[ aquarius records — Country Folk Blues ]

Jay Farrar was always my favorite part of Uncle Tupelo. That voice. So this is his new band. He brought back Uncle Tupelo's old drummer, and the resulting album is quiet and lovely, not filled with, as one Aquarius customer put it, the 'Nashville hotshots' Wilco features.

Jay Farrar and other ex-Uncle Tupelo folk with their third Son Volt album, this one a bit noisier and looser (in a good way) than previous efforts. We like it.

The soundtrack to the film Songcatcher is filled with compelling performances by such songbirds as Iris Dement, Dolly Parton. Alison Moorer, Deana Carter, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Emmy Rossum, Patty Loveless, Hazel Dickens, and Lone Justice's Maria McKee. About half of the songs are traditionals and they fit in well with the original compositions. Wonderful.

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Songs: Ohia's fifth proper album is their most skeletal yet. This time around main man Jason Molina is accompanied by members of Appendix Out and Lullaby For The Working Class. The results are eight of the darkest folk tunes you will ever hear. The vocals are more desperate, the instrumentation is more varied (dig the creepy world instruments), and the overall ambience is downright coma-inducing. So what does it all mean? It means the lazy comparisons to other popular indie cum alt-country stars must stop now! This is the most original, most beautiful not-so-folk folk record you will hear all year.

It can be quite unnerving how similar Jason Molina's voice is to Will Oldham's. So the comparisons to Palace are inevitable, and this record isn't much of an exception. There does, however, seem to be a dramatic difference between Oldham's songs and Molina's songs, both musically and lyrically. While Oldham's songs are certainly beautiful and appalachian and 'old timey', Molina takes the same sound, but infuses it with an urgency and depth not always present on Palace records. It's like every song is sung with his last dying breath, or howled impotently at the gods intent on crushing his spirit. Dramatically theatrical emotions pour out of intense, slow motion country narratives. This time around, Songs:Ohia includes members of Arab Strap and Appendix Out, adding even more depressive murk and heart wrenching hopelessness.

Sometimes we forget that not everyone has been closely reading our list/website for the past six or eight years...or the past six months, even. That causes us to mistakenly assume y'all know about older releases that we stock. Why do we mention this? Well, recently Andee sold a bunch of copies of the very first releases on his tUMULt label (that came out five years ago) to a distro, who listed them on their website as "new in stock" and thereby sold a bunch...to people we know, who are regular AQ customers, who just happened to have missed the SA cds the first time we listed them way back when. So...we thought we'd better give everybody another chance to pick up from us these amazing, all time AQ favorites! Long overdue reissue of these amazing and long out of print LPs by Chicago's Souled American, a band unfortunate enough to have helped create a genre that effectively didn't yet exist. But by the time 'alternative country' had caught the attention of the music buying public and helped rock audiences overcome their fear of country music, Rough Trade had already collapsed (leaving them with no label, and basically no records) and the band had already withdrawn from the public eye so effectively, that even their most stalwart fans assumed the worst. Fe and Flubber, their first two records, find them exploring rock music from a distinctly country/bluegrass perspective. The result is a wholly original sound, true to the tradition, but weird enough to keep them a sort of band's band for years, blending plaintive, heartfelt, on-the-verge-of-cracking Neil Young-ish vocals, warm but angular guitars, and probably their most unique characteristic; the bass, dubby and underwater, slippery and otherworldly. Anyone who likes Palace, Uncle Tupelo, Songs:Ohia, Rex, or John Prine, will love these records. Around the Horn and Sonny find Souled American slowing down and becoming more introspective, shedding band members and discarding un-needed sounds to arrive at their own essence of folk/bluegrass/country; dark, lugubrious, glacial sounds of country past, lost loves, mines and ghost towns. While still essential for fans of Palace and Uncle Tupelo, now even fans of Low, Labradford, Godspeed, and Kranky records will find themselves irresistably drawn to, and slowly enveloped by the murk and mist. Our esteemed co-worker Andee founded tUMULt because he wanted to see this records reissued. All four cds have been lovingly remastered, have new artwork and Around the Horn is a cd rom, containing a never before seen video for "In the Mud". When you buy both volumes (4 cds!) they come in a beautiful slipcase.

