Category: Music

Mumbler Radio Episode #6: “Music and Memory with Daniel Lofredo Rota”

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When it comes to doing interviews, once in a while you engage with someone who touches all the bases of having both a passion and a seemingly boundless wealth of knowledge to share about that passion. They make the job of rooting out the story both easy and incredibly mesmerizing.

Daniel Lofredo Rota (aka Quixosis) is one of these absolutely engaging individuals. A musical artist based in Quito, Ecuador, I first learned of Lofredo Rota through his show Closer to the Sun on Worldwide FM. It just so happened that the episode of his show I listened to featured the artist talking extensively about, and playing music from, an amazing project he had spent the last few years working on: compilations comprising songs from a long-lost Ecuadorian record label named Caife.

The songs were discovered following the passing of Lofredo Rota’s grandfather, Carlos Rota, on hundreds of reel-to-reel tapes buried beneath tons of assorted papers in his grandfather’s office that Lofredo Rota and his cousins were tasked with cleaning out. Identifying the music and artists on the tapes, and digitizing them, became an obsession for Lofredo Rota: “I knew it was going to be long, and I knew it was going to be mine, but I knew it was going to be worth it.”

Photos provided by Daniel Lofredo Rota

Fast forward to 2022 and we now have the release of three compilations featuring recordings from those tapes through Honest Jon’s Records: The Paths of Pain, A Heart in Splinters, and Impossible Love Songs from Sixties Quito. In addition, a podcast chronicling Lofredo Rota’s journey with this music is soon to be released.

I’ve long had a fascination with the music of Latin America, particularly the array of artists active in the twentieth century that posed a sort of alternative to the cultural hegemony established through the proliferation of U.S. pop culture across the continent. So when I learned of these compilations, and the sort of insight they provide into Ecuador at that particular moment, I knew I wanted to learn more.

I was able to interview Lofredo Rota back in November and the experience really reaffirmed what it was that made me gravitate towards these recordings. Lofredo Rota has such a boundless knowledge of this music, but it’s also the importance he sees in it — as a means of recapturing collective memory that could have been lost — that really makes his insight special. For Lofredo Rota, it’s not simply about sharing old recordings, but of adding to a process of reasserting his community onto a timeline at a moment when it is easy to feel separated from one’s history.

It’s a process that Lofredo Rota says is important for any historically marginalized group, and I wholeheartedly agree.

As I mention at the beginning of today’s episode, there were some technical difficulties that hampered the interview. While I only really had to cut one question and answer due to this (though it was a good one), I consider the biggest loss of this to not having been able to carry on the interview as more of a conversation. I often had to deliver my question and watch a very choppy and laggy response come through my Hangouts window — catching glimpses of what Lofredo Rota was saying and knowing that I would have loved to engage more because, again, his insight and passion towards this project is infectious.

But, overall, I’m just glad I have what I have to share. As I state at the beginning of the episode, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Daniel for not just his patience with those issues, but also his offer to record audio on his end for that second half.

Listen to the episode below or check it out on Mixcloud here.

Follow along with Daniel’s music and more updates on this project at his Instagram page @quixosis.

I also highly recommend the fantastic blog series he wrote up for it for Sounds and Colours here.

And I highly encourage purchasing the compilations: The Paths of Pain, A Heart in Splinters, and Impossible Love Songs from Sixties Quito. Just click the title to be taken to the Bandcamp page.

Updated 5/28/2022: Rota’s podcast chronicling this story, entitled Sonido Perdido: CAIFE, was also recently released. You can listen to the first episode below and find the rest on Spotify. English version is soon to come.

Episode 6 Tracklist

“Sangrante Corazon” – Hermanas Mendoza Suasti
“Vaca Lechera” – Conjunto CAIFE
“Ingratitud” – Mendoza Suasti
“Desesperacion” – Benitez y Valencia
“Mi Ultima Ilusion” – Duo Aguayo Huayamabe
“Sendero de Dolor” – Segundo Bautista
“Cotopaxi” – Biluka y Los Canibles
“El Anacu de Mi Guambra” – Biluka y Los Canibles
“Dulce Mirada” – Olga Gutierrez
“Palomita Cuculi” – Gladys Viera
“Chola Cuencana” – Raul Emiliani y Hector Bonilla
“Lejos de Ti” – Los Tres Ases

Updates, a hunt, and a playlist

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Howdy and happy new year all! I’m trying not to say “it” but I can’t think of anything else to say but “it” so…

“It’s been a minute, huh?”

