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Lole y Manuel – Sangre gitana y Mora (40 plays)

Lole y Manuel - Sangre Gitana y Moro

Leaving Scotland returning to al-Ándalus

(Source: libertarias)

1 month ago  Notes (2)
£6 advance tickets here: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/159806 Sir Richard Bishop Composer, improviser and guitarist extraordinaire, Sir Richard Bishop has been a total legend in the underground music world for the last three decades. A former member of ‘Sun City Girls’ (one of the finest bands to have ever walked the planet) - and one half of the mighty ‘Brothers Unconnected’ with his brother Alan Bishop, whom he also co-founded Sublime Frequencies with. He’s recently performed as a trio with Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) and Chris Corsano in his last visit to Scotland under the new group Rangda and has toured solo with Earth in previous years. Richard’s body of work rides the same mystical and eccentric wave patterns of his former group, combining Flamenco, Gypsy, North African and Eastern structures on both electric and acoustic guitar. It’s his physical finger work outs combined with the delicate intricacies in-between that make his recordings and live performances utterly unique to any other solo guitarist. This will be a rare chance to see him in such an intimate space, so book your cheap tickets ASAP.http://www.sirrichardbishop.net/ Black Twig Pickers Banjos and fiddles, boards and bones in hand, the Black Twig Pickers dove into a living tradition of old-time music that surrounds their homes in Southwest Virginia and never looked back. Both scholars of the regional sounds and advocates of an ecstatic and highly personal approach to the music, the Twigs hold down local dance and bar gigs, play all manner of celebrations and every so often, hit the road. Along the way, Isak Howell, Nathan Bowles and Mike Gangloff kept company with some of underground America’s heavyweights and haunted the doorsteps of Appalachian fiddle and banjo masters. They’ve played for the National Council for the Traditional Arts and for audiences overseas. And they’ve put out a string of acclaimed albums, including 2008’s Hobo Handshake and last year’s Jack Rose & the Black Twig Pickers. Armed with a brand spanking new 7” on Thrill Jockey entitled ‘Yellow Cat’, the Twigs are a must see live band and anyone who caught them at the Braw Trails gig at the Roxy a couple of years ago with Charlie Parr will testify to this.http://www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/The-Black-Twig-Pickers/ Greg Thomas 1/3 of Helhesten performing a rare solo set. Expect Conrad-esque violin drones and wordless vocals.

£6 advance tickets here: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/159806

Sir Richard Bishop

Composer, improviser and guitarist extraordinaire, Sir Richard Bishop has been a total legend in the underground music world for the last three decades. A former member of ‘Sun City Girls’ (one of the finest bands to have ever walked the planet) - and one half of the mighty ‘Brothers Unconnected’ with his brother Alan Bishop, whom he also co-founded Sublime Frequencies with. He’s recently performed as a trio with Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) and Chris Corsano in his last visit to Scotland under the new group Rangda and has toured solo with Earth in previous years.

Richard’s body of work rides the same mystical and eccentric wave patterns of his former group, combining Flamenco, Gypsy, North African and Eastern structures on both electric and acoustic guitar. It’s his physical finger work outs combined with the delicate intricacies in-between that make his recordings and live performances utterly unique to any other solo guitarist. This will be a rare chance to see him in such an intimate space, so book your cheap tickets ASAP.

http://www.sirrichardbishop.net/


Black Twig Pickers

Banjos and fiddles, boards and bones in hand, the Black Twig Pickers dove into a living tradition of old-time music that surrounds their homes in Southwest Virginia and never looked back. Both scholars of the regional sounds and advocates of an ecstatic and highly personal approach to the music, the Twigs hold down local dance and bar gigs, play all manner of celebrations and every so often, hit the road. Along the way, Isak Howell, Nathan Bowles and Mike Gangloff kept company with some of underground America’s heavyweights and haunted the doorsteps of Appalachian fiddle and banjo masters.

They’ve played for the National Council for the Traditional Arts and for audiences overseas. And they’ve put out a string of acclaimed albums, including 2008’s Hobo Handshake and last year’s Jack Rose & the Black Twig Pickers. Armed with a brand spanking new 7” on Thrill Jockey entitled ‘Yellow Cat’, the Twigs are a must see live band and anyone who caught them at the Braw Trails gig at the Roxy a couple of years ago with Charlie Parr will testify to this.

http://www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/The-Black-Twig-Pickers/

Greg Thomas
1/3 of Helhesten performing a rare solo set. Expect Conrad-esque violin drones and wordless vocals.

