Random Rules Playlist 032: A History of the Freak Folk Aesthetic
100+ years of freak folk, celebrated in a 12+ hour playlist
It’s 2024 and Freak Folk is still a thing! Joanna Newsom and CocoRosie are touring and playing festivals! Freak Folk-influenced newer artists like Joanna Sternberg, Adrianne Lenker, Jessica Pratt etc. are absolutely thriving. Boygenius name-dropped Grouper as a major influence on the red carpet! Seemed like the right time to take a broad look at the history of the genre and its general aesthetics in the form of an exhaustive playlist (we’ve only done this once before with our History of the Shoegaze Aesthetic playlist - these take a LONG time to assemble!) It’s important to note that not all of the artists included here would technically be considered “freak folk” artists (and some would probably be horrified or downright offended to be labeled as such) so keep in mind, we are really looking at any artists that have played a vital role in developing the sound of freak folk, as it pertains to the explosion of new artists that fell under the genre banner in the early aughts, particularly in places like Brooklyn, San Francisco and the UK.
The story really begins in 1952, when archivist, artist and experimental filmmaker Harry Smith compiled highlights from his collection of rare 78s of raw folk, blues and country recordings as the Anthology of American Folk Music on the Smithsonian Folkways label. These recordings, previously only really known by a small cult of record collectors, were a revelation to many young people interested in folk music but hungry for something beyond Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger.
This collection is the genesis of all things having to do with the eventual “Freak Folk” explosion that happened in the early aughts. The timing really makes a lot of sense: folk artists and soon-to-be hippies heard the original Anthology release (which was also reissued again a couple times in the 60s) and made their own folk music informed by those original 78s. The children of these artists and fans would then be around college age around the year 2000, and many were being exposed to the Anthology all over again in 1997 when it was released as a CD box set in 1997. And of course, these kids were also heavily influenced by the music made in the 60s and 70s by that first generation of Anthology fans.
I’m including eleven tracks in this section, most of which appeared on the original Anthology, but I would encourage you to listen to the whole collection (easily found via Spotify playlists or on YouTube, etc.)
PART ONE: THE ARCHITECT - HARRY SMITH (1920s & 30s)
Eddie Head and Family - “Down On Me”
William & Versey Smith - “When That Great Ship Went Down”
The Carter Family - “Worried Man Blues”
Clarence Ashley - “The House Carpenter”
Buell Kazee - “The Butcher’s Boy”
Carolina Tar Heels - “Peg and Awl”
Roscoe Holcomb - “Moonshiner”
Charlie Poole - “White House Blues”
Dock Boggs - “Sugar Baby”
Charley Patton - “Fixin’ To Die Blues”
Bukka White - “Parchman Farm Blues”
PART TWO: THE SAINTS (1960s & 70s)
You’ll notice here that some new ideas are introduced that go beyond the Anthology. For example, several of these artists make (mostly) instrumental acoustic music, like John Fahey and Robbie Basho. I’ve also included some artists here that may seem unexpected (like Faust, Mayo Thompson, The Beach Boys or The United States of America) but these were all artists whose footprint would become exceedingly apparent in the work of many later artists I’ve included in later sections of the playlist. The artists from this section that really loom the largest in the world of freak folk are Vashti Bunyan, Karen Dalton, Linda Perhacs, Judee Sill, John Fahey, Bert Jansch and probably Michael Hurley.