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Sometimes we forget that not everyone has been closely reading our list/website for the past six or eight years...or the past six months, even. That causes us to mistakenly assume y'all know about older releases that we stock. Why do we mention this? Well, recently Andee sold a bunch of copies of the very first releases on his tUMULt label (that came out five years ago) to a distro, who listed them on their website as "new in stock" and thereby sold a bunch...to people we know, who are regular AQ customers, who just happened to have missed the SA cds the first time we listed them way back when. So...we thought we'd better give everybody another chance to pick up from us these amazing, all time AQ favorites! Long overdue reissue of these amazing and long out of print LPs by Chicago's Souled American, a band unfortunate enough to have helped create a genre that effectively didn't yet exist. But by the time 'alternative country' had caught the attention of the music buying public and helped rock audiences overcome their fear of country music, Rough Trade had already collapsed (leaving them with no label, and basically no records) and the band had already withdrawn from the public eye so effectively, that even their most stalwart fans assumed the worst. Fe and Flubber, their first two records, find them exploring rock music from a distinctly country/bluegrass perspective. The result is a wholly original sound, true to the tradition, but weird enough to keep them a sort of band's band for years, blending plaintive, heartfelt, on-the-verge-of-cracking Neil Young-ish vocals, warm but angular guitars, and probably their most unique characteristic; the bass, dubby and underwater, slippery and otherworldly. Anyone who likes Palace, Uncle Tupelo, Songs:Ohia, Rex, or John Prine, will love these records. Around the Horn and Sonny find Souled American slowing down and becoming more introspective, shedding band members and discarding un-needed sounds to arrive at their own essence of folk/bluegrass/country; dark, lugubrious, glacial sounds of country past, lost loves, mines and ghost towns. While still essential for fans of Palace and Uncle Tupelo, now even fans of Low, Labradford, Godspeed, and Kranky records will find themselves irresistably drawn to, and slowly enveloped by the murk and mist. Our esteemed co-worker Andee founded tUMULt because he wanted to see this records reissued. All four cds have been lovingly remastered, have new artwork and Around the Horn is a cd rom, containing a never before seen video for "In the Mud". When you buy both volumes (4 cds!) they come in a beautiful slipcase.

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We love this band so much we took it upon ourselves to import mucho copies of their two most recent albums, and as far as we know, we are the ONLY store in the country to care enough to carry them. Think Joel Phelps (in the voice) with a dour Palace twang, also Red House Painters-ish 'slow-core' but these guys have been doing it for over a decade, having put out several hard-to-find records on Rough Trade. Very bare and wintry. Oh yeah, they're from Chicago and have a rabid cult following (can't believe I just wrote that); people far and wide, including Jim O'Rourke and our own Andee Connors, just WORSHIP them. This is kind of a big deal.

BACK IN STOCK AGAIN!! By now, if you've been paying any attention, you know how much we love Souled American. So much that Andee even started his tUMULt label specifically to re-release their first four albums. (Really!) So once again we're super excited to have gotten a handful of copies of their last record, Notes Campfire, back in. Notes Campfire is record number six, and finds Souled American at their most lugubrious, their stoned glacial country at its very slowest and introspective. Which is saying a lot for the masters of stoned deconstructed skeletal country folk. But Notes Campfire is indeed the dreamiest and darkest of all their recordings, shimmering guitars ripple endlessly into the ether, achingly mournful about-to-crack vocals hover like disembodied spirits in SA's wintery musical forest. Creeping and slithering, warbly and tenuous, these songs are barely there impressions of what was once a country rock band, wispy smoky shapes, dreamy and luminescent halos of distant twang and soulful introspection. Still manages to kick ass over almost any slowcore / no depression / alt. country we've ever heard. Fans of Palace and Songs:Ohia and stuff like that owe it to themselves to check Souled American out if they haven't already.

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Lovely Medieval-tinged French Acid Folk. Like Springuns or Ougenweide or an even more ancient minstral version of Fairport Convention. Full of Sitars, Lutes, Hurdy Gurdy's and lilting male and female harmonies.

