Young Jesus

“I think you can confront darkness with sincerity and that the best stuff acknowledges the light that is in the dark and vice versa” – an interview with Young Jesus, chatting about concept albums, life-changing novels & the balance between darkness and light.

Sharon Van Etten

“Heartfelt, brave and benevolent, not exactly an answer but a reassuring hand to hold while you’re working on the question” – You should be excited about the new EP from Sharon Van Etten.

Elvis Depressedly

“Elvis Depressedly will not mend broken bones or cast out demons or have you walking across hot coals. Instead they… offer an achievable version of optimism, one which does not require manic enthusiasm or God-like goodwill but instead a pinch of determination and a firm belief in love” – we get to grips with the new Elvis Depressedly record New Alhambra.

Bells Atlas

“Blending the visceral emotions of R&B and soul with an off-the-wall, avant-garde vibe akin to Dirty Projectors and tUnE-yArDs” – ‘Bling’ welcomes you to the eclectic world of Bells Atlas.

Gay Angel

“The sound of one creative mind expressing itself in the most maximalist way imaginable” – The second floret of Gay Angel’s 100-song bonquet is .

Zee Town and the Dog Boys

“Think Beach House in their sad teenage bedroom years” – the self-titled album from Zee Town and the Dog Boys combines shoegazy fuzz with intimate bedroom pop.

Aisha Badru

“The confessional, angry-but-still-in-love style of all the best break-up songs” – an introduction to the organic folk of Aisha Badru.

Noah Gundersen

“A rousing, textured love song that would be a radio hit in any just world” – we get the first taste of the new Noah Gundersen album with ‘Slow Dancer’.

Ruth & Trudy

“An unorthodox brand of lo-fi pop that blends a laidback hipness with heartfelt naivete” – Still Pond Songs, an album from Ruth & Trudy, out on Slovakian label Z Tapes.

Alynda Segarra

“Blues women foreshadowed a movement of feminists of color that is vibrantly alive today… leaving behind the embarrassing and soul crushing caricatures of women of color that I was fed my whole life” – Hurray for Riff Raff leading lady Alynda Segarra (who we have had the pleasure of talking to) has written a great piece on the feminist legacy blues women for American Songwriter.

The Weather Station

“Country songs are always about driving, journeys, and these sorts of things. I found that these songs were about journeys but not” – Exclaim talk to Tamara Lindeman about Loyalty, the excellent new album from The Weather Station.

Bedroom Pop

“The qualities they share are somewhat intangible, more emotional than sonic, and can be more easily felt than described” – Jacob W. Moore wrote a primer on bedroom pop for the uninitiated, citing bands such as R.L. Kelly, Ricky Eat Acid, Alex G and Foxes in Fiction, as well as the overwhelming influence of the folks at Orchid Tapes. Head to Flavorwire to check it out and then browse our ‘bedroom pop’ tag as further reading.

Sufjan Stevens

“The striking sense of solemnity hangs like a noose around its neck, rugged and impossible to ignore, from the first moment to the last” – A little late to this one, but GoldFlakePaint’s review of Sufjan’s new album is really lovely (and mentions Cormac McCarthy, which is never a bad thing).

King of Cats

DIY Magazine are streaming the new King of Cats album, which will be released on Art Reeks, a joint label that combined Art is Hard and Reeks of Effort…

Barna Howard

…and you can stream the new Barna Howard album at Line of Best Fit.

Bellows

Bellows did a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR!

And Finally… the 8tracks Playlist of the Week

The inaugural winner of this coveted accolade is Ratfriend, with this round-up of the best music so far in 2015:

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and 8tracks to keep up to date with the best new music.

The post Week in Review: #1 (11-15th May 2015) appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting

1. Saturday Night – The Wooden Sky
2. Wings – Field Report
3. Infestation – Bear Medicine
4. Cigarettes – Oquoa
5. Chris Bell – M. Lockwood Porter
6. Ride On, Molina – Rivulets
7. Farewell Transmission – Songs: Ohia
8. HSKT – Sylvan Esso
9. Reconstruct (feat. Seafloor) – Photay
10. Second Night – Mansionair
11. Beacon – DEAREST
12. Sweetness – Wayne Szalinksi
13. Yellow Leaves – Ezkiel
14. Travel Advisory – Baby Mollusk
15. ESRT (2001) – Whatever, Dad
16. Black Kettle – Real Life Buildings
17. Six Dollar Sunglasses – Steve Palmer
18. I Have Heard of a Land – C.Strøm
19. Blue Ridge Mountain Blues – Wes Tirey
20. Breaking Bad – Talons’
21. Raft – Sarah Winchester
22. Ontario Gothic – Foxes in Fiction
23. Thrown – Kiasmos
24. You (Nate Connelly Rework) – Nils Frahm
25. Form By Firelight (With Raphaelle Standell) – Jon Hopkins
26. Lights – Mt. Judge
27. I Love – David Karsten Daniels

Remember that we make a mix like this every month, so if you want even more cool new music then head over to the Wake the Deaf 8tracks page, or read the site itself!

