Arnaudville, Louisiana’s Nouveau Electric Records is undertaking an enormously ambitious release project over the course of the coming year. It comprises 22 albums, covering over 50 years of music made by guitarist-singer-songwriter-arranger and esteemed producer Mark Bingham.

Bingham’s work covers a wide range of genres, from working with seminal punk and No Wave bands like MX-80 Sound and Bush Tetras to Cajun groups such as Michot’s Melody Makers and Lost Bayou Ramblers. He produced recordings by Beat poets Ed Sanders and Allen Ginsberg and jazz artists John Scofield, Wycliffe Gordon and Nicholas Payton. Pop stars on the list include Marianne Faithfull, Dr. John, R.E.M. and Jon Batiste. Bingham has always sought out projects that get his creative juices flowing. Bingham was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 Best of the Beat Awards.

“There’s been no linear path,” he said of his storied career. “It’s been up and down and all around, and you just try to find good people to work with.” The inaugural pair of releases hits digital retailers and streaming services November 18, followed every two months with further pairings as well as one especially extensive set of 11 albums, with the series being completed in September 2023. Select titles will also be issued in physical media.

The batch for November 18 includes Mushroom Crowd (2017), a collection of psychedelic rock, fantasy rock, art-damaged rock, talking blues, storytelling and disco-inspired absurd rock. Contributors include James Alsanders, Carol Berzas Jr., Sarah Quintana, Jon Gross, Anthony Cuccia, Jim Kolacek, Michael Cerveris, Tim Green, Shawn Hall and Chris Bloch. Goo Seneck (2014) will also be released. The album is a mix of condensed musicals, art rock, Fakersfield, art-damaged country and psychedelic. Contributors include James Alsanders, Carol Berzas Jr., Joe Cabral, BC Coogan, Anthony Cuccia, Amy Trail, Doug Garrison, Jon Gross, Monika Heidemann, Rex Gregory, and Jimbo Walsh.

Founded by Louis Michot in 2018, Nouveau Electric Records seeks to bridge the gap between tradition and evolution by introducing new creative visions to the centuries-old instrumentation and expressive vocabularies of Acadiana. The label prioritizes work in Louisiana French, though releases are not exclusively francophone.

For more information about Nouveau Electric Records, visit here.