Q#119 - April to May 2018

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Q's Compilations

Vol #119 – April to May 2018

Greetings! Lots of changes recently, a pending divorce, a new apartment, an upcoming trip to see Del Amitri, and all of that is good news, and more! Anyway, enough with the important stuff, I’m pretty with this very hastily put together mix, there is plenty of new stuff, so please enjoy. Shout out to my buddy Felix, who sent me a bunch of stuff just after I’d already put this mix together, I suspect they will make an appearance soon!

01) Guided By Voices – Space Gun: GBV released their 1,384th record (actually only their XXXth), and there’s little that can be said about them anymore. There’s maybe a hint of this being a slower version of I am a Tree to this, but since that is one of GBV’s (and Doug Gillard’s) finest, that’s not a bad thing. I keep missing them lately and will hopefully get to see them in August.

02) Shame – Tasteless: Every once in a while I go on a download spree from my inbox and Shame’s Songs of Praise peaked my interest. The influences here are pretty much worn on their sleeves and it was also no surprise to read that they have toured with Protomartyr lately either.

03) The Royal They – Sludgefucker: Whilst searching showlistings for some influence I stumbled on The Royal They, whose record Foreign Being is one of my favourite records of the year so far. As far as no-frills 90s influenced rock goes, it’s a damn fine album. Somewhat annoyingly, I have yet to see the band live, despite championing their shows multiple times on Free Williamsburg!

04) The Messthetics – Serpent Tongue: This math-rock trio feature drummer Brendan Canty and bassist Joe Lally, who you may recognise as members of Fugazi (indeed, this is the first band they have played in together since Fugazi’s hiatus), the band are completed by guitarist Anthony Pirog and the trio weave a nice balance of technical wizardry and pummeling riffs.

05) Watchout! – Slow Burning Brother: Almost at a monthly rate, I have to stop myself spending a stupid amount of money on Chilean acts on the Blow Your Mind record label… this month was even harder having seen Follakzoid and Goli Gaete (more on him later), but so far I’ve held off. What hasn’t helped is this track from the upcoming Watchout! Album, which is filled with all their signature rhythms and bouncey bass lines.

06) Los Roban – Papel en Blanco: Another Chilean band, although I don’t have many details about this record (Portofino) other than another Chilean band I like, Vuelveteloca, posted the whole record on their youtube page, they do sound similar, so it’s possible that the two bands share some members. Regardless, what’s not to love about this?

07) Preoccupations – Disarray: It doesn’t feel like two years since the band’s last record but the Calgarian quartet seem to do little wrong on record, their latest effort, New Material, continues the more synth-influenced second album, but seems more like a progression than treading old ground.

08) Eternal Summers – Forever Mine: In complete opposition to the previous track, it seems a lot longer than two years since Eternal Summers blessed us with some new music, and Forever Mine is a substantial change from their previous efforts. While the band have always had a strong sense of melody, this tune is pure pop.

09) Monogold – Cinnamon: A band that makes me think of Kitchens of Distinction will always be welcome, especially when they pull off the sound so perfectly. Babyfood was released last September and I’m not entirely sure how I didn’t hear this at the time.

10) Mr Ray – You Can Only Be Yourself: Another Blow Your Mind release, though this is just a 7” and has that perfect, hazy psych guitar sound that BYM excel at.

11) Fujiya & Miyagi – Transparent Things: It’s the tenth anniversary of the Brighton band’s second record, Transparent Things, which is getting a vinyl run for the first time. While they have a history of dorky references in their music and titles, they may well have outdone themselves with a new song

released recently, Subliminal Cuts, which is apparently inspired by an episode of Columbo. Anyway, this is from a decade ago and it’s hard not to bounce along to.

12) Forth Wanderers – Had Me Suckin: This New Jersey act recently signed to Sub Pop, and their self-titled effort certainly smooths out some of the edges from their earlier material. The upgrade in production values seems to have given the group an extra layer of confidence rather than stifling any creativity in the hope of selling a few extra records.

13) Modern Time Machines – Failsafe: It seems like we hit peak-shoegaze a couple of years ago and that suited me fine, so while the influx of bands seems to have slowed down, I still get excited when I hear tracks like this. Based in LA, their self-titled record was released in April and features all the Swervdriver, Ride and Slowdive nods your heart could desire.

14) La ciencia simple - Echos: Another Chilean band (and if you’re late to the party on this, you can search for Q#89 for my Chilean-themed mix), I found this post-rock band by searching for Blow Your Mind on bandcamp, I don’t even know if they’re on BYM records, but

15) Mercury Rev – Holes: I bought tickets to see Mercury Rev play Deserter’s Songs in full in October and while it’s one of my least favourite records by them, I’m still pretty excited to hear them play it, not to mention it’ll only be the second time I’ll have seen them play.

