Fans of Nassau will be happy to hear that the band’s lush atmosphere is retained, a fact that’s apparent from instrumental opener, ‘Given the Light’. Location plays a big part on How on Earth, and the song makes this clear from the very beginning. Sou’wester Lodge is located in Seaview, a small town near the Oregon border, and this landscape leaves an indelible mark on the sound. Green and grey and misty, the songs are cut from the same cloth as Silverstein’s work with Nassau but less sun-blushed, instead enveloped in fresh air and drizzle. Think Yo La Tengo’s Old Joy soundtrack pushed into dreamier ambient territory. ‘Make Yr Peace (and have it too)’ is a great example, beginning with sounds of the rainforest before unfurling into a beautifully unhurried ambient pop song, the simple lyrics taking on a mantra-like quality as Silverstein repeats them in his gentle and understated manner.

I want to know the truth
I want to make peace and have it too

‘All Hands Raised’, a song named after the Portland non-profit, again drifts at its own pace, but at its heart holds a steely message. It was written in response to, or in honour of, the young people across the US who have spoken out to demand gun control. “All hands raised
to say,” Silverstein sings,”I am warm and brave, I am more than okay.”

The album closes with ‘Finds You Well’, a heartfelt ode to Silverstein’s grandmother who passed away as he was driving across country to relocate to Oregon. “We were on our way to beginning a new chapter of our life,” Silverstein tells Stadium & Shrines, “she was doing just the same. It felt like she was coming along for the ride.” It’s a fittingly poignant end to an album that’s infused with a sense of both geography and human feeling.

I hope that this finds you well
though there’s no way I could ever tell
you’ve given so much of yourself
at least we’ve got our health

How on Earth is out Driftless Recordings, and you can get it on their webstore or via the Jeffrey Silverstein Bandcamp page.

The post Jeffrey Silverstein – How On Earth appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting:

Twelve Gardens – maria
Gorgeous Bully – oh why
Girl K – Neighbours
Kintsugi San – Time
Brunch – The Goose
Young Jesus – Feeling (Half Stop Session)
Wych Elm – School Shooter
Steve Maloney – Exits
Haley Heynderickx – Oom Sha La La
M.A.G.S. – Mexico
Iris Jupiter – Buzz Cut
Ylayali – Cherry Tomatoes
Anamon – Stubborn Comfort
Micah Vaultz – endless rain, for limitless pain
Pavey Ark – Leaf By Leaf
Henry Jamison – The Last Time I Saw Adrianne
Shamir – 90s Kids
SALES – Talk a Lot
Nassau – Ain’t It Time
Long Neck – Cavity
Pastel – Silhouette
Old Earth – Pit Dynamics

You can find all of of monthly mixes here, plus an assortment of other playlists and song collections. Stayed tuned for October!

The post September 2017 Roundup appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Heron shows renewed focus since the release of Hoss, each of the eight tracks crafted with precision from the reasonably utilitarian set-up of guitar, drum machine and synth, producing a sound that’s clean and smooth, a remarkable feat considering the whole thing was made in Wilcox’s home studio. This sense of focus extends beyond sonic matter too, as the writing centres on the imagery of the titular heron, traditionally a symbol of progression and evolution, to explore themes of evolution and equilibrium, that delicate relationship between balance and change.

But despite this evolution, all the things we liked about Nassau on Hoss are still present. ‘Whatever Brings You Peace of Mind’ has a sidewinding tropical lilt, suffused with peach-pink evening light. It’s a folk song but not as we know it, drawing on ambient and dream pop to transcend the earthy constraints of guitar and percussion, conjuring a sense of space and texture.

If that sounds like dusk, then, as its name suggests, ‘Risin’ Sun’ is a dawn song. Equal parts exotic and mellow, the track is built on minimally tranquil guitar and lyrics which have an almost mantra-like quality, simple lines recited to bring peace and hope to all.

“And I will never be lonesome
and I’ll never be alone
your thoughts are always with me
to carry me back home”

The opening of the instrumental ‘Long Arc’ sounds like a conventional folk song, the gentle acoustics soon joined by electric guitar that skates around with frictionless ease, while ‘Spring’ feels like it’s playing at half speed, infused with a sense of freedom, periods of almost silence punctuating what grows into a heartfelt slice of minimal synth pop. Closer ‘Ain’t it Time’ sounds like the culmination of everything that’s come before. It’s rich and warm and heady with subtle emotion, the crooning vocals at once relaxed and purposeful, stretching out to a leisurely five minutes full of rhetorical questions which point at larger issues of purpose and lifestyle.

It’s perhaps the most obvious nod to the overarching themes on the record, and one which makes renewed sense in light of the note the band wrote about the album: “This record was written and recorded throughout a series of big changes in both of our lives… Throughout all of this – we asked both ourselves and each other a lot of big questions. We set out to make an album that represented the changes happening in our minds, our hearts and in our lives”.

