After putting together WaterFinder's first release, The Third Road, we hit the road and played four shows spread out comfortably over about a week and a half. Our first show was in Northampton, Massachusetts, where we played a house show along with two phenomenal musicians, Tom Kovacevic (kind of like if Roy Harper played the oud - amazing!) and Micah Blue Smaldone (beautiful avant folk); we then continued on to Portland, Maine, where we played at a wonderful new art space called Apohadion with Dark-Urrru, a magical musical collaboration including members of Big Blood and Brother Oak, and once again with Tom Kovacevic, much to our delight! We then said our fond goodbyes to our dear friends in Maine and headed westward for a couple more shows: one in Louisville, Kentucky, where we played a house show with power trio Captain Ron Today (which includes the drumming talent of another dear friend of ours, Jeff Komara) and one final show in Bloomington, Indiana, at a new venue called The Bishop where we shared a bill with two awesome locals, Drekka (electronic/folk/noise) and Os (power duo, heavy dark soundscapes). It was a great experience full of impressive, genuine displays of beautifully crafted music, and we feel fortunate to have shared the stage with so many talented folks and friends. We're back home in Pittsburgh now, creating more of what we love: music.
Sagas - Six Days on the Road CDR: Recorded live on tour, September '09, these three bare-bones tracks for tenor banjo, oud and electric guitar, respectively, take the wide-open melodies of early American music and transform them into loping cyclic improvisations. Housed in hand-sewn slipcases.
25 copies out of print
WaterFinder- The Third Road EP: The sixth release on our label is by WaterFinder, Matt and Jackie's musical collaboration. Four tracks ranging from the experimental plucking of homemade string instruments to distorted, noisy guitar and heavy bass. The proceedings kick off with the Eastern-tinged Kraut groove of "Caravan of the Nine" and finish up with a cover of the song "Orphan Girl" by one of our favorite musicians, Gillian Welch. As usual, all of the packaging is handmade. This disc also marks Matt's 30th release!
25 copies out of print
Sagas - Headlong into the Heresy CS: Our fifth release is actually a cassette reissue of two older Matt McDowell CDRs, 2006's Quantum Heresy on John Fail's Sharks and Pfennigs imprint and 2007's Headlong into the Fire on New American Folk Hero. Two sides of blissfully torrid guitar caterwaul sure to drive your grandma crazy.
50 copies out of print
Sagas/Plankton Wat split CDR: Our fourth release is a split between Sagas and Portland, OR's Plankton Wat, solo project of heavy bro Dewey Mahood of serious vibe-shredders Eternal Tapestry. The Sagas tracks show a move away from free improvisation toward composition with multi-tracked layers of oud, guitar, percussion, etc., while Plankton Wat offers up three fat helpings of languid West Coast stone bliss. Co-released with Solar Commune. Sorry, Jackie's sweet hand-sewn edition pictured above is gone.
50 copies out of print
Sagas CDR: Matt's first release under the Sagas moniker is a rag-tag collection of various noise and free-improv tidbits dating back to early 2005 assembled for Mike Tamburo's first Fantastic Voyagers festival in 2007.
35 copies out of print
Matthew McDowell - Analog Dreams vol. 2 CS: Two sidelong tracks of slow-building feedback loop and guitar ooze. More killer art from Pete Lavigne-Chalek.
? copies out of print
Melted Prism CS: Our first release is a set of high-velocity-tumbling-down-the-stairs free rock insanity from short-lived Portland, OR duo, Melted Prism. Three blasts from spring '06 featuring Matt McDowell on guitar and Pete Lavigne-Chalek on drums and killer artwork.
60 copies out of print
