| Psychedelic folk | |
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| Cultural origins | Mid-1960s, United States |
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| Psychedelia |
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Psychedelic folk (sometimeswyrd folk,acid folk orfreak folk)[2] is a loosely defined form ofpsychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation offolk, but adds musical elements common topsychedelic music.
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Psychedelic folk generally favorsacoustic instrumentation although it often incorporates other instrumentation.Chanting,early music and various non-Westernfolk 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 onmusical improvisation and Asian influences.[3][self-published source]
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The first musical use of the term psychedelic is thought to have been by the New York–based folk groupThe Holy Modal Rounders on their version ofLead Belly's "Hesitation Blues" in 1964.[4] Folk/avant-garde guitaristJohn Fahey recorded several songs in the early 1960s that experimented with unusual recording techniques, including backward tapes, and novel instrumental accompaniment.[5] His nineteen-minute "The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party" "anticipated elements of psychedelia with its nervy improvisations and odd guitar tunings".[5] Other songs from Fahey'sThe 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 bandRed Krayola (then Red Crayola) at the Berkeley Folk Festival, which was recorded and later released asLive 1967. Among other descriptions, their performance has been likened to earlyVelvet Underground bootlegs and "the very weirdest parts of late-'60sPink Floyd pieces (like the shrieking guitar scrapes of 'Interstellar Overdrive')".[6]
Similarly, folk guitaristSandy Bull's early work "incorporated elements of folk, jazz, and Indian and Arabic-influenced dronish modes".[7] His 1963 albumFantasias for Guitar and Banjo explores various styles and instrumentation and "could also be accurately described as one of the very first psychedelic records".[8] Later albums, such as 1968'sE Pluribus Unum and his live albumStill Valentine's Day 1969, which use experimental recording techniques and extended improvisation, also have psychedelic elements.[9][10]
Musicians with several groups that became identified with psychedelic rock began as folk musicians, such as those with theGrateful Dead,Jefferson Airplane,Country Joe and the Fish,Quicksilver Messenger Service,The Beau Brummels fromSan Francisco;the Byrds,Love,Kaleidoscope, andthe Peanut Butter Conspiracy fromLos Angeles;Pearls Before Swine from Florida; andJake and the Family Jewels, andCat Mother & the All Night Newsboys from New York.[11][12]The Serpent Power was a psychedelic rock group with a strong folk influence. The Byrds was the most important Americanfolk-rock band to incorporate psychedelia in their sound and themes.
In the UK, folk artists who were particularly significant includedMarc Bolan, with his hippy duoTyrannosaurus Rex, who used unusual instrumentation and tape effects, typified by the albumUnicorn (1969), and Scottish performers such asDonovan, who combined influences of American artists likeBob Dylan with references toflower power, and theIncredible String Band, who from 1967 incorporated a range of influences into their acoustic-based music, including medieval and eastern instruments.[13] During the late 1960s and early 1970s, solo acts such asSyd Barrett andNick Drake began to incorporate psychedelic influences into folk music with albums such as Barrett'sThe Madcap Laughs and Drake'sFive Leaves Left.[14]
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 comboT. Rex.[15] This was a continuation of a process by whichprogressive folk had considerable impact on mainstream rock.[16]
Independent and underground folk artists in the late 1990s led to a revival of psychedelic folk with theNew Weird America movement.[17] Also,Animal Collective's early albums identify closely with freak folk as does their collaboration with veteran British folk artistVashti Bunyan,[18] andThe Microphones/Mount Eerie,[19] who combine naturalistic elements withlo-fi and psychedelia. Both artists received significant exposure in theindie music scene following critical acclaim from review sitePitchfork Media[20][21][22] and soon more artists began experimenting with the genre, includingOCS,Quilt,Grizzly Bear,[23]Devendra Banhart,Rodrigo Amarante,Ben Howard andGrouper.[24]
In 2022,Uncut magazine published a CD calledBlackwaterside: Sounds of the New Weird Albion,[25] 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 magazineEle-King.[26] The lead article looked at artists including Nick Hart, Burd Ellen, Elspeth Anne, Frankie Archer, Shovel Dance Collective andAngeline Morrison.[27]
| 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[28] subgenre of psychedelic folk[1] that involves acoustic sounds, pastoral lyrics, and a neo-hippie aesthetic.[28] The label originated from the "lost treasure" reissue culture of the late 1990s.[28]
Vashti Bunyan has been labeled "the Godmother of Freak Folk"[29] for her role in inspiring the new crop of folk experimentalists.[30]David Crosby's 1971 albumIf Only I Could Remember My Name has been described as an early progenitor of the genre.[31][32] Other major influences on later freak folk artists includeLinda Perhacs,[28][33]Anne Briggs,Karen Dalton,Shirley & Dolly Collins,Animal Collective,the Incredible String Band,Xiu Xiu, andPearls Before Swine.[28]Devendra Banhart would become one of the leaders of the 2000s freak-folk movement,[34] along withJoanna Newsom.[35]
