Jonah, btw that sampler reminds me I saw that The Cookers (Billy Harper, Cecil McBee, et al) have have a new album coming out on Motema soon. Also happened to hear the Gregory Porter song that was a recent iTunes pick, really fantastic.
This looks like something that people here might be interested in - NATCH
tmt sez:
Upstate New Yorks Black Dirt Studio, established in 2005 by No-Neck Blues Band dude Jason Meagher, has seen a lot of activity in the fairly short time its been around, with all sorts of great bands and labels (many likely influenced by NNCK) recording their best work within its walls. Peaking Lights, Hototogisu, Psychic Ills, the late Jack Rose, Blues Control, Expo 70, and Charalambides have all recorded there, as have artists on labels like Siltbreeze, Woodsist, Kranky, Locust, Northern-Spy, Soft Abuse, and The Social Registry. With that much concentrated heaviness permeating the place, Black Dirt had to create some sort of pressure release valve, so theyve started up NATCH, a series of new, unheard collaborative recording sessions offered up for streaming/downloading free of charge.
Unlike the frantic energy of a recording session meant for future commercial release, NATCH sessions are intended to be approached by the artists as open format, meaning they can feel free to travel down any of the roads they might be less open to explore on their own albums, from improvisation to cover songs to instant composition to sound environments to sound environments to original prewritten material to a simple exploration of the process. A prequel session was released from 2007 with two long pieces recorded by Dave Nuss (NNCK), Rahdunes, Stellar OM Source, and Aswara, but other than that each session should be fresh music from 2012. NATCH 1 features The Black Twig Pickers and Steve Gunn, recorded this January, and NATCH 2 was recorded in February by Pigeons, Dave Shuford, and Margot Bianca. Two additional sessions are also finished and on-deck, NATCH 3 being a collab between Volcano the Bears Aaron Moore and Carter Thornton:
You can stream and/or download all NATCH sessions at their blog, or over at the Free Music Archive. Cool stuff, right? Thats why I just told ya bout it, knucklehead!!
This looks like something that people here might be interested in
- Yeah, I streamed 2 of them a couple of days ago from FMA, - Much Recommended.
- Reposting from the listening thread: Black Twig Pickers and Steve Gunn - NATCH 1
- Black Twig Pickers - "VA's own son's of the earth. Tripping string, skin and metal vibrations since the dawn of time."
- Steve Gunn - "East coast troubador of the cosmic variety / member of the international six string mafia."
Dave Shuford, Margot Bianca and Pigeons - NATCH 2
Dave Shuford - "aka Speer. NY via GA. Many headed hydra with gazes falling upon the Helix, NNCK, Rhyton, et al."
Margot Bianca - "Blazing six stringer, key tickler and vocal chord manipulator in NY. Currently coasting around the skies in Flown."
If you have a liking for instrumental guitar-driven post-rock somewhere between Isis, godspeed you! black emperor, and explosions in the sky, with guitar builds and some strings, this is a really nice album, and has been made available free of charge by the label, Gizeh records. There are a bunch of free releases on the Gizeh site; this is the one I like best so far.
Bluegrass alert - was poking around the Internet Archive and fairly excited to find a Sam Bush listing, 72 shows I think. Ought to be some fine music there, and although there are no explicit listings I'm hoping some of his friends stop by.
I've been listening to the Gregory Porter album lately, writing up a review of it. It's not bad. Not quite my thing, but I like it in spite of personal leanings.
I didn't know about the new Cookers album, which is strange, because I've been on the Motema site a lot lately. Of course, it wouldn't be the first time I overlooked something right in front of my face. Nor would it be the second.
Still getting around to listening to the free Gizeh releases mentioned higher up the thread. Just got to this one:
Fieldhead - Long Train Journeys.
I would say this is well worth a listen if you like, say, Erik Skodvin or From the Mouth of the Sun or A Broken Consort. Interesting mixture of ambient motifs, some rhythms, some strings, some atmospherics. Quite varied and interesting, sometimes moody, sometimes plaintive.
