07-09-2021 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [2019-2021] # Joan of Arc, Upset, The Heliocentrics, Ani DiFranco, Motorists, Public Memory, Michael Nau, Sharon Van Etten, Field Music, Oceanator, Southern Avenue
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Indie rock stalwarts led by Tim Kinsella, with a sustained focus on exploring the boundaries of their art.
Destiny Revision 3:44
Land Surveyor 3:36
from Tim Melina Theo Bobby 2020
Sometime following the release of their gorgeous 2018 album 1984, long-running Chicago art rock experimentalists Joan of Arc decided to call it a day. The band formed in 1995 around the impassioned vocals, obtuse thinking, and creatively limitless songwriting of former Cap'n Jazz member Tim Kinsella, and for the next many years, Kinsella and a rotating cast of players stretched the conceptual boundaries of what Joan of Arc was on over a dozen albums. After making the decision to end the group, the most recently active lineup entered the studio, knowing that what they were recording would be the last statement from a band who had spent two-and-a-half decades creating a sound that was both wildly specific and somehow boundless. In true Joan of Arc fashion, final album Tim Melina Theo Bobby (the first names of the players who made the music) sees the group taking their sound in a new direction, even on the way out the door...
Former Vivian Girls and Best Coast drummer formed Upset with ex-Hole drummer Patty Schemel to play her own punk-pop songs. Sounding like a lost band from the grunge pop '90s, Upset were formed by the duo of Ali Koehler, ex-Vivian Girls and Best Coast drummer, and Patty Schemel, who famously drummed for Hole.
Holy Basil 3:10
Over My Head 3:22
from Upset 2019
Upset's take on '90s pop-punk and grunge is more refined and powerful on their second album, 2019's Upset. Since their promising 2013 debut album and follow-up EP in 2015, the band has solidified into a quartet while spreading out the songwriting and singing duties. Original singer/songwriter Ali Koehler shares the mike this time with guitarist Lauren Freeman, who provides an alternate vision that's a little rougher -- both sonically and emotionally -- around the edges. For the most part, Koehler comes at her songs from a poppier, more melodic angle, while Freeman has a more angular and punk-derived style. .. Adding Freeman to the mix was a great idea that made an already good band even better and Upset is a strong step forward from their debut and some of the best retro grunge-punk going in 2019.
This London quintet blends Krautrock, psychedelia, and shoegaze into hypnotic, pulsating music.
Sequence One 4:17
Energy 4:07
from Happy in the Hollow 2019
With Clear Shot, TOY transformed their music by bringing it into hi-def focus. On Happy in the Hollow, they continue to change their sound in several ways. For the first time, the band self-produced their music, though their sessions at Dan Carey's Studio B suggest they're still tight with the producer who helped shaped their sound early on. .. Happy in the Hollow doesn't change the feeling that the members of TOY have one foot in another dimension that they're waiting to transport their listeners to.
