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Q's Compilations
Vol #153 – December
2023 to January 2024
Happy New Year! 2023 treated me pretty well in general I have to confess, we travelled a good amount and even bought a condo, a big year! I saw 38 shows in total, which was the exact same number that I saw in 2022 and seems a good amount to shoot for these days, at least for me (long gone are the 150+ shows a year times!).
01) White Reaper - Asking for a Ride: It’s easy to forget about January albums when putting together “best of” roundups, but the band’s fourth album is a hard one to forget! This is the title track but I would have been happy using any track from the record. Fog Machine from the same album also appears on Q#148
02) The Dirty Nil - Free Rein to Passions: Back to back album title tracks… and to keep the similarities with White Reaper, this is also the bands fourth album (and I also think they should be much more popular than they are!). I’m not sure there’s a better power trio at the moment. Nicer Guy from the same album also appears on Q#149
03) Cory Hanson – Wings: One album I keep going back to and should have gotten a lot more press is Cory Hanson’s solo record Western Cum, which evokes his band (Wand) much more than his other solo records, which were typically more acoustic/folk-tinged. If I had the real estate on the mix I’d have probably used the 10-minute Driving Through Heaven, but this, and indeed the record as a whole, is fantastic. I also used Housefly from the same record on Q#151
04) Fruit Bats - Rushin' River Valley: Om Q#149 I used It All Comes Back and mentioned that I was still getting used to new album A River Running To Your Heart, and slowly but surely the songs started inserting themselves and while I wouldn’t call it a classic, it’s another incredibly strong and worthy album in the Fruit Bats discography. This is probably the most immediate/best track from the record and I love all the little guitar licks that come in and out of the track.
05) Maura Weaver - Ease on the Eyes: I Was Due for a Heartbreak is one of those kinda low-key records that you don’t realise how much you enjoy until you come back to the record on further occasions and notice that the songs have ingrained themselves into your brain. Released on Don Giovanni Records in September, I also used As If Your Love on Q#151.
06) The Reds, Pinks & Purples - The Town that Cursed Your Name: Another title-track for you here, Glenn Donaldson has had a fairly prolific year, with one record (this one) and 12 other digital releases (Eps / singles) as well as being one half of the band Helpful People who released a full length this year too (Brokenblossom Threats). I also used Life in the Void from the same record on Q#148, if you put a gun to my head it might be my favourite album of the year.
07) Eyelids - Everything That I See You See Better: A Colossal Waste of Light was released in March and is the band’s fourth album (I Can’t Be Told also appeared on Q#149) and they can do little wrong if you like your guitars to jangle. The band are celebrating 10 years in 2024 and will be releasing a double album of rarities and other non-album tracks; No Jigsaw comes out in March.
08) Connections - It's a Start: I think the record I get the biggest kick out of each time I hear it (in the sense of “wow, this record is fantastic, why don’t I play it all the time”) is Connections’ Cool Change, which came out in March via Trouble in Mind Records. I also used In Space on Q#148 which is probably the stand-out tune but the whole record is killer and this was the hardest album to pick a song from for this mix.
09) Screaming Females – Titan: Possibly the biggest musical shock for me this year was Screaming Females announcing their break-up after 18 years. I’ve consistently described them as the best live band around for over a decade at this point and I’m not sure I’ve fully processed the fact that I won’t add to the 14 times I was fortunate enough to catch them live, including twice this year. Perhaps fittingly I bookended my live experience with them with shows at ABC No Rio (first time) and Kings Theatre, quite the difference in venue. Anyway, the band released Desire Pathway in February, their eighth studio album, I also used Ornament on Q#148. Singer/guitarist Marissa Paternoster has just started a patreon which I’d recommend fans sign up for https://www.patreon.com/MarissaPaternoster
10) Mandy, Indiana - Pinking Shears: One of the more difficult records to explain this year, I’ve Seen a Way was released in May on Fire Talk Records, and it’s got a little bit of industrial but dance-like quality to a lot of the tracks, but that doesn’t really tell the story. Maybe if someone threw an experimental dance party in the middle of a (live) construction site? I don’t know, I just know that I keep coming back to the album if I want something a little weird and out there.
11) Parannoul – Arrival: The third Parannoul album, After the Magic, was released on January 28, 2023 (I used We Shine at Night on Q#148) and was inspired by dreams he had during the making of his previous album (To See the Next Part of the Dream, which was also a fantastic album). We also got a live album this year called After the Night.
12) Squirrel Flower - Alley Light: Ella Williams can’t really seem to do a whole lot wrong and new album Tomorrow’s Fire was released in October via Polyvinyl Records (I used When a Plant is Dying on Q#150 and Full Time Job on Q#152).
13) Indigo De Souza - The Water: Indigo De Souza’s third album, All of This Will End was released in April on Saddle Creek and I was also fortunate enough to see her perform at Prospect Park in the summer. Parking Lot also appeared on Q#149, and while I played previous albums Any Shape You Take and I Love My Mom constantly, the new record hasn’t quite pulled me in to the same degree. It’s still a good record, I should add!
14) Deathcrash - Distance Song: We’ve been blessed with some great slowcore acts in the last few years, and this London act’s second record, Less, is up there with the best of them. I also used Dead, Crashed on Q#149
15) FACS – Slogan: Still Life in Decay is another one of those deceptively brilliant records that I hoped to see on more end of year lists. I’d have probably used New Flag but for time constraints, and I used Slogan on Q#148, the whole records is the sum of its parts with Brian Case’s guitar textures coupling with the monster rhythm section majestically.
16) Public Interest - Why Bother: I used Undone from this same record (Spiritual Pollution) on Q#149, it’s probably my favourite post-punk record of 2023 and fills some of the gigantic chasm I feel that a band liked Girls Names left in my life after they broke up in 2018.
17) Deeper – Glare: It still feels like a bit of a shame that Chicago act Deeper moved from Fire Talk to Sub Pop, but I love the latter label too anyway. The band’s third album, Careful! was released in September and is another fine addition to their discography (I also used Build a Bridge on Q#150).
18) Hurry - Like I Loved You: Matty Scottoline has been rattling off jangle-indie records as Hurry for over a decade at this point and latest album Don’t Look Back keeps up his impeccable track record. I used Begging For You on Q#150.
19) Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Pipe Down!: Land of Sleeper dropped in February and I was fortunate enough to see the band twice this year, the first of those was released as a live album to make things even better! The band can’t really do any wrong in my eyes and are my favourite stoner act at present.
20) Samia – Amelia: Honey was released at the end of January and I listened to it incessantly at the time, but I’m not sure the last time I played it front to back. It’s a good record but I think some of the production loses me the more I listen to it and I long a little bit for some of the earlier material. Regardless, there are some great songs on it and this is a real earworm. I also used the title track on Q#148.
21) Foglake – Motorcade: I really thought I’d used a track from this record (Midnight Society) on a mix this year but alas, I have not! The record was released in May and is another fine collection of lo-fi bedroom indie, you’ll either dig it or not!
22) Ratboys - Bad Reaction: Ratboys’ fifth album, The Window was released in August on Topshelf records (It’s Alive! Was featured on Q#150), this song also closes the record and it seemed like once I’d picked this track it couldn’t go anywhere else.
And there you have it, the definitive, unambiguous best of 2023.
As
always, Peace and Love - Q
