John Prine - Diamonds in the Rough

One of the finest moments from the late singer, released on Atlantic in 1972. There is more passion and booziness here than on his debut; many tracks speak of real pain ("whisky and pain, both taste the same..."). We can hear Prine's talent for inhabiting the lives of the downtrodden with great Christian empathy ('Billy the Bum') as well as his everyman philosophising, for example on 'The Late John Garfield Blues':

An old man sleeps with his conscience at night
Young kids sleep with their dreams
While the mentally ill sit perfectly still
And live through life's in-betweens

A1. Everybody
A2. The Torch Singer
A3. Souvenirs
A4. The Late John Garfield Blues
A5. Sour Grapes
A6. Billy The Bum
A7. The Frying Pan
B1. Yes I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You
B2. Take The Star Out Of The Window
B3. The Great Compromise
B4. Clocks & Spoons
B5. Rocky Mountain Time
B6. Diamonds In The Rough

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George Jones Salutes Hank Williams

Released in 1960 on Mercury, this is the first of two collections of Hank Williams material from George Jones (you can find 'My Favorites of Hank Williams' below). There are more lively dance tunes here than on the later collection, with Jones singing foot tapping Williams classics such as 'Hey Good Lookin'', 'Howling at the Moon', 'Settin' the Woods on Fire' and 'Jambalaya' alongside several crooned ballads. Jones' voice is less well rounded and confident here, sounding closer to his writer in his interpretation. This is not a drawback, though, as George Jones' Hank Williams impression is still better than any number of other singers. This is the 1984 reissue LP that unfortunately (and for no obvious reason) is missing two tracks from the original that you can see listed on the cover here: 'Window Shopping' and 'Nobody's Lonesome for Me'.

A1. Cold Cold Heart
A2. Hey Good Lookin'
A3. Howlin' At The Moon
A4. There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight
A5. Half As Much
B1. Jambalaya (On The Bayou)
B2. Why Don't You Love Me
B3. Honky Tonkin'
B4. I Can't Help It
B5. Settin' The Woods On Fire

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Mo・Te - Life in a Peaceful New World

Perhaps Fumiyuki Nagura best known release, this tape from 1996 is mixed from sounds taken from three self titled cassettes and remixed by American Tim Oliviera (Stimbox). Reverb drenched and atmospheric, the noise here paints a dystopian tapestry of fear and nuclear holocaust. Originally issued on Tim Oliviera's Hebi Like a Snake label in an edition of 50, and reissued as a CD in 2018 on Audio Dissection/Industrial Recollections.

A. Untitled
B. Untitled

mp3/v0

Gremlynz / Ajilvsga

Split between ambient/experimental project Gremlynz and psychedelic noise/drone duo Ajilvsga. Released on Canadian label Prairie Fire in 2010 in an edition of 85. The Gremlynz side is made up of calm but ominous drones, juxtaposing Ajilvsga's more dynamic feedback-based noise work on side B. 

A. Gremlynz - Bad Omens & Shit
B. Ajilvsga - Knee Prints Along The River Banks

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Ajilvsga - Three Heaps of Skulls

More from 2008 from Ajilvsga. Released on Philadelphia label Peasant Magik, which seems to have been inactive since 2012. Features heavy, natural sounding drone in their usual style with themes of conjuring pagan deities. Edition of 100.

A. Old God Wearing Deer Headress
B. Death God With Leg Terminating In Flower

mp3/160kbps

Ajilvsga - Last of the White Buffalo

Stunning psychedelic drone/noise from duo Brad Rose and Nathan Young. Released in 2008 at the peak of this project's run (it seems to be inactive now, sadly) on New York City-based experimental rock/folk/improv label Abandon Ship Records. The themes are deep, spiritual Americana with a focus on pagan rituals. The audio equivalent of an Alfred Jacob Miller painting. It is thick, heavy music with the perfect balance between noise and tone to create a hallowed natural sound.

A. Bloody Knife
B. Two Dead Buffalo

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Birth Refusal - 8621 Boyz

Birth Refusal is a collaborative project between Wolf Eyes members John Olson and Mike Connelly, active from 2003-2012. This tape was released in 2007 on American noise/experimental label Tapeworm Tapes. Features fairly sparse, slow moving noise with a lot of intricacy and detail.

