Swirlies - They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days In The Glittering World Of The Salons
Man, I’ve been wanting to feature a Swirlies record in this coffee and vinyl club since day one—but I’ve always held back, thinking that even though they’re one of my all-time favorite bands, maybe they were just too out there. A couple of recent things changed my mind. First, shoegaze has gone practically mainstream. The kids love it! And honestly, that makes me so happy. Second, was a great article by Eli Schoop on Bandcamp titled “Swirlies Are the Greatest Shoegaze Band of All Time.” In it, Schoop laments that even though Swirlies are the greatest, they’ve somehow “not become the obsession du jour for a new generation of shoegaze fans.” The final push came a few weeks ago when someone sent me a song by one of today’s ascendant shoegaze bands—and it was so Swirlies-esque that it went beyond homage and into uncredited cover territory. At that moment, I knew it was my duty, as curator of this particular coffee and vinyl club, to get a Swirlies record into the hands of 300 more people. But really, who can blame the new shoegazers? If I were starting a band tomorrow, this is exactly what I’d want it to sound like. After all, Swirlies are the greatest shoegaze band of all time.
Javier Solis SL-28 - Tarrazu, Costa Rica
This is our fifth year purchasing coffees from Javier Solis — our third offering his variety separations — and we are as excited as ever to highlight the impressive range of varieties and processing methods on his fertile, high-elevation farm in El Cedral, Tarrazu. This SL-28 separation comes from a nano-lot of approximately 1,000 trees in only their second year of production. Cherries from young trees can take a few years to fully reach their potential in the cup, but we’ve already noticed improved intensity and articulation this year. Though the SL-28 variety was developed in Kenya, the cup profile here leans more into fruited aromatics: honeysuckle, bright yellow fruit, and spritzy green apple.
