American Primitive

The label American Primitive gets applied ever and ever more loosely. Typically it's slapped on to anyone slavishly copying John Fahey's pioneering fingerstyle acoustic guitar playing from the '60s/70s. It's exceedingly rare to find anyone stretching the boundaries, but James Blackshaw's majestic "Spiraling Skeleton Memorial" is a good example. A Bandcamp reviewer steered readers to Danny Paul Grody's Between Two Worlds, for instance, but the only engaging track I found was the dense, beautiful "Time Spirals"...



I think Fahey himself would've encouraged the likes of Tashi Dorji, a guitarist from Asheville, NC, who employs extended technique and a contact mic in his solo guitar excursions. "hills rose up golden" is from his self-titled cassette, also available as a download from his Bandcamp site...



I also found Cian Nugent from Dublin, Ireland, lumped in with the american primitives. Despite copping visually from Neil Young and Crazy Horse on the cover, his wonderful guitar playing on this Matador single instantly brings Tom Verlaine to mind, as well as Roger McGuinn and Richard Thompson. Definitely gonna keep up with this guy in the future...



A reminder: when you buy songs or albums from Bandcamp, the artist receives 85% of the money! It's a terrific way to support independent musicians so they continue to do what they do best...

Tim Gilbride

American Folklore! Teenage Mysticism! Nouveaunoise!

A lot of listening went into this post and into the flow of songs, as if this were a radio show. If you can be indulgent for a half an hour, listen to each song completely and start the next player as the last song ends. I'm hoping to give you a pure, radio-like experience, discovering new favorite songs out of nowhere.  Some of the lower-fidelity recordings sound vastly improved if you'll take the time to listen with good headphones or patch into a stereo with good speakers. All these songs were found on the Bandcamp website, where truly independent artists have staked out space to offer their recordings for sale.

Dimmer is from New Zealand. I suspect Shayne Carter has a record or two by Wire in his collection...


Nouveaunoise from Dublin, a glitched-up "Revolution No. 9" played by Chic...



"Sunday Pornography" is messed up in a good Neil Youngish way. It starts slow, and it's kind of ugly, and the lyrics crack me up. It's been playing in my head all week. Mother McKenzie is Wyatt McKenzie, who hails from Las Vegas...



Somebody I used to work with asserted that I played music just so I could make up funny band names, so how could I pass up a band called Teenage Mysticism? A hook-laden, gently rockin' song of unrequited teenage lust...



American Folklore, another band name I had to investigate. "Smoke" is from the Sky Shivers LP, which I've been listening to all week. Shivers makes me think again of Neil Young, recording on a 4-track in his basement. Lucas Rambo's got that wide scope - gentle folk, crushing guitars, spooky reggae, sometimes all in the same song. (I chose gentler songs to post this time.) I think he might be Astrud Gilberto's grandson.



This desperate acoustic guitar instrumental from Chuck Johnson reminds me of Peter Lang, who recorded briefly for John Fahey's Takoma label in the '70's...



Minta & The Brook Trout are from Portugal. "The right boulevards" has beautiful harmonies and a sweet swaying 50's feel...



Another gem from Shana Cleveland's Oh, man, cover the ground LP...



Lastly, a sublime, wobbly vision from American Folklore...



http://dimmer-new-zealand.bandcamp.com/

http://nouveaunoise.bandcamp.com/album/goni-cinnte

http://mothermckenzie.bandcamp.com/album/sunday-pornography

http://joeydemarco.bandcamp.com/album/dead-channels

http://americanfolklore.bandcamp.com/album/sky-shivers

http://chuckjohnson.bandcamp.com/album/a-struggle-not-a-thought

http://minta.bandcamp.com/

http://shanacleveland.bandcamp.com/album/oh-man-cover-the-ground

Shana Cleveland, David Kilgour, Sally Fowler, and The Woolly Moon

Here's about a half-hour of songs I've been diggin' this week, all from the vast and unmapped
Bandcamp catalog. I'm most excited about discovering Shana Cleveland's music, which I clicked on merely because of the cover art. If you want to hear more by any of these artists and perhaps buy their music, click on their Bandcamp urls at the bottom, which'll take you to their homepage.
T i m















http://shanacleveland.bandcamp.com/

http://davidkilgour.bandcamp.com/

http://sallyfowler.bandcamp.com/

http://thewoollymoon.bandcamp.com/album/ylayali

Midget! Minisnap!

Lovely, mysterious song by new Belgian duo, Midget! From their debut EP, Lumière d'en Bas. New Zealand's MINISNAP seems to be New Zealand's The Bats, but shuffled around and performing songs by guitarist Kaye Woodward. "New Broom" sounds like springtime and it's the only pop song I can think of featuring Andean charango as a rhythm instrument...

Group Of The Altos, Milwaukee

Group Of The Altos (or 'Altos') are a 12-piece band from Milwaukee. Saw them live at the Rubber City Noise Cave in Akron, Ohio, about a month ago. There were a few guitarists, two drummers, a bassist, keyboardist, violinist, violist, and two trumpeters. Everyone in the band seems to sing. "never named" is my favorite track off their self-titled debut. Nice recording, by the way.

I should mention that I preview new music on the terrible computer speakers or using earbuds, but if it holds my interest, I patch it in to my mid-'80s stereo and listen on good Bose speakers.

Assateague, from San Fransisco