A few days ago Frightened Rabbit embarked on a supporting tour with Death Cab For Cutie across the U.S., and as they’re prone to do on a daily basis the band were posting updates about it on their Twitter/Facebook pages.

One such update said this: “Those of you at The Grog Shop tonight get the first chance to buy our new tour EP. Loook! New songs inside. http://lockerz.com/s/123909484“.

It seems to have gone largely unnoticed, mainly because it’s a tour-only EP that’s sold at shows in the U.S., which will obviously limit the exposure. There’s no word on whether it’ll be sold online or elsewhere in the world, but when you hear both of the new songs as well as a finished recording of “Scottish Winds” you’re going to wish that it does end up online to buy, because they’re fucking gorgeous.

When I first moved from Scotland to the U.S. I tried to keep up with Scottish music as best as I could but I ended up losing any connection I once had with it. The first time I heard Frightened Rabbit it not only reconnected me with said music scene, but made me miss the motherland all the more, and as I heard songs referencing places that I used to go to or live close to, my desire to return heightened.  Although that hasn’t happened yet, bands like Frightened Rabbit and Camera Obscura make me feel just that little bit closer, especially when I hear some new jams by either.

“Fuck This Place” features the sultry and sullen vocals of Camera Obscura‘s Tracyanne Campbell against an almost militaristic-style rhythm that builds into a cacophony of sound as both she and lead singer Scott sing over the rousing signal being pumped out behind them.  ”The Work” features Archie Fisher, a renowned Scottish folk singer who does alternate verses with Scott that hearken back to the Scottish folk songs of yore, all three of which you can hear below.

Connect with Frightened Rabbit - Facebook | Website | Twitter | Last.fm

Frightened Rabbit – Scottish Winds by ListenBeforeYouBuy

Frightened Rabbit – Fuck This Place (Featuring Tracyanne Campbell From Camera Obscura) by ListenBeforeYouBuy

Frightened Rabbit – The Work (Featuring Archie Fisher) by ListenBeforeYouBuy

As part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival in 2010, a gaggle of notable Scottish musicians all got together to write and record a compilation album themed around mental health issues.

Among those involved were members from Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad, Idlewild, The Delgados, and more, and whilst you’ve been able to get your hands on the records via various online unscrupulous methods, it was previously only available at the two shows they put on in Edinburgh (greatest city on the PLANET!) and Glasgow (NOT the greatest city on the planet!) at the start of October last year, organised by Fruit Tree Foundation.

Now almost 47 months later the comp is getting an actual release via A Scottish Wave Of Change, Breathing Space, and The Mental Health Foundation, and the first couple of tracks from it can be had for free from Fruit Tree, with the Scott Hutchison & Rod Jones track below.

Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit) & Rod Jones (Idlewild) – “I Forgot The Fall”

(via)

Artist: Frightened Rabbit
Hometown: Selkirk, Scotland
Members: Scott Hutchison, Grant Hutchison, Billy Kennedy, Andy Monaghan, Gordon Skene
Formed: 2003
Released: 2010
Genre: Indie, Rock, Folk
Label: Fat Cat Records
Singles: “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”, “Nothing Like You”, “Living In Colour”, “The Lonliness And The Scream”

Connect: MySpace | Facebook | Website | Twitter

Buy The Album:

• Amazon: CD | Vinyl | MP3
• Insound: CD | Vinyl
• eMusic: Sign up for free and get $5 worth of free music (tracks are just $0.50)
• iTunes: The Winter of Mixed Drinks

I read about this last week when it was making the blog rounds, but I didn’t actually watch the video until Peenko asked me if I was able to.  You see, Peenko lives in Scotland and can’t view the video because of lame copyright/licensing laws.  I on the other hand, even though I’m from Scotland, live in the U.S., so I could see the video.

So because he did me a solid, I did him a solid and ripped the audio from the video for him.  He posted it yesterday, and today it’s my turn.  It’s not exactly Frightened Rabbit because it’s just Scott the lead singer, but it’s close enough.

It’s taken from the below video that’s part of a series of videos by The Onion A.V. Club where they get a giant artist and make them play in a tiny room, “Being John Malkovich” style.  Previous luminaries to take part include Ted Leo and his band of pharmaceutical punk rockers, Fruit Bats, Ben Folds, and The Antlers.  Give your ear buds some earbud-food.

