#american primitivism

[engelart]

“seated woman”, ,2016 by Norman Engel

#contemporary art #contemporary painting #Norman Engel #Texas artist #abstraction #abstract painting #abstract art #abstract #modern art #painting #figurative art #folk art #folk art painting #naive art #outsider art #american primitivism

[djstarbucks-weddingmix]

#nts #nts recordings #european primitive guitar (1974-1987) #american primitivism #various artists #archival #compilation #2024

[apex-nadir]

Twilight Peaks || Robbie Basho

#lovely lovely lovely #robbie basho #music #american primitivism #guitar #Youtube

[audreyslists]

ARTIST/ ART HISTORY MASTERLIST

art history masterlist -- I try to cover most artists in history, some of their artworks, and what periods their art falls into. Mostly painters, but some are noted with a * to denote that they're sculptors, not technically from that country, etc. etc.

updates daily! 3 posts a day :)

artists by country:

american painters

french painters

brittish painters

irish painters

italian painters

dutch painters

german painters

austrian painters

mexican painters

spanish painters

portuguese painters

japanese painters

chinese painters

south korean painters

ART by COUNTRY/REGION no known artist:

italian art

periods:

prehistoric art

ancient art

medieval art

renaissance

mannerism

baroque

romanticism

realism

post-impressionism

modern art

primitivism

synthetism

#art history #art #artwork #painting #american painter #america #american art #french art #american #french #italian painter #italy #italia #social realism #realism #american primitivism #romanticism #modern art #post impressionism #portuguese #portugal #spain #spanish #germany #australia #austria

[mywifeleftme]

104: Scott Key // This Forest and the Sea

This Forest and the Sea Scott Key 1976, Blivet Music

Scott Key’s This Forest and the Sea is nearly the platonic ideal of an obscure private press reissue:

Black white cover of a man of indeterminate age with a guitar sitting amid twisted, fallen trees, his face slightly obscured

On the rear, weirdo track titles (“The Entanglement of Elroy,” “Cat Soup”) and a peculiar epigraph: “Elroy snuck into the zoo one night and abducted a baby antelope from its cell. Whereupon, he proceeded to strangle it to death and stalk away into the darkness dragging the carcass behind him. A few days later, the police came to Elroy’s apartment and soon discovered the deceased critter cut up into bite-size pieces and stuffed inside a few lidless jars in his cupboard.”

Almost the only thing the artist ever released

Blisteringly fast guitar playing, primarily instrumental American primitive in the tradition of John Fahey and Leo Kottke, but with a smattering of flamenco influence

An ambitious 11-minute closer that’s also the best thing on the record

The story could only be improved if Key had disappeared under mysterious circumstances after joining a cult and sabotaging a logging operation or something.

Sadly, I must report that Key was still alive and kicking by the time Geneva, Illinois’ reissue specialists Lion Productions took an interest in his sole LP in 2011, and that he was able to contribute candid liner notes that reveal his story, influences (from the Doors to Paco de Lucia), and notes on his picking style. Key even gives the back story on that epigraph, and says he now regrets including it because it’s “scary and out of place.” (No! You fool! You oaf!)

It's all very handy stuff to have, and you can tell he’s thrilled to have the chance to tell his story after all these years. A couple of songs on the record feature Key’s vocals, and these have tended to be the most criticized aspect of the album. It’s clear from his notes that he’s still sensitive about this, and though he freely acknowledges his limitations as a singer-songwriter, his plea for understanding is endearing. So, I won’t rag on him about it! If anything, their countercultural sentiments (ecology good, consumerism bad) help situate the album in its time and place. Lion’s reissue of This Forest and the Sea loses the mystery, but gains the man, and if he turns out to be a fairly mild-mannered guy, his guitar picking sure ain’t.

104/365

#music review #vinyl record #scott key #american primitivism #'70s music #private press music #acoustic guitar #counter culture #instrumental music

[luuurien]

Lake Mary - Slow Grass

(Ambient Americana, Chamber Jazz, Contemporary Folk)

Spacious and aching, Chaz Prymek's latest release as Lake Mary is a heavenly combination of pastoral field recordings and thoughtful instrumentation, weaving lonely chamber jazz and melancholy folk around generous helpings of birdsong and natural ambiance. Slow Grass' defiance of sorrow allows it to hold close painful memories in the most beautiful ways.

