***Thorn Wych makes instruments from tree branches; bowed strings, flutes and percussion that she runs through a chain of loopers, pitch bending glitches and delay pedals. Strange songs sung in tongues, mashed up chewed and spat out. As the adder weaves her way through the dirt and mycelium hum, we play in the mud and converse with insects.Aesthesis is Thorn Wych's debut LP that she recorded and mixed herself at home, often performing long improvised pieces, then later editing them down, cutting and pasting and overlaying other instruments.This album takes inspiration from such works as The Secret Book of John, the 1940 film The Thief of Bagdad, and Lata Mangeshkar's Meera Bhajans. She dedicates her work to the Divine Mother Asherah, Holy Spirit, Guardian of the Tree of Life.
LP $20.50
09/04/2026
***Dick Spottswood is a legendary musicologist with deep knowledge of early jazz, blues, international, and vernacular American music from the first half of the 20th Century. He has contributed notes and transfers of records from his collection to hundreds of influential reissue albums on many labels over the decades. Spottswood teams up with Tompkins Square to offer a selective view of our favorite 78 rpm sides from 1925, a pivotal year in the development of jazz, blues and early country music. Includes a 32 page booklet wiht extensive notes by Grand Ole Opry photo archivist, guitarist and writer of books, Cameron Knowler.
2XCD $25.50
06/19/2026
***"Maisy Owen, a Nashville native, has been surrounded by music and the art of songcraft just about all her life. First came the viola at age nine, then guitar where she embraced fingerpicking, soaking in influences from Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, Mazzy Star and David Olney. Raised in a musical family, her father Gwil Owen is an Academy Award-nominated songwriter.Maisy’s unique sound, musical truth and stirring vocals inhabit Dark On A Sunny Day, her debut album, produced by Robin Eaton (known for his work with Jill Sobule and co-writer of 'I Kissed a Girl')Drawn to melancholic melodies and dark poetic imagery, her first single 'My Youth Is All For You' was released as a 7” and gave Maisy a chance to explore her visual side / love for abandoned houses with an accompanying video. Her second single, 'On My Way Down' was recently featured as KCRW's 'Today's Top Tune.'Often spotted around Nashville playing bars or cruising around in her beloved pickup, Maisy is that special talent in a city awash with singer-songwriters. While folks thus far seems to have different takes on who she might sound like (for us, it's some of our favorites; Vashti Bunyan, Anne Briggs, Tia Blake...), pinning that down is a fool's errand. She is Maisy... a singular talent, and one worth watching.""Drawing on the moody intimacy of Nick Drake, the folk finesse of Bert Jansch, and the hazy dream-pop glow of Mazzy Star, she’s carving out a sound all her own."—KCRW"A finger style that is...
CD $15.50
05/01/2026
LP $20.65
05/01/2026
The debut single from Tompkins Square’s latest signing, 22 yo Nashville born and based Maisy Owen. Maisy plays all the instruments on this song. Produced by Robin Eaton. Includes both stereo and mono versions. Exclusively available for North America.