2 months ago  Notes (3)

To What Strange Place Kickstarter campaign has been launched.

mangkunegaran:

please help spread the word. Many many thanks!

(Source: canaryrecords)

2 months ago  Notes (8)
The Doozerhttp://www.thedoozer.com/ A key player in the Cambridge underground scene, The Doozer has published a variety of music through solo releases, collaborations and band situations on self releases, Pickled Egg records in the UK, Sloow Tapes in Europe and most notably US heavy hitters Siltbreeze and Woodsist. Simon “Doozer’s” channeling of past Cambridge spirits such as Syd Barrett, as well as those of far away places, has gained him fans in folk like Matt Valentine, Thurston Moore and Byron Coley on the other side of the pond. After a performance at the weirdo-prestigious KRAAK festival and a tour in the States in 2010 The Doozer went on tour in the UK last year supporting Woods. This led to Woodsist putting out the band’s latest record ‘Keep It Together’ in early 2012. This tour in support of that album sees Simon backed up with drums and bass in a three piece on the open road for the first time together! “A recent show that blew all attending asses out of the water was a short gig by a Cambridge, UK, duo known as The Doozer. The Doozer actually seems to be one guy, and his playing partner is called Ben, but never you mind. Anyway, they have a new LP out on Siltbreeze called Great Explorers and it is a gas and a pleasure of great dimensions. The lazy man’s way to review it to call it a bridge between Syd B and Chris Knox, carrying all the weird damage and superb left field pop motion that implies.” —Byron Coley, Bull Tongue Top Ten of 2010Shareholder Edinburgh’s latest and greatest sludged-out power-trio! Composed of members of Muscletusk and Scrim this is the sound of the apocalypse of everyday life tracing the songlines of the greyness of Auld Reekie.Long Distance Runner ‘Very little is known about this anonymous quartet, which reportedly comprises members of King Bear, Appendix Out, Giant Tank, The Wee Rogue and Red Death. They’ve been meeting in secret for around two years, and what little recorded evidence has leaked out of those sessions suggests such influences as Codeine, Red House Painters, Galaxie 500, Palace Brothers and Slint.’ (Tracer Trails)

The Doozer
http://www.thedoozer.com/

A key player in the Cambridge underground scene, The Doozer has published a variety of music through solo releases, collaborations and band situations on self releases, Pickled Egg records in the UK, Sloow Tapes in Europe and most notably US heavy hitters Siltbreeze and Woodsist. Simon “Doozer’s” channeling of past Cambridge spirits such as Syd Barrett, as well as those of far away places, has gained him fans in folk like Matt Valentine, Thurston Moore and Byron Coley on the other side of the pond.

After a performance at the weirdo-prestigious KRAAK festival and a tour in the States in 2010 The Doozer went on tour in the UK last year supporting Woods. This led to Woodsist putting out the band’s latest record ‘Keep It Together’ in early 2012. This tour in support of that album sees Simon backed up with drums and bass in a three piece on the open road for the first time together!

“A recent show that blew all attending asses out of the water was a short gig by a Cambridge, UK, duo known as The Doozer. The Doozer actually seems to be one guy, and his playing partner is called Ben, but never you mind. Anyway, they have a new LP out on Siltbreeze called Great Explorers and it is a gas and a pleasure of great dimensions. The lazy man’s way to review it to call it a bridge between Syd B and Chris Knox, carrying all the weird damage and superb left field pop motion that implies.” —Byron Coley, Bull Tongue Top Ten of 2010

Shareholder

Edinburgh’s latest and greatest sludged-out power-trio! Composed of members of Muscletusk and Scrim this is the sound of the apocalypse of everyday life tracing the songlines of the greyness of Auld Reekie.

Long Distance Runner

‘Very little is known about this anonymous quartet, which reportedly comprises members of King Bear, Appendix Out, Giant Tank, The Wee Rogue and Red Death. They’ve been meeting in secret for around two years, and what little recorded evidence has leaked out of those sessions suggests such influences as Codeine, Red House Painters, Galaxie 500, Palace Brothers and Slint.’ (Tracer Trails)

2 months ago  Notes (1)
Tickets: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/159808 KHYAM ALLAMI http://www.khyamallami.com/ Since taking up the ‘ūd (or Oud, Middle Eastern Lute) in 2004, he has already generated a “palpable buzz” about him and “left a trail of unforgettable live performances in his wake” according to the UK’s fRoots Magazine who recently put him on their cover. Whether at small independent venues, Birmingham’s alternative/experimental Supersonic festival, WOMAD or the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall, Khyam is yet to falter in making his audience revel in the lucid beauty of his music. Born in Damascus, Syria to Iraqi parents in 1981, Khyam took up the violin at the tender age of 8 when he played the role of a young violinist in the art-house film Al-Tahaleb directed by Rimon Butrus (1991). After his family moved to London in 1990, he soon dropped the violin and in 1996 began to play Drums and Bass Guitar. He co-founded the independent rock groups Ursa and Art of Burning Water and slowly garnered a reputation as one of London’s most passionate and hard-hitting drummers. Yet something was still missing. In 2004 his path took yet another turn and he began to study the ‘ūd, Arabic music theory and traditional Iraqi repertoire with the London based Iraqi ‘ūd maestro Ehsan Emam. Quite the de-tour. In the following years he dedicated tirelessly to music and travelled across the Middle East to study with ‘ūd maestros Naseer Shamma and Hazem Shaheen in Cairo, Egypt and Mehmet Bitmez in Istanbul, Turkey. In the process he received various grants, awards and scholarships and completed two degrees in Music (BA, MMus) at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. In 2010 his dedication and hard work was recognised nationally when he became the first recipient of the prestigious World Routes Academy scholarship from BBC Radio 3. “[Khyam Allami] epitomises the best of the new generation of oud players whose roots lie in the Eastern tradition but who also judiciously draw on a wider range of contemporary influences… his compositions are utterly bewitching… Allami’s first album nails it to perfection.” 5/5 - Songlines - Top of the World “From its deep and very deliberately plucked opening notes to the final extended fade on Reverie, this is not only a vibrant and engaging piece of music, but a work of surprising maturity.” fRoots Magazine “With its constant changes of mood and direction, Khyam Allami’s debut album is a firm reminder of the oud’s potential.” 3/5 - The Guardian

Tickets: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/159808

KHYAM ALLAMI
http://www.khyamallami.com/

Since taking up the ‘ūd (or Oud, Middle Eastern Lute) in 2004, he has already generated a “palpable buzz” about him and “left a trail of unforgettable live performances in his wake” according to the UK’s fRoots Magazine who recently put him on their cover.

Whether at small independent venues, Birmingham’s alternative/experimental Supersonic festival, WOMAD or the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall, Khyam is yet to falter in making his audience revel in the lucid beauty of his music.

Born in Damascus, Syria to Iraqi parents in 1981, Khyam took up the violin at the tender age of 8 when he played the role of a young violinist in the art-house film Al-Tahaleb directed by Rimon Butrus (1991).

After his family moved to London in 1990, he soon dropped the violin and in 1996 began to play Drums and Bass Guitar. He co-founded the independent rock groups Ursa and Art of Burning Water and slowly garnered a reputation as one of London’s most passionate and hard-hitting drummers.

Yet something was still missing. In 2004 his path took yet another turn and he began to study the ‘ūd, Arabic music theory and traditional Iraqi repertoire with the London based Iraqi ‘ūd maestro Ehsan Emam. Quite the de-tour.

In the following years he dedicated tirelessly to music and travelled across the Middle East to study with ‘ūd maestros Naseer Shamma and Hazem Shaheen in Cairo, Egypt and Mehmet Bitmez in Istanbul, Turkey. In the process he received various grants, awards and scholarships and completed two degrees in Music (BA, MMus) at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

In 2010 his dedication and hard work was recognised nationally when he became the first recipient of the prestigious World Routes Academy scholarship from BBC Radio 3.

