Q#132 - June to July 2020

Please note that the zip file has a password: QCOMPS.BLOGSPOT  

 Download mix from: https://www.mediafire.com/file/fb2q8b91nrcp7qr/Q#132.zip/file

Now with added Spotify playlist at end of notes - NOTE that Ultra Major, Still Form, Julius Wright and Nada Surf songs are NOT on Spotify.

Q's Compilations

Vol #132 – June to July 2020

 

Well it’s almost August, football came back and went, and my beloved Oxford United managed to lose a playoff final, 2020 is the year that just keeps on giving. I completed another orbit around the sun, despite most things still being bad it’s incredibly depressing that the rest of the US didn’t seem to learn anything from what we’ve gone through in New York, I’ve got a mix of almost entirely new music. Hopefully you’ll find a smidge of joy from this.  

 

01) Bob Mould – American Crisis: Blue Hearts is the name of Bob Mould’s latest studio album, out on Merge Records on the 25^th of September, this is the lead single and it’s pretty evident that he has a lot to be angry about!

 

02) The Beths – I’m Not Getting Excited: Future Me Hates Me was my favourite album of 2018, I probably hadn’t played an album as much as that in years. Two years on from that stunning debut, the New Zealanders have just released Jump Rope Gazers which on first couple of plays has just as much charm and melody as the debut.

 

03) Silver Sun – Earth Girls are Easy: Brit power-pop act Silver Sun released two truly excellent albums in 1997 (self-titled) and 1998 (Neo Wave), and have since offered some sporadic output and are generally off the radar. I was delighted to see that they’d released a new album this April (their first in seven years) called Switzerland, and

 

04) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Falling Thunder: This Aussie band released their second album, Sideways to New Italy, in June, via Sub Pop, and it’s another pleasant jangle-fest much like their debut.

 

05) Gladie – Is That Why You’re Here: Remember concerts? The last one I went to was on the 5^th of March and happened to be Gladie, who had just released their debut album, Safe Sins. Last month they released a three-song EP called Orange Peels and this track is the opener.

 

06) Shamir – On My Own: I bought Shamir’s entire discography on bandcamp during one of their promotional Fridays, I’ve liked his music over the years without dipping in too deeply and felt like I should rectify that, specifically so after hearing this song that was released in the middle of June. I’ve still got plenty to go back and hear!

 

07) Bethany Thomas – I’m Not Sorry and I’m Not Scared: Chicago-based artist Bethany Thomas is releasing her debut album BT​/​She​/​Her on the 28^th of August, this is the first single and I liked it enough to put on! She has a great voice, though I could do without some of the extracurricular vocals as they’re a little off-putting, but I’m looking forward to hearing what the rest of the record has in store.

 

08) Moor Jewelry – Look Alive: Moor Jewelry is a collaboration between Moor Mother and Mental Jewelry and they just put out True Opera which you can get on bandcamp (or on cassette, I guess that’s still a thing), it’s one of my favourite records of the year and a little hard to pigeonhole but there’s plenty of hardcore elements which are just great.

 

09) Nnamdi – Rage: Another Chicago artist, I was tipped onto him by the Numero Group and picked up his “Black Plight” EP that he put out in June, he also plays everything to an impressive degree.

 

10) Shrapknel – Gun Metal Paint: New York hip-hop duo Shrapknel put out an excellent self-titled record on Backwoodz Studio in March, the lyrics here don’t pull any punches.

 

11) Bully – Where to Start: Grunge revivalists Bully are set to release a new record called Sugaregg in August on Sub Pop and this is the lead single.

 

12) Ultra Major – Picture Perfect: This track jumped out at me from a compilation I bought on bandcamp, which happens to be about 7 hours long, which is far, far too long to pay attention to and took me about a month to listen to everything once. This New York band have a record from 2018 and a couple of singles.

 

13) Still Form – Gums: I have been a fan of Portland band Marriage and Cancer for a few years but I think they’ve broken up now (terrible-band name, admittedly), members of that band plus a few other local acts have created Still Form, who put out a 5-track EP in April this year. Stylistically it’s in the same arty noise/punk form that Marriage and Cancer excelled at so I’ll be hoping there is more material in the future.

 

14) Look Sacre - Mal nécessaire pour un mal nécess: Four years ago I spent a long weekend in Montreal and had a lovely time. As I always try to do, I looked over concert listings and remembered that a friend recommended anyone should go to the venue Casa Del Popolo, so without knowing who was playing we went along. I remember liking Look Sacre and bookmarked their bandcamp page as soon as I got home, but didn’t spent a huge amount of time thinking about them, I should dive in a bit more after listening to this!

 

15) Julius Wright – I Pray The Things Will Change: Another tune from that 7-hour compilation I mentioned earlier, and given that all the tracks were not tagged properly, I have very little information about this artist. I can only find information about this song and another tune called Lonely Girl. Anyway, great song, if you know anything about it then let me know!