☆☆☆☆☆

Slow Grass is about presence above anything. From the 20-minute runtime of its two pieces to how Chaz Prymek uses that time, the album embraces its ambient influences not just in sound but in its essence, refusing to make every moment a directly engaging one and ensuring there's ample space for the music to just breathe. It's not all too surprising, given Prymek's background in groups like Fuubutsushi and their gentle chamber jazz and The Spinnaker Ensemble's soothing new age/folk combinations, but his work as Lake Mary stands out with its sensitivity and raw emotion, the negative space between every guitar line or string drone given just as strong a meaning as the instrumental elements that shape each piece, Slow Grass not only a masterful piece of ambient folk but one of Prymek's most personal, founded on the relationship with his late dog Favorite the past fourteen years of her life and how their time spent together during her declining health brought him new perspective and unimaginable heartbreak. It's an album not only about loss but how important it is to give love and tenderness a place to grow within that empty space. The first of its two sides and the title track, Slow Grass sounds more like the last droplets from a rainy cloud than any genres the album finds itself around. Pushed forward by recordings of water and birdsong alongside Prymek's lightfooted fingerpicked guitar and Patrick Shiroishi's gentle clarinet melody (Shiroishi also brings saxophone, vocals and percussion), the title track's earliest moments are about patience and grace, Shiroishi's serene singing falling into place among the vibrant natural ambiance surrounding him and Prymek. There's a heightened sense of surprise and wonder to the moments Prymek does let his guitar ring out as long as it needs to, occasionally hammering hard on the strings to pull a harsh metallic punch out of them or playing with vibrato and how it subtly shapes a note as it continues to fade, Slow Grass so acutely aware of everything happening around it that you can start to feel like the music is an ecosystem of its own, capable of change and surviving on its own spirit regardless of if you're around to witness it or not. Considering all this, Slow Grass' final seven minutes becomes both a cathartic release and a testament to Prymek's gorgeous musicianship, noise slowly washing in as he whams down on his guitar like a dulcimer until enough commotion has been made for Paul Dehaven's synths to explode like midnight fireworks and Shiroishi's signature saxophone improvisations to sweep across the piece like a shooting star in slow motion, so much energy and passion and thrill coming out of absolutely nowhere and all the more precious for it. Both sides of Slow Grass are essential to the album's success, but it's this first opening piece that lays the framework for the second half's tenderness and defiance. So Long Favorite, the album's second half and a heartbreaking memorialization of his late dog Favorite, refuses to let sorrow be its leader. It's so soft and lush in ways music about loss rarely is, Prymek's eternal paradise for Favorite built with the help of Shiroishi's aforementioned instrumentation and Chris Jusell's heavenly string arrangements with such pure love and generosity poured into every second. That's not to say any sadness or heartache isn't present throughout So Long Favorite's 19-minute runtime, but it's not the kind of sadness that presses you down into the dirt and keeps you from moving forward, Prymek's sturdy and secure guitar work the sunlight that Jusell's flowery strings and Shiroishi's pastoral woodwinds need to cultivate the space Prymek needs for his late best friend. I would be lying if I didn't say that the loss of my own dogs in the past wasn't a massive reason why So Long Favorite took me places few other pieces of music can even get close to, but even for those who've never had pets there's an inherent vulnerability and ache to it you can't pull away from. It's so simply beautiful and to the point with how much Favorite means to Prymek and how strongly the music embodies her spirit and Prymek's love for her, and nothing more is needed for So Long Favorite to hold me at an emotional breaking point nothing else this year has. Slow Grass is not only heartfelt and tender, but defiantly so, Prymek sheltering the memories and emotions he holds dear and not letting grief overtake him, making music so sentimental and full of warmth to materialize his grief without letting it drown him. His treatment of painful memories and heartbreak with positivity and hope is nothing short of stunning, and Slow Grass only proves itself more beautiful for it, able to handle such difficult feelings with the grace and understanding of the natural world Prymek pulls so much inspiration from. Prymek's music always serves as a conduit for his emotions with nothing to get in the way of it, and Slow Grass does a perfect job containing all the love and tears and mementos Prymek and his dog will forever have with one another. Loss is always a terrible thing, but Slow Grass makes a case for endless joy and remembrance in the face of it.

