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viewing 1 To 25 of 364 items
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Cassette
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FTR 384CS
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"This new tape by Asheville NC's Tashi Dorji is a hard-edged suite for solo acoustic guitar recorded in the depths of the Plague. Because I've been listening to Remko Scha a lot lately, it's impossible for me to not-imagine the music here (especially the title track) as an extension of the marvelous Machine Guitar works by that great Dutch artist. Tashi is known for creating harsher acoustic tones then many of his contemporaries, but that often seems more based on his decisions to constantly disrupt melodic expectations inside his work. On dead cities lie buried... his approach has a massive circular logic, in which small sonic events take place behind a revolving, repetitive waterfall of cascading notes. The other pieces on the tape offer variations on this technique, although even through repeated listening, there is something about the first piece that really gives a heightened sense of otherness. Of course, all of Tashi's work, whether solo or not, rarely takes any easy or well-trammeled pathways. This is true on the three LPs we have done with him -- Manas (FTR 208LP, 2015), Manas III (FTR 330LP, 2017), and Mette Rasmussen/Tashi Dorji (FTR 403LP, 2018) -- but you knew that. Tashi is always worth hearing in any performance format, and dead cities lie buried... is another triumph for the meat wheel of eternity, and a damn fine listen." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 607LP
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"We are most pleased to present the seventh LP by The Doozer, now based in Edinburgh, but still creating a sound we feel has deep roots in Cambridge, England. is a somewhat sparser trip than his last album, 2018's Figurines (FTR 360LP), but the quality of the songs will be balm to those who have missed his presence. With gentle accompaniment from multi-instrumentalist Ben Kingsbury, Lance Whitehead and Eddie Goodban, the tracks here were recorded in Edinburgh in the summer of 2019, before the shit hit the fans, but some of the songs feel as though they were precipitated by a personal apocalypse, and I'm pretty sure that's something we can all empathize with at this point in the time/space continuum. The sense one gets is that the songs collected here are deigned to help us all rebuild that which has collapsed around us. This is not on infer that The Doozer has gone all instructional on us. One of the great features of his songs has always been their way of combining abstract confusion with observational clarity, allowing simple words to create abstract images. And that has not changed here. His brilliantly casual approach to this is what always makes people (like me anyway), think about his music in terms of extending the sweetest traditions of Syd Barrett and Nick Nicely. There is darkness built into this music, but it is countered with illumination. And if you so choose, you can spend many pleasant hours exploring the many mysterious corners of Convalescence. And that would be the right thing to do!" --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 632LP
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"This is a reissue of Josh's 2020 LP, originally released on his own Mystra label, many copies of which ended up being warped. Rather than deny his fans the aural pleasures they so richly deserve, Feeding Tube stepped in to offer some assistance in getting a flatter pressing together. We hope this works out for you. If You Can't Wander is the seventh LP Josh has released since 1995 and it may be his quietest, most songwriterly effort yet. Of course there are the occasional bloops of electronics (or what have you) that tend to pop up in his much of work, but the bulk of the sound here is acoustic guitar and solo vocals, presented in a very intimate fashion. Everything is mic'd so closely, there are times where you'll be able to close your eyes and imagine Josh is sitting right in your goddamn lap. By personal choice, Burkett often seems to favor English models for his picking, with lightly embellished melody lines that sound as though they were recorded directly onto Bill Leader's four-track. But his vocals, especially on this album, are extremely casual in both delivery and harmonic resolution, appearing to follow something more akin to the American loner-folk model. Reading along with the lyric booklet provided, I was struck by the words in a way I haven't always been on Josh's previous albums. On earlier sides, the vocals almost felt like a nearly-hidden element of the overall sound more than anything with very specific meaning. But reading them affords listeners an entry point to whole new layers of their strange greatness. They possess a savage lostness that makes this record resonate with some of the same qualities that animate the work of Dana Westover or Dave Bixby. If You Can't Wander the Waffle Wonder the Drizzle is Joshua Burkett's defining document thus far. It's a record that will take you as deep as you allow it. Amazing stuff." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 593LP
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"We have Asheville NC's Tashi Dorji to thank for this one. It was his enthusiastic recommendation that led us to this insane LP. Both DUNUMS and Casual Planes are duos originally formed in Durham NC. The former in 2010, the latter in 2017. They are both currently comprised of Sijal Nasralla (also of Durham punk trio, The Muslims) and Alston Palmer (who does solo electronics as Hoverist). Sijal is the leader of DUNUMS, and Alston (who relocated to Los Angeles a few years back) is the brains behind Casual Planes. And while they share musical traits, they're also quite different from each other. DUNUMS' music has a core relationship to Sijal's identity as a member of the Palestinian diaspora. But unlike a record such as Attya X Attya' Alpharabius, specific sonic references to this are usually bundled up inside dense duo improvisation, or appear as sound fragments when the music is quiet. There are certainly chunks that feel explicitly Palestinian, but more often the overall thrust possesses a boiling, Beefheart-damaged wrench-and-flow akin to such fried post-core art rock outfits as Senyawa or Zu. Pretty wild stuff. In DUNUMS, Alston plays drums and Sijal handles guitar, vocals, bass and electronics. Casual Planes, on the other hand, feature Alston on guitar and Sijal on drums. The Planes take an all-instrumental approach that parallels some of DUNUMS' compress-and-release dynamism, but ultimately the music is much more overtly jazzoid. Sijal's drumming is almost the foreground event, but Alston's effects-laden guitar work is wild and impressive. Some of his more fully-whacked splange makes me think of the most fucked-up stuff Nels Cline's amp might spew if he felt like doing a Ruins cover. But as the Casual Planes' side of the album evolves, things really fly off in a unique direction. The mix of cloppy power-drumming and surging sheet metal guitar improv is totally up its own tree. This is the first vinyl release by either of these units, but let us hope it is nowhere near the last. I'd be more than happy to hear a full slab by either of them, in the very near future. Hope -- the eternal spring!" --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 616LP
