IS AIDAN MOFFAT STALKING ME??

I feel I really do have to ask the question after seeing him at three different places in recent weeks.

Firstly, he was standing right next to me at the upstairs bar at the Captains Rest in Glasgow on the night I went along there to catch Shearwater in concert.

Secondly, he was right beside me in the check-out at Marks & Spencer at Glasgow Central station one lunchtime last week. I was stunned as I was sure he was more a Tesco or Asda man....

Thirdly, there I was minding my own business at the superb gig by The Twilight Sad, supported by the marvellous Unwinding Hours, at the Glasgow ABC last Friday night when out of the corner of my eye I saw him again.....he was in the company of his old sparring partner Malcolm Middleton.

And if you add in the fact that he was part of the Chemikal Underground 15th Anniversary gig at the end of January when I was in the audience, then you can see that we have almost literally bumped into one another too many times in 2010 for it to be a mere coincidence.....

All of these shenanigans give me the excuse to let you all know that the Chemikal Underground website has given a great update on the release of the forthcoming Arab Strap boxset which is going to be available a bit earlier than had previously been expected.

The box set has been given the title Scenes of a Sexual Nature - which should make the google searches for the product a bit of a laugh - and certainly not one many of us will do when siting at the PC in our offices.

It comprehensively covers their entire early career up to their brief departure from Chemikal in 1998, and will be available in all good independent record shops in time for Record Store Day.

Click here for a list of all the UK shops taking part in Record Store Day and from there you can find out a lot more about the idea and who is involved.

The box set will also be available to pre-order from the Chemikal online shop in due course.

Its contents are quite amazing:-

- LP of Week Never Starts Round Here replete with artwork modifications reflecting Aidan's original 'vision'.

- 2LP of Philophobia with revised sleeve artwork incorporating lyric/book effect.

- Bonus 2LP featuring Arab Strap's first two Peel Sessions, rarities/tracks from old singles etc. and a live version of 'Girls Of Summer' from Chemikal's 5th Birthday Party, complete with John Peel's introduction. The bonus 2LP also includes 'Daughters of Darkness'; a previously incomplete and unreleased track, recently finished in Chem19 by Aidan and Malcolm exclusively for this box set.

- CD of live BBC material: Arab Strap's first ever concert at King Tuts in October 1996 and their live performance at T In The Park, July 1998.

- CD featuring tracks from all of Arab Strap's WNSRH and Philophobia-era EPs.

- data disc featuring MP3s of all the vinyl only tracks and movie files for videos 'Here We Go' and '(Afternoon) Soaps'.

- complete replica of Arab Strap's original 'green frog' demo cassette as sent to Chemikal Underground in 1996.

- full, exclusive sleeve notes by both Aidan and Malcolm.

- full colour poster featuring press clippings/reviews/Strap-related Falkirk hysteria.

- A numbered certificate. individually signed by Malcolm and Aidan.

So, in summary: 5LPs, 3CDs, 1 cassette, 1 poster, 1 signed certificate, over 70 tracks and only 1,000 made.

And even though I've got a lot of the early stuff on either CD or vinyl, I'm certainly going to be getting my hands on Scenes Of A Sexual Nature as an early birthday present to myself.

Can't wait.

mp3 : Arab Strap - Gilded
mp3 : Arab Strap - I Work In A Saloon
mp3 : Arab Strap - Packs Of Three



Happy Listening.

Oh and tune in tomorrow for Paul Haig Day II. I promise it will be worth it....