Songs to Fill the Air is a compilation of artists covering songs performed by the Grateful Dead curated by Jeff Conklin, host of WFMU’s ‘The Avant Ghetto‘. The compilation is not for sale but rather a gift to donors to America’s oldest freeform, non-commercial radio station—WFMU—which depends on listener support for the majority of its operating budget. All tracks on Songs to Fill the Air are previously unreleased and were recorded specifically for the project and all artists contributed the work freely.

Matt Valentine of MV & EE recorded a version of “Black Peter” for the release, which we’re sharing today. Valentine tells Relix, “I’ve been flirting with ‘Black Peter’ for awhile, we even danced around it in MV & EE. the narrative always seems to apply to my life/scene no matter how ‘poor’ I am. I can always get totally involved singing and playing it, u know get really inside it. I also always dug how the Dead did it acoustically and electric, as a concise nug or a jam. this is a good fit for my interests, so i felt it was a sweet match for my modal approach/style here while also paying some deep reverence and honoring its classicism. WFMU has been an essential gift and vast archipelago of knowledge for me over decades of listening. I used to sell records at their fairs when they were in the east village basements and they have always supported my art and jams from the “tower recordings” onward. Man, we would let it rip unbridled in their on air studios and beyond (I’ll never forget that “tower recordings plus” big band live in dumbo at an ‘FMU benefit where we enlisted Paul Major, Hall of Fame, the Golden Calves to jam w/us and asked Tony Conrad’s son and Erika Elder to project films!) that was a happening moment. so yeah, they were always there for me and I wanted to be here now and always for them too. very psyched to be in such groovy company.” The complete tracklisting appears below the stream.
 

1. Bird Song – Lake Mary (Colorado)
2. High Time – Itasca (Los Angeles)
3. Cold Rain and Snow – Chris Forsyth and the SMB (Philadelphia/Brooklyn)
4. Attics of My Life – William Tyler (Nashville)
5. Beat it on Down the Line – Wooden Wand (Kentucky)
6. Mountains of the Moon – PG Six (Hudson, NY)
7. Ripple – Sarah Louise (North Carolina)
8. To Lay Me Down – Meg Baird (San Francisco)
9. Lady with a Fan – Anthony Pasquarosa (Western Massachusetts)
10.Love Scene / St. Stephen – Jon Collin (England)
11. Black Peter – Matt Valentine (Vermont)
12. Jack Straw – Ignatz (Belgium)
..