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"Vinylization of a tour CDR, Josephine recorded at home around the time of A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (2006). Accompanying herself on guitar and piano, with some drum and vocal help from Brian Goodman, the album is a glorious once-lost-now-found piece of the fascinating musical puzzle that is the music of Josephine Foster. While Foster's music is clearly consonant with the current trends in avant-völk music (here, especially, on her wild readings from the Tibetan Book of Dzyan), another large portion of her muse seems rooted in the parlor music tradition that predates recorded sound. At times, when she is playing piano and singing, you can almost imagine she's channeling the spirit of a long-gone frontier maiden, belting out her soul's truths on an old upright piano in a dusty living room. It feels like an improvised soundtrack to Michael Lesy's Wisconsin Death Trip (1973). But the work presented on this album is neither static nor easily categorized. Josephine follows her muse wherever it goes, and (like her) it is peripatetic as all get-out. From free rock slugfests, to tunes that float with the easy clarity of hymns, What Is It That Ever Was? offers a peek into the private creative process of one of this generation's great original voices. Don't be shy." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 382CS
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"PG Six (aka Pat Gubler) is based in the New England and is known for his mastery of many stringed objects. He has appeared on six earlier Feeding Tube LPs, the most recent of which is the great PG Six Live at the Tavern (FTR 556LP). Louise Bock (aka Taralie Peterson) is a multi-instrumentalist long associated with both the Midwest and Spires That in the Sunset Rise, but she has other axes in the fire as well, and has been on three earlier FTR slabs. So the two have a collective history with the label, but this is their first duo release, and it's a corker. PG plays Celtic harp and keyboard, Louise plays alto sax and uses her voice as well. Together these threads wind together as though discovered in the grooves of some imaginary ECM album from the very early '70s. Bock's alto loops itself into spinning hoops of sax logic that carry the cold thrill of Northern Europe in winter. PG's strings and keys create an entire alternate history of what the Irish avant underground might have been doing around the same time if they hadn't been ass-deep in the Troubles. Some of my favorite parts are those where great washes of keyboard foam are intercut with sax that sounds like altered whale song. But there's no denying the superb quality of PG's harp pluckery either. Its sharp sonic edge (and the lingering peat smoke of sad Irish sealing songs) lends it an emotional depth that balances nicely with the exceptionally brainy quality of Louise's horn lines. All Summer Long is Gone is an album no one probably expected, but now that it's here, you should be among the first to sing its praises. Do yourself a favor and get ahead of the pack. You'll be damn glad you did." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 573LP
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"Don't hold me to it, but by my count this the sixth LP we have done with the splendid Brighton-based musician named Joseph Allred. Initially known as a master of stringed instruments, Joseph has continuously expanded his musical arsenal. When asked about basics regarding Branches & Leaves, he wrote, 'I played harmonium, piano, guitars, glockenspiel, banjo, tambourine, bass drum, and clarinet on this album and did all the vocals myself. I'm glad I got to collaborate with some friends and would like to have done so more, but the pandemic made that impossible. Recorded at the end of 2019 and in the first few months of 2020 in Overton County, Tennessee and Boston.' The ten songs on Branches & Leaves are originals, apart from two traditional tunes, 'When the World's on Fire,' and 'Can't Feel at Home,' which Allred first heard performed by the Carter Family. And while it if difficult to attach too specific a tag to this wonderfully varied LP, words like 'Southern,' 'gnostic,' 'rural' and 'haunted' keep floating into my head. Not always at the same time, but enough to think I might use them to point in the material's general direction. The mix of harmonium and Allred's vocal delivery gives some of songs the sonic qualities of a spiritual, even if the lyrics are not similarly disposed. Joseph's work is always very personal and idiosyncratic, so I am hesitant to make too many statements about it. Other than to say the way he weaves all these threads into the textures of American Primitive guitar music is amazing to hear. Branches & Leaves may be one of the more plain-spoken albums in Joseph Allred's canon, but like all his music, the songs have many layers of sound and meaning that will unfold themselves for your pleasure for a long while to come. Beautiful stuff." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 606LP
