Electronica / Experimental / Alternative
Welcome to the aphrodisiacs purevolume site, a haven for free downloads. Now availilbe are free downlaods from our 2nd album "In the the name of the father" + brand spankin new demo's of tracks that will feature on our upcoming 3rd album. Enjoy.
Set in present day Scotland against the backdrop of a bright, urban landscape, the ageless superhero trio combat sinister villains and aim to rescue innocent victims by bringing forth exciting new songs based on universal themes, encompassing the same time-honored tradition of the classic Aphrodisiacs legend.
Your spirit will soar if you follow our plight to strive for truth and justice
The Aphrodisiacs - three piece experimental, dance, electronic rock from Motherwell, Scotland. Their debut album "This is a campaign" is still currently available in most good independent record stores throughout the UK, released on Edinburgh independent label SL Records (www.slrecords.net). The bands second album "In the Name of the Father" was released by japanese label Quince records in June 2006 and is still availible on import to the UK or US ( www.quince-records.com ) .The band had the privilege of recording two sessions for the John Peel show on Radio1 (2002/2004), feauturing twice in the BBC's legendry festive fifty chart ( no 49. in 2002 & no45. in 2004), many of these tracks are vailible as free downloads on the pure volume player. The band have recorded various other sessions for radio shows in the UK and have also recorded a session for US radio show UPop in studio 2 @ Abbey road. The band are always gigging throughout the UK and further afield - any enquries, for gigs or anything else should directed to theaphrodisiacs@talk21.com
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Full story part 1
THE Story : The Method to Our Madness
The Aphrodisiacs
Experimental, Electronica, dance, rock from Motherwell Scotland
The band are Stephen McFall, Kevin Carlin & John Cairns
Ive at last got round to typing out the history of the band, its a daunting task as most of the stuff we do gets lost in a haze of madness Ill give it a go. The Aphrodisiacs existed in a couple of forms prior to 2002, to imagine what we sounded like then picture a band trying to be Mogwai with a shit Casio keyboard thrown in for good measure. First of all Why the name? Well aye wish aye could make a cool story but the truth is aye was listening to a talk show one night on the radio and they where discussing Aphrodisiacs and how they acted as a stimulant and stuff. I thought it would be really cool to be an aphrodisiac, so there ye go! Anyhow 2002 saw the start of the band as it is this now. The three of us would spend Saturday nights getting drunk together so we thought it would make sense to try and make some tunes while we done this . The first song we ever recorded was This is a Campaign in April, it took one night to record on a Zoom Palmtop studio
The studio on which we recorded the demo of this is a campaign...................................
Not far off its actual size
Its a tiny piece of gear! It was really good fun recording the song, while one of us laid down a guitar track, the other two where battling it on Super Mario Cart on the SNES. We played the recording to a couple of our friends who where really positive about the song so I decided we should aim high and sent a one track cdr to the one person we wanted to hear it, Mr John Peel. About a week later ( forgetting totally that Id sent anyone a copy of the song) I got a phone call from the man himself saying he wanted to play the song in the show. It was really hard to believe but we listened in to his next show to see if he would play the song. The first time Peel played one of our songs is probably one of the best moments weve experienced, it was total madness! Aye remember being totally stunned that the first song we had ever wrote and recorded together was getting played on UK nation-wide radio. The other thing was we hadnt even played a gig! Ill get the original recording up on the site to let everyone hear, its my favourite recording that weve ever done. We sent a couple more tunes we recorded ( Against the grain + Sordid secrets) down to the show in June 02, shortly into July we had been invited down to record a session for the show! We where booked to record the session on Sunday 1st September 02. Wed still never played a gig. The journey for the Peel session was really special, it was the most fun you could possibly have. We where 19/20 respectively and we went down with the soul intention of getting fucked, we succeeded. Now we didnt have much in terms of gear, we didnt have transport so we kinda had to wing it. The three of us and our good friend Martin Lennox set off for our first trip to London on Sat 30th Aug to record a Peel session, and we had to get the bloody train.
