If you’ve missed the previous editions, then check out January and February right now.

March Mix from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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

‘Most Birthdays’ is the first song off of a forthcoming album, and was written during a time when Nathan was helping his mother move out of her home, his childhood home. As you can imagine, many memories were unearthed during this process, and these certainly inform the song.

‘Most birthdays don’t quite feel the same
as they once did when i lived at that place
but I can sleep all the way through the night
without waking up to hear my parents fight
and I’ll take that tonight’

The song is available to download on Bandcamp, but there is no definite date for the album as of yet. You can get his previous album Dishes on Bandcamp on a pay-what-you-can basis.

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Ice Dragon – Born On A Heavy Morning

(RIYL: experimental, psychedelic, stoner rock)

If Thousands – For

(RIYL: drone, ambient, Low, Sigur Ros)

Ings – Dog Physics

(RIYL: bedroom pop, lullabies, Plaid Dragon)

Inlet Sound – The Romantics (Special Edition)

(RIYL: indie pop, folk, Cataldo)

Jake Klar – Rocks & Gravel EP

(RIYL: blues, country, folk, whiskey, Justin Townes Earle)

Jason Anderson – Omaha

(RIYL: folk, rock, Americana)

Julia Brown – To Be Close To You

(RIYL: bedroom pop, Teen Suicide, Coma Cinema)

Killer Whale – Giant Waves EP

(RIYL: experimental folk, ambient, summer)

Lace Bows – Bows of Summer

(RIYL: experimental, noise, field recordings)

Malpas – Where the River Runs EP (Technically 2012 but whatever)

(RIYL: electronic, folk, Tunng)

Matthew Bailey – Tendrils

(RIYL: folk, country, Bry Webb, Zachary Lucky)

Matthew Fowler – Beginning

(RIYL: acoustic, folk, Damien Rice, Dan Mangan)

Matthew Lee Cothran – Failure

(RIYL: lo-fi, downer pop, Coma Cinema)

Monster Rally – Return To Paradise

(RIYL: tropical, exotic hip hop, chillwave)

Mouca/Cartouche – MN°5 (Compilation)

(RIYL: indie rock, dream pop,summer)

Nathan K. – Dishes

(RIYL: folk, joy, family, ‘grower’ albums)

Nick Everett & Everybody – Elsethings

(RIYL: experimental folk, weird folk, Canada)

Old Amica – The Burning Dot Part 2

(RIYL: electronic folk, experimental, slowcore)

Old Earth – Live on WMSE

(RIYL: experimental, rock, folk, live recordings)

Old Haunt – 空

(RIYL: ambient folk, Townes van Zandt, Tim Hecker)

The post Favourite Free Music of 2013 (I-O) appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Nathan K. is self-classified (probably with tongue in cheek) as anti-freak folk, but the important thing for you to know is that he is a songwriter. Here he shows that it doesn’t really matter how lo-fi the production is if the writing and execution is right. The songs come of sort of like a series of diary entries, a stream of consciousness that trickles into all sorts of different areas, wandering around the variations of folk music at will.

The album is a fine collection of songs as it is, but it is impossible to ignore the story of the recording process. The description from Bandcamp reads:

“In the middle of a tour, I had to come home early to be with my grandfather who was dying, and at his request, and I sang and played guitar, violin, and banjo for him during the last few weeks of his life. During the nights, when I couldn’t sleep (I slept at the hospital), I recorded on a 4-track recorder to pass the time in the waiting room.”

A second listen with this in mind causes the album to expand and blossom, what at first appeared throw-away words and lines with a pleasing cadence become something incredibly personal, almost ultimately so. The refrain in ‘Ghosts’ is a perfect example of this. First time around it was a nice, poetic phrase, but now it takes on a new quality; a curious mix of sadness and joy, haunting in the sense that it lingers but not completely morose or scary. Its more a nostalgic and poignant amalgamation of fondness and love and regret, something crushing yet life affirming.

And this is what you take away from the record upon understanding how it came into being – a sense of joy. Yes there is sympathy and sadness, but there something else that overides all of this. Knowledge of a life well lived, a pride and appreciation of a person who is responsible for your very being. A line in ‘For Your Own Good’ captures this better than I ever could:

“I was a kid last time I really felt that // the world was a beautiful place // and I guess it’s a beautiful place, but it’s hard to tell.”

You can buy the album on the Nathan K. Bandcamp, or download it on a pay-what-you-can basis.

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