Heron is out now on CD and cassette from Fire Talk Records, or as a download from the Nassau Bandcamp page.

The post Nassau – Heron appeared first on Various Small Flames.

And the usual disclaimer applies, there were too many great tunes to include them all, so treat this more as a selection rather than a comprehensive round-up of the year. Enjoy.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – Constellation

“You’re used to quiet words
and so am I
so I’ll just whisper“

Tiny Ruins – Dream Wave

“always a dream wave drawing you off track
dream wave, a coast calls you back“

Magana – Get it Right

“You were red but my gold turned you green
So you stood there lying through your teeth“

deer scout – holy ghost

“I could find a new kind of devotion
I could know you by another name“

Hovvdy – Meg

“Speak because i know you feel a certain way
but ill pass it along anyway“

Bedbug – Leaving Town, Moving to a National Park <3

“I’m too young for that anyways
everyone’s just tryna skip town these days“

Soccer Mommy – Skinned Knees

“i left
burning streets in tennessee
for a north east feel“

Mitski – Your Best American Girl

“Your mother wouldn’t approve of how my mother raised me
But I do, I finally do“

LVL UP – Hidden Driver

“God is peeking
softly speaking
fucking everything
until I slowly do see“

Lisa Prank – Starting Again

“You say you’re not still drinking
you just started again
I swear I don’t still miss you
I just started again“

Dicktations – Dicktations Forever

“It’s hard to say when I first figured out something was wrong“

Joyride! – Running on Empty

“Young and running on empty
you said that you thought I looked pretty with my makeup on
so I went home and I took it off“

Sioux Falls (now Stranger Ranger) – Dom

“Spending too much time on the internet
are you ok? you don’t seem very into it“

Camp Cope – Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams

“It’s the trophy wives raising trophy wives raising children on TV
Scared of people like you and me
Just don’t ask questions you’ll sleep peacefully
We will not go out in silence and we will not go quietly“

Fake Boyfriend – BUMTOWN

“Why do I cling to the threads that mean the least?“

Outer Spaces – I Saw You

“I saw you, a shedding snake“

American Enthusiasm – Holy Wow

“Make a note of all the words I cough out on my death bed“

The Hotelier – Soft Animal

“Fawn, doe, light snow
Spots on brown of white 
make me believe that there’s a God sometimes“

Beach Slang – Future Mixtape for the Art Kids

“We’re not lost, we are dying in style
We’re not fucked, we are fucking alive“

CHUCK – Death

“You hold on to whatever kin
that keeps on breathin’ in
that keeps you from driftin’
like paper in the wind“

You Won’t – Ya Ya Ya

“So your daddy was a poltergeist
sent your little sister screaming down the hallway
well I don’t know about the afterlife,
but I can help you to forget about the old days“

Mountain Almanac – Kids Playing Outside

“Saturday morning, cartoon time, let’s go“

Basement Revolver – Johnny

“Please just stay away from Johnny
cos I love him understand“

Boy Scouts – Did You See My Cry

“walking walmart shopping center
i’d never been better
on my own two feet
i guess“

Free Cake For Every Creature – First Summer in a City

“i’ll be singing when i’m 90
climb a tree to see
what tastes to smokey sweet
first summer in a city“

Haley Heynderickx – First I’m Sorry

“Mother knows I drown in my lies
Father knows I learned my lesson the second time.
Ask me where I’ll go I’ll say do not know
No, I do not know“

ARMS – Missing

“I don’t want to force your hand
but wishes disguised as plans will never do
Like the king of deathbed regrets
and the queen of last requests could ever choose“

Naps – Bad Vibrations

“Can’t stand up to the world’s expectations
I’m living on a bad bad vibration“

The Washboard Abs – Day Draws Nearer

“Your backyard
you talked to God
about the heartbreak you forgot“

Trace Mountains – Forgiveness

“old dirt you thrown underneath the stair
is right there
right where you said i’d tremble and stare
at the vast unforgiving spirit lurking there
but it takes time, to realise forgiveness“

Nassau – Desert Blues

“I took a marker and wrote your number on the bathroom stall
That’s just my way of reaching out cos I’m too proud to call“

Adeline Hotel – Near You

“Sleep better tonight
In the heat of red moon light
Whatever we are, whatever we’ll be
I used to live near you, you used to love near me“

Simon Balto – Foothills

“I’ve never been a faithful man
I’ve always been too proud to pray
But won’t you come out to the foothills
And hold me together for one more day“

Cloud Cult – No Hell

“There’s no use in running unless you run like heck
The best things we’ve learned we learned from the wreck
Jesus coming back as a woman this time
Handing out hugs in the clinic line
Someone tell the devil we don’t need no hell
We’re all pretty good at beating up ourselves“