“[Khyam Allami] epitomises the best of the new generation of oud players whose roots lie in the Eastern tradition but who also judiciously draw on a wider range of contemporary influences… his compositions are utterly bewitching… Allami’s first album nails it to perfection.”
5/5 - Songlines - Top of the World

“From its deep and very deliberately plucked opening notes to the final extended fade on Reverie, this is not only a vibrant and engaging piece of music, but a work of surprising maturity.”
fRoots Magazine

“With its constant changes of mood and direction, Khyam Allami’s debut album is a firm reminder of the oud’s potential.”
3/5 - The Guardian

2 months ago  Notes (1)
Tickets:: http://www.filmhousecinema.com/showing/shadows-of-forgotten-ancestors/ This is a very very special show that we are incredibly proud to bring to Edinburgh in collaboration with Filmhouse Cinema. A Hawk and A Hacksaw live rescore of “Shadows of Forgotten Ancest…ors” New Mexico’s widescreen roving folk duo A Hawk and A Hacksaw present a brand new live score of Soviet director Sergei Paradjanov’s classic film ”Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors”. Set high up in the Carpathian mountains, the film tells the age old tale of a peasant’s love and loss in a pre-industrial age where magic and ritual are as much a part of existence as back- breaking work and violent family feuds. The colour, grandeur and gut-wrenching romance of A Hawk and A Hacksaw’s music is the perfect counterpoint to Paradjanov’s visionary blend of folklore, sorcery and religious symbolism. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestorshttp://www.artificial-eye.com/film.php?dvd=ART496DVD&plugs&qt=true&wm=false http://www.paradjanov-festival.co.uk/ “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” is the first major work by the legendary Russian filmmaker Sergei Parajadnov. Hailed as a genius by the likes of Fellini, Antonioni and Tarkovsky, his films are as allegorical and mysterious as Byzantine frescos, each a beautiful riot of small movements within his almost always static frames. Although acclaimed internationally, Paradjanov’s visionary and poetic oeuvre was regarded as subversive by the Soviet authorities and he was frequently banned from filmmaking and imprisoned. 2010 saw a major retrospective of the director’s films at the BFI Southbank and Bristol’s Arnolfini. The film is the archetypal Ukrainian story of a young peasant who marries the daughter of his father’s killer, loses her, falls into a long spiral of sadness and then remarries again, with tragic results. Paradjanov enriches the tale with occult imagery, swooping camerawork and a wide tableaux of breathtaking landscapes. His recreation of the vanished world of the Ukrainian Gutsul high up in the Carpathian mountains evokes a pre- industrial culture where magic and ritual are as much a part of existence as backbreaking work and violent family feuds. A Hawk and A Hacksaw http://ahawkandahacksaw.blogspot.com/ http://www.myspace.com/ahawkandahacksaw Started as a solo project in 2000 by accordionist and drummer Jeremy Barnes (former member of indie rock legends Neutral Milk Hotel) and named after a line in Cervantes’ Don Quixote, AHAAH became a duo in 2004 when Barnes met violinist Heather Trost. The pair began an adventure that took them to Budapest, Hungary where they lived for two years and met/toured with some of the country’s finest folk musicians, as well as countless US & European tours both on their own and with big names including Portishead, Calexico and fellow New Mexico resident Beirut (whose Gulag Orkestar album they performed on and helped bring to wider attention). Joined by an ever expanding and contracting line-up of musicians, A Hawk and A Hacksaw seeks to create and document an ecstatic sound much like the village bands of old, with the communal aspect of folk tradition and musicianship the key factor. A Hawk and A Hacksaw’s new album “Cervantine” is out now. “…more than mere dalliance or faux goulash … it only takes about ten seconds of exposure to the opening track … to be overwhelmed by the evocative, aromatic, lovingly and closely simulated delights of this album” The Wire “So ebullient and full of character that by the time it’s over you feel like you’ve caught a glimpse of the type of joyful festivity that always feels most rewarding after a long journey” Pitchfork “A cheerfully exuberant fusion based around Hungarian instrumental style, but including a bit of everything, from a Greek melody to echoes of Mexican Mariachi brass and what sounds like a rhythmic off-kilter funeral march that would impress Tom Waits” Guardian “Underneath all the noise and frenetic cross-fertilising of old and new, East and West, an obvious musical intelligence is at work. Happily, it also clearly recognizes the value of fun” BBC

Tickets:: http://www.filmhousecinema.com/showing/shadows-of-forgotten-ancestors/

This is a very very special show that we are incredibly proud to bring to Edinburgh in collaboration with Filmhouse Cinema.

