 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
FOLKUS |
What you need in a winter as freezing as this one is two things: psych-folk and single malt. It so happens that Philadelphians FERN KNIGHT are on the case, ticking both boxes with their new Winter Solstice box set (self-released). This is an incredible package. Four CDs of previously unreleased material and a hip-flask, housed in a box that smells of lavender and looks like it should contain a heretical religious text. For those of you unfamiliar with Fern Knight this is a good way to get to grips with their music since Winter Solstice features a career-spanning variety of material. There’s an alternate version of their finest record, 2006’s Music For Witches And Alchemists; rough-hewn but deeply moving home recordings; abstract instrumentals; and a final disc of beautiful evening-by-the-fire cover versions and new songs. Singer Margie Ayre’s voice is torch-like and just a little bit wild, perfect for losing a whole evening to. ESP-Disk had a prodigious experimental folk output in the late ’60s; Holy Modal Rounders, Pearls Before Swine and ED ASKEW. Little Eyes (De Stijl) was recorded in ’70 as the planned follow-up to the great Ask The Unicorn, but was never released at the time. For those who like their folk from the heart while still somehow impenetrable, the laconic chaos of Askew is unrivalled, and this album – augmented by contemporary radio session broadcasts – is equally as fine as Ask The Unicorn. JOSHUA BURKETT, the free-folk individualist who has performed with Ed Askew, gets his own re-release as his ’95 debut Owleavesrustling (Spirit Of Orr) makes a limited re-appearance. It is removed from his earthy, acoustic-oriented works like Where’s My Hat but it’s still possible to find the buds of those later albums in its mosaic of cut-up records, atonal folk jamming and Burkett’s sweet, heartbreaking murmur. This challenging and decidedly uncommercial listen is for those whose tastes run to the uncompromising adventurousness of artists like MV & EE and Jandek. Personally, Burkett always dazzles me and this confessional outsider folk art still sounds amazing, ahead of its time even 15 years on. Another lo-fi vision – although a more accessible one – comes courtesy of Britain’s own ADAM LEONARD. Having been around for the best part of a decade, Leonard has developed a signature style and it’s working well on his new album Nature Recordings (The Great Pop Supplement). He’s a great guitar picker, but perversely his talent shines best when it’s as if his beleaguered instrument has been dragged through the mud. Leonard’s vocals are only occasional and more like Nico than any pure folkie, and the whole thing has the ramshackle feel of a bumpy journey in the south of France. JASON STEEL is in The Owl Service and his new album Baby, Wolves Abound (Rif Mountain) shares a gene pool with that psych-folk troupe without being a carbon copy. Steel evidently admires Bert Jansch and if you do too this is one to investigate. His effective persona is of the abandoned, yearning misfit, with vocals unflinchingly close to the microphone. Proving that the ladies can be equally as tormented, BRIGID POWER-RYCE’s You Are Here (Rusted Rail) has a melancholia coursing through it that congeals in the yowling sadness of her voice. ‘Like A Sun’ in particular makes a deep impression, with its downhearted 12-string strumming framing the vocals perfectly, recalling heartbreaks as old as time. It’s appealingly under-produced, making Power-Ryce’s long dark night of the soul even crueller. The ’94 release by Curved Air vocalist SONJA KRISTINA, Harmonics Of Love (Market Square), is now reissued with bonus tracks. Kristina fused folk and ambient music on this curio to create what she termed “astro-folk” where the hippie electronics brush against gentle love songs for a serene vibe. Although they sound poles apart, Kristina is like Joshua Burkett: both were tussling with folk at a time when others could only mock it. Also like Burkett, it won’t appeal to everyone but it’s important that Harmonics Of Love is heard. For anyone who prefers unvarnished singer-songwriters, Time Is Ripe: Rare Psych Folk From The Village Thing Years 1970-1973 (Weekend Beatnik) by IAN A ANDERSON is a welcome reissue. Anderson flits between psychedelic folk and hearty country-rock, with a few bluesier moments chucked in too. This material is simply produced, independently minded and Anderson’s vocals are direct, sometimes with a fetching English quirk. The impressive guitar work stops the right side of self-congratulatory noodling, and one of the best tracks is the playful instrumental vignette ‘Goblets & Elms’. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard an Americana album as good as banjoist RALPH WHITE’s Navasota River Devil Squirrel (Spirit Of Orr), a brilliant blend of twinkling bluegrass and forlorn folk. His version of the traditional ‘O Death’, so desperately rendered, picks at the heart like little else. You could be even be in central Tokyo and, with one twang, White could transport you to the woods, sun glinting through the gnarled branches, to stir all your heartaches. STONE BREATH released my favourite album of last year and now their entire back catalogue has just been reissued replete with bonus tracks, new sleevenotes and, most importantly, an audience for them that didn’t exist when they came out. Songs Of Moonlight And Rain, A Silver Thread To Weave The Seasons, Lanterna Lucis Viriditatis, Knotwork and The Silver Skein Unwound (Dark Holler) form a peerless, groundbreaking series of modern acid-folk albums spanning ’97 to 2004. Buy all these and you won’t want to leave your room until spring, and even then it’d have to be a damn fine spring to best the skin-peeling, intricate excellence of these records. www.fernknight.com |
|
|
|