Psychedelic traveler Matt MV Valentine rode out the waves of freak folk, building a towering discography of both his own solo work and work with partner Erika EE Elder in the rotating collective MV EE. Inspired by Indian classical and psychedelic folk, Valentine mixed improvisational acoustic recordings with field sounds, tape loops, and his own spaced-out vocals. As the years burned on, Valentine focused on a deep-fried miasma of sounds and styles with solo albums like 2019's Preserves.

Valentine was born and raised in upstate New York. He became interested in experimental music in high school and formed bands of his own while still a teenager. He became involved in various projects while in college, notably taking part in experimental psych collective the Tower Recordings in the late '90s. In the early 2000s he and Elder formed MV EE as a duo, but also opened the doors to a rotating cast of players to help with recordings and performances. The pair moved to a farm in Vermont and spent much of the next decade touring and frequently releasing new recordings. Still working in solo settings and with other collaborative configurations, Valentine reportedly made over 100 physical recordings, putting out cassettes, LPs, and CD-Rs on Audible Hiss, Child of Microtones, Fringes Recordings, Father Yod, Ecstatic Peace!, Qbico, and Siltbreeze. In 2011, Woodsist released a solo album of Valentine's Neil Young-meets-Royal Trux psychedelic folk called What I Became. In addition to a regular slew of CD-R and limited-edition releases, Valentine returned in 2016 with the Blazing Grace full-length and 2019's demented boogie rock record, Preserves. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi