{"title":"Plaintive","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"bobby-kapp-matthew-shipp-cactus","title":"Bobby Kapp \u0026 Matthew Shipp - Cactus","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2781980594\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bobbykappmatthewshipp.bandcamp.com\/album\/cactus\"\u003eCactus by Bobby Kapp \u0026amp; Matthew Shipp\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Valerie Wilmer’s important socio-political history of the jazz vanguard As Serious As Your Life (Serpent’s Tail Press, 1977), the chapter on pianist Cecil Taylor is subtitled “Eighty-Eight Tuned Drums.” Textually this reference advances the role of the piano in free music as percussive in large part, especially as the chordal and melodic directions taken after Ornette Coleman in the late 1950s often appeared to circumvent the more fixed tonalities of the keyboard. Drummers and pianists have been one core team in this music, going back to the forbears and scions of the modern-jazz era — Buddy Rich and Nat Cole; Art Blakey and Herbie Nichols or Thelonious Monk; Denis Charles, Sunny Murray and Andrew Cyrille with Taylor — whether the pianist may work percussively or sculpt the music temporally and melodically.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrummer Bobby Kapp (b. Robert Kaplan on April 11, 1942 in Perth Amboy, NJ) and pianist Matthew Shipp (b. December 7, 1960 in Wilmington, DE) are a team that has only recently come together, though their affinity for one another is natural and rewarding. Cactus is their first duo recording, a spontaneous set coming on the heels of 2015’s Themes 4 Transmutation, the latter waxed under the drummer’s leadership and featuring Shipp, reedist Ras Moshe and bassist Tyler Mitchell. While the cognoscenti may be aware of Kapp’s name as a firebrand in the mid-60s New York free music underground, he didn’t record as a leader back then. In recent years, after relocating to Mexico, he’s co-led the standards-rooted Fine Wine Trio with pianist Richard Wyands and bassist Gene Perla, and reunited with alto saxophonist Noah Howard before the latter’s untimely passing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKapp’s restless energy and streetwise lyricism, yen for the blues and supple templates for unfettered expression took him from New Jersey and Staten Island to Berklee College of Music, where he studied with Alan Dawson, and then Lower Manhattan. There, he played and recorded with alto saxophonists Marion Brown and Noah Howard, pianist Dave Burrell and tenor saxophonists Leandro ‘Gato’ Barbieri and Pharaoh Sanders before eventually settling in an artist’s colony in San Miguel de Allende. Kapp’s sideman recordings in the 1960s are scant, comprising two full LP appearances (Barbieri’s In Search of the Mystery and Howard’s At Judson Hall, both on ESP), two individual LP halves (Brown’s watershed Three for Sheep on Impulse! and Burrell’s High on Douglas), and film footage of Brown’s trio was captured in 1967 by Henry English, but all of this work presents a rolling, massive and fleet economy somewhere between Elvin Jones and Shelly Manne. His more recent outings have been somewhat under the radar, but the aspects that entice—a sure, tempestuous detail—are toned with age, experience and fidelity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShipp’s piano is the perfect foil for Kapp’s dryly doled-out metric inventions, his sinewy but factual movements through erudite melody, resonant stomps and granular sideways gestures creating fields and objects through which the drummer’s open, supple brushwork and woody rolls float, undercut and weave. Shipp has worked with a wide range of individual, creative drummers—including Newman Taylor Baker, Whit Dickey, Guillermo E. Brown, Susie Ibarra, Marc Edwards and Steve McCall—and says of Kapp that “Bobby is a marvel as he combines the best of old school drumming with a real feel for pulse and breaking the circle that exists in the avant-garde. However, he can open the beat up in a way where you can flow with the wave and never lose the line. His touch is really refined and that adds to the beauty of his sound. I am always looking for ways to make my comping deeper and working with someone who has played with all the people he has deepens my thing. Also, the sound he gets off the cymbals has a resonance that is beyond deep—it’s like swimming in pure vibration.” On Cactus, nine spiny and flowering dialogic arms are presented in gorgeous sound, creating a language that stems from bebop, free improvisation and classicism but are of the present and specific to these two musicians. Rigorous, spontaneous play that feels this good is something to hold onto.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e– Clifford Allen\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Practically without parallel — Matthew Shipp is the connection between the past, present and future for jazzheads of all ages.” – Downbeat\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“…In the 1960’s, Bobby was a seminal figure in the so-called new music movement in NYC, recording with Gato Barbieri, Archie Shepp, Noah Howard and others.” – Ron J. Pelletier\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667155874015,"sku":"CD-NS-079","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667155841247,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667155906783,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/NS_079_web_cover-2-e1646851954503.jpg?v=1703788696"},{"product_id":"odetta-hartman-222","title":"Odetta Hartman - 222","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=614738325\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/odettahartman.bandcamp.com\/album\/222\"\u003e222 by Odetta Hartman\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eOdetta Hartman is a young woman keeping the spirit of Old New York alive. With a heart-stopping voice and wide-ranging instrumental talent, she carries cowboy soul into a new era where country can clash with computers, and bluegrass isn’t afraid of bass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith her first strictly solo record, 222 — an experimental, bedroom-produced hybrid of folk, musique concrète and psychedelia — Odetta Hartman and her partner, sound artist and producer Jack Inslee, have created something completely original and unsettling: badass banjos, detuned violins, superstitious stories and eerie soundscapes all give backing to beautiful vocal stylings that range from sensual to spooky.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e222 presents itself as a post-modern audio novella: its 22-minute running time makes it as concise as your favorite Netflix episode, and its eclectic edge is sure to leave your head spinning by the time you’re through. In addition to writing all of the songs, Odetta sings, plays banjo, violin and guitar and incorporates samples from her own field recordings to create a truly idiosyncratic world of sound. A companion remix EP will be released in collaboration with Full Service Party, featuring unique reinterpretations of each track from some of the finest talents in the electronic music world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 25-year old East Village native grew up around experimental filmmakers, street poets and after-hours debauchery, all thanks to her pioneering parents (founders of the local institution Two Boots Pizza) who have cultivated her passion for musical performance since the tender age of 4 years old. She currently teaches neighborhood girls age 8-18 how to produce radio and music at the Lower Eastside Girls Club.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOdetta Hartman has explored traditional forms of Americana with previous projects – she was a popular performing artist in The Sparrows while at Bard College, she toured the country with songwriter-magician Gryphon Rue, has ample credits for multi-instrumental session work, and self-released two EP’s with some of the best musicians NYC has to offer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition, she has had rich experiences performing live at such prestigious venues as Pioneer Works, Le Poisson Rouge, Summerstage’s East River Park Amphitheater, Brooklyn Night Bazaar, The Knitting Factory, Chez Andre @ The Standard and The Allen Room at Jazz @ Lincoln Center.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667157807327,"sku":"LP-NS-069","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667157872863,"sku":"CD-NS-069","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette + Digital","offer_id":44667157938399,"sku":"CS-NS-069","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667157840095,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667157905631,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a2555984652_10-1.jpg?v=1703788792"},{"product_id":"shilpa-ray-last-years-savage","title":"Shilpa Ray - Last Year’s Savage","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=20785586\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shilparay.bandcamp.com\/album\/last-years-savage\"\u003eLast Year's Savage by Shilpa Ray\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eNobody grows up wanting to be an artist’s artist. Appreciated by the sub sect of the sub sect is like being the beauty queen at the leper colony. Hell, anybody who claims they grew up wanting to even be an artist rather than an astronaut or a Cthulhu is probably lying or was a corny kid. Art is hard and degrading and generally bullshit. Your friends will find you irritating and your parents will certainly not throw you a parade. But if you’re an artist you’re an artist; the soul will fuck you every time, what can you do?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShilpa Ray is, through no fault of her own, one of our unsung great artists. Having made her bones with the gothic Sturm und Drang of Beat The Devil and moving forward to the blues erosion of “…and The Happy Hookers” Shilpa Ray has been, armed only with an incomparable voice and harmonium haunted by the ghosts of dead lovers, perpetually crying in the wind, hoisting both middle fingers in the general direction of god. It’s not a life a wise man would choose. Shilpa Ray kicks against the pricks but the pricks keep coming. But, again, what can you do?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWell, that’s been the narrative until now. With Last Year’s Savage (maybe a nod to Leonard Cohen maybe a nod to Barrence Whitfield) Shilpa Ray has taken the pain and dark funk of earlier sounds and made explicit the sublimity that was always there just below the surface. The conversation has become less a break up with doors ripped from their hinges and more the last pained pillow talk before parting. The obsessions with sex, death, bodily functions, and betrayal (not necessarily in that order) remain but Shilpa has expanded the palate to convey the resignation, the simmering discontent of an artist disenfranchised and held down. This is a quieter rage than the music Shilpa Ray has made before, more plaintive and considered, even if it’s the quiet of a hand gripped tight on the axe handle. The music remains gorgeous and stirring in its directness while Shilpa herself remains, thankfully, entirely and inappropriately threatening.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShilpa Ray has, up till this, point, yes, been an “artist’s artist.” Just about every musician in New York City, who doesn’t hate her, loves her. Nick Cave sings her praises to all with the ears to listen (he brought her along a European tour as an opener and as a backup singer in the States). Obviously there are some who will always prefer lesser versions of the Shilpa Rays of the world (as if there could be more than one), preferably with blue eyes and On Brand Waifishness, but the truth will, eventually out. Talent this big can only be kept down for so long before the sky cracks and we all drown in the blood of angels. Either way, this is Shilpa Ray’s year.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667158331615,"sku":"LP-NS-064","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667158397151,"sku":"CD-NS-064","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667158364383,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667158429919,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Shilpa-Ray-Last-Years-Savage-Cover-hi-res-e1646851866906.jpg?v=1703788823"},{"product_id":"odeath-friends-family-vol-1-2","title":"o’death - Friends \u0026 Family Vol. 1 \u0026 2","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=307323181\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/odeath.bandcamp.com\/album\/odeath-friends-family-compilation-vol-1-2\"\u003eO'Death - Friends \u0026amp; Family compilation Vol. 1 \u0026amp; 2 by various artists\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eFriends and Family is a mixtape series. It functions the way mixtapes always do – featuring our favorite tracks and trying to turn you on to music you haven’t heard before. All of the artists and projects included have some direct contact or history with o’death. Some have been touring partners, collaborators, side projects, or perhaps we just played a show together once.  We hope you enjoy our Friends and Family. They mean the world to us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e– David Rogers-Berry\u003cbr\u003e\nO’Death\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eO’Death’s Friends \u0026amp; Family Compilation Vol. 1\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide One:\u003cbr\u003e\n1. Big Blood – The Grove Is Hotter Than An Ocean’s Oven\u003cbr\u003e\n2. O’death – Heal in the Howling (demo by Greg and Bob)\u003cbr\u003e\n3. Charlie Parr – Cheap Wine\u003cbr\u003e\n4. Interlude – Razed Against the Wire\u003cbr\u003e\n5. The Icebergs – Broken Heart\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide Two:\u003cbr\u003e\n1. Intro – Angels Fool the Light\u003cbr\u003e\n2. Dead Western – Separation Isolation\u003cbr\u003e\n3. Lonesome Leash – Dead\u003cbr\u003e\n4. Greg Jamie – Be Brave\u003cbr\u003e\n5. The Woes – I’m The One\u003cbr\u003e\n6. Outro – Aleph \u0026amp; Omega\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCredits:\u003cbr\u003e\nProduced by David Rogers-Berry (o’death)\u003cbr\u003e\nArt by Leah Perrotta\u003cbr\u003e\nLayout by Adam Downey\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eO’Death’s Friends \u0026amp; Family Compilation Vol. 2\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide One:\u003cbr\u003e\n1. Murder By Death – Home\u003cbr\u003e\n2. Greg Jamie – O’Death\u003cbr\u003e\n3. This Frontier Needs Heroes – Down On The Farm\u003cbr\u003e\n4. Colin Langenus and Jonah Rapino – Processional\u003cbr\u003e\n5. Interlude – Princess Peter – Black Tongue Edit\u003cbr\u003e\n6.The Huntress – Call To Arms\u003cbr\u003e\n7. Outro\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide Two:\u003cbr\u003e\n1. Mystery Red Inferno – Possum\u003cbr\u003e\n2. Interlude – Sgub Strings\u003cbr\u003e\n3. Clawman – (Don’t) Call Us\u003cbr\u003e\n4. Interlude – Hate Screwed\u003cbr\u003e\n5. North Collins – Bridge of Branches\u003cbr\u003e\n6. Interlude – Dan Deacon – 005 sept22\u003cbr\u003e\n7. O’death – Living Ghost\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCredits:\u003cbr\u003e\nProduced by David Rogers-Berry (o’death)\u003cbr\u003e\nArt by Leah Perrotta\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667160002783,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667160035551,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Screen-Shot-2017-03-13-at-7.51.29-AM.png?v=1703788868"},{"product_id":"odeath-out-of-hands-we-go","title":"o’death - Out Of Hands We Go","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1614326302\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/odeath.bandcamp.com\/album\/out-of-hands-we-go-2\"\u003eOut Of Hands We Go by o'death\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs o’death wrapped up production on their third studio album \u003ci\u003eOutside\u003c\/i\u003e at the end of 2010, lead-singer\/guitarist Greg Jamie relocated to Biddeford, Maine, to take over a local music and arts venue and turn it into The Oak and The Ax. Since then, Maine and The Oak and The Ax have become a second home for o’death and eventually the location for the recording of their fourth full-length studio album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe band convened in South Portland, ME, to work with lo-fi recording guru, Caleb Mulkerin (Big Blood, Fire On Fire, Cerberus Shoal) and to take advantage of the homey space in Biddeford they had performed in many times since 2011. On Out of Hands We Go, o’death return to a focus on live performances with Jamie’s voice and lyrics planted firmly in the center of the band’s dynamic arrangements, a stark departure from the multi-tracked and meticulously overdubbed \u003ci\u003eOutside\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGreg Jamie’s strength as a lyricist is his ability to create evocative images and details that come together to form a narrative if the listener is ready to walk the path. \u003ci\u003eOut of Hands We Go\u003c\/i\u003e contains stories of a more personal nature, abandoning horror-film vignettes in favor of heartbreak (“Heal In The Howling,” “Herd,” “Apple Moon,”), defiance (“Roam,” “Wrong Time,” “Wait For Fire”) and ultimately triumph (“All Is Light,” “We Had A Vision”) before culminating in the climactic “Isavelle” that fires on all dramatic cylinders.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Out Of Hands We Go is raw and primal, with rippling banjo set against a crackling backdrop that doubles both as the sound of old vinyl and the campfire around which songwriter Greg Jamie’s personal demons are exorcised” — Peter Watts, Uncut Magazine\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667160101087,"sku":"LP-NS-058","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667160166623,"sku":"CD-NS-058","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667160133855,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667160199391,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/OOHWG_cover_web1-1024x1024-copy.jpg?v=1703788878"},{"product_id":"seaven-teares-power-ballads","title":"Seaven Teares - Power Ballads","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1330536508\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/seaventeares.bandcamp.com\/album\/power-ballads-2\"\u003ePower Ballads by Seaven Teares\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003ePower Ballads is the debut album from Seaven Teares, a New York band formed in 2010 featuring singer\/songwriter Charlie Looker (Extra Life, ex-Zs), experimental vocalist Amirtha Kidambi (Sequins and Skeletons), Robbie Lee (Howling Hex) on woodwinds, guitars and synth, and percussionist Russell Greenberg (Yarn\/Wire).