I haven’t seen JMW in years, but I will always remember him as the formidable skateboarder, line-cook extraordinare, cosmic guitar shredder, and all around big-hearted bro with whom I had the pleasure of sharing a rickety duplex for a short time back in Western Mass. Late last fall, JMW took a bad fall from a three-story building in San Francisco. Though he survived to tell the story, life after the accident has meant countless broken bones, months of recurring surgeries, and thousands and thousands of dollars in medical expenses that he will be potentially be paying off for the rest of his life. Now JMW has always had a very tight group of loving and equally big-hearted friends, and I was extremely touched to receive an email this week from M. Erikson — another former roommate, and the other half of Sudden Oak — about a limited run benefit L.P. that he put out this week to help take some of the edge off. Named after a tome by French spiritual surrealist René Daumal, A Fundamental Experiment is ten-track compilation of Neil Young covers by a group of artists in JMW’s extended friend circle, including Matt Mondanile of Real Estate/Ducktails, Sun Araw, Julian Lynch, The Laurentide Ice Sheet, and several other talented folks hailing from both coasts of this wide land. Somehow I have no doubt that the Father of Grunge himself would approve. Submissions by Julian Lynch and Matt Mondanile below.
SIDE A
1) Julian Lynch – Sedan Delivery
2) Metal Rouge – Helpless
3) Sam Goldberg – Transformer Man
4) Swanox – Thrasher
5) Sun Araw – Barstool Blues
SIDE B
1) Stag Hare – Cortez the Killer
2) Laurentide Ice Sheet – Southern Man
3) Trevor Healy – Round and Round
4) Avocet – Expecting to Fly
5) Matt Mondanile – Look Out For My Love
Julian Lynch, “Sedan Delivery”
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Matt Mondanile, “Look Out For My Love”
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Edition of 300. Pick up a copy and learn more about the project via the Fundamental Experiment blog.
