William Elliot Whitmore live on KEXP

diggin the shit out this station. cruisin around their live performance archive i found this nugget...a william elliot whitmore solo acoustic set. he plays excellent versions of several songs from his latest album, animals in the dark. this dude has the earthiest blues voice you could ever hear and is an unreal songwriter. the interview is awesome too, he and the dj talk about everything from the economy to his growing up on a farm in southeast iowa to ww2. if youve never given this guy a listen, change that now. if you're a fan, this radio set is a must have.


1. Hell or High Water
2. Old Devils, Hard Times
3. A Good Day to Die
4. Lifetime Underground

School of Seven Bells live on KEXP

school of seven bells (SVIIB) is named after a south american school for pickpockets and consists of ben curtis from secret machines and twin sisters alejandra and claudia deheza. their debut album is thick, layered, and fairly modernistic shoegazey material while their acoustic perfomance here is stripped down to dual guitars and keyboard. this setting puts the ethereal vocals up front and the simplicity of the instrumentation only adds to the beauty of the songs. lookin for somethin fresh, here it is.

(right-click > save as...)

1.Wired for Light

2.Caldo
-Interview between 8:00 and 15:00 minute marks
3.White Elephant Coat
4.My Cabal

*here also is a more recent electric radio set from minneapolis...

Roscoe Holcomb - March 26th, 1971

1. Swannanoa Mountain

2. Down South Blues

3. Single Girl

4. Rose Connelly

5. Black-Eyed Susie

6. Black Bottom Blues

7. Hook and String

8. Graveyard Blues

9. Across the Rocky Mountains

10. On Top of Old Smokey

So here is some rare shit. Not even OOP, this reel was NIP (never in print). This is a recording made in 1971 by Lee Knight at Holcomb's home in Daisy, Perry County, Kentucky that sits as a reel-to-reel in Berea College's archives. Thanks to the Digital Library of Appalachia for making this available. While the files are of decent quality (what can you expect from an informal field recording?) the music is amazing and feature's Holcomb's haunting vocals along with incredible self- accompaniment, mostly on banjo. There is some talk between tunes (whered you learn that?...etc) that I always love with these recordings.

If you've never listened to Roscoe Holcomb, start here but be sure and check out his extensive recordings on Folkways to get a clearer image of the man that embodied the high, lonesome sound. In describing the man's music, Ralph Stanley may have said it best : "you could feel the smell of woodsmoke in that voice."

Kayo Dot live on WMBR

Here is a gem - a Kayo Dot bootleg from the "choirs of the eye" era (march 2004 specifically.) They perform beautiful renditions from their debut album, which is totally on its own sonic plane. Music of this nature had never been recorded until these individuals got together, dropped a groove and went with it. Choirs of the Eye is available on CD at Tzadik Records. Do everyone within earshot of your speakers a favor and download this.


1. The Antique
2.Marathon
3.Wayfarer

live on 88.1 WMBR