Universal Frequencies (2)

(oystered 53)

1. Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions "Let Me Get There (Acoustic)" Son Of A Lady (Tendril Tales)
2. Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile "Over Everything" Lotta Sea Lice (Matador)
3. The Cairo Gang "Real Enough To Believe" Untouchable (god?)
4. Ducktails "Light A Candle" Jersey Devil (New Images)
5. Beck "Wow" Colors (Capitol)
6. Sun Araw "Orthus" The Saddle Of The Increate (Sun Ark)
7. Ariel Pink "Feels Like Heaven" Dedicated To Bobby Jameson (Mexican Summer)
8. Crescent "I'm Not Awake" Resin Pockets (Geographic)
9. King Krule "Cadet Limbo" The OOZ (True Panther Sounds)
10. Six Organs Of Admittance "Taken By Ascent" Burning The Threshold (Drag City)
11. Gunn-Truscinski Duo "Seagull For Chuck Berry" Bay Head (Three Lobed)
12. Wooden Wand "Mood Indica (Reprise)/ One Can Only Love [b. neptune mix]" Clipper Ship (Three Lobed)
13. The War On Drugs "Strangest Thing" A Deeper Understanding (Atlantic)
14. Acetone "Smokey" 1992-2001 (Light In The Attic)
15. Roe Enney "Aquatron" Glare (Root Strata)
16. Peaking Lights "I'll Be In The Sky" The Fifth State Of Consciousness (Two Flowers)
17. Video Salon "Stars Reflecting" Video Salon (Not Not Fun)
18. Saint Etienne "London Like A Distant Sun/ Doods Brow/ Obvious [b. neptune's 'classic '90's threebanger' b-sides medley]" Dive (Heavenly)
19. Kelly Lee Owens "Bird" Kelly Lee Owens (Smalltown Supersound)

Second and final installment (3rd of 6) of my year-end surveys regarding pop and rock formats. Featuring a wide mix of artists, from Beck, The War on Drugs, The Cairo Gang, King Krule and Ariel Pink to the more experimental and underserved styles of Wooden Wand, Crescent and Sun Araw. Also, a highlight from the Acetone retrospective on Light In The Attic, an electrifying performance from guitarrorists Steve Gunn and John Truscinski, a surprising debut from Kelly Lee Owens, but most of all, a classic, exquisitely delicious '90’s b-sides medley from Saint Etienne, proving adeptly that they’re still able to create timeless intercontinental pop tropes. Tilt!

Electric Campfires (2)

(oystered 52)

1. Pausal "Soar" Avifaunal (Dronarivm)
2. Beast "Look Out" Volume Two (Pre-Echo Press)
3. Brian Eno "Reflection [b. neptune's Tuesday Afternoon redux]" Reflection (Warp)
4. Sugai Ken "Okera" Ukabazumorezu (Rvng Intl.)
5. Gregg Kowalsky "Tuned To Monochrome" L'Orange L'Orange (Mexican Summer)
6. Bitchin Bajas "Chokayo" Bajas Fresh (Drag City)
7. Ezekiel Honig "Fugue State, Pt. 2" A Passage Of Concrete (Anticipate)
8. Kassel Jaeger "Exposure Scale -- Clair de Lune" Aster (Editions Mego)
9. Taylor Deupree & Marcus Fischer "Lowlands" Lowlands (IIKKI)
10. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma "HERMENEUTICS 17/ The Faun [b. neptune mix]" On The Echoing Green/ HERMENEUTICS (Mexican Summer)
11. Mark Templeton "Gentle Story (Parts 1 & 2) [b. neptune mix]" Gentle Heart (Graphical)
12. Federico Durand "Lluvia de Estrellas" La Nina Junco (12k)

Part two of six in 2017’s series of year-end surveys, this one (of three) a mix of blissed and melancholic ambient tracks from the likes of Pausal, Taylor Deupree with Marcus Fischer, Gregg Kowalsky and Koen Holtkamp (Mountains) under his new Beast guise, among many others. A meticulously pieced-together and abbreviated version of Brian Eno’s nearly hour-long piece, “Reflections” is also featured. Additionally, I took some liberties gluing Mark Templeton’s “Gentle Story” parts one and two together (I couldn’t decide on either one), and, as another curveball, mixing a track from Jefre Cantu-Ledesma’s On the Echoing Green’s bonus LP, HERMENEUTICS, with album standout, “The Faun.” Again, all released or reissued in 2017.

Universal Frequencies (1)

(oystered 51)

1. Beach House "Used To Be (2008 Single Version)" B-Sides and Rarities (Sub Pop)
2. Slowdive "Star Roving" Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
3. Mogwai "Party In The Dark" Every Country's Sun (Temporary Residence)
4. The Clientele "Falling Asleep" Music For The Age Of Miracles (Merge)
5. Destroyer "Sky's Grey" ken (Merge)
6. Verve "Sweet and Sour" unreleased
7. Ride "Cali" Weather Diaries (Witchita)
8. Lilys "Elizabeth Colour Wheel" In The Presence Of Nothing (Frontier)
9. LCD Soundsystem "Call The Police" American Dream (DFA/ Columbia)
10. The Fall "Room To Live" Singles 1978-2016 (Cherry Red)
11. Oh Sees "Keys To The Castle [b. neptune edit]" Orc (Castle Face)
12. Beach Fossils "Be Nothing/ Saint Ivy (ending) [b. neptune mash]" Somersault (Bayonet)
13. Omni "Calling Direct" Multi-Task (Trouble In Mind)
14. The Sexual Objects "Shadows Of Jet Plane" Marshmallow (Triassic Tusk)
15. Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band "History" Dreaming In The Non-Dream (No Quarter)
16. Bill MacKay & Ryley Walker "Stretching My Dollar In Plano" Spiderbeetlebee (Drag City)

“Some people have stars for eyes/ some people want eyes of stars/ they’ve been like that for yearz-uh…”

Featuring a selection of hand-picked favorites from 2017. All songs either released/ reissued/ repackaged through the course of the year, from the resurgence of shoegaze favorites Ride and Slowdive, to Beach House and Lilys; one of post-punk’s originals, David Henderson (Fire Engines, Win, Nectarine No. 9) under his latest guise, The Sexual Objects, as well as LCD Soundsystem--the only exception being, an unofficial, unreleased what sounds like an uber-proto version of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony.” Thank you to the artists and friends, without whose inspiration and generosity this mix would not be possible.

“And some people cannot hold their drink-uh/ they’ve got to tell you what they think-uh / There’s no hate to the point that I give-uh/ I just want Room To Live-uh…”