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

Awww thanks Sleeve and UMS. I am doing alright all things considered, hope you are as well. Just been spending less time online if I can, and ILM was one of the things that took a hit. Always a fan of this thread and those of you who check in here of course.

hello grandavis!

been digging Old Saw as well — definitely in the Pelt zone, but with some differences too.

More of that Jack Rose rarity stuff has dropped — all pretty great: https://new.sound-o-mat.com/downloads.php

and though most of this is probably familiar to y'all, I'll just leave it here: https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2022/01/04/new-transfigurations-recent-recommended-21st-century-guitar-music/

Oh cool, that is a good list. A couple of things for sure I haven't checked out yet.

Old Saw album sounds v nice.

Mary Lattimore & Paul Sukeena

West Kensington

Three Lobed Recordings

20 May 2022

It is shocking what your mind will choose to forget. Almost always it needs a tear, a clean dash, a straight passage into what you’ve already known. Looking back, West Kensington has achieved that very goal: creating a landscape for memory, an imprint of that horizon, suspended in the cosmos.

I heard it in real-time, percolating against our shared apartment wall. The assembly of sounds was a comfort; a welcome change during what felt like a fresh era entirely. Like the comets we see every so often, it’s the streak of some long-ago awe that we try to comprehend. So much space, so much reach and so far; so much weight hanging in the dark sky. And the reasons we missed the comet – and why – become the moments we remember most.

Welcome to The Unknown. “Hundred Dollar Hoagie” is a slap across the face, our new normal. The weight of Lattimore’s harp is our hull, her tones steadying the ship’s course. Sukeena’s guitar is our intrepid guide, as terrified as us. All at once, the things that seem so familiar, appear so far away. The mid-record swells for “Didn’t See The Comet” like a hall pass for a coastal drive. The chimes in “Flaming Cherries Jubilee at Antoine’s” tell us it’s going to be OK. Permission to land has been granted. The ambient noise dissipates and like a futuristic prelude to Koyaanisqatsi, the chords of the harp conjure a feeling of togetherness and intentional greeting resembling Philip Glass after loads of red wine. These are the tiny holes in the dark.

…Time as a constellation.

A constellation is only recognized when its stars are aligned: those bright spots, seemingly neighbors beside each other, yet billions of miles apart. The matrix of light is abstracted and creates a new name. What if our memories did the same? Our stained fingertips made stained fingerprints on our foreheads from the garage wine we made together. The cosmic blue-tipped crest of the waves on that warm night, all aglow but not for us. Our memories as gas giants, fleeting supernovas that when glared at, only become more intense and abstract.

In “Altar of Tammy”, the sky sinks to indigo and we know there will be another one of these days. Sukeena lets his guitar drone…reminding us of this truth. Like a forced smile, Lattimore swings her notes where our hearts want to go: there can’t only be darkness – there can’t only be smoke. We can’t be the only ones in this expanse, gaze fixed. There is an absence of ‘noise’ here, aside from the click of a pedal. Where did we go in 2020? What did we do? Why did we cry together, on the porch, looking out? On the days we couldn’t go outside, West Kensington is proof there was music created and it felt like something real; and the jacaranda tree had a soundtrack to drop its leaves to.

…Things had better work here, because here is where we run out of space.

As we reach the end of the journey, “Garage Wine” arrives. Here is a glimpse of hope and a nod to the freedom we never saw coming. We traveled so far and have reached the edge only to realize that there was never a map. We were only using our gestures as directional guides, our hands moving toward one another in hi def. Using these earthly makings of strings and tubes, West Kensington takes us to that cosmic latitude of memory, and the ride is a healing one. As it goes with the passing comet, the songs are a reminder that we are here, making those vibrations into nothingness together. And it is brilliant.

Nicky Devine

January 2022

Saw Glenn Jones play last month. My wife thought he was great (I thought he was pleasant enough). Opener Jordan Perry was more jazzy

https://richardthompson.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-grizzly-man/

Great stuff

I haven't even seen the movie but that album is really good! Reminds me of Frisell.

I don't know if he completely fits in with this thread, but I've been blow away by the Duncan Marquiss (formerly of the Phantom Band) solo album, sort of like Bert Jansch gone Popol Vuh.

yeah that record is fantastic — definitely has some Bad Timing moments.

