Kowalskiy Singles Club #19

Nobody wants to be single at Christmas... unless you're a miserable, Scroogey cheapskate!  Kowalskiy doesn't care much for them though.  So with those singletons in mind, it's time for the final meeting of the Singles Club this year.  It's your last chance of 2012 to have your world well-and-truly rocked and who knows, maybe even a wee bit of aural... who knows where one click could lead!  Without much further ado, here's my latest batch of harpless romantics...

Human Behaviour by Safe Houses

"New Glasgow duo seek open minded electronic music loving people, must have a computer and speakers and own opinions' Check out our bandcamp and facebook...." - Safe HOUSES

A late entry into our final Singles meet of the year.  This is a belter from new Glasgow duo Safe Houses.  Get it while it's hot.   

I Don't Know, You Don't Know, We All Don't Know The Spook School by The Spook School

"Are you sitting at home alone? Have you ever found yourself longing for a partner? How about four partners? If conventional one-on-one relationships seem too easy why not try juggling four lovers at the same time! Ever get angry that your partner only has two hands? We have eight! Imagine closing your eyes and pretending to be love-wrestling an octopus! Please call us...we're not allowed in the aquarium any more..." - The Spook School

Strictly speaking, this isn't a single... but it's my blog, so my rules!  It's in fact a 5-track cassette EP which is out on Soft Power Records on the 17^th December.   You can listen to all the tracks by clicking the artwork above, and you can pre-order it to... in fact you can't.  It's sold out!  So yeah... good luck getting a copy!

Battleships by Michael Cassidy

"Young/old singer songwriter looking for appreciative audience for good time. Audience must be willing to clap and have money to spend on lavish presents for singer songwriter. Like a wedding list for presents the young singer songwriter has attached a list of acceptable presents or treats. Singer songwriters new single battleships must also be listened to and a full critique written about all the qualities that single possesses. Mainly though said singer songwriter looking for love/somebody to phone for good quality time/30 mins a week and dates must be low cost /free. Chat topics include George Osborne s latest budget but no x factor." - Michael Cassidy

Hard to believe it, but this is SINGER SONGWRITER (in case it's not clear from his ad) Michael Cassidy's debut release.  And Paisley's finest hasn't disappointed!  As always, click the artwork to go download it.   

(So THAT'S Where I Left My) Self Respect/No Way Home by Middleton Hall

"Older and slightly overweight male WLTM lovely lady of similar age and waist size for well earned romantic break beginning 26th Dec. Fondness for mince pies and whisky would be an advantage. Must be keen on animals, flying and facial hair. Ho Ho Ho!" - Gordon Helm (Middleton Hall)

How very festive from the man at the... Helm... of Middleton Hall.  This is the second single from the Dunfermline lads, and once again it's a FREEBIE!  Talk about an early Christmas present!

Crimson by M A D I S O N

"Lonely quartet of lads in search of love. Must be able to cook crystal meth to a high quality like in Breaking Bad and must enjoy Instagram. We're not looking for women who're going to pull and snap our heartstrings, we're looking for someone to play them delicately. Think you can be of assistance? Then please don't hesitate to contact. Be quick, we're on the verge and running low on meth." - Russell Ferguson (M A D I S O N)

M A D I S O N are responsible for one of the finest singles of the year... Armbands.  This follow up's been a while in coming but I'm assured there's much more to come soon!  If that's half as good as Crimson, then 2013 could be off to a red hot start.

New Year by GUMS!

"Imaginary 4 piece WLTM delusional taxi driver type for Hogmanay shenanigans Must enjoy long freezing walks, lengthy attempts at lighting cigarettes in the rain and cramped nightclubs where attempts to relive your glory years end in the 9am realisation that you’re the only person awake in an unfamiliar flat where the CD player's been skipping since 2006. You try to leave but the pile of jackets on the bed is the size of an ASDA...and they all look like yours. GSOH inessential." - Martin Smith (GUMS!)

From the men that brought you The Plimptons, comes GUMS!  This FREE festive-ish single is taken from their upcoming release Antipathy.  So if you enjoy smoking in the rain and like your musicians 'imaginary' then what are you waiting for?!!

