Free Folk

Water Shrews – Widening Spaces

Style: Drone, Free Improvisation, Psychedelic Ambient

Vibes: Journeying, Amorphous, Introspective, Woozy, Exploratory, Earthy, Washy, Hypnotic, Psychedelic, Murky, Rhizomatic

Musical Qualities: Noisy, Improvisation, Lo-Fi, Loops, Slow, Pulse, Analogue, Atmospheric

Instrumentation: Keyboards, Electric Guitar, Electronics, Synthesizers, Field Recordings

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Water Shrew Trio

Style: Drone, Free Folk

Vibes: Meditative, Forest, Peaceful, Contemplative, Nature, Soothing, Hypnotic, Psychedelic

Instrumentation: Harmonium, Hammered Dulcimer, Electronics, Acoustic Guitar

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Third Ear Band

Style: Psychedelic Chamber Music, Free Folk, Neo-Medieval Folk, Dhrupad

Vibes: Mystical, Medieval, Nature, Alchemical, Flowing, Meditative, Ritualistic, Mysterious, Earthy, Occult

Instrumentation: Cello, Oboe, Percussion, Violin/Viola

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John Fahey – Sea Changes & Coelacanths

4LP Box Set including the albums “Womblife”, “Georgia Stomps, Atlanta Struts, and Other Contemporary Dance Favorites”, and
“Hard Time Empty Bottle Blues”

Style: Avant-Folk, Free-Folk, Ambient Blues, American Primitivism, Tape Music

Vibes: Haunting, Nocturnal, Murky, Brooding, Eerie, Aquatic, Bluesy, Woozy, Raw, Meditative

Musical Qualities: Instrumental, Sparse, Improvisation, Collage, Vignettes, Suite, Electro-acoustic, Live

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Daniel Bachman – When the Roses Come Again

Style: Avant-Folk, Ambient Americana, Free-Folk, American Primitivism

Vibes: Meditative, Personal, Morning, Pastoral, Earthy, History, Hypnotic, Summer, Nature, Soothing

Musical Qualities: Collage, Electro-Acoustic, Glitchy, Suite, Vignettes, Instrumental, Sampling, Studio-as-an-Instrument, Atmospheric

Instrumentation: Banjo, Acoustic Guitar, Mouthbow, Fiddle, Homemade Instruments, Harmonium, Bell

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Anahita – Tourmaline

Fursaxa & Helena Espvall

Style: Free Folk, Drone

Vibe: Ritualistic, Medieval, Nocturnal, Forest, Exploratory, Mysterious, Mystical, Religious, Occult, Cosmic, Witchy

Musical Qualities: Droney, Improvisation, Acoustic, Loops, Slow, Choral

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Pelt – Ayahuasca

Style: Free Folk, Appalachian Dhrupad, Psychedelic Drone, American Primitive

Moods: Ritualistic, Meditative, Spiritual, Rural, Hallucinogenic, Eerie, Mysterious, Rootsy, Woods

Musical Qualities: Droney, Acoustic, Noisy, Dissonant, Improvisation

Instrumentation: Banjo, Hurdy Gurdy, Acoustic Guitar, Esraj, Tanpura, Bowls, Fiddle, Concertina, Chord Organ, Cymbals

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Spires that in the Sunset Rise – Four Winds the Walker

Style: Avant-Folk, Acid Folk, Free Folk

Moods: Cryptic, Thorny, Communal, Witchy, Anxious, Haunting, Ominous, Nocturnal, Eerie, Mystical, Psychedelic, Surreal, Shadow, Dark

Instrumentation: Acoustic Guitar, Banjo, Cello, Vocal Harmonies, Mbira, Zither, Percussion, Slide Guitar, Drums, Electric Guitar, Organ, Xylophone, Autoharp, Harmonium, Spike Fiddle, Thumb Piano, Lap Steel

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Friends of the Road – Now You Know Something Right Here and I’ll Tell You For a Fact

This collective of experimental Seattle musicians perform back-porch seances on old-time jigs & folk tunes, half of which can be found in Alan Lomax’s Folk Songs of North America book. The ritualistic, droning dissonance of cello, banjo, harmonium, & fiddle recall Pelt, Henry Flynt, & Tongue Depressor. Despite an often haunting atmosphere, folksiness and camaraderie pervade the tape in the form of warm lo-fi sing-a-longs and friendly, candid banter between tracks. The original social function of the music lives eternally, a nonlinear communication with fellow travelers from the past, present, & future.

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T5 (Terrastock 5 Singles Box)

Compilation of 7″ records featuring exclusive tracks from 5 different ritualistic-psych artists: Iditarod, Stone Breath, Charalambides, Bardo Pond & Sonic Youth

Styles: Ritual Psych, Free Folk, Drone, Acid Folk, Space Rock, Noise Rock

Moods: Ritualistic, Forest, Mysterious, Nocturnal, Psychedelic, Haunting, Hypnotic, Eerie

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Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh – Overloaded Ark

Style: Progressive Folk, Acid Folk, Psychedelic Chamber Music

Moods: Mysterious, Exploratory, Medieval, Mystical, Ancient, Brooding, Forest, Haunting, Serpentine, Ritualistic, Cinematic

Musical Qualities: Complex, Dense, Acoustic, Progressive, Percussive, Noisy, Improvisation

Instrumentation: Cello, Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Organ, Sho, Banjo, Renaissance Harp, Rauschpfeife, Crumhorn, Cornamuse, Hurdy Gurdy, Electronics, Darbuka, Riq, Frame Drum, Percussion, Recorder, Piano, Vocal Harmonies

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Joshua Burkett – Gold Cosmos

featuring PG Six, Chris Corsano, Ben Chasny, Dredd Foole, Matt Moran, Matt Valentine, etc

