Q#80 - October/November 2010
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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
