Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting on You)

“It’s heartening to know that a band who have been toiling away at their craft for years can go from relative obscurity to flavour of the month with one astounding T.V performance. It’s also heartening to know that within the loose circles of pop music, there’s still an appetite for the surprising and the unusual. When I first saw Samuel T. Herring’s chest beating, lateral chicken dancing and unexpected bellowing during Future Island’s performance of Seasons on Letterman, I was bowled over—it violated every expectation I might have had of a synth pop band within the first thirty seconds and left me wondering what the hell I’d just watched by the end. It’s catchy, it’s refreshingly different, and Herring’s performance absolutely demands your attention in a way that few other songs have this year.” Dave 

Field Report – Pale Rider

“Every year I seem to fall for an album that demands to be played front to back (see: Hospice, Spectral Dusk, White Lighter) and 2014 was no different. It’s difficult to settle on a single song from Marigolden but I’ve plumped for ‘Pale Rider’, a track which exemplifies what Field Report are all about. The song deals with the pressure of meaning so much to another person, a blend of sadness and regret illuminated with sparks of intense emotion and a fierce hope. I’ll leave you with my favourite lyrics of the year: ‘now you’re cantering crooked and screaming at the wind / and shooting off flare guns in memory of the kid / his birthday was yesterday; he would have been six / oh my god, I am so sorry.’” Jon

Strand of Oaks  – JM

JM is Tim Showalter’s tribute to the late Jason Molina, and more generally to the consoling and healing power of music. The lyrics are comprised of a (presumably autobiographical) list of struggles and difficult times – “And I hated all my friends, I wouldn’t let them in”, “I was sitting in the bath, cleaning off the ash” – followed repeatedly by the caveat “but I had your sweet tunes to play”. Describing how Showalter (and every single one of us) finds solace in songs, the track smoulders in a flickering twilight before igniting in a storm of wailing guitars and thundering drums, ending with: “I won’t let these dark times win, we got your sweet tunes to play”. It’s big and triumphant and sincere and it’s my favourite song released this year. Thanks for the sweet tunes, Tim.“ Liam

Photay – Reconstruct (Feat. Seafloor)

I have a theory that Photay must have stumbled on the formulae for the perfect song. Reconstruct has absolutely everything. After battering in your ears with a raw as hell bass riff, it journeys successively through a dreamily singalong chorus, a ponderous breakdown and a jazzy jam-ending. I haven’t stopped listening to it for months.” Matt

Flying Lotus – Never Catch Me (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)

“Never Catch Me sees two of the finest bring out the best in each other. FlyLo’s rhythm and grooves are matched every inch of the way by Kendrick Lamar’s flawless delivery. As songs about death go, it’s as upbeat as possible. Lines like “Looking down on my soul now, tell me I’m in control now, Tell me I can live long and I can live wrong and I can live right,
And I can sing songs and I can unite with you that I love, you that I like,
Look at my life and tell me I fight,” focus on our desire to affirm our time as worthwhile, the fear of wasting it and eventually being forgotten. Matched with a charming video, it’s been on regular rotation for a fair few months now.“ Will

The post Wake The Deaf’s Top Tracks of 2014 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting:
1. Le Sigh – Johnny Foreigner
2. What You Need – Jacques Greene
3. Opinion Piece – Jon Hynes
4. Is What It Is – She Keeps Bees
5. Dead Lamb – King of Cats
6. Full of Minnows – Happyness (from 80n7)
7. Gypsy Dead Girl – Field Medic
8. Do Girls – Theophilus London
9. Fireworks (Reprise) – Radiator Hospital
10. Garden – Hiatus
11. All the Experts Say – Joyride!
12. 24 – Shipwrecks
13. The Way He Looks at Me – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
14. G – Young Jesus
15. Spring Sheet – Fairweather Currents
16. 925 – Gorgeous Bully (from 80n7)
17. On the Rocks – The Rural Alberta Advantage
18. Never Catch Me – Flying Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar
19. Seraphine – Peirson
20. Colorado – Noah Young

September Mix from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

The post September 2014 Roundup – A Mixtape appeared first on Various Small Flames.

As ever, please support any of the acts you like and buy their own music. There are some super-talented and prolific acts on here who release a lot of their stuff for free, and I’m sure a few dollars, or even just an email of appreciation, would be very welcome.

Tracklisting:

1. Seasons (Waiting On You) (Future Islands Cover) – Slow Club
2. Don’t Let Me Get Me (P!nk Cover) – Arrange
3. Doin’ It Right (Daft Punk Cover) – Verdigrls
4. Flotus (Flying Lotus Cover) – Spazzkid
5. This Charming Man (The Smiths Cover) – SKATERS
6. Ain’t That Enough (Teenage Fanclub Cover) – Nai Harvest
7. Son Of Sam (Elliott Smith Cover) – The Provincial Archive
8. Her Sinking Sun (Coma Cinema Cover) – Julia Brown
9. Thru The Wall (Paul Baribeau Cover) – Matthew Lee Cothran & Delaney Mills
10. It Is What It Is (Blood Orange Cover) – How Sad
11.Dreams (Fleetwood Mac Cover) – Emily Reo
12. Is This Is (The Strokes Cover) – Total Warr
13. Everything Is Embarrassing (Sky Ferreira Cover) – Saturday Looks Good To Me
14. Bein’ Around (The Lemonheads Cover) – Courtney Barnett
15. Call It What You Will (Joe Pug Cover) – Vandaveer
16. Waking Hour (Vandaveer Cover) – Joe Pug
17. The Promise (When In Rome Cover) – Sturgill Simpson
18. The Mother We Share (CHVRCHES Cover) – SOAK
19. Game Of Pricks (Guided By Voices Cover) – Meursault
20. Ooh La La (Faces Cover) – Manchester Orchestra
21. Romulus (Sufjan Stevens Cover) – Donovan Woods
22. Drive All Night (Bruce Springsteen Cover) – Sharon van Etten

Covers Mix #11 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

The post The Covers Mix: Volume #11 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

McMurry wrote, performed, recorded, mixed and mastered every track himself in his bedroom, so the album serves as a testament to what you can achieve using DIY methods if you really put your heart and soul it. He is one talented young man and I would be very interested to see what he could do with more resources in the future.

The only information I can find for the album (apart from the fact that was recorded entirely in his bedroom) is this note on Bandcamp: “this album is a collection of thoughts, memories, conversations, walks, and dreams.”,which in my opinion is how all press releases should read.

You can download Enter Through the Exit from the Haunted Disco Bandcamp on a name-your-price basis, so there really is no excuse to miss out. He has also just released a new EP, Clost, which serves as an epilogue to the album and is certainly worth your time.

McMurry also records music under his own name which is worth checking out on Bandcamp.

The post Haunted Disco – Enter Through the Exit appeared first on Various Small Flames.

If you don’t have time to check the whole album out, I urge to at least watch the video below for ‘Putty Boy Strut’. Both the track and the fantastic animations have been playing on an infinite loop in my head for the last few days:

The post Flying Lotus – ‘Until The Quiet Comes’ appeared first on Various Small Flames.