Public media is under threat. With Trump’s proposed federal funding cuts looming over PBS and its 1,500+ local stations, a collective of boundary-pushing musicians has responded the best way they know how: through sound.
Curated by New York-based Mike Horn (of Seawind of Battery), this 19-track compilation is a striking statement of solidarity, offering unreleased gems, live recordings, and vital works that affirm the value of truth, education, and access for all.
Available digitally and on limited-edition cassette, the compilation assembles an eclectic community of artists from the experimental fringes of folk, psychedelia, ambient, and jazz, each contributing a singular voice to the cause.
Bill MacKay opens expansive acoustic vistas with “Circles Under My Eyes,” while Joseph Allred weaves fingerpicked mysticism with a live track from a Knoxville, Tennessee, performance. Philly’s Nick Millevoi bends genres with lunar atmospheres on “Action Hiss Bits.” Elkhorn blurs the lines between American folk and psychedelic improvisation with “Subway Mirror Heart,” a live cut from 2024.
Seawind of Battery’s own shimmering soundscapes on “Dissappearing” offer a meditative balm amid the turmoil. From the cinematic post-jazz of The Royal Arctic Institute to the lo-fi bedroom psych of Chitinous Mandible, the album traverses a spectrum of textures. Stefan Beck’s Golden Brown drifts into nature-soaked ambient spaces, while the modern folk electronic ensemble plays with cassette-age warmth and genre fluidity.
Aux Meadows channels motorik grooves and windswept Americana, Jon Camp’s twang-droned melodies captivate, and Prairiewolf’s cosmic compositions glisten with layered guitars and synths. Zachary Cale’s pastoral lyricism, Brian John McBrearty’s spiritual jazz textures, and rootless’s introspective ambient passages further enrich the journey.
This compilation is a collection of beautiful sounds and a testament to cultural preservation. A reminder that, like public media itself, some things are too vital to lose. There’s plenty to love about Save The Waves, and with all proceeds benefitting PBS and public radio, it’s a cause worth getting behind.
Save The Waves will be released on June 27th, and the pre-order goes up today. Head to Seawind of Battery’s Bandcamp page here to check it out.
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