various artists - Mojo Presents: The Dreamers (15 Tracks Of Kate Bush-Inspired Dream Pop)

I don't have the October 2014 issue around which to contextualize the claim, but can one truly say this collection is Kate Bush-inspired? This stretches the definition of what "dream pop" is, and I always found Kate Bush (who I love...don't get me wrong) to be more akin to Peter Gabriel on the art rock tip, so I'm casting a gimlet eye towards the title. But there's a Wye Oak song here, and one by Julie Holter, and I can always skip over The War On Drugs, so I guess I'll just throw this one out to you, my people, and wish you not only a happy Mojo Monday, but a solemn Memorial Day.

Discogs

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various artists - Insound Tour Support Collection Vol. No. One

It seems weird that I've only written about the Insound Tour Support series once, for how many of them I ended up with and how many times they got me onboard with a band or an artist. The Kind Of Like Spitting release, in particular, is the thing that got me listening to Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and Leon Redbone. I heard the Canyon EP before I saw them live, even though they were based in DC and were dudes from emo bands playing Neil Young-style country rock...a genre engineered to grab my early-20s interest.

A lot of this is now hitting the quarter century mark, which explains why the original records are being revisited (s/o to Numero Group and Solid Brass for their ongoing reissue programs). So I thought it was a good opportunity to finally post this one up. It compiles a fair amount of the bands who appeared in Volumes 1-19. And like a lot of what I share here, it's a good snapshot of indie rock in the years around 9/11. Bright Eyes, Ida, and the Faint are the biggest names here, although relistening to this makes me wish I had held onto my copies of the Lion compilation EP and the Very Secretary release.

Discogs

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various artists - Mojo Presents: Beyond Saturn (Mojo Presents 15 Mind-Blowing Cosmic Tracks Approved By Paul Weller)

It's another Mojo Monday, another compilation "approved" by Paul Weller. I'm not going to complain. They bring me Sun Ra and Charles Mingus and NEU!; I'm going to listen to the entire thing. Space music is always going to grab my attention.

Discogs

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various artists - Mojo Presents: New Harvest (A Compendium Of Modern American Song)

The last seven days have been rather challenging, what with about 90% of a BestFile upload suddenly disappearing, then being diagnosed with pneumonia. When I asked the doc in the box if it was a combination of rockin' pneumonia and the boogy-woogie flu, she grunted and gave me a script for antibiotics. Doctors are no fun.

It's hard to believe this comp, with a cover date of August 2009, is old enough to drive. It reminds me that my wife and I have been around 16 years as well, that there was a time when Father John Misty was just the dude from Fleet Foxes that went solo, and how apeshit the world went over a record named after the outdoor venue that we used to sneak into to watch bigger concerts. "Indie folk" just got bigger around this time; Bill Callahan could tour under his own name, and bands that, a few years before, you used to be able to watch in dingy 60-person barrooms now played the biggest rooms in town. The grandsons of Neil Young were getting their due, and it was a pretty good time in retrospect.

There's a lot here that I'm still messing with, and it kind of surprises me that I didn't get around to ripping this until this past summer, because it's a pretty solid mix, as one should generally expect out of Mojo. It reminds me to go find those Yeasayer records I know are in a box somewhere and give them a spin. If nothing else, this will serve an acceptable substitution.

Discogs

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various artists - Saddle Creek 2007 Sampler

John Davis, formerly of Q And Not U and Corm, has a new book out about the history of DC fanzines. "Keep Your Ear To The Ground" is like catnip to folks like us; those who want to preserve the old days, warts and all, and see value in the things that many others might view as trash. John's zine Held Like Sound still holds a special place in my heart. It was my contemporary look at DC when I first moved to the DMV in 1994. I thought I was moving to the DC suburbs; it turned out to be the direct opposite side of Baltimore. Instead of Positive Force, I got the Loft and Reptilian Records. It was all for the better, but I still wonder what might have changed if I had ended up in Arlington, Sterling, or Laurel.

John was also one half of Georgie James, whose sole full-length came out on Omaha's Saddle Creek in 2007, and who are represented by two tracks on this sampler. Saddle Creek's luminaries also show up; Bright Eyes' "Cassadega" and the Good Life's "Help Wanted Nights" both came out that year. Within a year, Conor Oberst would be out on the campaign trail, playing Obama rallies with Bruce Springsteen. It was a weird time. The twelve tracks are rounded out by two each from ex-Azure Ray artists Art In Manila & Maria Taylor, and S.F. folky duo Two Gallants, who I'm pretty sure I booked on their first show in Baltimore around this time. This is all a stretch to suggest y'all check out Davis's book, but I think I got us there.

