ILX Gonna Shine in My Backdoor Someday (new post-Fahey folk for ppl posting in Takoma/Tompkins Square threads Pt II)

Me and a friend had great interview/talk with Michael Chapman and Steve Gunn earlier this week: Michael Chapman on working with Gunn and Nathan Bowles, how fond he is of Paradise of Bachelors, writing songs like Walker Evans' photographs, the famous fish story and working with Lucinda William as a dream coming true. Gunn on working with Chapman and a very nerdy 5 min talk on how to start fingerpicking (incl Stefan Grossman, John Fahey lessons on VHS,...).

Together with some fragments of their acoustic solo-sets that night right in the beginning of this radio show: https://www.mixcloud.com/Sterrenplaten/sterrenplaten-14-april-2017-steve-gunn-michael-chapman/

saw the first ever show by my new fave power trio the other night. rob and john (bass and drums) from sunburned and willie lane on guitar. instrumental electric jams for crazy horse fans. if they ever decide to play out of town go see them. so much fun.

that's quite a lineup. Hope they record!

Anybody pick up that new Tom Armstrong reissue on Tompkins Square? Bought it but it hasn't arrived yet. Looking forward to it

Gah skot u might have described my in theory favorite band.

Alan Sparhawk from Low has a Neil & Crazy Horse cover band called Tired Eyes with these brothers the Glen & Rich Matson who have been around forever, Rich in Glenrustles and Ol' Yeller and Glen was once married to Kat from Babes and in his post Babes band Katastrophy Wife.

They were insane when I saw them

Listening to Armstrong on Soundcloud now, via the new link on Tompkins Square thread---nice, but no surprises so far. Oh speaking posting as I was re Drag City news, this just in:

BISHOP ON DISPLAY, KNIGHTLY

Sir Richard Bishop and his transcendental guitar are at it once again! Since the early days of Sun City Girls through 2015's critically acclaimed Tangier Sessions,
Sir Rick's virtuosic playing and influences have led him all over the world - but we're happy to say, that beginning early next month Rick will be performing stateside for an impressive 21 dates! Traveling from the west coast to the south, to the east coast to the Midwest and back again, Bishop's surely making a stop nearby your humble abode!
Armed with an electric guitar this time, Sir Richard Bishop will be performing various songs from his storied career with his renowned prowess and mastery of the instrument. Don't miss out on your chance to see a divine sorcerer at work, get to the dates below!

SRB TOUR DATES

5/1/17 at Gold Lion Arts in Sacramento, CA
5/2/17 at The Lost Church in San Francisco, CA
5/4/17 at Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles, CA*
5/5/17 at 191 Toole in Tuscon, AZ*
5/8/17 at Hotel Vegas in Austin, TX*
5/9/17 at Siberia in New Orleans, LA*
5/10/17 at Syndicate Lounge in Birmingham, AL*
5/11/17 at The High Watt in Nashville, TN*
5/13/17 at The Mothlight in Asheville, NC*
5/14/17 at The Camel in Richmond, VA*
5/15/17 at The Ottobar in Baltimore, MD*
5/16/17 at First Unitarian Side Chapel in Philadelphia, PA*
5/17/17 at Park Church Co-op in Brooklyn, NY*
5/18/17 at Flywheel in Easthampton, MA *
5/19/17 at The Dock in Ithaca, NY
5/20/17 at Array Music in Toronto, Ontario, Canada*
5/21/17 at El Club in Detroit, MI *
5/22/17 at Schuba's Tavern in Chicago, IL*
5/23/17 at 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis, MN*
5/26/17 at The Bartlett in Spokane, WA*
5/27/17 at Sunset Tavern in Seattle, WA*

*w/ Robert Millis

*w/ Robert Millis

awesome!

Anybody pick up that new Tom Armstrong reissue on Tompkins Square?
yeah it's great -- definitely not yr run of the mill takoma school kind of thing. pretty eccentric overall approach, but everything sounds nice to my ears.
speaking of sir richard, just listened to this pretty interesting podcast with him (mostly about his bookselling/collecting pursuits): https://expandingmind.podbean.com/e/expanding-mind-talismanic-bookseller-041317/

JAMES ELKINGTON ANNOUNCES DEBUT SOLO RECORD, WINTRES WOMA,
OUT JUNE 30TH VIA PARADISE OF BACHELORS

WATCH VIDEO FOR DEBUT SINGLE, “MAKE IT UP”
http://youtu.be/EOlAInFxXsk

"guitar king” —The FADER

“Jim is a great guitarist and a tremendous, empathetic listener.” – Richard Thompson

James Elkington announces his debut solo record, Wintres Woma, out June 30th via Paradise of Bachelors, and shares the video for lead single, “Make It Up,” directed by Timothy J Harris. Taking off at breakneck speed, "Make It Up" is propelled by the snaking rhythm section as Elkington pointedly recounts the time he almost crashed his car trying to get to a séance on time (mostly fiction).

