Tracks like ‘Chat Room Messages’ and ‘Ice Cream Run’ are anthems for bedroom kids of our generation, finding solace not in vast soundscapes or grand adventure, but rather TV and the internet. Which isn’t to say the whole thing isn’t beautiful―the half-paced, blissed-out ‘Swept’ is like lying in the bathtub and imagining you’re bobbing down some lukewarm river, and the pastel-coloured heart-ache of ‘Dating Game 3000’ and ‘Contestant’ provide some much needed comfort for your worried mind.

 To celebrate the release, the band kindly agreed to take part in our Mystery Mix series―where we give them a series of random prompts they must use to create a mini playlist. Tackled as a quartet, the result is as interesting and wide ranging a selection of songs you are likely to see, and potentially the only time Smash Mouth will grace the Various Small Flames page.

Teamwork (Makes the Dream Work)

by Sundae Crush

Song with animal in the name

Battles – Inchworm

Izzi: A friend of mine said this whole album sounds like unicorns doin’ it, which I think is totally accurate. This song makes me feel simultaneously like skipping merrily down the lane, and aggressively breaking shit. It’s perfect.

Song that reminds you of your favourite book

Vashti Bunyan – Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind

Jena: My favorite book is Things I’ve Learned in My Life So Far by Stefan Sagmiester and I feel like this is a good song to sum it all up.

Song with a name in it

The Allman Brothers – Jessica

Jesse: Although there are no lyrics to this song you can almost picture who The Allman Brothers are describing through the instrumentation. This is also the name of my childhood crush. I taught myself how to play the main guitar riff on my bass and it has turned into my favorite song to play during sound check.

Song that reminds you of being somewhere awful

Smash Mouth – I’m a Believer

Izzi: When Jena and I were driving from Texas to Washington, we were in the middle of nowhere southern California in the summer during the draught. We drove through the desert for what seemed like a thousand hours. It was so hot and hellish and we were starting to go insane so we covered this song using a portable amp, an omnichord, and a maraca while I was driving. For sanity’s sake, and because we desperately wanted to believe that we were eventually gonna hit the coast, this was a good song choice at the time.

Jena: I totally back this. Also… this was totally a Monkees song first and I love them. But I was def thinking of Smash Mouth when we did this in the car.

Favorite live experience

Thundercat – Friend Zone

Jesse: There are way too many shows that I’ve been too and I cannot pinpoint my favorite one, but the most recent show I’ve been to is when I saw Thundercat a couple weeks back. Thundercat is a major influence on my song writing and bass playing. This was my favorite song from his set that night.

Song for the apocalypse

In Down Bad by Lil B. // REM – It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

Alex: In an apocalypse we might listen to In Down Bad by Lil B. “Shots at the court like basketball”. Or maybe we could listen to REM – It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

Song for the sunniest day of the year

Soak Up the Sun – Sheryl Crow

We talk about this song a lot, so this was an automatic pick.

Remember, Crushed is out now via The United Worker’s Party, U.S.A., and you can snag a copy on CD and cassette from Bandcamp. Once you’ve done that, you can find the previous entries in the Mystery Mini Mix series here, and browse our Mixtapes section to find a playlist for every occasion.

Artwork by Ariel Davis

The post Mystery Mini Mix: Sundae Crush appeared first on Various Small Flames.

“For all the woe and doubt, the record never deviates from its primary message – each and every moment is a law unto itself, be sure to live in it and for it because, be it good or bad, it will not last forever”

To explore the record a little further, we put some questions to the faces behind Dicktations and received some rather interesting answers. Dig in below!

Hi Dicktations, thanks for speaking with us. How is life at this time of year in NYC?

Miguel: It’s just now starting to become very cold. The heat in our building is finally on and it gurgles in the manner of a large beast with Troubled Bowels. The leaves are half gone, and it is all very pretty. I find myself compulsively listening to Yo La Tengo, Nico, and Joni Mitchell. The fall is a special time—I always feel completely awful. Maybe recent L.A. transplants Brian and Torsten can offer their thoughts on the west coast’s take on this season.

