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Avant Folk

Steel strings like a sarod

Robbie Basho

Robbie Basho went to Catholic schools in Baltimore and then to St. James School, an Episcopal boarding school in Maryland. He modelled his playing on the sarod, using open C tunings and the twelve-string guitar to get the ringing drone of Indian music, and he wanted the steel-string guitar taken seriously as a concert instrument. After his first record Takoma released several more, including Basho Sings in 1967. He moved to Blue Thumb in 1969, and in 1983 he put out an album on his own label. In 2020 Tompkins Square issued five discs of lost master tapes found by filmmaker Liam Barker, whose documentary about Basho premiered in 2015. Guitarist Steffen Basho-Junghans took Basho's name into his own.

Richmond, Virginia, 1993

PELT

Pelt were started in Richmond, Virginia, in 1993 by violinist Mike Gangloff. In 1995 he brought in Patrick Best and Jack Rose from the band Ugly Head. At first they were loud and electric, influenced by La Monte Young and Sonic Youth. Over time they turned to long acoustic drones with tabla, esraj, tanpura, Tibetan bowls, lap steel and flute, drawing on Indian music, old-time music and John Fahey. They released records on their own Radioactive Rat label and then on VHF. Mikel Dimmick joined in 2004 and Nathan Bowles in 2006, the year Rose left for a solo career. Rose died in December 2009. A live recording from 2011 came out as Effigy in 2012. Gangloff also plays in the old-time string band the Black Twig Pickers.

Paisley, Athens, Tokyo

Momus

Nick Currie was born in Paisley in 1960. His cousin is Justin Currie of Del Amitri, and while his father taught English for the British Council in Athens, Nick boarded at the Edinburgh Academy. In 1981 he made a single and an album on 4AD with the Happy Family, a band with former members of Josef K. As Momus he released The Poison Boyfriend in 1987 and Tender Pervert in 1988 on Creation. His cult following in Japan helped spark the Shibuya-kei scene, and he wrote songs for Kahimi Karie. He has also written novels, and his blog Click Opera led to columns for the New York Times and Wired. He has lived in London, Paris, Tokyo, New York, Berlin and Osaka, and runs his own label, Analog Baroque.

The Collection