Order the LP and Photo Book together. Includes digital download.

Musicians and artists John P. Hastings and Benjamin Mayock release their first collaborative LP Songs, Crystals, Drone with a photo book, The Former World.

This A4 sized, soft cover photo book displays photographs, collected ephemera, and features an essay by composer D. Edward Davis as part of The Former World project. More information can be found at www.theformerworld.com/photography

The primarily instrumental LP is a showcase for the steel string acoustic guitar in all its different forms, from lyrical fingerpicking and ambient harmonic delay lines, to multi-tracked open tuned drones activated by electric toothbrushes. The album features performances from artist and guitarist Chris Kallmyer, New York guitarist / keyboardist Terrance von Solomone, as well as Mayock and Hastings. With influences from Ry Cooder and La Monte Young, the album is born of the American landscape.

The long gestating LP is part of the sprawling multi-media project The Former World (theformerworld.com), based on John McPhee’s seminal tome on American geologic history Annals of the Former World. The LP is a microcosm of the larger project displaying the themes of stratification, time, and personal histories. Community of Sound, the Vermont-based music cooperative and record label, is excited to add this ambitious LP to their discography.

Includes unlimited streaming of Songs, Crystals, Drone via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.