Interview by O.S. & D.M.K.; All images property of Sand Snowman.

London-based musician and composer Sand Snowman has been releasing his unique material since 2006, also the year in which our website started. We’ve followed Sand from humble MP3 beginnings to where he is today: [...]]]>

'I'm Not Here', by Sand

Interview by O.S. & D.M.K.; All images property of Sand Snowman.

London-based musician and composer Sand Snowman has been releasing his unique material since 2006, also the year in which our website started. We’ve followed Sand from humble MP3 beginnings to where he is today: beautiful releases on CD and vinyl. Together with other artists from the Dutch tonefloat label, he paid a visit to our country in early february for a concert and some interviews, and he will return at the end of March.
We encountered Sand in the KinkFM radio studio, where he performed on the experimental and avantgarde show X-Rated. Just after that, we had a pleasant chat in the station’s lounge with some tea and wine, and the chance to ask Sand about his music, Irish background, art, and much more.
Our thanks go out to Charles of tonefloat and Arjen & Bob of X-Rated for hosting this interview.

O.S. & D.M.K.: What can you tell us about the development of the whole project, because Moth Dream was the first album, back when Woven Wheat Whispers still existed, but it’s only been 3 years or less. It’s a big step from an MP3 release to these beautiful vinyl things on Tonefloat, so… what happened in between?
Sand: I really don’t know [laughs]. I think when you put something out into the world, onto the ether, you’ve a vague hope- I mean, like for example when I did Moth Dream or Obsessive Creatures in America, I had no guarantee whatsoever that anyone was going to listen to it, let alone that it would actually be picked up by any… you know, find a home anywhere. So, I don’t know, I mean, I put it out there and just see what would happen. As it has transpired, I think it’s been perfect for me, because it’s allowed me some time to develop what I was doing, but without taking too long for this to happen and lose interest. 

'Moth Dream'

So then you put out some limited CDr’s on Reverb Worship and Time Lag. How’d you make the step to that?
I think I would’ve had Moth Dream available on Woven Wheat Whispers, and I like Six Organs of Admittance, I remember looking something up on them through Time Lag. I just sent the label an email and said, you know, “I’m doing stuff. You’re not obliged to listen to it.” He sent me an email back and said “Yeah, I’d love to hear some.” So I sent him a CD and he said “Yeah, that’d be great, I’d love to do a little run of ‘em.” I did “I’m not here” and that’s one that came again on Woven Wheat Whispers, I guess the end of 2006 for “I’m not here”, the end of 2007 for The Twilight Game, and Roger from Reverb Worship just contacted me through MySpace and said, “I noticed you have some things available through download, would you like a CDr-run?” -”OK, great,” you know? So, it happens kind of in step with what I was doing.

The first release you did was all instrumental, and then suddenly on “I’m not here” there’s two ladies singing, so how did that happen?
I know it’s strange, I’m not quite sure myself, but I think with “I’m not here”, cause it was the first concentrated album I did and like writers say that the first novel is autobiographical, or that you’re working through a lot of your influences, and a lot of the sonic ideas that I had, the purely instrumental ideas I had, on the first album I had a lot of room to explore with that. When I started writing the material for “I’m not here” or when the ideas started coming to me, a lot of them were in song form and I thought it’d be nice to still have a kind of continual music, still a continual instrumental tone experience, but to have some structure just popping up there, every now and then. Moonswift is my long-term partner, so uhm… “honey, do some singing”. I just put the microphone in front of her. I met this girl Nix and with her basically, you know, met up, got some ideas. I just gave her some backing tracks I had and “you can do what you want over it,” you know. It could open up what I was doing so it wasn’t all dependent on me, because I was still I think a bit tentative about writing lyrics and song structures myself.

You do write all of that yourself?
Yes.

