PSYCH FOLK

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'Psychedelic folk' or 'Psych folk' is a music genre that originated in the 1960s through the blending of folk music, Indie folk and psychedelic rock or pop.

Contents

Characteristics

History

Related genres

See also

External links

Characteristics

Psych folk generally favors acoustic instrumentation although it often incorporates other instrumentation. Chanting, early music and world music influences are often found in psych folk. Much like its rock counterpart, psychedelic folk is known for a peculiar, trance-like, and atmospheric sound. Its lyrics are often concerned with such subjects as the natural world, love and beauty and try to evoke a state of mind associated with the effects of psychedelic drugs. However, drug associations are not as important to psych folk as they are to psychedelic rock.

History

Early Incredible String Band, Donovan, Fairport Convention, (see electric folk), Pentangle, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Synanthesia and perhaps most prominently, Syd Barrett are all prominent early examples of psych folk bands. Notice that all of these musicians are from Britain, where psychedelic music often had a stronger folk element.
American bands include early Byrds, Love, Bermuda Triangle Band, and Pearls Before Swine.
New musical artists continue to draw on this tradition, although many of them would not necessarily describe their own music as psych folk (the term "Freak Folk" has gained favor). Current 93 whose new folk direction of 1988’s Earth Covers Earth rekindled the acid/freak folk styles of such groups as the Incredible String Band. Indeed the album cover is a post-punk parody of the Incredible String Band’s seminal album, The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter. David Tibet, the main, and most consistent performer of Current 93 has continued predominantly with this style (his variation also called Apocalyptic folk) to this day while resurrecting the career of an original acid folk (and traditional folk) artist, Shirley Collins.
Since the 1990s, this style has included existentialist pairing Pinkie Maclure & John Wills, known as Pumajaw in Scotland. Also the Georgia-based Elephant 6 Recording Company, which includes bands like Neutral Milk Hotel, has been known to release psych folk records.
The latest generation of psych folk artists in the early to mid 2000s include Circulus, The Slant, Entrance, Devendra Banhart,The Airy Fairy Gang(Ireland) Alela Diane, Alina Harden, Akron/Family, CocoRosie, Joanna Newsom, Damien Youth, Lord Jeff, Jana Hunter, Espers, Vetiver, DeVotchKa, Faun Fables, Gwendolyn, Testface, Sun City Girls, Dame Darcy, Gregory Paul, Kemialliset Ystävät (Finland), PG Six, William Wesley & The Tiny Sockets, Feathers, F.J.McMahon, Pothole Skinny, Tower Recordings, Deek hoi, and Eyes and Arms of Smoke. (See New Weird America.)
Michael Gira has also assisted in a sort of psych folk revival. Gira may have named his newest project Angels of Light after San Francisco hippy Hibiscus' transcendental theatre group of the same name (Though another possible source ofthe name is the Psychic TV associated project "Thee Angels Ov Light Meet Thee Angry Love Orchestra". in interviews he says he cannot remember where he got the name from) and is responsible for guiding the career of new psych folk stars, Devendra Banhart and Akron/Family.
One of the best examples of this type of music is "Cosmic Charlie" by the Grateful Dead.

Related genres

Another type of folk that incorporates world music, strange sounds and trippy lyrics include psych folk's more esoteric-oriented and hermetic-centered cousin: Apocalyptic folk. While these genres are similar, the latter two appeal more to followers of darker music, while psych folk is more favoured by psychedelic music followers in general. This relationship could be considered very analogous to the similar subject matter but different treatments.

See also

★ Freak folk

★ Naturalismo

★ Anti-folk

★ ''Ptolemaic Terrascope'' - a psychedelic folk & rock magazine

★ Galen Pehrson - Galen Pehrson -- Psychedelic folk Artist and Director

★ Mellow Candle

★ Neofolk

★ New Weird America - A modern American psych-folk movement

External links

★ Hippedelic Records - Selling Rare Psychedelic Vinyls

★ The Psychedelic & Acid Folk Music Site from Psych Van Het Folk

★ Dream Magazine -- great resource for psych folk and all other types of psychedelic music

★ Psych folk list on Amazon

★ Contemporary Psychedelia: From Transcendence to Immanence -- An essay on psych folk and spirituality