Please note that the zip file has a password: QCOMPS.BLOGSPOT
Download mix from: http://www.mediafire.com/file/c0ir8pqqdcdw80l/Q117.zip
Q's Compilations
Vol #117 – December
2017 to January 2018
Greetings!
If you’re reading this, then congratulations on surviving 2017, it certainly
wasn’t without its troubles, but there were some truly wonderful moments too.
As is the norm, the first mix of the year is a “best of”, which is more of a
“best acts of 2017” since I may already have used songs I preferred already and
don’t want to double up, but you get the idea!
01)
Metz - Mess of Wires: The Toronto trio will most likely never change, and
sometimes that isn’t a bad thing. While their third album, Strange Peace, is probably different
enough to stop things getting completely stale, their trademark pummelling
approach is unyielding. This track opens the record.
02)
Feral Ohms - Living Junkyard: One of the best shows I saw this year was a free
Feral Ohms set in Union Pool’s back garden. Another band who are just simply
relentless both live and on record, it was a hard task picking a track from
their self-titled album from this year, but needless to say, if you enjoy this
song, there’s more!
03)
Waxahatchee – Silver: I’m just going to be lazy here and re-use what I wrote
for FreeWilliamsburg’s top 25 albums of 2017 post! I saw Waxahatchee early in the year as a duo opening for The New
Pornographers, and I’ve always preferred Katie Crutchfield’s songs when they’re
delivered at their slowest and most bare, so while I enjoyed the first single
from the record (Silver), I was hoping the bigger sound wasn’t going to be the
norm. However, the sign of a great writer is to take you along with them and
turn you around, and Out
in the Storm is her best effort yet, with more layers and more
guitars than before, turns out their all the better for it!
04)
The Courtneys - Silver Velvet: I used Country
Song back on Q#112, but this might just be the most me song of 2017. The first non-kiwi band to sign to the legendary
Flying Nun label, I’ve conspired to miss them the couple of times they have
played in New York and hope to not make it a hat-trick the next time. The
Vancouver trio released II in
February. “Can't get you out of my head,
Even through the miles, I know that it is wrong but you, Just seem to drive me
wild. And nothing you say and nothing you do, Can stop me from thinking about
you, Doesn't matter if it's right, You're just the one I like”
05)
Alex Napping - Temperamental Bed: I used the near-perfect Living Room on Q#112, which is on the band’s second album, Mise En Place which was released in May.
The rest of the album doesn’t quite hit the same heights but it’s a delightful
record. “How do you talk about a moment?”
06)
Ryan Adams – Doomsday: Another of my FreeWilliamsburg contributions (the title
track appeard on Q#113) - Sometimes a record comes along that just captures you
in the moment. I’d dipped in and out of Ryan Adams’ discography about 15 years
ago but I didn’t feel it at the time and never went back. However, I don’t
think I’ve ever listened to an album so many times in a single year than I have
done Prisoner, since I was a teenager. The title track in particular tackles
that well-worn subject of forbidden love perfectly that even great writers can
only manage sparingly, if at all. While some may prefer Adams in a more rustic
vein, the immaculate production is another triumph here, and though I could
understand people saying that it’s perhaps a bit too similar to his self-titled
album from 2014, and even though this ends up as #6 on our list, it’s hard for
me to see past this being my personal favourite of 2017 by some distance. “Can you stand and face your fears, my love?
I will for you. I could stand in just one place, my love, And never move. As
the fire burns around us in the dark, One part is the world and one's my heart”
07)
Future Islands – Shadows: I used Aladdin on
Q#113, and with The Far Field, the
band kept the same formula that worked so well for them on Singles. For that reason, it seems to have been forgotten somewhat
on most end-of-year lists, which is probably fair. It’s still a good record
overall, albeit somewhat safe. A victim of their own success, perhaps.
08)
Curtis Harding - Wednesday Morning Atonement: Another Free Williamsburg blurb: Anyone who follows Free Williamsburg won’t be surprised to
see Curtis represented in this list, we’ve been huge supporters since the very
beginning. His debut album, Soul
Power, was so good that the three years it took for Face Your Fear to come
out has seemed like an age. It has, however, been worth the wait, and while the
debut was laced with horns and guitars, his latest effort is more like a
contemporary take on smoother soul, with keyboards coming to the fore. The star
of the show, is of course, Harding’s vocal delivery, which is even better than
before. Not only is he continuing to be the only modern soul artist I can think
of that doesn’t sound derivative of the past, his latest efforts show another
great quality, someone who doesn’t want to make the same record twice. “Hello children, Well it's been, Such a very
long time, Now I've finally found the mind, To explain, Where I've been living,
Now I know I'm here to stay, Waiting on this better day”
09)
Big Thief - Shark Smile: Another FW rip! Brooklyn-based quartet Big
Thief stepped up their game massively in 2017, and that’s
saying something after their 2016 debut, Masterpiece. While the former was a wonderful
record, Capacity somehow
manages to handle the fragile melodies and delicate finger picked guitar parts
with so much more confidence, while also becoming more bare and intimate at the
same time; quite the achievement. As long as Adrianne Lenker and co keep
putting out records this beautiful, we won’t have to pine for the days when
Mark Kozelek could remember what a vocal melody sounded like. “And she said woo, Baby, take me, And I said
woo, Baby, take me too”
10)
Molly Burch - Please Be Mine: Oops, I thought I was diligent but I just noticed
that I did already use this track on Q#114 (and I’d used my favourite track
from the record, Please Forgive Me on
Q#112!). Probably the most chilled release of 2017.
