dfbm #81
Morning Raga Pt. VII

This mix was already made in January when not so much new music came in, so I dove into my library to pull out some releases I haven't listen to for a while.

It starts with a homage to Jack Rose, by Daniel Bachman when he was still performing under the name Sacred Harp. Downloading this album from some random blog back in 2010, got me hooked on this whole american primitive solo guitar stuff. I knew some Fahey and Basho, but Daniel made it accessible to me just by being able to get in contact with him. In 2011 I released the first vinyl 7" of Bachman on my label and five years later I am finally down to two copies of an edition of 300. Seven inches are a weird format. One loves it or doesn't care at all. Here is an interesting article about 7" singles. 

On a side-note, beside playing super fast in his early days, Bachman didn't use finger picks until the album Oh be Joyful in 2012, so it's sounding a bit less metallic and softer. Check out his early work and his live stuff with Ryley Walker.

With Ragtime Ralph, Peter Walker, Suni McGrath and Satwa I selected some veterans of the steel string guitar. Timeless and wonderful music.

Also don't miss the latest album by British guitarists C Joynes and Nick Jonah Davis Split Electric. It's a great album where both artists translate their skills on acoustic guitars onto electric ones. And since I am in Europe, Norwegian guitarist Stein Urheim is one not to miss as well. On the intersection to jazz and electronic, he comes up with really interesting guitar sounds. Maurizio Abate from Italy is maybe better known for sometimes harsh, experimental acoustic guitar excursions. On Loneliness, Desire and Revenge he recorded a really beautiful solo acoustic guitar album that actually sounds as melancholy as the title suggest. What is Spoono doing by the way?

A sonic topic I personally love to explore (as a listener) is the isolated, lonesome sounding acoustic guitar in an empty room. Great examples for this is the solo recording of Rick Tomlinson on his album Night Time Recordings from Göteborg or the releases of outsider musician Zachary Hay in his different incarnations as Bronze Horse, The Dove Azima and Green Glass. It couldn't get more intense than being so close that you can hear the breathing, every movement on the hollow corpus of the guitar and the room itself. Filipe Felizardo's Of The Excrement And The Frog is a recent addition to this kind of sound I am searching for. If you have other examples, I am eager to hear them!

I don't need to tell you that Glenn Jones is a superb guitarist who is the go-to source for any Fahey or Basho research. A new album is in the making, but since my own musical path was informed by soundscapes and field recordings, I decided to pick a super amplified recording of Wind Chimes from his 2013 album My Garden State. Next time a guitar piece.

Enjoy!

Download Stream @ 8tracks Stream @ Mixcloud

On a side note - I use the service 8tracks since 5 years for uploading digital mixtapes. They decided to put a virtual fence around their service and provide full mixes only to users in North America and a crippled version via youtube streams to everyone outside. It's sad to see how the internet gets restricted after the hopeful promise of a world wide connecting web. And this is due to prehistoric copyright laws and the lobby that is connected to it. Services like sportify are not the solution they are part of the problem. The Free Music Archive, free form radio stations like WFMU, independent artists and the idea of an alternative copyright system  need our support!

Tracklist

1. Sacred Harp Rappahannock (JR) Apparitions at the Kenmore Plantation 2010 discogs
2. Abraham Chapman I Believe it's Time Nothing to Leave Behind 1978 web
3. C Joynes St Cloudy Apple Spring Split Electric 2016 web
4. Peter Walker Celebration A Raga for Peter Walker 2006 discogs
5. Satwa Can I Be A Satwa Satwa 2005 discogs
6. Maurizio Abate Sweet Motherfucker Blues Loneliness, Desire and Revenge 2015 web
7. Green Glass Untitled 05 Green Glass 2013 discogs
8. Hurricanes of Love Goin to Minneapolis Night Tyme Vybes 2012 web
9. Jerry Hionis I'm a Zombie Blues Graveyard Stomps & Funeral Rags 2012 web
10. Bronze Horse n°7 Same 2010 discogs
11. Stein Urheim Bandlaus Kosmolodi 2012 discogs
12. Justin Pigott Crash Epiphany Split 2009 web
13. Andrew Weathers & Infinite Past Band I Looked Up Into Infinity Archive: The Great Alameda County Uncertainty 2015 web
14. Jack Wirth Halloween Night Jack Wirth's Album 2015 web
15. Rick Tomlinson Warm Winds Night Time Recordings From Goteborg 2008 discogs
16. Bob Theil Wind In The Wires So Far 2004 discogs
17. Glenn Jones Chimes My Garden State 2013 discogs
18. Ragtime Ralph Cloudburst Volume 4 2009 discogs
19. Matt Sowell Ticonderoga Live on WFMU with Irene - May 5, 2014 2014 web
20. Filipe Felizardo Of The Excrement And The Frog Guitar Soli For The Moa And The Frog 2012 discogs
21. Jack Rose Cathedral Et Chartres I Do Play Rock And Roll 2008 discogs
22. Dominick Joseph Gambini Let Your Cosmos Crash Down On Me s/t 2014 web
23. Nick Schillace Memoria Djalma Landscape And People 2008 discogs
24. The Dove Azima Untitled X The Dove Azima 2011 discogs
25. Spoono Walworth Rd Blues Cam Deas / Spoono 2009 discogs
26. Nick Jonah Davis Poa Kichizi Split Electric 2016 web
27. M. Mucci Untitled Demo 2007 discogs
28. Suni McGrath Xopo Cornflower Suite 1969 discogs
29. Dylan Golden Aycock Worn Well Lit Path The Blind Fold 2013 web