Onto the train we bundled :
1 x large H&H guitar amp
1x Fender guitar amp
3 x Guitars
1 x bass
1 x Korg MS 10 wrapped in a blanket
Booze for journey
Note the lack of bass amp, drum kit. You know the things you usually associate with a band. We had fuck all, what we did have in abundance was the determination to succeed despite the lack of gear. We where all pretty drunk when we arrived at Kings Cross, we had to make it to Paddington to find our digs. aye remember us trying to squash all of our gear into a black cab but little else. We where staying at the Atlantic Paddington Hotel, ma baws it was a hotel! Its a total dive but it was only costing 15 each a night. We totally destroyed the room we where staying at, we thought we were gonna get kicked out at one point in the middle of night ( aye dont know why we where only dancing about on the hotel roof, blasting music out of a stereo at 3am, running about the corridors, throwing stuff out the window to see what made the biggest noise - a 3 litre pint of milk is the answer to the last conundrum). On the Sunday we made it to the glorious studios in Maida Vale, its was freakin beautiful. Id never recorded in a studio but Maida Vale must be the best studio in the UK the desk is like something out of the millennium falcon. We recorded four tunes :
Against the grain, Backbone of society, This Is A Campaign, Sordid secrets
The session went out on air on Radio 1 on 25th September. Fantastic. The real hard work did not start until after this when we wanted to play gigs and stuff. We had a lot of work to do. Played our first gig in the 13th note in oct 02 which we really enjoyed, think we played in Edinburgh before the end of the year but aye really cant remember. The session got repeated again on Tuesday 10th December 02 which was a real surprise for us. We where in Glasgow doing a live session for Glasgow student station Sub City on the same night. The biggest surprise for 02 ( and probably to date) was when we heard This is a Campaign had been voted into the festive fifty at no49. we where absolutely stunned. Aye still cant ma head round the fact we made it into the chart for 02, its pretty nuts. That was probably one of the most satisfying moments to date and the one thing that meant a lot the three of us. 2003 was one of those years where not a lot happened, we had a bit of growing up to do but it was a year where aye think we still made a lot of progress. In January we recorded our adaptation of the Robert Burns love poem Red Red Rose for Radio 1 ( Ill try it get a mp3 of this online soon). That was cool as the other Scottish bands to contribute where Belle and Sebastian, delgados and ballboy. In march 03 we got asked to play some gigs with ballboy which we really enjoyed in King Tuts and the Edinburgh Venue. Summer 03 is pretty vague, think we recorded the demos of The Tomorrow People and 15 Pillars of Despair about that time. In August we played the worst gig ever in banner mans in Edinburgh, we actually went on stage to a room where not one single person was in, even the sound guy had fucked off! Eventually Ed fro SL Records walked into the room, for a while we where playing only to him and his 2 friends which was pretty bizarre. The same month we played a gig with Terra Diablo which was an enjoyable night. The latter part of 03 was fairly quite, we recorded a demo version of If you want me which gained some airplay at the time. .
At the beginning of 2004 we decided we really wanted to make something happen and we where gonna work hardly to ensure that wed be successful. Played a couple of gigs in Stereo (good), QMU (shit). We where Beatbreakers on Beat 106 in April which was a good experience. We recorded two new songs in this month, Ghost in the shell + The hour is late but please consider which convinced SL to release our album. We recorded this during the month of May in a house in Motherwell, it was abit frustrating as we really wanted to go into a studio to record it properly but it just wasnt to be a t the time. We finished the album in a three weeks. It was pretty easy to pick the title of the album as it had been called This is a Campaign from day one, the title is perhaps more relevant today than it ever has been. With the album recorded we could get on with playing some gigs over the Summer this year, had a good time in Stereo, Dr Drakes, Bongo Club and enjoyed ourselves when we played for the first time in London in August . Also in August we recorded our second session for John Peel. We where more organised this time! Two years is a long time and we where more composed this time and more professional ( but just as determined). Drove a van down to London this time, even had a drum kit with us. We didnt drink the night before the session this time so we where as fresh as possible for the session which we recorded on Thursday 23rd August. We recorded four tunes :
TerraHawk , The Tomorrow People, The hour is late but please consider & Pulps Do you remember the first time.
The session was broadcast on Tuesday 5th October 2004.
October 26th 2004 - John Peel
This indeed was a very sad day as news filtered through that Mr Peel had died on holiday in Peru. Well its now the end of the end the year and I still dont know what to really say about this. Peel introduced us all to our favourite bands. I used to listen to his show every now and then up until the delgados got voted in at no1 in the festive fifty in 1999, after that I was hooked to his show. The list of bands he broke to the world could fill pages ; Pulp, the Smiths, Pink Floyd, velvet underground, joy division, nirvana etc. Despite discovering many a major band it was his enthusiasm for new music which could not be rivalled by anyone and is why so many loved the man :
"People say, what's gonna be the next big thing?" Peel once said. "But the pleasure for me is in not knowing. I like to be taken by surprise myself."
On the 28th of oct we played in the barfly with the next big thing which was supposedly called do me bad things. Think the darkness and erm well thats about it! They are on the same label, had one decent song and had about 10 members. Pish .pish .pish .I actually really enjoyed the other support bands ( I hate that word! I also hate bands that write in there bio the more well known bands that they have played with in the past. Ive never understood how this reflects on how good a band is : ie, just because a band played a gig with say Franz Ferdinand 2 years ago that means what exactly? - fuck all!). Anyway, Im diversing a bit here, De Rosa and O.B.E were very good which made the night slightly more enjoyable.
