This week we hand things over to CHUCK, aka Charles Griffin Gibson, who recently put out My Band is My Computer, one of the most interesting and enjoyable albums of the year so far. You can read our review for a more in-depth analysis of the songs, but the concluding paragraph should indicate whether or not you’ll appreciate what CHUCK is all about:

“Playing like a collaboration between Owen Ashworth and Bret Easton Ellis… covering everything that’s terrible and everything that’s not about being a young adult in the twenty-first century, somehow managing to tap into the human kernel at the centre of our zombified lurch of nostalgia and regret”

I’ll Do It Better Than Anybody Else*

by CHUCK

Song that reminds you of your favourite video game

Ben Kweller ­- Falling

Oh man, this song is a real blast from the past. As you can tell I haven’t played video games in a long time. I used to listen to this record when I would play Tony Hawk back in High School though. Ben Kweller rules. I love the songs and production on this album. I really looked up to him as a teenager. Also, I’m just realizing that he sounds exactly like Rivers Cuomo.

Song from at least ten years ago

Heatmiser ­- Half Right

I heard this song for the first time the other day because someone posted it on Facebook. And I call myself a real Elliott Smith fan! I can’t believe I never heard this! This coulda been one of his hits man. His voice was such an unbelievable treasure. I’ve been trying to record and mix my acoustic guitars like him for years, but I’ll never figure it out. Something about how he combines the high and low end is so emotive to me.

Wildest song you know

Kanye West ­- Freestyle 4

I think Kanye West generally sucks at freestyling. That’s what makes this song so wild. He stumbles. He repeats things. There’s not really a rhyme scheme. It feels like, coupled with the beat, that he’s going insane with a furious desire to fuck, and to do it in public. It says a lot about his celebrity and his ego. But I also relate to it just as a man with a sex drive. Sometimes you get these potent sexual urges at random times. Like a little angry man freestyling in your head. It literally feels like this song. The beat is so Hitchcock too. Man I love this track.

Song that makes you want to change the world

TEEN ­- Better

TEEN is a really hard working band out of BK. This was the first song I heard by them. I think the lyrics obviously fit the prompt, but also something about the instrumentation and repetition of the melody pump me up. One time I was listening to this while biking over the Manhattan bridge and I ended up crashing with this guy who was coming in the opposite direction. It was pretty disorienting and we both sort of biked away mumbling insults at each other. I didn’t have any injuries or anything, but it still shook me up. I don’t think I’ve heard this song since that incident, but it immediately came to mind when I read the prompt. Enjoy!

Song that makes you want to dance around your bedroom

TOPS ­- Way To Be Loved

If you can stay still to this song you are dead. The guitarist in this band is really special. I love his riffs, melodically and rhythmically. The singer is also great. I have actually danced to this song in my bedroom. This should be played at every party.

Song without words

Vincent Gallo ­- Was

I had a dream I met Vincent Gallo the other night. I used to be obsessed with him. I haven’t thought of him in many years though. I was digging around for a song for this, and saw his name, and remembered how much of an impression his music made on me as a teenager. I love its crudeness. It feels amateur, dirty and timeless. I really look up to him, because he’s done so much. Acting, writing, directing, music, modelling, dancing, etc. I’m not much compared to him, but I also feel compelled to wear many different hats. I remember, in the early internet days, he was selling his own semen on his website. I think it was like $100,000 and had a note that said “you can receive the semen however you want.” Man, I wonder what he’s up to now. He was so funny. I gotta watch Buffalo ‘66 again.

Here’s a Playmoss playlist that collects all the tracks, for those of you who prefer to go with the flow:

* Title decided by Jon

My Band is My Computer is out now and available via Audio Antihero/Old Money Records. Grab your copy from the CHUCK Bandcamp page.

Photo by Joseph Talman

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

Keep In Touch is a year long subscription series that re-imagines the bygone era of pen pals. Each month you’ll receive a 7” x 7” postcard with a record pressed directly into a full color image curated by that month’s artist.

Just to clarify- the postcard can be played on your turntable! If you’re as impressed with that as I am then you’ll be rushing off to sign up right now. There is already an impressive list of confirmed contributors – including:

The So So Glos
Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz
Ava Luna
Cloud Nothings
Ricky Eat Acid
Mutual Benefit
Big Ups
Into It. Over It.
TOPS
Girlpool

…and lots of more!

So if you know someone who likes really cool music, and you think that someone would like to receive said really cool music in the post every month (on a musical postcard!), then why not sign them up to Keep In Touch? They’ll have that Christmas-morning feeling once a month for a whole year!

Subscribe now on the KIT website. Do it before the 21st December to be in with the chance of winning a second subscription (you can keep TWO friends happy!)

The post Keep in Touch Vinyl Series appeared first on Various Small Flames.