British Folk (and Revival)

Anyone like Anne Briggs? Both squiffier and pithier than VB I think, though inhabiting a lot of the same territory.

yeah, he is. and he's like some fucked up guitar god! i can only think of him and voice of the seven woods ... i've seen so many bad contemporay uk folk acts ... devendra banhart has alot to answer for (and i like devendra banhart!)

yeah, i'd have to agree. i got some micheal chapman albums and still not sure what to think ... was he just a proto-david gray!!

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Aww, I think it's wonderful. I'm almost as fond of that as Shirley Collins. Someone else that refuses to sing anymore. Why was there this sudden loss of confidence in these people?

... and Linda Thompson!

Voice of the Seven Woods is one of the best things I've heard this year. I hope he comes and plays near me soon

so far: shirley collins and nic jones are GREAT. i got on reccomendation a shirley collins album with davy graham and i have listened twice, i love it. i have one of graham's solos, but no listen yet.

the espers vs lucky luke faux debate: esprs win by miles...i downloaded lucky luke and i do really like it, but it just doesn't measure up and sound as, um, "good". i guess you folk experts can rip me to shreds if i'm wrong.

i found this, too: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/spinning/episodes/05282004

from the espers.org site...

it's espers doing a really beautiful and haunting radio set and then playing some of thier favorite songs from other artists....more to add to my searchlist.

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I think an act needs to come along with the songwriting CHOPS to really do justice to updating the British Folk. Like some sorta Pentangle meets Sonic Youth band. Or Kevin Sheilds meets Shirley Collins. That would be interesting.

There's so much attention being paid to so many strands of music right now, that the effect of the song is being diluted. This applies to a ton of the US free folk stuff. Everyone is discovering early 70s Japanese stuff, European free improv, the more obscure strains of Krautrock, and all this crazy private press English folk and psych, and before they've digested it, they've attempted to synthesize it in their output.

Perhaps this bodes well for some really cool music in the next 5 years. The rediscovery of all this great music has taken place, and now artists are going to be able to soak it up and turn it into something new.

Does anyone have Within Sound, Shirley's boxset? I'm wondering if I should buy it, since I already have all of her albums that I could find.

I don't know of any comps, but I'm sure someone here could make you one.

OTM! They want to run before they can walk. sometimes this can work. there is something to be said for youthful hubris and ambition. for me, the tower recordings might have come closest. they were always trying something new years ago and they could play. and they had good songs. i don't know, not everyone is trying to do the same thing, i suppose. they might be inspired by pentangle, but know that they will never be able to play like them. something good can still come of pentangle-love.

Milkmaid, I bought the 4CD Shirley set because I was beginning to love her and I didn't have any of the LPs. Also it was £25 and that seemed the right kind of price to be paying. Plus it was a bad day and I needed cheering up. It's a very nice thing, but I'm not sure I'd want to invest if I had all the proper LPs.

A second helping of acid folk in its myriad, mystical and manifold forms from that great compiler and archivist of Britain's heritage past, Bob Stanley. Artists range from those wll known to the public at large (Donovan, Pentangle, John Renbourn, Roy Harper, Steeleye Span) across more traditional artists respected in their field (Shirley Collins, Sweeney's Men, Anne Briggs) to artists familiar to regular Freak punters (Mellow Candle, Mr Fox, Dando Shaft, Steve Tilston, Duncan Browne, Keith Christmas) and utter obscurities from the farthest-flung flodden fielde (Loudest Whisper, Shide And Acorn, Midwinter, Green Man, Stone Angel).

I think, for me, a lot of the focus is on the traditional material, the songs themselves. Hearing Shirley Collins and Jean Ritchie both sing "Sweet William and Lady Margaret" amazes me -- they're virtually the same, but the subtle differences (in pronunciation, phrasing, etc) are worth hearing side by side. Plus, it elicits a lot of crying.

When I saw Espers, actually, they had one huge-ass jam part that sort of approached this idea, The rest of their set didn't really stand up, though

... download this, people... and "Standing on the Shore"

band that could feel the folke vibe live really well (and can play their asses off): Ghost