Q#140 - October to November 2021

 

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

 Download mix from https://www.mediafire.com/file/795p5rmtjplk5dd/Q#140.zip/file

Spotify link at end of notes, follow/subscribe to playlists here 

Q's Compilations

Vol #140 – October to November 2021

 

Happy thanksgiving for those it effects, I’m finishing these notes up on the 30^th so they’ll be brief because I hate missing arbitrary deadlines for these mixes. All but two of these songs have been released in 2021 and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. The next mix will be the usual “best of” the year’s music.

01) Bliss Fields - What Kills You: This Toronto quintet were formerly known as Iris (albeit with a slightly different line-up, which led to the name change for a clean slate), put out a wonderful shoegaze EP back in August (this is the title track), this was another discovery during a bandcamp Friday spending spree (“oh you bought so-and-so, check out this band”, Bandcamp is pretty good at this…). They’ve since signed to Acrobat Unstable and are set to release a full LP called Slowly Forever.

02) Taraka – Pyschocastle: Former Princa Rama frontwoman Taraka Larson just put out her debut solo record, Paradise Lost in October and it’s a bit of a low-key triumph, I can’t quite place which of the now sadly departed NYC DIY venues I can most imagine seeing this live but there’s something about the record that transports me back to 2012-2014 in particular. This song in particular has some strong Deerhunter Microcastle-era vibes now I’m typing this.

03) Ducks Ltd - How Lonely Are You: Another band from Toronto to open the mix up, although the vibe is so rooted in that New Zealand / Flying Nun sound, which is only ever a good thing. The band’s debut album, Modern Fiction came out on the 1^st of October and if you dig this song then there’s plenty more like on the record.

04) Chime School - Taking Time to Tell You: You won’t be shocked to hear that this band is from San Francisco and signed to Slumberland Records, though there’s something very British about the album! Their self-titled debut album came out on the 5^th of November. “What are you gonna be now? Maybe you thought you would know, Maybe you thought the world would tell you so, But you're miles away”

05) Belaver - In the RL: I honestly can’t remember where this record, Lain Prone, which came out on the 22^nd of October, came my way, but there was something about the groove and laid-back mix that intrigued me straight away.

06) Fruit Bats - Rips Me Up: Part “best-of” and part “rarities/odds-and-sods” collection, Sometimes a Cloud Is Just a Cloud: Slow Growers, Sleeper Hits and Lost Songs is a double-LP collection that Merge records are releasing in January. This is a tune that didn’t make the cut for the last Fruit Bats album, Pet Parade that came out in March.

07) Vundabar - Devil for the Fire: Boston act Vundabar’s 2020 record Either Light was under-loved and surprisingly poppy on occasion, they just announced a new album, Devil for the Fire, of which this is obviously the title track and comes out on the 11^th of February.

08) Porcupine Tree – Harridan: Now here’s a track to unpack… Porcupine Tree have announced their first album since 2009’s The Incident, the new album is called Closure / Continuation and comes out in June. Porcupine Tree were incredibly dear to me from 2000 to when they disbanded. Indeed, I saw what is currently their last ever show at the Royal Albert Hall in 2010, though a new tour has been announced for 2022. I don’t know if I’m excited or not at the news, I think I am, although selfishly I wish this song didn’t sound like it could have been on any of their 2005-2009 releases, but I think that’s ultimately to be expected. Gavin Harrison’s drumming is robotically exemplary, and it’s nice to hear Richard Barbieri again, a lot of fans are making a stink that Colin Edwin isn’t involved but give me Colin Edwin on fretless bass or a stand-in will probably be fine. I suspect I will fall back in love with the band when the album drops and hopefully a New York show gets announced.

09) Cola - Blank Curtain: I was saddened to hear that one of my favourite bands in the last decade, Ought, broke up, but within the same announcement they gave news of a new band, Cola, comprised of Tim Darcy & Ben Stidworthy plus Evan Cartwright from US Girls. Signed to Fire Talk, this is their only recorded release so far but I can’t wait to hear more.

10) Pavement - Elevate Me Later: I was lucky enough to catch Pavement’s 2010 reunion tour at Brixton Academy (with The Clean opening), just looking over the setlist for that show is bringing back a lot of great memories and I was lucky enough to grab a ticket to their recently announced tour which also lucky for me, includes a stop at nearby King’s Theatre. This track is of course from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, which is probably the best Pavement album.

11) Guided By Voices - Black and White Eyes in a Prism: Just the two GBV albums for 2021, you could be forgiven for thinking Bob Pollard was slowing down but I’m pretty sure side-project Cub Scout Bowling Pins came out this year and who knows what else. Anyway, this song is from GBV’s 34^th (I think) record It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them! and they just keep on churning out excellent albums. I can’t really say anything about this one that I couldn’t say about most of the discography.

12) Pip Blom - You Don't Want This: Amsterdam quartet Pip Blom released their second album, Welcome Break, on the 12^th of November via Heavenly Records, and there’s something I’m drawn to with the vocals in particular; the verses remind of Robyn Hitchcock’s vocal delivery, and the choruses are punchy and anthemic. This song opens the record but one of the most difficult choices for this mix was picking just one song from the album. “You try and lie to become somebody, Inside, you still feel like you are nobody, You don't want to forget, You don't want to do”

13) The Reds, Pinks and Purples - Don't Come Home Too Soon: A new album from Glenn Donaldson, Summer at Land's End, will come out in February via Slumberland Records (the second album for the label). This is the only song released from it so far and is, well, definitely a Reds, Pinks and Purples song! As a Del Amitri fan, I did wonder for two seconds when I saw the title if he was covering their 1998 world cup song for the Scotland football team, though ultimately glad it wasn’t.

14) Marissa Paternoster - White Dove: Screaming Females virtuoso Marissa Paternoster has released albums under the project Noun, but Peace Meter, out on the 3^rd of December via Don Giovanni Records, is her first release under her name. This track opens the record and there’s something magnetic about the low-key guitars coupled with the slow and steady beat.

15) Dinner - Midnight In My Head: I was a fan of Dinner when he first hit the scene in 2012 and loved the first three Eps but have to confess that I stopped paying attention after that, for reasons I can’t think of. Anyway, Dream Work came out on Captured Tracks in October and it’s a satisfying listen, this track opens the record and features Charlie Hilton of Blouse.

