GENRE : alternative folk, dream pop, shoegaze, post-punk, Scotland
RECORD LABEL : Dead Forest Records
Ali Murray is a half-Scottish/half-Filipino songwriter/musician hailing from a cold little Scottish island - the Isle of Lewis, to be precise, and this is his first solo album since 2017. I've been highly anticipating this album for what seems like an eternity. Often when I build things up in my head over a long period of time, they inevitably disappoint...but this album was even better than I expected it to be.
This album is a dark lonely introspective journey through ambiguous dreamscapes. Musically, it's an interesting mixture of ethereal alt-folk and melancholy dream-pop, with some elements of shoegaze and gothic post-punk thrown in there for good measure. Lyrically, it tackles profound themes of mortality, love, loss, freedom and the fragility of our existence.
It is not light shallow music for the masses. Murray constantly manages to tap into something deep, dark and uncomfortable... but somehow turns it all into wonderful dreamy pop music.
The atmospheres and soundscapes within the album are exactly how I imagine the Isle of Lewis to be - cold, barren and beautiful...
I would highly recommend this album. It's one of the best singer-songwriter albums I've heard in years. And while you're at it, you should definitely check out his older albums.
I love 70's psych folk, especially the darker stuff. I love 70's everything for that matter. We all know Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Simon & Garfunkel, Joan Baez, Vashti Bunyan, Cat Stevens, etc... who are all great folk artists, and I'm not taking anything away from them, but you can find their music anywhere and everywhere, even if you're not looking for it.
I wanted to compile a list of great 70's psych folk albums/songs that most people probably haven't heard of - artists that seem to have disappeared into the mists of time...
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Linda Perhacs - Parallelograms (1970)
Linda Perhacs is an American psychedelic folk singer. This is her debut album, which was originally released in 1970 to scant notice, sales or attention. It was rediscovered in the late 1990s by record enthusiasts on the internet, and since then it's been steadily gaining more popularity, but still mostly unknown.
Michael Yonkers & Jim Woehrle - Borders of my Mind (1973)
I love Michael Yonkers, but he's a strange one. I considered not including any of his music in this post because he's strayed into various non-folky musical directions. He's done a goofy oddball country album, a instrumental harsh guitar noise album, etc... but some of his best material can definitely be placed pretty comfortably in the psych folk category. This is a really good album - a duo record with his friend Jim Woehrle. It's touching and strange and funny. The songs often ending in bursts of laughter.
Sparrow - Wings of the Morning (1977)
Sparrow was a Christian folk duo from the '70s, consisting of David Shwan and Greg Zornes. This is their only album.
Nigel Planer - Five Songs Left (1971)
Nigel Planer wrote this album when he was eighteen years old, back in '77. It's raw and primitive and really damn good. Later in life he went onto become an actor, a writer and a comedian.
Keith Christmas - Fable of the Wings (1970)
Keith Christmas has had a very impressive career, spanning over 50 years. He's recorded multiple albums, toured all over the world, and played acoustic guitar on David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' album. This is his classic 1970 solo album.
Catherine Howe - What A Beautiful Place (1971)
This album is the Brit folk autobiography of Catherine Hower, who was aged 20 at the time of its recording. She never made it as a breakout success, or anywhere near as big as she deserved, but she certainly had a devoted cult following. If you're looking for beautiful, jazzy, orchestral, pastoral folk... then this album is for you.
Gaynor Jenkins - Selected Short Stories (1972/1973)
Gaynor Jenkins is sadly no longer with us, but her music lives on, thanks to her sons Aiden and Dorian. The recordings that comprise this album were unearthed 50 years after they were recorded, back in '72 and '73, mostly at the University of Kent, where Jenkins was studying at age 25. I'm so glad these recordings were eventually shared.
Caedmon - Caedmon (1978)
Caedmon were a Scottish folk rock band from the '70s. This eponymous debut album was a cult hit back in '78. Only 500 copies of it were originally made, before it was eventually released out into the world. I'm not sure when that was, but here it is...
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FURTHER LISTENING...
Here are a bunch of individual 70s psych folk songs that I love, but wasn't able to locate the digital albums they were taken from anywhere online, therefore couldn't embed them on this post. All these songs are gorgeous. I never get sick of these forgotten gems.
I was having a sad Sunday morning, casually browsing through the Z Tapes Bandcamp page, not knowing who or what I was going to click on. For some reason the artwork and the title of this particular release drew me in...
It's the second album by German singer-songwriter, Amiga Herz. Listening to it from start to finish, I was taken on a quiet introspective journey through a blurry landscape. Entering it alone, and emerging from it alone. It was a sad but gorgeous listening experience. Acoustic emo at its finest.
If you like this album, you should definitely look into the Z Tapes Bandcamp page. You won't regret it.
Straight from the prairies, this is a wonderful little fantasy folk EP by Cajun songwriter Renée Reed. It consists of two English language originals and two French cover songs. Instantly her voice reminds me of Hope Sandoval (one of my all-time favourite singers) and 60's French pop extraordinaire Francoise Hardy. These 4 songs are languid and dreamy. It brings to mind hazy summer fields and sweet birdsong, daydreaming amongst the flowers.
After writing this I realized that this EP is actually an accompaniment to her self-titled debut album, which I haven't listened to yet. I was tempted to scrap this write-up and review her full-length album instead, but then I figured that this EP could use some love as a stand-alone release. Why not? I love EPs, and you should definitely give this one a spin. Or at least a good old click.
GENRE : emo, acoustic, post-hardcore, alternative rock, indie rock
RECORD LABEL : Atlantic Records
Like most people, I was first exposed to this song in the first episode of the Masters of Horror series (''Incident On and Off a Mountain Road'') and was gripped immediately. The beautiful hushed voice of Jonah Matranga floating over simple acoustic emo guitar chords while you're watching the car driving along a deserted moonlit road, before the horror begins...
Anyway, this is a gorgeous song. I wasn't too taken with this particular band (Gratitude) tbh, but this one song is beautiful.
Jonah Matranga was the frontman of the legendary post-hardcore band Far, who you should definitely listen to. Great band. Also check out his lo-fi singer/songwriter solo project OneLineDrawing.
GENRE : acoustic, alternative folk, americana, country, roots, singer-songwriter,
RECORD LABEL : Martha's Music
William Patrick Corgan is Billy Corgan. Billy Corgan is William Patrick Corgan. This guy shouldn't need any introduction. He gets a lot of shit from the media, and people in general, but he's a truly incredible artist/musician, and his three solo works to date (TheFutureEmbrace, Ogilala & Cotillions) are among my favourite albums of his vast discgraphy, and easily rival/exceed anything he's done with The Smashing Pumpkins.
I really wanted to NOT like 'Cotillions'. I think it takes audacity to release a 17-track album, but it's so damn good if you let it play out. There's only maybe 1 or 2 songs that I could take or leave, which is pretty impressive. I do admit that there's an undoubted samey-ness to the songs on this album, but it's a beautiful album to take in in its entirety during long drives through barren country landscapes. The lyrics are mostly nonsensical (ridiculous) to me, but I accept them. They do resonate in some strange way that I'm unable to put my finger on.
Overall I do love this album. One that gets better and better with subsequent listens. Available to buy from Amazon, iTunes, etc...
