Coastal Skid Spy Wok v18.0

Apologies for how quiet things have been on here of late.  I've been a busy bee, but I'll try and get my finger out so you're not forced to read two of these notcasts in succession again!  What with guest hosts and festival specials, it's been three weeks now since I had a proper trawl through SoundCloud and shared my favourite findings with you.  So here goes...

...starting with a beautiful, bearded man with whom I enjoyed a very, very sweet victory recently.  Something I plan on repeating this Tuesday.  Scottish Fiction... you've been well warned! 

   Michael Rocket by The Pictish Trail

Yup, none other than The Pictish Trail.  Around now, he's probably just about cleaned up the last of the mess left over from last weekend's Fence Records Away Game.  From what I hear, it was predictably spectacular.   Michael Rocket will feature on Johnny's upcoming 7" EP, The Summer Is Empty Of Idiots, which you can pre-order here as part of the Buff Tracks series.  Moving onto someone I've not featured on Kowalskiy in quite a while.  I noticed recently that the lovable Ramisco Maki Maki Rocking Horse had uploaded a new, FREE track on his website.  As per usual, it's brilliant.  You can download Nowhere Know Where from his site and then head back here to have a listen to this 'orned beast from his debut album One Zero One Zero One Zero.

   My 'Orns by Ramisco Maki Maki

Strange, strange man... but we wouldn't have him any other way!  We'll continue this week's whistle-stop tour of SoundCloud with this gorgeous, new, acoustic offering from Penguins Kill Polar Bears with a little help from i build collapsible mountains.

   Scarce (Acoustic) by penguinskillpolarbears

A big surprise this one, but a very refreshing change of direction. Saying that, you still cannae beat a bit of this from February's Vessels & Veins EP which you can snap up over here.

   Lungs by Penguins Kill Polar Bears (courtesy of A Badge Of Friendship)

Now here's a lovely new one from Bottle Of Steven, him what is also in Bottle Of Evil, who "was playing around with good intent and this fell out".  True story!  It's free too, so be sure to grab a copy while you can. 

   Darkest Fools by Bottle of Steven

While I'm on topic, as I was getting those links above, I happened across this from Benbecula Records... yoink!  Right, time for one more track.  'Tis only a wee one.  You'll all know I love How To Swim.  Well, along with the wonderful trio of The Paraffins, The Plimptons and Gums! (and others of course), they've contributed to The Littlest Album 4.0, a collection of one-minute tracks available on vinyl from September.  You can pre-order it over here if this tickles your fancy.

   Condensed History of Rock (Berkeley's Folly) by How To Swim

And as I've not has Apology Corner for a while... supergroup Gums! have a free EP out which I keep forgetting to feature.  You can get your hands on it over here.  Tell them I sent you!

Bottle Of Evil - Inside Looking Out

Now for the very welcome return of the Scotsman Radar Prize 2011 Runners-Up, Messrs. Derek Bates and Steven McGilvary, or Bottle of Evil as I've come to know and love them.   That oh-so-close accolade couldn't have gone to a more deserving pair!  It's been over a year since the release of their eponymous debut album which completely took me by surprise, and hasn't been off my driving-music car-stick since.  That's staying power of Bryan Adams proportions!

Since then, Derek's moniker Evil Hand released the brilliant 'pseudo-retrospective' Huldra back in February, and I've just discovered (Bottle of) Steven's free Eventual Progress (e.p.) a few weeks ago, which he put out in September.   It seems that both can do no wrong!

Anyway, back to the present.  I've been sitting staring at a half-finished, garbled review of this EP for over a month now, so it's about bloody time for my finger to be well-and-truly gotten out!   Their latest joint-offering, the four-track EP Inside Looking Out, came out a month ago and as expected, it's a work of unashamed musical brilliance!  All of which begins with the mesmerising opener The Boatman.  It's four minutes of shoegazey perfection at it's blissful best.  Which probably makes no sense whatsoever, so you'll just have to have a listen for yourself!  

I Can See Your Face is no different. Quality-wise that is. Music-wise though, it's shows glimpses of a much darker, more sinister side, in amongst the delicate, swooning refrain.   Maybe that's their Evil streak poking through...

Gentle, dreamy melodies and soothing, breathy vocals is the order of the day for track three, the sublime Move On, which builds on just nicely from where their debut left off.

Then they go and take the lid off the bottle...  That dark side which was hinting at previously, is unleashed on the unsuspecting listener in the form of the chilling, prog-rocky Collider.  With a eerie Blue Oyster Cult inspired (well guys?) riff and vocal recordings which sound oddly reminiscent of old prohibition-era movies, it's yet another unexpected gem from Bottle of Evil. 

So to sum up, it's pretty brilliant, and as EPs go, I've not heard a better one all year.  So away with you now, and download it over here. 

Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP #10

This month, as far as the EPs go, we're into double figures!  As a thank you to all those out there who've been downloading these 5-tracked beauties over the last year, for EP #10, I've given you the chance to get involved.  A few weeks ago, I asked you to design the front cover in exchange for, well, not very much in return.  Personal pride maybe.  There's been a few cracking entries but the winner is... drumroll please... Ed 'Bear' Sellek for that brilliant piece above!  Take a bow Mr. Sellek.  One face in particular swung the decision in his favour.  Anyway, congratulations Ed, and to everyone else out there, you should all pay Ed a visit over here.

On to the music now.  Here's the five acts on EP #10 and what they had to say about their track...

1. Bottle Of Evil - I Can See Your Face (an exclusive new track from the Kowalskiy favourites!)

"It's the first completed track since we released our debut last summer, and will be on a new EP we're looking to put out in a couple of months. It's possibly a bit darker than most of the debut, with plenty of distorted bass, reverbed/delayed guitars, distorted xylophone, melodica and ambient screams. It also has our mate Dave playing some drums on it, moving away slightly from the sampled approach we've used before. A Glasgow based film-maker Benjamin Cottin from superB productions has also put together a video for the track which is available as an additional delight on this Bandcamp EP download." - Derek Bates (Bottle Of Evil)

That video is neatly packaged inside your Bandcamp download of the EP.  And it isn't half bad!  It's really good actually.  Prepare to be taken on a shoegazey tour of Glasgow...

2. The Last of Barrett's Privateers - Harbour Wall (a cracking demo from Edinburgh's folky four-piece.)

"Harbour Wall is a sea shanty telling the story of a man who is sent to work at sea, separated from his love back on shore. Although the song itself is a metaphor, the instruments and, especially, the vocals are played to reflect the physical imagery within the lyrics." - Toby Cooke (TLOBP)

3. Jump: Press A - Only The Brave Deserve The Fair (an 'angry pop' track from their debut EP.)

"Only The Brave is probably our most immediately accessible song as it is so overtly poppy. It's also our only really political song, but we've kept a healthy dose of Jump: Press A rage in there. 'Angry Pop!'   It is the opening track of our bedroom recorded 3-track EP 'In Case of Emergency.' It can be downloaded for free in full at www.jumppressa.com. We'll also be putting this one on our studio album that we will be recording towards the end of the year.   If you like it, catch up with us on Twitter and Facebook to find out about shows near you. We spend an unhealthy amount of time online between the 6 of us, so be sure to say Hello!" - Kelagh (Jump: Press A)

4. Loch Awe - Lips (a brand-spanking new demo recorded earlier this week!)

"A quick demo recording of a new song 'Lips'. Well, we say new, it's actually been around since before most of the songs on our mini-album, but still. Enjoy." - Matthew Healy (Loch Awe)

5. Pooch - Putsch (an electro 'beast' from Team Pooch)

"The idea of 'Putsch' basically grew from one single bassline that I had in my head to an almighty beast of an electro/techno track. It lasts over 6 minutes so perhaps a radio edit is needed as it doesn’t properly kick in until somewhere over the 4 minute threshold, but for those who stay until the end and like it dirty and filthy will be in for a treat. We had always wanted to use putsch as a song title (because of the obvious) and think the song represents the word quite well – at the end at least anyway!" - Team Pooch

The EP is now up for free download over on my bandcamp page, along with EPs #1-9 and a couple of extras.  Go, go, go!

Right, my mini-break continues now!  I'll be back soon though and in plenty of time for EP #11 on the 16^th of May.  In the meantime, get your cover art entries in again.  You've got a full month this time, so no excuses!  All you need to do is email me your masterpiece before noon on the 15^th of May.  Only requirements are that it's square, at least 350px wide, and better than the usual half-arsed attempts I've come up with in the past.  And as always, if any bands out there who fancy making my life that wee bit easier and want to volunteer a track for one of these EPs, then send me a wee email too.

Evil Hand - Huldra

I've said it before, but I'll repeat it for all you Johnny-Come-Lately's out there.  Ever since starting this blog, there's been one guy who, musically speaking, simply can't put a foot wrong in my erm... ears.  That man, is Derek Bates.  As one half of the Lanarkshire duo Bottle Of Evil, he was partly responsible for one of my favourite albums of last year.  Last month he released new album Huldra for free under his solo guise, Evil Hand.  It's a collection of remastered tracks from his previous four albums and some cracking, new material thrown in for good measure.  So really, what better way to introduce you to the wonder that is Evil Hand.

First thing's first, the name.  Apparently the Huldra is a seductive, mythological Norwegian forest creature.  Not quite sure how to relate that (wittily of course) to the album, other than this too is a thing of mysterious beauty.  Anyway, if you enjoyed Bottle Of Evil's eponymous debut last year, then you're bound to enjoy Huldra.  It has the same combination of "acoustic strangeness", sublime shoegaze, some bits in between, and two or three perfectly-placed instrumental pieces seamlessly added to the mix.