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"First LP, after several fine cassettes & CDRs, by this psych project helmed by Brian Lucas. Lucas is best known these days for his bass work with Dire Wolves Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band, but he has a hand in many other California psych outfits. The Wolves have been quiet vis-a-vis new recordings lately, but Old Million Eye has been pretty busy. Often the OME moniker represents solo work, but this time Brian has recruited Dena Goldsmith-Stanley (3 Moons) and Steven R Smith (an old band mate from Mirza) to assist with his journey. And the results are beautiful. The most basic elements of The Incandescent Switch are swirls of kosmiche keyboard, with vocals buried in the clouds, melodic bass lines moving through like slow-motion lightning, and various instrumental events darting hither and yon. The overall feel is something like a collision between a mid '70s album on the German Sky label and a '68 Bay Area acid-flash sensibility. The one track featuring both Goldsmith-Stanley and Smith, 'I Labour Upwards into Futurity,' is especially neat. The dynamic shifts between the three players give it an organic, interactive breath-shape that really makes me want to see them work together in a live setting. But even when he's working alone, handling guitars, percussion and who knows what else, Lucas creates fully inhabited dreamscapes of sound. I, for one, cannot wait to trip while spinning The Incandescent Switch. It seems like a very winning combination." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 605LP
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"Here is the first Lazy Magnet LP since 2019's Mahogany. And it's a beautiful instrumental album which has known many iterations since it was first conceived. Lazy Magnet has long been the home recording project of Jeremy Harris. Over the course of its long arc the actual music has taken many forms -- this time he has chosen to dedicate an entire body of work on a single instrument: the acoustic piano. The initial idea for Make It Fun Again dates to 2007, when Harris and his buddy Robert Parker (depicted on the cover) were screwing around recording anti-melodies on a cheap monophonic keyboard. This goof was too good to let go of, and Harris revisited his tape of the 'sessions' as he traveled. He taught himself how to notate the music and agonized for 13 years over how it might be presented. Harris says, 'The style that I finally decided on was a recreation of a time in Amiens, France while I was on tour in 2009 where I was in an old barn in the middle of the night playing a fucked-up piano while it rained heavily outside. I was gently playing the themes and slowly piecing together chords based on the made-up scales that the toy keyboard had struggled to play back...' Fast forward to the summer of 2020... 'I opened up Logic Pro and started composing the music within its midi programming environment. It took a couple months for me to finally get all ten pieces to where they felt finished, but it ended up being well beyond my ability to sight read or play. I sent the automatically generated score to my friend Sakiko Mori. She told me it was all incorrect and impossible to read. I went back and basically taught myself how to properly write scores and corrected the pieces so that she could read and perform them. 'We booked time at machines with magnets and she recorded all of it in about four hours.' The result is these ten instrumental pieces, played on piano by Mori. To my ear the feel of the program is very much in the vein of early 20th Century French pianists -- Satie, Debussy, Poulenc -- stately, melodically complex and simple at the same time, possessing many depths. The title track is a bit different -- seemingly an example of extended pedal treatment and reel to reel manipulation. Regardless, the music on Make It Fun Again is of a piece, and a deeply pleasurable one. Almost like a massive return to a previously unknown form. Gotta dig that. Eh?" --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 600LP
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"It is with great pleasure we announce the vinylization of the fourth (of five) albums released during their lifetime by this superb Providence-based acid-folk duo, who existed from 1996 to 2003. The Iditarod was primarily the vehicle for Carin Wagner and Jeffrey Alexander, who created a spare UK-damaged folk sound with intimate psychedelic touches and fully contemporary atmospherics, although they often had friends along for the ride. On this album (edited down from the original CD), guest musicians are Matt Everett (from Alec Redfearn's band, Eyesores), Jesse Poe (from Tanakh), and Margie Wienk (of Fern Knight and Eyesores). Together, they create a lovely haunted forest of sounds. Although the ensemble is small, certain passages (like the traditional 'Let No Man Steal Your Thyme') have a jazzy lilt that evokes Pentangle, despite the fact the arrangement is quite stark. Somehow they manage to capture the essence of a full band despite their actual size. On the opposite end of things is a track like 'Cycle Circle,' with backwards guitars, dolorous bells chiming in the distance, and a vocal from Carin that sounds like spirit projection. In between there are a host of excellent surprises. The album was recorded in Richmond, VA in 2001. It was originally issued on CD by the Bluesanct label, and came out a little bit before the whole New Weird America thing took off. This was back when there were a lot of people trying out different approaches to unlocking the secrets of the acid folk tradition, but before there was a name for what they were doing, or any kind of real scene to chronicle. In that sense, The Iditarod were a bit ahead of their time. But we won't hold that against them. I have lost track of what Carin is up to these days, but Jeffery has kept busy, with bands like Dire Wolves and solo projects like Meditations for Beowulf (FTR 470LP). It's very nice to revisit some of his back pages. The blend the Iditarod offers sounds as great as ever, and augurs a cool future that was just beginning. Tally ho!" --Byron Coley, 2021 Edition of 250.
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CD
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FTR 639CD
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2022 restock. "It has been a while since the release Myriam's acclaimed 2014 debut album, Not So Deep as a Well (FTR 146-4LP). The intervening years have brought a smattering of live performances, a bouquet of children, Trump's Pandemic, and much more . . .
Different concepts for a new album were broached, but the seed of Ma Délire was planted when Myriam recalled a paper she written in university. It was about Leonard Cohen's recording of "The Lost Canadian (Un canadien errant)" from Recent Songs. Ostensibly a cover of an old Quebecois ballad, Cohen stripped away the specificity of the lyrics, tying the song's titular figure to the archetype of 'The Wandering Jew'.