Remember November? Well, not really! We started rehearsing once a week which is an absolute turn up for the books. Think we really felt the benefits of rehearsing regularly fairly quickly. It sounds silly when Im writing this but its surprising what happens when you actually practice! Nothing else really happened in this month so well move swiftly on..
December - The tunnocks tour, the aphrodisiacs take to the road.
I bin away a country mile, Now I'm returnin' showin' off a smile. I met all the girls and loved myself a few, Ended by surprise like everything else I've been through. It opened up my eyes and now I'm
One toke over the line sweet Jesus One toke over the line
One Toke Over The Line, Brewer & Shipley
What a song, what a song. Its kinda the song we put on whenever were on a journey somewhere to get ourselves going, so in December it was never off the tranny in ma car. That was of course because we finally got ourselves out of Motherwell and tried playing in various places around Scotland, it was very enjoyable. Still going to have a to sort out an aphro love wagon at some point to transport our gear more easily but were getting there slowly. For this trip it was just my car packed to the gunnels with all our equipment. We were surprisingly organised, we had cds to sell at the gig ( at freakin last!) and some biscuits courtesy of our sponsors tunnocks ( we were armed with 48 caramel wafers, 48 caramel logs and 36 teacakes ). Fist destination on our trip was Newcastle. It was an interesting gig if nothing else. The venue was nice enough ( Night 1 : the Cumberland arms in byker) although the PA was slightly small, Much like the turnout but lack of numbers is nothing which we cant handle. At this gig we played with the worst band ever, and I have no hesitation in writing that statement because a. the chances of anyone related to the band reading this is none because they wouldnt know new music if jumped up and slapped them on the dish b. they were a bunch of cowboys! Actual freakin cowboys dressed in all the gear! Yell never guess what they opened with ---- a beastie boys cover, except the words were YOU GOTTA FIGHT, DUM DUM, FOR YOUR RIGHT, DUM DUM TO HOE DOWN ! aye shit ye not, ye couldnae make this stuff up! The person who booked us for the gig was really nice to us however ( a recurring theme throughout our trip it must be said as everyone we met was really nice and helpful) which stopped the gig being a disaster.
One disturbing fact did arise - did you know that byker grove is NOT filmed in Byker. Wits that all about? Its alright though , apparently they are home to the only in city farm in Newcastle, whoopee doo.
( Cds sold -1 ! ,Busy ? - not really , Alcohol consumption - minimum, Venue - 6/10 )
Straight after the gig we drove up to Edinburgh to crash at eds. Negotiating the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh is some challenge, especially when it is really misty and you can barely see two feet in front of you. That was hard going, we had Pink Floyd on the cd played ( Pulse) which got us through it
Night 2 - Edinburgh bongo Club - Here @ bongo club with swimmer one, the magnificents, dirty hospital, Hoboken & luxury car.
We were really looking forward to this night as it is one of the best line-ups which we have been involved in and were really looking forward to seeing the other bands. We were on first but it wasnt too bad as that wasnt until half ten or something. Missed luxury car and buboken as we had to watch the cd merchandise stall, got a copy of the Hoboken album which is very good. We had to abandon the cd stall to drop the car off so we could get drunk so we put up our Gone Fishing sign and made our move. Really good night was had by all, swimmer one had some technical difficulties but came through in the end which was good to see as they had put a lot of hard work into organising the whole night. The magnificents were fantastic ( no chance Im writing magnificent as every reviewer has probably used that at some point), really high tempo tunes, ideal when you out to have a good night. There a chance they might be remixing one of our tunes next year so keep a listen out for that as it could be pretty special. Last up were Dirty hospital who also seemed to have some tech difficulties. The ex-bis boys were very good though and kept me dancing all the way home.
( Cds sold -2/3 ,Busy ? - at its peak it was packed, Alcohol consumption - more than merry!, Venue - 9/10, bongo club is tremendous )
Night 3 - St Andrews student union with Motormark.
Slightly hungover from a shenanigans the previous night we made the short journey up the coast to ST Andrews. Had a bit of difficulty finding the place but got there eventually. its a really nice union they have up there ( better than the QMU me thinks), spent the hours before the gig in the bar playing pool ( nice big American pool style tables - just what the doctor ordered). The gig was fuckin superb if we dont say so ourselves, really enjoyed the gig, enjoyed the sound and the aphrodisiacs actually hit a bit of live form ( huraah I hear you cry). It was satisfying as we had put a lot of practice in over the last couple of months and I think it showed its head in st Andrews. So the gig went well, off stage things went out of control a bit ( nothing ever runs smoothly ) . Two of our friends ( Mr Lennox - mad man from London trip 1 and accomplice MR Shug) came up for a bender. Aye think everyone from Motherwell has the same problem when they go somewhere new ---- they are just so happy to be out of the place that they just want to get really drunk and cause chaos in the new town. And chaos did inevitably followed. Subject A launched a teacake at a watching punter and got swiftly ejected by bouncers. Subject B got drunk and ended up lost 20 miles away in Cooper. And Thats the short story. (A big thank you to John and co for putting us up for the night in their living room - thank you and sorry for the nonsense!)