 

16) DEHD – Loner: Here’s another band from Chicago, the trio just released Flower of Devotion in the middle of July on Fire Talk. It’s an instantly accessible record filled with reverb-heavy pop hooks, very much a continuation of what they were doing with previous record, Water (from 2019).

 

17) Nada Surf – Sick Day: Fountains of Wayne were always one of those bands I always knew I would like, if I ever got round to listening to them, unfortunately Adam Schlesinger died due to Covid in April, so I’ve only gotten into his music after this death, sadly. A tribute album called Saving for a Custom Van has been raising money for MusiCares' COVID-19 Relief Fund. There are some excellent artists on the record so head over to bandcamp and buy it.

 

18) Matt Berry – Something In My Eye: I’ve been watching What We Do in the Shadows on Hulu and just finished season one, turns out Matt Berry (Laszlo in the show) is also a pretty good musician and is about to release a new album called Phantom Birds in September.

 

19) King Tuff – I’m Free: This tune was originally written for and appeared on Ty Segall’s Freedom Goblin album, in February King Tuff decided to release his own version, and as you can imagine, it’s good!

 

20) Fake Eyes – Demonstrations: This four-piece from Charlotte, NC, had put out a couple of excellent demos in 2018 and 2019, and have just released their first official EP called A Drip Is All We Know on New Morality Zine, it’s only 4 tracks but packs a punch and if you dig the new (or old…) Hum albums (more on them imminently) or any heavy-shoegaze then you will love this.

 

21) Hum – The Summoning: Speaking of Hum and heavy shoegaze, and another Chicago band (what is it with this mix…), the band just released their first album in 22 years, though it was recorded over a period of 2017-2020. It barely gets out of second gear over the course of an hour but it doesn’t need to, the production is so great and really pulls you in.

 

Keep being safe!

 

As always, Peace and Love - Q

 

Q#130 - February to March 2020

Please note that the zip file has a password: QCOMPS.BLOGSPOT  

Download mix from  https://www.mediafire.com/file/6t72i3g1a3wtjq4/Q%23130.zip/file 

Now with added Spotify playlist at end of notes.

Q's Compilations

Vol #130 – February to March 2020

Blimey. It has been quite the eventful start to the year, and almost entirely bad! I don’t have any particular words of wisdom during the corona pandemic other than listen to the science, stay inside and be rational. I finished this mix up before things started going particularly crazy!

01) Rush - The Spirit of Radio: Just one of the other terrible events that started the year off, Rush drummer/lyricist Neil Peart died in January after suffering from brain cancer for three years. A deeply private person, the news came as a shock and remains hard to process. This live version of Spirit of Radio was released on the 40^th anniversary of Permanent Waves.

02) Eyelids - The Accidental Falls: Members of Eyelids have worked with Decemberists, Elliott Smith, Stephen Malkmus and were also Robert Pollard‘s backing band as Boston Spaceships. This is the title-track to their most recent album, and like their previous EP, was produced by Peter Buck of REM-fame, the record itself is excellent and I made sure to buy it during Bandcamp’s recent waving of their fee so that musicians got more money.

03) Nada Surf - So Much Love: I recently saw Nada Surf for the 21^st time, promoting their new album Never Not Together. There is a dedication to Ric Ocasek of The Cars, who produced their debut album (1996’s Let Go) and died in 2019, and as well as the written dedication there’s certainly a big influence in many tracks on the album itself (they also covered Just What I Needed at recent shows).

04) Seratones – Power: I had the pleasure of catching Seratones play a show at Rough Trade in January, the groups second album, Power is more of a classic soul record with, as the title suggests, plenty of punch to it. In classic soul style, a tight and highly skilled band drives the songs but are ultimately a platform for front-woman AJ Haynes to steal the show, she should be a star.

05) Caroline Rose - Feel the Way I Want: Superstar is Caroline Rose’s fourth album, and her slickest to date. This tune is the lead single from the record and has the kind of effortless swagger and pop-sensibility that everyone could use right now.

06) The Wants – Container: Guitarist/producer Madison Velding-VanDam has been busy the last few years, playing guitar in Bodega and now fronting The Wants. This is the title track from their debut album and the post-punk-white-boy rhythm on this tune stood out for me. The record is pretty strong in general and jumps through a few styles, recommended if you like any of those classic post-punk sounds of the early 80s.

07) Fat Tony - Get Out of My Way: Two years after the excellent 10,000 Hours, Houston rapper Fat Tony has just released Wake Up. The record is full of collaboration but it’s the tracks he takes the lead on that stand out the most for me.

08) Destroyer - It Just Doesn't Happen: We’re probably at the point where we shouldn’t call Destroyer “Dan Bejar of The New Pornographers’ band”, the discography at this point. Dan’s been on a bit of a roll for a while now and Have We Met is the twelfth Destroyer album and has an overt 80s influence that works wonderfully. 

