Best Ever Albums

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

meccalecca — Wed, 2 Jul 2014 14:53:29 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 07/02/2014 18:53

For a good read, check out John Jeremiah Sullivan's short non fiction piece, Unknown Bards.

http://books.google.com/books?id=qZjaM3...mp;f=false

It's a really well written look into John Fahey and the preservation of old folk and blues. I haven't read it in years, but it was seriously fascinating.

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

meccalecca — Wed, 2 Jul 2014 11:30:12 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 07/02/2014 15:30

So, I've gotten some requests for a Plug.dj session of American Primitivism. My week is sort of ending today. After today I won't be around much, since my lady is off from work the next couple days and then we've got America weekend coming up. so i'll hopefully be BBQ'ing and drinking beer.

i'm gonna log into Plug.dj now, and if anyone wants to join me, come aboard. For a more structured time, let's all hang in 2 hours or so. or let me know what works for you guys

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

meccalecca — Tue, 1 Jul 2014 10:28:35 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 07/01/2014 14:28

BrandonMiaow wrote:

Surprised Zarthus wasn't mentioned, for some reason I was under the impression it was his most well-loved, though I don't know where I got that idea from.

I think I included the album in the 70s section. Basho's probably more famous for his 60s output, but I definitely enjoy Zarthus. I think the view of what's Basho's best depends on whether or not a person likes Basho's vocals. I happen to really enjoy them

Kool Keith Sweat wrote:

I'm familiar with Jim O'Rourke, but I never would have associated his stuff with something like the Fahey/Kottke/Lang group. Those two American Primitive volumes seem most appealing to me right now, will listen to both this week. Honestly when I heard American Primitivism suggested as a genre to explore, I was thinking I'd be in for Native American music.

I feel similarly about O'Rourke and many purists wouldn't include him. I think there is the link from Fahey to O'Rouke, with O'Rourke producing Womblife, which is kind of a sonic link from Fahey to O'Rourke's work as well. Jim's certainly a fringe member to the exclusive club.

A thread about Native American music would be interesting. I know nothing about it.

The American Primitive volumes, especially volume 2 are really special. If I could remember who wrote it, I'd find it for this thread, but a few years ago, I read a short piece of non fiction basically about process of finding the rare records used for the collection and how so many of them were warped from age. Fahey and whoever else helped, really had to do some work to make those records playable. And there's a haunted quality to the recordings. As if ghosts are playing the music.

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 22:22:15 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/01/2014 02:22

Thank you, mecca! Good start to what could be an interesting project of threads. I'm only familiar with Anthology of American Folk Music, some Fahey, some Kottke, and some Lang; definitely interested in Basho, and been meaning to check out Sandy Bull for a couple years. I'm familiar with Jim O'Rourke, but I never would have associated his stuff with something like the Fahey/Kottke/Lang group. Those two American Primitive volumes seem most appealing to me right now, will listen to both this week. Honestly when I heard American Primitivism suggested as a genre to explore, I was thinking I'd be in for Native American music.

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 20:21:49 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/01/2014 00:21

That was even more beautiful than I anticipated. Surprised Zarthus wasn't mentioned, for some reason I was under the impression it was his most well-loved, though I don't know where I got that idea from. It is more piano than guitar based anyways. I do need to dig into Fahey and Basho more, I'm not good at listening to discographies, I always fall in love with one album by an artist and move on to the next artist. XD You should've gotten more into the blending of Eastern music into it, that bit is important. 😜

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 14:24:35 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/30/2014 18:24

meccalecca wrote:

How did you sneak past the bouncers? It was $5 at the door.

fuck what? I paid $15...

Worth every penny. This is a work of art

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 13:00:23 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/30/2014 17:00

Skinny wrote:

Would this possibly fall under the umbrella of American Primitivism? I personally hear more of an Irish folk influence, though there are definitely some lines in here which feel like descendants of the blues. Either way, it's definitely worth checking out given some of the similarities it shares with other albums in this thread.

Link

Simply lovely, Skinny!!!

Personally, I like to play it fast and loose with genres and especially subgenres. I want this to serve as an aid not a hindrance to discovering killer music. To me, genres simply provide a skeletal structure from which to explore and expound on music. As Mecca mentioned and I’ve touched on before, some of the best albums are the ones that skirt the boundaries of different genres.

here’s what I've written before on this…

RepoMan wrote:

I think a lot of critical releases are genre bending/genre straddling. That's what makes them so interesting. It's totally okay for key albums to be in multiple sub-genres I think. While it's cool to explore music in terms of genre, I think the key is not lose focus of the ultimate point - to find & discuss kickass albums and bands...

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

Mdemauri — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 12:45:11 GMT

Author: Mdemauri

Posted: 06/30/2014 16:45

Really great job on this topic! I have some more discovering to do! Thanks!

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

meccalecca — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 12:09:18 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 06/30/2014 16:09

Tonality wrote:

I'll just add two more great records by Robbie Basho, which unless I'm blind weren't mentioned. Because you can never have enough good music anyway.

