Happy release day to our very own Southern gothic, taxi-driving drifter, recovering Pentacostal surfer, former model, ex-druggie storyteller, and all around intergalactic alt.country maverick Jim White.
The 20th anniversary edition of his cult classic 𝔻𝕣𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕒 ℍ𝕠𝕝𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕊𝕦𝕓𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕋𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕖 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕊𝕖𝕖 is out TODAY! And it’s on vinyl for the first time, with three new unreleased tracks.
Jim told us that of all the records he’s made, this is the one he wanted on vinyl more than any of them, “because it’s the most sonically nuanced,” he said in his signature drawl. “It’s got a lot of layers and cool stuff going on.”
It also has a roster of guest musicians that reads like the Who’s Who of 2000’s indie—Aimee Mann, M. Ward, Bill Frisell, Suzie Ungerleider, and the Barenaked Ladies, to name a few of the heavy hitters.
Pitchfork (which gave it a whopping 8.1), said, “White has enough guest musicians on this to populate any number of small towns.” They also said, “You won’t hear another record like it. [It] is White’s alone, a style with no real name, American as barbecue sauce on apple pie.” 🥧
Whether you’re new or old to Jim, you’re in for a treat. He crams more wild tales into a single record than most of us experience in a lifetime.
Nab your copy on Bandcamp for Bandcamp Friday :)
#jimwhite
It’s the 20th anniversary of Jim White’s cult classic:
𝔻𝕣𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕒 ℍ𝕠𝕝𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕊𝕦𝕓𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕋𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕖 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕊𝕖𝕖
…so we’re putting it out on vinyl for the very first time!
And because he wasn’t wordy enough the first time round, Jim’s added three (3!) extra tracks.
Featuring Aimee Mann, M. Ward, Bill Frisell and the Barenaked Ladies—to name just a few artists here—this album quickly became beloved. At the time, Pitchfork gave it an impressive 8.1.
They said, “You won’t hear another record like it. What all these disparate elements add up to is White’s alone, a style with no real name, American as barbecue sauce on apple pie.”
Pre-order your copy—2 LPs pressed on Substrate Black in a gatefold jacket—today for Bandcamp Friday.
And find the apple pie and BBQ sauce at your local Food City (separately, you’ll have to put them together yourself).
#jimwhite
P.S. Here’s Jim performing Static on the Radio with @cicadarhythm in Holland—in 34 degree rain. As Jim said, “Good times on the road.”
In loving memory, 𝓟𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓪𝓱 𝓢𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼 (October 13, 1940 — September 24, 2022)
On this day in 2022, Pharoah Sanders passed away in Los Angeles, a few weeks before his 82nd birthday.
On Wednesday night in Los Angeles, he was honored at the iconic Hollywood Bowl with a beautiful one-time only live performance of Promises, his final album with Floating Points from 2021. Following an opening set by special guests Sun Ra Arkestra, Promises was performed by an all-star cast of musicians.
It was an incredible musical night and the show paid tribute to Pharoah throughout the evening, with musicians handpicked in part by Pharoah himself.
Here is a short film that played just before the musicians went on stage.
In loving memory, 𝓟𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓪𝓱 𝓢𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼 (October 13, 1940 — September 24, 2022)
On this day in 2022, Pharoah Sanders passed away in Los Angeles, a few weeks before his 82nd birthday.
On Wednesday night in Los Angeles, he was honored at the iconic Hollywood Bowl with a beautiful one-time only live performance of Promises, his final album with Floating Points from 2021. Following an opening set by special guests Sun Ra Arkestra, Promises was performed by an all-star cast of musicians.
It was an incredible musical night and the show paid tribute to Pharoah throughout the evening, with musicians handpicked in part by Pharoah himself.
Here is a short film that played just before the musicians went on stage.
With Pharoah Sanders’ blessing, we present the definitive, remastered version of PHAROAH, his seminal record from 1977, in an embossed 2 LP box set.
Pre-order now.