16) Cindy - My Friend: I had not heard of this San Francisco band before the release of their latest album, 1:2, which came out in September. The album is full of, well, for want of a better term, sad songs, but there’s an inherent beauty to the record that makes it somehow uplifting most of the time. “Oh, I’m strange sometimes, you make me nervous as though you could read my mind, and oh, I wish you could my friend, then you could tell me what state my life is in.”

17) Eyelids - Slow it Goes (live): I frequently think “I shouldn’t buy so many physical records”, but the pandemic has really pulled on my heart-strings and when bands put out some limited release (300 pressings in this case) I feel slightly obliged to buy what I can! This song is originally on 2020’s The Accidental Falls.

18) The Great American Novel - Grabbin' a Slice: My friend Brian sent me this song in September and I’ll just re-use his words as I’m lazy! “WFUV does a daily-at-noon thing they call "New York Slice" where they play a random NYC artist right at noon.  Today's was -- hilariously -- named "Grabbin' A Slice"...and it's just perky silly '90s pop/rock fun”. A perfect description, the album, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Online, is chock full of “perky silly 90s pop/rock fun”.

19) Seam – Grain: I used Halo Redux on Q#134 and since then The Numero Group have continued doing their great re-releasing of underground acts, releasing Headsparks in September (just the other three records to re-release now, please).

20) Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Hot Stuff: Yes, this is a cover of the Donna Summer tune by doom experts Pigsx7. Hard to think that Viscerals was a 2020 release. Anyway, this cover was released in October and it seamlessly just sounds like one of their own songs.

21) Parquet Courts - Walking at a Downtown Pace: A band that seems a constant since I moved to New York is Parquet Courts, and they just released their seventh studio album Sympathy for Life on the 22^nd of October via Rough Trade. While there’s an undeniable dance quality to a few of the tunes on the record, it does very much sound like a Parquet Courts album, it’s always a good quality of a band to do something different but still sounding like yourself. “I'm making plans for the day all of this is through, Seeing my path there, hearing the song I'll sing, And food that I'll taste and all the drinks that I'll consume, Return the smile of an unmasked friend”

As always, Peace and Love - Q

Q#139 - August to September 2021

 

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

 Download mix from https://www.mediafire.com/file/ou1fp9hl77nzdge/Q#139.zip/file

Spotify link at end of notes, follow/subscribe to playlists here 

Q's Compilations

Vol #139 – August to September 2021

 

We’re officially into Autumn! I’m struggling for time on these notes so basically no intro here, lots of new stuff, enjoy!

 

01) Squirrel Flower - So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings: One of my favourite records of the year is Planet (i), although I had to wait what seemed like an age to get the special edition version of the record that I’d pre-ordered… it came with a bonus disc of songs that included this cover of Caroline Polachek’s excellent pop-tune. Having said that, this is an example of a cover being better than the original (Waxahatchee has also done a nice acoustic cover). Anyway, go listen to Planet (i) and check out their 2022 tour dates (he says with a hint of optimism). “And I'm out at a party, they're playin' our song, I cry on the dance floor, it's so embarrassing, Don't send me photos, you're makin' it worse, 'Cause you're so hot, it's hurtin' my feelings”

 

02) Curtis Harding - Can't Hide It: Curtis’ third album, If Words Were Flowers, comes out on the 5^th of November and it has been a long four years waiting for a new record… I say the same thing about him every time but he’s really the only artist I can think of who has the essence of classic soul without sounding derivative.

 

03) Spearmint - Bundunyabba Blue: Spearmint’s ninth (I think?) record, Holland Park just came out at the end of September and as with all of their records, it has been released via their own label, hitBACK. The record has a smooth swagger to it for the most part, and is a loose concept album; telling the story of Shirley’s father’s prog band in the early 70s: “They never made it, and there’s nothing online about them, so it’s down to us to tell the story.”

 

04) Dean Wareham - Cashing In: Galaxie 500 / Luna frontman Dean Wareham is about to release just his second solo record, I Have Nothing to Say to the Mayor of LA, which is coming out on the 15^th of October. As with most of Wareham’s work, there’s a breezy quality to the track. “I’m not selling out I’m cashing in”.

 

05) Snarls - Fixed Gear: Burst was one of my favourite albums of 2020 and the Columbus, Ohio quartet are putting out a 5 song EP called What About Flowers in November, this is the lead single and seemingly continues their good form.

 

06) Wednesday - Handsome Man: I’ve so far been to two concerts this year, the second being Beach Bunny at Music Hall Williamsburg, it felt a bit weird being at an indoor show in all honesty, I double-masked but most the audience hadn’t bothered. At least shows here require proof of vaccination now… anyway, Wednesday were one of the openers and I liked them a lot and have enjoyed their record Twin Plagues that came out in August.

 

07) Horsegirl - Sea Life Sandwich Boy: Chicago trio Horsegirl only have a handful of songs out in the world (three on bandcamp right now) but I’m excited by what they’ve put together so far. There’s a lo-fi shoegaze quality to everything thus far.

 

08) Night Shop - Forever Night: Night Shop is the solo project of Justin Sullivan and this is the title track to his second full-length album which is coming out in December. I like the chugging but jangle vibe to this tune, simple but effective.

 

09) The Tubs – Illusion: Joanna Gruesome made a brief splash in the indie scene a few years ago before burning out, so I was pleased to read two of the band had formed The Tubs and just released their debut EP called Names. The vocals are perhaps a bit marmite for some people but I am into it.

 

10) Blunt Bangs – Decide: I can’t say I was familiar with Reggie Youngblood’s previous band, Black Kids, but his new project, Blunt Bangs just released their delightfully hook-laden debut album, Proper Smoker. Next time you just want a fun record without having to think too much, give this one a go. “I’m only asking because you’re weird, and I’m weird too, when I talk to myself you know I’m thinking of you”

 

11) The Umbrellas - She Buys Herself Flowers: You won’t be surprised to hear that this band is from the west coast (San Francisco, to be exact), and while jangle has always felt timeless to me, there is something inherently 80s-college-radio about their self-titled debut album. Captured Tracks recent put out a great 1983-1987 compilation called Strum and Thrum and this sounds like it could have been lifted directly from that.

