Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP #9

It's the 16^th of the month, so it's time for another five great tracks from five of Scotland's best up-and-coming bands.  Once again I'm pretty chuffed with the outcome.  So, I hope you enjoy Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP #9 too.  A huge thanks to the five acts that have each contributed a song.  Here's what they had to say...

1. Night Noise Team - Broken Kingdom (an exclusive track from their upcoming, debut album)

"'Broken Kingdom' is the final track on NNT's forthcoming 'Slow Release' album, out on 9th May. Cinematic and reflective, an ambiguous ending to a diverse collection of songs. Probably not a single!.." - Sean Ormsby (Night Noise Team)

2. Rose Parade - Grace (live track taken from their Kitchen Session)

"Grace was recorded and filmed in our Kitchen as part of a new side project we started called "The Kitchen Sessions".  It's a laid back acoustic version of the track featuring guest vocals by Jamie Mcgeechan aka Little Fire and the lead singer of Ayr based folk band Trusty and the Foe. After the success of the Rose Parade Kitchen Sessions we decided to invite more bands to play in our kicthen and film them. You can view the sessions here: thekitchensessions.tumblr.com" - Ari Pournaras (Rose Parade)

3. Chasing Owls - Lady Of The Whiteness (cracking song from their EP sessions)

"Lady of Whiteness came out of the sessions that Chasing Owls recorded with Dave Lynch at Bat Box Studios in the beautiful Sussex town of Lewes over the New Year of 2011. The track does well to capture the fresh and original space their music creates whilst at the same time keeping the pace high and frequently nodding its head in heavy acknowledgement of an older time and way of musical life. All of which is representative of Chasing Owls' first record, the EP 'We Began' which is out now and available from the band's website at http://www.chasingowls.com." - Chasing Owls

4. Two Zebras - Almost Crimes (a cracking, lo-fi cover of Broken Social Scene.  He even made some cover art!)

"This song is called ‘Almost Crimes’ and it was originally done by Broken Social Scene – one of my favourite bands. I spent a year in Toronto through 2010 – it was so fresh and I partied really hard and saw some great shows. I recorded this cover track in my studio space over two days in the middle of a really hot summer. It was done with the cheapest mics and some cool vintage gear. It’s probably the most lo-fi thing I’ve done and I really hope you like it" - Daniel McGuire (Two Zebras)

5. The Mouse That Ate The Cat - Wet Rope (a demo from the Oliver-Dykeenies-Stays hybrid)

"They're poorly mixed and not exactly mastered up to a world class rate. In fact, if listened to side by side, the volume and EQ undoubtedly fluctuate to a degree than none of us wish to think about, such is my lack of mixing ability and poor concentration span" - TMTATC (about their 4 demos.  I happen to think that's a nice, if unintentional, touch.)

The EP is now up for free download over on my bandcamp page, along with those that have gone before it.  Enjoy!

We're into double figure next month with EP #10 which, as usual, comes out on the 16^th.   If there's any bands out there who fancy making my life that wee bit easier and want to volunteer a track for one of these EPs, then send me a wee email.

...Two Zebras!

He might well be in violation of the Trades Descriptions Act, but that's pretty much all you can fault Danny McGuire a.k.a. Two Zebras for.  For the last year, this Scot has been over in Toronto honing his sound, gigging frantically and more importantly for us, recording some brilliant songs.  He has just released two of these in the form of double A-side Dreams / Desperately Seeking Something which is right up there with the finest singles released so far this year.  Before we hear from Danny himself, here's the autobiographical(??) Dreams...

Here's the man himself to do the whole Introducing... thing:

Kowalskiy:  Who are Two Zebras?

Danny:  Two Zebras is the name of my indie rock project. It’s just me and I write and record all the songs. The reason is just me is because I’ve been travelling and living around over the last few years and I really like the freedom to be able to play shows anywhere I can.



Kowalskiy:  How would you describe 'your sound'?


Danny:  Kinda energetic indie rock. It’s a lot more scuzzy and loud live and I like that. 



Kowalskiy:  What can we expect from Two Zebras in the future?


Danny:  I’m going to put out a bunch of singles from some sessions I did in Toronto. The first one is out now, it’s a double A called ‘Dreams / Desperately Seeking Something’. I’m moving over to Amsterdam this month too so I can start doing lots of shows on the continent. You have to keep it exotic, you know?

Or erotic in Amsterdam's case!  Anyway, here's the second, and my favourite, half of Danny's brilliant husky-vocalled, Canadian-inspired, indie-rock debut, Desperately Seeking Something. 

It's out now over here with a whole host of goodies.  While you're there, get yourself a copy of last year's The Anecdotes EP.  I can safely say, we'll be hearing an awful lot more from Two Zebras in the future.