Pitchfork

Aidan Moffat's last album,  I Can Hear Your Heart, might as well have been titled How to Make Love to a Scotsman. The ex-Arab Strap man will continue that instructive streak on his next one, How to Get to Heaven From Scotland, which is credited to Aidan Moffat and the Best Ofs. The set's regular edition is due February 16 from Chemikal Underground, though Valentine's Day will see the release of a very swanky box set.

If you opt for the deluxe version, you'll get the album on CD and LP, a 7" sporting covers of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" and Glen Campbell's "Love Is Not a Game", a five-song CD EP with four alternate takes on the album tracks and a bonus jam, a "How to Get to Heaven From Scotland" board game (!), and a Valentine's Day card signed and numbered by Aidan.

Note: As far as we're aware, buying How to Get to Heaven From Scotland does not ensure you entrance through the gates of St. Peter, though it probably can't hurt.

Moffat has also been working with Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite under the name Aloha Hawaii; they released their first single this fall on Chemikal Underground. And he's been writing a monthly romance advice column for the British website the Quietus.

Though Moffat has no live dates in the works at the moment, he will make an appearance in the DJ booth at his former bandmate Malcolm Middleton's "Burst Noel" night at Glasgow's Fairfield Working Men's Club on December 19.

Middleton's got a few more dates besides, and a new album in the works as well. It bears the uplifting tentative title of The Day Is Shit, There Is Nothing Around the Corner and I've Nothing New or of Worth to Say About Any of It. It's probably due in the spring from Full Time Hobby. You know, probably. Whatever.


How to Get to Heaven From Scotland:

01 Lover's Song
02 Big Blonde
03 Atheist's Lament
04 Oh Men!
05 A Scenic Route to the Isle of Ewe
06 That's Just Love
07 Ballad of the Unsent Letter
08 Now I Know I'm Right
09 The Last Kiss
10 Lullaby for Unborn Child
11 Living With You Now
12 My Goodbye

Malcolm Middleton:

12-15 Glasgow, Scotland - Fairfield Working Men's Club *
12-21 London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
01-31 Paris, France - Mains D'Oeurves

* with DJ Aidan Moffat