The Toadcast - the weekly podcast from Song, by Toad

Yep, a couple of days into September and Scotland really has decided that it's Autumn now, all of a sudden it's fucking Autumn. Cold, crappy rain, wind, all the usual fun and games. Season OVER! We are into shitty territory now, just you accept it!

Anyhow, I have never figured out whether good (more likely to leave the house) or bad weather (more likely to want to be inside in a venue) weather is more likely to lead to good gig attendances, but I suppose it's always nice to have the excuse either way if no-one turns up to your gig.

One nice thing about the weather turning shitty, of course, is that the fucking builders who repaired our roof - Traditional Roofing and Building - whilst excellent in every other respect, managed to paint my office windows shut and are ignoring my requests to come out and fix them. So at least if it's cold I won't just be sat up here fucking sweltering all day. Enjoy the tunes!

01. Temple Songs - Passed Caring (00.16)
02. John Murry - Southern Sky (07.45)
03. Sparrow and the Workshop - Odessa (remixed by White Label) (15.47)
04. Samantha Crain - For the Miner (23.57)
05. Vandaveer - Poor Edward (29.27)
06. Stefan Noons - Signals (35.26)
07. Playlounge - Grandma Death (40.01)
08. The Hundredth Anniversary - Last Drive (43.02)
09. Monster Rally - Orchids (48.44)
10. Califone - Move Music Kills a Kiss (54.23)

August is traditionally the month where my slender grasp of Song, by Toad Records admin is finally broken and everything collapses into a massive pile of shit. And that is just what has happened this year: I am behind on the accounts, haven't opened a single envelope which has been delivered to the house for about two months, and my inbox is a sprawling, out-of-control mess. Boo fucking hoo.

Nevertheless it all has to be smartened up by September. I have a new accountant, having been kicked to the kerb by the previous one for being too disorganised to be worth the hassle, so I can't fuck this one up or I really am in trouble! So August gets to be messy, and then I have to get my shit together for real and get this whole nasty mess under control again.

There are plenty of old favourites on this podcast - blog-era favourites, not real oldies, but nevertheless, some artists I haven't played for ages. There's also a wee taster from the new batch of Toad Sessions we're working on, to give you a taste of the new stuff. They are going to be a lot of work, but still tremendous fun to do, and I think the results are likely to be awesome.

01. Frog - Ichabod Crane (00.16)
02. Sparrow and the Workshop - The Gun (Toad Sessions) (08.06)
03. Alela Diane - Desire (Piano Demo) (11.55)
04. Sam Amidon - He's Taken My Feet (18.47)
05. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - We Real Cool (25.37)
06. Waylon Thornton and the Heavy Hands - Garbage Pail Kids (33.33)
07. Alela Diane - About Farewell (36.26)
08. The Black Tambourines - Bodies (44.54)
09. Yoofs - For Her (48.12)
10. Emmylou Harris and Liela Moss - So You'll Aim Towards the Sky (56.27)

As the run of dates gets into full swing, I figured The Palecast was a tediously inevitable name for a podcast but for all the predictability, I honestly couldn't come up with anything else, sorry.  Although I hope I'm not being too annoying about it (and I'm beginning to suspect that I am), I do take the opportunity to plug this week's Pale Imitation Festival gigs, but there's other stuff too.

There is the by-now-mandatory song from the car, picked from whatever tape I happen to be listening to a little too much at the moment. In this case it's Texarkana from REM's far-from-classic early nineties album Out of Time. It may not be a classic, but there are some really good tunes on there, mostly on the second side, and it's been fun to hear them again for the first time in ages.

Then we have a couple of new unsigned bands for you, and someone else's selections from my vinyl collection. Job's a good 'un.

01. R.E.M. - Texarkana (00.22)
02. Deathcats - Danny Dyer (07.07)
03. Tangles - Can't Take My Eyes Off of You (11.49)
04. Plastic Animals - Pizarnik (15.59)
05. Le Thug - Of Europe (Arc 1993) (23.50)
06. Wozniak - New Hampshire (31.35)
07. Rad Stewart - Arabesque Bedouin (38.11)
08. Calexico - Sunken Waltz (45.02)
09. Yo La Tengo - Our Way to Fall (47.34)
10. Sparrow and the Workshop - Autumn to Winter (54.23)

The Rustcast is of course dedicated to the Rust2Rome adventure we returned from last week. We went with a bunch of tapes, and all the tunes on this podcast come from those tapes.

In fact, these come from a relatively narrow selection of the tapes, because I took a few fairly downbeat tunes along and we never listened to them. I love listening to quiet music when I drive, but generally only at night, and there was no night driving on the trip, so those tapes tended to stay in the bottom of the box, unlistened.

In fact, you may not believe me, but there was plenty of time when we actually listened to nothing at all. We have no air-conditioning in the car and it was so hot we had to drive large chunks of the way with all the windows rolled down, and when the car picked up any speed at all the noise made it pretty much impossible to hear anything unless it was being played at uncomfortably loud volumes.

