Lonnie Holley – Oh Me Oh My (Vinyl)

Some years ago, there was a magazine piece wherein the writer meditated on the concept of the Cosmic Southerner: the late Pharoah Sanders, Andr 3000 and Col. Bruce Hampton (on whom the piece was ultimately focused) were all mentioned.

Somehow, Alabama-born, Atlanta-based self-taught artist Lonnie Holley was left out of the piece. But Holley, 72, has improvised nay, conjured! ecstatic, baffling and heavy moments that can often only be described as cosmic. In a mere two lines of a song, Holley can zoom in on the pores of ones skin and pull back to encompass the whole of the Milky Way.

Oh Me Oh My features both kinetic, shortwave funk that calls to mind Brian Enos My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and the deep space satellite sounds of Enos ambient works. There are also elements of Laurie Andersons meditations, elements of Gil Scott-Herons profound longform soul, elements of John Luries grabbag jazz, and yes, elements of Sun Ras bold afrofuturism. But Oh Me Oh My is a triumphant sonic achievement of its own.

Acclaimed collaborators like Michael Stipe (Oh Me, Oh My), Sharon Van Etten (None of Us Will Have But a Little While), Moor Mother (I Am Part of the Wonder, Earth Will Be There), Justin Vernon of Bon Iver (Kindness Will Follow Your Tears) and Rokia Kon (If We Get Lost They Will Find Us) serve as choirs of angels and co-pilots, giving Lonnies message flight, and reaffirming him as a galvanizing, iconoclastic force across the music community.

Limited clear blue coloured vinyl.

Tracklist:
1. Testing
2. I Am A Part Of The Wonder feat. Moor Mother 05:48
3. Oh Me, Oh My 05:49
4. Earth Will Be There
5. Mount Meigs
6. Better Get The Crop In Soon
7. Kindness Will Follow Your Tears
8. None Of Us Have But A Little While
9. If We Get Lost They Will Find Us
10. I Can’t Hush
11. Future Children