A. Untitled
B. Untitled

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Robedoor - Hopeless Transformation

Heavy, psychedelic distorted drones from the experimental group. Released on California label Goaty Tapes in 2007. An interesting collage of sounds: noise creeps in through distortion as we hear repeating symbols, possibly vocal based drones, among others, working into a mesmering rhythm pattern.

A. Scaled Apparition
B. Violent Memory

mp3/256kbps

Hive Mind / Workbench - Flash Flood

Split 12" LP released on Greh Holder (Hive Mind)'s Chondritic Sound and Mike Bernstein (Workbench)'s Heavy Tapes in 2005. Looping, exploratory psych noise with some harsher parts.

A. Hive Mind - Untitled
B. Workbench - Untitled

mp3/192kbps

Haare - Psychedelic Funeral

Released in 2007 on Swedish noise/industrial label Abisko, which boasted releases from Mania, Government Alpha, Kakerlak, The Rita, Gelsomina, Jazkamer and Jarl. Appears to have been inactive since 2009. This particular release is typical of the hypnotic, mesemerising noise style of this project, with themes of paganism, psychedelia and death.

A. Psychedelic Funeral
B. Bardo Thodol

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Failing Lights - Black Swamps

Release from the Mike Connelly project on US-based cassette label Tapeworm Tapes in 2007 in an edition of 61. The sound is discrete, fuzzy, slow building distortion work.

A. Untitled
B. Untitled

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John Fahey - Days Have Gone By

Features some of John Fahey's most inspired playing and audio experimentation. On almost every song here we hear moments of music that defy the ordinary, being laid down like a true American storyteller - creating new ideas seemingly from nothing. It could be said, however, that the success of Fahey's playing lies in the general orthodoxy of his influences: "American Primitivism," a term he coined to describe his playing, is very illuminating. Fahey blends together what the average American would know well, from folk standards ('My Grandfather's Clock') to blues ('Joe Kirby Blues') to hymns ('My Shepherd Will Supply My Needs') to the national anthem of Finland ('We Would Be Building'). The building blocks of Fahey's genius are (almost) all immediately familiar, and this is perhaps how he taps into the 'myth' of America so powerfully. Here Fahey's playing begins to be enjoined with artfully placed reverb, the sounds of thunder, rain and trains; more that stuns us into a dreamlike state to be party to the intense relationship shared by the man and his guitar.

A1. Revolt Of The Dyke Brigade
A2. Impressions Of Susan
A3. Joe Kirby Blues
A4. Night Train Of Valhalla
A5. Portland Cement Factory At Monolith, CA
A6. A Raga Called Pat - Part One
B1. A Raga Called Pat - Part Two
B2. My Shepherd Will Supply My Needs
B3. My Grandfather's Clock
B4. Days Have Gone By
B5. We Would Be Building

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Jack Rose - Luck in the Valley

The late guitarist plays esoteric, eastern influenced blues pieces alongside traditional accompanied blues and country dance numbers in material recorded the year of his death. Rose always wore the influence of John Fahey on his sleeve (even if he rarely gave as much credit as was often due), and this is very clear here. Rose seems relaxed and easygoing for most of this record, with the click clack footstomping accompaniment (harmonica, jew's harp, banjo, bones) driving his playing and achieving a fine balance between down-home, unpretentious old fashioned blues playing and the more esoteric experiments of Fahey et al. It is a joy to hear Rose's final jam sessions on record even if this is not the cerebral exegesis of the man's talents we can find elsewhere in his discography.

A1. Blues For Percy Danforth
A2. Lick Mountain Ramble
A3. Woodpiles On The Side Of The Road
A4. When Tailgate Drops, The Bullshit Stops
A5. Moon In The Gutter
B1. Luck In The Valley
B2. Saint Louis Blues
B3. Tree In The Valley
B4. Everybody Ought To Pray Sometimes
B5. West Coast Blues

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Robbie Basho - The Voice of the Eagle

Released on the Vanguard label in 1972. Unlike 1974's 'Zarthus' (see below, also on Vanguard) Basho plays guitar exclusively here, although like as with 'Zarthus' he is joined by Ramnad Raghavan on mrdangam drum on some songs. There is much more of a focus here on Basho's vocal talents, and traditional style songs infused with the musician's uniquely big hearted new world spiritualism. 'Wounded Knee Soliloquy' and 'Moving Up a Ways' are excellent pieces that Basho would come to record again in later years.

