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Q's Compilations
Vol #140 – October to
November 2021
Happy thanksgiving for those it effects, I’m finishing these notes up on the 30th so they’ll be brief because I hate missing arbitrary deadlines for these mixes. All but two of these songs have been released in 2021 and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. The next mix will be the usual “best of” the year’s music.
01)
Bliss Fields - What Kills You: This Toronto quintet were formerly known as Iris
(albeit with a slightly different line-up, which led to the name change for a
clean slate), put out a wonderful shoegaze EP back in
August (this is the title track), this was another discovery during a bandcamp
Friday spending spree (“oh you bought so-and-so, check out this band”, Bandcamp
is pretty good at this…). They’ve since signed to Acrobat Unstable and are set
to release a full LP called Slowly Forever.
02) Taraka – Pyschocastle: Former Princa Rama frontwoman Taraka Larson just put out her debut solo record, Paradise Lost in October and it’s a bit of a low-key triumph, I can’t quite place which of the now sadly departed NYC DIY venues I can most imagine seeing this live but there’s something about the record that transports me back to 2012-2014 in particular. This song in particular has some strong Deerhunter Microcastle-era vibes now I’m typing this.
03) Ducks Ltd - How Lonely Are You: Another band from Toronto to open the mix up, although the vibe is so rooted in that New Zealand / Flying Nun sound, which is only ever a good thing. The band’s debut album, Modern Fiction came out on the 1st of October and if you dig this song then there’s plenty more like on the record.
04) Chime School - Taking Time to Tell You: You won’t be shocked to hear that this band is from San Francisco and signed to Slumberland Records, though there’s something very British about the album! Their self-titled debut album came out on the 5th of November. “What are you gonna be now? Maybe you thought you would know, Maybe you thought the world would tell you so, But you're miles away”
05) Belaver - In the RL: I honestly can’t remember where this record, Lain Prone, which came out on the 22nd of October, came my way, but there was something about the groove and laid-back mix that intrigued me straight away.
06) Fruit Bats - Rips Me Up: Part “best-of” and part “rarities/odds-and-sods” collection, Sometimes a Cloud Is Just a Cloud: Slow Growers, Sleeper Hits and Lost Songs is a double-LP collection that Merge records are releasing in January. This is a tune that didn’t make the cut for the last Fruit Bats album, Pet Parade that came out in March.
07) Vundabar - Devil for the Fire: Boston act Vundabar’s 2020 record Either Light was under-loved and surprisingly poppy on occasion, they just announced a new album, Devil for the Fire, of which this is obviously the title track and comes out on the 11th of February.
08) Porcupine Tree – Harridan: Now here’s a track to unpack… Porcupine Tree have announced their first album since 2009’s The Incident, the new album is called Closure / Continuation and comes out in June. Porcupine Tree were incredibly dear to me from 2000 to when they disbanded. Indeed, I saw what is currently their last ever show at the Royal Albert Hall in 2010, though a new tour has been announced for 2022. I don’t know if I’m excited or not at the news, I think I am, although selfishly I wish this song didn’t sound like it could have been on any of their 2005-2009 releases, but I think that’s ultimately to be expected. Gavin Harrison’s drumming is robotically exemplary, and it’s nice to hear Richard Barbieri again, a lot of fans are making a stink that Colin Edwin isn’t involved but give me Colin Edwin on fretless bass or a stand-in will probably be fine. I suspect I will fall back in love with the band when the album drops and hopefully a New York show gets announced.
09) Cola - Blank Curtain: I was saddened to hear that one of my favourite bands in the last decade, Ought, broke up, but within the same announcement they gave news of a new band, Cola, comprised of Tim Darcy & Ben Stidworthy plus Evan Cartwright from US Girls. Signed to Fire Talk, this is their only recorded release so far but I can’t wait to hear more.
10) Pavement - Elevate Me Later: I was lucky enough to catch Pavement’s 2010 reunion tour at Brixton Academy (with The Clean opening), just looking over the setlist for that show is bringing back a lot of great memories and I was lucky enough to grab a ticket to their recently announced tour which also lucky for me, includes a stop at nearby King’s Theatre. This track is of course from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, which is probably the best Pavement album.
