If you are acquainted with the band already (we liked their album very tiny songs a lot), you’ll know that the single, ‘best thought, has all the hallmarks of a Honeyuck song. It’s a sweet indie pop song about having a crush and trying to summon the courage to act on it.

“And there’s something I want to ask you
but I don’t know how to
would it be weird if I gave you a kiss?
there is something telling me that it is
your hand I should be holding so
would it be weird if
I kissed you for the hell of it?”

The B-side is a cover of Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Just Like Honey’, a quiet rendition with simple synths and tambourine percussion, swapping the melodrama of the original for a gentle sadness, sounding like a murmured sing-along in a still room. Like all of Honeyuck’s music, it’s simply really nice.

You can get the ‘best thought’ on a name-your-price basis via the Lavender Sounds Bandcamp page.

The post Honeyuck – best thought appeared first on Various Small Flames.

There are also some original tracks, for example from Pet Cemetery, Real Swell and EP. The latter’s track, ‘Such a Clatter (No Christmas)’, a slightly hyperactive-sounding lo-fi casio track. Check it out below:

This being a benefit compilation, you can rest assured that all profits go to a good cause. As Filip explains:

“This year we wanted to do something special for Christmas and give something back to people that need help. We created this Christmas compilation to support a small, but amazing Slovakian organization running a shelter for battered women and helping kids without proper families in a small town, not far away from the place where I grew up. I met them this summer, and from that point on I wanted to help them financially. They need a lot of money. Therefore all profits from this compilation will go towards their honest work. Please help this organization build a better home for people in need.”

You can get the Z Tapes Christmas Benefit Compilation now via Bandcamp. You’ll get some great festive music in time for Christmas and you’ll help out some people who really need it. What have you got to lose?

The post Z Tapes – Christmas Benefit Compilation appeared first on Various Small Flames.

“It’s all saints day again
another year I can’t pretend
I don’t talk to saints”

‘CROWNS’ is a song about losing someone, about grief (“am i stronger if i can say it out loud
wherever you are now could you say you were proud? / i didn’t get the chance to say good bye / but the world’s moved on now so why can’t i?”), while ‘dirt naps’ is a song from the opposite perspective, about being dead and dissatisfied with life as a ghost.

“cemeteries close at 5’o’clock
they shut the gates and put on a lock
so if i die and if they put me in a box
you’ll never see me
never see me
never see me
never see me after work”

The EP closes with ‘gloomy sunday’, an acoustic Billie Holiday played over the ambient sound of rain splashing on a roof, a fittingly sad and reflective finish to a really nice collection of songs. You can get the mourning after now on a name-your-price download via the crocodile tears pa bandcamp page.

The post crocodile tears pa – the mouring after appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Surely you have all heard of ARMS? We have certainly mentioned them a few times. For the uninitiated, ARMS is Todd Goldstein, the ex-Harlem Shakes guitarist, and a variety of friends. We were honoured and delighted when Todd offered to record a version of ‘The Book of Love’ by The Magnetic Fields.

The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It’s full of charts and facts and figures
And instructions for dancing

But I, I love it when you read to me
And you, you can read me anything

You can buy Quiet, Constant Friends now via the Wake The Deaf Bandcamp page. Remember, all tapes come with super-limited edition art print postcards. You’d be a fool to miss out!

The post Quiet, Constant Friends: ARMS – The Book of Love appeared first on Various Small Flames.

“Jack and Edie lying across my bed
Flying high like the spirits of the dead
The living and the dead”

The track’s artwork was done by London-based illustrator Henry McCausland. You can follow him on Tumblr and buy some beautiful things from the shop area of his website.Remember, you can pre-order Quiet, Constant Friends now on our Bandcamp page. All tapes come with arty goodies, all profits go to a great cause. Fill your boots!

–

The post Quiet, Constant Friends: Beat Radio – Mexico City appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Listen to the mix via the player below, and be sure to check out the other volumes which can be found here, and are available on our 8tracks page.

Tracklisting:

1. Midnight City (M83 Cover) – The Last Bison
2. Anthems For A Seveteen Year Old Girl (Broken Social Scene Cover) – Dancing Years
3. Goodbye Horses (Q Lazzarus Cover) – Hayden Thorpe & Jon Hopkins
4. Native American Summer (Beat Happening Cover) – Small Wonder
5. Semi-Charmed Life (Third Eye Blind Cover) – Frontier Ruckus
6. Passionate Kisses (Lucinda Williams Cover) – Shakey Graves
7. Do You Realize (The Flaming Lips Cover) – Fossil Collective
8. Crazy In Love (Beyonce Cover) – Melissa Laveaux
9. Car (Built To Spill Cover) – Emily Reo
10. Perfect Day (Lou Reed Cover) – Phosphorescent
11. Father & Daughter (Paul Simon Cover) – The River Has Many Voices
12. Blues Run the Game (Jackson C. Frank Cover) – Oscar Lush
13. In Spite of Ourselves (John Prine Cover) – Kyle Morton & Danielle Sullivan
14. Around and Around (John Denver Cover) – Mountain Man
15. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams Cover) – Fog Lake
16. The Way the Whole Thing Ends (Gillian Welch Cover) – Night Beds
17. I Am Not Waiting Anymore (Field Report Cover) – Blind Boys of Alabama
18. Will the Circle be Unbroken? (Traditional) – Emily Lacy
19. Oblivion (Grimes Cover) – Wilsen
20. Teenage Spaceship (Smog Cover) – How To Dress Well
21. Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song) (Dave van Ronk Cover) – Oscar Isaac