Picking up and dropping projects has long been my MO, I’m afraid, but I guess I forgot that this blog was just supposed to be an outlet for writing in general. So with the new year comes new resolutions, which I do tend to make and try and stick to. One such, as you might have guessed, is to keep up with this blog more. I mean, I’m paying for this, ain’t I?!

So I intend to be checking in more, updating on life’s goings-on, and sharing thoughts on this and that. You know, exciting things. I also intend to get back to the radio show but that’s on hiatus while I focus on some bigger priorities in my life. I do hope to have a really cool interview episode up next month, however, that I recorded back in November.

The hunt

A couple of not-so-serious things have been dominating my mind lately. Firstly, for the unaware, amateur nature photography became a pretty big hobby for me over the course of these pandemic years. I think I’ll write a longer post on this sometime soon but, for now, know that winter in these parts brings such an array of migratory visitors and I have been invigorated to find them all!

Some time back in November or December I was driving down Holly and caught sight of something I totally did not expect. It was in a pretty busy part of the road, but there was a ditch in between two businesses with water in it that was separated from the sidewalk by a rail. Perched on that rail was a Belted Kingfisher — a sight that stuck out much more blatantly because I hadn’t realized they made their way down to these parts.

I did have my camera in my trunk, though not my long telescopic lens, but decided to make a hasty U-turn either way and try and park to snap whatever photo I could get. However, once I parked, the kingfisher flew off.

I was struck at how pretty and large the bird was. I expected something the size of a little warbler judging by photos I’d seen of it with it’s little legs and stout body. But it approached more the size of maybe a jay or swallow. Certainly big enough for me to spot it from the road and instantly realize what it was I was looking at.

If you squint you might be able to see it laughing heartily at my failure.

After that first failure I encountered two other kingfishers on separate occasions. Once while I was driving on the causeway coming from Flour Bluff (even less of an opportunity to pull over) I spotted one sitting on a power line. The other time I was on a pre-birthday trip to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge for the first time, where I spotted one while at the top of the 40-foot observation tower. It flew into the air, did a sort of flip, and landed on a ground-level sign at a distance that even my telescopic lens could hardly deliver a decent photo.

It wasn’t until the other day I finally had some luck out at the Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge. I think I had spotted an owl out there around New Year’s Day so I’d been making regular stops ever since to see if I could get lucky again. No owl, but one evening just as the sun was setting I finally spotted a kingfisher a reasonable distance away to snap a photo of. You can see it in the lead photograph of this entry.

If you want to follow along with my nature photography adventures, give my Instagram for all that a follow: @birdcomrade.

The playlist

So like I mentioned above, Mumbler Radio is sort of on the backburner. I had intended and started up a special episode of my favorite songs of 2021 but the motivation has left me.

It’s honestly sort of a physical thing. My day job is a desk job that requires a lot of constant clicking and typing and, having done it for several years now, I think I’m starting to deal with some of the side effects of that. There are periods where the strain on my hands and arms makes it so that I don’t really want to do much more clicking if I don’t have to. So once those occasional flare-ups pass, and I have been dealing a bit with one lately, projects like the show often get put on the backburner.

But I will compensate for the lack of a show with another Spotify playlist much like last year’s. It’s a mixed bag, but certainly boasts way more songs than I was planning to feature on the episode.

In terms of favorite releases, I’d say some of my top picks for 2021 included Fresia Magdalena from Sofia Kourtesis, Afrique Victim from Mdou Moctar, Nine from Sault, Far In from Helado Negro, Mandatory Enjoyment from Dummy, Between Days from Kiefer, LP! from JPEGMAFIA, The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives from Anthony Joseph and The Turning Wheel from Spellling. “Little Deer” by Spellling may just be my favorite track of the year, or at least the one I found myself singing along to most in the car. There were also many compilations and reissues that were standouts but I tend to leave those out when thinking about “new” releases.

Check out tracks from those releases, and many others, below:

As always, let me know what some of your favorite releases are. I’d love to check them out.

That’s it for this update. Thanks as always for reading. I hope you and yours are well and that this new year is kind to you.

