Everything But The Girl : I Was Always Your Girl [ purchase ] These Star Maker Machine themes that recall a particular year provide for wonderful exercises in evoking reminiscences that reside in the far reaches of the memory bank. I was 22 in 1988, and memories, musical and otherwise, had yet to become a blur, but are ordered according to seasons. Everything But The Girl’s Idlewild LP came out in the southern hemisphere’s autumn. I remember first recording on to cassette tape, then buying the album. Other LPs I bought around that time included efforts by Aztec Camera, The Smiths ...

Ah crap . Wasn't ready for this but apparently Sam Forrest 's new album ' The Edge Of Nowhere ' is now available to preorder. Why wasn't I told? And not only that but it also comes with a free download of a bonus track called ' Follow Me ' which I haven't even heard yet. Anyway, the album will be out on March 5th and seeing as I know nothing about it, I'm going to read this summary of it.... and then obviously go here to stare at the Desert Mine shop window... Sam Forrest - The Edge Of Nowhere Continuing ...

January is a good time to take a listen to the self titled debut album from Dead Wolf Club . Its quiet/loud dynamic is just the thing to shake you out of your post festive torpor. It sounds like a missive from a deserted island where they've sealed themselves off from the rest of the world with nothing but well worn copies of the collected works of Liars, The Pixies and the early albums of Idlewild to keep them company. Disregarding the current vogue for lo-fi surf pop, the Cornish quartet prefer to make your eardrums earn their money ...

Dead Wolf Club From: London, United Kingdom January is a good time to take a listen to the self titled debut album from Dead Wolf Club . It's quiet/loud dynamic is just the thing to shake you out of your post festive torpor. It sounds like a missive from a deserted island where they've sealed themselves off from the rest of the world with nothing but well worn copies of the collected works of Liars, The Pixies and the early albums of Idlewild to keep them company. Disregarding the current vogue for lo-fi surf pop the Cornish quartet ...

Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones’ side project, The Birthday Suit , will set out on tour in February. The tour is in support of the band's debut album The Eleventh Hour . You can catch them live at the dates below, as well download for ‘Do You Ever?’. February Dates: Friday 10th - Legends Rock Club, Newcastle Friday 17th - Coast, Arbroath Saturday 18th - Tunnels, Aberdeen Sunday 19th - King Tut's, Glasgow Friday 24th - The Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh Sunday 26th - The End, Birmingham Monday 27th - The Garage, London Tuesday 28th - Fibbers, York Wednesday 29th - The Ruby Lounge, Manchester

It’s the year that the Mayans earmarked for the apocalypse. Whichever your take on this prophecy, this year has already brought us ‘bracing’ hurricane winds and the release of a film about Margaret Thatcher. If it’s the end of the world as we know it, then it’s probably best that we dedicate this one to a fantastic soundtrack. Here at Clash, we’ve written up our pick of the best new Scottish acts for you. Hold tight. The La Fontaines Hang onto your hats, it’s a rap collective from Motherwell. Welcome to the wonderful world of ...

