Folk / Roots

For a decade, Maxine Funke has cut an idiosyncratic path as a singer-songwriter, all the while avoiding the parochial retreads of that worn-out label. Funke's music is intimate and deeply intelligent, buoyed by a sense of effortlessness that belies a scrupulous attention to the smallest of details. Felt appeared in 2012 in a vinyl edition of 100 on the Epic Sweep imprint. This album has an altogether more crepuscular feel, making slightly fuller use of the sonic palette -- an increase in dissonance, errant drum rumbles, and nigh-ambient instrumental murmurings around which flow Funke's basically perfect songs. The brevity, yet fullness, of the tracks and Funke's unadorned if oblique arrangements lend a sense not of sketches but of fields of color, the sensation of late fall foliage glimpsed through the window of a quickly passing train. Indeed, as much as these recordings suggest the close quarters and warmth of a small home, Maxine Funke makes music for traveling, providing accompaniment through the rough, unfeeling vectors of a disenchanted world and, as she does on the last song of Felt, imagining it differently. As the titles of these albums suggest, Funke's is a tactile art, as warm and tangible as the tape hiss bathing it, her words and music rescuing everyday moments from traps of distraction and defeat. Following limited edition vinyl reissues in 2016 -- a swansong for Nemo Bidstrup's sorely missed Time-Lag Recordings imprint -- we're happy to make Felt and Lace widely available. Maxine Funke's music, immediate and entirely unpretentious, suggests a world in which Katherine Mansfield rubs shoulders with Liz Harris, or Vashti Bunyan grows up on the Flying Nun catalog. Absolutely essential.iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 472px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3969665761/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/artwork=none/transparent=true/" seamless>FELT by maxine funke

For a decade, Maxine Funke has cut an idiosyncratic path as a singer-songwriter, all the while avoiding the parochial retreads of that worn-out label. Funke's music is intimate and deeply intelligent, buoyed by a sense of effortlessness that belies a scrupulous attention to the smallest of details. Lace was originally released as a CD-R in 2008 on Alastair Galbraith's Next Best Way label. Imagine the just-so arrangements of Josephine Foster and the knowing quotidian eye of Sibylle Baier meeting the realism of Funke's compatriots Turiiya or the acoustic textures of the Kiwi Animal and you're nearly there -- but in that gap lies the undeniable pull of Funke's music. Short songs for nylon string guitar, violin, piano, incidental snippets of bird song and furniture creaks, brief instrumental interludes in the vein of Funke's regular collaborator Galbraith: this is the realest of deals. The metaphysic of 'Second Hand Store' cuts to the uncompromised heart of this record, a rejection of the idea of ownership in favor of communal chance, the ragged comfort of things lived-in and passed on, a searching with no need to find, let alone possess. Indeed, as much as these recordings suggest the close quarters and warmth of a small home, Maxine Funke makes music for traveling, providing accompaniment through the rough, unfeeling vectors of a disenchanted world and, as she does on the last song of Felt, imagining it differently. As the titles of these albums suggest, Funke's is a tactile art, as warm and tangible as the tape hiss bathing it, her words and music rescuing everyday moments from traps of distraction and defeat. Following limited edition vinyl reissues in 2016 -- a swansong for Nemo Bidstrup's sorely missed Time-Lag Recordings imprint -- we're happy to make Felt and Lace widely available. Maxine Funke's music, immediate and entirely unpretentious, suggests a world in which Katherine Mansfield rubs shoulders with Liz Harris, or Vashti Bunyan grows up on the Flying Nun catalog. Absolutely essential."

Bola Sete - Samba in Seattle : Live at the Penthouse, 1966-1968 is the first official release of the legendary and influential Brazilian acoustic guitarist BOLA SETE's live recordings at the Penthouse jazz club in Seattle, WA featuring bassist SEBASTIÃO NETO and drummer PAULINHO MAGALHÃES. Produced by Grammy-nominated jazz detective ZEV FELDMAN, and remastered from the original tape reels in cooperation with THE BOLA SETE ESTATE, this deluxe 3-CD set includes an extensive 40 page booklet with rare photos from THE PENTHOUSE; essay by music critic GREG CASSEUS (aka GREG CAZ); new interviews and statements by guitar icon CARLOS SANTANA, legendary composer/pianist LALO SCHIFRIN, Sete's friend, pianist and producer, GEORGE WINSTON, and Bola Sete's widow ANNE SETE; plus an effusive tribute by the late guitar great JOHN FAHEY. Samba in Seattle is a significant addition to the recorded legacy of an oft–sampled musician (A Tribe Called Quest, J Dilla and Dan The Automator) whose career straddled bossa nova, jazz–pop and early New Age.