7" $12.00
11/14/2025
***Ireland has had its fair share of international breakout successes recently, including Tompkins Square’s own discovery, Muireann Bradley. Perhaps less known is that Ireland is a wellspring of amazing solo acoustic guitar talent. Guitarist Cian Nugent recruited some of the leading lights of Irish guitar to create Imaginational Anthem vol. XIV : Ireland. The release coincides with Tompkins Square's 20th Anniversary. The label launched October 25th, 2005 with the release of the first volume of its acclaimed guitar compilation series, Imaginational Anthem.The first four volumes of the guitar series featured early recordings by crucial figures such as James Blackshaw, Daniel Bachman, Nathan Salsburg and Jack Rose while re-discovering earlier masters like Suni McGrath, Michael Chapman, Max Ochs, Fred Gerlach, Steve Mann, and many more. Subsequent volumes were handed over for curation: Sam Moss Vol. 5 ; Chris King Vol. 6; Hayden Pedigo Vol. 7; Michael Klausman & Brooks Rice Vol. 8; Ryley Walker Vol. 9; Marcus Fruit Vol. 10; Luke Schneider Vol. 11; Henry Parker. Vol. 12; James Toth Vol. 13; and Cian Nugent Vol. 14.In a full circle moment, a teenage Cian Nugent appeared on the cover of Imaginational Anthem vol. 3 and contributed one of his first solo compositions on that album. His liner notes for IAXIV illuminate the new project, highlighting each artist, and (rather humorously) framing the acoustic guitar in Irish music history
CD $13.75
10/24/2025
LP $20.50
10/24/2025
***Treasures Untold: A Modern 78 RPM Reader is a beautiful 10 x 10" 155 page hardback book with CD. Limited edition of 1,000, numbered copies with foil stamp. Originally released on Record Store Day US & UK - April 12, 2025.The CD contains ten covers of 78-era songs by artists such as Luther Dickinson, R. Crumb, William Tyler, Muireann Bradley, Gwenifer Raymond, Michael Hurley and more. Eight of the ten songs were recorded specifically for the project.The writing is by collectors, ethnomusicologists, dealers, archivists and producers, including an interview with Ian Nagoski and Dick Spottswood, 14 year old collector and DJ Jay Burnett, Eli Smith (Brooklyn Folk Festival), John Heneghan, Nathan Salsburg and more. Book designed by Grammy-nominated Barbara Bersche (Lomax Haiti box set, Harry Smith B-sides box set)."This is how deep dive historical explorations of music you might have missed should be done: rich in detail and captivating. This is for people who love music by people who love music. Perfectly concepted and exquisitely delivered.”—Henry Rollins
BK W/CD $47.85
05/09/2025
"It has been said that Robbie Basho's art was strongest in concert. To what extent the experience can be reconstituted is uncertain. Whatever the case, Snow Beneath the Belly of a White Swan is the mother lode of Basho live recordings. On these five discs we are treated to some remarkable pieces that have never been published, as well as surprising renditions of old favourites." "Compiled from Basho’s sprawling personal collection of master tapes (discovered during the production of Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho), and potentially encompassing his entire career, this edition represents a live companion to the studio set Song of the Avatars: The Lost Master Tapes (Tompkins Square, 2020)." While the tapes have (in the main) survived incredibly well over the decades (against the odds), please note that some previously unpublished tracks with subpar to poor fidelity have been included."—Liam Barker
5XCD $44.45
12/06/2024
***The thirteen edition in the Imaginational Anthem series features renditions of Bruce Cockburn tunes by James Toth (Wooden Wand), Kyle Hammett Duo (ft. Luke Schneider), Wet Tuna (Matt Valentine), Jerry DeCicca (ft Bill Callahan), and others.
CD $11.25
04/05/2024
LP $20.50
04/05/2024
***Muireann Bradley is a young blues, ragtime, roots and folk guitarist and singer based in Ballybofey in County Donegal Ireland. Tompkins Square actually signed her when she was 13, but because of Covid and just “growing up", the process of recording took place over three years. She will be 17 in December, 2023. "This is my first album. Most of these tunes were originally recorded by the great blues men and women who were making records from the 1920s and 1930s right up in some cases to the early 1970s. I have also found inspiration for the renditions recorded here in the playing of some of the musicians who began recording this music in the 1960s and later, and who in some cases learned at the feet of the greats. Many of these guitarists played pivotal roles in the 1960s blues revival and subsequent 'rediscovery' of many of the greats of country blues. I grew up steeped in these old blues in the hills overlooking the valley of the River Finn just outside the town of Ballybofey in County Donegal. My father would play this music constantly at home and wherever we went in the car and talk about it endlessly whether anyone was listening or not, telling stories about the lives of these musicians as if they were legend, mythology or the evening news. My father could of course play all this stuff on guitar, I remember watching him when I was very young and thinking 'I want to...