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeaven Teares’ mostly acoustic sound brings together a number of disparate influences: dark post-Industrial folk (Death In June, Current 93), 1960’s co-ed pop folk groups (Mamas and the Papas, Ian \u0026amp; Sylvia), the drones and textures of modern composition and experimental improvisation, and the cold alien vocal harmonies of Gothic era liturgical music. The seven slow-burning songs shift between abstract raga-like meditations and straight melodic hooks, set against acoustic guitars, dark synth ambience, vibraphone, bells, and occasional harsh electronics, as well as authentic Medieval pump organ and recorders.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRadically reimagined cover songs are an important part of Seaven Teares’ repertoire. In addition to five originals, Power Ballads includes dismantled versions of Alice in Chains’ 1992 classic “Them Bones”, (featuring Dutch lutenist Jozef van Wissem) and depressive Renaissance composer John Dowland’s 1596 classic “Flow My Tears”.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667164491999,"sku":"LP-NS-034","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667164557535,"sku":"CD-NS-034","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667164524767,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667164590303,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a0276415812_16.jpg?v=1703789070"},{"product_id":"loren-conors-suzanne-langille-i-wish-i-didnt-dream","title":"Loren Connors - I Wish I didn’t Dream","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=133529209\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lorenconnors.bandcamp.com\/album\/i-wish-i-didnt-dream-2\"\u003eI Wish I Didn't Dream by Loren Connors\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI Wish I Didn’t Dream\u003c\/em\u003e, the new album of duets by guitarist Loren Connors and vocalist Suzanne Langille, was cut in just a few hours of studio time. But the pieces started falling into place 15 years earlier on the 10th floor of a nondescript building in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was there, at the old location of the Brecht Forum, that Connors got to know writer and WFMU DJ Kurt Gottschalk, who was curating a concert series there. On occasion Tom Abbs (now President of Northern Spy Records) would co-program weekend festivals there, sometimes bringing in MP Landis to do live painting during the performances.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlash forward to the present. Gottschalk was selecting paintings and writing text for a book of Landis’ paintings and the two begin imagining a soundtrack for the book. The obvious choice would be Connors, a painter himself, and Langille, an admirer of Landis’ work. The more they talked about it, the more plausible it seemed. Gottschalk had already produced a Northern Spy release with Connors and Langille (Haunted House, Blue Ghost Blues, NS012, with Andrew Burnes and Neel Murgai) which featured one of Landis’ paintings on the cover.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWithin a few months a session had been booked in the same studio where Blue Ghost Blues was recorded. The process was simple. Slides from Landis’ WD series of paintings were shown on a screen and Connors and Langille responded. There was no advance preparation other than a folder of verses (her own as well as Keats, Denis McCarthy and some nearly lost to history) Langille brought to the session.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe resulting album, their first duo record in 14 years, is as vulnerable as it is beautiful. Langille sings as if she’s speaking cautiously, Connors’ guitar barely whispers, but at any turn either might erupt in screams. Do they not want to yearn for more, or do they fear their nightmares? Their dreams are a haunting mystery.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667165540575,"sku":"CD-NS-031","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667165507807,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667165573343,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a0580569682_10.jpg?v=1703789086"},{"product_id":"dan-melchior-the-backward-path","title":"Dan Melchior - The Backward Path","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=987243628\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/danmelchior1.bandcamp.com\/album\/the-backward-path-2\"\u003eThe Backward Path by Dan Melchior\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Backward Path marks a departure for Dan Melchior in a number of ways. It is his first album to feature other musicians since his time with the Broke Revue, and it also marks a change in his songwriting methods, with more heartfelt sentiments being expressed rather than the usual flood of snide non sequiturs. It is also a quieter album, without much of the “did he mean it to sound like that?” sonic onslaught of Catbirds and Cardinals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDan’s wife Letha Rodman Melchior was diagnosed with cancer in late 2010, and since then the couple has been on something of an emotional roller coaster. This comes through in the lyrics of the songs on The Backward Path and is augmented beautifully by the contributions of C. Spencer Yeh (violin), Haley L. Fohr (vocals), Anthony Allman (keyboards), Ela Orleans (vocals, keyboards and guitar), and Sam Hillmer (Saxophone).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vocal pieces are broken up with instrumentals that are nearest in tone to the “songs” on Dan’s acclaimed LP on Kye, Excerpts and Half Speeds, giving some room for the vocal pieces to sink in. The final result has more in common with Sister Lovers than Guitar Wolf, and we hope you will find this decidedly adventurous, but emotionally engaging music as satisfying as Dan found it to make.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnthony Allman – keyboards, Haley L. 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It is perhaps Extra Life’s most clearly-defined concept album :  seven songs dealing entirely with the twin themes of dreams and children. In a lyrical left turn away from the morbid sexuality and black humor of Made Flesh, these songs look to the subconscious in search of innocence, morality and meaning. According to principal songwriter and elementary school teacher Charlie Looker, the lyrics began with a consecutive series of harrowing dreams involving children, all interconnected by recurring symbols. Claiming to be in some way spiritually reborn, Looker penned the songs while mining these dreams’ buried pasts and even watching in awe as some of their prophesies unfolded in all-too-real life. Alternately brutal and tender, haunted by ghosts of both the dead and the unborn, the songs of Dream Seeds express the violent yet redemptive collision of the Real and Psychic Worlds and an archaic belief in the divine truth of dreams.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667168522463,"sku":"LP-NS-022","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667168587999,"sku":"CD-NS-022","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667168555231,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667168620767,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Extra-Life-Dream-Seeds.jpg?v=1703789176"},{"product_id":"donovan-quinn-honky-tonk-medusa","title":"Donovan Quinn - Honky Tonk Medusa","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=936008057\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/donovanquinn.bandcamp.com\/album\/honky-tonk-medusa\"\u003eHonky Tonk Medusa by Donovan Quinn\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c!--more--\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHonky Tonk Medusa is Donovan Quinn’s first album that he’s both recorded and produced since the Skygreen Leopards’ adventurous Life \u0026amp; Love in Sparrow’s Meadow. Along with Quinn’s work on vocals, guitar and synth, the album also employs San Francisco musicians Jason Quever (Papercuts), Michael Tapscott (Odawas), along with his regular rhythm section of Nick Marcantonio and Michael Carreira. Working in reverse order to many current acts, the sound of Honky Tonk Medusa is molded to each individual song; letting the lyrics and spirit of the song dictate the instrumentation and style with the lyrical narrative tying it all together. The story of the album is one of decaying American cities, Internet age entropy, and equal parts romance and loneliness. In addition to the music, the album features artwork by San Francisco artist Joe Roberts and liner notes by Elisa Ambrogio (Magik Markers, 200 Years) \u0026amp; Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667169308895,"sku":"LP-NS-019","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667169374431,"sku":"CD-NS-019","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667169341663,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667169407199,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/19semi.jpg?v=1703789206"},{"product_id":"haunted-house-blue-ghost-blues","title":"Haunted House - Blue Ghost Blues","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3595947397\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/haunted-house.bandcamp.com\/album\/blue-ghost-blues\"\u003eBlue Ghost Blues by Haunted House\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe blues has grown up a lot in the last ten years, since guitarist Andrew Burnes left New York for Georgia, bringing a de facto end to the powerful abstract blues of Haunted House. In the time since, a new generation — sometimes referred to as Freak Folk or New Weird America and spearheaded by Tom Carter, Jack Rose and Ben Chasny — has followed in the footsteps of Loren Connors, John Fahey and a handful of others who have long maintained that the blues is something more than 12 bars and a backbeat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the demise of Haunted House, Connors continued preaching the gospel, often with his wife — the enigmatic singer Suzanne Langille — to anyone who would listen, playing a slow, distorted, reverb-drenched blues as slowly the world began to come around. Then, in the summer of 2010, the stars aligned just so: Burnes was in town for a few days, percussionist Neel Murgai was available, and the Brooklyn’s Issue Project Room was booking matinee concerts in their courtyard. The band had only existed for a brief two years and had been absent for a decade, but they picked up right where they left off with only a brief soundcheck as rehearsal. Another matter of months, and they were in the studio, recording at long last the follow-up to their 1999 Erstwhile release Up in Flames.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667170521311,"sku":"LP-NS-012","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667170488543,"sku":"CD-NS-012","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667170554079,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667170586847,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a0904074472_10.jpg?v=1703789259"},{"product_id":"angels-in-america-weyes-blood-split-cassette","title":"Angels in America \/ Weyes Blood - Split Cassette","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=553845015\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/northernspyrecords.bandcamp.com\/album\/angels-in-america-weyes-blood-split\"\u003eAngels in America \/ Weyes Blood Split by Angels in America \/ Weyes Blood\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eChronicling the Baltimore underground lo-fi groups Angels in America (Moppy Pont and Merv Glisten) and Weyes Blood (Natalie Mering), this limited edition split cassette reaches for the depths of melancholy angst and is sure to mesmerize even the thickest skinned audiophile. The haunting voices of Angels echo along atmospheric landscapes while enthralling the listener with a sense of karmic doom and heroin-like bliss. On the flip side awaits the psychedelic neo-folk sounds of Weyes Blood, a throwback to what was once the sound of the drop-out revolution, now ringing like a bell of a new unsatisfied generation. This split release will be limited to 100 chrome cassettes featuring original artwork by Merv and Moppy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeatured Artists:\u003cbr\u003eAngels in America (Moppy Pont and Merv Glisten)\u003cbr\u003eWeyes Blood (Natalie Mering)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667171111135,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667171143903,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a3649961183_10.jpg?v=1703789276"},{"product_id":"the-usa-is-a-monster-r-i-p","title":"The Usaisamonster - R.I.P.","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1610355475\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/theusaisamonster.bandcamp.com\/album\/r-i-p\"\u003eR.I.P. by The Usaisamonster\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s been a long journey for Northern Spy artist Colin Langenus and Tom Hohmann, like floating stoned on the back of the turtle that carries the world. Or primal scream therapy. That trip culminates with R.I.P., the group’s final release, and the first of Brooklyn’s newest indie label. A swan song of a group at the top of its form, flowing with ease through psychedelia, stoner rock, prog, Native American mythos, and even political disintegration. R.I.P. was mixed by sludge-riff wunderkind, Max Hodes and features local NYC luminaries such as Jeremy Danneman (Parade of One) and Matt Mottel (Talibam!). Graced by Tom Hohmann’s original cover art and pressed both on high quality vinyl and CD digipack, it will be a small treasure to carry forward for both the band’s fans and those just discovering this fascinating group as they embark on their next journeys.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667172683999,"sku":"LP-NS-001","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667172749535,"sku":"CD-NS-001","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667172782303,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667172716767,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a2242879476_16.jpg?v=1703789352"},{"product_id":"door-girl","title":"Shilpa Ray - Door Girl","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=262799965\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shilparay.bandcamp.com\/album\/door-girl\"\u003eDoor Girl by Shilpa Ray\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGirls Are Free.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat’s what it says on a makeshift sign on the wall above Shilpa Ray’s head on her latest record, Door Girl. Sometimes in life it helps to take the signs one encounters literally. Girls are free to make mistakes. Girls are free to come and go. Girls are free of all those preconceived notions attached to what it is to be a girl. Gazing with a mixture of serenity and weary imperiousness beneath that sign is Shilpa Ray. Door Girl takes as its titular inspiration her time working the door at Lower East Side bar Pianos, its reputation one of hard-scrabble survival and the inspiration of desperation. Shilpa Ray has seen it all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGirls are free to bear witness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Shilpa Ray Stars as Door Girl” beckons from the cover of Door Girl in pink neon - reminiscent of nothing less than the pink lipstick that spells out New York Dolls on the cover of their similarly explosive record. The seething frenzy of a feeding frenzy - the hallmark of closing time desperation - whirls around her on the cover, people moving past so quickly that they become a smear of obscurity even as she watches everything by the door. Or is it merely normal life, speeding across her hemisphere in that blasé and banal way that yields few treasures except those that only the most perceptive of all possible artists can dig out? Her song titles are gems that glitter with scorn - “Shilpa Ray’s Got a Heart Full of Dirt,” “You’re Fucking No One,” and “Morning Terrors Nights of Dread,” to name a few - and underscore how extortionately rare good song titles truly are.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGirls are freed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHer voice - singular in modern popular music because of its radiant imperfection - takes neither prisoners nor guff as it offers up continuous caustic commentary on the human condition. Hers are observations gleaned from endless nights watching people in their natural habitat. These arenot pretty pictures, shot through as they are with violence in the obvious and menace in the failures. Alternately dreamlike and lifelike, Door Girl carves out its portraits of nightlife with reverberation and feedback, unveiling an expansive level of production quality through which even the perfectly-recorded snare drum is as present and as crisp as the bad breath of the drunk falling asleep at your elbow. Each instrument is so clearly defined in the presentation as to become one of those selfsame dive bar habitués on which Shilpa Ray shines a stark Klieg light of absolute truth. It is the story of a city as it lives and breathes at its most basic levels, as told by an artist who is equal parts musician and magician and for whom each song is a different life she has lived and breathed and experienced like few others have.