It really does feel strange posting an entire unreleased album by an artist on this blog as I’m usually pretty respectful about copyright and don’t post much that I don’t have prior permission (or at least implied permission) for. But this may be a new era of artist-authorised bootlegging, if Mr Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote has his way.

Because each version of this album that is recorded is completely unique, and certainly in the case of this recording, which comes to you via an old dictaphone of mine, far from perfect, it seems his aim is to create a buzz about this collection of songs without taking away from the official version, whenever that may be released (he’s hinted it may be the final ever KC album so let’s hope it’s not too soon).

Anyway have a listen if you wish – there will surely be versions out there with better sound quality, but you can still get an idea of how good the songs are, and also of what a great experience it was to sit and watch this being recorded from start to finish. In between the tracks are some strange sounds, which were in fact some interesting little video vignettes which announced each song. Also we were sat right at the front by the drums and bass, so KC’s vocal is a little quieter than you would wish.

This was in fact Mel’s recording, as I was recording it with the free iTalk app on my iPhone – that version would be substantially better sound quality but unfortunately it over-modulates quite a lot so I went for the dictaphone version. 

King Creosote’s 8th Bit of Strange in 14 Years – Side 1

King Creosote’s 8th Bit of Strange in 14 Years – Side 2

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SCOTTISH MUSIC SUNDAYS

I’m a friend of The Gothenburg Address’ guitarist Chris Bathgate and a big fan of his previous bands (he was a touring member of Arab Strap and frontman for Sans Trauma) – so I have very little excuse for being so late with this review.

Sometimes it’s hard to write about friend’s bands though, but having seen this lot live I knew the album would be something pretty special, and while it’s a slicker and less ferocious beast than their live shows, it still has its fair share of breathtaking moments.

Luke Joyce is the main songwriter, and though I don’t know him at all, I imagine he’s an intense sort. Opener ‘Leaving The Last Behind’ rumbles with some ominous strings and dramatic piano rolls, and to be honest this took me off guard at first as I was expecting the album to be almost entirely guitar-based and a lot heavier. Instead it’s actually quite introspective and melodic.

First single ‘A Lesser Home’ still sounds blinding, with the kind of soaring changes in mood that make Explosions in The Sky such an uplifting listen. Shimmer is a pretty accurately titled song, with layers of guitars building up satisfyingly, and ‘Senior in the Stripper’s Light’ is a quality title (I just hope they’re not talking about me).  The album’s closer ‘I Am Made of Hearts + Fire’, actually lives up to the brilliance of its title, being a pulsating, mindstretching soundtrack to an alien space craft landing, and really does leave me gagging for more – can’t wait for the 2nd album!

Don’t believe me? Check out this Aye Tunes review

Hear a Lesser Coming Home at The List’s website

Hear their BBC Radio Scotland session for Vic Galloway over at Peenko’s blog

See them live: 18th March 7:00 PM at The Mill – Cabaret Voltaire , Edinburgh, Scotland

Buy the album and other goodies

I talked about the latest Fencezine on this month’s podcast and included King Creosote’s lovely version of Withered Hand’s No Cigarettes from the accompanying CD ‘On Behalf of My Wife and I’. Unfortunately it seems this issue has now sold out, so it seems rather cruel to be writing more about it, but at least one person (ok, one person) has asked for more info on the tracklisting so here goes (and get yourself over to the Beefboard on fencerecords.com to make sure you find out about the next issue before they sell out again).

other KC tunes on the album are the sprightly ‘Your Psycho Boyfriend’, and the more mournful ‘All I Ask’ and ‘Well Done’. Then we get some extremely lo-fi action from Mr Hand himself, with Panda Eyes, before No Cigarettes kicks in, and what an awesome version it is. 

Next we get Takeaway Food from the Religious Songs EP, a wee instrumental number and then three more KC tunes: ‘Only This Exam’, a demo version of Rims in which those DISGUSTING chorus lyrics are much more audible than on the album version, and ‘I Fall At the Last Hurdle’.

Oh and the last song will remain a secret because I’ve got the feeling KC would prefer it that way.. but I will tell you, it’s a lovely wee collection of songs by two of my favourite songwriters.

As my Twitter and Facebook friends will already know, a couple of weeks back I did a guest video post about Oink! Comic, one of my favourites when I was a kid, for the excellent Fred Egg Comics blog.

The blog, which is proving to be a great re-introduction to the world of comics for me, is run by my old Swivel Chair bandmate David Robertson, who is an excellent comic artist in his own right. In fact those of you with the fanzine will have already read my below review of his latest creation, Dump, which you can find more info on here.

(ps: see A Brief History of My Creative Efforts Part 1 for more evidence of my love for Uncle Pigg!)

David Robertson’s Dump: Comic Review

Dump is a small press comic by David Robertson which brings together a number of short pieces most of which were originally produced by the author for other outlets.

The title may lead one to think that the comic contains some scatological humour, and ‘Contemplating Suicide While Someone Else Craps’ is indeed a one page piece with some very black toilet humour.

However, “It’s Delhi Belly”, a piece drawn for an anthology unsubtly called “Crap Your Pants”, is actually a sober tale about someone who finds out they’ve contracted Crohn’s Disease. It’s a factual piece which made me think it was autobiographical, but according to the notes at the back of the comic it was thoroughly researched and written with the truth in mind.

It also contains a story which is itself called ‘Dump’ which is not in fact a bathroom related tale, but about the protagonist of Robertson’s former comic Berserkotron starting a new job at a scrap metal yard / council dump. I sense that this is a story that could follow through to further issues rather than being standalone.

Other tales in the comic include one which considers how positive discrimination would affect humans in a Star Wars style universe where we have a relatively short lifespan, and an undisguised autobiographical account of a single day for the Hourly Comics Day project. Robertson’s unique way of thinking makes each story interesting, and is also evident in the section where he imagines the thoughts of the models from his life drawing class.

There’s something of Harvey Pekar in the straightforward and commonplace nature of many of the events, and the art is simple yet effective which perfectly matches the tone. If Robertson were to weave some more emotional aspects into his stories he could develop to be a storyteller to watch.

You might also be interested to read Dave’s interview with the awesome artist Peter Bagge, written for Nude Magazine. Strangely, the very same issue featured a picture of Swivel Chair, as I had previously written a piece for their ‘beautiful losers’ section about the band. Spooky..