Magana is the haunted alternative pop project of Brooklyn resident Jeni Magana. She is soon to release her debut EP, Golden Tongue, with our pals at Audio Antihero, who describe the record as “brittle and erratic guitar pop… delivered with both anger and acceptance”. Our review will be posted closer to release, but in the meantime Magana kindly agreed to play our little game and make us a Mini Mystery Mix.

Life and Love and Growing Up

Song with a colour in the title

Lianne La Havas – Green & Gold

What a lovely young lady.  Everything about her is appealing.  This song is celebrating her unique heritage.  I feel like it’s about growing up and learning to love yourself and where you came from.  Green and gold are representing the Jamaican flag.  Neat.

Song with a name in the title

Dolly Parton – Jolene

Dolly Parton is the best and this song is such a classic.  Super simple and catchy but a unique perspective of a relationship that might fall apart.  It puts responsibility on the other woman, but not even in anger.  I feel like her husband is actually just her pet in this song and it makes me laugh.

Song from at least 50 years ago

Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire

I’ve been listening to this song constantly since my childhood.  I can’t believe it’s more than 50 years old.  Released in 1963.  Time moves too fast sometimes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ViaGyzfAk

Song that reminds you of school

Ryan Adams – Why Do They Leave?

I listened to this record a ton when I was in college, but I chose this song specifically because one time my friend Luke drank too much and missed a flight the next day and so my friends made a cover of this song called “Luke, why do you drink?” and it was pretty amazing.  I’m sure it exists on the internet somewhere but I can’t find it anymore.

Song in a different language to your native tongue

Yael Naim – Selcha

I went to college in Boston and after college I moved to NYC, which is about a 4 hour drive.  For a while, I played bass for my friend Gina who also moved to NYC, but the rest of her band still lived in Boston.  This meant her and I took a lot of long drives and I got to know her CD collection way too well.  This was one of the CDs that we could agree on and so for a while this was one we played all the time.  Eventually I broke down and listened to Taylor Swift the whole time like she wanted to, but this song is still beautiful.  Yael Naim is Israeli-French and that is super cool.

Quietest song you know

Keaton Henson – You

I first heard this dude on Tiny Desk, and the description of the set was that he basically whispered the whole time and people had to crowd super close to him just to hear what he was saying.  The recording has a bit more instrumentation, but you can tell that he’s still basically whispering into a microphone.  I’m so into quiet music; I feel like it can be so emotional and it’s often overlooked because people think of loud wailing and yelling etc to be the emotional stuff.

Here’s the entire ‘EP’ as one thing, if you want to kick back and listen:

Magana is releasing Golden Tongue EP on the 28th of October on Audio Antihero. Pre-order it now via Bandcamp. And if you’re in New York, head to The Studio at Webster Hall on the 26th of October to catch the EP’s release show.

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Oh, and there’ll one a month from now on, which will give us plenty of time to have a think of a new idea before we catch up to present day.

The year 2000 was remarkable for lots of reasons. We got to be the first people to see a new millennium in, well, a millennium, Putin took over within the Kremlin, Bush Jnr. all but made it into the Oval Office, films such as Gladiator, O Brother Where Art Thou? and the indomitable Chicken Run thrilled the public, and, most importantly, Roberto Di Matteo won the cup (again). There were also some pretty notable musical releases, and we’ve cherry-picked some of our favourites (admittedly in retrospect) for your listening pleasure below:

Tracklisting:

1) Shellac – Prayer to God
2) The New Pornographers – Letter From an Occupant
3) Pedro the Lion – Simple Economics
4) Johnny Cash – I See A Darkness
5) Bratmobile – It’s Common But We Don’t Talk About It
6) Elliott Smith – Son of Sam
7) Cat Power – Satisfaction
8) Sleater Kinney – You’re No Rock ‘n Roll Fun
9) Lifter Puller – Nice Nice
10) At The Drive In – One Armed Scissor
11) Dillinger Four – Who Didn’t Kill Bambi?
12) Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Yr. Skinny Fists, Like Antennas to Heaven…
13) Yo La Tengo – Everyday
14) Múm – Asleep On a Train
15) Sigur Ros – Staralfur
16) The Weakerthans – Left & Leaving
17) Damien Jurado – Johnny Go Riding
18) Songs:Ohia – The Ocean’s Nerves
19) Ryan Adams – Come Pick Me Up
20) Smog – Permanent Smile

The post Millennium Mix: 2000 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The bio on his website wastes no time in referencing Dylan and Cash and, while this could be just a little premature, you can certainly hear why. The songwriting is very strong (it came as no surprise to discover he writes poetry in his spare time), each track spinning stories of love and loss and fear and isolation and all those other things that really good art tries to deal with. On ‘A Song For the Lost’ he sings:

What a troubled mind I have taken from these hours.
What a troubled life I have created from this mind.

Those two lines sum things up pretty nicely I think. It’s one of those albums which releases it secrets slowly on multiple listens, an album of exceptional substance for someone so young. And it’s not just the songwriter bit he’s got nailed. Lush’s vocals are actually pretty remarkable for someone in his (very) early twenties, warm and deep and full of the very emotions and experiences he sings about.

There are a couple of rockier moments (see ‘Started A War’), but for the most part it’s a brooding and meditative affair, often just vocals and either acoustic of electric guitar. There is also violin and cello, as well as harmonica in places, which give some tracks an Americana (Australi-cana?) vibe.

You can buy the album right now over at Lush’s Bandcamp page. I highly suggest you check it out if this sort of music is your thing, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

The post Oscar Lush – The World Is Round So I’ll Go Round 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. Borrowed Tune (Neil Young Cover) – Field Report*
2. Someone Like You (Adele Cover) – Shipwrecks & Island of Misfit Toys
3. Good Good Things (The Descendents Cover) – Edsel
4. Ceremony (New Order Cover) – Chromatics
5. Angels (The XX Cover) – KOTKEE
6. Dark Eyes (Bob Dylan Cover) – Dirty Projectors
7. If I Had No Place To Fall (Townes Van Zandt Cover) – Nathaniel Rateliff^
8. Dancing in the Dark (Bruce Springsteen Cover) – Praything
9. From the Soil, a Violin (Goose Lake Cover) – Wand (formerly First Nations)
10. I Can’t Talk About It (El Perro Del Mar Cover) – His Clancyness
11. Such Great Heights (Postal Service Cover) – Iron & Wine
12. From The Morning (Nick Drake Cover) – Pickering Pick
13. Night Moves (Bob Seger Cover) – Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson^
14. Hang Me, Oh Hang Me (Traditional) – Daniel Rossen
15. My Dreams Have Withered and Died (Richard and Linda Thompson Cover) – Angel Olsen & Marissa Nadler
16. No Ordinary Love (Sade Cover) – The Rosebuds
17. You Aint Seen Nothing Yet (Bachman Turner Overdrive Cover) – Yo La Tengo
18. Indian Sunburn (Schooner Cover) – Wesley Wolfe
19. Ohio (Damien Jurado Cover) – Neil Halstead*
20. I See a Darkness (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy Cover) – Johnny Cash

* = taken from Fuel/Friends Chapel Sessions
^ = taken from Daytrotter Sessions

Please remember to support the artists! We’ve included links on the tracklisting that will take you somewhere more specific for each band so be sure to check out their original material. Also visit Daytrotter and Fuel/Friends, the sessions they do are well worth your time.

The Covers Mix: Volume #6 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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