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John Calvin Abney – Shortwaving
Shortwaving by John Calvin Abney A year or so ago, I saw Lizzie No perform at Pappy and Harriet’s, and she was incredible, as expected, but her band was especially a delight – Nelson Williams on standup bass and John Calvin Abney shredding the guitar, adding so much depth and heart to Lizzie’s wonderful folk magic. I’ve since familiarized myself with many of Abney’s more ambient releases, so when he…
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Joe Wilkinson – “Where the Wait Isn’t Long”
A few years ago, we talked with Joe Wilkinson about Basement Dreams as part of our serial retrospective of Neal Casal’s solo albums. Recently, Relix premiered a song Joe wrote about Neal, featuring the keys magician John Ginty, the angelic harmonies of Angie McKenna, and Chuck Wood on bass, Fredo Ortiz on drums, George Kapitanelis on electric upright bass and Ed Rainey on dobro. The multi-talented Deren Ney created the video…
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Bobby Lee Live
Last year, Bobby Lee’s Endless Skyways was on constant rotation at my house. It’s the kind of music I’m always in the mood for – atmospheric and animated, shimmering and intricate, transcendent and timeless. Today, Bobby shares a live video, recorded last June at Tesla Studios in his hometown of Sheffield. He is a true master of his craft – fully immersed and immersive, he’s joined by friends Mark Armstrong,…
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Adeline Hotel shares “I Will Let Your Flowers Grow” and how to let go
On September 27th, Adeline Hotel, the moniker of Dan Knishkowy plus a semi-consistent group of close friends (who all happen to be amazingly talented), will release Whodunit, the project’s latest studio album. Reflecting on the aftermath of a divorce, the album is the opposite of a typical separation album. It’s introspective, explorative, and overwhelmingly positive. It’s an album of renewal. Sonically, Knishkowy’s albums have ran the gamut from fingerstyle acoustic…
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Summer Bandcamp Shopping List
Happy summer! Here’s a list of albums recently released, or coming in the next month or so-ish that I think you should listen to. Unfortunately there next Bandcamp Friday is in September, so load up those shopping carts. Danny Paul Grody – Arc of Night Arc of Night by Danny Paul Grody Duo Quintelium – Dream and Reality Dream and Reality by Quintelium Suss – Birds & Beasts Birds &…
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Ki Oni & Luke Elliott in conversation
Chuck Soo-Hoo (AKA Ki Oni) and Luke Elliott are two of my favorite ambient magicians, whether they’re collaborating together, with others, or solo. On the heels of Luke’s latest release, Every Somewhere, out now on AKP recordings (which also received the honor of Bandcamp’s “Best of Ambient” from our friend Ted Davis); and Chuck’s last release A Leisurely Swim to Everlasting Life, and the gorgeous project Bloooom, who released an…
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Beachwood Sparks – Across the River of Stars
My favorite band released a new album, after an 11 year hiatus. Not that its members haven’t all been busy – I’ve been sketching a family tree, Peter Frame-style, and its many branches have me rethinking its structure, more like a mycelium system, all interwoven and interconnected and to me, one living organism hosting many fruiting bodies. The latest fruit, Across the River of Stars, out now on founding band…
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Riggings – The High and Lonesome Racket
Egg by Riggings Riggings’ latest single, “The High and Lonesome Racket,” out today, examines what songwriter Alex Riggs calls “the massive Queer Pain Industrial Complex that takes all queer suffering, sands it down, and repackages it for profit at the expense of art and personal expression.” Riggings’ latest album, Egg, thwarts this complex by exploring several complicated human truths this album, with Riggs’s signature laid-bare honesty mixed with winking humor,…
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Spring Bandcamp Shopping List
I started this year truly intending to post more, but life gets in the way. If I spent a quarter of the time I spend feeling bad about not writing, writing, well, that would fix it. I have some sort of creative paralysis where it seems impossible most days to do anything other than work my 8 hours and then walk around the sun and make dinner, and I’m trying…