CD $15.50
12/08/2023
LP $20.50
12/08/2023
MC $10.25
06/07/2024
V/a
Imaginational Anthem XII: I Thought I Told You - A Yorkshire Tribute to Michael Chapman
Tompkins Square
***Michael Chapman (1941-2021) released his debut album Rainmaker in 1969 on Harvest. He went on to release over fifty albums and influence many with his evocative songwriting and guitar prowess. From heady jams to expressive ballads to experimental noise, Chapman’s work continues to inspire. Tompkins Square recruited Henry Parker to curate a collection of covers by working musicians from Chapman’s home turf in Northern England. With stunning artwork by local artist Bunty Marshall mapping the important places in Michael’s life, this 12th volume of Tompkins Square’s Imaginational Anthem series is the ultimate tribute to a very dearly missed artist.
CD $15.50
10/20/2023
LP $20.50
10/20/2023
MC $10.25
10/20/2023
***Ohio-born Rick Deitrick took up the guitar at 16 and decided to approach his playing as if he was the only guy on an island and the instrument had just washed ashore one day. According to Rick, "I completely divorced my playing from any formal music knowledge, but it was very important to me to use original tuning. During those years, the ‘60s/70's, there was a lot of acoustic guitar playing, often using open tuning as a base. I wanted to create whole tones without de-tuning and keep access to the complex sounds stock tuning provided." Rick pressed 500 LPs of his tranquil solo guitar record, Gentle Wilderness, in 1978. He gave copies to libraries and left a few in the middle of the wilderness, next to trails, "so people would find them." Rick sought inspiration in nature and in particular the various rivers scattered around the Western United States, often composing songs while seated beside them. Now, Tompkins Square is proud to present a 5CD retrospective box set, Rick Deitrick, The Unguitarist : Complete Works, 1969 - 2022, which makes a strong case for Rick as one of the most individual voices in acoustic guitar music over the past half century.
5XCD $47.85
06/16/2023
***REISSUED!!! Bobby Lee trades in a wide screen brand of cosmic country-folk, full of space and pawn shop guitars. There are touches of JJ Cale's analogue Americana, the swampy groove of Tony Joe White and Richard Thompson's sinewy, modal guitar work. Amps hum in the warm afternoon sun, kids and dogs snooze on the grass and broken drum machines keep time with the universe... Open sky/scorched earth improvisations recorded to four track tape during the rare moments of solitude afforded by lockdown and early fatherhood. Bobby Lee's "worn-denim psych-country" remains, but the ancestral spirits of Ashra, Popol Vuh and Terry Riley are present here too. Time and technological limitations have been embraced. A song dreamt up, tracked and mixed in an afternoon, never to be tampered with again. Imperfections allowed to stand; knowing that nothing is ever truly finished. The Bob Ross school of philosophy. Pressed on limited colored vinyl.
LP $20.50
04/28/2023
***Under An Endless Sky represents the interchange that took place between electronic composer Francesco Paolo Paladino, composer and writer Luca Chino Ferrari, and the legendary Dorothy Moskowitz, an icon of underground culture who broke all kinds of new ground as a member of The United States of America. Led by the charismatic composer Joseph Byrd, the band released their lone eponymous album on Columbia Records in 1968. It has taken on a mythic status that has grown through the years, sampled by Diplo and Mac Miller and widely acknowledged as a visionary psychedelic classic. Francesco Paolo Paladino, an avant-garde Italian composer contacted Dorothy, inviting her to sing on some of his compositions. When she heard his 2021 CD release of "Barene & Other Works, " she recognized that they shared a similarly experimental point of view and she accepted his invitation. Paladino is known for his collaborations with Martyn Bates, Allison O'Donnell, Simon Fisher Turner, and other world-renowned contemporary composers, as well as his own sought-after 1985 debut LP Doublings and Silences Volume 1. Francesco has long collaborated with Italian writer Luca Chino Ferrari, author of biographies of Nick Drake, Third Ear Band, Captain Beefheart, Tim Buckley and Syd Barrett, among others. He submitted lyrics to Dorothy and together they began a profound and unique collaboration on the adaptation of lyrics to music, delving into words and meanings, phonetic properties and their singability. “Lyrics that have the audacity to deal with complex themes of human existence, real philosophical cutaways that...