16) Bonny Doon – A Lotta Things: There should be no surprise to read that Bonny Doon are signed to Woodsist, despite the slow pace and utterly downbeat lyrics, I can’t help but find the bright guitars thoroughly uplifting.

17) Hovvdy – In the Sun: Despite the silly double-v instead of a w in the name, which was boring and stupid the first time a band did it, it’s hard not to love this song. If anything, this reminds me a lot like Waxahatchee but with male vocals (indeed, it’s the vocal delivery as much as anything that reminds me of Katie Crutchfield).

18) Goli Gaete – Abajo Abajo Abajo Amor: Goli Gaete is a Chilean singer/songwriter best known for fronting the garage rock band Tsunamis. With one solo record to his name as well, I was delighted to find out that he would be playing a show in Brooklyn, which turned out to be in a small Vietnamese restaurant, with no promotion, I felt like this could be the time I was the only person at a show… indeed, that was the case until minutes before showtime, when there were literally half-dozens of us. It was a fun show, and he played this tune, I hope he comes back to play a proper show at a more traditional venue.

19) Catherine Howe – Let’s Keep It Quiet Now: Numero had a pop-up shop in Brooklyn a few weeks ago and so I spent my customary amount of money… I’m running out of things to buy but always had a curiousity about this record that needed to be quenched. This turned out to be my favourite song which was actually a bonus 7”, but the album itself (What a Beautiful Place) is a breezy Sunday afternoon listen.

20) Willie Wright – Nantucket Island: Another purchase from the Numero pop up that I just hadn’t gotten round to picking up. In true Numero fashion, Telling the Truth is very much the tried and tested story of a decade lost in obscurity for over 30 years and just felt like the perfect way to end this mix.

And there you have it, I hope there have been plenty of new acts for you to enjoy, summer is finally here and it’s time to start looking forward.

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/hbc423usfhwpg78/Q119.zip

Q#85 - August - September 2012

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Q’s Compilations

Volume #85 – August – September 2012

Hello! This compilation has a theme to it, and a rather self-indulgent one. It has been a fantastic summer here mainly for one reason, the sheer volume of spectacular free concerts that are hosted in this fair city, this mix features bands that I have seen over the course of the year so far and not had to pay a penny. The mix still manages to omit an impressive roster of artists who I managed to see and many others who I did not (Funkadelic!).

01) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Higher Than the Stars: I’ve feature Pains… on a few mixes over the years, but have so far not featured any tracks from their EP, Higher Than the Stars (this of course, being the title track). The band played Central Park Summer Stage on a sweltering day that also featured Cloud Nothings, The War on Drugs and Guided By Voices. “This time you should have stopped. But where’s the fun?”

02) Frankie Rose – Night Swim: I’d heard a few songs over the last few months, but probably nothing that stuck in my head, but Frankie played a rather spellbinding set at Prospect Park opening for Little Dragon. Rose has an impressive CV, having been part of early versions of Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls and Vivian Girls. Her second solo album, Interstellar was released this year.

03) Diiv – Doused: Another band on the excellent Captured Tracks record label, I caught Diiv last month at Hudson River Rocks, their debut album, Oshin, is well worth an investment and I featured a track on the last mix as well. “Act like it stops and starts, a gesture here and there, for me is one thing, but I felt every time you blew it”

04) Roomrunner – Aesthetic: I used Roomrunner on the last mix, having been impressed with their set at Hudson River Rocks, playing with John Maus and Dan Deacon (for whom Roomrunner mainman Denny Bowen also drums).

05) Bob Mould – The Descent: Silver Age has just been released and coincides rather swimmingly with the 20^th anniversary of Sugar’s Copper Blue album, which Bob played in full at an immense show in Williamsburg Park. I reviewed the gig here: http://someothersuckersparade.blogspot.com/2012/09/bob-mould-williamsburg-park-7th-of.html and the new album is a corker. “I started out so starry-eyed, full of hope and wonder.”

06) Cloud Nothings – Wasted Days: To be honest I wasn’t completely won over by Cloud Nothings, who opened the day at the Central Park CBGB festival, whose set was marred a little by being a bit too samey. However, drummer Jason Gerycz was a joy to watch with his animal-like drumming and facial expressions. This song didn’t seem to click that much live but I think I have more patience with the recorded version, the wigout section here works.

07) Mission of Burma - Semi-Pseudo-Sort-Of Plan: Opening for Wild Flag at Prospect Park (which seemed to confuse a lot of people who thought it should have been the other way around), it seemed like most of the crowd weren’t really there to see them, but they put on a spirited performance and it was great to see them. No Academy Fight Song in the set though! This track is taken from their latest album, Unsound, released this year.

