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Q's Compilations
Vol #139 – August to
September 2021
We’re
officially into Autumn! I’m struggling for time on these notes so basically no intro
here, lots of new stuff, enjoy!
01)
Squirrel Flower - So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings: One of my favourite
records of the year is Planet (i), although I had to wait what seemed like an
age to get the special edition version of the record that I’d pre-ordered… it
came with a bonus disc of songs that included this cover of Caroline Polachek’s
excellent pop-tune. Having said that, this is an example of a cover being
better than the original (Waxahatchee has also done a nice acoustic cover). Anyway,
go listen to Planet (i) and check out their 2022 tour dates (he says
with a hint of optimism). “And I'm out at a party, they're playin' our song,
I cry on the dance floor, it's so embarrassing, Don't send me photos, you're
makin' it worse, 'Cause you're so hot, it's hurtin' my feelings”
02)
Curtis Harding - Can't Hide It: Curtis’ third album, If Words Were Flowers,
comes out on the 5th of November and it has been a long four years
waiting for a new record… I say the same thing about him every time but he’s
really the only artist I can think of who has the essence of classic soul
without sounding derivative.
03)
Spearmint - Bundunyabba Blue: Spearmint’s ninth (I think?) record, Holland
Park just came out at the end of September and as with all of their
records, it has been released via their own label, hitBACK. The record has a
smooth swagger to it for the most part, and is a loose concept album; telling
the story of Shirley’s father’s prog band in the early 70s: “They never made
it, and there’s nothing online about them, so it’s down to us to tell the
story.”
04)
Dean Wareham - Cashing In: Galaxie 500 / Luna frontman Dean Wareham is about to
release just his second solo record, I Have Nothing to Say to the Mayor of
LA, which is coming out on the 15th of October. As with most of
Wareham’s work, there’s a breezy quality to the track. “I’m not selling out
I’m cashing in”.
05)
Snarls - Fixed Gear: Burst was one of my favourite albums of 2020 and
the Columbus, Ohio quartet are putting out a 5 song EP called What About
Flowers in November, this is the lead single and seemingly continues their
good form.
06)
Wednesday - Handsome Man: I’ve so far been to two concerts this year, the
second being Beach Bunny at Music Hall Williamsburg, it felt a bit weird being
at an indoor show in all honesty, I double-masked but most the audience hadn’t
bothered. At least shows here require proof of vaccination now… anyway,
Wednesday were one of the openers and I liked them a lot and have enjoyed their
record Twin Plagues that came out in August.
07)
Horsegirl - Sea Life Sandwich Boy: Chicago trio Horsegirl only have a handful
of songs out in the world (three on bandcamp right now) but I’m excited by what
they’ve put together so far. There’s a lo-fi shoegaze quality to everything
thus far.
08)
Night Shop - Forever Night: Night Shop is the solo project of Justin Sullivan
and this is the title track to his second full-length album which is coming out
in December. I like the chugging but jangle vibe to this tune, simple but
effective.
09)
The Tubs – Illusion: Joanna Gruesome made a brief splash in the indie scene a
few years ago before burning out, so I was pleased to read two of the band had
formed The Tubs and just released their debut EP called Names. The
vocals are perhaps a bit marmite for some people but I am into it.
10)
Blunt Bangs – Decide: I can’t say I was familiar with Reggie Youngblood’s
previous band, Black Kids, but his new project, Blunt Bangs just released their
delightfully hook-laden debut album, Proper Smoker. Next time you just
want a fun record without having to think too much, give this one a go. “I’m
only asking because you’re weird, and I’m weird too, when I talk to myself you
know I’m thinking of you”
11)
The Umbrellas - She Buys Herself Flowers: You won’t be surprised to hear that
this band is from the west coast (San Francisco, to be exact), and while jangle
has always felt timeless to me, there is something inherently 80s-college-radio
about their self-titled debut album. Captured Tracks recent put out a great
1983-1987 compilation called Strum and Thrum and this sounds like it could have
been lifted directly from that.