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e- David Cotner\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.wnyc.org\/widgets\/ondemand_player\/wnyc\/#file=\/audio\/json\/794355\/\u0026amp;share=1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"130\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667173437663,"sku":"LP-NS-093","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667173470431,"sku":"CD-NS-093","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667173503199,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667173535967,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Shilpa_Ray_Door_Girl_cover-e1646850959270.jpg?v=1703789400"},{"product_id":"old-ghost","title":"Renata Zeiguer - Old Ghost","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=905923040\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/renatazeiguer.bandcamp.com\/album\/old-ghost\"\u003eOld Ghost by Renata Zeiguer\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRenata Zeiguer's debut album Old Ghost is the sound of someone finding and losing herself in the endless dance of fear and forgiveness. Renata is a composer, her music deep and complex. With secretly wise melodic constructions, she tempts the listener toward forbidden insights, resurrecting her childhood fascination with classical music. The ghosts of Ravel, Debussy, and Chopin run through her veins, whirling with Billie Holiday, Os Mutantes, The Pixies, and Yo La Tengo. She grew up in two worlds: Riverdale, New York, near the Bronx, and Buenos Aires, the land of her father, torn between the clear expectations of piano lessons in Yonkers, and the Dionysian passions of Argentine tango. Possessed by musical inquiry, she moved to New York City, performing throughout her 20s with bands Ava Luna, Widowspeak, Mr. Twin Sister, Mutual Benefit, Christopher Burke, Relatives, Quilt, and Cassandra Jenkins, while spilling her own haunted refrains in lonely Brooklyn apartments. Her music is stained with the brutality of battling oneself, and yet the pulse of love echoes throughout like a mystical wind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArrangements by Renata Zeiguer, Jason Burger, Adam Brisbin, and Christian Carpenter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduced by Adam Schatz and Renata Zeiguer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEngineered and Mixed by Jake Aron at Figure 8 and Doctor Wu's, Brooklyn, NY.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded at Figure 8, Black Lodge Recording, and home, all in Brooklyn, NY.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMastered by Chris Gehringer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCover photo by Chris Weiss.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDesign and layout by Renata.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667173798111,"sku":"LP-NS-095","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667173830879,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667173863647,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a0430570891_10.jpg?v=1703789420"},{"product_id":"the-legendary-marvin-pontiac-greatest-hits","title":"The Legendary Marvin Pontiac - Greatest Hits","description":"\u003cp\u003eA bunch of us bought Marvin Pontiac’s Greatest Hits back in 1999 on CD and totally bought into the story: Marvin Pontiac was an enigmatic genius of modern music. He was the son of an African father from Mali and a white Jewish mother from New York. And he was dead, having been killed by a bus. Jackson Pollock listened solely to Marvin. Flea, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, Beck, Angelique Kidjo, Mike Gordon and Michael Stipe were fans.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Lurie’s story was hilarious and his music was extraordinary. The whole thing was characteristically ahead of its time and guaranteed to leave a permanent mark on your consciousness. And it still is! We’re blissfully psyched to bring this music to vinyl for the first time for Record Store Day 2018. Check out the music if you haven’t already and please help spread the word. The package is beautifully redesigned with a jacket designed by John Lurie featuring a detail of one of his paintings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRead a feature by Marc Masters in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/amphtml\/lifestyle\/cult-favorite-john-lurie-makes-way-for-an-alter-ego\/2018\/04\/12\/4fb378f6-3825-11e8-9c0a-85d477d9a226_story.html\"\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/a\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #0000ff;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eFor a long time, John Lurie was everywhere. If you cared about American independent art and culture between the mid-’70s and the late ’90s, you probably knew about his acting in films such as “Stranger Than Paradise,” “Paris, Texas,” and “Down by Law.” Or maybe as the host of his absurdist nature show “Fishing With John.” Or perhaps you heard his music as the composer of scores for “Get Shorty” and “Mystery Train,” or as the leader and saxophone player for his raucous jazz group, the Lounge Lizards.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #0000ff;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e During this prolific run, one of Lurie’s ventures was a little less visible. In 1999, his record label Strange and Beautiful released “Greatest Hits,” by someone called the Legendary Marvin Pontiac. According to press materials, Pontiac was a hard-luck drifter who made music in Mali, Chicago and Detroit before being killed by a bus in 1977. But since the album included a supporting cast of Lurie’s fellow New York musicians and featured a singing voice that sounded a lot like him, it wasn’t hard to guess who Pontiac actually was.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded At – The Magic Shop\u003cbr\u003eMixed At – RPM Studios\u003cbr\u003eMastered At – Classic Sound, New York\u003cbr\u003ePhotography By – Nehpets Notrot\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667174813919,"sku":"LP-NS-097","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667174879455,"sku":"CD-NS-097","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667174912223,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667174846687,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/marvin-pontiac-greatest-hits-cover-e1523924173191.jpg?v=1703789470"},{"product_id":"nihilism-ep","title":"Shilpa Ray - Nihilism EP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=4292959126\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shilparay.bandcamp.com\/album\/nihilism-ep\"\u003eNihilism EP by Shilpa Ray\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShilpa Ray’s Nihilism EP comes hot on the heels of 2017’s critically acclaimed LP Door Girl. Inspired by and written after binge watching the Grateful Dead documentary series Long Strange Trip, her original song “Shoot This Dying Horse” is a rainy day waltz about how bad things can happen to anyone, at any time in the most random and meaningless ways. More specifically, it’s about getting dumped at a bar two days before Christmas. No horses were harmed during the writing and recording of this track.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditionally, Shilpa decided to cover Alice Cooper’s “Is It My Body” after spinning a lot of Cooper in the tour van while on tour in support of 'Door Girl.' She explains, “When I paid closer attention to the lyrics, I realized if sung by a woman this song could be a feminist anthem. Who knew Alice Cooper wrote feminist anthems?”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Shoot This Dying Horse\" written by Shilpa Ray 2018\u003cbr\u003e\n\"Is It My Body\" written by Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce, Neal Smith + Glen Buxton 1971\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMusic performed by\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShilpa Ray\u003cbr\u003e\nVocals, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, Farfisa\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlistair Paxton\u003cbr\u003e\nGuitar\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTurner Stough\u003cbr\u003e\nBass\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRichard Hutchins\u003cbr\u003e\nDrums, Percussion\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChristian Lee Buss\u003cbr\u003e\nBacking vocals, Farfisa, Synth\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEngineered by Jeff Berner at Studio G\u003cbr\u003e\nAssistant Engineer - Alexis Berthelot\u003cbr\u003e\nMastered by Alex DeTurk at Strange Weather\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtwork by Russell Hymowitz\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"Cassette + Digital","offer_id":44667175043295,"sku":"CS-NS-102","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667175076063,"sku":"","price":3.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667175108831,"sku":null,"price":2.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a1349547931_10.jpg?v=1703789480"},{"product_id":"practice-magic","title":"Tōth - Practice Magic and Seek Professional Help When Necessary","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3698307368\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/tothtunes.bandcamp.com\/album\/practice-magic-and-seek-professional-help-when-necessary\"\u003ePractice Magic And Seek Professional Help When Necessary by Tōth\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn July 2016, Alex Toth was recovering from a broken foot and a broken heart, stuck in his fourth-floor apartment in Brooklyn with cast and crutches. This is where Tōth’s “achingly beautiful” debut album, Practice Magic and Seek Professional Help When Necessary, was born.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA few months earlier, Alex and his Rubblebucket cofounder and love of more than eleven years had “consciously uncoupled,” after a period of helping each other through devastating challenges. Alex was lightning-struck by sadness. “Almost convalescent” at times, in his words, though rarely still. A jazz trumpeter by training, Alex is always, always writing. And that spring, a new kind of music started to come—raw, stripped-down songs unfurling without agenda, bent over an acoustic guitar. It never occurred to Alex that he was making an album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe idea sprouted in songwriting sessions with his friend Kimbra, when she heard this new sound and encouraged Alex to make a record. But it didn’t solidify until June 2016, when Alex was onstage with his punk project, Alexander F, and broke his foot. Stuck there in his apartment all summer, Tōth came to life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePractice Magic and Seek Professional Help When Necessary, due May 2019 from Northern Spy Records (worldwide) and Figureight Records (UK\/Europe), is a self-help guide unlike any other—a breakup album before wholeness, but after anger. The album turns as it goes, through “lush, windswept sonics” (Gorilla Vs. Bear), bebop trumpet solos, and spare guitar, recalling the Beach Boys in one bar and Arthur Russell in the next. It’s an album for remembering and letting go—and discovering what magic remains.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCREDITS\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eall songs written by Alex Toth, except for:\u003cbr\u003e“Down For The Count” written by Alex Toth \u0026amp; Kimbra Johnson, “No Reason” written by Alex Toth \u0026amp; Kris Barrett\u003cbr\u003e“Funny Business” written by Alex Toth \u0026amp; Brad Truax\u003cbr\u003e“Decay” written by Alex Toth \u0026amp; Jen Goma\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMixed by Andrew Sarlo\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Sarah Register\u003cbr\u003eMostly self-recorded in Alex Toth’s apartment in Brooklyn, NY between June 2016 and February 2018\u003cbr\u003eCover photo by Chris Weiss\u003cbr\u003eCover design by Aaron Denton\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 self-recorded in Alex's apartment in Brooklyn, NY\u003cbr\u003eTracks 1 \u0026amp; 9 engineered by Aaron Roche at Loft in Gowanus, May 2017\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrack 4, violins on track 8, \u0026amp; vocal overdubs (trk 7) engineered by Sam Owens at Figure Eight Recording in Prospect Heights\u003cbr\u003eDrums + upright bass overdubs for tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 recorded at Rivington Studios engineered by Nico\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmbient overdubs tracks 3, 4, 10 \u0026amp; violas track 7 via Aaron Roche at Loft in Gowanus\u003cbr\u003eAdditional overdubs recorded in Alex’s apt in BK and at Sonora Recorders in LA (with Andrew Sarlo)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI got so much really crucial encouragement early on from very dear humans I love — without which I never ever would’ve followed through with this record.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpecial Thanks:\u003cbr\u003eBrad Truax, Drew Robinson, Kimbra Johnson, Aaron Roche, Kris Barrett, Jen Goma, Jeremy Gustin, Ryan Dugre, Rob Abelow, Nicoll Bien, Northern Spy team (Chris, Adam, Tom, Cody and all), Figureight Records team (Hildur, James, Shahzad), Hannah Epperson, Joanna Sternberg, Julie Hill, Grey McMurray, Aaron Roche, Michael Leviton, Monica Hofstadter, Kalmia Traver, Kenneth Edwards, Julia Easterlin, Bridget Kearney, Andrea Diaz, Ben Davis, Mu Tunc, ThrdCoast, Amanda Bonaiuto, Lyla, Kathleen Toth\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"Limited Edition Purple Vinyl + Digital","offer_id":44667180024031,"sku":"LP-NS-114C","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Standard Black Vinyl + Digital","offer_id":44667180056799,"sku":"LP-NS-114","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667180089567,"sku":"CD-NS-114","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667180122335,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667180155103,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a0164097588_10.jpg?v=1703789621"},{"product_id":"faraway-business","title":"Renata Zeiguer - Faraway Business","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=4248826892\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/renatazeiguer.bandcamp.com\/album\/faraway-business\"\u003eFaraway Business by Renata Zeiguer\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtist statement:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Faraway business\" is one of the English translations I came across while looking up a Portuguese lyric in the bossa song ‘Chega de Saudade.’ It seemed like a fitting theme for this quartet of songs as the 2 originals are older and the 2 covers allude to love and loss and the distance that follows. I'm working on a new album at the moment but I wanted to share this in the interim.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWanting to reconnect with my musical roots, I picked one of my favorite bossa novas from childhood, ‘Chega de Saudade.’ In Brazilian culture, saudade is understood to be a melancholic longing and nostalgia for something that has passed or may never pass at all. The English title is 'No More Blues', totally shortchanging the original, so I wanted to sing it in Portuguese, as I’ve always known the song. I love Joao Gilberto’s solo recordings and I tried to channel his tender yet frank intimacy. I was also psyched to use this beautiful little 1960s Ace Tone drum machine I recently acquired.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Permanently Lonely' is a Willie Nelson song I learned last year after hearing it again in a collection of early 1960s demo recordings (Crazy: The Demo Sessions). I tracked it just for fun one snowy day last December with my friend Adam Schatz, who also produced 'Old Ghost' with me. We improvised the arrangement as we went and had a good time not overthinking it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Gravity' is the last song I wrote for 'Old Ghost.’ I wanted to try rerecording it with a more hands-on approach to make a slightly more hi-fi version of my original demo. The process felt more organic and cohesive because I arranged and played everything on it while working with my friend Zubin Hensler in his studio in Brooklyn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Wayside,’ another song on 'Old Ghost,' was mixed by my friend Adam Brisbin, who also recorded guitar on the album. Using stems from our original studio session with Jake Aron, he ran it through a Tascam cassette recorder and slowed it down to sound more in line with my original demo. The pacing is more laid-back and live-sounding and the overall aesthetic has a bit more lo-fi grit and vibe. I really enjoyed tracking new vocals over it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"Cassette + Digital","offer_id":44667180351711,"sku":"CS-NS-115","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667180417247,"sku":null,"price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667180384479,"sku":"","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Renata-Zeiguer-Faraway-Business-digital-art-e1646850003353.jpg?v=1703789630"},{"product_id":"the-weather-up-there","title":"Jeremy Cunningham - The Weather Up There","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2015962542\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/jeremycunningham.bandcamp.com\/album\/the-weather-up-there\"\u003eThe Weather Up There by Jeremy Cunningham\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eChicago drummer and composer Jeremy Cunningham wrote The Weather Up There in response to the loss of his brother Andrew, who died in a home invasion robbery in 2008. Co-produced by Jeff Parker and Paul Bryan, and engineered by Paul Bryan and John McEntire, this new work confronts the tragedy of violence and examines the acute ripple effect on several people's lives through the lens of memory, response, and collage. Further deepening the textural and emotive impact, Cunningham formed a “drum choir” for these recordings, comprised of close mentors and colleagues Mike Reed, Makaya McCraven, and Mikel Patrick Avery. Cunningham also taps regular collaborators Ben LaMar Gay, Jaimie Branch, Tomeka Reid, Dustin Laurenzi, Matt Ulery, and Josh Johnson.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Jeremy is a rare drummer who possesses both insane skills and immaculate taste.\u003cbr\u003eHis tunes have that same sensibility— they are layered and sophisticated while\u003cbr\u003eremaining visceral and hummable.” -Yoni Wolf (Why?)