The theme of this paper returned to Myriam when she had a residency at the Old Mill in Le Bic, QC in August 2016. Benoit Chaput had turned her on to the traditional tune 'Au Coeur de ma Délire,' from a 1971 album by Dominique Tremblay and Philippe Gagnon. The song was so haunting, she decided to record it right there in the Mill's boat repair workshop. That is the very recording used here . . .
This started Myriam musing about how the end of the Catholic hegemony in Quebec had the unanticipated consequence of making people think less of traditional Quebecois folk music, because so much of it was soaked in the blood of the lamb. It made sense this music should be explored and updated despite its dogmatic origins which Cohen had proved could be effectively expunged . . .
Just as the world was shutting down, Myriam was awarded a grant which allowed her the time and space to fully investigate and develop this material. She had spent years sifting through traditional music from Quebec, France and the U.S., highlighting parts of songs and ideas she liked, discarding some she found abhorrent, and merging the good bits with her own writing or other cannibalized shards. At some juncture she flashed on this work's common thread -- its thematic roots were always in one type of romantic longing or another. And so, this album came together during the dark days of the General Lockdown. Mixing vocal tracks with instrumentals, singing in both French and English, using a syncretic blend of original, modern and traditional lyrics, Ma Délire fearlessly wanders through a universe of its own invention, daring us to open our minds wide enough to take it all in.
Myriam initially recorded with just guitar and vocals. But when she began working with the sound engineer Tonio Morin-Vargas, he had some insightful suggestions about additional instrumentation that might broaden the album's sound without confounding it. Myriam had already planned to ask her friends, Bill Nace and Chris Corsano, to add some things, so the whole shebang evolved as organically as most great records do..." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 383CS
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"It has been a while since the release Myriam's acclaimed 2014 debut album, Not So Deep as a Well (FTR 146-4LP). The intervening years have brought a smattering of live performances, a bouquet of children, Trump's Pandemic, and much more . . .
Different concepts for a new album were broached, but the seed of Ma Délire was planted when Myriam recalled a paper she written in university. It was about Leonard Cohen's recording of "The Lost Canadian (Un canadien errant)" from Recent Songs. Ostensibly a cover of an old Quebecois ballad, Cohen stripped away the specificity of the lyrics, tying the song's titular figure to the archetype of 'The Wandering Jew'.
The theme of this paper returned to Myriam when she had a residency at the Old Mill in Le Bic, QC in August 2016. Benoit Chaput had turned her on to the traditional tune 'Au Coeur de ma Délire,' from a 1971 album by Dominique Tremblay and Philippe Gagnon. The song was so haunting, she decided to record it right there in the Mill's boat repair workshop. That is the very recording used here . . .
This started Myriam musing about how the end of the Catholic hegemony in Quebec had the unanticipated consequence of making people think less of traditional Quebecois folk music, because so much of it was soaked in the blood of the lamb. It made sense this music should be explored and updated despite its dogmatic origins which Cohen had proved could be effectively expunged . . .
Just as the world was shutting down, Myriam was awarded a grant which allowed her the time and space to fully investigate and develop this material. She had spent years sifting through traditional music from Quebec, France and the U.S., highlighting parts of songs and ideas she liked, discarding some she found abhorrent, and merging the good bits with her own writing or other cannibalized shards. At some juncture she flashed on this work's common thread -- its thematic roots were always in one type of romantic longing or another. And so, this album came together during the dark days of the General Lockdown. Mixing vocal tracks with instrumentals, singing in both French and English, using a syncretic blend of original, modern and traditional lyrics, Ma Délire fearlessly wanders through a universe of its own invention, daring us to open our minds wide enough to take it all in.
Myriam initially recorded with just guitar and vocals. But when she began working with the sound engineer Tonio Morin-Vargas, he had some insightful suggestions about additional instrumentation that might broaden the album's sound without confounding it. Myriam had already planned to ask her friends, Bill Nace and Chris Corsano, to add some things, so the whole shebang evolved as organically as most great records do..." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 535LP
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Restocked. "The sixth LP by NYC trio, Rhyton, is as heavy as an Egyptian space-funeral. The vibe of this masterful album is fully embodied by its gorgeous Robert Beatty cover art, which looks like a Mati Klarwein reinterpretation of Tony Scott's '68 Verve LP, Music for Yoga Meditation. Rhyton was formed in 2011 by Dave Shuford and fellow travelers, with a notion to balance the songwriterly stance of D. Charles Speer with something more improvisation based. As Shuford says, 'Originally we took certain international rock icons, mainly European and Japanese touchstones, to be points of departure. In general, and as the drummer changed, some of the influences stateside came more to the fore. Improvisation, though still prevalent, began to take a secondary role in the creative method. The studio has continually increased its position as a focused tool for the group, dating back to the Kykeon album and expanding again on this latest batch. Studio -- structure -- rupture -- living asunder.' Pharaonic Crosstalk was recorded at Gary's Electric studio in Greenpoint in bits and pieces, when it wasn't being used otherwise. The process was begun about four years ago, and really only got finished when the Plague shut things down. The sound this time has evolved as Shuford suggests. Drummer Rob Smith shows some of the lessons he must have learned while studying with Bernard Purdie, lending even the zoniest sections a groove-oid bottom that won't stop. And this does not infer boogie tendencies, so much as a solid new approach to fundamentals. Shuford's multivalent string aktion, combined with Jimmy SeiTang's wonderful bass/keyboard dualism and Smith's provocative percolation make this an album of crazy hybridized stoned space-funk-psych-fusion while still manifesting experimental highlights. It is a heady goddamn brew. And never more so than when Al Carlson (who engineered the session) is guesting on sax or the great Tennessee roots pianist, Hans Chew, shows up on clavinet (who knew)! Pharaonic Crosstalk is one of the sweetest bubbles of expressed space-time we've heard in a good long while. Super hard to pin down (like so many truly great records), its contours are a glorious mind-fuck for listeners of all ages." --Byron Coley, 2021 Edition of 400.
