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.

A new volume will be posted every few weeks and will offer a collection of really great songs that we’re determined not to let slip past our radar.

Girl K – Neighbors

Girl K is the recording project of Kathy Patino from Chicago, and ‘Neighbors’ is the first single from the forthcoming album, SUNFLOWER COURT. Starting slow and hesitant, the track unfurls like a flower at dawn, growing into a retro-flavoured indie pop number with skippy drums and sugary vocals. Detailing doubt and the self-sacrifice required to give to others, the song ends with a contagious sense of momentum, so that when Patino sings that she doesn’t care, we certainly believe her.

“It’s only me and you in this house for the neighbors.
Will they tell us the truth or continue to leave us?
Cause I don’t care, and I don’t care.”

The single is available now from the Girl K Bandcamp page, which is also the place to keep an eye on for news about SUNFLOWER COURT.

Pavey Ark – Leaf by Leaf

Pavey Ark are a folk five-piece from Hull who utilise finger-picked guitars, crooned vocals and two violins to weave their atmospheric sound. This spring the band put out their debut EP, Leaf By Leaf, and the title track, which happens to be the latest single, is the perfect introduction. Rising out of the warm, autumnal strings, the vocals emerge with a fluid calm, creating a song which is equal parts welcoming and wisftul, like a past time remembered fondly. Check out the the nice video from Patrick Mateer below:

The ‘Leaf By Leaf’ single is out on the 29th September, and the EP is available now from the Pavey Ark Bandcamp page.

Anamon – Stubborn Comfort

Ahead of an album of the same name, Rochester’s Anamon has recently unveiled a single, ‘Stubborn Comfort’. The new songwriting project of Ana Emily Monaco, Anamon uses what the press release describes as “poignant vignettes of heartbreaks and dreamscapes,” a hybrid of folk and rock infused with an empty house ennui and pressing immediacy. The result is a raw and intimate sound that plays like the airing of grievances in private, perhaps a rehearsal or else some cathartic release.

Stubborn Comfort will be released on the 10th November and you can pre-order it via Bandcamp.

Wych Elm – School Shooter

Described in their bio as a “modern, lethargically menacing take on classic lo-fi indie rock”, Bristol’s Wych Elm make music that creeps up and over you, the half-paced vibe holding a kind of ominous energy that invariably spikes and spills over in a clatter of guitars and feedback. Their new EP, a two-song release via Quit Yr Job records, is therefore equal parts spooky and hypnotic, the disaffected drawl of lead Caitlin Elliman worming it’s way beneath your skin in a manner both charming and creepy.

The EP is out now via Quit Yr Job Records and you can get it from Bandcamp

M.A.G.S. – Mexico

Hailing from Buffalo, M.A.G.S. is the recording project of multi-instrumentalist Elliott Douglas. His self-titled sophomore album was released earlier this month, consolidating his beguiling blend of noisy rock and radio-friendly pop into something riotous and relentlessly energetic. Lead single ‘Mexico’ serves as a great starting point for those unfamiliar, dealing with themes of growing up and taking on adult responsibilities, though through a prism of bouncy garage rock that suggests leaving childhood might not be the dour experience you thought it to be.

The self-titled album is out now via Admirable Traits Records and available from the M.A.G.S. Bandcamp page.

Kintsugi San – Time

Based in London, Kintsugi San makes a lo-fi brand of pop based on electronic instrumentation that relies as much on the spaces between notes and beats and words as the sounds themselves. ‘Time’, their latest single, is a song that sounds at once intimate and detached, like those odd occasions where you become mindful of the world around you, an almost heightened state where you grow suddenly conscious of how brilliant everything looks, when ordinary, quiet rooms becoming wonderful and strange. Such sensations are invariably inexplicable and short-lived and all the better for it, small pockets where you pull free from the way of things. Kintsugi San’s music is somewhere between celebrating and recreating this feeling, and begging for its return.

