Flatboat River Witch: 1994 - 2015

This Mississippi woodworker and musician has been creating a mad and gorgeous dream world for thirty years and we only just found out, via the mighty Ulyssa record label. He has a bunch of stuff you’d know—Wurlitzer, Rhodes, synth, bass—and the rest is a series of metal and wood contraptions he’s built himself, along with some kind of variation on a hammer dulcimer and an accordion. When he sings, it’s like a blend of Ben Sidran and Bob Dylan, wry and maybe goofy stories that maybe float to him along the river. (“It looks like people, but it’s dogs—that’s all.”) You can hear the Southern wilds here, too, a literally ambient layer of biogenesis snaking its way through the whole event. There’s even a hint of Jon Hassell and his verdant thought bubble, maybe even a swampland Roxy Music? Truly underrated and not to be missed.