Discogs

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various artists - Mojo Presents: Panic (15 Tracks Of Riotous '80s Indie Insurrection)

Let the record show that I am quite disgusted with myself.

I hate that I'm posting this late. Sure, it's still Monday when I post this, but I try to keep two or three posts in the queue at all times, and I've been blowing it lately. Such is summer; it's nice here, even as we edge closer and closer to the start of the wet season.

These are the songs your older cousin, the one who spent a semester abroad while you were wrapping up middle school, put on the mixtape she made for your 13th birthday. It reminds me of phrases like "Distributed by the Cartel" or "reviewed in Sounds". It''s not even a typical sampling of what was happening in the mid-80s. Hell, I love that it's a compilation including Robert Wyatt, the Mekons, Billy Bragg AND Girls At Out Best. Brilliant stuff.

Discogs

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various artists - Art Of The Underground 2005 Sampler

It's 2005, and your faithful servant is a newlywed, trying and failing to make a go as an indie promoter in Baltimore and, in retrospect, in the throes of a major depressive episode that would wax and wane but never really go away until the start of Obama's first term. I was listening to a lot of what Alex Kerns was putting out on Art of the Underground. First amongst equals was the Buffalo trio Lemuria, formed by Alex with Sheena and Doug, with only a demo and 7" to their names but already grabbing my attention with their tuneful Superchunk-style punk. I also loved Out of Vogue and Robot Has Werewolf Hand, a pair of Buffalo local weirdo hardcore bands with 7"s out on the label.

All three appear on this sampler, a survey of the first dozen or so releases on AotU. They're joined by Erik Petersen, who made folk punk par excellence out of Philly, and Albany's Kitty Little, who had a pair of dudes from John Brown's Army making super fun indie rock. The rest of this didn't make much of an impact on me back then, but 20 years distance has refreshed my taste for mid-aughts DIY indie. I spun this one a few times after recently re-ripping it and thought, "yeah, this one's worth sharing."

Discogs

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various artists - Uncut: Main Sounds (15 Tracks Of The Month's Best Music)

I don't typically fuck with Uncut Magazine. And the price I paid for this reflects what I gather is most folks' interest in the content here. One measly cent American, plus a nominal shipping fee, was all it cost. With all apologies to most of the performers herein, there are only a few cuts here worth that copper.

So, who did I like? Those kids in Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are pretty great, although that wasn't in question before I copped this. Same goes for Sharon Van Etten, whose music I realized I've been casually encountering for a decade and a half. I wasn't familiar with cellist Layla McCalla's background initially, but it's been nice seeking out the catalog of this former member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Finally, the Quebecois trio Cola were a nice surprise coming towards the end of the 15 tracks contained herein. They had a real "Tuesday night touring band" vibe coming off their track; with a new record that came out in June, they made my list of Bandcamp Friday pickups for December.

Discogs

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various artists - Mews Too: An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation

This, my friends, is very much NOT a banger.

I honestly have no idea why I ended up buying this. I'm quite certain I didn't spend more than a buck on it, but, even then, there's nothing aobut this that would have compelled me to spend said buck. The scene around Asthmatic Kitty was very much not mine when it first came into view around 2002/2003. I was aware of Sufjan Stevens, a Pitchfork darling almost from Jump Street. "Illinois" was all over the front page of Insound,  It was in the ether, but it wasn't crossing over into the world of punk spaces.

It was...ugh...hippy shit. And I wanted no part. It makes no sense how this would end up in my hands in 2006, or 2009, or 2014.

But that was then, and this is now, and maybe my tastes have further refined from where they were 20 years ago. At least, I hope they have. This isn't going to be a regular replay in my house, but I'm more interested in what's going on here than I was when I originally nabbed it. Castenets, the Danielson Famile, Royal City: they're all pretty good. Even ol' Sufjan,,,well, I get the appeal, even if I wouldn't seek him out.

Discogs

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various artists - Sub Pop: Patient Zero

It's been twenty years since the release of this particular Sub Pop sampler, and if you don't think the gravity of the fact that it's been twenty years since "Our Endless Numbered Days" and "Burned Days" came out isn't weighing on me like so many dozens of boxes full of vinyl being moved from apartment to house to apartment to storage unit then homey you're clearly a boomer or a Zedder.

