Kit Gordon - Taber, 2025 (field recordings) [Alt-Folk / Ambient]

Kit Gordon is an unreasonably talented and refreshingly eclectic singer, rapper, drummer, multi-instrumentalist and producer of tender years from Northwest London. Recording and producing every instrument you hear, he inhabits a music marketing nightmare zone that sits between genres and quite possibly worlds, and which is going to cause me all sorts of trouble whilst trying to convey his music through the written word. It's probably why I like him.

Gordon as already hit the ground running this year with the release of a score for Asa Tata Asa Fiu, a short film project that is still in its kickstarter phase, and which rather like his music is striving for depth and meaning.

Whilst browsing the liner notes, and despite having English roots, I wasn't quite sure where Taber and Lethbridge were, but after researching the sunflower loving Brad Valgardson who played drums on the EP's second track, I now know that they are in Canada, and these recordings are instances of live performances from these somewhat backwoods Canadian locations, artfully blended with a collection of field recordings of unknown provenance.

Unless I've mistaken the coded track titles "Harvest 280825" has it's roots in last year's month of plenty and a rural location - the folkloric bowing, plucking and blowing ride shapeshifting sounds and drones, and certainly make for a bucolic ambient folk setting, a feeling accentuated by the sounds of our feathered friends chirping at the sweating farmers from leaf filled trees.

Scene set, and with the aid of Uncle Brad (Valgardson), the EP suddenly morphs into warm, pastoral (those pesky birds again), alternative folk rock courtesy of a raw, live sounding recording driven by stripped back drums that anchor the building strings and banjo, both real and sample/post production triggered I guess, that swirl around the percussive skeleton in gently mind altering fashion, before suddenly vanishing in a puff of smoke to reveal Gordon standing alone on stage performing this all too short EP's (and quite possibly friend or family member's) nicely stoned, ambient Americana farewell, "Barry's Wake, 230825".

If this singular slice of ambient leaning alt-folk grabs you then I suggest you rush over to the Asa Tata Asa Fui score for more laid back ambient Americana vibes, and then out of curiosity head back to live jazz and studio recorded alt-pop works. I did warn you he was refreshingly eclectic and unreasonably talented.

---

Playlist Companion

Find Gordon in the Slow Folk Playlist.