Ruth Garbus – Strash
Mauno – Vampire
Outer Spaces – Gazing Globe
Benjamin Shaw – Long Ago and Oh So Far Away
Erin Durant – Islands
Daughter of Swords – Dawnbreaker
Melissa Mary Ahern – Maria, Maria
Oscar Lush – Kind Living
Midwife – Angel
Young Elk – False Paradise
Wilder Maker – Love So Well
Big Joanie – Way Out
Secrecies – Life We Live
Beat Radio – Everyone I Know, Just Holding On
American Poetry Club – pro pic?
So Totally – sike
halfsour – Paper Window
Joyer – Here
Marbling – Wisdom Teeth
High Sunn – Grateful
Slow Pulp – New Media
Molly Drag – Out Like a Light
Van Houten – Moon
Birdspotter – Riverbed
Tender Perennial – Delivered
JR Samuels – In Brend 2
Elly Swope – Habits
Derek Piotr – The Sign
Fighting Kites – Kita Senju
Nathalie Joachim – Papa Loko (Interlude: September 24, 1918)
Kali Malone – Sacrificial Code
Kate Tempest – Holy Elixir
Little Musket – Fever Blister
Gold Baby – 500/1
Tennis Club – Stay
Young Mammals – Lost in Lima
Abe Hollow – Paradise
bdrmm – Question Mark
Briston Maroney – Fool’s Gold

Check out our previous Monthly Roundup playlists, and be sure to read or Reviews and Previews throughout the month.

The post July 2019 Roundup Mix appeared first on Various Small Flames.

New album a little light of our own may well be the last by american poetry club, at least in its current form, as the band disperse after finishing college. But, despite the potential farewell album vibes, it seems like Weinstock and co. are intent on burning out as bright and pure as a sparkler, the songs infused with a collective energy that displays a real sense of community.

“If you think you are struggling alone just to be fine,” Weinstock sings in opener ‘in your own way, at your own pace, pulling through!’, “know that i am always right here next to you, I am always by your side.” It sets the tone for the album in more ways than one, direct and intense and at times painfully earnest, american poetry club go all out to say what they mean and mean what they say. Second track ‘as slow and vast as our love can take’ is equally short and direct, a ramshackle indie pop song that’s almost reminiscent of Emperor X. ‘summer of the century’ kicks up the tempo even further, a glorious pop punk singalong that ends with a plea to embrace and celebrate each other and ourselves as individuals.

what you feel is alright, don’t worry you burn bright
how you think is okay, please do this your own way

‘pro pic’ is the album’s standout moment, and in some ways feels like the song american poetry club have been buildings towards over these last few years. The balance between heart-on-sleeve emo and twee indie pop is just about perfect, as Weinstock and his friends sing (and sometimes yell) over shuffling drums and subtle horns. Thematically, it’s one of the more reflective songs on the album, our narrator reminded of a previously dear relationship/friendship by occasional glimpses of a social media profile picture.

‘hampton ave’ is the album’s most reserved moment, a quiet acoustic track that still maintains the purity of feeling of the other songs. It’s proof that american poetry club can do things stripped-back, and bodes well if Weinstock intends to play these songs solo if the band goes on hiatus.

Finale ‘snbm’ then takes everything that has come before, not just in this album but through the entire american poetry club catalogue, and distills it into just under three minutes. It begins hushed and spacious, just guitar and Weinstock’s voice, but grows into a swelling outro that based around a mantra for positivity and self-love. It’s a fitting end to both the album and american poetry club as a project.

no more low self-esteem
we’re gonna be all we dream
we are bursting at the seam
we are a brilliant sunbeam

a little light of our own is out now on It Takes Time Records and Feels So Reel Music, and available from the american poetry club Bandcamp page.

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Jordan from the band (that’s him in the snazzy hat) was kind enough to speak with us about the record and american poetry club in general. Check out what he had to say below!

Hi Jordan, thanks for speaking to us! How is it to have your new album, we are beautiful, even when we are broken!, out in the wild?

Hey there! No problemo thanks fer taking the time to do this! It’s pretty wack I won’t lie haha. I’ve spent more time working on this album than any other musical project in my entire life, everything else I’ve ever done has been: write songs over 1 week period, record them in 1 take over the weekend, release it immediately after. So sitting down with each song for this long, and having friends like Jack and Felix (both of Frankie valet) and Evan (of Russel the Leaf) help me with recording and mixing and all that jazz and having my friends play all the instruments on em instead of like occasional parts and background vocals like the old stuff was something I really had to get used to. It was a good thing though! I’m so glad so many people I love got involved in this and helped me make something I couldn’t make on my own!

What can people expect from the new album? What does it sound like and what’s it about?

Emo! Kind of just discovered the genre this past January and went on a huge E!E! and JDV kick haha so it’s very clearly influenced by those vibes. Been a big fan of embracing my influences and cliches lately, not ashamed of where I’ve come from! It’s a lot about meeting and leaving people I guess! Just started my last year as an undergrad and have been thinking a lot about how small interactions and seemingly random relationships have defined my life over the past year and really trying hard to express my appreciation for how these actions and moments have shaped me.

