detailed info: discogs.com

We Bring You a King with a Head of Gold is the long-awaited sequel to the excellent John Barleycorn Reborn compilation released several years ago. Again [...]]]> artist: Various Artists
release: We Bring You a King with a Head of Gold
format: 2x CD
year of release: 2010
label: Cold Spring
duration: 2:25:42

detailed info: discogs.com

We Bring You a King with a Head of Gold is the long-awaited sequel to the excellent John Barleycorn Reborn compilation released several years ago. Again Cold Spring does the honours of releasing a compilation of British folk, though this time without the sadly defunct Woven Wheat Whispers. Like before, the harvest is two CDs full of contemporary folk tunes from different areas of the genre, ranging from traditional and particularly revival-inspired songs to selection of more experimental works.

Compared to the compilation that went before, I must admit I find this one a little bit disappointing. The nearly two and a half hours running time contains a lot of tracks that are average or lacklustre, and I also miss a bit of the diversity that was present on John Barleycorn Reborn. Some artists on We Bring You a King… are simply of mediocre quality, and others mar their performance with a certain kind of naive atavism or limited form of traditionalism, bending folk to a sort of preachy path which doesn’t appeal to me in any way.

Thankfully, both discs contain a good number of exceptions to this general impression, of which I will highlight a few. Barron Brady starts off the album with a solid rhythmic tune, excellent male and female vocals and an original set of lyrics. We find nice rich instrumentation on “Blood and Bones” by The Roman Amber Mill, a good example of the musically experimental folk I would have liked to hear more of on this album. Tony Wakeford is usually a good call in that department as well, and “The Devil” is no exception, being an originally executed track in the style of The Triple Tree. Sproatly Smith are one of the pleasant surprises for me, who bring a very fine experimental ambient folk tune that makes me interested in the rest of their work. The rest of the first disc ranges from pretty decent to disappointing, with “Jack the Mommet” by Philip Butler and Natasha Tranter being a nice exception, a classical guitar-based folk track with excellent supplemental instrumentation that is also spot-on in terms of atmosphere.

The second disc is similarly filled with average material interspersed with some nice highlights. Autumn Grieve is one, with the beautiful mystic “Within Hollows” taken from the wonderful Stray Birds EP. Another fun track is “The Song of the Fates” by The Fates, an a capella mythological narrative with a not unpleasant sixties nostalgia feel to it. Sedayne and his wife Rachel McCarron are a couple that always deliver the goods as well, with a sound that remains absolutely unique in modern folk. We hear three tracks from different projects here, as Sedayne : Sundog, Venereum Arvum and Demdyke, all worthwhile, particularly the latter. A final mention goes to the modern singer/songwriter folk style of Ruby Throat, a female voice in the area of Marissa Nadler or Woodpecker Wooliams.

All in all, I found John Barleycorn Reborn a more interesting compilation with a wider spectrum of musicians and a higher overall level of quality. This album, too, would have benefited from input of excellent artists such as Sand Snowman, Far Black Furlong, or The Owl Service, which made that first one a success. Despite this, I feel We Bring You a King is a worthy successor with quite some good tracks on it, and it is definitely worth getting for folk lovers. However, for the next instalment, if one is planned, it would be interesting to look at the folk world outside of Britain, and aim to get the very best out of that territory. Either that, or a more critical and thorough selection of British artists to truly fill up an album with excellent material.

Reviewed by O.S.

1-01 Barron Brady – Earthen Key (3:43)
1-02 Laienda – Little Drummer Boy / Anvil (5:53)
1-03 The Rowan Amber Mill – Blood And Bones (Ciderdelica Mix) (4:50)
1-04 Tony Wakeford – The Devil (3:58)
1-05 Kate Harrison – England (3:59)
1-06 Drohne – The Hooden Horse / An-Dro (3:37)
1-07 Corncrow – The Cutty Wren (3:09)
1-08 Sproatly Smith – I Shall Leave You There (6:10)
1-09 Tinkerscuss – Black Sarah (4:48)
1-10 Cernunnos Rising – Hear It With My Heart (3:29)
1-11 Mama – The Fool Of Spring (2:11)
1-12 Magicfolk – Green Man (3:17)
1-13 Wyrdstone – Lost At Ty Canol (4:14)
1-14 Emil Brynge – Devon Dream (4:54)
1-15 Kim Thompsett – Lords And Ladies (3:40)
1-16 Dragon Spirit – Always Be Ours (3:57)
1-17 Philip Butler And Natasha Tranter – Jack The Mommet (4:48)
1-18 Touch The Earth – Ancient Landscapes (3:17)