09) Gladie - A Place for Different: Philly punks Cayetana called it a day last year and Gladie is the latest band from frontwoman Augusta Koch. Following up an EP from 2018, the band just released debut full-length Safe Sins. There’s a greater emphasis on melody and a little electronic percussion but Koch’s lyrics are as personable as ever.

10) Deeper - Lake Song: Chicago quartet Deeper first featured on Q#121 back in 2018, and the band are set to release their second album Auto-Pain on the 27^th of March (I’ve pre-ordered it). Based on the strength of the songs they’ve released so far, and that I heard them play live, it could end up being one of my favourite releases of the year.

11) Drab Majesty – Elipsis: I was looking through some old bookmarks trying to find some final inspiration to round off this mix and stumbled upon Drab Majesty (I have no idea when I bookmarked the bandcamp page) and the 80s pop sound seemed to fit well. This track is taken from Modern Mirror which was released last July.

12) Video Nasties - Drone Eagle: My good friend Andrew Field has been putting out records with foundation-shaking riffs for a couple of years now (https://apfrecords.bandcamp.com/) and the latest release on APF Records is Video Nasties’ new record Dominion. It’s a cracker, with the odd horror-synth influence to go with the in-your-face guitars and drums.

13) Soul Asylum - Spinnin': I probably hadn’t listened to Soul Asylum in over a decade but saw they were playing a show at Bowery Ballroom in February and thought… why not, I’d never seen them before. I always had a soft-spot for them growing up and while it was a bit of a nostalgia check-box, I’m glad I went and reconnected with a band that I hadn’t given much thought of for a while. This song opens the band’s fifth album, 1990’s And the Horse They Rode In On.

14) Virginia Trace - Hello Lou Reed: This tune is the lead single from Vincent's Playlist, which isn’t due out until May and the obvious influence for the lyrics and the music is in the title. Anyone or anything related to Chile’s Blow Your Mind Records will always prick my ears.

15) Aaron Lee Tasjan - Heart Slows Down: I hadn’t heard of Aaron Lee Tasjan until I saw him opening solo for Nada Surf at the start of the year, his demeanour and songs were an instant hit and diving into his back catalogue was a treat.

16) Anna Calvi (ft Courtney Barnett) - Don't Beat the Girl Out of My Boy: Anyone that lets me talk long enough at any point since July 2009 will have heard me rave about Anna Calvi. She’s not the most prolific artist but everything she releases is solid gold. Following 2018’s Hunter, Calvi went back and revisited some rough versions of those songs and opened them up for some collaboration with the likes of Courtney Barnett on this song.

17) Fog Lake - New York: Aaron Powell just has a knack of concocting lo-fi melancholia that always leaves you wanting more. You may remember I’ll Be Around from Q#126 and this is just as gorgeous. Sadly the corona virus has led to the cancelation of his show at Rough Trade in April (and I’m shocked that’s the first time I’ve written that sentence in these notes as it also applies to at least four other acts on this mix I had plans to see).

18) A Winged Victory for the Sullen – The Slow Descent Has Begun: The Undivided Five is A Winged Victory for the Sullen’s third full studio album and was released last November. It’s hard to say anything new about the ambient/neo-classical duo, they simply excel in the genre.

19) Shell of a Shell - Don't Expect: Nashville act Shell of a Shell just put out their debut album Away Team on Exploding in Sound Records (which happens to the be label’s 100^th release) and it is a complete triumph. Led by Chappy Hull, who has been playing guitar in the band Pile since 2018, it’s certainly in the same ballpark as Pile and highly recommended for fans of the band. This track has a little bit of everything that you get on the album rolled into one epic song.

As always, Peace and Love - Q

Q#118 - February to March 2018

Please note that the zip file has a password: QCOMPS.BLOGSPOT 

Download mix from: http://www.mediafire.com/file/2ngercqazuojnnc/Q%23118.zip

Q's Compilations

Vol #118 – February to March 2018

Greetings and welcome to the first real mix of the year, I’ve got mostly brand-new releases for you in what is hopefully a year of being able to celebrate new things.

01) Superchunk – What a Time to be Alive: This is the title track to Superchunk’s first record in four years, and it might even be their first politically-tinged release. Wonder what could have led to that! It’s another triumphant and anthemic record in the vein of their last few records since Majesty Shredding. I can’t wait to see them twice in April. “To see the rot in no disguise, Oh what a time to be alive, The scum, the shame, the fucking lies, Oh what a time to be alive”

02) Jawbreaker – Jinx Removing: Having appreciated their influence but not really paid too much attention to the band over the years, their reformation still seemed like something I shouldn’t miss when they announced a show at Brooklyn Steel in February. The band didn’t disappoint and this tune in particular struck a chord. “I love you more than I ever loved anyone before, or anyone to come, Someone said your name, I thought of you alone, I was just the same twenty blocks away”

03) Hot Snakes – Death Campy Fantasy: Speaking of bands getting back together, I saw Hot Snakes back in November and they just released their first record since 2004’s Audit in Progress with Jericho Sirens via Sub Pop. This was one of the singles off the album (which I have yet to hear at the time of writing) which continues to prove that if you put Rick Froberg and John Reis together then little can go wrong.  