 

12) The Beths - Whatever (live): Sticking with the jangle/power-pop twofer here, Kiwi act The Beths have released two immaculate records to date and just put out this live album Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 this month, a live album, with an actual audience released in 2020, who would have thought… The Beths can do little wrong to my ears and I’m excited for what they’ll release next. This song is from their debut record Future Me Hates Me from 2019 (though also opens their debut EP  Warm Blood from 2016).

 

13) Mondaze - Words Undone: This band are from Faenza, Italy, which I had to look up, it’s 50km south-east of Bologna and apparently known for their ceramics and almost every picture on google is of the piazza, I’m sure it’s lovely. The quartet are releasing their debut album, Late Bloom in December and based on this lead single fit squarely into the Hum-style of slow and heavy shoegaze.

 

14) Bat Fangs - Queen of My World: Led by Betsy Wright of Ex-Hex, Bat Fangs are following up their 2018 self-titled debut with Queen of My World on the 29^th of October and the title-track would suggest that they aren’t straying from their excellent formula of kick-arse anthemic classic rock.

 

15) Facs - Strawberry Coughs: Chicago trio Facs released Present Tense back in May and almost made it onto the last mix but for time constraints but I’m glad they found a home this time around. I should be seeing the band open for METZ and Preoccupations in December. Facs are a little hard to pigeonhole, focused on atmosphere and a forceful rhythm section with the guitar focused more on texture than your traditional sounds, indie fans may remember Brian Case from The Ponys.

 

16) F.S Blumm & Nils Frahm - Desert Mule: While not exactly prolific as the likes of Bob Bollard or Ty Segall, I still find it hard to keep up with Nils Frahms output and I even felt late to the game when the magnificent Spaces came out in 2013…, this is his fourth collaborative record with F.S. Blumm and they’ve really nailed dub on 2X1=4. Definitely one of the more enjoyably chill records for 2021, and maybe that’s just what we need this year.  

 

17) Hello Mary - Take Something: I have to confess that I can’t remember how I stumbled on this Brooklyn trio’s bandcamp page but the opening guitar riff and the cymbal work really drew me in to this track. As I’m typing these notes it just hit me that the obvious comparison here is Warpaint, but I’m going to keep this sentence anyway (and really, who is reading this anyway?).

 

18) Laura Stevenson - Don't Think About Me: I wonder how many solo artists get to their sixth album before releasing a self-titled album, but that’s what Laura Stevenson just did this August. The record seems like a combination of all her albums to date, maybe that’s a case of not straying too far from what she does, but she does it very well.

 

19) Freezing Cold - Stuck on Hold: I’m heading home next month, which is great, but it does mean I’ll miss a Screaming Females show at Saint Vitus, so while lamenting that (with the full realisation that I’m lucky to be able to lament missing a show of a band I’ve seen many, many times) I was checking out the openers, which happened to be this band. I don’t know a whole lot about them but they just put out two-songs on bandcamp, of which this is one… what do you even call that these days, it should just be a single? (there’s a full album from 2019 too).

 

20) Suzie True – Bailey: Unfortunately I have to also file this one among “I don’t know how I heard of this band…”, but since I’m rambling, I can’t be the only person who gets annoyed when people write about music who clearly don’t really know about the band they’re pretending to know about… so I’d rather just not pretend and say I dig this song and it ended up on the mix, so here we are. This LA trio released a record called Saddest Girl at the Party in November 2020, and it’s pretty good. “Leave the TV on just like a nightlight, Sleeping soundly listening to true crime, Brush your hair back on the beach in December, You said “Let’s freeze to death forever”

 

21) Mono – Riptide: Japanese post-rock band Mono just put out their 11^th studio album in what is now their 22^nd year as a band. Post-rock is a weird genre because while I adore it and have listened to hundreds of records/shows, etc, there’s a pattern that makes it hard for bands to sound distinct from each other, and I just must have some bias because while I struggle with some genres for that reason (blues…), it’s hard for me not to enjoy a post-rock band… Anyway, I enjoyed the fact that this is the kind of song I’d often open a mix with and the opening track is usually the kind I’d close with, and we’ve flipped that here.

 

As always, Peace and Love - Q

Q#138 - June to July 2021

 

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

 Download mix from https://www.mediafire.com/file/umt89os4r0kix46/Q%2523138.zip/file

Spotify link at end of notes, follow/subscribe to playlists here: 

Please note that Bennio Qwerty are not available on spotify, check their bandcamp page.

Q's Compilations

Vol #138 – June to July 2021

 

Greetings and happy, hope everyone is staying healthy and doing well… Anyway, most of this mix as usual is all brand-new, and I’ve gotten over the line thanks to a couple of friends and having to completely rebuild my itunes library from scratch, a clean start has ultimately been quite liberating. While I still had all my files intact, and my ipod classic still going strong after 12 years, it was nice to throw together what I considered essential and then adding anything recent, or things that I didn’t give enough time of day originally. After running an “if I need to add something I have to delete something first” operation for a number of years to the ipod being full, it’s exciting to have a bit of space for a while (and yes I still use my ipod classic a lot!).

01) All Dogs - That Kind of Girl: A beneficiary of my fresh-itunes-start, I thought this was a new record I just didn’t get round to listening, but Kicking Every Day is the band’s only album which came out in 2015. I was trying to figure out how I had this but going through my gig-history it all made sense, they opened for Superchunk when I saw them in 2015. The band is fronted by Maryn Jones who I also like a lot as her pseudonym, Yowler.

02) Guided By Voices - Trust Them Now: Earthman Blues, the zillionth GBV album released since you started reading this sentence (ok it was released at the end of April). There’s nothing new I can write about Bob Pollard and whoever is in his band, the man is a machine.

03) Snarls - Walk in the Woods: I closed Q#136 with Burst, the title track of their record released in March 2020 and I had a hard time picking between that song and this one, so much that I couldn’t get it out of my head recently so here it is. This is the kind of song I love to listen to while walking around the city on a nice day.

