Gunn & Ahmed – Decline Of The Stiff (Vinyl)

Native Philadelphian Steve Gunn has been a stalwart of the American experimental scene for closing in on a decade. He is known by many for his contributions as one half of the core duo behind GHQ (with Marcia Bassett) as well as for his many other affiliations with underground luminaries such as Tom Carter, the Magik Markers and Marc Orleans. Gunn has an incredible talent for fusing traditional American song structures with a raga influence, his playing effortless and his songcraft incredibly strong. His solo work began with some CDr and cassette releases and was followed with two incredible albums over the past years – Sundowner (Digitalis, 2008) and Boerum Palace (Three Lobed, 2009). Last year he released Sand City on Three Lobed, an album featuring him and percussionist John Truscinski. Gunn will release a new album of material on Immune in the near future.

Pakistani-born musician Ilyas Ahmed traffics a sound that borders on the folk/drone/raga/rock axis, one that Scottish critic David Keenan has called “gone”. Currently residing in Portland, OR, Ahmed has released recordings on Immune, Time-Lag, Digitalis, and Root Strata. He is known to perform live with Honey Owens (Valet) and Jed Bindeman (Eternal Tapestry, Heavy Winged). Ahmed has recently been performing and recording in a duo with Liz Harris (Grouper). Last year Ahmed’s first two albums Between Two Skies & Towards The Night were given a deluxe vinyl treatment by Immune.