Brian: LA is its usual sunny self but we actually got some decent rain this past weekend, which I loved. I’m troubled at how cold 60 degrees feels to me now. It was funny watching the debut of Jared Goff, the no. 1 pick of the Rams, playing at home in the pouring rain.

In our review of Super Paradise we mentioned how you said the album was “an index of a weird time in our lives” and was created in response to a period of what can only be described as existential crisis. Did the record help you make sense of all of that? Was it a cathartic experience in recording and releasing it to the world?

Miguel: It’s hard to say. The record took forever to make and felt like a sticky thing. Letting go of the record helped me let go of that time. But I don’t know that making music or art, for me at least, is really cathartic, or even a way of processing things. Music-making is like this alien compulsion that the events of my life, at best, furnish. My emotions and experiences are the most readily available material through which to articulate it. The compulsion is indifferent to all of that, though. Most of the time it is hard to express how I’m feeling or where I am through any medium or mode of communication, let alone music. I can’t say I really sit down and make music for the purpose of expressing myself. That being said, making music feels extremely correct, in a way that nothing else does, and in a way that I think is distinct from the classic artistic framework of catharsis and sense-making. It’s probably the only thing I do for the sake of doing it.

Brian: Agree completely with the last line, I think you summed it up really well. As far as the “weird time in our lives,” Miguel and I were both living at home, working mindless if not thankless jobs and wondering what the next step was. I kind of see my last year as a state of limbo – most days I felt like I was just hanging suspended in this reality. For me at least, it was existing, not living. That impulse pushes me to make music.

At twenty tracks, and running through a variety of styles and moods, the album is pretty much a double album in terms of length and scope. How/why did you decide that these songs all belonged on the same release? Was it to do with themes? Or the period of time in which they were written?

Miguel: We were eager to produce as much material as possible. The folder on my hard drive that contains the original demos for this record is titled ‘Dicktations Swan Song.’ It was my understanding that this was the last thing we would make when we started making it—at the time, towards the end of college and the beginning of that summer, I thought I might be moving to L.A., too. ‘Dicktations Forever’ was one of the first songs I wrote for it. The lyrics came to me spontaneously, which is rarely how it works out for me. I was about a month before graduating from school and, maybe I couldn’t recognize it at the time, I was on the cusp of this really difficult reckoning with how the self is constituted and the strangeness of being able to identify all these major, imminent changes in your life but being unable to anticipate how they will feel. That kind of provided a goal post for what the record would be about.

We used every song we recorded on the album. I tried sequencing it as a full twenty track record, and I think, by merit of these songs being written by us throughout this whole period, it felt thematically cohesive and even had a narrative arc. I think by the time I wrote ‘Heather,’ I knew it belonged at the end of the record that charted out this course towards refusing to be defined by history, trauma, and sadness. We talked a little about cutting tracks but decided not to. I have always been drawn to sprawling records that jump across genre. The first quasi-Dicktations record set out to be that way very deliberately. H*CKHOUND is basically the one time we’ve ever engaged in self-editing.

Brian: I also love the sprawlers. I’m really happy with how all the songs ended up fitting together despite the different styles. I love records that flow from song to song and I think we achieved something like that.

Who/what do you consider influences on your work, both sonically and in terms of writing? Are there art forms other than music (literature, movies, visual art etc.) which you consider important in shaping your style?

Miguel: I’ve always seen Dicktations as my dream rock n roll outlet. Something that takes its cues from everything I like from rock. I think the main reference points for my songs on that record—Thin Lizzy, The Replacements, Big Star, The Wrens—were formative for me but not necessarily indicative of what I listen to and resonate with most at this point in my life. Writing lyrics is extraordinarily difficult for me. When I was writing words for my tracks on the record I kept pushing myself to be as direct and frank as possible, which I think all those bands do well. I love the unceremonious nature of Paul Westerberg’s confessions. The way he loses his resolve at the end of ‘Unsatisfied’ or has to work his way up to sing a line like “[a]ll I know is that I’m sick of everything that my money can buy” on Here Comes a Regular. There’s nothing monumental about the way he expresses his feelings. I like to think that for all its length and scope, Super Paradise is ultimately pretty unambitious and understated.