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FTR 258LP
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"Here is the second volume of protean solo improvisations recorded by Loren Connors in his artist's garret in New Haven, Connecticut. Like the first volume, it was committed to tape and pressed to vinyl in 1979. Never having seen a copy of this record, and having pressed it before we discovered a master cassette exists, this is as good a transfer as can be had for the nonce. Loren's chair creaks like rusty crow and the amount of random tapping and thumping during the original session just about drove Jim O'Rourke and Jeremy Lemos crazy when they were working on it. But they persisted, and we all owe them a debt of gratitude. Although most people cannot help themselves from believing all nine volumes of this series are of a piece, the second volume sounds quite different from its predecessor. For one thing, it is truly solo. There's no sign of Kath Bloom's voice or recorder to be found. The guitar attack is much more active here, as is the vocalizing. Loren gives off a vibe most easily compared to Bud Powell's manner of vocally emphasizing his piano runs. This style of accompaniment has much less of a blues-counterpoint to it, serving more as way to amplify the strange melodic arc of the guitar as it moves through dark space. Some of the instrumental phrases and tag-lines here are surprisingly similar to elements of Eugene Chadbourne's Parachute-era solo improvisations, although Loren is usually reluctant to describe his efforts in terms of overt avant gardism. He was, however, cavorting and collaborating during this period with known avant gardists, so perhaps we are best left to draw our own aesthetic conclusions from just listening. Whatever it is he was doing in the dark of Daggett Street, I think we can agree it was incredible. And if you can't dig it, well... have a nice life." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 592LP
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"Fantastic studio recording, caught by Taylor Hales at Chicago's legendary Electrical Audio, documenting the first full meeting of all the players on this album. Mako Sica, at this point in time revolve around the core duo of Przemyslaw Krys Drazek (electric trumpet, mandolin, electric guitar) and Brent Fuscaldo (vocals, electric bass, harmonica, thumb piano, gong, percussion). For this session, these two are joined once again by Chicago's always-revelatory percussionist, Hamid Drake, with whom they have previously recorded Ronda (FTR 409LP) and Balancing Tear (FTR 513LP). In addition, Ourania features the upright bass and shamisen of Tasu Aoki (Drake's longtime partner in Fred Anderson's trio). Also included in the roster is Thymme Jones, the leader of Chicago's epic Cheer-Accident (among many other roles), and a dab hand at everything from balloon to grand piano. The basic idea for the album was to continue building on Mako Sica's recorded collaborations with Drake, and to do so in as spontaneous as setting as possible. It would be hard to say they didn't succeed like crazy. From a two-hour session, the quintet emerged with 90 minutes of finished material, selections of which are presented on Ourania (a name stemming from Greek mythology, attached to the Muse who was the Goddess of Astronomy). The three long tracks on the album are all as stunning as they are different. 'Rain' begins with strings and keys and Brent's vocals accented by Hamid's drums. Thymme comes in with an outlined piano presence recalling Necks' Chris Abrams, and the burble of instrumental interplay makes me think of Josh Abrams' Natural Information Society intersecting with the Sun City Girls at their most melodious. Have twangy guitar will travel, overlaid with Miles-via-Stanko trumpet clouds. 'Gasping for Breath' is a term taken from Janusz Anderman's book Poland Under Black Light. It refers to the Solidarity movement but also is an apt reference to the current problems America faces and the tragic loss of George Floyd. Tatsu's shamisen starts things with a plucked groove that expands quickly. Layers of vocals play words against non-words, while the pulse thickens. topped with slinky bass/trumpet dialogue whose bent and fried notes hint at don cherry's most worldly smears. 'Ourania (edit)' is a short teaser from a much longer piece. Beginning with vocals start that may or may not be words, everything comes together like a snowball creating an avalanche. Stately piano figures, sizzling percussion, guitar skeletons, sloughs of trumpet and all else, combine into a slowly whirling ghost tornado that disappears into you head. And that's it -- Ourania. As fresh a slap of freedom as you'll feel this year. Dig it." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 533LP
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"This is the third LP by the duo comprised of Greg Dalton (aka Gary War) and Rob 'Sunburned' Thomas, formerly known as Dalthom, but actually named whatever the pair feel like calling it. Recorded shortly before the disastrous election of 2016, it is partially filled with the darkness, paranoia and creeping dread that filled that time period. But there is also a hefty amount of the druggy, electronic ecstasis for which the duo is known (no matter their handle.) Gary and Rob met when the former was playing guitar for Bobb Trimble in the late oughts. They recorded a (still unreleased) album of 'frenzied electronics' in 2012. They followed that with the mellower (and way stonier) Voizes & Ragui, which was eventually issued as a limited art edition in 2017 (Feeding Tube/Poon Village), and may someday find wider release. Their next LP, Frame Slip (FTR 233LP) had an even wider sonic palette (with a couple guest musicians), displaying a thorough, druggy appreciation of rare wobble-psych records. Both of these protean efforts are killers, and should be listened to deeply and often. The same is definitely true of this session. Dalthan 3, is even bloopier and dizzier than its antecedents. The main extra person