CD $15.50
03/17/2023
***Endless Skyways is Bobby Lee’s third full album and second release on Tompkins Square. Returning to the full band sound of his debut, the name Endless Skyways is borrowed from a line in Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land, one of the cornerstones of American music. That song’s mix of the terrestrial (“ribbons of highway”) and celestial consciousness encapsulates Lee’s brand of widescreen cosmic americana; a duality also evident in the album’s split between deep-fried rural rock and ambient country. Dusty boots but third eye open.
MC $10.25
02/17/2023
LP $20.50
06/23/2023
***Harvey Mandel is among the most innovative guitarists to emerge from the Chicago blues scene of the late 1960s. His career began at Twist City and other local hotspots, sharing stages with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy. He came up in that scene alongside Charlie Musselwhite, Mike Bloomfield, Barry Goldberg and Steve Miller, leading to an invitation from Bill Graham to open for Cream at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium in August 1967. Mandel was a member of Canned Heat, appearing with them at Woodstock. He played on numerous John Mayall albums, and on the Rolling Stones' 1975 LP Black and Blue ("Hot Stuff", "Memory Motel"), having auditioned for Mick Taylor's job, which ultimately went to Ron Wood. Who’s Calling is the 16th album under Harvey Mandel’s name as a leader, and his second for Tompkins Square following the 2016 acclaimed comeback, Snake Pit. Joined by drummer and co-producer Ryan Jewell (Ryley Walker, Laraaji) and bassist Andy Hess (Gov't Mule, Black Crowes), Who’s Calling finds the 77 year old guitar legend as vibrant and creative as ever. Despite unspeakable health setbacks and of course a Covid shutdown, Harvey has emerged miraculously stronger, proclaiming he’s never played better than on Who’s Calling.
CD $15.50
02/03/2023
***"If there was a silver lining to the cloud of uncertainty that was life during the early days of the pandemic, it was that all of the isolation provided a clear break from the entrenched routines of day to day life. This respite allowed me to see in sharp contrast all of the things that were important in my life, and all of the things that were trivial, and thus expendable. It was during this time that I began to write in earnest for this second Elijah McLaughlin Ensemble record." "Over the course of a year, I would bring my new compositions to my collaborators (Jason Toth and Joel Styzens), and usually after a very limited number of rehearsals we would enter the studio at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago and record the songs on an old Tascam ½” tape machine. There were four such studio sessions, in which all recorded material was culled down to these 9 songs. We recorded the material with a strong improvisational approach, and a couple of these songs are essentially first takes. I am very proud of the material on this album, and the energy we captured in the studio. I am glad to partner with Tompkins Square in sharing this album with the world." "The Chicago group, which features Elijah McLaughlin on 12 and 6 string guitars, Joel Styzens on hammered dulcimer, and Jason Toth on upright bass, blends elements of American primitivism guitar styles, with free jazz and modern classical music...
LP $17.75
09/30/2022
***Searching In Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert is a previously unissued recording of jazz icon MAL WALDRON's mesmerizing performance at the Five Days of Jazz series in Grenoble, France on March 23, 1978. Waldron was Billie Holiday’s final accompanist, played on classic sessions with John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and Jackie McLean among others, and recorded dozens of solo albums as a leader before his passing in 2002. Originally produced by the legendary ANDRE FRANCIS and transferred from the original Radio France tapes, this is the first official release of this music in cooperation with the Mal Waldron Estate and Ina (The Institut national de l'audiovisuel). The beautifully designed, deluxe 2-CD set includes photos by K. ABE, BRIAN MCMILLEN and RAYMOND ROSS; an extensive 24-page booklet with a heartfelt statement by Mal's daughter MALA WALDRON, plus essays by producer/"Jazz Detective" ZEV FELDMAN, journalist ADAM SHATZ and Ina's PASCAL ROZAT; and interviews with modern jazz piano luminaries RAN BLAKE and MATTHEW SHIPP. Searching In Grenoble features classic Waldron originals such as "Soul Eyes" and "All Alone," and jazz standards "You Don't Know What Love Is," "It Could Happen to You" and "I Thought About You.”
