Folk 42 Items

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2015!

Described as “slow, hypnotic folk and/or loud, trance-inducing art-rock” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Annie Girl AND THE FLIGHT’s intense, almost psychedelic live performances have been making a mark on the San Francisco rock scene. Four-song EP.

36th studio album!

England / Ohio’s Mat Sweet presents his latest album under the Boduf Songs moniker via The Flenser! Stench of Exist is at once his most accessible and most esoteric work to date; from the opium flow of the tracks, running headily into one another like tributaries to river, to the muted-industrial-electronic-effected drums underscoring the spiraling melodies and fluttering drones, to the clean and rich guitar, abstracted cycles and feedback walls, its whispered doom metal masquerades as a lullaby. Stench of Exist unfolds languorously, laced with mysterious electronic filigree. Gorgeously intimate, it transforms the minimal into maximal with layers of electro-detritus wreathed in lush guitar strums, street-side field recordings, reverberating pianos and softly crooned vocals. It is a record of rain and cities and nighttime. The collision of arabesque tonalities with electronic sound and ambience brings to mind the promise of Blade Runner—half-asleep at 4:00 A.M. and slightly medicated, with pyramids and flame-spewing cityscapes in downpour glowing against the fluttering eyelids in the almost-dreaming consciousness. A record for saturnine commuters, on headphones, after sunset.

Limited edition of 500 only vinyl only release comes with download in beautiful letterpressed jacket. On his 3rd album "Blood Moon Boulder", Chuck Johnson reaches a compositional peak in a nod to the picturesque naturalism of the American landscape. His precision & tone recall Ry Cooder's "Paris, Texas", & his delivery is a melodic melancholy with an every-note-placed-perfectly aesthetic. "...music that has both an engaging, rustic familiarity & a hypnotizing tonal richness." - Chicago Reader

Compuma, a.k.a. Koichi Matsunaga, reaches back through time to 1970s Hawaii to perform a mind meld, his old-school Roland drum machines and present-era compumagic vulcanizing and reshaping Haku's original home-grown analog synth madness. Not merely a remix, this a synergistic reconstruction, a transformation at the molecular level in which Haku's source-code DNA is reborn in 2015.

A truly unique Gospel stylist - Isaiah Owen's plays guitar and sings in his own very distinctive and otherworldly way. Isaiah plays loud and with quite a bit of dissonance, his voice floating above beautifully. This LP features some of his finest performances captured from his radio broadcasts in Montgomery Alabama and from studio recordings. Mississippi is very proud to present this material. Liner notes by Kevin Knutt (of the greatest radio show of all time, Sinners Crossroads, as well as the Case Quarter label).

This American cult legend has turned his laidback style into a trademark. J.J. Cale has forged an inspiring career that spans four decades. Collected is an essential J.J. Cale compilation on three 180 gram LPs chock full of rootsy Americana songs that will stay in the back of your head long after you turned off the record player.

180g vinyl.

Jilk release their new EP ‘In Need of Tess‘ – A wonderful collection of tracks that build on the established epic soundscapes of past releases but also demonstrate the organic development of combining experimental ambient pallets with more traditional orchestral scores and delicate pop sensibilities.

Following their successful collaboration with Haiku Salut on the emotionally charged ‘Periscopes’; Jilk return with warped vocals, soaring strings and a techno core tying the spiralling dense walls of ambience together.

The lead single, ‘In Need of Tess’ is a collaborative piece; a pulsating slice of chamber pop about dead dogs and dreams which also draws on the considerable talents of video director Nic Kane, the sculptures of Hester Sorel Moriarty Thompson.

The rest of the EP comprises of a two-part piece developed from a soundtrack Jilk produced for a lovely short film by Nim Jethwa. Building, developing and fleshing out the ideas; Jilk combine the sweeping beauty of orchestral timbre with driving 4/4 pulse and rusty sounding guitars for Nim and Nim (Sit Down Outro).

Baby Hannah is an epic piece of post rock inflected electronica making full use of the bands wide range of players. Vibraphone, violins and guitars cling to foundation drum patterns as the piece moves from ambient drone through to a rain storm of melodic percussion that even Steve Reich would approve of.

Be Heart: A short but emotionally charged clattering lo-fi electro love song built from home found sounds and frazzled broken synths. The most aching club romance to take place in a child’s toy box.

Then a collaboration with the incredible Nuala Honan as Jilk rework her stand out track ‘All is Not Lost’, (taken from her 2014 album The Tortoise). Jilk mould the song into a hazy blanket of clicks, whirs, strings and heart wrenching vocals from snippets.

Matana Roberts is one of the most acclaimed, socio-politically conscious and aesthetically intrepid avant-jazz practitioners of the 21st century. Following the critical accolades that the first two Coin Coin chapters have thus far received, the past year has been marked by further career-defining recognition for her body of iconoclastic work: Roberts was a recipient of both the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts and the Daisy Duke Impact Award in 2014.

Roberts has long employed the phrase “panoramic sound quilting” to describe the process surrounding her Coin Coin work. The third chapter in her Coin Coin series finds Roberts implementing this metaphor most explicitly, constructing a sound art tapestry from field recordings, loop and effects pedals, and spoken word recitations, alongside her saxophone and singing voices. Coin Coin Chapter Three: river run thee could arguably be considered first and foremost a vocal work, and notwithstanding its experimental and esoteric structure, a deeply narrative work as well.

