Sat, 27 September 2008
This podcast contains a large number of songs from albums which I didn't really enjoy enough to want to review, but which nevertheless contained some excellent songs. I never want to give a small or emerging band a shitty review because it just feels mean. For me there's a certain threshold to be reached, after which you are fair game for anything I feel like saying because, frankly, why would you care, but smaller bands are never going to get a really hard time on this site. Unless they behave like dicks of course, but I digress. A lot of these albums contain songs I really like, but only one or two, and I really wanted them to be heard. Also, give that your music taste and mine probably only partially overlap anyway (otherwise it would just be creepy) I think it's quite possible you might disagree and want to explore further. It always amazes me how seriously people can take even my opinion, as some sort of self-appointed arbiter of musical worthiness, when neither I nor any other critic is any better placed or more worthy to judge than any random fanny off the street. The only thing that sets us apart is not musical judgment, it's the slightly dubious compulsion to constantly be writing or talking about it for some unknown reason. Anyway, that's only about half a dozen songs on this list, the rest are just there either because they don't entirely belong anywhere else, hence the Orphaned Songs title, and partly because I just felt like it. Enjoy... 01. Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers - Let the Fever Out (HearYa Live Session) (02.40) |
Sat, 20 September 2008
Yes, another podcast dedicated entirely to the End of the Road Festival. I did the very same last year because I do rather love this festival, and the sheer quality of the lineup easily merits a podcast to itself. Unlike last year, Mrs. Toad actually came with me this time around. We drove this stupid old 1960s VW camper van down there, and Christ knows how we didn't die in the process. The fucking thing steered like a bathtub full of water, there were no brakes at all and the only crumple zone was us. The other disconcerting thing is the fact that VW campers are something of a community, so everyone who passed us in one would flash their lights and wave with the sort of sincere enthusiasm that made us mortally ashamed to be mere renters - mere passengers in a club full of such obviously devoted members, Christ we felt like charlatans. Anyway, ignore our guilt and enjoy the podcast. There's some fucking great music on this one. And why is it called the Deathcast? Because that blasted camper van we drove down in was an absolute death trap. Honestly, want to die in a nasty accident? Try driving a 60s VW camper van around the English countryside in the middle of the night in the pissing rain. Toadcast #37 - The Oddcast[audio http://media.libsyn.com/media/songbytoad/ToadcastNo38.mp3] 01. Micah P. Hinson - Patience (03.17) |
Sat, 13 September 2008
Bill Oddie, for those of you who don't know, is a legendary British television birdwatcher - twitcher as they're known. He is also the subject of one of the most famous of all mondegreens: Madonna's "Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie, put your hands all over my body". Anyhow, as a legendary feather flutterer it seemed only appropriate that his name should adorn a podcast entirely made up of bands with ornithological names. We have everything here, from the albatross to the gull to the guillemot to the owl to the sparrow to the pigeon. Honestly, this podcast could have been twice the length that it is, there were just so many appropriate bands - no Flock of Seagulls, for example, no Sparrow & the Workshop, no Sheryl Crow. So I hope
you enjoy it. While you're listening to this, Mrs. Toad and I will be
enjoying the End of the Road Festival, and hopefully getting a few
interesting interviews in for you all. It'll be my first ever
attendance as a legitimate press person, so I am feeling very full of
myself at the moment, but with a bit of luck I'll justify the inflated
sense of self-importance and bring back some fine bits and pieces for you to enjoy in the next week or two. 01. Hate Beak - Feral Parrot (02.27) |
Sat, 6 September 2008
Well, no gin, no misbehaviour (except the mandatory foul language), Christ you'd be forgiven for thinking I'd sold out on you and actually grown up at last. No fear of that actually, just a bit of liver protection. We're trying to guzzle just that little bit less midweek, and save the beer tokens for when we really need them, so it's tea and slippers this time around. In fact I thought I was being exceptionally tame until such time as I realised that I hadn't reigned in the swearing one little bit. Fuck, I thought to myself. Thematically,
erm, you're on your own I'm afraid. I've no real idea if you can think
of anything that holds all these songs together as a coherent whole,
but damned if I can. There's quite a bit of new stuff and quite a few
stray songs that I didn't know how to cover because I didn't want to
review the whole album, but there was a song or two that I liked. You
know what I mean. And thirteen songs in just under an hour - fucking
hell that's efficient. Toadcast #36 - The Domesticast[audio http://media.libsyn.com/media/songbytoad/ToadcastNo36.mp3] 01. Christian Williams - 30 Minutes (00.17) |
Mon, 1 September 2008
It's been a while since the last Toad Session, but this one is a bit good and thoroughly worth waiting for. Meursault's debut album is one of my favourite of the year, and their acoustic set is easily as good. This is the first session to be held in our house too, which brought its own challenges and then some. Mrs. Toad's preposterous cat makes an appearance at one point, and the videos look very, very, erm... green? Blue? Whatever fucking stupid colour it is we've painted our living room. Anyway, the recordings have come out really nicely, and I think the videos are good too. I've posted a few here, but the whole lot can be found on the Song, by Toad YouTube page. The photos turned out rather well too, so go to the Flickr page for the ones we liked. And, without further ado, here is the Meursault Toad Session podcast (the track listing is at the bottom of the page): Toadcast #35 - Meursault Toad Session[audio http://media.libsyn.com/media/songbytoad/ToadcastNo35.mp3] Here are the individual songs: Meursault - The Furnace (Toad Session)[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/ToadSessions/Meursault-TheFurnace-ToadSession.mp3]
01. Meursault - The Furnace (Toad Session) (06.14) |