04) Screaming Females – I’ll Make You Sorry: The New Brunswick trio just released their 7^th studio album, All At Once, and it’s a double record (I picked up the 3LP set with bonus demos), once again released via Don Giovanni. It’s their poppiest record yet, interspersed with perhaps some of their least commercial work to date, but All at Once is definitely about pop hooks and melody.

05) Jessica Lea Mayfield – Offa My Hands: Whilst scouring show-listings recently for inspiration I enjoyed a bunch of tunes by Jessica Lea Mayfield, her songs seem to have a perfect mix of melody and melancholy. She released her fourth record, Sorry Is Gone, last year. I ended up missing her shows at the Mercury Lounge and Bowery Electric recently but can hopefully catch a future show. “Every single DNA strand, Gotta wash you offa my hands”

06) Ruby Boots – Don’t Talk About It: Ruby Boots is an Aussie currently based in Nashville and this is another new release from February (this is the title track). While Rolling Stone called her one of the ten new country artists you should listen to, there’s plenty of rock and pop on a nicely varied record.

07) Rilo Kiley – Wires & Waves: The first song on the mix that isn’t from this year, and I can’t really tell you why I thought to put it on the mix, it just seemed to flow. Originally released in 2001, Take Offs and Landings captures the band at their most charming. While the band has officially broken up, one still hopes for a reunion.

08) The Men – Rose on Top of the World: Back to new releases, back on Sacred Bones following 2016’s self-released Devil Music, Drift is the group’s seventh album. This song could scarcely sound more like Meat Puppets if they tried, which is a good thing given how much I love them.

09) Anna Burch – Tea-Soaked Letter: Quit the Curse is Anna Burch’s debut record (via Polyvinyl) and I caught a lovely show at Rough Trade back in February in support of its release. There’s no re-inventing the wheel here, just nice jangle-pop.

10) Nada Surf – Stalemate: Celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of Let Go (or the sixteenth if, like me, you are far more used to the European release), New York’s finest band played the record in full at Brooklyn Steel recently. The performance was fantastic, but the second set was even better as they delivered a bunch of songs I had not heard them play in a decade (or more), including Stalemate from the band’s debut album, Let Go. Performed live, they even threw in their short cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart just like they used to do in the old days as well. It was perhaps the most fun I’ve ever had at a concert (they played a 31-song set in total) and try as I might, I feel like I always fail to convey how much the band mean to me.

11) B Boys – Discipline: This song was supposed to go on the last mix (my best-of-2017), I haven’t seen B-Boys play live since Death By Audio closed in 2014 and that seems like a gross oversight. Their debut album (Dada) was released last year on Captured Tracks.

12) Fletcher C Johnson – Summer: Whilst flipping through the discounted vinyl at Rough Trade I picked up Lesson in Tenderness for $5, which is fitting since I also bought his debut record for $5 at Rough Trade too. There’s a little more variety on this record but I seem to have chosen the song that sounds like it could have been on the debut!

13) Squeeze – Pulling Muscles (From the Shell): I’ve had a real Squeeze itch for about six months and I’m not sure where it came from (other than always liking Squeeze), so I picked up one of the numerous greatest hits packages. I’m a little bummed in hindsight that I didn’t catch a recent show at the Beacon theatre, but hopefully there will be future chances. 2017’s The Knowledge was a pretty good record, though this opens the classic ArgyBargy from 1980.

14) Anya Marina – Ordinary Dude: I was introduced to Anya Marina’s music on a trip to New Jersey last year and am catching a show in a few weeks, this tune is from her last record, 2016’s Paper Plane and appeals to the pop-sensibility of this mix. “You’re not some formula that I set out to prove”

15) David Byrne – Everybody’s Coming to My House: Having managed to get tickets to see David Byrne at the magnificent Kings Theatre in September, it probably seemed like a good idea to check out the single for his new record. Thankfully it’s a good one! “We're only tourists in this life, Only tourists but the view is nice”

16) Gaz Coombes – Deep Pockets: Supergrass main-man Gaz Coombes is set to release his third solo record, World’s Strongest Man, in May and he played a couple of shows in March in support of it. While the set was mostly devoid of Supergrass songs, the quality of his solo material meant it didn’t seem missed (though the biggest cheer of the night when I saw him was Moving by some distance!).

