The Beach Boys at Big Sur Folk Festival (1970)

On the heels of the majestic Sunflower and a carefully managed image rehabilitation campaign, The Beach Boys’ appearance at 1970’s Big Sur Folk Festival was a calculated effort to align themselves with the counterculture. Sans Dennis Wilson, off filming Two-Lane Blacktop, California’s native sons delivered an excellent set drawn largely from Pet Sounds onward — a quiet corrective to their infamous withdrawal from 1967’s Monterey Pop Festival. Despite years of archival excavations from the band’s vaults, the performance remains officially unreleased.

All One Song :: Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo) on “Big Crime”

Welcome to All One Song season two. We kick off this exploration of the Shakey-verse with Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo. The indie trio has a long history with Neil—the b-side of their second single was a sweet cover of “For The Turnstiles.” But Kaplan doesn’t want to talk about an old classic, but rather the most recent Neil song, as of the time of this taping at least. Strap in for “Big Crime.”

David Bowie’s Blackstar Jazz

Released 10 years ago today, David Bowie’s Blackstar marked the artist’s most intensive and rewarding collaboration with jazz musicians in the span of his six decade career. To commemorate the album’s anniversary we dive into how his work with Maria Schneider, Donny McCaslin and other players shaped his final record.

A Big Ego Baker’s Dozen

Over the past several years, founder Chris Schlarb has made Big Ego into a community-driven, artist-centric (and remarkably affordable) hub, the likes of which are lamentably few and far between. The label’s output is packed with gems, many of which bring together a murderer’s row of Los Angeles-area musicians to create records that are deeply imaginative, carefully crafted and utterly unique. Here, we’ve gathered a baker’s dozen of recommended listens — just a small sampling of what the Big Ego universe has in store.

Big Bend :: Last Circle In A Slowdown

The third album from pianist/singer Nathan Phillips’ Big Bend project blends experimental methods with time-tested tradition. Working with avant-jazz master Shahzad Ismaily and a varied ensemble including Jen Powers of Rolin/Powers Duo and violinist Zosha Warpeha, Phillips transforms delicate folk songs into strange collages and elliptical ballads. At times reminiscent of the fluid, gauzy extrapolations of Talk Talk, Last Circle in a Slowdown might have more in common with Joan of Arc’s controversial ProTools workout The Gap. But Big Bend doesn’t embrace the alienation that comes with such studio manipulation and digital disruption, instead finding a lithe grace in the interstices of the regular and the revolutionary. Untroubled but eerie, Big Bend finds its own kind of ambiguous beauty.

King Hannah :: Big Swimmer

King Hannah juxtaposes the cool, poised narratives of singer Hannah Merrick with the guitar storms of her partner Craig Whittle, a volatile mix that can sound like Dry Cleaning in one track, PJ Harvey the next. The duo, out of Liverpool, have one previous album, an EP and a slew of singles to their credit before Big Swimmer, but this album ups the stakes considerably.

Angel Olsen :: Big Time

On her stunning new album Big Time, Angel Olsen chronicles a complex couple of years and a resulting sense of rebirth. Filled with country-tinged melodies and sparse arrangements, it features some of the songwriter’s most engaging work.