Revolt of the ILX Brigade: New Post-Fahey Folk For PPL that post in the Takoma & Tompkin's Square Threads

i feel spoiled with two back to back houston dates for marisa, a rooftop nighttime gig then the next day a lunch time in-store performance; i'm trying to picture a daytime gig like that, i don't think i've ever been to one. i can't decide.

rooftop sounds nice

Rooftop does sound nice. The Tea Bazaar in my town (putting on the M. Anderson show) has a great outdoors back porch (on the roof essentially), but I have only successfully gotten them to put a show on up there once years ago. Apparently it is too important to their teen/college kid hookah-smoking contingent to let stuff happen back there. Would be such a cool place for some of the shows they book though.

If anybody is in the mood for more live-listening, there is a new set from my duo up on bandcamp. It's a weird one, all strings (electric guitar and table steel guitar) no keyboards: http://grand-banks.bandcamp.com/track/grand-banks-live-3-28-2014 Starts out kind of Branca/gamelan-ish, with some drone/feedback, but gets mellower around the 7-8 minute mark. Jump to minute 27 if you just want pretty guitar and a nice story ....

― grandavis, Tuesday, April 15, 2014 3:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Really cool stuff, sounds like someone's hitting that steel guitar with a mallet or something? This sounds like stuff I'd like to make.

Still bummed I missed Marisa when she came through town, I love how effortless her stuff sounds. I listen to Mercury several times a week! A nice palate cleanser when coming off of listening to some like grandiose 20 minute Basho epic. Her work is a bit more pristine and joyful, kinda. She's something special, for sure.

yeah grandavis - that grand banks set was very nice! spoken word bit at the end was great too. i'd love to see more of that kind of thing around where i live. maybe i just need to start doing it.

oh and hey speaking of marisa, looks like there is now a CD version of that last public domain record if you didn't get the (somewhat pricey) LP: http://marisaanderson.bandcamp.com/album/traditional-and-public-domain-songs-2

Marisa Anderson apparently has classical training, and has played a long time, so that probably goes a long way towards explaining her effortless sound. Can't wait to see her live, a really good pairing with Mike & Cara Gangloff.

Also, thanks for listening! You can actually see me playing my guitar with mallets in the photo attached to the track (which is from this show). Basically I have a drum stick shoved in my strings between the neck and pickups and am alternating hitting the strings over the neck (in front of the drum stick) and over the pickups (behind the drum stick). I try to mix in stuff like this most shows, but straight playing too (working a LOT harder on the straight playing these days).

liking this grandavis...part of me hears reich anytime i hear non-jazz mallets on anything, but this isn't really like that at all....this actually reminded me of an interesting dude in Minneapolis, Dave Krejci....he made this as far as I know one of a kind instrument called the cleophone...he bows or uses mallets and other stuff on it....he's also a hammond/farfisa player who does kind of quirky zappa-meets-booker t kind of stuff i've heard...but yeah it's a cool thing....i don't think he plays out much because it weighs a ton and is hard to set up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPMW7VOKOWQ

http://www.doses.com/2006/11/24/the-cleophone/

Thanks UMS, that Krejci is really cool, but I am a total sucker for this kind of thing. I used to think about making instruments, but I don't think I could pull anything that cool off. Plus I like trying to get stuff out of regular guitars. The movable bridge on that thing is great though, and it has serious resonance! Always cool when folks can play super weird stuff all acoustically (at least it doesn't seem like he is amplifying it at all, could be wrong).

okay so most of the fahey records are very simple recordings for the most part, sound like mostly one mic guitar recordings....do you guys ever notice that lots of times his guitar is panned left in the stereo mix even though it's the only instrument on the track? Such a weird thing

Maybe he had the same problem I did with garageband.

which recordings are you listening to? are they spotify or CD rips? because back when I did torrents a lot more I got some really dodgy Fahey releases that I think were compiled from some person cobbling together individual mp3s that I think they snagged from like, Kazaa. I remember a lot of them having weird fidelity/playback things going on

America on spotify, but it's something i remember from listening to actual vinyl too....not like bad or poor recording, just one song seems a bit left then the next couple will be panned middle again

going back a way to neal's post, not entirely sure what the latter part is getting at re: niches & idealization within solo guitar. brought up DBH wrt ryley cos there aren't many distinctly british sounding solo guitar records being made at the moment & it's interesting to see how ppl pull it off. idk if you are cleaving to an idea of composer's intent but I refuse to believe yr down on looking at ideals in records after you enthused about jerry hionis' storytelling upthread

definitely stoked at the prospect of seeing debashish play, I've not really seen any hindustani classical music live besides talvin singh so it'll be interesting

I see the overlap in the sounds of Time Flies and All Kinds of You; I'm just a bit more familiar with Ryley's material in a way that it easily stands alone when compared to similar albums. I probably read into your thought wrong when you said that your wry of the pastoral albion ideal, whether you meant ideal in a way of just an creative idea or that it is an attempt to be the perfection of that niche style. Sometimes I read into a review where the writer seems wry of an effort by a solo guitar player bc the guitarist is seen as trying to publish a conclusion or perfection in that way of playing. It seems that maybe solo guitar records are easier to call out or call bluff on, in comparison to other contemporary experimental albums.

