Folk Us JEANETTE LEECH feels strangely strange but oddly normal as she absorbs the latest folk goodies.


Sometimes, just sometimes, this column gets a proper Big Release to write about. That time is now with III (Wichita) from Philadelphia’s mighty ESPERS. The “difficult third album” is as much a part of music legend as Robert Johnson at the crossroads, but Espers


have taken their time and III more than matches their impressive back catalogue. This album has, in spades, the dizzyingly dense


arrangements and ultra-careful production so important to their sound, along with exquisitely sung metaphorical lyrics that are generally impossible to understand even if you can decipher the words. However, III subtly yet decisively moves the Espers project forward, particularly on two tracks. ‘That Which Darkly Thrives’ is a panoramic head trip that gently reigns itself in as it goes, a clever ploy to make you yearn for every climax while, in contrast, ‘Another Moon Song’ is languid and, in its dreamy fug, close to the sensuality of The Cocteau Twins III is an achievement within the folk genre and beyond it, and a record that I cannot recommend enough. THE


KITTIWAKES’ debut Lofoten Calling (Midwich/Southern) is a concept album with a difference. About the small Lofoten Islands above Norway, it delves into that locale’s mythology and history but does so largely within a traditional English


folk structure. Kate’s beautiful, sometimes cacophonous, vocals sit alongside the group’s profound musical skill and, when all three of The Kittiwakes let rip together (like on the twirling ‘Hurtigrutten’) the results are marvellous. Furthermore, Denny’s lyrics are admirably nuanced in their narratives – the cautionary tale ‘Maelstrom’ being a good example – to fit the album squarely, and proudly, in the folk storytelling tradition. The UK’s best


contemporary free-folk artist is Alex Neilson. He was in the inspired Scatter and, more recently, was the driving force behind the avant-folk of Directing Hand. Now, with TREMBLING BELLS he has teamed up again with his Directing Hand


partner, the classically-trained vocalist Lavinia Blackwall, along with bassist Simon Shaw and guitarist Ben Reynolds to create a project with a slightly more accessible – but no less fascinating - style. Carbeth (Honest Jon’s) mixes authentic sounding 1971 era folk-rock with dozens of other influences including the direct sentiment of early 20th century music hall (‘When I Was Young’) and the clatter of post-punk (‘The End Is The Beginning Born Knowing’). This album already feels like it is zooming ahead of its time and we’re all just running after Neilson’s coattails.


Two nice


instrumental albums have landed this issue. First up is The Viewing Point (Backwater) by Suffolk’s THE FUTURE KINGS OF ENGLAND, a cavernous delve into psychedelic folk ambience. The closing title


track is especially good, hedonistic and epic but without 74


slipping over into self- indulgence. It’s a heavy sound and has much in common with the current prog revival. The other wordless


CD is a more delicate affair; THE UNTIED KNOT’s Sketches For A Lost Summer (Sonic Imperfections) recalls the


gentle poignancy of David A. Jaycock in its deft compositions and slinking, sliding guitars.


We are truly blessed


with Because I Was In Love (Language of Stone), the first album proper by the lyrically raw SHARON VAN ETTEN, one of the best new singer-songwriters around. Co-produced by Espers’ Greg Weeks, Sharon minutely explores the complexities of


heartbreak and rebirth on tracks like ‘Consolation Prize’ and ‘I Fold’. This is a fantastic debut and bodes very well for the young lady from Brooklyn.


LISA O PIU is a


Swedish female-voiced band that offers an intimate glimpse into a sparse, twilit folk netherworld. When This Was The Future (Subliminal Sounds) is a tricky album to get a handle on, but once you’re there it’s even trickier to get out of as the acid-folk of opener


‘Cinnamon Sea’ gives way to a series of understated yet pretty- pretty melodies. My only complaint is that it’s a bit too derivative of Linda Perhacs’ Parallelograms to be a really special album. Taking a detour into


the rootsy end of things is Cabin Fever (She Wolf) by THE ECHO HUNTERS. The two obvious reference points for this hearty album are Neil Young and the folk- Americana of Vetiver’s latest forays. Cabin Fever evokes pit stops along dusty roads,


bonnet up and engine smoking, while meeting a dame who’s sure to lead to a doomed love affair. If you’re not adverse to a bit of the ol’ country-rock then this is waiting for you with a glass of bourbon and plenty of tall tales.


Psych-folk in


1984? Surely this is some elaborate con? But, no, apparently THE TREE PEOPLE were a threesome from Oregon who created Human Voices (Guerssen) while the plastic chaos of the mid-decade swirled around them. It was their


second release and available only on cassette, and it unbelievably sounds like a lost Pearls Before Swine album. The weak link is the over-earnest vocals but as they don’t appear too often that’s a minor quibble; getting lost in the perfectly pastoral arrangements is what this album is all about. Well, that and smirking genially at the of-their-time references to Friday The 13th.


Morning Stands


On Tiptoe (Cherry Tree), the '67 debut album of DAVE & TONI ARTHUR, makes no compromise to their popular audience. The Arthurs give the listener life-affirming takes on traditional material, breathing vitality into every


note, and they do so mostly unaccompanied. 'Female Rambling Sailor' and 'The Football Match' in particular are touching and fiery in impeccable balance, and it goes to show that importing a sitar was by no means the only way folk music exhibited power during the Summer of Love. But reissue of the


month is handed on a platter to the superb self- titled 1970 album by THE SUN ALSO RISES (Lion Productions). A mysterious Cardiff-based male-female duo, The Sun Also Rises played ultra-strange hippy folk,


the kind that gets record collectors in such a tizz, and for once the quality of the music equals its rarity value. Dulcimer, kazoo, bongos and otherworldly trilling all combine to create songs with titles like ‘Tales Of Jasmine And Suicide’. It’s bonkers and beautiful.


Floppy hat,


flawless skin, gorgeous flowing hair, beguiling voice: if acid-folk has a poster boy, MARK FRY in ’72 is it. He’s back with a re-recording of the title track from Dreaming With Alice and a great live version of ‘The Witch’ (Fruits De Mer), released


as a limited 7”. Mark’s two recordings of ‘Alice’ look at each other across the years and each should like what they see.


Sharron Van Etten: ready for the fall.


www.wichita-recordings.com www.southern.com www.honestjons.com www.backwaterrecords.com www.theuntiedknot.co.uk www.languageofstone.com www.subliminalsounds.se www.echohunters.com www.guerssen.com www.cherryred.co.uk www.lionproductions.org www.fruitsdemerrecords.com


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