Elkington (an Englishman living in Chicago) is an inveterate collaborator who has toured, recorded, and/or collaborated with Jeff Tweedy, Richard Thompson, Steve Gunn, Joan Shelley and most recently Tortoise, amongst others. His assured debut, Wintres Woma—Old English for “the sound of winter” — draws from British folk, avant-rock, and jazz traditions alike. Recorded at Wilco’s Loft, it’s baroquely detailed and beautifully constructed, featuring both his baritone vocals and some of Chicago’s finest musicians.

Somewhere around 2011, Elkington stopped writing songs. He had been the leader of a band called The Zincs; a partner in a band called The Horse’s Ha; and had released an album of guitar duets with Nathan Salsburg, but the question of what he was going to do next loomed large. After a few years of playing in other people’s bands, Elkington found that contributing his energies to the music of others had revived the energy for his own. Part of that renewed creative vitality came from exploring the acoustic guitar in a new tuning, by working to hone his guitar skills and lyrical techniques in the downtime between tours, and by investigating his own musical heritage, which informed both his outlook and output in a profound way.

The resulting album at times conjures Kevin Ayers delivering a Dylan Thompson poem over a Bert Jansch song, all the while speaking in Elkington’s singular voice. The title, Wintres Woma, resonates in the icy limpidity of the arrangements, the snowy tumble of guitars and strings, and with Elkington’s gnawing consideration of how much cultural upbringing can bring to bear on one’s own creativity. Many of the album’s lyrics contend with the continuing strangeness of living in a different country. “For the most part it’s very liberating, but England is old, and there is a weird energy that comes from that country, an energy that doesn’t seem to feel the same in America. It took me moving away from home to feel it at all. I was so used to it that I didn’t know I was feeling it until I didn’t feel it anymore.”

Wintres Woma was recorded in five days with engineer Mark Greenberg. Elkington played and arranged all the instruments, with the exception of upright bass from Nick Macri, percussion from Tim Daisy, and string performances from Macie Stewart and Tomeka Reid, all veterans of Chicago’s collaborative improvised music milieu.

Wintres Woma Tracklisting:
01. Make It Up
02. Hollow In Your House
03. Wading the Vapors
04. Grief Is Not Coming
05. When I Am Slow
06. The Parting Glass
07. The Hermit Census
08. Greatness Yet to Come
09. Sister of Mine
10. My Trade in Sun Tears
11. Any Afternoon

James Elkington Tour Dates:
Thu. July 27 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room w/ Steve Gunn, Heron Oblivion
Sun. July 30 - San Diego, CA @ The Space Bar w/ Steve Gunn, Heron Oblivion
Fri. Aug. 4 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern w/ Steve Gunn

i did not know elkington was english!

Haha yeah I was surprised when I heard him speak on his tour with Nathan.

Dig this tune. One of my favorite contemporary guitar players (along with Salsburg, actually). Record should be good.

yeah, this sounds very good — and a pull quote from richard thompson!
i liked that zincs record, i'll have to dig it out again ...

Horse's Ha were way underrated too imo

New song by House and Land, incl. Sarah Louise: https://sarahlouise.bandcamp.com/album/house-and-land

Other House and Land-er is Sally Ann Morgan from the Black Twig Pickers! Excited for this.

ohhh yeah

a friend passed along this 1975 lp over the weekend, and I was digging it -- very Kottke-inspired jams, some great 12-string / pedal steel action. Seems to be grabbable for cheap:

https://www.discogs.com/Michael-Wendling-Theres-Something-About-The-Arco-Desert/release/5329776

― tylerw, Monday, April 10, 2017 11:17 AM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wholeheartedly second this recommendation. Though two songs with full band (including drums) break the spell somewhat (though if you're a fan of country boogie in the vein of Area Code 615 / William Tyler, these may hit you just right), the rest is great. Definitely Kottke-inspired, with most songs played on 12 string. The gorgeous title track alone is definitely worth hearing if you dig this sound (which, if you're on this thread, you probably do).

