Wednesday 30 November 2011

Q#80 - October/November 2011

Q#80 - October/November 2010

 

 Download files here:

Please note that the zip file has a password: Q80

http://www.mediafire.com/?qtzfd8oj4xo2j77

Q’s Compilations – Vol 80 – October to November 2011.

Ok if I’m not in New York by the time the next compilation comes out then keep an eye on the news as there will probably be reports of an ugly, big-nosed freak on the rampage. We’re still here but should be in the US by the end of the year, in one state or another. Took me a while to get going with this mix what with everything else going on, but I think it’s turned out pretty damn well! Notes are going to be rushed somewhat, sorry.

01) Cymbals Eat Guitars - Rifle Eyesight: August saw the release of the band’s second album, Lenses Alien, which is a fine continuation of what they were doing with 2009s Why There Are Mountains. This track opens the record and I thought made for an interesting opener to the mix as well, with those Sonic-Youth-esque guitar thrashes and cymbal crashes. “guts for abduction, well my friend that’s another thing”

02) Wild Flag – Romance: Wild Flag include Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss of Sleater Kinney fame, along with Mary Timony and Rebecca Cole. The music is certainly Sleater Kinney-esque which is a fine thing indeed. “Hey, you've got me crawling, You've got me spinning, Shake, shimmy shake, First you wreck me, then resurrect me, it's too much”

03) Nada Surf - The Moon is Calling (demo): I was in local independent record store called Truck a couple of weeks ago and was happy to see a copy of Nada Surf’s “Record Store Day” 7” single which also came with a code to download the songs on the vinyl, a fine idea. They also have a new record coming out in January called The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy. “It’s hard to believe but I hear voices and I cannot keep this secret”

04) Real Estate - Out of Tune: Felix gave me a headsup about this band, who have just released their second album, Days. Bright and shiny guitars rule supreme on this tune. “You’re entering this town, yourself a weeping clown, you play along to songs written for you”.

05) Richmond Fontaine - The Chainsaw Sea: One of those bands I’d always heard about without really exploring, this alt-country four-piece played in Oxford recently and some friends were going that I hadn’t seen in a while so I decided to go. They played new album The High Country in its entirety which I’ve since acquired, it’s a fine album indeed. It’s a concept album in some ways but I think it’s more comfortable to call it a story album. I certainly came into the gig being ignorant about their music, but came out a fan. Looking forward to getting their other stuff. “Below the concrete is buried the fat man from Mississippi and a hooker he met in Clatskanie”

06) Desire - Under Your Spell: Went to see new film Drive a little while back (there are probably loads of films with this kind of title, it’s the new one starring Ryan Gosling) which was a very good movie, aided by a great soundtrack. This dreamy synth-soaked anthem sounds like a winner to me. “I don’t eat, I don’t sleep, I do nothing but think of you”

07) The Hundred in the Hands – Sleepwalkers: I thought this would go nicely after Desire, this is taken from their 2010 EP This Desert. “You said, I might be dead, But I've been off for years”

08) Puscifer - The Weaver: The latest side-project from Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, Puscifer also includes personal favourite Carina Round in the band. I thought that Conditions of My Parole was the band’s first album but it’s actually their second so I have some catching up to do. This certainly sounds more like A Perfect Circle than it does Tool but regardless of the comparisons it’s a very interesting album. “I am therefore I do, Explore. I am the weaver, I do therefore become, A seer and believer.”

09) Linton Kwesi Johnson - Dread Beat An Blood: This is the title track of his debut album, I don’t really know all that much about the man but read a glowing review of this album recently which made me want to check it out (he was also quite prominent on the Reggae Britannia documentary I saw a while ago).

10) Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes: Soul Time is a UK-released compilation album of non-album tracks, which seems a strange way to first get acquainted with a band but if these are tracks not deemed good enough for release then I will have a fine time diving into the back catalogue.

11) French – Marla: I used a track from the band Versus a while back, who formed after the band Flower broke up in the early 90s, another band to form from that split was French. Fans of power-pop should dig this tune. All their music can be downloaded for free on the website - http://frenchrocks.net/Webpages/Rock%20Page.htm

12) Nada Surf - You're Going to Miss the Wood (demo): This is the b-side to the record-store day vinyl I purchased so you get a double-whammy of rare Nada Surf tunes.