2-01 Relig Oran – Ye Mariners All (4:37)
2-02 Autumn Grieve – Within Hollows (4:56)
2-03 Ian McKone – Searching For Lambs (3:10)
2-04 John Parker – Manningham Blues (3:55)
2-05 Rattlebag – The Tyburn Sisters (2:52)
2-06 The Fates – The Song Of The Fates (3:31)
2-07 The Hare And The Moon – The Three Ravens (2:45)
2-08 The Kittiwakes – Lynx (4:10)
2-09 Venereum Arvum – Robin Sick And Weary (6:25)
2-10 Telling The Bees – Fithfath (3:18)
2-11 Richard Masters – The Wind Knows (5:33)
2-12 Demdyke – Mother Carey’s Chicks (6:18)
2-13 Beneath The Oak – Oh Earthly Man (4:12)
2-14 Sedayne : Sundog – A Wee Brown Cow (6:24)
2-15 Ruby Throat – Swan And The Minotaur (Troubled Man) (3:14)
2-16 Jennifer Crook – Ribbons Of Green / The Dream Waltz (Live) (6:43)

detailed info: discogs.com.

Throughout the years, English storyteller and musician Sean Breadin remains one of the most unique voices in modern folk music. His idiosyncratic style walks a tightrope between loyalty to tradition [...]]]> artist: Sedayne
release: Naked Season
format: MC
year of release: 2009
label: Sloow Tapes
duration: 58:01

detailed info: discogs.com.

Throughout the years, English storyteller and musician Sean Breadin remains one of the most unique voices in modern folk music. His idiosyncratic style walks a tightrope between loyalty to tradition on one side, and the love for experiment and unique expression on the other, proving that the two need not exclude each other. In this respect, he is up there with Andrew King as being one of the most interesting artists in experimental British folk.

Apart from loose tracks on MySpace and YouTube, Naked Season is Sean’s latest release, once more under the name of Sedayne. It was released in January 2009 on Sloow Tapes, limited to 70 copies, which have since sold out.

What we get is almost an hour of classic Sedayne material. A great deal of the songs are traditionals, but as usual, the musical arrangements are unique, played in an assortment of string instruments, percussion and other odds and ends. The emphasis is on hurdy-gurdy drones, mouth harp, and skin drum. All of it, except for the singing, are in a timbre quite unlike that usually used in folk musicianship, always lending Sean’s music a more otherworldly touch, turning folk into something edgy and exciting, rather than confirming the stuffy image that often clings to it.

Compared to his other releases, though, Naked Season isn’t all that special. The album shines in the excellent double opening track; both the vocal and instrumental raga version of “Seeds of Love” are wonderful. Equally impressive is the extended “The Sheep Stealer”, set up with a perfect narrative tempo and a gripping instrumental part with clarinet solo. Many of the other tracks, like the slightly uninspired rendition of “John Barleycorn” are a bit less remarkable though, essentially business as usual for Sean, which is good nonetheless, but not essential compared to his other works.

This tape is worth seeking out for Sedayne fans, especially for the couple of brilliant tracks on it. But, since it’s sold out and not an exceptional album, newcomers would do best to check out other works first, still available through Sean’s own Ploughmyth International.

Reviewed by O.S.

Tracklist:

Side 1 (Dexter)

A1 Seeds Of Love (Song) (6:45)
A2 Seeds Of Love (Raga) (12:00)
A3 John Barleycorn (8:13)
A4 Shoe The Goose (2:27)

Side 2 (Sinister)

B1 Cob-A-Coaling (6:26)
B2 Clarty Hall (7:17)
B3 The Sheep Stealer (11:23)
B4 Leg Of A Mallard (4:15)

All photographs property of Sedayne.

Where lie the roots of your storytelling and your musicianship – and were they intertwined from the beginning?

The first time music took on any sort of personal importance for me was with the little [...]]]> April 2008 – Interview by O.S.

All photographs property of Sedayne.

Where lie the roots of your storytelling and your musicianship – and were they intertwined from the beginning?

The first time music took on any sort of personal importance for me was with the little wooden whistle flute my Grandparents brought home for me from their holiday in Yugoslavia around 1968 or so – so I would have been six or seven at the time. I took it along to the school recorder class and the teacher told me it wasn’t a proper musical instrument. Ever since I was drawn to little instruments – artefacts, treen, ethnography and other bits and pieces of exotic junk, cargo & gew-gaws which tied in with the immediate corporeal empiricism of various aspects of folklore and traditional narrative that were very much the landscapes of my native Northumbria and beyond, especially Norway – so the one thing has aways existed in relationship to the other to the extent that I regard them as indistinguishable.

You have many different musical projects (Sedayne, Eleanor’s Visceral Tomb, Shibboleth, Venereum Arvum, DH7) Can you tell us the idea behind each one of them, and whether they focus on specific musical and cultural themes?

