In the Belfry

They've been around since 1982, releasing their first recordings in 1984. They've been in the American college radio charts over three decades and they're still going strong - releasing a new album and retrospective EP and playing around the world this year. The Bats haven't been consistently active over their 27 year career, often due to the many musical commitments of band member Robert Scott, however, they have been consistently excellent. The melodic pop and chugging bass lines of the The Bats have become iconic, internationally known as one the key alternative New Zealand bands along with the likes of The Chills and The Clean.

This year The Bats released album The Guilty Office, retaining all of their key elements of their sound but expanding it a little with more vocals from Kaye Woodward and a touch of strings. They've also released an EP, Don't You Rise, collecting unreleased songs from 1998-2003.

While releases by The Bats have been fairly sporadic over the years there's also been solo material by Robert Scott, Scott's ongoing work with The Clean and from the other three members, side project Minisnap, who have been releasing material in a similar vein to The Bats, but with Kaye Woodward on vocals since 2002. Minisnap released EPs in 2002 and 2004, followed by their debut album Bounce Around in 2008 and later in that year a 7"single, 'Whistler' on Cloudberry records. The Clean have also released a new album, Mister Pop, this year and Robert Scott has been consistently releasing solo material since instrumental solo debut the Creeping Unknown in 2001, taking in pop and historical folk songs from Otago along the way.

This year The Bats have been touring the world, from Spain to the US and, of course, New Zealand. They'll play Dunedin later this year at a show which will be filmed for fans around the world who would love to be there but can't make it. The video of two songs from each of the three acts on the bill, The Bats, David Kilgour and The Puddle will be released to virtual ticket holders around the world following the show, and as an extra those who but tickets get a bundle of mp3s of unreleased songs before the show too. You can get your tickets at Undertheradar.

The entire set of The Bats playing is Spain is available for free download at the Free Music Archive and videos from The Bats, Robert Scott and Minisnap are available on the video page.

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New & Recent Releases - Feb 08

This episode features a bunch of new and recent releases. I think I'll try and do one of these at least once a month from here-on-in. First up are Minisnap, a band that started off as an offshoot of The Bats. They essentially are The Bats, but without Robert Scott. Featuring the songwriting and vocals of Kaye Woodward, Minisnap have previously released two EPs but now they have put out their debut album Bounce Around. The opening track New Broom features on the podcast and you can check out a video for the song on the video page.

White Swan Black Swan is based around the songs of Ben Howe (Black Swan) and Sonya Waters (White Swan). Their second EP Castle of Useless Junk was mixed in Nashville and is intended to be coupled with their first, self titled, EP to make up a overseas taster for an album release. Until recently it has only been available at WSBS gigs and on the band's Myspace page but it has now had a digital release and is available through Amplifier or Emusic. Orange and Brown is from Castle of Useless Junk, the song title describing the colour scheme of the Counting the Beat blog, the EP title describing the room where I record the podcast.

I've long been a fan of country outfit The Broken Heartbreakers. Their recent self titled album is an early contender for my best of the year list. Hot on the heels of that release comes a series of limited edition CD singles (sedingles?) available for sale only at Broken Heartbreaker gigs. The first of the singles is Wake Up Monday. Sign up to the Heartbreakers email list on their site to get advance warning of shows and be in quick to get one of the limited to 100 CDs.

Finally, a track from the second Ruby Suns album, Sea Lion. This is a great CD that is much less in debt to the sound of The Beach Boys than their self titled debut but retains complexity and whimsy in the songwriting and instrumentation. The main songwriter, Ryan McPhun is a very clever chap who seems destined for considerable success. A good taster of what the album offers is the song Tane Mahuta which is included in the podcast. I highly recommend you also watch the clip for this and two other Ruby Suns songs on the video page. They are recorded live on the streets of Paris by a great French video podcast site La Blogotheque.

Download the Counting The Beat - New & Recent Releases Feb 08 podcast