| Psychedelic folk | |
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| Cultural origins | Mid-1960s, United States, United Kingdom |
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| Psychedelia |
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Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) [2] is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music.
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Psychedelic folk generally favors acoustic instrumentation although it often incorporates other instrumentation. Chanting, early music and various non-Western folk music influences are often found in psych folk. Much like its rock counterpart, psychedelic folk is often known for a peculiar, trance-like, and atmospheric sound, often drawing on musical improvisation and Asian influences. [3]
The term acid folk was coined in late 1969 by Australian journalist Lillian Roxon to describe the music of Florida group Pearls Before Swine. [4] In her Rock Encyclopedia, she explained: [4] [5]
We already know about acid rock. What the underground group called Pearls Before Swine sings is acid folk, that is folk music affected by the discoveries of an LSD-influenced generation.
In Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk (2010), author Jeanette Leech states that the term "acid folk" was a "perfect summation" of the music of Pearls Before Swine and similar acts: [4]
It wasn’t folk music made under the influence of LSD per se but folk music profoundly affected by the attitudes of exploration that also prompted the use of hallucinogens. Furthermore, Roxon’s term also held resonance for the other meanings of the word ‘acid’ in the sense of tartness or a corrosive, uncomfortable sensation.
The term was nonetheless not used widely until some time after it was coined. [4] Tom Rapp of Pearls Before Swine commented that "[a]cid folk as a label is fine in that it implies borderlessness." [4]
The first musical use of the term psychedelic is thought to have been by the New York–based folk group The Holy Modal Rounders on their version of Lead Belly's "Hesitation Blues" in 1964. [6] Folk/avant-garde guitarist John Fahey recorded several songs in the early 1960s that experimented with unusual recording techniques, including backward tapes, and novel instrumental accompaniment. [7] His nineteen-minute "The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party" "anticipated elements of psychedelia with its nervy improvisations and odd guitar tunings". [7] Other songs from Fahey's The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Excursions (recorded between 1962 and 1966) also used "unsettling moods and dissonances" that took them beyond the typical folk fare. In 1967, he performed with the psychedelic/avant-garde/noise rock band Red Krayola (then Red Crayola) at the Berkeley Folk Festival, which was recorded and later released as Live 1967 . Among other descriptions, their performance has been likened to early Velvet Underground bootlegs and "the very weirdest parts of late-'60s Pink Floyd pieces (like the shrieking guitar scrapes of 'Interstellar Overdrive')". [8]
Similarly, folk guitarist Sandy Bull's early work "incorporated elements of folk, jazz, and Indian and Arabic-influenced dronish modes". [9] His 1963 album Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo explores various styles and instrumentation and "could also be accurately described as one of the very first psychedelic records". [10] Later albums, such as 1968's E Pluribus Unum and his live album Still Valentine's Day 1969 , which use experimental recording techniques and extended improvisation, also have psychedelic elements. [11] [12]
Musicians with several groups that became identified with psychedelic rock began as folk musicians, such as those with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Beau Brummels from San Francisco; the Byrds, Love, Kaleidoscope, and the Peanut Butter Conspiracy from Los Angeles; Pearls Before Swine from Florida; and Jake and the Family Jewels, and Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys from New York. [13] [14] The Serpent Power was a psychedelic rock group with a strong folk influence. The Byrds was the most important American folk-rock band to incorporate psychedelia in their sound and themes.