04) Bad Bad Hats - Detroit Basketball: Back in normal times, I saw Bad Bad Hats open for The Beths and enjoyed them a lot, but their between-song demeanour really kept them in my thoughts, and now they’ve just signed to one of my favourite labels, Don Giovanni Records. This is the first single from Walkman, that will come out in September.

05) Smile Machine - Pretty Today: Jordyn Blakely has been a mainstay in Brooklyn for some time now as the drummer in many a band you’ll have seen at a DIY venue (Stove, Night Manager, Butter the Children, etc), this is at least to my knowledge the first time she’s fronted a band. Bye for Now is Smile Machine’s debut EP that came out on the 16^th of July and this song and every song is like being in a warm, fuzzy 90s-alt-rock-inspired hug.

06) Bennio Qwerty - The Spell: I could say that this song is on the mix as a result of my itunes reshuffle, but Bennio Qwerty are one of the bands I think about the most who released the least amount of music and seemingly disappeared without a trace. In a list of bands I would put back together, Bennio Qwerty would be up there.

07) Fuzz - The Returning: On a recent trip to Portland (Oregon), it transpired that there was something out on Record Store Day that I felt strongly enough to endure waiting in line over an hour for on holiday (Nada Surf’s Cycle Through EP). Having made everyone else wait for this nonsense, I felt like I should buy a few more things to make it seem more worthwhile, one purchase was the latest Fuzz record, which came out last year.

08) Hovvdy - True Love: A welcome return to Hovvdy, who last appeared on Q#119 back in April/May 2018. This song is the title-track to their new album which comes out in October. There’s something unashamedly radio-friendly about this song, maybe it’s the backing vocals, feels like it should be a low-key summer hit.

09) Bleachers - Stop Making This Hurt: I was struggling to put this mix together for a while, landing a good 20 minutes short when I ran out of steam/influence, but thanks to Adrianna for sending this song, it really tied the mix together (tracks 8-13 almost immediately all fell in place shortly after). Despite Jack Antonoff being one of the most in-demand pop producers over the last decade, and Bleachers themselves being popular, I’d never heard of him or them until now. Their third album, Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, comes out on the 30^th of July (hopefully I’ve finished these notes by then…), but you probably already know that. Anyway, intensely catchy and the type of unabashed pop that I very rarely have or make time for in my life.  

10) Vundabar - Out of It: One of the records that passed me by in 2020 was Vundabar’s Either Light, which had the misfortune of coming out in the middle of March when something else was dominating everyone’s thoughts. Anyway, they released two new songs in May which I like but I’m mostly grateful that it made me go back and listen the Either Light (which this song opens).

11) Lucy Dacus - Hot & Heavy: I bought tickets to see Bright Eyes for a show in June 2020, which fairly swiftly got rescheduled to July 31^st 2021, even as the numbers were going down in May and even early June, I was still wondering if the show would happen since there was no news aside from the original rescheduled date… but towards the end of June they announced yes, the show will go ahead, it’ll be my first concert since March 2020… I’m sure it’ll be great. Oh yeah, why am I mentioning this now, Lucy Dacus is opening the show! One of the indie-darlings of 2021, she just released new album Home Video in June on Matador Records.

12) Riddy Arman - Half a Heart Keychain: Montana-based singer-songwriter Riddy Arman’s debut album (self-titled) comes out in September and this is the lead-single and if you like this you’ll probably like the 9-track/29-minute offering.

13) Dark Tea - Highway Mile: Dark Tea’s second-self-titled album (for clarity, the band’s second album, both albums are self-titled) was released in April and it’s a low-key delightful album, the kind of record you listen to and maybe move on to other things for a few weeks but before you know it you keep coming back for more.

14) Courtney Barnett - Rae Street: like every man and his dog, I loved (and still play) 2015’s Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, and enjoyed 2018’s Tell Me How You Really Feel without ever going back to it. I’m looking forward to new album, Things Take Time, Take Time, which comes out in November. This song opens the album and I got tickets to see her at Radio City in February, which has the, dare I say, even greater benefit of featuring Julia Jacklin as opener.

15) Del Amitri - I'm So Scared of Dying: It’s a failure of mine to be able to put into adequate words the feeling of your favourite band releasing their first album in almost 20 years, is it an excellent album or am I just unable to be objective about such things? I think I’m a pretty rational person, and I love Fatal Mistakes, with this song perhaps being my favourite, there’s an unabashed Neil Young Everybody Knows This is Knowhere vide to this song. I do have tickets to see them on tour in the UK in October but I fear the UK government’s decision to fully re-open the country will result in that not happening, guess I can’t do anything but wait.

16) The Connells - Really Great: Speaking of bands who haven’t released anything in a while, I’ve always had a soft spot for their album Ring which came out in 1993 (casual music fans of the era may remember the minor-hit song 74-75 reached the heady heights of 36 in the UK singles chart). Anyway, this track opens Steadman’s Wake, which is due out in September, their first album since 2001’s Old School Dropouts.

17) The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno: I try never to re-use songs and I know I used Twin Cinema at some point in 2005… it’s my favourite album from the band and they just announced an anniversary tour that rolls into Webster Hall in December, hence another track from the record. They’re also doing another night where they’re playing Mass Romantic but while that’s a good record, it’s just not as satisfying overall.

18) The Ganjas – Revelate: I try to be reasonable with my vinyl-purchasing, it takes up far too much room for an NYC apartment, but I have my (all-too-frequent) weak moments, and if I find an album on Blow Your Mind Records then it’s hard to resist and I managed to come across both Loose (where this track appears) and Daybreak recently. Chilean psyche rock has gotten a lot of praise over the last decade (and it deserves even more!), but we wouldn’t have some of the great bands of today were it now for The Ganjas who have been doing it for over 20 years at this point.

19) Caution - Supplemental Supplement: I’m a digital subscriber to Born Yesterday Records on bandcamp and it’s an excellent way to make you listen to a bunch of new releases as they get delivered to you instantly on release. Caution are a duo from Baltimore and this self-titled EP was released in February of this year, I was randomly flicking through my bandcamp library and this song just jumped out.

20) FCKR JR - Next Best Friends: Another Born Yesterday Records random-listen, FCKR JR are a quartet from Chicago and this album (I’m Sorry Mom and Dad) came out in August 2019. The band is fronted by former Geronimo! bassist and keyboard player Ben Grigg (Geronimo! featured way back on Q#96 seven years ago).

