Folk Music / Early Country Specific Music -

[Dr. Octogonapus]

I fucking love folk music, from all countries. Even the Jewish ones (that's a lie I don't know any Israeli music)

I'm not talking like Bob Dylan and shit, I mean like old Irish tunes and Mongolian Throat Music.

Sperg about old shit with me. Introduce me to the music of your shitty country.

 

[nagant 1895]

I love old Sea Shanties. My uncle used to sing them on his sail boat when I was a kid. Good songs about drinking and getting robbed by whores and dishonest beancounters. Honest songs about tying knots and and chillin with your bros. Moving songs about being on your own little island of humanity and why you're there.
In particular I like

and

and finally

a lot of shanties you can only find recordings of in Polish or German even though they started off as English or French just because for some reason people liked that kind of music more there I guess?

As for my ancestral lands, the musical scene there got pretty much put on hold by Islam. So there's a few coptic hymns left but not much else. Give it a listen i guess... maybe it will resonate with you?

 

[Dr. Octogonapus]

I love old Sea Shanties. My uncle used to sing them on his sail boat when I was a kid. Good songs about drinking and getting robbed by whores and dishonest beancounters. Honest songs about tying knots and and chillin with your bros. Moving songs about being on your own little island of humanity and why you're there.
In particular I like

and

and finally

a lot of shanties you can only find recordings of in Polish or German even though they started off as English or French just because for some reason people liked that kind of music more there I guess?

As for my ancestral lands, the musical scene there got pretty much put on hold by Islam. So there's a few coptic hymns left but not much else. Give it a listen i guess... maybe it will resonate with you?

I got excited when I saw The Clancy Bros and Tommy Makem! I actually have an album from them that my Grandma gave me, but it's all Irish music. I remember as a kid making my parents listen to it in the car radio, their comment was "Irish music is... Sad."

I love Sea Shanties as well! But I don't know them as well as I do Irish music. So thanks for sharing! The hymn is definitely interesting, I don't think I ever heard anything like it. That's music from Egypt, correct? I don't know much about the music of that part of the world. However, I do own a few "Music of Ancient Egypt" CDs. I don't know how accurate they are, but they're nice enough. The music is extremely simple, but it's good to relax to.

Back to Shanties, I was introduced to this album of them awhile ago, and while I haven't listened to it all, I absolutely adore this song:

If you like The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, this song is fucking amazing. It took me forever to find because I can only remember that it was played live and it was about a wedding, which didn't narrow things down much.

 

[Immortal Technique]

If were talking old old folk (1500s), this is one of my favorite covers of the song

This one is fairly popular, but I always liked it. It's like a history lesson masked by a good tune.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

Folks up!

Ben Prestage - Rosin the Beau

Ben Prestage - I Have Come For Your Soul

Abby the Spoon Lady


How's about something older.... much older.... Like Khan.

Baatyr - Mongolian Throat Singing

Huun Huur Tu - Chiraa Khoor

And let's not forget those sweet Slavic/Belarusian tunes.

DakhaBrakha

 

[Dr. Octogonapus]

If were talking old old folk (1500s), this is one of my favorite covers of the song

This one is fairly popular, but I always liked it. It's like a history lesson masked by a good tune.

I fucking love both of these songs so much, I used to collects covers of Greensleeves.

Edmund Fitzgerld is especially interesting, because I'm familiar with the tune in a slightly different version. The Irish song "Back Home in Derry" is sung to the tune of Edmund Fitzgerld.

This isn't the best example, but unfortunately the version I'm familiar with is by a local band that isn't online, and I have nowhere to post their version.

Folks up!

Ben Prestage - Rosin the Beau

Ben Prestage - I Have Come For Your Soul

Abby the Spoon Lady


How's about something older.... much older.... Like Khan.

Baatyr - Mongolian Throat Singing

Huun Huur Tu - Chiraa Khoor

And let's not forget those sweet Slavic/Belarusian tunes.

DakhaBrakha

I haven't listened to all of this yet, but I'm LOVING Ben Prestage's voice. He doesn't sound Irish at all, am I right in that he's American? I see it's from a Florida Folk Festival so I'm guessing so. I don't think I ever heard a folk country singer cover an Irish song, it's very interesting! I grew up on country so I really like this. Thank you for sharing!

I fucking love traditional Mongolian music, so amazing. I can always use more of it in my life.

This song wasn't anywhere online a few years ago, but thanks to that Youtube Topic shit it's now online.

I had a sped moment and thought you said Swedish music. When I clicked the link and saw them dressed as Slavs I was extremely lost. I don't think I've heard much traditional Slavic music, if any. What I'm familiar with I think is more mid century. Definitely doesn't sound like this, this is something else. Very unique!

 

[Positron]

The song "Fear A Bhata" is probably Scottish in origin, but has spread to the other parts of the British Isles. Here is a version from the Ratlin Island sung by Irishwoman Niamh Parsons:

The song comes from Parsons's album Blackbird and Thrushes, a treasury of traditional Irish songs.