Tides and Telegrams by The Winter Tradition

"Shortarse seeks a warm towel and a better Director. Get in touch if you like picking seaweed out of places it should never be. The people at the bottle bank fucking hate me." - Stuart Breadner (not of The Winter Tradition, but of Shootback Productions)

Fresh from whoooooping Scottish Fiction's beeehind in Round 10 of Battle Of The Bands, The Winter Tradition have released this new single from debut album Gradients.  They're a shy bunch though, so they've let the director of the video write their ad.  Speaking of the video... you can watch that here.

Windom Earle by Napoleon's Dogs

"Easily excitable band looking for male or female companion. Must like walks in the park, be accurate at throwing sticks and not mind having to pick up poo in little black bags. Expertise in Napoleonic tactics not necessary, but an advantage." - Chris (Napoleon's Dogs)

Picking up poo... these boys are spoiling you lot!!  If you're into that kinda thing, then this may be right up your street.  Windom Earle is out NOW... go fetch boy! You can catch the dogs in the 13^th Note on the 17^th December too.

Lovesick by The Prison Library

"Unlucky in love Newcastle five-piece seek breathy vocaled soulmate to make us feel high and world-safe. Is your love often rejected or unrequited? We're sure to fall in love and waste poison forever more." - Joe Frankland (The Prison Library)

Newcastle!!  I know... they're not Scottish!  Imposters the lot of them.  I'm willing to turn a blind eye when it comes to Mr. Frankland and The Prison Library though. This is a great single featuring the lovely Sarah Hall on backing vocals.  It's from their upcoming debut EP so keep an eye out for that!  Oh, and there's a video for it here too.

Lights Out by The 10:04's

"Four desperate, lonely egomaniacs (musicians) seek someone, ANYONE!!! Personality not required, looks not essential. Questionable morals a must!!!! Must be interested in naive career paths, enjoy being skint and pretending to be everyone's good friend on gig nights. LOVE YOU XXXXXXXXXX" - The 10:04's

OK, is it just me that seems to always look at my phone at 10:04?!  Well, it's always been a reminder to feature this bunch on the blog.   If you've got questionable morals and fancy some fun with the 'lights out', then you're well in here!  The single is out now for FREE along with previous single SOS.

Coastal Skid Spy Wok v14.0

And I'm back! First of all, thanks to Boab from Campfires In Winter for taking over notcast duties last weekend. I hope you've all downloaded their new album demos over here. Geez they're a beardy bunch aren't they?!   Just four ill-fitting suits and broad-brimmed felt hats away from being sued by the Amish Andy Warhol Society for copyright infringement.  There goes my Ohio readers... oh wait... no computers.  Anyway, when it comes, the Campfires In Winter album is gonna be amazing.

Right, on to this weekend's tracks.  First up, a blatant plug for the latest free Kowalskiy EP which came out last Saturday.  Six great tracks from six brilliant bands, including the übertalented M A D I S O N who even went to the trouble of recording an alternative version of their single Armbands especially for it.  You can get said EP#24 here for FREE.  And here's the original version of Armbands to kick us off.

   Armbands by M A D I S O N

That is fairly amazing!  As is this.  It only dawned on me on Friday that I hadn't listened to, let alone bought, the French Wives album yet.  Suppose it has only been 2 months since it came out...

   Younger by French Wives

I've since at least had a listen and it's even better than I thought it would be.  And I did think it would be one of the best of the year.  So I guess, logically, that must mean that it is.  If you liked the sound of Younger, then you can hear the rest over here where you can also buy the album Dream Of The Inbetween.  Less of this inane babble now.  Let's move onto one of the best song names on SoundCloud courtesy of Edinburgh's DanDanDan, great song too.

   The Sexual Freedom of Cats by DanDanDan

Kowalskiy Fact #65:  The third most read interview on Kowalskiy is the one what I done with Futuristic Retro Champions.  Well, they're no more.  Carla and Sita though have swapped roles and formed Teen Canteen.  'Tis early days, but they're sounding every bit as good as FRC! You can read all about them over here on Everything Flows.

   How We Met (Cherry Pie) by Teen Canteen

It's about now that I receive an email from Stars with their latest single.  I love Stars.  I'm hoping this new single is a grower.  It's no Take Me To The Riot is all I'll say.  This is though, on account of it actually being Take Me To The Riot.

   Take Me To The Riot (Bedroom Demo) by Stars

Last up, time to "get in the Buff"... The Pictish Trail's words, not mine.  Read all about the upcoming trio of Fence Records 7" EPs over here, first of which is by Mr. Trail himself.  Given that Fence don't seem to release anything short of brilliant, you'll be in for a treat.  Besides, if you subscribe, you get to pocket this great Meursault remix.  That's all for this week.

