WHAT THE PRESS RELEASE SAYS:

It was that Lee Hazelwood Cowboy in Sweden record.

It was learning that the Atlantic Ocean spreads by about an inch each year, pushing apart Europe and America.

It was that Iceland sits on top of that bubbling ridge and gains strange new land by its spreading.

It was the desire to drink in that otherworldly landscape and experience its effect in the music, the way different alcohols have different intoxicating effects on a body.

It was those cheap flights advertised.

It was that you had to leave home to see it for what it is, to frame it neatly: to miss a thing was to know its shape.

These songs deal with the nest that is Kentucky. There’s a saying that goes something like, “When the world comes to an end, I want to be in Kentucky where it's always 5 years behind.” The water they say is good for distilling bourbon. There is something in the water. And what it produces in its people is alternately Dionysian and Apollonian.

Woven into the melodies and rhythms of these songs are fragments of the many musical traditions that comprise what we now call Kentucky music: Irish, British, and African to name a few. The best music would be a conversation with the divine that has seen all of it, or with the oldest trees that have witnessed the whole human story. These songs are partly that conversation, at times through the lens of lovers. They are also a longing cry born of all the dividing; a call across the slowly spreading ocean. Primarily, Like the River Loves the Sea is built as a haven for overstimulated heads in uncertain times. The title (which comes from a song by Si Kahn) speaks of the inevitable and at times indifferent nature of love. Whether it be a physical place or an idea, everyone needs a place of comfort. One where we can look out again from that place of calm and see how to best act and to be in an uncertain world.

- Joan Shelley
Skylight, Ky, April 2019
  Credits
released August 30, 2019

Produced by James Elkington and Joan Shelley

James Elkington: drums, bass, percussion, guitars, piano, Wurlitzer, JX3F synth, and harmonium

Nathan Salsburg: acoustic and electric guitars

Joan Shelley: classical, resonator, and acoustic guitars

Sigrún Kristbjörg Jónsdóttir: violin and viola

Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir: cello

Albert Finnbogason: Wurlitzer (3)

Harmony vocals: Bonnie “Prince” Billy (2, 6), Cheyenne Mize (7, 8, 11), and Julia Purcell (7, 8, 11)

Recorded at Greenhouse and Iðnó in Reykjavik, Iceland by Albert Finnbogason.

Mixed by Kevin Ratterman at La La Land, Mastered by Joe Lambert.

Additional recording by James Elkington, Daniel Martin Moore, and Kevin Ratterman.

All songs written by Joan Shelley

WHAT THE COVER LOOKS LIKE:

WHAT THE PRESS RELEASE SAYS:

Tenesha The Wordsmith presents a hard-cutting, gut-wrenching, and extremely moving spoken word album produced by Khalab that brings together different lines of black music – folkloric, jazz, and electronic dance – into an afro-futurist narrative with thunderous results. ‘Peacocks & Other Savage Beasts’ lays bare difficult truths and projects the stories of hidden voices, with a warm and heartfelt delivery that envelops the soul.

The poems are dedicated to the intersection, the places where we contemplate identity, culture, trauma and love. ‘Peacocks & Other Savage Beasts’ is a place where they all meet. “I hope between these lines you find healing,” says Tenesha. “I hope your compassion for others grows. I hope you will make the decision you were afraid to make. I hope you will learn how to turn pain into power and purpose. Decide which type of beast you want to be and if you can’t make up your mind, watch the women…”

Originally from Oakland, California, “a place where revolutionaries are born,” Tenesha the Wordsmith originally began to fuse hip hop and poetry while living in Albany, New York, where she created her first collection ‘Body Of Work’. Her early influences have returned with features from beatboxers and vocalists that give the album a distinctly urban hip hop vibe.

Blending music and poetry is also a distinct nod to the unique rhythm of the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is now living. ‘It’s a place filled with art, music and romance,’ says Tenesha.
“I write about what I want to celebrate; family, community, resilience, and hope. I also write about what I want seen; poverty, racism, sexism and trauma. I want to put into words concepts that I struggle with on a personal level that are also concepts that exist on a broader human level. After hearing me perform or reading something I write, I want people to celebrate what is good but under-appreciated and I want people to think about the way they think and question what they value. It seems like I want to do a lot with just a few poems but, words are powerful...”