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Jeremy Cunningham’s upcoming record is a testament to his commitment to sound,\u003cbr\u003efeel and creativity that sets him apart from other drummers. I am inspired by his\u003cbr\u003evulnerable and honest approach to music both as a drummer and composer.” -Makaya McCraven\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"I've had the pleasure of watching Jeremy grow into one of the most visionary\u003cbr\u003ecomposer\/bandleaders on the scene today. It was truly an honor for me to work with\u003cbr\u003ehim on 'The Weather Up There'.\" –Jeff Parker\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"Limited Edition Tranparent Orange Vinyl + Digital","offer_id":44667183268063,"sku":"LP-NS-122LE3","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Limited Edition Hazy Sky Vinyl + Digital","offer_id":44667183300831,"sku":"LP-NS-122LE2","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Standard Black Vinyl + Digital","offer_id":44667183333599,"sku":"LP-NS-122","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667183366367,"sku":"CD-NS-122","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667183431903,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667183399135,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Jeremy-Cunningham-digital-art-e1646419242572.jpg?v=1703789701"},{"product_id":"marvin-pontiac-the-asylum-tapes","title":"Marvin Pontiac - The Asylum Tapes","description":"\u003cp\u003e“Marvin Pontiac was anonymously sent a 4 track tape recorder during the years he was held at Esmerelda State Mental Institution. This is what he did with it.” This is the sole statement accompanying the release of Marvin Pontiac: The Asylum Tapes, the first release in 17 years by John Lurie’s alter ego Marvin Pontiac. Coming to prominence during the no wave era as part of NYC’s notorious Lounge Lizards and starring in several Jim Jarmusch films, Lurie’s singular compositions under the Pontiac pseudonym have developed a legendary reputation from fans and critics alike. Northern Spy is proud to bring Marvin Pontiac’s Asylum Tapes to the vinyl medium for the first time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital Download","offer_id":48552703492319,"sku":"LP-NS-123","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667185627359,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667185594591,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Asylum-Tapes-square-image-scaled-e1646418385932.jpg?v=1703789777"},{"product_id":"4plus1equals5formay25","title":"Melvin Gibbs - 4 + 1 equals 5 for May 25","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2718459143\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless=\"\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/music.melvin-gibbs.com\/album\/4-1-equals-5-for-may-25\"\u003e4 + 1 equals 5 for May 25 by Melvin Gibbs\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eComposer, musician, artist, and writer Melvin Gibbs today released\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e 4 + 1 equals 5 for May 25,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e an EP of incredibly affecting material reflecting on the murder of George Floyd from various points in time over the past year. Alongside the music, Melvin Gibbs issued the following personal statement:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eI've been to holy sites all over the world. I've been to Zen temples in Kyoto, Japan. I've been to mahasamadhis, places where Hindu holy men are buried, and dargahs, places where Sufi masters are buried, in India. I’ve been to the Church Of The Holy Sepulchre, the place where Jesus was crucified, and the Temple Mount, the holiest site of Judaism, in Israel. I’ve been to churches in Europe where holy relics are stored. I've been to African religious houses in Brazil and Voodoo ceremonies in Brooklyn. The vibe I felt in June of 2020 when I was standing in George Floyd Square, at the intersection of 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis, is something I’d only felt once before. That place was the grove outside of the A-Bomb Dome in Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima Japan. The A-Bomb Dome is a skeletal structure, a remnant, that marks Ground Zero, the place where Little Boy, the first atomic bomb, landed. So, when I say that the intersection of 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis is the American Ground Zero, I’m not using hyperbole or metaphor. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe vibe I felt at Peace Memorial Park is the vibe that fits the name of the location. In fact, I felt more peace there than in most of the Zen temples I've been to in Japan. The vibe I felt at George Floyd Square was that same vibe, but amplified. Amplified enough to send a Wave of Peace equal to the cataclysm that had occurred at the Square across America and across the world. That peace doesn't erase the cataclysm, but it provides a path to balance it gives a possibility of tempering it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe vibration at the square was one vibrational cluster. The vibration of the physical and psychological aftermath of Mr. Floyd’s murder was another. My challenge became to create music that I felt captured both.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe 38th and Chicago music needed to manifest Peace while facing up to cataclysm. It needed to be improvisatory. It needed to be built in a way that transcended cultural borders and breached mental boundaries. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe aftermath music, on the other hand, had to be a reflection of what was going on in the streets. It needed to manifest through the rhythms that were ricocheting in the streets at that moment. But it also needed to relate the generations that have struggled and set the stage for the moment and the movement to have the effect that it did. It needed to reflect the emergent structure that was unveiling itself, the hatchling emerging from the cracking egg.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAnother important consideration was my role as a trusted advisor, as Uncle. The music had to speak, and speak with the youth that put their bodies on the line, not to them. It also had to take the health of the community as a whole into account. That meant I couldn't just address the concerns of the moments and events that occurred in the immediate aftermath of Mr. Floyd’s murder. I and my music also had to be there for the murder’s trial and be capable of addressing the outcome of that trial, whichever way things fell.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe forced return to The Essence at the age of 46 of a man from Houston, Tx. named George Floyd at the hands of an MPD officer is one event that has happened on May 25th. Another is a completed emergence from The Essence, an emergence which signifies the creation of a family. This date also marks the emergence out of the body of Olivia Gibbs nee Law of a newborn, a child who she and her husband Rufus decided to name Melvin. The fact that the celebration of one event and the memorialization of the other will be forevermore coincidental is why the EP “4 + 1 equals 5 for May 25” was made.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWhen the day of May 25th, 2020 became the night of May 25th, 2020, my circle’s low key celebration of one human’s survival of another revolution of the Earth gave way to anger at yet another African - American’s demise at the hands of the police. Footage of the event captured on a witness’s cell phone was graphic and undeniably powerful. As this footage flowed from screen to screen across the internet it caused an exponential emotional cascade. The anger it created grew past the point of containment and caused a spontaneous eruption in cities across the globe.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOne of the striking things to me about this turn of events was the total uselessness of celebrity as a concept and celebrities as people to the movement that took hold in the streets. The movement was a truly bottom-up one, and celebrities and the hierarchy they represented weren't needed, and in fact, they probably would have been a hindrance. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAnother thing that was striking to me as a person who creates cultural objects was that there didn't seem to be any music out there that actually captured the moment. The music of past eras of protest and the movements they engendered just didn’t rise to the occasion. There was no music that captured the complexity of the current cultural moment. Here in New York, as well as in other major cities, the protesters in the streets ended up repurposing popular songs as a means of motivation and creation of group cohesion. In particular Pop Smoke, a Brooklyn drill artist whose music voiced the thoughts of a braggadocious trapper provided the main soundtrack of the protests. His “Dior”, with the name of the designer replaced with the name George Floyd, was the song chanted by the crowds. And his “Christopher Walking” was one of their major motivational materials.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAs an artist, I saw the fact that there was no music that accurately captured the vibration of the moment as both a challenge and an opportunity. What did the music of the moment sound like? What sounds should this music encompass? What moods and motivations should it encapsulate? It was obvious to me that the only way to really solve this was to go to Ground Zero, to Minneapolis, to George Floyd Square, and spend time there so I could see and feel for myself exactly what the vibe needed to be. I needed to imbibe the cultural oscillation that was vibrating America while sending its wave across the planet at the source.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIt so happened that the verdict that was eminently justified by the circumstances surrounding Mr. Floyd’s death was given, and some measure of closure was granted. But, the very day the verdict was read a teenager was murdered by the police in a suburb directly adjacent to Minneapolis. We were given an unneeded reminder that the cycle continues and there's more work to be done.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eI’d like to acknowledge the voice of the Uncle on this EP. It’s Washington D.C.’s own Kokayi, who is the Uncle of the DMV rap community. When I told him what I was setting out to accomplish he imbibed the concept, then embodied it. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e4:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e1) Holy Ground \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis is the George Floyd Square vibe.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e2) Oh My\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis is the aftermath vibe.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e3) 3’ 27”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis is peace striving to balance cataclysm while (hopefully) bringing Compassion. This piece was inspired by jazz musician and healer Milford Graves’ (RIP) insight that the life situation of African - Americans requires us to be inherently Zen - whether we are consciously aware of the teachings or have been made aware of the teaching or not. The title is a riff on John Cage’s 4’ 33”. You can think of it as the BLM remix of that.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e4) Get Some\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eUncle reflects on the verdict.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e+1:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e5) Message from the Streets\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eEmergent synthesis - a structure that bridges the peace\/cataclysm duality. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667187265759,"sku":"","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667187232991,"sku":"","price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Floyd-FIST-cropped_1-e1646413963386.jpg?v=1703789870"},{"product_id":"raw-demoon-alchemy-a-lone-operation","title":"Darius Jone - Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eRaw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eharnesses the gamut of raw, unadulterated emotions — suppressed feelings that we’ve all been allowed to “feel” again in the wake of a global pandemic. Born out of a live performance in fall 2019, during the last stop of his tour in Portland, OR, saxophonist Darius Jones renders a solo effort that evokes sadness, rage, and confusion, all the while still holding for glimmers of hope for the future.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWith four of its five tracks on \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAlchemy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, Jones selects compositions from artists who are not just unapologetically Black but also notably ones that he regards as “world builders.” From Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, and Roscoe Mitchell right up through the present with Georgia Anne Muldrow, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAlchemy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e draws immeasurable strength from each of these artists who dared to envision and create an entire universe unto themselves, on their terms.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“I want to capture a moment in time, to crystallize the beginning of something at the end of something else,” says Jones. Separated and now divorced from his partner of 10 years, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAlchemy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e balances the emotional heft of closure with the simple act of standing alone. Each track unearths a deep and profound vulnerability in every solo performance that isn’t just personal but also delves into the macro-level divisiveness of our current political climate.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWith “Figure No. 2,” Jones offers us a modern-day version of the blues. Courtesy of Muldrow, her refrain encapsulates the vast breadth of the Black experience in America, transforming our deep-seated pain into our beauty and armor of resilience. Jones also proudly rests on the shoulders of Coleman and Mitchell, two of this music’s known improvisers who often stood alone in this music’s ever-changing landscape. He pays homage to Mitchell with “Nonaah,” which in the late 1970s was initially met with jeers from an audience, that is, until his 21+ minute long version overtook them.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAlchemy \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003euncovers a duality of what it means to be alone, especially resonant in today’s climate of social distancing. In one turn, we were all forced to put life as we knew it on hold — to simply be still and deal with our emotional realities unencumbered by the distractions of life. But at another turn, Jones taps into an unknown power of his lone voice, finding a newfound strength and enthusiasm that will carry him — and its listeners — beyond the uncertainty and doubt of not knowing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667188543711,"sku":"LP-NS-141","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667188576479,"sku":"CD-NS-141","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667188609247,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667188642015,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/ns141-cover-small-e1646413794315.jpg?v=1703789899"},{"product_id":"death-ep","title":"Tōth - DEATH EP","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2732091946\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/tothtunes.bandcamp.com\/album\/death-ep\"\u003eDEATH EP by Tōth\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eDEATH EP is a collection of songs written by Tōth between 2019 and 2020, when someone important in his life, a family member, was dying of a disease he himself is in recovery from—alcoholism. He spent that time trying to help them, and in the last two years of their life, he connected with them more deeply than he ever had. “Muerto” and “FKA Bluets” are more directly about the experience, whereas “What is Your Deal,” “Cockroach,” and “Hey Dude Etude” are more existentially inspired by the time. All of these songs were recorded in the same sessions as Tōth’s most recent LP, You and Me and Everything, but they felt like they constituted their own world hence, DEATH EP.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Muerto” is written from the perspective of Death or a bodiless entity pleading to someone who is still alive not to give up. “Cockroach” is a heartbreak song to a cockroach. “FKA Bluets” is a narrative song, which started out as Tōth turning the prose of an author he loves into a song, but permission to use those words was denied, so he traced the syllables and rewrote the lyrics to reflect his own life more closely. The person who this is about was complicated but loved by all. “Hey Dude Etude” is a brief, distorted, and existential self-portrait written as spoken word dialogue over music. “What is Your Deal” is a playful jam about lost connection and suicidal ideation—party time!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout this EP Tōth plays with the contrast between dark and light—sadness with a sense of humor and upbeat music. There is no question that life is difficult, even brutal at times, and Tōth believes it’s helpful to meet that with an acceptance and a lightness even. Recounting a story told to him by a Buddhist monk about Carlos Castaneda, Tōth says, Castaneda was approached by a student for spiritual advice thinking he would tell them about which peyote to take in which desert and with which shaman but instead, Castaneda gave them this advice: “The most spiritually transformative thing you can do is, when you wake up, remember how you and everyone you encounter today is going to die, not in a morbid way, but just in an appreciative acknowledgment.