Q#100 - February - March 2015

Please note that the zip file has a password: Q100

Download mix from: https://www.mediafire.com/?csk4s0ue4luemxt

Q’s Compilations

Volume #100 February – March 2015

Well this is number 100… the first in this series was September 2002, and the first 50-or-so mixes were monthly rather than once every two months! Not quite sure how I managed to keep that up so long, but here we are. I guess I wanted to do something commemorative for it, and this is basically a collection of my very favourite songs, things that make me tick and get to the very essence of my passion for music. Of course, no amount of tinkering could actually make me happy with the end result because you worry about things left off, but as a snapshot, this is probably as good as I could have done.

01) Rush - Bastille Day (live): In an ideal world I’d just throw on 2112, but real estate is limited to 80-minutes on these mixes and time constraints do play a major part. This version is taken from the third disc of Different Stages: Live, recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1978 (my Dad was actually at this show). While it’s not Geddy’s strongest vocal, there’s something about the performance and the amps seem turned up a notch from previous years. Is there a better way to open a gig than with this riff?

02) The Posies - Definite Door: Frosting on the Beater is quite possibly the best power-pop album ever made, and that’s a bold statement, but almost every song is hit after hit (not commercially speaking!). I first heard this song on a mix a friend made for me, which really just goes to show the worth of doing these things. I can only hope I’ve introduced one band to someone who went on the love them as much as I love The Posies. Thanks Andy. “Better cross your heart, make it people proof”

03) TV On the Radio - The Wrong Way: I remember reading about Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes from a magazine called Plan B (I bought it because Stephin Merrit was on the front cover), and the description was such that I just had to hear it. TV On the Radio were probably the first band of the new millennium that I got incredibly excited about… and they opened the door to a passion for new music in general. I became a fan just before the record came out but somehow missed them in Oxford by about a week. I actually spoke to Kyp Malone in New York shortly after I moved here and he thanked me for not being at that show as they almost broke up as a result of it, he said it was that bad! I doubt that, I’d have still wanted to be there!

04) The Flirtations - Nothing But a Heartache: The question of “what is my favourite song of all time?” has had an easy answer for the last few years, it’s this one. It’s just absolutely perfect, from the lead and vocal harmonies, the horns and don’t forget the incredible bass! They never bettered this song, or even really came close, but that’s ok when you give something this fantastic to the world.

05) Otis Redding - Security: Thinking of an Otis song to use was one of the hardest tasks for this mix. In the end I went with the classic Security, it swings and Otis’ vocals have that clear emotion that few could rival. Overall, I prefer the intensity of the live material, with In Person at the Whisky a must for any home in my opinion, but one of my most treasured possessions is my Definitive Otis Redding 4-CD box set.

06) Big Star - September Gurls: I’d probably put this forward as the most beautiful sounding song of all time, those guitars alone make my bleary-eyed every time I hear them, I’m struggling to even write about this because I just want to put this on repeat. In fact, stop doing what you’re doing and buy Radio City, assuming you’ve been leading an empty existence to this point and down have it already. That wooo-ooohhh at 2:20 kills me every time. “I loved you, well, never mind, I've been crying all the time”

07) Nada Surf - Always Love: I tend to think or Del Amitri and Rush as my default favourite/most important band but that order should probably go to Nada Surf. They were the first band I felt like I had discovered on my own, hearing Popular in the UK when it came out, where it wasn’t the hit it was in the US, going out and buying the record with what little money I had as a teenager and just pouring all over it. They’ve always felt like my band more than any other. I also think Matthew Caws is a criminally underrated lyricist. “To make a mountain of your life, Is just a choice, But I never learned enough, To listen to the voice that told me, Always love, Hate will get you every time, Always love. Don't wait til the finish line”

08) XTC - The Mayor of Simpleton: As an Oxford boy it’s hard to admit that anything from Swindon is of worth to humanity. However, XTC have contributed some of the finest pop-rock songs, this song appeals to my pathetic, hopelessly romantic side. “Well I don't know how to tell the weight of the sun, And of mathematics well I want none, And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton, But I know one thing, And that's I love you.”

09) REM - Fall On Me: The first song I ever liked was Man on the Moon, you could say I was a bit of a latecomer to music, I’d have been 10 I think when that song came out, but I put that down to pop-music in the 80s being a bit naff. REM are probably the only band I find it hard to be objective about, I just love everything (apart from Around the Sun, which is really a damp squib). If I had to pick a favourite album it may well be Life’s Rich Pageant, and this song just has all the ingredients that made them a fantastic band.  

