Q#124 - February to March 2019

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

Download mix from  https://www.mediafire.com/file/ytrttq5rjrq97oa/Q124.zip/file

Now with added Spotify playlist at end of notes.

Q's Compilations

Vol #124 – February to March 2019

Happy Spring, everyone! This mix is mostly a mish-mash of things I’ve liked in passing in recent weeks/months but haven’t spent enough time listening to, so it’s a way to keep them in my mind as much as anything else. I’d like to say it was a well-thought out ode to the change of season but it was thrown together pretty quickly and often times those are the mixes that are more immediately satisfying to me.

01) Petal – Better Than You: Kiley Lotz’s second full-length album as Petal, Magic Gone, was released in June last year and is equally at home rocking out or with solo guitar/vocal tunes. I’m going with the former to open this mix, and with two full length albums and a debut EP, I’ve enjoyed everything in the discography to date.

02) Soccer Cousins – Holy Smokes: Quite often when writing my “Top 5 Shows of the Weekend” column I end up listening to a dozen or so acts I’ve never hear of before, one of those occasions led me to Soccer Cousins, who have a couple of jangle-infused Eps to date.

03) Eyelids – It’s About to Go Down: This Portland band have some excellent indie credentials, and their last EP, Maybe More, was produced by REM’s Peter Buck. Members of Eyelids have worked with Decemberists, Elliott Smith, Stephen Malkmus and were also Robert Pollard‘s backing band as Boston Spaceships.

04) King Tuff – Thru the Cracks: 2018 saw the release of The Other, King Tuff‘s fourth record, featuring some excellent guest performances from the likes of Ty Segall, Jenny Lewis, Greta Morgan, Mikal Cronin and more. Gone are the 70s classic rock influences and guitar hooks of the last couple of releases, they’ve been replaced with a kaleidoscope of psychedelic pop. Certainly one of those underappreciated records that got forgotten on end-of-year lists (ours included).

05) Flasher – Pressure: Washington D.C.’s Flasher released Constant Image via Domino Records, in June and it does an incredible job of taking a host of influences but packaging up into something distinct. There’s some Magazine, a little Pixies, some Flying Nun sounds, all nicely packaged up in a coherent record. The band features former Priests bassist Taylor Mulitz on guitar.

06) Better Oblivion Community Center – Dylan Thomas: Put two folk-indie-darlings in Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers together and you have Better Oblivion Community Center, their self-titled album was released in January and it’s a very nice record. One critique might be that the album sounds exactly like you’d think it would sound without hearing it based on the collaborators alone.

07) Lala Lala – Destroyer: The Lamb, Lala Lala‘s second album, was released in September via Hardly Art and is absolutely bursting with melody. It’s the kind of record you discover something new each and every time you listen to it, even the melancholic moments (which is possibly the default state of the album) somehow possess a beauty that the best pop songs struggle to capture.

08) Anya Marina – Over You: New York singer-songwriter Anya Marina just released a new EP called Over You, and this is obviously the title-track. I recently saw her at Rockwood Music Hall and while I probably preferred the guitar/bass/drums live version we got, this more pop-oriented tune is still excellent.

09) Molly Nilsson – Gun Control: Swedish synth-pop maestro Molly Nilsson released her eighth album, Twenty Twenty last November and she just writes great songs…

10) Current Joys – Fear: Lo-fi tales of heartache, what could be better? Different Age by Current Joys is a delectably downbeat joy. I’d write more, but I think I nailed it just there.

11) Matt Kivel – L.A. Coliseum: One of my favourite songwriters of the last few years is Matt Kivel, so I was delighted to see his announcement of an upcoming album in May called Last Night in America. This is the only song released from it at the time of this mix, but I’m sure it’s going to be another gorgeous album.

12) Garcia Peoples – Wold’s Illusion: Portland (Oregon) act Garcia Peoples are in a creative streak, having released Cosmic Cash last August, the band are releasing another record, Natural Facts this month (which features this track).

13) The Zells – Brunch: Pittsburgh’s The Zells sound like they should have come from Brooklyn’s Shea Stadium scene. Alas, Shea is no longer around but I’ll take any band that reminds me of it. Failure to Slide was released in October on Crafted Sounds. “Go fry some eggs an’ shit.”

14) Weakened Friends – Blue Again: We had a Portland, Oregon band earlier (Garcia Peoples) so here’s a Portland, Maine band for balance. It’s hard for me to dislike any act on Don Giovanni records and Weakened Friends keep that record going. Big 90s vibe on this and that is not a bad thing.

15) Drahla – Twelve Divisions of the Day: Leeds has had good post-punk cred over the years and Drahla keep that tradition going swimmingly. Recently signed to Brooklyn’s Captured Tracks which seems like a great fit.

16) Vundabar – $$$: Boston trio Vundabar released their third album, Smell Smoke, last year, which married melodic hooks and anthemic choruses with without somehow sounding like an indie-pop band (though this track is maybe a bit more like Ty Segall / Thee Oh Sees).

17) Dark Blue – Waterfront Crystals: I saw Dark Blue at Death By Audio in 2014, just as their debut album was coming out (and the venue was sadly about to close), I thoroughly enjoyed their set but then they went off my radar a bit. The Philly rockers have just released their third album, Victory is Rated, and this is the first song from it. They haven’t changed a whole lot, but in this case, it’s not a bad thing.  

18) Have a Nice Life – Defenestration Song: Connecticut duo Have A Nice Life have released two full length records that mash up industrial, shoegaze, goth, post-rock,drone and doom (basically all the upbeat genres). This is taken from 2014’s Unnatural World.

19) Daughters – Ocean Song: I have my friend Pete to thank for turning me on to Daughters’ excellent 2018 album, You Won't Get What You Want, which was a well deserved entry in our top 25 albums of the year post. I saw them live a few weeks ago and whilst the first couple of songs made me wonder why they had such a great reputation as a live band, they went on to play an incredible set.

20) Hilary Woods – Inhaler: Dublin artist Hilary Woods released her debut solo album, Colt, on Sacred Bones, and it’s a beautifully soothing record. Awash with layers of piano and synth, it really is quite lovely. I hadn’t realised that Woods was the bassist in JJ72, an indie-rock trio who had a couple of decent records in 2000 and 2005 (I saw them opening a show in Oxford in the early 00s and it’s bugging me that I can’t quite place it, The Bluetones, perhaps)

And that’s it! Hope there were things to like on here, I’m pretty happy with it. Looking forward to a trip to Greece, summer concerts and more in the coming months.

As always, Peace and Love - Q

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

Download mix from  https://www.mediafire.com/file/ytrttq5rjrq97oa/Q124.zip/file

Now with added Spotify playlist at end of notes.

https://open.spotify.com/user/vmkqube/playlist/6vpog3cB1loorhSbYHOB4n?si=LBzVONbWT4CcmVHA7zeAKg