A Hawk and A Hacksaw live rescore of “Shadows of Forgotten Ancest…ors”

New Mexico’s widescreen roving folk duo A Hawk and A Hacksaw present a brand new live score of Soviet director Sergei Paradjanov’s classic film ”Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors”. Set high up in the Carpathian mountains, the film tells the age old tale of a peasant’s love and loss in a pre-industrial age where magic and ritual are as much a part of existence as back- breaking work and violent family feuds. The colour, grandeur and gut-wrenching romance of A Hawk and A Hacksaw’s music is the perfect counterpoint to Paradjanov’s visionary blend of folklore, sorcery and religious symbolism.

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

http://www.artificial-eye.com/film.php?dvd=ART496DVD&plugs&qt=true&wm=false
http://www.paradjanov-festival.co.uk/

“Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” is the first major work by the legendary Russian filmmaker Sergei Parajadnov. Hailed as a genius by the likes of Fellini, Antonioni and Tarkovsky, his films are as allegorical and mysterious as Byzantine frescos, each a beautiful riot of small movements within his almost always static frames. Although acclaimed internationally, Paradjanov’s visionary and poetic oeuvre was regarded as subversive by the Soviet authorities and he was frequently banned from filmmaking and imprisoned. 2010 saw a major retrospective of the director’s films at the BFI Southbank and Bristol’s Arnolfini. The film is the archetypal Ukrainian story of a young peasant who marries the daughter of his father’s killer, loses her, falls into a long spiral of sadness and then remarries again, with tragic results. Paradjanov enriches the tale with occult imagery, swooping camerawork and a wide tableaux of breathtaking landscapes. His recreation of the vanished world of the Ukrainian Gutsul high up in the Carpathian mountains evokes a pre- industrial culture where magic and ritual are as much a part of existence as backbreaking work and violent family feuds.


A Hawk and A Hacksaw

http://ahawkandahacksaw.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ahawkandahacksaw

Started as a solo project in 2000 by accordionist and drummer Jeremy Barnes (former member of indie rock legends Neutral Milk Hotel) and named after a line in Cervantes’ Don Quixote, AHAAH became a duo in 2004 when Barnes met violinist Heather Trost. The pair began an adventure that took them to Budapest, Hungary where they lived for two years and met/toured with some of the country’s finest folk musicians, as well as countless US & European tours both on their own and with big names including Portishead, Calexico and fellow New Mexico resident Beirut (whose Gulag Orkestar album they performed on and helped bring to wider attention). Joined by an ever expanding and contracting line-up of musicians, A Hawk and A Hacksaw seeks to create and document an ecstatic sound much like the village bands of old, with the communal aspect of folk tradition and musicianship the key factor.

A Hawk and A Hacksaw’s new album “Cervantine” is out now.

“…more than mere dalliance or faux goulash … it only takes about ten seconds of exposure to the opening track … to be overwhelmed by the evocative, aromatic, lovingly and closely simulated delights of this album”
The Wire

“So ebullient and full of character that by the time it’s over you feel like you’ve caught a glimpse of the type of joyful festivity that always feels most rewarding after a long journey”
Pitchfork

“A cheerfully exuberant fusion based around Hungarian instrumental style, but including a bit of everything, from a Greek melody to echoes of Mexican Mariachi brass and what sounds like a rhythmic off-kilter funeral march that would impress Tom Waits”
Guardian

“Underneath all the noise and frenetic cross-fertilising of old and new, East and West, an obvious musical intelligence is at work. Happily, it also clearly recognizes the value of fun”
BBC

3 months ago  Notes (4)
AKKE PHALLUS DUOhttp://soundcloud.com/akke-phallus-duohttp://soundcloud.com/roman-nosehttp://soundcloud.com/chora-music A long overdue and much anticipated collaboration between Ben Morris of Chora and Jon Marshall of The Hunter Gracchus. Postally sharing raw voice, poached acousmatic sound & brut instrumental ingredients, shitting on Eno’s Fourth World confluence of privilege, they navigate modes of avant-experimentation open to the freedom & potential of this new duo dynamic. Wheezing & stuttering non-musics through broken mics and burst bellowed reeds, they integrate the spectres of position, loss, resistance and the fruits of free-hybridity from the comfort and confusions of the First World. CAT HAWEDhttp://psykickdancehallrecordings.com/http://www.singingknivesrecords.co.uk/http://soundcloud.com/helhesten Brought together for Colour Out Of Space in Brighton last year Cat Hawed is a new collaboration between Hannah Ellul and Ben Knight (Psykick Dancehall/Helhesten) and Jon (Singing Knives/Hunter Gracchus/Roman Nose/Vampire Blues). Fieldnotes on the Colour Out Of Space performance: ‘Starting in chamber music mode, accentuated by the use of clarinet, perhaps, although it was played on the extremes of register, poised and balanced as they tested the day, building to a roar as the form spread to encompass wilder sounds, loosely corralled, as it were, by intelligence.’http://soundsandtexts.blogspot.com/2011/11/review-colour-out-of-space-festival_28.html