It's amazing how many great players from this period are still out there, never reissued, never anthologized, rarely discussed. This guy, from a technical standpoint, sounds as good Kottke was around the same time (Greenhouse, Ice Water, etc).

yeah, it's a nice one -- and yeah, it's sometimes hard to tell why some players get underground buzz/reissues and some players don't. fine by me, though, glad not to have to pay silly amounts of cash for a record. here's another cheap one the same friend gave me. french guitar soli! with moebius cover art!

https://img.discogs.com/ten2O9Tk2UWYVESsUG1HGqJ8QMA=/fit-in/416x416/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4627510-1370376428-2808.jpeg.jpg

https://www.discogs.com/Marcel-Dadi-Dadis-Folks/release/4627510

DOPE cover

Pretty nice long-form pieces here from our man Neal. Enjoyed this quite a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtjKy1vXIcQ&feature=youtu.be

Video doesn't play for me.

this isn't american primitive but been listening to a shitload of Triumph lately and this is a really nice little acoustic piece by Rik Emmmet, not too far off of mersh era Kottke or Hedges

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DnAPQcPMNU

Huh? I tried to just post the URL too, but youtube always spoils that effort. I will try again in a bit. Search for "Rag Lore" on youtube and you may find it!

this it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtjKy1vXIcQ

(with youtube links i've found you have to remove the "s" from https:// so it's just http:/)

Yep, that is it! Thanks

nice, will check out ...
just saw that nyc taper has a dylan golden aycock set up for listening -- haven't listened yet, but his album from last year is fantastic (as is that bruce langhorne comp he helped put together)
http://www.nyctaper.com/2017/04/dylan-golden-aycock-october-21-2016-the-schoolhouse/

oh and hey if anyone hasn't seen it yet:
VDSQ, the LA-based label specializing in music by innovative guitarists, has announced three new releases out June 2nd: Ideas of Beginnings by Mark McGuire, Balsams by Chuck Johnson, and Abbandonato Da Dio Nazione by Anthony Pasquarosa. While all share a common influence of American Primitivism, they approach the style from drastically different angles, each moving away from any sort of traditional notion of the genre towards expansive horizons. From the cosmic melodicism of McGuire’s acoustic meditations to the deep ambience of Johnson’s pedal steel and Pasquarosa’s imagined spaghetti Western soundtrack, these albums brilliantly build engrossing sound-worlds within the seemingly endless palate of 21st Century Guitar.

All albums are available for pre-order: http://www.vdsqrecords.com/

Ha, I always kind of liked "Midsummer's Daydream", even if as a somewhat guilty pleasure. At least in Canada, guitar teachers were very fond of it in the pre-grunge/alt era.

It's no "Mood for a Day", obv.

xps Ha, yeah, I'm listening to the VDSQ Soundcloud today and the new Johnson and McGuire tracks they have up are nice. Both surprised me.

The Johnson track "Balm of Gilead" made me think more of Daniel Lanois or maybe some of Frisell's more cinematic Americana stuff than of Blood Moon Boulder.

yeah, definitely similar to Lanois' pedal steel stuff (including his contributions to the Eno Apollo record). think i generally like everything this guy does ...

Chuck is consistently underrated. Would definitely take him over Glenn Jones, as well as a lot of the other current crop

Chuck posts a lot of stuff that seems like it's little snippets of music for tv shows or film or something? i can't quite tell

yeah when me and global played a show w/him and paul metzger i was in heaven, so good

he did soundtrack work for A Chef's Life on PBS - https://chuckjohnson.bandcamp.com/album/miniatures-a-chefs-life-seasons-1-and-2 and I think he does a bunch of documentary work ...

cool that's probably a good way to make actual money as a musician

haha yeah, i'm sure that is the "day job"

i think this belongs in here: a 33-minute version of jim o'rourke playing a version of tracy chapman's fast car recorded live in japan in 2002 and put on youtube recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJWxkYu8WgU

Have listened to that "Fast Car" a few times already (it got posted to the O'Rourke thread at some point I think, but also made the rounds amongst a bunch of folks I follow and share stuff with). It definitely fits here along the lines of Jim's stuff generally crossing this territory. Hits some of those long "Bad Timing" sweet sports for me. I really like how he cuts out the chorus completely, it totally changes the overall feel of the song (and makes it feel like the song will go on forever/never resolve).

