The Grass is Green in the Fields for You—2022
Another year, if it's wrong or right, it's alright.
Hello,
I said this would be intermittent, welcome. Actually there is news for a change, but first a start.
In an attempt to wrap things up for the year, and in lieu of time—that of production and then in turn a spoken-of-in-small-circles The Grass is Green in the Fields for You 2022—Reader— here are a couple of things. Firstly, a gift from me to you in the form of a digital compilation of things I’ve listened to and enjoyed a lot this year:
The Grass is Green in the Fields for You—2022
Press play, listen on, but first, the two books released on TGIGITFFY this year:
Watercolor of Jandek Debut: Music Texts 2015-2020 — David Roeder
&
Create Disturbance In Your Mind — Private Sorrow
Both still available via the links above or via Good Press.
Back to the thing you’re listening to. I’m going to now try and ramble through some thoughts to tie together what at times is a disparate mix. Call it a tracklist, call it thinking out loud…
We start with Wires by The Moles1, going backwards immediately and as with much of my listening is fixed in the Southern Hemisphere. I don’t really know how this entered into my consciousness this year but it remained fixed and I find it a solid go to when working days at Good Press. Onto a move in to the more frowned upon of my tastes. For people who know me in Glasgow, I try and walk everywhere. That means I listen to a lot in close company and during the summer months, while the sun is beaming upon me, I find it easy to slip into my late teens/early 20’s history. Kind of Like Spitting, in particular Something in the Air has always been one of those songs I feel should have been massive. It really wasn’t. When trying to remember the title of the song, I came across another of their catchiest Birds of a Feather2 and it was on repeat the whole way home, now I am blessing you with it.
Speaking of listening a lot, I listen to many podcasts which are firmly in music history and culture. Here are a list of some of my favourites which I’ve now sadly exhausted:
Louder Than A Riot
Did I Ever Tell You The One About…MF Doom
The Polyvinyl Podcast
The History of New Zealand Drum & Bass Podcast
What Had Happened Was
Rock Writ
Apology
The 33 1/3 Podcast
Oh! Brother
These are just a few, but I think I’m in quite a boring place at the moment with podcast listening so if anyone wants to pass on any recommendations, please do. To move back to the tracklisting here, it does relate to where I’m going, I listened to an Aquarium Drunkard: Transmissions with Ken Shipley of Numero Group. They’ve continued their digging of the 90’s emo scene. Which I oddly treat with some scepticism, archival labels don’t always sit right with me. However, I’m a big fan of Bedhead, a big fan of Duster, Karate, Codeine. I heard the song Words Come Back by The Hated and it pushed me down a three day hardcore hole. Then It's Days Like This That Make Me Wish the Summer Lasted Forever by Everyone Asked About You3 came into my world. Another on the cusp release from Numero, and maybe I’m wrong to be sceptical, I don’t know. In the lineage of summer time, sunshine, warmth, this had Rainer Maria written all over it but hooked me further, maybe as I'd never heard it before, but it leaves visions of my brother, Colin and university in my mind. Probably came out around that time. Very sweet.
We were fortunate enough to be graced with a new No Age album this year, and I straight away got on to listening to it. Seemingly so right from Dean and Randy this time, almost like everything they’ve been trying to do for a while. As their individual practices sprawl and become more refined, ‘People Helping People’ felt like the exact middle ground of where they both are right now. Plastic (You Want It)4 featuring an extremely key vocal part to boot. It also threw Musho off target during a Venetian Blinds and TGIGITFFY Sunday mix on Clyde Built Radio.
Back on track now, some of you may know I helped with the artwork for The Cat's Miaow collection ‘songs '94-'98’ this year which came out via World of Echo. Bart from the band put together a mix in the WOE series Inner World and led me onto (probably) my most listened band of 2022. No shame, here is Macintyre by The Lucksmiths5. Completely gone from my memory but oddly the most comforting listen this year was revisiting the band. Rain or shine the compilation 'Cartography for Beginners' has been on. Back to The Cat’s Miaow, it would be a shame not to include something from that LP6. To stay in that part of the world (and in the same paragraph, I'll try and speed up now...) it was great to hear new music from The Garbage and the Flowers7 with a short but excellent new EP.
