Sunwatchers: February 22, 2019 The Glove by NYC Taper

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Sunwatchers: February 22, 2019 The Glove by NYC Taper

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Sunwatchers’ Facebook page describes the band as “Punk Jazz Drone” and really wants you to know what they’re all about in all caps:

SUNWATCHERS STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE DISPOSSESSED, IMPOVERISHED AND EMBATTLED PEOPLE OF THE WORLD.

That’s a sentiment we will stand with. Especially when the music is as vibrant as this. Who knew instrumental music could be political? We all did, son. NYC Taper, to whom we are all indebted for this show says:

Sunwatchers make no secret of their politics — heck, they’re written right on the cover of their previous album, II. They’re far from the only “rock” band (if you can even call them that) to use a saxophone, of course, but in Jeff Tobias’ hands, the instrument itself becomes political, recalling elements of spiritual and free jazz. Peter Kerlin, Jason Robira and Jim McHugh make a hell of an avant-rock trio, but it’s the defiant tone of that sax, the holy cry, that seals the band’s sound.

The band’s most recent album Illegal Moves is one of my favorite albums of 2019. I’ve been jammin this 2019 February set at The Glove and I think you will too.

  • Visit the Sunwatchers Facebook page.

  • Follow Sunwatchers at Twitter.

  • Visit the show’s page at the NYC Taper site.

  • Download the show from its page on the Live Music Archive.

  • Purchase the group’s music at Bandcamp.

  • Purchase the group’s music at Amazon.

Sunwatchers2019-02-22The GloveBrooklyn, NY USARecorded and produced by acidjackSchoeps MK4V (FOB, ROC, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices MixPre 6>24/48 WAV>Adobe Audition CC>Izotope Ozone 5>Audacity 2.2.2>FLAC ( level 8 )

Drew Grow and the Pastors' Wives, Doe Bay Sessions 2010

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Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives Doe Bay Sessions 2010

When you search “Doe Bay Festival” on the Googles, this is what comes up:

“Doe Bay Fest is a four day grassroots festivalfeaturing music, food, drink, camping and activities in the unique setting of the Doe Bay Resort and Retreat. ... (Doe Bay is not responsible for 3rd party content on these sites).”

When you Googles Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives, one of the first things that comes up is a 2011 NPR profile beginning:

“In recent years, gospel music has found some unlikely adherents: David Bazan, Sufjan Stevens, Damien Jurado and Rosie Thomas have all melded faith with underground folk and rock, while bands like The Head and the Heart have taken homespun choral backgrounds back to the campfire. Drew Grow and his band The Pastors Wives also have their roots in that stomp-and-clap, post-fireside-church-camp circle, but — as with predecessors like Stevens — you don't have to be a Believer to be a believer.”

In 2010, the band played the Doe Bay Festival and recorded a couple of intimate performances in the woods with a ladder. As one does.

The band later changed their name to Modern Kin and put out one LP, and a live release, both available at Bandcamp and highly recommended.

After Modern Kin disbanded, Grow started playing in Slang, which you may have heard of as one of Janet Weiss’ bands, along with Quasi. Grow and Weiss were recently in a fairly serious car accident which postponed a joint tour and our prayers are with them both.

  • Visit the Doe Bay Festival website.

  • Follow Modern Kin at Twitter.

  • Follow Modern Kin at Facebook.

  • Support Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives at Bandcamp.

  • Support Modern Kin at Bandcamp.

Songhoy Blues at the Tiny Desk

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Songhoy Blues at the NPR Tiny Desk

NPR’s Bob Boilen says:

“The music I feel most connected to beyond rock is from Mali. The melodies are so fluid, so elegant and most of all so trance-inducing. It often sits on one chord and notes played revolve around that chord. It can feel like a drone at times, and in the case of Songhoy Blues it rocks, lulls and the percussion grooves are not only trance-inducing but dance-inducing.”

  • Visit Songhoy Blues’ official website.

  • Listen to Songhoy Blues on Episode 05 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

  • Purchase Songhoy Music at Bandcamp.

  • Follow Songhoy Blues at Facebook.

  • Follow the group at Twitter.

  • Purchase Songhoy Blues music at Amazon.

Josh Rouse Radio 1998 and 2000

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I used to do a lot of live concert trading. I got rid of quite a bit of my collective over the years, but I did keep a few personal favorites for the treasure box.

Here we have three different radio appearances by Nebraska’s Josh Rouse. Two from 1998 and one from 2000, which also includes a couple of interview segments.