Style: Loner Folk, Free Folk, Lo-Fi Psych

Moods: Introspective, Surreal, Shadowy, Nocturnal, Intimate, Haunting, Whispery, Eerie, Imaginative, Loner, Psychedelic

Musical Qualities: Suite, Home Recording, Lo-Fi, Raw, Droney, Electro-Acoustic, Atmospheric, Dissonant

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Jackie-O Motherfucker – Bloom

“I am not me” the chorus sings repeatedly, a spell to dissolve the ego and deconstruct the myth of American individualism, leaving fertile ground for a collective vision of abundance to bloom. The open-door band of multi-instrumentalists shakily weave through a suite of haunting drone seances, raggedly tender folk sing-a-longs, liberated group improvisations and triumphant post-rock discord. Once again Jackie-O Motherfucker continues their forward march to a beautiful anarchic world without losing touch with its roots in the weird American underground.

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Jack Rose – Raag Manifestos

Style: Free Folk, Appalachian Raga, Piedmont Blues

Feelings: Searching, Tangled, Spiritual, Sombre, Intense, Thorny, Introspective, Cathartic, Meditative, Nature, Ominous, Mysterious, Focused, Complex, Hallucinogenic, Forest, Epic, Visceral, Jagged

Musical Qualities: Raga, Acoustic, Polyphonic, Modal, Droney, Technical, Dissonance

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Seven Rivers of Fire – Way of the Pilgrim

“Way of the Pilgrim” unfolds as a 4-movement suite of dark acoustic summoning rituals, spiritually connected to a mystical lineage of wyrd-folk practitioners through the ages. That strangely familiar feeling of being lost in the woods, of venturing into the archetypal unknown, pervades the atmosphere right from the opening… [Click for full review]

Recommended if you dig Six Organs of Admittance, Fursaxa, Robbie Basho, Third Ear Band

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Širom – Uteko?injeni prestol preprostih (The Liquified Throne of Simplicity)

Style: “Imaginary Folk”, Ritual Folk, Psychedelic Minimalism

Moods: Mysterious, Ritualistic, Earthy, Tribal, Exploratory, Hypnotic, Mystical, Sombre, Surreal

Musical Qualities: Percussive, Microtonal, Polyphonic, Improvisation, Acoustic, Complex, Uncommon Time Signatures, Repetitive, Instrumental

Instrumentation: Guimbri, Banjo, Frame Drum, Viola, Hurdy Gurdy, Tampura, Balafon, Chimes, Lute, Lyre, Ribab, Mizmar

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Osjan – Roots

Style: Free Folk, Organic Music, Progressive Folk, Psychedelic Chamber Music

Moods: Ritualistic, Ancient, Flowing, Tribal, Earthy, Communal, Hypnotic, Intertwined, Medieval, Mysterious, Mystical, Nocturnal

Musical Qualities: Percussive, Collective Improvisation, ?Acoustic, Suite, Thematic, Progressive, Atmospheric, Repetitive

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500mg – Apocatastisis

Style: Hermetic Folk, Free Folk, Ritual Psych

Vibe: Ritualistic, Nocturnal, Hallucinogenic, Mysterious, Hazy, Hermetic, Hypnotic, Introspective

Musical Qualities: Droney, Acoustic, Atmospheric, Instrumental, Percussive

Instrumentation: Acoustic Guitar, Sitar, Tabla, Violin

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Jackie-O Motherfucker – Liberation

Style: Free Folk, Mystical Americana, Drone, Free Improvisation, Post-Rock

Vibe: Weary, Hopeful, Rustic, Communal, Spiritual, Ragged, Eerie, Melancholy, Deconstructed, Hypnotic, Communal, Haunting, Raw, Suspenseful, Intertwined

Musical Qualities: Collective Improvisation, Dynamic, Lo-Fi, Atmospheric, Droney, Group Vocals, Dub FX

Instrumentation: Electric Guitars, Vibraphone, Flute, Drums, Violin, Cello, Clarinet, Saxophone, Banjo, Melodica, Sitar, Electronics, Turntable, Keyboards, Trumpet, Electric Bass

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Jackie-O Motherfucker – Fig 5.

Style: Mystical Americana, Free Folk, Post-Rock, Drone

Vibe: Haunting, Meandering, Rootsy, Rustic, Nocturnal, Mysterious, Deconstructed, Ragged, Communal, Murky, Abstract, Lethargic, Hallucinogenic, Raw

Musical Qualities: Collective Improvisation, Instrumental (except B1,C1), Loose, Lo-fi, Dynamic, Droney, Noisy, Group Vocals (B1), Harmonies (B1, C1)

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Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh

On this self-titled collaboration, acid folk luminaries Helena Espvall (Espers) and Masaki Batoh (Ghost) create mysterious and earthy interpretations of traditional Medieval, Swedish, Japanese, and Finnish folk songs, plus a Son House cover, an original, and a handful of free improvisations.

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Between – And the Waters Opened

Style: Psychedelic Chamber Music, Kosmische Musik, Ritual-Folk, Global Fusion

Vibe: Spiritual, Meditative, Communal, Psychedelic, Earthy, Forest, Ritualistic, Tribal

Musical Qualities: Acoustic, Atmospheric, Chamber, Droney, Raga, Percussive, Chants

Instrumentation: Oboe, Keyboards, Conga, Acoustic Guitar, Bamboo Flute

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Third Ear Band – Alchemy

Style: Free Folk, Chamber Music, Progressive Folk

Vibe: Ritualistic, Hypnotic, Earthy, Tribal, Nature, Meditative, Medieval, Exploratory

Musical Attributes: Acoustic, Improvisation, Instrumental, Minimalistic

Instrumentation: Oboe, Violin, Viola, Recorder, Percussion (Tabla, Drums, Chimes), Cello

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