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667188707551,"sku":"","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667188740319,"sku":"","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/201374756596-e1646413700240.jpg?v=1703789908"},{"product_id":"night-suite","title":"SUSS - Night Suite","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1224081827\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/suss.bandcamp.com\/album\/night-suite\"\u003eNight Suite by SUSS\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eDriving through the night on U.S. Route 66, the flat stretch of road between Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Los Angeles—the Purple Heart Highway. On that last leg of the great American journey, you feel the melancholy, the strain, and the high you get from being awake too long. It’s the endless horizon, the sodium arc lights of a truck stop, the slap of windshield wipers, the all-night talk radio, the rumble of the tires on the road, and the smell of burnt coffee before the first light of dawn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/music.sussband.com\/nightsuite\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNight Suite\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e represents a new musical exploration for the members of SUSS—the NYC-based quartet of Pat Irwin, Bob Holmes, Gary Leib, and Jonathan Gregg. The EP is a sonic road map pointing the way from the dark of night to a new dawn. After the release of their latest album \u003cem\u003ePromise\u003c\/em\u003e, in 2020, SUSS longed for a change of scenery; an escape; a trip into an uncharted landscape. As the fathers (or: architects) of the Ambient-country sound, the band built the five tracks of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/music.sussband.com\/nightsuite\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNight Suite\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e with their unique combination of classic Americana instrumentation: pedal steel, National guitar, harmonica, and fiddle, interwoven with loops and synthesizers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDays after these tracks were completed, SUSS lost original member, synthesizer player, and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.lareviewofbooks.org\/article\/im-going-to-make-a-fire-the-transmogrifications-of-gary-leib\/\"\u003efilmmaker\u003c\/a\u003e Gary Leib. This loss\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e added a new, personal resonance to the music that Leib had such a large role in creating.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe release of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/music.sussband.com\/nightsuite\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNight Suite\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e on Northern Spy Records represents the first part of a multi-release schedule SUSS has planned over the next 12 months that point the band toward new horizons.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667188969695,"sku":"","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667189002463,"sku":"","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/suss_nightSuite_final-1-scaled-e1646413551939.jpg?v=1703789929"},{"product_id":"bootlickers-of-the-patriarchy","title":"Shilpa Ray - Bootlickers of the Patriarchy","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1275045839\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shilparay.bandcamp.com\/album\/bootlickers-of-the-patriarchy\"\u003eBootlickers of the Patriarchy by Shilpa Ray\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"'Bootlickers of the Patriarchy' was written about Senator Susan Collins and her infamous press conference after the Kavanaugh\/Blasey Ford hearings. It’s about women who succeed from undermining the success of other women or choose to gain success from exploiting the oppression of other women. This is a character who has taken many forms throughout history, the kind of woman who seems perfectly content playing Gamma to the Alpha male. \"Bootlicker\" is my direct challenge to the notion of “women supporting other women,” and the falsehoods and unrealistic expectations that comes with a statement like that.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"I wrote the song to be played in two different arrangement styles, the first half being slow and haunting and the second going balls-to-the-wall rage. I was re exploring a lot industrial\/proto industrial music I had listened to as a teenager in the 90s and used some elements of synth\/drum machine sounds to convey all that anger, panic and darkness.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\/\/\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Well, why not do a cover of your influences as a B-side? I was obsessed w\/ the Ministry album 'With Sympathy' when writing tracks for my upcoming album. It is the record Al Jourgenson has stated multiple times that he’s ashamed of most, which is saying a lot considering this man’s autobiography. I teamed up with my friend Heather Elle of Flossing, formerly of post punk bands Bodega and The Wants for this collaboration. It’s my first official recorded track where I’m playing guitar, so as the saying goes, it’s never too late to pick up a new instrument and get totally lost in it.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- Shilpa Ray\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"7\" Vinyl","offer_id":44667189100767,"sku":"SI-NS-145","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667189133535,"sku":"","price":1.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667189166303,"sku":"","price":1.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/bootlickers-cream-cover-FINAL-1-scaled-e1646413520892.jpg?v=1703789937"},{"product_id":"mr-metronome-drums-valentino","title":"Psymon Spine - Mr. Metronome \/ Drums Valentino","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=4184680813\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/psymonspine.bandcamp.com\/album\/mr-metronome-drums-valentino\"\u003eMr. Metronome \/ Drums Valentino by PSYMON SPINE\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Mr. Metronome\" and \"Drums Valentino\" were among the first song ideas \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/northernspyrecs.com\/psymon-spine\/\"\u003ePsymon Spine\u003c\/a\u003e came up with when writing their sophomore record, 'Charismatic Megafauna'. They were written near the end of a two year hiatus, during which individual members of the band spent time pursuing other projects. Following the break, everyone was hungry to make a new Psymon Spine record, and together they began exploring the sonic palette that would define the album. This exploratory process left the group with \"Mr. Metronome\" and \"Drums Valentino,\" two outliers that didn't quite fit on 'Charismatic Megafauna', but certainly belonged together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 'Mr. Metronome \/ Drums Valentino' 7\" — out Dec. 7 via Northern Spy — explores the opposite ends of Psymon Spine's sound and vibe. While \"Mr. Metronome\" is high-energy and synth-centric, drawing on electronic\/dance artists (such as Kraftwerk and Soulwax), \"Drums Valentino\" is more plaintive, and at times almost medieval-sounding. Both tracks, however, begin with a percussion loop and end with a wonky bongo solo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/music.psymonspine.llc\/MMDV\"\u003eListen now!\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"WAV Download","offer_id":44667189231839,"sku":"","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667189264607,"sku":"","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/metronome-valentino-FINALART-1-scaled-e1646413453944.jpg?v=1703789948"},{"product_id":"precious-thing","title":"Allegra Krieger - Precious Thing","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=868399209\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/allegrakrieger.bandcamp.com\/album\/precious-thing\"\u003ePrecious Thing by Allegra Krieger\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOn Allegra Krieger’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ePrecious Thing\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, the singer-songwriter tries to capture fleeting moments in a world that is sick from itself. With a voice that rings like a windchime signaling a storm coming, Allegra masterfully weaves together ephemeral moments as life barrels by her unforgivingly. From singing about sharing a gaze with a man on the train to Coney Island as the clock strikes 12 on New Years, to taking a loved one off life support, to processing the religious trauma of wine, Krieger portrays the particular pang of being a woman alive in a modern world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIn October 2020, Allegra drove across the country to record \u003cem\u003ePrecious Thing\u003c\/em\u003e in Marin, CA with producer Luke Temple(Here We Go Magic, Art Feynman) and musicians Jeremy Harris, Kalia Vandever, Rob Taylor and Jacob Matheus who contributed organs, synths, bass and lap steel. Delightfully mellow but never bleak, \u003cem\u003ePrecious Thing\u003c\/em\u003e is a soundtrack for the daily motions of our lives.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“Precious Thing,” the album’s title track, reminds us how gorgeous it is that we can get up everyday and do the same thing. “It's watching something leave you,” Allegra says about this song, “wanting to fast forward to the end of the leaving, to move on, become lighter somehow.” In the song “The Circumstance,\" Krieger sings about trying to revel in the consistency that two people have built together, knowing that it can and probably will end. But for now, here is the light from the morning on her lover’s face, a book on a sofa in the apartment they share together, the milk in a coffee “rising like a plume.” The song brings to mind questions of fate and coincidence: loving somebody is a beautiful circumstance, an almost-perfect thing brought together by the chaos of surviving under the capitalist sun. But what if it had been different? What if being alone is better than the loneliness of trying to make something to work?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSomething else that’s central to this album is routine: Allegra’s lyrics celebrate the ebbs and flows of our daily lives, the people who come in and out of them, the hope that one of these days, somebody will stick around. In “Let Go” she sings, “When you woke up did you think of it?\/ Your body\/leaving behind the routine?” This comes up again in the phenomenal closing track, “Walking,” when she sings, “I don’t expect wonder or magic or rain\/Maybe a smile at a stranger passing\/ and maybe one day\/ I’ll see that stranger again.” There is a specific fertile sadness to this song, as she describes days of serving eggs and pouring beers and “the faces and bodies” of lovers fleeting, that is guaranteed to make listeners burst into tears because it will make them think about being alive in one body and wanting something so badly, even if they can’t name what it is.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAt the heart of this album is a young, working woman asking “Do you see this right now? I can’t be the only one.” This is an album about looking, and Krieger fills up each lonely space she enters with her gaze. Krieger asks you to look, to really, really look, so that you can remember something, however small it is, when it’s all gone.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e– Melissa Lozada-Oliva\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667189395679,"sku":"CD-NS-150","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette + Digital","offer_id":44667189428447,"sku":"CS-NS-150","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667189461215,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667189493983,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/AllegraKrieger_PreciousThing_COVER-FINAL-e1646413422454.jpg?v=1703789958"},{"product_id":"here-there","title":"Melissa Weikart - Here, There","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2414840471\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/melissaweikart.bandcamp.com\/album\/here-there\"\u003eHere, There by Melissa Weikart\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are countless intimate, fret-noise-filled records from singer-guitarists across the history of modern popular music, but solo piano and voice releases remain a comparative rarity. It’s hard to imagine an artist better equipped to contribute to this canon than France-based singer, keyboardist, and composer Melissa Weikart. A conservatory-trained classical pianist and improviser, Weikart’s accompaniment on her debut album, Here, There, swells to catharses of orchestral proportions; it’s usually easy to forget this is the work of just one player. Here, adding additional instruments also might obscure some of this bold and playful record’s most compelling interplay: the way Weikart’s hands frequently seem to move out of correspondence with each other, reaching for conflicting rhythms and key areas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGestures like these carefully underscore the Boston-reared singer-songwriter’s fraught reflections on devotion, obsession, and doubt, delivered naturalistically and matter-of-factly despite the complexity of the musical setting. Her piano parts lurch forward and get caught in dizzying loops as her narrators drift ahead of and behind themselves in moments of psychological crisis. She uses heavy chromaticism to dramatize their uneasy reflections, recalling the word painting of musical theater composers like Stephen Sondheim or luminaries of 20th-century classical art song: the chanson writers of her current home country (Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc) or, at more acerbic moments, American avant-gardists like Charles Ives. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe songs on Here, There are primarily about grasping for connection, and Weikart’s central melodies develop and warp like her narrators’ longing and frustration, progressing through uncanny harmonic worlds, taking on baggage with each reiteration. In the title track, her serpentine piano line and central vocal melody dramatize the physical exploration of another person—a feeling of losing track of where you end and they begin (“All I want is wrapped up\/All I want is to be wrapped up in your arms”). Elsewhere, descriptions of fatigue and loss of control infect every element of the music: for instance, the queasy piano chords behind “searching for you makes me tired” and the sweeping waves of arpeggios on “come into the water.” Weikart often explores short lyrical mantras until their possibilities are totally exhausted; they degrade into disjunct syllables, losing context as the piano breaks down behind them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor all the ambition and virtuosity of these compositions, Here, There is fundamentally a study in restraint. The songs seem to unfold spontaneously before they unravel; they drop the listener into the middle of moments of obsessive self-analysis. Often, the frustrated narrators seem in danger of spinning out into complete abstraction, lost in mental cul-de-sacs where coming to any kind of conclusion or finding redemption seems impossible. But Weikart keeps this frenetic energy well in hand, grounding these gorgeous and discomfiting songs with refrains with a pop appeal reminiscent of forebearers like Judee Sill and Fiona Apple. Weikart’s lyrical trajectories are always effortless to follow—palpable and sympathetic even in the context of music which makes a point of avoiding the familiar.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":44667190870239,"sku":"CD-NS-155","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667190903007,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667190935775,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/cover-4-scaled-e1646411733478.jpg?v=1703790000"},{"product_id":"suss","title":"SUSS - SUSS","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1315738105\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/suss.bandcamp.com\/album\/suss\"\u003eSUSS by SUSS\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eNorthern Spy Records is proud to announce the new eponymous release from SUSS, a four-sided album that represents the culmination of a sound that the NYC trio of Bob Holmes, Pat Irwin, and Jonathan Gregg calls “ambient country.” The album includes their three critically acclaimed EPs Night Suite, Heat Haze, and Winter Was Hard, as well as a fourth side of new material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA lot has happened to SUSS since their last vinyl release, 2020’s Promise on Northern Spy Records. That album ended up on many best-of lists that year, and was cited by PopMatters as an “incredible country\/ambient hybrid that is nothing short of peerless.” As the album’s title indicated, the music spoke to a future of promise, with the band looking toward new musical horizons.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, that promise was cut short with the onset of the pandemic and the loss of founding member Gary Leib, who passed away in 2021 soon after the completion of the Night Suite EP, a dark, late-night trip through the heart of loss set against the backdrop of Americana soundscapes. After the difficult decision to move ahead as a trio, SUSS began planning a series of connected EPs that would culminate in a double-album release representing the natural evolution of the band as it struck out in a new direction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe next EP release, Heat Haze, was a feverish search for fractured dreams in a hot, shimmering landscape, followed by Winter Was Hard, which found SUSS moving away from the arid atmospherics of the American Southwest and entering chillier dimensions exploring the challenge of surviving uncertain times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo complete their four-part odyssey, SUSS is now releasing these three EPs, together with the last leg of the trip, Across the Horizon, as a double vinyl set simply titled SUSS. Taken as a whole, this work represents how wide the scope of ambient country music can be while also showing the journey of personal change that the band has undertaken over the last couple of years — the loss, the searching, the challenge, and, finally, the new hope on the horizon. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"Double LP + Digital","offer_id":44667191918815,"sku":"LP-NS-156","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Double CD + Digital","offer_id":44667191951583,"sku":"CD-NS-156","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667191984351,"sku":"","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667192017119,"sku":"","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/suss_st_lpCvr_final-1-scaled.jpg?v=1703790065"},{"product_id":"fluxkit-vancouver-its-suite-but-sacred","title":"Darius Jones - fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred)","description":"\u003cp\u003eDarius Jones has created a recognizable voice as a critically acclaimed saxophonist and composer by embracing individuality and innovation in the tradition of Black music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Jones makes his point by showing, not just telling. His compositions are so intensely honed and performed they seem to talk, moan, and cry about intimate experience in ways we might expect to find in novels, not instrumental records.” – Daniel Felsenthal, Pitchfork\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCommissioned by Western Front, an artist-run centre in Vancouver, Canada, with a legacy of continuing support for multidisciplinary exchange, experimentation, and the avant-garde. This project was developed by Darius Jones across a succession of residencies at Western Front in 2019 and 2022.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded in June 2022 at Western Front’s Grand Luxe Hall in Vancouver, Canada, fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred) is the first collaborative release with Brooklyn-based Northern Spy and Helsinki-based We Jazz Records.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Harmony Holiday writes in her liner notes, included with this release: “The playing here is gorgeous, but what stands out most is the rigor of the compositions, which feel like tributes to Sun Ra’s call that ‘only the impossible happens.’ Their mood is expansive, gleeful, wistful, sometimes frantic, but so coherent and poised at every turn that all you can do while listening is marvel at this fluency in the language of will and won’t that lives here alone.”\u003cbr\u003ecredits\u003cbr\u003ereleases September 29, 2023\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEnsemble Personnel:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDarius Jones (alto saxophone, composer)\u003cbr\u003eGerald Cleaver (drums)\u003cbr\u003eJesse Zubot (violin)\u003cbr\u003eJosh Zubot (violin)\u003cbr\u003ePeggy Lee (cello)\u003cbr\u003eJames Meger (bass)\u003cbr\u003eDesign by Matti Nives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLiner Notes by Harmony Holiday.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCover art: Occ6 (2016) by Stan Douglas\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduced by Darius Jones.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded in the Grand Luxe Hall, Western Front on June 25, 2022.\u003cbr\u003eRecording engineer: Sheldon Zaharko, Zed Productions.\u003cbr\u003eMixing engineers: Jesse Zubot and Sheldon Zaharko at The Deep Bay Bunker and Zed Productions.\u003cbr\u003eMastering engineer: Matt Mehlan at The Stuudio.\u003cbr\u003efLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred) was commissioned by Western Front.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditional development support was provided by Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, and Prof. Kevin McNeilly of the University of British Columbia and the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditional support from Robert D. Bielecki Foundation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA special thank you to Aram Bajakian, Ben Wilson, and Susan Gibb for all your hard work and belief in my art. Your support on so many levels helped and inspired me greatly throughout this entire process. To the whole Vancouver community, my heart is full from the love and support you have shown me over so many years. This one is for all of you!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"Limited Edition Splatter Vinyl + Digital","offer_id":44667195228383,"sku":"LP-NS-163-COLOR","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":44667195261151,"sku":"LP-NS-163","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD+Digital","offer_id":46159561457887,"sku":"CD-NS-163","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":44667195293919,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":44667195326687,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a3463292076_10.jpg?v=1720899590"},{"product_id":"julia-holter-live-recordings-c54","title":"Julia Holter - Live Recordings","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=576450122\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/nnatapes.bandcamp.com\/album\/live-recordings\"\u003e'Live Recordings' by Julia Holter\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo Cal artist Julia Holter's latest cassette is a very personal collection of dreamy home-recording style pop ballads. Lush piano and synthesizer instrumentation meld with Holter's ethereal vocals in cinematic and melancholy arrangements.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":45567644991711,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (320 MP3)","offer_id":45567645024479,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/NNA015-COVER-WEB.jpg?v=1714759114"},{"product_id":"freddy-ruppert-hangs-a-shadow-c70","title":"Freddy Ruppert - Hangs a Shadow","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=479480053\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/nnatapes.bandcamp.com\/album\/hangs-a-shadow\"\u003e'Hangs A Shadow' by Freddy Ruppert\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eFollowing up 2012's \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/nnatapes.com\/available-releases\/freddy-ruppert-wait-c20\/\"\u003e\"Wait\" EP\u003c\/a\u003e on NNA, we're proud to present \"Hangs A Shadow\", the debut full-length from Prague-via-Los Angeles musician Freddy Ruppert. These very personal recordings meditate on the loss of a loved one, and the inward struggle to retain honest memories of that person. Ruppert strives to convey through sound what words fall short of explaining; frustrations with mortality, the limitations of the human organism, and it's inevitable battle with it's own consciousness. Electro-acoustic and musique concréte influences are prevalent, harnessing the power of silence to bridge the emptiness between snippets of percussion, field \u0026amp; domestic recordings, raw electronics, and the manipulation of collected improvisations. A cinematic narrative emerges through immaculate processing, editing, and the poignant use of space to cut into the tension of intimacy. Human voice, jagged sine waves, the movement of furniture, and fateful tones are all juxtaposed against themselves, breathing intense life into the mundane through complex sound work. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eComes with free mp3 download coupon.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":45567651872991,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (320 MP3)","offer_id":45567651905759,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/NNA057-COVER-WEB.jpg?v=1714759361"},{"product_id":"migrations-in-rust-two-shadows-lp","title":"Migrations In Rust - Two Shadows","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1279443991\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/nnatapes.bandcamp.com\/album\/two-shadows\"\u003e'Two Shadows' by Migrations In Rust\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eMigrations In Rust is Jesse Allen. As a member of the Red Light District collective in Queens, NY (which has included some of the best in modern experimental musicians such as Yellow Tears, Pharmakon, John Mannion, Diaphragm, DJ Dog Dick and a slurry of other side projects, solo projects and collaborations), former member of the Cathode Terror Secretion and current performer in Cowards, in addition to producing and performing under the guise of several other solo projects (Hollow Seed, Goldeater, etc), Jesse has been actively pursuing many diverse avenues for his musical expression. Migrations In Rust, whose original sonic intentions could have at one time been more easily categorized as “ambient” music, has slowly shifted towards the unrecognizable. Migrations In Rust has ascertained as Jesse’s longest running solo endeavor and holds as his most personal, having transformed from merely a study of emotion and a practice of understanding emotions into something altogether more grand and wholly personal. Three years in the making, during which Jesse relocated from New York City to the valley of Western Massachusetts, “Two Shadows” communicates the yolk of this transformation. The elements of interplay between turmoil and tranquility, and the means of composing “organically” to achieve these results, have been filtered through new approaches in an attempt to reach closer to a finer understanding of grace, and towards more precisely using music and sound as a vessel of psychic emotional transmission. Throughout the record, orchestral landscapes blend with rustling concrete textures, settling in a purgatory between melancholy bleakness and slow-burning serenity. Each second is densely packed with incredible detail and carefully-layered instrumentation, crafted with an expansive palette of acoustic, electronic, and naturally-occurring sound sources. Amorphous melodic passages travel with well-paced fluidity from one idea to the next, producing a dream-like narrative. At times placid and evocative, “Two Shadows” also has a tendency to teeter on the edge of powerful ferocity, sometimes brewing with crackling fury while tastefully maintaining the restraint not to explode into outright violence. This shifting temper is constructed with elements of noise, ambient, hip hop, musique concréte, and sci-fi R\u0026amp;B, all finding their place in the innovative tapestry that unfolds across “Two Shadows”. This album showcases the results of discipline, love, and persistence in one’s craft and NNA is honored to finally share this work with the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMastered and cut by Lupo at Calyx Mastering in Berlin, Germany.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eComes with free mp3 download coupon.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"12\" LP (With Digital Download)","offer_id":45567652397279,"sku":"LP-NNA-065","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":45567652430047,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (320 MP3)","offer_id":45567652462815,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/NNA065-COVER-WEB.jpg?v=1714759403"},{"product_id":"aj-cornell-tim-darcy-too-significant-to-ignore-cassette-digital","title":"AJ Cornell \u0026 Tim Darcy - Too Significant To Ignore","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1753364653\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/nnatapes.bandcamp.com\/album\/too-significant-to-ignore\"\u003e'Too Significant To Ignore' by AJ Cornell \u0026amp; Tim Darcy\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eNNA is pleased to release a special collaboration between two of Montréal, Quebec’s finest. “Too Significant To Ignore” unites Andrea-Jane Cornell, a prolific improviser and former CKUT Radio music programming director, and Tim Darcy, best known as the guitarist\/vocalist for Constellation Records’ four-piece post-punk band Ought. On this recording, the duo concoct a hazy bed of grey, melancholic psychedelia using synthesizers, field recordings, processed accordion, and manipulated objects to serve as a backdrop for Darcy’s contemplative existential spoken word.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecalling the spirit of wordsmiths and sound-pioneers such as Steven Jesse Bernstein, Ruth White, Allen Ginsberg, and Pauline Oliveros, “Too Significant To Ignore” presents raw poetic meditations that intermingle with psychedelic electronic landscapes. AJ and Tim create a sound world where jarring and narrative vocals interact with sonorous, blue bass tones and forests of synth. Subtle melodies coexist alongside smoldering, buzzing drones, sublime electronics, and indiscernible field recordings, all smudged together to forge a slow-paced swirling mass. A beautifully peaceful sadness is revealed, creating a perfect atmosphere of cosmic dread and a cinematic sensitivity that compliments the unfolding observational dialogue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDarcy’s vocal delivery comes across as part Ferlinghetti, part Henry Rollins, and part Bill Hicks. His drawled, surrealist lyrics reflect a weariness and an isolation from society. He touches on apathetic voyeurism, city life, regret, self-reflection, human disconnection via accelerated technology, and the bleakness of modern sterility. The delivery and the content of the lyrics impeccably conveys the drab routine and impersonality of day-to-day life, like the disoriented narration of an existential crisis. Using repetition as a weapon, Darcy drills phrases into the listener’s brain, helping the lyrics recede into the music to create an unlikely coherent unity between the meditative bliss and swells of electronic ambiance and dry vocalizations. “Too Significant To Ignore” is a unique and non-referential pairing of electronics and spoken word, yielding an invigorating listen that stands on its own amongst new underground music. AJ and Tim succeed in communicating the confusing psychedelia inherent in the mundanity of modern human existence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCassette comes packaged with digital download coupon.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Cassette (With Digital Download)","offer_id":45567663866079,"sku":"CS-NNA-089","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":45567663898847,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (320 MP3)","offer_id":45567663931615,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/NNA089-hires.jpg?v=1714759646"},{"product_id":"wren-kitz-dancing-on-soda-lake","title":"Wren Kitz - Dancing On Soda Lake","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1670801090\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/wrenkitz.bandcamp.com\/album\/dancing-on-soda-lake-2\"\u003eDancing On Soda Lake by Wren Kitz\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eNNA Tapes is very pleased to present the latest full-length recording from Burlington, Vermont artist Wren Kitz. Following up his debut album “For Evelyn” back in 2015, “Dancing On Soda Lake” continues confidently in the unique and personal style of music that Wren has carved out for himself over the years. By blending traditional guitar-and-voice songwriting with field recording and tape collage experimentation, Kitz has developed a ghostly and contemplative form of musical expression all his own that breaks down walls between genre categorizations. Together with a newly-assembled band consisting of percussion and strings, “Dancing On Soda Lake” is Kitz’s most fully-realized and captivating effort to date.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eWith a recurring aqueous motif both lyrically and sonically, “Dancing On Soda Lake” captures this essence elegantly throughout the gentle impermanence of it’s luminous song cycle, flowing freely back and forth between beauty and mystery, not unlike our own plasmic origins. Wren’s sensitive vocal delivery drifts carefully between loose, rhythmic tempos and plucks of the guitar, punctuated by swells of percussion and heart-wrenching harmonies from the bass, cello, and violin. The oblique lyrics hint at a narrative, though never fully disclose their true intentions, utilizing abstractions in language to shroud meaning, the way that dusk envelops a landscape. Themes of confusion, isolation, and existentialism indicate that there is a distinct darkness buried in these songs… though it is not articulated through sonic aggression, but rather through mood by way of wistful melancholia and bittersweet recollection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe most intriguing aspect of Kitz’s compositions is his ardent dedication to magnetic tape, unlocking its tangible and nostalgic qualities not only through recording, but through instrumental utilization as well. A dedicated field recorder, Wren’s travels with his tape recorder yield a trove of extracted sonic memories that he is able to access in his songs through manipulation and collage. Wren captures literal moments from his life and recontextualizes them as musical elements, building textures and atmospheres from a faded reality, from subtle rustlings to roaring oceanic vastness. This blending of fidelities creates a very dynamic listen by constructing a hypnagogic tension between traditional songwriting and avant-garde experimentation. Through Wren’s distinctive musical vision and his tasteful mastery of his materials, “Dancing On Soda Lake” manifests as an intimate yet mystifying album, like viewing a sparkling body of water through a distorted lens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eCassette comes packaged with digital download coupon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\"It’s a gorgeous and discomfiting tribute to the frustrating limits of the physical form, while still able to recall the ethereal bitcrush of forgotten, secret worlds.\"\u003cb\u003e–SPIN Magazine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“It’s an underwater dance that is portrayed in the album, made of muffled sounds and slow movings, leaving the listener as fluctuating in the still aquatic reservoir watching the sunlight filtering through the transparent substance.\"\u003cbr\u003e–\u003cb\u003eGuia Cortassa, Gold Flake Paint\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Dancing On Soda Lake, building off of the stylistic world he created with For Evelyn, is an initially approachable dream\/soundscape that pays dividends in transcendent, previously hidden harmonies, newly perceptible bits of texture, and buried snippets of field recordings revealing more of themselves with each repeat play.”