What I mean by niche and automated idealism is where an artist releases an album that is so niche, so focused into what it's trying to do, that it automatically reads as idealic/utopic in the listeners ears. I do love back stories and the way that the player weaves that into the overall picture of their output, I don't know where I've contradicted myself though with this while talking about idealism. I'm all for it and even all for someone, without much credentials at all, trying to modestly add their effort to the shelf of players.

well, this is prob of no interest to anyone else reading the thread, but I think your idea about niche guitar albums capturing ideal visions is interesting. I wasn't sure if you were down on fishing for artistic ideas beyond technique, but I think the way guitarists position themselves wrt their influences & the Grand Tradition Of Guitar Playing is fun to unpack & the storytelling is just another part of that process. my discomfort w/ a romantic idea of olde england is to do w/ motive & execution, & to my ears DBH hits on a distinctly english sound w/out a whiff of nostalgic re-enactment, but all these ideals change a little every time they're invoked, the pentangle sound means something different in 2014 than it did in 1970, so however pure the idea being chased seems, it's still mutable. I suppose it's relatively easy to map what's going on w/ solo guitar, compared to other music, there's less room for ambiguity.

Iink you're right about DBH. That's a tough line to toe& they don't seem retro.

Still, wrt Ryley. It's clearly a throwback, album cover & all. But people end up being modern in ways they don't even intend sometimes. Like to use a ridic comparison, sometimes I like Out Come the Wolves by Rancid more than the actual Clash, less pokey and important and harder & faster. Ryley's got good pop instincts. It's a little less shaggy and goofy than the stuff he referencing, for better or worse. And the mystical Albion shit was retro jive when Incredible String Band & Pentangle did it, it's not like they are more authentic necessarily

So I got the Glenn Jones and Chris Forsyth RSD records. Also picked up Marisa Anderson - The Golden Hour because it was $9? Thanks thread!

Couldn't find Solar Motel
Glenn Jones thing is great wish it were twice as long

Chris Forsyth in stock here: http://www.bullmoose.com/c/12066/record-store-day-2014/0

Glenn Jones too for those of you that didn't bother.

Snagging that Forsyth one

It's great!

ah thanks for the tip re: the forsyth! got the digital, but the LP looks so good. nice cover reference:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rn2XF1fc1gc/UDOZQf2HhoI/AAAAAAAAAWI/HLPhBXeAOV4/s1600/Little_Feat_-_Electrif_Lycanthrope-front+600x600.jpg

any of y'all get this?
http://lightintheattic.net/releases/1057-playing-guitar-the-easy-way
http://lightintheattic.net/system/release_images/0001/3161/playing-guitar-the-easy-way_thumb_325.jpg?1390517980

Following on the heels of LITA’s previous Chapman reissues comes an ultra-rarity, 1978’s Playing Guitar The Easy Way – an instructional record (complete with a 20 page booklet of notation) making its CD debut and reissued on vinyl for the first time ever! For guitar geeks, it’s one of the first instructional methods to deal with open tunings like DADGAD. For Chapman fans, it’s merely a gas to listen to!

Released with the direct involvement of Michael – who supplied the original master tape as well as some new liner notes – he still stands by this record as he told Thurston Moore during a recent interview for the Fretboard Journal:

“I still think it was a good idea. [But] it wasn’t meant to be for people starting the guitar; it was for people who had maybe got bogged down a bit and then maybe wanted to write some songs, and here comes an interesting way to find some new chords, which is what I did, you know, I just went.”

Now just about everyone can try Playing Guitar The Easy Way!

wow yeah that's an awesome idea

yeah i wanna get it. seems like a CD will be more readily available?

http://www.michaelchapman.co.uk/albums/play-guitar/

i will say that after having played almost exclusively in open tunings for about 2 years that standard tuning can basically s my d
i enjoy it so much more on every level

yeah i've been fiddling around with that chasny tuning (or some variation thereof). it definitely makes me excited to play guitar!

