Please note that the zip file has a password: QCOMPS.BLOGSPOT
Download mix from: https://www.mediafire.com/file/rqz2rf2iuwrp585/Q116.zip
Q's Compilations
Vol #116 – October to
November 2017
Greetings
to the final mix of the year… seems weird to type but here we are. It has been
a topsy turvy year but I would not change the highs for anything.
01)
Pinkwash - No Real Witness: I went to Princeton recently for hopefully the
final time (work-related) and finally managed to time it for a visit to
Princeton Record Exchange. Managed a reasonably-restrained $100
supermarket-sweep style run which included Pinkwash’s Collective Sigh album for a bargain $10 on vinyl. This tune opens
the record and the pace doesn’t really let up from there.
02)
Against Me! - Dead Rats: Took a friend to see Against Me! for their birthday
recently at Brooklyn Steel. The only other time I had seen the band was at a
surprise show at Saint Vitus and it was a bit of a hardcore-fans-only shitshow
(from my perspective of never having heard a note of the band by that point).
Anyway, fast forward a few years and I enjoyed this show a lot. This is from
the Shape Shift With Me record from
September 2016.
03)
Bleached – Flipside: One of the opening bands for the Against Me! show was
Bleached, who I hadn’t seen since my birthday in 2013, the band have gone a
little more in a pop-rock, cleaner direction since then and, if anything, all
the better for it. “I’m a basket case
with a warm embrace”
04)
Worriers - Future Me: Worriers just released their third record, Survival Pop, and it’s another dose of
melodic pop-punk to follow-up the Laura Jane Grace-produced second album Imaginary Life (hey, that’s three
Against Me things in a row). “When I
leave you’ll never notice it. But I relive those years like phantom limbs”
05)
Hazel English - Never Going Home: A bit of a change of pace here, Hazel English
is an Oakland-based Aussie who makes the kind of treble-heavy, gorgeous synth
and guitar music that was all the rage a few years ago but you don’t hear so
much anymore. That might not be quite true, it’s just that Glasslands hasn’t
existed for four years and that’s where I’d hear this kind of music the most. “Falling in, Inch by inch, I'm not resisting,
And I'm addicted tonight”
06)
Tim Darcy - Still Waking Up: Tim Darcy is the frontman of the magnificent
Montreal band, Ought (who just signed to Merge Records), his debut album, Saturday Night, was released in February
via Jagjaguwar. This is one of the more immediate tracks and has somewhat of a
lullaby quality to it, I picked it up at Princeton Record Exchange and it’s
different enough from Ought to justify the solo release. “Waking up alone, Was always a hard day's night, Oh-Ohh, Cause my head
is full of popular songs, Old ones I never sang along to, Along to, Isn't it
funny how that happens?”
07)
Lee Ranaldo – Circular: Lee Ranaldo is my favourite member of Sonic Youth, and
he continues to release interesting and challenging music that simply isn’t
harking back to former glories (having said that, I do like Thurston Moore’s
solo stuff too!). Electric Trim is
Lee’s latest solo record and was released via Mute in September.
08)
Josh Ritter - Thunderbolt's Goodnight: I bought a Josh Ritter album (Historical Conquests) when it came out
probably ten years ago and liked it but never kept it in rotation and probably
didn’t give him another thought until this year. I saw him live last month and
he put on a good show, his lyrics really came to the fore. This tune in
particular resonated pretty strongly and comes from his latest record, Gathering, which was released in
September this year. “I see your face, In
the window, I see your face in the reflections of the moon, I feel my own,
Ancients shadows disappear when I am near to you, So take this heart, Take this
feeling, take my dark and reeling mind, From these poor words, Find a meaning
far deeper than these clumsy lines, And all my life, Before I met you, when I
was trying hard in love, I thought the sun, Was going down, but the sun was
comin' up”
09)
Bill MacKay & Ryley Walker - Stretching My Dollar In Piano: I decided to
get out of town for a few days so headed to Asheville. As always when I decide
to go somewhere I scour for shows to attend and noticed that Bill MacKay and
Ryley Walker were doing a show, I’d never heard of the former but admire
Ryley’s work. Turns out the two of them have released two records together of
instrumental acoustic music and thankfully it was exactly what I was in the
mood for (earnest singer-songwriter lyrics would not have been welcome on yet
another solo holiday).
10)
A. Savage - Indian Style: Parquet Courts’ Andrew Savage just released his debut
solo record, Thawing Dawn, and it’s a
more melodic, often sombre offering than anything they’ve released. In one of
those lost-in-translation moments between US and UK vernacular, I didn’t know
that “indian style” meant sitting cross-legged until I heard this song.