2XCD $23.95
09/23/2022
V/a
Imaginational Anthem XI - Luke Schneider Presents Chrome Universal - A Survey of Modern Pedal Steel
Tompkins Square
***Curated by in-demand Nashville pedal steel maverick and Third Man recording artist Luke Schneider, the eleventh volume of Tompkins Square’s venerable acoustic guitar series Imaginational Anthem features exclusive tracks by legend BJ Cole, as well as leading exponents on the instrument including Susan Alcorn, Luke himself, and British expat / Nashville hotshot Spencer Cullum among others. Nashville native and Merge recording artist William Tyler has written a beautiful detailed history of the pedal steel for the package.
MC $10.25
06/03/2022
CD $15.50
08/12/2022
LP $20.50
12/02/2022
***The first official release of the legendary and influential Brazilian acoustic guitarist BOLA SETE's live recordings at the Penthouse jazz club in Seattle, WA featuring bassist SEBASTIÃO NETO and drummer PAULINHO MAGALHÃES. Produced by Grammy-nominated jazz detective ZEV FELDMAN, and remastered from the original tape reels in cooperation with The Bola Sete Estate, this deluxe 3-CD set includes an extensive 40 page booklet with rare photos from The Penthouse; essay by music critic GREG CASSEUS (aka GREG CAZ); new interviews and statements by guitar icon CARLOS SANTANA, legendary composer/pianist LALO SCHIFRIN, Sete's friend, pianist and producer, GEORGE WINSTON, and Bola Sete's widow ANNE SETE; plus an effusive tribute by the late guitar great JOHN FAHEY. Samba in Seattle is a significant addition to the recorded legacy of an oft–sampled musician (A Tribe Called Quest, J Dilla and Dan The Automator) whose career straddled bossa nova, jazz–pop and early New Age.
3XCD $36.25
12/03/2021
***Elsa Hewitt is a London-based music producer and writer hailing from Sussex, via Yorkshire. Beginning as a young singer-songwriter producing demos on a four-track, she progressed through fronting post-punk bands and solo electronic songwriting, all the while developing a passion for album-making which would ultimately lead her to electronic production, establishing her name producing avant-garde, experimental & ambient, leftfield dance, and lo-fi, psychedelia. Since her 2017 official debut ‘Cameras From Mars’, stepping onto the scene as a Future Bubbler and Lynsey de Paul Prize winner, Hewitt has amassed a series of distinct yet interlinked philosophical worlds; each one holding its own tones of joyful beauty and abstract darkness. With a boundless approach to merging elements of dance & ambient, Hewitt’s adventurous approach remains pinned by her earthy voice, idiosyncratic songwriting style and sharply poetic lyricism.
LP $17.75
10/15/2021
***Coyote Canyon is a wilderness area behind my daughter's house where coyotes gather and howl before taking off for their nightly foraging. Little Tujunga (pronounced "Tuhunga") is a river running through the Angeles Forest near a house I lived in five decades ago. Half my ideas for this piece came from onshore guitar ruminating. The rest was improvised in studio. "Emma" was my close and sweet companion during this period, a lifelong deep friend. I composed her song one evening at the kitchen table of our place while she was cooking. "Tumbleweedin'" describes a desert tumbleweed storm. I menaced every inch of the Yamaha, recreating the effect of these windblown monsters screeching along boulders, smacking into cactus and anything else in their way at often impossible speeds, following the whims of the heavy winds. This song was completely improvised at the moment in studio and forgotten. "Roy's Rain" is a tribute to my great good friend and musician killed in a car accident in 1973. I found "For Marsha Version2" on a well-worn studio tape. It's a variant of the same composition on the Gentle Wilderness album. I like this loose and flowy version. "Movin' On" has one thing on its mind—getting away fast and now. "Going Home" is my improvised take on an American root song. The above seven were recorded between 1972-1975. "Three Sisters" was recorded on a 20-minute studio break in 1999 describing three barren red hills somewhere in the Arizona desert, a cherished location.
