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

Maybe Tashi will be on the road slinging that Hermit Hut record about to come out ....

Cheers for the heads up on all the Denver stuff - looks brilliant. My sister lives out near City Park and used to live out near Arvada so will definitely go check out Black and Read. And that Folklore Center looks ace.

I live down in the south of England and no bastard comes down this way, so I feel you pain. Though, admittedly, London is only an hour and a half away, so I should stop whining.

Are there record shops in Boulder, btw? I've been a couple of times, but only ever come across (great) bookshops.

there used to be a couple on College Hill... in 1989

haha, well albums on the hill is still there. i've never been that amazed with them though at least in the last 10 years.
absolute vinyl is OK, not a huge selection, but pretty nice. there's a place called bart's too, but i haven't been to their new location... a record store just opened in my town actually, which is about 20 minutes from Boulder, but i thought everything was pretty overpriced. black and read is probably the one you want if you can make - great books, good selection, decent prices.
and yeah, if i lived near a city like london i would probably be constantly wracked with guilt for *not* going to shows. i can just complain from afar out here.

I found such amazing stuff on my 1989 trip, one of my most fondly remembered score sessions... OG 7" singles on Industrial records for like $3, Pop Group, This Heat, Poison Girls, Delta 5, so much good stuff.

/derail

crazy how different boulder must've been at that point. it's all fancy restaurants and start up companies now.

My Boulder memory: going into a second hand bookshop that was playing Charlambides; finding a copy of Ian Carr's book on Miles; walking through the town and up into the hills; reading under the dome of the sky listening to Sketches of Spain. I think I left part of myself up there.

Hah hah that is amazing Chinaski. I spent a really formative summer in Boulder when I was in college. I wanted to get out of the Northeast for a bit and thought Colorado would be a nice geographic change (plus I had some friends there), but got pretty disappointed at first cause everyone I met seemed to be a Northeastern boarding school transplant type. I had just turned 19, gotten really into Sonic Youth/Dinosaur Jr./Butthole Surfers/Pavement and other popular weird-ish bands (summer of '94) and so didn't really want to be meeting exclusively folks whose musical interests ended at The Dead/Allmans/Phish/Bob Marley. I mean, I should have seen it coming, but still.

After about a month of disappointment, in one week I saw Allen Ginsberg hanging out in a bar mutliple times, found the good record store in town that had a ton of great stuff and folks working who were cool sharing knowledge, and saw Drive Like Jehu live for the first and only time, which was definitely a life-changing event for me. I had never seen anything like that live before. So, despite all the weird angsty stuff I went through that summer, mission accomplished in some fundamental ways. Plus the scenery is amazing, so I just ended up ditching the idea of meeting people and instead hiked around with my walkman listening to "Yank Crime" over and over and over.

well this looks fairly sick:

http://www.sixorgans.com/tashi-dorji-on-tour-with-sir-richard-bishop/

Yeah, Bishop is of course sick on his own, Dorji is a good counterpoint as they play so differently. Would love to see one of those shows.

That's brilliant, grandavis - sounds idyllic. See, I've wandered through Boulder a few times, now and <i>always</i> had the feeling that something interesting was happening, just round the corner (something is happening here/ But you don't know what it is) - to the point where I thought 'I could live here'. I imagine it'd be a tiring place to live, in truth, but it's nice to have the dream! I can imagine seeing Jehu around then must have been amazing.

I've also got the urge to find whichever house Harold Lauder had his sordid dungeon in, but that's another story.

Jehu was, indeed, amazing. While far from idylic other than the hiking/scenery, I sure have some good stories from that summer overall. Was definitely still a pretty weird place in 2004, just took me a while to find the good side of that weirdness. One fun Boulder fact: when I went to meet a guy about a house painting gig, which is what I did for work then, his first question to me was "what's your sign".

If anyone is interested, this formless track is my go-to as a point of reference to show people that have only ever thought of Calexico as some Neko Case/Wilco-style surface level indie rock band with a gimmick. Hope I've spread out the Calexico praising enough throughout this thread to give everyone's eyes a rest from all the rolling it prompts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRGns0huaCM

I would shut up if I got someone to listen to the album that shares that same name (Hot Rail).