Stay strong, stay safe. I’ll talk to you again soon.

– Raul

Mumbler Radio Episode #5: “Halloween Special”

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Hello friends. Been a minute, eh?

Sorry to any who have enjoyed these little mixes for the long gap since the last one. Sometimes I hit a wall with finding the inspiration to work on personal projects. To be honest, the notion that things in the wider world were once again sliding back into a state of horror itself after a hopeful few months mentally drained me.

But if there is any holiday that’ll inspire me to work on something, it’s definitely Halloween.

As I mention in this episode’s intro, I’ve had a Halloween special like this in mind for some time — even down to what songs I wanted to use and how they would flow into each other. I cribbed most from a playlist I started back some years ago, but a couple are new discoveries — including the closing track. There’s a lot I wanted to include, especially when considering genre representation, but I decided to trim it down and save some for next year.

I mostly wanted to help build a general Halloweeny atmosphere with the mix. Some songs deal explicitly in Halloween themes (vampires, ghosts, and whatnot) while others I mostly included because I feel they add a spooky vibe. Also, I hope y’all enjoy spooky story time at the end. I was pretty pleased with how the sound effects came together. If you want to read the Caller-Times article I mentioned, you can read that here.

Listen to the episode below or check it out on MixCloud here.

Heads up to my local folks — I saw yesterday that the NASA is welcoming one group included in the mix, Twin Tribes, up for a show Nov. 19. I missed them last time they were here so hopefully I can make it out this time (working weekends blows, y’all).

Also a couple of corrections:

  • I accidentally said “Sister of Mercy.” There is, indeed, more than one Sister though I feel the damage to my goth cred is now irreparable.
  • The Temple of Angels S/T EP came out in 2017 — it’s not their 27th nor did it come out in The Year of Our Lord, 27 A.D.

Episode 5 Tracklist

“New West” – Cult of Youth
“Dark Allies” – Light Asylum
“The Silent Choir” – Lebanon Hanover
“Portal to the Void (She Past Away Remix)” – Twin Tribes
“Street of Dreams” – Frankie Rose
“Bloodsucker” – Paralysed Age
“Nightmares” – ANNEX
“La Llorona” – Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds
“Wampiro” – Thee Commons
“Kumbia Zombie” – Kumbia Queers
“Phantom Traveler” – MonsterVision
“In the Room Where You Sleep” – Dead Man’s Bones
“Blood Moon” – Choir Boy
“Spiders In Her Hair” – King Dude
“Клетка (Kletka)” – Molchat Doma
“Lucretia My Reflection” – The Sisters of Mercy
“Lex Talionis” – Temple of Angels
“Halloween” – AFI
“Fog” – Nosaj Thing
“El Pajaro Gigante de Robe” – Los Campeones de Raúl Ruiz

Mumbler Radio Episode #4: “Remembering”

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Today is Easter, which is strange because I’ve been aware of it approaching for a while now and it still has yet to sink in that today is a holiday. I suppose as things start approaching a sense of normalcy again the holidays will start to feel more apparent but, for me at least, I still kind of feel in a whole other headspace.

Though, it could also be that I work today. I hesitated dropping this episode today when I realized it was a holiday, but figured I might as well for those of us who aren’t able to spend time with our loved ones and maybe need some tunes to throw on in the background.

Today’s show is frontloaded with more modern electronic sounds before giving way to a more folksy section to close out the show. There is a theme of “remembering” running through a lot of these tracks — encompassed in sound, lyrical content, or even through the nostalgia certain songs trigger in me.

I also spend some time closing out the show remembering the great John Prine, who we lost to COVID-19 a year ago this week. Prine has become a favorite of mine in recent years, someone whose artistry continues to speak to me on a visceral level. I couldn’t think of a better way of closing out the show than celebrating him.

EDIT: After listening to the episode I realized two things: The last two songs sound kinda quieter than the intro song to that section so apologies! You can still listen to them but you might just need to crank it up a bit more. Secondly, I weirdly left out an audio snippet where I credit my friend Sabrina for also getting me into Prine. It may be inferred by the part before that but I would have rather it been said explicitly cuz he really is an artist I love a lot and I’m super thankful for her guidance on even listening to any of these country artists. Guess I had a bit too many of those Topo Chico hard seltzers when I was editing heh.

