K

From Calvin Johnson’s full length album, Before the Dream Faded… [KLP170], dramatizing all that is unholy in the Olympia underground schematic…

From Calvin Johnson’s full length album, What Was Me [KLP117], which collects ten bits of lifeness and spreads them thickly with voice and acoustic guitar; a capella 40% of the time. There are patches that are worn and threadbare but the overall effect is gutty and moist. The affect is also noteworthy….

Based in Olympia, Wash., Calvin Johnson‘s work in underground culture started as a teenage fan volunteering at the local community radio station, KAOS-FM. He moved on to writing for fanzines, organizing music and film events, playing music in various ill-fated bands. Calvin established K, a locally oriented media outlet, in 1982.

In 1993 Calvin founded Dub Narcotic Studio in which he has documented the work of the Somehow Is and Never Was, such as Mirah, the Blow, Versus, Built to Spill, Fitz of Depression, Make-Up and Little Wings. It has also been the incubator of many Calvin experiments in collaboration and self-expression, such as Beat Happening, Halo Benders, Dub Narcotic Sound System, and Selector Dub Narcotic.

The decade of the double zeroes saw Calvin Johnson set into the world, acoustic guitar in hand, as a solo artist of musical platitudes. Now that the one-zeroes have hit, Calvin is busy preparing a new album for the new decade.

K Releases:

• Calvin Johnson - Before The Dream Faded [KLP170] (2005)
• Calvin Johnson - What Was Me [KLP117] (2002)

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