Bill MacKay and Cooper Crain are two Chicago guys whose paths overlap a lot. MacKay makes solo experimental folk records, and he collaborates with tons of people, including Crain. Crain is from the bands Cave and Bitchin Bajas, and he collaborates with tons of people, too. In 2023, MacKay and Crain formed a duo called, logically enough, BCMC, and they released the album Foreign Smokes. Now, they've made another one.
Foreign Smokes was mostly an improvisational affair, but BCMC's new album Stash is a little more textured and composed. You can hear that in their new song, the zoned-out eight-minute instrumental "Kaleidosmoke." MacKay plays guitar, Crain plays keys, and the two of them drift off into distant psychedelic prog-rock realms.
Cooper and Greg Norman recorded Stash on 8-track tape at Chicago's Electrical Audio and Sweat Loge Studios, and MacKay and Cooper worked together to mix it to 2-track tape at Sweat Loge. Below, check out "Kaleidosmoke" and the Stash tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Cleanse"
02 "Boulevard Treats"
03 "Melodía Compacta"
04 "Kaleidosmoke"
05 "Fin de Journée"
06 "Stella Solitaria"
07 "Tête-à-Tête"
08 "Badland Rag"
Stash is out 6/26 on Drag City.