Now on the new album, there’s some male vocals added and also a bit on The Twilight Game, so who’s responsible for all of that?
Right, on The Twilight Game I got a friend of mine, Jerome, to do some vocals. One night he said “Actually I do some singing, so if you want some male vocals…” I thought yeah, just for balance, because I like the underpinning of the voices. Also on The Twilight Game Jo Lepine who sings with The Owl Service did some singing for me as well, so I thought, great, because I like the idea of polyphonic vocal lines. I’m not really a singer myself, and I’ve been told that by singers that a lot of my lines aren’t that easy to sing, because I think of them as melodic lines or just instrumental melodic lines. I think polyphonically, and I like the idea of having lots of harmonies and as many textured layers vocally as are there instrumentally. And you know, it’s just been a continuation of that, really. I mean, at the moment, in the songs I’m working on at the moment, I’ve already used three vocals, and I’ve got another three or four in mind to work with.

So, and what about the new album? There’s Jason Ninnis and Steven Wilson, so…

'Two Way Mirror', CD version, artwork by Carl Glover

Jason’s a friend of mine, a singer/songwriter from London, and again it was one of these things, one evening he said you know “If you want some vocals sometimes.” – “Yeah, great, here we go, that’d be ideal.” And Steven – cause I did some playing on his album, he said “If you want some singing done…” – “Excellent, that’s great.” It was a question as well of thinking of what songs in terms of lyrics and melody suit what voices, and the two that Steven sang, well they’re really ideal in my head for his voice, and I’m very very happy with the way they turned out.

So how did you get in touch with Steven?
Steven got in touch with me, because the chap at Reverb Worship must have sent Steven a CD. There were a limited edition of 50 copies each, and Steven sent me an email, “I’m really really impressed with your work and I think that maybe more than 50 people should hear it.” So, it just went on from there, really. Steven passed “I’m not here” and The Twilight Game on to Charles [from Tonefloat] and… good fortune, really. [laughs]

Will you rerelease Moth Dream someday?
Possibly Obsessive Creatures, the American version, the reason being because that, as I said earlier, I just can’t find two of the masters for the tracks on Moth Dream. But, I’m not too bothered, because there’s the three tracks “Serpentine”, “Moth Dream” and “Light, Space, Shadow” I’m very happy with, and I wrote this other one around the time, which was on the American issue, “Obsessive Creatures and Caricatures”. It may be issued in that format, and that would be again be four fairly long instrumental pieces. So, that may be…

But the entire album is lost, because you lost some of the master tracks?
Yeah, I don’t have three of the tracks. Also, unlike “I’m not here” and The Twilight Game and Two Way Mirror, this album didn’t present itself as an entity to me, as an entire album. Because to me the structure of an album is as important as the individual tracks on it, the moods and the contrast to each other and stuff. Probably because Moth Dream, my first one, is more a question of ‘I like these, got them done now, put them together.’ When I finished that album, I started work pretty much immediately on “I’m not here”, so I was just pretty much taken up with that. So, the masters of a couple of songs just got mislaid. They’re somewhere in my flat, but that’s The Twilight Zone essentially, so they may at some stage turn up. [laughs]
One day… when you move into a new place or something. [all laugh]

'Flicker Fading Spark' EP

And what about this Flicker Fading Spark EP, because that’s also disappeared along with Woven Wheat Whispers.
Well, I do have the masters for those, cause that’s when I started working on The Twilight Game. It’s weird because it was actually another project, and that took over. And one of the tracks on the Flicker Fading Spark EP, “Magpie Eye”, is from a longer piece that became “I Spy”, the second track on Two Way Mirror. I had basically done the backing track of this 8-minute piece and I thought ‘the first part, I’m gonna get singing on the first part. The rest of it, I’m not sure if singing will work with it, so… no, the first part will be a separate song and this will just be an entity unto itself.’ And also because I thought that if I was going to do an EP to predate the album, it would be good to have a couple of tracks that don’t appear anywhere else. But I do actually have them… [laughs] I was a bit more sensible. [laughs]

OK, so then we’ve made it to the new album, basically. It’s going to be released this month, so what’s a bit of the background behind Two Way Mirror in terms of concepts and writing? How’d you compose it?
Uhm… ooh sorry, there might be a pause… [laughs] I’ll think about that one in silence…
You know, the first 500 CDs have an extra album, The Magpie House. It’s basically a kind of continuum: The Twilight Game, The Magpie House and Two Way Mirror. What I started with for The Twilight Game had some of the material that ended up on The Magpie House. Then I thought you know, ‘I’ll use that in the next one.’ But then other ideas presented themselves. I wanted a different colour and feel to previous albums. I mean, “I’m not here” to me sounds kind of like summer evening or something like that. It sounds like woodland at nighttime or something. The Twilight Game reminds me of a nighttime sky, a wintry sky, and Two Way Mirror puts me in mind of clouds and sky and kites and things like that.