Originally from Nebraska, Rouse mined that heritage for his 1998 debut Dressed Up Like Nebraska, of which Allmusic says:

“Josh Rouse plays it straight like the roads and byways which criss-cross the Great Plains. This music is the no-frills variety that takes a bit of getting used to, but once acclimated, listeners start to feel like they've come across something real. The songs which comprise Dressed Up Like Nebraska sound like they've really happened, if not to the artist, then to those near and dear to him.”

21 years and 13 albums later, Rouse has left Nebraska but continues to play earnest Americana Folk Rock Pop(™).

Josh Rouse Live at Mountain Stage (The Culture Theatre, Charleston, WV, 08/22/98)

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  1. Introduction

  2. Dressed Up Like Nebraska

  3. Late Night Conversation

  4. Suburban Sweetheart

The introduction has some static and unfortunately, there is what sounds like a CD skip during the first few seconds of “Suburban Sweetheart.” I have had this disc since approximately 2001 and have just never tried to fix it. Sorry about that, but hey, otherwise this is a fantastic early acoustic set. Enjoy.

Josh Rouse Live at E-Town (Boulder Theater, Boulder, CO, 11/22/98)

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  1. Introduction

  2. Everybody Knows What’s Going On

  3. Interview

  4. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

  5. Little Know It All

  6. Interview

  7. Dressed Up Like Nebraska

  8. White Freightliner

Josh Rouse Live at NPR’s World Cafe (Cafe Studios, Philadelphia, PA, 08/14/00)

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  1. Introduction

  2. Marvin Gaye

  3. Interview

  4. Laughter

  5. Interview

  6. Direction

  7. Interview

  8. 100M Backstroke

  9. Interview/Closing

  • Visit Josh Rouse’s official website.

  • Follow Josh Rouse on Twitter.

  • Follow Josh Rouse on Twitter.

  • Purchase Rouse’s music at Amazon.

Chris Forsyth and the Broken Mirrors Motel Band 7​​.​​11​​.​​19

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Celebrating his latest double LP “All Time Present,” guitarist Chris Forsyth did a little mini-tour with “The Broken Mirrors Motel Band.” From Forsyth’s Facebook page announcing the run of three shows, Forsyth says:

Minneapolis/Milwaukee/Chicago dates in July. The band on this little run will be Doug McCombs (Tortoise, etc) on bass, Areif Sless-Kitain (Brokeback, The Eternals) on drums, and Jaime Fennelly (Mind Over Mirrors) on keys aka the Broken Mirrors Motel Band.

We are lucky enough to live in a day and age when we can get high quality live concert recordings within days. Ofter for free. Think about that. What a time to be alive. With that in mind, let’s all give a warm thanks to the people over at Southern Jukebox Music for not only recording 07/11/19’s show and sharing it, but making it a “name your price” release on Bandcamp with all proceeds going to the artist. That is cool. Really, if you can, throw a couple of bucks Forsyth’s way. The more we can do to support great music the better.

Southern Jukebox Music says:

In early July 2019, Chris Forsyth pulled three lauded Chicago musicians together to rehearse for a single day before they set out on a short three-night tour—Doug McCombs of Tortoise on bass, Jaime Fennelly of Mind Over Mirrors on synth, and Areif Sless-Kitain of the Regulator Watts on drums.

Before hitting Acme Records in Milwaukee and finishing at the Hideout in Chicago, they made their first live appearance together at the Fraternal Order of Eagles #34 in Powderhorn, Minneapolis, the fabled meeting place of young punks and irritated townies confused at the noise coming from one of the ballrooms that’s drowning out Karaoke at the bar.

This was recorded direct to reel. Enjoy and thanks to all involved!

Chris Forsyth 7​.​11​.​19 by Chris Forsyth, released 16 August 2019 1. Tomorrow Might As Well Be Today → Mystic Mountain 2. Dream Song 3. Dreaming in the Non-Dream 4. Techno Top 5. The Past Ain't Passed Live from Eagles 34 in Minneapolis. Any proceeds will go to the artist.

Weeping Bong Band (7.8.18 The Root Cellar Greenfield, MA)

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If you are the type to hazard a guess that a band called Weeping Bong Band would send forth cosmicy simmering shimmers of drone folk goodness into the universe, then your hazardous guess would be correct. The group’s page at the Feeding Tube Records site says:

Sub-underground super-groups are not common. This is less a function of the concept’s oxymoronic nature than of the fiercely independent stance of musicians toiling in this area. By definition, they are doing what they do simply because they love it. It can be quite difficult to distract them from their main focus long enough to get them to do anything else. Weeping Bong Band is a lovely exception that proves this rule.