\u003cbr\u003e–\u003cb\u003eElisabeth Fuchsia, POST-TRASH\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Cassette (With Digital Download)","offer_id":45567665438943,"sku":"CS-NNA-098","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":45567665504479,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (320 MP3)","offer_id":45567665471711,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/NNA098-cover.jpg?v=1714759742"},{"product_id":"leya-the-fool","title":"LEYA - The Fool","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=620090240\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/leya.bandcamp.com\/album\/the-fool\"\u003eThe Fool by LEYA\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eNNA is honored to present ‘\u003cstrong\u003eThe Fool\u003c\/strong\u003e,’ the debut album from NYC-based duo \u003cstrong\u003eLEYA\u003c\/strong\u003e. Violinist \u003cstrong\u003eAdam Markiewicz\u003c\/strong\u003e (The Dreebs) and harpist \u003cstrong\u003eMarilu Donovan\u003c\/strong\u003e have succeeded in creating an incredibly original sound for their project. They combine modernity and antiquity with their chosen instruments by taking ideas from contemporary pop and experimental music, and seamlessly integrating them into classical instrumentation and moods. Utilizing a combination of normal and detuned intervals together with ethereal layered vocals, the resulting sound of LEYA is unmistakable and haunting. It is both ancient and singular in tone, but remains open to the influences and ideas of the modern day underground in it’s structural simplicity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLEYA aims to deconstruct the traditional connotations of the harp and violin by luxuriating in the deviant juxtaposition of ugliness vs. beauty. These two stringed instruments are most commonly associated with classical beauty, but by altering their sound through unorthodox tunings, extended techniques, amplification, and effects, Donovan and Markiewicz are able to mine the depths of their darker, more unsettling capacities. The tuning system created for Donovan’s harp is specific to the project, and was discovered by chance. Rather than being driven by scientific or conceptual intentions, this tuning is chosen based on it’s sound alone, giving LEYA a defined identity that embraces human instinct and imperfection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe duo achieves a deeper contrast by seeking to write pop songs with simple, transparent forms. The song structures are left open and sparse in the spirit of creating clear and simple sonic terrain that is meant to grab the listener emotionally, rather than forcing them to analyze the material. The staccato harp pluckings are complemented by long, sustained notes and chords from the violin, creating a dynamic foundation of strings for the vocals to fill in the cracks and crevices. In this sense, the dual vocals are used almost as a textural element or third instrument, where the way the words actually sound takes precedence over the lyrical content. The slow, drawn-out compositional pace of these songs brings them closer to “ambient” territory, enhancing the evocative qualities of the instruments while floating carefully between eerie dissonance and the angelic higher stratospheres of transcendent beauty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe latter half of ‘The Fool’ brings in a series of guest collaborators from the modern American experimental underground, showing the range of experience and influence that informs LEYA’s sound. Eartheater, PC Worship, and Sunk Heaven each contribute their own signature style to the tracks, but also adapt remarkably well to LEYA’s sound world, due to the open, yet firmly distinct, sonic identity established by Markiewicz and Donovan. In this sense, the power of ‘The Fool’ lies not only in it’s elegant simplicity, but in it’s ability to employ classically expressive atmosphere to suspend the listener in a blissful state of confusion, where the feeling of sound itself is more important than where it comes from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMastered by James Plotkin.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIllustration by Jennifer May Reiland.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCassette comes packaged with digital download coupon.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Cassette (With Digital Download)","offer_id":45567667273951,"sku":"CS-NNA-113","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":46452044103903,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital Download (320 MP3)","offer_id":46452044136671,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/NNA113-digital-border-e1648054427926.png?v=1714759909"},{"product_id":"leya","title":"LEYA - Flood Dream","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1936523724\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/leya.bandcamp.com\/album\/flood-dream\"\u003eFlood Dream by LEYA\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eFramed within a network of outlying artists whose experiments sketch out far-flung deviations from aboveground movements, the work of New York-based duo \u003cspan class=\"il\"\u003eLEYA\u003c\/span\u003e stands out as an anomaly that exemplifies the idiosyncratic impulses of the avant fringe. Harpist\/vocalist Marilu Donovan and violinist\/vocalist Adam Markiewicz seem from a sidelong perspective to approximate the languages of neo-classical performance and post-minimalist exploration in their austere, meticulously rendered compositions. In truth, the duo’s own self-perception casts their project closer to the axis of noise and punk than conventional refinement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs formally educated composers acutely aware of the traditions and conventions into which their instruments fit, Donovan and Markiewicz exploit preconceptions and confound expectations by pursuing the most transportive and emotional means of communication with their audience. Just as their peers warp systems of electronics or tropes from the pop and rock traditions, \u003cspan class=\"il\"\u003eLEYA\u003c\/span\u003e channel the surface signifiers of orchestral music and 20th century classical composition into deeply personal works that encompass bursts of raw dissonance alongside moments of spectral beauty. The duo’s performances shift the spotlight from the authority figure looming over an ensemble of players to those planted in the corner of a dimly lit basement populated with freaks who can’t help but fall into silence when confronted with the duo’s bewildering stimuli.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"il\"\u003eLEYA\u003c\/span\u003e’s album \u003cem\u003eFlood Dream\u003c\/em\u003e follows the acclaimed \u003cem\u003eThe Fool\u003c\/em\u003e (NNA, 2018) and their soundtrack to PornHub-exclusive short film \u003cem\u003eI Love You\u003c\/em\u003e directed by Brooke Candy. \u003cem\u003eThe Fool\u003c\/em\u003e presented the project both in densely plotted duo pieces and joint efforts with New York luminaries like Eartheater, PC Worship, and Sunk Heaven. Though guests from \u003cspan class=\"il\"\u003eLEYA\u003c\/span\u003e’s wide social environment appear on \u003cem\u003eFlood Dream\u003c\/em\u003e, including vocalist\/producer GABI, flautist\/synthesist John Also Bennett of Forma, and bassist Tristan Kasten-Krause, the album pares back the presence of external artists as full co-writing collaborators to highlight the raw core of the duo’s practice. \u003cem\u003eFlood Dream\u003c\/em\u003e plays out as a decadent feast of the senses struck through with the disturbed influence of intrusive thoughts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album’s pieces each follow their own sinuous narrative arc, building from empty expanses of detuned harp arpeggios and languid smears of violin into climaxes draped in Markiewicz's impassioned vocal lines. \u003cspan class=\"il\"\u003eLEYA\u003c\/span\u003e generate tension with their darkly operatic sense of drama, conveyed in weeping melodies and the desolation of solitary notes against blank backdrops, as they dole out fragments of resolution or momentary triumph before sinking back into uncertainty. Their arrangements bridge instances of baroque ornamentation and blocks of harmonic density with stretches of fugue state-inducing confusion built over dreary standing tones and repeated dissonant intervals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn an industry obsessed with precise classification, how do we make sense of the ambiguous shadow \u003cspan class=\"il\"\u003eLEYA\u003c\/span\u003e casts over the landscape? The duo reject the tenets of the new music establishment and thrive within a scene of noise transgressors and electronic auteurs. In all of its indulgence and emotional upheaval, their music adapts as easily to the context of arthouse pornography as to a late-night bill populated with no wave acts and performance artists, without ever coming off as a harsh juxtaposition. \u003cspan class=\"il\"\u003eLEYA\u003c\/span\u003e’s music reveals that the boundaries between these disciplines aren’t boundaries at all — that everything pours from the same well into different vessels that might be carried off in opposite directions, but always return to a shared source.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eAll songs written and performed by LEYA\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eRecorded and mixed by Alexis Berthelot at Outlier Inn and Studio G\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eGABI’s vocals recorded by Eric Littmann\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eMastered by Chris Weiss\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eGabrielle Herbst (GABI) sings on Weight\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eJohn Also Bennett plays flutes on Mariah and synthesizers on Flow\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eTristan Kasten-Krause plays bass on Mariah and First Way\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003ePhotography by Serge Serum\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eCalligraphy by Leo Gutman\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eLayout by Matt Mayer\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eLEYA is Marilu Donovan and Adam Markiewicz\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"12\" LP (With Digital Download)","offer_id":45567670452447,"sku":"LP-NNA-122","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD (With Digital Download)","offer_id":45567670485215,"sku":"CD-NNA-122","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":45567670517983,"sku":null,"price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (320 MP3)","offer_id":45567670550751,"sku":null,"price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/LEYA_Flood_Dream.jpg?v=1720877592"},{"product_id":"bendrix-littleton","title":"Bendrix Littleton - Deep Dark South","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=53799671\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bendrixlittleton.bandcamp.com\/album\/deep-dark-south\"\u003eDeep Dark South by Bendrix Littleton\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBendrix Littleton is the writing and recording project of Nashville-via-Dallas musician Bennett Littlejohn. The project’s namesake, Maurice Bendrix—the protagonist of Graham Greene’s 1951 novel \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe End of the Affair\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e—is described by enotes.com as \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“sometimes an unreliable narrator, for he is so consumed by jealousy, self-pity, self-hatred, and bitterness, that he measures everyone else by himself…\u003cand\u003e confesses that from time to time ‘a demon’ takes possession of his brain.” It’s an appropriate moniker for the self-aware, malaise-filled songs of Bendrix Littleton’s debut, \u003c\/and\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eDeep Dark South\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, due out September 25 from NNA Tapes. While in the album is imbued with the contradictions and painful beauty of the modern American South (as opposed to Greene’s WWII-era London), the hazy, solitary narrative voice remains.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eFormerly one half of the “NyQuil-Pop” duo Bent Denim (dissolved in the summer of 2018), Littlejohn sought a fresh outlet that was more individual and freed from any preconceived artistic notions. During this time Littlejohn began taking on significantly more studio work, including production credits on Hovvdy’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHeavy Lifter \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e(out now on Double Double Whammy), new material from Katy Kirby (out on Keeled Scales), and forthcoming work from Sinai Vessel. While production on this music was deeply rewarding, it was nonetheless work that was beholden to someone else’s vision. And it was out of this craving for artistic autonomy that Bendrix Littleton was born. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eDeep Dark South \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ehas provided a space for Littlejohn to experiment, collage, write, and record in a completely independent manner—a long-awaited and welcome zone of unfettered creation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOn the singular writing and recording process of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eDeep Dark South\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, Littlejohn states:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe initial spurt of songwriting was directly correlated to a vintage Harmony H162 acoustic guitar I found at a flea market in Kentucky, near the Tennessee border. This guitar would’ve been sold at Sears in the early 60’s. I strung it up with all of the higher pitched strings from a 12-string acoustic set and got to writing. A lot of rich, burnt-out musicians affectedly claim that there are ‘songs in guitars’ to justify their ever-growing guitar collections, but I do feel there is an ounce of truth in this. The way something feels, or the faults of a certain instrument indeed can bring out something unique and new. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eOnce the basic bedrock of the record had been tracked, I realized that the songs were too slow, my voice was too low…a spark was missing. My brother had just sent me my old Tascam four track cassette recorder. So, I spent a little time with that, and ended up committing these songs in their unfinished states to fixed tracks on this old tape machine—no editing, no panning, no volume changing. Driving the cassette tape hard and speeding the songs up (which also raises the pitch), gave this album that special aspect I had been looking for, and also provided a completely fucked up and new sonic foundation for me to start layering on top of.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd on the themes and sensibility of the album itself, Littlejohn says:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThroughout the record I deal with the common tropes of alcohol\/drug abuse, malaise, ennui, regional junk, and the dissolution of relationships. It’s well-trod ground, but I'd rather write what feels genuine rather than something foreign for the sake of novelty. It feels ridiculous enough to put out something in 2020…so much noise to break through. But I feel like these are common enough things. I wouldn’t say these things are universal, but they're not far from it.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eDeep Dark South \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eis out on September 25 from NNA Tapes. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Cassette (With Digital Download)","offer_id":45567673991391,"sku":"CS-NNA-130","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":45567673925855,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (320 MP3)","offer_id":45567673958623,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Bendrix_Littleton_Deep_Dark_South.jpg?v=1720877477"},{"product_id":"jjjjjerome-ellis-the-clearing","title":"JJJJJerome Ellis - The Clearing","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3400929382\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/jjjjjerome.bandcamp.com\/album\/the-clearing\"\u003eThe Clearing by JJJJJerome Ellis\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Clearing\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and writer JJJJJerome Ellis establishes a new metaphor that frames speech dysfluency—stuttering in particular—as a space for possibility rather than a pathology. First introduced in his 2020 essay “The clearing: Music, dysfluency, Blackness and time” in The Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies, Ellis presents “The Clearing” as a concept that challenges us to reimagine dysfluency in speech and question how speech and articulation impact how we exist in the social realm. Ellis speaks with a block stutter, which manifests as intervals of silence in his speech. He calls these intervals “clearings.” In the opening section of the essay, Ellis argues that stuttering—much like music—challenges and “breaks up” time as we know it: “My thesis is that Blackness, dysfluency and music are forces that open time. Opening brings possibilities: temporal refusal, temporal escape, temporal dissent.” Ellis goes on to suggest that disabled speakers and certain types of people, especially Black folks, are subjected to related forms of temporal regulation and oppression that seek to pathologize and criminalize: “Temporal subjection enacted against Black people occurs in many spheres. Brittney Cooper examines several in her work: Black women’s reproductive health\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e; legal and extralegal murders of Black people; racially skewed correlations between zip code and life expectancy; and the conceptualization of history itself.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat do speech and articulation say about us and our humanity? Who has the power to shape the rules of speech and decide what forms of articulation are considered “standard,” “traditional,” and “acceptable”? Why do these same rulemakers have the power to regulate us?