11)
The Magnetic Fields - Have You Seen It In the Snow: Stephin Merrit released 50 Song Memoir this year (he actually
turned 50 in 2015 but that’s a minor technicality), with one song for each year
of his life. As one can imagine, it’s a bit much to be memorable all the way
through, but it still has all the classic vibes of a Magnetic Fields record. “They say this city is dirty and gray, But I
think it's pretty on a summer day, And on rainy nights, When the streets smudge
the lights, It's beautiful, you know”
12)
No Joy – Hellhole: No Joy went shoegaze on their Creep EP from February 2017, and it’s a move they pull off with
great aplomb.
13)
Dream Wife – Somebody: I have to admit, I was somewhat struggling for
inspiration at times with this mix, and while searching for upcoming gigs,
realised I hadn’t actually checked out Dream Wife yet amid some hype I’ve
heard. The London-based trio (via Icland and Brighton) are releasing their
debut record in 2018 but tunes like this (which was released on the Fire EP this year) make for one of the
most anticipated for the year.
14)
Priests – JJ: My Free Williamsburg blurb again: While DC political-punks Priests have been around since 2012, this year
saw the release of their debut full-length album, Nothing Feels Natural, via
their own Sister Polygon label. The album has more of a post-punk influence
than the earlier Eps and despite the name of the record, it definitely feels
like a natural move for the quartet. Priests are perhaps the best current
example of a band that are the sum of their parts, with Taylor Mulitz (bass)
and Daniele Daniele (drums) forming one of the most interesting rhythm sections
around, GL Jaguar’s classic post-punk tone, and Katie Alice Greer’s vocals have
found an expanded range and sound from their earlier Eps that go perfectly with
the new material.
15)
Thundercat - Them Changes: Drunk came
out with a lot of acclaim in 2017 but I felt like the praise had died down
somewhat by the end of the year, and that might be a fair reflection of the
kind of record it is, there’s a lot to love on a couple of listens, but the
highlights appear few and far between on closer inspection. It is, however,
still an enjoyable record with some fantastic bass work in particular.
16)
Destroyer - Cover From the Sun: I didn’t give Ken a whole lot of thought when it was released in October but when
it came to cramming in some records for research purposes I found it a very strong
record. It seems unfair to say that I find it harder to separate Dan Bejar from
New Pornographers than Neko Case or AC Newman, especially given that Destroyer
is further removed than their solo work is. Alas, this is one of the more
straightforward songs from the album but the sugar rush drew me to it for this
mix.
17)
Justin Currie - I'll Leave It To You: His fourth solo release, possibly the one
person outside and friends and family who has had the most impact on me as a
person, This Is My Kingdom Now goes
back to more of a What Is Love For vibe
(his first solo record after Del Amitri). This is a typically sombre affair as
most of his piano-led songs are, but there are some delightful harmonies here
too!
18)
Pile – Texas: A Hairshirt of Purpose saw
Boston’s Pile kick things up a notch, with more intensity and focus, which
seemed a hard task considering 2015’s You’re
Better Than This seemed hard for them to top.
19)
Guided By Voices - Cheap Buttons: What can one say about Guided By Voices, and
Robert Pollard in particular, that hasn’t been said before. August By Cake was Pollard’s 100th
release of his career. That’s right… one-hundred. And he still managed to get
another one out by the end of the year. Augusts
By Cake was the band’s first double-record and it flies by with all the
hallmarks of a great GBV record.
20)
Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires - Save My Life!: My last Free Williamsburg
bit: We’ve liked Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires
since first stumbling onto a set at CMJ in 2014, and while their record at the
time was a blaze of AC/DC-inspired southern rock and roll (released via Sub
Pop), I was very excited to hear that they had signed to Don Giovanni Records
for what would be their third album, Youth
Detention. The rough edges have been sharpened and while the fire
is still there in spades, I would say Youth
Detention is perhaps the best radio-rock album I have heard in
many a year, the songs hit fast and true but are filled with catchy hooks and
one can’t help but feel like this is an album that should be in everyone’s car.
This is a record that deserves to be paid for, and played loud, with a smile on
your face.
21)
Steven Wilson – Detonation: Steven Wilson turned 50 this year and released his
fifth solo record, To the Bone,
though I have to confess I’m rather lukewarm to it. He’s either a victim of his
own success for me or more likely, I don’t think his work is challenging or
changing enough, which has been the case since Porcupine Tree’s 2002 In Absentia record. Granted, his first
couple of solo records seemed an uptick from PT’s end. I threw this on the end
because I didn’t know where else to put it, and then since forgot I had omitted
songs by B Boys and Cayetana. Alas, it’s not exactly a bad record and I do like
this song!
And
there we have it, 2017, folks. There’s a lot of hard work ahead for 2018 but
I’m hopeful it’s going to be an excellent one despite some turbulence, the
future looks bright in many ways.
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/c0ir8pqqdcdw80l/Q117.zip