John Fahey - “Requiem For John Hurt”
Robbie Basho - “Venus In Cancer”
Michael Hurley - “You Get Down By The Pool Hall Clickety Clack”
Connie Converse - “Talkin’ Like You (Two Tall Mountains)”
John Fahey - “My Station Will Be Changed After While”
Michael Hurley - “The Tea Song”
Donovan - “To Try For The Sun”
Sibylle Baier - “Tonight”
Bert Jansch - “Jack Orion”
Michael Hurley - “New Tea”
Vashti Bunyan - “Diamond Day”
Linda Perhacs - “Hey, Who Really Cares”
Bert Jansch - “Angie”
Jackson C. Frank - “Blues Run The Game”
Judee Sill - “Crayon Angels”
Karen Dalton - “Something On Your Mind”
The Godz - “May You Never Be Alone”
Vashti Bunyan - “I’d Like To Walk Around In Your Mind”
Bert Jansch - “A Man I’d Rather Be”
Judee Sill - “Jesus Was A Cross Maker”
Karen Dalton - “Are You Leaving For The Country”
Donovan - “Peregrine”
Bert Jansch - “Rambling’s Gonna Be The Death of Me”
Jackson C. Frank - “Tumble In The Wind”
T. Rex - “The Pilgrim’s Tale”
The Incredible String Band - “Chinese White”
Heron - “Yellow Roses”
Fred Neil - “Everybody’s Talkin’”
Alexander “Skip” Spence - “All Come To Meet Her”
T. Rex - “Cat Black (The Wizard’s Hat)”
F.J. McMahon - “Early Blue”
Bill Fay - “Garden Song (demo)”
Donovan - “The Entertaining Of A Shy Girl”
Townes Van Zandt - “Lungs”
The Holy Modal Rounders - “Mr. Spaceman”
Syd Barrett - “Golden Hair”
Nico - “Afraid”
Robbie Basho - “Seal Of The Blue Lotus”
Phil Ochs - “Cross My Heart”
Norma Tanega - “Waves”
T. Rex - “Eastern Spell”
Tom Rapp - “The Jeweler”
Mayo Thompson - “Dear Betty Baby”
The Beach Boys - “Little Pad”
The Incredible String Band - “Job’s Tears”
Bert Jansch - “Courting Blues”
Kevin Ayers - “May I?”
Margo Guryan - “Take A Picture”
Pip Proud - “She Says To Me”
The United States of America - “Cloud Song”
Anne Briggs - “Go Your Way”
Nick Drake - “At The Chime of a City Clock”
Norma Tanega - “Illusion”
Tim Hardin - “Black Sheep Boy”
Karen Dalton - “Don’t Make Promises”
Pearls Before Swine - “Another Time”
Bridget St. John - “City-Crazy”
Robert Lester Folsom - “See You Later, I’m Gone”
Sandy Denny - “Late November”
Jim Woehrle & Michael Yonkers - “Story Book Kind of Madness”
Faust - “Jennifer”
Beverly Glenn-Copeland - “Ghost House”
Fairport Convention - “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?”
The Incredible String Band - “Koeeoaddi There”
Bobb Trimble - “Premonitions - The Fantasy”
Slapp Happy - “Casablanca Moon”
Fred Neil - “The Dolphins”
The Trees Community - “Psalm 45”
Fairport Convention - “The Deserter”
Richard & Linda Thompson - “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight”
PART THREE: THE TORCH BEARERS OF THE 1980s
Beginning in the mid 1970s and continuing into the 1980s, folk music in general lost its momentum with the advent of exciting new genres like punk, disco, new wave and hip-hop entering the conversation. As a result, this section is the smallest part of this playlist, although there are some very important artists represented here, like Woo who were a huge influence on Animal Collective, and Kath Bloom (as well as her collaborations with Loren Mazzacane Connors) which is kind of like what you might imagine a collab between Karen Dalton and John Fahey might have sounded like. I should also point out that these tracks by Arthur Russell (having been recorded in the 80s) were not even properly released in the 80s, but Russell left behind such a rich archive of music across several different genres that he continues to inspire kids to pick up a cello and a 4-track even today, decades after his passing, as more and more of his archives are released.
Arthur Russell - “Soon-To-Be Innocent Fun / Let’s See”
Woo - “The Attic”
The Bevis Frond - “Song From Room 13”
Kath Bloom & Loren Mazzacane Connors - “Tall Grass”
Woo - “The Western”
Roky Erickson - “The Times I’ve Had”
Arthur Russell - “Maybe She”
Kath Bloom - “Can’t Rise To Your Feet”
PART FOUR: THE DRAG CITY / TERRASCOPE ERA (1990s)
In the 90s the Chicago indie label Drag City pretty much took it upon themselves to keep the weird folk vibe going, with artists like Will Oldham (Palace / Bonnie “Prince” Billy) Smog / Bill Callahan, Edith Frost, Appendix Out, Cynthia Dall, etc. Let’s just say there’s a reason that freak folk’s biggest star (we’ll get to her later) wanted to sign to Drag City in the following decade and never even thought twice about any other label). The 90s folk / psych community was also based heavily around the UK fanzine Ptolematic Terrascope and their travelling festival, Terrastock. The scene was also documented heavily in The Wire Magazine and places like Forced Exposure and Pop Watch zine.
