Various Small Flames’

Songs of 2017

Anamon – Kneel Old
Android Automatic – Dark Roads*
Angie McMahon – Slow Mover
Basement Revolver – Johnny Pt. 2
Baxter Roy Long – Paribanou
Bea Troxel – Let Them Know
Big Thief – Mary
Black Belt Eagle Scout – Soft Stud
Bully – Running
Cayetana – Mesa
Charly Bliss – Percolator
Chastity Belt – Different Now
CHUCK – Happy Birthday
The County Liners – Maria
The Courtneys – Tour
Craig Finn – God in Chicago
Crumb – Locket
Crushing – Emery Board
Cut Worms – Like Going Down Sideways
David Bazan – Care
Distant Reader – First Try
Emperor X – God Save Coastal Dorset
Fits – Ice Cream on a Nice Day
German Error Message – 2017*
Gleemer – Soothe Me
Great Grandpa – Favorite Show
Haley Heynderickx – Oom Sha Lala
Hiccup – Teasin’
Horse Culture – Texaco
Illuminati Hotties – ‘(You’re Better) Than Ever’
Japandroids – No Known Drink or Drug
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – If We Were Vampires
Jay Som – The Bus Song
Jeremy Squires – Night Cars
Katie Ellen – Drawing Room
Lizzie No – Monuments
Lomelda – Bam Sha Klam
Mike Pace and the Child Actors – Audits & Surveys
Meursault – The Mill
Mount Eerie – Crow
Nice Legs – Mighty Three
Oceanator – Nowhere Nothing
Ohyeahsumi – Daisy
Old Earth – Pit Dynamics
PASTEL – Stammer
Peter Silberman – New York
Phoebe Bridgers – Motion Sickness
Pope – Talk Me Out of It
Protomartyr – Windsor Hum
Rainwater – Place
Ratboys – Elvis is in the Freezer
Rick Rude – Bald & Fat in Houston, TX
Roadkill Ghost Choir – Classics (Die Young)
Rose Dorn – Dirt
See Through Dresses – Lucy’s Arm
Shannen Moser – A Funeral, A Friend, My Sanity
Sinai Vessel – Died On My Birthday
Slaughter Beach, Dog – Phoenix
SOAR – Fort Funston
Soft Fangs – Jordan // Jackson Elementary
Spartan Jet-Plex – We Believe
Strange Ranger – House Show
Strawberry Runners – Garden Hose
Timid, The Brave – Alice
Us and Only Us – Bored of Black
Vagabon – Cold Apartment
Viewfinder – Instant Moonlight
The Washboard Abs – Veil
Waxahatchee – Never Been Wrong
Wild Pink – Albert Ross
William Ryan Fritch – In Our Blood
The Wooden Sky – Swimming in Strange Waters
Ylayali – Cherry Tomatoes

*Strictly released in 2016, but barely, and we covered it in Jan. 2017.

If you missed it, you can see our Favourite Albums of 2017 list here. Also, the curious can find such lists from previous years here.

The post Favourite Songs of 2017 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The album opens with a prelude clip of a communal hymn before ‘Alex (282)’, the first song of many on the album which centres on belief (“he said ‘make a believer of me’,” goes the refrain. “Open my eyes I am dying to see”). The organic-sounding ‘Watershed’ follows with gentle guitar and a pleasantly emotive chorus, while ‘Yard’ burbles like a brook, Moser’s vocals at times little more than a murmur.

The title track is sub-60 seconds and comprises of nothing more than the titular phrase repeated over and over, conjuring a devotional quality not unlike that of the hymn we heard at the beginning. ‘Yr Undertaker’ rings with a bright clarity, the guitars like something from a lost album by The Washboard Abs, and while Moser’s voice wavers it’s not without a certain confidence. The last 20 seconds are filled with swirling ambient vocals which lend an epiphanic air, the sound of all the voices inside your head striking the same note at once.

