| Freak folk | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Freak folk revival [1] [2] [3] |
| Stylistic origins | Psychedelic folk [4] |
| Cultural origins | Late 1990s, United States |
| Typical instruments |
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| Other topics | |
Freak folk is a subgenre of psychedelic folk that emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The label has been associated with the New Weird America movement and used to describe the work of artists such as Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective, and Adem.
The etymology of "freak folk" is unclear. [5] According to Stereogum , the term "freak folk" had been in informal use for decades before solidifying into a genre. [6] In Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk (2010), author Jeanette Leech claims that contemporary usage of the term is likely a bastardisation of the term "free folk." [5] For a short period of time, the terms were to a degree used interchangeably, but by 2006 "free folk" was no longer in mainstream use. [5]
In a 1998 review of Beck's Mutations , Joshua Clover, writing for music magazine Spin, described the music as "some old-fashioned freak-folk." [6] [7]
In early 2003, music magazine Arthur, one of the earliest outlets to profile freak folk artist Devendra Banhart, called him a "freaked folknik" on the cover of its second issue. [6] [8] On April 1, 2004, Arthur's Bastet imprint released the Banhart-compiled various artists album The Golden Apples of the Sun . [6] [9] According to Pitchfork, the compilation "assisted greatly" in defining the term "freak folk," [10] while Stereogum notes the aftermath of its release as "the moment when a descriptive phrase solidified into a genre." [6]
However, neither the album nor the interviews with Banhart and fellow freak folk artist Joanna Newsom in that month's issue of Arthur featured the term. [6] It did appear in Pitchfork's review of The Golden Apples of the Sun, but it was not yet the default label throughout 2004, with other publications instead using other terms, such as "freaked-out folk," "neo-folk," "antifolk," and "avant-folk." [6] However, according to Stereogum, by 2005 the term had quickly become oversaturated. [6] [11]
On December 12, 2004, The New York Times published an article entitled Freak Folk's Very Own Pied Piper, [12] a profile of Devendra Banhart. [5] It also mentioned Joanna Newsom, Animal Collective, and Adem, framing the artists as part of a group, and part of a new genre. [5] In the article, Banhart was quoted as saying: [5] [6] [12]
If you were to ask me how I feel about any of the term freak-folk, it's cool -- you have to call it something -- but we didn't name it. We've been thinking about what to call it, and we just call it the Family.
However, in a November 2010 interview with music magazine Interview, Banhart claimed he was misquoted: [13]
I never, not even jokingly, expressed anything but disdain for [the term "freak folk"]. I’ve been misquoted many times regarding the whole “freak folk” thing; five or six years ago, The New York Times ran something about me saying “It’s cool—you have to call it something.”
In the interview, Banhart explained his thoughts about the label at length: [13]
First, let me say that I don’t know a single person that has ever been called any of the horrid freak-folk-isms, who has ever said, “Yep! That’s what we play! Freak folk!” [...] Today, I really don’t care, I just don’t want anyone to get the impression I had anything to do with that term or at any point adopted that label. [...]
Banhart had already expressed similar sentiments in a July 2006 interview with Pitchfork: [14]
It's so gross. I know my name is attached to it but it's such a creation of someone else that it's very difficult for me to pay it any attention. In interviews where they bring up the freak-folk thing or whatever, when forced to play that game, when I know someone is in that state of mind, I'll give them an alternative. So, I've said in the past we're like a family or "New" New Age because I'd rather the records be in the whale section instead of the "B" section or the "D" section. [...]
None of the other artists the label "freak folk" was applied to embraced the term either. [5] Greg Weeks of Espers commented that "[a]s soon as the labels got thrown out there, everything [got] jokey." [5]
New York folk artists who emerged in the 1960s such as the Holy Modal Rounders, Michael Hurley, the Fugs and Godz would be retrospectively referred to as freak folk. [15] [16] Additionally, Hurley has been labelled "the Godfather of Freak Folk". [17] [18] [19] Similarly, Vashti Bunyan was referred to as "the Godmother of Freak Folk" [20] for her role in inspiring the new crop of folk experimentalists. [21] David Crosby's 1971 album If I Could Only Remember My Name has been described as an early progenitor of the genre. [22] [23] [1]
In May 2006, Spin magazine published an article with an editorial entitled "The Definitive Guide to Freak Folk", which cited Harry Everett Smith's 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, Pearls Before Swine, the Incredible String Band, [24] John Fahey, Vashti Bunyan, Jandek, Joanna Newsom, Animal Collective, [4] Devendra Banhart and Sufjan Stevens. [25] Banhart would become one of the leaders of the 2000s freak-folk movement, [26] along with Joanna Newsom. [27] Other major influences on later freak folk artists include Linda Perhacs, [28] Anne Briggs, Karen Dalton, Shirley & Dolly Collins and Xiu Xiu. [1]
In Bring the Noise: 20 Years of Writing About Hip Rock and Hip Hop (2011), English music critic Simon Reynolds stated, "Given the resurgence of interest in folk these last several years (the Folk Britannia festival/documentary series, the glut of compilations of vintage 'wyrd folk', and the network of contemporary troubadours and minstrels known as 'freak folk'), it's disconcerting to recall that there'd been this earlier revival of interest. Today, it's specifically UK folk of the most esoteric sort (Vashti Bunyan, Comus, Forest) but in the mid- eighties, the emphasis was on American roots music (I recall the Mekons saying that while they loved the Band they'd never had any time for Fairport Convention or anything chunky- sweatered and real ale-y). [29]
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