here is theremin-and-whatnot wizard Kris Thompson (Gary's bandmate from his Trimble days), There are also some extra keys on one track by Jesse Gallagher (ex-Apollo Sunshine). But Rob and Gary are generally responsible for the madness going on here -- what a better writer might call 'a field day for the heat.' Keyboards, strings, tubs, puckeroos, voices... all of these things were recorded in unexpected ways and places (via computers, handhelds, etc.) then welded together like pennies found inside a stack of rare private press LPs Paul Majors stole from a dollar bin in Kentucky. There are more layers to the sound here than anyone could untangle in a year of Taco Tuesdays. Parts of some tracks may start to sound familiar for a while, perhaps employ a riff or rhythm that hearkens back to something you can't quite remember. But before your brain can get a handle on any of it, everything has shifted. And what sounded ominous and lurking in a dark psych way, is now more like watching a stoned lumberjack step into a heretofore unnoticed pile of cow shit at the Cummington Fair. Pretty hilarious. In a smelly way. It is truly difficult to describe exactly what Dalthon/Dalthan do exactly, but man, it is a goddamn sweet and disruptive spin. And the deeper you get, the weirder everything is. No turn left unstoned. Y'know?" --Byron Coley, 2021
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LP
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FTR 594LP
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"Absolute collage hell from the bowels of several known earths. We have worked with the horrible Orchid Spangiafora (aka Rod Carew) before. Back in 2013 we were tricked into doing an expanded 2LP reissue of Rod's 1979 Twin/Tone album, Flee Past's Ape Elf. A mistake we swore we'd never make again. Glands are a different story, being a two-headed beast comprised of Allie Caulfied (of Just Bananas magazine) and Bobbi Manring (former leader of both Poop World and The Giant Scissors). Them we never worked with before. Things became confusing when we hosted a live show with one of Caulfield's other units, Pant Sniff & Dodo, who we thought were actually pretty cool. We suggested to Allie that maybe we should 'do something' together, and he eventually sent us this album, with a note that read, 'Done all by me! How is it?' Well, we were kinda confused by it, but rather than admit that, we told him it was 'cool, man.' He just giggled. Then we got the art, and the credits, and realized we'd been hoodwinked by the goon. Or goons, rather. But posing as a single goon, if you get my drift. So here we are, stuck again with a record we cannot make heads or tails of. Will we never learn? Apparently not. Hard for us to tell (and none of them will 'fess up) as to who did what. So I paid for a guy to go to Carew's house, ring the bell, hypnotize him with a lucky rock and ask him a few vague questions. He was not able to get any answers, so he ended up peeking through windows and snooping. From overheard conversations, he picked up the notion that the pieces were put together by the active participation of both Carew and Caulfield. Manring mostly played some guitar that was sucked up into the compositions as source material. Thus, she is the real hero of the project. She made actual music, while the other two jalopsters merely diddled with 'found sounds' and 'lifted tracks.' That they actually managed to turn these threads of unease into anything is quite remarkable. But clearly it was Bobbi's input that gave them a sort of starting point. Without her cunning strums, this would be just another 'Dime Operation' (slang for a cheap haircut). Anyway, when you listen to this record, remember -- we're as stumped as you are! The rhythms of the loops makes Ted want to dance, but they just make me hungry. So I'm gonna go get a box of donut holes. You want anything?" --Byron Coley, 2021
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LP
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FTR 604LP
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"Footings is the long-running/rocking outgrowth of Peterborough NH's great ruralist duo, Redwing Blackbird. Initially formed as a trio in 2012 by Eric Gagne on guitar and vocals, Footings' sound embraces a sort of inner light derived from folk music, but surrounds it with a variety of rockist tropes. This rock action can take many forms, especially on this new album, which features their most expanded/expansive line-up yet. Original trio member Elisabeth Fuchsia (frequent Pile collaborator) is on viola and long-time collusionist Candace Clement provides guitar, synth and vocals. Jordan Holtz (from Rick Rude) supplies vocals. Ben Rogers (Eric's bandmate from Death to Tyrants) adds drums where needed. Will Killingsworth (Ampere/Bucket Full of Teeth) adds pedals and tambourine as required. The latter pair were also responsible for engineering the album, but their musical additions are sonically notable. Gagne's songs and deep vocals, often the core of the band's operation, combine the literary qualities of a heavy reader with the observational data of a poet. In this, Footings might occasionally be mistaken for one of Will Oldham's multifarious projects. But the band has a distinct way of scrambling their eggs, and that was never clearer than it is here. Full songs are interspersed with fragmentary shards in a way that reminds me of how Michael Hurley faded out 'Rat Face' after its intro, on Hi Fi Snock Uptown. I mean, 'Sleeping' sounds tantalizingly close to a Neil Young penned out-take from Deja Vu for the 35 seconds it runs. But that's all there is! This outré editing process works quite well. By allowing themselves to create slivers of textural similarity to Sonic Youth ('Ordinary Night'), Crazy Horse ('Sleeping'), and even Heldon ('Wouldn't It Be Something'), Footings display wide possibilities while maintaining their primary focus on creating a kind of avant-garde American roots music with the brash complexity of Yo La Tengo and the stately depth of Wilco. Annihilation is the best Footings record to hit the planet yet. And that is saying something." --Byron Coley, 2021