Slingshot Dakota – Break

“And in the end there’s two of us
it was always two of us“

Good Good Blood – No Sadness/Furrowed Brow

“We’ll have no sadness/furrowed brow
There is no shame in dying now
I said from my death bed“

Ben Seretan – Bowl of Plums

“My friends call me when they’re feeling low
We talk quietly for hours and walk the room
Flowers growing in a coffee can
Our lives are wonderful and sad sometimes“

Chris Bathgate – Big Ghost

“I got a Big Ghost
of static in my throat
from coming up too short“

Wintersleep – Metropolis

“The man that you are, the man you were, the man you left
Turn into stars, flowing in through the wilderness“

Mothers – Lockjaw

“I don’t want your kind words
I want your ghost inside a thimble“

Car Seat Headrest – Drunk Driver / Killer Whales

“You build yourself up against others’ feelings
And it left you feeling empty as a car coasting downhill
I have become such a negative person
It was all just an act
It was all so easily stripped away“

Space Mountain – Never Lonely

“Met a friend today
And im feeling okay
She’s in my head
I’m never lonely“

Hallelujah the Hills – What Do the People Want?

“What do the people want?
The people don’t know what they want“

Mount Moriah – Calvander

“Carry on and on and on on
With your cosmic reach
Newport river whispered fate
Spells cast with every crashing wave
Neon lines and a new name“

Frederick Squire – Bike Thief

“The lights are on
And we are sinking way down in our chairs
We don’t say much of anything
Even though there’s still a lot to say“

Kevin Morby – We’ve Been Here Before

“Running my mouth off at the storm
Yelling, “man, what the hell did you do that for?“

Sam Moss – Vertebrae

“Did you watch my vertebrae
Slendering out
Or did you watch your own?
Stretching skin over the bone
I’ve grown
Learning to be proud“

Arlo Aldo – House & Home

“O’er the mountains out past the trees
where the grasslands, meet the sky
you’ll find me singin’ my songs
with my lover in my mind“

Will Johnson – Nervousness Fangs

“Jesus what a mess
what they’re all selling
and what’s being sold“

Jeremy Squires – After All

“There’s an old painting of Jesus on a wall
and a tapestry that hangs by a cross
that weighs heavy on my shoulders now and then
I get caught up with why the things we love ain’t never last“

The Dead Tongues – Stained Glass Eyes

“Fifth wind brought a howl got me in a storm
I saw a lighthouse spinning at the edge of the world
like looking through a window to the day
I was born“

Kyle Morton – Automatic

“It’s my head, it’s my head
breaking itself to make a thought but instead
Just some pornographic images to stave off my death
It’s all automatic“

Keaton Henson – Alright

“Obviously
My wounds are open to see
But don’t take them seriously
I’ll be fine“

Talons’ – Work Stories

“Is this what the end of the world looks like?
Or is this just life?“

Jordan O’Jordan – A Lonely Road

“There are truths we may or may never know friend
and that is the point“

Mal Devisa – Sea of Limbs

“Honey-lover
keeper of the bees
Soft-spoken
seldom-seen“

Young Jesus – Hinges

“I’m pretty sure I’m a kind of collection of things
scattered throughout the backyard
under the moon
pulling weirdo slow dance moves
maybe always losing it a little
i am ashamed to believe in myself!“

Lung Cycles – For a While

“I feel like sharing
so I’ll press record
and I’ll tell you that I had a vision“

Sister Grotto – UNCANNY

“When we go, we go alone“

John K. Samson – Virtute At Rest

“You should know I am with you, know I forgive you
Know I am proud of the steps that you’ve made
Know it will never be easy or simple
Know I will dig in my claws when you stray“

If you missed it, you can see the list of our favourite albums of 2016 here, and stay tuned for our collection of the best name-your-price releases on Bandcamp next week.

The post Wake the Deaf’s Favourite Songs of 2016 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Opening track ‘Wake the Dead’ has subtle beats and mellow guitar, hitting the same slinky melancholy chord as Dawn Golden’s Still Life, while ‘White Gold’ brings a drawled folky edge to things, although that’s still rooted in dreamy guitars and a mellow ambient vibe. My current favourite, ‘Desert Blues’, is wonderfully relaxed, a slow-burning, slow-groovin’ track that sounds like Water Liars swaying in sunglasses, or the feeling of watching a summer’s evening fading from peach to blue-grey, the air thick with an insect hum and the petrichor of distant storms.

Finale ‘New Year’ has hints of Lisbon-era The Walkmen, possessing the same laidback crooning romanticism, and proves a fitting end to a really nice EP. I’m certainly excited to hear what Nassau do next.

You can get Hoss from Firetalk Records or the Nassau Bandcamp page.

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