(I know beyond a handful of tracks they aren't very relevant to this thread either. I like all of the people in here though and wanted to share.)

i like calexico

though i also like wilco and neko case

she's a good singer! ilx kind of hates both of them on "NPR" principle cuz that kind of respectable indie rock is sort of the anti-ILX aesthetic

but just between us girls i'd say that there's tons of literal garbage that gets voted on ILX year end lists and shit that is way worse than Wilco or Neko

though i guess neither is like super exciting or crazy or w/e

American Primitive by way of thee ancient trade routes: traveling by and to "Taxim," brothers and sisters (pick it)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shYpM6a62vs&feature=kp

xp there should probably be a no-shame alt-country thread on ilm.
that early calexico stuff (especially the instrumentals) is totally great (also dig the friends of dean martinez jams they were involved with). it is weird, they definitely took it in a more generic direction. last one i really listened to was garden ruin and while it wasn't *bad* it was just not something i wanted to listen to.

i generally like them the most when they seem like some kinda tex mex Tortoise

("Taxim" is very unrepresentative of the LP, and my fave track by far)Sorry to break into yall's conversation, but I just keep playing this

yeahhh taxim is so killer. i wish they just sounded like that all the time. talk about a band with a LOT of ideas.

neko case fan here, 'blacklisted' in particular. alt-country was actually probably a bit of a gateway drug into some of this kind of music tbh. i think alt country gets a bad rep bc it seems like some kind of watered-down, upperclass or 'sepia toned museum photograph' version of whatever hardscrabbleness is supposedly actually conveyed for real by other country artists, but i also like that quality too. i like it all, idk. ashley monroe and miranda and neko and calexico and friends of dean martinez, all good shit.

i saw calexico live in maybe 2002, one of the better shows i've seen since i moved to los angeles.

I'm glad to hear all that!

Yeah the "NPR vibe" was the description I was struggling to conjure. It does seem very anti-ILX, and I don't have a problem with any of them (aka Neko Case or Wilco) generally. I guess that's why I feel very uncool gushing about them here, but Hot Rail (the album) remains so impressive and it doesn't age for me at all. They have some tour only albums (since reissued) that are also mostly experimental jams and those are great too. And I feel like many of the "ILX Brigade" club would enjoy them.

this is a jam:

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0003/338/MI0003338078.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

And yeah Garden Ruin is nice but it is more understandably the "NPR" kind of stuff. Was pretty jarring when it came out. Admittedly fun material in concert though.

xp yeah that record is fantastic.

btw no sarcasm but i'm glad yall are making a safe place for altcountry bros, i love neko and uncle tupelo/son volt were p important to me as a stupid teenager

like some kind of watered-down, upperclass or 'sepia toned museum photograph' version of whatever hardscrabbleness is supposedly actually conveyed for real by other country artists,

Ear of the behearer, man -- this could just as easily describe 90% of the dudes playing in the so-called "American Primitive" style since the death of Fahey. And, like you point out, this in and of itself is not problematic, but it's interesting how those negative alt country connotations persist despite the recent attention paid to guitar soli dudes who have almost certainly never lived in motels, "rode the rails," etc

If Tompkins Square put out a 90s Friends of Dead Martinez album today and called it, oh I don't know, The Fantasias and Imaginings of Blind Bill Elm or something, that shit would blow the fuck up (relatively speaking)

Tupelo was a great band idgaf who says different

I guess I see american primitive and Fahey especially AS inauthentic, he's very explicitly an arty suburban kid making his own strange little corruption of john hurt

Word. Another way in which he's the Dylan figurehead of this stuff. Reminds me: the reviewer doesn't approve of this new bio, but quotes and description are fairly intriguing (basically knew this, but diggin the details): http://online.wsj.com/articles/book-review-dance-of-death-by-steve-lowenthal-1403305245

ums droppin truthbombs

y'all should totally start a no-shame thread like that and push back against the hivemind... Wilco & Co.'s not my thing, I guess I prefer my alt-country-esque stuff to be at-least-sometimes-goofy like Kelly Hogan or Michael Hurley or Prine or current Mekons, but I'd probably hang out there a bit.