The Covers Mix: Volume #10 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

The post The Covers Mix: Volume #10 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The Pollyanna Band have released lovely renditions of ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Christmas All the Time’, which you can get here.

The Telegraph has them at 250/1 for the Christmas number one spot. Why not help them out?

(P.S. I made myself sit through some of the alternatives… I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through that.)

The post Advent Calendar [17th]: The Pollyanna Band – Silent Night appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The two Jurado covers are from Slowcoustic’s fantastic Covers Project, the Rufus Wainwright one is from Pickwick’s Fuel/Friends Chapel Session and the Dire Straits cover was included after reading an article on the late Matt Ryd on Cover Lay Down. I have no idea what is going on in the Mac DeMarco track.

Tracklisting:

1. Falling (Twin Peaks Theme) – Field Mouse
2. You Took Your Time (Mount Kimbie Cover) – Julia Losfelt
3. Talamak (Toro y Moi Cover) – Houses
4. Thinking About You (Frank Ocean Cover) – Typhoon
5. Heysátan (Sigur Rós Cover) – Leif Vollebekk
6. No Other Love (Jo Stafford Cover) – Night Beds
7. Foolish Love (Rufus Wainwright Cover) – Pickwick
8. Beacon Hill (Damien Jurado Cover) – Small Houses (w/ Kevin Killen)
9. We All Make The Flowers Grow (Lee Hazelwood Cover) – Siskiyou
10. Father and Son (Cat Stevens Cover) – Johnny Cash & Fiona Apple
11. Indie Queens Are Waiting (Dan Mangan Cover) – Will Driving West
12. Fade Into You (Mazzy Star Cover) – J Mascis
13. Fit (Windmill Cover) – Snob Dylan
14. Don’t Let Them See You Cry (Manchester Orchestra Cover) – Ted Monday
15. Isolation (Joy Division Cover) – If Thousands
16. Medication (Damien Jurado Cover) – Wes Tirey
17. Drive All Night (Bruce Springsteen Cover) – The Swell Season
18. Romeo & Juliet (Dire Straits Cover) – Matt Ryd
19. Gypsy He-Witch (Jason Molina Cover) – Will Oldham
20. Medley (Various Covers) – Mac DeMarco

As always, the mix is intended as an introduction to these artists. I have put links in the tracklisting so you can explore a bit further. Enjoy!

The Covers Mix: Volume #9 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

The post The Covers Mix: Volume #9 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting:

1. I’m Going Down (Bruce Springsteen Cover) – Vampire Weekend
2. Weird Sisters (Sparklehorse Cover) – LØZNINGER
3. Chiamami Adesso (Paolo Conte Cover) – Julia Holter
4. When Rosa Speaks (Pickwick Cover) – Kevin Long
5. Woody (Hayden Cover) – Winter Makes Sailors
6. Cheers (Blake Mills Cover) – Floating Action
7. The Park (Feist Cover) – Anna Scouten
8. Momma You’ve Been On My Mind (Bob Dylan) – Matthew Ryan
9. Reason To Believe (Tim Hardin Cover) – Horse Feathers
10. You Can Call Me Al (Paul Simon Cover) – Colossal Gospel
11. Kiss Me (Sixpence None The Richer Cover) – Mikal Cronin
12. Holocene (Bon Iver) – Rounak Maiti
13. One Day At a Time (Willie Nelson Cover) – Pure X
14. Back Home Again (John Denver Cover) – Low
15. Ultraviolence (New Order Cover) – Seekae
16. The Eagle And The Hawk (John Denver Cover) – Bonnie “Prince” Billy
17. Asa (Bry Webb Cover) – Denison Witmer
18. Rust or Gold (Jill Andrews Cover) – Jeremy Squires
19. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel Cover) – Clem Snide
20. Thinking About You (Radiohead Cover) – Hezekiah Jones
21. Surrender (Cheap Trick Cover) – Frightened Rabbit
22. The River (Bruce Springsteen Cover) – Josh Ritter

You know the drill, please support these artists. Go and buy some records, see a show, get a t-shirt, anything to enable them to keep making music.

Previous covers mixes: Volume I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII

The Covers Mix: Volume #8 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

The post The Covers Mix: Volume #8 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

If you like what you hear and find yourself in London TONIGHT (10th Sept) then get down to The Borderline to see Lowpines support Hurray For The Riff Raff (who we spoke to here).

The post Lowpines appeared first on Various Small Flames.