Edinburgh Popfest photos and video

A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasure of playing some records on the Saturday night of Edinburgh Popfest. It was a great day and we had a blast playing some tunes for those hardy enough to last a 12-hour all-dayer.

This was our last song of the night - the lights had come on but no-one was ready to stop dancing just yet.

The Just Joans video

In the penultimate post designed to whip you into a frenzy of excitement before tomorrow night's popshow, here's The Just Joans with their ace video to Hey Boy, You're Oh So Senstive.

The gig kicks off at The Flying Duck on Renfield Street at 7pm, with The Smittens, One Happy Island, The Specific Heats and the Joanses themselves. Entry is a mere fiver.

One Happy Island video

As I've said before, One Happy Island's EP Secret Party That The Other Party Doesn't Know About was one of my favourite releases of 2008 on my favourite record label, WeePOP!. To have them playing at our popshow tomorrow night is a massive thrill for me.

The above video is from an appearance they made on a local cable access dance show, Chic-A-Go-Go. It pretty much speaks for itself. If you're not into sock puppetry, fast-forward to around the three minute mark to hear their brilliant single, Temporary Tattoo.

Remember, the band will be appearing alongside The Smittens, The Just Joans, The Specific Heats and Maple Leaves tomorrow night at The Flying Duck. Doors are at 7pm, entry is £5 and the first band will be on early!

The Specific Heats video

I'm late with this post, sorry! This is The Specific Heats playing their song 'Violent?' at Don Pedro's in Brooklyn in January 2009.

The Specific Heats will be appearing at our next popshow on Monday night at The Flying Duck alongside The Smittens, The Just Joans, One Happy Island and Maple Leaves. First band is on shortly after 7pm so get down early!

Maple Leaves video

Time is running short but I'm going to see if I can post a video for each of the bands playing at our next popshow between now and the day of the gig (Monday).

First up is Maple Leaves from Glasgow, and they've just made this adorable video for their song 'Kirsty'.

Remember, the show is at The Flying Duck on Monday night (20th July), and it's an early start. Doors are at 7pm with the first band on shortly after!

Check back tomorrow for The Specific Heats!

Sunday 1st March - Francois & The Atlas Mountains, Animal Magic Tricks, Withered Hand, Men Diamler + more

Hello! I thought I'd post a rare blog entry with details of my first solo gig-organising venture, plus some lovely youtube videos to whet your appetite. This gig will still be under the Half My Heart Beats banner, but it's just little old me organising it this time. I've got four bands confirmed already, with one more still to be confirmed, so it's going to be quite a night. Look!

Francois & The Atlas Mountains:


Animal Magic Tricks:


Withered Hand:


Men Diamler



This will all take place in the usual venue: The Flying Duck. Doors will be open at 7.30pm and it should all be finished in plenty time for people to catch their preferred mode of public transport. It'll be £5 on the door. I'll post information on the final band, along with a flyer, when I get it.

Miabeane and the Asthmatic Scene video

Here's the third of my video posts featuring the bands that are playing at the next Half My Heart Beats on Saturday night. This is Miabeane and the Asthmatic Scene doing Edwin and the Physio, and below is a slightly older video of them playing Remember Your Shinguards at an old Winchester Club night.



You can hear more from the band at their website or on myspace.

Here's the details for the gig, and don't forget we'll be having our usual club night as soon as the bands are finished through til 3am.

The Hermit Crabs video

As promised, here's another video of one of the bands we've got playing at Half My Heart Beats a week tomorrow (Saturday 10th). This time it's The Hermit Crabs being proper popstars in that America, set to Feel Good Factor, a song from their first album (which was called Saw You Dancing).

You can hear more of The Hermit Crabs either at their website, on myspace or on the Matinée website.

Sorry if this is a little excessive, but I'm going to include the gig flyer in each post between now and next Saturday so the details are always there near the top.

The Ballet video

This is quite an old video, but I wanted to post it because it's great and it'll give you an idea of what The Ballet are about if you haven't heard them before. Remember they'll be playing at our next club night on Saturday 10th January, along with The Hermit Crabs and Miabeane and the Asthamatic Scene.

The video is Flash-based, so it won't work on iPhones or the like. Sorry! It came from this site called PSL (or is it SVT?), which has a load of other good indiepop videos but appears to be written in some kind of foreign lingo incomprehensible to my small brain (i.e. Swedish). I'll be posting videos of the other bands on the bill for HMHB 5 later in the week, so keep checking back.

Cheers, and happy new year!

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Hi folks, sorry for the long gap since the last blog post. Things have been craaaaazy for me at work but now I'm off for the week, and what a week it's going to be! Of course there's the fourth instalment of Half My Heart Beats on Saturday (13th), but before that there's a popshow and a half that I really wanted to write something about.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are from New York City, and they've surely been the most exciting band to emerge this year as far as indiepop is concerned. They've released an incredible self-titled EP followed by a string of 7" singles and internet-only tracks, and now they're touring the UK with The Wedding Present and doing a few solo shows along the way in advance of the release of their debut album.

I've been obsessively watching this Youtube clip of the band playing an unreleased song called 'The Tenure Itch' recently. The guitar part is so simple I feel like even I could play it, but it doesn't matter. This is pure (no pun intended) breathtaking pop music of the kind Half My Heart Beats is all about.



So anyway, they're going to be playing at The Captain's Rest, 185 Great Western Road on Friday night (12th). According to people on the Anorak forum who've been to the early UK shows, the band is even better live than on record, so I couldn't be more excited about getting to see them. I hasten to add that this gig is nothing to do with me or Lynsey, I just wanted to mention it in case people weren't aware they were in town.

Hope to see you there!

Posters and whathaveyou

Just thought I'd do a quick post to let you know how things are coming along for the first night. Well, I'm glad to say that I picked up our posters from the print shop this afternoon. I'll be photocopying our DIY flyers tomorrow after work, and tomorrow night will be spent cutting them into neat rectangles. I know how to spend my Friday nights.
Lynsey has been away in Wales being a rock teacher (the stone kind, not the music kind) so I've been scrabbling around at work all week, abusing the printing facilites. In case my boss is reading this, I jest.
I'm starting to get excited about our first night, with it being only a week and two days away. Neither of us have done anything like this before, so I think we're trying to be ultra-prepared and have each got our own provisional playlists drawn up, on spreadsheets no less.
If you get the impression this is kind of an amateurish enterprise, you'd be right. We're just feeling our way at the moment. I don't think either Lynsey or I ever really expected to be putting on our own club night, so it's a bit of a dream come true. We both really want the nights to have a welcoming atmosphere. This is not the kind of club where you have to look a certain way or whatever, we hope none of that comes into it.
Can I post videos here? I don't see why not. I just found this video of The Middle Ones, whom I've been talking up to anyone who'd listen since I saw them at Indietracks earlier in the summer.