Hard to believe it's been five years since we last heard from Mark Linkous and Sparklehorse. It seems like every record has involved some sort of struggle or personal tragedy. Linkous has had a seriously rough life, an accident that almost killed him, and which left him crippled for life, struggles with anxiety and depression, but the result of all that anguish is one of the most incredible bodies of work in modern music. Sparklehorse is sort of like the country rock Flaming Lips. Starting life out as a super scrappy rock band, and then discovering the joys of the studio, learning to use the studio like another instrument, creating an incredibly expansive sound palette, and eventually creating a unique world of unbelievably lush sounds, like a modern day Brian Wilson. And this record is no different. It's rich and dense and lush and sweet, the vocals, a plaintive heartstring pulling croon, guitars strum and shimmer, melodies drift, harmonies float and glisten, everything woven together into gorgeously perfect twang flecked pop. The vocals are multi tracked, doused in effects, swathed in reverb, guitar parts are simple and spare, the record is dotted with bits of strange digital glitch, or fuzzy record crackle. Some tracks are crystal clear, simple and straight forward, others are dense and dizzying, with strange edits, and extreme stereo panning, there are a few super fuzzed out rockers, but for the most part Dreamt For Light Years is a record of sun dappled divinity and sweetly melancholy drift. A gloriously and dreamily psychedelic excursion into the heart of darkness. So lovely.

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Not to be confused with the ultra-trippy late-60's Latin American psychedelic rock group of the same name! These San Franciscans are a completely different band, but that's not to say you might not like these folks too. Those who've delighted in anything and everything graced with the wonderful presence of Ms Jolie Holland, and/or The Iron & The Albatross' Ara Anderson will surely wanna sit up and take note of this new cd. All of you more literary types too might wish to close your books for a spell and lend an ear to Yeats Is Great. In addition to those two Bay Area folksy luminaries, this is quite an impressive assembly of like-minded earthy artists joining together to sing, speak, strum, and otherswise celebrate the writings of Yeats.

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THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. The sonic solar system surrounding Sunroof!, Double Leopards, Hototogisu and those who sail with them has been expanding like some free rock supernova lately. Not just multiple releases from the core members but new groups, new configurations of old groups and multiple releases by both. Hard to figure out how Bassett (Double Leopards, Hototogisu, GHQ, etc...), Bower (Sunroof!, Hototogisu, etc.) and friends manage. And manage with such a consistent level of quality. Now we have this, what seems to be the first proper full length from Spectre Folk, aka Pete Nolan of the Magik Markers, GHQ, Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice and Shackamaxon among others. As Spectre Folk, Nolan divides his energies between a drifty glimmering drone not unlike his sweetly noisy brethren (and sistren) in Hototogisu and Sunroof! with muted guitars that sway and swell, muted melodies that drift and swoon like barely visible ghosts and woodwinds that whir and drone dreamily, and a more 'traditional' folk, fingerpicked steel string guitar, sweet crooning vocals,a lilting otherworldly melancholia, wrapped in layer after layer of tape hiss, and instrument buzz and warm windlike whir. It's almost like listening to some sixties folk 7" on a broken old turntable that barely plays, lovely and so mysterious sounding. Features Spencer Yeh from Burning Star Core on one track and Marcia Bassett, Nolan's bandmate in GHQ, drew the cover. Nice!

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You'd never know it from listening, but this gorgeous slab of sprawling Americana and Appalachia, features mostly members of Sunburned Hand and the No Neck Blues Band as Mr. Speer's back up band. No ramshackle percussion, spaced out drum jams, or noisy free rock, just twangy folky old timey country, strummed and picked mountain folk, and some old fashioned truck drivin' ballads. The music is pitch perfect, for a minute we were convinced this was some unearthed classic, some lost folk find, but nope, this man and his band are a going concern, gigging and recording present day! The songs vary, running the gamut of traditional country tropes, classic Fahey-esque Appalachia, stretched out country ballads, sixties surf rock, SF style psych, it all sounds amazing, the vocals too, which only appear occasionally, a earthy baritone drawl, crooned in a sort of Townes Van Zandt style. Really good stuff, and a surprise coming from these NY freenoise vets. And if you like this, be sure and check out the Coachfingers, another weirdly twangy NNCK offshoot (and conversely, all you folks who bought the Coachfingers would probably dig this too!).

