#4525, Drone Folk

New Sounds | Aug 15, 2023

Listen to some folk songs with a drone, whether acoustic or electric, audible or implied, with music by Dublin-based Lankum, first lady of folk, Shirley Collins, and from Marion Cousin and Kaumwald. There’s work by Dublin-based four-piece Lankum, who rework traditional folk songs into immersive sonic landscapes using drone and darkness. Also, Norwegian medieval song by Jan Garbarek & Agnes Buen Garnas, plus music from the Irish-American supergroup, The Gloaming.

Listen to "first lady of folk" Shirley Collins from a 2020 recording, ”Wonderous Love.” The tune comes from an English ballad about the infamous sea captain William Kidd, who was hanged for piracy in 1701; some may also recognize it as a hymn melody.

Then, from Marion Cousin and Kaumwald, hear folk songs of the Iberian Peninsula involving the image of a brindled she-wolf, arranged like a marriage of traditional and experimental, done up in an old barn and refracted through a drone-folk prism, with shruti-box, violin, percussion, and electronics. Then, listen to Finnish experimental folk music duo Akkajee as they combine nyckelharpa, viola and vocals, in a traditional song about wicked spirits who keep infants awake at night, “Yönitkettäjä (Night Demon).” And more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4525, Drone Folk (First Aired 8/6/2021)

ARTIST: Shirley Collins & Davey Graham
WORK: Pretty Saro [1:00]
RECORDING: Folk Roots, New Routes
SOURCE: Righteous#GDC-001, reissued in 1999 on Topic records #820
INFO: Available at Amazon.com

ARTIST: Shirley Collins 
WORK: Wondrous Love [1:30]
RECORDING: Heart's Ease
SOURCE: Domino Recording Company
INFO: dominomusic.com

ARTIST: Shirley Collins 
WORK: Through All Eternity [3:04]
RECORDING: Crowlink EP
SOURCE: Domino Recording Company
INFO: dominomusic.com

ARTIST: Lankum
WORK: Katie Cruel [9:18]
RECORDING: The Livelong Day
SOURCE: Rough Trade
INFO: lankum.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Jan Garbarek & Agnes Buen Garnas
WORK: Rosensfole [2:40]
RECORDING:  Rosensfole
SOURCE: ECM 1402
INFO: 
ecmrecords.com

ARTIST: Altan
WORK: Mallai Chroch Shli [3:45]
RECORDING: The Red Crow
SOURCE: Green Linnet Records
INFO: 
Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, Spotfiy, and YouTube Music

ARTIST: Hawktail and Julie Fowlis
WORK: Till an crodh Dhòmhnaill / The Good Mallett [4:04]
RECORDING: Youtube
SOURCE: youtube.com/channel/UC69D-igAG3wOkD1RFi8QNZQ
INFO: 
folk.org/artists-in-their-residence

ARTIST: The Gloaming
WORK: Samhradh Samhradh [5:54]
RECORDING: The Gloaming
SOURCE: Brassland HWY-037
INFO: 
store.brassland.org

ARTIST: Marion Cousin & Kaumwald
WORK: La loba parda (The Brindled She-Wolf) [5:13]
RECORDING: Tu rabo par'abanico (Your tail as a fan)
SOURCE: Les Disques Du Festival Perman
INFO: 
lesdisquesdufestivalpermanent.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Akkajee
WORK: Yönitkettäjä (Night Demon) [8:28]
RECORDING: Lastenkerääjä
SOURCE: akkajee.bandcamp.com
INFO: https://eclipsemusic.lnk.to/LastenkerjAkkajee

ARTIST: Shirley Collins 
WORK: My Sailor Boy [3:40]
RECORDING: Crowlink EP
SOURCE: Domino Recording Company
INFO: dominomusic.com

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