“What it was
I just can’t say
I just listen
And feel the whole
Of what it was
Give me a year
And a day
Give me all time”

You can grab the single now from the Kintsugi San Bandcamp page.

Shamir – 90s Kids

The lead single from a new album, Revelations, ’90s Kids’ shows how the sound of Shamir Bailey has morphed since his major label pop smash debut, Ratchet. Swapping out the good time shine of his dancey previous work, the track finds Shamir writing more personal, intimate lyrics with a cutting edge, wrapped in a semi-ironic sound reminiscent of CHUCK. ” Check out the meme-filled video below:

Revelations is out on the 3rd November via Father/Daughter Records and you can pre-order it now from Bandcamp.

Henry Jamison – The Last Time I Saw Adrianne

In preview of his debut album, The Wilds, New England’s Henry Jamison has given us a glimpse of his delicate folk sound and nuanced lyrics with single, ‘The Last Time I Saw Adrianne’. The song shows Jamison’s songwriting style as one rooted in storytelling. The track came into being after Jamison played a show with Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief, her “incredibly healing and enviably good” songs striking a chord with his lonely headspace, and the opening lines essentially form a tribute to Lenker. The narrative eventually meanders off into other areas, though all the while retaining a poignant, half-heartbroken mood.

“And I knew her singing signalled spring
and where in my heart pounds
for all the want and doubt are now upon me
and I hear it in the sounds
of all the rain in all the baseball games
but it rains out”

The Wilds is to be released on Akira Records on the 3rd November.

Iris Jupiter / Fk Mt. – Split

California’s Iris Jupiter have teamed up with South Carolina stoner band Fk Mt. to put out a split 7″ through Open Door and Bad Break Records. The lead single, Iris Jupiter’s ‘Buzz Cut’, gives us something of an idea as to what to expect from therecord, the frenetic guitars kicking in from the opening seconds and the tumble of vocals descending into communal shouts in the boisterous refrain. Still, beneath the frenzied sound lies something more considered, the lyrics containing a degree of introspection at odds with the outward nature of their delivery.

The split will be released on the 20th October via Open Door Records and Bad Break Records and you can pre-order it now.

SALES – Talk a Lot

Their first fresh music since 2016’s self-titled album, Orlando duo SALES are back with shiny new single, ‘Talk a Lot’. Fans of Lauren Morgan and Jordan Shih will be pleased to find their distinctive sound remains, toeing the line between the lo-fi DIY aesthetic and something a little more refined and minimal to create a dreamy, languid soundscape. As such, the track drips and trickles, the easy-going energy softening all edges and inviting you into its insulated beat.

“Your friends they seem to talk a lot.
You know i’m not that type.
Just pull-up in your shopping cart—
Just throw it all in there, it’s fine.

[Trust the moment]
You’re making it look easy.”

‘Talk a Lot’ is out now and available from… where else? Bandcamp.

The post Bright Sparks: Vol. 5 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

So when we heard they we putting out The Most Beautiful Place on Earth / Commercial Music, a split release with fellow Floridians Yikes on their own label Viridian Sounds and the excellent It Takes Time Records (who put out this from Boosegumps), we were excited. So excited in fact we decided to ask them some questions about it.

So, Naps/Yikes…Why did you decide to put out a split release with Yikes/Naps?

Ryan: There are a ton of great bands from Tallahassee that we could’ve done a split with, but I think at least for me Yikes was an obvious choice — we have a lot of love for their musical endeavors, both in and out of Yikes, they’re great people, and they had a lot of great songs that I was really interested in producing.
Katryn: We want their coolness to rub off on us, that’s the true end goal here.
Laura: They’re the bee’s knees.
Jeremy: We’ve played so many shows with them and their songs are so good it feels like a privilege to release ours alongside theirs. They’re the goodest boys.
Yikes: Because they’re our talented Tallahassee homies! Also we love Naps because they helped yikes get a lot of shows when we were just starting out and our sounds mesh well together.

The first single, ‘Social Skills’, is something of a departure from the sound on You Will Live in a Cool Box, is this a sign of things to come on the record?