Where does The Magpie House fit in in terms of ideas and concepts?
Well, The Magpie House, I had this dream- cause I have a thing about magpies, I paint them and draw them, I really love them and I love the idea of them as well, going around and gathering these things that are shiny and glittery. And, I had this dream of this house with all these magpies in it and all these wooden beams and stuff like that, and I thought ‘house, magpies, magpie house!’ That’s something else, you know. Or you know, me just gathering these fragments of myself from wherever. The album itself, where it would fit in would be that it’s the underpinning of say, mainly The Twilight Game and Two Way Mirror, it’s material that was acutally happening concurrent to that. Not so much outtakes, it just didn’t fit in with the idea, the structure and the concept of those ones. But it was in its own way kind of essential, because it’s what was going on as well.

Do you think that dreams have special meanings?
Yeah, I do, yeah…
Are they also an important inspiration for you? For your songs?
Certainly the unconscious or the subconscious…
Which speaks to you through dreams, yeah…
Or just impressions, I mean, it can be- when we left from the city airport, this industrial area, and it was cold, but there was this intense sunlight coming through. I find that these feelings- I see something like that and automatically a piece of music stars presenting itself to me then. So it can be dreams, but just impressions, subconscious impressions, impressions that are outside of time or a kind of material concept of reality.
And then the music comes to you, yeah, and you have to give it shape?
Yeah, and that’s what music is, giving shape to a very vague feeling, an impression, it’s giving the form, structure…
[all laugh]

Speaking of this kind of thing, if one looks at your MySpace, they’ll quickly realise that you’re also a painter, so how did that start for you, and in what way is it intertwined with your musical expression?
Yeah, well, my mum’s an artist, I was drawing before I could write or any of that. I love it and also it’s a great respite from having to think in terms of sound. It really really does cross over for me in terms of music, again it’s very hard to explain because it’s a feeling, a sensation, you know. But I think they are- I find that there might be an idea or a concept that’s presented in an album, and there’s kind of an overspill into the paintings I do, you know. Again, I mean the thing with music, I might do a painting or a song that I myself don’t really like that much but it feels absolutely right. In a way it’s kind of outside my own judgement. And I like to be as much outside of my own judgement as possible. So in a way it’s not something that I have that much control over. I quite like that. [laughs]

And apart from MySpace – you’ve used it for some of the earlier album covers, but do you also do exhibitions or something like that?

'Flicker, Falter, Fading Spark', by Sand

Uhm, the last exhibition I did was… nearly two years ago. [laughs] I very very rarely do, to be honest, I rarely put exhibitions on because of just the logistics, sorting it out and having to get people there and stuff. I know it might sound strange, but I don’t actually feel a great pressure to sell my stuff, or even have it seen. It happens, it exists. I think it’s the world we live in, where we feel that things have to be qualified by being seen and heard. In a way, that’s like me being an artistic meanie, keeping it to myself, you know. [lauhgs] But it’s not deliberate like that, you know. I very very rarely exhibit, and probably the main reason for why I very very rarely exhibit is that the priority is music. That’s my main purpose essentially. The painting is more *for* me, it’s more of an indulgence for myself.

Is there for you a difference between musical and visual expression?
Yes, yeah. Definitely, because music to me is entirely abstract from material reality, from what we see and hear and experience. Music, apart from birdsong and natural sound, music is a totally abstract concept. Most of the other art forms, I think, come some way out of our experience, like visual art. I think visual art has always been, through all cultures, representational. European art is in some way kind of an abstraction from real life, but it is based pretty much on the world that you see, you know. And I think it’s the same with literature, poetry, because it uses language, by which we communicate. Music then of course is just something else entirely.
Perhaps more direct, sometimes at least. Speaking to your feelings, or at least that’s a way to experience it.
Well, that’s it, cause it has a main line into your feelings, your subsconscious.

