Rivulets

Rivulets is the nom de plume of minimalist singer-songwriter Nathan Amundson, who whispers delicate poems accompanied by skeletal chords and slow arpeggios, blending "Drake-ian" folk and slowcore since 2002. He has just released his fifth album, called I Remember Everything.

www.rivulets.net

rivulets.bandcamp.com

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1. Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi’s Dead (1979)

Introduced me to minimalist rock music and, later I would realize, dub.

2. Big Star - What’s Going Ahn (from Radio City, 1974)

Big Star are still teaching me how to write better songs.

3. Lisa Germano - Wood Floors (from Slide, 1998)

From the wood upon which you stood.

4. Stevie Wonder - All In Love Is Fair (from Innervisions, 1973)

You either win or lose.

5. Swans - The Sound (from Soundtracks for the blind, 2001)

Float above my lake. Swans showed me the possibilities were limitless.

6. Robert Johnson - Stop Breaking Down (1937)

Please stop breaking down.

7. The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored (from The Stone Roses, 1989)

This whole album is unassailable. This song was my entry point.

Lullabier

Andrea Vascellari is an Italian songwriter who plays slowcore and ethereal-folk under the moniker of Lullabier. He shared the stage with the likes of Low, Rivulets, Boduf Songs and Jessica Bailiff, and in 2014 he released his third album, a concept based on chakras and called Osservazione Rilassamento e Assenza di Giudizio.

www.lullabier.com
lullabier.bandcamp.com

www.facebook.com/lullabiermusic

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1. Low - Lullaby (from I Could Live In Hope, 1994)

My moniker Lullabier comes from this song, which is for sure the most influential to me. 10 solemn, hypnotic and spiritual minutes based on a minimal guitar riff.

2. Red House Painters - Katy Song (from Red House Painters I, 1993)

Mark Kozelek is a real poet, and he's the best composer of acoustic lullabies since the times of Nick Drake and Tim Buckley.

3. Rivulets - Cutter (from Debridement, 2003)

I always admired the way that Nathan Amundson mixed the principles of slowcore and the tradition of American folk.

4. Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes (from The Velvet Underground, 1969)

VU influenced the 90% of the musicians of the whole world. I'm not different.

5. Mazzy Star - Into Dust (from Tonight That I Might See, 1993)

A haunting mantra of 5 minutes with just 5 notes. Less is definitely more.

6. Radiohead - Climbing Up The Walls (from OK Computer, 1997)

Since the teen-aging I've been a super fan of Radiohead, and Ok Computer is probably my favourite album of all times. When I started playing guitar, the first song I wanted to learn was this one.

7. Gravenhurst - Nicole (from Fires In Distant Buildings, 2005)

The withdrawn folk ballads of Nick Talbot are a superb fusion between Simon & Garfunkel's tunes and the vibes of British dark movement.