Άβατον - Άβατον (Avaton - Avaton)

 

Legendary - now broken-up - Greek band (proteges of Manos Chatzidakis, one of the three most prominent Greek composers of 20th century) from the early 90s playing a mix of new-agey/ambient folk with purported influences from ancient Greek music (though, as we know, there are no actual musical indications of what ancient Greek music sounded like) and lyrics derived from the poetry of Sappho, the 6th-century-BCE godmother of lesbianism. The final two tracks, "I Siragga," and "Simoun," are among my all-time favorite tracks ever since I was a teenager and I discovered this album and I play "I Siragga" very frequently in my car. 1991 LP on Sirius (Manos Chatzidakis's label)

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Various ‎– People Take Warning! (Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs, 1913-1938)

 

 Probably sums up my life being a disaster. In the vein of Alan Lomax music research this compilation gathers stories about disasters (say Titanic) and murders, of course in country, roots, blues and bluegrass styles. 2007 3 X Cd on Tompkins Square.

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Kaboom Karavan ‎– Barra Barra

 

 

 Excellent mystical folk improv avant garde. 2011 cd on Miasmah.

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Alison Cotton appreciation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have referred to Alice Cotton a couple of times (here and here) referring to her as pagan folk drone. She works primarily with the viola and harmonium and her captivating voice to create psychedelic forests of sound that could be considered close to Comus, Dead Can Dance, and Jordi Savall.

All Is Quiet At The Ancient Theatre (2018 tape - Bloxham Tapes)

Only Darkness Now (2020 tape - Bloxham Tapes)

Shirt Of Lace (2020 lathe vinyl- Bloxham Tapes - immersive cover of Dorothy Carter's song)

The Girl I Left Behind Time (2019 10" - Clay Pipe Music)  

Michael Tanner & Alison Cotton ‎– Untitled (2016 tape - Reckno)

Michael Tanner with Alison Cotton and Lino Capra Vaccina ‎– The Blackening (2019 sound file) 

Zener_08 (2020 tape live recording - Sensory Leakage - bandcamp link/no free dl)

 

 

 

Little Skull - Untitled

Electroacoustic drone/folk experimentations with the usual high quality of Dean Brown's Little Skull. 2009 cdr on Students Of Decay.

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The Nether Dawn With Little Skull ‎– A Dog's Hair Reverie

Collaboration between Dean Brown's Little Skull and Antony Milton's The Nether Dawn playing a lonely nightly desert guitar lament. 2007 cdr on Students Of Decay.

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Senyawa & Stephen O’Malley - Bima Sakti

SOMA travelled to Indonesia and met the doom/folk duo Senyawa. Yes, it's like Sunn O))) participates in an ancient ritual. 2020 LP on iDEAL Recordings.

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Little Skull ‎– A Light In The Window Will Guide Us Safely Home

 

 More deep droning psych-folk by this great artist. 2019 lp on Planam.

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Little Skull ‎– Ubique

At times unsettling drone, at times ecstatic folk accompanied by field recordings by New Zealander Dean Brown. 2016 lp on Planam.

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Various ‎– Mogadisco (Dancing Mogadishu - Somalia 1972​-​1991)

Compilation featuring Somalian disco, funk and soul from the 70s-90s. 2019 2 X cd on Analog Africa.

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United Bible Studies ‎– Porti Sepolti tape

An extended line-up of United Bible Studies featuring international musicians and playing spacey ambient reminding me of my old Sega Master System video games like R-Type with great combinations of fragile medieval folk. 2019 tape on Sloow Tapes.

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Razen ‎– Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk LP

Their most mystical album from those I've heard, it's like a mix between Stephan Micus, avant-garde jazz and drone. Superb. 2019 LP on (K-RAA-K)³.

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Razen - Remote Hologram LP

 

I love it how Razen mixes seemingly incompatible genres, with Middle/Central Eastern sounds always having a very prominent role, but here with an accentuated emphasis on drone, psychedelic electronics, atonal, classical and even a slightly Irish folk track ("Rust Constellation 11). 2014 2XLP on (K-RAA-K)³.

