Listening to Woodsman on the Porch

I doubt Woodsman the band has much to do with Woodsman the movie since one makes trancelike music with a delay pedal and the other is about Kevin Bacon being a pedophile. This post will only involve Woodsman the band from here on out. These four dudes from Denver released an EP titled “Mystery Tape” at the beginning of June and its cover looks like the picture up there. Their music revolves mostly around delay-induced grooves produced from a thick wall of guitars, and front and center percussion. The music is loose, but never lethargic – meandering but deliberately following its own path. It’s these seemingly contradictory combinations which I’ve been finding delightful. Have a listen for yourself.

Mp3: Woodsman - Balance

Gregory Whitehead on the Porch; Another Way Forward

Gregory Whitehead seems to be a modern day rebel, with a very specific cause, that is the furtherance of radio liberation from the tightly gripping, rather banal hands of media groups that control this precious resource. Gregory’s analogy, which likens radio’s power in accessing the nethers of the mind to spelunking a familiar, yet foreign upon closer examination cave, may be helpful in understanding the importance of the medium for him. Far from radio’s daily waves of news, opinion-mongerers, and dumbing music, there is Gregory’s vision, “Another Way Forward.”

Mp3: Gregory Whitehead - If a Voice Like, Then What?

White Rainbow – Jams

Adam Forkner, aka White Rainbow, just released some free eps you should check out….

• Download > White Rainbow EP – “Boring Guitar Music” (2010)
• Download > White Rainbow EP – “Fresh Purp Scrape Juice From Sgt Forkner”

Also, if you haven’t picked up his latest record, New Clouds, is available here

Drawn Records: Brian Eno

Brian Eno – Here Come The Warm Jets [Island 1974]

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It’s a classic record and for me it gets better each listen. The album art is pretty wacky and translates even goofier in my own interpretation. I think my portrait of Brian kinda looks like Ras Al Ghul (from the animated series)

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Poppytalk Fresh From the Oven: Mix 3

DOWNLOAD > Poppytalk Fresh From The Oven: Mix 3

Tracklist:
1. Beach House “Used To Be”
2. Ganglians “Voodoo”
3. Smith Westerns “Be My Girl”
4. Atlas Sound “Doctor” (Five Discs Cover)
5. Bob Dylan “Queen Jane Approximately”
6. Alva Leigh “Hurricane”
7. David Crosby “Laughing”
8. Acorn “Crooked Legs”
9. Taken By Trees “Anna” (ft. Panda Bear)

Drawn Records: Recent Pleasures

In hopes of keeping a schedule I’m starting a series of new drawings. Here’s a look at some really fantastic albums I’ve been enjoying recently! Since joining Public School i’ve been listening to a lot more of his records.

Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited [Columbia 1965]
All time hits! It just feels right living in Texas and listening to Dylan.

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Beach House – Teen Dream [Subpop 2010]
This has quickly become one of my all time favorite records. It has been listened to endlessly in my car, studio, and house.

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Can – Future Days [United Artists 1973]
Brad turned me towards to the light and wild rhythms of Can. This specific album really resonates with my workflow.

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Smith Westerns – s/t [Hozac 2009]
I’m a sucker for lo-fi hazy jams and this is full of em!

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Toro Y Moi – Causers Of This [Carpark Records 2010]
This young buck has such great influences and collages them together so well.

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Te llevo para que me lleves

When Argentine pop becomes My Bloody Valentine.

Hold the Line

Sound Walk

I’ve been taking a lot of walks lately and I’ve always enjoyed field recordings, so I thought I’d share Soundwalk Editions with you.

“Soundwalk Editions features artists and composers who use environmental field recordings as a point of departure in their work. Drawing attention to the quality and experiential nature that can exist in the soundscapes of our environment, these works allow the viewer to have an intimate experience with the various compositional approaches practiced by each individual artist.  Through listening to these recordings we have the opportunity to become aware of the various dialects that can exist in the language of field recording compositions.”

Enjoy these soothing pieces and make sure to poke around the Walks section for audio tours of beautiful places all around the world.

World Music

This is the time of the year to finally read long articles on the Internet! I’ve got two interesting ones today.

Immigration Caseworker AA0089 Has Some Thoughts About What Is Art

First, a really alarming piece from the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago about the U.S. visa program for touring foreign musicians. It boils down to government bureaucrats determining which artists are “culturally unique” enough to be allowed to play for us.

Nu World, Brave

Over at ethnomusicologist Wayne Marshal’s blog, there’s an interesting discussion going on about “nu world” music. He frames it as the combination of different types of music – electronic, cumbia, reggae, techno, hip hop, dubstep – from all over the world. All of these genres have been able to combine and mutate through the Internet, online mixtapes, and MP3 blogs. There are some interesting questions about authenticity and mediation that arise, which I think are important to think about.

I also feel like this idea can be applied to the new interest in (and breed of) psychedelic music. Today, we post just as easily about African highlife, The Zombies, New Age, Krautrock, tropicália, and chopped and screwed music. And from that mixing pot we get White Rainbow, Pocahaunted, Toro y Moi, El Guincho, Sun Araw, and Ducktails. It’s a beautiful thing!