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‘Committed to tape on February 20, 1979… a real declaration of identity for Loren. He was introducing himself publicly as a guitar player, although his approach was still very much dictated by the influence of the painter, Mark Rothko, who Loren once described as using a minimal palette to create vital art… The feel to this session is bluesy, in as much as Loren’s wordless vocals have a surface similarity to a hellhound’s, and while he was not using a slide, most of the notes he plays are bent to the edges of their known range. Fahey always said blues was ‘about’ anger, though there’s not really any of that here. I am more reminded of this Rothko quote. ‘You’ve got sadness in you, I’ve got sadness in me ... and my works of art are places where the two sadnesses can meet, and therefore both of us need to feel less sad.’ The first side is solo. On the second Loren is joined for a bit by Kath on hums and recorder. The music brims with sorrow more than anything else. And while it’s clear Loren was embracing an abstract avant garde aesthetic vis-a-vis his playing, the urge to communicate seems to lie at its roots. Whatever you choose to call it, this is the beginning of something quite beautiful’ (Byron Coley).
Terrific — lit-up, reaching and odd — Josephine playing harp, guitar and piano (and singing), with Alex Nielson on drums and Victor Herrero, lead guitar.
‘A maze of spirituals, on four levels. Ritual prayers, blues laments, vestal hymns and jubilant benedictions hearkening back to the esoteric balladry of This Coming Gladness, the native rhythms of Blood Rushing, the somnambulist waltzes of I’m A Dreamer, and the Shaker primitivism of Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You. Self-accompaniment on guitar, piano, organ, harp and autoharp, with Victor Herrero (lead guitars), Gyða Valtýsdóttir (cello), Chris Scruggs (pedal steel) and Jon Estes (bass), as well as cameos by members of The Cherry Blossoms and others.’
Clear vinyl.
With guests including Erika Elder, P.G. Six, Michael Flower, J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr and Jeremy Earle from Woods. A legs eleven and a midden mound of ‘sprawling jams (including the incredible Rudy Rucker inspired Freeware) and beautiful songs. A truly wondrous, sun-blinded, summer stoner record that lets the sand slip through its toes and tramps off in the direction of a mirage of a gigantic effigy of Ganesh.’ 180g; heavyweight, UV-coated, tip-on gatefold; poster insert. 300 only.
‘The first thing is how unhinged it all sounds. The album brews and boils with an ominously dark tone in a desolate space, dense with energy, guitar overdriven past the point of sanity, slamming drum accents, vocals cutting through in what seems to be comprised of another, as yet unheard, language. Yet, inside the apparent wild abandon and destruction is a strict internal logic of construction that unveils itself upon listening…’ With Noel Von Harmonson from Comets On Fire on drums, and Rob Fisk from Badgerlore sharing the bass-playing with San Francisco psych legend Charlie Saufley.
JF goes to Nashville — a home from home for her song-writing, its odd allure, sex and sorrow lit up by harp and pedal steel, double bass and piano.
Intimate four-track home recordings from 2001. After years of just writing songs down, without thinking of recording them, the spur was her work as a music teacher to young children.
Wonderful, half-enraptured, half-stoned, full-blown re-imagination of vintage country soul sublimity. (He likes Washington Phillips; you can hear Curtis.) Five star reviews everywhere.
The first in forty-seven years from this veteran American Primitive. Witty, stark, smouldering guitarism, as ever.