( Cds sold 2 or 3, Busy - very nice crowd, Alcohol consumption - pished as a fart, Venue - 9/10 lovely location)
Night 4 - Dr drakes , Aberdeen with the 55s
Caught the arsenal- chelsea game before we went up to Aberdeen which was good. Feeling really rough on way up. It was a fairly quite Sunday night , not busy at all. Well keep on trying up in Aberdeen though as its a city we really like and the promoters at drakes have always been really nice to us. Well crack it yet! We played alright but it is hard to get going when the venue is pretty empty. Undeterred spirits are still high. Staying at the Aberdeen youth hostel which was very nice. Got back there about 12 but released we werent tired so we got a taxi to find a pub. Ended up somewhere which was open to 2am and drinks were 1.50 for any drink, ya dancer! In just over an hour we rattled 6 jack Daniels and 3 blue sours each in attempt to catch the bus to land of drunks, nae joy. Practically ran back to the hostel which got us tired.
(Cds sold - 2 , Busy - naw, Alcohol consumption - a late burst for glory, Venue - 8/10 aye like drakes)
Night 5 - Rep theatre, Dundee with the A forest and little Moscow
By the time we drove down to Dundee were shattered. This gig malarkey is actually pretty hard going. Its not the playing gigs which is difficult, thats the easy bit. its the waiting and waiting and waiting before the gig which does ye in. We got down to Dundee about 3.30pm, load in was about 7:30pm. Thats a long time tae hang about. Found ourselves a yellow card pub for some scran and began the wait. Got to the rep theatre and it was very clean and fancy looking, when you first get there ye wonder where the hell the bands are gonna play as the place is full of diners eating their dinner. AT half seven the tables are meant to get cleared but there is a couple of old dears who refuse to budge, its going on 9pm before they get lobbed out, sherry in hand of course. Fast set up doesnt give little moscow a sound check but they were enjoyable none the less. The a forest were also very good. Need to give ourselves ashake before we play, think we were alright but we can play much much better. Looking forward to our own bed at this point so we make a swift exit and drive home to Motherwell, home bout 3am, it had been a long day..
( Cds sold 5/6 , Busy - yes , Alcohol consumption - hee haw, Venue 8/10 )
Night 6 - A night off
Night 7 - SL Records Party - Glasgow, Rockers
Surprisingly good venue. The main thing that comes to mind about rockers. I hadnae held great hopes for the place at all but the sound was spot on. A good first night was had by all. Was nice to play with the other SL bands who we had played with through 2004 as well. The starlets were awesome as always. If ye havnt seen them play live get yer arse out and see them play, buy their 2 albums while your at it as well as it will be one of the wiser decisions youll ever make..
Cds sold - not got a clue!, Busy - no bad, Alcohol consumption - nay, party time next night in Edinburgh, Venue - a surprising 8.
Night 8 - SL Records Party - Edinburgh, Bongo club
Now the party really begins. A chocka line-up to work through, think it ran peanut, 55s, degrassi , Gordon ballboy, ourselves then the starlets. That a lot of bands to work through! Really enjoyable night, was dancing by the end of it so must have been good! Really enjoyed watching everyones set, I thought they all were in form for this one. A nice end for the run of gigs.
Cds sold - dunno, Busy - aye but wittled down after 12, Alcohol consumption - wearing cowboy hats at 4am - wit dae you think?, Venue - solid 9
And we thought 49 was a beautiful number, how good does 45 sound?
Bounced in last night pretty drunk and went straight on the computer to find out if we were in the festive fifty for 2004. I hadnae really thought about it at all but aye kinda realised after a couple of beers in the pub that the show was on the radio that night. And there it is, wedged nicely between Bloc Party - 'Little Thoughts' and Mountain Goats - 'Your Belgian Things' (LP- We Shall All Be Healed) - (4AD) - no 45 Aphrodisiacs - If U want me ------------- YA DANCER!
That really means a lot to us. 45 in the uk chart ( 35, 25, 15?) means nothing compared to that. You know in the last couple of months weve seemed to be labelled with the tag of one of the last ever peel sessions which weve not really been comfortable with because that only occurred out of the tragic circumstances of the latter days of October. Being in last ever festive fifty however?? Well people can write that all the want because we can live with that. Weve now had two festive fifty placings.. Phenomenal. Thank you very much if you voted for us, it means the world to us.
And that was kinda us. Played the is this music? Christmas party just before Christmas surprisingly enough which was a good night, they raised a couple of hundred bucks for the big issue which was good. Hopefully get ma hands on some pictures for the photo section. Alamos were very good, check em out. And thats kinda us for 2004. In reflection its been a guid year, weve really enjoyed ourselves. Heres to a good 05, expect more gigs ( London for starters in February), more songs ( some new ones mibees at the start of the year) and more work by us . Help us do enough.