And what about literature or poetry? Does that influence you in your music in any way? Or your painting…

Very little, but… James Joyce is a big influence on me, more in his approach than anything. The approach of like Ulysses or Finnegan’s Wake, where you have parallel worlds, parallel takes on things happening at once. Because music was the primary influence for him, with literature, where he was, instead of telling a story, instead of a sentence like saying “he went out of” he’d have these compound words actually, cause he was trying to get polyphony in writing. But it’s just the way that makes you look at reality that’s had a huge influence on me, really, you know. When I read about Finnegan’s Wake, which I haven’t read – I love Ulysses, but I haven’t been able to get through Finnegan’s Wake.
[laughs] OK.
But the idea is absolutely mindblowing for me.
Why is it so difficult to get through for you?
Finnegan’s Wake? I think it’s having a primer first, it’s recognising the code, because I mean with Joyce you have a lot of references to Greek mythology, you know. I mean like say for example using kind of musical forms of fugues in literature, so the first time you read it it’s… you know. I mean I read about Ulysses quite a lot before I actually read it, so I had a primer in it and I was going to prepare for it. I think because Finnegan’s Wake is a dream, it’s kind of underwater, and it’s so very very- I find it very very hard to penetrate its meaning, you know. I understand it is about a dream reality, and also the thing of a wake[1]- “Finnegan’s Wake” is an Irish song. There’s also Fionn again, the coming of Fionn mac Cumhaill [wiki], this Irish mythological hero. It’s the return of the hero, which is going through all of Joyce’s literature. The main character, it’s all the hero’s voyage. Except in the last, in Finnegan’s Wake, the voyage is in a dream. It’s dream logic, he has strange juxtapositions and you don’t know where you are [laughs]. His language is beautiful, but I don’t know what he’s saying [laughs]. You know, but I’ll go back to it in time.
Maybe then it’s a bit more like music.
Yeah, it is.
If you read the words, but you don’t know exactly what it means, you have to rely on the feelings he expresses.
Yeah. 

Uhm, apart from your refereces, you also have an accent, so…
I’m Irish.
You’re Irish, yeah, cause you were living in London, that’s what we garnered, but we never heard you were Irish, so how did you end up in London?
That’s a very good question! [laughs] A series of strange events… when I was 17 I moved to London, and uhm, never went back. Oh, I’ve been back, but it’s just become home, you know, but it’s like I said, I’ve been there like since I was 17-18 years or so.
It has a special feeling for you, the city?
London, uhm, I think so, but then I’m not sure if that’s because I’ve been there a long time and I have history there. I think when you have a history somewhere, you have all these references there, so it becomes something to you. I mean, in many ways I don’t have to actually be living in London for what I do, but it’s right for now.

And what about Ireland? You ever feel like going back?
For a holiday, yes, but to live, no.
And why not, if we may ask?
Exile. I take after James Joyce. It’s when you’re in exile from your homeland. The danger is you romanticise it or you can become cynical about it, that is, you see it out of balance. But, you internalise the experiences. I mean, when I go back, I go back for a week every now and then, and I’m really- I’m not saying the people who live there don’t appreciate these- but it’s the ordinary things, the smell of coal fires, that’s just amazing, and it’s an instant effect on me that takes me back to when I was a little boy. Because I’m not living there, because I’ve been away from there, these associations are powerful, and I don’t really want to risk losing them. [laughs] You know, and I like that being somewhere else.
So you only realised these little things when you’ve been away for a while?
Yeah, definitely.
Or you take them too much for granted.
Yeah, well, you no longer see it. It’s if you’re taking the same route every day you don’t notice the odd nuances of an area or of the people’s accents and things like that. It’s when you’re away, then you really notice it.