I find literature and critical theory to be really influential on how I think about my relationship myself and others and how I ultimately write. I think my anxiety about being overdetermined by history was a pretty direct result of the spiritual and intellectual fatigue I felt studying Anthropology for four years. Most recently, the novel I Capture the Castle [by Dodie Smith] helped me finally write the words to a very difficult song.

Alex: For me, my playing style is truly influenced by my personality…and my personality is truly influenced by Kate Bush (my perception of her based on videos, interviews, and her music in general, at least). I feel very animated and emotional when playing music; sometimes I think about what I would look like if the drums were totally transparent, with just my wobbly, swishy, bouncy, flailing and/or unnaturally still body visible (i have no formal training on how to play drums in a way that won’t eventually cause self-harm) and every time: I see myself surrounded by characters in one of her amazing choreographies.

Brian: Musically, influence #1 will always be The Beatles for me I think. As far as influencing me as a writer and rocker, Bruce Springsteen. I’ve teared up to “Backstreets” so many times. Richard Thompson is a guitar god I dream of playing like one day. The Smiths, Weezer, The Band and Teenage Cool Kids are some of my other favorites. The Wrens were my soundtrack for the past year, they’re an amazing band. If I did a ‘Mount Rushmore’ of my singing influences, it would be: Jonathan Richman, Charles Bissell, Kevin Whelan, Rick Danko (so f*cking plaintive!) and Andrew Savage.

Most of your releases were accompanied by creative and rather in-depth supporting pieces of writing, which I find really interesting and illuminating. I was wondering how central these are for you to the albums as a whole? Are they footnotes or another facet of the main body?

Miguel: I think the way I’m about to answer this is a way of thinking about it that definitely came after putting out Super Paradise, so I’m almost interpreting myself here. I think of the essay and annotated map that you get when you download the album are all parts of the artwork-as-a-whole. A friend of mine mentioned using Google Maps—I do this all the time—to cruise the locations on the annotated map and in the essay while listening to the record as an illuminating experience, and I think that’s almost how I would recommend experiencing it. I think the internet and digital medium offer great opportunities to rethink what an ‘album’ is. Lemonade and visual albums are a big budget way of approaching this, but I think there are plenty of more DIY ways to realize the possibilities of the medium. H*CKHOUND dabbled in this too—the liner notes featured “stage directions” for each track.

I can be very obsessive. I love the idea of exhausting something, like what Georges Perec does in An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, where sits in one intersection for days and describes every detail he sees. Or a gothic cathedral—a space so dense with signification, through all its decorative statues and stained glass, that it’s never available in its entirety to any given viewer.

You said in a recent Facebook post that Dicktations are no more, and posted a song from a new project. What can we expect from you in the future? Do you see your new work as a marked change from Dicktations?

Miguel: I’ve been doing stuff as Miserable chillers for a few years alongside Dicktations and other projects, like Drug Pizza and Magic the Happening!. Miserable chillers is my outlet for music that engages with referents that have more in common with what I’m into now. It’s synthier and a little more abstract. I’m letting my love of all those British sophisti-pop bands from the ‘80s, like Prefab Sprout, or Blue Nile, consume me.

Brian: I’ve been releasing music as Living Large since high school and recently my brother Dan (aka Rick Rubin of Dicktations) and I have recorded two albums at his spot, Boca Studios in Somerville, Mass. (Boston bands, hit him up!)

Finally, could you name four or five acts you think we should be listening to (be they old or new, popular or obscure, etc.)?

Miguel: Jay Som, Tredeci Bacci, Wintertime, and Mal Devisa are new artists that I really like. Willis Alan Ramsey is a Texas troubadour from the ‘70s who is somewhere between Townes Van Zandt and Harry Nilsson and his one album has been on heavy rotation for me for the past year. Also, Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest has been a pretty indispensable champion of our music, and I owe him a big thanks and shout out. Teens of Denial was one of my favorite indie rock records this year.

