Takoma's one-offs and obscurities

i made so much fahey money that month. i felt a little guilty. john fahey paid for my german history of house music box set that month too. thanks, john! (traded some fahey to josh at mystery train. always wanted that box set. chuck was the only person i ever knew who had one.)

gonna block off at least half an hour this tuesday on my radio show to spotlight some of the lesser known Takoma titles; will also play some fahey and basho and probably even some kottke..

Hey Ian, how can I listen to your show online?

it steams on eastvillageradio.com; it's the academy records show tuesday nights from 10-12. you can listen to it on itunes too under radio->eclectic. past shows are all archived on thee website.

Thanks I'll start listening in. My favorite basho is by far 'Song of the Stallion', I like his singing especially when it comes out of nowhere like on A North American Raga.

LOL "even some kottke" :)

i love leo, don't get me wrong!

Never heard any Kottke past the first album, but that one is just dandy imo.

here's what i ended up playing:

Edward Hazleton   	 Mocking The Train, Mocking The Dogs  	 One-String Blues  	 Takoma  	  Jun 21
Bukka White 	Old Man Walking Blues 	Contemporary Guitar 	Takoma 	Jun 21
Homegas 	Maine 	Homegas 	Takoma 	Jun 21
Maddy Prior & June Tabor 	My Husband's Got No Courage In Him 	Silly Sisters 	Takoma 	Jun 21
Tony Thomas 	The Wednesday Night Waltz 	Old Style Texas & Oklahoma Fiddling 	Takoma 	Jun 21
Norman Blake 	Blue Ridge Mountain Blues 	Directions 	Takoma 	Jun 21
Janet Smith 	Wayfaring Stranger 	The Unicorn 	Takoma 	Jun 21
Floating House Band 	Song For Martha Lee 	The Floating House Band 	Takoma 	Jun 21
Mike Auldridge 	Killing Me Softly With His Song 	Blues & Bluegrass 	Takoma 

hey dudes. i saw a (i think) sealed copy of Swamp Dogg's 'buying in' record like 2 weeks ago for like $6. i was skeptical because of the date on it, so downloaded it later. it wasn't very good. if you're at all interested or a completist, lemme know and i can go looking for it again.

picked up bernie krause's 'citadels of mystery' this weekend for a buck in the new age section. not at all what i was expecting. i thought it was gonna be some synth record but it was actually upbeat world jazz with some nice drums. pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYR1Ch5eGKY

I've been listening to Mike Bloomfield's Analine. It's a beautiful low key bluesy record that has impressed me. Has anyone heard his other 3 Takoma records? I just read the poor guy was found dead in his car from a heroin overdose.

Also the Richard Ruskin record is maybe the most boring folk record I have heard.

http://www.discogs.com/buy/Vinyl/Swamp-Dogg-Im-Not-Selling-Out-Im-Buying-In/446775-2993708?ev=bp_titl
^^ don't think i've ever seen this one.
― one dis leads to another (ian), Thursday, June 16, 2011 2:16 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark

i bought this a couple years ago at yr store!

man i love craig leon's NOMMOS so much. definitely my #1 here. i have that joe byrd record too, but im not completely sold on it. definitely gotta check out homegas too...

that swamp dogg record on takoma is pretty subpar

i had a dream a few nights ago in which i found a seam split/cat scratched Floating House Band at the thrift store.

Hey Ian what didn't you like about Rabindra Danks? I was thinking about buying it, but I don't know what to expect.

Jacob, I only v v recently saw yr email regarding this thread and yr blog, thanks for both, still digging yr work here

Getting TOM AKSTENS Original & Traditional Music soon, very excited!

Oh, hey Jacob, I thought the Rabindra record was.. maybe too sincere? or cheesy or something? these are not necc. bad qualities in music, but there was something about the record that was lacking to me. sure, pick it up for a buck or two but i wouldn't pay much..

I've gotten a few Takoma obscurites recently, Rita Weill's Sings Ballads and Folksongs, Janet Smith's The Unicorn, and Tut Taylor's Dobrolic Plectral Society. All very good, and very different. I like the cover of Rabindra record and figured it was groovy xian folk.

i love the tut taylor (& mike auldridge) dobro records on takoma. nice sound. been looking for the rita weill myself for a while!

Tom Akstens Original & Traditional Music is sort of a misleading titled knowing Takoma's roster. I figured it was going to be another guitar record. Instead it's very laid back rural folk rock. Produced by Artie Traum and recorded at Bearsville Sound with Jay Ungar, Neil Rossi, Billy Mundi,and Dick Fegy. I imagine it sounds like other Art Traum records, which are on my list of things to get. I really like the idea that John Fahey rubbed shoulders with the guys. The more of these Takoma one offs, I get like Homegas and Lawrence Hammond, the more I view Fahey differently. More relaxed I guess?