11)
The Beatles - Here, There and Everywhere: I saw Paul McCartney recently at
Barclays Centre and he put on another excellent show, I was a little hesitant
to see him again after the spectacular show I saw in 2010, but it was more than
worthwhile. It got me thinking about underrated Beatles tunes and this might
even be my second favourite song by them (after Here Comes the Sun). “Here, making each day of the year, Changing
my life with the wave of her hand, Nobody can deny that there's something there,
There, running my hands through her hair, Both of us thinking how good it can
be”
12)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cheated Hearts: I’ve almost certainly used this song at some
point, probably a decade ago so I’m not going to be feel too precious about
repeats… anyway, the band played at Kings Theatre a few weeks ago and being the
only venue I’ve ever been able to walk to, it was rude not to go. They played a
blinder (graciously ignoring their only dud of a record, 2013’s Mosquito, almost entirely) and this has
possibly my favourite YYYs song.
13)
The Rubinoos - I Want to Be Your Boyfriend: One of the great powerpop songs,
I’ve had this in my head a lot for the last couple of months so figured the
best way to deal with it was to throw it on the mix. The Berkeley, California
quartet played a couple of shows in New York in the summer and I’m pretty
bummed I had to miss them. “Late at night
when I, when I can't sleep, Picture in my mind, I see you and me, I, I'm
telling you what I wanna be, You, you're saying you're in love with me, And oh,
it feels so good in a dream, That I know in life it's just got to be, I wanna
tell you...”
14)
The Final Solution – Brotherman: Brotherman
was to be a blaxploitation pic in the mid 70s and Final Solution were all
set to do the soundtrack, but unfortunately the film was cancelled even before
a single roll of film was shot. Thirty years later, the Numero Group did their
thing and pulled the record together and it stands up wonderfully on its own.
15)
Jackie Shane - Any Other Way: Another obscure treasure unearthed by Numero,
Jackie Shane briefly made some waves in Toronto in the 60s. Born in Nashville
in 1940 when being black and transgender alone would have been difficult, Shane
identified as a woman in a man’s body by the time she was 13 and emigrated to
Canada in 1959. This cover of the William Bell classic was her biggest success,
reaching number 2 on the charts in Toronto, but since the early 70s she has
been very much a mysterious recluse.
16)
Betty Harris - Hook, Line & Sinker: Another Princeton purchase was Soul
Jazz records 2-LP set The Lost Queen of
New Orleans Soul, I already had one greatest hits package of hers on CD but
couldn’t help myself. Both Mean Man and
There’s a Break in the Road are two
of my favourite songs of all time and this song just jumped out at me when it
hadn’t distinguished itself before.
17)
The Mountain Goats – Shelved: Despite not being hugely into the band’s latest
effort, Goths, in comparison to other
records, The Mountain Goats might be my second-most listened to act of the year
and I caught them for the first time in a couple of years recently at Brooklyn
Steel. This track is probably my favourite from the new record. The Peter
Hook-esque bassline in the second half of the song is a pure delight.
18)
The Afghan Whigs - Arabian Nights: Afghan Whigs are one of my favourite bands
but their latest release, In Spades,
was released in May and mostly passed me by. The record is pretty good but
sometimes missing a band on tour when they’re supporting their latest efforts
means I barely get round to listening to the album itself.
19)
Super Static Fever - Areness For Fun: Here’s yet another Numero re-issue of a
band that could scarcely have been more obscure. Existing for a couple of years
and only playing a handful of shows, unfinished tapes from two recording
sessions were mixed by Steve Albini.
20)
L.A. Witch - Baby in Blue Jeans: Five years after the band released their demos
and after a handful of single releases, the Los Angeles trio finally released a
debut full length (self-titled) via Suicide Squeeze. If you like your rock from
the reverb-drenched desert, then this should tickle your fancy.
21)
Grizzly Bear - Sky Took Hold: Yet another band I like who released a record
I’ve been a little underwhelmed by, Grizzly Bear released Painted Ruins, their first effort in five years. This tune is an
absolute delight, however, and I probably owe the record a few more passes.
And
there you go. I have to admit, this was somewhat hastily put together and I’ve
written these notes on a pretty reclusive thanksgiving weekend
As
always, Peace and Love. Hope everyone had a good 2017 and here’s to a better
2018 for all - Q
Please note that the zip file has a password: QCOMPS.BLOGSPOT
Download mix from: https://www.mediafire.com/file/rqz2rf2iuwrp585/Q116.zip
