Sarah Winchester – Northeast Kingdom

Sarah Winchester is a member of the really rather excellent Oregon-based band A Weather, If you are a fan of A Weather and bemoan the fact they only have two albums, Winchester also records solo under her own name, namely this excellent release entitled Northeast Kingdom. The EP (which was originally released way back in 2009 by Team Love Records) contains six songs and each is as beautiful as the next. J. Tillman-esque finger-picked acoustics support writing that is nothing short of poetry. The lyrics, along with Winchester’s distinctive delivery, capture hope and beauty amidst loneliness, a white-bright flicker in a twilit world of isolation and weariness and pain.

Get Northeast Kingdom on cassette, together with artwork by Winchester and artist Heather Swenson via Mt. Home Arts. If anything, the package is even prettier than the music.

Baby Mollusk – Baby Mollusk and the Big Babies

Baby Mollusk is Rachel Gordon. She plays guitar and sings spiky and sort-of-sad songs very sweetly. The Big Babies are Matt Van Asselt and Mike Ditrio. Those guys play bass and drums. Sometimes they all join in together and crash things around a bit in a wondrously joyous noise. Baby Mollusk and The Big Babies is a self-titled album and a really good one at that. You should all buy it on an incredibly good-looking cassette via Mt. Home Arts. You can also download it for however much you want via Bandcamp.

Whatever, Dad – 100% Take Home! Grade Pending

Whatever, Dad is the recording project of Elaiza Santos and sometimes some of her friends. She makes down-tempo rock music that sounds like an internal monologue of a young person written down and backed by a makeshift band. It is every bit as good as that sounds.

You can get the album via Bandcamp. Had you (or we) been more prompt, you could have gotten a cassette that came with buttons and butter (yep) and silkscreen napkins, a package that takes the tape game to a whole new level.

Real Life Buildings – It Snowed

Real Life Buildings is one of the songwriters from The Act of Estimating as Worthless (who also have releases on Mt. Home Arts), and the drummer too! Their names are Matthew Van Asselt and Mike Ditrio (remember them?). It Snowed is their debut album and is due for release on the 6th of November. It has quiet moments and loud moments, ramshackle lo-fi rock and intimate bedroom pop musings (often in the same song).

You can pre-order It Snowed on cassette right now via the Mt. Home Arts website.

The post Mt. Home Arts appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Acres – Acres

(RIYL – Post-Hardcore, Ambient, Post-Rock, The Devil Sold His Soul, Rinoa)

The Act Of Estimating As Worthless – Amongst These Splintered Minds//Leaden Thoughts Sing Softly

(RIYL: A Weather, The Microphones, Trouble Books)

A Dark Horse – A Dark Horse

(RIYL: Electric President/Radical Face, Elliott Smith, Sparklehorse)

Among Giants – Truth Hurts

(RIYL – Punk, Folk, Nana Grizol, Tony Hawk 2)

And The Giraffe – Creature Collector

(RIYL – Folk, Indie Rock, Iron & Wine)

Arrange – New Memory

(RIYL – Bedroom Pop, Ambient, M83, Bright Eyes)

August Nicky Golden – Demos

(RIYL – Folk, Punk, Lo-Fi)

Balto – Monuments

(RIYL – Americana, The Head And The Heart, The Lumineers, Tyler Lyle)

Black Atlass –The Black Atlass EP

(RIYL – Electronic, R&B, The Weeknd, James Blake, Holy Other)

Blacks& – A Ghost That Follows Me

(RIYL – Dance Pop, Chill, Tropical)

Broken Fences – Broken Fences

(RIYL – Acoustic, Harmonies, The Civil Wars, Stars)

The Caretaker – Extra Patience (After Sebald)

(RIYL – Experimental, Oneohtrix Point Never, Tim Hecker, Franz Schubert, WG Sebald)

Chad Serhal – Golden

(RIYL – Acoustic, Singer Songwriter, She Does Is Magic)

Damn You Laurie – Songs So Far

(RIYL – Indie Pop, Folk, Sing-a-longs, The Evening Chorus)

Daniel & The Lion – Free Love (Single)

(RIYL – Sappy songs, Dolorean, Donovan Woods, Noah Gundersen)

Darwin Raymond – Night

(RIYL – Ambient, Instrumental, Emotive)

Dose – So This Is Where We Are

(RIYL – Electronic, Instrumental, Hip Hop, Chillwave)

——————————————————————————-

It’s worth noting that a lot of these releases are available on a pay what you want basis, meaning that if you like a particular record you’re able to make a donation of your choice. I can’t stress highly enough how important it is to support these artists in any way you can. Buy their music or go see them live or buy a t-shirt or whatever, it really is the least we (as music fans) can do.

The post Favourite Free Music of 2012 (A – D) appeared first on Various Small Flames.

We’ve tried to include new stuff but there are a few favourites thrown in. If any song has appeared on one of our mixes before, apologies but it probably just fitted in nicely to our idea of chronology. Hopefully it’s sunny with you this weekend to enjoy this.

Part I // Day – Tracklisting:-

1. Time To Run – Lord Huron
2. Who Knew – You Won’t
3. Murderous Joy – Carter Tanton
4. My Nature – Kissed Her Little Sister
5. Blood Brother – The Daredevil Christopher Wright
6. Messing Up My Mind – Fletcher C. Johnson
7. Summer Lawns – The Child Actors
8. Midnight Psalms (Alright!) – LANTERNS.
9. Football Hero – Bonjour
10. Oregon – Junk Culture
11. Conor, Oh Burst? – Playlounge
12. Heatstroke – Brick + Mortar
13. SOLO (‘4’ CLAIRE) – Wise Blood
14. This Summer – Superchunk
15. Electric Fever – Free Energy
16. About To Walk – Throw Me The Statue
17. All Of Me – Tanlines
18. Kiola Beach – HOT SPA
19. Whale Song – Lemolo
20. Summer Music – Advance Base
21. Mane – Conveyor
22. Certain Songs – The Hold Steady
23. Nothing To Say – Paul Baribeau
24. Late July – Shakey Graves
25. Bones -The Act Of Estimating As Worthless

Summer Mix – Day from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

Enjoy the mix and if you like what you hear, be sure to head over to the artist’s website to buy some music, a t-shirt or two and maybe some gig tickets. It’s the right thing to do!

The post WTD’s Summer Mix: Part I – Day appeared first on Various Small Flames.