#vhf

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Drew Gardner - Wave Field / Universal Light - Universal Light

What are those Elkhorn boys up to these days? I'm sure there's something awesome in the works — but in the meantime, Drew Gardner and Jesse Sheppard have some other irons in the fire.

First up, is Gardner's latest solo LP Wave Field, which sees him returning to the sweet full-band jams of Flowers in Space from a few years back. Indeed, the same ace rhythm section of bassist Andy Cush and drummer Ryan Jewell returns here, along with the inspired addition of Cush's fellow Garcia People, guitarist Tom Malach. The five instrumental tracks here are free-flowing and groove-heavy, all four players getting plenty of space to lock in and zone out. There's a slinky, Ege Bamyasi-esque feel that rises to the top at several moments ... always a good thing! And the relentless motorik pulse that Jewell supplies on "Space Ray" has to be heard to be believed.

Meanwhile, Elkhorn 12-stringer Sheppard is one-third of the new Universal Light group, joining Pelt / Black Twig Picker fiddler Mike Gangloff and cellist / harmonium-ist / vocalist Kaily Schenker for an extremely satisfying LP of mystic mountain acoustic drone. The four pieces on their self-titled debut unspool at a patient, meditative pace, various strings resonating and keening into the open air. This stuff feels as old as the hills, but somehow also as fresh as an Appalachian spring breeze. It all culminates in the traditional “The Squirrel is a Pretty Thing,” the trio finding a wondrous one-ness over the course of 12 deep minutes.

[i9666vi]

Meteor M2 N4 / N3- Received : 2025-12-11 - 137.9 Mhz - LRPT. http://Stepart.it

[dustedmagazine]

Mike Gangloff — April Is Passing (VHF)

For Mike Gangloff, music is a communal affair. He tends to make it with other people — in bands such as Pelt, Eight Point Star, Universal Light, and Black Twig Pickers, or in duos with C. Joynes, Steve Gunn and Cara Gangloff. April Is Passing is, like its predecessor Evening Measures, a solo record made by three people. Gangloff plays Hardanger fiddle throughout, accompanied by his spouse Cara on sruiti box and Kailey Schenker, his bandmate in Universal Light, on cello. 

That communal quality extends to the music’s effect. The sounds that issue from his bowing are a vehicle for connection not just with other people, but one’s own psyche and the ineffable. You could say that he covers inner, outer and social space in the course of laying out a unique stylistic zone of his own. This is evident from the first notes of “September Air,” the album’s opening track. His bowed lines arc up and out from a foundational squeezebox drone like a call to order, which is answered by Schenker’s solemn response. It’s as bracing as that first cool night in the Virginia mountains, which leads us to the next track. The unaccompanied “Ironto Dancer” namechecks the town where Gangloff lives, but there’s as much Scandinavian and Hindustani information in its stately opening as there is Appalachian in its unmetered introduction. Once Gangloff gets into gear, his irregular but insistent rhythm  evokes a dance for one, maybe under a full moon. The first side closes with the title tune, another trio performance. Once more, one gets the sense of the Hardanger fiddle’s quickstepping, higher pitches existing at a remove from the other instruments, as though the strings are liting a song from the mountain’s top down into the valley. 

The second side consists of just two performances, one solo and the other trio. “A Fallen Palace Of Snowville” is once again hard to pin down geographically, but easy to sink into sonically, since its patient cadence and yearning melody showcase the Hardanger fiddle’s resonant aura. The patiently winding “Helen’s Song” feels like a paean to good company, particularly due to Schenker’s shifts between keening witness and stolid support. April may pass, but the way this music synthesizes antique traditions feels like it is built to last. 

Bill Meyer

[supercatcomics]

I also posted this on my patreon in the free section, the last panel is the “extras” and unofficial ending to the comic strip.

[spockvarietyhour]

It’s 4am on a Saturday morning in Montreal, it’s some point in the 90s, and there’s nothing on air.

[n2qfd]

I spend a lot of time on the road anymore. Thought it was time to do some radio on the commute. Even if just APRS post.

[jamabushi]

are you receiving me

[vintage-tech]

They weren’t recorded off channels 13-83, these were recorded from channels 2-12. (Bless you if you know what I’m talking about.)