Listen to the episode below or check it out on MixCloud here.

Episode 4 Tracklist
“Bamboo Cactus” – I, Cactus
“Face To Face On High Places” – School of Seven Bells
“La Perla” – Sofia Kourtesis
“I’ll Be On Your Mind” – Skinny Pelembe
“Ala Vida” – El Michels Affair
“Hope” – Def Sound
“Pazienza Ei Clav” – Melodiesinfonie & Fiona Fiasco
“The Falconer’s Arm” – Robbie Basho
“Reverie”- Barnaby Bennett
“Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore” – John Prine
“How Lucky” – John Prine
“Paradise” – John Prine

Mumbler Radio Episode #3: “Springtime”

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Happy Spring, friends.

If I had to pick a theme for today’s mix, it might be something like “cautious optimism.” There’s a lot of bright, sunny sounds in these selections and it’s certainly inspired by a general good mood I’ve found myself in after such a dreary winter. Don’t worry, though, I still retain a healthy dose of pessimism to keep me grounded.

The change in tone of recent days, though, has made me think a lot of how important it is to take the time that we can to cherish moments of joy. As I mention in this episode, I had kind of envisioned this overall program as being one such moment for others — these episodes alleviating one’s worries, if not just for a short moment in the way that only music can sometimes.

Also, forgive the lateness of this episode, even if it is just a few hours. I’ll be up front I, uhh, maybe dallied a bit more than I should have before I actually started assembling it so running into technical issues compounded more than it should have. But it did get resolved and now, I hope, you enjoy!

Listen below or check it out on Mixcloud here.

Episode 3 Tracklist
“Ladyfingers” – Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass Band
“Hiyah Man” – Fimber Bravo
“Shepherd Song” – Keleketla!
“Cumbia Sobre el Mar (El Buho remix)” – Quantic
“I Got Love” – Bobby Oroza
“Suave” – Stephanie Santiago feat. Lianna
“Eso el Amor” – Nico Gomez & His Afro Percussion Inc.
“Above Below” – Eddie Chacon
“Sunflower Dance” – Green-House
“I So Liked Spring (1996 Version)” – Linda Smith

Mumbler Radio Episode #2: “New Suns”

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So contrary to what I had guessed, having access to the internet on my laptop again did not, in fact, make planning this new episode easier.

Whereas in that first one I was limited to what I already had downloaded, this one I felt like the options were boundless and, naturally, my mind wanted to include EVERYTHING.

I’m someone who imposes multiple dilemmas on myself when creating something, especially when I set a bar for myself — this time the desire being to really improve on that first episode in every way possible. I also fell into a dilemma of wrestling with whether I should include more of what I really wanted or more of what I thought my imagined audience wanted or would like.

I admit it’s a silly creative slump to fall into, but that’s the way my mind works sometimes.

You ever come across a meme that really speaks to you? I came across two amid this process that, honestly, kind of guided me back to approaching this as the fun little side project it was intended to be. I’ve included them at the bottom of this post for anyone else who needs that kind of energy.

Anyways, like a couple nights before I meant to drop this episode I finally got things going and I’m pretty pleased with the result. There’s definitely a heavy jazz vibe this episode, but if that’s not really your thing there are some other gems sprinkled in you might dig.

I spend a bit of time talking about a recent book series some friends and I recently finished — Octavia Butler’s Parable series. Honestly, when planning out this episode I had always known I’d wanted to talk about our experience reading it at the end just because of how much of an impact it had. I’ll go into more detail in an upcoming blog post but I can say for sure that they are books everyone should pick up at least once.

I also hope you all enjoy me going full LeVar Burton introducing that section of the show. Let me know if you think I have a future in audiobook narration. Listen to the episode below or check it out here.

Oh yeah, and I have a new Instagram account for the show. Feel free to give me a follow @mumblerradio. Tell your friends!

Episode 2 Tracklist
“Il Faut Tenir” – Les Masques
“Agua Viva” – BUSHBBY & Swuni feat. Katiqena
“Rainforest” – Noname
“Ugali” – The Tony Benson Sextet
“Murky” – Pher
“Catch Your Tears” – Sol Monk feat. Jarvis
“At the Bay” – Bel Cobain & Lex Amor
“La Torre” – Gabriel Rios feat. Devendra Banhart
“Tarhatazed” – Mdou Moctar
“Pontin Pontin” – Bana
“Rocket No. 9” – Sun Ra Arkestra
“Unity” – The Comet is Coming
“The Creator Has a Master Plan” – Gondwana Orchestra feat. Dwight Trible

Introducing Mumbler Radio

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It’s been quite a week, huh?