October 2014 Mix from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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

Borne out of tragic loss, both of Hildebrand’s younger brother and also a dear friend of his in the aftermath, Ontario Gothic is a very personal, intimate record. But it is not intimate in the traditional sense of explicit heart-on-sleeve lyrics and sparse instrumentation. These are essentially pop songs, in which the listener finds strange, dream-like versions of themselves amongst the layers of ambience. The songs are like a thick layer of smoky fog that drifts and swirls on the currents of Hildebrand’s grief and isolation. Owen Pallett’s strings help create a soothing, spectral sound that has a certain viscosity, conveying the feeling that if you gave it your complete trust and leaned back it would support your weight.

From start to finish the album takes a blend of nostalgia and grief and spins it into something not only beautiful but genuinely comforting. The result is akin to being totally alone in an old dark cathedral that smells of damp and dust and old incense but has the most vivid stained-glass windows and it’s very early in the morning and the sun is just that moment rising to send it’s gentle rays through them.

You can get the album on a pay-what-you-can basis via Bandcamp

Orchid Tapes did release an LP, but that’s already sold out. If you really want it then pester them and perhaps they’ll do another pressing.

The post Foxes in Fiction – Ontario Gothic appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Eric & Magill – All Those I Know (Actually released 31st Dec 2010. Forgive me).

(RIYL: “Folktronica”, Crescendos, Dirty Projectors)

The Fierce & The Dead – If It Carries On Like This We Are Moving To Morecambe

(RIYL = Post-Rock, Progressive)

First Nations – Black Beach

(RIYL = Folk Rock, Meursault)

Flashing Red Lights – Faster Horses

(RIYL = Indie Pop, Electronic)

Foxes in Fiction – Hospital District/Static Cults 7”

(RIYL = Ambient, Dream Pop, Experimental)

Frederik Teige – Elevate

(RIYL = Folk Pop)

Geotic – Bless the Self

(RIYL = Baths, Experimental, Ambient)

Glass Vaults – Into Clear EP

(RIYL = Ambient, Shoegaze, Dreaming)

HAPPY TRENDY – Die Young

(RIYL = Bedroom Pop, Lo-Fi, Electronic)

Headaches – Spooky Mulder

(RIYL = Electronic, Experimental, Aliens)

In Euphoric Company – People You Remember, People You Forget

(RIYL = Indie Rock, Broken Social Scene, Local Natives)

In Lieu – Fuck Crz

(RIYL = Post-Rock, Sigur Ros, Owen)

James Hoffman – Mill City

(RIYL = Acoustic, Folk, M. Ward)

Jeremy Lee Given – Arapaima

(RIYL = Indie Pop, “Bro-Fi”, Large Fish)

Jessica Jalbert – Paris Green (Single)

(RIYL = Melancholia, Dream Pop, Mirah)

John Statz – The Budapest Sessions

(RIYL = Americana, Alt-Country)

Kalle Mattson –Anchors 

(RIYL = Indie Pop, Folk, Canada)

The post Best of 2011 Free Music (E-K) appeared first on Various Small Flames.

He has 3 albums to date: Baby Prayers, Stoned Alone and the new release, Blue Suicide. All of his albums can be downloaded from his website for free, which I can’t recommend highly enough.

The issue of releasing his work for free is an important one for Mat. Or maybe it’s so unimportant, so obvious and natural, that it doesn’t need mentioning? He has said that real art should be selfless and therefore charging for digital releases removes what makes it art in the first place. In his words, people who charge for MP3s are “fucking delusional”.

If you can afford it his new album will be released on cassette very soon on Wonder Beard Tapes. If you lack the funds (or a cassette player) then share his music. As stated on Coma Cinema’s website: “If you feel the need to compensate us, we only ask that you share the music with others.“

The post Coma Cinema appeared first on Various Small Flames.