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7"
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FTR 370EP
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"Samuel 'Sam' Gas Can is often viewed as Massachusetts' answer to the question: Daniel Johnston or Jad Fair? Like those two vaunted talents, 'Sam' has a dab hand with creating instantly memorable pop hooks that manage to glow with outside energy even as they rub your (figurative) shoulders. On this single, Sam joins up with some old running mates from Worcester to create an off-kilter roots-pop exploration of the connections between Sesame Street's Ernest and Fecal Matter's Kurtis. Both are presented as excellent neighbors, and this message is driven home with exceedingly peppy arrangements that feature harmony vocals, tooting saxophone and a rather out-of-time musical focus. Sounds kinda crazy, I know, but the tunes are as addictive as watching a sped-up home movie of Jonathan Richman with his hair greased up, jumping into a swimming pool full of shaving cream. There's just something about it that mesmerizes." --Byron Coley, 2018
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LP
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FTR 618LP
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"Gorgeous debut LP by a new Belgian duo made up of Annelies Monseré and Steve Marreyt. Steve has been active in a lot of places. I believe I first ran into his work as a member of the folk-psych collective, Silvester Anfang, but he has had his hands in a lot of pots (as it were). Annelies has a long recording history as well, with many fine and floating sides out there to prove it. The pair have known each other for a good long while. Steve appears on a couple of Annelies' albums, and they previously worked together in a band called Luster. But Distels is a project different from any of their others. Both Annelies and Steve have long had an abiding interest in traditional music of Britain, and Distels was created as a vehicle for them to explore it. The sessions happened in fits and starts over the past few years, but the individual pieces hang together beautifully as an album. Five of the tunes are traditional British ballads, the other is one authored in that style by Peter Bellamy (founder of the Young Tradition, and a key figure in the UK folk revival of the '60s). And the approach Distels take to the songs is breath-taking. Blended vocals, haunted keyboard tones, slowly-struck guitar chords, and stately drones create a densely inviting environment for these ancient songs of love, loss and longing. If you aren't swept away by this music's power, I dare say you have neither ears nor heart. Reportedly, Distels are already working on some new material. Let's hope a follow-up comes together sooner rather than later. I'm not getting any younger and neither are you." --Byron Coley, 2021
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Cassette
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FTR 376CS
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"Back in 2012 Mark Cunningham of Mars and Blood Quartet, who also records as a solo artist was back in Western Mass, where he once had some roots. Mark came by the store to hang, but he was itching to do something, so a jam was suggested. Once the shop was closed, Mark brought his trumpet back to the store. To meet him, Brett Robinson stood up his bass, Jen Gelineau lifted her violin and Ted Lee entered his percussion zone. At that time these last three were mostly gigging with Egg Eggs, but they didn't let that stop them from playing a light and fine improv set. On the first side, Mark's trumpet really sets the pace with long, loosely Baker-fried lines, and everyone hits a fine and abstract groove. On the flip, Jen's violin carries a bit more of the tonal weight with Mark dropping back into the shadows to lay strange accents onto her saw lines, while Ted and Brett both pop like knuckle monkeys. Now that's what I call music. Pretty dang bracing!" --Byron Coley, 2021
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LP
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FTR 550LP
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"In one sense all collaborations and recordings thereof have a certain surprise factor. Any time two or more people get together to create something from nothing, the exact contours of the resulting experiment are likely to contain at least a few unknown elements. This notion is especially true when the people collaborating are coming from not obviously congruent places. And (at least to me) this makes Monocot a project that was guaranteed to toss a curve. Monocot is an improvising instrumental duo comprised of drummer Jayson Gerycz and guitarist Rosali Middleman. Jayson' work I know mostly from the Cleveland rock band, Cloud Nothings, and cool sessions with Matthew J Rolin and Tony Pasquarosa. Rosali's records on Siltbreeze and Scissor Tail are great, but they seemed more focused on songs more than anything else. They both do have great guitar on them, but that didn't seem like it was her main thing. Anyway, not having any idea what to expect, I was blown away by the music on Direction We Know. Jayson and Rosali met in Cleveland in 2018 when she was playing with Purling Hiss. They ran into each other a few more times and talked about the idea of doing some studio jamming. A session finally happened in the Fall of 2019 when Jayson was again in Philly, and as far as I know this sole date is the full accounting of Monocot's existence thus far. In this duo Rosali pulls out all the stops, and plays in a way she has only hinted at on earlier records. Flowing sheets of both psych and free-form rippery careen all over the place. Some parts remind me of Matt Valentine at his outer pinnacle, but the intensely lateral spread of Jayson's percussion has a way of making the roar seem a lot more contained and sensical than it otherwise might. And although it doesn't exactly sound like anything they've actually done, the tone here makes me remember bits I've heard by the Corsano/Chasny Duo that really pushed all my buttons. This Monocot session ran through night and into the morning. When it was over neither of the musicians remembered just what it was that they'd played. Which makes sense. Everything just happened without plans or rules to hem things in. Freedom can be a messy business, but when it's good it's truly liberating. And Direction We Know is real damn good. Let us hope Monocot reconnoiter sooner rather than later. Luckily for now, we have this album to bide the time. So do it." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 378CS