The music is more important than I am – I see my role as purely mediumistic, so I use the various other names to record and perform under to get away from the personal. Sedayne comes from an anagram of Sean Breadin, likewise Sabrina Eden, which is the name I use for my YouTube films. Eleanor’s Visceral Tomb is my idea of the ideal band – I’ve been in lots of bands in my time, but none of them were ever too happy, so EVT is my happy band; just me with my eight track! DH7 came from my old postcode in Durham – since we’ve moved to Lancashire I’ve changed the name to The Ha-Ha (I tried FY8 but it didn’t have quite the same ring to it!). The Ha-Ha is another ideal band, albeit with the focus on electronica, loops and sampling rather than the natural sound of the various acoustic instruments. Venereum Arvum is Rachel and I as a duo, which is a very happy band indeed, and Shibboleth is my occasional duo with Clive Powell which goes back to 1980, hence the name. There are other names I use too, such as Sundog, my Shamanic Alter-Ego – which is to say, the sort of ‘Me’ I would have undoubtedly been had not sense intervened.

Why did you release ‘Horse-Head in Winterland‘ under your own name?

Horse-Head in Winterland

Horse-Head was about settling old scores – going back to when I made that hurdy-gurdy in 1981; I wanted to revisit something of my old self in that music, to get back to an ideal of a purely improvised acoustic folk / noise aesthetic which I was dealing with back then before getting sidetracked into trying to play early music. The original idea of Horse-Head was to have it as a fake ‘newly discovered’ archive recording from 1981, which is why I used my own name, but for whatever reason I decided against this, but the name stuck. I did As I Live and Breathe (2003) as Sean Breadin too, which is one of my personal favourites though not many people have picked up on it. As I Live and Breathe should really have been a DH7 project, but I field-recorded all the parts on location in Northumbria and Rachel took lots of pictures of me doing so – so it was very personal from the off, dealing with very particular rural & post-industrial landscapes of my childhood, in particular the demolition of the old coal-fired power station at Blyth which I found particularly upsetting.

When and why did you start releasing your own music as Plough Myth International?

Ploughmyth came from a dream I had around 1990 in which I couldn’t remember the tune of “Mutton Pie” – you know those dreams where you’re about to do something you really ought to know but you haven’t got a clue – so in this dream I came up with this tune, which didn’t fit the words at all but it was still in my brain when I woke up, so the tune became Plough Myth, after the first line of “Mutton Pie”: ‘Now my jolly lads if you want to learn to plough, come to Ironheads and he’ll show you how…’ – thus somehow relating the very mundane notion of “Mutton Pie” to the heavenly notion of The Plough (Ursa Major). Over the years it sort of stuck, along with Harvest Myth, so it seemed somehow right to use the name Ploughmyth as a general heading for the music, but as to exactly when that was I’m not entirely sure – possibly in the mid 1990s.

How did your cooperation with Mark Coyle and Woven Wheat Whispers come about? Since all new Plough Myth releases also appear on WWW, I take it you are satisfied with the service? What role do you think the internet and digital labels such as WWW play in today’s folk movement?

Mark got in touch after reading of my work on Gerald’s site [Psyche van het Folk, O.S.], which was a year or so before he set up WWW. Dealing in hard-copy handcrafted CD-Rs isn’t something I’m very good at, or even maintaining my website – in fact it’s a complete pain in the arse, so WWW is convenient on various levels, though I’m never sure what to charge which is why I’ve done a lot of free stuff recently. I’m dealing in documents, rather than products – I think the idea of ‘the latest album’ is a complete anachronism, especially when you’re dealing with music as a day-to-day phenomenon. Sun Ra had this notion with this Saturn label, with each disk being an edition of a cosmic newspaper! I think the internet opens out this possibility, but I’m never too happy with paying for mp3s, so I try to do stuff for nominal amounts or completely gratis. I think everything of ours on WWW is either free or £3.75 – which is the price sticker on my old vinyl copy of Back into the Future by The Manband, quite possibly my favourite album of all time. I think it should be less – the important thing to me is that people hear the music, but business is business. My own website is in the process of demolition – just to free up some space for more free mp3s, likewise the Myspace site. I’ll be setting up others soon – both for The Ha-Ha, Sundog & Venereum Arvum.

You’ve mentioned that you admire the similarity of story morphology, even across national and linguistic boundaries. What is your view on the evolution of (Indo-European) folktales? How do you imagine they were told in different eras and places, yet still maintained a certain correspondence of form with their ‘cousins’?

