Ep 201: Hits of the Bay 2021 pt 2

Playlist

1. 0′52″ Son of Sam's Club by Nopes on Djörk (Magnetic Eye)

   Local One of the best to ever do it!

2. 1′24″ Chupparosa by La Doña on Justice 4 Sean Compilation (Justice 4 Sean)

   Local From the Justice 4 Sean compilation benefiting the family of Sean Monterrosa, killed by Vallejo PD at 22 years old. Wait for spoken part and then the horns.

3. 6′19″ Stonesthrow by CRUZ on Low 'N Slow (Smoking Room)

   Local Cruz balances the light and the thick on EP Low 'n Slow, this effortlessly catchy jam punctuated by one of the year’s big guitar solos.

4. 9′17″ Goodbye Spaceman by Hectorine on TEARS (Paisley Shirt)

   Local The phrase goodbye spaceman calls to mind several references, from bowie to billionaires to times when I may have been the spaceman in question, but the gaze, through a veil of chamber new wave, is all Hectorine.

5. 11′34″ Kiss of Life by Pacific Yew on Water for the Town v.3 (SMARTBOMB)

   Local Welcome to the sonic worlds of Pacific Yew, where the songs form around you, on the way to somewhere different.

6. 16′08″ Hits the Right Way by Flex TMG (Vacant Stare)

   Local The great songs about acute ennui work thrillingly counter to the feeling, I should have expected it from these two.

7. 19′11″ Ballad of Doug by The Telephone Numbers on The Ballad of Doug (Paisley Shirt)

   Local A soaring tale of loving music with a passion, especially when it cannot entirely hold darkness at bay.

8. 21′58″ Disinformation by There's Talk on Great Falls (self released)

   Local Where the songs on their debut EP spread out, those of follow up Great Falls bring tension to finer points, with everything in its right place.

9. 26′16″ It's True by Chime School on Chime School (Slumberland)

   Local Pure pop for hummingbirds, rich with incident and unabashedly crushing on you.

10. 29′52″ Beach Comber by James Wavey aka Alleyes Manifest on Snowy Beach (self released)

    Local The ongoing adventures of James Wavey find our hero standing on a pacific cliff, sampling adventurously. With a special nod to this year's Wavey/Bryson Wallace collaboration Nights.

11. 31′40″ Guerrero Street by Freddie's World on Walking Home (self released)

    Local Unassuming bedsit anthems become, by their end, totally hypnotic.

12. 33′59″ Too Late for an Early Grave by The Reds, Pinks, & Purples (self released)

    Local The refrain speaks global volumes but Glenn keeps it focus near to self, in the room, like a friend, these songs are such melancholy comfort.

13. 35′59″ Flat Horizon by Hits on Cielo Nublado (Paisley Shirt)

    Local It takes real chemistry to write such hits so wrong. Between this album and 300D, what a year for Jen Weisberg songs.

14. 38′48″ Donna Said by Pardoner on Came Down Different (Bar None Records)

    Local I'm not sure if it's a concept album about the music business, but the bands keep getting better while being funny and making me think about sad stuff.

15. 43′06″ Left for Dead by Psychic Hit on Solutio (Seeing Red)

    Local They’ve rocked hard since the beginning but suddenly they’re taking us deliriously off the rails.

16. 44′29″ Utopia by Lunchbox on After School Special (Slumberland)

    Local A Joseph Cornell box of microscopic pop, all the details and zero fuss.

17. 47′51″ Happy by The Umbrellas on The Umbrellas (Slumberland)

    Local The Umbrellas, “Happy”: From an album about having big-hearted fun with or without the happiness.

18. 50′06″ All the Same by Muñecas on ESL Soundsystem (self released)

    Local Playing the Conflicts of the Bay! On "All the Same" Muñecas screamed your grumbles.

19. 52′57″ Little Deer by SPELLLING on The Turning Wheel (Sacred Bones)

    Local Did someone say "making utopia true"?

20. 55′08″ Cakeshop by Mister Baby on Sidewalk Pop (Paisley Shirt)

    Local When lo-fi works it has the effect of pulling you closer, into the song, and when you pass through the layers of this one you find a celebration, a coda to your days.

21. 254′35″ Why Not by Cobrina & Will on Allow Abilities to Bloom (Catch that Dog)

    The duo continues to grow wings in this, their fifth year, can you believe it, Cobrina voicing sparkling melodies invoking an infinite depth of stars, over a hot tub on low jets, over river stones, and a small gem exchanged by palm. Whether pumping it, zhuzhing it, popping it, tubbing it, trying it, braving it, or making it, they were the "it" couple of 2021-- and beyond.