Today we welcome Trev Elkin, one of the faces behind the ever excellent GoldFlakePaint who writes thoughtful, in-depth, long(ish) form pieces that do more than regurgitate a press release. In other words, he’s one of the good guys.

I Was Always Leaving

by Trev Elkin

1) Song with a city in the title

Soccer Mommy – Moving to New York

This is basically a massive excuse to include a song by Sophie Allison in the list. She has such a great talent. The sadness in this track is palpable and stirs up all those pre-break up conversation and long-distant relationship memories. I have acquaintances who live there, but New York isn’t somewhere I’ve ever been to, or have really been interested in as a place. It seems to attract and turn out some amazing bands and musicians – particularly NYU, so maybe I should!

Stereolab – Tomorrow Is Already Here

Along with His Name Is Alive and Dead Can Dance, Stereolab were significant in shaping my musical tastes at a time when everything seemed to be going through a process of dilution and commercialisation. I loved how Stereolab stood alone in the alternative scene for their Marxist, Surrealist ideals and how they pretty much invented DIY production and publishing with the Duophonic label. They never really got the success they deserved. This track comes from Emperor Tomato Ketchup, probably their most accessible album, but it gave no ground on the politics. The lyrics ring as true today (perhaps more so) as they did 20 years ago: society now serves the institutions originally set up to serve it.

3) Song that brings out your inner cowboy

OP8 & Lisa Germano – Sand

So OP8 was basically a non-commercially-viable side-project by members of Calexico (a theme is emerging here, maybe) and this song comes from their only album ’Slush’ which I recommend if you can track it down. The whole album creates a weird sense of place, like a scene with campfires at dusk, as stars begin to pierce the dusty skies when along comes a UFO and beams down some mysterious figure dressed in 19th Century western gear. The original ’Sand’ was a Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra duet and I like the way Howe Gelb and Lisa swap the gender roles.

4) A song you want played at your funeral

Circuit Des Yeux – Fantasize The Scene

Haley Fohr is another artist I admire so much. An outlier in terms of her voice and the perspective she brings to her songwriting, nothing about what she does is predictable or takes the easy road. For me ‘Fantasize The Scene’ is all about making the most of your life, being and believing in who you are. It’s a hopeful song, an outstretched hand offering reassurance that if you don’t find true love now, you will in another world where anything is possible.

5) A song by the most over rated band of all time

The Strokes – New York City Cops

Ah, The Strokes. ‘Is This It?’ Pretty much sums it up for me. We all have opinions, that is mine.

…and here’s the whole thing collected into a neat EP. Enjoy!

So check out Trev’s work on GoldFlakePaint (if you don’t already), and be sure to stop off next Wednesday for another Mystery Mini Mix.

Photo by William Eggleston

The post Mystery Mini Mix: Trev Elkin appeared first on Various Small Flames.

With that in mind, The Mirror Trap’s ferocious sound might come as a surprise upon first listen. Blending the energy of post-hardcore with deep, ominous drums The Twilight Sad would be proud of, Moore and Co. create weighty, atmospheric anthems inspired by the contemporary world. Financial inequality, technological identity (or the lack thereof), information overload and narcosis… The Mirror Trap are concerned with all of the things which make today’s society such a strange, confusing place. Lead single ‘Piranhas’ feels like the consequence of these pressures, a furious, frustrated scream which could be read as an act of rebellion, a burning of bridges or a desperate cry for help.

We’re up to our eyeballs, in half a million problems

Piranhas come calling and tear the flesh right off us.

I woke up this morning, with three bears in my porridge,

with no good news in paper, no let up in the weather.

I live for the weekend, a bowl to put my keys in,

I hide my desires, so you wont kick me out the gang.

As part of our Quiet, Constant Friends project, we’ve been asking people to make playlists based around a book of their choice, and thought The Mirror Trap might be just the folks to continue the Lit Links series. Lead Gary Moore stepped up the the plate with a collection of tracks inspired by a work by Orwell, which seems pretty suitable considering the themes they’re concerned with. Grab your headphones and have a read below!

George Orwell’s Keep The Aspidistra Flying
by Gary Moore

For some unknown reason I avoided George Orwell for years. I think the romantic in me insisted I only read exotic novels by wayward Frenchmen or stoic Russians. Reading the work of a British man whose real name was Eric seemed unthinkable. But a brief fascination with the Spanish Civil War led me to read Homage to Catalonia and the flood gates opened, I swiftly set about reading every word Orwell had ever written.

