RECENT LISTENING: MAY 2023
HALA STRANA
I’m a longtime John Fahey fan, but recently I decided I wanted to know more about him. The informative Dance of Death: The Life of John Fahey, American Guitarist by Steve Lowenthal and David Fricke did the trick, filling me in on Fahey’s life and work, while also bringing to light (via Fahey’s obsessive record collecting) blues artists like Bukka White, and Fahey’s eccentric colleague Robbie Basho.
Listening more to Fahey sent me down a “Weird America” rabbit hole, and eventually the (my?) Great Algorithm burped up an artist called Hala Strana— unfamiliar to me, but I figured I’d check it out.
The music takes the form of lo-fi instrumental folk primitivism, a sort of deconstructed bluegrass almost, often skeletal dirges, droning runs on guitars, fiddle, and other (mostly acoustic) instruments (the recordings are so murky that the instrumentation is often difficult to parse.)
Looking for more info, I found a Wikipedia page for the project:
“Hala Strana (Basque for "so strange") is the name of a recording project of American musician Steven R. Smith. Smith began recording under the name in 2002 as an outlet which allowed him to explore the traditional music of Eastern Europe more fully than possible with his solo work. Although numerous musicians have contributed to the project, including Glenn Donaldson, Loren Chasse, and Darren Ankenman, most Hala Strana recordings are solo productions. His recordings have included such diverse instruments as hurdy-gurdy, bouzouki, harmonium, spike fiddles, bulbul tarang, the optigan keyboard, xaphoon, and field recordings.”
It turns out I was already a bit familiar with Smith’s work, and there appears to be quite a bit left to explore. Looking forward to that.
ROBERT LESTER FOLSOM
Another gift of the algorithm. Evidently Folsom was active in the late 70s, but hasn’t attained much notice till recently. Reminds me a bit of Kevin Ayers, Donovan, maybe Harry Nillson a little bit… I’m sure others can come up with better comparisons than I can. jazzy folk rock, definitely with a mellow 70s sensibility to it.
I’ve been listening to “Ode to a Rainy Day: Archives 1972-1975” so far, which is apparently comprised of home recordings; haven’t listened to any of what I assume are his studio albums, though they appear to maintain the pleasing rawness of the demos pretty well.
I haven’t found a whole lot of info out there about him online, and nobody I’ve asked is familiar with him. An artist with some mystery to them… kind of a rarity these days.
LIFE IN VACUUM
I heard about this band on the You Don’t Know Mojack podcast. And by the way: if listening to a couple of musically encyclopedic dudes explore each SST release in sequence (one per episode) turns your crank, then this podcast is for you!
One of the guys mentioned Life in Vacuum during one of the weekly “spiels” each host regales us with concerning which albums, reissues, books, and documentaries they’ve been devouring lately. Life in Vaccum was described as “post-hardcore”, which I’d call a good description: it’s fast and hard, but melodic and thoughtful, nuanced and precise, eaarnest but sill laid back. A little bit prog, a touch jazzy. Influences might include Mission of Burma, and I imagine they might be into Rush. Good stuff. I’m enjoying the album “Lost”.
SUSS
On some podcast or other I heard an interview with Pat Irwin, who’s done time with the B-52s and also worked extensively as a composer for TV shows. At one point during the interview he mentioned Suss, a project he’s put together with some of his composer friends. He described it as “ambient country”, so of course I couldn’t resist looking that up. And I’ve really been digging it— definitely a Morricone vibe, only more atmospheric. Slow, spare, reflective, and— not surprisingly— soundtracky. Occasionally gets a little Tangerine Dreamy, which is OK in my book, though some may run sceaming. I’ve been digging the album “Ghost Box”.
CLOAKROOM
Another band I heard about during a spiel on the You Don’t Know Mojack podcast. Somewhat slow, grinding, but still melodic and structured rock. Anyway, this band reminds me of “Bakesale”-era Sebadoh, or maybe Buffalo Springfield drenched in distortion. I’m enjoying the album “Dissolution Wave”.