Welcome back to All One Song: A Neil Young Podcast. We’re spending the summer talking to some great musicians and writers about their one favorite Neil Young song. Or at least one of their favorite songs. Here this week to examine the mysteries and magic of Arc is Ilyas Ahmed. The Portland, OR-based musician has been making consistently fascinating music for well over two decades now, whether all on his own or in close collaboration with fellow travelers like Grouper, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Golden Retriever, Dania Shihab and many more. He also serves as guitarist in Grails, an awesomely uncategorizable collective that just put out one of the 2025’s best records—the appropriately named Miracle Music.
Category: Ilyas Ahmed
Catching Up With Ilyas Ahmed
It’s been a busy couple of months for Ilyas Ahmed. First, Grails (the long-running band Ahmed joined a few years back) released the awesome Anches En Maat, which was quickly followed up by an extensive European tour. Then in October, the Portland, OR-based artist released his excellent new solo record, A Dream of Another. Recently, we hopped on the phone to get his thoughts on a variety of topics.
Ilyas Ahmed & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma :: You Can See Your Own Way Out
The dreamlike drifts of You Can See Your Own Way Out, the first full-length collaboration between Ilyas Ahmed and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, have a decidedly cinematic flavor, like the soundtrack to some unknown arthouse masterpiece.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Ilyas Ahmed
One of the underground’s most reliable figures for the past decade-and-a-half, Ilyas Ahmed isn’t an easy artist to pin down…for his debut Lagniappe Session, Ahmed doesn’t bother digging out obscurities. Instead, he offers awesomely fresh spins on classics from the Rolling Stones, Joy Division and the Velvet Underground, turning these well-worn tunes inside out and revealing new colors.
Ilyas Ahmed :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
On his new record Closer to Stranger , Portland guitarist and singer Ilyas Ahmed picks up the threads that run through his numerous solo records and collaborations with Liz Harris of Grouper […]