Jeff Parker’s Music Is a Shared Consciousness on ‘Forfolks’
Chicago jazz/post-rock guitarist Jeff Parker channels ancestry and our sense of communion on the expansive Forfolks.
experimental folk
Claire Cronin’s ‘Bloodless’ Is Pure Catharsis
Claire Cronin’s music plays like the ghostly sounds someone lost in the woods in winter, hungry, beyond tired, and bordering on frostbite might make.
Wendy Eisenberg’s Approach is Bold, Bright, and Direct on ‘Bent Ring’
Innovative guitarist Wendy Eisenberg’s new album Bent Ring is sparse with its instrumentation but bold and unique in its execution.
Satomimagae’s ‘Hanazono’ Is Full of Organic, Melancholy Folk
Like nature itself, Satomimagae’s Hanazono is by turns stormy and serene indie folk, as meditative as it is simmering with dormant, primal power.
Adeline Hotel’s ‘Good Timing’ Is Therapeutic, Revelatory, and Uniquely Beautiful
Dan Knishkowy's alt-folk collective Adeline Hotel is whittled down to a party of one, with improvised acoustic guitar taking center stage on Good Timing.
Joshua Chuquimia Crampton’s ‘4’ Is Powerful Landscape Music
Listening to Joshua Chuquimia Crampton is like watching a guitarist perform with a thought bubble over their head. 4 is landscape music, but in a way that draws power from the land rather than just evoking it.
A Krautrock Maestro and Folk Singer Team up for a Masterpiece
Krautrock’s Detlef Weinrich and folk’s Emmanuelle Parrenin team up for Jours de Grave, and it’s damn near perfect. It feels too organic and alive to be called “avant-garde”, even though it is.
Jenny Hval’s ‘Girls Against God’ Is Pure Audacity
With Girls Against God, avant-garde musician Jenny Hval gives us a semi-autobiographical text that, like the metalhead teen she describes, won't abide by any rules.
Sally Anne Morgan Invites Us Into a Metaphorical Safe Space on ‘Thread’
With Thread, Sally Anne Morgan shows that traditional folk music is not to be smothered in revivalist praise. It's simply there as a seed with which to plant new gardens.
Eli Winter Comes Into His Own With ‘Unbecoming’
Experimental folk guitarist Eli Winter finds new directions to explore on Unbecoming, including expanding into ensemble work.
Mare Berger Waxes Beautifully on the Undeniable Connection of Everyone and Everything
Mare Berger's The Moon Is Always Full is a bold song cycle with classical underpinnings as well as an approachable, chamber pop sensibility.
Clara Engel’s ‘Hatching Under the Stars’ Is the Perfect Accompaniment to Isolation
Dream-folk's Clara Engel sets the stage with an opener on Hatching Under the Stars that's a masterclass in minimalist expansion.