17) Ought – Desire: The Montreal quartet just released their third fantastic record, Room Inside the World, and their first on Merge Records. Desire is the second single from the record and shows how the band are growing as songwriters, it has a triumphant feel to it

18) Destroyer – Hey, Snow White: I bought a mystery vinyl bundle from Merge Records around Christmas time which ended up including Destroyer’s 2002 record This Night. He didn’t play this song when I saw him at Brooklyn Steel in January, but I just felt like throwing it on this mix. After the show I felt like I’d had my fill of rock-based saxophone, however (it was a good show)!

19) Cayetana – Easy to Love: Another song that I meant to put on last month’s mix (there are usually more than two, to be fair), New Kind of Normal was released last year via Plum Records and I saw the band twice, once opening for Waxahatchee and once opening for The Hold Steady. Keen listeners will remember Mesa from Q#113.

20) Aimee Mann – Paper Boats: To celebrate Let Go’s 15^th anniversary (again… 16^th if you’re European…), Nada Surf put out a charity album of bands covering its songs. The biggest name involved is Aimee Mann, who puts her own spin on the albums’ closer. It’s one of those covers that 100% captures the spirit of the original. “Sit on a train, reading a book, Same damn planet every time I look, Try to relax and slow my heartbeat, Only works when I'm dead asleep, Been thinking and drinking all over the town, Must be gearing up for some kind of meltdown”

I’m pretty pleased with this mix, it’s usually the ones with completely new songs that I’m most excited about and I hope you heard something that pricked your ear. Speaking of new, I’ll be living in a new apartment by the time the next mix gets released.

As always, Peace and Love

Q

Please note that the zip file has a password: QCOMPS.BLOGSPOT 

Download mix from: http://www.mediafire.com/file/2ngercqazuojnnc/Q%23118.zip

Q#111 December 2016 – January 2017

Please note that the zip file has a password: QCOMPS.BLOGSPOT

Download mix from: http://www.mediafire.com/file/4n55vn2n5kyn246/Q%23111.zip

Q’s Compilations

Volume #111 December 2016 to January 2017

Here we are, 2017. A common theme throughout last year was the feeling that this year had to be better than 2016, but with an unstable 5-year old in the White House we’ll just have to see how this plays out. As usual, the first mix of the year is a collection of my favourite releases of the previous 12 months, so let’s get to it.

01) The Men – Dreamer: The Men’s sixth album, Devil Music, was self-released via their own “We Are The Men” label, rather than their typical home of Sacred Bones. The record is raw and unrelenting, which is a nice change of pace from the band’s last couple of albums which focused more on sounding like Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.

02) Big Ups - Contain Myself: A staple on the local Brooklyn scene of the last few years, Big Ups were always a high energy shot in the arm when they played live and 2014’s Eighteen Hours of Static was a post-hardcore triumph. However, Before a Million Verses sees the band go up a couple of gears in terms of songwriting and craft, the Slint comparisons are unavoidable but they do it brilliantly.  

03) Jesu & Sun Kil Moon – Carondelet: Kozelek’s output rate doesn’t seem like dropping anytime soon, and there is even a second collaborative album set for release this year called 30 Seconds to the Decline of Planet Earth. Let’s stay on track though, with 2016’s self-titled release, which was a sprawling, diverse record, although Kozelek’s stream-of-consciousness vocals shows no sign of slowing down. It was nice to hear him backed by some chugging guitars.

04) Nothing - The Dead Are Dumb: Nothing made our 2014 list with Guilty of Everything, and while the chunky guitars are still common two years later, it’s when the band tackle a more classic shoegaze sound on Tired of Tomorrow where they really excel; tracks like The Dead Are Dumb, Everyone is Happy and Our Plague have all the floating qualities of Slowdive (with whom they had a brief run-in then make-up over twitter). It’s hard not to get caught up in guitarist/singer Domenic Palermo’s life in the music and lyrics, he was attacked and left with a fractured skull, his father died and then found out the label they were on was being bankrolled by Martin Shkreli. This all makes for a rather downbeat record, but Vertigo Flowers, A.C.D and Curse of the Sun pack enough hooks and punch across the album to stop you falling too far down. “Isn’t it quite the same, And isn’t it such a shame, Too heavy for the lightness, But weightless in the rain, All our words are wasted”

05) Radiohead – Identikit: I got a little nostalgic for this one - The closest I can imagine to living through Beatle-mania was being in Oxford just before OK Computer was released, there was a local build-up that I have never experienced at any time or place since (even though in reality they’ve always been left well alone when I’ve seen them walking the streets of Oxford). Who knows what we would have done if it was terrible. Radiohead’s legacy these days would remain untarnished if they released a 45-minute fart over Thom Yorke beat-boxing, though even after the somewhat tepid King of Limbs, the fervour of 1998 seemed as distant as it should, did the world even need another Radiohead album? For a band with nothing to prove to anyone, they certainly did anyway. A Moon Shaped Pool may be their darkest release yet. Jonny Greenwood’s string arrangements add an extra dimension and the band know when to drench songs in layers or let the arrangements breathe, leaving you hanging on every note. For a record that dips into the archives of unreleased tracks multiple times, it has a more natural flow than any album since Kid A and while some bands benefit from honing their skills on staying on track (more on that later), no band benefits more from pushing themselves into new territory, even after all this time.

