neo-folk

Nick Drake: At the Chime of the City Clock and Northern Sky (1970)

2014/10/21

Nick Drake – 1970 The turn of the decade, now we’re spiraling into an era where English folk music could really spread its wings. Nick Drake, far from being the perceived sad sack they’d hear later on Pink Moon was attempting to present all his gifted taste and sophistication. Although, the failure of Five Leaves Left left him…
Nick Drake: Way to Blue and Thoughts of Mary Jane (1969)

2014/10/20

Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left Photo Sessions Nick Drake is a hard musician to write about. Most history that can be written about his life has already been combed over and detailed. Nick Drake, though was hardly an artist known or remembered as so during his brief living life. How could an artist who…
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Stones for Avalon and Iscariot (1969)

2014/10/18

Tyrannosaurus Rex – 1969 “The toad road licked my wheels like a sabre/Winds of the marsh lightly blew” those are the first two verses that greet you the first time you hear Unicorn. “Chariots of Silk” the opening track, serves as a salvo for what’s coming. Seemingly impenetrable on paper, or on computer display, the…
Tyrannosaurus Rex: Scenesof and Deborah (1968)

2014/10/17

Tyrannosaurus Rex – Steve and Marc Some of us will always see artists a certain way. For example, I’ll always think of David Bowie not as the miming artist he started out his career being, but as THE artistic mime we now know him as. I know people always see Marc Bolan as the pint…
The Pentangle: Light Flight and Hunting Song (1969)

2014/10/16

The Pentangle – 1969 Sometimes, I wish I had an interesting story to tell for certain bands. This one especially so. The album these songs were off of Basket of Light wasn’t created by a huge cataclysmic shift in sound or happening. This album was simply the work of immensely talented musicians who did the…
Fairport Convention: Matty Groves and Tam Lin (1969)

2014/10/15

Fairport Convention at Farley Chamberlayne Yesterday we left Fairport Convention finally realizing the vision they had to head towards to. Today, we see how they get there. This destination was the creation of English folk-rock as most people know it and a true classic no matter what country you come from. What does that mean?…
Fairport Convention: Fotheringay and A Sailor’s Life (1968)

2014/10/14

Fairport Convention – 1968 (Unhalfbricking photo session) Sometimes all you need to make the right change is a key ingredient to slide into place. My track of the day by the Fairport Convention makes that case vividly. Before they would become the most well known and thoroughly English folk-rock group they were decidedly going in the…
Sandy Denny and the Strawbs: Who Knows Where the Time Goes and Two Weeks Last Summer (1967)

2014/10/13

Sandy Denny – 1967 Today, I post a track laden with hindsight of what could have been. There was a time when the English folk rock history books could have been rewritten if but a few minor things happened. Released in 1973, but recorded in 1967, by the Strawbs on their album All Our Own…
The Pentangle: Traveling Song and Let No Man Steal Your Thyme (1968)

2014/10/12

The Pentangle – 1968 This is just a preview of what’s coming up. The Pentangle’s “Traveling Song” my track of the day, signals the shift of Britain’s folk groups from mere mimicry of traditional music. This shift would take traditional music, and reimagine it as a current form of expression. Formed in 1967, this group…
The Incredible String Band: A Very Cellular Song (1968)

2014/10/11

Mike and Robin from the Incredible String Band Now this is where we start hearing all those columns come together from the previous artists I’ve highlighted. The fantasy, ancient, modern, experimental, surreal, and spiritual all get combined into a solid vision of a neo-folk movement. The Incredible String Band’s “A Very Cellular Song” from 1968’s…