Jewelled Antler is an American musical collective created in 1999 by Loren Chasse and Glenn Donaldson as an extension of their work in the organic drone folk-noise group Thuja. The idea was to release handmade CD-R's of various solo and collaborative projects and one-off bands, encompassing drones, songs, electroacoustic sound manipulation, and field recordings. Jewelled Antler is perhaps best known for its "Nature Psych" or "Outdoor Folk", in which whole albums are recorded "in the field" and/or incorporate field recordings and the sounds of nature. Indeed, besides a wide range of traditional and exotic stringed things and low-tech electronic equipment, some of the "instruments" on their albums include pine cones, creeks, branches and crude harps built from fallen trees.
The Jewelled Antler Collective is a term that has been applied to a larger group of musicians working with Chasse and Donaldson or on their own in similar areas: Steven R. Smith, Rob Reger, Donovan Quinn, Christine Boepple, Greg Bianchini, Keith Evans, Eleanor Harwood and Kerry McLaughlin.
Projects such as the Blithe Sons, OF, the Ivytree, The Franciscan Hobbies, Floating Birthday Children, The Buried Civilizations, Tomes, the Famous Boating Party, Hala Strana, The Skygreen Leopards, Glassine, Child Readers, Dead Raven Choir and more have released albums under the Jewelled Antler banner. Many of these groups have moved on to slightly more high-profile releases on labels such as Catsup Plate, Strange Attractors Audio House, FAT CAT, Jagjaguwar, Soft Abuse, Family Vineyard and Music Fellowship.
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Calvin Johnson is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, music producer, and disc jockey. Known for his uniquely deep and droning singing voice, Johnson was a founding member of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, Dub Narcotic Sound System, The Go Team and The Halo Benders.
Adam Leonard is an English singer-songwriter working mainly in the folk, psychedelic and electronic music fields. His style is often described as lo-fi and the subject matter of his songs somewhat unconventional. Since his debut album How Music Sounds in 2003, he has released many EPs, albums and mini-albums on various small labels. Live performances, which have so far been limited to the UK are as intriguing as they are rare. In 2008 he opened for British folk musician Steve Ashley. He regularly collaborates with other musicians, most notably Pat Gubler, Ashley Cooke (Pulco), Gareth Davies, and Steven Collins of The Owl Service, a band for which Leonard provided vocals for their 2010 album The View From A Hill. At the close of 2010, a limited edition album entitled Nature Recordings was released on vinyl only by the London label The Great Pop Supplement. In 2011, Leonard provided the soundtrack to Claudia Heindel's award-winning independent film, Lucky Seven. In 2012, Nature Recordings was issued on CD by Manchester-based label The Northwestern Series.
Coil were an English experimental music group formed in 1982 in London and dissolved in 2005. Initially envisioned as a solo project by musician John Balance, Coil evolved into a full-time project with the addition of his partner and Psychic TV bandmate Peter Christopherson, formerly of pioneering industrial music group Throbbing Gristle. Coil's work explored themes related to the occult, sexuality, alchemy, and drugs while influencing genres such as gothic rock, neofolk and dark ambient. AllMusic called the group "one of the most beloved, mythologized groups to emerge from the British post-industrial scene."
Neurosis is an American avant-garde metal band from Oakland, California. It was formed in 1985 by guitarist Scott Kelly, bassist Dave Edwardson, and drummer Jason Roeder, initially as a hardcore punk band. Chad Salter joined as a second guitarist and appeared on the band's 1987 debut Pain of Mind and then Steve Von Till replaced him in 1989. The following year, the lineup further expanded to include a keyboardist and a visual artist. Beginning with their third album Souls at Zero (1992), Neurosis transformed their hardcore sound by incorporating diverse influences including doom metal and industrial music, becoming a major force in the emergence of the post-metal and sludge metal genres.
Bardo Pond are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1991, and who are currently signed to London-based label Fire Records. The current members are Michael Gibbons (guitar), John Gibbons (guitar), Isobel Sollenberger, Clint Takeda and Jason Kourkounis (drums). Bardo Pond's music is often classified as space rock, acid rock, post-rock, shoegazing, noise or psychedelic rock. Some Bardo Pond album titles have been derived from the names of esoteric psychedelic substances. Their sound has been likened to Pink Floyd, Spacemen 3 and My Bloody Valentine amongst others.
Nicholas Bullen is an English musician and a founding member of the grindcore band Napalm Death.
Ida is an indie rock band from New York City. They are known for their three-part harmonies; sparse, minimal, often quiet arrangements; and their three singer-songwriters. Their music shows strong folk, pop, punk, world, R&B, and American roots music influences, but there are also avant garde and experimental aspects to their sound.
Jackie-O Motherfucker is an American experimental music group that formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994.