A1. Voice Of The Eagle
A2. Wounded Knee Soliloquy
A3. Blue Corn Serenade
B1. Joseph
B2. Omaha Tribal Prayer
B3. Sweet Medicine
B4. Roses And Gold
B5. Moving Up A Ways

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George Jones - My Favorites of Hank Williams

A slightly superior successor to 1960's 'Salutes Hank Williams' on Mercury. Here Jones focuses more on songs of heartbreak than good times and happiness. His voice is at its peak and adds a whole new dimensions to the timeless songs of the great tragic country troubadour. The pain and tragedy in each of these songs comes out of every note; from the lonely fiddle, to the booming double bass, to Jones's dulcet tones.

A1. You're Gonna Change
A2. You Win Again
A3. Mansion On The Hill
A4. I Just Don't Like This Kind Of Living
A5. Lonesome Whistle
A6. Wedding Bells
B1. Your Cheating Heart
B2. They'll Never Take Her Love From Me
B3. I Heard You Crying In Your Sleep
B4. A House Without Love
B5. I Could Never Be Ashamed Of You
B6. Take These Chains From My Heart

mp3/320kbps

Maurizio Bianchi - Triumph of the Will

"Liebstandarte SS MB" was a moniker used by Come Organisation owner William Bennett to release the pioneering industrial/noise music of Maurizio Bianchi overlayed with National Socialist speeches and themes. Although Bianchi later denied involvement with these creative decisions, he did reissue the material intact. This is a gift: the speeches do nothing but intensify the sonic backdrop here, as ominous machinery grinds under powerful oratory. Released initially in 1981 as an LP and a cassette, it was reissued in 2013 and 2016 on Bianchi's menstrualrecordings label as a CD and 7" LP respectively. 

A. Triumph Of The Will
B. To Birkenau

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Othmar Schoeck - Venus

"On two successive nights - Geneva, 26 February, and Lausanne, 27 February - I attended performances in which a statue of Venus is a major participant. Othmar Schoeck's aptly entitled Venus is a conflation of short stories by the ill-assorted Merrimée and von Eichendorff, a combination which posed almost insuperable difficulties for the composer's librettist friend Armin Rüeger. Merrimée's anecdote concerns a recently uncovered statue of Venus which is given as a wedding present to a young man who becomes obsessed by it. Eichendorff's novella puts a metaphysical spin on the same basic narrative and it is the German poet's approach rather than the Frenchman's trivial narrative which clearly offered the major appeal. Mario Venzago's advocacy of his fellow countryman's music has been amply demonstrated with his 1992 recording of the work on the Swiss label MGB (CD 6112). At that time a few cuts were made due to the lack of agreement between orchestral and piano scores along with some verbal modifications to remove some of the librettists worst infelicities." (Joel Kasow. From CultureKiosque.)

Performers: Philharmonische Werkstatt Schweiz, Kammerchor Heidelburg, Knabenchantorei Basel, Mario Venzago

1.1. Orchester
1.2. Akt I: 'Frühling Hat Die Welt Erlöst'
1.3. Akt I: 'Simone, Geliebte!'
1.4. Akt I: 'Hörch, Wieder Singt Sie'
1.5. Akt I: 'Halt! Gemach, Sonst Stört Ihr Sie'
1.6. Akt I: 'Wer Vor Dem Heidentum Erschrickt'
1.7. Akt I: 'Au! Verflucht'
1.8. Akt I: 'Rosen Und Lilien Sollen Dich Kränzen'
1.9. Akt I: 'Nehmt Die Angst Der Guten Kinder Nicht Zu Ernst'
1.10. Akt I: 'Ach, Mich Fürchtet Fast Zu Sagen'
1.11. Akt I: 'Göttliches Hab'ich Verglichen'
1.12. Akt I: 'Küsst Euch Ihr Biden'