2005 -
Start of the year kicks off with us just practicing away. We get nominated into the top 100 in the is this music? Best Scottish album in the world ever writers poll which was very nice. Our First gig of the year was @ tom tom in Glasgow. Venue was a bit posh for my liken but the night seemed to go well non the less. The gig was to launch gigs in the venue which occurs every Tuesday, if yer ever bored in Glasgow ye should pop in for a drink one night. Next up was a gig with the grim northern social in the venue (Edinburgh). Long time since we first played the venue, good sound in the place, if only they could remove that bastarding pillar which obstructs part of the stage. We really enjoyed playing this gig, we thought we were on form. Mibees the wrong kinda crowd though, GNS arent really our cuppa tea so dont think we a had much chance of converting a couple of punters. The guy who was doing their merch wouldnt sell our cd at their stall which kinda gives ye an idea what were up against, we bit our tongue for a change and just had a laugh. Still a guid night.
Swimmer One & Piney Gir
London story - hoi ya cunt wheres ma guitar?/the betsy trotswood scandal !
we were back down for some gigs in London with our friends Swimmer One ( www.swimmerone.co.uk ) at the end of February. An eventful time was had, nae surprise this was our 4th trip down there and something always happens! The trip got off to a flyer when a band from Wales called crosbi tried to disappear up the M4 with my guitar in the back of the van. After many a phone call we managed to get hold of them on their mobile, at first they denied having it and continued driving homeward bound. Eventually they said they had ma guitar and proceeded to ask the silliest freakin question weve ever been asked - Dae ye need it back?.. na mate, tell ye what, just hold on to it! Wit a fud. We never got to my bed till about 3am cause we had to drive miles to pick the guitar up. Lesson no.1 learned - keep an eye on your gear at all times. The 2nd night was better, a quite affair in a pub in Crouch end but a nice evening none the less playing with piney gir. After it we had a few drinks in the cinema (!) in our youth hostel and ended up dancing and singing to the wizard of oz on the big screen, guid job the room was soundproof! Lesson no2 learned- dont fall asleep in the cinema you have just trashed. The third night was a total disaster. A bunch of cowboys called plum promotions were in town trying to put on a gig in a cellar in the Betsy trotswood. The gig was made free entry at the last minute and the freelance promoter tried tae say we had signed a contract and stuff which was nonsense. We played the gig then left straight after playing. It was a mess, there was more to the story but it hurts ma head when aye think about it so well leave it there. Got back to our hostel and got pissed again. This time there was three guys sleeping in the cinema watchin the passion of christ ( nae wonder they fell asleep). When the film ended we turned on the lights, grabbed a bean bag each ( which weighed a tonne weight) and smacked each guy that was sleeping with them @ the same time, it was hilarious! We didnt hang about to see their reactions, we swiftly fled the scene. We ended up getting escorted back to our room because we were out on a balcony shoutin random stuff and generally being too rowdy. Lesson no3 - dont play a gig in London thats put on by plum promotions! Despite this minor set backs we actually had a really good time. More planning is going into the next set of gigs but things are bound to still go wrong.
Death of Hunter Stockton Thompson - February 20th 2005
On February 20, Dr Hunter S Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colorado.
Another legend has sadly departed the world. His writings have been an influence on all three of us. His perception of the world and they way he portrayed his opinions in his books was beautiful. The film adaptation of fear & loathing is phenomenal ( ye could quote from this all day long). Again its hard to write how much we respected the work he done, he was a class act. If ye havent read his books get hold of the rum diaries, fear and loathing, Gonzo papers (part 3 is actually a good starter). Ive been buyin some of his books on ebay for the last couple of months but cannae afford to now as the prices of all the books have gone up since his death, if youve got some spare cash its definitely worth getting his back catalogue.
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole multi colored collection of uppers, downers, laughers, screamers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.
