Why the change?

Various Small Flames means quite a few different things to us, and it can mean whatever you’d like it to mean to you, so we don’t want to write a ten volume piece smashing you over the head with metaphors. We like the image of a variety of small bright things existing within one large dark thing; bands operating within the endless void of the internet, writers trying to spread the word about those bands amidst the deluge of blogs and tweets and click-bait, artists or authors or even listeners/readers who want to discuss and share things important to them. Basically, any person who feels compelled to somehow participate and communicate, in whatever way they find most fulfilling.

Because art or writing of any kind involves a certain degree of belief, and there’s something especially speculative about the internet, where you must attempt to communicate without knowing for sure who’s listening. Like, communication as a process to commit to, as an ongoing task, an almost ritual attempt at connection. Keeping your light burning even if there might be no-one there to see it, no matter how modest or dim.

We’d like Various Small Flames to become a community for such people. A congregation. A collaboration. Maybe a conflagration.

The new site

As we’d finally decided to give ourselves a new name, and a halfway-different ethos, we thought we’d take the opportunity to make a shiny new website, with cool new logo by artist Heather Swenson. Things won’t change too dramatically. We’ll still let you know about all our favourite new music, but we plan to try out some new things too. Look out for more on those in the near future.

We’ve spent the last month or so creating the new site, migrating all the old WTD content and ensuring things run as smoothly as possible. That has meant messing around with things like FTP servers and CSS coding, which we had next to no experience with. We’d really appreciate if you’d get in touch if you notice any errors/bugs/gremlins that raise their heads.

Spread the word

Finally, we know that some of our readers might get lost in the move, but the community of acquaintances and friends we made through WTD are really important to us. We’d really like if you would say hi so we’ll know you’re still around. And it would be great if you share news of the new site with your friends and help build the community – share it to your social media accounts, tell your buds when you next see them, roll up a newspaper and yell through it, whatever works for you.

Similarly, if you have a friend or family member or pet who wants to find a home for their writing, then please send them our way.

P.64 F.N.#24

The post Introducing Various Small Flames appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Adeline Hotel

“Exists within that small and fleeting pocket in time and space that opens just before you take off from a familiar location” – we premièred the first song from an upcoming Adeline Hotel EP

Morning River Band

“Songs about those men down on their luck but too stubborn to change… doomed to making the same old mistakes and who continue chasing the same misguided remedies” – we wrote about Abyssal Chanelling, the latest album from Morning River Band

On The Water

“A strange stop-motion collage that sits perfectly with the lyrical themes of death, decay and, naturally, life” – we premièred a video by Nnamdi Ogbonnaya for ‘Born in Reverse’, the opening track from On The Water’s Cordelia.

Bells Atlas

“Using precise imagery to trace imprecise, unknowable things, the words coalescing with the music to create something unclear but imbued with meaning, as if reaching somewhere deeper within your brain or soul than you can consciously go” – the vibrant and mystical Hyperlust EP from Bells Atlas

Frog

“Queens is the most diverse county in America, and maybe the world. Kind of Blah is about living here, in this city, which is sometimes incredibly wonderful and other times feels a lot like prison and most times probably both at once” – we spoke with Frog about listening to Jagged Little Pill with your mom, the brilliance of Lightning Bolt and some terrible advice from David BermanFuneral Sounds

“Casa Ruby strives to enable people to be treated as people” – a benefit compilation from Funeral Sounds in support of multicultural LGBTQ organisation Casa Ruby

Girlpool

“In a weird way, Girlpool have grown up – becoming confident enough to share their dreams and vulnerabilities and in turn galvanise a lonely generation too afraid of ridicule to live the lives they desire” – Girlpool’s new album Before The World Was Big sees the band offer a sustainable and productive antidote to the pressures of growing up

Advance Base

“Sweetly sad stories about lonely Midwesterners trying to make sense of their troubled pasts” – mark your calendars, August will see a new album from Owen Ashworth’s Advance Base

Two White Cranes

“A clear advancement from anything on Two White Cranes, fleshed out with electric guitar and drums and focussed in its writing” – we previewed Radisson Blue, the forthcoming album from Two White Cranes

Evening Hymns

“I could go on about how [Evening Hymns are] brave and heartbreaking and intensely personal, or how [they] made me feel okay and less alone” – Evening Hymns has us very excited for their new album Quiet Energies

Mitski

“I’m not the white boy. I’m not in a position to be heard whatever I make” – Mitski spoke with Caralyn Green for Pittsburgh City Paper about being an introverted person of colour in music. [See our review of Bury Me at Makeout Creek]

Katie Dey

“I remembered that I had earphones in my coat pocket. I plugged them into my phone and listened to asdfasdf and rested my head on the train window. Closing my eyes, what was initially a gloomy train ride turned into something more cathartic” – Gold Flake Paint talked about Katie Dey’s asdfasdf and the restorative power of music