'The Tower', by Sand

In your interview just now on the radio, you talked briefly about your musical influences. Your music itself is already pretty eclectic, but does that have a background in your own musical taste?
Yes, very much so, yeah. I mean, I get excited by things, I don’t know if it’s apparent in Two Way Mirror, but there’s a couple of tracks on it… I was really really excited by Bartók‘s string quartets and Shostakovich‘s string quartets. With the string quartet you have a dialogue going on, and it’s very economical. And, I often get excited about something that I *can’t* do, but it presents me with this other world to kind of play with and get involved in, so I thought ‘well, OK, how d’you get that kinda quality, that dialogue with acoustic guitars?’ You know, so rather than staying in the pattern of like, say, what an instrument does, I kinda listen to what it doesn’t. What I do often is that I write a piece on the piano and translate it to maybe two or three acoustic guitar parts. Or write a piece on the guitar and then play it on the piano. So I’m thinking of it, or I’m seeing it in a different perspective, in a sense. So, I mean, yeah, but the influences, we’re influenced by everything, even the things we don’t like, you know, but they are very very eclectic in what I relate and what I love and what I’m excited by, you know. What I’d like to integrate in what I do.

And what about playing live, is this the first time for you tomorrow?
I did a couple of very very brief sets in London last year. I did one actually as part of an improv thing with these two other chaps, who were playing like electronics and noises, and I was playing, doing what I do on the acoustic guitar, whatever it is I do on the acoustic guitar. But I did two sets, one in summer and one in October. Just to get myself prepared basically for playing in front of people, because everything I do is very much in my head, an extension of that is to actually do it in a room. I mean, I’m excited about it, because I think rather than recreate or trying to recreate a record – because the record is there and people can listen to that – what I’m interested in doing is taking the live experience, making that something into itself, an event into itself or a piece of music into itself. So there are themes and bits and pieces from the albums that are interwoven with each other.

OK, and then finally, you’re doing a couple of shows now, and you’ve just got a new album out, double CD, vinyl, and… Is there anything you have planned already for the future?
Uhm, one album, definitely, that I’ve pretty much all the backing tracks done for, and I just need to get the vocals done on that. I’m also working on this other thing at the moment, that I’m not sure what it is. It’s quite different, it’s more uh- I don’t know if I’ll actually do it as a- I don’t know if I’ll acutally finish it. Or, I don’t know if I’ll do it as a Sand Snowman project. It’s quite rhythmic, there’s a lot of drums and things like that in it, and it’s very sort of disjointed, but it’s very much in its early stages. I hope to have the new Sand Snowman one finished by the end of summer.

By the way, those drums, do you also play those on the album?
I play some, and I program some. I mix them up, basically, yeah.
But most of the instruments is just you?
I play, yeah. On the new one I’ve just got a friend of mine, she’s done some flute, and I’ve written some cello parts for another friend of mine. But still pretty much instrumentally, it’s me.
You mean the next album, the one that’s coming?
Yes, yeah.
And are there any more surprises you can unveil? Is it going to be very different from Two Way Mirror? What’s your feeling about it?
I think it’s going to be as different from Two Way Mirror as Two Way Mirror is from “I’m not here”. That is, there are similarities. In fact I think actually you can hear traces of all of them, even the first one. There are parts on that, that are the feelings and ideas that occur on the later albums as well. Basically, there’s kind of a cross-pollination thing going on with them.

[1] The “wake” in the traditional “Finnegan’s Wake” is a reference both to the wake at his funeral, and his awakening during the funeral, when it becomes apparent that he isn’t dead, but suffering from a severe whiskey delirium. An alternative interpretation would be that he was dead, but resurrected by the water of life (whiskey). See: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Finnegan%27s_Wake.

Links:

• Sand Snowman (MySpace)
• tonefloat records (Official Website)

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)

Pamela Wyn Shannon is an American singer/songwriter of Spanish and Irish descent, and with Courting Autumn she presents her second album, this being the follow-up of Nature’s Bride from 2001. [...]]]> artist: Pamela Wyn Shannon
release: Courting Autumn
format: CD-R, MP3
year of release: 2007
label: Girlhenge (CD-R), Woven Wheat Whispers (MP3)
duration: 54:39

Pamela Wyn Shannon is an American singer/songwriter of Spanish and Irish descent, and with Courting Autumn she presents her second album, this being the follow-up of Nature’s Bride from 2001. As the titles suggest, Pamela has a strong nature symbolism going on, and this is cast into a form together with musical influences from both traditional and psychedelic folk artists. I haven’t heard the previous album before, but this one certainly is a very convincing piece of modern folk.

