Q#110 October – November 2016

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Q’s Compilations

Volume #110 October – November 2016

What a strange couple of months. I managed to go home for a couple of weeks which was nice, squeezed in a few nights in Rome as I’d never been to Italy before, oh and Donald Trump was elected the 45^th president of the USA… I shouldn’t be surprised by people’s collective stupidity after the Brexit vote in the summer, but still, it does make scratch your head (I’m trying to be polite). Anyway, this was rather hurriedly put together so the notes may seem a bit light, but there should be plenty to enjoy musically.

01) La Sera – Queens: Not content with releasing a full length album and a collaborative covers album, Katy Goodman’s La Sera just released a digital-only EP, also called Queens. This track is a shift from the sound on Music for Listening to Music to, although the EP itself reworks a couple of tracks found on that album (as well as a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love, which they had covered on tour).

02) Hurry - Casual Feelings: I used Nothing to Say on the last mix and the trio from Philadelphia just put out a 3-track EP (of which this is the title track) which you can get on bandcamp.

“Maybe this is just one big mistake”

03) The Scientists - Frantic Romantic: Re-issue specialists Numero recently released A Place Called Bad, a collection of the Australian band’s whole discography. I used High Noon on the Oct/Nov 2015 mix so the timing seemed fitting to use them again.

04) Ultimate Painting – Bills: Another band that last appeared a year ago, Ultimate Painting have just released new album, Dusk, at the end of September. They’re probably one of those bands who will never change, and that’s not a bad thing in this case. If you want twee, Velvet-Underground-influenced jangle-pop, then they do it as well as anyone.

05) Nada Surf - Beautiful Beat (live): After releasing You Know Who You Are earlier in the year, New York’s finest released their second live album in recent times, though Peaceful Ghosts isn’t a typical live record as they’re accompanied by an orchestra. This song might articulate better than any other the importance of music as a pick-me-up. “Sometimes all I want is another, Drink or another pill, If I could get anything done, Maybe I'd hold still, I'm trying to levitate I'm, Trying to leave the ground, Tryin' to remember when I could, Fix anything with sound”

06) Aldous Harding - Stop Your Tears: I had a digital copy of Aldous Harding’s eponymous record through a press promo a few months ago but didn’t find the time to give it much thought, but while finding songs for this mix, this tune in particular really stood out. Hailing from New Zealand, her album was put out by Flying Nun, which is always a good sign, although the label is not particularly known for goth-folk releases like this one!

07) Springtime Carnivore - Double Infinity: Second album, Midnight Room, is sure to be one of my favourite albums of the year. Greta Morgan’s voice is much more to the fore (which is very much a good thing) and the record has a good mix of upbeat and sombre tunes, she also plays most of the instruments herself and I think has one of the best ears for a melody I’ve heard in a long time. “After the afterglow, your two faces start to show, I’ve been waiting for the one I know”

08) PJ Harvey - The Wheel: I hadn’t seen PJ Harvey play live since 2009 so despite her playing at Terminal 5, I couldn’t bear to miss it. Despite the venue, it was another great show and she still might be the best live singer I’ve seen. Latest album, The Hope Six Demolition Project, is similar to previous album Let England Shake, but her 10-piece band brought everything to life perfectly.

09) Cut Worms - Don't Want to Say Goodbye: There are some obvious Everly Brothers vibes on this track, indeed there are on many of them on Max Clarke’s songs. I saw Cut Worms open for Luna recently (who played their best album, Penthouse, in full) and it didn’t seem to take long for him to win over the crowd, how could you not with songs like this?

10) Volta Jazz - Air Volta: Another Numero-release, Bobo Yeye concentrates on Burkina Faso between 1970-1979, during which the country was known as the Republic of Upper Volta. I’m still waiting for the box-set to come through the post so I can’t say I know a whole lot about them!

11) Coulibaly Tidiane & Dafra Star - Si Tu Maime: This is another track from the Bobo Yeye box set, so again, I don’t really know anything about this other than the track itself being great. Enjoy!

12) Julian Velard - I Don't Know How to Drive: Whilst hankering for a show after a slow couple of weeks, I went to see Julian Velard on the recommendation of a friend. Going in slightly blind, I certainly came out as a fan of his equal-parts self-depreciative/self-loving style and his New York-centric piano tunes. “My feet on the street I’m alive, I’m at looking you, Stuck sitting in traffic for, an hour or two, The back of a cabbie’s head blocking the view, That’s not what New Yorkers do “

13) Elephant Stone - See the Light: Elephant Stone’s recent album Ship of Fools, has gone a little more, I don’t know how to say it, standard-indie, or at least there is a lot less of their sitar signature-sound. The songs are good, but I can’t help but feel there is something less distinct about the experience.

