Driftless Recordings is the brainchild of Joel Ford and Patrick McDermott, two of the best explorers around the gaseous American tape / DIY / noise music underground. Joel – who previous starred in Ford & Lopatin with Oneohtrix Point Never's Daniel Lopatin – describes Driftless as "a channel to open up windows for collaboration". The label, which releases stunningly beautiful, often electronic leaning studio jams from their small but radical roster, operates across the states, with Joel operating its A&R and visual side from New York, with Patrick working out of LA. Its niche, or at least what's most exciting about it, is the way it takes the most awesome new sounds from ambient to club music – and places them in the context of Classic American Songwriting. These aren't weirdo oddities to pass over: they're radio hits from another dimension to jam on a road trip down Route 5∞. Their first compilation, featuring artwork by photographer Paley Fairman is streaming below. Featuring some of the brightest lights from their particular firmament, from Dritless's very own Megafortress and Eaters to Canadian composer CFCF and New York pefromance artist Hiro Kone, Patrick and Joel explain more underneath the stream. Drift off commences in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 

Megafortress - Rejected Song For a British Car Commercial

This track is literally a rejected song for a British car commercial. New Megafortress LP out later this fall!

CFCF - Prisma

Driftless will be working with Mike Silver aka CFCF on a bunch of new projects. I love the way this track collages organic piano sound and feeling with eerie digital noise sequence. This fully encompasses the aesthetic mantra of Driftless: a deep combination of organic and synthetic. 

North Americans - 2004 (Joel Ford Remix)

Joel took the North Americans track from his debut LP and flipped it into a microhouse wonderland

Hiro Kone - Trepidations

Hiro Kone is Nicky Mao, an NYC based musician / artist. HK releases music on our friends' label, Group Tightener. This track is on more of a 'banger' side of things compared to the rest of the comp.

Tim Cohen - Arts & Entertainment (Part 1)

Tim Cohen is a highly prolific San Francisco based musician, mostly known for his solo work and his other band, The Fresh and Only's. So honored to have him as part of our first compilation, especially as an artist who normally operates outside of the 'electronic music' sphere.

Eaters - Banner of Your Own Choosing

We released the Eaters debut s/t LP this past spring. The Eaters record has a palpable kraut rock influence, and their submission for 'Driftless Ambient 1' has a 'classic' ambient electronic vibe, much like a lot of the late 70s Eno stuff. Jonny Schenke of Eaters is a audio engineer in Brooklyn, and has done some wild recordings lately, including most of the Parquet Courts records.

Exrays - San Fransisco Long

Exrays are from SF, and are Jon Bernson and Michael Falsetto-Mapp. This track is a shredder.

North Americans - Virgin America

This North Americans cut is a nice bridge between the aesthetic of his debut LP, NO_NO, and his forthcoming LP (to be named soon). The new record is trance inducing, super dark and dense ambient/noise.