I'm down w a lot of the bloodshot stuff. more late '90s-early oughts than the current crop (to be fair I haven't listened to the more recent releases.) moonshine willy is a great overlooked group.

i have just put on the latest son volt ("honky tonk") on rdio, haven't listened to these dudes in like a decade basically

always loved jay farrar's voice tbh

Yes, Moonshine Willie, led by Kim Doctor Also among older Bloodshot, try Trailer Bride, Meat Purveyors, Corn Sisters (Neko + Carolyn Mark), Kelly Hogan. For current Bloodshot, check the latest Lydia Loveless (also all of hers)and Jon Langford & Skull Orchard (still streaming on nytimes press play, I think).

this is the closest Tupes approached this thread's style maybe?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kHqMNBCW2sY

I am unaware of any alt-country as intensely focused on a playfully self-aware & ironic presentation as Fahey. alt-country always seemed v sincere & straight w/ stirring strings & v clearly telegraphed emotions.

With the exception of Oldham who was kind of limited in w that at the time yr mostly right

Aside from Fahey nabbing stuff from blues and folk and Bartók or whatever, I think his 'authenticity' comes from elsewhere, some hard to pin down 'otherness' or transferable mental state. There's thousands of similar guitarists around, but no one sounds quite like Fahey - and none that are quite such a tough listen. Whether it finally comes down to some sort of 'outside' status, I dunno, but Fahey's out there on his own for me.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking of when I referred to him as the Dylan figurehead of his approach: he's not just *any* arty suburban kid etc. News from Tompkins Square:

ALICE GERRARD'S 'FOLLOW THE MUSIC' OUT SEPT. 30
Produced by M.C. Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger). Featuring members of Hiss Golden Messenger and Megafaun

"Alice Gerrard has one of those voices that harkens back to the likes of Sara and Maybelle. She is the real deal with the right stuff and hasn't forgotten where country music came from."
- Emmylou Harris (June, 2014)

** Alice Gerrard turns 80 tomorrow, July 8 ! **

The trailblazing folksinger famously collaborated with Hazel Dickens. Their classic recordings for Folkways and Rounder in the '60's and 70's "rank among the most influential recordings in folk music history," (All Music Guide), and laid the groundwork for many artists, especially female bluegrass and folk musicians.

'Follow The Music' features traditional tunes and original songs by Alice, produced by Hiss Golden Messenger's M.C. Taylor, and features members of Hiss Golden Messenger and Megafaun. Available on LP/CD/DL via Tompkins Square, September 30th, 2014.

Hear / post a track from 'Follow The Music' - "Boll Weevil":
https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare/boll-weevil-by-alice-gerrard

"original songs" too; cool.

https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000084355141-g3ec7u-t500x500.jpg?e76cf77

<3

wrote up a couple of those VDSQ LPs for Delta Slider over here: http://delta-slider.blogspot.com/2014/07/vin-du-selecte-qualitite-2014-trio-of.html
all good -- the orcutt one might be the one I like the most though!

i got a copy of Acoustic Guitar magazine a while back and it's kind of hard to tell sometimes with their reviews what's cool and what's kinda "guitar mag" type post-Hedges slappin n harmonic type shit but anyway their main review was for the album Rattlesnake Cage by a guy named Steve Dawson

been digging the hell out of it...

http://www.stevedawson.ca/

sounds like he must be some kind of producer/sideman dude in Canada (7 Juno awards, bro)....but anyway it's very polished and pro sounding but not overly slick.....very much on the more approachable side of American Primitive (early Lang and Kottke)...quality of the songwriting and playing is top notch...seems like he's not from the "hip" world as much but I think it's a fantastic record...(record cover art ain't so good either haha)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jfwd0QkP2k

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ALVARIUS B and SAM SHALABI schedule East Coast tour dates for August 2014

From Cairo, Alvarius B and opener Sam Shalabi play shows this summer in NY, RI, MA, ME, and Montreal.

The first 75 people at the door each night will receive a free Poon Village Records screenprinted, not-for-sale, tour-only 7" pressed at Gotta Groove Record Pressing, featuring two unreleased recordings by Alvarius B, and artwork by Byron Coley. Please purchase tickets in advance.