AKKE PHALLUS DUO
http://soundcloud.com/akke-phallus-duo
http://soundcloud.com/roman-nose
http://soundcloud.com/chora-music

A long overdue and much anticipated collaboration between Ben Morris of Chora and Jon Marshall of The Hunter Gracchus. Postally sharing raw voice, poached acousmatic sound & brut instrumental ingredients, shitting on Eno’s Fourth World confluence of privilege, they navigate modes of avant-experimentation open to the freedom & potential of this new duo dynamic. Wheezing & stuttering non-musics through broken mics and burst bellowed reeds, they integrate the spectres of position, loss, resistance and the fruits of free-hybridity from the comfort and confusions of the First World.

CAT HAWED
http://psykickdancehallrecordings.com/
http://www.singingknivesrecords.co.uk/
http://soundcloud.com/helhesten

Brought together for Colour Out Of Space in Brighton last year Cat Hawed is a new collaboration between Hannah Ellul and Ben Knight (Psykick Dancehall/Helhesten) and Jon (Singing Knives/Hunter Gracchus/Roman Nose/Vampire Blues).

Fieldnotes on the Colour Out Of Space performance:

‘Starting in chamber music mode, accentuated by the use of clarinet, perhaps, although it was played on the extremes of register, poised and balanced as they tested the day, building to a roar as the form spread to encompass wilder sounds, loosely corralled, as it were, by intelligence.’

http://soundsandtexts.blogspot.com/2011/11/review-colour-out-of-space-festival_28.html

4 months ago  Notes (1)

Tickets: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/151024

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/243726429031156/

Powan Presents and Edinburgh University Middle Eastern Society brings you an evening of Eastern Mediterranean stimulation for body and mind! This tour sees the rare pairing of American musicolog…ist/record collector, Ian Nagoski, talking about and playing music from his latest release ‘To What Strange Place’ as well as the return of the great Anatolian-psych jams of Bradford’s The Family Elan.

Ian Nagoski (Tompkins Square, Mississippi Records)
http://mangkunegaran.tumblr.com/

Nagoski is a radio presenter and musicologist based in New York who has received great plaudits in recent months for the 3cd package he compiled for the excellent Tompkins Square label, To What Strange Place : The Music Of The Ottoman-American Diaspora, 1916-1929

Along with the extensive notes contained within the package, Nagoski has produced a tantalising treasure trail relating the stories of the countless intertwined lives of people originally from Anatolia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Levant who migrated to the US in the early 20th Century and the music they brought with them.
Ian will play and discuss a selection of tracks from the collection and relate stories of migration, the embryonic record pressing industry, cultural dispersal and interweaving – he’s delivered several such presentations in the US, where the musical mix of deep contemplation, utter tragedy, blazing jams and some hilarity has left deep impressions on his audiences.

”Comparisons with Harry Smith’s anthology or Revenant’s AmericanPrimitive are in order, not least because this is American music witha capital A, animated by the same feelings of desperation, nostalgia,the quest for cheap kicks and the agony of loss. Like Smith, Nagoskiis a Walter Benjamin visionary, using his collection of 78s tohallucinate a history that actually happened but which remains hiddenbeneath official dogma and nationalisms.”-The Wire, August 2011

”I was entranced; I was FASCINATED. It is one of the most worthwhile purchases you will make this year. I went and got mine; I think you should, too.”
- Henry Rollins, KCRW

“Ian Nagoski’s To What Strange Place is a work of great beauty.”- Jace Clayton / DJ/rupture, WFMU

“It feels as essential to an understanding of American music as anything else.”- Pitchfork

The Family Elan
http://thefamilyelan.com/

Delving into the same mine of influence as To What Strange Place, and dipping musical toes in Uzbekistan, Eastern Europe and elsewhere, Chris Hladowksi will be bringing the latest incarnation of his clan Elan back to Caledonia to bathe us in their psych-folk jams.