2.1. Akt II: 'Eins, Zwei, Drei'
2.2. Akt II: 'Das Brautpaar'
2.3. Akt II: 'Habt Erbarmen, Dunkle Mächte'
2.4. Akt II: 'Wo Weilest Du, Mein Geliebter'
2.5. Akt II: 'Seht Die Beiden Eng Umschlungen'
2.6. Akt II: 'Welch Mir Vertrautes Antlitz'
2.7. Akt II: 'Amor Ist Uns Durchgebrannt'
2.8. Akt II: 'Pah! Dieser Ring Soll Dich Nicht Stören'
2.9. Akt II: 'Blinde Lieb' Am Gängelband'
2.10. Akt II: 'Ein Neidliches Spiel'
2.11. Akt II: 'Was Gabs? Wer Schrie?'
2.12. Akt II: Gewitter
2.13. Akt III: 'Der Mondschein Narrte Mich'
2.14. Akt III: 'Seltsame Worte Eines Jungen Gatten'
2.15. Akt III: 'Die Einz'ge Tugend Ist: Ergriffen Sein'
2.16. Akt III: 'So Höre!'
2.17. Akt III: 'Bin Ich Verloren?'
2.18. Akt III: 'Neffe, Trit Nur Auch Heran'
2.19. Akt III: 'Venus, Sei Mir Gnädig'
2.20. Akt III: 'Die Arme Welt Träumt Nur Davon'

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Othmar Schoeck - Elegie

"The Elegy op. 36 for baritone and chamber orchestra was created between 1921 and 1923. It is Schoeck’s first lieder cycle after he had written a great number of single lieder before. The cycle opened a new dimension of creativity to him. In it he was able to show the emotional developing process of the lyrical ego in a way that would not have been possible without the cyclic structure.

"In his Elegy Schoeck combined 24 poems by Nikolaus Lenau (18) and Joseph von Eichendorff (6), the arrangement of which re-enacted the experience of the lyrical ego from memory, like love and memory, farewell, sorrow and melancholy and loneliness, the transfiguration of pain in the face of death, and the consolation of the world. The seasons and natural phenomenons symbolically serve as an emotional reflection of the lyrical ego, as the wanderer thematic symbolizes his indefatigable longing and persuit.

"Schoeck consciously choose lyrics with a confessional character. In them he digested his own and unrequited love to a young pianist from Geneva.

"Furthermore the unity of the cycle results from its frame structure. The unforgotten love affair is embedded in a second subject area containing the existential subject of the poet, which consists of the conflict between general expectation and his own feeling and the obsession to have to write poetry. This problem can also be associated with Schoeck’s biography, which was a musical tightrope walk between tradition and modern age and the effort to maintain his point of view in a time of fast and progressive development." (Marina Staude, tr. Winfried Maas. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Mutare Ensemble, Gerhard Müller-Hornbach, Klaus Mertens

1. Wehmut
2. Liebesfrühling
3. Stille Sicherheit
4. Frage Nicht
5. Warnung Und Wunsch
6. Zweifelnder Wunsch
7. Waldllied
8. Waldgang
9. An Den Wind
10. Kommen Und Scheiden
11. Vesper
12. Herbstklage
13. Herbstgefühl
14. Nachklang
15. Herbstgefühl
16. Das Mondlicht
17. Vergangenheit
18. Waldlied
19. Herbstentschluß
20. Verlorenes Glück
21. Angedenken
22. Welke Rose
23. Dichterlos
24. Der Einsame

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Visions & Phurpa - Monad

Collaboration between German dark ambient musician Frederic Arbour and Russian Buddhist chant group Phurpa, released on Berlin (formerly Montreal) label Cyclic Law in 2018. The familiar tantric overtone singing (the style known as 'gyukye') is present here alongside the primitive instrumentation Phurpa offers, but we find it within a vast primordial space created by Arbour. This high fidelity, modern sound world offers an interesting juxtaposition to the analogue simplicity of Phurpa's usual approach.

1. Ascendance
2. Fohat
3. Monad
4. Reminiscense

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The North Sea - Praise Be to God, Emmanuel

The North Sea is a solo project of Ajilvsga's Brad Rose. This was released on the Seattle-based label Further Records in 2010. Being Rose's personal vehicle this project has seen a lot of development and variety: from the earlier free folk acoustic-oriented material to stripped down Ajilvsga-esque psych drone releases, to unique material such as this. We're presented with ebullient major key synths and a litany of bubbling, swirling noise and distortion. Welcome sounds on Easter Sunday.

A. Untitled
B. Untitled

mp3/128kbps

S·Core - Morbid Moppets

Cassette release from Yutaka Tanaka, on his own Afflict Records/Trinity Production labels. S·Core is typically varied; we can hear murky, ominous atmosphere as well as fuzzy, hypnotising rhythm-based sections. Looking at the track titles and the cover image here we can extrapolate an eastern spiritual theme. We see a grinning, muscular entity holding a lamp as if in service of something even more terrible. These ritualistic sounds perhaps give us an ear into that evil spiritual realm.

