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!

Battle Of The Bands: Round 2

Time for Round 2 of Battle Of The Bands, the Scottish music duel to end them all!  A fortnight ago, myself and Neil from Scottish Fiction pitted our wits against each other in the opening bout.  Hair was pulled, tears were shed... by both parties, as it ended up a draw with Neil's Seams proving the Top Trumps equals of my very own French Wives.  That was then though...

Since that stalemate, Team Kowalskiy have been holed up on a deserted isle in training and on a healthy diet of raw Eiggs.  That's actually half true as I've roped in The Pictish Trail to fight my corner with me.   Neil's getting his 'hawners' from Stirling's Brazil Exists.  To think, they were once firm favourites around these parts.  Do you know what else exists?!  Your beds!  And now they've been made, you're gonna have to lie in them... now it's personal boys!

Before we do battle, here's a quick recap of the all-important rules.  You can read them in full over here though!  As Neil had first dibs on choosing the three attributes we'd be playing with last time, this round it's my turn.  I'm banking on Johnny's 'longevity' and gone for Years Since Formation, Twitter Follow Ratio and Average Age.  For each of the three, the person with the highest gets one point, with both getting a half-point in the event of a draw.  Losers... well they get zilch!  Here's how these two great Scottish musical pugilists shape up.  As before, all stats were correct at the time of battle.  All that's left is for me to say ding ding, Round 2...

And the result of Round 2... by a 3 points to zero whitewash is... Team Kowalskiy!  My one-man Lynch-mob had those Stirlingshire lads pinned up against a Fence all through the contest and gave each of those five a bunch of Fifes!  And more importantly, as a result, Scottish Fiction is now Trail-ing in the series by one!  Seems I Pict well this time 'round.  Johnny Lynch certainly brought his A(way) Game tonight... I'll stop now.

Has to be said though that this was my turn to pick, so the ball is back in Neil's court in a fortnight's time and I'll need to prepare for what is sure to be a big backlash.  Again though, it's not really about me or Neil... it's all about the music!  So, here's the real reason why we both chose the folk we chose.  First up, it's The Pictish Trail.  Now, it goes without saying, as he's one of the main men over at Fence Records, he can't do wrong in my eyes, or ears.  He'll be releasing The Summer Is Empty Of Idiots on the 6^th of August as part of Fence's new Buff Tracks 7" EP series.  My appetite's already been whetted by the single Michael Rocket and the brilliant video which goes along with it.

If you're lucky enough to be going to Away Game (jammy buggers!) up in Eigg this weekend, then Johnny will be one of the headliners.  Remember to pack your wellies!

On to Brazil Exists now.  I love these boys.  I think I've mentioned that a few times already this year.  So much so I'll forgive them for siding with the opposition!  Their Hermit EP was released a while back and is available from all good online downloadists... like iTunes and Amazon MP3.  Here's the pick of the bunch.

So that's it for this round.  Team Kowalskiy will take a narrow one point lead into Round 3 next fortnight.  Can Scottish Fiction level the scores, or will my next band further compound his misery?!  Find out on the 31^st of July.

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

More From The Pictish Trail's WNYC Session!

Following on from the last post, the full WNYC Spinning On Air session featuring The Pictish Trail can be found HERE containing all 8 tracks and a few interviews with host David Garland. So if you have a spare hour and/or are just a massive fan then it's worth a listen.

If that's whetted your appetite then head over here to buy his Secret Soundz Vol. 1 album on The Fence Records website.

Oh and if you fancy seeing him live before Christmas then he'll be at The Leith Tape Club on th3 3rd of December!

The Pictish Trail - WNYC Spinning On Air Session (January 2009)

A wee treat for all the Fence Collective fans out there. Here's Johnny Lynch a.k.a The Pictish Trail live on WNYC's Spinning On Air show back at the start of the year.

Download: The Pictish Trail - Spinning On Air Session (Jan '09)

Tracklisting
1. All I Own
2. Won't You Take Me Back (Lone Pigeon cover)
3. I Don't Know Where To Begin
4. Going Down To The Water
5. Winter Home Disco
6. Boy From School (Hot Chip cover)
7. The Lighthouse
8. Words Fail Me Now