Nevertheless, there was plenty of music to be listened to and this is a collection of my favourite bits. 

01. Eels - Rags to Rags (00.22)
02. Grandaddy - El Caminos in the West (06.29)
03. Liars - Scarecrows on a Killer Slant (12.33)
04. Grinderman - No Pussy Blues (16.59)
05. R.E.M. - Disturbance at the Heron House (24.59)
06. Majical Cloudz - Silver Rings (30.33)
07. Willie Nelson - I Gotta Get Drunk (40.07)
08. Nirvana - Love Buzz (41.37)
09. Quiet Americans - Summer House (47.17)
10. Bob Seger System - 2+2=? (53.16)

Video – Vimeo – YouTube
Photos – Flickr
Session tracks - zip download (right click – save as)
Interview podcast – mp3 – iTunes – Mixcloud (playlist at bottom of page)

Charles Latham has been something of a legend in Edinburgh ever since his song Hard On became something of a staple in the Withered Hand live set, and also occasionally appeared when other bands, like our own Meursault for instance, played live as well. The Withered Hand version proved so popular that it actually made its way back across the pond, when Toad Session alumnus Samantha Crain covered it a year or two ago.

Funnily enough, though, he's never actually been to Edinburgh, at least until November last year, when he came over here on tour, played a gig in the city and popped by to record a Toad Session. And the Withered Hand version had made such an impact that Charles himself didn't even want to play it!

Nevertheless, we have four excellent songs for you, a genuinely interesting interview, and a night which started with beer and ended with macaroni cheese and vinyl. A win for all concerned, I think you'll agree.

Toadcast #272 - Charles Latham Toad Session by Song, By Toad on Mixcloud

01. Charles Latham - Squares (Toad Session) (00.22)
02. Withered Hand - Hard On (12.37)
03. Violent Femmes - Waiting For the Bus (15.51)
04. Charles Latham - My Perfect Church (Toad Session) (24.17)
05. Neko Case - Thrice All American (31.46)
06. Jonathan Richman - My Affected Accent (35.15)
07. Charles Latham - The Living Wage (Toad Session) (45.14)
08. George Harrison - I Live For You (52.57)
09. Eef Barzelay - Well (56.33)
10. Charles Latham - My Parents' House (Toad Session) (1.08.00)

After writing about the SAY Award, I thought I might well do a podcast about it, given there are more than enough ace bands and ace records on that list, last year's list and I assume next year's list to make a couple of podcasts.

I play a couple of shocking, scandalous omissions from this and last year's long- and shortlists, and stamp my little foot about them. I play a couple of tracks from bands who I reckon should be in with a very strong shout of making next year's shortlist.  And I play a random tune by David Thomas Broughton because he, along with Rick Redbeard who I tip for next year's shortlist, is playing a show in Edinburgh this week.  David on Thursday with Rachael Dadd and Ichi, and Rick on Saturday with the awesome Ian Humberstone. 

And again, I try and remind people not to get too worked up about this kind of thing, because, well, if no-one agrees with you that something is excellent, it should hardly make you love it any the less, should it. And equally, being told that yes, you are right, this album is good, shouldn't particularly improve your enjoyment of it should it. So these things are here to be bickered over and are good fun, as well as being fantastic for the artists who win them, but they aren't of course to be taken too seriously.

01. Meursault - Untitled (00.26)
02. PAWS - Bird Inside Birddcage, Ribcage Inside Bird (06.40)
03. Rick Redbeard - Any Way I Can (14.35)
04. David Thomas Broughton - River Lay (20.10)
05. Now Wakes the Sea - Propranolol (28.47)
06. RM Hubbert - Car Song (With Aidan Moffat and Alex Kapranos) (35.42)
07. Django Django - Love's Dart (39.59)
08. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Bats in the Attic (45.36)
09. Rob St. John - Stainforth Force (52.54)
10. The Pictish Trail - I Will Pour it Down (1.02.06)

 Welcome to the Autocast. The Autocast? Yes, we have a new car. So exciting! It is, much in the style of pretty much every car I have ever owned in my life, a bit of a shit-heap. In fact, it's a total shit-heap: a 1992 Volvo estate.

I will be driving it up to GoNorth in Inverness this week, to see if it's going to prove to be reliable in the long run. It made it all the way from Oxford to Edinburgh a week or so ago though, and that was seven hours, so I reckon it should be fine. Hopefully. The thing about spending £350 on a car is that you can be pretty much certain that something serious must be wrong with it. A properly functioning car is worth more than £350, more or less whatever it is.

Anyhow, GoNorth should be fun. It usually is, and now that we are a bit more established within the Scottish music community it's a nice chance to catch up with pals who I might not necessarily see that much of because for some reason Glasgow seems too far away most of the year. Ridiculous, really.