All narrative morphology is determined by the hardware of the human brain, everything from basic syntax through to the classical sonata. This is the nature of language itself on a purely psycho-biological level, something humanity has been dealing with for the past 35000 years, or however long it is since we first looked upon the world as ‘other’ and started giving things names, concepts, and narratives. I once heard that the reason human beings suffer problems with their teeth that other higher primates don’t is because the human jaw has evolved to favour language rather than dental health – thus does Nurture triumph over Nature. Personally, as a Neo-Gnostic Jesuist* Marxist, I find that very exciting – and as a storyteller too, where one is aware of the functional nature of traditional narrative morphology in relationship to both subjective cognition and objective culture, and how the one might interface with the other through language. The fact that narrative morphology knows no linguistic borders is telling in this context, in terms of both function and structure. For example the story variously known as “Jack and the Good Helpers”, in which Jack assembles a group of uniquely (and improbably) skilled individuals to assist him along the way, is found in Wales, Ireland, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, and Russia, elements of which found their way into the stories of Baron von Münchhausen. In all of these variations we find a flying boat, either as the main point of the story, as in Norway, or as an aside, as in Wales, so one might ponder the process but ultimately there are no answers. It’s like looking at a peacock’s tail and almost being seduced by the notion of a creator because we can’t get our heads around the mechanism of how such things came to be.

*Jesuism is a secular humanist philosophy founded directly on the teaching & example of Jesus Christ with none of the religious trappings so essential to Christianity.

Can you briefly sketch for us one of your favourite tales, or whatever comes to mind? What fascinates you about this tale?

This is a transcription of me telling my favourite ever story, which I call “Hare’s Guts”, together with my favourite ever traditional folk song, “The Innocent Hare”, or “Sportsmen Arouse”, which people will be familiar with from both The Copper Family and The Young Tradition [see below this reply for transcription]. The story fascinates me because it operates on just about every level imaginable. One level it’s about viscera & excrement in a very mundane yet highly ceremonial setting, and on another, it’s darkly Shamanic, and as psychological as Moby Dick, dealing with some very primal & fundamental resonances – I shy from using the word ‘Archetype’ because of the Jungian overtones! Maybe we’re not so very in touch with these aspects today, which is why I weave in the song, and the riddle about the wee brown cow, both of which deal with something pretty fundamental to our relationship with the darker aspects of a nature all but lost to us. On another level of course, it’s a political critique of feudalism – a ceremonial humiliation of authority, and yet a conformation of it at the same time. It’s also a very funny story.

Hare’s Guts / Innocent Hare / Wee Brown Cow
(Transcription of Sedayne storytelling, Hallowe’en 1998. Sung lines in italics; spoken word in plain text; descriptive details in parenthesis)

Sportsmen arouse, the morning is clear, the larks are singing all in the air – repeat that – sportsmen arouse, the morning is clear, the larks are singing all in the air – not bad – try harder next time. Go tell your sweet lover the hounds are out – repeat that – go tell your sweet lover the hounds are out – saddle your horses, your saddles prepare, we’ll away to some cover to seek for a hare.

Verse two. We’ve search the woods and the groves all round, the trial it is over the game it is found. Repeat that. We’ve search the woods and the groves all round, the trial it is over the game it is found. Then up she springs, through brake she flies – repeat that – then up she springs, through brake she flies – follow, follow the musical horn, sing follow, hark forward the Innocent Hare.

That’s the chorus. Sing it again to get it right. Follow, follow the musical horn, sing follow, hark forward the Innocent Hare. Getting better. Our huntsman blows his joyful sound, tally-ho my boys all over the downs – our huntsman blows his joyful sound, tally-ho my boys all over the downs – From the woods to the valleys see how she creeps – from the woods to the valleys see how she creeps – follow, follow the musical horn, sing follow, hark forward the Innocent Hare.

Now sing this – a hopper of ditches, a cropper of corn, a wee brown cow with a pair of leather horns. It’s a riddle, about the hare – from Country Antrim – a hopper of ditches, a cropper of corn, a wee brown cow with a pair of leather horns.

Because, here’s Jack, the poacher, the shaman, venturing forth in his dreaming, his waking, his sleeping, telling the story in the ritual darkness of his very soul – the story that tells of how he comes to catch the Brown Hair of the Valley, because for sure he’s been after that hare now for more years than he cares to remember – watching it getting ever fatter, ever wilier, ever more elusive, as he comes ever more under its thrall.

Sing – a hopper of ditches, a cropper of corn, a wee brown cow with a pair of leather horns. This echoes the sentiments of an ancient English poem – the stag with the leathery horns, the animal that lives in the corn – the animal that all men scorn – but the animal that no one dare name – aye, the animal that no one dare name. All along the green turf she pants for breath – our huntsman he shouts out for death. Repeat that. All along the green turf she pants for breath – our huntsman he shouts out for death. Relope, relope, retiring hare – relope, relope, retiring hare. Follow, follow the musical horn, sing follow, hark forward the innocent hare.

And this one night, when the wind and the moon is high, upon the very night of Hallowe’en, when the hare is standing gazing up at the moon transfixed – on this night does Jack’s dream come true, and so he catches that hare – and he kills that hare – and he knocks that hare down with a rock and having killed that hare he takes the knife out of his pocket and opens the belly of that hare and takes out its guts – and stands there – bloodied in the moonlight, this great fat puss of a dead hare in one hand, and in the other – hares guts.