Definitely hearing some Durutti in this Duncan Marquiss album, too. Great find. Thanks

thanks for rec, been in a rut finding new stuff to listen to generally

another semi-recent one I've been enjoying: https://ayalsenior.bandcamp.com/album/az-yashir

this duncan marquiss reminds me of the recent release by ezra feinberg, which i really enjoyed

thanks tyler! checking that out next

Yeah, it is reminiscent of that Feinberg record, which was also great.

just put on duncan marquiss so i'm only on the first track BUT — have ya'll heard date palms? big time catchy drone vibes.

was just thinking about Date Palms yesterday for the first time in a while ... love 'em

okay after taking in the whole thing, the rest of that duncan marquiss isn't in the same vein as the first droney track at all.

it gets way better.☺ thanks jon for the word.

the transition from about the last minute of "c sweeps" into the first 30 seconds of "fixed action patterns" is an absolutely perfect moment.

this album is really good.

Yeah, it really reveals quite a few different moods, it's wonderful. Thanks for the tip on Date Palms! Not sure how I missed that one because it came out right when I was big into Thrill Jockey stuff, but I remedied that today and placed an order before I was two tracks into sampling it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugptv2YCIV0

gonna check that later, evan. thanks!

nothing new, but did ya'll like pullman? listening to the second album again this morning. so effortlessly pleasant.

Happy New Joseph Allred Album Day

Sea of Stars, the new solo Matthew J. Rolin thing on Ryley Walker's label is gorgeous, really love it. One forty minute track of 12-strong guitar beauty.

the new solo Matthew J. Rolin thing on Ryley Walker's label

When I was looking into that the other week it reminded me to check up on what Husky Pants has been doing lately and there's another recent good guitar record by Moon Bros called "Le Jaz Mystique"

https://moonbros.bandcamp.com/album/le-jaz-mystique

That Moon Bros. was cool, thanks for the pointer. Had seen that name bumping around for a while but hadn't checked any out until now. Very nice action on it.

Not sure who is checking in here these days (certainly not me much, but that is just due to me trying to be online a bit less, not due to not liking this site any more or anything ...)

Anyway, just wanna say congrats to global and UMS as those two Cassini tracks RIP! Really cool mix of lots of winning moves, and great playing all around.

For any not tagging along already, you can go dive in over here:

https://cassinimpls.bandcamp.com/releases

Truly enjoyable, I imagine anyone who still checks in with this thread will find tons to like about it.

thanks grandavis!!! our couple shows this weekend felt amazing, they were recorded too. a lot more to come, including a duo mostly-acoustic LP that bandmate and pal m*tt be*chey are really proud of under 'slow clarity' moniker

Hell yeah man, all great to hear! Look forward to listening to all of it! Very psyched on that duo LP!

All those folks (Jon Camp/The Caribbean folks) are buddies who I have played with multiple times, so I wish I could have made it. Looked like a great line-up.

I need to do something with my life...

Looking forward to listening thanks for the heads up grandavis!

this Cassini shit RULES and reminds me of the mighty F/i in places, damn y'all

just played it on actual FM radio earlier today if u check Spinitron dot com for KWVA at 5 PM

Hah sure thing, I thought many who have tagged along with this thread over the years would enjoy it, but honestly it rules as just plain good rock music regardless of the fact that it has two of the people who regularly post(ed) in this thread involved. It has way more energy and legit cool guitar moves (coming from many good angles, I especially like that it is a bit raw and barely-contained at times, keeps it from sounding too "nice" to me). Gonna have to check out F/i Sleeve!

May as well throw one of my own things here, which I used to do, but I actually got a little write-up for one of my releases in Bandcamp Daily recently too.

https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-experimental/the-best-experimental-music-on-bandcamp-june-2022

Anyone who cares here probably knows kind of what I get up to when I play, but this one I think is probably my best effort yet of making more of an "album" as opposed to just doing what I do when I play live.