01. Book Group - Year of the Cat (00.22)
02. TV Girl - She Smokes in Bed (07.07)
03. Garden of Elks - Contented Contender (12.58)
04. Camera Obscura - Fifth in Line to the Throne (16.44)
05. Four Visions - Closer (23.01)
06. Way Yes - Get Healed (28.57)
07. Majical Cloudz - Chilhood's End (37.40)
08. Stuart Warwick - The Nail That Sticks Out Gets Pounded (41.45)
09. The Tablets - Tablets (50.57)
10. Virals - Wax Works (59.45)

 Yes, the Sousedcast, mostly because I am fucking steaming.

Getting shitfaced and swearing at the internet about music may sound irretrievably sad, but it is one of the great pleasures in my life. Seriously, listen to this shit, is it not completely brilliant? I don't listen to my own podcasts again and again - that would be a bit like wanking with a fistful of your own toothpaste - but I listen to the playlists for these things all the time, because even if my chat is shit, the playlists to our podcasts are brilliant. They really are, aren't they.

Anyhow, Mrs. Toad is away at the moment, which is why I am getting shitfaced and shouting at you on the internet. IN ALL CAPS! But this week we have the best possible balance between hipster pop shit and genuinely weird bollocks. Go weirdos! GO!

01. Le Thug - Swam (00.26)
02. Temples - Colours to Life (11.12)
03. Big Deal - Dream Machines (15.24)
04. Wooden Wand - No Bed For Beatle Wand/Days This Long (23.26)
05. Magic Arm - Is History (37.12)
06. The Yawns - Butterfleyes (41.23)
07. Ed Harcourt - The Pretty Girls (44.46)
08. Glass Animals - Cocoa Hooves Pt.1 (47.57)
09. Teardrop Factory - Vanity Unfair (56.36)
10. Mac DeMarco - She's Really All I Need (1.03.49)

Welcome to The Schoolcast wherein I acknowledge a few of the people who have educated my music taste more than most. Without a Musical Big Brother figure in my life I have relied on a motley crew of people from all over to get me into music to which I might otherwise never have been exposed, and the process continues today of course.

For someone who is an accidentally self-appointed arbiter of taste* I actually know relatively little about music, and particularly the history of pop music. I don't know much Neil Young, for example, I don't know much Pink Floyd, I don't know much Dinosaur Jr. or Guided By Voices, or even Can - and those are just the ones for which I have been directly chided.

Anyhow, I am making inroads into some of this ignorance, and it's actually a shitload of fun, as you can imagine. As with last week's Neil Young write-up, I think I'll start covering some of these records on the blog a bit more often, as I think the blend of brand new stuff and older music will work really nicely. Enjoy!

01. Pink Floyd - Astronomy Domine (00.22)
02. Lee Noble - December (08.46)
03. Jake McKelvie & the Countertops - Oh the Ghost (13.57)
04. Neil Young - Southern Man (20.29)
05. Thirty Pounds of Bone - The Maritime Line (29.04)
06. Pearl Jam - Dissident (35.29)
07. The Raincoats - Don't Be Mean (43.09)
08. Yo La Tengo - Bog Day Coming (47.09)
09. Cherokee Red - Mythomania (55.50)
10. Columboid - Juicy Mode (1.00.57)

Salford is to Manchester pretty much what Leith is to Edinburgh - the scummy port town which is close enough to be pretty much part of the city, but still maintains a separate identity. And indeed Salford may be a good way behind Leith in this aspect, but it too seems to be slowly becoming nicer and nicer, and shrugging off some of its rough image. Salford has a very long way to go I suppose, but there does seem to be a fair bit of decent arty stuff happening down there at the moment, which tends to be how these things start.

Anyhow, on Sunday I am going to down to Salford for the Sounds From the Other City festival.  There will be stages booked by all sorts of excellent Manchester promoters, like Comfortable on a Tightrope, Underachievers, Now Wave and Manchester Scenewipe, and plenty of people knocking around who I haven't seen for a while, so I am rather looking forward to it. 

I also get the chance to see my Granddad and have a wee whisky together on Saturday night, which will be excellent. My Granddad and I get on really well these days, but when I first moved to England and spent some of my first year at university living at his house it wasn't always the case for various reasons. Consequently, the fact that we get on so well is something we both take great pleasure from and make sure we don't take for granted, which is a nice thing.  Whisky: bringing people together since the 1400s.

01. Black Market Karma - Sole Abuser (00.21)
02. Rob St. John - Charcoal Black and the Bonny Grey (09.14)
03. Virgin of the Birds - Christiane (16.15)
04. Powerdove - Love Walked In (22.21)
05. Still Caves - Dutch (26.17)
06. Laura Viers - Shadow Blues (35.27)
07. Suuns - Powers of Ten (42.02)
08. Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Swimming Song (47.21)
09. Weavers - Kisses Sweeter Than Wine (49.47)
10. Adam Stafford - Please (57.35)