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

i guess my question to you ogmor is what is different about this current crop of 'clueless biters' versus fahey, basho, jack rose, etc... they're still subsuming and converting their influences into their music. so either they're doing it artlessly (unlike fahey and co) or my conception of them subsuming and converting their influences is erroneous- that the 'conversion' into something specifically unique might not be happening

i think part of what made fahey and basho unique was adapting unexpected material (fahey- classical, basho- persian/indian). but when unexpected material runs short in a media-saturated environment being 'unique' is harder to pull off. i'd say what jack rose did was unique was unabashedly melding basho/fahey/ragtime into his own stew. so once that's been done once, what is left?

*the thing jack rose did that was unique*, that should read, ugh, my brain aint workin today

I mean it's like, say, be-bop players if you put on jazz to lots of people well hey that sounds like jazz and it might be sonny stitt or it might be cannonball adderly to a square whereas to a real hip jazzbo beatnik reefer tokin' hepcat like myself each player takes a spin on the style that is personal

i personally use a lack of ability as a bulwark being a clueless biter, my mouth is to small to bite the gods

even though fahey's name is on the thread I think jack rose looms larger over a lot of this stuff. he was an amazing live performer and that stew was potent enough that a lot of people are still trying to recapture it. even just the sound of his guitar playing is influential. I guess his death softened my feelings about it a bit but at the time I was a bit unsure about some of jack rose's faheyisms, but I do think he employed them v knowingly and deliberately, all part of the stew

although I do think some of the stuff in this thread is egregiously derivative, even I still notice that there are still plenty of influences coming into this style from elsewhere, it's just not stuff I really care for, styles that sound a bit tired to me

also global check your ilxmail

"my mouth is too small to bite the gods" < this is mb the most wonderful thing I have read on ilx

yeah that was a great turn of phrase.

Just wanna say I am a fan of all of you folks. Also, I think Ogmor's statement "I still notice that there are still plenty of influences coming into this style from elsewhere, it's just not stuff I really care for, styles that sound a bit tired to me" is a key to an ability to enjoy any genre/era of music generally (considering the beginning of this thread some kind of "era" for the things we tend do discuss here for better or worse). Sometimes getting super-into a scene/genre/era of music can make it really difficult to enjoy later incarnations/expansions of/homages to that same kind of music. I have narrowed my listening over the years as there are some genres I worked through at a time in my life that I just get tired following now. I just don't have the appetite to hear, for instance, 25 years olds play vaguely power-poppy indie-rock style tunes no matter how well done. They could be pretty amazing at it, but man I just can't muster the energy to care. My ears get tired quickly with a lot of stuff these days are trying to parse out what thread of musical history a band/musician is playing off of to make what they are doing unique (cause every musician is unique in some way or another if you really listen) is not something I really care to do much these days. I do not find this as difficult with solo musicians, and personally I find the journey through the choices they make fun and enjoyable even when I don't find what they are doing mind-blowing or particularly fresh/new. Like, simple note choices and phrasing and even the simple sound of solo players I have a high tolerance for, but with bands I just find that I cycle through what they are doing really fast and can dismiss it super easily. Basically I like being a jerk about bands way more than I do folks in this area hah hah. I am glad that Ogmor is here to provide the counter to my inclinations and make me think a little harder about what I am responding to.

Uggh, so many typos. "... we tend to discuss", "... and trying to parse"

That was awkward. You know, The Smith Westerns were standing literally right behind you as you said all that.

Hah hah, I have never heard The Smith Westerns. I am fine with that. *listens pleasantly once more to an nth generation solo guitar tune*

(Young power pop bands look out into crowd anxiously, are saddened to see the seat "Reserved for grandavis" remains empty... yet again)

"Waiting For Grandavis" would probably be a boring movie.

Wow I almost forgot to mention I received the new Glenn record in the mail yesterday! I love the notes he provides about each track (as he's always done of course).

