Coastal Skid Spy Wok v19.0

Time for another trawl through the recent goings-ons in the wonderful musical world of SoundCloud, which this weekend is brought to you by the letters F and S, and by the number 10.  So, first up, seeing as last week we heard from one half of Bottle Of Evil, the bottle half, it's only fair we hear from the evil side of the duo.  Here's Evil Hand with the "first track finished for the next as yet untitled album due September(ish)".  It's called Ten Years.  Can't wait for the album!

   Ten Years by Evil Hand (courtesy of E. H. Studios)

Be sure to check out some of Derek's fine back catalogue over here!  Saint Max is up next.  I've made no secret of my love for his recent EP Saint Max And The Fanatics (get it here).  He's without doubt one of the shining lights of new Scottish music in 2012.  Well, before he sheds his '...and the Fanatics' skin, he'll be playing a free gig in Bar Bloc on the 11^th August.  All the details are here.   And here's a brand new track from the man himself. 

   We're All Part Of The Family by Saint Max

Let's just get all the esses over and done with shall we?! A wee while back, SOS (the artists formerly known as Strawberry Ocean Sea) released Carry On Suzie.  Well now there's a brand new video to go with it.  You know me... I'm not one for videos, but you can watch it over here.  This is more my thing...

   Carry on Suzie by S O S

Which leaves us with the three F's.  The first of which is a newbie around these parts... Forest Fires from Edinburgh.  They've just released Avalanche for FREE on SoundCloud.  It's a belter... as are their other tracks from their Recovery release.  So get downloading!

   Avalanche by Forest Fires

Two more to go now, and it's another first-timer on Kowalskiy.  Friends In America have long been championed by The Pop Cop, so, spurred on by their great 'Tesco interview', I finally got around to having a proper listen.  Just... wow!

   Gaffe by Friends in America

Last up. the third single in as many months from one of my favourite new bands, Father Sculptor, has just surfaced.   Aristide follows on nicely from Rhein and Frances.  In fact, they just get better and better.  They're all available on their Bandcamp.  So, here it is.  Hope you enjoy it.  I'm off to watch Andy now...

   Aristide by Father Sculptor

Coastal Skid Spy Wok v15.0

No shite intro this week.  Instead, let's get straight into the first track from Dolfinz.  It's a free taster from Song, by Toad's recent split 12" with PAWS, Sex Hands and Waiters.  You can read more about it over here, and get your hands on it here.

   Kitsch Craft (Radge Version) by Dolfinz (courtesy of Song, by Toad)

 
What was that about guitar music being dead?!   If that's not enough, the wonderful Mr. Toad is also gearing up for the release on Meursault's third album Something For The Weakened.  First up though, is the 7" release of lead single Flittin' which can be bought here.  Probably their finest moment to date I hope you'll agree... until you hear the album that is.

   Flittin' by Meursault (courtesy of Song, by Toad)

The album will follow on the 16^th of July but you can pre-order it from Song, by Toad Records on CD or vinyl, or you can treat yourself to a limited edition boxset if you're feeling flash.  Right, that's enough music of an amphibious nature.  Here's a track from the brilliant Saint Max's EP.

   Die Annie Die by Saint Max (courtesy of Braw Power)

An EP which is frighteningly good!  Next up, here's something new from Kill The Waves that went up on SoundCloud a week or so ago.  They'll be releasing new single Oak Tree in July via Glasgow's Strange Fish Records.  Here's the B-side Friend.  I love this track!  Can't wait for the album!

   Friend (new single B-side) by Kill The Waves (courtesy of Strange Fish Records)

Call me lazy, but I think we'll just have 5 tracks this week.   What better way to round things up than with this beauty from Rachel Sermanni, someone I don't feature half as much as I should around here.   Her Black Currents EP (available here) is one of the must-buys of the year, and according to the email I got yesterday, her album Under Mountains, will be with us in October.   Enjoy!

   Breathe Easy by Rachel Sermanni

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.  