Like I said, I discern different folk influences throughout the whole album. The most obvious is perhaps the typical modern folk-revival sound of the female variety. Pamela has a warm and pleasant voice (and accent), and her melodies combine wonderfully with the music. Traditional folk is very present as well, not only in the obvious way in “Ca’ the Yowes” and “Cold Blows the Wind” – which are both excellent, by the way – but also just in the general flow of her own compositions. A slight psychedelic touch is present in “Ca’ the Yowes” as well, with some excellent sitar work. The strongest current throughout the album, though, is a melancholy autumn atmosphere, expressed in the lyrics, melody, and the gorgeous string arrangements (by various guest musicians). The title track, “Pipkin”, and “Netherworld” are most representative: all moody tracks for the darkening days. Other highlights are “Tis Rambletime in Ambleside” and “Vespertine Autumn”, which contrast by adding a higher tempo and a great fingerpicking style into the mix. Both are wonderfully swirling tracks, reminding me of Nick Drake somewhat. The album ends with “Fare-Thee-Forelorn”, a final melancholy piece of spoken word and strings.

This album is extremely consistent in its high quality from start to finish, and anyone with a soft spot for female singer/songrwriter work and/or melancholy nature folk should definitely check this artist out.

Reviewed by O.S.

Tracklist:

1. O Bittersweet Dear Madeline (4:01)
2. Tis Rambletide in Ambleside (4:29)
3. Courting Autumn (5:14)
4. Woolgathering (3:37)
5. Ca’ the Yowes (5:07)
6. September’s Way (5:27)
7. Pipkin (5:31)
8. Michaelmastide (3:32)
9. Netherworld (5:27)
10. Verspertine Autumn (4:31)
11. Cold Blows the Wind (3:39)
12. Fare-Thee-Forelorn (4:04)

detailed info: discogs.com

Some of our readers might remember I wasn’t thoroughly impressed with Sand Snowman‘s first album, Moth Dream. Well, since then, a new album has appeared (I’m Not Here), which I haven’t heard yet. [...]]]> artist: Sand Snowman
release: Flicker Fading Spark
format: MP3
year of release: 2007
label: Woven Wheat Whispers
duration: 12:03

detailed info: discogs.com

Some of our readers might remember I wasn’t thoroughly impressed with Sand Snowman‘s first album, Moth Dream. Well, since then, a new album has appeared (I’m Not Here), which I haven’t heard yet. This EP is the follow up of that album, and the third release on Woven Wheat Whispers, and I must say, I find some great improvement here.

Sand Snowman has managed to hold on to the typical mix of folk and proggy acoustics, but this time around, it works seamlessly. Since the last album, Sand has called in the aid of female singers Nix and Moonswift, the last of which appears on the opening track of this EP. So, what do we hear? Expert acoustic guitar fingerpicking, subtle bass and percussion, some electric guitar and FX, and finally Moonswift’s soft, dreamy vocals. Many of the elements are the same as on the first album, but somehow it all just works better, and sounds more original.

“Magpie Eye” is all instrumental, and starts off quite fast with another great guitar melody. Later in the track, it slows down a bit, blanketed in reverb-drenched piano and other string instruments. The final, short track is also instrumental, but it features wordless vocals by Moonswift again. A very relaxed track, which somehow stresses that quaint old school prog feeling again.

All in all, a fine EP, and a nice teaser for the new album, The Twilight Game, which was also recently released on WWW. Probably it’s due to some common influence, but this also reminds me of Opeth‘s acoustic works. So, if you like that as well, and/or just psychy and proggy folk, check this one out.

Reviewed by O.S.