Another awesome Mississippi Records reissue, this one from Bahaman guitarist Joseph Spence, who has one of the most unique guitar and vocal styles EVER. This came out originally on Arhoolie way back when, but this vinyl reissue is super swank, one of those old school paste on type jackets, with the textured faux leather sleeve, with the artwork affixed over the top. But none of that would matter if the music wasn't amazing, and it IS. Spence's guitar playing is playful and lyrical, tangled and lush, melodies unfurled in little flurries, a weird and wonderful combination of strumming and picking and slapping and scraping and plucking, so so strange, but so magical, and when combined with his vocals... WOW. We're not sure he's even singing actual words. It's all mumbled and growly and grunted and howled and mush mouthed, every now and again, an actual word or two will pop up, but besides that, it's more like scatting, and he has a cool deep growl that sounds quite a bit like Captain Beefheart or a pirate, or some weird mix of the two. Such a fun and fantastic record. Way recommended.

2nd time reissued on CD, this was the amazing Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence's second album. Originally recorded in 1964, where this album excels over the first (recorded for Smithsonian Folkways in 1958) is that the producers had the prescience to load up with some great field recording gear. Important given that the dynamic range that Mr. Spence can coax out of his guitar is astounding. Though his repertoire consists almost entirely of traditional hymns and folk tunes that most all of us are familiar with, his renditions are hardly recognizable. Spence has a maniacally insane picking / plucking / slapping guitar style that would make Jaco Pastorius and Pete Seeger bow their heads in awe. To boot, Spence's singing, err... mumbling style is too lovable to resist. It's almost like hearing Captain Beefheart with his mouth wired shut. A cult classic!

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After listening to this disc, all we can say is Marissa Nadler and Joanna Newsom better watch their backs. If there is any justice in the world, the throngs of bearded and bead encrusted modern free folk freaks and forest maidens that make up the new weird underground will bow down before Jane Herships, the woman who is Spider. A softly strummed dreamy acoustic world of drifting shimmering loveliness. If Devendra Banhart is homecoming king at this year's forestfolk ball, well then Spider would absolutely have to be everyone's choice for queen. The Way To Bitter Lake is a blissful blend of Iron & Wine, Vashti Bunyan, Will Oldham, Cat Power, Edith Frost. Hushed vocals over lilting old timey folk, gorgeous and timeless melodies, spare arrangements, but so deftly arranged as to be more powerful than almost any of her contemporaries. There is definitely a serious Iron & Wine vibe going on, Herships sounds like Sam Beam's long lost twin sister. Even her turns of phrase and choice of melodies. The mind boggles at the possibility of those two making a record together. If either of them are reading this, for god's sake let's make it happen!! Regardless, this is an absolute gem. Pastoral, and haunting, soft and shimmery, suffused with warm summer sunlight, a rambling record if there ever was one. Cool afternoon, bare feet, tall grass, clouds drifting lazily by, soft breezes, the smell of earth and leaves, wandering through a fuzzy folk dream. Absolutely gorgeous.

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A gorgeous slab of blissfolk improv from these free folk underground dreamweavers. Three separate tracks from 3 likeminded ensembles. First up, Spiderwebs (Tom Carter (of Charalambides) and Sandy Ewen (of Weird Weeds)), offer up a glistening ambience, spacious and hushed with chiming harmonics and slowly unfurling melodies, soft and shimmery, spaced out slow drifting soundscapes of keening guitar swells and crystalline abstraction, haunting drones floating and fluttering, melodies whirling like tiny dustdevils, so lovely. Next up is Mike Tambouro And Matthew McDowell who spin a dense web of strange electronic sound and warm whirring guitar, swells and swirls of moaning bells soft slow drones, a deep pool of sonic shimmer beneath lonely back porch strum and twang. A drone drenched, mysterious Appalachia. Finally, Keenan Lawler lets lengthy buzzing guitar lines sprawl loosely across super spare soundfield, each note, each chord, sliding and bombinating, raga like buzz and loping abstract country twang, loose and skeletal, haunting and otherworldly. Another amazing installment in the Music Fellowship's Triptych series!

