rob f
The song Ag makes me melt almost every time I hear it. Such an amazing album with a stellar lineup of musicians. Can't wait to see what else these peeps come up with in the future.
Favorite track: Ag.
sluckman93
Another primo release from a stalwart of the LA contemporary scene. Equal parts Joni Mitchell-esque art-folk and experimental nu-jazz. Sam Wilkes continues to defy labels and expectations in the best way possible. Best enjoyed, as the title suggests, while driving.
Favorite track: Hannah Song.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
$10USD or more
"STAMP EDITION" CASSETTE
Cassette + Digital Album
-limited edition of 50
-unique stamped brown paper bags -- signed, and numbered [1-50]
-og "roadium swap meet" style dyno label on spine
-hand written spine insert
-sent with a small poster print of the Vinyl album art made by Michael Chadwick and SW (not pictured)
Includes unlimited streaming of DRIVING
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
Sold Out
CASSETTE
Cassette + Digital Album
-150 made
-album credits on inside of J Card
-designed and formatted by Miles Witner & Sam Wilkes
Includes unlimited streaming of DRIVING
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
Sold Out
VINYL
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
-500 copies
-black vinyl LP
-hand stamped labels
-alternate PlayStation1 style album cover designed by Michael Chadwick
-layout by Miles Witner and SW
-mastered for vinyl by Capsule Labs and pressed by Onyx
Includes unlimited streaming of DRIVING
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Agnes,
Whereâs your heart?
Has it moved since
we first started
staring at each others eyes?
At lunch, I tried...
You told me,
âLets got homeâ to my apartment, like it was your own.
My soul moved a little bit
As I watched you and smiled.
I smile cuz I wanna try.
Let it go
like it or not youâre
on your own again.
Itâs not your fault but
sooner or later
youâll have to let this pass.
Letting go
isn't a concept
itâs an action.
I donât ever think that we
will ever be
a partnership
I think that we
should go it alone
I guess i should stop referring to we as âweâ
I guess iâm only talking about me
I think i oughta work on myself for nowâ¦
but I guess i'm learning it again
guess i'm learning the same lesson
again, again
now i see
all that is
in front of me
is me
past and present, future versions
need to stay in the middle
but i guess i'm learning it again
guess i'm learning the same lesson
again, again
now i know
the way to go
iâll take some time and reflect
on the path that i took to become
so fucking neurotic
I was on a mission from god
I could feel it in my bones
In the front seat of your car
You were driving me home.
Dead of summer
A/Câs on
iPodâs In I wanna play you a song...
(Driving)
Out the window
The greens are greener
Than theyâve ever looked in our old home town
Iâm excited
And youâre smiling
Could I bring the moment to its crisis?
(Driving Home)
Iâve been dreaming
of being with you
In every dream that iâve had for so long
Now youâre driving
And I can share whatâs inspiring
My point of view and pathâ¦
But then,
like a disguised Athena,
Is our English teacher
Walking home in this brutal heat
With a big black bag strapped over her shoulder
And her face was red
As she walked up that hill
Trudging on this summer day.
You say âwas that Ms. OâHara?â
I donât know what to do
Surely itâs the right thing to go and get her,
But what about my moment of truth?
(Driving Home)
I said âno, letâs keep goingâ
You agree but with disappointment
I feel strange, like fight or flight
And the song Iâve waited to play you for so long
Oozes out of
Your car speakers
This wasnât the effect I had planned on.
Now youâre driving
And itâs silent
A decision I think I picked wrong.
dropped me off
And I said goodbye
And your chest didnât get red like it used to
I walked home
With my head hanging low
Depressed that there was no chance to...
The only chance i had to take
Was to stop and give our teacher a surprise break
But I was on this mission from god
And I couldnât see what wouldâve been more funâ¦
Next time I will
Follow chance
Instead of fearing how it could ruin my one shot at romance.
Iâm driving, driving home.
about
Driving is Sam Wilkesâ Indie Rock record. Out October 6th, 2023, it is the first release on Wilkes Records, an imprint borne of the artistâs emergent need to self-release. The songs presented here exist comfortably within the ever-expanding Wilkesian cosmos, characterized as they are by virtuosity, torqued experimentalism, and collaboration with a range of talented musicians. But Drivingâs influences, its sincerity, and its allegiance to a certain pop sensibility reflects a departure for an artist who has primarily staked his claim within the experimental jazz idiom.
Take the first track, âFolk Home,â which inaugurates the albumâs fecundityâa bright, green, humid, summer feel. A swirling, freakout coda of reversed vocals gives way, in no short order, to a caterwaul of flute work that conjures Van Morrisonâs (in)famous Astral Weeks sessions. Standing beside Morrison, the usual suspects are all present, if somewhat abstractedly. Dylan, The Dead, Joni, the Fab Four. Wilkes has developed a reputation as an experimental jazz luminary, but his deep affinity for the pop/rock/folk idiom of the latter twentieth century rings clear throughout Driving. More so than any Wilkes release to date, Driving is a collection guided by and dedicated to the manâs attention to songcraft.
Written and recorded during a period of rain-damage induced renterâs itinerance (and the attendant desire to produce a kind of therapeutic, self-soothing, home-feeling music), Driving loosely charts the trajectory/experience of âa protagonist,â both Wilkes and not, âwho has figured out how to live an enlightened and fulfilled life, but is unable to do so because he thinks about it too much.â This friction is surely relatable â a symptom of our compulsively self-aware present. But Wilkes avoids the obvious pitfalls of public hand-wringing. Rather, Drivingâs nine tracks evince a genuine, and mature searching-ness, both sonically and lyrically. The ending refrain of âOwnâ serves like something close to a thesisâ âLetting go // isnât a concept // itâs an action.â In an attempt to beat back ego, hyper-cogitation, language itself, Wilkes arrives at an axiom that feels so true and familiar, youâd swear youâd heard it one hundred times before.