From wiki:- Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Belle and Sebastian are often compared with influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake.The name Belle & Sebastian comes from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965 children's book by French writer Cécile Aubry, later adapted for television and an anime. Though consistently lauded by critics, Belle & Sebastian's "wistful pop"has enjoyed only limited commercial success. After releasing a number of albums and EPs on Jeepster Records, they are now signed to Rough Trade Records in the United Kingdom and Matador Records in the United States. Belle and Sebastian were formed in Glasgow in 1996 by Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David. Together they recorded some demos with Stow College music professor Alan Rankine, which were picked up by the college's Music Business course that produces and releases one single each year on the college's label, Electric Honey. As the band had a number of songs already and the label was extremely impressed with the demos, Belle and Sebastian were allowed to record a full-length album, which was named Tigermilk. Murdoch once described the band as a "product of botched capitalism". Tigermilk was recorded in three days and originally only one thousand copies were pressed on vinyl.These original copies now sell for up to £400. The warm reception the album received inspired Murdoch and David to turn the band into a full-time project, recruiting Stevie Jackson (guitar and vocals), Isobel Campbell (cello/vocals), Chris Geddes (keys) and Richard Colburn (drums) to fill out the group. After the success of the debut album, Belle and Sebastian were signed to Jeepster Records in August 1996 and If You're Feeling Sinister, their second album, was released on 18 November. The album was named by Spin as one of the 100 greatest albums between 1985 and 2005, and is widely considered the band's masterpiece. Just before the recording of Sinister, Sarah Martin (violin/vocals) joined the band. Following this a series of EPs were released in 1997. The first of these was Dog on Wheels, which contained four demo tracks recorded before the real formation of the band. In fact, the only long-term band members to play on the songs were Murdoch, David, and Mick Cooke, who played trumpet on the EP but would not officially join the band until a few years later. It charted at #59 in the UK singles chart. The Lazy Line Painter Jane EP followed in July. The track was recorded in the church where Murdoch lived and features vocals from Monica Queen. The EP narrowly missed out of the UK top 40, peaking at #41. The last of the 1997 EPs was October's 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light. The EP was made Single of the Week in both the NME and Melody Maker and reached #32 in the charts, thus becoming the band's first top 40 single. The band released their third LP, The Boy with the Arab Strap in 1998, and it reached #12 in the UK charts. While often cited by critics as the band's best album, Arab Strap has nonetheless had its detractors. Pitchfork Media gave the album a particularly poor review, calling it a "parody" of their earlier work. In spite of this, the album garnered positive reviews from Rolling Stone, and the Village Voice, among others. During the recording of the album long time studio trumpet-player Mick Cooke was asked to join the band as a full member. The This Is Just a Modern Rock Song EP followed later that year. In 1999 the band were awarded with Best Newcomer (for their third album) at the BRIT Awards, upsetting the much better known acts Steps and 5ive. That same year, the band hosted their own festival, the Bowlie Weekender. Tigermilk was also given a full release by Jeepster before the band started work on their next LP. The result was Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, which became the band's first top 10 album in the UK. A stand-alone single, "Legal Man", reached #15 and gave them their first appearance on Top of the Pops. As the band's popularity and recognition was growing worldwide, their music began appearing in films and on television. The 2000 film High Fidelity mentions the band and features a clip from the song "Seymour Stein" from The Boy with the Arab Strap. Also, the title track from Arab Strap was played over the end credits of the UK television series Teachers. Stuart David soon left the band to concentrate on his side-project, Looper, and his book writing, which included his The Idle Thoughts of a Daydreamer. He was replaced by Bobby Kildea of V-Twin. The "Jonathan David" single – sung by Stevie Jackson – was released in June 2001 and was followed by "I'm Waking Up to Us" in November. "I'm Waking Up to Us" saw the band use an outside producer for the first time. Most of 2002 was spent touring and recording a soundtrack album, Storytelling (for Storytelling by Todd Solondz, a movie which The New York Times has called one of the best 1,000 movies ever made). Campbell left the band in the spring of 2002, in the middle of the band's North American tour. The band left Jeepster in 2002, signing a four album deal with Rough Trade Records. Their first album for Rough Trade, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, was released in 2003, and was produced by Trevor Horn. The album showed a markedly more 'produced' sound compared to their first four LPs,as the band was making a concerted effort to produce more "radio-friendly" music. In spite of this, the album was warmly received, and is credited with returning the band's "indie cred". The album also marked the return of Murdoch as the group's primary songwriter following the poorly-received Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant and Storytelling, both of which were more collaborative than the band's early work. A documentary DVD, Fans Only, was released by Jeepster in October 2003, featuring promotional videos, live clips and unreleased footage. A single from the album, "Step into My Office, Baby" followed in November 2003 – it would be their first single taken from an album. The Thin Lizzy-inspired "I'm a Cuckoo" was the second single from the album. It achieved their highest chart position yet, reaching #14 in the UK. The Books EP followed, a double A-side single lead by "Wrapped Up in Books" from Dear Catastrophe Waitress and the new Your Cover's Blown. This EP became the band's third top 20 UK release and the band went on to be nominated for both the Mercury Music Prize and an Ivor Novello Award. In January 2005, B&S; was voted Scotland's greatest band in a poll by The List, beating Simple Minds, Idlewild, Travis, Franz Ferdinand, and The Proclaimers, among others. In April 2005, members of the band visited Israel and the Palestinian territories with the UK charity War on Want; the group subsequently recorded a song inspired by the trip ...

