“Psychedelic spirituality, the cosmic crunch of the Grateful Dead, hovering an inch off the ground they put their own spin on West Coast sounds” 4/5 Uncut
Farmer Dave Scher of All Night Radio, Beachwood Sparks, Kurt Vile and Skiffle Players releases his first LP for 10 years and with a new band The Wizards Of The West.
Some musicians leave elusive, magical trails you can only see from space. Some musicians have a ghostly eminence on too many of your favourite records to call it coincidence. Some musicians play pedal steel like Weldon Myrick in a psychedelic church at the bottom of the ocean. Some musicians can write a song to heal the sick, give succour to the lost and the lonely…
Only Farmer Dave does them all.
His magical, song-craft, multi-instrumental trail has crossed paths with Beachwood Sparks, Will Oldham, Kurt Vile, The Skiffle Players, Chris Robinson, Elvis Costello, Interpol, Jenny Lewis, Animal Collective and as one half of All Night Radio some would say one of the greatest albums of all time.
He also makes Farmer Dave’s Roasted Hot Nuts.
To us, from afar, he sits like a gentle, industrious Buddha, floating above a West Coast scene where music and love still rise from the soil and surf. If we sound biased, it’s because we adore him. And it is our joy to present his latest collection as Farmer Dave & The Wizards Of The West.
In parts raw, psychedelic, UK sonic guitar meets the spiritual jazz of Sun Ra. Pharoah Sanders by way of MBV. In other parts, a minty fresh LA Noir from the fertile bones of classic LA rock - The Doors, Janes Addiction. The album captures a live set featuring guitarist 'Alvin Pirahnas' (Ben Knight) and always carried by Farmer Dave’s warm, vulnerable, heartstring-plucking voice.
Farmer Dave’s music is the actual song of the Siren. Tie yourself to the mast and drift west with he.
'FDwow is a trip unlike anything else you are likely to take this year. They play with time zones and time signatures, trampling over anything that gets in their way. Not rude, but definitely unruly, they know no bounds.’ Folk Radio
"Afrobeat, surf rock, funk, straight psych, country psych, jazz, shoegaze, are all blended together through a lovely record” 8.4/10 Backseat Mafia
“Laid-back brew of West Coast psychedelic and cosmic blues” 4/5 Daily Express
“Witchy, kind-of commercial leanings of Love & The Doors among the spacier, shoegaze elements” SHINDIG MAGAZINE
credits
released January 22, 2021
Farmer Dave Scher (keyboards, lap steel guitar, melodica, vocals)
Ben Knight (guitar, vocals)
Brian Bartus (bass, vocals)
Jud Birza (drums)
We are very proud to be working with our friends in North America Curation Records. If you live there order the LP from curationrecords.com please.
supported by 18 fans who also own “Farmer Dave & The Wizards Of The West”
If Wooden Shjips traded their sails for a prairie schooner, this is what you might hear them playing around the campfire at night on the Great Plains: homespun country-rock with a hint of psychedelia. Wonderful stuff, from start to finish. neu-mann
supported by 17 fans who also own “Farmer Dave & The Wizards Of The West”
The Tyde have always felt like my secret discovery in L.A. and I feel like I'm secretly their biggest fan. The music resonates with me. As the music transforms through the years, I similarily do too. Play it as it Lays! BTW I had a "situations change" event last year and she took my Once shirt! Motherfucker! jamesey
The impossible-to-pin-down new record from Pioneer 11 hopscotches across dance, psych, and modular synth music with glee. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 13, 2022
An outpouring of errant, psychedelic experiments from one of the UK's most underrated cosmonauts, texturally rich and sonically deep. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 17, 2019
supported by 14 fans who also own “Farmer Dave & The Wizards Of The West”
Entire album is excellent. As is the rest of the catalog. Go back to 1970...take the Dead and Floyd and roll them up. Yet completely different.
Just plain old GOOD MUSIC. Ed Fransko