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

Lots of new releases lately but other thread getting big and unwieldy and a resource hog. So! New thread for weird Fahey-esque instrumental folk guitar.

What did we have so far this year? Highlights for me:

William Tyler- Lost Colony (the kraut-country thing gets me going)
Steve Gunn- Way Out Weather
Nathan Bowles- Nansemond
Chris Forsyth- Intensity Ghost (think overall I liked Solar Motel better but I'm glad this one seems to be taking off)
Tashi Dorji- S/T

Seems like a lot of these folks made it into the limelight this year! And new Six Organs looks to be a monster.

Can we keep the Youtube embedding to a minimum in this incarnation? You can prevent them from embedding by having "https:" as opposed to just "http:" in the URL

thank you! I'll post a link on the old one unless someone does it first

am I correct that the Tashi Dorji S/T is older stuff compiled? really liked the new EP on Bandcamp page.

re: Richard Dawson, was gonna say that I hear a lot of Bill Orcutt's influence/style in his playing, anybody else? (sorry if this was noted previously)

― some kind of terrible IDM with guitars (sleeve), Saturday, December 13, 2014 11:41 AM

also ppl were talking about richard dawson, don't want to derail!

lol no worries there

doing some EOY catchup and I am not feeling this Steve Gunn at all, threadban me if you must

liked the Solar Motel (2 tracks on Spotify), really liked the new Tashi Dorji EP.

am I correct that the Tashi Dorji S/T is older stuff compiled?
yeah, pulled from several years' worth of cassette iirc. kind of a "greatest hits," i guess. he really is great, seems to get better every time i play his stuff.

sleeve - yeah a ton of orcutt & not to be super cynical but he seems to be getting a lot of praise from ppl I don't get the sense really know Orcutt

But i do like him

I just think it's a little like how when I finally heard gang of four reissues after growing up a fugazi fan

Oh hey folks.

Sleeve, that Gunn record definitely is a very specific kind of cool to me, I get why it wouldn't appeal to you. It is mostly very low-key and its charms can be extremely subtle, but I have personally found it to be deep and varied enough that I return to it pretty frequently. Maybe it'll grow on you, but it is definitely a song-based record that doesn't try to push the musicality as far as a lot of records touched on in this thread (and many of Gunn's other records do).

yeah i was actually wondering recently what I would think of gunn's latest if it was the first record of his I had heard. the context of his gradual development into a more straight-ahead singer-songwriter adds some flavor I think (if that makes sense). love the latest but at the same time, i hope he hasn't left behind his more avant leanings -- those gunn-truscinski records are still my faves out of everything he's done.

hey i have a question -- how do you pronounce cian of the name cian nugent?

rather how does one pronounce cian accurately

i thought it was like cyan but then realized it could be sean or shee-an or idk what and i would like to know

Kee An

i thought it was just pronounced "sean" for years though.

Like Ian preceded with a /k/ ?
Good to know! I have been meaning to ask this question for months.

yes, exactly!

haha apparently lots of blog posters and show hosters feel the need to lay this to rest too:
http://i61.tinypic.com/vgmyht.png

The Gunn/Mike Cooper and Gunn/Gangloff records both came out this year I think, and both contain a good range of playing outside of his "Way Out Weather" mode. It will be interesting to see what side of the divide the upcoming Gunn/Black Twig Pickers record will ride, but my guess is I will dig it. Hope some of it revisits this territory though:

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Black_Twig_Pickers_and_Steve_Gunn/NATCH_1/Salted_Caramel

Global mentioned notable records from this year, and I wanna bring up Bachman's "Orange Co. Serenade". Really enjoyed it & definitely revisit it pretty frequently. Feel like he is growing and really may be just hitting his stride now, though who knows. New record on Three Lobed apparently out in April or May. Saw him Saturday night and the new songs were great, no reason not to believe that this next record will be anything other than really good.

dammit I forgot about that in my EOY listening binge this weekend, will check it out!

fwiw my introduction to Gunn was his side of the "Not The Spaces You Know..." comp, which I loved

oh yeah, shouldn't have forgotten the Daniel Bachman one! I think I've come around on that one, seems like the most cohesive release he's done so far.