The fun part is admitting that, at least where this spotlight on Sub Pop's discography is concerned, my taste remains pretty fossilized. Still love the Thermals, iron and Wine, and the Catheters, hate the Shins, feel ambivalent about the rest. But, hey, you might be really into Rogue Wave or the Helio Sequence. And there is a Postal Service remix on this that I didn't previously own, so I guess it was worth the buck plus shipping I paid a few weeks ago.

Discogs

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various artists - Topshelf Records 2012 Summer Sampler

Another day, another time I forgot to write something. Selah.

We'll keep this short and sweet. This was the state of the union in 2012. Just a step up from basement DIY, featuring a pretty decent mix of emo, hardcore, indie, shoegaze, post-hardcore, and probably some other subgenres I can't remember. A lot of these folks played the Art Space that summer. If a generation in punk lasts three years, then I was probably five generations past what was appropriate for attending these shows in 2012. No bother: I had a good time working the front door and cracking wise to a bunch of kids.

The Slingshot Dakota track is an all-time banger, Pianos Become The Teeth still rip, and I found a Code Orange CD for $2 at the thrift store the other day.

I gotta go; I just encountered a Busch Light commercial with Sarah McLachlan appearing in it. I think it's time to call it a day.

Discogs

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various artists - Chico, CA

A few years before they put out the early works of the Decemberists, and long before working with the likes of Jon Brion, Team Dresch, or John Cameron Mitchell, Jealous Butcher Records was just a Portland label I knew for making limited edition records with really great handcrafted covers. I learned about them the first time I saw Kind Of Like Spitting, who were on tour with Braid, and they had this comp with a folded cardboard wrap cover tied with a twist-tie in the upper right corner. I snagged this and a copy of "You Secretly Want Me Dead" that night, meeting Ben for the first time.

The uninitiated probably won't know a blessed soul here, apart from the aforementioned KoLS. Beltline, Rally Boy, and Captain vs. Crew all made singles and full-lengths for Jealous Butcher in the years around 2000, Jeff London is probably the most prolific artist here, having cut records for J.B.R. and fellow Rose City travelers HUSH over the years. Jeff did a pretty great digital-only album in 2020 that's right in that indie folk niche that I (and other NPR-contributors) love.

If I hadn't heard Poison Idea before, I would have assumed everything from Portland sounded like this until I moved out west, thanks to recordings like this.

Discogs

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PS: There's a good chance that I screwed up the artist naming on the download. Check the Discogs listing for the correct listing.

Rocky Votolato - s/t

The first solo record from Seattle's Rocky Votolato. He's a man who, in this day and age, will come to your living room and play to your closest friends and strangest strangers, all whilst you quaff a glass of wine and hum along to "White Daisy Passing". I've seen him/booked him about a half dozen times over the years, and never been disappointed.

It's worth noting (to me, at least) that this was initially co-released by Henry's Finest Recordings. I live about 10 minutes from Henry's Finest's mailing address. The universe is immense, yet tiny.

If you come across him, ask Rocky about acting in "The Edge of Quarrel".

Discogs

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various artists - Slightest Indication Of Change

Rabbit rabbit, as the kids have said from time to time. It's the first of the month, so get your check and get up.

"Slightest Indication Of Change" is the seventh release from Slowdance Records, a perfectly cromulent label from San Diego whose six year output covered a pretty wide swath of what was going on in the world of independent rock back at the turn of the millenium. Their first release was a Boilermaker/Three Mile Pilot split 7" that still gets the occasional spin on the turntable at Ape Central; they also did a tour split with my buddy Ben and Braid vocalist Bob Nanna that I've never managed to lay my hands on.

So it was that I snagged a copy of this shortly after its release in 2000, mainly b/c it had a Kind Of Like Spitting cut on it I didn't own, plus anything from Piebald and Small Brown Bike at that time was going to pique my interest and get my money. I'd heard Jejune and No Knife before, via splits with other bands I'd liked, and even the likes of the Casket Lottery and the Six Parts Seven weren't completely unknown to me back then. This was, and remains, a great snapshot of the more tuneful part of the touring scene pre-9/11, where the boundaries of genre remained blurred and everyone still played basements and dive bars and hadn't gotten publicists yet.

Discogs

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Post #300: Kind Of Like Spitting - 2004 4-track demos

I try to bring some real quality for every post, but when I hit a landmark like a post that ends in "00", I feel like it's time to really dig deep for something most folks haven't heard. So let me give you something from my old friend Ben.