21) Karate – Gasoline: This track opens Karate’s self-titled debut album from 1996, sometimes you come across an old band that really begs belief that you weren’t already a huge fan for decades. Sadly Karate had to disband in 2005 after six albums due to frontman Geoff Farina developing hearing problems after playing almost 700 shows.

22) Bnny – Sure: Another Chicago act, Bnny is signed to Fire Talk Records and debut album Everything is getting released on the 20^th of August. This is the third pre-release single from the album and has a lullaby-like quality that I love putting towards the end of a mix.

23) Yvette - B61: Eight long years after the release of debut album PROCESS, Yvette finally return in September with How the Garden Grows, B61 opens the album and maintains the industrial sound that made Process so great, but there’s a bit more control and refinement, at least on this one song, I can’t wait to hear the whole thing later in the year.

I hope there were things to enjoy on the mix, this one took a while to come together but once the songs started flowing it snowballed pretty quickly.

As always, Peace and Love - Q

Q#137 - April to May 2021

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

 Download mix from https://www.mediafire.com/file/vocrqp8yyhg05tw/Q%2523137.zip/file

Spotify link at end of notes, follow/subscribe to playlists here: 

Q's Compilations

Vol #137 – April to May 2021

I’m finishing these notes up at my usual time of around 1am, feeling grateful to be three-weeks past my second vaccination, but still a little apprehensive/anxious about vaccine hesitancy permeating society; just today I was walking Jackson and heard someone proudly proclaim “I will NEVER take that vaccine”, and with people like that around, I worry we’ll never quite get to the numbers we need to make this go away, and that’s without even thinking about the horrific situation in other parts of the world where covid is still raging out of control. I see achieving “herd immunity” a bit like climate change, getting a good chunk of the way there is in principle pretty easy, but getting to net zero carbon emissions / minimal covid cases in the world, is quite difficult. For climate change, we could decarbonise our grids by ramping up our only source of massive carbon-free energy, nuclear energy, for covid, we have great vaccines, the big problem in the way… people who don’t trust what the science is telling us. The cover for this month’s mix is of Indian Point, the nuclear power plant recently closed thanks to Governor Cuomo’s idiocy and corruption towards the fossil fuel industry (in this case, natural gas). Indian Point was providing a massive amount of carbon free energy for decades and it is impossible to see how the state will reach its climate change goals without it (please read more about this here: http://www.nuclearny.org/indian-point/). Anyway, everything on this latest mix is either brand new, from last year that I had missed out on at the time, and one ancient track all the way back from 2018. I hope you can enjoy it.

 

01) Remember Sports - Pinky Ring: Formerly known as just Sports, the Philly quartet released their fourth album, Like a Stone, in April. This track opens the record and seemed like a typical Q-comp opener! They last appeared on Q#128.

02) Momma – Biohazard: My buddy Felix probably sends me more music recommendations than anyone I know, sometimes so many at once I can’t keep up! He hit a home-run with this LA trio’s second album, Two of Me, which came out in June 2020 and would certainly have been one of my favourite albums if I’d heard it. 

03) Hannah Jadagu - Think Too Much: Recently signed to Sub Pop, who just released her EP What Is Going On, this NYC resident is originally from Mesquite, Texas, and produces some lovely bedroom pop. This is the kind of song that’s perfect to walk around in a daydream on a sunny day in Prospect Park.

04) Hurry - It's Dangerous: Hurry’s latest album (their sixth, I think) is called Fake Ideas and will come out in June, this is the lead single from the album (I’ve pre-ordered it). I saw the band opening for Nada Surf a few years ago and have loved their jangle-indie since, somewhat fittingly, every time I play their records, without fail Emily asks “Is this Nada Surf?”.

05) JayWood - Some Days: Winnipeg, Manitoba, the city of greats such as Crash Test Dummies (I do actually love CTD unashamedly) and  Captured Tracks’ latest signing, JayWood, who just put out his EP, Some Days, when I first heard the noodley guitar intro and that drum shuffle I knew it would be a winner.

06) Molly Burch – Control: I remember falling in love with Molly Burch’s debut album Please be Mine in 2017 but seeing her perform that year, she had the voice but an awkward lack of confidence, when I saw her a year and another album later, she was transformed. Now about to release her third album (I won’t apologise for ignoring a christmas album), Romantic Images is being released by Captured Tracks in July and based on the two singles so far, it should be excellent.

07) Squirrel Flower - Hurt a Fly: Of all the albums released last year that I didn’t hear until now, Squirrel Flower’s I Was Born Swimming might be the one I feel like I missed out on the most (I realise I’ve said similar about Momma above), thankfully Ella Williams has been prolific enough to have another record coming out this year, Planet (i), coming out on the 25^th of June and this is the lead single from it which cropped up in my press releases. I’ve since bought I Was Born Swimming and pre-ordered Planet (i) 

08) Dusted - Little More Time: You wouldn’t know it from the Dusted tracks I’ve used from time to time, but Brian Borcherdt is a founding member of one of my favourite acts of the last fifteen years, Holy Fuck. Whilst his main band is an electronic but fairly organic dance act, his solo output is a brand of much more sombre, traditional songwriting. This is the lead single from his upcoming record, III, (which you might guess, is his third album), the one striking thing about this song is the vocals are much more confident, I’m not saying he’s channelling Jeff Buckley or anything here, but there’s definitely a step up in the delivery.

09) Fog Lake – Jitterbug: It can be a little hard to keep on top of Fog Lake’s discography, especially since I bought all thirteen of his releases on bandcamp earlier in the year, but his latest album, Tragedy Reel, came out in April this year and is another fine addition of his bedroom-slowcore. 

10) Silver Synthetic - In the Beginning: There’s something about this self-titled debut record that seems perfect for ushering summer into our lives. The whole album is like a cool summer breeze, occasions I tend to reach for a Luna album. The record came out in April, following an EP the previous October.

11) The Natvral - Why Don't You Come Out Anymore: Kip Bermen had a great run as The Pains of Being Pure at Heart from 2007 to 2019, and it was a shame when they disbanded, but his new project The Natvral is certainly different enough to justify a rebranding. This song opens new album Tethers and has strong Dylan/Petty vibes.