Neşet Ertaş is a Turkish folk poet, the last great representative of Turkish culture and musical tradition. He is also known as the "Bozkırın Tezenesi ". On the albums he released from the 1950’s onwards, he recorded Central Anatolian folk songs and dance tunes as well as the folk songs he learned from his father Muharrem Ertaş. Starting in the 1960’s, he began to write both lyrics and compositions. He used the pseudonym "Garip", and from the 1970’s onwards, his folk songs were interpreted by many artists of the period. In 2009, he was deemed worthy of being included in UNESCO's Living Human Treasure inventory. This album contains 10 songs performed by the great master in 1998. "Güzel Ne Güzel Olmuşsun", "Hapishanelere Güneş Doğmuyor", "Neredesin Sen" and "Zahide" are the most remarkable tracks on the album

This vinyl compilation consists of 26 tracks not 40. Selda is the most well-known Turkish female singer and folk guitarist in the world. Her voice is coming out of this world. You feel how deep, how soulful voice even though you don’t understand any single Turkish word. Her vibing vocals makes the song more dramatic. You may regret why you have not listened to this legendary vocal so far. This compilation will be an exciting experience for you.

Reissue of German cassette release as vinyl after nearly 40 years. The songs are from the various singles and the debut LP. The title song 'Yuh Yuh' is from Selda's 1977 'Dostum Dostum'/'Yuh Yuh' single. Most of the songs are performed with the Anatolian Rock super group Dadaslar who are known for their works with Ersen. The group consists of Fehiman Ugurdemir (guitars and synthesizer, former Cem Karaca & Kardaslar guitarist), Ozkan Ugur ((bass, former Baris Manço guitarist) and Mehmet Gözüpek (former drummer of Bunalim) and creates a powerful groove with their psychedelic arrangements.

Steve Gunn and The Black Twig Pickers are key figures in the current resurgence of American traditional and folk music. Gunn's songwriting and inventive guitar playing are driven by his restless mind, having released 9 solo and collaborative albums and appeared as a guest on nearly as many since his debut in 2007. The Black Twig Pickers play a fervent form of traditional music from their Appalachian homeland. The group performs often forgotten traditional songs, especially from their Virginia stomping-ground, creating a living history of old time music. They also have an ongoing residency at the legendary Floyd Country Store.

Steve Von Till, best known as Californian heavyweights Neurosis' singer and guitarist, is due to release a new solo album, A Life Unto Itself on his main band's Neurot Recordings Von Till enlisted Randall Dunn, production supremo and Master Musicians of Bukkake founder, to helm the desk, as well as bringing in Eyvind Kang on viola and percussionist Pat Schowe. 'A Life Unto Itself' also showcases J. Kardong on pedal steel, texturising Von Till's baritone gravel and sun-bleached skeleton of...

For over twenty years Theodor Bastard have been known for their amazing serious attitude to the world beyond that very frontier. The band's 2015 re-issue of 'Vetvi' is set out to take listeners to unexplored and other worlds!

The 78 Project is on a journey across America to make one-of-a-kind 78rpm records with musicians in their hometowns using a 1930s Presto direct-to-disc recorder. With one microphone. With one blank disc. In one 3-minute take. Along the way, a kaleidoscope of technologists, historians and craftsmen from every facet of field recording—Grammy-winning producers, 78 collectors, curators from the Library of Congress and Smithsonian—provide insights and history. In Tennessee, Mississippi, California, Louisiana, the folk singers, punk rockers, Gospel and Cajun singers in the film share their lives through intimate performances, and find in that adventure a new connection to our cultural legacy. With musical performances by: Reverend John Wilkins (Como, MS), Louis Michot, Corey Ledet & Ashlee Michot (Arnaudville, LA), Victoria Williams (Los Angeles, CA), John Doe (Fairfax, CA), Dawn Landes (Brooklyn, NY), Holly Williams & Chris Coleman (Nashville, TN), John Reilly & Tom Brosseau (Pasadena, CA), Gaby Moreno & Adam Levy (Los Angeles, CA), Jaron Lanier (Berkeley, CA), Ella Mae Bowen (Franklin, TN), Dylan Leblanc (Franklin, TN), Coati Mundi (Murrieta, CA), The Bo-Keys with Percy Wiggins (Memphis, TN), John Paul Keith (Memphis, TN), Ben Vaughn (Wonder Valley, CA), Sea Of Bees (Sacramento, CA), The Easy Leaves (Santa Rosa, CA) and Little Wings (Topanga Canyon, CA). Special edition DVD with over 30 minutes of bonus materials including complete musical performances and never-before-seen interview footage.

Stunningly beautiful, poignant music from Bilād al-Shām — ‘the countries of Damascus’, known nowadays as Syria, Lebanon and Palestine — including performances from the very first recording sessions in the region. The legendary, moody Beirut singer Būlus Ṣulbān is here — some historians have him singing before Egypt’s Pasha Ibrāhīm Bāshā during his military campaign in Syria, in 1841 — and Ḥasība Moshēh, Jewish ‘nightingale of the Damascene gardens’. Thurayyā Qaddūra from Jerusalem; Yūsuf Tāj, a folk singer from Mount-Lebanon; Farjallāh Baiḍā, cousin to the founders of Baidaphon Records... Musical directors like the lutist Qāsim Abū Jamīl al-Durzī and the violinist Anṭūn al-Shawwā (followed by his son Sāmī); such virtuosi as the qanun-players Nakhleh Ilyās al-Maṭarjī and Ya‘qūb Ghazāla, and lutist Salīm ‘Awaḍ. Even at the time, notwithstanding such brilliance, public music-making was frowned upon as morally demeaning, especially for women. Musical venues were generally dodgy. Ṣulbān once cut short a wedding performance for the Beiruti posh, after just one song, he was so disgusted with his audience. ‘If I had to tell you about the catcalls,’ one commentator wrote about the musical theatre of the time, ‘the stomping of feet, the sound of sticks hitting the ground, the noise of the water-pipes, the teeth cracking watermelon seeds and pistachio nuts, the screams of the waiters, and the clinking of arak glasses on the tables, I would need to go on and on and on...’