Inverness musician Ben Livingston has released two new albums to coincide with the fall equinox. The starkly different albums draw from genres ranging from ambient and American primitive to Indian classical, and they reflect Mr. Livingston’s non-linear approach to music.
“14 Earth Ghosts” is a series of loops created in real time by guitar then manipulated by digital effects, while “Collected Field Recordings Volume 2: Mount Vision Raga-forms” is inspired by classical Indian tropes Mr. Livingston interpreted and explored during hikes across Point Reyes with his nylon-string guitar and a portable recorder.
Both albums were mixed and mastered by Mr. Livingston’s friend and producer, Jeremy Harris, at the Panoramic House Studio in Stinson Beach, and they are the first musical works to be released by Mount Vision Press, a publishing company Mr. Livingston and Mr. Harris co-own with three others.
A self-taught guitarist who grew up in Olema and Inverness, Mr. Livingston said a world music class he took in college at San Francisco State University introduced him to the Indian raga—a series of notes and a framework for using the notes that reflect a specific mood. The open and interpretative nature of the raga resonated with him.
“The ragas are being played in a character and there is some guidance in how you play it that sometimes can be very strict, but it’s ever-becoming and always evolving to a new state,” he said. “The sense that the music isn’t a static thing or a straightforward composition but rather an infinite musical ecosystem really appealed to me.”
While a folky, acoustic sound underpins his “Collected Field Recordings” series, “14 Earth Ghosts” takes a different approach. The album’s 14 vignettes, or apparitions, as Mr. Livingston calls them, were created on a Fender Telecaster, a classic American electric guitar, and recorded on a program on Mr. Livingston’s laptop that allowed him to manipulate the timbral qualities of the sound so much that they hardly resemble that of a guitar. Mr. Livingston gave the single tracks to Mr. Harris who then recorded the tracks to tape, mixed and mastered the albums.
Mr. Harris recalled meeting Mr. Livingston, whom he describes as a “cultural encyclopedia of West Marin,” over 10 years ago at the Blackbird Café, where Mr. Livingston was working. They quickly bonded over music and the small bohemian scene they saw developing in the community. They have worked on numerous projects together, but this was the first time Mr. Harris produced Mr. Livingston’s music. Mr. Harris said Mr. Livingston is “prolific in making a very specific kind of music that’s unique to him, but reflects the nature of Inverness and West Marin in general.”
Mr. Livingston, who is also a visual artist, makes all his album covers by hand, using photographs he’s taken or arranging natural materials on a scanner bed to create two-dimensional images he then collages. The albums are available for digital streaming at www.benlivingston.bandcamp.com, and cassette tapes can be preordered from Mount Vision Press, which will release a corresponding booklet containing art and poetry.
To learn more, go to www.mountvisionpress.com.