10) Radiohead - Let Down: Oxford’s greatest export, the one-two punch they delivered with The Bends and OK Computer is surely up there with the best. I remember the weeks leading up to the release of OK Computer there was such incredible excitement, it seemed like an event that certainly no-one has come close to since (at least not locally). Picking Let Down for this mix probably just shows how much of a miserably bugger I am, but I do often find the saddest songs to be the most beautiful.  “Let down and hanging around. Crushed like a bug in the ground”

11) Red House Painters - Summer Dress: My first exposure to Mark Kozelek was hearing Have You Forgotten on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack, and I might have put that version on if I had the time, but I swiftly picked up the 2-cd Retrospective that 4-AD put out, it actually took a few listens for it to get under my skin, but now I’m firmly one of those ugly dude obsessives that Koz writes about so often!

12) Tim Buckley - Song to the Siren (Live - Monkees TV Show): This song, and this version in particular, might be the most significant of my life, it captured a certain time so perfectly and painfully. A love that seemed unobtainable. I haven’t listened to it in a while and now it just makes me feel sad. I really should have also found the time to fit Jeff Buckley on this mix as well… “Did I dream you dreamed about me?Were you hare when I was fox? Now my foolish boat is leaning, Broken lovelorn on your rocks”

13) Del Amitri - Nothing Ever Happens: My love of Del Amitri is completely unapologetic, and they are probably the least cool band to have ever existed. They were my first absolute and complete obsession. I’m still slightly amazed I got to interview Justin Currie last year: http://freewilliamsburg.com/interview-justin-currie/ and I’ll just copy and paste something I wrote from that piece: “There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Justin Currie’s ability to write moving lyrics for the lonely, heartbroken, misanthropic and disenfranchised; sprinkled with just enough hope for us all to carry on.” This song also features the greatest lyric ever written “Computer terminals report some gains in the values of copper and tin, While American businessmen snap up Van Goghs for the price of a hospital wing”

14) The Flaming Lips - Do You Realise?: I think this song captures mortality better than any other, with an unbridled realism and beauty. The Oklahomans also put on some of the best shows I have ever seen as well, but their studio output doesn’t really get the credit it deserves IMO.

15) Guided By Voices - Glad Girls: Bob Pollard is one of the most prolific artists around, to the point where he has released a lot of average material, but when Guided By Voices get it right, and they frequently do, the results are spectacular. This song shouldn’t really seem that special, but it never fails to get my pulse racing and want to jump around. While it probably isn’t a shared opinion, if I really had to pick a favourite GBV album it probably is Isolation Drills.  

16) The Church - The Unguarded Moment: In a 35-year career, have these Aussies ever released a bad album? I’m not sure (I can’t claim to have all 17), but they also lay claim to this song, which I first heard on the Children of Nuggets boxset, and I think as a result, I do prefer this single-edit as opposed to the album version.

17) Porcupine Tree – Synesthesia: I very, very rarely listen to PT these days, whose run from Up the Downstair until In Absentia (6 albums between 1993-2002) is amongst my most loved of any band. This version is from the original 1993 release, with electronic drums, which I much prefer. The album got a re-issue a few years ago with real drums but it just doesn’t work for me.

18) Ann Peebles - Trouble, Heartache & Sadness: As I was making this mix I was starting to realise how little soul I had on here, which is definitely a mistake… fortunately after a bit of fine-tuning I managed to squeeze on this lovely Ann Peebles tune. Straight from the Heart is my favourite soul record, despite the annoying trait to fade out every single song before the 3-minute mark. I never understood why Quentin Tarantino never used this in a film. “Heartache, stop knockin' at my window, I don't wanna hear what you have to say, You can go down your list of trouble, And be on your merry way”

19) Max Richter - On the Nature of Daylight: I’ll end this mix with a couple of classical pieces, the first is by Max Richter, which is fairly well known and has been used in at least a couple of movies (Stranger than Fiction and Shutter Island spring to mind), but The Blue Notebooks is a lovely collection as it is.