12) Julianna Hatfield - Moutful of Blood: Blood is set to be Julianna Hatfield’s nineteenth studio album on the 14^th of May, which was recorded mostly at home due to the pandemic, this is the lead single from the album.

13) Pet Fox - Imagine Why: Pet Fox have been kicking around for a few years now, releasing a couple of full length albums but having signed to Exploding In Sound Records, they’ll hopefully get on more people’s radars. Their new three-song EP, More than Anything is excellent and hopefully a new album won’t be too far away. The band consists of Theo Hartlett (Ovlov), Morgan Luzzi (Ovlov), and Jesse Weiss (ex-Palehound, Grass Is Green), if you know those bands already then you won’t be surprised at how Pet Fox sound.

14) Blessed - Structure: One of my favourite albums of 2019 was Salt by this Vancouver quartet, and their four-track follow-up, iii, was released in February.

15) Squid – Pamphlets: It’s always heartening to hear a British band seemingly step-up and do something really great, I thought we’d already gotten the outstanding British record for the year in the bag already with Black Country New Road, but Bright Green Field by Squid might have taken the lead. Records that are hard to sum up are always going to pique my interest, it’s really all over the place and if anything, this might be the most normal song on the album.

16) La Cienca Simple – Distancia: I can never go too long without using a band from Chile on a Q Comp (this act first appeared on Q#119 in April/May 2018), this Santiago-based post-rock squintet have released three records, and this track opens the most recent (2018’s III V VII).

17) Mia Joy - Ye Old Man: I’ll pretty much buy anything that Fire Talk Records put out (indeed, I’m not a monthly subscriber), Spirit Tamer was released on the 7^th May and is a very chill record.

18) Moontype – Ferry: I remember bookmarking this song back in December and falling in love with it pretty instantly, but it’s easy to lose track of bandcamp pages that are single tracks when an album is coming out (with the same song on) months later, so when I listened to Bodies of Water in April it almost took me by surprise when this song appeared late on the record. One of the reasons for that perhaps is that this song is a bit of an oddity on a mostly indie-pop record with a few more BPM than this tune would suggest, but there’s something really whimsical about this song that I can’t escape 

19) Cory Hanson - Another Story from the Center of the Earth: Cory Hanson is the main-man of LA psyche rock band Wand (who have appeared many times over the years on this series), but for his solo records he tames things down a few notches to a mostly acoustic and at times country vibe. There’s some great pedal steel throughout the record that really elevates it, and this song has some serious Neil Young Everybody Knows This is Nowhere nods, including the raging guitar solos.

I’m pretty happy with this mix overall and I hope you’ve found something new and enjoyable as well, we’ll be back in June/July. In the meantime, I hope you’re able to get vaccinated if you aren’t already and who knows, maybe we’ll be able to see each other at a show or three before the year is out.

 

As always, Peace and Love - Q

Q#136 - February to March 2021

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

 Download mix from https://www.mediafire.com/file/lr4o7ux9jiu8fnb/Q%2523136.zip/file

Spotify link at end of notes, follow/subscribe to playlists here: 

Q's Compilations

Vol #136 – February to March 2021

 

Happy Spring (or nearly-Spring)! There have already been a lot of good new releases in 2021 so between that and hopeful news of vaccine roll-outs, we just need to hunker down and be responsible a little longer. As is usual for the Feb/March mix in a year, there are some songs that didn’t make the cut for the best-of, or songs that would have if only I’d heard them before now, and all the best new things I’ve heard. I hope there’s something for you to enjoy.

01) The Dirty Nil – Doom Boy: Canadian trio The Dirty Nil released Fuck Art, their third studio album, on the 8^th of January via Dine Alone Records. The record has felt like a long time coming, not uncommon given many bands have delayed releases during the pandemic, though Done With Drugs, the lead single for the album, came out in June (and was on Q#133). The album is another excellent collection of catchy power pop, this song opens the record which rarely relents. “Do you delight in rule breaking? Dancing to thrash and hailing satan?”

02) Ratboys – Alien With a Sleep Mask On: Chicago quartet Ratboys released Printer’s Devil in February 2020, pre-pandemic! I only just recently heard of them, however, and this was a recent bandcamp purchase. They just put out country-twinged single so hopefully there’ll be a follow-up in due course.

03) Jetstream Pony – It’s Fine: I do find that going down a Bandcamp rabbit-hole can often yield pretty good results – at this point I can’t remember how I ended up on this Brighton-based band, but it was a “you just purchased xxxxx perhaps you’d like Jetsream Pony”, and they weren’t wrong. Their self-titled album was released in May 2020 and this opens the record.

04) Rat Columns – It’s Your Time (to Suffer): Perth’s Rat Columns just released their fourth album, Pacific Kiss in February (mostly recorded in East Williamsburg). I just love the sound and arrangements of the whole album, which lands fairly close to the middle of my venn diagram.

05) Kiwi Jr – Undecided Voters: Another jangle-heavy release already in the bag for 2021, Toronto’s Kiwi Jr just put out their second album, Cooler Returns, which is being released by Sub Pop. The comparisons to Pavement may be a little boringly obvious, but the record does certainly sound a lot like them at times.

06) The Reds, Pinks and Purples – The Record Player and the Damage Done: Those that know their record labels will not be surprised to hear that Uncommon Weather is being released by Slumberland Records, it comes out in April but this is one of the singles. I guess 2021 really is the year of jangle so far (at least in my universe). The Reds, Pinks and Purples is a DIY project from Glenn Donaldson in San Francisco. “I don’t wanna join your revolution, so leave me alone. No spiritual journeys for me, I’ll stay home. Use your breakthroughs for something worthwhile for once. And save the human race, haven’t we suffered enough?”

07) Horsees – Overdry: Paris quartet Horsees released their self-titled debut album last month and it’s a delightful collection of songs that would all sound at home on the Children of Nuggets compilation.

08) Ron Gallo – Hide (Myself Behind You): Peacemeal is Ron Gallo’s third full length album and was released by New West Records on the 5^th of March. The album is a departure from his first two records, which were a little more traditional garage/indie, there’s certainly a more poppy vibe on songs like this one, but the album is a bit of a kaleidoscope for the most part that I’m still digesting.