Also got mind of burned on The Possum Hunters record I was hoping to buy on ebay. The guy listed it at 29.99 or buy it now at 70.00. I missed the auction but saw no one bought it so I messaged the guy and asked him to relist it. He did for 70.00 buy it now.

Don't know if the Chris Darrow twofer reissue is still available, but here's how me and my coffee responded to it:
imported from Rolling Country 2009 (our discussion of early frontrunners of Country etc Top Ten:
Chris Darrow's twofer, s/t with Under My Own Disguise. from the early 70s, post- or late-psychedelic folk/country rock I'd say: he reaps the whirlwind, under inpenterable cloud cover, but re-orientation is no prob: dense but clear, as xgau said of Meltzer's best writing, And no up-in-lights oh wow factor, cause no lights. Lots of stuff going on, but mainly what gets me is voice-keyboards-bass-drums in the pocket, like on Fotheringay 2, Jessi Colter's Out Of The Ashes, Tell Tale Signs (and some other Dylan tracks, much older than Tell Tale Signs' outtakes, like "Ballad of a Thin Man"/"Dear Landlord"/"Down Along The Cove"/"If Dogs Run Free"/"Dirge") Vocally, a bit like Michael Nesmith, but this guy can hold a note as long as he wants to, and flex it too (might be some of that Middle Eastern in his alma mater, Kaleidoscope, but he always sounds like a cowboy, incl in UK with maybe some of the same people on Fotheringay 2, come to think of it-- although some of the "UK" vibe turns out to be from the L.A. sessions, and vice versa)
-dow

This was the CD, also a vinyl double, but expensive

Also, yall ever hear this? I haven't, but nice cover
http://image.bayimg.com/dacpmaadd.jpg

http://image.bayimg.com/dacpmaadd.jpg

What thu?? Never happened before--anyway, Peter Lang's the non-big name on there, but pretty good in a Fahey-esque way, on the albums I have heard--could say Fahey-wannabee, but got the spirit as well as the chops (without pretending he's got the mystic twin of JF), and I kinda prefer him to Kottke.

http://image.bayimg.com/dacpmaadd.jpg

http://mauivents.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/MAUIVENTS.jpg

look out now!
http://img2.wantitall.co.za/images/ShowImage.aspx?ImageId=Robbie-Basho-Seal-of-the-Blue-Lotus%7C61v2j91ioIL.jpg

love gets kinda crazy with a spooky little girl lak you
http://blog.wfmu.org/.a/6a00d83451c29169e2013488a45455970c-320wi

speaking of spooky, I've been wondering about this--anybody heard it??
http://pitchfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/content/1%C2%AA.jpeg

also wonder how this is
http://www.soundfinder.jp/img/products/102080/1318777200/4e9c16c6-73e4-45be-bb5d-512bcbb7dc63/592670.jpg

Anyone heard Scott MacDonald's Solitude? Is it new age?

man, i know almost none of these! someone make me a comp of takoma's greatest hits, plzzz?

i do have the fahey box set -- it's fab! some of it is the kinda thing you won't listen to more than once, but there are some things that are as good as anything he ever did. and some of the curiosities (like the session with flute) are surprisingly successful.

Yeah, and I may have missed it on this teeming thread, but have you linked yr re-post of the Fahey live at U of Washington tape yet?

no, i haven't -- get it here!
http://delta-slider.blogspot.com/2012/02/john-fahey-university-of-washington.html?spref=tw
seriously pretty amazing show. fahey goes deeeeep.

oh and he just posted two more fahey shows -- one at carnegie hall, of all places.
http://delta-slider.blogspot.com/2012/02/john-fahey-live-at-swarthmore-college.html

I'll can make a Takoma mix, give me a day to find the cord for my mixer.

my whimpering pays off! that'd be awesome, jacob.

ghostcapital.blogspot.com/2012/03/phil-yost-bent-city-takoma-records-c.html
yost up for DL. i assume this is out of print/never released on CD?

tyler my laptop had a coffee incident and I've had to put the takoma mix on hold, sorry. I do like that Phil Yost, Great beatnik folkie jazz, you see it on ebay sometimes. I wish I could find his second record.

ha, i'm on that parenting thread, i know you have bigger/better things to be doing with your time!

i have bent city.. it's fog hat ramble i really need! i like phil yost, his music is really awesome.

yeah, i'm liking it a lot thus far.

I never see Fog Hat Ramble, and I'm dying to know if he expands on the Bent City sounds or something else? Little info exist on him.

really digging Peter Lang lately! guy plays small cafe and club shows here in Mpls on the regular, i need to go see him...

also my friend took lessons from him, which WOW how cool would that be?