Advent Calendar Archives - Various Small Flames

Advent Calendar [20th]: Wake Owl – Candy

Jon Doyle — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 14:34:00 +0000

When we first covered Wake Owl back in early 2012, they were a folk outfit which we likened to a hybrid of Dan Mangan and The Head And The Heart.

Well now that has all changed. The band have created their debut album, The Private World of Paradise, which will be unleashed on the world in March. The album was produced by Richard Swift, who most notably produced the last two Damien Jurado albums. The sonic expansion in Jurado’s output as a result of this collaboration is also evident here with Wake Owl. It sounds like the band are experimenting and growing as musicians and that can only be a good thing.

The first single, ‘Candy’, was premiered over at The Music Ninja earlier this month and can be streamed in the player below:

The Private World of Paradise is out on the 4th of March via Vagrant. More details (presumably including pre-order options) will be announced soon.

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Advent Calendar [13th]: Princess Reason – We Are Splitting

Jon Doyle — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 15:06:00 +0000

Jack Stansbury, the 22 year-old behind Princess Reason, has a knack for 90s-tinged lo-fi bedroom pop. He released an EP, Always Pretty, back in March on Tricot Records, and followed it up with a self-titled album this summer. If you are a fan of bands like Guided By Voices or acts like Coma Cinema, Princess Reason might just be your new favourite.

The album is available on a pay-what-you-want basis over at the Princess Reason Bandcamp. Also be sure to check out the Always Pretty EP.

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Advent Calendar [12th]: Fyfe – We Three Kings

Jon Doyle — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 13:17:54 +0000

An advent calendar wouldn’t be much without a Christmas cover! Doing the honours this year is Fyfe. Equal parts haunting, striking and gorgeous, Fyfe’s acapella cover of Ella Fitzgerald’s We Three Kings does the equally brilliant (if somewhat jazzier) original justice.

It’s available for free download on Fyfe’s soundcloud, so grab it, light some candles and get snuggled under a blanket to really get into the Christmas spirit.

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Wake The Deaf’s Advent Calendar 2013

Jon Doyle — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 19:04:00 +0000

What better way to count down to Christmas than with good music? With no festive theme in particular, we’ll be sharing a song a day in the lead up to the 25th. We hope to feature a variety of genres so there is something for everyone.

Check back each day in December to find a song we think you will enjoy.

1st – Ages and Ages
2nd – Ricky Eat Acid
3rd – Nate Connelly
4th – Jess Williamson
5th – River Tiber
6th – Damien Jurado
7th – Palehound
8th – Whirr
9th – Glass Vaults
10th – House By The Lake
11th – Lyndsie Alguire
12th – Fyfe
13th – Princess Reason
14th – Water Liars
15th – Frog Eyes
16th – Sirs
17th – The Pollyanna Band
18th – Kalle Mattson
19th – Netherfriends
20th – Wake Owl
21st – Beat Radio
22nd – Emily Reo
23rd – Donovan Woods
Christmas Eve – Polyvinyl Compilation

Merry Christmas!

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WTD’s Advent Calendar – 3 – Ljóst

Jon Doyle — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:43:57 +0000

Ljóst, a two-piece from Arizona, make atmospheric music that can’t really be pigeonholed into post-rock. Their self-titled EP will show you why. Sure, ’þögn’ has that slow build up to sparkling guitar crescendo so familiar to the genre but ‘Stars’, while still starting slow and accelerating to a climax, has clear folk leanings, and the spookily restrained ‘Fang’ ticks none of the boxes.

Buy it on Bandcamp.

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Wake The Deaf’s Advent Calendar

Jon Doyle — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:51:00 +0000

Join us as we share 25 of our favourite new (at least to us) artists over the month of December, one per day. There’s no particular order or theme, just good music in the countdown to Christmas.

1st – Annie Dressner
2nd – Knots
3rd – Ljóst
4th – Fantasy Rainbow
5th – Timid, The Brave
6th – BLACK ZEROS
7th – Reuben Hollebon
8th – Sam Moss
9th – Portage
10th – Angel Olsen
11th – Moon Ate The Dark
12th – Challenger
13th – ScotDrakula
14th – Dusted
15th – Loraine
16th – Husky
17th – SNOWBEAST
18th – Mike Tod
19th – Stalwart Sons
20th – Old Ugly’s Christmas With Friends
21st – Nils Frahm’s Screws Reworked
22nd – The Holidays Don’t Have To Be So Rotten
23rd – The Tree Ring
CHRISTMAS EVE – Fred Woods

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