published on
Purchase from label: www.paradiseofbachelors.com/shop/pob-028
Bandcamp: https://nathanbowles.bandcamp.com/album/whole-cloven
Other options: https://lnk.to/PoB28
www.paradiseofbachelors.com/nathan-bowles
On his exquisite third solo album, Nathan Bowles (Steve Gunn, Pelt, Black Twig Pickers) again augments his mesmeric clawhammer banjo pieces with piano, percussion, and vocals. Instead of the programmatic place-based narratives of its predecessor Nansemond (PoB-16), Whole & Cloven offers a stoic meditation on absence, loss, and fragmentation, populating those experiential gaps—the weighty interstices and places in-between—with stillness and wonder. Straddling Appalachian string band music and avant-garde composition but beholden to neither idiom, Nathan proves himself heir to deconstructivist tradition-bearers like Henry Flynt and Jack Rose. With download code.
+ The third solo album by multi-instrumentalist Nathan Bowles (Steve Gunn, Pelt, Black Twig Pickers) is his most exquisite, immersive, and ambitious to date
+ RIYL: Steve Gunn, the Black Twig Pickers, Pelt, Jack Rose, Michael Chapman, Daniel Bachman, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Hiss Golden Messenger, Henry Flynt, Clive Palmer, Terry Riley
+ Available on 140g virgin vinyl as an LP, with heavy-duty 24-point reverse board matte jacket, printed inner sleeve, and download code
+ CD edition features heavy-duty gatefold jacket
+ For more information: http://www.paradiseofbachelors.com/shop/pob-028
+ PoB artist page: http://www.paradiseofbachelors.com/nathan-bowles
“Nathan's music is marked by both his deep study of vernacular American forms and his years-long dedication to the development of his own voice. He is a musician who respects tradition as he values experimentation, an artist whose work commands careful listening. This balance is what makes Nathan's voice singular: as a player, he is fearless, challenging. And as a listener, I am grateful and inspired.” – Steve Gunn
“Wry, sad, troubled, and mesmeric compositions imbued with a spooked and grainy Appalachian potency. Rich chaparrals of deep buzzing color you could lose yourself in forever.” – MOJO
“He could play forever without boring himself or anyone listening.” – Pitchfork
“A portal through time.” – NPR
“Stunning. A Terrence Malick film with just a handful of strings.” – Steven Hyden
“I have huge respect for Nathan as a musician on so many levels.” – Michael Chapman
“Nathan Bowles is like my spirit animal. It’s the real shit … beautiful then, beautiful now. Timeless.” – Kurt Vile
- Genre
- Banjo