   Of Course You Exist (Meursault remix) by The Pictish Trail

Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP #24

Rounding off the second year of free EPs we have another NOT five, but six, of the country's most promising up-and-coming bands.  I'm not usually one for codenaming these mini-compilations, but were I forced to, this would be something along the lines of The Newb-EP on account of the fresh-faced, new-kids-on-the-block nature of it's contributors.  Hell, one or two of the bands have barely gotten started.  Anyway, that's enough preamble pishery from me.  Here's the bands themselves with a wee bit about their track...   

1.  Plurals - Clip Cloud (I heard this on a SoundCloud trawl a while back and just loved it.  Keep an eye out for more from this former Sunshine Social-ist.)

"This super rough demo of the song was recorded in a bedroom in the space of an hour with me doing all of the instruments and recording. It's about idiots having arguments and trying to make the best of a shit situation. I am one of the idiots." - Ciaran a.k.a. Plurals

2.  Thank You So Nice - Foucault (An exclusive track from the Edinburgh-based trio's upcoming debut album.  If this and recent single Let's Make Money are anything to go by, it'll be great!)

"Lyrically it's pretending to know something about the philosopher Michel Foucault, who is an in house TYSN hero. Niall, who probably actually does know what Foucault is on about, suggested we do a song about him and this was what I came up with. Reverb is generally overrated but we've slapped it on a bit here. It's taken from our debut album Make Friends Not Money, which we're self releasing this October, on Foucault's birthday." - Alex Hendrikson (Thank You So Nice)

3.  Saint Max - A Life Worth Living (Band version) (I featured Max's original version of this a while back.  That I loved.  This is a whole new kettle of fish entirely.  Can't remember hearing a more fun song this year!  Expect more like this from the good Saint when his EP is out later this month.)

"A Life Worth Living is the opening track to my upcoming EP "Saint Max and the Fanatics", which is released on the 22nd June. When I wrote it, I was trying to write something like the Buzzcocks, but I think it ended up sounding quite different, which is cool. Some of my favourite lyrics are in this song, because they're very sincere here. It's quite confessional, almost." - Max Syed-Tollan (Saint Max)

4.  M A D I S O N - Armbands (Alternative version) (Here's an alternative version of their brilliant, recent single recorded only this week for lil ol' me.  Hot off the press or what!?)

"Here's how 'Armbands' was meant to sound, sadly Mariah Carey pulled out on the duet & we had to rearrange it slightly." - Russell Ferguson (M A D I S O N)

5.  Naked Strangers - Mystery Meat (An exclusive track from their upcoming trilogy of singles.  It's a cracking track!)

"Mystery Meat is the third or fourth or fifth incarnation of a song I wrote with a shaky concept and stolen structure. We'd almost abandoned the thing when we hammered out this version and now we're really happy with it (you can hear some earlier roughs on the matt-strange soundcloud).  We recorded it at Strathsound studio with John Strachan alongside two other new singles: Knife Gang Shop Raid which is currently available on our webshites, and Three Tears which we'll release next. Mystery Meat is the final instalment so this is a sneaky wee taster for you." - Matt Stockl (Naked Strangers)

6.  Scary Shapes - Rescue Ceauşescu (A belter of a track to finish us off this month.  This Glasgow bunch have a load of free tracks up on their SoundCloud so get to it!)

"When we were trying to think of band names, Rescue Ceauşescu came out of nowhere and was briefly considered as a front runner, but we decided that being associated with a cruel Romanian dictator might not go down too well (particularly in Romania, our top target market). It was also pretty tricky to spell. However, we thought the name (and the rhyme) was too good to discard, and wrote and recorded this demo for the song on a Monday afternoon this spring. I suppose one interpretation of the lyric revolves around what it's like to be stabbed in the back, but there are other ways to take it. It's definitely not supposed to be pro-Ceauşescu though!" - Jamie Smith (Scary Shapes)

As always, I wanna say a massive thanks to all 6 bands for contributing this month.  I really hope you all like it as much as I do.  All you have to do to get your free copy is to click on the artwork above, or here.  Whatever tickles your fancy more.  While you're there, you may as well check out the other 23.