How has american poetry club evolved since you started the project? To me, the new album is the most fully realised thing you’ve ever made. Would you agree with that? And where do you see the project heading in the future?

Would definitely agree with that, this is the first time we’ve recorded full band and outside of my phone haha, the biggest change is probably the fact that apc has gone from purely a recording experiment to my main creative endeavor. When I began apc it was just a place to put some songs I felt I had to write that didn’t fit in with my other band at the time, The Chair Enthusiasts, but then we broke up and I still needed to play tunes, so I slowly recruited some pals and put together a little act, which 100% altered the way I thought about what I wanted apc to be. No idea where we are headed! We wanna go country on our next album for sure, but who knows where life will take me and apc after graduation ya know? Planning on moving to China post-senior year right now so I guess it all depends on logistics!

You also run It Takes Time Records, which has been putting out solid release after solid release since 2015. How do you select artists to work with, and do you have anything exciting in the pipeline?

It’s pretty simple, we work with people we like! If yer our friend, or you make music we admire, that’s kind of the only criteria haha, we’re putting out Frankie valet and Camp Counselor soon (NOTE: the Frankie valet one is out NOW!), and potentially have plans to work with a band Ellis from Trust Fund has been playing in but to be honest we try not to work too far in advance, we just take it one release at a time.

Finally, could you name a few artists that you’re really into lately? They can be new or old, local or from the other side of the world. Bonus points for bands our readers might not be familiar with.

Doug Firebaugh! He’s a crazy talented cosmic americana songwriter from the 70’s, has a beautiful album called Performance One, also been jamming out to The Amazing and Incredible Randy (who as far as I know only has live video clips, check out All Night Diner), as well as Rob Apollo and motherbear! two of my favorite STL acts right now, Rob is a wordsmith with immense power and motherbear plays literally the most beautiful and evocative guitar music I’ve ever heard.

we are beautiful, even when we are broken! is out now and you can get it form the american poetry club Bandcamp page.

The post Interview: American Poetry Club appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting:

Mike Pace and the Child Actors – Everyone Out of the Car
Miranda Winters – The Futuristic District
Exam Season – Strawberry Milk
Saccharine – Pumpkin Guts
Tuvaband – Wolfpack
Devon Welsh – Dreams Have Pushed You Around
Mending – Alan after the Fire
Reddening West – Even If
Valley Maker – Light on the Ground
The Washboard Abs – Return to You
Manatree – Brushfire
Miserable Chillers – Horse Opera
Saint Charles – She Don’t Wanna Know
new casino – going for a walk*
Frankie Valet – Why Blue
Goodbye Max – Old Photos
Adeline Hotel – Habits
Joe Kaplow – I Said I Was Going and I Went
Pecas – Tuesdays
Sun Kin – Neglect
Baby Cages – flowers
Crooked Spine – Skinned Knees
Lauren O’Connell – Out of Focus
Mount Goldie – Summer
Harvey Trisdale – Baby
american poetry club – the sum of your parts
Babehoven – Out of the Country
Adam Arcuragi – Low Parade Rain
Jason Bemis Lawrence – Southern Midwest
Campdogzz – Sorceress
Barfoot – A Thin Place Between Worlds

* not on Playmoss

The post August 2018 Roundup appeared first on Various Small Flames.

‘forklift’ is a slow motion emo-tinged indie rock, though one which thuds suddenly into a heavy midsection, a hint at stormy inner turmoil deposited beneath the song’s slow and reflective veneer. ‘summers with Ethan!’ begins as a sluggish track about shampoo, before segueing into something emotive and full of memories, the guitar gathering intensity as the words become increasingly sincere. “Remembering 2009, when I first met you,” Weinstock sings, “you were small and unbroken, and impervious to ridicule, I couldn’t say it well back then, but know that I miss you.”

‘the sum of your parts’ recalls Nana Grizol in the way it combines seemingly mundane observations (“I took calculus my senior year I did well enough”) with the jubilant maximalism of trumpet and clattering drums. The result sends the familiar american poetry club bedroom pop soaring skyward, perhaps the biggest and boldest song Weinstock has ever made.

A two and half minute jolt of pure energy, ‘a quick reminder that you are good’ is the most thrillingly upbeat track on the record. It sees Weinstock deliver his lines, which hold a childlike sense of hope and goodness, with carefree abandon. There are shades of Free Cake For Every Creature in the sense of earnest friendship, although the throat-scratching yelps in the finale give it a more desperate edge.

“Will you hold my hand today,
I mean it in a friendly way”

In some ways this is the defining characteristic of the record, the balance between wistful reminiscence (if not sadness then at least nostalgia or regret) and shameless sincerity, an updated emo that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and believes that things are going to turn out okay. Compare the turbulently emotional ‘kmd (and you are ever so dear in our hearts because of it!)’ with the group-shout of ‘how i felt at parties’, as Weinstock declares “just because I’m not in high school, doesn’t mean that you’re not still and won’t always be, you will always be my best friend.”

