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Q's Compilations
Vol #151 – August to
September 2023
I’m
late again but that was inevitable after being a month late with the last mix!
What is time anyway… we’re officially in Autumn now which is a great time to be
in New York. This mix maybe isn’t as filled with completely brand new tracks as
usual, but it’s still mostly brand new.
01)
Margaret Glaspy - Act Natural: I saw Margaret Glaspy play in 2017 and enjoyed
her set, I’m sure I gave 2020’s Devotion a cursory listen but it didn’t
stick. However, new album Echo the Diamond is a bit of a triumph.
Released on the 18th of August, this album opener in particular is,
as the kids say, a banger and the album as a whole is definitely her strongest
to date (at least to these ears).
02)
Cory Hanson – Housefly: Western Cum is Cory Hanson’s third solo record,
and the most like his regular band, Wand, with the first two records being more
acoustic affairs. The similarity isn’t a bad thing by any measure, it’s an
excellent album.
03)
OMAT – Knot: OMAT are a new band to me, a quartet based in Brooklyn, this song
ended up in my bandcamp from Fire Talk Records (who just opened up a store in
Greenpoint I need to check out). I am certainly not mad at the number of
shoegaze acts around these days
04)
Pom Pom Squad - Head Cheerleader: I saw Pom Pom Squad open for Nada Surf in
2021 and I’d been enjoying their album Death of a Cheerleader already by
that point. Singer Mia Barren even joined the band to sing Popular in
the encore, but then went one further with the song, recording a cover and
releasing a shot-for-shot recreation of the video (including a cameo from
Matthew Caws). It took a while, but I recently bought the vinyl which brought
it back into my rotation.
05)
Helpful People - Protection Energy: I honestly thought I’d put a song by The
Reds Pinks and Purples on every mix this year… but it turns out I haven’t used
anything by Glenn Donaldson since March (he’s released a few Eps since then).
Anyway, Helpful People is a new band featuring Donaldson and Carly Putnam and
they just released Brokenblossom Threats and it’s obviously very good
because I’m not sure there’s a universe that exists where he can conjure a bad
song.
06)
The Mountain Goats - Clean Slate: Some people might have been worried that The
Mountain Goats hadn’t released a record this year… fear not, the band’s… 22nd
(?) album, Jenny From Thebes will be released on Merge Records on the 27th
of October. This track opens the record and is one of three singles so far.
07)
Maura Weaver - As If Your Love: I Was Due a Heartache is the new album
from Maura Weaver, released on Don Giovanni Records and mostly flits between
delightful fuzzy indie-rockers like this and a few acoustic ballads with an
alt-country underpin.
08)
Liz Phair - Never Said: Liz Phair is about to tour in celebration of the 30th
anniversary of Exile In Guyville, also stopping at Kings Theatre,
bringing an opener I like to the show (Blondshell). Despite all these basically
perfect things, I haven’t bought a ticket yet (the show is the day after
thanksgiving to be fair)! Anyway, obviously this song is on Guyville and you
all probably know it already.
09)
Everyone Asked About You - It's Days Like This Make Me Wish The Summer Would
Last Forever: The Numero Group have been unearthing underappreciated 90s acts. Paper
Airplanes Paper Hearts compiles the band’s entire recorded works.
10)
The Belair Lip Bombs - Say My Name: Melbourne quartet The Belair Lip Bombs just
released Lush Life on the 25th of August via Cousin Will
Records and I have to confess I don’t remember where I heard about this band.
Pretty sure it was an artist I follow on Instagram that recommended them but
that’s about all I’ve got!
11)
Native Nod – Bread: Going back to the Numero Group’s 90s reissue series, the
label has compiled the band’s recorded output and released This Can’t Exist.
Obviously every band can’t “make it”, but I’m surprised this track isn’t on
just about every 90s post-hardcore compilation.
12)
Film School - Tape Rewind: LA shoegaze act Film School have been around since
1998, with a hiatus between 2011-2014. I think if you could AI generate a
shoegaze song, it might sound like this, which opens their latest record, Field.
13)
Follakzoid – II: Chilean greats Follakzoid is essentially a solo venture of
Domingæ, have ventured into more trance-territory since the third record, and
the recently released V (you guessed it, their fifth album) is fully
entrenched at this point. That might put some people off, but stick with it, there’s
a hypnotic element to the four tracks (that all clock in over ten minutes) that
is hard to pull away from. Keep doing what you’re doing Domingæ.
14)
Chaos Peversion - Absorbtion Ascension Under the Vampiric Connection: I’ve had
this 10” EP on my wishlist for a few years but bought it on the last bandcamp
Friday. Petrified Against the Emanation was originally released in 2019
but got a remaster and reissue in 2022. I should add, the band are from Chile,
which originally peaked my interest, and other than that, I basically have no
information about them…
15)
Apostasy - Intro / Death: When I ordered the above record from Sentient Ruin, I
trawled through other releases wondering if they had any other Chilean bands
and eventually stumbled on this band and record (Death Return), so I
ordered it! This is a classic thrash record released in 2021, which is their
most recent record after Sunset of the End (released in 1991) and The
Sign of Darkness (2018).
16)
Emma Anderson - Bend the Round: Shoegaze/Britpop fans will recognise Emma
Anderson from Lush, and her debut solo album, Pearlies, will be released
on the 20th of October via Sonic Cathedral. This song has a nice
floaty quality to it that makes a lot of sense knowing her background but is
clearly pretty far from Lush at the same time.
17)
Ibex Clone - There is No Light: Memphis trio Ibex Clone include former members
of Ex-Cult and Nots, and I should say Hash Reactor, but all of Ibex Clone
were/are also in Hash Reactor… regardless you probably wouldn’t think they’d be
this jangly based on their collective CVs, but Ibex Clone are all the better
for it. Their record, All Channels Clear was released on Goner Records
back in February.
18)
Mini Snap - Leave it to You: A record I thought was new but actually came out,
but Bounce Around was released in 2007 and passed me by at the time, it
just happened to get a re-press in the US on Tall Texan, which I purchased at
the same time as the Helpful People record featured earlier. Mini Snap is the
side project of The Bats guitarist Kaye Woodward, and while it kinda sounds
like The Bats, that’s obviously not a bad thing at all!
19)
Madder Rose - Mystery Date: NYC indie vets Madder Rose had a 20 year hiatus
between 1999 and 2019 when they released To Be Beautiful, and they just
followed that up with new album No One Gets Hurt Ever which was released
at the beginning of August. Despite the recent records, the band hadn’t played
live in 24 years before a surprise performance in September.
20)
Queen of Jeans - Get Lost: Philly trio Queen of Jeans’ last release was 2022’s
EP Hiding In Place, but this opens their 2019 record If You’re Not
Afraid, I’m Not Afraid, which I loved at the time and there’s no reason for
its inclusion other than it’s been stuck in my head for months.
As
always, Peace and Love - Q