Ornette Coleman

“A giant of 20th century music, pushing jazz into new harmonic territory and reconceiving the way in which musicians improvised” – Stewart Smith wrote about the career and legacy of Ornette Coleman for The Quietus

Long Neck

“An album with no season, or maybe it’s every season, or maybe it’s just the season when you feel most alone” – Stereogum are streaming Heights by Lily Mastrodimos’s Long Neck

Mitski (again)

Out of Town Films shot Mitski playing ‘I Will’ in the middle of nowhere

Swell Tone’s Summertime Sanity

“Getting lost in the heat and the sense of freedom inherent in the forthcoming season is tempting, to say the least” – Shana over at Swell Tone has put together a selection of summer songs, including Yowler, Girlpool, Hot Palms and The Washboard Abs. Any playlist that opens with ‘Skin of Your Yellow Country Teeth’ gets a thumbs up from us.

Kathryn Joseph

We liked Kathryn Joseph’s Bones You Have Thrown Me Blood I’ve Spilled an awful lot. Last week she played some songs for the Roddy Hart Show on BBC Scotland and it sounded great. Check it out on the BBC iPlayer.

And Finally… the 8tracks Playlist(s) of the Week

This week’s winner is mix-master Adam, AKA Songsfortheday, and his summer soundtracks. There are separate day and night editions, so he has you covered for all your musical needs.

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Did you miss anything on Wake The Deaf this month? Catch up with this handy 8tracks mixtape featuring a track from all the artists. Click the names in the tracklist to be zoomed off to the relevant post.

Tracklisting:

1. The Blackest Crow – Robbie Banks
2. Good News is Too True – Newfoundland
3. The Blues Easing – Slows Down
4. Silly River – Gay Angel
5. A Whole New Shape – Happyness
6. The Ghost at Woodland Park – Molly Drag
7. Matches – ACAB Rocky
8. Comb The Feelings Through You Hair – Grooms
9. Spider’s Web – Obody
10. Field Guide – Sarah Louise
11. So Long – Anomie
12. Slow Time Vultures – Elephant Micah
13. Light Leaks – Ben Seretan

February 2015 Roundup from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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[Disclaimer: I say this every year, but only because it’s important] Thanks to the generosity of these wonderful artists and indie labels, you can get all of these releases for free if you wish, but there is often the option to make a financial donation. For those of you that can afford it, a few pounds/dollars to reward all the hard work that goes into making a record seems like a fair deal. Plus, it really is a win-win situation as most of these independent bands put the funds they raise towards touring or making new music. So if you like an artist’s music, give a little something and they’ll make even more music for you to listen to, or even come to your town/city and play it for you in person.

That said, we know times are tough and albums many. Remember, money isn’t the only way to reward someone. If you like an artist and can’t afford to give them some money, why not write to them? Send an email or a tweet or whatever you can to say that what they’re doing makes you happy or sad (in a good way) and thank them very much for being so lovely/amazing. Better yet, spread the word too. Tell family and friends and strangers about them. It doesn’t take five minutes to write a nice message or share an album and you can really make someone’s day. Remember it feels really good to make someone else feel good – kindness makes the world go round after all.

We will be posting part of the list each day this week. As in previous editions, the music has been alphabetized by artist. In an attempt to reduce loading times and technical issues, we have decide against embedding a track from each release. But fear not, each post will include an 8tracks mixtape with a song from each artist, so all you need to do is press play and see what takes your fancy.

If you are an artist who makes great free music, or fan of an artist who you think should be included, why not get in touch? Perhaps we will decide to feature your music in the new year.

Part one – A – D
Part two – E – H
Part three – I – M
Part four – N – R
Part five – S – Z

The post Favourite Free Music of 2014 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklist:

1. She Reminds Me – Family Video
2. Jean Skirt Mystique – Naps
3. Sail – Swim Lessons
4. Mirror Threat – Waiters
5. Tibetan Clouds – Chips Calipso
6. Smokesquare – Fanpage
7. This City Will Eat Itself – Blush Response
8. Undone – Phoria
9. Lungs – Pixel Fix
10. Ancient Ways – Interpol
11. Have You Seen My Son – Benjamin Booker
12. Ballad of Big Nothing (Elliott Smith cover) – Arms
13. Stupid Boy – Owl John
14. Memento Mori – Hollow Wood
15. It’s the End of the World As We Know It (R.E.M. cover) – Free Cake For Every Creature
16. Youth – Thad Kopec
17. You Belong – Lucas O’Connell
18. Knives – The Meanest Creature Ever Known
19. Accept That the Mark Will Outlast You – Old Earth
20. If I’m – Sea Oleena
21. Joni – Old Amica
22. Autumn in the New Canaan – Lejsovka & Freund