A document of Fieldheads live antics throughout 2010 as Paul toured the UK and Europe before relocating to Vancouver, Canada in July. It features songs from debut album They Shook Hands For Hours and the Gizeh release Riser. Live, Fieldhead is expanded to include violinists Elaine Reynolds and Sarah Kemp.
Founded in 1969, the Nashville Film Festival is one of the longest-running film festivals in the nation. Voted as one of the "25 film festivals worth the entry fee" by MovieMaker Magazine, and highlighted for "One of the Best Film Festival Prizes" by Film Festival Today, it is one of the most acclaimed film festivals in the South. Because it takes place in "Music City," it is only natural that part of the focus be on music in films. This is a collection of some of Nashville's best new voices. Some songs from films, some from artists playing the festival...all just plain good. Included in the download is a pdf copy of the festival schedule. The mix-tape will only be up for the duration of the festival (April 19-26),
As we are now getting a few more UK emusers, I'll start putting Amazon UK freebies on this thread. There is a new Mr Bongo Sampler . The tracks I've played so far are mainly reggae based, very pleasant listening.
Another nice free one from Daniel Maze, who has received many mentions on this board. Seems like this ought to have been posted already for that reason, but I can't find it by searching. Feel free to put me straight.
We Are Ghosts Old Town Hall. "This album composed & recorded live, in front of an audience, at Beit Hair (the old Tel-Aviv city hall), 10.11.2011, as part of an art exhibition hosted by Picnic Magazine. there were no rehearsals, no written or pre-composed notes, no overdubs or additional recordings - it's all live, raw & without planning." Free, or NYOP for bonus tracks.
Yet another massive free comp. This is definitely a trend at the moment - there seems to have been a collective escalation to three or four hour compilation albums for free. I have mixed feelings - it's lost of free stuff but it's also a challenge to digest. However, names here include Fabio Orsi, Yui Onodera, Kenneth Kirschner, Antonymes, Talvihorros, Konntinent, Offthesky, Leonardo Rosado - most of which I have paid for stuff by, so it;s hard to complain really.
escala 2.3 is a joint project between Escala netlabel and Sism
Here's the latest in guitarist Josh Maxey's campaign to release 6 albums in a year...I have lost count of which one this is. I follow him on Twitter, and it has been fun to observe from a distance a young artist in the midst of discovering/feeling his creative power.
Le1fs Dark York mixtape is one of the most provocative rap releases so far this year, a major work that constantly and subversively carves a distinct space for itself without stepping outside of the feel of popular hip-hop. Over a staggering arsenal of original beats, half produced by Le1f and half culled from club-centric artists like Nguzunguzu, Dark York injects the space of swag, etc. with the young-and-everywhere New York rapper/producers gayness, a perspective rarely presented so directly in the popular music hes clearly inspired by. Lyrical quotation and paraphrase play a big role, with Le1f frequently gesturing toward familiar lines, like Nicki Minajs biblical Do you like my bodyyy sing-song from Bottoms Up, before rejecting caricature: Not pretend/ No Barbie, no Ken. Production-wise, one solid, if on-the-nose, example of that subversion is Gayngsta, which features Philadelphia artist and fellow Wesleyan alum Don Jones over a Le1f-produced beat sampling shout-outs from DJ Dramas long-running mixtape series. Le1f doesnt edit Dramas words or stretch syllables for effect; you just imagine the letter Y when Drama yells Gangsta! and thats what it becomes.
Boy, wouldn't it be something if there were a bootleg recording on the Internet of Pharoah Sanders in concert with Sao Paulo Underground at SESC Pinheiros?
@elwood, reading on the fly, I saw "staggering arsenal of original beats" above and read it as "artisanal beats." Wondered if they were also gluten-free, locally sourced, fair-trade beats.
Variations On A Loop (Rhythms) by Aidan Baker w/ Richard Baker
Two tracks of droning space rock, each created by a short guitar/bass/drum loop processed, effected, and recorded live. Digital only release from Broken Spine Productions (BSPD04).
Sounding good so far. Free for an email address.