It kicks off with the acoustic gem Garmin, which combines the lot with snare drum loops and screeching, acoustic guitars to great effect.  Then there's one of the many standout newbies, Returned In Time, which Derek kindly gave us a sneaky preview of last year.  For the next half-a-dozen-or-so tracks, Derek takes us on a journey through some highlights from his impressive back catalogue.  None more impressive than the outstanding, atmospheric piece, Ent.

New tracks The Kelpie and the instrumental Largo, No are two of the many belters after that, with the latter showing a slightly different side to Evil Hand, a more upbeat, synthy one which would hear no complaints from me if he went down this road again in future.

It's Returned In Time though that steals the show.  I loved it when I first heard it, and now, after the umpteenth listen, it still blows me away.  Have a wee listen for the distant drum mini-solo about 1 minute and 52 seconds in.  It's the small things that make this album what it is.  Just brilliant!

Once again, I'm left with nothing but praise for Mr. Bates.  Huldra is a breathtaking, seductive mixture of old and new.  Get your free download over here, and while you're at it, check out his back catalogue over on Amazon MP3.  Fans of Bottle of Evil's album can also get their hands on a free instrumental version over here.

2010's Top 10 Albums: #3 - Bottle Of Evil

The best thing about this blogging lark is that every-so-often, a great album comes along that you otherwise wouldn't have heard.  Every now and again, that album completely blows you away.   I'll be honest.  When the email arrived from Lanarkshire's shoegazey duo Bottle Of Evil, the coming together of Evil Hand and Bottle Of Steven, I wasn't expecting this to be the case.  The fact their self-titled debut has clinched third place in my albums of 2010 though, suggests it did just that.  Let me just reiterate what I've said before... Bottle of Evil have delivered one of the unexpected, stand-out albums of the year!  And here's just 2 reasons why...

For my top 3 albums, the men and women behind them have been kind enough to answer a few questions.  I spoke to one half of this duo, the evil half, earlier in the year, but here's Derek Bates again to tell us about the album, what 2010 has been like, and what we can all expect from Bottle Of Evil in the next twelve months...

Kowalskiy:  What's your take on your album?

Derek:  We had never really thought about the release when we were recording the songs, as it was such an experimental open-ended period - it was quite strange to actually have a cohesive albums worth of material together. We took time with sequencing and then sent a few copies out, we weren't expecting much though and were surprised at how many people started getting in touch and the string of positive reviews. Listening back we're both still happy with the album, we worked with what we had at the time to make something heavily melodic but still a bit strange. We were disillusioned with the constant string of generic artists and copyists, and wanted to do something relatively unique to us and where we lived.

Kowalskiy:  So what has 2010 been like for Bottle Of Evil?

Derek:  When positive reviews started coming in it was very strange but a great feeling, kinda rewarding after all those hours spent locked away listening to looping delays and click track hi-hats.. I especially have to thank the Scottish Blogging Community who were very supportive from the start. We then decided to get a few hundred CDs printed up, and put them into places like Love Music and Avalanche, whilst sending more out for promotion. At that point we were lucky to get feedback from magazines/websites all around the UK, Europe and the USA, and play in quite a few podcasts. We thought about getting some gigs organised, but quickly realised we would rather be recording more material instead, so concentrated our efforts back in that direction, with a couple of new people joining in the collaborations.

Kowalskiy:  And lastly, what does 2011 hold in store for you?

Derek:  We've nearly finished two tracks that we plan to put out as part of a release at the start of February. We're also working on a video with Benjamin Cottin, a Glasgow film-maker that will coincide with the release of one of the tracks on a certain Scottish EP release very soon, ahem. There will probably be a few months off to get back to our solo material, but I'm sure we'll still pop out a track here and there, maybe for other compilations down the line. Hopefully a new album will be underway towards the end of the year. Overall though, there will be a plentiful output from us both, just in differing forms.

'Ahem' indeed!  While you're waiting for that, head on over to their bandcamp and have a listen to the album in full, maybe even get your wallet out.  I can't recommend it highly enough!

K&A with Bottle Of Evil

Every once in a while a band comes along that strike a chord with us bloggers, and from all the chatter I've heard, Lanarkshire duo Bottle of Evil is certainly one of them. Their recently-released, self-titled debut album draws together loads of influences with "elements of electro-acoustic, shoegaze, folk, ambient, soundtrack and alternative indie". Be it one of their gorgeous shoegazey moments ("Kilmartin Valley") or one of their rousing folk numbers ("Holding Up The Bar"), the album is nothing short of stunning. Bottle of Evil have delivered one of the unexpected, stand-out albums of the year!

Over to the band now to tell us more about themselves...