Heres the list of books for ye tae find :
Hell's Angels (1966)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1972)
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (1973)
The Great Shark Hunt (1979)
The Curse of Lono (1983)
Generation of Swine (1988)
Songs of the Doomed (1990)
Silk Road (1990)
Better than Sex (1993)
The Proud Highway (1997)
The Rum Diary (1998)
Screwjack and Other Stories (2000)
Fear and Loathing in America (2000)
The Kingdom of Fear (2003)
Hey Rube (2004)
Full story Part 2
Soundhaus gig - shite, set ma jeans on fire! Tuesday March 1st
Been looking forward to playin in the soundhaus in Glasgow for ages. Went to a few right good club nights in the place and this is also the place where we practiced for most of the last two years. Great looking venue, has the feel of a real underground club which you would be more likely to find in Germany or Holland. its a big warehouse type venue. Anyway the gig turned out to be crap. After being told we were to go on last we swiftly got shunted to first on to accommodate one of the younger bands who said they were bringing lots of friends later on in the evening. Real Mickey mouse operation ( Ruby Tuesday), think the band were friends with the two girls who had set up the evening. We werent to bothered though as it meant we could leave as soon as we finished. Two seconds before we went on stage I done the very un rock and roll thing of setting ma jeans on fire! Luckily only one table seen the unfortunate event. I was wearing ma old ripped jeans which have lots of threads hanging from the knee. It was cold in the big hall so aye stood really close to the industrial room heater which looks 9 and sounds) like the rocket blaster part of a space shuttle rocket. The things are pretty dangerous looking but I was just grateful that ma knees werent too burnt. Played the set, the sound wasnt up to much so we made our excuses and swiftly left
No 20 in is this music? Poll, All time best Scottish albums
20th best Scottish album ever eh? Not bad. These polls are all right but its hard to judge the best albums ever. Still well take it! I was thinking what would have been in contention for my vote, so heres ma ideas :
Delgados - not just the Great Eastern, Pelaton is phenomenal too!
Idlewild - Hope is Important is their best album, I dont care what anyone says. From start to finish it captures the passion they once carried. Ye wouldnt have caught Mr Womble singing happy birthday on this album thats for sure.
Telestar Ponies - In the space of a few minutes. Features one of the best opening tracks for an album ever ( but thats for another poll) the moon is not a puzzle
Arab strap - Philaphobia. Again best opening line of an album? All together now, it was the, biggest cock youd ever seen.
Teenage fan club - Grand prix. The winner for a reason, beautifully crafted pop genius
Findlay Quaye - now this might need some explaining! Mr Findlay isnt the coolest cat in town these days, BUT this album is tremendous! Reminds me of summer weather so makes me feel good when aye hear it. Guess thats why its kinda hard to determine a best album ever as everyone has their own personal reasons why they love an album more than another.
I was more pleased that we made the writers poll ( top 100) and that the same writers voted the album the 6th best album of 2004 ( not just Scottish albums). Very cool indeed.
Couple of gigs in April :
Gig @ Dunfermline - Montys 1st April. Is this music gig, not the busiest but still an enjoyable night as we got to catch up with the starlets & the 55s.
Gig with 55s in the tron - Played gig as part of the 55s album launch night ( album out in June, get yer hands on a copy!). Right good laugh was had by all. Got quite drunk before heading in to the subway which sobered us up a bit cause it was empty!
The Delgados tribute - 08/04/05
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Gutted that the delgados decided to pack it in, got so many stories and had so much fun going to delgados gigs over the last ten years.
Favourites to name just a few have to be great eastern launch/ smash the clause gig @ 13th note club, Glasgow school of art gig which was on at same time as European cup final when man utd won, sleazies ( even though aye didn't get in cause I was under age, still a blinding night!), the gig in st andrews in the square : how good was it when Paul went on the drums after being told he couldnt play cause they were too loud?, Ive never heard 13 guiding principles sound so good! free bar @ hate launch, t in the park 99 when they played in king tuts tent just before idlewild. Fantastic.
fuck some good times. and not to mention the albums, pelaton and the great eastern are stone wall classics, aye still listen to these regularly and will continue to listen to them as the songs never grow old. Really hope everything works out for everyone involved in the band with their new stuff in the future
T-shirt slogan ideas :
Im an Aphrodisiac!
Arent your kids a little young for the Aphrodisiacs?
Poetry gets more girls bed than all the aphrodisiacs in the world combined
Dont hog the aphrodisiacs
Please post your ideas on an email to the aphrodisiacs@talk21.com
Fear & loathing @ the Amsterdam Paradiso.
Its May and were getting exited about the dam. ( This story is turning more and more into a journal but fuck it its not meant to make any sense!). Decided Im gonna take ma dads camcorder over to the Dam and document our journey. The end product can only be gold If the tape makes it back to the UK In one piece Ill get the footage edited and stream it on the internet or something.