LP $17.75
08/27/2021
***In 1967, the folk-pop group The Association had a massive hit with a song called “Windy” penned by an unknown young woman named Ruthann Friedman. Two years later, she released her own album Constant Companion on Warner/Reprise Records that sounded nothing like “Windy”—it had more in common with her labelmate Joni Mitchell or cult-hero Linda Perhacs. Decades later, Ruthann would be declared an “astral folk goddess” and championed by the likes of Devendra Banhart. Around that time, reissue producer Pat Thomas compiled a collection of previously unreleased demos, home recordings, and lost songs circa 1965-1970 from Ruthann's personal archive including the original version of "Windy." Titled Hurried Life, Ruthann recently declared, “That’s the one that I really like—that was the first time going back into the archives to find songs that might be reissued. I think those were representative of me.” First released on CD in 2006 (and long out of print), it’s now available for the first time ever on vinyl LP! With delicious artwork by Nat Russell.
LP $17.75
07/17/2021
***“The two latest reissues to spin off from our acclaimed Imaginational Anthem Volume 8: The Private Press feature the solo guitar compositions of Russell Potter, recorded in the last waning days of the initial American Primitive explosion. A then obsessed teenaged devotee of John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Leo Kottke at a time when Punk and New Wave were ascendant, Potter harnessed a similar DIY ethos to his own ends by starting his own label & self-publishing his first record, 'A Stone’s Throw’, while a freshman enrolled at Goddard College in Vermont in 1979. Assembled at the legendary Boddie Records in Potter’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and sprinkled liberally with references to his heroes, from the initial record label name of Fonytone (which more than a little recalls Fahey’s earliest record label, Fonotone), to the arcane song titles and references to obscure rags. Even as he looks to his elders, Potter’s debut release nimbly evinces a complete mastery of his form and is all the more remarkable for one of such tender years, as only the chutzpah of youth can account for such moves as successfully grafting one of your own composition to one of John Fahey’s, as he does here. There’s a very immediate, lovely, and real homespun quality to Potter’s chiming twelve-string compositions that puts it in the realm of those classic records that seem to simply exist outside of time. Shortly after ‘A Stones Throw’, Potter produced & released a 45rpm...
LP $17.75
06/25/2021
***“The two latest reissues to spin off from our acclaimed Imaginational Anthem Volume 8: The Private Press feature the solo guitar compositions of Russell Potter, recorded in the last waning days of the initial American Primitive explosion. A then obsessed teenaged devotee of John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Leo Kottke at a time when Punk and New Wave were ascendant, Potter harnessed a similar DIY ethos to his own ends by starting his own label & self-publishing his first record, 'A Stone’s Throw’, while a freshman enrolled at Goddard College in Vermont in 1979. Assembled at the legendary Boddie Records in Potter’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and sprinkled liberally with references to his heroes, from the initial record label name of Fonytone (which more than a little recalls Fahey’s earliest record label, Fonotone), to the arcane song titles and references to obscure rags. Even as he looks to his elders, Potter’s debut release nimbly evinces a complete mastery of his form and is all the more remarkable for one of such tender years, as only the chutzpah of youth can account for such moves as successfully grafting one of your own composition to one of John Fahey’s, as he does here. There’s a very immediate, lovely, and real homespun quality to Potter’s chiming twelve-string compositions that puts it in the realm of those classic records that seem to simply exist outside of time. Shortly after ‘A Stones Throw’, Potter produced & released a 45rpm single by an...