August Mix from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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At serious risk of repeating ourselves (as most of our pieces of songwriters end up analysing this angle), the secret to a good folk song is in the writing. Here Butler excels. The lyrics are expertly crafted and you get the impression that these are snapshots of much wider stories that we are lucky enough to glimpse, fleeting impressions of continuing feelings and emotions. There is a feeling that the songs are set in a time passed, a simpler period where love is more innocent and romance is just that, which, along with a yearning for a simpler way of life (not exactly Walden but a desire for a modest life that probably speaks to many an office worker on a monday morning) is ideal against the stark guitar and mournal vocals.This removal from the tedious complications of modern living is a clever one, allowing a real sense of intimacy and tragedy that may (rightly or wrongly) appear trite in a modern setting. The track ‘Ben’, which can be heard below, sums up the style perfectly, reading:

“All I want is a piece of land by the water 
when the cold wind comes and dries my nose and mouth. 
I would raise an early home and face to the east 
and bring only my hands and wife and mind.”

Feeling needs to be conveyed through both sound and lyrics, and both of these need to align and sound natural together. Where some artists and bands fall down is their failure to address differences between sound and subject matter. Tyler Butler sounds like a man in situ, a natural writer and musician that needs no banjo or corduoy trousers to signify his root-sy leanings, he relies on affecting strumming and beautifully developed narratives and imagery. This is proper music.

Violence is set for release on Cabin Songs, a folk offshoot of Old Ugly Recording Co., on Oct 22nd. Pre-order a CD or digital copy from Bandcamp or, if you are lucky enough to be in/near Edmonton next Saturday (20th Oct) then why not get yourself down to the Cabin Songs launch/Violence release party at The Rutherford House?

The post Tyler Butler – Violence appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The album is both very different and reassuringly similar from If I Don’t Come Home…, with the band experimenting with their sound while keeping the familiar vocals and lyrics, the strong core of The Wooden Sky’s success. For me, this is where The Wooden Sky excel, offering the listener the choice of two listening experiences; an entertaining mix of slow and quicker rock songs or a much deeper exploration of often deeply emotional themes. While it could be argued that this is the case with most music, there is something about frontman Gavin Gardiner’s style of delivery that offers a choice, the kind of voice that you could sing along with without really knowing what he has said and enjoying yourself immensely. The variation in pace keep things interesting and the album passes as a pleasant indie-rock listen.

However as I have already said, it is in the lyrics that the true strength of Every Child… lies, and hence the album is a real grower. With each listen a song gives up another detail that was previously missed, another insight into the underlying story. The way in which these ideas unfold suggest a much wider narrative, allowing the listener to flesh out the situation themselves and thus make each story personal and appealing. For example, the opening track ‘Child of the Valley’ is an affecting tale of loneliness and redemption but remains rather vague for the most part, allowing our imaginations to apply the words in any way we see fit. This effect continues to build across the 13 tracks and by the end we each have a slightly different but no less complete picture that addresses some of the most important aspects of the human condition. This isn’t the head-on, painfully personal outpouring familiar to some songwriters, but something a lot more subtle and layered. The messages are hidden, woven into stories and metaphors. They are there if you want to interpret them. If not, there is a confident rock band to love too.

The Wooden Sky are coming to Europe very soon and will tour the US and Canada in October and November. We are hoping to get the chance to ask the band a few questions soon so look out for that too.

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The Wooden Sky will tour the UK (see below). Excitingly, they will be joined by fellow Canadians Evening Hymns, who are also on the verge of releasing a new album. Spectral Dusk is said to be influenced by the experiences of lead Jonas Bonnetta when losing his father in 2009. He has said that his aim was to create “11 moments of reflection or introversion.” Again, what I have heard of the album has got me excited; an atmospheric and visceral exploration of feeling and genuine pain. Getting excited about such a thing sounds a little strange but you get the drift. Stream a track below and watch (a personal favourite) ‘Asleep In The Pews’ at the bottom.

Both albums are shaping up to be some of my favourites this year so hopefully I will be able to write more detailed views on each album when the time comes. Until then, have a listen and try and catch them on tour. The UK dates are below and check here for more European dates.

• 03/10 – CARDIFF, Buffalo Bar
• 04/10 – LONDON, Windmill
• 05/10 – PRESTON, Mad Ferret
• 09/10 – LONDON, Slaughtered Lamb
• 10/10 – GLASGOW, Captain’s Rest
• 11/10 – HARTLEPOOL, The Studio
• 12/10 – SUNDERLAND, Independent
• 13/10 – OXFORD, Oxjam

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EDIT – Also check out the video for Morana here.

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