Coastal Skid Spy Wok v7.0

Shall we have another half-a-dozen tracks that have been tickling my fancy on SoundCloud over the last week?  Apology Korner is slightly different this week, in that I've never actually promised the artist anything and never delivered.  More like I've just never made an effort to feature them.  Which is a bit strange given that everytime I've heard Julia and the Doogans I've been bowled over with sheer delight!  She bakes a kick-ass cupcake too!

   Those Things by Julia and the Doogans

Those Things takes pride of place on their new Diamonds EP which is out now over here with optional posters, fridge magnets and tote bags.  No cupcakes though.  I suppose they don't post that well.  Right, from one mesmerising voice to another.  It's the lovely Louise Connell a.k.a. Reverieme.  She should be no stranger to you, dear readers.  She too has some equally lovely music you can buy in the form of her Melodies album.  Alas, there's no tote bags (Huh... that's just lazy Louise!  Get your finger out!), but the download itself is a bargain.   It features the stunning Water In My Eyes, which is below in live form.

   Water in My Eyes (Livez0rz) by Reverieme

I will never tire of hearing that song!  Moving onto track three now, we have another artist earning a long-overdue first mention on Kowalskiy... esperi.  Here's a track which popped up on SoundCloud recently, and it's brilliant.  Have a listen, then head on over here to hear/buy some more. 

   The Countryside, No City Dust Here by esperi

Now onto the band who produced my album of 2011, Happy Particles.  Turns out, they're one of the longlisted bands for the inaugural SAY (Scottish Album of the Year) Award.  Fingers crossed!  I had a wee look, and the two album tracks they once had up are no longer there.  Fear not though, they still have this gem.

   Far Enough Inside by Happy Particles

You can buy their amazing Under Sleeping Waves album from their Bandcamp, from iTunes and I see from various Music Shop Day tweets yesterday that there's physical copies doing the rounds now.  OK, two more then I'm off.  I know virtually nothing about Naked Strangers other than they're from Ullapool and have an EP out called Social Lubricant which I can't seem to find any links too.  Anyhoo, the three tracks from it that are on SoundCloud are really good.  Here's one of them!

   Army of Mum by Naked Strangers

You have no ideas what sites I came across when I Googled "Naked Strangers Social Lubricant".  Some people are just sick!  Some now have an extra follower... right, last track!  Yusuf Azak is awesome.   Here's his cover of PJ and Duncan's Stepping Stone.  Only joking.  Disappointingly, it's not, but this is every bit as impressive! As are these... and this.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Stepping Stone by Yusuf Azak

Kowalskiy's Top 10 Albums of 2011

Yup, it's that time of year again!  The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed I've dispensed with the usual, long drawn-out countdown this time 'round.  The main reason is I've found it harder than ever to narrow down the options in what has been, in my opinion, a great year for Scottish music.  I think I've just about managed it though, so with much further ado, here's my top 10 albums of 2011...

#1.  Happy Particles - Under Sleeping Waves
Very rarely, do I listen to an album and halfway through think to myself 'this album will not be bettered this year'.  That was the case with Glasgow sextet Happy Particles' debut album Under Sleeping Waves.  And the thing is, the second half is even better than the first!  "Uplifting... sublime... absolutely stunning!" was how I described it back in September.  Nothing's changed, it's an outstanding album and fitting of anyone's top spot.
HIGHLIGHT:  A.M. Sky (Bleary)

#2.  Will Hanson - Moving A Body
Yeah, you're right fellow bloggers!  This is a last-minute entry in my Top 10 having only bought it à la weekend.  I'd been meaning to for months on the back of his outstanding double A-side Deathbed Conversion / The View From Ebury Bridge, and sat listening to it whilst wrapping my presents.  Mr. Hanson and his friends have delivered something quite special indeed.  Beee-autiful!
HIGHLIGHT:  Our Basket

 #3.  The Little Kicks - The Little Kicks
I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to post Steven Milne's track-by-track commentary of The Little Kicks' eponymous follow-up to 2009's debut Boxing Clever.  Here's some Kowalskiy soundbites... "funky... insanely-catchy... pure songwriting perfection... Bravo!".  I think they sum it up just nicely, but don't take my word for it.  Go have a listen for yourself!
HIGHLIGHT:  Far Too Honest

#4.  Rob St. John - Weald
Another one that buggered up the tentative Top 5 I've been submitting to all these collective end-of-year lists.  I'd been sitting on the album for a while, not sure why though, given The Whites Of Our Eyes, Rob's charitable collaboration last year with Braindead Collective, is possibly one of the finest songs of recent years.  Having listened to Weald a fair few times now, it's filled with a lot more of the same.   Rob's given us a staggeringly good album which will quite rightly, and deservedly so, top many a list. 
HIGHLIGHT:  Domino