Also Charlie Parr doesn't usually fit in this thread but he did a release this year that definitely does. It's called Hollandale- some really nicely recorded exploratory fingerpicked instrumentals. All on a National resonator, which sounds awesome/immense at times. Some cool sounds and textures added... anyway, may have been overlooked in this thread... It's on Spotify

Has this been shared yet? HD video of Tashi playing on WFMU, last September.

vimeo.com/wfmu/review/106853495/6f23ec5808

gamelan for guitar

awesome

Whatever he's got there on the neck is partially under certain strings and on top of others. He accidentally bumps into it at one point and it seems very loose. I thought it was a capo at first. Such crazy sounds coming out of that guitar.

Watching the video as I'm commenting, probably not the best idea. Still don't know what that is, even with the close ups.

I thought it was a hairclip, it loops round the top string.

Think Ogmor is right, looks like a large barrette, the cheap kind you can get at CVS etc.

coupla good tashi things over on the FMA: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tashi_Dorji/

for the record here are my fave ilx-brigade kinda things of 2014. the usuals!

Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band - Intensity Ghost
Nathan Bowles - Nansemond
Steve Gunn - Way Out Weather
Daniel Bachman - Orange Co. Serenade
William Tyler - Lost Colony
Tashi Dorji - s/t
Don Bikoff - Hallowed Ground
Mike & Cara Gangloff - Black Ribbon of Death, Silver Thread of Life
Alvarius B. / Sir Richard Bishop - If You Don’t Like It … Don’t!
Bill Orcutt - VDSQ
Sir Richard Bishop - VDSQ
Anthony Pasquarosa - VDSQ
Robbie Basho - Art of the Acoustic Steel String Guitar 12 & 6
Smoke Dawson - Fiddle

more singer-songwriter-y things, but joan shelley (feat. nathan salsburg on some tracks) and ryley walker LPs are recommended too!

shit i forgot about bikoff

also you might say me and global are slightly excited about playing this show

http://first-avenue.com/event/2015/01/americanprimitive

nice!
yeah, if you ignore the bikoff cover art, it's a really nice record.

that amy in quebec track is so close to wine&roses/red pony/approaching of the disco void its almost a cover

was watching some fahey live on youtube last night...here's an 81 gig, with apparently Michael Hedges opening (sorry folks no records available didn't get pressed in time)...Fahey is being really smarmy in his banter, the set itself verges from awkward to hypnotic, found his flopping down combover hair kind of distracting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP08Y3DsJvs

this is a 2000 set, he does a lot of dicking around/joking around at the beginning, but about the 7:40 mark on he gets going and it's actually pretty cool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5jXrutGt2U

We going the "https:..." route to skip embeds? Not that I don't love opening this thread to shots of Fahey at his weirdest ....

oops sorry

A leaner/meaner thread for 2015 I guess. I'll miss the Fahey gut though.

Transmissions Fest footage is new to me, awesome. I wish more people openly talked about his later work without full on the talk of "well, I don't know about this, but look at what he used to do." The only thing that I can't fully grasp is the Hitomi material, some of it is played in that Transmissions Fest video. Kinda feel like it goes down easier when you get to watch him play like that, on record is another thing. There is another noodley electric gig on youtube that actually does have a lot of syncopation; and getting to hear old styles on an electric is pretty nice. There aren't many artists that went so far in the other direction, let alone an instance where you get to watch past material with a new technique. Defiantly would rather have had Fahey do all that then not. I dig The Mill Pond lots. It's not too different than some of the stuff that is out there today. Womblife gets so zonked in parts you can't help but grin.

Loving this Glenn Jones tune, "The Teething Necklace (For John Fahey)"
xxx.youtube.com/watch?v=6qd7pWITPQQ

Couple things I put together,

John Fahey's Adelphi Sessions, the Dance of Death outtakes. Uploaded as MP3's, posted on my blog:
http://broadcastsfrompoorfarm.tumblr.com/post/105403178308/john-fahey-adelphi-sessions-the-dance-of-death

Scanned my copy of the mail order catalog from Fonotone Records, interesting curio. Includes the numerous early Fahey comps Joe Bussard curated for Fonotone.
http://broadcastsfrompoorfarm.tumblr.com/post/105401770173/fonotone-records-mail-order-catalog-pdf-booklet