Three members — Clark Griffin, Wednesday Knudsen and PG Six — are in the current line-up of Pigeons. One, Anthony Pasquarosa, has his own host of solo projects (Crystaline Roses, Gluebag, Burnt Envelope, etc.). And a final “ghost member,” Beverly Ketch, is half of the duo Viewer. Together, however, theirs is a rural psych engine that weeps as gently as a spring rain.

This is high-provenance instrumental hippie spew from the apex of the Pioneer Valley. There’s plenty of burbling psych guitar, laced with overtones that will make you conjure up visions of dark stoned nights. It is definitely music made in the day when marijuana had passed its medical-use-only status in the Commonwealth. Which is not to infer this music is unimbued with its own mystical curing properties, especially when played at mind-bending volume.

The band’s 2018 self-titled release is highly recommended.

Watch a live 2018 set from The Root Cellar Greenfield, MA and experience for yourself.

Dire Wolves: July 27, 2019 Market Hotel (NYCTaper Presents)

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NYCTaper continues to be one of the most valuable “free” resources on the Internets. Seriously, if you can, please donate to what they do.

This time, they’ve captured Dire Wolves Exactly Perfect Sisters Band. Led by Jeffrey Alexander out of San Francisco. The band is best described as:

Freak-folk?

Free Jazz?

Folk Jazz?

Drone rock?

“the higher dimensions of cosmic free-rock”?

Liquidy-musical space auras?

All of the above?

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Whatever you call it, Dire Wolves find the intersection of so many musics that I love: folk, jazz, rock, drone, repeat-o-rock, psych, etc. Building guitar swirls with vocals transcending language, this is transcendent music from the gut.

The group’s new album Grow Towards the Light opens with the sinewy “I Control the Weather,” which lets you slide just so into the musical world of Dire Wolves Exactly Perfect Sisters Band. Pulsating grooves and swirling vocals with hints of Ethiopian jazz, the music is both mesmerizing and cathartic. Somehow both transcendent and immediate.

According to NYCTaper: “On this night Market Hotel, presented by this site, Dire Wolves came bearing a special guest, Sunwatchers saxophonist Jeff Tobias, and a new album to jam, courtesy of our friends at Beyond Beyond is Beyond.”

Here’s the first track, ““Archons at the Gates of BSHWCK”:

Dire Wolves 2019-07-27 Market Hotel Brooklyn, NY USA Presented by NYCTaper Recorded and produced by acidjack Neumann KM150 + Soundboard (Engineer: RL)>Zoom F8>2x24bit WAV>Adobe Audition CC>Izotope Ozone 5>Audacity 2.3.1>FLAC ( level 8 ) Tracks [Total Time 53:40] 01 Archons at the Gates of BSHWCK 02 I Control The Weather>Love Everybody (For Moses)>Vibrational North Star

Here’s the first track (sort of) off of the band’s fantastic new release Grow Towards The Light, “I Control The Weather” // “I Control the Weather>Love Everybody (For Moses)>Vibrational North Star”:

Dire Wolves 2019-07-27 Market Hotel Brooklyn, NY USA Presented by NYCTaper Recorded and produced by acidjack Neumann KM150 + Soundboard (Engineer: RL)>Zoom F8>2x24bit WAV>Adobe Audition CC>Izotope Ozone 5>Audacity 2.3.1>FLAC ( level 8 ) Tracks [Total Time 53:40] 01 Archons at the Gates of BSHWCK 02 I Control The Weather>Love Everybody (For Moses)>Vibrational North Star

Watch the “Water Bearing One” video by Sheila Bosco from “Grow Towards The Light” LP by Dire Wolves Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band:

Watch the official “Spacetime Rider” video:

  • Visit the band’s official site

  • Visit the show’s page at the NYCTaper site

  • Download the show from its Live Music Archive Page

  • Support the band at Bandcamp

  • Follow the band on Facebook

  • Read a terrific interview with the band at It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Live at WOMAD 1985

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In honor of Real World Records releasing the monumental Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Live at WOMAD 1985, here is video of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan performing the first track from the release, “Allah Hoo Allah Hoo”:


  • Read some further thoughts on the album:

  • Visit Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s site at the Real World Records website.

  • Stream the album at NPR.

  • Purchase the album at Amazon.