I Hear a New World podcast - June 2009 - Malcolm Middleton, Ambulances, The Foundling Wheel, Zoey van Goey
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 03:50PM
Despite what seems to be a physical inability to get to gigs these days, and a feeling of general malaise as I ponder exactly what I'm doing with my life (once again), I have just about managed to pull together the latest podcast which also features an interview with Nick Mitchell on his trip to the Primavera Festival in Barcelona.
Nick is a friend of mine who writes for The Skinny and The Scotsman's Under The Radar Blog and who often comments on this blog (for which I am grateful!) Apologies to him and to you, dear listeners, for the awful sound quality of the telephone call, note to self MUST CHECK LEVELS IN FUTURE.
You can read his full review of Primavera over at The Skinny, and this podcast should also appear there soon.
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Malcolm Middleton - Carry Me
Malcolm is back - and his latest solo album will be his last under his own name for a while. Here he alternates spoken word musings about lycra and 'superpowers in the post' with heart-tugging choruses about death and that. It's lifted to the heights of a gospel hymn to heartache with the aid of backing vocals from King Creosote and The Pictish Trail doing their best Pepsi & Shirley impression (in the words of Malcy himself). It's a cry for help that can't help but make you cry. I weep, and a single tear falls into my glass of Carlsberg, increasing the alcohol content by 100%. Don't leave us Malcolm.
Ambulances - How Could You Leave Me
Get your tie-die dress on and skip bare-foot down to the river, light up a giant spliff (if you like that sort of thing - or a nice cup of camomile tea if you don't) and realise that retro-tinged isn't always a bad thing. Ambulances new album The Future That Was is pure joy from start to finish and How Could You Leave Me is a laid-back love-in that will make dreamers out of over-achievers. Is it really possible for another excellent band to come frae Fife? Apparently so.
The Foundling Wheel - Mixed Minds and Missteps
Our own Billy Hamilton gave the Foundling Wheel's album a thumbs up last year. It took me this long to give it a listen. Once again, I need to slap myself on my big old forehead, and this is the perfect soundtrack for such self-flagellation. It's beepy, it's insane, it's shouty. It's angry but clever. It makes me want to drive a motorcycle the wrong way down the motorway. Naked.
Zoey Van Goey - We Don't Have That Kind of Bread
It was falsely claimed that Bobby McFerrin took his own life because no-one believed he was quite as happy as he made out. But if you could record grammy award winning, multi-million dollar earning tracks merely by slapping your own body parts you'd be just as bloody ecstatic. The Glasgow-based popsters Zoey Van Goey attempt just that with this cheery number, which I have scientifically calculated using the 'don't worry be happy' algorithm to be the exact musical opposite of Malcolm Middleton. Thus balancing our audio chi for another monthly podcast extravaganza. See you next time!
Reader Comments (4)
I'm actually glad the sound quality is a little muffled. Otherwise my hungover bletherings would have been far too cringe-worthy to bear! For me at least.
Good work though: the podcast goes from strength to strength. I hope I didn't damage its reputation!
Not at all Nick, great to have someone else's voice other than my own on there! In retrospect I maybe should have split the chat up a bit in between the songs to add a bit of variation, but ain't hindsight is a wonderful thing. :)
Thanks for your kindness Milo. The song you played is actually called Raasay. Maybe we should stick to the camomile tea when writing out tracklistings.
Whoops. Well it's bloody good whatever it's called!