I finally put together some new lapstyle material and wanted to share it here. "Blue For al-Watawit of Yashkur" sits as is, in a sorta demo state. I didn't want to forget all the new ideas I've been having, yet also told myself I wouldn't record again until I bought a nice microphone. Of course, I got impatient, so here we are. Before they find a home somewhere, I do want to properly record them.
http://raglore.com/album/blue-for-al-watawit-of-yashkur

Link for the MP3's are posted here,
http://broadcastsfrompoorfarm.tumblr.com/post/105403934713/rag-lore-blue-for-al-watawit-of

Look forward to checking this stuff out

Cool, thanks Neal! Actually already listened to your "Blue For al-Watawit of Yashkur" tracks (Mr. Avant Ghetto threw them up on twitter yesterday), really enjoyed them. First track sucked me right in, so yeah make a recording you are happy with and I am on board!

neal - or others - what microphones/mic pres do you guys use? this coming year i need to get serious about recording an album

like your new stuff neal

the only Tashi Dorji song on Spotify is a cool little curio, electronic remix featuring his guitar of a song by some psychey dude name Al Lover

http://open.spotify.com/track/2HxzI5VuTvgdbTGolZ7x7G

Thanks dudes, I have always just been using a portable digital Tascam recorder from B&H Photo that I bought a while back. It fits in your pocket so I've used it while out and walking around, but it's not a good choice for recording guitar at this point, I loved it at first bc of how much of an improvement it was over using the internal MacBook mic. I sold my two amps (+all other musical electronics) years ago during collage, which I regret now. As I would like to record traditionally with a mic and amp set up. Either using the sound hole or install a pick up. How about USB mics? Been talked about here before I think. Decent clarity from the models available now?

I think the solution is to just meet someone in town with a set up :) - that way I can avoid all of this.

I've posted things upthread recorded with the Blue Yeti (120 new but you can def find a ton of these used on ebay, got mine for 80 on craigslist)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=857749&gclid=Cj0KEQiA8MSkBRCP5LaRlcOAusMBEiQAiqldkgFeoLzZuCr_Hg1GQ03TBk1qSggFdqEqo5fQpNn1jLgaAgF98P8HAQ&is=REG&Q=&A=details

you can hear the stuff i've done, which is minimally processed, a bit EQd and maybe compressed slighty with some audicity plugin reverb on it, but overall I'd say USB mics have come a long way

of course, I'm just plotting about how I want to get a USB DAC/Mic pre unit and a better XLR mic so I suppose one is always unsatisfied.

gonna check out yr new thing neal! i've dug the rag lore things i've heard so far.
just got hipped to this thing via soft abuse's twitter -- maybe it was mentioned on the old thread? https://moonbros.bandcamp.com/album/frijolillo - kind of low-key/dreamy/fieldrecording-y/acoustic action. i like it!

Neal there is also a USB model of the Blue Spark which is supposed to be great on acoustics

yeah, an anderson/white collab LP is pretty much my dream come true. heard a tape of a live show and they sounded great together.

For my NYC people, this free show just booked for November 22 and I wish I was in town for it:
https://blankforms.org/events/ksiyc/

Ksiezyc (Polish for “the Moon”) are a Polish avant-folk ensemble whose haunting fusion of traditional Slavic music with minimalism and ethereal wave has earned them a cult following the band characterizes as “poetry seekers, dreamers, and people dressed in black.” First formed in 1990 as a female a cappella trio, the group quickly expanded into a quintet when singers Agata Harz and Katarzyna Smoluk were joined by two friends from Poga, a Grotowskian student theater group. Remek Hanaj and Lechoslaw Polak appeared on the Moon, and a while later Robert Nizinski came straight from outer space. Their accordion, keyboards, clarinet, and tape have lent an alchemic magic to the mysteries of the singers’ reverberating voices ever since. At once ancient and modern, cosmic and local, Ksiezyc’s timeless 1996 self-titled LP features 14 surreal miniatures structured by accumulating, cyclical sequences of hypnotic keyboards and voice. Although sung in Polish, its macabre reworkings of nursery rhymes resonates with an ability to conjure spirits beyond language. After Ksiezyc‘s release, the group disbanded with no more than 30 concerts under their belt, becoming the stuff of legend before a 2013 reissue by Penultimate Press set the moon alight once more. 2015’s Rabbit Eclipse adds the hurdy-gurdy, violin, and field recordings from Hanaj’s sound breeding farm to Ksiezyc’s palette for a suite of shimmering drone-song dealing with eternal themes of life and death, good and evil, and transformation and expectancy. Drawing from their roots in theater, Ksiezyc’s performances have maintained a ritual quality suited to the unorthodox venues they have historically preferred, such as caves, jails, hospitals, towers, factories, and castles. In accordance with this tradition, Blank Forms welcomes the ensemble to Chelsea’s historic St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, the first English parish Gothic church building in the US, for their first-ever American performance