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"Magic Tuber Stringband is Durham NC-based duo, made up of Evan Morgan and Courtney Werner. Their primary instruments are guitar and fiddle, but they are not married to these particular axes and follow their instincts when they feel other instruments are called for. Playing music with its bite rooted in the Piedmont tradition, Magic Tuber mostly write their own material, while exploring and expanding dynamics of string interaction that are as old as the hills. Treading a line that begins in equal parts of blues and Anglo-Scottish lineage, they introduce different motific elements at points. 'Teo's Farewell' has a central portion with a very Middle Eastern feel. 'Wood Thrush Song' is a modernist collage of field recordings and layered violin tones. But mostly, Evan's playing (and occasional singing) mixes traditional and American Primitive approaches with casual surety, and Courtney does the same. As on their first album, Wayward Airs for Earthbound Vagrants (Blue Hole MC), Magic Tuber also display a somewhat Fahey-esque hand with song titles. The first three on this one are 'Quarry Ate the Mountain,' 'Waltz for Things with Wings,' and 'Devil on a Root Monster.' But as good as those titles are, the tunes are better. The vibe reminds me of a pared-down version of Jack Rose's work with the Black Twig Pickers, in the way it manages to keep one foot in the tradition without sounding at all hidebound. Magic Tuber Stringband is a great (and dare I say, joyous) sophomore effort by a most wonderful band. I hope to hear more from them soon, and so will you." -Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 619LP
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"Reissue of the very limited debut LP by this Massachusetts-based musician. We first ran into Kass's Good Cry label when she put out Jordan Perry's eponymous debut, which we promptly reissued (FTR 376LP). And we are well pleased to be able to do the same for The Language Shadow -- a most excellent album by all known metrics. Kass (who works with Meg Remy's U.S. Girls) sings and plays guitar, dulcimer and small instrument-style percussion. Recorded at Montreal's Hotel2Tango, her music has the clean, hard bite of a Northern Spy apple. Some of the songs are performed as elegant solos, but there are additional instrumental touches by several Canadian musicians from the Toronto and Montreal scenes. But even when there are a few players piling up, the arrangements maintain a spare quality keeping the focus tight on Kass's voice, words and strings. The additional keys, cello and electric guitar are all used for highlighting and support. The album's overall sound is hard to peg with any precision. The predominant female folk styles these days follow either the English or Laurel Canyon models, but The Language Shadow kneels before neither of these altars. The melodies are simple but rich, balancing sweetness against the lyrics, which can be quite dark. The same poise is displayed on the covers Kass chooses -- the Kinks' 'Strangers' (a Dave Davies masterpiece from Lola) and Jennifer Castle's 'Nature' (a beautiful Cohen-esque song from her Pink City LP) -- creating a very sumptuous whole, that should knock everyone's socks off. Nice one, Kass." --Byron Coley, 2021
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LP
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FTR 556LP
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"While we wait for Aaron Rosenblum to finish up his album of field recordings, we sometimes ask him about various tapes he has recorded of other artists. These, he tends to provide more quickly. Thus, here is the first of what we hope to be a series of live shows by various artists, documented by Mr. Aaron. The artist in Pat Gubler, aka PG Six. The venue is The Tavern at Hampshire College. The date is March 30, 2001. This was still an early point in Pat's solo journey, but the aesthetic documented here appears to be fully formed, and his playing is great on both harp and guitar. The set is typical of what he was doing around the time his first album came out -- a commingling of covers and originals, most with traditional Anglo flavor, all possessing an easy intimacy. The audience was small in the Tavern that night -- it is not a large room -- but you can feel how every listener present is hanging on every note, every breath. They are, as Professor Leary might say, 'tuned in.' And this focus is well rewarded. The more closely you listen to the words and fingers of PG Six, the deeper you sink into the music. His work is not the ideal background noise for strip poker parties. It's glorious darkness and light can only be fully appreciated via active listening. Pat reaches out for rings of karma not to toss them into your face, but to tuck them close to his heart. We catch glimpses of their illumination only in passing. So even though some form of radiance is often the central motif of his music, it is not always easily apprehended. I suppose this legerdemain is the deference the material deserves. Whatever it is Pat does, it sounds pretty damn great here. On a night just over two decades past. Our thanks to Aaron for his visionary switch flicking! And to you, for understanding it's import." --Byron Coley, 2021
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