Keep The Aspidistra Flying is perhaps my favourite Orwell novel. Set in 1930’s London this is the story of a writer rejecting the constraints of money and the “evils” of consumer capitalism, giving up his humdrum day job in advertising to peruse his artistic passions. This appealed to me as booth a burgeoning creative and as a giant lefty. Gordon Comstock, the central character of the novel, is a man with a commendable plan and outlook but is shown throughout to be flawed and shambolic, he is not a hero or a villain, and he is just unreservedly human. He drinks too much, and smokes too much, he is neurotic and distracted.

Keep The Aspidistra Flying is raw, cynical and often bleak but is ultimately a brilliant book, in both the story it tells and the somewhat prophetic points it makes. I tend to feel a little bit dirty reading it, but in a way I rather enjoy

Tracklisting:

1) Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club Sleep) – The Rakes
2) This Charming Man – The Smith
3) Atmosphere – Joy Division
4) Cigarettes & Alcohol – Oasis
5) Shot By Both Sides – Magazine
6) ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit’sworldwouldfallapart – Manic Street Preachers
7) Is This It – The Strokes
8) Common People – Pulp
9) I Love a Man in Uniform – Gang of Four
10) Lost in the Supermarket – The Clash
11) Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve
12) Fake Plastic Trees – Radiohead
13) For Tomorrow – Blur
14) Rat Race – The Specials
15 What a Waster – The Libertines

Simulations will be released on the 8th July via Riverman. The band have a few festival dates lined up before an European tour this autumn with Placebo (marked with *):

Jul 09: T In The Park, Stirling, United Kingdom
Jul 31: Y Not Festival 2016, Derby, United Kingdom
Aug 19: Astro Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Aug 21: Summer Sonic Festival, Tokyo, Japan
Oct 13: Train, Aarhus, Denmark*
Oct 14: Vega Main Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark*
Oct 16: Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway*
Oct 18: Cirkus, Stockholm, Sweden*
Oct 20: Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland*
Oct 22: Riga Arena, Riga, Latvia*
Oct 24: St Petersburg Arena, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation*
Oct 26: Moscow Olimpiyskiy, Moscow, Russian Federation*
Oct 29: Torwar, Warsaw, Poland*
Oct 31: Barclaycard Arena, Hamburg, Germany*
Nov 02: Laxness, Cologne, Germany*

P.S. Be sure to tune in next week, where we’ll be presenting a playlist from Gary’s cat based around Exile and the Kingdom by Camus.

P.P.S. Not really.

The post Lit Links: The Mirror Trap appeared first on Various Small Flames.

As ever, please support any of the acts you like and buy their own music. There are some super-talented and prolific acts on here who release a lot of their stuff for free, and I’m sure a few dollars, or even just an email of appreciation, would be very welcome.

Tracklisting:

1. Seasons (Waiting On You) (Future Islands Cover) – Slow Club
2. Don’t Let Me Get Me (P!nk Cover) – Arrange
3. Doin’ It Right (Daft Punk Cover) – Verdigrls
4. Flotus (Flying Lotus Cover) – Spazzkid
5. This Charming Man (The Smiths Cover) – SKATERS
6. Ain’t That Enough (Teenage Fanclub Cover) – Nai Harvest
7. Son Of Sam (Elliott Smith Cover) – The Provincial Archive
8. Her Sinking Sun (Coma Cinema Cover) – Julia Brown
9. Thru The Wall (Paul Baribeau Cover) – Matthew Lee Cothran & Delaney Mills
10. It Is What It Is (Blood Orange Cover) – How Sad
11.Dreams (Fleetwood Mac Cover) – Emily Reo
12. Is This Is (The Strokes Cover) – Total Warr
13. Everything Is Embarrassing (Sky Ferreira Cover) – Saturday Looks Good To Me
14. Bein’ Around (The Lemonheads Cover) – Courtney Barnett
15. Call It What You Will (Joe Pug Cover) – Vandaveer
16. Waking Hour (Vandaveer Cover) – Joe Pug
17. The Promise (When In Rome Cover) – Sturgill Simpson
18. The Mother We Share (CHVRCHES Cover) – SOAK
19. Game Of Pricks (Guided By Voices Cover) – Meursault
20. Ooh La La (Faces Cover) – Manchester Orchestra
21. Romulus (Sufjan Stevens Cover) – Donovan Woods
22. Drive All Night (Bruce Springsteen Cover) – Sharon van Etten

Covers Mix #11 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

The post The Covers Mix: Volume #11 appeared first on Various Small Flames.