Tracklist:

1. The Last Candle (5:41)
2. Magpie Eye (3:54)
3. Fading Spark (2:28)

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)

detailed info: discogs.com

[Note: The remark about the M.R. James story in the second paragraph turned out to be incorrect. There is actually no such story, and it was apparently made up by Mark Coyle [...]]]> artist: Far Black Furlong
release: The East Room
format: MP3
year of release: 2006
label: Woven Wheat Whispers
duration: 24:38

detailed info: discogs.com

[Note: The remark about the M.R. James story in the second paragraph turned out to be incorrect. There is actually no such story, and it was apparently made up by Mark Coyle of the label in a flight of fancy.]

Far Black Furlong is an English experimental (folk) music project, with a varying cast of musicians. The core members are pianist and composer Richard Moult, oboeist Mark Baigent, electronic artist Andy Cotterill and guitarist Ian Tengwall. Guest artist on this release, I assume on hurdy-gurdy, is Anne Marie Summers of Misericordia, among other mediaeval ensembles.

The East Room, inspired by an apparently unfinished story by famous English scholar and writer M.R. James, is the third release by the band, after two previous EPs. Like the earlier releases, this one proves that Far Black Furlong is a very interesting newcomer in the musical underground, operating between folk, ambient, classical and mediaeval music. More concrete than the long soundscapes of the previous EP Haidd, The East Room takes us to the mysterious chamber from the story in four movements.

During these four instrumental songs, different instruments combine to create a rich musical depiction of the mysterious atmosphere that pervades the theme of the album. Subtle touches of piano occur everywhere, and often we hear support of recorder, hurdy-gurdy, pipes, harp, and the exquisite sound of the oboe. These are trained musicians at work on untrodden ground – one of the most innovative bands I’ve heard in quite some time. Elements from mediaeval and classical music and folk are blended in perfectly with experimentation and improvisation to create something unique. The music on this album is sometimes calm (movement II and IIII) sometimes threatening and intense (the mad guitar and pipes duet on III), but always mystic and atmospheric.

It’s not an easy job to describe exactly what’s going on in these 25 minutes, but I think it’s magical. If, by any chance, you have the John Barleycorn Reborn compilation, be sure to play “The East Room V” after listening to this, because it’s a brilliant epilogue to finish off an already quite strong EP. This is one of the most impressive release I’ve heard lately, and I recommend everyone to go and check this out – I don’t think you’ll regret it! It’s only available as an MP3 download from Woven Wheat Whispers, but it comes with a high-quality booklet for home printing. Keep the name Far Black Furlong in the back of your head, I’m sure a lot more beautiful music will come from this direction!

Reviewed by O.S.

Tracklist:

1. The East Room I (7:03)
2. The East Room II (5:47)
3. The East Room III (5:15)
4. The East Room IIII (6:33)

detailed info: discogs.com

Jahrtal is a neofolk project by Ewald Spiss, from Austria. He has been active in music for many years, with efforts in experimental piano music and soundscapes, among other things. Samples [...]]]> artist: Jahrtal
release: Zwei Lieder
format: CD-R, MP3
year of release: 2007
label: None (CD-R), Woven Wheat Whispers (MP3)
duration: 13:58

detailed info: discogs.com

Jahrtal is a neofolk project by Ewald Spiss, from Austria. He has been active in music for many years, with efforts in experimental piano music and soundscapes, among other things. Samples of this material can be found on his website at www.ewald-spiss.de. Now, after a relatively inactive period, he returns with a this new project and its first release, Zwei Lieder. It is released in a very limited CD-R with nice artwork by Ewald himself, or alternatively as a download edition at Woven Wheat Whispers.

This little EP contains two tracks. The first is based on a traditional folk song from Siebenbürgen, and it is gently built up with guitar, banjo, flute and soft layered vocals. The lyrics are symbolic, and are basically about a girl who won’t suffer to be forced into the companionship of a certain man. “Abschied” is based on a poem by Von Eichendorff, with music by Ewald. It is in the same calm vein of neofolk, also with guitar and banjo, but also joined by the beautifully soft sound of the duduk, a double reed instrument of Armenian origin. The song is very relaxing, and ends with the duduk playing solo.