Ryan: This new EP is a different type of record than our first one was for sure — a little less representative of our live show but maybe a little more realized in terms of where we could take things. But I would say it reflects a different side of the band rather than an intentional departure from where we were at when we recorded Cool Box. We just got into the studio to start working on our full-length and I don’t know that either EP is more indicative of how that’ll end up sounding than the other.
Jeremy: Yeah, in terms of production it’s definitely a huge difference—the first EP was very lo-fi and was recorded full-band. Our side of this split is more assembled of individually or separately recorded tracks—I don’t think all four of us actually play on any one of the songs.
Laura: I think the split is just one version of the way we want to hear our songs, a version that wouldn’t lend itself well in our live setup.

What are the prevalent themes on The Most Beautiful Place on Earth / Commercial Music?

Ryan: I didn’t think of You Will Live In A Cool Box as a break-up record when we were making it, but it centered a lot on the experience of falling out of love and feeling kind of out of step with the world as a consequence of that experience. I think The Most Beautiful Place on Earth to me is partially about having that out of step feeling even when the variable of love loss is removed.
Yikes: The most frequent theme on the split is probably insecurity, social anxiety and getting used to adult relationships.
Katryn: The song I wrote on the split is actually the first song I had ever written, and it’s also about falling out of love and how much it sucks to be stuck in close proximity to someone who has hurt you, which is definitely a very prevalent theme in a lot of what I’ve written for Naps thus far. Stanley and I recorded it two and a half years ago, before Naps even existed, and it was our first time really hanging out and also how we became friends! We went to a party later that night and made a bloodless blood pact to be friends forever. Sorry this isn’t super related to the question but it’s a cute story so YOU’RE WELCOME.
Laura: Why wasn’t I a part of this bloodless blood pact?
Katryn: Because you are the queen of my life and I am the Vice President of the Laura fan club so I think it goes without saying that we are never going to not be friends, you fool!

The release is being put out by It Takes Time Records, as well as Naps’ own Viridian Sounds. Would you like to explain how the partnership with It Takes Time came about?

Ryan: Jordan from It Takes Time actually got in contact with us way back in 2015 about putting out Cool Box, but we weren’t able to go through with it in the end because of scheduling reasons — we ended up just doing it ourselves so that we’d have tapes to sell on tour, and that’s how Viridian ended up getting started. We still really wanted to work with ITT, plus they put out a bunch of great stuff in the time between our two releases, so we hit Jordan up when we were working on the new stuff.
Yikes: Stanley said he had the plug and he delivered.

The single is also being released on a new digital single imprint of Viridian Sounds called Lavender Sounds. What can people expect of this new venture?

Ryan: Lavender Sounds is an idea that came out of my love for single-oriented music, especially older twee imprints from the 80’s and 90’s that put out an enormous amount of great pop music on 7” and flexidisc singles. It’s still in the early stages of being a thing, but ultimately we’d like to be able to use it to foster an artistic community that can interact by contributing to this ongoing collection of music.

Could you describe Naps in three words?
http://tinyurl.com/ztux95q

What is Naps’ spirit animal? Why do you say so?

Orca Whale because of their humble power and compassion.

If you could arrange to put Naps on a split release with any other band (alive or dead) then who would it be?

Beat Happening mainly because I know Ryan loves them and they are definitely a noticeable influence on naps

In your humble opinion, who is the best band ever to arise from Tallahassee?

T-Pain

Finally, could you name five acts that we’d be fools not to listen to?

-Poster (Tampa)
-Swept (Tampa)
-Woolbright (Davie)
–Honeyuck (Tallahasse)
-Annacrusis (Tallahassee)
-Souljaboytellem.com

Could you describe Yikes in three words?

Ryan: Tite spicy memes
Laura: what I want
Jeremy: Double Bacon Cheese
Katryn: Stephen Joseph Malkmus

What is Yikes’ spirit animal? Why do you say so?

