#38: A Lot of Ghosts in a Lot of Houses

The Necks CD Giveaway, NC Bandcamp Benefit, New Prog & Post Punk of Note

Welcome back to Ambient Audiophile—a place where you don’t have to pretend to like modern pop music. 

Thanks to Northern Spy Records, I have 5 copies of The Necks’ brilliant new album Bleed on CD to give away to you, you lovely, loyal paying subscriber.

To win a copy of this minimalist ambient jazz masterpiece, simply share this week’s newsletter on one of your social media outlets and send me a screenshot. The first five heads to do so, get a disc. 

If you don’t win, the album is available for purchase on Bandcamp or at finer record and compact disc sellers around the world. For what it’s worth, this is my favorite release from the trio yet.

This is the first of many giveaways that will be only for paid subscribers so please consider signing up for a mere 5 bucks a month. 

---

The Trailhead returned to the air and net waves this week after I ditched last weekend to do some hiking in the Adirondacks. My buddy and I got up on Big Slide mountain and let me tell you, it was an ass kicker but extremely enjoyable and the views were insane. 

This week’s show started acoustic and mellow with calming pieces from TwoPine and Pure Waves. The electricity was warmed up and ready to go with Moscow’s Frunk29 and a dirty grooving cut off Jake Blanchard’s new Eiderdown Records LP Fermentation. We then took a toward toward outer/inner spaces with Owl, Macrogramma and Brendon Moeller to close out the first set. 

The second hour started somewhat unusually in a post punk style with a cut off the insanely great new Smoke Bellow record on Moon Glyph. A testament to the all encompassing nature of that jam came when follow ups— the very proggy and Canterbury-like moves of Yaryu and Norway’s Needlepoint—felt totally natural. We then got a killer cut off Body Meπa’s new one for Hausu Mountain before taking it back to 1997 for an undersung ‘Ghost’ from the Phish from Vermont. 

Have a listen to the show here and peep the tracklist below. And if you haven’t already, please make a free Mixcloud account and give us a follow over there and like and repost the shows. It really helps spread the word.

1. TwoPine - River Transmission - River Transmission (Aural Canyon, 2024) 00:00

2. Pure Waves - Amazing Time - Be Yourself Out There (Pure Waves, 2024) 07:15

3. Frunk29 - Endless Siesta - Drifting Horses (Not Not Fun, 2024) 12:03

4. Jake Blanchard - Dysplasia Delirium - Fermentation (Eiderdown Records, 2024) 15:18

5. Melos Kalpa - Motion Parallax - Melos Kalpa (Hands In the Dark, 2024) 24:26

6. Owl - Cosmic Fields - Celestial Echoes (Muzan Editions, 2024) 29:42

7. Macrogramma - Tape in G Dorian - Magnetic Series (Lontano Series, 2024) 39:05

8. Brendon Moeller - Daybreak - Mirage (Quiet Details, 2024) 44:37

9. Grateful Dead - River of Nine Sorrows - Infrared Roses (GD Records, 1991) 50:20

10. Smoke Bellow - Noonian Soong - Structurally Sound (Moon Glyph, 2024) 1:04:11 

11. Yaryu - Utena - For Damage (Ramble/Centripetal Force, 2024) 1:08:12 

12. Needlepoint - Muse on the Hook - Remnants of Light (Self, 2024) 1:12:58

13. Body Meπa - Scout - Prayer in Dub (Hausu Mountain Records, 2024) 1:17:04

14. Phish - Ghost - 7/3/97 (LivePhish) 1:33:36

    **Becoming a paid subscriber here is the best way to support the radio show but you can always buy me a coffee and support us that way!**

    ---

You’ve likely seen and heard about the absolutely awful destruction that Hurricane Helene brought to Western North Carolina. Perhaps, like me, you’ve wanted to help but don’t know how. Thankfully, Cardinals at the Window has come forward to make throwing some money to those most affected a little easier. A massive compilation of (mostly) unreleased music, Cardinals at the Window’s full proceeds will be “split evenly between Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, Rural Organizing and Resilience (ROAR), and BeLoved Asheville.”

Quite stylistically diverse, the album contains unheard music from AA faves like Wet Tuna, Chuck Johnson, Bill Orcutt, Joseph Allred, Six Organs of Admittance, and Wooden Wand alongside bigger indie rock types of things. Unfortunately the Phish jam has been issued before but, still, it’s cool to see them mixing it up on a compilation with our favorite smaller bands and scenes. 

Buy the comp below and know that you helped some folks out.

---

Since getting a surprise notification about it on Friday, I’ve been obsessing on Remnants of Light, the latest long player from Norwegian prog/psych group Needlepoint. I was first hipped to these guys a couple years ago and fell in love with their last album, Walking Up that Valley. The sound this band gets is most certainly rooted in the Canterbury scene of the 70s—with Caravan being the most obvious influence. Remnants of Light sees a slight lineup change but the music remains jazzy, tight and explosive when it needs to be. Besides the hallowed ground that Gong, Camel, and Soft Machine broke, Needlepoint brings a lot of folky, acoustic dimensions to the table and even some Miles-like fusion elements, especially in the rhythms. I don’t know if these guys wear bellbottoms and paisley and go all in on the retro like that. Generally that’s a big no-no for me, but I would let it pass with Needlepoint. They definitely celebrate a certain era but something about what they do feels very now. I only have the FLACS but it’s an insanely well recorded and presented album from a sonic standpoint. 

---

You can’t catch them all and that is certainly the case with Smoke Bellow. The name rang a bell when I saw Moon Glyph post about the new album Structurally Sound but I had no idea the greatness I had been missing. Sadly, it seems this is the project’s final release but they go out at an extremely high level. 

Structurally Sound can generally be described as post-punk with plenty of delightful influence from minimalism, pop, disco and high life. A few months ago I returned to the music of the Talking Heads after many decades estranged from it and that dive has whetted the appetite for tight, rhythmic and atmospheric pop—something Smoke Bellow does as well as anybody ever has on Structurally Sound. There’s Reich-ian backgrounds and they make me want to pull you my Polyrock LPs very soon (a band you all need to get familiar with). Tightly coiled and unfolding guitar abounds on Structurally Sound and its minimalist punchy delivery sometimes reminds me of the Lewsberg. Interestingly, this is a record I find that gets much better in its second half. That’s not to say the front end is shabby, far from it, but the back side feels more diverse in approach and the ground covered. It’s a wonderful little album any music lover should enjoy.