I hope you all have gotten through the last few days well and are now enjoying some of the beautiful weather that has finally returned to these parts. Speaking as someone who generally loves winter and prefers cloudy days, I can’t remember the last time I had ever missed the sun or summer so much.

Being stuck at home and without internet for a good chunk of this week, I was able to devote a bit of time to finishing up a project I’d been wanting to do for a long time — a radio show! I want to introduce you all to Mumbler Radio, a platform where I’ll be sharing music and, hopefully, interviews as things pan out.

For years now I’ve been an avid listener of great programs and stations like BLASST, Movimientos, NTS Radio and Worldwide FM, and I’ve long wished to have a program of my own in a similar spirit. I’ve also always loved discovering and sharing music both new and old. This is a program where I’ll do just that — share and talk about tunes I’m listening to at the moment or that I really think more folks ought to listen to. And, as I mentioned, I do hope to feature interviews once I’m better acquainted with how these shows pan out and things are hopefully more in control pandemic-wise.

This first episode is maybe a bit rough. In fact, I wasn’t initially planning on making it the launch episode (hence why I never mention the title) but after being fairly satisfied by the end the result I essentially said “f it”. I’ll have a legit mic for the next one but this one I’m basically recording on my phone so apologies ahead of time for all the plosives. I was also limited to songs I had already downloaded to my laptop, which it turns out was not a lot in this age of streaming. However, this actually made things a bit easier in terms of settling on songs I wanted to share — as well as a fun exercise in making something out of just what I just had on hand.

I’m gonna shoot to release one of these maybe every other Sunday. For now I’ll just be uploading these to Mixcloud but I’ll be exploring what other platforms they might work well on for the future. Check the episode below or check it out on Mixcloud here.

By the way, as I mention in this episode, if you want to donate towards local mutual aid efforts, check the links below. I’ll include the Corpus-centric stuff as well as a great doc to statewide efforts:

Corpus Christi Mutual Aid

Statewide Mutual Aid Networks

Episode 1 Tracklist
“Lady Rain” – Rogér Fakhr
“Pais Nublado” – Helado Negro
“Di Laif” – Colín Ocelado
“Lullaby” – Ibibio Sound Machine
“Paper Trails” – Darkside
“Cashmere” – BADBADNOTGOOD
“Zerzura Theme II” – Ahmoudou Madassane
“Goatfuzz” – Goat
“Cherise Dream” – Temple of Angels
“Sentida” – JESIKA
“Inigradan” – Les Filles de Illighadad

My Favorite Tracks of 2020

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For someone who enjoys writing about music, my listening has been pretty disorganized this year.

What I mean by that is, whereas in previous years I tried listening to new releases as they came out, this year I spent very little time actually seeking out new music. I missed a lot of the big releases. And that’s not to make a claim to hipsterdom, just a confession of laziness. To quote one of my favorite memes, I was just in “no thoughts, just vibes” mode a majority of the year when it came to keeping up with new music.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t come across my fair share of new releases this year. At least, I heard enough to compile a couple of lists to share.

Here I’m including a whole Spotify playlist of 50 of my most favorite 2020 songs. You can find the playlist below, but first let me highlight a few standouts:

“Emma’s House” – Black Marble, from I Must Be Living Twice: Black Marble’s cover of the Field Mice classic retains the innocent serenity of the English twee band’s sound but strips it down even further, bringing in Black Marble’s more minimalist electronic approach that nonetheless invites feelings of warmth and coziness.

“Cumbia del Monte Fuji” – Minyo Crusaders and Frente Cumbiero, from Minyo Cumbiero (From Tokyo to Bogota): I love that this song seemed to take on a life of its own. Sure, perhaps that was propelled partly by the notion of Japanese cumbia as novelty, but the Crusaders absolutely show their chops in the grooving, fiery earworm of a track.