June - Amsterdam - the trip - the madness and beyond
Its nearly December so its reflection time again. Time to document the Amsterdam adventure. For its taken this long to come to terms with the madness. Well maybe it wasnt that bad. Here goes :
*** **First leg - Motherwell to Hull
We manage to pack all the gear into a Nissan almeria, no mean feat. The further we need to drive the smaller the car seems to get! I was planning on taking the trusty Fiat brava but it dies a couple of days before were due to go. So aye need to take my mums newer almeria, complete with satellite navigation. It was a omen, a godsend, as there would have been no way I would have negotiated the Netherlands without it. The car has a built in screen on the dashboard. Then you hear her voice, the beautiful dullest tones echoing around the car. Well call the virtual lady Amber. Take me to Jervie amber. And she does. Right to kevs house via the quickest roads in Motherwell. Big man, ye wanna go to the dam? All aye gets a laugh in response. A laugh which means Fuck aye, A laugh that means aye know whats in store, aye know what the score is. Lets get Stephen, Amber. Stephen bounces into the car, in one stride hes in the back of the car, seat belt on in and ready to go. Usually we have to wait on him finding something, but not today. Today hes going to the dam. His laughs a bit louder. We all laugh at the absurdity of it all. Waiting to drive to Amsterdam is a good feeling. Were going to Amsterdam to play a gig. Shit man. Were a dangerous force in a Perth travel inn never mind being let loose in Amsterdam! Lets go. Lets hit the road. Amber take me to Hull, no messing about hen were on a mission. Were booked onto a ferry which is travelling from Hull to Rotterdam. The journey flies in. Takes about 5 hours but we get there safely, load the car into the ferry and have a swatch about to see what goodness the P&O ferry is offering. We plan on getting duty free drink so to save money, not to take home but to tan on the journey over. Think we picked up a bottle of vodka & 24bottles of beer and take it over to the shop assistant (only works out at about 6bucks each). But the shop hits us with some bullshit that ye cannae get alcohol till 2morrow morning. Fuck. Cannae be paying full prices for drink all night. Well be skint before we get off the boat. We go up to the skybar. Gee us 3Groalsh big man. Turns out its 3for2 on the beer. Were back in action! Get the cards out. We sit and play cards, theres abit of a debate when the subject of whether Michael Jackson is innocent arises but that passes over sooner rather than later. A dont really remember much else, we ended up really drunk dancing on the boat so its probably best to move on. Take me to ma steel box to sleep.
*****Leg 2 - Rotterdam to Amsterdam
The next morning ( after 5 hours sleep) were woke up by the most annoying alarm in the world. breakfast is now being served in the restaurant is blaring out the annoys*, repeated about 5times in a row. (*ever noticed how the word tannoy is Scottish fur to annoy? Which they certainly fuckin do). Jesus. will passengers please make their way to the car. Christ. Time to move. Im totally hinging when aye get to the car. Put ma sunglasses on to avoid eye contact with any Dutch police and proceed carefully onto the right hand side of the roads.. Got an hour and a half drive to Amsterdam. The sat nav packs in temporary because of all the new roads around Rotterdam ferry port, not got the best timing in the world. Get lost fur about half hour before we finally hit a motorway. We put One toke over the line on the stereo and suddenly everything feels better. The hangover passes though when aye remember where were going.. The paradiso is but 2 hours away!
Arriving in Amsterdam by car is pretty daunting. I had visited the dam before and remember commenting on how crazy it would be to have to drive on the roads. Ma saving graze is the fact Ive not got a straight head on my shoulders at 11am, Im just like all the other crazy motorists of the dam, definitely in the mad zone. We arrive outside the paradiso without a hitch. Man its a beautiful building, its really big. We stand outside it for ten minutes observing its beauty but its far to early to go in. Stephen bears his buttocks to some street cleaners who pass by the paridiso doors, the boys from Motherwell are officially in town. Time for a coffee, wheres the nearest coffee house? Aye cannae have a coffee and still drive so I have to pass for now, theres plenty time for coffee, ah mean fuck man, were in the capital of coffee fuckin central and Im gonna be drinkin coffee like one crazy cat later on. In the afternoon we go and find the house of the Marcel. Marcel is the reason we are in the dam as he invited us over to play at his transformed records night. We had never met him before but when we do we find out he is a really nice guy who loves music, just the kind of person you would hope to meet in a strange city. He has the most wonderful record collection, more vinyl records than I think I have seen in a room! Check out his label : Transformed dreams : They have some really interesting and cool bands on the roster. We all travel together to the paradiso and load the gear in. The gig we are playing is a kind of aftershow shindig for Dinosaur Jnr who are playing in the large main hall. We peak in and see the most amazing venue, its like an old converted church which looks amazing to play in. The room we are in is quite big too, its on the second floor connected to the main hall, people can wonder in and out as they please. The transformed dreams night starts as soon as dinosaur jnr finish playing so anyone that wishes to stay for a few more drinks gets entertained till the early hours. Its a really impressive and professional set-up and its a real privilege to play at. We even got a dressing room next to dinosaur jnr which one or two of our friends might be jealous to hear! None of us are really into the band though so we are more interested in relaxing the room than trying to meet the band. Were all really tired before we go on but we catch some rest so the show goes alright. Load the gear back to marcels and we stay up talking about music for most of the night. The next day is a day of fun in the dam. Time to cut loose and get our teeth into the true culture and essence of the city. its a long day for the three of us. All I can say is it ended with the scariest freakin tram ride of my life : before we knew it the dam had picked, chewed and spat us out all but in one day. We somehow made it back to safety but we were but shadows of our formal selves!