In the UK, folk artists who were particularly significant included Marc Bolan, with his hippy duo Tyrannosaurus Rex, who used unusual instrumentation and tape effects, typified by the album Unicorn (1969), and Scottish performers such as Donovan, who combined influences of American artists like Bob Dylan with references to flower power, and the Incredible String Band, who from 1967 incorporated a range of influences into their acoustic-based music, including medieval and eastern instruments. [15] During the late 1960s and early 1970s, solo acts such as Syd Barrett and Nick Drake began to incorporate psychedelic influences into folk music with albums such as Barrett's The Madcap Laughs and Drake's Five Leaves Left . [16]
By the late 1960s, the influence of psychedelic and acid folk could be felt in pop music. [4] Pop records would sometimes include one or two psychedelic or acid folk tracks, like "Flowers in the Air" on Sally Eaton's Farewell American Tour (1970). [4]
In the mid-1970s, psychedelia fell out of fashion and those folk groups that had not already moved into different areas had largely disbanded. In Britain, folk groups also tended to electrify, as did acoustic duo Tyrannosaurus Rex, which became the electric combo T. Rex. [17] This was a continuation of a process by which progressive folk had considerable impact on mainstream rock. [18]
Independent and underground folk artists in the late 1990s led to a revival of psychedelic folk with the New Weird America movement. [19] Also, Animal Collective's early albums identify closely with freak folk as does their collaboration with veteran British folk artist Vashti Bunyan, [20] and The Microphones/Mount Eerie, [21] who combine naturalistic elements with lo-fi and psychedelia. Both artists received significant exposure in the indie music scene following critical acclaim from review site Pitchfork Media [22] [23] [24] and soon more artists began experimenting with the genre, including OCS, Quilt, Grizzly Bear, [25] Devendra Banhart, Rodrigo Amarante, Ben Howard and Grouper. [26]
In 2022, Uncut magazine published a CD called Blackwaterside: Sounds of the New Weird Albion, [27] featuring artists including Jim Ghedi, Henry Parker, Jon Wilks, Sam Lee, and Cath Tyler. This led to the publication of an extensive exploration of Britain's new "weird folk" in Japanese music magazine Ele-King. [28] The lead article looked at artists including Nick Hart, Burd Ellen, Elspeth Anne, Frankie Archer, Shovel Dance Collective and Angeline Morrison. [29]
| Freak folk | |
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| Stylistic origins | Psychedelic folk |
| Cultural origins | Late 1990s, United States |
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Freak folk is a loosely defined [30] subgenre of psychedelic folk [1] that involves acoustic sounds, pastoral lyrics, and a neo-hippie aesthetic. [30] The label originated from the "lost treasure" reissue culture of the late 1990s. [30]
Vashti Bunyan has been labeled "the Godmother of Freak Folk" [31] for her role in inspiring the new crop of folk experimentalists. [32] David Crosby's 1971 album If Only I Could Remember My Name has been described as an early progenitor of the genre. [33] [34] Other major influences on later freak folk artists include Linda Perhacs, [30] [35] Anne Briggs, Karen Dalton, Shirley & Dolly Collins, Animal Collective, the Incredible String Band, Xiu Xiu, and Pearls Before Swine. [30] Devendra Banhart would become one of the leaders of the 2000s freak-folk movement, [36] along with Joanna Newsom. [37]
The etymology of "freak folk" is unclear. [4] In Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk (2010), author Jeanette Leech claims that it is likely a bastardisation of the term "free folk." [4] 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. [4]
According to Stereogum , the term "freak folk" had been in informal use for decades before solidifying into a genre. [38] In a 1998 review of Beck's Mutations , Joshua Clover, writing for music magazine Spin, described the music as "some old-fashioned freak-folk." [38] [39]
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. [38] [40] On April 1, 2004, Arthur's Bastet imprint released the Banhart-compiled various artists album The Golden Apples of the Sun . [38] [41] According to Pitchfork, the compilation "assisted greatly" in defining the term "freak folk," [42] while Stereogum notes the aftermath of its release as "the moment when a descriptive phrase solidified into a genre." [38]
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. [38] 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." [38] However, according to Stereogum, by 2005 the term had quickly become oversaturated. [38] [43]
On December 12, 2004, The New York Times published an article entitled Freak Folk's Very Own Pied Piper, [44] a profile of Devendra Banhart. [4] It also mentioned Joanna Newsom, Animal Collective, and Adem, framing the artists as part of a group, and part of a new genre. [4] In the article, Banhart was quoted as saying: [4] [38] [44]
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: [45]
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: [45]
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: [46]
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. [4] Greg Weeks of Espers commented that "[a]s soon as the labels got thrown out there, everything [got] jokey." [4]
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