If I was a label I would be trying to get you Cassini boys to lay out a full length. Maybe that is in the works. Hope so ....

like grandavis i've been trying to pull back from the internet/social media in general but global showed me this and wanted to pop in and say thanks so much to everyone for the kind words of support. (and sleeve for playing us!)

we have a ton of recorded practices, a reel to reel recording, live stuff, and a brief studio date so hopefully more to come.

the shows were so fun with a great sense of community. i really love playing in this band, it always feels pretty natural. at our best i think we hit an odd mix of heavy psych freakout, jamming and midwestern classic rock moves

also, the little community within a community of the ilm post fahey threads has been pretty influential to me as a listener and musicians, always been nothing but enthusiasm and good vibes, so thanks to you all

also for anyone in the twin cities area, the lakeside guitar festival is a cool free outdoor event at como lake park, this year paul metzger and james blood ulmer (!!!) are playing

https://allevents.in/st%20paul/lakeside-guitar-festival/200022951741534

I've fallen out of the loop with regards to a lot of experimental music (time, mainly); I'm pretty much off the socials these days and I miss the steady drip of stuff from this thread (always one of the best places on the web to find new music). Loving both these new things. I need more skronk and guitar turbulence in my life!

Glad to hear there are quite a few recordings UMS. I think you all definitely hit a sweet spot with what you are doing.

This thread (and its earlier incarnation) certainly were influential to me too. Found out about a ton of cool stuff here and always found it to be one of the healthier/friendlier/more interesting places to talk about a lot of this stuff. Honestly in the early days, which woulda been 2012 or 2013 or so (hard to believe) I think this thread was very much ahead of the curve and was a great place to discover and share stuff, but at a certain point a lot of the folks we discuss here were getting covered pretty much everywhere so I think I personally felt a bit less of a need to post. But yeah posting less generally also. Just trying to be online a bit less.

Realize I posted a Bandcamp thing, which isn't necessarily showing my album right away. For those interested here is the tape itself:

https://oxtailrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/i-live-here

All solo electric guitar built from one-take improvisations and tracks. Will have a companion that is all acoustic hopefully out sometime this year. Always think of this place fondly, maybe we will find some good records to throw down here soon enough.

I love posts like that^^ and is a great thread for the sort.

Aww cool.

I think we have been a good, non-gatekeep-y place to share stuff (fuck gatekeeping). It is funny, I remember a moment early on where a musician who posted here suggested we stick to covering "known commodities" or heavy hitters or some such early on, and it never made sense to me. Why not be a conduit for what is happening instead of trying to make cuts to the flow in real time? I think we took the right approach by just sharing enthusiastically, including when someone from the thread got something out into the world (some seriously good records too).

who are the 'heavy hitters' in a 'genre' of like 87 people who all know each other online lol

I think some guy named jean fayhee?

I showed dbh to Glenn when we got lunch a few weeks ago but then I realized I haven’t been paying attention to his work since 2015’s Mood album. I do feel out of the loop and need to get back on track knowing what is relatively hot in the genre among the 87 participants.

oh no i went back to the first ILX brigade thread, we are approaching the ten-year anniversary in december

Hah hah the person who had suggested sticking to "heavy hitters" certainly knows this ... and yet seemed to think we were ranging too wide (or just didn't want anyone posting their own music, though really not worth going into too much, it was just a rare moment where the "reason" for the thread was discussed).

I forgot that Glenn has a new album coming! Hope I get to see him play live sometime in the not-too-distant future.

It's already out!

https://glennjones.bandcamp.com/album/vade-mecum

To clarify I was referring to not paying attention to dbh, not Glenn.

Oh yeah, I got it! And apparently I am lagging in my attention to Glenn hah hah. Somehow I lost track that it was out already, look forward to diving in.

just went back to the OG thread for the first time in forever and LOLd at this:

"Hon, what time did you go to bed last night?"

"Uh ... 3 a.m."

"What!?"

"Yeah, well, I was past deadline on one assignment and had another due first thing this morning but instead of working on either I ended up reading an entire thread on ILM about modern acoustic guitar wizards, Fahey disciples, drone-folk dudes and the like. And listening to lots of Soundclouds and Youtubes and stuff."

*blank stare*

― alpine static, Wednesday, March 13, 2013 1:27 AM (nine years ago)

Short version: Killer thread, folks. Bookmarked, for sure.

― alpine static, Wednesday, March 13, 2013 1:31 AM (nine years ago)

Ah hah hah!

hahaha, and this:

man, i'm having a mild midlife crisis and I just wanna quit my job and start a band and make music like global's "Cassini"

― alpine static, Monday, October 27, 2014 10:14 PM (seven years ago)

if only i'd known that mild midlife crisis would blossom into a full-blown existential death spiral fueled by growing older, mortality, parenthood, a job change, loss of identity, climate anxiety, pandemic unease, isolation and general saudade.

but "Cassini" is still a ripper!