As its title suggests, Keys unlocks all kinds of musical doors, welcoming the listener into spaces that are alternately joyous and mournful, weird and deep. Make yourself right at home.
Search Results for: bowles
Nathan Bowles :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
“Elk River Blues” can be used as a road map to the solo music of Nathan Bowles. In 2012, as an end to his first album, A Bottle, A Buckeye, the song—written […]
Nathan Bowles :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
In his review of Nathan Bowles’ latest LP Whole and Cloven for Aquarium Drunkard, writer Tyler Wilcox asks: “Is banjo futurism a thing? Probably not, but if it was Nathan Bowles would be […]
Nathan Bowles :: Whole & Cloven
Is banjo futurism a thing? Probably not, but if it was Nathan Bowles would be leading the charge. Over the course of three solo albums, the picker/percussionist (you may know […]
Nathan Bowles :: Nansemond
For good or ill, the banjo has become the ultimate signifier of old timey Americana. You want to sprinkle a little down home “authenticity” into a song? Put a banjo […]
Brion Gysin :: Junk
Brion Gysin rubbed elbows with William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. The new version of his 1983 album Junk is something of an archeological expedition: it mixes alternates and an instrumental alongside an acoustic demo and a handful of tracks released in Gysin’s lifetime to create a record that never was. It’s an interesting, if short listen that mixes the ideas flowing out of New York with Gysin’s poetry and French singers.
Setting :: At Black Mountain College Museum
In Setting, the trio of Bowles, Fennelly and Westerlund have lit upon an improvisational ensemble of astonishing force and inventiveness, fluent in a musical language that melds roots, jazz, drone and minimalism. Their work is as swirling and cryptic as the abstract expressionists who once called Black Mountain College home. Even as a chaser to their proper album from last fall, at Black Mountain College Museum shows the group relentlessly evolving. It possesses a gnarled, terrible beauty. Like Appalachia itself.
Bandcamping :: Winter 2024
New tunes for a new year! While the status / coolness of Bandcamp as a corporate entity is in flux, the platform itself remains in fine form for the time being — even Bandcamp Fridays seem to be rolling forward in 2024 (the next one hits on Feb. 2). Wherever you get your music and however you choose to support artists, dig in here for some recent / recommended zones.
Videodrome :: The Hired Hand & Idaho Transfer
Following the success of Easy Rider, Peter Fonda tried his hand at directing with two wildly different films. Both feature a score by the influential musician Bruce Langhorne, and one is a minor masterpiece that attempts to rewrite the rules of the western genre.
Spirit of France
Spiritmuse Records is one of several modern record labels dedicated to reissuing jazz and jazz-inspired music from around the globe. The London-based label’s recent Spirit of France compilation showcases “obscure, rare spiritual jazz, deep folk and psychedelia sounds from the French ‘70s-‘80s underground” and is everything that tantalizing description promises.
Numün :: Book of Beyond
On numün’s excellent new album Book of Beyond, the synthesis of earth and space seems more complete. Indeed, the entire album exudes a kind of gravity, decidedly reminiscent of the wide-open melancholy of Bruce Langhorne’s Hired Hand. numün have perfected something like a space-age cowboy music here, plaintive and freighted. Even its sci-fi sonic filigree, the theremin trills and Mellotron moans, seem like signifiers of a future that has already been foreclosed.
Lagniappe SuperSession :: Birthday Blues | 33 Artists Interpret The Music Of James Toth
Surprise! The first Lagniappe SuperSession is a birthday party gathering of 33 artists interpreting the music of songwriter, James Toth. The songs in this collection cover over 20 years of music from James’ career, from his early band Golden Calves to his last Wooden Wand record, Clipper Ship. Featuring artists Woods, Marisa Anderson, Lee Ranaldo, William Tyler, Ryley Walker, Tashi Dorji (as Mount), Thurston Moore, Meg Baird, and 25 more, the range of styles and sounds on this compilation show off the universality of Toth’s impressive oeuvre.
Aquarium Drunkard :: 2021 Year In Review
Here it is: our Year In Review 2021. Unranked and sprawling as always. A guide to the music that stuck with us throughout another strange year.
Bill MacKay on New York Tendaberry
As a guitarist and improviser, Bill MacKay specializes in collaboration and openness. He’s that way as a listener too. Today he joins us for an essay about Laura Nyro’s third album, 1969’s New York Tendaberry.
The Master Musicians of Joujouka :: Live in Paris
Live in Paris is the first album to showcase the music of The Master Musicians of Joujouka with the appropriate fidelity. Listeners can hear this music in all of its sonic and spiritual heft, roughly approximating the sound of a performance in the village.