New Sounds

#4835, Dark, Doom, Drone Folk

Episode Summary

There’s dark doom- or drone- folk from the Balkans, Ireland, Estonia, and The North: Norway, Sweden, and Denmark from Montreal-based BIG|BRAVE, Ireland’s ØXN, and Danish artist Myrkur.  Hear “i felt a funeral” by Montreal-based trio BIG|BRAVE who offer a metal-adjacent take on Emily Dickinson poem, “i felt a funeral in my brain”. With its dark and ominous drones and distortion of the two electric guitars, the work has the mournful underpinnings of a folk song, and the weight and heft of a funeral doom-metal epic. Also, Irish band ØXN offers chilling drone-folk with smashes of doom from their record, Cyrm (pronounced sigh-rim and meaning a spell, usually cast by a woman at the expense of a man). Hear traditional songs in heavy drone arrangements by PJEV, a female a cappella vocal quintet from Zagreb, Croatia, together with Mercury-nominated artist Kit Downes on organ and New Zealand saxophonist Hayden Chisholm creating drones with shruti box and analogue synthesizer. Then, there’s music from an album of folk songs by Danish composer and vocalist MYRKUR (aka Amalie Bruun) [the word "myrkur" means "darkness" in Icelandic]. Also, listen to music by Swedish/Estonian folk band FRÄNDER who tap into the landscape of the deep forests of northern Sweden. Plus, work by Franco-Belgian band Lolomis in tribute to modern witches, from a record Boukane, which enters the path of cursed wood, one that is both frightening and attractive. And more. - Caryn Havlik Program #4835, Dark, Doom, Drone Folk (First aired 01/17/2024 ARTIST: ØXNWORK: Love Henry [1:31]RECORDING: CyrmSOURCE: Claddagh RecordsINFO: https://OXN.lnk.to/CYRMSO ARTIST: LankumWORK: Netta Perseus [4:45]RECORDING: False LankumSOURCE: Rough Trade RecordsINFO: https://lankum.ffm.to/falselankum ARTIST: ØXNWORK: Love Henry [5:26]RECORDING: CyrmSOURCE: Claddagh RecordsINFO: https://OXN.lnk.to/CYRMSO ARTIST: BIG|BRAVEWORK: I felt a funeral [6:03]RECORDING: A Chaos Of FlowersSOURCE: Thrill Jockey, due April 19, 2024INFO: https://thrilljockey.com/products/a-chaos-of-flowers ARTIST: WardrunaWORK: Helvegen [6:21]RECORDING: Live on Soundcheck, Feb 2018SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.INFO: The song appears on the album Runaljod - Yggdrasil | wardruna.com ARTIST: MyrkurWORK: Tor i Helheim [7:11]RECORDING: FolkesangeSOURCE: Relapse RecordsINFO: https://myrkur.bandcamp.com/album/folkesange ARTIST: FRÄNDERWORK: Svarta sparvens sorg (sorrows of the black sparrow) [4:33]RECORDING: IISOURCE: Nordic NotesINFO: https://nordicnotes.bandcamp.com/album/fr-nder-fr-nder-ii ARTIST: PJEV - Kit Downes - Hayden ChisholmWORK: Ova brda i puste doline (These hills and desolate valleys) [4:33]RECORDING: Medna RosoSOURCE: Red Hook RecordsINFO: https://redhookrecords.bandcamp.com/album/medna-roso ARTIST: LolomisWORK: Ezlani [3:40]RECORDING: BoukaneSOURCE: Buda MusiqueINFO: lolomis.net  

Episode Notes

There’s dark doom- or drone- folk from the Balkans, Ireland, Estonia, and The North: Norway, Sweden, and Denmark from Montreal-based BIG|BRAVE, Ireland’s ØXN, and Danish artist Myrkur. 

Hear “i felt a funeral” by Montreal-based trio BIG|BRAVE who offer a metal-adjacent take on Emily Dickinson poem, “i felt a funeral in my brain”. With its dark and ominous drones and distortion of the two electric guitars, the work has the mournful underpinnings of a folk song, and the weight and heft of a funeral doom-metal epic. Also, Irish band ØXN offers chilling drone-folk with smashes of doom from their record, Cyrm (pronounced sigh-rim and meaning a spell, usually cast by a woman at the expense of a man).

Hear traditional songs in heavy drone arrangements by PJEV, a female a cappella vocal quintet from Zagreb, Croatia, together with Mercury-nominated artist Kit Downes on organ and New Zealand saxophonist Hayden Chisholm creating drones with shruti box and analogue synthesizer. Then, there’s music from an album of folk songs by Danish composer and vocalist MYRKUR (aka Amalie Bruun) [the word "myrkur" means "darkness" in Icelandic]. Also, listen to music by Swedish/Estonian folk band FRÄNDER who tap into the landscape of the deep forests of northern Sweden. Plus, work by Franco-Belgian band Lolomis in tribute to modern witches, from a record Boukane, which enters the path of cursed wood, one that is both frightening and attractive. And more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4835, Dark, Doom, Drone Folk (First aired 01/17/2024

ARTIST: ØXNWORK: Love Henry [1:31]RECORDING: CyrmSOURCE: Claddagh RecordsINFO: https://OXN.lnk.to/CYRMSO

ARTIST: LankumWORK: Netta Perseus [4:45]RECORDING: False LankumSOURCE: Rough Trade RecordsINFO: https://lankum.ffm.to/falselankum

ARTIST: ØXNWORK: Love Henry [5:26]RECORDING: CyrmSOURCE: Claddagh RecordsINFO: https://OXN.lnk.to/CYRMSO

ARTIST: BIG|BRAVEWORK: I felt a funeral [6:03]RECORDING: A Chaos Of FlowersSOURCE: Thrill Jockey, due April 19, 2024INFO: https://thrilljockey.com/products/a-chaos-of-flowers

ARTIST: WardrunaWORK: Helvegen [6:21]RECORDING: Live on Soundcheck, Feb 2018SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.INFO: The song appears on the album Runaljod - Yggdrasil | wardruna.com

ARTIST: MyrkurWORK: Tor i Helheim [7:11]RECORDING: FolkesangeSOURCE: Relapse RecordsINFO: https://myrkur.bandcamp.com/album/folkesange

ARTIST: FRÄNDERWORK: Svarta sparvens sorg (sorrows of the black sparrow) [4:33]RECORDING: IISOURCE: Nordic NotesINFO: https://nordicnotes.bandcamp.com/album/fr-nder-fr-nder-ii

ARTIST: PJEV - Kit Downes - Hayden ChisholmWORK: Ova brda i puste doline (These hills and desolate valleys) [4:33]RECORDING: Medna RosoSOURCE: Red Hook RecordsINFO: https://redhookrecords.bandcamp.com/album/medna-roso

ARTIST: LolomisWORK: Ezlani [3:40]RECORDING: BoukaneSOURCE: Buda MusiqueINFO: lolomis.net