Alvarius B.

Photo by Frank Schmitt

Thurs. 08/14 – Brooklyn, NY, Union Pool (w/ Byron Coley)

Fri. 08/15 – Brooklyn, NY, Union Pool (w/ Byron Coley)

http://union-pool.com/

Sat. 08/16 – Pawtucket, RI, Machines With Magnets

http://machineswithmagnets.com/

Sun. 08/17 – Somerville, MA, Johnny D’s

http://johnnyds.com/

Mon. 08/18 – Portland, ME, Portland Empire

http://www.portlandempire.com/

Wed. 08/20 – Northampton, MA, Feeding Tube

https://www.facebook.com/FeedingtubeRecords

Fri. 08/22 – Montreal, PQ, CA, La Vitrola

http://lavitrola.ca/

Sat. 08/23 – Montreal, PQ, CA, La Plante

“I think it’s fair to say that in AB we have the most inspiring and wholesome, cussing, violent and truthful musical interpenetrator of the psychic Realities that has probably ever graced this fair and fucked land.”

Trey Spruance (Mr. Bungle/Mimicry Records/ Secret Chiefs 3)

“Sun City Girls were the Sun Ra of the 80s punk hardcore scene and the 90s indie scene, and remained the craziest, most interesting, and most inspired group into the millennium.”

Tom Lax (Siltbreeze Records)

“His ability to dart back and forth between patient notes and unruly chords fuses those elements to the point where you don’t know whether he’s improvising or reverently recreating an ancient tune—and, more importantly, you don’t care.”

Marc Masters (Pitchfork)

Purchase link for ALVARIUS B. titles:

http://www.forcedexposure.com/Artists/ALVARIUS.B.html

Purchase link for SAM SHALABI titles:

http://www.forcedexposure.com/SearchResult.html?SearchType=Basic&Type=artist&Key=shalabi

Alvarius B. biography:

Alan Bishop (AKA Alvarius B.) is a founding member of Seattle’s avant-garde and genre-defying Sun City Girls, whose career spans 27 years and over fifty releases. His work in Sun City Girls, with Richard Bishop and Charles Gocher, alone stands as a testament to his fearless exploration of the outer reaches of improvisation and composition. From their free jazz/post rock psychedelic trio roots, to sprawling radio broadcasts incorporating noise, Italian pop, and sound collage, to gorgeous outernational Arabic and Asian inspired folk music, the group maintained their singular and uncompromising path from inception. Their musical restlessness continues to resonate in the wake of the passing of Charles Gocher and their subsequent disbanding.

As founder of the Sublime Frequencies record label, Bishop has released over 90 records, introducing previously ignored musical genres from Syria, Burma, Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam, Niger, Thailand, India, Morocco, Egypt, Western Sahara, Cambodia, Algeria, and Turkey.

And as Alvarius B., Bishop has penned hundreds of his own original folk songs in a primitive “out” style that is unlike anything that anyone else is doing now. This body of work is informed by an obsessive love of psychedelic rock & folk music, Italian film soundtracks, and an extraordinary sense of humor. Over much of the past four years, Bishop has been living in Cairo, composing & recording new Alvarius B. material while simultaneously establishing his own Egyptian-based band, The Invisible Hands.

Sam Shalabi short biography:

Sam Shalabi is an Egyptian-Canadian composer and improviser living between Montreal, Quebec and Cairo, Egypt. Beginning in punk rock in the late ‘70s, his work has evolved into a fusion of experimental modern Arabic music that incorporates traditional Arabic, chaabi, noise, classical, text, free improvisation and jazz. He has released five solo albums (including On Hashish - a musical mediation on German writer Walter Benjamin, Osama, an audio collage on Arabophobia in the wake of 9/11, and his most recent Music for Arabs), five albums with Shalabi Effect, a free improvisation quartet that bridges Western psychedelic music and Arabic Maquam (scales) and three albums with Land Of Kush (an experimental 30-member orchestra, for which he composes).

Tour webpage:

http://www.forcedexposure.com/Alvariusbeastcoasttour2014.html