06) Holy Fuck – Shivering: The Toronto group’s first album in 5 years, Congrats takes their signature sound and makes you feel as if you’re in the room watching them play. Speaking of which, if you get the chance to see them live, don’t pass it up.

07) A Tribe Called Quest - We the People: Their first album in 18 years, We Got It From Here…Thanks You 4 Your Service, was released shortly after Phife Dawg’s death. My only criticism is that it feels a little long, but the material is among their best and as you can imagine, they have plenty to say about current events.

08) David Bowie – Lazarus: There’s pretty much nothing that can be said about the loss of David Bowie, and what a swansong. Hard to think it’s over a year since he died. “This way or no way, You know I'll be free, Just like that bluebird, Now, ain't that just like me?”

09) La Sera - Too Little Too Late: Yet another of my Free Williamsburg reviews - Few musicians step out from the shadows of a band to produce better work on their own, but when Katy Goodman formed La Sera in 2010 while Vivian Girls (2007-2014) were still active, she has managed just that. Music for Listening to Music to is the band’s fourth album, and the first with with guitarist (and husband) Todd Wisenbaker officially on-board (though he was a major player on 2014’s Hour of the Dawn). Produced by Ryan Adams, the record bops between country twang and Johnny Marr/Peter Buck-influenced arpeggios, while Adams has also coaxed a much more confident vocal performance out of Goodman which you always felt was bubbling under the surface on previous records. Wisenbaker produces an understated guitar masterclass throughout which is worthy of celebration alone. “When it's too little too late, That's when it starts to make the most sense, sense to me, When I look back on my life, That's when I start to cry, my failures come to be, It kills me “

10) The Jigsaw Seen - Let There Be Reverb: I’d honestly just assumed that The Jigsaw Seen had broken up years ago, having fallen in love with My Name Is Tom years ago on the Children of Nuggets boxset, but they never went away. Old Man Reverb is a lovely collection of songs and now I’m playing catchup on the band’s discography.

11) The Posies - Squirrel vs Snake: One of my favourite songwriting duos returned this year with Solid States, their first album in six years. Off the back of drummer Darius Minwalla’s tragic death, some of the subject matters are understandably morose, but there is a lot of positivity too.

12) Fly Ashtray – Mulligan: Fly Ashtray may be New York’s most underappreciated band, and new album We Buy Everything You Have is another stellar set of jangle-infused tunes that frequently stray from songwriting templates.

13) Teenage Fanclub - Thin Air: Teenage Fanclub albums aren’t terribly frequent but you can always bet on them to deliver a gorgeous collection of power-pop tunes a couple of times a decade. I might have cooled on Here from the initial euphoria of a new fannies album, but it’s still another great addition to one of the best discographies around. “And I've been meaning to take a chance on something, I'm a greenfield site for sore eyes, and sore eyes,

Are just needing the light, the shapes and the shadows, Of the space we share, Before it slips into thin air”

14) Robbie Fulks - Aunt Peg's New Old Man: A couple of years ago a friend told me “you’re in America now, you’re going to a country show!” and took me to see Robbie Fulks, I now try and see him every time he plays. Last album, Upland Stories is a bit more downbeat than normal but he does still sneak in some humourous tracks like this one. “She liked just fiddeling, No doubt, Liked his help on the railroad route, And the rest I don't want to think about, Aunt Peg's new old man”

15) Preoccupations – Stimulation: The band formerly known as Viet Cong, Pre-Occupations changed their name this year after catching flack for some time. I think it’s a bit silly for bands to change names, and the list of groups who would have to change their name due to possibly “offending” anyone would be quite long. One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is the band’s sound.

16) Fear of Men – Sane: I’m just going to copy what I wrote for Free Williamsburg… After the band’s wonderful 2014 debut, Loom, it would have been easy for the Brighton trio to simply rehash the formula of bright guitars and swaying harmonies backing Jessica Weiss’ longing vocals. Rather than accentuate their poppy tendencies, Fall Forever takes a daring step back, focusing on mood and texture, with barely a conventional guitar chord in sight. Fall Forever doesn’t get out of second gear and all the better for it, with sparse drumming and more emphasis on Weiss’ lyrics, who has skipped the metaphors and isn’t afraid to tell us what a terrible year she has had. Everything is laid bare and would fall completely flat in lesser hands, but Fear of Men have made depression sound beautiful, and that is worth clinging to.

