Ah, beautiful! Here’s another album from the prolific Bow Thayer. He’s recently released his new album Driftwood Periodicals II, which is a great album that is a mix of classic Bow and ethereal transcendence. It definitely reflects its roots in Belize, and the recording is truly authentic.

According to Bow’s website:

This album follows Driftwood I in a series of recordings I am making in accordance with my surroundings. This album was recorded mostly in a little grass hut jutting off a tiny atoll fifty miles off the coast of Belize, some was done in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport at terminal C9, some was done in the village of Hopkins, Belize at a folk drumming center.

All of the music and most of the lyrics were composed on this trip and recorded on a Sony Walkman Minidisk with one condenser microphone and a handful of batteries, (the atoll had no running water or electricity) and played on either a resonator ukulele or a tiny octave guitar. A close listen will reveal birds, the ocean lapping its waves up through the floor, the wind, and the sounds of cooking over our gas hotplate.

Upon arriving home I realized the songs were recorded well enough to continue with. So I had my band overdub their parts at Pete Weiss’ Verdant Studio in Athens, Vermont. Each player was given only one take to ensure the original spontaneity, and their interpretations are pure magic.

The cover photo of the bare feet was taken looking down into the Setee River and the inside photo is a shot of the hut where this album was conceived.

Check out Bow’s website for some sample songs from the album.

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