Now that frontman Roddy Woomble is off being a full-time folk singer and hillwalking enthusiast, the burden seems to fall on Rod Jones and The Birthday Suit to provide that next great indie-rock album that Idlewild never quite made. Read the full story on DrownedinSound.com

The Trophy Fire Modern Hearts Greyday Records [2011] Fire Note Says: The Trophy Fire return with another solid batch of soaring indie rock on their sophomore album Modern Hearts . Album Review: It has been three years since The Trophy Fire's excellent debut A Lifetime In The Middle Of The Ocean [2008] , which made our Top 50 that year, so it is nice to see the San Francisco trio continuing their styled alternative rock on the sophomore album Modern Hearts . The record follows the same formula with its slower burning tracks that hit you with big memorable choruses which are ...

Die Alternative Rocker They Might Be Giants veröffentlichten das Video zum Titel "Electronic Istanbul (Not Constantinople)". Die verfilmte Fassung stammt aus der B-Seiten-Sammlung "Album Raises New And Troubling Questions", was Mitte November via Idlewild erschien. Ursprünglich stammt der Titel aus ihrem 1990er Langspieler "Flood". Ein Bild der Synthie-basierten Neuinterpretation könnt ihr euch an dieser Stelle machen: They Might Be Giants – "Electronic Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" Benannt nach Anthony Harveys gleichnamigen Film, gründeten sich They Might Be Giants 1982 im New Yorker Stadtteil Brooklyn. Vier Jahre später debütierten sie mit ihrem selbstbetitelten Langspieler, der auch als The Pink Album bekannt wurde. Größere ...

Words: Saam Das It's not unusual that we forget to write about stuff we really like. It's the dread "blogger's backlog". It's also not unusual to be loved by anyone. Scottish five piece Letters should be loved by plenty though. Listen to their "new" track 'Flash! Lights!' below, which actually appeared a few months back. But consider this a reminder... 'Flash! Lights' embodies the band's self-described "dark cello pop-noise", particularly in its intro, with the incisive cello coming to the fore immediately. As I noted back in March in my Surfacing write up of Letters ...

Indie rock and traditional folk, nothing’s impossible for Idlewild’s Roddy Woomble. Roddy Woomble’s solo music is a far distance from the sound and lifestyle of an indie-rock band such as Idlewild. The Impossible Song and Other Songs is his defining album release and with no struggling attempts to establish himself musically, it is a folk [...]

The Birthday Suit The Eleventh Hour Sing It Alone Records [2011] Fire Note Says: Idlewild guitarist/songwriter Rod Jones presents his new solo project - The Birthday Suit. Album Review: The Birthday Suit is the new solo project from Idlewild guitarist/songwriter Rod Jones that returns him to a familiar zone of catchy indie rock. Clearly the players are different but right from the opening album rocker "Do You Ever?", you realize that Jones could care less if The Birthday Suit is similar to I dlewild. It is a formula that has been successful over the last 16 years and The ...

Whilst Idlewild have been on hiatus, guitarist / songwriter Rod Jones has been busy with his solo project The Birthday Suit. Their debut album, The Eleventh Hour, came out just last week. The album is a return to the noisy pop moments that originally established him so firmly in the UK music scene. Tracks like [...]

Mondays are for questioning reality. Spacecamp – ‘Miko D.T.B.’ The Birthday Suit (Rod Jones of Idlewild) – ‘Do You Ever?’ Speech Debelle – ‘Studio Backpack Rap’ Parenthetical Girls – ‘A Note to Self’ Marvelous Darlings – ‘I Don’t Wanna Go To The Party’