A hopper of ditches, a cropper of corn, a wee brown cow with a pair of leather horns – sing – a hopper of ditches, a cropper of corn, a wee brown cow with a pair of leather horns – sing – a hopper of ditches, a cropper of corn, a wee brown cow with a pair of leather horns – a hopper of ditches, a cropper of corn, a wee brown cow with a pair of leather horns – a hopper of ditches, a cropper of corn a wee brown cow – a wee brown cow – a wee brown cow -

And who should be watching him but the gamekeeper – the shaman, venturing forth in his dreaming, his waking, his sleeping, telling the story in the ritual darkness of his very soul – the story that tells of how he comes to catch the Jack the Poacher of the Valley, because for sure he’s been after Jack now for more years than he cares to remember – watching him getting ever fatter, ever wilier, ever more elusive, as he comes ever more under his thrall – and – things have got so bad the man can’t even get a decent shite for the thoughts of Jack – retentiveness being the only pleasure of the man’s life of course – holding it in, week in, week out, so that he might indulge in one almighty monthly evacuation by way of a purge to the rancidness of his very soul – but this night – seeing Jack there – with the hare, so the contractions come early – a premature delivery indeed, as the gamekeeper must put his moment of triumph on hold, and dash behind a hedge to – unload, and not without some degree of difficulty, being without the luxury of laxatives and tobacco, and a porcelain goesunder – indeed, the very comforts of his monthly purge, as he squats down on the cold ground and labours long and hard to liberate the near-solid incumbent of his bowel, and oh dear me – what a racket he’s making.

Jack meanwhile, he’s wondering what all the noise is about – so away over the hedge where here he finds the gamekeeper, labouring and grunting and sweating and cursing and groaning until at last there emerges into the world, into the moonlight, at least treacle-black yards of the thing steaming with a mist that flows thick and mysterious over the earth, a shroud to the thing he bore, as the gamekeeper looks down, waiting for stinking mist to clear, wiping the leavings from his arse with a small flat stone as his heart thrills to see what manner of thing he brought forth into the world. But that mist also hides the hand of the poacher – the poacher’s hand indeed, which seizing so wondrous on opportunity, deposits the guts of the Brown Hare of the Valley onto the gamekeepers leviathan of a jobby, so that when the mist clears, and gamekeepers gets a better look at his glory – oh dear me, doesn’t the blood drain from his face at what he sees there? Mother, Mary and Joseph! I must have strained a bit too hard there, because I appear to have passed rather more than what I ought – rather more indeed than is either healthy or sensible for a man – and, meanwhile, there’s Jack the Poacher, away down the road with the hare to the boozer, where he butchers it a with a clear and gives a portion each to the three unfortunate widows of his brothers who were horribly killed another story.

A hopper of ditches, a cropper of corn, a wee brown cow with a pair of leather horns – a hopper of ditches, a cropper of corn a wee brown cow – a wee brown cow – a wee brown cow -

And then, after an hour or so – in comes the gamekeeper himself, walking a wee bit stiff, as you might expect. Tell us your troubles, quoth Jack the Poacher to the gamekeeper – after all, isn’t it the truth that all men are equal in the tavern?

And so it is, the gamekeeper tells his tale, recounting the legend of that great steaming incumbent laying out in the moonlight that was the prize of such strenuous labours on his part, but how, when mist cleared – oh dear me – there I saw in the moonlight that I must have laboured rather too hard because hadn’t I passed rather more than was strictly necessary or indeed health?

Of course at this point the whole tavern’s in absolute uproar.

Don’t laugh at me! roars the gamekeeper – do not laugh at me – because -

(significant pause as Sedayne looks over his audience with a leer worthy of Johnny Rotten in the glory days; various members of the audience biting their nails in dread anticipation of the punch-line).

- By the grace of God, and a good stout stick – it’s all back up there where it should be!

(audience erupts with gales of nervous laughter, over which Sedayne sings the concluding verse of The Innocent Hare):

- This hare has led us a noble run – success to sportsmen every one. This hare has led us a noble run – success to sportsmen every one. Such a chase she has led us, four hours or more. Such a chase she has led us, four hours or more. Wine and beer we’ll drink without fear, we’ll drink a success to the innocent hare!

To what degree to you see an interconnection between folktake and folksong?

Ballad narrative seems to operate in similar way to that of folktale, which is how we get innumerable variations on the same basic song form, right through Child and beyond. My favourite internet folk site, by the way, is the Max Hunter Folk Song Collection, which contains 1600 field recorded folksongs from the Ozark mountains. It’s a seriously wonderful place to be, and seriously significant too – just look up Mrs Pearl Brewer and listen to her singing of “All Down by the Greenwoodside (The Cruel Mother)” and see what I mean. I’m not altogether sure if the two are connected in any actual sense – very rarely do we find the narratives of songs turning up as stories, or vice versa. Of course there are exceptions – “King Orfeo (Child #19)” for example is the Greek Myth of Orpheus, albeit in a bi-lingual ballad setting from the Shetland Islands – but this is very rare.