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Shame on anyone who somehow managed to miss the acoustic Harvey Milk instore, with HM frontman Creston Spiers tackling stripped down Milk tracks, Leonard Cohen covers, heck, he even covered "Three Is A Magic Number" from Schoolhouse Rock. Well this one is for those of you who blew it, or for those of you who didn't but still need more. A super limited yellow vinyl 7", the second and supposedly last pressing, 300 copies, already sold out, we have about 30, of Creston Spiers from Harvey Milk performing acoustic, two originals, both awesome. And both sounding like could-have-been Harvey Milk tracks, or obscure Leonard Cohen covers, anyone at the instore knows exactly what we mean, his voice and way with melody is so distinctive, and owes quite a bit to Mr. Cohen. On these two tracks, Spiers' vocals are rough and ragged but still melodic, accompanied by stripped down steel string guitar, spare and melancholy, with slightly off kilter arrangements, the tone mournful and melancholy. Barring a recording of "Three Is A Magic Number" you couldn't hope for more. Pressed on thick clear yellow vinyl, housed in a clear plastic PVC sleeve, limited to 300 copies, out of print, this is most likely your last chance...

It's kind of weird. We usually like our country dark and slow and lugubrious and miserable. And SLOW. But Split Lip Rayfield are one of the few bands who are a full on, rollicking bluegrass outfit, that kick ass and still hit the spot. Fierce and furious, these guys are all wicked players, insane fiddling, blazing banjo-ing and manic mandolining mesh into wild and wooly footstomping knee slapping old school bluegrass. With awesome harmonies and clever funny lyrics (songs like "Redneck Tailgate Dream", "A Little More Cocaine Please" and "C'mon Get Your Gun") these guys are unbeatable. When they do slow down even for a song or two, it's soooooo good. Dark and minor key, heartfelt and miserable. But even when they are at their most sensitive they are secretly taking the piss, like on the seemingly poignant, perfectly titled "Just Like A Gillian Welch Song."

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Deluxe 77-track career retrospective.

So we've worked are way backwards with the recent reissues of great British folkstress Bridget St John. A couple lists ago we reviewed her most pop and upbeat release Thank You For..., then last time it was the ever so lush and orchestrated '71 release Songs For The Gentle Man and this time we focus on her debut, 1969's Ask Me No Questions. An outing that's the most stripped down of her first three albums. Produced by her biggest supporter, John Peel, this was by and large a totally solo affair. Her totally beautiful voice and sparse guitar instrumentation help create an overall somber and peaceful mood that is usually so hard to get so right, but St. John demonstrates that she knew so well how to evoke those sentiments without hitting people over the head, instead slowly wandering and tiptoeing her way through leaves and trees and finding beauty, truth and sadness along the way. The reissue of this debut also contains two bonus tracks including a stunning cover of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne." These recent reissues have proven she is worthy of that spot in your record collections next to Nick Drake, Vashti Bunyan and Marianne Faithfull, voices that are timeless and always ring so true and wise.

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We've been so happy that Cherry Red has made available some of the wonderful records of late '60s early '70s UK folkstress Bridget St. John. Last time we listed the wonderful Thank You For... and this time it's the lush sounds of Songs For The Gentle Man that we have been swept away by. This is for sure one of her most beautiful albums. Teamed up with producer Ron Geesin who she was introduced to by their mutual friend John Peel (his record label Dandelion originally released this in '71). Geesin's production was such a perfect match for the breezy and beautiful sound of St. John's voice. He actually co-wrote one side of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother as well as making lots of interesting, challenging records of his own. The lush arrangements on this record will make you think of Vashti Bunyan more so then maybe any of St. John's albums. There is that same gentleness meets strength in her voice that listen after listen sinks deeper into our ears. We've got a feeling that Isobel Campbell might have been a big Bridget St. John fan as so many of these songs remind us of Campbell's contribution to early Belle & Sebastian records. Not a weak song in the whole bunch and her take on the Donovan penned "The Pebble and the Man" is pretty damn irresistible... as is this entire album. Highly recommended!