20) Arvo Pärt - Spiegel Im Spiegel: You might need to turn the volume up a little on this one, but I couldn’t not include my favourite piece of music of all time, and it seemed like the right thing to end with. There are many versions of this piece but by far and away the best are on Alina. I can barely get through this without feeling overwhelmed, it’s just the very best of the best. Spiegel Im Spiegel means Mirror in the Mirror in German, and the music is in the tintinnabular style, that Part basically created.

This mix probably describes me as a person better than I can with words. I love every track dearly, and I hope at least one person discovers a new favourite, or at least makes them think about a song they love to the very core of their being. Sometimes it feels like the only thing we have.

Until next time, probably not another 100, but who knows…

Peace and love - Q 

Q#90 – June – July 2013

Please note that the zip file has a password: Q90

Download mix from: http://www.mediafire.com/?04mam8z8dbhx5fy

Q’s Compilations

Volume #90 – June – July 2013

Greetings! The thing about doing a themed compilation (the Chilean mix of Q#89) is that you get a backlog of tracks from a regular mix, so chopping things down for this release was a bit of a pain! I hope you enjoy what is in store…

01) Books of Love - Space Time: We need more science in music! We also need more Katy Goodman, this song ticks both boxes. I’ll simply copy from the bandcamp page which paints the picture “While hiking past the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, friends Katy Goodman and Greta Morgan were struck with the idea to record a song together: A song about physics and love, science and romance, space and time. Have you ever felt the lovesick pain of falling for someone from a different dimension? We have too.”.

02) Grand Resort - Night is Dark: I saw this band support No Joy at Glasslands and really enjoyed their set, they remind me a little bit of The Sound which can only be good. Songwriter Andres Pichardo grew up in the Dominican Republic before moving to the US and has since released a record called Vanguard Dreams, which I can’t seem to find much about.

03) The Drowners - Long Hair: Uncomplicated catchy indie-pop doesn’t come much more refreshing than this, they have only released a few songs so far so it will be interesting to see what else they put out.

04) Pop Zeus - Devils in the Details: Sorry for the not-so-clear quality on this at times, it’s from a cassette transfer. I’m a big fan of Pop Zeus and think he is putting out the best power-pop around right now. Just listen and then go to the bandcamp page http://popzeus.bandcamp.com/  “I tried my best I really did”

05) Parquet Courts - Borrowed Time: I got off to a weird start with this band because I heard the record last year and thought it was ok, then earlier this year I saw them live supporting The Men at the Bowery Ballroom and really enjoyed them and re-examined the record which is actually really good. I guess that happens sometimes…  “I was up to my neck in motivation neglect when I felt soft waves of purpose crashing onto the surface. “

06) Deerhunter - Dream Captain: It has seemed like an age waiting for Deerhunter to follow up Halcyon Digest (released 3 years ago), but Monomania hit the shelves in May and is a bit of an expected shift into dirty glam-rock which takes you by surprise at first but for me made complete sense after a few listens. I’m excited to be seeing them for the first time in September.  “Could you be, for me, what I see in you, Or would you give me wings so I could fly, fly, or sink and die please!”

07) Kurt Vile - KV Crimes: Wakin On a Pretty Daze sounds like you would think based on the title, it’s a chilled out and hazy record. I love the guitar sound on this song. Have seen Kurt perform twice so far this year, one time just before the album came out and most recently at the 4knots festival. “all right, what now? that's fine, i think i'm ready to claim what's mine,
rightfully, yeah...”

08) The Disciplines – Emily: The Disciplines are a Norwegian rock band than feature Ken Stringfellow of The Posies, who is one of my favourite songwriters. This is taken from the second Disciplines record, Virgins of Menace, released in 2011. I bought this at Ken’s solo show at the Mercury Lounge earlier in the year.

09) The Teen Age - Second Youth: The Teen Age are a new band from Brooklyn, I’ve been following them fairly closely as they drip-feed their songs to the public, this was the second one (out of three so far). I managed to catch the band do a short set at Muchmore’s recently and really like what they’re doing, hopefully they will have a full-blown release soon.

10) The Yellow Dogs - This City: I was pretty blown away by The Yellow Dogs after I saw them play at Glasslands with Sisu, their story is quite amazing, they are from Iran where their music was deemed illegal. This post-punk/dance will get your grooving.

11) Cheatahs - The Swan: Those pining for some Swervedriver-esque shoegaze should look no further. I just picked up Extended Plays which combines the band’s two previous EPs.

