Sun, 26 July 2009
This is our first attempt at a stunt podcast, live from a festival. We go to festivals and I am trying to figure out how much work I can make for myself without taking the fun out of the festival for myself, or just generally trying too hard. I didn't really set up any interviews this time around - no, not even Billy Bragg - but I did manage to grab Mark from emerging Glasgow band The Seventeenth Century for a chat. The audio is terrible, I'm afraid, but it should be just about audible. If I'd been able to locate the keys for the Toad van at that point we'd have gone in there, just for a respite from the wind noises on the recording and the colossal amount of bleed from the main stage. In any case, it should be entertaining enough, I hope, and with a bit of luck subsequent attempts at the same thing will be a lot better. Toadcast #79 - The Wickerman 01. The Cave Singers - Beach House (04.04) |
Sat, 18 July 2009
Uncut Magazine and I had a pretty amazing relationship between the turn of the millennium and about 2004 or 2005. Basically, I would buy it every month and turn straight to the reviews section and the cover mount CD of what they considered to be the best of new music released that month, and devour both simultaneously, taking notes about what I wanted to spend that monthís meagre wages on. Those cover mount CDs were amazing, at the time, and almost invariably related to that monthís new releases, but in the last few years they have become way, way more concepty, and I have started to enjoy them less and less. For some reason, Uncutís relationship with contemporary music seems to have come adrift even faster than my own, even as I approach my mid-thirties. Even if I am exaggerating that particular claim - maybe blogging is keeping my tastes young(ish), you never know - it seems a shame that I have drifted away from what was one of my major sources of new music for years, so this podcast is something of a retrospective and also a salute to all the stuff I picked up from Uncut and in particular their amazing cover mount CDs over the years. 01. The Magnetic Fields - I Donít Want to Get Over You (03.36) |
Sat, 11 July 2009
Sorry, I know this is going up late, but I have been working on the promotional material for the Jesus H. Foxx EP release. There's a fair bit still to be done, but for the time being I am cautiously optimistic that it is going to look fucking brilliant. There will be a lot of painting to be done though, so putting the final touches on the thing is going to take bloody ages, but I think it is going to be easily worth it. In other news, this week's podcast is a prolonged chat with Euan (of Kays Lavelle, Trampoline, Steinberg Principle and Woodenbox fame) as a way of rounding up the excellent fortnight he spent feeding and changing Song, by Toad whilst Mrs. Toad and I were off gallivanting. So, rather than make his usual grouchy, joyless comments on posts I thought I might invite him to make his grouchy joyless comments on a podcast. So he came round and complained and complained and generally sulked his way through the whole thing, which was nice. Oh alright, of course he didn't. But it just wouldn't be fun for me if I didn't make fun of Euan for being grouchy long past the time anyone else has ceased to find it funny. Oh stop sulking. You're turning into him. All of you. Shame on you, people, shame on you. Cheer the fuck up for God's sake. 01. Wilco - Bull Black Nova (06.39) |
Sat, 4 July 2009
I recently did an interview with Billy from The Scotsman's Under the Radar blog (amongst other venerable organs) which took the form of an interesting chat about the current tension between bloggers and professional journalists. He has played off my opinions against those of his friend Mike Diver, who is currently the online editor for (the excellent) Clash magazine. The whole thing can be found here, along with plenty of comments from Ally and Milo, professional writers from around these parts, and myself and Tart, on the side of the bloggers. The comments on that thread It's an interesting debate, frankly, and one which, as a blogger with aspirations, as opposed to someone who is happy to simply chat for the sake of it, I have applied a fair deal of thought to. Ultimately, though, I think it is something of a false dichotomy: some of the best reporters keep blogs as ways of expressing themselves outwith the constraints of the editorial policy of whatever rag pays their wages and a lot of the best bloggers end up parlaying their writing skills into professional careers in journalism. And of either side there is a vast amount of detritus, professional and amateur. So, yes, the Toad once again holds forth passionately on subjects he knows far too little about and may in general be making a fool of himself once more. The, erm, songs are good though. 01. Billy Bragg - Which Side Are You On? (03.17) |