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Another great British folk re-discovery! Bridget St John was on the scene during the late 60's/early 70's and recorded just a handful of albums. A few of which were originally released on John Peel's Dandelion label. Luckily Cherry Red has gotten a hold of the original reels so those of us who missed out first time around can finally hear what we missed. And wow what a great voice and presence she had! She had this great ability to be both delicate and breezy, recalling the best of her contemporaries like Nick Drake and Vashti Bunyan while dipping her feet a bit more in carefree wind-in-her hair styling. Her voice also reminds us a lot of Marianne Faithfull and even at times Nico on a sunny day with a smile on her face. Some of the standout tracks on the record like "Fly High", "Lazarus" (which was her sort of hit), "Silver Coin", "Thank You For.." are the kinds of songs you know will be on every mix tape (ok...mix cd) that we make this year. So nice when songs recorded 34 years ago can still resonate so strongly in the present moment. Oh that's called timeless...and that's what this record is!

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The very first recordings of Ralph Stanley and brother Carter, made between 1947-1952 and released on Tennesse's Rich-R-Tone label. Next to Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers are probably one of the most crucial performers in shaping bluegrass.

Sort of a best of cd of the Stanley Brothers on this U.K. import. Has some of their early Rich-R-Tone recordings from the late '40s and some later recordings from 1950. Includes their version of Bill Monroe's "Molly And Tenbrooks", plus a lot of Stanley

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THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

The latter of two new all gospel albums from Ralph Stanley that have just been reissued. Recorded in 1977, Clinch Mountain Gospel features an older and more seasoned Keith Whitley stepping up to take charge of lead vocals. It's an odd combo, Whitley's

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Though most bluegrass artists might only throw in one or two token religious numbers when they put together a record, or devote one album to such material, there can be no doubt that religion informs bluegrass music. Like the Monroe, Louvin or Osborne

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Ralph Stanley, it would seem, has never received much recognition for his acheivements as a songwriter or performer outside of bluegrass circles. Those who've seen Ralph perform know that he'll sell you the banjo off his back -- he makes a point of it

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THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

Long before the group's most well-known hits, "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There", The Staple Singers were one of the country's most self-made gospel singing family groups. Mississippi Records and Yeti Magazine have done us all a great service by reissuing the groups first three gospel albums from the late fifties and early sixties and they're all quite incredible. Led by Roebuck "Pops" Staples who wrote nearly all of their material and played guitar, and featuring his son Purvis, and daughters, Yvonne, Cleotha, and Mavis, whose incredible vocal range from deep lows to ecstatic highs made her the star of the group, the family began performing in 1948 in Chicago churches, the first performance at the request of Roebuck's brother Charles who just started a church and heard his brother's family harmonizing together on their front porch. They began in an acoustic folk-gospel style, harmonizing around Roebuck's twangy blues. He soon changed it up to electric guitar, and the tremoloed riffs as well as Roebuck's incredible song-writing skills gave the family's take on spirituals an incredible energy and feeling that was atmospheric, passionate and groovy. It's these early albums, more so than their mainstream funk and soul success of the seventies, that propelled the family into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Embedded in their tight-knit harmonies, their cool soulful delivery and their infectious riffs, are the roots of rock and soul music. Uncloudy Day from 1959 is a collection of their early recordings at their most stripped down and their very first release. Will The Circle Be Unbroken from 1960 and Swing Low from 1961 are the group's first two studio albums augmented only by occasional bass and drums. All are absolutely essential!

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Long before the group's most well-known hits, "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There", The Staple Singers were one of the country's most self-made gospel singing family groups. Mississippi Records and Yeti Magazine have done us all a great service by reissuing the groups first three gospel albums from the late fifties and early sixties and they're all quite incredible. Led by Roebuck "Pops" Staples who wrote nearly all of their material and played guitar, and featuring his son Purvis, and daughters, Yvonne, Cleotha, and Mavis, whose incredible vocal range from deep lows to ecstatic highs made her the star of the group, the family began performing in 1948 in Chicago churches, the first performance at the request of Roebuck's brother Charles who just started a church and heard his brother's family harmonizing together on their front porch. They began in an acoustic folk-gospel style, harmonizing around Roebuck's twangy blues. He soon changed it up to electric guitar, and the tremoloed riffs as well as Roebuck's incredible song-writing skills gave the family's take on spirituals an incredible energy and feeling that was atmospheric, passionate and groovy. It's these early albums, more so than their mainstream funk and soul success of the seventies, that propelled the family into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Embedded in their tight-knit harmonies, their cool soulful delivery and their infectious riffs, are the roots of rock and soul music. Uncloudy Day from 1959 is a collection of their early recordings at their most stripped down and their very first release. Will The Circle Be Unbroken from 1960 and Swing Low from 1961 are the group's first two studio albums augmented only by occasional bass and drums. All are absolutely essential!

