Originally trained as a classical organist, the multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer known professionally as Kramer says he didn’t learn to be a “real” musician until he studied with Karl Berger at his Creative Music Studio in upstate New York. As Kramer explained to me in our recent interview in The Wire 474, it was Berger, who passed away earlier this year, who taught him how to stop playing music and start being it.

Over the next four decades, Kramer would hone this principle in an astonishing range of projects and contexts: as a member of the New York City incarnation of Gong, as a touring bassist for Butthole Surfers, as a member of bands like Bongwater and Shockabilly, as a producer at his studio Noise New York (later Noise New Jersey), and, not least of all, as a solo artist.

Following a long period of dormancy, Shimmy-Disc, the label Kramer originally founded in 1987, was relaunched in partnership with Joyful Noise Recordings in 2020. The first half of this playlist focuses on recent Shimmy-Disc releases that foreground Kramer’s prowess both as a collaborator and solo musician. The latter half highlights some of his studio work that helped musically define the late 1980s and early 90s.

Laraaji & Kramer
“Ascension”
From Baptismal (Shimmy-Disc, 2023)

Laraaji and Kramer have been acquainted since one summer day in 1985, when Kramer heard music coming from Central Park and assumed it was someone listening to Laraaji’s Day Of Radiance until he discovered that the music was being played by the man himself. Designed to submerge the listener in an immersive audio experience, the collaboration on Baptismal was undertaken remotely, through back and forth remote file transfer. The warble of a low frequency oscillator gives “Ascension” an airy, celestial vibe, while the walking bassline and gently plinking thumb piano anchor it in time and space, demonstrating that even the most cosmic music must have an embodied component.

Britta Phillips & Kramer
“Sirens”
From Rings Of Saturn (Shimmy-Disc, 2023)

“Sirens” is the second of three collaborative tracks between Kramer and Britta Phillips (of Luna and Dean & Britta) that comprise Nocturnes, the first of six rainbow coloured 7" records included in the box set Rings Of Saturn. A wisp of a song, “Sirens” uses vocal drones, atmospheric keyboards, and drums played with brushes to sublime effect. It’s a sound you could live inside of; its beauty made even more poignant by its brevity.

Kramer
“Stars Will Die Tonight”
From Music For Films Edited By Moths (Shimmy-Disc, 2022)

Music For Films Edited By Moths is a solo LP of instrumental compositions Kramer calls “ambient cinema” — music designed to give the listener something akin to a cinematic experience based solely in sound. On “Stars Will Die Tonight”, keyboard and string sounds are layered with mysterious sound effects laced with high frequency drones to produce an emotional effect of suspense laced with wonder. In the official video for the song, created by Dutch artist Tinca Veerman, clouds drift across a green sky at a glacial pace — a moving image as open ended as the sound.

Kramer
“The Rain”
From And The Wind Blew It All Away (Shimmy-Disc, 2021)

Kramer’s first solo record since the late 90s is a collection of intricately melodic melancholic songs. “The Rain” sounds both eerily vintage and vaguely British — as if George Martin had produced a record for Syd Barrett going through a goth phase, perhaps. The sound is equal parts alienating and charming; unexpected, yet unmistakably Kramer.

Let It Come Down
“Pennies”
From Songs We Sang In Our Dreams (Shimmy-Disc, 2020)

Songs We Sang In Our Dreams was the first full-length release from Shimmy-Disc following its relaunch in 2020. A duo consisting of Kramer and British vocalist Xan Tyler, Let It Come Down sees Kramer delving into the songwriterly softness that defined much of his iconic production work in the 90s. Kramer and Tyler sing in unison an octave apart over a soft bed of string synths and a loping beat. It's a gorgeous song, tinged with longing but not devoid of optimism.

Palace Music
“West Palm Beach”
From West Palm Beach (Drag City, 1994)

The two songs Kramer produced for Palace Music’s West Palm Beach 7" in 1994 are some of his best known works (the other being his production on Urge Overkill’s version of “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon”, which wound up on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack). In our interview, Kramer talks about his experience listening to Will Oldham record lyrics he had written in the studio that day: “In a single take for each of those two songs, I witnessed pure emotional Truth pouring forth effortlessly. He wasn’t ‘trying’ to do anything. He was being. I’ve never heard anything so ravishingly beautiful, so real and unreal at the same time.”

Low
“Words”
From I Could Live In Hope (Vernon Yard, 1994)

Low’s debut LP, recorded at Kramer’s Noise New Jersey studio, stands out as one of the great records of the 1990s. In our interview, Kramer tells the story of how an envelope containing the cassette demo that Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker had mailed to the Shimmy-Disc post office box arrived shredded, prompting him to follow a trail of clues to track down the artists responsible for the hauntingly gorgeous music it contained. At Kramer’s urging, I Could Live In Hope was released by Virgin Records’ Vernon Yard imprint rather than Shimmy-Disc, which lacked the resources to make the record the hit he felt it deserved to be. Everything about this track is perfect — a testament to both the band’s magic and Kramer’s understated production style.

Kramer
“Hello Music”
From The Guilt Trip (Shimmy-Disc, 1992)

The first time I heard this song, I felt like I had heard it a hundred times before. Was it used in a film soundtrack? A commercial? Not to Kramer’s knowledge! “Hello Music” appears on The Guilt Trip, Kramer’s sprawling 3LP debut solo album. The album chronicles a time of intense professional and personal upheaval, which had culminated in the breakup of his band Bongwater and his reconciliation with his estranged wife. The songs on The Guilt Trip are devastatingly vulnerable, but this vulnerability is often masked under humour and vocal effects. When the sincerity seeps out, it sounds almost unhinged — ”Hello music/goodbye world/hello music.”

Kramer
“The Murder Of God”
From The Guilt Trip (Shimmy-Disc, 1992)

“The Murder Of God” comes immediately after “Hello Music” on The Guilt Trip — a pairing which reveals two distinct yet interrelated facets of early 1990s Kramer. The psychedelic influence of earlier Kramer projects like Shockabilly and Butthole Surfers oozes from this quirky, pitch-bendy instrumental ditty.

Daniel Johnston
“Some Things Last A Long Time”
From 1990 (Shimmy-Disc, 1990)

After a decade of self-releasing his homemade cassettes, Daniel Johnson made his first professional studio album with Kramer at Noise New York. In our interview, Kramer spoke about the intricacies of working with artists to express emotions which can only be communicated through music. “It’s an honour to bring artists to a safe enough space with me that they are willing to notice things that they may never have noticed on their own,” he says. This recording provides exactly what was needed to bring out the strange, heartfelt beauty of Johnston’s songwriting and nothing more.

Galaxie 500
“Another Day”
from On Fire (Rough Trade, 1989)

Kramer’s partnership with Galaxie 500 began when they sent him a demo in 1988. On Fire is the second album he produced for the band — a resplendent collection of languid dream pop that exemplifies the aesthetic Kramer’s production style helped define. “Another Day” is elegant in its simplicity, with its gauzy vocals and downtempo percussion. Even the chaos of Dean Wareham’s squalling guitar sits perfectly in its place.

Read Emily Pothast's interview with Kramer in The Wire 474. Wire subscribers can also read the article online via the digital library.