This article originally appeared in the December 2020 issue of Songlines. Across its 14 tracks, Pound evokes the music of all 27 EU countries, with an eclectic range of players to support him, including Maltese bagpiper Francesco Sultana and Croatian singer Dunja Bahtijarević. Facebook Twitter Flipboard uproxx.it. Folk music's offering is its monumental reflection of social consciousness. Official Folk Albums Chart - NOVEMBER 2020 08 December 2020 - Press release. See how well critics are rating the Best Music and Albums for 2020 – Jonathan Frahm. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); He's the Leader: An Interview with Aretha's "Main Man" Fonzi Thornton. Lenker has never been more intimate, nor human, in her performance before now. As such, Ondara provides a thought-provoking history of a devastating time. Fruit Bats' singer Eric D. Johnson, veteran instrumentalist Josh Kaufman, and singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell teamed up to explore ancient folk songs. Rather, he is unequivocally calling out those in power and their use of divisiveness to nurture prejudices and injustices. As such, Song For Our Daughter is a vivid recording created by an enthralling artist. Performing with a buoyant and unabashed hopefulness feels nearly uncalled for in the current era. The 50 Best Albums Of 2020 (Nos. Andrews is methodical in her delivery as she deconstructs her break-up to focus more on grief and loss. Chockablock with warm introspection of both the lyrical and musical kind, the whole affair is humbly canny. Heart Ease recenters folk's early legacy by revisiting tracks that have been a part of Collins' songbook for decades. Regardless of if he is performing as Mount Eerie or the Microphones, Elverum provides his audience with a snapshot of his existence, strengthened by mundane details and quotidian musings. More, "Blow by Blow" pays homage to Paul McCartney while "The End of the Affair" is a reference to Grahame Greene's novel. Song For Our Daughter is certainly a multilayered cultural artifact but without distracting from Marling's musicality. He summons the ghosts of those forgotten, those who have passed away, and those that will escape the pandemic with trauma. From the off, with Scottish witch Isobel Gowdie’s ‘Hare Spell’, through to the closing ‘When She Comes’, dark traditional songs combine with Hield’s originals to conjure a liminal, between-worlds magic. Often is it that her ethereal vocals are juxtaposed directly against earthbound lyricism that tells it straight. Stripping back the veneer, however, reveals a cautionary tale. We don't need to talk a lot about 2020 … <a href="https://krisdrever.bandcamp.com/album/where-the-world-is-thin-2">Where The World Is Thin by Kris Drever</a> After Shirley Collins' 38 year departure from the music scene, her return is celebrated. Burt's jangling, fine-drawn disposition recalls the Greenwich scene more candidly than many of his contemporaries, finding a temperament adjacent to the world-worn Van Ronk through his performance. As such, Boots No. Released just as lockdown began and featuring a crack band including Jack Rutter, Ben Nicholls, and Dave Mackay, Unearth Repeat lays down a whole new soundscape over which Sweeney’s fiddle is set free to soar and dive. One of the best, certainly the most emotionally powerful, albums I’ve heard for many years. The Arts Desk. Twitter. His lack of drippy romanticism lends credibility to the album's viscerality. View reviews, ratings, news & more regarding your favorite band. The 20 Best Folk Albums of 2020 11 minutes ago | By Pop Matters. Signed to Prine's label, Oh Boy Records, McKinley's album feels more like a character sketch of an individual desperate to discover any avenue leading towards success. <a href="https://pharisjasonromero.bandcamp.com/album/bet-on-love">Bet On Love by Pharis & Jason Romero</a> Laura Marling's Song For Our Daughter can be is easily conflated with a collection of vignettes. But Crutchfield's songwriting is realistic, never myopic. Sufjan Stevens: “Santa Barbara”. <a href="https://courtneymarieandrews.bandcamp.com/album/old-flowers">Old Flowers by Courtney Marie Andrews</a> While Sarah Jarosz's musical world continues to grow exponentially outward, World on the Ground finds the artist looking inward for answers. new releases; staff reviews; best new music; Best Indie Folk Albums of 2020 01 : The Microphones Microphones in 2020. She first heard "The Merry Golden Tree", for example, in Arkansas while conducting field research with Alan Lomax in 1959. -- Elisabeth Woronzoff. Collins keenly uses music to demonstrate a multitude of human emotions and rejects the portrayal of a singular standpoint. Clockwise from bottom left: BC Camplight, Fiona Apple, Jay Electronica, Carla Bley, KeiyaA. 0. The 50 Best Albums of 2020. His label, Oh Boy Records, had their ears perked when Burt first dropped Caught It from the Rye in 2018. Copied to clipboard. She's a grand innovator, interweaving sections of Appalachian ancestry with modern musical elements; clawhammer banjo and electric guitar tones share the same space on opening track "Polly on the Shore", Morgan's ethereal voice itself seeking a realm between realms through her centered delivery. While our time in the Union is almost up, this music travelogue shows that shared cultural roots bind us closer than politics can do. 1, 2, and 3 balances lightness and darkness, weaving joy into melancholy's fabric. 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