Dorothy Ashby - Afro-Harping (1968)

Pioneer Dorothy Ashby's exquisite harp atop a quality band deftly mixing soul, cool jazz, and touches of bossa is just perfect on this record.  Beautiful from start to finish.

Hear some here and here.

Do it.

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Danny Paul Grody - Furniture Music (2014)

Songs awash in warm melody, deft musicianship, and ambient hypnosis populate the latest albums from Danny Paul Grody, with often little more than his acoustic guitar achieving these heights.  A founding member of instrumental masters Tarentel and the jazzy, atmospheric The Drift, his solo music has taken the minimal, circular, and trancelike aspects of his previous work and boiled them down to their essential elements, but with a newly inspired sound.  These records are largely within the vein of American Primitivism, with spacious patterns of fingerpicked guitar, but Grody's particular treatment gives the genre a dreamy sound like no other.  His most recent album, Furniture Music, is his most stripped down yet; just simply beautiful songs and a feeling like these sounds and moods were ever-present in the world and Grody simply had the ear and ability to make them manifest.  Read his description for his inspiration behind it.  His other albums are similarly high quality, but fans of this John Fahey post may enjoy this the most.

Listen and support.

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Slowreader - Slowreader (2002)

The first things I loved about Slowreader were the fantastic vocal melodies and their rhythmic sensibilities, the kind that make you move your head even in spots when there is no percussion, but as their lyrics became clearer with more listens, the more I realized these guys had a rare ability to perfectly mix bittersweet pain and regret, slyly dry humor and self-deprecation, and subtle turns of phrasing with their unique blend of mostly acoustic jams, ethereal keyboard pieces, bare bones songs, and melodic pop compositions.  That is the roundabout way of saying this is strong songwriting all around, and, although it's their only release, an album that endures as a result.

Drink this in.

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By the End of Tonight - Live at Fitzgerald's on Halloween (2014)

On the night of Halloween, in the year of our lord 2014, the always amazing, yet sadly defunct, By the End of Tonight saw fit to reunite and grace the world with one more frenetic, powerful, and ultimately pants-moistening live performance in the town of Houston, TX.  It was a sight to behold, pure fun and emotion on so many levels, and, if the fates be truly cruel (and the band's words believed), a beautiful final send-off to their illustrious career.  As one privileged to witness it, here I humbly offer the sounds we heard that night that I was able to capture.  This is indeed the full show, with quality audio and labeled tracks, but of course: any recording is but a shadow of a majestic performance in the flesh.  Thank you for all the memories, BtEoT.  Love you guys.

Enjoy this loudly.

Watch the show!  (not my video)

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