12) Meat Puppets - One More Drop: The Pups have released another fine album with Rat Farm. I managed to catch them at the Mercury Lounge earlier in the year (they played two shows, I really should have done both!) and played a great show. Long may they continue. “One more drop then I'm gonna stop it. Climb back on a one-way rocket now ... rocket now”

13) Teen – Electric: I finally got round to seeing Teen live earlier in the year, supporting Memory Tapes (more on them later) at Glasslands in February. This is from their debut EP, Little Doods, they have just recorded another EP called Carolina (which I have yet to hear).

14) Fear of Men – Seer: Hailing from Brighton, I was a bit bummed to find out I had just missed a show in New York in March (just before I heard of them) but thankfully they just returned to play a free show at the South Street Seaport. The band had released a few limited cassettes before compiling the best material onto Early Fragments, they are about to release a full length album this summer.

15) Sisu - Two Thousand Hands: I featured Light Eyes on Q#88, Sisu have since remastered and officially released their EP (now called Light Eyes) and are set to put out an album later in the year.

16) Memory Tapes - Thru the Field: After seeing Memory Tapes live, you have to adjust somewhat to the studio output, which is more of a one-man electronic project whereas the live experience is fleshed out with real drums, bass and guitar. This is taken from the most recent release, Grace/Confusion.

17) Mark Kozelek & Jimmy Lavalle - You Missed My Heart: I recently reviewed this record for my blog so I suspect it will just be easier to link to that, here you go: http://someothersuckersparade.blogspot.com/2013/05/mark-kozelek-and-jimmy-lavelle-perils.html to summarise, I really like it! “I rattled off a list with everything I missed, Like going to the movies with her, And the way she kissed me. Driving into downtown Wheeling, Showing her off the back yard barbecues, And reunions in the park, I said I missed her skin and she started laughing, And while I clinched down on her wrist, She said thats quite a list, But there is one thing you missed. You missed my heart, you missed my heart”

18) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito: This is the title-track from the band’s latest album, which although solid, does not quite hit the heady heights of their previous three wonderful albums. It does have some highlights, however, including this song. I’ve seen the band twice this year and they are still a great live band. “They can see you but you can't see them, So are you gonna let them in? They're hiding underneath your bed, Crawling between your legs, They're sticking it in your vein, Were you itching when they called your name?”

19) The Flaming Lips - Look... The Sun is Rising: The Terror sees the Flips exploring their more morbid musical side, it is a record that has divided opinion as some claim it to be directionless and droning, personally I do not think that at all, it is a beautiful record with much more structure than people realise. I saw them recently in Prospect Park on a beautiful sunny day, which was a bit at odds with their set but I love them unconditionally. “Love is always something, Something you should fear, When you really listen, Fear is all you hear”

20) The Men – Supermoon: Contender for album of the year (so far at least) is The Men’s New Moon, which I also reviewed on my blog here: http://someothersuckersparade.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-men-new-moon-album-bowery-ballroom.html I thought this was a great closer and I ended up dropping a few tracks (and changing the Kurt Vile tune to a shorter one) to make sure I could fit it on. This is just a riot.

And there you have it, we are fully into summer here and New York is an amazing place to be for all the free summer shows that go on. The heat and humidity may be unbearable at times, however!

Until next time

Peace and love - Q 

Q#84 - June - July 2012

Please note that the zip file has a password: Q84
Download files here: http://www.mediafire.com/?va5q1o35i2wlx4t

Q’s Compilations

Volume #84 – June – July 2012

Greetings from sweltering New York! I had been warned about the summers here and they were not joking, at the time of writing we’ve had 14 days of over 32 degrees C (90 degrees F), apparently the average for the year is 15 days of that temperature. Yikes. Anyway, here’s some music.

01) Seapony – Dreaming: I can’t remember where I found this from, I think it might have been a last.fm recommendation. It is, however, perfect summer pop and the album, Go With Me, is generally delightful. “I don't wanna be like everybody else, I don't wanna be stuck on another shelf”

02) Mrs Magician – There Is No God: Atheism has never sounded so sunny! My wife and I have been fighting over who was going to buy their record, even though I obviously like them better, and heard of them first :o) regardless, it’s a wonderful debut (Strange Heaven). “There’s no god la la la there’s no god la la la”

03) Pond – Dig Brother: I didn’t realise when I bought this record (Beard, Wives, Denim) the other week that it’s a side-project of Australian band, Tame Impala. I first heard of them thanks for a compilation that friend, Felix, sent to me recently. The album is heavily influenced by those old Nuggets-style bands.