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Long before the group's most well-known hits, "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There", The Staple Singers were one of the country's most self-made gospel singing family groups. Mississippi Records and Yeti Magazine have done us all a great service by reissuing the groups first three gospel albums from the late fifties and early sixties and they're all quite incredible. Led by Roebuck "Pops" Staples who wrote nearly all of their material and played guitar, and featuring his son Purvis, and daughters, Yvonne, Cleotha, and Mavis, whose incredible vocal range from deep lows to ecstatic highs made her the star of the group, the family began performing in 1948 in Chicago churches, the first performance at the request of Roebuck's brother Charles who just started a church and heard his brother's family harmonizing together on their front porch. They began in an acoustic folk-gospel style, harmonizing around Roebuck's twangy blues. He soon changed it up to electric guitar, and the tremoloed riffs as well as Roebuck's incredible song-writing skills gave the family's take on spirituals an incredible energy and feeling that was atmospheric, passionate and groovy. It's these early albums, more so than their mainstream funk and soul success of the seventies, that propelled the family into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Embedded in their tight-knit harmonies, their cool soulful delivery and their infectious riffs, are the roots of rock and soul music. Uncloudy Day from 1959 is a collection of their early recordings at their most stripped down and their very first release. Will The Circle Be Unbroken from 1960 and Swing Low from 1961 are the group's first two studio albums augmented only by occasional bass and drums. All are absolutely essential!

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You've met John Fahey, Robbie Basho and Sandy Bull, now say hello to George Stavis. Originally issued in 1969 on Vanguard Records, "Labyrinths" was one man's bold attempt to bring the banjo out of the hills and hollers and into the urbane settings of the avant-garde coffeehouse. Subtitled "Occult Improvisational Compositions for 5-String Banjo and 'Percussion'" (the percussion is a rather innocuous beating on what sounds like a small coffee can), Stavis' sounds more akin to Pete Seeger and his "Goofing Off Suite" than Bull or Fahey. And while his occult pretensions may seem a bit silly, his 'improvisational compositions' are quite nice. Even his rendition of Rodgers & Hammerstein's old chesnut "My Favorite Things" (a song I could preferably live without hearing ever again) is so bastardized -- Snuffy Jenkins duelling with John Coltrane -- as to be truly rendered once again listenable. The remaining four tracks on the album are all credited to Stavis and, like Seeger, are performed with a picking style totally unique to Stavis -- a combination of rolls and strumming which allows the skillful Stavis to eke out both lead and accompaniment. Cultures collide, and wildly, on this disc of hippy raga banjo jazz. No wonder we had old-time George Stavis fans calling us up all excited when they heard that his long lost album was being reissued on cd. MPEG Download: "Finland Station" [/audio/stavisfinlandstaion.mp3]

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Another rootsy lo-fi cd-r from the SF folk whippersnapper Ryan Stively. This one's a bit more even-keeled than his self-titled debut cdr which took a few wigged-out distorted detours. From Sugar Thunder's packaging to the dozen loosely woven acoustic tunes to Stively's slightly frayed around the edges vocals, this release is entirely shaded in muted earth tones. Note: As we mentioned, these recordings are quite low in the fidelity department with volume levels that jump about haphazardly. So, keep in mind that you might need to govern the volume knob a bit.

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Singer and guitar palyer whose enormous repertoire of early folk, blues, old time country and popular music, along with his influence on local musicians has made many point to him as the true father of Memphis blues.

Dark 70's British folk with mostly female vocals and verses like, "And pale, pale grew her rosy cheek, and pale and cold was she, she seemed to be as surely dead, as any corpse could be." Instrumentation includes dulcimer, recorder, flute, violin, and mandolin in addition to the usual three piece. For fans of Current 93.