“Te Queria” – Lido Pimienta from Miss Colombia: Miss Colombia is undoubtedly one of my favorite albums this year, and while several stellar singles really helped anchor it, this one in particular was a constant on rotation for me. Showcasing Pimienta’s perfect melding of electronic elements with Colombian music and even some jazz influences, the song is infectiously catchy.

“Hasta la Raíz” – Natalia Lafourcade from Un Canto por Mexico, Vol.1: Yes, I know the song itself has long been one of Lafourcade’s most famous for a few years now, but I’m including this particular version here because I think it’s absolutely amazing. Could that be cheating? Maybe. Either way, reworking the song into a folkloric number with mariachi elements really presents it in a gorgeous, more earthy light. Also, subtracting the effects added in production found in the original, Lafourcade’s vocals sound all the more raw and powerful here. I dare say I prefer this version to the original.

“Las inmigratas” – Julián Mayorga and Meridian Brothers from Cuando tengo fiebre veo la cabeza de un leopardo magnífico: Fuck, I don’t know where to start with this one. It’s certainly off-kilter, but totally bewitching in the hypnotic lo-fi cumbia influences married with psychedelic proselytizing-like singing. Totally eerie, but there’s something really interesting going on here.

“Siyabulela” – Asher Gamedze from Dialectic Soul: This has undoubtedly been a year of heightened anxieties. On a personal level, it’s taken a toll. One stressful night this track came up on a playlist I had and, I’ll straight up admit, I shed a few tears. It’s hard to describe — the song almost feels like release or reaching a state of peace following a long struggle. The gentle brass and bass notes cradle angelic vocals and give way to a sax solo that picks things up a bit, but the song never moves beyond the meditative nature. Just absolute bliss.

“Wildfires” – SAULT from Untitled (Black Is): The UK-based R&B outfit has had a banner year with two stellar albums that provided timely commentary on the state of race relations and police brutality. But out of both releases, “Wildfires” was without a doubt the single that I could point to as my overall favorite 2020 track. Hauntingly beautiful vocals boasting lyrics tinged with both pain and defiance, the track feels in many ways an anthem to the tumultuous summer of protests that followed the police murder of George Floyd.

Where I Want To Be: Strum & Thrum, jangle pop, and nostalgia

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Cover image via Bandcamp.

I’ve long been of the opinion that, of the big grunge bands to come out of the Seattle scene in late 80s and early 90s, Nirvana was — and remains — in a class of their own.

For me, their sound remained significantly unique as opposed to the more hard rock tendencies of the other big grunge acts like Soundgarden or Pearl Jam. I follow observations made by music journalists like Michael Azzerad in attributing this to frontman Kurt Cobain’s long standing embrace and appreciation of pop music. That inspiration, coupled with the foundational roots in hardcore punk, helped Nirvana perfectly bridge the gap between the underground sound and a mainstream audience.

Cobain often made note of some of his favorite bands, which for teen Raul became a vital gateway into the world of alternative music. He of course noted fellow artists that contributed to the grunge scene like Mudhoney and the Melvins, but it was his name-dropping — as well as song covers — of the seemingly-less celebrated twee/jangle pop icons like the Vaselines and Beat Happening that held my attention.

What’s always been interesting to me is that, in that twee and jangle pop sound, I gravitated towards one particular quality — its power to evoke nostalgia. Now, with the release of Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987, Captured Tracks, a label that has built its house upon sonic nostalgia, brings a collection that sheds light on an often-overlooked moment in U.S. music history.

In many ways, the Captured Tracks sound has always owed a debt to music that takes its cues in mirroring sounds from the past, so it makes sense that the label would start at the source for their first release on their new Excavations reissue project. The result is an invaluable examination of a subterranean musical movement that has, until now, largely subsisted in the discount bins of record stores in small towns across the U.S.

The genre itself occupies an interesting area as it pertains to other music movements at the time. While bands in the UK were gaining the sort of traction they’d be hailed for in hindsight, U.S. jangle pop grew with a strong DIY ethos mirrored by the burgeoning hardcore punk scene, but with strong inspiration derived from acts like R.E.M. Indeed, this mesh of influences can be heard throughout Strum & Thrum — there’s the largely arpeggio-driven structure typical of the jangle sound, but tempos and even chords that bear the markings of hardcore make themselves heard on tracks like “I’m in Heaven,” and “She Collides With Me.”