Drivingâs final third is, fittingly, its most emotive and cathartic. Tracks seven and eight, âAgain, Againâ and âAnd Again,â form a diptych, joined most obviously by the jangling, recursive grooves of guitarist Daryl Johns. Wilkes is said to have encouraged Johns to go âfull Lindsey [Buckingham]â (clearly a welcome and resonant prompt), but one also catches stray Knopfler vibes, some intermittent Fripp, and (perhaps more-so in tone than technique) the spirit of DIY prophet and jangling man himself, Martin Newell (the Cleaners from Venus). Wilkes has stated that he finds joy in creating musical environments suitable to the contribution and flourishing of his favorite musicians. Throughout Driving, and in these two tracks especially, he has more than succeeded.
The record closes with the titular track: a story-song that, according to Wilkes, poured out of him (melody, composition, and lyrics) in a single sitting. The tale is told plainly, bravely, starkly; a mistake was made, regrets have been had, and all is wrapped up in the recollection of a deeply felt adolescent heartsicknessâa time when the narrator was first afire with music and automotive freedom. The song captures the moment when meaning inexplicably falls into place, when a long-nagging memory suddenly assumes narrative form, and the subsequent sense of lightness and unburdening. It is fitting that Driving, a record conceived as a form of self-therapy, should culminate with a sense of humble revelation. That Wilkes is plainly eager to share the vulnerable fruits of this labor constitutes Drivingâs joyful offering.
Words by Emmett Shoemaker
credits
released October 6, 2023
Folk Home:
Drums - Craig Weinrib
Flute - Rob Sheppard
Sampler - Chris Sorem
All Other Instruments & Vocals - Sam Wilkes
Written by: Sam Wilkes, Craig Weinrib, & Rob Sheppard
Ag:
Cello - Karl McComas-Reichl
Violin - Paul Cartwright
Violin - Megan Shung
Viola - Thomas Lea
All Other Instruments and Vocals - Sam Wilkes
Written by Sam Wilkes
Hannah Song:
Drums - Craig Weinrib
Electric Guitar - Dylan Day
All Other Instruments - Sam Wilkes
Written by Sam Wilkes & Dylan Day
Own:
Drums - Louis Cole
French Horn - Aija Mattson
Cello - Karl McComas-Reichl
Violin - Paul Cartwright
Violin - Megan Shung
Viola - Thomas Lea
All Other Instruments and Vocals - Sam Wilkes
Written by Sam Wilkes
Knows:
Drums - Craig Weinrib
Vocals - Thom Gill
Electric Guitar - Craig Weinrib
All Other Instruments & Vocals - Sam Wilkes
Written by Sam Wilkes, Thom Gill, & Craig Weinrib
Conga:
Arp 2600 and Ensoniq ESQ-1 - Chris Fishman
Electric Guitar - Dylan Day
Written by Sam Wilkes, Chris Fishman, & Dylan Day
Again, Again:
Drums - Tamir Barzilay
Electric Guitar - Daryl Johns
Electric Guitar - Dylan Day
Background Vocals - Thom Gill
All Other Instruments & Vocals - Sam Wilkes
Written by Sam Wilkes, Daryl Johns, & Thom Gill
And Again:
Drums - Tamir Barzilay
Arp 2600 and Ensoniq ESQ-1 - Chris Fishman
Electric Guitar - Daryl Johns
Electric Guitar - Dylan Day
Background Vocals - Thom Gill
All Other Instruments & Vocals - Sam Wilkes
Written by Sam Wilkes, Chris Fishman, & Tamir Barzilay
Driving:
Acoustic 12 String Guitar - Sam Wilkes
Vocals - Sam Wilkes
Written by Sam Wilkes
Produced and arranged by Sam Wilkes
Additional arrangement by Craig Weinrib on "Folk Home" & "Knows"
Additional arrangement by Chris Fishman on "Conga"
Additional vocal arrangement by Thom Gill on "Knows" & "Again, Again"
Recorded By
Sam Wilkes, Chris Sorem, Pete Min, Craig Weinrib, Dylan Day, and Daryl Johns
Recorded At
Nest Recorders, Lucyâs Meat Market, Samâs Apartment, Craigâs Apartment, Louis' House, Dylans Apartment, Daryls basement, and Samâs Childhood home in Connecticut
Sam Wilkes records music. Composer, Producer, Arranger, Bassist. Performs live primarily playing a fender precision bass. Sam Wilkes lives in Los Angeles, California.
Sam Gendel and Sam Wilkes are amazing musicians. Each note in this album seems like it was carefully planned out, it has a very gentle lofi sound to it. This album was definitely made with a lot of passion, and it shows. I adore this album, it is one of my favorite jazz projects, because it is very experimental with its sound, and has a nice flow and consistency throughout the album. reaksinpusts
Every time I listen to it, it brings me so many memories and lots of joy. A really well crafted album where you can feel the effort put into every song. Had the chance to attend one of the gigs at the Church of Sound in London which for me, was one of the most memorable shows I've been so far. Not only because of the engagement of the audience but also the level of intimacy reached by these two. virgimarine
Multi-instrumentalist Mavondo backs Australian Poetry Slam Champion Fadlelmawla across seven uplifting, partially improvised jazz poems. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 16, 2024
This album is one weird masterpiece. Killed my turntable needle a while ago and looked for music to fill the spot - blueblue did. A unique, dreamy, foggy weird journey into contemporary jazz. Love it since the first time listening! StrangeFlow