Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP #28

See... told you this EP would be on time!  This month's offering sees another five of the finest artists and bands in this wonderful country side-by-side in musical harmony.  And that sentence is why I never send out any PR about these EPs.  Anyhoo, here's the five artists in question, and what they each had to say about their track... apart from one shy lot for whom I've been at my paraphrasing best!

1.  Plastic Animals - Waking Hours (Rescued from the cutting room floor, this little beauty is from Edinburgh's Plastic Animals Automaton EP recording sessions.  The EP will be re-released soon on the Strange Fish Records label.)

"The track is called "Waking Hours" and it's from the cutting room floor of the recording session we did for our most recent EP "Automaton". It's a bit more synth-y and "space pop"-y than our usual stuff but hopefully you'll like it ok! Cheers." - Dave Wark (Plastic Animals)

2.  Poor Things - Pat Nevin Indie Disco (A cracking homage to their hometown... and a nod to Scotland's favourite, music-loving, diminutive No. 11.)

"This song is basically a homage to our hometown Perth, and to friends we've lost touch with. It's semi-fictional; I've been dabbling in short-stories (they're really hard) and I'd written this brief tale about a teenage guy who starts hanging out with 'a new crowd', (mostly out of inevitable sexual curiosity) but in doing so he ditches this girl who he's been friends with for years. So when I say 'semi-fictional', I had a friend like that who I don't see any more, and I started thinking about it recently and what a shame it is.   I played around with it a lot, and compressed it into this song - through the reference to Cocteau Twins I thought it would be funny to call it after Pat Nevin who famously got permission to leave a pre-season friendly at half time to go and see some Cherry Coloured Funk. What a bro." - Craig Angus (Poor Things)

3.  Kitty The Lion - Duck! (Goose!  This fun-filled gem was your for free earlier this year for a retweet or a 'Like'.  Now, it's yours for even less than that.  It's also proof that my paraphrasing is crap!)

"We've just found out we've got funding to record our album!! Yayyy! Also planning a wee winter tour. Why don't we just put Duck! on it?" - Kitty The Lion

4.  yaya club - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Recorded just last night in his converted-wardrobe-vocals-studio, here's yaya club's cover of The Band's Americana classic.  Get Darren's latest double A-side here for free!)

"I'm a big fan of The Band.  Levon Helm is my beard idol, and my favourite ever farmer." - Darren Vincent a.k.a. yaya club

5.  Eugene Twist - Halloween Drama Queen (Acoustic Demo) (A brand, spanking acoustic newbie from Mr. Twist.  'Tis fairly awesome if you ask me!  As is his debut album...)

"Mid - October hopefully validates this unleashing of new song 'Halloween Drama Queen'. Acoustic demo recorded at the Old Hairdressers, Glasgow. Dedicated to the unfortunate thousands each year who find themselves at the mercy of a strange and growing phenomenon - getting dumped on Halloween." - Eugene Twist

And with that, I'm done for another month.  A huge thanks to each of the artists involved in this month's EP.  I hope you all enjoy it!  All you have to do to get your FREE copy is to click the artwork above, or here if you can't be arsed scrolling back up.  While you're there, there's another 27 there crying out to be downloaded for FREE.

Now to get cracking on November's EP.   If you fancy making my life that wee bit easier, and contributing a track to one of these, then send me a wee email (kowalskiy2@gmail.com) and we'll see what we can do!  

K&A with Eugene Twist

OK folks!  Time now to say 'hello' to a guy from Glasgow who just might have thee best name in Scottish music at the moment... Eugene Twist.  He's recorded his debut album The Boy Who Had Everything with the good people at Elba Studios, and to be fair, the title is pretty accurate.  For Mr. Twist is not your typical singer/songwriter.  Where most are at home with an acoustic guitar, Eugene has written, recorded and produced the album with a trusty band of brass, strings, percussion... you name it!  The end product is as ambitious and as impressive as all that sounds.  So, without much further ado, here's what he had to say about the album, his plans for the year ahead, and the answer to the question on everyone's lips.  Just what do you get for the boy who has everything...

Kowalskiy:  Who is Eugene Twist?

Eugene:  A 25 year old from Glasgow with one antenna submerged in the leagues of musical history and the other balancing high on the wire of musical relevancy. Still somehow moving forwards with just the odd electric shock.

Kowalskiy:  How would you describe your 'sound'?

Eugene:  For a long time I've felt like my singing voice is my own. In terms of a sound I've always been more of an explorer/magpie than a fashionista in the hope of gravitating towards something unique. My focus has been somewhat song over style but I feel like my music is my own. People say there are elements of Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan in there right through to Radiohead, which I can accept - even if you don't listen to these artists you can't help tread on their territories sometimes. I just try to write as organically as possible and pay attention somewhat selectively in the hope that I'm doing my own thing. I feel like songwriting is infinite and its limitations are merely a red rag for me. There are always new things to say.

Kowalskiy:  Your debut album The Boy Who Had Everything is out now... here! So yeah, what do you get for the boy who has everything?

Eugene:  Anything he can get his greedy hands on.

Kowalskiy:  What can you tell us about the album?

Eugene:  Eight tracks of the most ambitious music I could pull off. Recorded meticulously in a small studio with a very patient and attentive engineer. My friend Nick and I performed the majority of it and had some other folk come in to play. I've always recorded my own music but never with a view to releasing it properly, this time as the producer it was a massive learning curve and I found myself growing up a lot as an arranger and even as a writer in the process. Consequently accommodating for an ever-expanding vision from June - October last year.  Now very delighted and proud of the end product.

Kowalskiy:  Given you had a trusty band of friends play on the album, how will the album translate to the live stage?

Eugene:  For the moment the focus is on delivering the songs and vocal in a way that is suited to touring/supports etc. - a practical set up consisting mostly of myself and Nick. I feel it's also the most engaging at this stage and still packs a punch. Ultimately it's the platform to build a strong band around.

Kowalskiy:  What'd be your ideal gig?  Who'd be a Tough Act To Follow?

Eugene:  I love the Hammersmith Apollo in London, it's grand yet has an intimacy about it. 1960's - Mose Allison as my cocktail waiter and Leonard Cohen as my cigar caddy, then they duet... leaving a long interval before I go on.

Kowalskiy:  It's probably still early enough to get away with this one... which bands would you like to see do well in 2012?

Eugene:  Some friends of mine from Glasgow, Andrea Marini and also David Robert Bova are very good.

Kowalskiy:  What else can we expect from you this year?

Eugene:  Hard work - gigs, many new songs, videos, maybe some collaborations.

Kowalskiy:  Last one... which actress would you like on a mattress?
Eugene:  Assuming it's acting by profession - there is something about a young Meryl Streep I find very beautiful.

Presumably, she'd be quite difficult to wake up cos... that lady's not for turning!  Getting back to the album (probably for the best), you can buy it in digital form over here from Eugene's Bandcamp.  And, if you're in Glasgow this weekend and fancy seeing how much of a punch his live show packs, then he'll be at The Captain's Rest on Sunday 19^th February.  Cheers Eugene!