Coastal Skid Spy Wok v10.0

So... who have I been listening to this week on SoundCloud?  Well, if you follow me on twitter, most of these will come as no surprise but here goes anyway.   Let's get my grovelling apology out of the way first of all.  There's been so many e-mails of late and despite my intentions to reply to them all, it's just not possible.  I do however, try my best to listen to everything I've been sent for fear of missing out on something special.  With Light of the North though, the debut album by Miaoux Miaoux, I already knew it would be.  It's fair to say that electronic(a) isn't my most-loved or most-listened-to genre, so I'd have no idea where to begin reviewing it.   Too often I find that kinda music very hit and miss, but Mr. Corrie very rarely falls into the latter category.  It's out on the 11^th June via Chemikal Underground, and here's my stand-out track.

Autopilot by Miaoux Miaoux (courtesy of Chemikal Underground)

Next up, is a band described as "At The Drive-In except more hardcore".  Intrigued by that comparison, I had a listen to a free track (available here) put out by Overlook Records to promote their latest band... Crusades.  Boy, they're shouty ones!  But bugger-me-sideways, is this track good or what!?!

Pseudo Andro by Crusades (courtesy of Overlook Records)

Slight change of direction now, but again, it's a band I've only discovered this week.  Well... they found me if truth be told.  Thank God they did though.  They're called Ravena.  They're a four-piece from Glasgow.  They've got their debut single out this week, for free no less, and they have excited this blogger no end!  Make sure you download the single from SoundCloud.  The piano-led B-side Do Try is below for your listening pleasure.

Do Try by Ravena

Let's follow that up with a double helping of mystery and intrigue.  Both these bands recently uploaded their first tracks.  Both sound very familiar...

November's Night by Do The Gods Speak Esperanto

Now for my best Rolf Harris impression... can you tell who it is yet??  I'll keep you guessing while you hear the second band...

Lies by CHURCHES

...and fuck it, I'll just keep you guessing.  So if you know who they are, answers on a postcard!  That latter one by CHURCHES you can download for free here.  I'm sure we'll be hearing more from them both in the future.  Right, I'm offski now.  I'll leave you with this, the new, re-recorded, full band version of A Life Worth Living from Saint Max.  Out.  Stand.  Ingggg!

   A Life Worth Living (Band) by Saint Max

...Saint Max!

Time now to sit back, and listen to the gospel according to Saint Max of eh... Galloway.  A fortnight ago, young Maximilian released his eponymous debut EP.  A wee, acoustic, gem of an EP at that, and a very impressive way to announce your arrival on the 'scene'.  So I wasted little time in catching up with the good saint and asked him a few questions.  Before we hear what he had to say, here's his EP to have a wee listen too.  Oh and it's FREE!

   Saint Max EP by Saint Max

Kowalskiy:  Who is Saint Max and what is he the patron saint of?

Max:  Saint Max is simply I, or rather, I am he. It's just a silly alias; my real name is long and difficult to communicate from a stage (especially once I've had a few beers). My real name is Max Syed-Tollan, if you were wondering. Though perhaps traditionally speaking I am not much of a Saint, I do feel that music can be a rallying point for whatever you want to say. I have lots to say, so it's a good medium for me. I like the image of a musical prophet actually... I suppose I would be the patron saint of talking for too long, by the way. It's a problem I face on a daily basis. (Although I recently found out that there is a Saint Maximilian in reality : the patron saint of addiction!)

Kowalskiy:  How would you describe your sound?

Max:  Singer-sans-ensemble-rock-n-roll... Strong songwriting, no frills.

Kowalskiy:  PLUG AWAY!!!

Max:  Aha. My new EP is available to listen to and download (I heartily advise both) here on SoundCloud and you can keep up to date on all my happenings, hopes and hangups here on the sacred book of Faces.  Praise be!

Kowalskiy:  What can we expect from Saint Max in the future?
Max:  I hate to prophesize (Oh no I don't! I'm called bloody Saint Max for heaven's sake!) but you can expect to seem me spreading my rather unholy gospel at venues and gigs all over Scotland in the coming year. And, of course, I will continue to write and write and write so check my Soundcloud and I'll usually have new stuff up there. When the revolution comes, I will have been there, at some point. So yeh, look out for that too. Blessed be.