04) Chelsea Light Moving - Burroughs: This is Thurston Moore’s new project sounds like… Sonic Youth! I had the pleasure of seeing Thurston perform an improvised set a couple of months ago where he basically abused his guitar, a great watch! On the basis of this track I’m looking forward to the record. http://chelsealightmoving.blogspot.com/

05) The Corin Tucker Band – Doubt: Corin Tucker is set to release her second solo album, which reminded me that I actually needed to hear the first (which is called 1000 Years)! Corin is of course, best known for being in Sleater Kinney, and this material is no departure. She’s playing a couple of shows here in September which I’m tempted by.

06) Guided By Voices – No Transmission: I had the pleasure of seeing GBV for free in Central Park recently and they played a great set (whilst also helping me tick off seeing one of my favourite bands that I didn’t think I’d ever get to see). While it was heavy on recent material and very light on classics (although hearing Game of Pricks, I Am a Scientist and Echos Myron will forever be gig-going highlights), new album Class Clown Spots a UFO is actually rather fine and dandy. As Pollard said at the gig, “we had to show them how it was done back then, and we had to come back to show them how to do it again”.

07) Smashing Pumpkins – Quasar: Another band with a recent return to form, Smashing Pumpkins seemed to disappear with a bit of a wimper a few years ago, but new album, Oceania, is an ambitious and varied record.

08) Roomrunner – Spinning: I saw Roomrunner’s first ever gig (or at least that’s what they said, a freebie at Hudson River Rocks) recently and despite a catalogue of technical problems they played a blistering set, check them out! http://roomrunner.tumblr.com/

09) Heavy Blanket – Spit in the Eye: This project is basically an excuse for J.Mascis to guitar solo constantly, which is fine because there are fewer aural delights than a Mascis guitar solo!

10) Superchunk – Why Do You Have To Put A Date On Everything (live): Although I owned the original CD, I love Foolish so purchased the remastered CD that was released last year. The album comes with a download code with a raft of bonus material, which includes a concert recording. I was a bit bummed out recently because they played a free show in Times Square that I had to miss (it clashed with Guided By Voices, all the more annoying that they were supposed to play the day before but had to change venue and day).

11) Built to Spill – Car: I love Built to Spill, but until recently had never gotten round to purchasing There’s Nothing Wrong With Love, which has now been rectified. Car is one of their most well-known songs, of course, but I felt like throwing it on anyway.

12) Diiv – Follow: The band have just released their debut album, Oshin, which is a lovely and dreamy swirl of guitars and this song is pretty representative of the album as a whole. Planning on catching them in August at one of the Hudson River Rocks shows.

13) Blouse – Into Black: From Portland, Oregon, Blouse released a haunting self-titled debut album last year which is well worth a listen.

14) Blood Orange – Sutphin Boulevard: Blood Orange is another alias of Devonté Hynes also known as Lightspeed Champion and member of the now defunct Test Icicles (I always saw their name but never checked them out). I have Felix to thank for recommending this to me.

15) Fanfarlo – Lenslife: On their second album (debut album Resevoir was very promising) the band seem to have ventured into Talking Heads territory, not that that’s a bad thing! It seems a less coherent record (Rooms Filled With Light) but does have some highlights, this was my favourite.

16) Chromatics – The River: The band have just released new album, Kill For Love, on their Italians Do It Better label, all of their music is very reasonably priced (most albums are $5 and they send you a download while you wait for the physical copy). I love the vibe of this song, so simple but effective. “l Watch The Moon Hang In The Air, l Feel The Cold Breeze Through My Hair, My Eyes Blind By Headlights Glare, I'm Still Here Waiting For You”

17) The Flaming Lips – The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face: The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends was released on CD recently and is a schizophrenic mishmash of collaborations, this one features Erika Badu and is a cover version, most famously known as a cover version itself by Roberta Flack. The Flips’ version features their typical sonic bombast but still manages to retain a sense of longing for which the song is known. “The first time ever I kissed your mouth, And felt your heart beat close to mine, Like the trembling heart of a captive bird, That was there at my command, my love“

18) Exitmusic – Sparks of Light: I’d heard the name of this band for some time but never got round to listening to them, I don’t know why but I just assumed they would sound completely different to this.

And there you have it!

Until next time

Peace and love

Q