How do you view the delicate balance between tradition and innovation? On the one hand, you utilise a great deal of traditional material, both in your music and your storytelling. At the same time, anyone who knows your music will concede that is often far from traditional, compared to how traditional folk music is usually played. What do you consider your role within this tradition?

I have this trinity in which the three aspects of cultural process entwine: 1) The primal & the ancestral – 2) The historical & the traditional – and 3) The creative and the experimental. Without being too deliberate about it, I’m dealing with all three – separately, or together – most of the time. I don’t see myself as a musician in any conventional sense of the word – I’m a free improvising instrumental pluralist primarily interested in anomalous sound, as I have been since my grandparents bought me the little whistle flute forty years ago – at least since my teacher said it wasn’t a proper musical instrument! I’m not hung up on conventional systems simply because I don’t understand them – it’s not how my brain works; I never hear anything as being ‘out of tune’ in terms of tonality – be it bird song or whatever – so what emerges is by way of a more corporeal virtue, and this relates directly to my understanding of the instruments themselves, but rarely, if ever, in any sort of traditional context. For example, when I’m singing purely traditional English folk songs (by English I mean in English – so anything from England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia & America basically) I’ll use either a Hungarian zither or a Turkish fiddle to accompany myself. Neither of these are traditional in any musical or cultural sense, but both these instruments empower my entire understanding of the songs on a purely subjective level, which ultimately is the only level that matters.
I love traditional music in a traditional context, but I’m not really part of that, only as a singer and storyteller, where I can be a bit of a traddy / purist, but that’s just an aspect of what I am, because to accompany the stories I’ll invariably be improvising on the crwth or citera, riding the wind of a very vivid sort of spontaneous immediacy. Otherwise I’m dealing with music on a very intuitive, spontaneous and improvised level the whole time – themes emerge, likewise structures, but as to the morphology of those structures I couldn’t say precisely what they are in and of themseves, or what they might be analogous to. Analogues do fascinate me – real or imagined – but there’s seldom anything conscious about it. I might have a conscious idea, but I’ve no notion as to what the outcome might be. For example, the whole character of Sundog is determined by his collection of Jew’s Harps (on the download bit of John Barleycorn Reborn you can hear me improvising in the church of Kilpeck in Herefordshire, famous for its Romanesque carvings, using the Jew’s Harp to interact with the resonant / sacred space of the church itself) and for a while I’ve been dreaming about doing a music using just Jew’s Harps and pocket trumpet, with only a vague sense of how this music would actually work, but what actually emerged was something else altogether. I’m still working on this, but there’s bits of it on a recent WWW freebie and another on my Myspace site.
I suppose it’s rather like baking bread – a very intuitive process – but people have been baking bread for countless thousands of years but we continue to do so out of a different sort of necessity which isn’t so bound up with being self-consciously traditional or historical, or in any way authentic, it’s just about baking bread; likewise the very act of procreation – where would we be without it?

Links:

• Plough Myth International
• Sabrina Eden (YouTube)
• Sedayne (MySpace)
• Sundog (MySpace)
• The Ha-Ha (MySpace)
• Rachel McCarron (MySpace)

detailed info: discogs.com

Where to begin with an absolutely massive compilation like this? Well, it all started with Mark Coyle’s Woven Wheat Whispers label, which started in late 2005. [...]]]> artist: V.A.
release: John Barleycorn Reborn : Dark Britannica
format: 2CD + MP3
year of release: 2007
label: Cold Spring & Woven Wheat Whispers
duration: 5:08:16

detailed info: discogs.com

Where to begin with an absolutely massive compilation like this? Well, it all started with Mark Coyle’s Woven Wheat Whispers label, which started in late 2005. Since then, he has managed to gather an impressive number of artists to his MP3-only label, covering the broad area of underground modern folk music, ranging from traditional to folk rock, from neofolk to psychedelic folk, from mediaeval to pagan folk. Hundreds of albums have been (re-)released, and the scope of the label has become huge. All the more reason why an overview compilation like this one is very welcome. Not only does the first edition of the John Barleycorn Reborn series contain a host of great artists, this is only the tip of the iceberg, for as the subtitle gives away, only English artists have been featured on this album (with the unforeseen exception of novemthree). More editions are to come, which will contain American artists, other European countries, and who knows what else?

But, let’s focus on this one first. In collaboration with English neofolk/post-industrial label Cold Spring, Woven Wheat Whispers has released the main part of the compilation on a fine 2CD set, contain well over two and a half hours of music. But, a WWW release wouldn’t be complete without some free stuff. In this case, this means a huge MP3 supplement, freely downloadable if you’ve bought the CDs. It contains a further two and a half hours of music, making the total running time of the set over five hours – now there’s value for money.