FYI, listening to a forthcoming solo guitar record with all kinds of nature sounds and i'm loving it! LOVING IT.

Can't be more specific?

I like this North Country Primitive mix, especially the Matt Sowell and Nic Garcia tracks. Never heard of either of these guys before. And Fosburgh is always good - love his track on here at the end.

xp yeah it's this Kristin Thora Haraldsdottir record coming out on vdsq in a little while. Sounds pretty nice in the first go-round.

Oh ok I'll check that out! Thought maybe it was secret...

grandavis sounding lush here!
https://daisqueue.bandcamp.com/album/dais-queue-live-3-9-2016-2

Oh hey, thanks global, I appreciate it. Decided to mix in the electric 12 string. Thanks for tuning in.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2016/03/16/guitarist-glenn-jones-opens-new-possibilities/2rV8OBHka0N3oH9acdr55N/story.html

Nice to see Glenn get a lot of press for this record. Well-earned for all the efforts he has been involved in over the years.

I don’t mind if the birds and the insects or whatever else are bleeding onto the track. I think that really adds something to it, rather than takes away from it.

contentious statements from glenn

on that same note, i went to see matmos this week and it reminded me that most of my home recordings have washing machine/dryer/furnace noise on them. it's not birds & wind but it's ambient noise. i kinda like it even if it's not technically as pretty as cicadas or w/e.

That approach matches his style. Others benefit from studio environments. Depends on the material and the intention!

Really like this run down of playing in an alternate tuning:

"There are guys and gals that have spent their lives playing standard tuning and never have gotten to the bottom of it. It’s an incredible mystery, and there’s just so much theory and so much you can do with it. But I have a hard time composing in standard tuning. Maybe it’s just because I kinda feel like, well it’s G chord but I don’t own this G chord — it kind of was there before me, it will be there after I’m gone. In non-standard tunings I may be hitting on the occasional G chord, but somehow I feel I own that G chord, because I got to it in such a roundabout way and had to dig my way through the underbrush and all that stuff. It’s a different experience. So putting those kind of obstacles in my path, the pieces that I compose become a way of navigating a new and unfamiliar landscape."

Ditto Glenn.

Yeah, my own stumbled upon tunings feel proprietary to me. And there's something new and exciting about them, where I don't know what I'm playing but it sounds good. When I hear a straightforward standard tuning folk song played with basic chords and there isn't an atmosphere/energy that is compensating for that generic simplicity than I am usually really bored by it. Alt tunings can provide a bit of magic.

then*

listening to a new danny paul grody tape and it's got some nice birdcall kinda things happening on one track. makes me think of john martyn's "small hours."

My god, what a track. The story of its creation only adds to its genius.

This live version is astounding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYLVM560Fok

Fack me. I deliberately tried to add that as a 'no embed.' Apologies.

Oh, the new Chris Forsyth is out? :D

it's pretty good, need some more time with it. solar motel is an all-time favorite though, not sure if he'll top that.

"High Castle Rock" was a ton of fun. It's all I've heard so far from it.

As already stated, the new Glenn Jones is great. Digging the Ilyas Ahmed + Golden Retriever = Dreamboat LP too.

(and it's from last year but I've just found out about that Seabuckthorn album, it's very nice too)

YES, loving the Dreamboat album!

this is the best thread on ilx

:)

Really like this run down of playing in an alternate tuning:

"There are guys and gals that have spent their lives playing standard tuning and never have gotten to the bottom of it. It’s an incredible mystery, and there’s just so much theory and so much you can do with it. But I have a hard time composing in standard tuning. Maybe it’s just because I kinda feel like, well it’s G chord but I don’t own this G chord — it kind of was there before me, it will be there after I’m gone. In non-standard tunings I may be hitting on the occasional G chord, but somehow I feel I own that G chord, because I got to it in such a roundabout way and had to dig my way through the underbrush and all that stuff. It’s a different experience. So putting those kind of obstacles in my path, the pieces that I compose become a way of navigating a new and unfamiliar landscape."

