Hey Folks. Welcome back.
Before getting to the good stuff (exclusives, yay!), it is without pleasure that I let you know I’m going to be putting some content behind a paywall. We’re going to start with the archives of The Trailhead. Starting next week, ONLY PAID SUBSCRIBERS will be able to access the radio show archives on Mixcloud. Old shows will remain open (for now), but new uploads are going to be private and the link will be sent out to heads who are paid up via Substack. Of course, the show can be listened to LIVE for FREE on Sundays from 10am-Noon ET.
I know times are tough for everyone but I’ve been doing unpaid music stuff for decades and, to be quite frank, I’m tired of it. When I started out, the infrastructure to monetize online radio/content just wasn’t there and I was in my 20s and had nobody to take care of so I just let it slide. Pretty much the same story in my 30s.
But times have changed and all work should be compensated. Internships are capitalist scams and volunteer-powered entertainment/education is exploited and needs to be reconsidered.
This brings us closer to locking up content here in the Ambient Audiophile. This will hurt readership in the short-term but will ensure the longevity and quality of the content in the long-term and I’m in this game for life.
The latest Trailhead upload on Mixcloud is from the week of Dave Cousins’ passing. So in the second half, I did a full hour of Strawbs jams. And, I have to be honest, it’s the first time in a long time that I’ve listened back to my own show. It rocks! I chose tracks from the 70s (though I’m sure they did quality stuff after they reunited) and I think it flows really well. Again, Strawbs records are cheap and plentiful so hit your local shops and get some of the finest progressive folk-rock ever made.
The show starts in a decidedly lo-fi fashion with fantastic solo guitar pieces from Cyrus Pireh (Palilalia Records) and Duncan Park (Carbon/Feeding Tube). After one more fingerstyle piece from Finland, things got a bit more gooey with outerbound jams from R&D (Ruination Records), Golden Brown (Eiderdown Records), and the Netherlands’ David Mitchell.
Listen to the show here and check the playlist below.
The Trailhead 181:
1. Cyrus Pireh - Thank You, Guitar - Thank You, Guitar (Palilalia Records, 2025) 00:00
2. Duncan Park - A Moon Possessed Corpse - Path to the Gallows (Carbon/Feeding Tube, 2025) 04:37
3. Kadonnut Manner - Onnenkantamoinen - An Anthology of Contemporary Solo Guitar (Creative Class War, 2025) 17:02
4. R&D - Shadow's Shadow - I'll Send You a Sign (Ruination, 2025) 22:30
5. Golden Brown - Ancestral Slime - Whisker Fatigue (Eiderdown, 2025) 29:32
6. David Mitchell - Cosmic Drift - Turiyans (Self, 2025) 37:40
7. Aaron Fisher and Rob Stephenson - Abyss of the Birds - Actual Place (Self, 2025) 46:00
8. Strawbs - The Vision Of The Lady In The Lake - Dragonfly (A&M, 1970) 1:04:52
9. Dave Cousins - Blue Angel - Two Weeks Last Summer (A&M, 1972) 1:15:27
10. Strawbs - So Shall Our Love Die - Nomadness (A&M, 1975) 1:25:12
11. Strawbs - Lemon Pie - Ghosts (A&M, 1974) 1:28:48
12. Strawbs - Sad Young Man - Hero and Heroine (A&M, 1974) 1:32:48
13. Strawbs - Down By the Sea - Bursting at the Seams (A&M, 1973) 1:36:54
14. Strawbs - Sheep - From the Witchwood (A&M, 1971) 1:43:14
15. Strawbs - Tomorrow - Grave New World (A&M, 1972) 1:47:26
16. Strawbs - Words of Wisdom - Deadlines (Arista, 1978) 1:52:13
Exclusive: Stream an Unreleased Live Wet Tuna Set
I’m extremely stoked to be able to exclusively stream some hot, fresh and recent live Wet Tuna.
As I mentioned a week or two back, we packed up the Subie and choogled out and up to Western Mass to take in a set from MV, EE & Jim Bliss in the town park of Turners Falls. It was a beautiful drive and and an even more beautiful evening as the trio began to roll out wave upon wave of psychedelic funky free folk energy from the Bandstand. Note the first time WT has played the old MV&EE nug “Death Is My Friend” that first appeared on the insanely great Child of Microtones CDR Liberty Rose which was later reissued on vinyl by Arbitrary Signs. An essential joint.
Thanks to taper Pete Moore and Matt for letting us share this complete set with y’all.
Wet Tuna - 2025-07-17, Peskeompskut Park, Turners Falls, MA
Cowpath 40
Kinda Feelin Good > Miss Morse
Death Is My Friend > Sweet Chump Change
Source: Zoom H1 > Wav (44.1/16) > Adobe Audition (minor edits/amplification) > Wav > Trader's Little Helper > FLAC 8 (no SBE)
Wet Tuna plays Tubby’s in Kingston, NY on August 15th with Prairiewolf and Sloppy Heads.
Today, August 1, is Bandcamp Friday so I wanted to link up some amazing records that just dropped that you should buy. In case you don’t know, Bandcamp waives its fees, ensuring all the money from your purchase goes to the label and/or artist. It’s just about the fairest deal for artists on the internet, right up there with punishing them at the merch table after a set that ended too late in a room that is 150 degrees.
John Swanke - Rain Country (Eiderdown Records)
Coming out of the Pacific Northwest, Swanke delivers a wide-ranging set of guitar-based instrumentals here. From mellow electric drone to rippling acoustics, Rain Country feels both a part and a keen observation of the natural world. Really nice.
Thought Leadership - IV of Cups (Darkly Inclined)
The third release of Vini Reilly-inspired explorations from Stockport’s Thought Leadership. A one-person project self described as a “hermit fed on a diet of Factory and 4AD”, Thought Leadership also explores similar astral wavelengths as Manuel Göttsching and Franco Falsini. No major left turns on this new one, just more of the cosmic instrumental non-rock you need.
Marc-Antoine Barbier - Musée Des Espèces (Not Not Fun)
Marc-Antoine Barbier hails from Montreal and this new release is the first I’ve heard from them. I was instantly smitten after hitting play on this one, getting wonderful Jon Hassell and Don Cherry vibes with an 80s/90s sorta Bill Laswell world fusion vibe. Inject this shit into my veins at all times. So good.
Moeckl/Beck - Ins Endlose Blau (Self-Released)
A couple years ago German guitarist Alexander Moeckl reached out to me, wishing to send me his new record of solo acoustic guitar. It was an astonishingly wonderful album and it—along with the one he did after—remains one of my absolute favorite private-press records. Both were recorded so well and nicely pressed, I treasure them.
So it was with great excitement that I opened up a recent email from Alexander to find this new duo record with Moeckl’s friend and countryman, Gregor Beck. Full of all original tunes, the album sounds absolutely lovely with great interplay from the two Germans. No vinyl on this one but I anxiously await the CD from Alexander.
Guranfoe- 2024-12-05 The Waterfront, Norwich, England (Self-Released)
Oh boy. Another KILLER live release from England’s best psychedelic jam quartet, Guranfoe. This time we get the band’s opening set for White Denim (who I’ve never listened to, am I missing anything?) from last Winter.
Honestly, I don’t know how any band could step on a stage after Guranfoe has absolutely incinerated it with their unique blend of Canterbury/Zappa/Phish informed psychedelic wonderfulness.
We need to get these boys to the US and how.