Kowalskiy: Who are Bottle of Evil?
Bottle of Evil: We are a duo, Derek Bates and Steven McGilvary, from Lanarkshire, who record experimental music, mainly along the lines of shoegaze, folk and electro. Its mainly inspired by small town boredom and crap weather. We've both been writing and recording with our solo projects for many years, and myself with a previous group, shoegaze noisters Genaro.

Kowalskiy: How did the band come about?
Derek: I met Steven about 3 years ago when i recorded some of his solo material and realised he was someone I worked well with creatively, we got together for a few random recording sessions where we experimented with structures and a collection of instruments to write and record a few songs. The first song we completed, around a year ago, was Seize The Day. It was lucky enough to receive play from Glasgow PodcART and Subcity Radio so we decided to work on a few more songs and it has grown into the full album we have now.

Kowalskiy: How would you describe your music?
Derek: I'd say it always comes back to a love of things heavily FX driven, but it does vary quite a lot on the album. There's songs that could be considered folk, shoegaze, dream-pop, industrial or ambient, but they all share a similar trend of vocal harmonies and layered instruments. Experimenting with instruments through an unusual combination of amps, FX pedals, patched hardware units and studio outboard usually helped us create some interesting parts and allowed us to sculpt the songs in different ways. We've been told so far that there's elements of Animal Collective, Brian Eno, The Beach Boys, Spacemen 3 and Arab Strap, which are all artists we love to so we're more than happy to agree with those comparisons.

Kowalskiy: Who or what are your main influences?
Derek: Our main influences would be very varied but we both draw together on artists like Simon & Garfunkel, Slowdive, The Beach Boys/Dennis Wilson, The Foals, The Phantom Band, The XX, Malcolm Middleton and The Associates. We also listen to a lot of 60s/70s psychedelia, 80s/90s experimental music, post-punk, electronic and shoegaze which probably comes through quite a lot in the production of the album.

Kowalskiy: Your album was released earlier this year. For those who haven't heard it yet, what can they expect from it?
Derek: The album has been released digitally on iTunes and eMusic, and we have a CD release coming in two weeks. The album moves from otherworldly scores - to stripped acoustics - to layers of harmony, all whilst maintaining a cohesive sense of melody. Heavily FX driven at points, the music drifts back and forth between walls of swirling noise and the underpinning beats and emotive harmonies. That's the promotional spiel anyway. I'd recommend people just to take the time, have a listen and decide for themselves.

Kowalskiy: When can we expect to see some live shows?
Derek: We've recently pulled together a live troup and are rehearsing at the moment, hopefully we'll be gigging in a couple of months. We'll be playing a couple of tracks from the album but we're also concentrating on putting together new material. We've not played much in the last couple of years so we're looking forward to having some more musicians on board to add ideas and help create some great music and make a lot of noise.

Kowalskiy: What would your ideal gig be?
Derek: To be honest we're probably very easily pleased. A decent small venue such as Sleazies, Mono or 13th Note with a great live engineer and a packed crowd that are there to get pished and enjoy music would be perfect. If we were looking at large shows I'd love to play somewhere like Primavera, or in Scotland it would probably be the Barrowlands supported by a reformed Slowdive, although we'd be more likely to support them. Of all time it would probably have to be the Monterey Pop Festival.

Kowalskiy: What can we expect from Bottle of Evil in the future?
Derek: We're hoping to get a couple of months rehearsing and writing with the new line-up, and will be gigging for a couple of months before doing some more recording, just to get the live songs worked into the right shape. We're looking at getting an EP of this material put together towards the end of the year. Then we'll just see how things go from there.

Kowalskiy: Any interesting or embarrassing facts about any of you?
Derek: Nothing that I can think of that would be printable I'm afraid:)
Kowalskiy: The mind boggles.....

As I've said up top, Bottle of Evil's debut is nothing short of stunning. I can't wait for some live shows. Until then, here's one of the many album highlights "Holding Up The Bar" courtesy of the band.

mp3: Bottle Of Evil - Holding Up The Bar

Also, if you're quick, have a listen below then head over to their last.fm for a free download of the brilliant "Seize The Day".

Seize The Day

Those album buying links again: iTunes and eMusic.

Peenko's Friday Freebies feat. Kowalskiy! June Roundup

Now that Peenko has popped up his last Friday Freebies of the month, here's a recap from June's Korner!

Week #1 - Another cracker from Curators in the shape of their entire set from Stereo on the 22nd of April.

Week #2 - This weeks freebie came from Futuristic Retro Champions. Their 3-track "LaChunky EP" is up for free on their bandcamp.

Week #3 - Here's a free download of "Seize the Day" by Bottle of Evil. Stay tuned for a wee K&A session coming up.

Week #4 - Get well soon Beerjacket! For those of you waiting for his Oran Mor gig to be rescheduled, here's two live sets from Peter to tide you over.