Latest from this long running neo-folk outfit, a fantastic collection of traditional folk standards, performed with a reverence that displays Stone Breath's obvious sonic debt to groups like Pentangle, The Incredible String Band, Comus as well as their modern descendants like Sol Invictus and Death In June. The sound is simple and spare, all acoustic, the instrumentation appropriately old timey: lute-guitar, dumbek, harp, bodhran, tamboura-lyre, ramyaj, etc. and multiple vocalists. Delicate steel string guitars drift dreamily beneath deep dramatic male vox and angelic female vocals, gorgeous harmonies, the sound stirring and timeless, a few tracks slip into almost bluegrass, drawing from classic Appalachia, but most have a sort of renaissance vibe to them, slipping easily from broody and balladic, to hushed and crystalline, soaring majestically, but then settling right back into something much more haunting and spiritual. Pressed on thick vinyl, and housed in heavy jackets, and yeah, you guessed it, LIMITED TO 250 COPIES!!!

Pretty much everybody, country fan or not, recognizes the names of Jimmie Rodgers, and the Carter Family, but even country aficionados might not be familiar with Ernest V Stoneman, even though he played as big a part, if not bigger, than more recognizable performers, in the birth of recorded country music. His relative obscurity is all the more shocking when one realizes his career stretches from the days of wax cylinders all the way to the advent of compact discs, not to mention the fact that he was not only the first rural singer / songwriter to record his own compositions, but he was also the first to record on the autoharp. He was an amazing musician, and a fantastic performer, and an innovator who never really got his due. This collection gathers some of Stoneman's most famous songs, as well as including 20 tracks never before reissued. Ranging from old timey bluegrass to folk hymns to spirituals, many recorded for the first time by Stoneman, and there are even a few tracks that include skits and spoken word segments, as if they were recordings of a radio broadcast or a school performance. And since these are all mastered from old 78s, the sound is wonderfully warm and scratchy. Anyone who loves the Anthology Of American Folk Music (which includes Stoneman), or any of the Folkways reissues like Mountain Music Of Kentucky, or reissued recordings by Roscoe Holcomb and Elizabeth Cotten, will definitely love this. And the packaging is fantastic. So deluxe. 5-String is definitely offering Dust-To-Digital some serious competition. An oversized hardcover book, with a massive booklet, with liner notes, photos, histories, and notes on each song, where they were recorded, when, and various anecdotes, like with "The Titanic", the first song Stoneman ever recorded, and the story goes that he wanted to make a great impression for his audition, so he decided to play the autoharp (he was thus the first to record on the instrument), and he built his own multiple harmonica harness! Fantastic stuff. Another absolutely essential document of the early years of country music.

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Metal bands gone acoustic, tend to be pretty 'blah' affairs, especially in black metal. Simple strumming often reveals that minus the wash of buzz and the blasting drums, black metal doesn't hold up very well, especially when pared down to -just- acoustic guitar. So we were a bit wary when we heard about this 'acoustic' side project from Claudio of Frostmoon Eclipse (who we love BTW), but we were knocked for a loop, as this isn't really acoustic, and beyond that, it's a gorgeously creepy, weird and dark, grim ROCK record. Shades of Opeth for sure, but also Angels Of Light, Sixteen Horsepower, Katatonia and the like. The acoustic guitar is central to the sound, but there are huge cascading distorted stretches, the drums are massive and dense, crushing and complex, the vocals are a whispery croon, the whole thing so moody and minor key. Each track a slow build from mathy folky post rock to bombastic dramatic epic, the melodies so perfect and catchy, even in the heavier parts, the acoustic guitar surfaces in dense little tangles, over a tribal drum pattern, a complex sonic interplay that often erupts into super emotional swells, with the lead guitar pealing off gorgeous guitar lines, the whole band whipped into a frenzy before settling back down into a dark strummed meander. The more we listen to this, the more it definitely sounds like a more post rock Katatonia. That sort of super dramatic bombast, the super catchy, strangely sad and haunting melodies, but the metal here is dialed way back, minus a few end of song blow outs, most of the record is spent darkly brooding, the sound gorgeously melancholy, a mournful drift that wouldn't be at all out of place on your shelf between Red House Painters, Woven Hand, Katatonia, Kiss The Anus, Crippled Black Phoenix, Blood And Time, Jeffrey Luck Lucas and Earth.

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