The first of a couple of longer tracks on the mix up next, I by Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin8 from the album 'Ghosted' released on Drag City. People are hailing 'Shebang' as the one, but this felt right to me. Reminded me (sort of) of the Alastair Galbraith & Constantine Karlis collaboration 'Cry', but with more groove.
Leading onto groove, I got a lot from both Mister Water Wet records from this year. Caged at Last9 comes from the latest 'Top Natural Drum', which I found to be heavier in samples and movement than the more hiply hailed 'Significant Soil', taste is subjective after all but I’m looking forward to even more from Iggy Romeu and the Mister Water Wet moniker next year. Ulla Straus released 'foam' not all that long ago, and I was immediately drawn to the artwork, then not disappointed by the record. To be honest with you, I’m not sure isolating it to a track10 on a mix does the LP justice, but here it is anyway. Much lighter work than Mister Water Wet, but in the same cut and paste realm.
We come back to Glasgow now with the title track from 'It Changes' by Ailie Ormston and Tim Fraser11. A great LP that we still have available at the shop and I urge people to get a copy. Samples, field recordings and automated sound litter the release which is on the edge of presenting club music of the future. I’m pleased to have something on the list from Glasgow as live music hasn’t been all that present in my life this year. That said, The Old Hairdressers might be the only place I have seen people play—highlights include Triple Negative, CS + Kreme, Warm Currency, and Seb’s ‘gun finger’ moments during Okkyung Lee—keep up the good work into 2023, Rob!
The next track was filtered from an NTS show, like many of us finding out about music, NTS provides an excellent platform for this… not that I need to say it in such formal terms. Some favourite shows from this year…
Tara Clerkin trio
Great Southern Lands
Jim O’Rourke
Coby Sey
Tim Reaper
and that now very old Sarah Records In Focus
Anyway, Theme by Casino vs Japan12 came from a Tara Clerkin Trio show which is always great, veering onto the trip hop side of my tastes. Moving closer to the hip than the trip, model home brought us another great release this year with ‘Saturn in The Basement’. The track included here, survival (feat. R Stokes)13, features on the… companion… 'A Saturn Companion', both released by the excellent Disciples label.
Moving to a new paragraph for what would maybe be my favourite record of 2022, ‘Paste’ by Moin. Completely predictable and likely in many off-to-the-side end of year lists, but maybe not, I’m not sure. Is it post-hardcore? Post-punk? Definitely the most interesting new guitar music I’ve listened to in 2022. Included here, Yep Yep14, but it could have been anything off the record tbh, flawless.
We were sad to miss Russell Walker play at The Doublet as we were in London. The Very Bon release in book for was brilliant, and the album from The Lloyd Pack15 was a missed chance I had to catch up on. I was faced with two records, ‘I Bet You've Got Some Good Stories’ by The Lloyd Pack, and ‘Red Ribbon’ by Yuta Matsumura. I went with the latter and frankly, I don’t like it all that much. Call me stubborn, but thats going to end up on loads of lists. Am I missing something? Give me The Lloyd Pack all day long, life is life. Sitting with me in the same sort of world is the the Horn of Plenty reissue of The Apostles. Feeling so, so urgent... yes the recording quality is poor, but its minimal! Its fast! Its all over the place, I absolutely love it! Included here is Hello You Bastard.16
I’m going slow here, I feel a break coming up. It’s 2.30pm on a Friday, you’ll get this later I’m sure. It was welcome to finally be able to get a copy of the elusive Hallelujahs record, not from this year, but reissued this year. Funny stories circling round this one but the reissue is a great package. Most likely sold out now. Here I include ハレルヤ (Hallelujah).17
Another long one. Blue Lake were completely new to me, but again, like Ulla Straus and many records, I was sucked in by the artwork. Beautiful repetitive minimalism on show with influences pulled from all over; folk, contemporary composition, minimalism, and I feel Shoots18 pulls a lot together with very little in an approachable way. 'Stikling' is easily another of my contenders for AOTY (lol). Moving slowly into an old but revealed song, Nowhere by A. Wallace19 which I heard on the already mentioned Great Southern Lands NTS show. The first of James W's shows is the absolute winner for me, but none have disappointed. Any other part of the A. Wallace still elusive to me.