09) Fruit Bats – Balcony: Celebrating Fruit Bats’ 20^th anniversary, The Pet Parade is Eric D Johnson’s ninth release under the Fruit Bats moniker. The album came out on the 5^th of March and it’s another find addition to the discography, for this song in particular there’s something about the way that bass comes in at around the 40-second mark that gets me every time.

10) Bright Eyes – Flirted With You All My Life: One of my favourite songs of all time is Vic Chesnutt’s Flirting With You All My Life (which was used on a very, very old Q-Comp back in 2009 when At the Cut was released), it has been covered many times often badly and should probably be left well alone. However, I did hear Bright Eyes version recently and think it’s probably the best of the covers I’ve heard. Technically I have rescheduled tickets to see Bright Eyes this summer, which I assume will get rescheduled again at this point!

11) Del Amitri – It’s Feelings: I typically describe Del Amitri as my first love, and the band are set to release their first album since 2002’s Can You Do Me Good in May (unless the release gets pushed back again), recording of Fatal Mistakes was finished the day before the first lockdown in the UK, which was good timing… this is the second single from the album. It’s hard to describe the feeling of your favourite band releasing an album for the first time in almost 20 years. “All the sickness, all the bruises, All the shit that no one chooses, Bring it on in its disguises, I'll take the knockouts with the prizes”

12) Semisonic – You’re Not Alone: Speaking of bands who haven’t released anything in 19 years… Semisonic’s last album was 2001’s All About Chemistry but they released an EP last year. Dan Wilson has had a pretty successful career writing for/with other artists in the ensuing years, indeed the idea to finally record some new Semisonic tunes came after he tried to write some material for Liam Gallagher, I’m certainly glad he decided to take the inspiration for himself.

13) Black Country New Road – Sunglasses: London septet Black Country New Road released their debut album, For the First Time in February and it’s certainly the front-runner for most critically acclaimed album of the year to date. The record runs the gamut of art-and-post-rock, having saxophone and violin throughout is always going to bring something else to the table and the musicianship is first rate. Clocking in at almost 10 minutes, Sunglasses is probably as good a summation of the record as possible, but you should really listen to the whole thing. I’d love to see what they’re like live.

14) Mogwai – Pet Stains: In probably the most surprising charting achievement I can perhaps think of, Mogwai’s tenth album, released on the 19^th of February to mark the 25^th anniversary of their first single, actually got to number 1 on the UK album charts. As someone who has been a fan since their 1997 debut album, Young Team, it’s gratifying to see them do so well.

15) Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe – New York Miracle: I saw Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe open for Fuck Buttons in 2013 and he had me in the palm of his hand. Using a modular synth and sipping tea, he looked like some kind of magician controlling the room. Notes Above Land was released in February though a lot of it was recorded in 2015.

16) Ronnie Vega – Lieutenant Dan: Another somewhat random recent bandcamp purchase was Two Eps by Ronnie Vega who was from Philly and sadly died last year. Two Eps collates his entire discography and it’s a huge shame there isn’t more of it as it really is outstanding.

17) Lilys – Accepting Applications at University: Lily’s re-issued their 1999 album, The 3-Way recently and while I prefer them in a more shoegazy mood, there are some pretty enchanting songs on this record, which wears its 60s Kinks/The Zombies influences proudly.

18) Beach Bunny – Blame Game: At this point I shouldn’t need to say that Beach Bunny released my favourite album of last year (Honeymoon), but I do need to tell you that they just put out a new EP, of which this is the title track, that came out in January. My in-general-hot-take in music is that I think EPs are a little silly and that bands should just wait a bit longer to have enough material for an LP, but I’m of the CD-single generation where bands like Del Amitri would put out 2-CDs with 6 excellent b-sides that were basically Eps. Anyway, I digress, the EP is of course excellent and I hope they have a new record in the works.

19) Snarls – Burst: Every once in a while I’ll hear Emily playing her Spotify recommended/daily playlist and something will prick my ears, the best recent example is this Columbus, Ohio quartet who released Burst in March 2020 and would certainly have made the previous best-of-that-year mix if I’d have heard it at the time. “When I die, May I burst, With a crack of thunder, And a lot of glitter”

I know as the weather starts getting better there’s a temptation to put our guards down but hopefully we can start seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, even if we’re still a long way off normality. Keep being safe!

As always, Peace and Love - Q

Q#135 - December 2020 to January 2021

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

 Download mix from https://www.mediafire.com/file/chi7s158l7rmthz/Q#135.zip/file

Spotify link at end of notes, follow/subscribe to playlists here: 

Q's Compilations

Vol #135 – December 2020 to January 2021

 

Where to start? As usual, the first mix of the year is a round-up of my favourite releases from the last 12 months. It obviously wasn’t a normal year on any metric, but there was still a lot of excellent music to absorb, though aside from a select few records, I found that while I enjoyed a lot, I didn’t listen to many albums repeatedly and I think the main reason for that is there were no concerts to go to for almost 80% of the year. Gigs not only give me a lot of exposure to new music but ultimately an extra connection to the band/artist themselves, if I’ve enjoyed a live set, I’m much more likely to keep going back. Since these are most of my favourites from the year, I may have used my #1 songs from these artists on mixes throughout the year.

 

01) Beach Bunny – Ms California: I’m kicking things off with the one 2020 record I could not stop playing, Honeymoon was released in February and I’m aghast that it didn’t register on more end-of-year lists. It’s a fairly short and sweet album with 9 songs in 25 minutes, but if you want pop hooks and huge choruses, then this Chicago band is for you. I want to be clear here, I have barely stopped playing this record since I first heard it.

02) Supercrush – On the Telephone: I used Get It Right on Q#134 which also appears on their debut album, SODO Pop that came out in October; it’s about as classic a power-pop record as you could find in 2020. The whole record is a joy so if you like this tune you’ll dig all the ten tracks.

03) Bloody Your Hands – Weird Winter: I opened Q#133 with Checked Out and this is another anthemic pop-punk tune from their album Sunday Scaries that came out in August. What a great fist-pumping chorus this has.

