Some things take a long time. And some things are meant to last. But how you know that, or learn how to find out, that’s a more intangible thing. That’s A Shaw Deal – intangible. A communal meeting place for two old friends and their different musics.
A Shaw Deal is the first album by Geologist and DS. They go back a long ways – back before Highlife, before Shaw joined White Magic – back to the early childhood of Animal Collective. Basically, Doug Shaw touched down in NYC around 2003, and he and Brian Weitz have been friends ever since.
“DS” first released his own music under the moniker “Highlife” on the album “Best Bless” EP, in 2010. Listeners were lifted by the sound – a vital new transmission imbued by the popular African guitar music, British folk-pop, desert blues and the ritual spirit energy that Doug had been evoking in White Magic with Mira Billotte. And really, if you knew Doug, this incredible alchemy was just one of the amazing ways he could come through on the guitar.
A couple years back, Doug was posting bits of his playing on Instagram, and Brian found them to be a much-needed escape from reality – he’d just let them loop for stretches of time, get lost in there, and emerge with recharged energies. They were such perfect mini-encapsulations of Doug’s fantastic spirit. Brian was inspired. Eventually, he ran them through his modular system, editing and tweaking and looping as he went, creating new shapes and juxtapositions, instinctively rewiring Doug’s original sounds to extend the feeling of peace they’d given him. Once it was all together, it would make a cool birthday present to regift to Doug! And once the gift was given, it was sounding like an album too…
From start to finish, A Shaw Deal taps into DS’s guitar playing and the vibe of his expression, drawing out meditative waves in new forms while exploring the worlds within them. Geologist and DS collaborate in a manner that’s brought comfort and release to them both. A Shaw Deal leaves no doubt, as it radiates further into the world and beyond – it will bring a new range of views and feels to everyone who listens in.
Probably the least immediately accessible AC track I can recall? Curious to see if it starts to hit once the ebbs and flows become more familiar.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 3:25 pm
by grundletron3030
Sick! I love Doug Shaw's guitar playing - interested to hear how it translates thru the Geo-filter.
I believe Josh was also working with Doug on some recordings? Have really been hoping for a full-length LP from Doug. I hope that is what Josh was doing with him.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 3:45 pm
by opposite field
The Drag City absorption of the AC universe begins... very here for this
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 3:46 pm
by r_o_s_s
I'm really glad one of the AC members is carrying the torch for noisy weird music. I'm fine with the band not making that stuff anymore but I do miss it sometimes
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 4:11 pm
by sky crawler
wowowoww this sounds so good, what a pleasant surprise! can't wait for the album!
r_o_s_s wrote:
I'm really glad one of the AC members is carrying the torch for noisy weird music. I'm fine with the band not making that stuff anymore but I do miss it sometimes
couldn't agree more
I find this so much more interesting than anything on skiffs or isn't it now. jmo!
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 4:24 pm
by r_o_s_s
Looks like Live in the Land of the Sky is available on streaming now too
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 5:41 pm
by DILWeed
this single is sick, way more maximalist than I would've expected. a lot of latter-day pure electronic/ambient AC stuff is the opposite and doesn't do it for me but everything Geo has released has been great. about time he put out a 'proper' album
also lol at this being the first big non-Domino ACverse release, it being announced a month after SG and still being set to come out a month before it
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 5:44 pm
by tdegenaro
well this is definitely not a raw deal yuk yuk yuk yuk
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 6:38 pm
by tdegenaro
finally running the track and video holy shit i didn't think any of the guys had this much weird in them. what a tremendous song, this album is going to rule.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 7:06 pm
by scrambledgreggs
this is really cool but also would love more music from Doug Shaw in general - his Best Bless mini-album as Highlife from 2010 was so good
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 8:21 pm
by tulis
tdegenaro wrote:
well this is definitely not a raw deal yuk yuk yuk yuk
this is the content i came here for
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 9:45 pm
by flare
It's really cool to see Geo release on Drag City and I love the cover art. This track was already released as part of the Cardinals at the Window compilation that came out last month to benefit the recovery in North Carolina, and it's nice to see the context for it because I had no idea where it came from
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:02 pm
by roopn
excited for this. sick track
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:45 pm
by jfw7
flare wrote:
It's really cool to see Geo release on Drag City and I love the cover art. This track was already released as part of the Cardinals at the Window compilation that came out last month to benefit the recovery in North Carolina, and it's nice to see the context for it because I had no idea where it came from
haha i'm glad you mentioned this because i definitely recognized it, which is a strange sensation for a song like this
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 11:16 pm
by meys
A Shaw Deal is such a good album title lmao. This is so good!!