*****Leg 3 Amsterdam to Hull/ Hull to Oxford
Aye got the fear, last night I never thought Id be ready for the journey home. Some rest does wonders though so its full speed ahead back to Rotterdam ferry port. We detour slightly to post ourselves a couple of wee presents so we can relive the dam when we get home. Its worth pointing out that both parcels made it home safely! The royal mail really are a royal bunch, they give us one last taste of some blues street special. Aye cannae really remember the journey back to hull, we were three dulled blades who were looking forward to along sleep in our metal box. Wake up to the bastarding announcement again though. Will all passengers wishing to have breakfast please make their way to the restaurant were we have a range of specials on. god save us all. Ive lost the will to live. Get up, get dressed and get off the ferry with swift haste. Its dull in hull, a dreary town much alike to Motherwell. Lets get tae oxford, need to muster up some mair strength. It feels a long drive but it probably wisnae that long. We arrive in Oxford and the sun is fuckin blinding. Have trouble parking the car( Nothing new in this) and meet the girls who are running the show tonight. Weve got time to kill so we chill out in the grounds of oxford uni. its a posh place full of posh people but the surroundings are quite relaxing. We sit with a beer and smoke some fags while we watch new graduates show their parents around the uni on their big day. We get some dirty looks from the parents as were pretty boggin and likely to be spoiling the surroundings for the snobby bastards, fuck em. Aye personally take great satisfaction on putting ma fag out on the pristine green grass. We film two guys throwing a cricket ball tae each other for ages as one of them is really pish and misses the baw every time his mate throws it in the air. A Tutor is out on the grass with pupils, we hear a popping of a champagne bottle and a wee polite cheer follows. The pupils look nervous having a drink with their master, probably no had a drink in 4 years as theyve been locked up studying quantum fuckin physics, beavering away so that the fulfil their oxford university potential. We will witness first hand what happens to these people later on in the night, they cannae handle there drink which may sound like their pussys but make no mistake, these cunts are a fuckin liability when the have a drink in them and are a dangerous prospect in the correct surroundings. Make our way back to the digs and get ready for tonights show. The venue name escapes me, it was like some kind of youth hall just off the main street which had been hired for the uni party. We sat for what seemed like an eternity before anyone came. At first aye thought noone was coming to the gig but it fair filled up later on the night. We played an alright set, dropped the car off and proceeded to get drunk. Ended up at the craziest party aye seen in a while but felt a.) stone cold sober b.) really out of place . The house we arrived at had people in every room, and every inch of the garden. The was even a group on top of the garage. Some cunt downstairs in the basement was blasting tunes out to a group of around 20people out of there tits on ectos, It was a madhouse. Aye sat outside on the pavement for the half hour aye was there as aye would rather have been home at that moment in time. We were all feeling the pace so we had an early night before setting off early to get home. Oxford was cool, hopefully be back there soon but we were still on the mother of all come downs from the Amsterdam experience....
July Barfly ConCoction
Put on our first gig in the barfly. Got some of our mates bands in to play at the night in the hope of bringing some good music to Glasgow. Despite putting a lot of effort into promotion etc. we had a bit of poor turnout. The highlight was probably the glow-sticks aye bought off ebay for a fiver. The bands were good though - we had Wall Street Ammunition hero, The 55s and De Rosa playing and those that were there had a good time.
End of the month
August - Inverness story Tartan heart festival Found bag/camping
October - Peel night Sluts of trust
SL Party
Electric bar
2006
January Winchester
Goulag
New recordings
Buff club
Miners
Bongo hobo
Abbey Road
Brighton/Norwich
The Split
Reunited!
The Tabernacle
Quince Records
Cab
Tuts
This is A Campaign
Aphro love
XxXxX
with the right communication, well awake this sleeping nation
Aphrodisiacs (the) hasn't posted any shows yet.
Location: Motherwell, United Kingdom
Members: Stephen McFall , John Cairns , Kevin Carlin
New demo Tracks
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2nd Peel session
Nov 30, 1999
1st John Peel Session
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In the Name of the Father
Nov 30, 1999
Blane
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Adelphi
Towson, MD
Big City Dreams
Gainesville, FL
A Step Behind
Houston, TX
Have A Go Hero
Burbage, Leicester, United Kingdom
Bigwig
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AMERICAN BLINKER
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AFTERDRAMA
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finley27
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posted Jul 24
Sonnymooreisagodd
weeee
posted Jan 28
BananaJam
UK music always did catch my interest..u guys rock..
posted Dec 29
poison_girl_sweet_666
WOW!!!!!!!!!! You guys fucking rock!!! Listened to
the older stuff for ages and its great to hear these
new songs. Salvation is amzing, would love to see
you\'s live!
posted Oct 05
I EAT ROCKS
I love you. <3
posted Jul 04
annalise
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posted May 23
Broshmosh
10 seconds into the first song and loving it. You guys
own.
posted May 16