Much has been said recently about how political turmoil and social instability will provide fertile conditions for great art, and whether or not you subscribe to this idea, we’re pretty sure that paying artists makes for even better soil in which to sow creative seeds. The title to this post says ‘free’ music because it’s snappier than ‘name your price’ music, but really that’s a convenient/attention-grabbing misnomer. Bandcamp provides pretty much the most direct way for us to connect directly with musicians and support their work from all over the world, so why don’t we utilise this tool and ensure that art perseveres in the face of everything else that’s going on?

Anyhow, here’s the first segment of the list, covering artists beginning with A – D. We don’t pretend to be in any way comprehensive, so let us know if we missed your favourite and maybe we’ll add it to the list.Albosel – Container
(RIYL: folk, dream pop, magic woods)

Alexandra Gordon – Rain Songs
(RIYL: bedroom pop, folk, Free Cake For Every Creature)

BB Cream – s/t
(RIYL: pop punk, bedroom pop, lo-fi, grrrl power)

Bedbug – if i got smaller grew wings and flew away for good
(RIYL: experimental, twee, sincerity)

Betty Becky – s/t / All the Boyfriends
(RIYL: bedroom pop, punk, lo-fi)

Blue Smiley – Return
(RIYL: garage rock, fuzz, dream pop)

Bois – Asleep with Songs of Longing
(RIYL: pop, soul, indie rock)

Boy Scouts – Homeroom Breakfast
(RIYL: bedroom pop, folk, self-reflection)

Cabbage/Oxblood – Split
(RIYL: bedroom pop, post-grunge, slacker rock)

Candy – Azure
(RIYL: jangle rock, dream pop, lo-fi)

猫 シ Corp. – News at 11
(RIYL: vapourwave, 90s TV, mass media)

Cayetana – Tired Eyes
(RIYL: indie rock, jangle pop, punk)

Cereal + Sounds & Z Tapes – FRY YR BRN
(RIYL: indie rock, covers, TV theme songs)

Coping Skills – Relatable Web Content
(RIYL: lo-fi, bedroom pop, Millennial angst)

Constant Companion – Curious Design
(RIYL: pop punk, lo-fi, indie rock)

Corvus B. – France, Later
(RIYL: poetry, spoken word, haunting banjo)

Crabapple – Further Out
(RIYL: indie pop, summer jams, lo-fi)

Daytime TV – DAYTIME TV 2
(RIYL: indie pop, lo-fi, rock)

Deer Scout – Customs
(RIYL: folk, singer songwriter, Gregory and the Hawk)

Dogbreth – Second Home
(RIYL: pop punk, Cloud Nothings, Joyride!, rock ‘n roll fun)

Dowsing / Ratboys – Split
(RIYL: indie rock, pop punk, emo)

Dying Adolescence – Dear you, It can’t wait.
(RIYL: bedroom pop, lo-fi, teenage feelings)

The post Favourite Free Music of 2016: A – D appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The album comprises of 15 tracks of dreamy bedroom pop, and right from the opener ‘Monsieur Mono’, it’s clear that we’re going to get some good fun to go along with it. It’s not hard to imagine a roomful of people throwing some swanky 60s psychedelic shapes as Castillo sings:

“Flock of my house, they drink champagne.
They never forget where meat gets made.
Plot in a chord, I’ll need perfume.
Confession receipts, alone and in my room”

There’s a different kind of throwback on ‘Prudent Policies’ which is all fuzzy pop, like a long lost NME fan-favourite from the 80s, while ‘Major Works’ shares a similar feel, shrouded in a warm and hazy MBV-style blanket. Other stand outs (to my ears) include ‘Knelt in Hair’, which ripples with a nostalgic and sleepy romanticism, and the pepped up ‘Wrong Souvenir Love’. ‘Signal Peru’ adds a dash of cool-kid pop to the mix, which, along with tracks like ‘The Same Chords’, shows that Tiger in my Tank are equally adept at lean and catchy indie rock.

“Oh, pillage the city’s sense of haute perfection.
Bank-rolled sewage plant infection.

But the same chords are okay with me”

The final track brings together all the elements, somehow managing to be simultaneously  dreamy and catchy and fuzzed out with feedback. It’s the sort of song that makes you disappointed that summer has gone for another year, because you just know it would sound so good on a warm, bright evening.

You can get Skinned Genie and the Same Chords on cassette and name-your-price download via the Cereal and Sounds Bandcamp page.

The post Tiger In My Tank – Skinned Genie and the Same Chords appeared first on Various Small Flames.

First up is Jonathan Chin, resident writer, editor and photographer at the NYC-based blog Cereal + Sounds.

A Meh at Best EP

by Jonathan Chin

1. Song from who you consider the most underrated band of all-time

Do The Method – The Method Actors

I think these guys got lost somewhere during the no/new wave/post-punk movement we had in the States. It’s been said that they’re the 6th most famous band to come from Athens, GA but I’ve only heard about them when their compilation, This Is Still It, was reviewed by publications in late 2010. I actually found out about this band when I had a membership for eMusic and I went on a buying spree with the monthly allowance they gave out. The career-compilation is quite good, and I’d hope they have a DEATH-like resurgence, but that never happened. I highly recommend this band to anyone who loves Wire, The Fall, and Television.

My runner-ups for the most underrated of all time are The Feelies, Yo La Tengo, The Fall, and Chin Chin.

Every Artist Needs a Tragedy – No Age

July 2008, No Age @ The South Street Seaport, was the second concert I’ve ever been to. It was pretty big for me at the time as a 16 year old venturing off to shows by myself, still figuring out the proper showgoer etiquette. I couldn’t convince any of my friends to go with me so I did this one solo. I should note that the Seaport isn’t really a venue, its an area by NYC’s East River and the Brooklyn Bridge where the architecture of old NYC is still preserved. The group that organizes events at the Seaport have always been great every year in putting on free all-age shows, picking bands that I’d throw sacks of money to see. The stage is situated on a dock right next to the Brooklyn Bridge where the NYC ferries take off, with Queens and Brooklyn serving as a backdrop.