‘A Funeral, A Friend, My Sanity’ is a stand out, a track that sounds at once intense and carefree, running along with a natural flow, like urgent thoughts uncorked and left to spill in poetic rhythm. The lyrics deal with family and finding love in a way both touching and humorous, as captured in the opening section:

“My uncle Ricky sits next to me
at my grandmother’s funeral
says that he’s married to Satan
but Satan’s a real pretty lady
who’s having his kids at the end of the month

Its the first of the month rents coming up
and I’m thinking about Ricky
and all of his babies
and who my own Satan will be
I think that it’s just gonna be me”

Penultimate track ‘October’ is all layered vocals and strummed guitar, before ‘Dirt and Water’ closes with a cathartic fusion of upbeat folk and a lingering nostalgia or sadnesss. The song gathers in momentum as it progresses, playing like something thawing under the sun and coming alive in the palm of your hand, and by the closing moments it’s wired with life, several voices joining to deliver the repeated refrain

“Dirt and water make this grow
you deserve so much you know”

You can get Oh My Heart as a name your price download from the Shannen Moser Bandcamp page.

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Now, aside from certain misgivings pertaining to the diversity and focus of such events, there’s also a long and likely important discussion as to what degree protest alone can change (see Micah White’s case in The Guardian, citing the relative failure of Occupy). However, there is little doubt that activism is as or more important than it’s been for years. The tricky part will be maintaining this level of enthusiasm and commitment to equality beyond single marches or petitions. As White writes at the end of his piece: “The Women’s March on Washington has a role to play in this unfolding drama, but only if we cultivate a few moments of detachment from the thoughtless excitement to truly take time to consider this question: what happens on the day after the women march?”

The answer, I think, should be a doubling down on listening to women, non-binary folks and people of colour. Like, truly listening. Allowing them not only a voice but also the respect/power/position that will enable such a voice to enact social and political change. This can and should start at the smallest levels, equating to nothing more than a commitment to seeking out non-male/white opinions and voices and considering them with equal weight. Look for female journalists and authors and thinkers, PoC musicians and artists and film-makers. Heck, even just read The Le Sigh and Swell Tone and The Grey Estates, anything to shift your perspective away from the dominant voices. Do this until your bookshelf and record collection and Twitter feed look a little different, and the worldview that’s being beamed to you will look a little different too.

We’re under no illusion that our blog posts and mixtapes will solve anything, or that we’re preaching to the converted in this cool little echo chamber. So consider this as us shutting up for a few minutes, both to give space to voices that need it and a reminder that we’re standing by, on your side. You’ve lit the match, it’s time the void went flash. Never think that what you are doing is too small, and never assume that you are doing enough.

Tracklisting:

1. Jenny Hval – Untamed Region
2. Oh Rose – Running
3. Camp Cope – Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams
4. The Breeders – Hag
5. Screaming Females – Mothership
6. BB Cream – Heroine
7. Shannen Moser – A Funeral, A Friend, My Sanity
8. Tanukichan – Enough
9. Noname – Reality Check
10. Patti Smith – Kimberly
11. Sammus – Perfect, Dark
12. Vagabon – Fear & Force
13. Diet Cig – Tummy Ache
14. Jay Som – The Bus Song
15. Haybaby – Her
16. Betty Becky – Telegraph Ave
17. Suburban Lawns – Janitor
18. Heavens to Betsy – Nothing Can Stop Me
19. Tacocat – Dana Katherine Scully
20. Colour Me Wednesday – Two Fifty For You Girls
21. Allison Crutchfield – Dean’s Song
22. Cherry Glazerr – Nuclear Bomb
23. Mal Devisa – Dominatrix
24. Nicole Dollanganger – American Tradition
25. Angel Olsen – Sister

P.S. This seems a good time to remind you that Nancy Kells of Spartan Jet-Plex recently put out Friends For Equality, a compilation in support of the Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU and Planned Parenthood. In addition, she has arranged a benefit show in Richmond, VA in support of Forward Together and Sister Song (full details here).

