Hard times right now might be bliss deferred...

From 1995.  Was saddened to learn of the recent loss of this power pop maven.  He may not have vaulted to the highest tier of my favorites, but still leaves behind a choice legacy.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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V/A - Succulents - The Letter "S" folder mix.

The idea was to get to all 26 letters in the alphabet, when I initiated the "letter" series compilations way back in 2011.  By 2016 I had only managed to cover nine rather random installments in a series that was supposed to have been completed looong before that year.  And wouldn't you know I decided to take a ten-year long breather (of sorts), but since I didn't have much slated for this week I opted to arouse the dusty letter archives out of their decade-long slumber. You see, on my overloaded hard drive, for almost every complete album I have by an artist, I store just as many random one-off songs by artists I don't have a dedicated folder to.  These random one-offs have been corralled into "letter folders" A through Z. I often forget these particular folders exist, that is unless I feel the urge to hear a specific track. Given the disparate genres that run into each under this alphabetic scheme, each folder unto itself reveals some intriguing bedfellows. Being that "S" is the most used letter in the English vernacular, I decided to go really big with this one, offering no less than forty artists, about half of which I've never given coverage to on Wilfully Obscure heretofore.  

Since I'm not going to be revealing a full tracklist, I can at the very least provide you with a few spoilers.  There's rarities from the likes of Slowdive, Schatzi, Swimming Pool Q's and Steve Malkmus & the Jicks, live action from the Scientists, and strangely enough field recordings of radio emissions from Saturn (yes, the planet).  And if you want covers, we've got you covered - literally with about ten remakes total, including Silverstein, Screamfeeder, Scared of Chaka, and Seafood all getting in on the action.  Naturally, I'm tossing in some huge under-the-radar personal favorites from Swollen Members, Sebadoh, The Secrets and Shrapnel among oodles of others.  And if you're curiosity is piqued, please visit similar setups for already attended-to letters "E" "D" "H" "O" "P" "B" "T"  "Z" and "G."

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...test your faith, you shimmer like a godsend

From 1993. Likely one of the fifty most listened-to albums in my collection, yet I've been hesitant to share it because I know a good chunk of you will frown on the genre.  I've presented them on a previous M/M, and as I may have mentioned in my leadup to that one, this band embodies the throes of a harsh, unforgiving winter like few others I've ever crossed paths with.  

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Bpeople - Petrified Conditions 1979-1981 (1986, Restless)

Though this isn't necessarily designed to be an introduction to Bpeople (ideally you might want to go with their two proper self-titled releases from 1981) the artful aesthetic they quietly championed is wholly evident on this collection of alternate takes and previously unreleased material. Though I haven't encountered any "no-wave" accusations leveled at these guys, Bpeople certainly weren't striving to land amongst the ubiquitous new romantic contingents hovering amidst their L.A. airspace. Instead, manicured dissonance was a more their bag, entailing flourishes of intermittent saxophone and choppy syncopation. Amidst these proclivities real songs frequently emerge from the avant detritus - "You at Eight," "In the Mind" and the chilling "The World's the Arrow," albeit falling well short of pop terrain.  Mouthpiece/guitar wrangler Alex Gibson bears parallels with that of the Wipers' Greg Sage, but that's likely more coincidence than adulation. To date, Bpeople's catalog hasn't been represented or preserved in the digital realm, at least not formally, but I guess that's what music blogs are for.  I should also mention that contemporary to some of these recordings, Gibson unleashed a solo ep, Passionel in '81.

01. Special Kind of Fun

02. Can Can't

03. I Said Everybody

04. The World's the Arrow

05. Give Up

06. Perseuction, That's My Song

07. The Thing

08. I Said Everybody (Vers 2)

09. You at Eight

10. In the Mind

11. Weather to Worry

12. MPCD

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