BCMC - Stash

The fruitful collaboration between psych-folk guitarist Bill MacKay and Cooper Crain, formerly keyboardist of Bitchin Bajas, reaches its second recorded chapter.
Under the name BCMC, the duo delivers "Stash", a record that shapes up as an elegant cosmic-folk fresco, an ideal meeting point between the icy, hypnotic cosmic atmospheres of Tangerine Dream and the warm desert tones of Ry Cooder's guitar.

Where the four long compositions of the debut album, "Foreign Smokes", leaned toward more twilit, suspended tones, here the duo shifts toward music with livelier, more melodically incisive traits; in the hands of the two Chicago musicians, the original sonic hybrid morphs from potentially narcotic into something noble, dynamic and at times even swinging. The psychedelic ragas in Pink Floyd style (echoed with slightly rougher tones on opener "Cleanse") give way to elaborate organ and electric guitar textures shifting in tone ("Kaleidosmoke"). On this latter track, organ flourishes stir up the central body, low, dark notes act as the groove, and guitar explosions tear through the sonic fabric or mimic the magic of the keyboards that dominate the finale.

Conceptually less experimental than the duo's first album, "Stash" is on the contrary rich in creative daring. The eight compositions now engage with progressive rock through the flowing organ notes of "Boulevard Treats", now with country–western scenarios in the dusty cosmic-psych hues of "Badland Rag".
Desert-like, arid, at times icy, BCMC's music is at the same time enveloping and imaginative: the airy melodies of "Melodia Compacta" are so delicate they seem to float like kites in the wind, while the foray into soul and blues sketched out by the dialogue between organ and electric guitar on the sinuous "Fin De Journée" is a genuine sonic trip.

"Stash" is an unusual example of minimal music, where the few notes reveal themselves to be expansive and sun-drenched ("Stella Solitaria"), playful and naively futuristic ("Tête-à-Tête"). An immersive experience that, thanks to a fully analogue recording, reconciles the listener with music as an art form.

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09/07/2026