But, the value is not only in quantity, but also in quality, as there are so many great artists from various subareas of the folk world featured on this compilation. Even more so here than anywhere else, it would be a fool’s errand to try and give an in-depth review of every track. As it as, I’ll try and pick out the highlights, while giving a taste of the diversity contained in here at the same time. Of course, this compilation wouldn’t be complete without renditions of the traditional song that gave it its name: “John Barleycorn”. Both CDs start with a version of this classic, and The Horses of the Gods and The Anvil both pull it off convincingly and originally. Other traditionals also feature on the album, such as “Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom” by Charlotte Greig and Johan Asherton, who deliver a long, intimate rendition of this cruel ballad. Clive Powell‘s “Reed Sodger” is based on various pieces of traditional rhyme, and features Clive’s unique voice over subtle electronics. The omnipresent (but rarely dull) “Twa Corbies” is here executed by pyschedelic folkrockers Mary Jane, who turn this track into a quite funky affair. “Pew Pew” is a Scottish traditional text, here set to harp and recorder by Quickthorn, featuring the vocals of Prydwyn. But, one of my absolute favourites has to be Venereum Arvum‘s version of “Child 102″, the ballad of the birth of Robin Hood. Sean and Rachel’s vocals soar in unison above subtle accompaniment, letting the beauty of the melody speak for itself convincingly.

Also the non-traditional tracks contain some great stuff. The English division of neofolk can’t be left out here, of course, and least of all Tony Wakeford‘s Sol Invictus, who come with a brand new track, representative of the band’s recent experimental direction. This is equally true of The Triple Tree, where Tony collaborates with Andrew King. “Three Crowns” is a dark track combining acoustic soundscapes with obscure folkloric themes (in this case from an M.R. James story). Andrew King solo is a guarantee for traditional song delivered with conviction, and based on proper research, and his version of “Dives and Lazarus” is no exception. This is a re-recorded version of the track which originally appeared on the split with Changes. Matt Howden‘s Sieben is also featured with a remix of a track from Ogham Inside the Night; a fine example of his original violin ‘n’ vocals approach to folky modern song. Finally, there’s While Angels Watch, with a not totally convincing track, which nevertheless has a very nice atmosphere and development.

But there’s so much more going on here I just have to mention. Damh the Bard delivers a rousing piece of pagan folk on “Spirit of Albion”. The Kitchen Cynics‘ “The Guidman’s Ground” is a song based on spacy guitar, accompanied by subtle vocals telling a rather dark folk narrative. “Summerhouse” by The A. Lords is a wonderfully serene piece of pastoral music, based on guitar, organ, and field recordings. The ever impressive Sharron Kraus comes with the very nice little “Horn Dance”. More esoteric things are happening with Alphane Moon, who offer a brilliant mix of semi-gregorian singing and the mystic acoustic sounds we’ve come to expect from these people at Oggum Records. Even more occult is English Heretic, of course, as always exploring obscure folkloric subjects, and presenting the results in the form of experimental music, here with electric guitar freakiness, wild vocals, drums, and samples. “Stained Glass Morning” by Sand Snowman is a great piece of psychedelic folk, combining superb acoustic guitar melodies with soothing female vocals.

And that was just the first 2CD part of the collection! If you get this album, be sure to get the free MP3 download as well, because there are quite some hidden gems in there as well. Of course, no time to mention them all, but here’s the ones that stuck with me most. First of all, Far Black Furlong present a wonderful epilogue (again with great oboe work) to the already excellent The East Room album, also on Woven Wheat Whispers. Odd one out is American novemthree, who nevertheless brings two convincing instrumental track of his foresty folk with nice percussion. Alan Trench and Martyn Bates‘ Twelve Thousand Days presents “Thistles”, a wonderful track from their 2006 album From the Walled Garden. Other work of Trench’s is also featured, with nice tracks by Orchis and Cunnan. Paul Newman‘s “Lavondyss” is a very good melancholic track on vocals and acoustic guitar. We also get a very nice selection of tunes from some of England’s finest mediaeval artists, such as The Daughters of Elvin and Steve Tyler. Best of all is Misericordia‘s “De Poni Amor A Me”, a superb song based on hammered dulcimer, hurdy-gurdy, and bagpipes.

I haven’t mentioned all, of course, and this is not the place for an even more in-depth approach. It doesn’t mean the unmentioned tracks aren’t good or interesting, of course, because this compilation has a very consistent quality level. What’s also not mentioned yet is that in addition to a load of great music, John Barleycorn Reborn also has a very firm folkloric concept. A selection of artists, as well as project initiator Mark Coyle have written short contributions in the booklet, to clarify their feeling towards this compilation, and towards the new folk revival that is being documented by it. For I believe a revival is a correct term. Folk music and lore has served as an inspiration to many artists over the past two decades or so, John Barleycorn Reborn is one of the first to provide an overview of at least a part of this area of music so full of original approaches. I firmly believe that this set and its followers will serve as a monument to this revival, and I imagine myself looking back to this in a couple of decades with a sense of nostalgia. I commend Woven Wheat Whispers and Cold Spring for putting this together for us, and I’m looking forward to the followups. Anyone who wants to know what’s happening in underground folk music these days should absolutely get this treasure trove! Even for those who knew many of the artists already, there is loads to discover.