I met Ben Barnett for the first time when he was opening for Braid and Cross My Heart at the old Ottobar in 1999. Braid was on what was then billed as their final tour, soon to partition into Hey Mercedes and the Firebird Band. I know XMH was playing songs from "The Reason I Failed History", arguably their finest record. But it was Kind Of Like Spitting that blew me away, with a folky emo sound that I hadn't really experienced before. Plaintive songs, cracking vocals, violin accompaniment? Yes, yes, and hell yes! I bought the "Birds Of A Feather" 7" that night, and damn near wore through the vinyl over the next year between listening at home and playing it on my radio show.

When Ben came back to Baltimore the following year, he was playing solo, backed with an Insound tour EP and more plainly showing his influences (Joni Mitchell! Jimmie Rodgers! Leonard Cohen!). I ended up chatting with him for almost an hour after his set in the parking lot next to the Sidebar, just rapping about music and touring and how to deal with depression with art. We exchanged numbers, and I told him to give me a shout if he was coming back through town and needed a place to crash. Within a few years, I'd end up booking him a number of shows, both as Kind Of Like Spitting and with the first Thermals tour. The stays would range from a few hours to a few days, and it was great to chop it up with hot goss about what was happening in Seattle and Portland, giggling about his buddies who were ending up in Spin Magazine.

Sometime in the summer of 2004, Ben came to stay with the girlfriend and I in our garden apartment on Calvert St. for a night or two, and ended up crashing for a couple weeks. It'd been a couple of years since he'd put out "Bridges Worth Burning" with Barsuk, and was pivoting towards a more folky sound. After all, mainstream emo only had room for one sensitive singer-songwriter in Chris Carraba, so why not lean into a love of Phil Ochs and Pete Seeger? Before he split for Philadelphia, Ben laid a CD-R on me of songs he was demoing for a new record. And that's what we have here.

The material from these 17 songs would make up parts of the next two Kind Of Like Spitting full-lengths: 2005s "In The Red" and 2006s "The Thrill Of The Hunt". The arrangements are simple and spare. "Worker Bee" here is just acoustic guitar, double tracked vocals and metronome, which gives this early version a real ghostly feel. "Grapes" from "In The Red" is titled "Line And Sinker" in these demos, and has this wonderful hissy quality that reminds me of Ben's earliest tapes. It's the songs that don't appear in studio versions elsewhere that are worth diving into. There are covers of Neil Young's "Losing End", Bad Religion's "You", and Mojave 3's "In Love With A View", the first of which only appears here. "Cheap Drinks" is a great song that really deserved a fleshed-out version. But the capper here is the beautiful rendition of "This Little Light Of Mine", the lullaby turned protest song. It's really outstanding.

I'll argue that Ben Barnett is one of the most underappreciated singer/songwriters of the past 25 years. There's an integrity and honesty present that few artists possess, and fewer still manage to not to lord over people. He's just a fella, as willing to talk and sing about the folk scene in the late 60s as he is about smoking dank buds. There's more than a bit of Ben Barnett in the character Llewyn Davis, although I doubt the Coens ever listened to "$100 Room". That authenticity, even when there's appeal to turning it all down, can't be manufactured; it just is. And it's present in these songs, whether an original composition or in a cover choice.

If you like what you've heard here, and you've not familiar with the Kind Of Like Spitting catalog, swing by the Bandcamp page, where's there's just a monster amount of music to dive into. As I noted a few months ago, the newest Kind Of Like Spitting release is a tribute to the late Karl Hendricks, benefitting his family. Anything you purchase on the page goes to the Hendricks clan, a worthy spend if ever there was one.

Thanks for your continued visits, friends. Enjoy.

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various artists - SPIN Presents Newermind: A Tribute Album

I don't recall the circumstances of downloading this initially. I'm fairly certain, based on the release date, that I had a subscription to the print edition of Spin. But there's no one artist here that I was a fan of, and a couple people here (coughamandapalmercough) that I downright loathe. I don't recall it being sponcon, or having someone whose blog I read recommending it, or a bud saying, "Hey, that Surfer Blood cover of 'Territorial Pissings' is worth hearing." Nothing about this lines up.

Yet the folder date on the ol' hard drive tells me I downloaded it within a few days of its release on the Spin website. And I see I've listened to it through at least twice. It's an interesting mix of Nirvana contemporaries (Meat Puppets, the Vaselines), direct descendents (JEFF the Brotherhood, Titus Andronicus), and straight up oddness (Butch Walker, Charles Bradley). It's odd to me that Spin never really did more of this sort of online-only release; it would have given them a leg up on the likes of Pitchfork at a time when they were quickly reaching print irrelevance.

Discogs

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