11) Guided By Voices - Black and White Eyes in a Prism: Just the two GBV albums for 2021, you could be forgiven for thinking Bob Pollard was slowing down but I’m pretty sure side-project Cub Scout Bowling Pins came out this year and who knows what else. Anyway, this song is from GBV’s 34th (I think) record It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them! and they just keep on churning out excellent albums. I can’t really say anything about this one that I couldn’t say about most of the discography.
12) Pip Blom - You Don't Want This: Amsterdam quartet Pip Blom released their second album, Welcome Break, on the 12th of November via Heavenly Records, and there’s something I’m drawn to with the vocals in particular; the verses remind of Robyn Hitchcock’s vocal delivery, and the choruses are punchy and anthemic. This song opens the record but one of the most difficult choices for this mix was picking just one song from the album. “You try and lie to become somebody, Inside, you still feel like you are nobody, You don't want to forget, You don't want to do”
13) The Reds, Pinks and Purples - Don't Come Home Too Soon: A new album from Glenn Donaldson, Summer at Land's End, will come out in February via Slumberland Records (the second album for the label). This is the only song released from it so far and is, well, definitely a Reds, Pinks and Purples song! As a Del Amitri fan, I did wonder for two seconds when I saw the title if he was covering their 1998 world cup song for the Scotland football team, though ultimately glad it wasn’t.
14) Marissa Paternoster - White Dove: Screaming Females virtuoso Marissa Paternoster has released albums under the project Noun, but Peace Meter, out on the 3rd of December via Don Giovanni Records, is her first release under her name. This track opens the record and there’s something magnetic about the low-key guitars coupled with the slow and steady beat.
15) Dinner - Midnight In My Head: I was a fan of Dinner when he first hit the scene in 2012 and loved the first three Eps but have to confess that I stopped paying attention after that, for reasons I can’t think of. Anyway, Dream Work came out on Captured Tracks in October and it’s a satisfying listen, this track opens the record and features Charlie Hilton of Blouse.
16) Cindy - My Friend: I had not heard of this San Francisco band before the release of their latest album, 1:2, which came out in September. The album is full of, well, for want of a better term, sad songs, but there’s an inherent beauty to the record that makes it somehow uplifting most of the time. “Oh, I’m strange sometimes, you make me nervous as though you could read my mind, and oh, I wish you could my friend, then you could tell me what state my life is in.”
17) Eyelids - Slow it Goes (live): I frequently think “I shouldn’t buy so many physical records”, but the pandemic has really pulled on my heart-strings and when bands put out some limited release (300 pressings in this case) I feel slightly obliged to buy what I can! This song is originally on 2020’s The Accidental Falls.
18) The Great American Novel - Grabbin' a Slice: My friend Brian sent me this song in September and I’ll just re-use his words as I’m lazy! “WFUV does a daily-at-noon thing they call "New York Slice" where they play a random NYC artist right at noon. Today's was -- hilariously -- named "Grabbin' A Slice"...and it's just perky silly '90s pop/rock fun”. A perfect description, the album, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Online, is chock full of “perky silly 90s pop/rock fun”.
19) Seam – Grain: I used Halo Redux on Q#134 and since then The Numero Group have continued doing their great re-releasing of underground acts, releasing Headsparks in September (just the other three records to re-release now, please).
20) Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Hot Stuff: Yes, this is a cover of the Donna Summer tune by doom experts Pigsx7. Hard to think that Viscerals was a 2020 release. Anyway, this cover was released in October and it seamlessly just sounds like one of their own songs.
21) Parquet Courts - Walking at a Downtown Pace: A band that seems a constant since I moved to New York is Parquet Courts, and they just released their seventh studio album Sympathy for Life on the 22nd of October via Rough Trade. While there’s an undeniable dance quality to a few of the tunes on the record, it does very much sound like a Parquet Courts album, it’s always a good quality of a band to do something different but still sounding like yourself. “I'm making plans for the day all of this is through, Seeing my path there, hearing the song I'll sing, And food that I'll taste and all the drinks that I'll consume, Return the smile of an unmasked friend”
As always, Peace and Love - Q