This quality — of a form of punk stripped of its, at the time, more macho/aggro associations — results in a sound that evokes, at least for my 90s kid ears, a sort of idealization of a past steeped in a kind of childlike sincerity. It’s lighthearted but genuine, unique but at the same time familiar.

However, there is a part of me that wonders where this nostalgia and yearning for this past comes from. While listening to this album and attempting to write this entry, an interesting realization came to me. I’ve long attributed my appreciation for this music to a sense of nostalgia, but the question becomes: is it really mine? I didn’t grow up around this music necessarily. Perhaps it was through other media sources from when I was a kid, like television or film, but I’m not certain.

Then I stumbled upon a new (to me) concept recently — sehnsucht. From what I’ve gathered, an aspect of this feeling deals with a sense of nostalgia for a utopian, or perhaps romanticised, vision of the past. I think a lot about nostalgia these days, particularly within the parameters of Mark Fisher’s interpretation of hauntology and the longing for a future that never arrived (though I don’t know if I’m fully on board with his criticism of contemporary retro-inspired media, on-point though some of it is). The result is I often I wonder whether the reactions I feel towards media products that rely on nostalgic capture is either market-generated or sincere.

That’s not to say I didn’t like this album. On the contrary, I absolutely loved it. Even given its late release, it’s probably had more listen-throughs than any other album to come out this year for me. I missed out on the first round of pre-orders and my holiday-frugal mind has me hesitant to throw down for the vinyl repress (FYI, my birthday *is* coming up, friends!).

The thing is, this album is packed with shots of that sehnsucht feeling. You hear it in that short 4-note guitar refrain after the chorus in “Where I Want to Be,” or in the gorgeous angelic vocals of “Pages Turn” that embrace that sort of reverberating, church choir-like chorus often associated with 80s music.

Both tracks are standouts for me. “Where I Want to Be,” a single from Lawrence, Kansas, band Start, I think really defines the album — capturing that wistful playfulness I often associate with twee and jangle pop. It also perfectly encapsulates the DIY foundations that the genre was building upon — lo-fi and imperfect, boasting lyrics capturing simple notions of young romance with undertones of escapism.

“Pages Turn,” a seminal moment in the compilation, seems to carry more the markings of where the genre would evolve — cleaner production, more seemingly anthemic and layered in its verse-chorus-verse structure. The single, from the Barbara Manning-fronted 28th Day, also deals with themes of love but, as if signaling not just growth in sonic maturity, also features lyrics dealing with the desire to move on from a romance who’s time had come to an end. Obviously, as a compilation, there was no direct collaboration between the artists when the songs originally came out for the completed album. But as a manner of arrangement, the placement of “Where I Want to Be” at the beginning and “Pages Turn” later in the middle represents an illustrative way of displaying the trajectory of jangle pop as a whole.

While romance does feature heavily as a theme across tracks, several other songs reckon with a variety of issues tied to the cultural moment the genre was coming of age in. While there is the sort of punk nihilism perhaps seen in the surreal lyrics of tracks like Crippled Pilgrim’s “Black + White” (a minor key refuge in a sea of upbeat offerings), others like Absolute Grey’s “Remorse” delve beautifully into themes of existential longing, the search for meaning, and even suicide.

Those are just a handful of standouts. At 28 tracks, this compilation has a wide offering to delve into. Other standouts include tracks like Bangtails’ “Patron of the Arts” — anchored by the frontman’s ferocious vocals. The Darrows’ “Is It You” showcases the genres close ties to the post-punk sound and a more melancholy sort of approach. And “You and Me,” from The Strand, is just a delightfully bouncy romp with a groovy synth progression that loops you in.

I think the rediscovery of music like this is obviously invaluable — bringing to the surface a cultural moment that had long been overlooked and that tells the story of a scene that managed to carve out its own radical space. The stories of DIY-oriented musical movements, from punk to hip-hop, has always fascinated me with how it emerges both organically and as a reaction to standards in the mainstream.

While I question the nostalgic impulses that might compel consumers towards certain media products today, I do think there is something that can be gleaned from the notion of a collective memory that surrounds a particular sound. While I’m not certain where one necessarily begins and ends with a study like that, the rediscovery of moments like those captured on Strum & Thrum does do a good service in expanding the ground upon which that search can begin.