ETA Actually this is really good. Recommended for all who like psychedelic/spacey/droney things.
Comments
Very nice gentle, dreamy, softly pulsing drone pieces. Free. Hinna by Marcus Mohall.
Free label sampler from Dynamophone.
tmt sez:
Only somebody downstate would call that upstate.
- Reposting from the listening thread:
Black Twig Pickers and Steve Gunn - NATCH 1
- Black Twig Pickers - "VA's own son's of the earth. Tripping string, skin and metal vibrations since the dawn of time."
- Steve Gunn - "East coast troubador of the cosmic variety / member of the international six string mafia."
Dave Shuford, Margot Bianca and Pigeons - NATCH 2
Dave Shuford - "aka Speer. NY via GA. Many headed hydra with gazes falling upon the Helix, NNCK, Rhyton, et al."
Margot Bianca - "Blazing six stringer, key tickler and vocal chord manipulator in NY. Currently coasting around the skies in Flown."
DETWIIJE - 'Six is Better Than Eight'
If you have a liking for instrumental guitar-driven post-rock somewhere between Isis, godspeed you! black emperor, and explosions in the sky, with guitar builds and some strings, this is a really nice album, and has been made available free of charge by the label, Gizeh records. There are a bunch of free releases on the Gizeh site; this is the one I like best so far.
First track is darkly rhythmic, the others are basically rich, warm drone material. This is a nice EP.
I have a friend who needs to see that Sam Bush link!
I've been listening to the Gregory Porter album lately, writing up a review of it. It's not bad. Not quite my thing, but I like it in spite of personal leanings.
I didn't know about the new Cookers album, which is strange, because I've been on the Motema site a lot lately. Of course, it wouldn't be the first time I overlooked something right in front of my face. Nor would it be the second.
- With theese artists:
Crash Ensemble - David Crowell - Young Magic - Lawton Hall - Loney, Dear - Brooklyn Rider - Thad Anderson - Ben Russell
Highly recommended and very very good free Mixtape from DJ Rashad.
Fieldhead - Long Train Journeys.
I would say this is well worth a listen if you like, say, Erik Skodvin or From the Mouth of the Sun or A Broken Consort. Interesting mixture of ambient motifs, some rhythms, some strings, some atmospherics. Quite varied and interesting, sometimes moody, sometimes plaintive.
Note availability dates
As we are now getting a few more UK emusers, I'll start putting Amazon UK freebies on this thread. There is a new Mr Bongo Sampler . The tracks I've played so far are mainly reggae based, very pleasant listening.
I remember Mr Bongo's shop, I used to work in a building in Soho next door to it, a nice little shop to nip into at lunchtime.
Another nice free one from Daniel Maze, who has received many mentions on this board. Seems like this ought to have been posted already for that reason, but I can't find it by searching. Feel free to put me straight.
We Are Ghosts Old Town Hall. "This album composed & recorded live, in front of an audience, at Beit Hair (the old Tel-Aviv city hall), 10.11.2011, as part of an art exhibition hosted by Picnic Magazine. there were no rehearsals, no written or pre-composed notes, no overdubs or additional recordings - it's all live, raw & without planning." Free, or NYOP for bonus tracks.
[url=http://www.unseen-music.com/free[/url]
Yet another massive free comp. This is definitely a trend at the moment - there seems to have been a collective escalation to three or four hour compilation albums for free. I have mixed feelings - it's lost of free stuff but it's also a challenge to digest. However, names here include Fabio Orsi, Yui Onodera, Kenneth Kirschner, Antonymes, Talvihorros, Konntinent, Offthesky, Leonardo Rosado - most of which I have paid for stuff by, so it;s hard to complain really.
(url=>Fader)
@elwood, reading on the fly, I saw "staggering arsenal of original beats" above and read it as "artisanal beats." Wondered if they were also gluten-free, locally sourced, fair-trade beats.
Variations On A Loop (Rhythms) by Aidan Baker w/ Richard Baker
Sounding good so far. Free for an email address.
ETA Actually this is really good. Recommended for all who like psychedelic/spacey/droney things.