17) Springtime Carnivore - Rough Magic: Another of my Free Williamsburg picks… If there is a more vivid break-up album in 2016 then I didn’t hear it, though despite the sometimes bleak lyrics, there is plenty of optimism to be found in the cracks. I was a big fan of the self-titled debut from 2014 and as with that record, Greta Morgan recorded most of the instruments herself, but Midnight Room benefits greatly from pushing her voice way up in the mix. Providing my favourite vocal performance on record this year, her range is astounding as well as choosing when to deliver a restrained croon or belting it out. The record is mostly front-loaded with the upbeat tracks before sending you off on a lullaby, something we discussed in an interview when the album was released (“I only realized recently that the reason I love closing records with a slow song is because of “Goodnight” by The Beatles, which is the perfect closer to on The White Album. I’ve always been a fan of a lullaby goodbye.”). “I couldn't wait, I took the bait, Of a broken fantasy, For a while I was walking tall, Now I'm falling to my knees”

18) Katy Goodman & Greta Morgan - Pay to Cum: Cover albums are hard to pull off, you really have to make the songs your own and both Katy Goodman and Greta Morgan manage that perfectly on Take It It’s Yours, it’s a collection of punk and new wave classics but the tracks are slowed down and the vocals bring out a hidden quality of the lyrics. This is a Bad Brains tune of course.

19) Nada Surf - Victory's Yours: Probably my favourite album of the year, and one I also picked for Free Williamsburg’s round-up Nada Surf should be considered one of New York’s greatest bands, which is a claim only strengthened with the release of You Know Who You Are, their seventh original studio album. Twenty years after their debut High/Low and subsequent surprise hit, Popular, the band have only improved over time (can you say that about any other band who are ever considered a one-hit-wonder early on?). With the addition of cult-guitar hero Doug Gillard as an official member, the now four-piece effortlessly crafted a power-pop record of love, loss, and trying to get by in bleak times; something pertinent in 2016. Matthew Caws has clearly listened to himself, as the chorus in Believe You’re Mine consist of the lines “one day, I’ll love somebody else, one day, I’ll be good to myself”, and as reported in the New York Times, he recently re-married. To hear these songs and see Caws come through the other side gives hope in what seems like a broken year, it has certainly been one of my most listened-to records in some time and I don’t know where I’d be without it. Musically the band don’t veer too far from a template they have near perfected over the course of their career, but sometimes you need that reassuring embrace of an old friend, or a favourite band… Nada Surf have almost single-handedly saved 2016. “Some days just won't start, I wake up and it falls apart, Spend my time trying to figure you out but, I never get very far, I think I'm walking out of this fight, There's a spark and it's just within my sight”

I hope you enjoyed the mix as usual, and I hope your 2016 wasn’t terrible either. Regardless of how it was, here’s to a better 2017. The picture is of me trying to ignore people making out at a concert for when Other Music sadly closed, and for some reason I felt like it sort of summed the whole sad year up.

Peace and love

Q 

Q#110 October – November 2016

Please note that the zip file has a password: QCOMPS.BLOGSPOT

Download mix from: http://www.mediafire.com/file/spbpbe2geh2kcsy/Q%23110.zip 

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#106 February – March 2016

Please note that the zip file has a password: Q106

Download mix from: http://www.mediafire.com/download/7cpli6i4oys8lfz/Q106.zip

Q’s Compilations

Volume #106 February – March 2016

A slow start to the year is starting to pick up a little bit now, spring is here officially! This mix is a combination of songs I couldn’t fit onto the “best of 2015” mix, new songs and older material that I wanted to use for some reason or another. A bit of a mish mash as usual, hopefully there is something for you to enjoy.

01) Dimnas III - I Won't Love You Again: Kicking things off with a soul number, courtesy of Numero’s Royal Jesters release. I love the grit in the vocals but have to confess to knowing nothing about the group. Just enjoy it!

02) Boogarins - 6000 Dias: Brazilian band Boogarins followed up 2013’s As Plantas Que Curam last year with the rather excellent Manual on Other Music. They seem more focused and confident with their songwriting and is one of my favourite albums of the year so far. Having not seen them since 2014 I’m hoping to catch their show at Baby’s All Right on the 14^th of April.

03) Pete Astor - Really Something: Pete Astor formed The Loft in 1983 and was one of the earliest signings on Creation Records, fast forward many years and Astor’s sporadic discography is a treasure. This particular album, Spilt Milk, was record by James Hoare of Veronica Falls, The Proper Ornaments and Ultimate Painting (all 3 of which have featured on these compilations).

04) Nada Surf - Believe You're Mine: I really can’t say anything new about Nada Surf, they might just be the most important band to me. 4 years after the release of The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy, the band have just released their 8^th album, You Know Who You Are. Lyrically it certainly seems like Matthew has gone through a bit of a hard time in the last few years, with many lyrics in particular hitting close to home, I think he’s one of the best songwriters of all time and should get more credit. The album is filled with all their signature power pop, they just do what they do better than anyone else.

05) Crow Bait – 83: Long Island Trio Crow Bait produce the kind of unadulterated songwriters indie-rock the likes of Buffalo Tom were knocking out in the 90s. Signed to Don Giovanni records, they have one album to date, 2014’s Sliding Through The Halls Of Fate.