The goddess of British folk mythology, Vashti Bunyan's first self-produced and final album.
It's been 9 years since the previous work Lookaftering. When she was recording alone, which she liked, she produced most of the work herself, trying to return to the state before the release of the masterpiece "Just Another Diamond Day". Therefore, it seems that this production time was necessary, but Vashti Bunyan. All the sounds that come out are Vashti Bunyan. The warm singing voice and the world of poetry, the simplicity of the performance packed with it, is a crystal that no one else can create... The artwork is produced by her daughter Whyn Lewis following the previous work Lookaftering. It is said that it is paired with Lookaftering.

Blind Joe Death is the first album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey. There are three different versions of the album, and the original self-released edition of fewer than 100 copies is extremely rare.

Guitarist RUSSELL POTTER's A Stone's Throw (1979) and Neither Here Nor There (1981) reissued via Tompkins Square - LP & Digital June 25th

The latest in a series of reissues spawned from Imaginational Anthem Volume 8 : The Private Press, following Tom Armstrong - The Sky Is An Empty Eye and Rick Deitrick - Gentle Wilderness/River Sun River Moon

Reflections on Russell Potter by IA8 co-producer and poet, Michael Klausman :

The two latest reissues to spin off from our acclaimed Imaginational Anthem Volume 8: The Private Press feature the solo guitar compositions of Russell Potter, recorded in the last waning days of the initial American Primitive explosion.

A then obsessed teenaged devotee of John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Leo Kottke at a time when Punk and New Wave were ascendant, Potter harnessed a similar DIY ethos to his own ends by starting his own label & self-publishing his first record, 'A Stone’s Throw’, while a freshman enrolled at Goddard College in Vermont in 1979. Assembled at the legendary Boddie Records in Potter’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and sprinkled liberally with references to his heroes, from the initial record label name of Fonytone (which more than a little recalls Fahey’s earliest record label, Fonotone), to the arcane song titles and references to obscure rags.

Even as he looks to his elders, Potter’s debut release nimbly evinces a complete mastery of his form and is all the more remarkable for one of such tender years, as only the chutzpah of youth can account for such moves as successfully grafting one of your own composition to one of John Fahey’s, as he does here. There’s a very immediate, lovely, and real homespun quality to Potter’s chiming twelve-string compositions that puts it in the realm of those classic records that seem to simply exist outside of time.

Shortly after ‘A Stones Throw’, Potter produced & released a 45rpm single by an Ohio bluegrass band featuring the cult singer songwriter Bob Frank performing a cover of Devo’s ‘Mongoloid’, before moving on to his second (and sadly final) album the following year, ‘Neither Here Nor There’. Following an independent study with a Goddard College ethnomusicologist, Potter’s compositions and performance only deepened on his second release — the recording quality steps up a little but loses none of the immediacy, the playing gets more exuberantly virtuosic —but then more reflective too, particularly on the tunes that are influenced by the gorgeous traditional Irish slow airs. He’s still tipping his hat to Fahey occasionally as well, this time with an audacious electric guitar setting of the classic “Dance of the Inhabitant of the Palace of King Philip XIV of Spain.”

Though these albums landed at a time when American Primitive guitar music’s 1960s & 1970s heyday was in the rear view mirror, they absolutely look ahead to the genre’s eventual 21st Century resurrection, anticipating both in form & content many of the same concerns you find in the great contemporary work of the last two decades by Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, Daniel Bachman, et al., and as such provide about as fine a stepping stone between these two eras as you’re likely to find.

Brazilian music at it's finest! 2x7" set of four beautiful Piry Reis recordings from the 70s and 80s. Disc one is a reissue of his 1975 single on Som Livre, 'Heroi Moderno', which features the highly sought after 7inch version of 'Cisplatina' on the flip. The second disc holds the rare cuts 'Reza Brava' (1970) & 'Céu De Manágua' (1984). The project came together with the blessing of Piry Reis himself, and is released on the sub-label of Rush Hour recordings, New Dawn. Artwork by Amsterdam's Sekan with a touch by Megin Hayden. New Dawn, set up for less electronic but equally adventurous releases by artists we love.

An ambitious work that lets you hear a completely different heavy sound with a new organization of 6 members, who have spent 10 years of the severe earthquake of the 2000s. This is no longer "that" Noarizu! From garage blues, accordion / musical saw funk, and Joe Meek's cover, all with no decorations, all roughly analog one-shot recordings, to the standard strange singing version that also features Satchmo and Sinatra! !! A special gift for you with a total of 8 songs, including 3 original songs. Enjoy the vivid sound as if you were in the studio.