04) Latitude – Thursday is the New Sunday: I honestly don’t remember how I cam across this quintet from San Francisco, but Mystic Hotline was released in October and this song in particular immediately took my fancy and made me buy the record. Effortlessly breezy. “Thursday’s the new Sunday, Cuz all I wanna do, Is lay around with you, Call me up honey, This dirty old city, It’ll grind us to the bone, And all I seem to wanna do, Is lay around”

05) Pure X – Middle America: If Beach Bunny released my favourite album of the year, the Pure X probably take the runner up spot with their self-titled release back in May, their first record in six years. I even ended up buying it more than once (first I got a promo copy, liked it enough to buy it digitally, then I realised I really wanted it on vinyl). I used Fantasy back on Q#131, and I just love that desert guitar, I’m not sure fuzz has ever sounded so easy going.

06) METZ – The Mirror: Contenders for best live act over the last decade, METZ aren’t the most prolific studio artists, Atlas Vending came out in October and is their fourth studio album. Their last couple of records have tweaked their tried and tested formula just enough to make for albums that are distinct but undeniably them, it’s hard not to love everything they touch. I started running this year and always had a hard time slowing down while listening to this record (managed a 23-minute lap around Prospect Park once which is about 5.5k, which I was happy with but my knees were not).

07) Moor Jewelry – Eugenics: It’s hard to categorise True Opera by Moor Jewelery, which is a collaboration between Moor Mother and Mental Jewelry, but the reference point I tend to give people is if the Beastie Boys did a record where every song was like Sabotage. Obviously that does a disservice to this frankly outstanding record which you should all listen to if you’re in something of a post-hardcore mood. I also used Look Alive on Q#132.

08) Shell of a Shell – Knock: Records that get released at the start of the year tend to get a raw deal on end-of-year lists and that certainly seemed to be the case for Shell of a Shell’s album Away Team (I closed Q#130 with Don’t Expect), listening to this song as I write the notes is maybe the most profound pang of sadness I’ve had of not being able to see concerts in a while.

09) Flower – Annihilation Time: No big deal but cult NYC band Flower released their first album in thirty years, None Is (But Once Was) came out in July and is a bit of a departure from their original sound, most songs have a lovely jangle to them, though this is one of the more aggressive tunes on the album.

10) Nation of Language – Tournament: There’s usually a rush of records I find at the very end of the year through recommendations, and I have to thank Robert for turning me onto this band recently. Indie-darlings Future Islands released a new record this year, and I have to admit despite loving their other work, it didn’t grab me, so this synth-pop record from a Brooklyn band was just what I needed to hear. The record is called Introduction, Presence.

11) Sweeping Promises – Falling Forward: I used the title track of this Boston act’s record, Hunger For a Way Out on Q#133, and you’d be forgiven for thinking the album was released in Northern England in 1979 with that wirey-punk-twang and punchy bass.

12) Deeper – This Heat: Chicago-act Deeper released their second album (Auto Pain) in March and were one of the last bands I got to see live this year (on the 3^rd of March, I went to my final concert of 2020 the day after). I used Lake Song on Q#130 and I have to say, this record is another sleeper hit that did not get enough love from critics.

13) DEHD – Nobody: Speaking of Chicago bands, I used Loner on Q#132 and Flower of Devotion is another one of those records I did keep coming back to this year. I think words like sexy and erotic are often overused in music journalism but there is something undeniably raunchy about their last couple of albums, they truly stand out.

14) Nada Surf – Come Get Me: Another band I actually got to see this year (for the 20^th and 21^st time)! Any year with a Nada Surf album can’t be bad. Never Not Together was released in February and was dedicated to Ric Ocasek (who produced their first album) and there is more than a hint of The Cars throughout the record. I’ve loved this band for 25 years now. “I don't feel grown up, Maybe nobody did, I was always on my guard, Since I was a kid, But I'm so, so ready, Come get me, come get me" 

15) The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers: The one album I got obsessed with in 2018 (and still am) was Future Me Hates Me, so it was always going to be a tough act to follow, but Jump Rope Gazers is another triumph, I used I’m Not Getting Excited on Q#132. I deliberated over a few tracks to use but kept coming back to this one.

16) Eyelids – The Minutes: Another early release, The Accidental Falls was released back in February (and I used the title track on Q#130). I ended up using this track mostly for time constraints but it’s still a cracker. The record was produced by Peter Buck.

17) Mint Field – Nadie Te Esta Persiguiendo: Mexico’s Mint Field released their second album, Sentimiento Mundial in September, it’s a little less lush than debut Pasar de las Luces (which was maybe the prettiest sounding album of 2018) but there’s no second album slump here at all.

18) bdrmm – Happy: I hadn’t heard of this band until they ranked pretty highly on Rough Trade’s best of 2020 list (one of the first to come out, I think), but I was instantly drawn to it. This song sounds a lot like The Cure (or more recently, Diiv), and the record as a whole runs the gamut of post-punk, it knows when to be minimal and when to turn the volume up. Regular listeners should remember Is That What You Wanted to Hear? from Q#134. 

19) Clearbody – Scratch the Color: A late release of the year, One More Day came out in December and nails that heavy shoegaze sound, I had a hard time picking which track to use for this.

20) Sprain – Slant: I’ve got to thank Pete for turning me on to As Lost Through Collision, he knows I’m a sucker for some good slowcore and it’s a wonder this LA quartet weren’t on my radar sooner. This is probably the most “normal” track on the record and there wasn’t time to fit any of the longer tunes on, I’d love to hear this live.  

21) Fake Eyes – Illuminate: I used Demonstrations on Q#132 so I’ll have used half of the band’s EP A Drip Is All We Know, I tend to ignore EPs and singles when it comes to year-end-lists but I liked this one too much. It’s perhaps a little rich of me to use this instead of a track on the Hum record from this year (which I also did like a lot) since it’s clearly a huge influence, but here we are.

22) Jonathan Fitoussi – Total Eclipse: I opened Q#134 with Oceans from this album, Plein Soleil so it seems fitting to end this mix with a song from it. By far my favourite ambient album I heard in 2020, it’s about as classic-sounding as you can get in the genre.

Keep being safe!

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/chi7s158l7rmthz/Q#135.zip/file

Spotify link at end of notes, follow/subscribe to playlists here: