JUSTIN TRACY
Five Fathoms
British Folk Singer Justin Tracy’s new record Five Fathoms, is an introspective journey inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Employing folklore & ancient symbolism, Tracy weaves a tale & sonic tapestry reminiscent of legendary folk luminaries like Nick Drake & John Martyn & Bert Jansch. Steeped in tradition & craft, Tracy navigates the murky waters of family & fatherhood, life & death on the way to self-discovery.
IRIS CLEMENTINE
Outsider
Outsider is the debut EP from Iris Clementine, a 17 year old singer-songwriter from Woodstock, NY. Her rich voice centers these 6 explorations of the ups and downs of romance, family, friends, and finding your spot. Rich, melancholic, beautiful , hopeful , with a bit of dark undertow. For fans of Mazzy Star, Phoebe Bridgers, Fleetwood Mac. Recorded & mixed by Todd Adelman, Kevin Salem and Alan Weatherhead.
TWO DARK BIRDS + J.B. MILLS
Porous
The fifth release from Two Dark Birds, this four song collaboration between singer-songwriter Steve Koester and producer / dummer J.B. Mills, is a distinct departure from the band’s previous more folk-leaning forays. Sonically speaking, Porous delves into the minimalist sounds of today’s pop and yesterday’s wave. Lyrically speaking, the songs center around the usual subjects - love, family, nature, space-travel, roof-sitting, interdependent co-arising, bar hookups.
J.B. MILLS PRESENTS
The Street Slippers
“Put Your Foot In It”
An instrumental funk trio from Brooklyn, NY. Think J Dilla sitting in on drums during a Meters / M.G.’s jam. New Orleans meets Memphis meets Detroit meets Brooklyn. The lineup includes: Aubrey Mills-drums, percussion; Jason Mills-bass, percussion; Wes Mingus- guitar. Jonathan Powell provides all horns. Etsuko Tajima-keys on “Street Slippers Theme”. Put your foot in it.
TWO DARK BIRDS
Reservoir
The fourth album from the critically acclaimed band from The Catskills. These songs were written as a soundtrack to Nina Shengold’s beautiful memoir "Reservoir Year." Two Dark Birds crafted a set of mostly instrumentals to match the vibe -- woody, watery, meditative, deeply Catskillian. Featuring Steve Koester along with Josh Roy Brown, Carrie Bradley, Iris Koester, and Jason Mills.
BICENTENNIAL DRUG LORD
BDL EP
The first new music since their debut album The First Hit Is Free in 1997. Featuring Rick Donner (Punchdrunk), Al Weatherhead (Sparklehorse, Northern Lights), and John Daniels (Maki, Blow Pops). “If the debut dabbled in country, the new EP is a horse of a different color. ‘Confessed The Sheets’ recalls the dream jangle of Jesus and Mary Chain, with a nod to Pete Townshend’s keyboard experiments. The other five tunes range from the laconic drive of ‘Salt Off’ to the veiled, nagging dread and anticipation lurking in ‘The Pulse Of My Friends.’ - Shepherd Express
J.B. MILLS PRESENTS
The Beetroot Instrumentals
The Beetroot Instrumentals is the second collection of music to be released by Brooklyn-based drummer/multi-instrumentalist Jason B Mills under his producer alias “J.B. Mills”. For this EP, Mills pulled some previously unfinished instrumentals from the vault. Think King Tubby meets The Meters at a DC Go-go club.
TWO DARK BIRDS
Bow
A cycle of songs about openings and awakenings, about the spirit of nature and the nature of spirit. Recorded in Woodstock, NY with Chris Maxwell, Bow is “the latest luminous and ambitious collection of poet-grade and quietly experimental folk music written by Steve Koester and performed by his loose assemblage of Catskill cronies.”
J.B. MILLS PRESENTS
The Beat Sox Sessions
The Beat Sox Sessions is the first collection of music to be released by Brooklyn-based drummer/multi-instrumentalist Jason B Mills under his producer alias J.MILLS Presents. Completed in early 2020, just as the outside world shut down, its 3 instrumental tracks have been described as “cinematic funk.”
Bandcamp | All Digital Formats
KOESTER
Loser, Weepers
The third and final album from Koester the Rock Band, “Losers, Weepers” is a sonic exploration of NYC in the early 21st Century. Big hooks, weird sounds, AOR airs, Moog magic. Slightly fried… Recorded in 2005, the album was produced by Alan Weatherhead at Sound of Music Studios in Richmond Va and finally released in 2020.
iTunes | CD Baby | Spotify
KOESTER
Oh! Turpentine
Cool, dark and lyrically driven, this critically acclaimed album was originally released by Pitch-a-tent Records in 2001. "... a wee-hours, insomniac's tour of past romantic conquests and libidinous lost opportunities.” For fans of Sister Lovers, Skip Spence, L. Cohen, Sparklehorse.
TWO DARK BIRDS
Songs for the New
Evokes the Catskill Mountains from whence it came and stands in the grand tradition of folk-rock from that area while doing something new with the form. "You will hear the imprint of the broken-but-not-beaten American Bard, from Parsons and Van Zandt to Tweedy... at once folk-accessible and lit-deep... hits the mark again and again.” - Woodstock Times
TWO DARK BIRDS
Two Dark Birds
Two Dark Birds 2008 debut. "America Soul" with traces of Neil Young’s "On the Beach," The Band’s "Music from Big Pink," and echoes of Dylan, Bill Withers, and the Meat Puppets. Recorded and produced by Steve Koester and Don Piper in Brooklyn, NY. Mixed by Joel Hamilton. Also featuring Matt Trowbridge, Charles Bissell, Dave Baine, and Joe Pisapia. “Strange and beautiful… It’s a record heard best with a beer in hand beneath a star-punched sky.“ - Nylon Magazine
Apple | Spotify
PUNCHDRUNK
Wind Up the Devil Clock
Punchdrunk was formed by childhood friends Judd Counsell, Rick Donner, Steve Koester and Galen Polivka in Milwaukee in 1992, releasing three albums: From Dad (1994), A Message from the Cockpit (1996), and Bird Bird (1998). Polivka and Counsell later formed the rhythm section for The Hold Steady. Koester went on to form Koester, Maplewood, and Two Dark Birds. The tracks here were recorded during two different sessions in 1998 in Minneapolis by Mike Wisti at Albatross Studios.
PUNCHDRUNK
A Undiscovered Element
A Undiscovered Element was recorded direct to two track at Sorry Studios NYC in 1999. The album finds the band, in its final days, at its most impressively strange and pugnaciously stereophonic. For fans of: Pere Ubu, Bitches Brew, Can, Ben Oglivie, SCTV, Chairs Missing, David Whitehurst, SST 84, Bud Powell, NJ casinos.