46)
    3. Eels - Mr. E's Beautiful Blues (10.10)
    4. Bob Marley - Three Little Birds (16.15)
    5. Tom Waits - Innocent When You Dream (20.58)
    6. Kinobe - Slip Into Something (27.00)
    7. The Pet Shop Boys - Go West (30.28)
    8. Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love (35.34)
    9. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'n' Roll (38.06)
    10. The Pogues - Fairytale of New York (43.15)
    11. The Who - My Generation (49.40)
    12. The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go? (52.55)
    13. The Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict a Riot (58.14)
    14. The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (64.04)
    15. Bill Hicks - Marketing & Advertising (71.09)

    Song, by Toad


    1 hr 16 min

About The Toadcast - the weekly podcast from Song, by Toad

From the publisher's feed

Every couple of weeks I sit down with a couple of gins and talk you through the new music that's caught my ears in the last fortnight. There'll be a few classics and a few mainstream bands but the…