Horn of Plenty feature again, Winter Advertisement by Warm Currency20 from their 10", my least favourite format. A band a group of us went to see and just didn't see eye to eye on. I'm not going to say who liked them and who didn't but some thought it was too precise, too considered, too rehearsed. Some thought it was light, true and exacting in its hush. You decide. Insert a small vignette from Ned Collette.21 This album—'Jokes and Trials'— has been on and off the headphones all year and isn't the most experimental of NC but pleasing all the same.
Ernest Hood was (like a lot)new to me, but I read a bit about him this year and waited for this release of Freedom to Spend. Noonday Yellows22 is the opening track and lays the ground work softly for a range of instrumentation to come forward across the LP. We listened for the first time in the car and that was actually perfect. Another from Disciples, and a long time favourite Maxine Funke. As the lyrics speak, close up those missing links, ‘Pieces of Driftwood’ brings together separate smaller and more limited releases to complete the 12” collection. Make That Dream23 is a classic Funke song. I almost included the opener Rearview, but it didn’t feel easily placed anywhere, maybe that suits the special nature of Maxine Funke’s music, nothing else sits close.
From ‘Thorn Valley’, the double LP collection from World of Echo (which Jess and I did the artwork for) comes Nein Roeder on the folk end of his canon with Projection Check. David has done a lot of great work this year and I urge you to seek it out. Dear David!
Another from Freedom to Spend was the reissue of Cheri Knight’s ‘American Rituals’. Again, like Ernest Hood, I knew nothing of Cheri Knight but reading on her practice seemed to sell it to me immediately. The record is quite disjointed to be fair, but that feeds into the appeal for me, so many ideas and immediate action. Prime Numbers is a big tune, but feeling right here was Hear/Say24 lacking instrumentation of any kind and instead utilising the voice, language and listening.
The Sonora Pine leading us towards the end. I think I read there was a vinyl release of their 1997 album ‘II’ on the cards, but now I can’t find it. beautiful drawn out folk music and this final track Linda Jo25 brings a lot of the influences together. Still in the folk world (to me) we have Puppet Wipes… how was this album not on everyone’s radar? Coming off Siltbreeze, probably rightly, the only other place I see it is on Discreet but that would be wrong too, the write up says ‘Label fact checkers will note that Puppet Wipes are the 1st Canadian band ever signed to the Siltbreeze roster.’ hahaha! I refer to it as folk as the instrumentation feels found and primal. This more abstract of their tracks, Threats From The Parking Authority26, is tying things up for me nicely.
And if you’ve made it this far, I now indulge. Whatever by Oasis is my funeral song—confirmed to Jess this year on a wobbly bridge—and whenever it comes over me, I put it on. It’s the perfect sound to close this out, thanks for coming this far.
Here’s to 2023! I’m going to try to be more regular with this and the publishing schedule, so stick with it.
Matthew
Wires by The Moles
Birds of a Feather by Kind of Like Spitting
It's Days Like This That Make Me Wish the Summer Lasted Forever by Everyone Asked About You
Plastic (You Want It) by No Age
Macintyre by The Lucksmiths
If Things Had Been Different by The Cat’s Miaow
Cinnamon Sea by The Garbage and the Flower
I by Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin
Caged at Last by Mister Water Wet
popping out by Ulla Straus
It Changes by Ailie Ormston and Tim Fraser
Theme by Casino vs Japan
survival (feat. R Stokes) by model home
Yep Yep by Moin
Swaddling Jokes by The Lloyd Pack
Hello You Bastard by The Apostles
ハレルヤ (Hallelujah) by Hallelujahs
Shoots by Blue Lake
Nowhere by A. Wallace
Winter Advertisement by Warm Currency
The Happy Kidnapper by Ned Collette
Noonday Yellows by Ernest Hood
Make That Dream by Maxine Funke
Hear/Say by Cheri Knight
Linda Jo by The Sonora Pine
Threats From The Parking Authority by Puppet Wipes