‘snbm’ covers both in one song, beginning sluggishly somnolent and growing into something bold and defiant (“we are bursting at the seam / we are a brilliant sunbeam”), before the album’s outro sees american poetry club goofing around in a basement, the perfect aural illustration of the album as a whole. Not that the songs aren’t serious, but rather that their main purpose is the connection and sense of community that comes with them.

we are beautiful, even when we are broken! is out now and you can get it from the american poetry club Bandcamp page.

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However, as always, we want to point out that ‘free’ does not have to mean pay nothing in this context. Indeed, the title of the post says ‘free’ music because it’s snappier than ‘name your price’ music, but really that’s a convenient/attention-grabbing misnomer. Last year we spoke about how paying artists makes for the best soil in which to sow creative seeds, and things are no different now. Indeed, with the dawn of Spotify and the all-powerful algorithms, it is more important than ever to support independent artists and labels, and in reality there are already enough free ways to consume music that we don’t need to encourage another.

So please delve into the below list, curated entirely by humans, and spend whatever is left of your Christmas money when you stumble across something you like. We can vouch for the quality of everything here, so don’t be afraid to judge a record by its cover to begin with.

Here’s a handy mix featuring one song from each of the free / ‘name your price’ albums featured:

The post Favourite Free Music of 2017 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting:

Friendship – If You See My Beloved
Rainwater – Ordinary Pain
Vivian Fantasy – Florist
Anamon – Kneel Old
Human Kitten – Stuck Neverlasting
American Poetry Club – You Don’t Have To vs. Anyone
Merce Lemon – Johnny When He’s Sweet and John For All The Rest
Beverly Tender – Whose Taxidermy Horse?
Big Thief – Shark Smile
Pleasure Systems – Crumbs
CIVIC – Down & Distant

We’re winding down for the holiday season right now, so the posts will be even more sporadic through December. We plan to use the time to check off a few gems that we missed through the year. Sometime near the end of the month, we’ll be putting up the requisite Favourite Albums/Songs of the Year lists, plus our annual round-up of the best Name-Your-Price releases on Bandcamp.

The post November 2017 Roundup appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Like previous American Poetry Club releases, the album is a collection of lo-fi bedroom pop songs, what Weinstock describes as “a record about growing up, not giving in.” Take for example ‘you don’t have to vs. anyone’, with its Charlie Brown sample and lines about trips to the hospital and trying to focus on your own wellbeing.

“I am focusing on me
is that wrong please tell me”

‘sad song 7’ is another standout, with a fuller sound than many of the other tracks, the vocals strained and desperate. In comparison, ‘the world is full of friends and that’s so cool’ is something completely different, a sweet and upbeat track about the joys of friendship, Weinstock calling out his pals by name and ending on the super sincere lines “they’re best things that I’ve got / I love my friends a lot.”

There’s a nice simplicity to the lyrics on the album, with most of the lines sounding like they could be found scribbled in a pocket-sized notebook, or the margins of a letter. But that’s not to say they’re inconsequential. Instead it feels like Weinstock has distilled all his feelings into a few words, like he’s figured out exactly what it is he wants to say. Many of the songs are also cyclical, Weinstock repeating lines multiple times, even within songs that barely pass the minute mark. Perhaps the best example is ‘Lyrics mean nothing, feelings mean everything’, which seems to set out to prove its own title wrong. The single line is repeated like a mantra, a testament to the healing and restorative power of self-love and positive thinking, and serves as a great distillation of the themes of the album as a whole.

“And I deserve to feel good again”

You can get if we try and become flowers! from the American Poetry Club Bandcamp page.

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glad to be here, etc opens with the CFTPA-esque ‘okaycool 2’, sweetly twee toy-box pop with almost-spoken word monotone, before the richer, emo-tinged sound of ‘how i felt about most things’ with its rapid-fire tumble of lyrics, like long-buttoned thoughts finally breaking through the dam of pride or wariness. While the general vibe of ‘underneath the pillows’ has a more bouncy lilt, the lyrics are darker yet, dealing with the impossible double bind of ‘helping’ a loved one who cannot be helped. ‘how it feels to kiss trees’ is more on the wistful side of things, endearingly naive in its earnest lyrics, though follow up ‘okaycool 1’ acts as a self-aware rebuttal against such accusations before they were ever made.

telling you how i feel from the safety of my home follows up on this insecurity, the infomercial disco of ‘voice mail’ followed by the dreamy self-deprecation of ‘bedroom pop’, Weinstock declaring his desire to be a variety of b-pop big-hitters from Alex G to Spencer Radcliffe (presumably, anyway). With references to the jort-related freedom and peeking thighs, closer ‘overall(s)’ feels like a return to defensive irony, Weinstock still figuring out his position in the twee-to-cynical continuum of bedroom pop. That said, who suggested you ever have to pick a side?

Both EPs and a bonus single can be found on the american poetry club Bandcamp page.

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