#lake mary #slow grass #whited sepulchre #ambient #ambient americana #americana #american primitivism #chamber jazz #contemporary folk #field recordings #folk #jazz #2022 #10/10 #album review #album reviews #2022 albums

[a-new-kind-of-water]

#music #robbie basho #venus in cancer #american primitivism

[becoming-with]

Art from the album America by John Fahey

#john fahey #american primitivism #folk music #death chants

[yopefriend]

#hayden pedigo #looking at fish #the happiest times i ever ignored #american primitivism #ambient americana #music #SoundCloud

[anarco-misantropo]

#anarcho primitivism #black metal #depressive black metal #dark ambient #american primitivism #Primitivism #heavy metal #doom metal #funeral doom metal #ambient #Depressive black metal #death metal #metal #Doomer #Crust punk #Anarchy #Atmospheric black metal #Youtube

[djstarbucks-weddingmix]

#raoul eden #anima #american primitivism #2024

[wabayang]

#rural #american primitivism #Youtube

[audreyslists]

Jean-Michael Basquiat

(b. 1960 - d. 1988), an American street art pioneer focused in neo-expressionism, contemporary art, and primitivism.

#jean michel basquiat #america #american art #american painter #contemporary art #neo expressionism #american primitivism #new york #new your city #nyc #artwork #art #painting

[mywifeleftme]

11: Wall Matthews // Spine River

Spine River: The Guitar Music of Wall Matthews, 1967—1981 Wall Matthews 2021, Tompkins Square (Bandcamp) Every collection should have a few pensive instrumental acoustic guitar records, since the life of anyone who spends hundreds or thousands of dollars on a pointedly outmoded format is bound to be one touched by a frequent need to have a lie-down in the dark. If it should cross your path, Spine River: The Guitar Music of Wall Matthews, 1967—1981 is a fine specimen of its kind.

Matthews is principally known as the guitarist of The Entourage Music and Theater Ensemble, a mid-‘70s acoustic avant-garde group whose compositions for modern dance performances have enjoyed a revival in recent years. While the earliest numbers here, recorded when Matthews was a teenager, are fingerpicked country folk in the Leo Kottke mould, his style changes dramatically after joining the Entourage in 1974. Though the previously unreleased 1978 home demos that constitute the bulk of this release are solo recordings, the “E Minor Suite” and “The Doves of Venus” gesture towards chamber ballet; I can readily imagine the increasingly-gnarled “Wendy’s Piece” soundtracking a single dancer’s descent into frenzy.

The LP wraps with a few selections from his first solo album, 1981’s The Dance in Your Eye, which in their faint jazziness and dewy melodies could be at home on one of the better Windham Hill releases of the era. Ultimately, the evolution of the guitarist through this period is organic enough that Spine River hangs together well as a collection, and showcases Matthews’ deftness and imagination as a player and composer.

11/365

#wall matthews #entourage music and theater ensemble #american primitivism #acoustic folk #acoustic guitar #music review #tompkins square #'60s music #'70s music #'80s music

[themillpond]

John Fahey — Stomping Tonight on the Pennsylvania-Alabama Border

#john fahey #american primitivism #Youtube

[zhanteimi]

Glenn Jones – This Is the Wind That Blows It Out: Solos for 6 & 12 String Guitar

Glenn Jones – This Is the Wind That Blows It Out: Solos for 6 & 12 String Guitar

USA, 2004, American primitivism The more I listen to American primitivism, the more I feel that the genre is analogous to brands of whiskey. There a lot of hidden work that goes into the making of both, and only a connoisseur can adequately describe what he hears or tastes. There are those of us who nod and say “yeah, it’s smoky”, but then the aficionado pipes up with “do I detect a touch of…

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#2004 #american primitivism #USA #Youtube