Three Lobed Recordings have announced the release “Axacan“, the fourth album from Daniel Bachman for the label and his first album in three years. His last album, The Morning Star was reviewed by Glenn Kimpton for Folk Radio:
The Morning Star seems like a giant leap forward into the experimental mind of an artist who has all but left behind the standard structure and sound of an American Primitive or instrumental acoustic guitar album. If Daniel Bachman hinted at the new direction Bachman was heading in, this set finds it and also disregards all genre boundaries and refuses to be categorised.
Cory Rayborn, the founder of Three Lobed makes it clear this new album is a celebratory moment:
Being able to observe Daniel’s prowess and development as a composer and player is amazing. From tracking the substantial addition of drone elements to his guitar compositions on his 2016 self-titled album through to the expansion of that drone to also include found sound and field recordings on 2018’s The Morning Star. Axacan, his upcoming (May 7) album follows this prior pattern – DB had the breadcrumbs out there for all of regarding where next steps were going, we just had to have our eyes and ears open to track and intuit all of the right clues. Axacan is a stunning and stirring work – raw, singular and searching. Bachman takes various components – guitar compositions and improvisations, harmonium drones, natural recordings, place-specific recordings and more – and weaves them all together into a specific tapestry where each part depends on those around it. These are tracks built with deep care, thought and concern which are in turn purposefully placed within the greater whole to create a wordless dissertation on societal transmutation and merging with a “natural” world. Sounds heavy and heady? Well, it is. But it is also exceptionally visceral. To quote James Toth’s masterful essay about this album, “great works of art… can often leave you breathless, but they do something else, too: they can leave you changed.” This is not hyperbole and it is truly a great and humbling pleasure to be able to bring this album to you all.
Listen to lead track Coronach, also our Tune of the Day:
Axacan was recorded in 2020 at various locations in Virginia. It will be pressed on two 140 gram 12″ records in Virginia by Furnace and housed within a full-colour gatefold jacket bearing new photography by Bachman. As a part of the Three Lobed Recordings 20th Anniversary series, it features an OBI strip bearing an essay about the LP by Aquarium Drunkard’s Tyler Wilcox.
Pre-order Axacan (7 May 2021) via: https://threelobed.bandcamp.com/album/axacan