06) Robyn Hitchcock - I'm Only You: Deserving of “National Treasure” status, I hadn’t seen Robyn Hitchcock since 2010 in Oxford, and due to the genrousity of a friend, managed to put that right last November when he played at City Winery. He played this song (from 1985’s Fegmania! Album) and while I could have chosen from a few dozen tracks, I was reminded just how much I liked it. “Said I'm a pattern on a china bowl, I'm a memory engraved upon your soul, I'm a prison cell without a door, I'm a finger drawing, On a frosty window pane”

07) Advaeta - Church Cult: I saw Brooklyn-trio Advaeta just over a year ago supporting Moon Duo and while I was deeply impressed with their set, I just didn’t get round to seeing them again and they flew off my radar for a little bit. Thankfully that changed when I saw their record for sale at Other Music, and it’s as varied and intricate as I remember.

08) Big Ups - National Parks: Second albums are notoriously difficult, but Big Ups have gone up at least a couple of levels with the release of Before a Million Universes, which sees them slow things down a little from their hardcore origins and adopt a more Slint-like approach.

09) PINKWASH - Longer Now: Philadelphia duo PINKWASH released the incredible Your Cure Your Soul EP in 2014 and are set to unleash their debut full length in May called Collective Sigh. This is the first song to be released from it and doesn’t stray from the sound of their debut EP, all the better for it.

10) Jesu & Sun Kil Moon - Good Morning My Love: Just when you think Kozelek simply can’t possibly write any more lyrics, he takes his stream-of-consciousness style to yet another level on a collaborative album with Jesu. Musically the record is pretty diverse, with crunching slowcore electric guitars on some songs and electronic drums and keyboards on others.

11) Vaadat Charigim - Imperia Achrona: Israeli band Vaadat Charigim, whose name roughly translates as committee of the abnormal, released their second album, Sinking As A Stone, on Burger Records last year. They sing in Hebrew but to see these it gives the songs an otherworldly quality that befits the genre. I caught the band on their first tour of the US in 2014 but missed their last New York show (though I did see them in Austin last year), I’ll be putting that right when they play at Palisades on the 30^th of March.

12) Hilly Eye - Jersey City: Brooklyn two-piece Hilly Eye consist of guitarist/vocalist Amy Klein and drummer/vocalist Catherine Tung, they formed in 2009 and have one album to date, 2013’s Reasons to Live. I hadn’t heard of the band before but received it in a random assortment of vinyl I purchased from Don Giovanni’s moving sale and was won over instantly with their slowcore quiet/loud anthems.

13) Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Melt Your Heart: Rabbit Fur Coat is 10 years old this year and Jenny Lewis played a few special shows in celebration of the landmark. I caught one of the shows at the Beacon Theatre and despite being almost the farthest from the stage that you can get there, she made the setting still seem intimate. “Are we killing time? Are we killing each other?”

14) La Sera - Take My Heart: Katy Goodman’s once side-project La Sera is now very much a full time gig, and a duo at that, with now husband Todd Wisenbaker an official member. Music for Listening to Music to just came out via Polyvinyl Records and was produced by Ryan Adams. The album is a perfect continuation of the discography, with some country influences coming to the fore, but it’s the confidence in Goodman’s voice that is the star of the show. “Pick up the pieces, they've flown away, Lift them up gently in your arms and say, Do you believe in me? Do you believe in me?“

15) Sheer Agony – Debonaires: I featured I Have a Dream on the last mix but mostly due to time constraints as it is a short but sweet song. If I had more time I’d have used this track, which is probably my favourite on Masterpiece, there is a real Television-esque guitar wigout that more people deserve to hear!

16) Dead Tenants - Dead Tenants: The rare trinity of band/album/song name come to the fore with this offering as Queens-based trio. There’s more than a little hint of Fugazi on this track, and I caught the end of the band’s set a couple of months ago after going bowling, and those are two things I’d like to repeat!

17) Protomartyr - Why Does It Shake?: Protomartyr might just be everyone’s favourite post-punk band these days, and The Agent Intellect deservedly made many end-of-year-lists and having seen them a few times live now, they might just be hitting the top of their game in all aspects. Some aren’t taken with Joe Casey’s sometimes mumbling delivery but it works for me.

18) Slint - Good Morning, Captain: After using a Big Ups song earlier, I couldn’t help but put something from Slint’s influential 1991 release, Spiderland. That might not have been a great idea though because it just made me sad that I didn’t get to see their last set of reunion shows in 2014.

I’m feeling a little burned out already but have a few days holiday in DC to look forward to, no particular reason, I just wanted to see somewhere new. Hopefully you’ve all heard something new on this mix.

Until next time

Peace and love - Q 

Please note that the zip file has a password: Q106

Download mix from: http://www.mediafire.com/download/7cpli6i4oys8lfz/Q106.zip