The Family Elan has been the vehicle for Chris’s own musical endeavors outside of his collaborative work (A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Nalle, The One Ensemble, Scatter, Costa and Nero) over the past decade. After releasing their debut album on Locust Music (Sir Richard Bishop, Josephine Foster, Henry Flynt, Espers), the Family Elan presented us with their second LP ‘Bow Low Bright Glow’ in 2010 drawing new musical constellations that follow the gypsy trail from India through Asia Minor and into outer space.

‘When Hladowski achieves instrumental levitation, the ghosts of Comus, Jan Dukes De Grey and The Incredible String Band might be hovering over his shoulder; there’s a similar sense of acid-spiked, dervish abandon. Like the latter, he references ethnic music - Indian ragas, Balkan gypsy dances, Greek rembetika - but with a rare feeling and finesse, and not a trace of whimsy.’
Wire

‘The Family Elan reveals the right combination of dexterous playing and unstudied feeling to qualify as a success.’
Dusted

4 months ago  Notes (1)

Monday 28th November
The Wee Red Bar
Doors open at: 19:00 

£7 on the door/£6 in advance by emailing powanpresents@gmail.com
…
Free Powan cookies

Meg Baird (Espers, Drag City/Wichita)
http://www.megbaird.com/

Hailing from Philadelphia’s vibrant music community, Meg is a founding member of the band Espers. Having released four albums with the group, to which she contributed her songwriting, ethereal vocals, and delicate guitar arrangements, Meg released her first solo album, ‘Dear Companion’, on Drag City in 2007. The record is a combination of reinterpreted traditional songs and original compositions. Through the strength of this album she came to the attention of folk heavyweights such as Michael Hurley, Kath Bloom and Bert Jansch, whom she toured with; as well as her contemporaries, having contributed to records by Will Oldham (Ask Forgiveness, 2007), Sharon Van Etten (Epic, 2010) and Kurt Vile (Smoke Ring for My Halo, 2011). She has also played alongside the likes of James Blackshaw, Jack Rose, Vetiver and Josephine Foster.

Earlier this year she released her second solo album ‘Seasons On Earth’ (Drag City), featuring contributions from guitarists Chris Forsyth (Peeesseye), Marc Orleans (Sunburned Hand of the Man), Steve Gunn, Willie Lane (MV & EE) and harpist Mary Lattimore (Thurston Moore, Kurt Vile). Seasons on Earth is made up of mostly original songs which highlight Baird’s strength as a songwriter. Her tender vocals and intricate fingerstyle guitar playing echo the voices of 1970s singer songwriters whilst still sounding fresh and relevant.

‘At once delicate and earthy, Baird’s vocals sound naturally suited to the purpose of breathing fragile new life into these romantic tales of love gained and lost, as she firmly stakes a claim in the folk lineage alongside such 60s-era artists as Shirley Collins or Anne Briggs.’- Pitchfork Media

‘Baird is perhaps best known for her work with Philadelphia pastoral psych collective Espers, and if you’re only familiar with Baird’s haunting vocals amidst that group’s moody clatter, hearing her lovely voice accompanied by nothing more than simple acoustic instrumentation is equally enchanting.’
Dusted Magazine

Lucy Duncombe and Kenneth Wilson
http://www.myspace.com/0trees0

Lucy and Kenny are two-fifths of Glasgow’s Two Wings (http://twowings.bandcamp.com/), previously having performed under the name ‘Trees’. Drones, creeks, scratches, folk melodies, invented instruments and soaring vocals combine to lift us into a state of improvised eerie bliss.

King Rib (guitar set)

A rare acoustic guitar outing from the male half of Leith’s finest “His ‘n’ hers hiss ‘n’ hum drone” duo, Scrim.

6 months ago  Notes (1)

T H E  F A M I L Y  E L A N

Video from the prolific master of moving images Harry Wheeler - Architect of Harmonic Rooms

We are desperately looking forward to the new album. Phasered-bouzouki, pounding bass lines and a drum kit that would beat the categorisation of even the greatest ethnomusicologist. Globalization has never yielded better!

9 months ago  Notes (1)