Ryan: Yikes’ spirit animal is an exeggutor coz they have many faces. And they love plants.
Laura: A porcupine – yikes! look out for those spikes
Jeremy: A Dry Bones from the Super Mario series— dry, skeletal, and almost obliviously cool
Katryn: Stephen Joseph Malkmus

If you could arrange to put Yikes on a split release with any other band (alive or dead) then who would it be?

Ryan: The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Laura: Why?
Jeremy: Deerhunter
Katryn: Stephen Joseph Malkmus

In your humble opinion, who is the best band ever to arise from Tallahassee?

Ryan: Hmm, there’s a few directions you could go with this. I feel like the obvious lol answer is Creed, and the obvious legit answer is T-Pain… that being said almost anyone who is involved in the scene here will tell you that Ex-Breathers is the greatest Tallahassee band, which is pretty much objectively the right answer.
Laura: I’m a huge fan of Lauren Morgan’s voice, who used to be in USA-Holes from Tally before she started up SALES in Orlando. Also Cleats <3
Katryn: Ex-Breathers are the most talented sweethearts, and there are a lot of other great Tallahassee bands worth mentioning too, like Night Witch, Nostradogmus, and Blemish!
Jeremy: Yeah Ex-Breathers is literally the best band in the entire world. Shouts out also to Echo Base, Lingua Franca, orangesoda, Capital 6, Silt, Surface to Air Missive, Melt Channel, too many to list honestly, and Katryn covered my other favorites already.

Finally, could you name five acts that we’d be fools not to listen to?
Ryan: Future, Young Thug, Teen Suicide,
Laura: GRIMES!!
Jeremy: To pick just five right now…….. Carly Rae Jepsen, BOOSEGUMPS, JANK, Long Neck, Kississippi.
Katryn: NEW FLORIST NEW PORCHES NEW JAWBREAKER REUNION NEW TALL FRIEND <3

You can pre-order The Most Beautiful Place on Earth / Commercial Music via It Takes Time Records or Viridian Sounds.

The post Interview: Naps & Yikes appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting:

1. Red Coat – Adeline Hotel (Interview)
   2. S.O.B. – Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
   3. Daughter of the Sea – House of Wolves (Interview)
   4. Monarchy – Table People
   5. Ruin – Doomking
   6. Lonely Boy – Titus Andronicus
   7. New York Hardcore – talons’
   8. Roar of Nothingness – Sun Organ
   9. Slow Dark Water – Furnsss
   10. You Are Arrived (But You’ve Been Cheated) – The Spirit of the Beehive
   11. It Was Gone – Orchid Mantis
   12. Big Sis – SALES
   13. No Comprende – Low
   14. The Washing Machine – SPORTS
   15. Shark? – Shark? (Everything Is Teeth by Evie Wyld and Joe Sumner)
   16. Christmas in Milwaukee – Advance Base
   17. Only Friend – Valley Maker
   18. My Track ’92 – Pet Cemetery
   19. Dusk; Falling Asleep, Know That You Are Loved – Sabbatical Wilderness
   20. Theremin Demonstration – Leon Theremin (Us Conductors by Sean Michaels)
   21. The Lemon’s Cousin – Boy Scouts
   22. Audrey Horne – Teen Love
   23. Mia – Spencer Radcliffe
   24. Return To The Moon – EL VY
   25. Bug – Alex G
   26. Wild Hearts – Kodiak Deathbeds
   27. Waves – Abby Gundersen
   28. UR = UO – No Touching
   29. Sparrow & Stone – Eva Foote
   30. What Can Be Taken – ÒOR

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

Well, somehow we managed to skip over the EP and now Lauren Morgan and Jordan Shih are back with a new single (and Questell is back with new artwork). The single, ‘Big Sis’, sees the band continue with their now trademark summery indie pop, equal parts bedroom pop quirk and radio indie polish. Check it out below:

The band are also embarking on a mammoth tour of the US and Europe. Here are the dates:

US DATES

08.05.15 – Orlando, FL – Uncle Lou’s (all ages)
08.17.15 – Denver, CO – Hi-Dive (18+)
08.18.15 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar (21+)
08.19.15 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo (all ages)
08.20.15 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop (all ages)
08.22.15 – Portland, OR – MUSICFESTNW

EU DATES

30.09.15 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega Ideal Bar
01.10.15 – Aalborg, Denmark – 1000 Fryd
02.10.15 – Stockholm, Sweden – Scandic Grand Central
03.10.15 – Oslo, Norway – Ingensteds
04.10.15 – Darmstadt, Germany – Secret living room show
05.10.15 – Berlin, Germany – Monarch
06.10.15 – Hannover – Germany – Cafe Glocksee
07.10.15 – Hamburg, Germany – Volt
08.10.15 – Geneva, Switzerland – La Graviere
09.10.15 – Aarau, Switzerland – Kiff
10.10.15 – Rorschach, Switzerland – Treppenhaus
11.10.15 – Paris, France – La Mécanique Ondulatoire
12.10.15 – London, UK – Birthdays
13.10.15 – Leeds, UK – Nation of Shopkeepers
14.10.15 – Cardiff, UK – Buffalo Bar
15.10.15 – Exeter, UK – The Cavern
16.10.15 – Bournemouth, UK – 60 Million Postcards
17.10.15 – Manchester, UK – A Carefully Planned Festival (matinee)
17.10.15 – Liverpool, UK – The Shipping Forecast
18.10.15 – Dublin, Ireland – Whelan’s
20.10.15 – Liège, Belgium – L’An Vert
21.10.15 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
22.10.15 – Utrecht, Netherlands – Ekko
23.10.15 – Rotterdam, Netherlands – Rotown
24.10.15 – Zwolle, Netherlands – Let’s Get Lost Festival
25.10.15 – Gent, Belgium – Charlatan
26.10.15 – Cologne, Germany – King Georg
27.10.15 – Dortmund, Germany – Sissikingkong
28.10.15 – Munich, Germany – Ampere
29.10.15 – Nurnberg, Germany – Club Stereo

The post A new song from SALES appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklist:

1. Kids Will Be Kids – Praything
2. Do You Have Romantic Courage – Hallelujah The Hills
3. The Shore And The Coastline – Now Wakes The Sea
4. The Corrections – Alphabetical Order Orchestra
5. Give Me Time – Roo & The Howl
6. To Remember – City States
7. Vow – Sales
8. In The Rain – Cut Ribbons
9. Feel What – Jacques Greene
10. Down On My Luck – Vic Mensa
11. Greater Than – Sharpless
12. Tennis Court (Flume Remix) – Lorde
13. Warehouses – Kane Ikin
14. Wild Geese – Small Sur
15. Youth – Best Wishes
16. Early Morning – Eagle Lake Owls
17. Dust To Settle – Rough River
18. Slow Down – Scott Orr
19. Gray Lodge Wisdom – Will Stratton
20. Brother, Do You Know The Road? – Hiss Golden Messenger
21. Something Like That – Wolf Collage
22. Muscle and Bone – John Joseph Brill
23. All Your Promises – Jesse Marchant
24. Echo Tropism – Inventions
25. Veiled Grey – Christian Löffler
26. All I Want – Dawn Golden

If you missed them, we have such mixes for January, February, March and April too.

May Mix from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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

They have recently released a brand new single, ‘vow’, which is due to appear on their forthcoming debut album. The track is a lovely little indie pop number, all languid guitars and Morgan’s sweet vocals. As with the band’s previous singles, ‘vow’ comes complete with some very nice collage-style artwork courtesy of Alana Questell.

You can buy the single right now via the band’s Bandcamp page. I highly suggest you check out their other tracks too.

SALES are also embarking on a tour of the East Coast. Check the nifty poster below for dates, venues and some pretty excellent companions (including acts such as Small Wonder, Alex G, Told Slant and Hundred Waters).

The post SALES – Vow appeared first on Various Small Flames.