Reviewed by O.S.

Tracklist:

Part 1: Birth:

1. The Horses Of The Gods – John Barleycorn (3:56)
2. The Owl Service – North Country Maid (2:39)
3. The Story – The Wicker Man (2:30)
4. Damh The Bard – Spirit of Albion (4:15)
5. Mary Jane – Twa Corbies (5:13)
6. Andrew King – Dives and Lazarus (6:29)
7. The Triple Tree – Three Crowns (5:37)
8. Sol Invictus – To Kill All Kings (5:55)
9. Sieben – Ogham On The Hill (Remix) (4:03)
10. Sharron Kraus – Horn Dance (3:30)
11. Charlotte Greig And Johan Asherton – Lay The Bent To The Bonny Broom (7:54)
12. Pumajaw – The Burning Of Auchindoun (5:43)
13. Peter Ulrich – The Scryer & The Shewstone (5:06)
14. Alphane Moon – Where The Hazel Grows (4:30)
15. English Heretic – Hippomania (6:50)
16. Far Black Furlong – Icy Solstice Eye (3:28)

Part 2: Death:

1. The Anvil – John Barleycorn Must Die (4:37)
2. Tinkerscuss – To Make You Stay (2:55)
3. The Straw Bear Band – Trial By Bread & Butter (3:37)
4. Electronic Voice Phenomena – The Sorrow Of Rimmon (3:56)
5. The Purple Minds Of Lazeron – Dragonfly (4:21)
6. Sand Snowman – Stained Glass Morning (5:56)
7. The A. Lords – Summerhouse (5:11)
8. The Kitchen Cynics – The Guidman’s Ground (4:18)
9. Quickthorn – Pew Pew (2:32)
10. Clive Powell – Reed Sodger (4:19)
11. Venereum Arvum – Child 102: Willie and Earl Richard’s Daughter (aka The Birth of Robin Hood) (7:33)
12. Drohne – Nottamun Town (6:55)
13. Stormcrow – Gargoyle (6:16)
14. Doug Peters – Pact (4:21)
15. While Angels Watch – Obsidian Blade (5:07)
16. Xenis Emputae Travelling Band – John Barleycorn: His Life, Death And Resurrection (4:52)
17. Martyn Bates – The Resurrection Apprentice (2:42)

Part 3: Rebirth:

1. Magpiety – The Rolling Of The Stones (2:05)
2. The Story – All Hallow’s Eve (5:07)
3. Telling The Bees – Wood (4:44)
4. David A Jaycock – Bonny Jaycock Turner (2:46)
5. Yealand Redmayne – Oh My Boy, My Bonny Boy (3:49)
6. Charlotte Greig and Johan Asherton – The Bold Fisherman (4:37)
7. Steve Tyler – Tierceron (4:02)
8. The Wendigo – The Wendigo (6:32)
9. The Owl Service – Wake the Vaulted Echo [Tigon Mix] (4:52)
10. Far Black Furlong – The East Room V (3:35)
11. Xenis Emputae Travelling Band – Brightening Dew (3:14)
12. Sedayne – Corvus Monedula (4:05)
13. The Straw Bear Band – Bear Ghost (5:08)
14. Novemthree – Scythe to the Grass (2:33)
15. Paul Newman – Lavondyss (4:59)
16. James Reid – Kingfisher Blue (5:17)
17. JefvTaon – (Digging The) Midnight Silver (4:24)
18. Wooden Spoon – Children’s Soul (1:49)
19. Big Eyes Family Players – A Dream of Fires (3:20)
20. Sundog – Kilpeck June 2007 (4:15)
21. Clive Powell – Ca The Horse, Me Marra (11:14)
22. Mac Henderson of Grand Union Morris – Jack In The Green (2:41)
23. Cunnan – Seven Sleeps, Seven Sorrows (11:58)
24. Orchis – The Silkie (3:46)
25. Twelve Thousand Days – Thistles (5:30)
26. Novemthree – Harvest Dance (2:32)
27. James Reid – Elder (3:51)
28. Mary Jane – When I Was In My Prime (5:06)
29. The Daughters of Elvin – Ognor Mi Trovo (3:19)
30. Misericordia – De Poni Amor A Me (6:15)
31. Venereum Arvum – Child 102 (lily flower mix) (7:54)
32. The Anvil – John Barleycorn Must Live (5:39)
33. The Sunshine People – The Old Way (1:07)