Leaving standard tuning 15 years ago changed my whole relationship to playing completely, it was completely liberating.

Just got back from a short trip to Asheville, N.C. Got a cheapish copy of the 2011 RSD split between Glenn Jones & Black Twigs/Charlie Parr. Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet but am pretty psyched for it. Still contemplating the current records, especially the Jones live, but shouldn't spend more cash on records right now.

new william tyler recording up on nyc taper: http://www.nyctaper.com/2014/04/william-tyler-april-16-2014-union-pool-flacmp3streaming/
the new tune they have streaming is gorgeous.

Yeah that W. Tyler song is really pretty, thanks for sharing. Hope to get to see this guy live with the full band, cause I don't get to see pedal steel enough and they are sounding really great together on this track.

Heard something very nice on WFMU this morning, "Division/Separation" by Suborno. Turns out the album (The Instrument) is on Spotify. Acoustic guitar, spacy/psych elements.

http://open.spotify.com/album/1vNsKFc7Sr8clWrF4icIYb

Standard tuning bores me pretty quickly but I wrote at least a couple guitar lines in standard I'm proud of and that remain fun to play.

My patented D G D Gb B E tuning has stayed fresh for something like 2 years now? I've been hooked on it. Just wrote a new tune with it that has a hint of Yellow Princess style flair to it?

If I could play like Mance Lipscomb does in standard tuning, I'd be one happy person. You can still carry quite the punch with standard tuning when you play with a dead thumb like his:

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

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmPgKsklczM

I can never do this right

Heard something very nice on WFMU this morning, "Division/Separation" by Suborno. Turns out the album (The Instrument) is on Spotify. Acoustic guitar, spacy/psych elements.

http://open.spotify.com/album/1vNsKFc7Sr8clWrF4icIYb

I know Ash! Tremendous fellow. Unfortunately, he's pretty much decided not to make any more music, which is madness, but there we are. He's made some great short films recently: http://www.ferventarts.co.uk/

Enjoying that Mance Lipscomb Neal, and to be honest I have come around to standard a bit due to access to a 12-string (which I am not allowed to tune out of standard too often cause my wife plays it in standard and hates tuning it back). I love watching players like Mance though, looks so effortless for him and yet it is detail-rich playing.

Neal: try "http:" instead of "https:" when posting videos, it should embed then.

just got an email from tompkins square - "James Blackshaw returns to Tompkins Square with a new album, Fantômas : Le Faux Magistrat, available worldwide July 8th." Guess it is a score to the Louis Feuillade film.

people forget how good standard tuning is, it's like air or the english language

I tell you, playing a 12-string in standard tuning does way more for me than on a 6-string, but yeah it has got me back in-line with standard tuning for the first time in a long time, but really only messing around at home.

James Blackshaw returns to Tompkins Square with a new album, Fantômas : Le Faux Magistrat, available worldwide July 8th. In celebration of the centenary of Louis Feuillade's Fantômas silent film series, Blackshaw was invited to perform a live score to the fifth and final film, Le Faux Magistrat, within the beautiful and prestigious surroundings of the Théâtre de Châtelet, Paris on October 31st 2013. Features Duane Pitre and Simon Scott (Slowdive). Explore five other Blackshaw titles in our Catalog.

Ryley Walker is on tour with Cloud Nothings and then off to Europe for festivals such as Lunar, Roskilde, Gagnef and more. His debut album, All Kinds Of You, has received wide praise from the likes of NPR, UNCUT, Washington Post, and from actual people. Ryley will be featured on NPR's World Cafe next month. http://www.self-titledmag.com/2014/04/08/stream-ryley-walkers-all-kinds-of-you-album-and-read-his-commentary/
BUY the LP/CD.

We reissued a Dillard Chandler LP for Record Store Day. The North Carolina folksinger recorded two sessions for John Cohen in 1963 and 1968, resulting in the super rare 1975 Smithsonian Folkways LP, The End Of An Old Song. Our LP quickly sold out, but we have one box left for our mailing list friends at the earthy price of $25 US, $40 x-US. Simply paypal us at : orders at tompkins square dot com. First come, first served.

We have released six new digital titles by Suni McGrath, Bern Nix, Terry Waldo, Harry Taussig, Cajun pioneers, and a Max Ochs tribute album. These are now available via every digital service worldwide. Learn more.http://www.tompkinssquare.com/archives/468

Lol was gonna post about how mournful and meditative the new Glenn Jones is but just realized it's a 45 I've been listening to at 33

Hah hah. I imagine you wondered what tuning he was playing in too. Some serious down-tuning ....