and, more tangentially, but if you dig that shit, try the French choral band San Salvador, coming to NYC in January.
https://soundcloud.com/lostintraditions/sets/san-salvador-live

Thanks! RSVP'd

blank forms does so much good shit, gonna try and make it

Did yall see the press release about Basho doc and box?
S/D: Tompkins Square Records

(also the TS 14th Anniversary playlist in there)

Listened to that 1996 Ksiezyc Youtube this morning (on my phone ha) and really enjoyed it. It made me think vaguely of a precursor to Instant Classic stuff.

https://feedingtuberecords.bandcamp.com/album/matthew-j-rolin

yes

I am seeing them this evening!

xxp

how was the ksiezyc show?

this thing is coming out next month — a lot of familiar names: https://tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com/album/ten-years-gone-a-tribute-to-jack-rose

Absolutely fantastic! Kind of performance art too, where the two singers walked among the audience and tossed a large balloon/ball to each other, carefully deployed small lights down the center aisle and threw a small light on a long wire across people's laps as if she doing something routine like fishing or harvesting etc. The band overall rotated among instruments while very atmospheric soundscapes continued underneath it all. They had a variety of noise makers like you might find on a sound stage, even children's toys to make animal noises with. Super enchanting.

xp

aw, now i'm super sorry i missed it! that was their first and so far only us show; unlikely they'll be around next week.

Obvious update here, as Tompkins Square has released its "Ten Years Gone : A Tribute to Jack Rose" compilation:

https://tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com/album/ten-years-gone-a-tribute-to-jack-rose

Lots of good stuff on it. I really love the Andy McLeod track on it, Isasa & Helen Espvall resonating heavily as well. Very happy to see Micah Blue Smalldone make an appearance as well, as I love his playing (and singing when he does it) and haven't seen anything roll out from him in a while.

Good set of remembrance materials here as well courtesy of our man Tyler: https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/189492634627/ten-years-gone-a-tribute-to-jack-rose-its-been

Definitely into the Paolo Laboule Novellino track as well. Hits a lot of sweet spots for me (particularly lots of space).

good deal on ilx brigade adjacent albums from 2019 - No Quarter Bundle (Joan Shelley, Endless Boogie, Chris Forsyth)

Happy holidays. Just a quick note to let you know that we are closing out 2019 with a 25% off sale in the No Quarter webshop and a specially priced bundle of our three 2019 releases (Endless Boogie, Joan Shelley and Chris Forsyth) if you need to catch up: 2019 Bundle

Use code 2019Sale at checkout.

https://www.noquarter.net/product/2019-bundle-chris-forsyth-endless-boogie-joan-shelley/

https://stoned-to-death.bandcamp.com/album/face-to-face-against-american-primitivism-in-eastern-europe-vol-2

that's an album title that's hard to resist!

At first I thought "vol 2" was just there to make the title even sillier, but there is indeed a volume 1!

https://stoned-to-death.bandcamp.com/album/face-to-face-against-american-primitivism-in-eastern-europe-vol-i

lol, i'm with UMS on this

I'd forgotten there was a new Padang Food Tigers album this year. I'd also forgotten it was released on a label owned by Neal Cassady! Just bought the digital - any plans for a vinyl release? What a gorgeous wee band.

Thank you for the nod! Blue Hole Recs is Will Csorba and I here in Houston just doing our own thing and trying out best. It is great to have worked with PFT on that as Blackest Rainbow was one of the first modern labels that I got really into back in the late 00s and I remember 'Born Music' having an instant classic feel. There still aren't many other groups who had done it or continue to do it as good as they do.

