HI DERE (cross-posted from main Eyvind Kang thread for interested parties
A gorgeous set of new tracks by the brilliant composer and multi-instrumentalist Eyvind Kang. It took him a decade and a half to revisit the vibe concocted on his masterpiece from 2001, Live Low To The Earth In The Iron Age, but the wait was worth it. It features an array of spiritually intoxicating instrumentation: tamboura, electric guitar, organ, trumpet, oboe, trombone, and Korean traditional instruments. Eyvind Kang on Plainlight: "In 2002 I wanted to make a kind of sequel to my first solo record on Abduction, Live Low To The Earth In The Iron Age. I found that the 'weight' of sounds seemed to evaporate the compositions. The last thing I wanted to make was a traditional shoegaze recording. 15 years later, I had a strange dream: a voice said 'Because a plainlight has fallen in Heaven, heartbreak would cease.' This statement then became a kind of guiding image and method. Thus, with Korean traditional instruments playing the ostinato and drone, things fell into place. I would like to thank all the musicians, Randall Dunn, Alan Bishop, and each and every listener." Limited edition, one-time pressing; Edition of 400.
― sleeve, Wednesday, 13 December 2017 19:29 (six years ago) link
That's me well and truly sold - Live Low is magnificent.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Wednesday, 13 December 2017 21:46 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP1G-cdRuCM
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 31 January 2018 20:17 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BZnSC2u7RU
or any Thin White Rope song really...
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 31 January 2018 23:10 (six years ago) link
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0152862597_16.jpg
Admittedly, the resultant wares don’t stray too far from the crafted templates McPhee has used previously but his capable hands continue, with increasing authority, to render bleakly alluring atmospheres that both express the intimacy of a solitary artisan and the desolation of wide empty landscapes. Hence, the opening “The Blood of St John” unfurls as a slow-motion desert-blues with a shimmering inscrutable underlay; “The Devil’s Knell” drifts along in a buzzing shadowy blur; the more sonically linear “The Rule Of Threes” pirouettes as a madrigal-like meditation; “Dance Macabre” curls yearning slide-playing around a pattern of looped melodic low-end parts; and the closing epic 14-minute title-track sprawls e-bow and slide manipulated figures across a heartbeat-pulsing percussive underbelly.
https://deanmcphee.bandcamp.com/album/four-stones
― Dinsdale, Thursday, 1 February 2018 21:43 (six years ago) link
McPhee is brilliant. Been meaning to check this.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Thursday, 1 February 2018 21:50 (six years ago) link
https://barthel-boehm-bauer.bandcamp.com/
― skip, Thursday, 1 February 2018 22:05 (six years ago) link
Last year's album Elite Feline by Lotto is a minimalist/mantric guitar trio take. bandcamp
― Sanpaku, Saturday, April 8, 2017 11:44 AM (ten months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i would just like to say i've really been liking this, thank you
― del griffith, Thursday, 22 February 2018 02:00 (six years ago) link
Would like to nominate “Ain’t Talkin’” by Bob Dylan (Modern Times album) for this thread.
Also: Andean music is pretty much made for this - high desert in particular (e.g., Inti Illimani, Atahualpa Yupanqui)
― never have i been a blue calm sea (collardio gelatinous), Thursday, 22 February 2018 05:17 (six years ago) link
Co-sign the Lotto album. The Instant Classic label is a goldmine right now.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Thursday, 22 February 2018 09:12 (six years ago) link
Bull of Heaven have a (mostly deserved) reputation for being a meme/gimmick/rymbait act, but I must admit that Return of Ghost Sheriff is some of the better desert ambient I've heard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibu4bdRWCZQ
― the yolk sustains us, we eat whites for days (unregistered), Monday, 2 April 2018 01:31 (six years ago) link
Thought this would be about Become Desert
― Moo Vaughn, Monday, 2 April 2018 03:22 (six years ago) link
My son out of the blue asked me if I'd 'ever been to a desert' before and I sort of have (drove from LA to Vegas, Dungeness is classified as a desert, a couple of the Cape Verde islands, particularly Boa Vista) but damn do I want to go to the desert right now. Doing the next best thing and listening to Paris, Texas.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Monday, 20 April 2020 18:36 (four years ago) link
this is more like a fata morgana in the desert:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3YwOYjrqbQ
― walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 25 May 2020 15:25 (three years ago) link
some incredible acoustic psych released a few months ago that i believe fits this mold:https://gardenportal.bandcamp.com/album/beacon
― trapped out the barndo (crüt), Monday, 25 May 2020 17:21 (three years ago) link
I love them!!!!