#5.  Come On Gang! - Strike A Match
At the start of the year, there was one album which completely blew me away... Strike A Match, which was simultaneously Come On Gang!'s exciting debut and tearful swansong. It's early-in-the-year release, combined with my short attention span and propensity to play my favourite new albums to within an inch of their lives, has inevitably put pay to a Top 3 finish, but don't let that take anything away from the sheer joy and unadulterated amazingness of this very special album.
HIGHLIGHT:  To The Morning

#6.  Jacob Yates & the Pearly Gate Lock Pickers - Luck
Now this was a wee welcome change from the norm in 2011.  Maryhill's Jacob Lovatt and his PGLPs unleashed their "Doom Wop" debut Luck on the unsuspecting Scottish public.  It's full of pitch black humour and really, quite grim imagery but it's a great album because of all that.  You'd be hard pushed to find a bolder album this year.  That's proper rock 'n' roll for you folks!
HIGHLIGHT:  Mark

#7.  IndianRedLopez - Empty Your Lungs And Breathe
Aberdeen's IndianRedLopez were one of my tips for 2011, and they did not disappoint in the slightest.   When I spoke to them back in May, they'd just released this, their superb debut album.   Full of emotion, these 10 songs were some of the best atmospheric indie-rock heard all year.  Judging by their recent single Prometheus (buy it here) we can expect even better things from these guys next year. 
HIGHLIGHT:  The New Black

#8.  Evil Hand - Huldra

STOP PRESS:  Huldra only makes 8^th place in self-confessed Evil Hand fanatic's Best of 2011 list.   

Allow me to explain.  I love everything about these 16 fantastic songs, after all, I went on record as saying it was a "breathtaking, seductive mixture of old and new".  And I suppose that's where I'm conflicted.  It's too much like a Best Of to place higher... sorry Derek!  Still, it's every bit as amazing as I've said before.
HIGHLIGHT:  Returned In Time

#9.  Make Sparks - Rewound
Again, this falls foul of the same 'is this an album, or is it more a collection of old, reworked recordings?' debate.  Either way, Rewound is a brilliant pop-rock dozen from Dundee trio Make Sparks. Fans of Jimmy Eat World, as I myself am, will lap this up and be left wanting more.  Just as well then that this bunch have released a few new tracks since.   The trouble is, now I'm wanting even more!
HIGHLIGHT:  Rewind

#10.  Prince Edward Island - This Day Is A Good Enough Day
But what if Arab Strap went all poppy on us, what if...  Wonder no more folks, 'cos that's exactly what you get with London-based Prince Edward Island.  I interviewed the Scottish half of the band, frontman Darren Bruce earlier in the year and I came to these conclusions.  It's bitter.  It's dark, but witty.  It's "about failed sex".  Yet somehow, it's so oddly delightful, you can't help but smile!
HIGHLIGHT:  You Look Like I Need A Drink

Well that's that for another year.  There were of course, a lot more albums that tickled my fancy this year, but the list has to stop somewhere!  If you fancy hearing any of these albums, you can click on the relevant artwork and see if you agree with me.  Hope so!
 

Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP #18

And so, we come to the final EP of 2011.  The Scrooge that I am, I've once again limited it to one festive track, but it's still free.  Geez, what more do you want!  And not only that, there's one or two extra goodies in there to tide you over 'til the New Year.

I didn't plan it this way, but there's a track from the band behind my #1 album of 2011, and another by an artist who's already set the benchmark pretty high for 2012.   Sandwiched between, are three crackers!  Hope you enjoy them all.  You can, as ever, get your download by clicking on the artwork above (this month paying homage to one of my favourite and most iconic albums of all time).  Before that though, here's the five artists involved and what they each had to say about their track...

1.  Now Wakes The Sea - You Are The Cold (Redwings guitarist gone solo!  This is the opening track off of next years 'Best of 2012' benchmark album that I mentioned above.)

"You Are the Cold is the opening track from the upcoming Now Wakes the Sea record, Fluoxetine Morning, due out at the beginning of 2012. The lyrics make reference to noise pollution and artificially induced sleep, and was written as I was flirting between consciousness and slumber. In terms of instrumentation, it's rather simplistic, but features a bitching synth solo. Bookended by two different versions of the same sound - a single, dry guitar pluck, and an analogue delay squeal - I think it gives a good representation of the record, mixing elements of drone and ambience with sparse and minimal folk." - Alan McCormack (Now Wakes The Sea)

2.  Wiredrawn - Christmas Wish No. 3571 (A reworking of the ex-Won Mississippi singer's early solo festive demo.  Wiredrawn's debut EP 'Loose Lips Sink Ships' is available here.)