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2024 11:18 pm
by flare
jfw7 wrote:
flare wrote:
It's really cool to see Geo release on Drag City and I love the cover art. This track was already released as part of the Cardinals at the Window compilation that came out last month to benefit the recovery in North Carolina, and it's nice to see the context for it because I had no idea where it came from
haha i'm glad you mentioned this because i definitely recognized it, which is a strange sensation for a song like this
Yeah when I saw the album announcement my first thought was wondering if Route 9 Falls was on the album or a compilation "b-side" so it was pretty funny when I scrolled down and saw it was the single. Great pick though
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2024 6:52 am
by Fovrodi
Geo all in on funny titles. Still funny he wanted to call IIN? Debussy but in a Baltimore accent/pronunciation and got vetoed
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2024 12:02 pm
by muark
Fovrodi wrote:
Geo all in on funny titles. Still funny he wanted to call IIN? Debussy but in a Baltimore accent/pronunciation and got vetoed
literally 1984
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2024 11:21 pm
by tealtimes
Fovrodi wrote:
Geo all in on funny titles. Still funny he wanted to call IIN? Debussy but in a Baltimore accent/pronunciation and got vetoed
LMAO like "Debewsee"? When did he say this?
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2024 1:15 am
by hypo's
o fuck!
this is what we need, this is what I need
all hail the hurdy gurdy man
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2024 1:48 am
by Fovrodi
tealtimes wrote:
Fovrodi wrote:
Geo all in on funny titles. Still funny he wanted to call IIN? Debussy but in a Baltimore accent/pronunciation and got vetoed
LMAO like "Debewsee"? When did he say this?
If I’m remembering correctly an interview he did with Jordan Randall
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2024 3:24 am
by Ethmin
The video from Danny is great, can't wait to hear this in full.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2024 7:20 am
by scrambledgreggs
just listened to the single and it's so epic. is it weird I'm more excited for this than I am for sinister grift?
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2024 12:57 am
by hypo's
no, I too long for a return to their primal weirdness
v stoked on grift tho, nice we can have both
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2024 1:30 am
by denjanenna
I like the concept of this more than the execution of this track. love me some Geo weirdness so I’m hoping the rest will be more engaging
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2024 3:35 am
by dio
hypo's wrote:
no, I too long for a return to their primal weirdness
v stoked on grift tho, nice we can have both
chill.
this is weird, it's like kinda loud/intense "ambience" which is new to me but only cuz im a soft pop head. But like yeah I miss Ark era so that's a throughline. I bet some of this will be fucking gorgeous Fernnesz tier shit.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2024 3:38 am
by dio
actually yeah this is gorgeous and wild. I was set up a lil weirdly by phrases like "folk guitar loops" and didn't expect the briskness of this. Its like announcing itself and then hopefully the record is exploratory af of vibes around layers guitar loops. Will probably be so sick.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2024 4:19 am
by lhtd
I love this
Which entitles me to my only gripe: my ears are so fatigued by the now typical ‘modular processed sound’. Morphagene, Clouds, granular samplers with LFOs, etc etc. I miss the days when noise music — which included AC — more or less required innovation with whatever gear you had. Now the innovation seems usually relegated to the modules, the gear.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2024 9:13 pm
by CattleBeast
lhtd wrote:
I love this
Which entitles me to my only gripe: my ears are so fatigued by the now typical ‘modular processed sound’. Morphagene, Clouds, granular samplers with LFOs, etc etc. I miss the days when noise music — which included AC — more or less required innovation with whatever gear you had. Now the innovation seems usually relegated to the modules, the gear.
I very much relate to this...
but I'm still super amped about this record
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2024 3:34 am
by speen
Lol wait wtf I somehow missed this!! this is so good!! thank god there's finally a geo record coming out.
personally, i've always dreamed of a solo project from geo where he just loops minidisc recordings, like a steve reich style thing. but this will be cool
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2024 4:19 am
by Alcohol
lhtd wrote:
I love this
Which entitles me to my only gripe: my ears are so fatigued by the now typical ‘modular processed sound’. Morphagene, Clouds, granular samplers with LFOs, etc etc. I miss the days when noise music — which included AC — more or less required innovation with whatever gear you had. Now the innovation seems usually relegated to the modules, the gear.
Absolutely spot-on gripe that applies to music at-large these days. Culturally, too, we seem less interested in innovation at the idea-level than at the tool-level. (See AI, etc.) Great observation.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2024 4:47 am
by andthephantom
r_o_s_s wrote:
Looks like Live in the Land of the Sky is available on streaming now too
Just saw this comment. Very cool. Trying to decide if I wait to see if it ever gets a Bandcamp release or if I should just buy it on iTunes.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 7:01 pm
by andthephantom
andthephantom wrote:
r_o_s_s wrote:
Looks like Live in the Land of the Sky is available on streaming now too
Just saw this comment. Very cool. Trying to decide if I wait to see if it ever gets a Bandcamp release or if I should just buy it on iTunes.
on bandcamp now. grrr. bought it on itunes.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 9:07 pm
by roopn
lol. buy it again
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 10:21 pm
by andthephantom
roopn wrote:
lol. buy it again
it's likely. my impulse music purchases come after a couple beers. so: sometime over the holidays, i'm sure.
Re: A SHAW DEAL
Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2024 2:38 am
by MrAirplane
signed headlamp giveaway. anyone that preorders through drag city or bandcamp is eligible