Ditto Glenn.

― grandavis, Thursday, March 17, 2016 11:58 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can't find the quote but iirc Ackerman said something similar about open tunings, saying it's a more creative way of composing or something

A friend grew out his beard and looks identical to Robbie basho. It's very eerie..,

fleeting is so intimate and sensitive. he's gone nuts for that half capo, used on every song, refreshing to hear someone play everything tight and delicate instead of vast reverberating open tunings

Spokane River Falls has to be one of his best pieces. Too good

this is just gorgeous, keep playing it over&over because it flows so beautifully. I've never loved the banjo as much as the guitar and I've had mixed feelings about instrumental banjo before but it sounds so tender on this record and it bleeds into the guitar so gracefully. I think glenn's written better/grander/more impressive individual pieces on other records but I think this is probably the best album he's done. such a gift. I'm aware of how corny and naive it sounds but I always think it when I listen to him: there is so much humanity in his playing; there is no way a bad person could make music like this

don't want to dwell too much on the idea of a pantheon or w/e but in terms of sensitivity, he's up there with fahey & basho, and sensitivity is the key thing. there's no more inviting guitarist around at the moment, he treats his listeners so well

Just ordered it from Thrill Jockey on yellow vinyl. Eagerly anticipating next week's mail deliveries now.

"I'm aware of how corny and naive it sounds but I always think it when I listen to him: there is so much humanity in his playing; there is no way a bad person could make music like this"

Again, him and his wife were so sweet to us when he played our wedding (she came along). Just two of the nicest people I've ever met.

Got blazed and listened to Avocet tonight. Nice record, though I'm not sure I love it as much as you guys (yet?). I realize I'm probably not as intimately familiar with Jansch's solo career as some of you, but this one definitely feels like an anomaly to me, what with the chorus effects on the guitar and that one (vibe-destroying) solo piano track (I also could have done without the flutes, but that's a personal bias!). It's a record I will definitely be going back to, as there are some really nice tunes (the aforementioned "Kingfisher," "Kittiwake") and some little corners my ears need to further explore; you'll notice upthread I wasn't immediately sold on Gimmer, either, and now I'm playing it every day. This one feels like a grower, too.

― Wimmels, Wednesday, March 2, 2016 9:26 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

As predicted, the more I listen to this, the more I enjoy it, so much so that I finally bit the bullet and bought a (very expensive) LP copy. I still think the shorter tracks on side 2 are sort of the sleeper tracks--I prefer them to the title track, which is maybe too sprawling in places?--but it's definitely been on regular rotation the past week or so.

Which just confirms my longstanding belief that you can't really make a decision about a record until you've heard it more than once. This gets harder to do every day, but I find, increasingly, that it is the records I make the most time for (even the ones I don't love immediately) that stick with me and don't get shelved after a week or two.

yep yep and yep. Multiple listens aren't the fly in the ointment, they ARE the ointment if that makes any sense.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/half-love-blind-joe-death-14187.html

This thread (I think?) got me listening to Duck Baker, who provided a gateway to a lot of stuff on the Kicking Mule label. I've found that LPs on this label can be had almost anywhere for $5-$10 apiece, including some really cool instructional ragtime / fingerstyle LPs. I always wrote Grossman off as a guy who understood Fahey's technique, but played with none of his heart or imagination. Recent listening to some of his solo work like Yazoo Basin Boogie and Acostic Music For The Body & Soul (and duos with Renbourn) have me reevaluating a bit. Also, there are a lot of guys on this label I've never heard of (Dale Miller? Leo Wijnkamp Jr? Dave Evans?). Seems like an untapped, err, market. I'm sure there are people on this thread who know far more about this label than I do. Anything I should avoid?

i think Paul Metzger has spoken highly of Duck Baker, hadn't even heard of Fahey when he originally started his banjo excursions