A. The Afterimage
B1. Critiscism
B2. Reddish-Black
B3. Sutra
B4. The Far East

mp3/320kbps

Robedoor - Sloths in Thrones

'Psychedelic' noise from experimental American rock group Robedoor, released on Greh Holder's Chondritic Sound label as a mini CDr in 2005. Features low, primal drones layered with crashing waves of static and roaring vocal performances.

1. Sloths In Thrones
2. Torpor As Lord

mp3/v1

James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game

Released in 2009 on Michael Gira's Young God Records label. Blackshaw is in excellent form, playing engaging and emotive fingerstyle guitar as well as piano and harmonium, with occasional accompaniment from voice, cello and clarinet. The playing manages very well to tread the middle ground between more dissonant, cerebral music of some in this style and the more roots-focused folk/blue playing of others. Blackshaw creates a musical world that is entirely his own, weaving musical narrative threads that a rewarding and complex, but that we can easily follow.

1. Cross
2. Bled
3. Fix
4. Key
5. Arc

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Robbie Basho - Zarthus

The second of two releases by Basho on the Vanguard label, following 1972's 'The Voice of the Eagle'. This is richly inspired music. Basho (on guitar and piano) drifts from the Cedars of God in Lebanon ('Khalil Gibran') to eastern spiritual sounds ('Khoda é Gul é Abe'), joined by mrdangam drum player Ramnad Raghavan. There is a fine balance here between the guitarist's introspective, finely intricate instrumental pieces and his vocal pieces; the latter bearing closer similarity to traditional western song structure. It is hard not to miss that this is very serious music from a deeply spiritual man, in spite of the various new age trappings here.

1. Zarthus
2. Khoda É Gul É Abe
3. Mehera
4. Khalil Gibran
5. Bride Divine
6. Rhapsody In Druz: Main Theme; Wine Section; Flower Of The Heart; The Flight; Nightingale; Darshan; Ocean Section; Allah Meher; Ships; Baba's Mountain; Look Into Your Heart; March; Rolling Home

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Robbie Basho - Visions of the Country

"I would paint for you a portrait of North America as a beautiful woman, when she was young and untamed, untrammeled upon and unshamed. Her discipline was natural, her modesty overwhelming. And in the morning she would wash the burning face of the sun with her loving mist and comb his auburn hair with balsam fur: and he would smile upon her, and the day would begin and she would spread her apron for all to gather round her and she would feed the deer and the birds and share her loving heart with all creation. And with breakfast done, she would take her waterjar across her shoulders and off to the fields she would go; the seeds of corn and squash to sow, and she would raise her head to watch the forests weave their silent singing o'er the wind; and she would tickle the streams with magic fingers and feel the waters flow and know the humor of their coursing. And up, up into the afternoon she would saunter, the sweat won her brow, and past the jagged rocks, and past the balsam boughs, and in the shade of cedar she would stop to rest perchance to pray. Could see forget the warmth of sun against her breast all day, and cool of moon against her eyes at night, and sight has fallen into sleep and keep: and awake! and shake! and clear! and down and deep she wonders with the deer, and suppertime is drawing near; and dear it is the broth of sky she drinks and sweet the taste of buttered sun before he sinks (beyond the horizon), ..... and twilight winks his way into her watchful heart, and start the song. For in the evening she would sing oh so sweetly that entire earth would turn on its side the better to hear her: and moon would place his palm against his cheek and weep with deep emotion: for he was an old fellow with white hair, and she made him forget the distance of eons and eons and neutrons and protons. And of course this happened a long time ago before the age of tempered steel and ruffled lace, and outer space. But one can still hear her singing in the high countries of the heart and in the vast canyons of constant memory where the life of a single being is not forgotten nor forsworn and somewhere a child is both, and no where is the blanket torn between thee and me and shining sea and God knows 

earth calls
rain falls
corn grows

loloma, loloma, loloma         kwak kwal" (Robbie Basho. From the liner notes.)

A1. Green River Suite
A2. Rodeo
A3. Rocky Mountain Raga
A4. Variations On Easter
A5. Blue Crystal Fire
B1. Orphan's Lament
B2. Leaf In The Wind
B3. Night Way
B4. Elk Dreamer's Lament
B5. Call On The Wind

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