To kick off the third year of free EPs, next month I'll be taking a well-earned rest and handing the EP baton over to a very capable individual.  You can still expect an EP chock-full of brilliant tracks from Scotland's finest.   All of which means I now have 2 months to put together the one after that.  I've already got one or two aces up my sleeve though.  If you wanna record a special version of something for me, or contribute something else you think might tickle my fancy, then you can send me a wee email (kowalskiy2@gmail.com).  I'm off to put my feet up now.  

Kowalskiy Singles Club #14

It's been just over a month since I last played matchmaker to some of Scotland's most eligible singles.  So, it's about time we heard from some more!  Have a read of what they all have to say for themselves, click the artwork and let them whisper sweet nothings into your ear, and if you're smitten... make your move!  Don't leave them sitting on the cybershelves for too long!  Take it away singletons...

Gone Fission by Fatherson

"Three boys seek confirmation of the existence of fairytales. Having spent many years in each others company they are looking for someone with good sense of humour and an appetite for Scottish Indie Rock." - Marc Strain (Fatherson)

It's criminal that I'm only just featuring Killie's Fatherson.  Their brilliant, eponymous EP last year fell foul of another of my reviewing hiatuses, but was still up there with the years' best.  This FREE single, as well as appealing to the nuclear physics geek in me with it's title, is just amazing.  Which is probably why it's on BBC Introducing's playlist at the moment!

The Game by Kate and After

"After love, there is more love to come. So are you looking for a long term commitment with lots of passion and fun experiences. Make sure to wear your heart on your sleeve and give Kate & After a chance." - Micke Rydbeck (Kate and After)

"Fuck me!  They're not Scottish".   While that's outburst is very true, I absolutely love Sweden's Kate and After.  Ever since my K&A with K&A I've been itching for some new material, and with The Game (out on May 15th), they've pulled out all the stops.  Don't know what the Swedish for 'superb' is, but this would be it!

Armbands by M A D I S O N

"Four athletic, strong and muscular males are searching for a party of small and chubby women who can swim well. Must be willing to vogue dance on cue and be available for long, tearful and full hearted conversations whenever needed. Bingo wings are a bonus, willingness to play Nintendo games is an essential. Let us be your knights in shining armour.  (P.S. we are not athletic...)" - Russell Ferguson (M A D I S O N)

I R E A L L Y L I K E T H I S M O B!  I am reliably informed that this is "as honest as possible".  This is the debut single from the latest cracking band from... "What's It Called?".... Cumbernauld!   So, regardless if you're a larger lady or not, keep your eyes and ears on them.  It's quality!

The Fear Of Love by Collar Up

"A bunch of excitable egomaniacs seek a bunch of equally egotistical drama queens for short, beautiful, stormy, unfulfilling, damaging, and bad tempered good times." - Stephen McLaren (Collar Up)

The second outing for Collar Up who it seems are still very much on the shelf.  You should all be ashamed of yourselves!  This FREE track is again out courtesy of the brilliant Permwhale Recordings so get it snapped up.  After all, good times are good times no matter how unfulfilling and damaging they may turn out to be. 

Duck! by Kitty the Lion

"Pun-loving twitcher seeks companion to dip toes into the ocean of love, although may settle for pond of love. Webbed feet and feathered breast preferred, and wingspan does matter. Will provide one loaf of stale bread (mould scraped off)." - Anna Meldrum (Kitty the Lion)

Funny how things turn out.  Just this week I hear this glorious wee song from Kitty the Lion, not really knowing what this 'Duck, Duck, Duck, Goose' this was all about, and then in an unrelated conversation, the same childhood game crops up!  Must be a sign.  It's out on the 16th May for FREE.  That's a bargain to hear the dulcet, sugarsweet tones of Miss Meldrum.

My Tiny Robots by My Tiny Robots

"Mutinous font of ill-defined rage, seeks the ragged trousered philanthropy of a lupine beast. Must enjoy libraries, morris dancing and the cleansing waters of the fifth circle of hell. Oh! And maybe romance?" - Dylan Childs (My Tiny Robots)

The third in a trilogy is supposed to be the worst!  Tell that to My Tiny Robots.  After the joyous, indie-pop wonderment that was previous Singles Club ads Guild of Defiants and Zut Alors, they've saved the best 'til last with this self-titled belter. It's out on May 28th, so there's a wee while to wait.  But you can hear it, in all it's glory by clicking on the artwork opposite.