Sure wish I had seen some of these shows around this time.

This is magnificent. Damn, I wish I'd seen him around then. Well, anytime from around 95 onwards, really.

yeah, the "fast car" thing is surprisingly great -- can only imagine someone dared him to do it, but it ends up being beautiful. i saw Jim do a similarly endless "women of the world" live in 98, but I'm not sure I really knew who he was at the time.

It's making me wonder how many decent quality boots there are out there. I've got the Peel Sessions one, and a Japanese show from Aug 2015. Tyler, you strike me as the man to ask...

i haven't come across too much - here's a full band show from 2000 - think the link still works: http://sweetblahg.tumblr.com/post/23622291526/jim-orourke-full-band-london-2000

Wow @ "Fast Car"

The Jim O'Rourke thread that is getting bumped on ILM has a bunch of youtube's for live Jim sets from 2000 as well. Lots of good songs, though I haven't listened yet. Not sure if it is the same set from London linked above or not, but plan on listening as the "Fast Car" is definitely up my alley.

Enjoying this new Hayden Pedigo track. Nice rich 12-string sound with a good mix of moves. Kind or arch/harpsichord-y in parts, which gives it a cool feel (imo):

https://soundcloud.com/driftlessrecordings/greetings-from-amarillo-mastered

this is on spotify and very cool, like a live glenn jones album with these eerie noises and echoes of children barging their way into the track

Thrill Jockey
thrill 438 - 2017
On new live album Waterworks, digital and acoustic experimentation bring sparkling new depths to Glenn Jones’ emotive guitar virtuoso. Waterworks was recorded binaurally at the Waterworks Museum in Boston, MA on June 24, 2015 through 20 speakers. Glenn Jones plays guitar and banjo and is joined by Matthew Azevedo on synthesizer, harmonium, soundscapes, and signal processing.

The LP includes an insert with an essay about the performance and free download card.

A former pumping station in Boston’s Chestnut Hill is not the first place you’d expect to encounter one of American Primitive Guitar’s finest exponents. But with shared reputations for meticulous execution, innovative engineering, and stories on tap, Glenn Jones’ attraction to the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum stands as an unassumingly natural fit.

“I discovered the place when I attended a performance there in 2013,” Jones reminisces. “Even though the hall didn’t appear to be particularly friendly to acoustic instruments, one of my first thoughts was, “How can I get in on this?!””

Recorded a month after the sessions for his 2016 album Fleeting, Waterworks captures Glenn Jones at the forefront of modern solo guitar playing. Combining a highly skilled fingerpicked style with mesmeric tunings and custom-crafted partial capos, Jones delivers an array of lyrical compositions that quietly regale past adventures and personal reflections with masterful proficiency.

The Waterworks’ Great Engine Hall – depicted in the album artwork - is a unique setting for Glenn Jones’ intimate vignettes. Its lofty redbrick columns and vaulted ceiling makes for an intensely resonant space, whilst further acoustic considerations had to be made for the large amount of reflective machinery stationed in the room. Sumptuous glissandi seem to drip from every cavernous corner, whilst rhythmic bass lines gainfully slip across brass, steel and stone. Put on record, it makes for a consuming stereo experience.

To best navigate this space Jones turned to Matthew Azevedo – his mastering guru of fifteen years – for guidance. “What had been conceived as a solo show quickly turned into a collaboration,” Jones laughs. Whilst Jones’ untreated guitar and banjo take the forefront throughout Waterworks, Azevedo’s addition brings thrilling new depth to Jones’ ruminative compositions. Toying with the room’s unique acoustic, Azevedo unleashes an arsenal of field recordings, sonic manipulations and harmonium drones, through strategically placed speakers hidden in gangways high above the audience.

Whether it’s cacophonous crow caws bleeding into “Close to the Ground”, or the echoed schoolyard cries underpinning “Across the Tappan Zee,” Azevedo’s sonic additions frame both Glenn Jones and Modern Primitive Guitar music in a whole new light. When Azevedo’s synth onslaught swarms Jones’ sumptuous cover of John Fahey’s 1964 song “The Portland Cement Factory at Monolith, California,” it transports the genre to pummeling industrial territories as yet undiscovered.

Brilliantly captured through Ernst Karel’s immersive binaural recording, Glenn Jones & Matthew Azevedo’s Waterworks closely approximates the experience of hearing Jones’ works performed on this most unique of stages.

ooooh binaural