Various - Weirdlore: Notes from the Underground

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 27 / 8 / 2012

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Review

Planned to accompany an all-dayer back in June of this year to showcase the best of the British folk underground, which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to poor ticket sales, the music made over these eighteen tracks reveals just why fans of psych-folk were denied what promised to be a day they’d never forget. The sad truth is that, while this particular brand of folk music will always have an audience, it is just too odd to attract large numbers of the general public. It is a shame as there is much to be enjoyed and discovered in this music. While those with an open mind when it comes to folk music embrace all variations of the genre, there are those who can’t escape from the room fast enough while this music is playing; I have seen it happen. Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom and company have certainly helped to introduce this acid-folk to a wider audience and have even managed to get artists like Vashti Bunyan a little of the recognition they should have received three or four decades ago, but it is still really no great surprise that the ‘Weirdlore’ all-dayer couldn’t attract the numbers needed to make the gig happen. Manchester based Folk Police Recordings, the label that has issued ‘Weirdlore’, has released some very interesting albums, for the most part clad in brilliant sleeves that in some small way prepare you for the music that they cover. ‘Weirdlore’ is no exception. That air of mystery that exudes from this music and which is one of the major reasons why, once it has eaten into your soul it stays there, is apparent just from a cursory glance at the cover. The album is also accompanied by a booklet with an introduction from Ian Anderson (the editor of ‘fRoots’ magazine, not the flute playing one) and an excellent essay from Jeanette Leech (author of ‘Seasons They Change’ the definitive book on the psych-folk genre and contributor of the much-missed ‘Folk Us’ column which used to appear in ‘Shindig’ magazine) which is worth the price of admission alone. And then there is the music… Eighteen tracks that haven’t seen the light of day on any other album yet, and featuring some of the best known artists from this genre (Alasdair Roberts, Emily Portman and Nancy Wallace) and some that will be unfamiliar to many of us (Foxpockets) this collection goes some way to not only being a contender for the folk compilation of the year but as the best compilation of any genre this year. Admittedly at eighteen tracks there is a lot to take in initially, but by keeping a good balance between the more traditional sounding songs like Rosalind Brady’s ‘Lore’ (where Brady’s use of dulcimer and harmonium add an eerie atmosphere to the song making it more of a chilling experience than you would expect for such a sparsely accompanied song), and the more overtly experimental pieces like Sproatly Smith’s ‘Rosebuds in June’ (a traditional song expertly given the acid-folk twist) the whole collection manages to hold your interest for the duration. While the influence of 60’s pioneers like the Incredible String Band still looms heavily over this music, there is little of the quaintness that accompanied some of their work. The strangeness is still there in droves isand that the whole point of this compilation surely, but for the most part this music is compellingly eccentric but rarely twee. Alasdair Roberts contributes an original, ‘Haruspex of Paradox’, displaying why he is so revered in acid-folk circles. Roberts has done so much for this genre over the years and this new ballad is the perfect balance of new and traditional folk. The False Beards, under which Ian Anderson performs along with Ben Mandelson, is one of the most traditional-sounding folk songs on this collection, and although Anderson coined the word ‘Weirdlore’ there’s nothing remotely weird or strange about his own contribution here. As an introduction to English folk music, ‘Weirdlore’ barely puts a foot wrong. Bands like Foxpockets have used the basics of the genre and fashioned a contemporary take on it, which will surely pull in more fans, while the decidedly strange Boxcar Aldous Huxley, who seem to have wondered in by mistake while on their way to a freeform jazz session on the other side of town with their take on the traditional ‘Hora’. show that folk music is forever evolving. Any album that includes Starless and Bible Black’s ‘If You Fall I’ll Fall With You’ which is all dreamy female vocals floating the prettiest of melodies, and also ‘Moss Mantra’ by Pamela Wyn Shannon, the most otherworldly offering here, Shannon speaking the words instead of singing them while ghostly backing vocals whisper in your right ear in one of the most disturbing yet captivating sounds heard in a long time, is very much worth investigation.

Track Listing:-

1 Worship Of Trees
2 Spine Of A Wave
3 The Innocent Hare
4 Walking Into Walls
5 Moss Mantra
6 Witches' Reel
7 Marie Celeste On Down
8 Grendel
9 Hora
10 Rosebuds In June
11 Black Hive
12 If You Fall Then I'll Fall With You
13 Haruspex Of Paradox
14 Meriasek
15 Lore
16 Come With Me
17 Molecatcher
18 Pucelancyrcan

Label Links:-

https://folkpolicerecordings.bandcamp.