14) Mark Eitzel - The Last 10 Years: Eitzel’s tenth solo album, Hey Mr Ferryman, will be out on Merge Records in January, and was recorded by Bernard Butler (he also played all the electric guitar/bass/keyboard parts of the album). Eitzel’s delivery is as good as ever and the vividness of his lyrics are always remarkable (maybe I just drink too much…). “I spent the last ten years trying to waste half an hour”

15) Wymond Miles - Stand Before Me: Not that there’s anything wrong with the Fresh & Onlys (indeed, they’re rather splendid), but Wymond Miles is one of those rare examples where the solo work is better than the band they’re in. On his latest album, Call By Night, maybe doesn’t have the immediate appeal of his previous work, but once you get used to the songs they’re just as satisfying.

16) The Appleseed Cast - Cathedral Rings: Of all the “emo” bands I’ve seen in the last few years, The Appleseed Cast are probably my favourite. Having seen them last year and just recently opening for Caspian, they’re one of those bands I’ll try to catch each time. I’m still pretty ignorant about their actual discography, however, they did play this song so I knew what to look for! There’s some really great drumming on this track in particular.

17) Kim Gordon - Murdered Out: I was surprised to read that this is the first thing that Kim has released in her own name and features Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint on drums. The repetitive bass line forms the framework of the song and lets the guitars to veer off in any direction they feel like. Hopefully there are more like this!

18) The Body - Shelter is Illusory: The Body’s latest album, No One Deserves Happiness, is a typically intense experience from the duo, who apparently said they wanted to make “the grossest pop album of all time”, which is a tall order! I’m not sure you could ever say anything they do is pop (though this song is probably the closest to that), but they can be delightfully gross on occasion.

19) Swans - Finally, Peace: I saw Swans when I went to San Francisco recently, and seeing them live is akin to being bludgeoned for two hours straight, in a good way, of course! On record, the intensity is dialled down a little bit and they often produce moments of beauty, like this one, which closes out their most recent album, The Glowing Man, which was released this year. The whole record clocks in at an almost typical 2 hours.

And that’s it for me for 2016, the next mix will be in January and feature my favourite releases of the year. Until then, I wish you all a happy rest of the year.

Peace and love - Q 

Q#109 August to September 2016

Download from http://www.mediafire.com/file/re6h5s1rk0fduh4/Q109.zip

Q’s Compilations

Volume #109 August – September 2016

Greetings! Autumn is finally here and since the last mix I had a nice few days in San Francisco, I hadn’t been out to the West Coast before and can see why people like it, the weather is certainly more agreeable there. However, there are fewer feelings better than coming back to New York after being away.

01) Drive Like Jehu - Here Come the Rome Plows: Felt quite lucky to be able to see Drive Like Jehu on this brief run of shows they put together, almost 20 years after their initial break up. Of course they played this song, and pretty much everything else you would want to hear! One could make a good case for them being the best post-hardcore band (I’d probably have to hand it to Fugazi, as would most).

02) Tyvek – Wayne County Roads: As everyone who reads these notes should know, Death By Audio was my favourite music venue and closed almost 2 years ago. Famous Class recently put out a 3LP set of songs from the last month the venue was open called Open Your Own Fucking Showspace. I saw Tyvek at the venue a couple of times (including this recording) and they always put on a good show.

03) Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – Bottled in Cork: Here’s another track from Open Your Own Fucking Showspace, I think it had been some time since Ted Leo & the Pharmacists had played (he often plays solo), and they were one of the surprise guests when Screaming Females played.

04) Hurry – Nothing to Say: I recently saw this trio from Philadelphia trio open for Nada Surf and was pretty quickly won over with their jangle-tinged tunes and the sarcastic between-song banter never hurts. Their album, Guided Meditation, was released in April and is on bandcamp for a mere $5.

05) Katy Goodman & Greta Morgan – Where Eagles Dare: Two of my favourite artists in recent years, Katy Goodman (La Sera) and Greta Morgan (Springtime Carnivore) teamed up and released a covers album called Take It, It’s Yours. Turning 10 punk/new wave songs into slow, sombre but beautiful compositions with gorgeous harmonies. The approach reminds me a little of what Mark Kozelek did with his AC/DC covers record (in spirit moreso than execution). “we walk the streets at night, we go where eagles dare, they pick up every movement, they pick up every loser, with jaded eyes and features, you think they really care?”

06) Amber Arcades – Right Now: Another band I recently saw open for Nada Surf, and after doing some more research, it’s not surprising me to find out that this song was recorded in New York, with a backing band that consists of members from Real Estate, Quilt and Kevin Morby (with Ben Greenberg producing). Amber Arcades is the moniker of Annelotte de Graaf, and her soft but sweet vocal marries perfectly with the production here. “I made my mind up long ago, The road is long and slow, So many things to leave behind, But everyone can live their lie, I’m not even sure that I don’t like mine”

07) The Jigsaw Seen – Your Mind is Like Mine: I have to admit to being slightly embarrassed that I didn’t know Jigsaw Seen have still been a pretty active band in recent years. Considering they have written one of my favourite songs of all time, My Name is Tom, from 1991, you’d think I’d keep on top of things. Regardless, I was thankful to get the chance to see them recently (and of course, they played that song), promoting their most recent album, Old Man Reverb, which has all their signature sounds and I gleefully picked it up after the show, now I just need to fill the gaping holes in my record collection.

08) Robert Forster – Pandanus: This month’s freebie-from-my-friend-Herb entry comes via Go Betweens’ Robert Forster, the album The Evangelist got a lot of plaudits upon its release in 2008, but was one of those albums that passed me by at the time. Most of the album has more of a singer-songwriter vibe, but this certainly evokes his older band. “The candle of the day, Has burnt down to wick, The candle of the night, Has not yet been lit”

09) Dusk – My Own Design: Whilst having somewhat of a meltdown being at yet another show on my own (which is probably a good 60% of the time), I was reminded why I do go to so many shows solo, because every band were fantastic. Headlined by Tenement (more from them soon), Amos Pitsch’s other band, Dusk, also played. They play a soulful take on country and have multiple harmonies while sharing lead vocals on different songs. They don’t have an album yet, but hopefully that won’t be the case for too long. This song was released on bandcamp in March. “I used to love you and I used to know why”

10) Okkervil River – Okkervil River RIP: 3 years ago Okkervil River released The Silver Gymnasium and I met Will Sheff at a record store, trying to give a compliment I said “one day you’ll release a bad album but it hasn’t happened yet!”, to which he laughed and said that sounded ominous. Having just released new album Away, his winning streak is still intact.

11) Teenage Fanclub – Hold On: I haven’t managed to see Teenage Fanclub since they played Oxford Brookes in 2002… so I was overjoyed when they announced a couple of shows here in October in support of new album Here, their first album since 2010’s Shadows. You know what you’re getting with a Fannies album, gorgeous tunes and fragile vocals, which of course they deliver in spades yet again.

12) Tenement – The Strangest Couple in Love: Tenement’s headlining set at Saint Vitus was what I imagine getting a dose of oxytocin is like. This track is from the self-titled album (which is actually more of an EP) from last year, and few bands can deliver so many great hooks in such a short space of time. “And it’s no mystery how it goes, and how it ends everyone knows”

13) American Football – You Know I Should Be Leaving Soon: Illionois trio American Football released a critically loved self-titled album in 1999, and that was that, until 17 years later when the band they will be releasing another self-titled album (due in October). I have a ticket to see them in January.

14) Preoccupations – Degraded: Preoccupations used to be called Vietcong, and despite a name change I suspect they will always be known as “Preoccupations fka Vietcong”, so changing names seems a little silly anyway. I can understand why they did it, because people look for any conceivable moment to be offended these days, but how many bands would have to change their names? Anyway, they have a new album out and it’s rather good, as you would imagine because Vietcong’s albums were good and this is the same band. “Some good ideas split in two, So solemn and melancholy, Another thing that you can do, Unwillingly for some money”

15) Explosions in the Sky – Tangle Formations: I probably hadn’t listened to Explosions in the Sky in over a decade (like most, I adored The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place), but when they announced a show at the beautiful Kings Theatre, I picked up tickets without even thinking about it. Thankfully, new album The Wilderness (their first in five years), while not exactly breaking their formula, is a breath of fresh air mostly given my distance from the band’s output. Anyway, the show was spectacular.

16) Russian Circles – Vorel: I saw Russian Circles at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco while on holiday, mostly because I wanted to go to the venue as I didn’t exactly know their music intimately. The venue is deserving of its lofty reputation, and thankfully the band were great too!

17) Cloakroom – Deep Sea Station: Opening the previously mentioned Russian Circles show were Northwest Indiana trio Cloakroom, who couldn’t help make me think we’ve finally ran out of band names. However, with elements of slowcore and heavy-shoegaze, I was a happy listener

18) Fur Helmet – Ether: Another mood saving band I’ve seen live solo was Fur Helmet, who have that reverb drenched desert psych sound down to a tee. You can get their EP for just $2 on bandcamp.

19) The Men – Lion’s Den: The Men’s latest album will be self-released (as opposed to on Sacred Bones like most of their records). The band have been playing new material for the last 18 months which has had a distinct classic rock vibe, but this track is a cross between Iggy and the Stooges and Mudhoney, which is certainly a pretty great combo. It’ll be interesting to see what direction the final product hones in on.

See you when winter hits most likely! Until next time

Peace and love - Q 

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