LP $17.75
06/25/2021
***Welsh musician GWENIFER RAYMOND's 2018 debut album, You Never Were Much of a Dancer, introduced a new voice on acoustic guitar, receiving 5 stars in The Guardian, big spreads in MOJO and UNCUT, and airplay on multiple BBC programs. This led to months of touring on the European festival circuit. Her latest, Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain, finds Raymond ranging into unexplored experimental territory, drawing from her Welsh roots. “My new album, 'Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain', has eight songs in it. All were recorded in a basement flat in central Brighton, locked-down amidst a global pandemic. I recorded them myself and neither I, nor any of the songs saw said outbreak coming. Coronavirus may have dictated the circumstance under which the album was recorded but it did not otherwise inform any of the compositions that run through it; like I said, we didn't see it coming. Growing up in Wales was not a theme strongly present in my first record (perhaps not too surprising in an album of 'American Primitive'), but I feel as though my memories of that time have started to insinuate themselves in the tunes here. In my opinion, landscape does a lot to shape a community's folk music; from my childhood I recall tall, spooky trees, black against the grey sky, breath misting in cold air, and I have tried to take something of Welsh folk horror to make my own 'Welsh Primitive'. Whilst this isn't the only theme present in the album,...
LP $15.50
11/13/2020
CD $12.75
11/13/2020
***Tompkins Square is the early label home of such talents as William Tyler, Ryley Walker, Hiss Golden Messenger, Gwenifer Raymond and many more. Joining the stable is SAM BURTON, from Salt Lake City, now based in Los Angeles. After several years circulating homemade cassettes on labels like Chthonic and embraced by blogs like Cassette Gods, Sam has recorded his first proper debut album with producer JARVIS TAVENIERE (PURPLE MOUNTAINS, WOODS). The LP is preceded by two limited edition 45s. Sam's music has appeared on a MOJO CD sampler, on the BBC, and is now being discovered the world over.
LP $15.50
10/30/2020
CD $12.75
10/30/2020
***Guitarist WALL MATTHEWS is the surviving member of experimental '70s collective, ENTOURAGE. Sampled by Four Tet, their name whispered in reverence through the decades, Entourage forged bold musical ideas on their two rare ’70s Folkways LPs. Tompkins Square released Ceremony of Dreams: Studio Sessions and Outtakes, 1972-1977, in 2017 to wide acclaim. Spine River: The Guitar Music of Wall Matthews, 1967-1981 is a collection of unreleased or obscure music by the master guitarist. This volume will be released as a limited edition LP, along with four other digital volumes of Wall's music, chronologically mapping his career.
LP $14.50
05/08/2020
***DANIEL MANDRYCHENKO is a multi-genre guitarist from the Bay Area, currently residing in Long Beach, CA. As an active member of the Bay Area jazz community, Daniel shared the stage with Dave Liebman, Marcus Printup, Carl Allen, and Charles McPherson among others. For his debut, Daniel chose producer ADAM MUNOZ, known for his work on multiple Grammy-nominated Bill Frisell records, and with Herbie Hancock, Joanna Newsom, Branford Marsalis and many more. Daniel also assembled a crack team to accompany him on his debut album. EVAN WILLIAMS (drums) and DANNY CASTRO (upright and electric bass) cut their teeth playing with a litany of the Bay Area’s best musicians: Howard Wiley, Akira Tana, Calvin Keys, John Stowell, Mitch Butler, Darryl Green. DANN ZINN (tenor saxophone) has played with many greats such as Joe Henderson and Freddie Hubbard. Anti is one of the last records ever recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA. A remarkable musical statement from this promising young guitarist.
CD $12.75
02/21/2020
***Tompkins Square is the early label home of such talents as William Tyler, Ryley Walker, Hiss Golden Messenger, Gwenifer Raymond and many more. Joining the stable is SAM BURTON, from Salt Lake City, now based in Los Angeles. After several years circulating homemade cassettes on labels like Chthonic and embraced by blogs like Cassette Gods, Sam has recorded his first proper debut album with producer JARVIS TAVENIERE (PURPLE MOUNTAINS, WOODS). The LP is preceded by two limited edition 45s. Sam's music has appeared on a MOJO CD sampler, on the BBC, and is now being discovered the world over.
