Nickie’s Niches #20: September 2023

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1. 

   I See A World

   by Peatbog Faeries

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   favorite track

   Ortigueira

   Beckoning to the world from Skye, this high-energy Celtic music blended with electronica, and sometimes verging on fusion, is just infectious, in the best way possible. Electric and acoustic guitars, pipes, whistles, fiddles, saxes, keyboards, bass, plenty of percussion, and feminine effected vocals evoke the Fae of the band’s name.

   1. 

      My Father the Sea & Other Fables

      by Minstrels For Sleepless

      favorite track

      My Father the Sea- Part 1

      This Dorset collective is led by Nick Palmer, a multi-instrumentalist composer, who draws heavily on the psych-folk genre. The music feels very organic, including various hushed and airy female vocalists, rich piano, guitar, accordion, clarinet, harmonium, zither, banjo, recorders, lapsteel, cello and various percussive elements. Contemplative and phantasmagoric.

      1. 

         Arc of Day

         by Danny Paul Grody

         favorite track

         California Angelica

         These are very cerebral peregrinations featuring this fine acoustic and electric guitarist. The themes are pastoral, and evoke the beauties of the Northern California coast. The music is minimalist and hypnotic, with delicate percussion, bass, clarinets, and pedal steel for ornamentation to the central meditation of the guitar at it’s core.

         1. 

            Collected Tracks 3

            by The Owl Service

            favorite track

            Turpin Hero (alternative version – Diana Collier vocal)

            Steve Collins gathers various musicians around him to bring some lovely English-styled acid/psych folk to light. Thoroughly drenched in lysergia, as well as bardic tradition, it is comprised of male and female vocalists, viola, violin, recorder, accordion, and acoustic and electric guitars. It evokes simpler times, as the stories of old unfold, by those who carry this tradition forward, while honouring the past.

            1. 

               Tomo

               by Peter Hobbs

               favorite track

               Te Ua Mokemoke

               This music was composed by New Zealander Peter Hobbs to accompany a dance piece The music is ambient in nature, and reflects both nature itself and the spirit world. It’s comprised of modular synths, drums, trumpet, putorino, ocarina, and cello, and utilizes field recordings as well. It lures one into an enticingly surreal world that is hard to shake once the music is concluded.

               1. 

                  Not All Who Dream Are Asleep

                  by LYRRE

                  favorite track

                  Forgive and Forget

                  The hurdy-gurdy always makes a fine accompanying instrument to electric instruments, and this is no exception. Here, hurdy-gurdyist and vocalist Michaelina is the primary focal point, and the band aptly supports her to create a neo-Medieval metal folk symbiosis. I love the title track, but going with Forgive & Forget as more representational of the entire recording

                  1. 

                     Rota Fortunae I (EP)

                     by Kate Arnold

                     favorite track

                     The Wind and I Must Sing

                     Kate began as a classically trained violinist and vocalist, and picked up the hammered dulcimer along the way, and once fronted the “punk baroque” band, Fear of the Forest. She utilizes looping and electronic effects to create an electro-medieval sound. This is the first of two related EPs that reflect her sophisticated eclecticism.

                     1. 

                        Birth of Violence

                        by CHELSEA WOLFE

                        favorite track

                        Little Grave

                        Singer/songwriter from Los Angeles, Chelsea Wolfe’s plaintive voice is the centerpiece of all of these chillingly bleak tunes. Watery, sliding orchestration suits the misty and dark environment that she evokes throughout. Unflinchingly stark, the recording suitably ends with a storm.

                        1. 

                           En Autremonde – Chapitre Second

                           by Wegferend

                           favorite track

                           Gedim

                           Transcendent acoustic dark folk from France. Simply composed of guitars, recorders, tin whistle, light percussion, and ethereal vocals, this is the second of two releases with an Autumn theme, the first having been released in 2019. With obvious pagan roots, this is haunting, with a sense of tragic loss. Referencing ancient religions as well as Christianity, this is a lament of the gradual disappearing of the Old Ways.