Edith Frost - “Temporary Loan”
Sun City Girls - “Cruel And Thin”
Alastair Galbraith - “As In A Blender”
Simon Joyner - “I Wrote A Song About The Oceans”
Idyll Swords - “Strawberry Airwaves”
Hall of Fame - “Little Horsey Rider”
Gastr Del Sol - “Easy Company”
P.G. Six - “When I Was A Young Man”
Smog - “Somewhere In The Night”
Amps For Christ - “Still Dreaming”
Palace Brothers - “Playthings”
Freakwater - “My Old Drunk Friend”
Alvarius B. - “Blood Baby”
R. Stevie Moore - “If You See Kay / Bleu Space”
Appendix Out - “Brazil”
Charalambides - “Songs For Always”
Jackie O-Motherfucker - “The Louder Roared The Sea”
Cynthia Dall - “Holland”
Palace Brothers - “O Lord Are You In Need?”
Orso - “3 Chimneys All Different”
Tower Recordings - “Winter of Frozen Mornings”
Sun City Girls - “The Shining Path”
Bill Fox - “Appalachian Death Sigh”
Palace Brothers - “I Send My Love To You”
Califone - “Fisherman’s Wife”
Beck - “He’s A Mighty Good Leader”
PART FIVE: THE FREAK FOLK EXPLOSION (2000s)
For an extensive look at the origins of the term “Freak Folk,” I highly recommend this Stereogum piece which offers a very accurate history of the origins of the term / genre, which really landed on most people’s radar around 2002 with the release of Devendra Banhart’s album Oh Me Oh My… I was living in NYC at this time, and if you were part of the music scene at all, you quickly became aware of Banhart, who was being championed by his label boss at Young God Records, M. Gira of Swans. He was landing as the opener on all the best shows, playing in-stores, loft parties and DIY spaces. Another artist people were talking about a lot in 2002 (who didn’t release her first proper LP until 2004) was Joanna Newsom, arguably the biggest star to emerge from the freak folk movement. Her music is not available on Spotify, so I’m going to just include her two most essential albums right here:
2004 was really a banner year for the freak folk genre / movement (sometimes referred to as New Weird America) with the release of Joanna Newsom’s debut, Vetiver’s debut, Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs and Devendra’s curated compilation Golden Apples of The Sun which came with an issue of Arthur Magazine. It’s important to emphasize the importance of Arthur Mag, which would become essentially the bible of New Weird America, Arthur also presented some of the best festivals of the era in Los Angeles and elsewhere. Golden Apples was absolutely genre-defining, so much that I’ve included almost the entire collection on this playlist.
One phenomenon I wanted to point out is the group of artists who had a “freak folk phase” early on but morphed into something completely different later in their careers, but are worth mentioning / including here. Prime examples of this would be Sharon Van Etten, Animal Collective / Panda Bear, Jana Hunter (who would later form Lower Dens), Amen Dunes and Sufjan Stevens.
Devendra Banhart - “Rejoicing In The Hands”
Diane Cluck - “Heat From Every Corner”
The Entrance Band - “You Must Turn”
Viking Moses - “Crosses”
Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice - “Dread Effigy”
Devendra Banhart - “Happy Happy oh”
Jack Rose - “White Mule”
Jana Hunter - “Farm, Ca.”