LP $11.25
10/30/2020
CD $8.95
10/30/2020
7" $7.25
01/31/2020
***Crow Autumn is the latest album by English composer RICHARD SKELTON, who releases haunting and evocative music under a variety of guises through his own much-acclaimed Sustain-Release Private Press. From CLOUWBECK to HEIDIKA, CAROUSELL to RIFTMUSIC, his recordings brim with intensity and stark beauty, redolent of the landscapes that inspire them. Recording here as A BROKEN CONSORT—his most prolific and successful pseudonym—Skelton expertly builds on the achievements of last year's Box Of Birch, creating a dense-yet-delicate weave of textures from a broad palette of acoustic instruments, including guitar, mandolin, piano, violin and accordion. The result is a stunning sequence of swells and eddies, culminating in the orchestral intensity of “The River,” with its torrent of interleaved violin melodies and seething undertow. Originally released in two installments on the artist's own label, this special edition for Tompkins Square distills the essence of those recordings into a coherent whole, and augments them with new material, including the beautifully elegiac “Like Rain,” and the brooding coda of “Leaves.” With Crow Autumn, Skelton has created a work of enduring beauty that should firmly establish him as one of England's most uniquely talented contemporary artists, capable of rendering with a fine brush the visceral majesty of the natural landscape.
LP $9.35
01/01/2020
LP $15.50
01/01/2020
LP $15.50
01/01/2020
***NOW AVAILABLE ON CD!!! The first-ever full length commercially available live album by old-time legend ROSCOE HOLCOMB. Notes by festival producer LOU CURTISS, and folklorist JOHN COHEN, who first discovered Holcomb in 1959. A favorite of Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton Features a duet with JEAN RITCHIE.
CD $13.75
01/01/2020
LP $15.50
01/01/2020
CD $13.75
01/01/2020
LP $15.50
01/01/2020
CD $13.75
01/01/2020
CD $13.85
01/01/2020
***If American Primitive Guitar begins with John Fahey and the Takoma School, then the actual origins of this sound is found within this collection of fourteen solo guitar performances. Recorded between 1923 to 1930, this set is the "Rosetta Stone" of style and repertoire tapped into deeply by Fahey, Basho & Rose, among many others. SAM MCGEE, RILEY PUCKETT, BAYLESS ROSE, SYLVESTER WEAVER, LEMUEL TURNER, FRANK HUTCHISON and DAVEY MILLER are the rural artists included in this anthology. Each one of these showcases a particular technique and sensitivity sourced from the earlier 19th century parlor guitar tradition. Several of these sides are reissued for their first time including Sylvester Weaver's "Guitar Blues," which is the first solo finger picked guitar solo ever recorded. Stunningly remastered and annotated by CHRISTOPHER KING. LP packaged in gatefold sleeves.
CD $14.00
01/01/2020
LP $15.50
01/01/2020
***Imaginational Anthem Vol. 7 is compiled by 20 year old guitarist HAYDEN PEDIGO, from Amarillo, TX. Hayden has recently been featured in Vogue and The Fader behind his own recent album release, Five Steps. Hayden's curation represents a balanced cross-section across the modern solo acoustic guitar spectrum. As with previous volumes, this one truly represents the state of the art—an area of evolving musical expression that is very vibrant and healthy indeed. Features tracks from CHUCK JOHNSON, SEAN PROPER, NORBERTO LOBO, SIMON SCOTT, DBH, JORDAN NORTON, KYLE FOSBURGH, CHRISTOPH BRUHN, MICHAEL VALLERA, DYLAN GOLDEN AYCOCK, M. MUCCI, MARIANO RODRIGUEZ, ANDREW WEATHERS, and WES TIREY.
CD $14.00
01/01/2020