I do agree though, I am hoping more people keep learning that PFT had put out new material because I've heard the same comment a couple times during this current end-of-year season. The Blue Hole cassette was originally supposed to be released at the same time that Death Is Not The End (UK) would drop the vinyl but it looks like as of October—PFT was looking for someone to do the vinyl version. It would be cool to see someone close to our community do it, like Three Lobed or something.

this sounds cool, glad you and will are putting out cool stuff though not surprised. merry xmas Neal!

Merry xmas UMS and all!

:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrJQystmyl8

This is something I think everyone esp ogmor should check out

https://resonatingwoodrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/p-dsak-lede-nepalikus

^this rules, the sixth track has the best ending of anything I heard in 2019

Does anyone know what Steve Gunn is doing to get that great feedback at around 12:50 of this vid? Immediately after he takes off his capo and he takes his hands off all the strings. He allows it to come back in at the end of this sort of outro section. If it’s not a pedal, was it just good old normal unplanned feedback? Bc it sounds v nice and mostly intentional.

hxxps://youtube.com/watch?v=BEbwrfWsuYQ&t=12m50s

don't know if this has been discussed here (what a big-ass thread), but joseph allred's album O Meadowlark from last year is great:

https://www.popmatters.com/joseph-allred-o-meadowlark-2639613038.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

He's great! We haven't discussed it enough, but yeah he is a one of a kind

xpost funny idgaf said that, i was just thinking the other day that maybe it's time to move this thread to a part iii.

he played at my wedding!

Will this be the new fahey brigade meme? How many of us can get primitivism stars to play at our weddings?

Tom Lecky wrote a song about the place I got married! Does that count?

(I think I've mentioned him on here. He records as Hallock Hill. The Union and A Hem of Evening are both stellar. https://hallockhill.bandcamp.com/album/a-hem-of-evening )

anyone heard this?

https://www.strandedrecords.com/collections/morning-trip/products/william-eaton-music-by-william-eaton-lp

Yes, I have an original copy and it's a prized possession. Happy for a reissue so I don't have to play my copy so much. It's nowhere near as new-agey as the description and photos of the instruments would suggest (though I can't say the same for the few of his later albums and collaborations I have heard, which are nice enough depending on your tolerance for, umm, Narada Equinox and the like). I'd compare the music to that Gimmer Nicholson album in some ways. I mean, they sound nothing alike (except both albums share, to my ears, a slight classical bent), but it has a similar "third way" quality about it that makes it seem very much apart from anything that came before it. There's zero blues and zero folk. As far as I remember, it's all improvised, and mostly with homemade instruments. You should grab it, it's pretty amazing.

thanks!

i had both the fall and Fahey lined up in separate tabs, so for the first minute of "hip priest" i thought it was fahey, and entered an terrifying alternate universe for as a result. Thanks ILM! nice to be back.

Joseph Allred, who we've talked about upthread, posted this video today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_ZrHAK5iDQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3LbSH_RjtB9CU26V5S2UwsXNdMCk0-XQWRpcbHcfi5z4MZF5_QSI7T0Sg

fun(?) fact(s): he played at my wedding, which was in Cades Cove and which inspired this suite!

he's so great, that's an awesome story about your wedding! do you know him?

many of you will already be aware but a certain steve palmer's album useful histories has been released on some v hot looking vinyl and it's a heady fusion of psych jams & takomaish picking with some wild delay pedal action and it's a work of major genius so if the big man won't post about it here then it's my solemn duty to ensure it gets a mention!

https://stevepalmer-sob.bandcamp.com/

Allred is such a sweet guy

Our man Global really knocked it out of the park on this record, Ogmor is completely on the money here. Everything I have heard from it is beautiful and deeply rendered, just really well synthesized moves and approaches to "shit that sounds great for a guitar to get up to." Proud of our dude for getting this out there.

awww, thanks you all <3 <3

Useful Histories is fantastic, turned out so well

Hoping to hear some Cassini moves down the line. Quite a crew in that band! But yeah just ordered my copy of "Useful Histories" today.

Inspires me to get something out there as well, someday! Fantastic record

he's so great, that's an awesome story about your wedding! do you know him?

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, February 7, 2020 6:22 PM

yes! he's a longtime bud

cool yeah I think he's one of the best right now, seems like a real gentleman

in other news, Krist Novoselic of an old Seattle band called Nirvana dabbles in American Primitive, pretty good!

https://youtu.be/ExOFuzZr-tE