Folk Off – New Folk And Psychedelia From The British Isles And North America

Following on from Bestival’s showcase of many of the bands and coming out at the same time as the Spitz Folk Festival, (see The British Acid Folk Underground 1968-2006 (Gather In The Mushrooms @ The Spitz Festival Of Folk), the timing of this double CD — split between The British Isles and North America — couldn’t be better.

One of the many highlights of the Bestival Festival was the appearance of Tunng on the main stage on the Sunday. It was only a few weeks ago they were in the Wychwood Tent on the Sunday and how they’ve grown in stature.

It may be that the sound system was bigger but they seemed to fill the place with a glorious happy vibe with track from the new album Comments On The Inner Chorus. One of the songs they played isn’t on the album and the band teased the crowd with a guess the tune competition. The bloke behind me was ecstatic as he ‘won’ the quiz of a night out with Mike; possibly to the relief of Becky (I wonder if she still has her ‘Black Prince’ at home? I wonder if they went to Haven St. in the afternoon?). I digress as the point is they did a cover of Bloc Party’s ‘The Pioneers’ (of Silent Alarm) and it’s the opening track on the Folk Off compilation. I’ve a bit of a soft spot for Bloc Party (even though Matt Tong has had far too much time to get round to the Hectic interview) and while its not a bad tune with those big drums, Tunng have absolutely stolen it on their version. A great gig as ever and watch out for a new tour by them soon.

Other bands that have great tracks on the CD and played at Bestival are Magnétophone (Rock ‘n’ Roll Tent, Sat). Like Tunng, they were previously on the Static Caravan label and are more electronic that folk. Also on a similar tip, Same Actor and the closing track, ‘Blue Parsley’ is a real treat for those who like obscure electronic breaks. In between, the ever-excellent Eighteenth Day of May (Bandstand, Sat) get down on an instrumental, ‘Dawn’ that would put a smile on your face if you heard it every morning.

North Sea Radio Orchestra (Bandstand, Sun) ‘Guitar Miniature’ is a little gem and Mia Doi Todd has been compared to Vashti Bunyan and you can easily see why with ‘Here Before’. Wyl enjoyed the next track James Yorkston (Main Stage, Fri) taken from the recent The Year Of The Leopard album and I’ll second that.

So the The British Isles CD is excellent and I loved it all. It was always going to be hard for the North America team to match it. It starts powerfully enough with the superb, Micah P. Hinson’s ‘Yard Of Blonde Girls’ from the Full Time Hobby album The Songs Of Tim + Jeff Buckley (don’t miss out on Tunng’s ‘No Man Can Find The War’ on the same album; can this band do no wrong on a cover version?). But you can see, I’m getting back to the home grown CD again.

However, Rob has picked a couple of good ones from Mi & L’Au (Bandstand, Sun) and the Espers (who are coming over for a EatYourOwnEars gig at The Luminaire, 22nd November).

Au Revoir Simone is a great name and they sound really good too. As does Fiest who makes a guest appearance on ‘Snow Lion’. Readymade FC are not the only ones to have spotted Fiest’s talents as she has also worked with Mocky (new single out soon from him, ‘Extended Vacation’).

In fact, I first heard Fiest on the Blue Room show and regular listeners to Rob da Bank and Chris Coco’s weekend shows will be shocked that they are falling victim to the Radio 1 re-scheduling in the next couple of weeks. This is sad but on the bright side, it means the Sunday Best sessions are starting again at The Bedford in Balham, SW17 (see details below).

Back at Folk Off, Great sleeve note by Pete ‘I was there’ Paphides that reminds us that both the development of music/artists either side of the pond have been historically dependent upon one another; hard to imagine there’d be no Tunng without Laura Cantrell but you get his drift. This double CD set is just what you need after Bestival or any other exhausting activity. Definitely worth adding it to the list of must have folk compilations of the year as it’s got the da Bank sideways look at things. Rob, you deserve a big thank you for all your excellent work.

Tracklisting: CD1 — The British Isles
1-01 Tunng — The Pioneers (4:28)
1-02 North Sea Radio Orchestra — Guitar Miniature (1:15)
1-03 Acid Casuals — Bowl Me Over (3:05)
1-04 This Is The Kit — Tow Wooden Spoons (2:50)
1-05 Vashti Bunyan — Here Before (2:04)
1-06 James Yorkston & Reporter — Woozy With Cider (4:19)
1-07 Songs Of Green Pheasant — Nightfall (For Boris P) (4:22)
1-08 Clayhill — Beard (2:50)
1-09 Eighteenth Day Of May — Dawn (2:49)
1-10 Deep Elem — Lost In The Woods (1:56)
1-11 Jakokoyak — Eira (3:22)
1-12 Same Actor — Nothing Yet (4:20)
1-13 The Hat — 3AM: Dnken Lullaby (3:16)
1-14 Magnetophone — And May Your Last Word Be A Chance To Make Things Better (4:05)
1-15 Listen WIth Sarah — Blue Parsley (7:17)

Tracklisting: CD2 — North America
2-01 Micah P. Hinson — Yard Of Blonde Girls (3:00)
2-02 Marissa Nadler — Famous Blue Raincoat (4:23)
2-03 Vetiver — Amour Fou (4:34)
2-04 Richard Swift — Sad Song St. (2:15)
2-05 Dr. Dog — The World Will Never Know (3:04)
2-06 Espers — Rosmary Lane (4:41)
2-07 Au Revoir Simone — Through The Backyards (3:54)
2-08 Laura Cantrell — Bees (4:11)
2-09 Sufjan Stevens — Decatur, Or, A round Of Applause For Your Step-Mother (3:10)
2-10 Readymade FC — Snow Lion (3:38) Feat. Feist
2-11 Jack Lewis — The Day Neil Young Died (3:13)
2-12 Animal Collective — Kids On Holiday (5:46)
2-13 Baby Dee — Morning Holds A Star (3:34)
2-14 Mi & L’Au — Bums (2:41)
2-15 Blitzen Trapper — 40 Stripes (3:50)

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