Imagine being a punk rocker before the advent of punk rock, or a hippie that puts a cynical meaning in the message of peace. It's just like Pip Proud in Sydney in the 1960s, who cursed the media and its hypocrisy and made music that cuts through all the falsehoods. (Excerpt from David Nichols, commentary)

An anthology of the musical works of Australian outsider poet Pip Proud, also known as "Syd Barrett on the other side of the globe," under the supervision of his biographer, Professor David Nichols. All songs first appeared in Japan!

He has a quiet voice with a tangled tongue, and his vocal range is less than half an octave. (Omitted) A complete understanding of the childhood sensibilities shown in these songs is the most extraordinary feature of his work. "(From commentary) ... Proud is unprecedented in Australia. At that time, the industry was awkward, and it wasn't even described as a "pioneer" in that even followers weren't established, and it was just an "outsider" who was isolated from the front and back. Syd Barrett and Daniel Johnston have a strong personality that once you hear it, you will never leave your mind.

This work is an anthology selected from the phantom private 1st album produced in the 1960s, 2 albums released in majors, and treasured recordings in the early 70s, and the latest remaster based on the sound source source generated from the master tape. Was given. In addition, with the cooperation of Professor Nichols, an English poem that should be called "Pip" was published as a text for the first time in the world based on a draft handwritten by the writer (→ This English poem alone is of great value!). The CD version adds 3 bonus songs.

A folk trio who was active in Derbyshire in central England met Jane Marsden, a vocalist with a brilliant voice, and this was the opportunity for the birth of a six-member electric folk rock band, No Light Turn. They gained popularity in central England, and in 1983, at Woodwarm Studio, which was the core of the Fairport Convention, they independently produced their first album, "No Light Turn." (Adding a cover song "Lady of Pleasure" that respects Fairport to the album) The uniqueness of NRT is that although it is not so much involved in live performances, two songwriters, Phil Harrison and Tim Dawson, Being on the back as a member, the repertoire of major vocal songs was the original that became their pen. Jane's multi-recording / double-track vocals, reminiscent of Linda Perhax, were the band's glamor, and the British-style refreshing and melancholy voice matched Harrison / Dawson's original songs best. While there are songs that appeal to the times, such as "Roller Coaster" where neo acoustic acoustic guitars run, "Lawlands Away" which invites nostalgia, and "What Do You Do?" Rearrange traditional songs such as "Ash Plant" and "Waves" into a heavy progressive instrument like Pink Floyd. This exquisite sense of balance is also the charm of the band. It's a local indie independent board, but it's a lovable miracle work that is truly a masterpiece!

Performance as if John Fay and Buckwards Sam Fark possessed, all 6 songs by cyber cowboy wandering in the digital jungle + Tomoki Kanda (CRUE-L Records)'s best remix recording! 2010s present tense TOKYO music cutting edge that looked like prewar country blues 100 years ago. The splendor that I haven't lost sight of myself for many years.

Extradition's parent band Tully, who is familiar as the highest peak of Aussie Spiritual Acid Folk! !! !! !! It was recorded as a soundtrack to Paul Witzig's surf movie "Sea Of Joy" in 1972, but it's almost an Extradition rather than a soundtrack! Extradition's nickname band, which uses psychedelic and meditative sounds with a mixture of electro / acoustic sounds and experimental methods, is a masterpiece that nods. It is a superb surf sound that exists with the magnificent sea that makes you recognize the connection between surfing and spirituality. Especially, the warm and slightly nostalgic sound like the sea at dusk is a masterpiece that makes you feel wrinkled and impressed. Female vocalist Shayna Karlin (now Stewart) who decided the Extradition also participated. The best acid folk that you should definitely listen to this summer. The liner by the band members and the director is also very polite and wonderful. MUST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A folk trio who was active in Derbyshire in central England met Jane Marsden, a vocalist with a brilliant voice, and this was the opportunity for the birth of a six-member electric folk rock band, No Light Turn. They gained popularity in central England, and in 1983, at Woodwarm Studio, which was the core of the Fairport Convention, they independently produced their first album, "No Light Turn." (Adding a cover song "Lady of Pleasure" that respects Fairport to the album) The uniqueness of NRT is that although it is not so much involved in live performances, two songwriters, Phil Harrison and Tim Dawson, Being on the back as a member, the repertoire of major vocal songs was the original that became their pen. Jane's multi-recording / double-track vocals, reminiscent of Linda Perhax, were the band's glamor, and the British-style refreshing and melancholy voice matched Harrison / Dawson's original songs best. While there are songs that appeal to the times, such as "Roller Coaster" where neo acoustic acoustic guitars run, "Lawlands Away" which invites nostalgia, and "What Do You Do?" Rearrange traditional songs such as "Ash Plant" and "Waves" into a heavy progressive instrument like Pink Floyd. This exquisite sense of balance is also the charm of the band. It's a local indie independent board, but it's a lovable miracle work that is truly a masterpiece!