13) The Boys - Brickfield Nights: The wife and I went to Blackpool a couple of months ago for the Rebellion Festival, basically 3 days of old-school punk bands (and a few newer ones), not so much my idea of fun but she had a really great time which was the main thing. There were a few highlights, however, and surprise package of the weekend were The Boys, who put on a great power-pop performance. “Every night we`d meet at the same place same time”

14) Jeffrey Lewis - Mosquito Rap: Jeffrey has just released his latest solo album A Turn in the Dream Songs and it’s up to his usual high standards. This song is a hidden track at the end of the album and is chock full of his usual humour and witty lyrics. “but if I see a spider then I know it’s alright ‘cause I can use it as a partner killing tonight”

15) Bon Iver – Holocene: Their 2011 self-titled had passed me by until recently, it’s not as good as For Emma, Forever Ago but it does have some very good moments. Might be a grower, rather uncreative of my I’ve plumped for one of the songs that would probably fit quite snugly onto the last album. “And at once I knew, I was not magnificent”

16) Glass Candy - Digital Versicolor: Another of Johnny Jewel’s bands, I picked up the album B/E/A/T/B/O/X on ebay recently for a good deal, this is the standout track for me though there are others that are equally strong. I mentioned to my wife that this sounds like it could be used as a theme-tune for an 80s TV show like Knight Rider, to which her response was that this is much cooler than Knight Rider… pfffft, what does SHE know?!

17) Steven Wilson - Fluid Tap: Steven has just released his second “solo” album, Grace for Drowning, once again a version has been released in lavish coffee-book packaging with bonus material, so being the sucker that I am, I paid a lot of money for it. It is, thankfully a good album, better than the last couple of Porcupine Tree records and the 5.1 mix in particular is pretty spectacular (though I no longer have a 5.1 setup).

18) A Winged Victory for the Sullen - We Played Some Open Chords and Rejoiced, for the Earth Had Circled the Sun Yet Another Year: A bit of a mouthful but the music is anything but, Adam Wiltzie and Dustin O’Halloran have created something very beautiful with this (self-titled) release. The whole record is sure to be a treat for anyone who likes ambient/neo-classical music, there’s little else I could say so just sit back and treat yourself to these 6 minutes of bliss.

The next comp should (I’m hoping the impending move leaves me with time to throw it together on schedule) be the usual “best of the year” mix. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a good time over the festive period.

Peace and Love
Until Next Time
Q

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Q#79 - August to September 2011


Please note that there is a password on the zip file: Q79
Download zip file here - http://www.mediafire.com/?rhlz5yh0hmbcvt2


Q’s Compilations – Vol 79 – August to September 2011.

It seems that life is merely in a holding pattern as I write these notes, I have my visa to move to New York but we’re still waiting to get some tenants into our house and also in the midst of applying for my wife to get UK citizenship. Hopefully all these things will be resolved in the very near future as it’s getting less easy not to get stressed out about various things. Still, music is always something worth turning to and although I confess I have thrown together this latest mix with little thought or cohesion, I think it’s pretty good! It would have been nice to put together some kind of themed disc or something with more of a message, but I just haven’t had the time to do much of anything lately.

01) Captain Sensible - Holiday in my Heart: I’m a big fan of the Captain’s solo records, in particular Revolution Now and The Universe of Geoffrey Brown (which this songs opens). Had the pleasure of seeing the Captain play a live set at the Rebellion Festival this year, with a bit of luck we’ll be over in New York in time to catch the Damned playing on October 22nd but as each day passes that is looking less likely. Anyway, I’ve always thought that he’s a criminally underrated artist and in particular a horrifically underrated guitarist. “If you’re selling, I’m not taking…”

02) The Godfathers - If I Only Had Time: Whilst browsing the CD stalls at the Rebellion festival I did manage to spot a few diamonds in the rough (it’s a punk festival, afterall…) which included the recently remastered Birth, School, Work, Death and More Songs About Love and Hate. “Things ain't what they used to be, We're living under a false economy”

03) Meat Puppets - Open Wide: My greatest delight whilst browsing the CD stalls was finding a copy of Forbidden Places, which is out of print and quite hard to find, it’s the only Pups album I don’t own officially (I did have download…) and my life felt a little more complete upon making the purchase. “All these nights have made me crazy, I can't seem to come around, Days of hiding in the sunshine, Feeling nighttime's falling down”

04) Shudder to Think - Red House: This is one of those songs that I’ve had lined up for a comp for about a year but it’s never quite made the cut for a variety of reasons. This is on the 20-years of Dischord boxset. “She's a buzzing bee, She's a person see”

05) R.E.M. - Fall On Me: Possibly my favourite REM song of all time, just picked up the 25th anniversary edition of Life’s Rich Pageant (which in turn is possibly my favourite REM album), I don’t know if I’ll ever tire of hearing this song. Hopefully none of you will be too offended by hearing it again! “Well I could keep it above, But then it wouldn't be sky anymore, So if I send it to you you've got to promise to keep it whole”

06) The Decemberists - Calamity Song: One of the criticisms towards the band’s latest album, The King is Dead is that it sounds a bit too much like REM, I don’t know if that’s particularly true for the album in general but this song really does sound like it could be on Reckoning. To add to the REM-fest, Peter Buck plays on this song (as well as two others on the record).

07) J Mascis - Listen to Me: J has just released Several Shades of Why, a predominantly acoustic singer-songwriter affair, I have a live acoustic album that J did a while back (Live at CBGB) but aside from that I’m used to him blistering through songs with his electric guitar. J makes this transition from electric to acoustic in fine form although he can’t help himself from ripping through a couple of solos towards the end of the record!

08) Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard - Bugs & Flowers: Had the pleasure of seeing Jeff perform in Oxford again recently and even chatted to him for about 10 minutes and bought him a drink, he’s great to talk to and I’m mindful of taking up someone’s time but every time I tried to leave he kept talking! Will hopefully have more chance of seeing him live after we move, he always puts on a great show and is one of the best performers I’ve seen. “The human race's, Beautiful faces, Changing places, Reform and bust, When we kick the bucket, Let's just say chuck it, We'll come and go like, Infinite dust”

09) Local Natives – Airplanes: I used Sun Hands a little while back and I still listen to Gorilla Manor quite often, it’s a lovely record with tons of harmonies and odd rhythms. “It sounds like we, would of had a great deal to say, to each other”

10) De La Soul - Eye Know: One of the annoying things about having an ipod is the temptation to just stick shuffle on which seems a bit lazy but it does throw up gems that you didn’t realise you were in the mood for. Always love it when this songs pops into my head and so I threw it on the mix. “Life will begin at the cut of a rim, Take it as filled to the rim as in brim, Squeeze your stoop like Betty Boop, We'll make Campbell's Alphabet Soup”

11) Fugi - Mary, Don't Take Me On No Bad Trip: A sadly overlooked diamond that should have been on my funk mix a while back, details about Fugi are relatively scarce but the backing band are the excellent Black Merda. Don’t’ ever search on google for the cover image of the album as it will forever put you off listening to the record!

12) Charmels - As Long As I've Got You: Was going through the Stax/Volt 9CD boxset a while ago (a download, admittedly, I will own it one day!) and this song always amazes me, just had to throw it onto the mix. It’s just all-round wonderful, unfortunately I can find little else about the group, can anyone help? “If happiness was water, I'd never run dry. If loneliness was a flower, it would wither and die.”

13) Mark Kozelek - Cruiser (live): I recently bought Koz’s tour documentary DVD (which I’ve yet to watch) but those who pre-ordered were treated to yet another live album, it’s nice that he throws in these freebies for fans but at the same time I do wish he would strum a song once in a while! “Morning pours the ocean deep, Into the hollow of my sleep, But the ocean can't be mine, Your perfection can't be mine”

14) They Might Be Giants - Ana Ng: A TMBG staple but it’s been stuck in my head for ages lately, I’m sure it will now be stuck in yours. I absolutely adore this band. “They don't need me here, and I know you're there (don't need me), Where the world goes by like the humid air (world goes by), And it sticks like a broken record, Everything sticks like a broken record, Everything sticks until it goes away (it goes home), And the truth is, we don't know anything (don't know)”

15) Rites of Spring - Drink Deep: This is another tune on the 20 years of Dischord boxset. The band were short-lived and band members Guy Picciotto and Brendan Candy went on to join Fugazi. “If its not the rule then its always the case, good intentions get fractured, good intentions get replaced”

16) Patti Rothberg - Delicate Matters: Hadn’t listened to Patti in a little while and so listening to
2001’s Candelabra Cadabra caused much delight to these ears, she has a new record out called Overnight Sensation, which I’ll have to check out. “My foot must have been born in my mouth”

17) The Church – Aura: I may well have used this song before, I can’t remember, but it was another song that popped up on an ipod shuffle and was moved to use it (possibly again). “We raked old Poseidon over the coals, Shook his shells, shaked his shoals”

18) The War on Drugs - Best Night: Following up the rather good Wagonwheel Blues with this years Slave Ambient, it’s more of the same but that’s no bad thing. “I'm a thousand miles behind, with a million more to climb, so it's you I hope survives without fighting”

19) Local Natives - Wide Eyes: Another track from Gorilla Manor, I couldn’t really pick between this and Airplanes so chucked both on, just love the sound of the guitar on this track, I know it’s not the most original sound in the world but I dig it.

And that’s it for another compilation, I would hope that by the time I release the next comp I’ll be living in New York but who knows? I hope there was plenty to like on this mix, it still feels a bit weird not physically burning discs and posting them out, indeed I haven’t even ran copies off for myself lately which I’m a little sad about. Anyway, please let me know what you think, and if you have a few moments do check out my blog http://someothersuckersparade.blogspot.com/

Peace and Love
Until Next Time
Q

Friday 5 August 2011

From the vaults! Q#40 - December 2005


Please note there is a password on the zip file: Q40
http://www.mediafire.com/?77chec4ecazn11u

Unfortunately I lost a lot of my old notes and artwork files in a recent hard drive failure (thought I had them backed up but only had the music files...), but I really like this comp so am making it available here. It's sort-of themed, I wanted to choose lots of icey, wintery sounding songs (so why am I making this available in the middle of summer...?) so there's plenty of jagged guitars, atmospheric pieces and coruscate sounds. Enjoy.

Tracklist:
A Perfect Circle - Judith
The Godfathers - This Damn Nation
The Afghan Whigs - Step Into the Light
Pale Saints - Sight of You
Modest Mouse - The Stars are Projectors
The Jigsaw Seen - My Name Is Tom
Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Radiohead - Climb Up the Walls
R.E.M. - Walk Unafraid
Captain Sensible - Business Trip to Saturn
Rush - Witch Hunt
Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand In Mine
Boards of Canada - Twoism
The Afghan Whigs - Brother Woodrow / Closing Prayer

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Q#78 - June to July 2011


Please note the zip file has a password: Q78

Download link - http://www.mediafire.com/?vv28ofslxs4c2w3


Q’s Compilations – Vol 78 – June to July 2011.

Hello! It is summer, isn’t it? Having a mad time still preparing for my visa to move to the US (interview on the 4th, which is the last stage before point of entry), just put our house on the market for rental and then we have the simple task of finding somewhere to live in New York… I’ve also started more general blog at http://someothersuckersparade.blogspot.com/ so please check it out if you have some time.

Anyway, this may be the last compilation I put together before the move, depends what happens. I’m running a bit late with it so the notes may be rushed, so let’s crack on with the music…

01) Fred Schneider – Whip: Produced by Steve Albini, Just Fred… is his second solo album and was released in 1996 and is full of all the abrasive and edgy guitar rock you would associate with Albini, perhaps not from the B-52s frontman himself. It’s a wonderful record though and if this doesn’t get your blood pumping them I’m not sure what will. “Your gravity keeps pulling me near, And then 40 lashes, 40 lashes from your eyes”

02) The Sorry Kisses – Sunstorms: I heard this song on 6music recently and thought it was a great slab of sugar-coated indie rock, I’m just a sucker for this kind of sound. This is from the recently released Keep Smiling album, their third album to date. “Spit in the face of those who deny, the world is bigger than you or I“

03) Beastie Boys - Say It: The Beasties finally released Hot Sauce Committee, following Adam Yauch’s cancer diagnosis in 2009 it’s great to see things moving along for the group. The album ticks all the Beastie boxes and should be a joy for any fan, not sure it will make any new ones but then you’ll know if you like them by now! “you could keep em out of service and your a complainer, you bust your ass jones like you slipped on a banana”

04) The Damned – Ignite: No particular reason but I just fancied putting this song on a mix but there’s never a bad time to throw on a Damned tune. From the Strawberries album. “My heart is beat beat beating ,like a drum, The night is in my veins we’re gonna,have some fun tonight“

05) Okkervil River - The Valley: It’s been three years since The Stand Ins and six years since their best effort Black Sheep Boy (though not to forget 2007’s The Stage Names), I Am Very Far is the band’s best effort since Black Sheep Boy in my opinion, some have said it sounds a lot like Arcade Fire but to be honest I see it as a natural progression of their own. Besides, Okkervil River have always written better songs anyway. “I hear a breeze that wheezes through the tips of the pines, where there's laughter and screaming to the rafters in the night.”

06) Meat Puppets – Orange: Lollipop is perhaps a sideways step rather than a progression from 2009’s Sewn Together which had a bit more of a confident swagger to it. The songs are a bit more sterile though this could be down to the slightly lighter tone in production, regardless of that it’s still a worthy addition to the Pups cannon. “Well, got a history. Well, got a force field. Well, want a future. Well, got a mystery.”

07) The Posies - The Glitter Prize: Released in 2010, Blood Candy comes 5 years since previous album Every Kind of Light (though that was 7 years after Success so they are becoming more prolific!) and is a much more dynamic album though it does not reach the heights of their best work like Frosting on the Beater. “it’s starting to snow, And I wanna know when it covers the ground, So send me a message, show me a sign, Radiate in time to the shimmering sound”

08) Bob Dylan - Lonesome Day Blues: Bob recently hit his 70th birthday so I asked on Facebook what song I should put on my next mix (from what I had) and this song had the most votes. I don’t normally listen to Love and Theft, admittedly, I usually grab for Time out of Mind if I’m in the mood for more modern (comparatively…) Bob (Lovesick could be my favourite Dylan song). This is one of his more bluesy numbers, a genre I don’t tend to care for in general but it’s nice to throw in the odd curveball once in a while. “Leaves are rustlin’ in the wood—things are fallin’ off the shelf, You gonna need my help, sweetheart, You can’t make love all by yourself”

09) The Maytals - Night and Day: And here’s another curveball for you all, I’ve always said that reggae can suffer from the same problems as blues, in that if you listen to too much at once they can start to sound a bit samey. But I think it’s easier to scratch under the surface of reggae and unearth some real gems and my main source for such diversion is the Soul Jazz 100-500% Dynamite series. The Maytals influence cannot be exaggerated, of course.

10) The Impressions - My Deceiving Heart: My birthday was on the 13th of June and one gift I received was This is My Country / The Young Mods Forgotten Story two-albums-on-one-cd package, I’m a big fan of Curtis Mayfield but didn’t really know all that much by The Impressions. Both records are incredible, this song is from Young Mods… and is just about as good as it gets.

11) Ann Peebles - Trouble, Heartaches & Sadness: Ann has been an amazing discovery for me over the last year and in particularly the album Straight from the Heart, I’m amazed this song hasn’t turned up in a Tarantino movie. “old man trouble Stop knockin’ at my door, You used to be a good friend of mine, Let me tell you hang around me no more”

12) PJ Harvey - All and Everyone: Let England Shake is yet another fine release from Polly and is another left-turn in terms of style, while some of the album retains the more ethereal vibe of White Chalk the overall sound and execution is vastly different. She still remains the best live singer I’ve seen. “Death was in the ancient fortress, shelled by a million bullets from gunners, waiting in the copses with hearts that threatened to pop their boxes, as we advanced into the sun death was all and everyone.”

13) Slowdive – Rutti: I’d wanted to put this song on a compilation for years but kept having to drop it for either time constraints or just vibe, this time I was not deterred, however. Pygmalion was released in 1995 and turned out to be the final Slowdive album. I love the slow build up and all the dreamy sounds.

14) Henryk Gorecki - Sostenuto Tranquillo Ma Cantabile: A recent online discussion on classical music led me to Symphony No 3, which absolutely blew me away. I’d heard some of it without realising it since it’s used as background music for a documentary I watched about Auschwitz (just some light entertainment a while back…) but it was the first movement which really had a profound effect on this listener. It’s a slow build up and I realise it might not tickle many taste buds for those that download this but give it a go.

As usual I hope there’s something for everyone on here, please do give me feedback as I so rarely hear anything.
Peace and Love, see you on the other side
Until Next Time
Q