This is a nice ‘debut’ of this project, with two calm tracks of neofolk, similar in sound to projects like Orplid and Forseti. Of course, there is room for improvement, mostly in terms of vocal performance and variation in the music, but I hope this will be better on future releases. And I hope there will be any, because this is a promising project, and I advise lovers of neofolk to keep an eye on it.

Reviewed by O.S.

Tracklist:

1. Es saß ein klein wild Vögelein (4:23)
2. Abschied (9:35)

detailed info: discogs.com

Sean Breadin (a.k.a. Sedayne) released this album for free in the winter months of 2006/2007, in keeping with the theme of the album. It is now for sale [...]]]> artist: Sean Breadin
release: Horse-Head in Winterland
format: CD-R, MP3
year of release: 2006
label: Ploughmyth International (CD-R), Woven Wheat Whispers (MP3)
duration: 70:28

detailed info: discogs.com

Reviewed by O.S.

Tracklist:

1. terre d’hiver (19:25)
2. janus dans le terre de merveille (4:49)
3. écoutez la roue de la mort (5:56)
4. vieux danser d’homme (7:11)
5. la crâne de glace (7:23)
6. chemin d’hiver avec des pélerins (6:15)
7. winterland (19:29)

Phantom Dog Beneath the Moon is described best as sad, eerie acoustic guitar folk with electronic effects. In a Light…. conjures up images of nightly walks through [...]]]> artist: Phantom Dog Beneath the Moon
release: In a Light….
format: CD-R, MP3
year of release: 2004, 2005
label: Deserted Village (CD-R), Woven Wheat Whispers (MP3)
duration: 48:49

Phantom Dog Beneath the Moon is described best as sad, eerie acoustic guitar folk with electronic effects. In a Light…. conjures up images of nightly walks through misty, abandoned streets. Of man looking for solace in a crowded, hectic world.

On this first CD, Phantom Dog… immediately succeeds in presenting an atmospheric style of its own. This is mostly because of the combination of acoustics and electronics. Most tracks are guitar songs with vocals, but there’s also a couple of purely ambient tracks (the two parts of “Eerie Night Falls”), and the last track is very experimental. This makes for a varied album that also has enough consistency. The many-sided voice of Aaron reminds one, when high-pitched, of Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke, which is clearly audible at the end of “After The Dark”. This isn’t disturbing to me, because the music provides Phantom Dog… with a distinct atmosphere.

In a Light…. is an album that appeals to me, and at some moments, really manages to touch me, like in the catchy “Dreams Look Like Reality” and the introspective “For Fear, Look Outside”. Nevertheless, there’s something missing. There’s isn’t a single bad track on this album, but there are too few moments that truly impress me. Too little of this record hangs around in my mind when it is done, and that is a pity, because the concept has a lot of potential. Despite these lesser points, this is a quality album, that I’d recommend to anyone who loves introspective and estranging folk. I’ll definitely be looking forward to new Phantom Dog… material.

Reviewed by DMK

Tracklist:

1. Nighttime (4:46)
2. Blue Velvet Lullaby (4:56)
3. Eerie Night Falls part 1 (2:01)
4. Alive With Taut Weary Eyes (6:32)
5. Dreams Look Like Reality (3:27)
6. For Fear Look Outside (6:48)
7. Eerie Night Falls part 2 (1:57)
8. After the Dark (6:25)
9. City of Stars (4:35)
10. I’m Not Sure (7:22)

detailed info: discogs.com

Sand Snowman is a one person project from London, whose initiator is credited as “The Snow Snowman” in the booklet. On Moth Dream, Snowman displays a quite original mix of acoustic and electric guitar [...]]]> artist: Sand Snowman
release: Moth Dream
format: MP3
year of release: 2006
label: Woven Wheat Whispers
duration: 45:23

detailed info: discogs.com

Reviewed by O.S.

Tracklist:

1. Ghosts of Dust (6:45)
2. Moth, Dream, Smokescreen (5:08)
3. Light, Space, Shadow (8:57)
4. The Serpentine Suite (15:03)
5. Federlin (6:28)
6. A Brief History of Humiliations (3:02)