Can never have enough Basho. I could have listed all of the releases by Basho and Fahey, becuase they're essentially all worth a listen, but figured the post was already a bit out of control and wanted to let others like yourself to chime in with favorites.

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

Hammy — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 12:07:05 GMT

Author: Hammy

Posted: 06/30/2014 16:07

Great start to a wonderful idea and plenty to discover here,
especially among the modern-American Primitives of which I'm only familiar with Jack Rose.

I'll just add two more great records by Robbie Basho, which unless I'm blind weren't mentioned. Because you can never have enough good music anyway.

his second best of the 60's for my money, Venus in Cancer

Link

and one in which he sings, along with some spoken word, off Song Of The Stallion

Link

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

meccalecca — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 12:02:20 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 06/30/2014 16:02

Norman Bates wrote:

Mecca, what's your take on the ideology that might be underlying this "back to the roots" move? How much would you say the term "primitivism" is fitting, considering the considerable amount of virtuosity that's audible in these records?

Well, the word primitive certainly often conjures up an image of that which is untrained, raw, unintelligent, so it surely, so it's a bit deceptive.

Looking up the actual definition of Primitivism, I found this:
1. a belief in the value of what is simple and unsophisticated, expressed as a philosophy of life or through art or literature.

I'd say that's extremely fitting to what Fahey and the others believed in. I just found that Fahey coined the term American Primitivism off of the French Primitivism art movement. Both movements are centered around the value of a type of folk art. Folk art is generally created by artists who are not formally trained, but formal training is never a requirement to create something intricate and beautiful.

Though, he's unquestionably a virtuoso, I'm not sure how much of Fahey's playing is self-taught, but he didn't seem to have any formal training either. I'm sure deGrassi must've though.

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

Norman Bates — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:50:06 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 06/30/2014 15:50

Mecca, what's your take on the ideology that might be underlying this "back to the roots" move? How much would you say the term "primitivism" is fitting, considering the considerable amount of virtuosity that's audible in these records?

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

Skinny — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:46:14 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 06/30/2014 15:46

meccalecca wrote:

It's a bit more ambient, and less dusty, than anything I've found associated with American Primitivism, but I could see it existing on the fringe. Have I mentioned that I hate genre labeling? Whatever this is it's quite beautiful

Haha, I wouldn't worry too much, I'm not going to lose any sleep over not being able to unnecessarily pigeonhole this wonderful record. Just thought it might be of interest to anybody who enjoys some of the albums in this thread.

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

meccalecca — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:16:58 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 06/30/2014 15:16

Skinny wrote:

Would this possibly fall under the umbrella of American Primitivism?

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

meccalecca — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:11:33 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 06/30/2014 15:11

sp4cetiger wrote:

Was Fahey driven by a philosophy similar to primitivists in the visual arts or did he just like old folk music? That is, did he think that traditional folk captured something more real/honest than his contemporaries? His influences weren't actual primitives, of course, but you might argue that their aesthetic was less polluted than that of a modern musician.

I'm certainly no Fahey scholar, but I think that's a very fair assumption. He was clearly driven to preserve a past aesthetic and did so with his own playing, along with his compilations. It required an absurd level of digging to find the recording that he put onto the American Primitive collections. He was a collector, and likely incredibly obsessive.

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 10:30:05 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/30/2014 14:30

meccalecca wrote:

It's hard not to just say American Primitivism begins and ends with John Fahey, because it pretty much does.

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

Skinny — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 10:21:39 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 06/30/2014 14:21

Would this possibly fall under the umbrella of American Primitivism? I personally hear more of an Irish folk influence, though there are definitely some lines in here which feel like descendants of the blues. Either way, it's definitely worth checking out given some of the similarities it shares with other albums in this thread.

Link

Anyway, cheers Mecca! Will be slowly going through this thread and picking out that which I'm unfamiliar with. Some awesome work here mate.

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

pa — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 10:03:26 GMT

Author: pa

Posted: 06/30/2014 14:03

thank you very much Mecca, I'm lovin' this thread and I'll have a good time listening to all this extraordinary and precious songs...

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

meccalecca — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 09:59:42 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 06/30/2014 13:59

Mercury wrote:

In your opinion where does an artist like William Elliott Whitmore fall? He clearly is basically completely vocal, but his style seems to be very early roots based.

I think William is far more rooted in early country music than this stuff. Lines blur though. Actually, Tallest Man is a pretty strong fingerpicker, and was likely influenced by a lot of American Primitivism.

It's hard not to just say American Primitivism begins and ends with John Fahey, because it pretty much does.

Re: Genre Extravaganza: AMERICAN PRIMITIVISM

meccalecca — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 09:54:53 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 06/30/2014 13:54

SquishypuffDave wrote:

I'm digging the hell out of Alex DeGrassi.

Great! I wasn't even sure I was gonna include him, since he was such a fringe member of the style. But i figured that if you're interested in American Primitivism, you enjoy beautiful instrumental guitar playing, and he's one of the best.