"The track was written and recorded in the seemingly endless winter last year, when Scotland was at an almost constant stand-still. The news was full of stories of isolation and chaos as well as brilliant examples of the determination and resolve some people had shown when trying to battle through the elements to get to their loved ones. I fancied 'doing' a Christmas song without surrendering to whimsy too much - I might just have got away with it......" - Patrick Baird (Wiredrawn)

3.  Reverieme - Mama, Won't You Keep Them Castles in the Air and Burning? (I must admit, I was disappointed with the second Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! album, but this absolutely stunning cover makes up for it and then some!)

"It may be a controversial choice (in a world where controversy is defined as ‘not really liking pandas that much’ or ‘preferring peanut M&M's’) but I really love Some Loud Thunder, the sophomore album from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. In fact (and we may be nearing the ‘I have never enjoyed a Ryan Reynolds movie’ level of controversy here), I don’t think I could fault it! When I first heard ‘Mama, Won’t You Keep Them Castles in the Air and Burning?’, a song so lyrically ridiculous it could well have been co-written by Lou Reed and James Hetfield, I totally (and inexplicably) loved it. I’m hoping that this wee cover is either so good it sways the non-believers or so bad that it makes the original seem like a sweet aural haven (no giggling). Either way, you’ll have to listen to find out!" - Louise Connell

4.  The Strangers Almanac - Where The River Meets The Sea (Good Gord this guy's good!   He's got some a free album and EP on Bandcamp, but here's a brand spanking new song for you.)

"This is a new song that I've only played live a couple of times, and I recorded it with my friend Ross Middlemiss who plays in Pensioner. (If you're looking for someone to record your band, give him a shout, he's excellent). It was written about a friend of mine, and it's basically saying that if you come through troubles in your life and make it out alive, you should be proud of all you've achieved, no matter how meandering a path you took to get there. It may crop up on a future release, but for now it stands on its own!" - Gord Matheson (The Strangers Almanac)

5.  Happy Particles - Cold Calling (If you followed the clues above, you'll know it's Happy Particles who have taken the top spot in my Albums of 2011.  Here's a special non-album track and some info on how to get your hands on the amazing Under Sleeping Waves.)

"We are Happy Particles and our debut album 'Under Sleeping Waves' will be released on Christmas day. You can pre-order it here which will entitle you to two download tracks instantly and you also get a free video of us performing the full band version of 'Aerials' with the album.   We had a few tracks which didn't make it onto the record for one reason or another and this is a very early version of 'Cold Calling' which was originally going to be on the album but we ended up forgetting about it, so it was never developed or recorded.  We really like it though, so it will probably come out in a different form on a future e.p. or the next album." - Happy Particles

So that's your whack for the year!  Hope you've enjoyed all the EPs, and rest assured, there'll be much more of the same next year.  Until then, head on over to my bandcamp page now to get your download which comes with a hidden track courtesy of Lovers Turn To Monsters (and ties in with the artwork!) and a special, visual extra from a particularly happy bunch.  Enjoy!

Happy Particles - Under Sleeping Waves

In my experience, particles are miserable wee bastards.  They never do what you want, and there's never enough of them when you need them, something my thesis can attest to.  And now, if folk are to be believed, they've only gone and disproved Einstein.  What a belligerent bunch of subatomic f**ks they truly are!  So you can understand my scepticism when a Glasgow sextet claiming to be 'Happy Particles' got in touch with their debut album Under Sleeping Waves.   By the end of my first listen I'd been forced to rethink those particular views engrained in me in recent years.  And by the end of the many subsequent listens, I've been completely swept away by what is surely one of the, if not thee, most uplifting albums of the year.

So what does this album sound like!?  Well, there's shoegazey shades of Asobi Seksu and at times, the fuzziness of fellow Scots Penguins Kill Polar Bears can be heard coming through.  For the most part though, their sound is a stunning coming together of Death Cab For Cutie and Sigur Rós.   And Under Sleeping Waves does not pale in comparison.  Not a jot.  Take Slowness as a prime example.   What starts as a dreamy vocal and simple, repeated melody builds up into 2-and-a-half minutes of something quite spectacular, awash with delicate percussion and stunning strings in perfect, beautiful harmony.

As standout tracks go, pretty much every one fits the bill here, with Empty Circles (streaming below) showing glimpses of a more intense side to the band, and the warming atmosphere of Offline Contact fully justifying their 'ambient pop, contemporary classical' tag.   But as very few bands seem to do, they save the best for last with A.M. Sky (Bleary).  Sublime does not even cut it, and that's just the vocals.  You won't hear a better song this year!

Under Sleeping Waves is an album which will simultaneously break your heart and gently piece it back together again.  It's an album that appeals to both the music lover, and physics geek inside me.  But above all, it's a album which is just absolutely stunning!

The album is out on Christmas Day! Keep your eyes peeled here for updates.