Vetiver - “Angels’ Share”
Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice - “I Am The One I Am & He Is The Caretaker of My Heart”
White Magic - “Don’t Need”
Scout Niblett - “Wet Road”
Six Organs of Admittance - “Words For Two”
Espers - “Byss & Abyss”
Josephine Foster - “Little Life”
The Cairo Gang - “Ocean In His Eyes”
Sunburned Hand Of The Man - “1”
Wooden Wand - “Perch Modifier”
Little Wings - “Look At What The Light Did Now”
Devendra Banhart - “Roots…”
Six Organs of Admittance - “The Mission”
CocoRosie - “Good Friday”
Akron/Family - “Suchness”
Feathers - “Old Black Hat With A Dandelion Flower”
Anohni and The Johnsons - “The Lake”
Mount Eerie - “Wooly Mammoth’s Absence”
Spires That In The Sunset Rise - “Beasts In The Garden”
Ed Askew - “Deep Water”
Steven R. Smith - “In Held Ambit”
Little Wings - “Fall Flood”
Faun Fables - “Light Of A Vaster Dark”
Bowerbirds - “Dark Horse”
Six Organs of Admittance - “Hollow Light, Severed Sun”
Marissa Nadler - “Stallions”
Devendra Banhardt - “Pumpkin Seeds”
Meg Baird - “Will You Follow Me Home?”
MV & EE - “The Burden”
White Magic - “Keeping The Wolves From A Finger”
CocoRosie - “Beautiful Boyz”
Rio En Media - “I See The Star”
Woods - “The Number”
The Skygreen Leopards - “Disciples of California”
Spectre Folk - “The Blackest Medicine”
Panda Bear - “Untitled 1”
Iron & Wine - “Lion’s Mane”
Brightblack Morning Light - “Star Blanket River Child”
Josephine Foster - “All The Leaves Are Gone”
Vetiver - “Farther On”
James Blackshaw - “Spiralling Skeleton Memorial”
Fleet Foxes - “Drops In The River”
James Yorkston and the Athletes - “St. Patrick”
Currituck County - “Antichrist”
Animal Collective - “Doggy”
The Skygreen Leopards - “Hill-Dwelling Bride”
David Thomas Broughton - “Ambiguity”
Alasdair Roberts - “Lord Gregory”
Iron & Wine - “Peng! 33”
Grouper - “Heavy Water / I’d Rather Be Sleeping”
Bird Names - “New Mexico”
Faun Fables - “Begin”
Animal Collective - “Winters Love”
Devendra Banhart - “…This Is The Way”
Hush Arbors - “Bones Of A Thousand Suns”
Alexander Tucker - “Veins To The Sky”
Greg Weeks - “Unsettled (By The Sun)”
Samara Lubelski & Hamish Kilgour - “The Ladybird and The Golden Boy”
Sufjan Stevens - “In The Devil’s Territory”
Diane Cluck - “Just As I Should Be”
Herman Dune - “What Good Would It Do?”
Basia Bulat - “Little Waltz”
Micah Blue Smaldone - “Tell It To The Sun”
MV & EE - “Workingman’s Smile”
Kathy Heideman - “Bob”
Loose Fur - “Elegant Tansaction”
Amen Dunes - “Murder Dull Mind”
Larkin Grimm - “For The Love I’m In”
Jana Hunter - “Palms”
Death Vessel - “Mean Streak”
O Paon - “La Cible”
Micah P. Hinson - “Diggin A Grave”
Sharon Van Etten - “I Fold”
Megafaun - “The Longest Day”
Devendra Banhart - “Quedate Luna”
Rodrigo Amarante - “Mon Nom”
Quilt - “Young Gold”
Happy Jawbone Family Band - “Fireflies Made Out of Dust”
PART SIX: PRESENT DAY (THE LAST TEN YEARS, GIVE OR TAKE)
Julien Baker - “Blacktop”
Weyes Blood - “Bound To Earth”
Skullcrusher - “Pass Through Me”
Aldous Harding - “Two Bitten Hearts”
Itasca - “Buddy”
Jessica Pratt - “Night Faces”
William Tyler - “The Inlaw Josie Wales”
Rose City Band - “Rip City”
Adrianne Lenker - “Hours Were The Birds”
Ryley Walker - “The Roundabout”
Joanna Sternberg - “This Is Not Who I Want To Be”
DRINKS - “Blue From The Dark”
This is phenomenal. I can't wait to dig in. There's quite a bit i'm unfamiliar with. I really appreciate the inclusion of Bobb Trimble.
I'm currently listening to Chris Knox, and can't help but think he fits somewhere in there. I imagine Exuma and Robert Wyatt may deserve a spot amongst the saints
This is a great list. Look forward to working through the ones I'm not familiar with and revisiting some old favourites.