england
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Fuchsia Now this is another great, truly forward thinking, one album English neo-folk wonder. How about a 6-piece band where the real thrust of power comes from its 3-piece string trio? Fuchsia a Devon band fulfilled the promise that nascent artists like the Electric Light Orchestra, and similar ilk rarely accomplished as well…the idea of marrying…
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Jan Dukes de Grey Before we jump into 1972, lets catch two final one album wonder English neo-folk bands. Bands like these show the great aspect progression and complexity are starting to define the sound of their music. No longer content with paying due diligence to tradition they’re seeking to go beyond it, experimenting with…
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Alan Stivell – 1971 Let’s blur the line of history even further. What does French-born musician Alan Stivell (real name Alan Cochevelou) have in any way, shape, or form to do with English neo-folk? Could you believe this same man created the first strains of Celtic rock. The music of all the Gaelic traditions owe…
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Spirogyra (Martin and Barbara far right) Now here’s another interesting band. One that highlights the importance of giving equal providence to other voices, feelings, and sounds that English neo-folk was exploring. Spirogyra, appropriately enough, another band hailing from the mystical Yorkshire Dales area (home of Mr. Fox if you can remember!) has a very distinct…
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Bridget St. John in France. Have you been noticing a pattern in England’s neo-folk movement? For myself it’s the important role women played in shaping this music. Somehow, its interesting that while other genres were becoming increasingly segmented off by race and gender, English Neo-Folk was increasingly becoming a genre where women didn’t have to…
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Roy Harper You know, for me, there’s one reason I’ll give Jimmy Page a lifetime pass, it’s for his brief period supporting the genuinely offbeat, yet equally brilliant Roy Harper, and in doing so delivering both of their best work. Released in 1970, “The Same Old Rock” from Roy Harper’s Stormcock ushered in a new age…
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C.O.B. (Clive Palmer far right) Seems appropriate today, on the Day of the Dead, to post something from Clive Palmer’s C.O.B. band. This is another English neo-folk group which was continuing the show of strength this new genre had. Their hymnal sound was heavily indebted to the polyglot of influences early Judeo-Christian music had absorbed…
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Shirley Collins and Ashley Hutchings – No Roses photo session. Continuing on the quest to detail England’s neo-folk sound, I have to go back to the story of one of the artists who started it all. Shirley Collins, by the time of this recording was thought of as bit stubborn traditionalist, one more prone to…
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Comus Let’s ruminate a bit over October. Isn’t there something strangely dark and alluring about this month? In nature, we look forward to trees changing their colors and the heat from summer subsiding to cool our muggy air. We look forward to these things, knowing full well that they’re signals of something shortly arriving: for…
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Tír na nÓg – Sonny and Leo Before throwing you head first into the dark masterpiece of tomorrow’s album of the month, how about something far gentler? Yet in its own way, quite heavy. Out of Ireland, comes the Dubliner duo Tír na nÓg. Taking their name appropriately enough from the Otherworldly (Land of Eternal Youth),…
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