I first heard of Jonathan Nankof while I was waiting my turn to drop off a plane.
You know that very moment when all the passengers get up in unison and are eager to leave even if the plane hasn’t reached the finger yet or there is no ladder.
I wasn’t in a hurry. I had just come back from Athens, Greece and there was a message from John Darnielle in my mailbox. It contained a link to a bandcamp page and a few words, ”luigi, i heard this today and thought of you, thinking you might like it”
I listened to Jonathan Nankof’s ”Charles River Variety” session in my car while I was driving back home from airport. I really couldn’t wait. John was right, Jonathan Nankof’s music was really what I needed, his guitar style reminded me a little bit of some early recordings by Diane Cluck and the comparisons to Nick Drake and Jandek were really appropriate.
A few days later, I decided to contact Jonathan Nankof, because I wanted to hear more and see if we could work together.
Jonathan Nankof is studying in the jazz department at the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA. He’s influenced by contemporary guitarist like Bill Orcutt, blues picker and European classical music.
”The Measured Mile” is the reissue of an album that had come out on tape on Jonathan Nankof’s private label a few years ago. It could easily be one of the outputs of the catalog of Elephant 6 (Olivia Tremor Control, Silver Apples, 16 Horsepower), or if you close your eyes you will find yourself catapulted in the late 60’s, early 70’s.
”The Measured Mile” is out on vinyl in a limited edition of 55 copies, a corelease with Jonathan’s own record label and in the tradition of Almost Halloween Time Records comes with hand painted covers, all different. A parade of skulls of dead animal as per Jonathan’s request
