#5093, Dark Folk From the British Isles
Hear haunting, atmospheric folk from Glasgow-based duo Burd Ellen; drone-folk by Dublin’s Poor Creature; and spectral folk with sound design by One Leg One Eye (Lankum's Ian Lynch).
Glasgow-based duo Burd Ellen, a project featuring Debbie Armour (Alasdair Roberts, Green Ribbons) and Gayle Brogan (Pefkin, Electroscope) took their name from an old folk song – the child ballad where the mother curses the absent father who has gone to sea. Their music evokes dark landscapes with drone and sound-washes that support detailed vocal work to create a unique sonic atmosphere – all framed through Armour’s love of tarot and the art of divination.
Then listen to Dublin band Poor Creature - singer Ruth Clinton (Landless); and band Lankum band members, the string player Cormac MacDiarmada and drummer John Dermody- with their version of the ghost story-song, “Willie-o”. (These are also called revenant songs – where a ghost of a dead lover comes in the night to visit the person left behind.) There’s also music by One Leg One Eye, the recording alias of Ian Lynch, also of Dublin’s experimental folk group Lankum. Hear one of the works from his feast of spectral folk and boggy blackened noise, …And Take The Black Worm With Me, made with shruti box and sounds recorded in a large abandoned warehouse where his father used to work. Plus, music from all-star Scottish-English group The Furrow Collective, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #5093, Dark Folk From the British Isles (First aired 1/7/26)
ARTIST: Steeleye Span ft. Maddy Prior
WORK: When I was on Horseback [6:07]
RECORDING: Ten Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again
SOURCE: Shanachie
INFO: Available at Amazon.com
ARTIST: Burd Ellen
WORK: The Chariot [9:22]
RECORDING: A Tarot of the Green Wood
SOURCE: Mavis Recordings
INFO: https://burdellen.bandcamp.com/album/a-tarot-of-the-green-wood
ARTIST: Poor Creature
WORK: Willie-o [9:59]
RECORDING: All Smiles Tonight
SOURCE: River Lea Recordings
INFO: https://poorcreature.ffm.to/allsmiles
ARTIST: The Furrow Collective
WORK: Demon Lover [4:59]
RECORDING: At Our Next Meeting
SOURCE: Furrow Records
INFO: https://thefurrowcollective.co.uk
ARTIST: Burd Ellen
WORK: The Hermit [6:59]
RECORDING: A Tarot of the Green Wood
SOURCE: Mavis Recordings
INFO: https://burdellen.bandcamp.com/album/a-tarot-of-the-green-wood
ARTIST: One Leg One Eye
WORK: Bold and Undaunted Youth [13:27]
RECORDING: ...And Take The Black Worm With Me
SOURCE: Eiderdown Records
INFO: https://eiderdownrecords.bandcamp.com/album/and-take-the-black-worm-with-me