Frightened Rabbit – “Confetti” (Lemonheads cover)

Frightened Rabbit covers The Lemonheads

Yesterday I posted a review of Frightened Rabbit’s debut album “Sing The Greys” with a stream for you to listen to it for free. Today I’m going to show some videos of songs from “Sing The Greys”. They only released one single from that album, a double A-side of “Be Less Rude” and “The Greys”. It was released on November 5th 2007 to coincide with the re-recorded/remastered version of “Sing The Greys”, a full year and a half after it was initially released to a limited run of 1,000 copies on their own record label Hit The Fan Records.  I’ve also added some excellent versions of a few songs that they recorded live for Daytrotter back in 2008 and 2009.

They made a video for “The Greys”, directed by Fraser Campbell and released on FatCat Records in September 2007.

Although they never released a video for “Be Less Rude” and have since vowed to never play the song live again, here’s an excellent solo acoustic version of the song by singer Scott Hutchison for Off The Beaten Tracks, taken in May 2009 in Edinburgh.

Below is the Daytrotter version of “Be Less Rude”.

Download audio file (frightened-rabbit-be-less-rude.mp3)

Probably their most charming song to date is “Snake”, the last track on “Sing The Greys”. At an all-request gig (where there’s no setlist and audience members heckle the band until they play the song they want to hear) in New York, Scott explained the inspiration behind the song: “Jokingly holding up blank set-lists, Hutchinson explained that the idea for the all-request show came along because after 10 months of touring, “We just wanted to do something that was going to be enjoyable.” And enjoy it he did, telling stories about the songs between swigs from a bottle of whiskey. “Everyone thinks it’s about my penis, but it’s not,” he remarked after playing “Snake,” which he elaborated is actually about his plans to surprise a woman in New York City by showing up with nothing but the clothes on his back and a draft snake he’d been keeping for her. As it happened, the girl was “less than thrilled,” so he wrote “I Feel Better” as a sequel, reusing the music from the chorus.”

A video for “Snake” was made by Mark Charlton at Bluestar Animation and released in February 2009.

Below is the Daytrotter version of “Go-Go-Girls”.

Download audio file (frightened-rabbit-the-go-go-girls.mp3)

The most epic, anthemic song on “Sing The Greys” is “Square 9″. The below video was taken at their very first show in the U.S. in New York in January 2007, and shows the band as a three piece with Billy sporting a hoodie and Scott sporting beardless cheeks.

Below is the Daytrotter version of “Square 9″.

Download audio file (frightened-rabbit-square-nine.mp3)

In anticipation for the release (March 1st in the UK, March 9th the rest of the world) of “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks”, the third album by one of Scotland’s finest bands Frightened Rabbit, I’ll have a week’s worth of goodness (including reviews, videos, interviews and full album streams) leading up to the release day, culminating in a review of the album as well as the full album for your listening head-hole pleasure.

First up; Back story.

Formed in Selkirk, Scotland in 2003, Frightened Rabbit started off as a vehicle for singer Scott Hutchison’s solo shows, eventually roping in his brother Grant on drums and Billy Kennedy on guitar, and today comprising of the former as well as Andy Monaghan (guitarist) and Gordon Skene (keyboards).  They released their debut album “Sing The Greys” on June 5th 2006 on their own label Hit The Fan Records, consisting of only 1,000 copies, which are naturally difficulty to get your hands on these days.  Thankfully I did manage to get my hands on one for a mere $17, but they can cost upwards of $50, and as Frightened Rabbit are sure to become bigger with “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks” that price is sure to rise.

On October 2nd, 2007 they released a remastered version of “Sing The Greys” on FatCat, some of the bits being re-recorded and the album as a whole getting a bigger and more epic sound to it, and all in all releasing two singles from the album, “Be Less Rude” and “The Greys”.

They had already recorded the bulk of what was to be their next album “The Midnight Organ Fight” by the end of 2007 and on March 3rd, 2008 released “Head Rolls Off”, the first single from their (by then) as yet unreleased second album.  ”The Midnight Organ Fight” was released on April 15th, 2008 on FatCat, immediately gaining almost universal critical acclaim.  Some say it’s one of the greatest break-up albums ever recorded, with publications such as NME, Pitchfork, DrownedInSound, Q, Kerrang and others adoring it, as well as artists such as Death Cab For Cutie, Jimmy Eat World, and Biffy Clyro.  Three singles were released from “The Midnight Organ Fight”, “Head Rolls Off”, “Fast Blood”, and “I Feel Better”.

This bring us to 2010, which many are saying is going to be Frightened Rabbit’s year to hit the “big time”.  Having already released two singles from their upcoming third album “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks”, “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” was debuted in May of 2009 and released in November 2009, and “Nothing Like You” released at the tail end of February this year.  There are already a few reviews appearing online of the album, every one of them being positive, and as I said there’s a significant amount of chatter and discussion going on about “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks” being their breakthrough.

With a world tour already underway, festival appearances in the summer announced and undoubtedly at least one more single from the album, here’s hoping so.

Frightened Rabbit have announced a North American tour (which does include Canada), a contest to win tickets to not only see them live in either the U.K. or U.S. with an opportunity to meet them after the gig, but also a new video for “Nothing Like You” from their upcoming and highly anticipated 3rd album “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks”, due out on March 9th via FatCat.

Their tour dates have them starting off in Australia (last night), in the U.K. for the first two weeks of March (and curiously not even playing in Scotland), then over to the U.S. for SXSW and then back again for an entire month, starting at Coachella and finishing in San Diego, with shows in Canada in between.

(via FatCat and Pitchfork)

01-29 Melbourne, Australia - Laneway Festival
01-31 Sydney, Australia - Laneway Festival
02-02 Sydney, Australia – Metro Theatre *
02-03 Sydney, Australia – The Filth at Beach Road Hotel
02-04 Melbourne, Australia – The Palais *
03-04 York, England – Duchess of York
03-05 Manchester, England – Club Academy
03-06 Aldershot, England – West End Centre
03-08 Bristol, England – Thekla
03-09 Oxford, England – Academy 2
03-10 London, England - Koko
03-12 Birmingham, England – Academy 2
03-13 Sheffield, England - Leadmill 2
03-14 Norwich, England – Arts Centre
03-17 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-18 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-19 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-20 Austin, TX - SXSW
04-17 Indio, CA - Coachella
04-19 Tempe, AZ – The Clubhouse
04-21 Houston, TX – Walter’s
04-22 Dallas, TX – Loft at Palladium Ballroom
04-23 Little Rock, AR – Revolution
04-24 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
04-25 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
04-27 Washington, DC – Black Cat
04-28 New York, NY – Webster Hall
04-29 Boston, MA – Paradise
04-30 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church
05-03 Montreal, Quebec - Petit Campus
05-04 Toronto, Ontario – Opera House
05-06 Newport, KY - Southgate House
05-07 St. Louis, MO – The Old Rock House
05-08 Chicago, IL – Metro
05-09 Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theatre
05-10 Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater
05-12 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theatre
05-13 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
05-15 Vancouver, British Columbia - Biltmore Cabaret
05-16 Seattle, WA - Neumo’s Crystal Ball Reading Room
05-17 Portland, OR - Berbati’s Pan
05-19 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
05-22 San Diego, CA - Casbah

* with Echo and the Bunnymen

The details of the contest are as follows:

To celebrate the impending release of our third studio album, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, we’ve decided to run a competition! In keeping with the theme of mixed drinks, all you have to do to enter is post a video response or leave a comment in the Shout Box on the channel of you making your favourite cocktail, or a cocktail of your own making, and we’ll pick our favourite as our winner. The closing date is the 15th of February, so get creative and get filming! The winner will get two tickets to an upcoming gig in the UK or US and the opportunity to enjoy the winning drink with the band after the show.

Heres how to submit your ‘Winter of Mixed Drinks’ cocktail recipe
1. Register on MUZU.TV and become a friend of Frightened Rabbit
2. Submit your recipe by uploading your video on the fan uploads page here
Or writing it in the shoutbox below

Last but certainly not least, their new video for “Nothing Like You”, the second single from “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks”.  I posted a video a few days back of singer Scott Hutchison playing “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” in a garden, giving a excellent acoustic rendition of the song.  Check out “Nothing Like You” below.

An excellent live performance by Frightened Rabbit singer Scott Hutchison of “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” from their upcoming album “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks”, due out March 10th. Performed in a 17th century style garden, the video is done by Off The Beaten Tracks, an Edinburgh ensemble who arrange to have bands and artists play a few songs for them in and around the city of Edinburgh. It’s truly a unique and fresh approach to live performances and some of the places they perform in range from graveyards to pubs.

Scott also performs two other songs which you can watch here at Off The Beaten Tracks.