Brian: Teens of Denial is an amazing record and the show we played with them was also one of the best concerts I’ve attended. I mentioned them before, but The Wrens are one of New Jersey’s greatest bands. Out here in LA, I’ve been listening to two artists heavily: Steely Dan and more recently R.E.M. Aja and Murmur are both classics. Check out the early records. Early R.E.M. can hang with The Smiths. Our friend Chris has a gallery space (As It Stands LA, if you’re out here!) and a local band called Roses played there one time. I wasn’t at the show but I like them a lot, especially their song ‘Florence Girls.’ I recently found Greatest Palace Music by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy at the thrift store down my block so that’s my go-to driving CD. ‘New Partner’ is one of my all-time favorite songs.

Torsten: When I listen to Bach I feel as though God is real and that, though am I not perfect, there is a perfection I can sometimes glimpse and aspire to. It is a worthwhile trick to play on yourself. I really like John Eliot Gardiner’s groups performing the cantatas and Glenn Gould’s performances of the piano works.

You can grab Super Paradise and all of the Dicktations release now from Bandcamp.

The post Interview: Dicktations appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Be sure to check out the other volumes which can be found here. Enjoy.

Tracklisting:

1. Thirteen (Big Star cover) – The Point
2. Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper cover) – GRMLN
3. Sofia (Mannequins on 7th Street cover) – Spark Alaska
4. Sunflower (Low cover) – T E Morris
5. Hideaway (Kiesza cover) – Eliza Shaddad
6. It’s the End of the World as We Know It (R.E.M. cover) – Free Cake for Every Creature
7. Peach, Plum, Pear (Joanna Newsom cover) – FemFemFem
8. Fake Empire (The National cover) – Thad Kopec
9. No Lion (Boom Forest cover) – PHOX (Fuel/Friends Chapel Session)
10. Last To Swim (Strand of Oaks cover) – Our Griffins (Root Down in the Shadow Covers Club)
11. Unfucktheworld (Angel Olsen cover) – Nadia Reid
12. You’re Not the Only Monster (R.L. Kelly cover) – DIY Scarves
13. I’m on Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover) – Low
14. You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (Bob Dylan cover) – My Bubba
15. Tugboat (Galaxie 500 cover) – Finnmark!
16. Frog Went a Courtin’ (Traditional) – Eef Barzelay
17. Lost on the River (Hank Williams cover) – Radiator Hospital (Birdtapes compilation)
18. Just Be Simple (Songs:Ohia cover) – Water Liars (Out of Town Films)
19. Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory (Guided By Voices cover) – Arms
20. Can’t Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley cover) – Eels (KCRW)

Covers Mix #12 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

The post The Covers Mix: Volume #12 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting:

1. From Stardust To Sentience (High Places cover) – Banjo or Freakout
2. So Prone (SLUTEVER cover) – Ghost/Light
3. I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton cover) – Howth
4. Salvador Sanchez (Sun Kil Moon cover) – Little Silver
5. Brother (Annuals cover) – Manchester Orchestra
6. Darling (Magic Man cover) – And the Giraffe
7. When You Were Mine (Prince cover) – John Heart Jackie
8. I Wanna Be Adored (Stone Roses cover) – Coma Cinema
9. Crying (Roy Orbison cover) – Austra
10. Streets of Philadelphia (Bruce Springsteen cover) Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
11. Iron Man (Black Sabbath cover) – Four Tet
12. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight (R.E.M. cover) – Oxford Collapse
13. My Proud Mountains (Townes van Zandt cover) – J. Tillman
14. Chelsea Hotel #2 (Leonard Cohen cover) – Sarah Jaffe
15. If I Handle You With Care (Trembling Blue Stars cover) – Evening Hymns
16. Left & Leaving (The Weakerthans cover) – Beat Radio
17. I Know What I Know (Paul Simon cover) – Graham Wright
18. Some Things Last A Long Time (Daniel Johnston cover) – The Twilight Sad
19. Unicorn (Gay Against You cover) – Dananananaykroyd
20. See U Again (Miley Cyrus cover) – The Mae Shi

Click on the band name in the tracklisting to be whizzed off to a specific page for each artist. Buy some music if you like what you hear. I didn’t bother with Dolly Parton, Springsteen etc. but if you need some pointers on where to find out more about them give us a shout.

Enjoy.

The Covers Mix: Volume #2 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

The post The Covers Mix: Volume #2 appeared first on Various Small Flames.