Produced by Khalab (R.Constantino)

WHAT THE PRESS RELEASE SAYS:

Following 2017’s Infinite Avenue and 2013’s Sleeper, Both Lines Will Be Blue is Carmen’s first full instrumental album. A 7 track collection of cosmic excursions and dubby ambient-jams, the album is written, recorded, played, produced and mixed by Carmen in her Oslo studio. The soothing atmospherics are made up of tapestries of field recordings, synths, piano, drum-programming, zither and modular sounds. Throughout, Carmen’s music is colored by experimenting with different sounds and learning new techniques or by adding new instruments to the mix.

WHAT THE PRESS RELEASE SAYS:

Over the last few years, I have been learning so much about what it means to love and be loved. With my young son and his mother, I have been experiencing the full spectrum of life's emotions - joys and sorrows alike - like never before. The profound love I feel gives me courage to face my greatest fears and continue stepping towards my best self. So clearly, I am learning how the inside universe creates the outside universe - that to truly love another, one must first and foremost love oneself.

As my marriage goes through hard times, the serenity of our home has been shaken to the core. Through the soaring heights and deepest depths of this whole experience, I am also learning a lot about peace - how it’s created and how it’s sustained. I am seeing that peace is not something declared, acquired, or set in stone. Real peace is made and remade, again and again, in each new moment.

The songs on this album are the new melodies and new words that come to my lips while working to build a home with my little family. Hopefully they reflect the continual practice of love. For Peace Process is just that, a process.


My deep appreciation & gratitude to all those who helped along the path of this record coming to light. I want to give special thanks to Elle Pierre, David Terranova, Dean McColl, Sina Taherkhani, Brendan South, EL Tsidkenu, Mario Schambon, Vandana Jain, Matan Ben-Zi, Samer Ghadry, Kqwon King, Kim Innis, Vladic Ravich, Yalda Heshmati, Marco Rojas, Kevin McLeod, Heather Seagraves, Stephen Joseph, Valeria Haedo, Miko Underwood, Francesco Soragna, Andrew Jervis, Ben Murray, Robbie Scott, Bandcamp, Falko Haus, The Wolfcastle, Casa Bellavista, and my son Ian Sims-Pierre. Love and respect to my mom Kathie Sims, my mother-in-law Joy Sterling, and my whole family for supporting me in this journey as an artist. I feel blessed to have such beautiful friends, family, and guiding spirits in my life.

I am so grateful to the deepest source of inspiration and motivation for this music - Elle Pierre and Ian Sims-Pierre. This record is for you both. I love you with all my heart.

All Songs Composed and Performed by Ian Sims, with exception of
Prayer - written by Ian Sims and EL Tsidkenu, and
We - written by Ian Sims and Elle Pierre

Recorded by Ian Sims Feb 4-8th, 2019 at Casa Bellavista in Preston-Potter Hollow, NY
Mixed by Ian Sims
Additional Mixing by Matan Ben-Zi at O'Deer Recording Studio in Brooklyn, NY
Mastered by Eric Broyhill at MonsterLab Audio in Stockholm, Sweden
Produced by Ian Sims

The Wolfcastle Management & Agency

All Art Direction and Films by The Wolfcastle
Album Cover Art and Photography by David Terranova
Magazine Design and Photography by Dean McColl

Welcome to the latest radio show for the excellent Music For Dreams radio station as some conscious dub vibes kick things off before we head into the realms of spiritual jazz, dreamtronica, hypnagogic beats, ambient vibes, the percussive side of the new age of New Age, Balearic beauties, Afro vibes and a great slice of poptic cosmic disco to round things off.

Dubkasm - Eco Do Jongo feat. Ras B, Om Unit Rmx (Rastrumentals)
Bubby Lewis - All Things (Ropeadope)
Kuzich - There Is No Time (Brownswood)
Resavoir - Illusion (International Anthem)
Not Waving & Dark Matter - Persimmon Tree (Ecstatic)
Frythm - luvme (SXN)
Knopha - 一 (Self Released)
Beverly Glenn-Copeland - On The Road (Seance Centre)
Kutiman - LIne 1 (Siyal)
Lexx - Universal Prayer (Phantom Island)
Dazion - A Bridge Between Lovers (Second Circle)
ODD OKODDO - Okitwoye (Pingipung)
Bob Moses - Nothing But You, Lindstrom & Prins Thomas rmx (Domino)