No Age was in town to play the Seaport Nouns (one of my favorites to this day) and they had done an interview with Pete Wentz (of Fall Out Boy fame…) for MTV. The interview itself was awkward, where Wentz asked Dean how he stacked up against Phil Collins, the “greatest drummer-singer of all-time”. That NYC summer was a scorcher, and I remember vividly even after the sun had set, it was hot hot hot. When No Age start “Every Artist Needs A Tragedy”, I think the temperature dropped and a strong salt scented breeze kept blowing. The intro to the track is this pretty experimental drone bit that I always get sucked into when listening to it. At that point, I was so overcome by this unfamiliar euphoria I’ve never felt before, I had to taken the rest of the song with my eyes closed. Watching videos of it now, I’ve come to realize it wasn’t that great of a performance, but it’s still THE ONE that convinced me to shape my life around music.

3. Song for the sunniest day of the year

Take It Easy Brother Charles – Jorge Ben

I don’t remember how I got into Jorge Ben, but probably one the more revelatory serendipities I’ve had. Might have been sometime in high school, but prior to this discovery, I had no inkling of what tropicalia or even what “world” music was. Since then I’ve told people, Jorge Ben was my gateway drug to world music. But this track, I feel, will complement any hot, sticky, humid yet bright summer day quite nicely.

4. Song from a different continent

Everything Scatter – Fela Kuti

In my final year college, I had a mini-obsession with afro-pop, which I guess could be attributed to Vampire Weekend in high school. I had a friend who had a world music program at the school’s radio station (which I was a part of as well), and I’d pick up new finds on his show. I had really taken to afro-pop and afro-beat, particularly in its emphasis on rhythm and percussion. The two artists that I listened to a lot were William Onyeabor and Fela Kuti. I’ve always listened to Fela Kuti like I listen to jazz, I just drop into an album at any point and just listen to it on repeat. I feel like this is one of the tracks that best showcases Fela Kuti’s influences and range, like jazz, soul, funk, and psychedelia.

5. Song that brings out your inner cowboy

The Lord’s Favorite – Iceage

This record really threw me off when I heard a preview of it. Combining country music and post-punk seems like a weird concept and honestly I wouldn’t even imagine how it would sound. But this is quite the the song. I was pleasantly surprised at how they were able to make country and post-punk work together and kind of wishing they made more of these. These guys are from Denmark, but it really felt like they immersed themselves in country music for this track.

If you’d prefer to this whole thing in one go, a meh at best EP as it was intended to be heard:

Be sure to read everything Jonathan Chin does on Cereal + Sounds, and check back next week for the next Mystery Mini Mix.

The post Mystery Mini Mix: Jonathan Chin appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting:

1. Your Best American Girl – Mitski
2. Shine – Solids
3. Vertebrae – Sam Moss
4. Joy Lies Down – Cloud (Bern Yr Idols comp from Audio Antihero)
5. Near You – Adeline Hotel
6. I Saw You – Outer Spaces
7. Madeline – Yoni & Geti
8. Keep it Light – ARMS
9. Figure It Out – Jake Rollins
10. We Learned to Cry – Adeem The Artist
11. ant hill paradise – Bedbug
12. I’m Young – Erin Tobey
13. coca cola purgatory – Ryder Eaton
14. Muppet Babies – Nice Legs (FRY YR BRN comp from Cereal + Sounds & Z Tapes)
15. Dawn Raid – The Second Hand Marching Band & Benni Hemm Hemm
16. President – Nice Try
17. SHIP – Fake Boyfriend
18. If You Let It – Sioux Falls
19. sorry for not answering the phone, i’m too busy trying to fly away – In Love with a Ghost
20. Clueless – Holiday Home
21. Realistic Birthday Music – Hallelujah the Hills
22. Age of Consent – Cayetana
23. Seattle – Tincho
24. Lance bangs #1 single released on 4/20 – Lance Bangs
25. Cigarettes – Daytime TV
26. Everything Costs – Radical Face
27. Tired of IPAs – talons’
28. Soak – Good Good Blood
29. Heavy as a mountain – Moin Moin

The post April 2016 Roundup – A Mixtape appeared first on Various Small Flames.

With an array of styles and influences across the twenty-three songs, there truly is something for everyone. Try Isabel Rex‘s oddly melancholic ode to amusing genetic copies of famous people, MagicPerm’s blissed-out memorial of a forgotten Toon Disney gem and WTD favs Nice Legs‘ surf rock anthem for everybody’s favourite infant puppets. Or maybe you’d prefer Queer Jane’s take on those meddling kids, Lake Michigan‘s bummed-out nod to a semi-fictional Will Smith or Ainsworth’s tribute to Mister Rodgers (and his inspirational acceptance speech)?

Elsewhere, Casper Heyzeus attack their pizza-loving effort with the hyperactive energy of child actors in action figure TV commercials, IZE offer something strange and sultry enough to make Lynch himself proud and Pet Cemetery takes the theme of your teenage angst and makes it seem insular and strange, a song for one of Orange County’s outsiders who never appeared on screen because they were always locked in their gloomy bedroom playing records.

In other words, this is a near-enough perfect compilation for those of us who grew up under the ever-present bombardment of photon-based entertainment. Listen to the whole thing below and let nostalgia burn through the white noise of your image narcosis:

Artwork by Mimi Jaffe

The post Album Première: Z Tapes & Cereal + Sounds – FRY YR BRN appeared first on Various Small Flames.