Ashtray Navigations is an English experimental music group centred upon Phil Todd and active since 1991. Colloquially referred to as "Ash Nav", the group operates out of Todd's home in Stoke-on-Trent, from which he also ran the record labels Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers and, subsequently, Memoirs of an Aesthete. The project has also released music through labels such as Siltbreeze, Jewelled Antler, American Tapes, Fargone Records, Menlo Park, E.F. Tapes and Freedom From.
Steven R. Smith is an American musician, instrument-builder, and printmaker often associated with the Jewelled Antler collective. Born in Fullerton, California and based in San Francisco and, more recently, Los Angeles, he has been musically active since the mid-1990s. His main instrument is guitar, both acoustic and electric, although other instruments, including the hurdy-gurdy, bouzouki, fretted spike fiddles, and assorted ethnic instruments, have been incorporated into his work.
Hala Strana is the name of a recording project of American musician Steven R. Smith. Smith began recording under the name in 2002 as an outlet which allowed him to explore the traditional music of Eastern Europe more fully than possible with his solo work. Although numerous musicians have contributed to the project, including Glenn Donaldson, Loren Chasse, and Darren Ankenman, most Hala Strana recordings are solo productions. His recordings have included such diverse instruments as hurdy-gurdy, bouzouki, harmonium, spike fiddles, bulbul tarang, the optigan keyboard, xaphoon, and field recordings. Hala Strana's releases have featured arrangements of traditional music from Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Albania, Ukraine and Bulgaria as well as original music influenced by the music of these areas. Hala Strana has recorded for a number of independent labels such as Soft Abuse, Last Visible Dog, Jewelled Antler, and Emperor Jones.
Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was founded in 1987 after the family of Moses Asch, founder of Folkways Records, donated the entire Folkways Records label to the Smithsonian. The donation was made on the condition that the Institution continue Asch's policy that each of the more than 2,000 albums of Folkways Records remain in print forever, regardless of sales. Since then, the label has expanded on Asch's vision of documenting the sounds of the world, adding six other record labels to the collection, as well as releasing over 300 new recordings. Some well-known artists have contributed to the Smithsonian Folkways collection, including Pete Seeger, Ella Jenkins, Woody Guthrie, and Lead Belly. Famous songs include "This Land Is Your Land", "Goodnight, Irene", and "Midnight Special". Due to the unique nature of its recordings, which include an extensive collection of traditional American music, children's music, and international music, Smithsonian Folkways has become an important collection to the musical community, especially to ethnomusicologists, who utilize the recordings of "people's music" from all over the world.
Biota is an American experimental electronic music ensemble.
Fursaxa is a United States-based psychedelic folk or freak folk project led by Tara Burke of Pennsylvania. Her home-recordings feature acoustic guitar, simple Casio electronic keyboards, accordion, dulcimer and her heavily overdubbed vocals on a 4-track recorder.
Alexander Tucker is an English musician from Kent who writes, records and performs alone and in collaboration with a varied array of artists. One critic writes that "Tucker sounds like he’s following a tradition that has long been neglected, focusing not on ageless songs and ideas but on ageless feelings captured through his droning miasma of acoustic guitar and mandolin." His first musical position was singing in hardcore band Suction in the early 1990s, who according to Tucker "played noisy adolescent punk with leanings towards Swans and Fugazi." His next job was as vocalist of post-rock hardcore 5-piece Unhome who released one album Short History of Houses (Unlabel) and a split single with Papa M. Unhome split in late 1999 and Tucker went on to tour the UK with Detroit space-rockers Fuxa, playing guitar synthesizers.
Loren Chasse is an American musician, sound artist, field recordist and teacher, most notable for his association with Jewelled Antler and his work with Thuja, The Blithe Sons, The Child Readers, Of and many others. He has been called "one of the most important international artists working in the areas of environment and sound." With Glenn Donaldson, he operates the Jewelled Antler record label, releasing works by themselves and others. In addition to his musical performances, Chasse has also performed at the Auckland International Film Festival, giving a "live cinema" light and sound performance using objects such as motors, clocks, strobe lights, branches, gravel, sand and leaves.
Glenn David Donaldson is an American musician most notable for his band The Reds, Pinks and Purples. The band's fourth release, Summer at Land's End, was Bandcamp's album of the day on January 28, 2022.
The Owl Service is an English alternative folk music collective formed in 2006 by multi-instrumentalist Steven Paul Collins, named after the 1967 novel by Alan Garner.
Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist, and Deakin. The band's work is characterized by an eclectic exploration of styles, including psychedelia, freak folk, noise, and electronica, with the use of elements such as loops, drones, sampling, vocal harmonies, and sound collage. AllMusic's Fred Thomas suggests that the group "defined the face of independent experimental rock during the 2000s and 2010s."
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American musical project and band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990.