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded in various bedrooms over the course of several months and setting the text of Ellis’s essay to music, \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Clearing\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e is a haunting and expansive series of reflections on the questions of speech, articulation, and the power behind both. The album opens with “Loops of Retreat,” a stunning piece that utilizes atmospheric tones with Hip Hop drums and deep bass, connecting those sounds with references ranging from Bernie Mac to W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk. Expanding on Harriet Jacobs’s idea of the “loophole of retreat,” Ellis positions Black music and speech as disruptors of “conventional” time and as tools to map out new means of communication and activity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHarriet Jacobs reminds us that Black loops in Black music (including but not limited to rap and house) are always Black loop(hole)s of retreat; that Black music, like Black escape, is a never-ending activity and never an achievement. And when the Black stutterer loops a syllable (m-m-m-m-m-mother), this too is a Black loop, Black music, Black activity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Clearing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is a conceptual and musical tour de force that combines Jazz with the narratives of enslaved Africans, and experimental electronics with historical accounts of Black rebellion. The album centers speech but uses it as a starting point to not only depathologize dysfluent speech but to build new tools to critique anti-Blackness, linear time, culture, and power in our society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEllis says of the project: “I hope this album offers the listener some of what my stutter offers me: an opportunity to imagine new ways of being in time.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Clearing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is co-produced by Northern Spy\/NNA Tapes and the Poetry Project. The album will be released in tandem with a book published by Wendy's Subway, the eighth title in the Document Series, an interdisciplinary publishing initiative that highlights work by time-based artists in printed form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll compositions written, produced, and performed by JJJJJerome Ellis (tenor saxophone, flute, hammered dulcimer, piano, synthesizers, drum and bass programming, electronics, and vocals).\u003cbr\u003e\nRecorded by JJJJJerome Ellis April 2020 - April 2021 in various bedrooms in Westport, Connecticut; Brooklyn, New York; Ucross, Wyoming; Denver, Colorado; and Lenexa, Kansas.\u003cbr\u003e\nMixed by JJJJJerome Ellis and David Rogers-Berry.\u003cbr\u003e\nMastered by David Rogers-Berry.\u003cbr\u003e\nAdditional production on \"Dysfluent Waters\" by David Rogers-Berry.\u003cbr\u003e\nAlbum Image by JJJJJerome Ellis and Rissa Hochberger.\u003cbr\u003e\nDesign and Layout by Rissa Hochberger.\u003cbr\u003e\nLyrics and vocals by Kelvin Ellis on “Brush Fire Smoke.”\u003cbr\u003e\nText and vocals by Milta Vega-Cardona on “Stepney” and “Milta.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"I am so grateful to: Abed Aladien, Adam Downey, Adjua Gargi Nzinga Greaves, Ashley Hoffman, Brendan Basham, Caitlin Pasko, Caleb Mulkerin, Casey Llewellyn, Claudia Rankine, Cody DeFalco, Corinne Butta, Courtney Stephens, Dan Schapiro, Daniel Martin, David Rogers-Berry, Dylan Rosenlieb, Emma Alpern, Erica Hunt, Evan Welsh, Gelsey Bell, Howard Fishman, James Harrison Monaco, Jerron Herman, Jessica Almasy, Jim Reynolds, John Ellis, Joshua St. Pierre, Kelvin Ellis, Kristin Dombek, Kyle Dacuyan, Maria Stuart, Montez Press Radio, m. nourbeSe philip, nicHi douglas, Pauline Ellis, Rachel Valinsky, Rissa Hochberger, Saidiya Hartman, Sebastian Zinn, Susan Boynton, Teresa Baker, Tyler Crum, Xavier Danto. To those I have forgotten to thank, forgive me.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Limited Edition Clear Vinyl 2xLP","offer_id":45567676612831,"sku":"MLP-NNA-140","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Standard Black Vinyl 2xLP","offer_id":45567676580063,"sku":"LP-NNA-140","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":45567676645599,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (320 MP3)","offer_id":45567676678367,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/JJJJJerome_Ellis_The_Clearing.jpg?v=1720877195"},{"product_id":"primer-incubator-ehr055","title":"Primer - Incubator","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=452265396\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/primersworld.bandcamp.com\/album\/incubator\"\u003eIncubator by Primer\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eThis is the second full-length LP from Los Angeles based synth-pop artist, Primer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Egghunt Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":46247710752991,"sku":"LP-EHR-055","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":46247710785759,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":46247710818527,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Incubator_by_Primer.jpg?v=1720892387"},{"product_id":"sara-bug-sara-bug-ehr050","title":"Sara Bug - Sara Bug","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2724935341\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sarabug.bandcamp.com\/album\/sara-bug\"\u003eSara Bug by Sara Bug\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"\u003eThe debut LP from Nashville native, Sara Bug.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"\u003eReleased on May 14th, 2021\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"\u003eRecorded by Bennett Littlejohn and J. Gardner\u003cbr\u003eMixed by Bennett Littlejohn\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Edsel Holden\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Egghunt Records","offers":[{"title":"Transparent Pink LP + Digital","offer_id":46247099433183,"sku":"MLP-EHR-050C1","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":46247099400415,"sku":"LP-EHR-050","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"WAV Download","offer_id":46247099465951,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":46247099498719,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/SaraBug-VinylMockFront-Teal.png?v=1720741716"},{"product_id":"gold-connections-like-a-shadow-7-lathe-cut","title":"Gold Connections - Like a Shadow","description":"\u003cp style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\" class=\"\"\u003eThis item is an extremely limited 7\" lathe cut vinyl product.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\" class=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the EP\u003c\/strong\u003e - \"I wrote these songs at the beginning of a strange period in my life­­--marked in equal parts by graduation, the election of our new president, the end of a relationship, and the fulfillment of my lifelong dream to record a studio album. Reality was shaken and the range of possibilities was shifting. Like A Shadow, and especially its single of the same name, is about the struggle to move forward into a world that seems both infinitely precarious and abundant. It's EP on aftermath, written through a mixture of fear, melancholy, and lust for life.\" - \u003cem\u003eWill Marsh\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\" class=\"\"\u003eAlso available at \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/egghuntrecords.bandcamp.com\/album\/like-a-shadow\"\u003eBandcamp\u003c\/a\u003e \/ \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/6T6hqYrPd0nNwRWqz1FHlT?si=X9-vDmfJQnmHtVl8TbrnTg\"\u003eSpotify\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\" class=\"\"\u003etrack list \u003cbr\u003e1. Like a Shadow 03:20 \u003cbr\u003e2. Locust Days 04:04 \u003cbr\u003e3. Don't Tell me Your Dreams 03:53 \u003cbr\u003e4. 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Time Is a Walnut is the first solo release from the Western Massachusetts singer and songwriter, after nearly a decade fronting indie-pop band And the Kids. The album also comes amid the longest stretch Mohan has spent in one place since she left home at 16 to hop freight trains and hitchhike across North America\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Egghunt Records","offers":[{"title":"LP + Digital","offer_id":46247673757919,"sku":"LP-EHR-059","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"WAV Download","offer_id":46247673790687,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":46247673823455,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/Time_Is_A_Walnut_by_Hannah_Mohan.jpg?v=1721069035"},{"product_id":"lucy-dacus-no-burden-12-vinyl","title":"Lucy Dacus - No Burden","description":"\u003cp class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNo Burden\u003c\/em\u003e is the debut album from singer\/songwriter LUCY DACUS. At the young age of just 22, she is already a force to be reckoned with. Leah Mandel, journalist @ THE FADER recently listed Lucy in the top 20 artists to watch out for in 2016 and stated \"Her voice is beautiful, like none I've heard before. On her dynamic debut album No Burden-released on EggHunt on Feb 26th 2016-she warbles her indie-rock songs like a humble new pal revealing old secrets about feeling lost and starting over.\" This initial pressing of #330 vinyl sold out in record breaking time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"\u003e112\" black vinyl  #330 pressing\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"\u003etrack list \u003cbr\u003e1. I Don't Wanna Be Funny Anymore 02:43\t\u003cbr\u003e2. Troublemaker, Doppelganger 04:21\t\u003cbr\u003e3. Green Eyes, Red Face 03:38\t\u003cbr\u003e4. Strange Torpedo 04:24\t\u003cbr\u003e5. Dream State 03:30\t\u003cbr\u003e6. Trust 03:30\t\u003cbr\u003e7. Map On A Wall 07:28\t\u003cbr\u003e8. 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In trying to get better, we may cease to remember some things.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI Forget Everything marks LEYA’s first return to the studio since 2022’s collaborative mixtape Eyeline, and their first release sans collaborators since 2020’s breakout classical-meets-everything tome Flood Dream. It comes on the heels of a relentless multi-year touring schedule, sandwiched amidst new collaborations with fashion houses, filmmakers, choreographers, and more, a blooming of their beguiling, potentially existent-in-any-context din into newer identities and spaces.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSince that period, LEYA (harpist Marilu Donovan and vocalist\/violinist Adam Markiewicz) have sought to return to their basics - detuned harp, hazy strings, and wide-ranging, operatic vocals, all channeled through an unmistakably raw lens - and now begin to reimagine their language, harnessing production experiments that have been percolating in their tangential work in recent years.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI Forget Everything is LEYA’s first solo work\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewith elements of electronic production, albeit nascent, ranging in sheen from home-recorded to high-fidelity, all generated solely from harp, strings, and voice. From the opener, “Eden of Haze,” there is a billowing (literal) hiss of energy that creeps in and remains present. Climbing, almost exaltant-sounding strings are resampled, overlapped and crushed back together, segueing into a troubled-feeling pagan folk song, then falling back into a dissonant, climbing wall of violins, beneath which more resonant chords slowly emerge as the first resampled strings play again until the track abruptly ends. “Corners,” which follows, finds LEYA inhabiting a larger, more luxurious sound, suggestive of something more cinematic, but still characteristically raw. A gothic, Glass-ian pop song, it feels like one they might have written for someone else to sing in the past, but now Markiewicz inhabits the central role. Throughout the release, his words are more audible than in previous records, inching closer to context, but still feel within the elusive slipstream that begets the everythingness of LEYA’s work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Baited,” the fourth song, marks the newest approach on the record. Missing is any live harp, but rather just a short looping sample of the decaying harp chord from the previous song, “Weaving.” This suggestion of Twin-Peaks-meets-Basinski feeling minimalism sounds like a wash between two close chords, panning with a restricted-feeling elasticity, along with periodic but not-quite-metric clicks and hisses. Markiewicz sings quietly and nakedly atop the track, “Walk like heaven but walk like heat.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile some songs hark back to LEYA’s central, historical sound, they also see new deviations. “Weaving” harnesses the merged violin\/vocal homophony that is characteristic of much of their work, but layered voices and harmonies scale to something wider-feeling, with bubbling strings emerging at the end to form an orchestral wash as a subdued chorus sings beneath. “Fake” is underscored by feathered, pulsing, subdued-yet-chaotic synth reverberations hidden beneath the harp that seem to react to its tones. “Mia” explores an increasingly processed orchestral environment: drifting strings and voices gently warp, decay, and bubble up again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI Forget Everything regards a haven scorned. It is a reaction to the inevitability of loss. There is a haven some of us might collectively choose to abandon, an indifference to underestimating violence. Or, conversely, it can regard the necessity of loss and even abandonment. In a small, private world, once imagined and then realized, or stumbled upon with indifference, there is the imminent ebb of movement, and the distortion of memory. It is a threshold.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":46416811360479,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (MP3)","offer_id":46416811393247,"sku":"","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/CoverImageSquare_IMG_0249.jpg?v=1730066191"},{"product_id":"kalia-vandever-another-view-cd","title":"Kalia Vandever - Another View","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cspan\u003eOn her Northern Spy debut album, Another View, Kalia Vandever’s quartet leans into a taut, clear-eyed study of cycles and grooves with elegiac melodies that effloresce into something dynamic, nearly bursting with life. Vandever’s trombone leads, meeting Mary Halvorson’s elastic guitar lines in shifting light. Kanoa Mendenhall (bass) and Kayvon Gordon (drums) give the music its frame, letting repetition breathe in a mutable structure. Underneath is a narrative about idealization curdling into dread, the way the drafts and shadows of a “dream house” reveal themselves once you move inside. Vandever has drawn, in part, from Carmen Maria Machado’s inventive memoir In the Dream House (Graywolf Press, 2019).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAnother View carries forward the patient, long-tone lyricism and quiet insistence that made Regrowth (New Amsterdam, 2022) special. Vandever reveals explorations of space, vulnerability, and dream-logic on We Fell In Turn (AKP, 2023). Here, those qualities mature into a dialogue with her band, inviting discussion of past ideas of intimacy and imagination.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Staring At The Cracked Window” opens with an improvised prelude from Halvorson before the quartet locks into a groove. A prologue of resilience: someone trapped in a web of suffering beginning\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eto notice the fissures beneath the surface. “Cycle In Mourning” charts the nonlinearity of grief with dense harmony and collective improvisation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the context of her solo work and the songcraft she’s honed in collaborative projects like tilt (Vandever’s trio with Isabel Crespo Pardo and Carmen Quill), Vandever’s Another View feels like a multilayered dream. The repetition and shifting motifs are songlike, melancholic, hopeful, volatile. 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Nominated Best Soundtrack Album, ARIA Awards and Australian Guild of Screen Composers Awards.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Haunting stuff...Highly recommended (4 stars)\"\u003cbr\u003e–Rolling Stone (Australia)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased January 1, 1998\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"CD + Digital","offer_id":47580508684511,"sku":"CD-FM-0010","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":47580508717279,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":47580508750047,"sku":null,"price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/theboys.jpg?v=1762972567"},{"product_id":"shilpa-ray-im-a-ghost","title":"Shilpa Ray - Portrait of a Cat Lady \/ I'm a Ghost","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePortrait Of A Cat Lady, released January 20, 2025, is the first single from a collection of post pandemic\/post hysterectomy songs written by Shilpa Ray. 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Although the act of ghosting is seen negatively by most, it is heard here as an act or lack of acting to bring peace of mind.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eAll Songs Written and Arranged by Shilpa Ray\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Shilpa Ray and Jeff Berner\u003cbr\u003eEngineered @ Studio G by Jeff Berner\u003cbr\u003eMastered by Sara Register\u003cbr\u003ePublisher - SESAC 2025\u003cbr\u003eArtwork\/Photography by Ebru Yildiz\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Northern Spy Records","offers":[{"title":"7\" LP + Digital","offer_id":49072313204959,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"FLAC Download","offer_id":49072313270495,"sku":null,"price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"MP3 Download","offer_id":49072313303263,"sku":null,"price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/a1508402690_1x1_700_9f8313ee-ea7a-43e9-a71f-0fc7d642e8ea.avif?v=1778004522"},{"product_id":"leya-i-remember-nothing","title":"LEYA - I Remember Nothing","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003ereleased December 5, 2025\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":50764298780895,"sku":null,"price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (MP3)","offer_id":50764298813663,"sku":null,"price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/leya.avif?v=1785782401"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.northern-spy.com\/collections\/mood-plaintive.oembed?page=2","provider":"Northern Spy Label Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}