Alongside the original, now beautifully remastered record, there will be two previously unreleased live performances of his masterpiece, “Harvest Time,” a 24-page booklet with interviews, essays and incredilby rare photographs, and a separate collection of ephemera, which tell the story of this album and this moment in Pharoah’s life in a way that has never been done before.
For those of you who already know this record, then you know that its origin story is as elusive as Pharoah was about everything Pharoah. It was born out of a misunderstanding between him and the India Navigation producer Bob Cummins, and was recorded when he was at a crossroads in his career with an unlikely crew. Among them was the guitarist Tisziji Muõz (@tisziji) who was also a spiritual guru, the organist Clifton “Jiggs” Chase who would go on to co-write and produce “The Message,” and a classically trained pianist—his wife at the time, Bedria Sanders—who played the harmonium despite never having seen one. At times ambient and serene, at others funky and modal, PHAROAH radically departed from his earlier work. And it became beloved.
Last fall, we were working with Pharoah on this project when he unexpectedly passed away. At first, it was hard to know what to do. We loved him, and the reason you do all of this is not solely for the music, but also for the person who made it. It’s their personality, their humor, and their wishes that drive you forward. So, we decided to go deep into the research. We set out to create something that showed Pharoah and his music in a new light.
Over the next few months, we’ll share with you all the amazing things we found, from personal photos to newspaper clippings that people saved in their time capsules. (Sign up at the link in our bio to get updates.)
And we’re
Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus
By the way, if you haven’t seen Jim White's BBC documentary “Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus,” an award-winning road-movie exploring Southern culture (directed by Andrew Douglas), do.
"Vijaya Anand, the all important ‘Musical Director,’ is sort of a songwriter and a producer rolled into one. But he’s not the performer; he never sings or plays an instrument. His is the invisible presence that can make or break a film song-score.” -David Byrne, 1992
It's the 30th anniversary of Asia Classics 1: The South Indian Film Music of Vijaya Anand - Dance Raja Dance, and so we're putting it out on vinyl—in a gatefold jacket—for the very first time.
Let it be the soundtrack to your life and the movies in your head.
There’s much we could say about the legendary Okinawan icon Shoukichi Kina and his influence on popular Japanese music but we’ll let Ry Cooder, who’s featured on this song, take it away:
“I first met Shoukichi Kina in 1979. He had a habit of throwing himself down onto the floor and kicking his feet when he liked a playback. I remember thinking, this beats ‘one more for us, guys!’
When his wife Tomoko put down the vocal on “Flowers For Your Heart,” he lay down and stayed down, making the engineer play it back until he’d wrung himself out—a real playback party, Okinawan style.
Right about then you know you’re ready to start recording for real, but it never works out that way. You squeeze off one or two, say adios, and go to the house. Then later, maybe four people discover your little contribution, and then someone wants to reissue the album and there you go.” - Ry Cooder, 1993
We’re putting Asia Classics 2: Peppermint Tea House - The Best of Shoukichi Kina on vinyl for the very first time (just in time for the 30th anniversary…). Get it fresh off the press in a limited edition of Pink Peppermint. #ShoukichiKina #okinawa
Perhaps there are no stars in an ashram, but if there had been one in Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda's Sai Anantam Ashram it would have been John Panduranga Henderson. Every Sunday after a talk by Alice, members of the Ashram would sing, play, and chant in their Sunday Service, a mixture of the music of Detroit and Delhi, with Panduranga often leading the group, his tenor floating above the chanting, taking Delhi to down-home as only someone who toured with Ray Charles could.
There was no one like him. We are sad to say he passed away earlier this week, in the loving arms of his wonderful wife Mirabai, and their children. We are grateful that we got to work with his music, family, and friends. It truly was a life-changing experience.
Thank you to Josh and Frosty who helped us so much with this music all those years ago, and to Malik Vitthal who shared Panduranga’s music with us. Love to Mirabai and their family, and to everyone in the Ashram.
Footage from Eternity’s Pillar, via Dublab.
🙏