08) Guided By Voices – Game of Pricks: I’m using GBV for the third time in a row, of course, but I couldn’t put this type of theme together without including them again! Seeing them play this song (a rare classic in a set dominated by newer material) was a special moment. “I've entered the game of pricks, With knives in the back of me, can't call you or on you no more,
When they're attacking me”

09) Eternal Summers – You Kill: Suffering a somewhat nasty hangover, I thankfully managed to get to Eternal Summers free show at Fulton Stall Market. which perked me up! Unfortunately they sold their last copy of new album, Correct Behaviour (on which this song appears) as I got to the front of the queue, but they played a cracking set, well worth checking out. “It’s a piece, of a plot, of a story we are not”

10) Lee Ranaldo – Lost (Plane T Nice): I was fortunate enough to get to see Ranaldo’s record release show for Between the Times and the Tides, playing as an acoustic trio (drummer Steve Shelley was gigging elsewhere) at Other Music. It’s a fine record and Lee was a pleasure to meet afterwards. “When every single dream requires revision”

11) Kurt Vile – The Creature: In a case of “should have been the headliner”, Kurt Vile opened for Dawes (who we endured for a couple of songs then decided to leave) at Central Park. This song features on the EP So Outta Reach which was included on the deluxe edition of Smoke Ring for My Halo. “She said I'm a creature of habits, Oh, she's so cute with her claims, Ain't got time for asking questions, So I just nod and move on, And that's all right for me, So far, So good for me”

12) Veronica Falls – Starry Eyes (demo): Another sweltering evening was spent at South Street Seaport. I featured My Heart Beats on Q#83. This track was a b-side to Found Love In a Graveyard. A lovely song to throw away as a b-side. “Starry Eyes what can I say, Starry Eyes, what can I do for your attention, Starry Eyes Starry Eyes forever shall be mine”

13) Rain Machine – Smiling Black Faces: A gloriously sunny day was had at Union Pool (the heat made bearable by numerous $5 margaritas), which also included an improvised set by Thurston Moore on the 9^th of June. Rain Machine is of course, Kyp Malone’s side-project from TV on the Radio, they played some new songs which sound promising, and I got to meet Kyp afterwards and babble like an embarrassed fanboi.

14) Barry Adamson – Straight til Sunrise: Adamson played a set at Other Music back in February, launching his latest album, I Will Set You Free, it was a nice set albeit a bit karaoke (he mostly just sang while the instrumental versions of the songs played over the speakers), but the album is good. This track is from the previous record, Back to the Cat. “In my head was every word that was said, Reverberating with consonants baiting me, I wish I had done what I said I would”

15) Grimes – Vanessa: Grimes appears to be this year’s hipster sensation, in truth I find the record a little lacking (and some of the fans at the show we were at reaching unknown levels of douchebag-dom), however, some of the tunes are pretty interesting and this one gets under your skin after a few plays. Grimes played at Hudson River Rocks. “hey hey wanna play well baby i can go go, and every other day you're running off the phone, no. Well baby I would call you if I didn't know you but I'm waiting for it”

16) John Maus – Bennington: John Maus played the Hudson River Rocks on the 12^th of July. My wife has become slightly obsessed with Mr Maus, and I think probably needs some professional help about it. Bennington appears on Maus’ latest release, a collection of demos, rather obviously called Collection of Rarities and Previously Unreleased Material. Live, Maus is a bit of an enigma, what should amount to little more than a glorified karaoke performance is oddly rather engaging. “Time and time again, I'll see her in my dreams, Time and time again,
Time and time again”

17) Dan Deacon – Lots: Deacon headlined the show on the 12^th of July at Hudson River Rocks and put on a storming performance. Audience participation is a big thing with Deacon (at which point, I made sure I drifted off to the side!), dividing the audience into dance-offs and scattering them into random directions, interspersed with random humour and heartfelt gripes at society. He’s also backed by two drummers who perform incredibly well. “Feel like we've been here before, Without a choice and insecure, Of where we'd be without this net around,
Yet we've always hated it”

18) Little Dragon – Blinking Pigs: Swedish electro-pop band Little Dragon provided a bouncey evening on the 10^th of August at Prospect Park, probably not something I would pay for, but since we live close by it was a fun thing to do, the crowd were really into it and made for a great atmosphere. “Was a distant moan, and a smell of home, Haunting me, from the clouds above, oh the memory of, you”

19) TV On the Radio – Keep Your Heart: Just to put the icing on the cake, I got to see TVotR for free this year as well, heaven! They headlined the Afropunk festival at Commodore Park on the 26^th of August, they played a great set (which also benefitted from a good sound, something that hampered the previous two times I’d seen them). “Outside ecstatic love, what did we think we'd find? Over that broken road,out past the land mines.”

Like I said, it has been a great summer here and I have truly been spoiled!

Until next time

Peace and love - Q