12)
The Beths - Whatever (live): Sticking with the jangle/power-pop twofer here,
Kiwi act The Beths have released two immaculate records to date and just put
out this live album Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 this month, a live
album, with an actual audience released in 2020, who would have thought… The
Beths can do little wrong to my ears and I’m excited for what they’ll release
next. This song is from their debut record Future Me Hates Me from 2019
(though also opens their debut EP Warm
Blood from 2016).
13)
Mondaze - Words Undone: This band are from Faenza, Italy, which I had to look
up, it’s 50km south-east of Bologna and apparently known for their ceramics and
almost every picture on google is of the piazza, I’m sure it’s lovely. The
quartet are releasing their debut album, Late Bloom in December and
based on this lead single fit squarely into the Hum-style of slow and heavy
shoegaze.
14)
Bat Fangs - Queen of My World: Led by Betsy Wright of Ex-Hex, Bat Fangs are
following up their 2018 self-titled debut with Queen of My World on the
29th of October and the title-track would suggest that they aren’t
straying from their excellent formula of kick-arse anthemic classic rock.
15)
Facs - Strawberry Coughs: Chicago trio Facs released Present Tense back
in May and almost made it onto the last mix but for time constraints but I’m
glad they found a home this time around. I should be seeing the band open for
METZ and Preoccupations in December. Facs are a little hard to pigeonhole,
focused on atmosphere and a forceful rhythm section with the guitar focused
more on texture than your traditional sounds, indie fans may remember Brian
Case from The Ponys.
16)
F.S Blumm & Nils Frahm - Desert Mule: While not exactly prolific as the
likes of Bob Bollard or Ty Segall, I still find it hard to keep up with Nils
Frahms output and I even felt late to the game when the magnificent Spaces came
out in 2013…, this is his fourth collaborative record with F.S. Blumm and
they’ve really nailed dub on 2X1=4. Definitely one of the more enjoyably chill
records for 2021, and maybe that’s just what we need this year.
17)
Hello Mary - Take Something: I have to confess that I can’t remember how I
stumbled on this Brooklyn trio’s bandcamp page but the opening guitar riff and
the cymbal work really drew me in to this track. As I’m typing these notes it
just hit me that the obvious comparison here is Warpaint, but I’m going to keep
this sentence anyway (and really, who is reading this anyway?).
18)
Laura Stevenson - Don't Think About Me: I wonder how many solo artists get to
their sixth album before releasing a self-titled album, but that’s what Laura
Stevenson just did this August. The record seems like a combination of all her albums
to date, maybe that’s a case of not straying too far from what she does, but
she does it very well.
19)
Freezing Cold - Stuck on Hold: I’m heading home next month, which is great, but
it does mean I’ll miss a Screaming Females show at Saint Vitus, so while
lamenting that (with the full realisation that I’m lucky to be able to lament
missing a show of a band I’ve seen many, many times) I was checking out the
openers, which happened to be this band. I don’t know a whole lot about them
but they just put out two-songs on bandcamp, of which this is one… what do you
even call that these days, it should just be a single? (there’s a full album
from 2019 too).
20)
Suzie True – Bailey: Unfortunately I have to also file this one among “I don’t
know how I heard of this band…”, but since I’m rambling, I can’t be the only
person who gets annoyed when people write about music who clearly don’t really
know about the band they’re pretending to know about… so I’d rather just not
pretend and say I dig this song and it ended up on the mix, so here we are.
This LA trio released a record called Saddest Girl at the Party in
November 2020, and it’s pretty good. “Leave the TV on just like a nightlight,
Sleeping soundly listening to true crime, Brush your hair back on the beach in
December, You said “Let’s freeze to death forever”
21)
Mono – Riptide: Japanese post-rock band Mono just put out their 11th
studio album in what is now their 22nd year as a band. Post-rock is
a weird genre because while I adore it and have listened to hundreds of
records/shows, etc, there’s a pattern that makes it hard for bands to sound
distinct from each other, and I just must have some bias because while I
struggle with some genres for that reason (blues…), it’s hard for me not to
enjoy a post-rock band… Anyway, I enjoyed the fact that this is the kind of
song I’d often open a mix with and the opening track is usually the kind I’d
close with, and we’ve flipped that here.
As
always, Peace and Love - Q