There have also been similarly great releases like Wren & Shark and Friends, Don’t Stop Now (featuring covers by the likes of Lisa Prank and Augusta Koch of Cayetana) and Our First 100 Days. Oh, and some specially written songs by Hip Hatchet and Adeem the Artist.

Photo by Benjamin Lovell

The post Lit a Match, the Void Went Flash: A Playlist for Moving Forward appeared first on Various Small Flames.

This week we welcome Shana Hartzel from the wonderful Swell Tone, who is also the assistant director of Philadelphia’s Y-Not Radio, and hosts the show ‘Aussie Unlocked’ (2nd Fridays, 9-10pm).

Into the Pines

by Shana Hartzel

Follow the playlist below into a path through the woods that you’ll never return from. Like any good hike, it starts off sunny and confident. But, panics as the trail and that sunlight disappear.

Song that reminds you of being somewhere special

The Jungle Giants – Mr. Polite

When I worked my first ever music festival, I was living in Brisbane, Australia. I only knew about three of the acts on the festival bill of 100. Hungry Kids of Hungary was a recommendation I had gotten but their tiny showcase maxed out before I could get there. I wandered blindly into the next silliest named band I saw: The Jungle Giants. As I stepped into the wooden sweatbox of The Zoo, they jumped right into this song. It was arguably the band’s first hit track and immediately swept the whole vacuum-packed crowd into a sequence of pleasurable, almost involuntary jumping. This song marked the first moment I felt fully immersed in a musical experience and became the go-to soundtrack of my happiest memories of Brisbane.

Song with a food in the title

Smokes – Lemonlime

This song riiiiips from beginning to end. It matches its name in acidity and really sinks its teeth into those guitar lines. The Oh Hi Collective just put out the track a bit ago on their second compilation that’s brimming with artists that deserve to be heard.

Song that reminds you of your favourite film

John Gold – Vampire’s Kiss

I don’t have a favorite anything really so that applies to films as well. But, I do love a good straight-from-the-barrel, stereotypical teen flick. So, I’m subverting the system and going with a song that reminds me of a genre. (Sorry, Jon and Liam ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) I think we can all agree that teen movies (and teen TV) are a great place to discover new music as the audience is a cross between receptive to new things and constantly consuming. Somehow, this song also fits all of the teen movie stereotypes as well. In Gold’s smooth hum, it’s suffers through passion howling words you are right for thinking you can’t understand. “Siri Guru Devay Nameh” is a healing mantra used during yoga that loosely translates to “I bow to the great, unseen wisdom.” It’s a saccharine love song complete with crickets and and I still love it.

https://soundcloud.com/vagrantrecords/john-gold-vampires-kiss

Song that sounds like the prehistoric world

Young Men Dead – Courageous

My first thought on this was something tropical with a lot of drums and then I knew exactly which track I had in mind. This band doesn’t exist anymore. In fact, I think they only existed for quite a short time and called it quits just as they started to pick up steam. But this song has a clear heartbeat and drive that for some reason reminds me of the land before time.

Song that makes you want to smash things up

Violent Soho – Covered in Chrome

Wow. If this doesn’t make you wanna smash things or at least violently thrash about, I honestly don’t know what will. The verses give you a breather so you can regain your sanity.

Song with an animal in the title

Shannen Moser – dog

It’s short and not too sweet but those colliding guitar lines and sing-a-long chorus make it the perfect tune for a night drive through the city.

The Kossoy Sisters – In The Pines

Courtney Barnett put this song on a playlist she made for a radio interview I did with her back in 2014. It sent me down the rabbit hole of the song’s undetermined origins. This 1956 version featuring guitar work from Erik Darling is one of the first recordings of the tune. Nirvana also sang a version of the same song on their 1993 MTV Unplugged special. Something about this haunting melody in close, exact harmony just makes it dig in further to the creepy crevices of the brain.

For those of you that favour a bit of continuity in life, here’s the whole thing as one neat playlist – Shana’s Mystery Mini EP.

Head on over to Swell Tone for more from Shana, and be sure to pop in again next Wednesday for the next instalment of Mystery Mini Mix.

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