― sleeve, Monday, 25 May 2020 17:25 (three years ago) link
really happy we have this connection crut, I am in a FB record geek group with Matt and Jen and it has been great to hear their sound develop.
― sleeve, Monday, 25 May 2020 17:26 (three years ago) link
the solo Rolin and the Powers-Rolin duo recs are more post-Fahey but I agree that Cercyz' singing bowls etc. take this to a different wide-scope psychedelic place
― sleeve, Monday, 25 May 2020 17:32 (three years ago) link
nice! I'm friends w/the dude who runs the label :)
― trapped out the barndo (crüt), Monday, 25 May 2020 19:42 (three years ago) link
Beacon is a pretty cool record
― weekly shopper helper (Drugs A. Money), Tuesday, 26 May 2020 05:28 (three years ago) link
been lucky to play a handful of times with matt and jen, they are some of nicest people i've ever met and the real deal. happy to see them getting more reknown. true underground stalwarts
― global tetrahedron, Tuesday, 26 May 2020 18:59 (three years ago) link
they've also been putting on shows at a laundromat in cleveland, and i think it might be the coolest venue in the country. well, was, with covid. you get the idea. imagine seeing bitchin bajas at a laundromat!
― global tetrahedron, Tuesday, 26 May 2020 19:10 (three years ago) link
SUSS posted the playlist for their recent Ambient Country mix and it's pretty great:
1. Swimming in a Western Hotel - PanAmerican2. Body in a Room- Bing & Ruth3. Thresholds ( through a hole in the fence) - Walt McClements4. News About Heaven- Marisa Anderson, William Tyler 5. Ending- Bruce Langhorne6. Love Scene - Jerry Garcia7. When You Sleep - Japancakes8. Welcome - Harmonia & Eno9. Desert Rose - Daniel Lanois10. Anteludium - Luke Schneider11. Wichita - SUSS12. Clouds - Bruce Kaphan
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 21 April 2022 06:27 (two years ago) link
Thanks Elvis - this feels right up my alley. Going to check out everything here I've not heard before.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 22 April 2022 20:16 (two years ago) link
Thinking that Bruce Langhorne's Hired Hand soundtrack is to ambient country as Paul Giovanni's Wicker Man soundtrack is to acid folk
― doug watson, Saturday, 23 April 2022 00:04 (two years ago) link
About half of that playlist is new to me and I’m thrilled to find them. Lots to dive into as this is my exact sweet spot these days.
By coincidence I’ve been fiddling around with a playlist to scratch this itch - not just the ambient but also some more traditional songs that rise and fall out of the moodier bits. There is no order to it, and I’m still adding and subtracting as I hone it. But in any case folks on this thread might enjoy this as a kind of radio station. Shuffle away: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1hfogoxEEmNfs3b8eG4u3X?si=rJI-IObaShi0kY4KxuXU9A
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Saturday, 23 April 2022 00:25 (two years ago) link
This playlist is great pgwp! Thanks for the share.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Sunday, 24 April 2022 10:34 (two years ago) link
Thank you! Glad you’re enjoying it.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Sunday, 24 April 2022 13:37 (two years ago) link
Cross post from the Fahey thread: the latest Imaginational Anthem compilation, featuring latest pedal steel excursions totally fits this thread's remit: https://tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com/album/luke-schneider-presents-imaginational-anthem-vol-xi-chrome-universal-a-survey-of-modern-pedal-steel (on Spotify too, if that's your thing).
― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski), Wednesday, 18 January 2023 21:08 (one year ago) link
oo la la, thanks for the cross post
― ꙮ (map), Thursday, 19 January 2023 02:54 (one year ago) link
Speaking of SUSS, the new self-titled one, a compilation of four different EPs, is really incredible. I love the vibe.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 30 January 2023 22:53 (one year ago) link
seems relevant
https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/ambient-country-list
― broken breakbeat (sleeve), Sunday, 4 June 2023 20:16 (eleven months ago) link
so I guess this stuff is called "ambient country" now, ok
Uncut included this Ambient Americana compilation CD with the Velvet Underground issue they put out a couple of years ago, might be relevant:https://www.discogs.com/release/17866393-Various-Ambient-Americana-A-Road-Trip-Across-Psychic-State-Lines
― brimstead, Sunday, 4 June 2023 20:23 (eleven months ago) link
There was a nice NTS show back in February: https://www.nts.live/shows/the-nts-guide-to/episodes/the-nts-guide-to-ambient-americana-16th-february-2023
― Stars of the Lidl (Chinaski), Sunday, 4 June 2023 20:33 (eleven months ago) link
I've been slowly putting together a playlist of 'wide open desert' and adjacent stuff. It's called Vaulted Ceiling, Vaulted Sky as some of it is in cathedrals and resonating chambers but chambers/canyons who's counting? Fill yer boots if it's your thing.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/504idjJNXjNKl2xajh8Pbv?si=b5fed292a37f4e41
― Stars of the Lidl (Chinaski), Sunday, 4 June 2023 20:41 (eleven months ago) link
i know the stuff in this thread is more of an 'ambient' focus, but easter everywhere always sounds great in the desert ime
― ꙮ (map), Sunday, 4 June 2023 20:56 (eleven months ago) link
They were mentioned before upthread, but last week I took a road trip through the desert and can confirm that this album is a playlist must.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ZmZd6fRRQ
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 5 June 2023 07:35 (eleven months ago) link
New Boxhead Ensemble!
https://boxheadensemble.bandcamp.com/album/ancient-music
― daily growing, Tuesday, 1 August 2023 16:37 (nine months ago) link
This band from Tuscon is on tour and I'm feeling their wide open desert vibe:
https://compersionmusic.bandcamp.com/track/kitchen-mirror
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 2 August 2023 16:05 (nine months ago) link
Swell's 41
― Cow_Art, Wednesday, 2 August 2023 16:33 (nine months ago) link
That's a favorite!
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Wednesday, 2 August 2023 16:34 (nine months ago) link
This JAB release is very wide, very open
https://johnalsobennett.bandcamp.com/album/out-there-in-the-middle-of-nowhere
― ionjusit (P. Flick), Wednesday, 2 August 2023 18:59 (nine months ago) link
that JAB record is incredible, love it.
w/o being too self-promo here, my band's stuff definitely fits into this zone
https://prairiewolfcf.bandcamp.com/album/prairiewolf
― tylerw, Friday, 4 August 2023 16:55 (nine months ago) link
it does and it's good!
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 4 August 2023 17:30 (nine months ago) link
*looks up a few entries* Steve S I'm seeing that Compersion band playing at a venue called the Warehouse in SF next Wednesday but googling for it is impossible. (They're not talking about the bar out at Port Costa, are they?)
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 5 August 2023 00:13 (nine months ago) link
It is a uh... "low-key venue" that's been shut down a few times for obvious reasons.
I've only been 2x, Spiritual Cramp last year and then Fentanyl last month.
That said: not sure I feel posting the details on this thread, what is the best way to get a hold of you in a private manner?
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 5 August 2023 05:20 (nine months ago) link
How did I not hear about a new, 90 minute Boxhead Ensemble album? They strike me as the sweet spot for this thread. Listening now, and it's predictably gorgeous. I had no idea Michael Krassner now runs a pizza restaurant in Phoenix.
― JonR345, Saturday, 5 August 2023 05:31 (nine months ago) link
I live in Phoenix and it is a legitimately great pizza restaurant, I strongly recommend it!
― intheblanks, Saturday, 5 August 2023 22:43 (nine months ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 6 August 2023 04:28 (nine months ago) link