Maybe Yr New Here...

I thought it might be a good time for me to reintroduce myself and this blog. Since moving out to Los Angeles almost a year ago now I've been meeting new people and so I thought I would provide an easy way to understand what we're doing here and a sort of primer to the more popular albums up on here.


So My name is Ben. I'm from Atlanta originally and I went to college in Savannah and recently moved to Los Angeles. Throughout all of that I have recorded a lot of music and made friends with other people who do likewise. I started this blog as a way to post up music for people to download, just as a way of getting it out there in the world instead of forever festering on CDRs made in an edition of five.

So I've posted a lot now, it's close to a hundred, maybe in the seventies and I have plenty more sitting on hard drives waiting to go up. I recognize that if you are new to the site you may have no idea where to start so I thought I would guide a bit and tell you about some of the key bands/albums featured on this blog.



Uncle Owen Aunt Beru - "Black Seas"

It might be the best album on this whole site. Jessica (sole member of Uncle Owen Aunt Beru, now called simply "Beru") is the unquestioned star of this blog, anything she plays on gets downloaded the most and for good reason. Get this record first before anything else.

Download it HERE

Or view the original post HERE




DETH(gate)(cat)PEOPLE

This is another of the most downloaded recordings. It also features Jessica, this time playing drums in our duo Cat People, (which also includes me on guitar). This recording has us playing in double-duo form with Deth Gate, who were (are?) a rad duo in Savannah made up of Stephen Zerbe on keys and Coley Brown on drums.



Download it HERE

Or view the original post HERE




Ben Collins - What is a Lover?

A lot of the records on this blog are mine, simply because I have more of my own stuff than anyone else's. My record vary in style and quality, I have no real objective way of saying what is good at all but in many ways this album is my favorite one I ever did. It has a good blend of styles from noise to acoustic and other...

Download it HERE

Or view the original post HERE




Black Thirteen - Whiskey & Honey

This was the first album I posted. Black Thirteen is a now sort of defunct improv group that had a rotating line up with a few constants. This album is the first to feature the "classic" grouping of Simon Sharp, Wesley Rose and myself: all playing guitars.

Download it HERE

Or view the original post HERE




Will Melton & The Year of Love - Summer of Love

This record features a ton of my friends all playing and singing these songs which are all composed and recorded by Will Melton. I won't break down the various contributions, (see original post) but I'll tell you that it is great eclectic pop music.

Download it HERE

Or view the original post HERE




Wesley Rose - Southern Elegance

This is Wesley's first album. Power. Raw. Noise. Get it.

Download it HERE

Original post HERE




Dixieland Teenbeat Spiritual Waltz

This record is Travis Knowles and myself each playing an organ, as the photo suggests. It's improv, it's fun.



Download it HERE

ORIGINAL POST




Ben Collins & Zach Smola - Guitars and Loops

This record is a improv electric guitar duo by Zach Smola and myself. Sort of like a Fripp & Eno record if it was two Fripps and neither were as good as the actual, real Fripp.

Download it HERE

ORIGINAL POST



Black Thirteen - Plate Tekroniks

Here is a good example of an expanded B13 line up. Here we feature the classic group plus the inimitable Joe McNeill (Featured eating Long John Silver's on the cover). It's also a good example of how we could play long and weird and whiskey-fueled music that would never have occurred to us in any other setting.

Download it HERE

ORIGINAL POST


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So maybe that is a good introduction to the unfamiliar... I'll continue with the new posts soon.

Wesley Rose - Humane Trafficking

This is Wesley's forth album. If you don't know anything about the guy look up his older posts and learn something. I've talked him up a lot, he's one of my favorite musicians and one of my favorite people. This albums are slowly revealing the musical powers he has at his disposal, and it's just my opinion but I think he has a great deal that we haven't yet seen. After all he is the drummer in Figurants and really did anyone see that coming?

Seriously though this album is good. It's more organic, less power electronics. That old acoustic guitar shows up, which is great. It's mellow noise, you could listen to it before bed (I am doing this right now). My powers of description fail me, and I can only say that you should listen to this. If this blog existed only to support Welsey's albums it would be worth it to me.

I should say that I promised to post this album a while back and it took some time to do so. What can I say other than that I got married and moved across the country? At any rate partly due to the delay and partly because we love him so much, Jess and I each contributed to this release: she in the form of the video below and me in the form of a bonus remix track at the end of the record.

U.H.I.D. Wesley Rose from Jessica Collins on Vimeo.

But other than that, all sounds by Wesley Rose.


Download HERE