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Razen - Rare Undressed Mare

Razen is a Belgian group playing a mix of Middle-East/Central-Asian folk music with drone/ambient and experimental electronics. No, they don't have any new age shit, nor are they part of the ethereal ambient scene. Their music is dark and ecstatic, devotional and psychedelic. On this tape they employ heavily tabla, reed instruments and a droning instrument that sounds either like the sarangi or Indian harmonium. Highly recommended. 2014 tape on House Of Alchemy.

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Serfs- Moon Mellowed River

Serfs was the guitar duo of blog-loved artists Jon Collin and Tom Settle, playing a more playful version of Jon Collin's deep psychedelic ambient folk, with a more electric and jammy feel to it. 2012 tape on Golden Lab Records.

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3/4 HadBeenEliminated ‎– Dimethyl Atonal Calcine 7"

Inspired by Bleak Bliss's post of this Italian group's album Oblivion, here's an 7". This is some weird shit, don't know how exactly to describe side 1; something like electroacoustic folk/indie with an endless lock groove at the end? Side 2 is a nice ambient/dub remix of one track from another album of theirs. Cool. 2006 self-released 7".

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Fuji Yuki, Michel Henritzi, Harutaka Mochizuki - Shiroi Kao

The most mournful record of 2018 is this one, a collaboration between Japanese singer Fuji Yuki, Japanese alto sax player Harutaka Mochizuki, and French lapsteel and various strings Michel Henritzi, whose collaborative LP with Rinji Fukuoka and Luca Massolin received high praise here. On this one, Henritzi collaborates on two tracks with each of the two Japanese artists, creating a hazy soundscape of despair, grief, and fragile beauty on the two tracks with Fuji Yuki, which are some kind of drone folk with banjo, lap guitar and noise, while the two tracks with Mochizuki are noisier, with the latter achieving desperate sax tones over a grinding droning noise. A true masterpiece. 2018 cd on An'archives.

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Tremolo Ghosts - A Cardboard Sunset

Another very interesting release by Wormhole World, who have just released Xqui's Capitulate, is the upcoming cd by Tremolo Ghosts, the solo project of Owen Chambers, who participates in the Liquid Library label, presented in an earlier issue of TQ. The basis for the music here is acoustic folky stuff, with Owen's very characteristic high-pitched voice, which somehow reminds me of Yes's Jon Anderson in a higher and warmer tone. However, in comparison with earlier releases such as Gibraltar or Clutter Flies there's a more psych mood, more diverse instrumentation with electric guitars, reverbs, and improvised guitar snippets, and there's even a noise interlude. I get a very maritime feel here, and a melancholy air but filled with hope and conviction. Another great early 2019 release that's gonna keep me good company for the year. Go to the bandcamp, and pre-order it, it's worth the money.

Lena Willemark & Ale Möller ‎– Agram

I'm not too much a fan of nordic jazz or nordic folk, but this is truly an exceptional release by vocalist/fiddler Lena Willemark and multi-instrumentalist Ale Möller, both hailing from Sweden. This is an exceptionally creative mix of folk music from the North with northern jazz (for those who think this will be tedious Garbarek rehashing, give it a chance), along with eastern influences arising from the extensive use of hammered dulcimer and harp and some of the melodies that are based on Eastern rather than Scandi-folk scales. There's also a sense of drone and pagan ritual music fused with improvised jazz on the awesome Bjornen. Cool stuff. 1996 cd on ECM.

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Tom Settle - Dried Plumes tape

Beautiful acoustic guitar experiments by Tom Settle a-la John Fahey, early David Gilmour with an ambient/drone edge very close to his associate Jon Collin, which means guaranteed quality. Must listen. 2010 tape on Winebox Press, re-pressed in 2016 by Early Music.

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