I want to find Parsons singing "Kilnamartyra Exile" on youtube but failed. But this version, sung by Mai Hermon, is just as haunting:

Niamh Parsons also does a mesmerizing version "an Droimeann Donn Dilis" on the album Blackbird and Thrushes. I cannot find it on youtube, so here is another (very different) version:

 

[Judge Holden]

I'm not talking like Bob Dylan and shit, I mean like old Irish tunes and Mongolian Throat Music.

Ah, I see the algorithm took you to the same place it took me

 

[Dr. Octogonapus]

The song "Fear A Bhata" is probably Scottish in origin, but has spread to the other parts of the British Isles. Here is a version from the Ratlin Island sung by Irishwoman Niamh Parsons:

The song comes from Parsons's album Blackbird and Thrushes, a treasury of traditional Irish songs.

I want to find Parsons singing "Kilnamartyra Exile" on youtube but failed. But this version, sung by Mai Hermon, is just as haunting:

Niamh Parsons also does a mesmerizing version "an Droimeann Donn Dilis" on the album Blackbird and Thrushes. I cannot find it on youtube, so here is another (very different) version:

These are beautiful! I especially like Kilnamartya Exile.

Ah, I see the algorithm took you to the same place it took me

For sure, I heard it before but I had no fucking clue what it was. The last video I linked, "Durgen Chugga" was in a video of an obscure Youtuber I watched way back in like, 2010. It was of a dragonfly larvae I think. He was an entomologist I believe. He liked to use really obscure music in his videos. Then many years later, Youtube was like "here's a man standing on a mountain, wanna watch?" I'll see if I can find it.

I absolutely adore this song, I have no clue what he's playing though, but I love the sound of it. Definitely got me more into it!

Edit: grammar

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

I shit on the Turks a lot but they have some very interesting music, from a theoretical perspective. A lot of non-standard sounds via microtones.

 

[Positron]

Many form of folk music started their lives in the underbelly of society -- the Greek Rembetika and the Argentenian Tango, for example. The form of Cantonese narrative song called Nan Yin (南音, literally Southern voice) originated in the mid-19th century among the brothel boats in Southern China, where blind musicians and singers were hired for entertainment. Many of the songs are about the romantic relationships between courtesans and their clients, as in this song "Man Burning Funeral Offerings" (男燒衣), probably the most famous Nan Yin songs of all.

A courtesan hangs herself, and one of her love-lorn clients burns her offerings -- paper money, a paper house, a pair of paper-effigy children as her servants, various toiletries, and opium ("If you ever feel troubled, take a swig, for you have to manage for yourself in the Underworld"). He tearfully laments the mistake of not buying her freedom soon enough. But -- plot twist at the 9:58 mark of the video -- the madame who manages those brothel boats finds him, invites him on a boat, and promise him a beautiful girl with dainty features and well versed in poetry. Whether the man takes the offer is not mentioned.

The above performance is sung by Yuen Siu-Fai, veteran singer in Cantonese Opera and the best Nan Yin practitioner still alive today. But there is strong elitism among fans of Nan Yin -- if the singer is not blind, the saying goes, then he or she will not be able to get to the bitter heart of the art. If you want to impress the cognoscenti, tell them your favorite singer is Tou-Wun.

Tou-Wun's version of "Man Burning Funeral Offerings" differs in many details than Yuen's, which is not at all surprising consider that it is an oral tradition.

 

[Man vs persistent rat]

Sorry for sperg.

MacColl has done reams of recordings of this type if you like British ballads:

A folk revival guy who dabbled in folk rock, but still a fantastic voice for traditional music:

This channel of a multi-instrumentalist uploading his own recordings has a lot of classical short pieces interspaced by all sorts of old traditional/popular curiosities:

This is an evergreen collection of bawdy songs:

It's a concert arrangement, but it's very effective. You may recognise the tune from also being used by Vaughan Williams in his Norfolk Rhapsody No.1 if you are that way inclined:

If you can handle new (1950) compositions in a traditional style, Owen Hand is a fantastic vocalist:

This is classical crossover, but while I suggest closing your eyes for the video component (ugh), this is a fantastic de-romanticising/de-new ageing of Greensleeves, performed lustily rather than as a lament. The ensemble has produced several albums in this style, and while a bit concertised, this hits the spot.

A very strong vocal ensemble group:

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

I haven't listened to all of this yet, but I'm LOVING Ben Prestage's voice. He doesn't sound Irish at all, am I right in that he's American? I see it's from a Florida Folk Festival so I'm guessing so. I don't think I ever heard a folk country singer cover an Irish song, it's very interesting! I grew up on country so I really like this. Thank you for sharing!

His rendition of Rosin is what turned me on to old, old Irish traditionals, unadapted & unmodernised.

I first heard him busking in Memphis, then ran into him again at the FFF (which is totally worth the trip). One-man-bands have always impressed me and I used to be really into steel resonators, but those cigarbox guitars blew that shit out of the water. And it's like he's channeling the voice of someone from a long time ago, which is fucking eerie on things like "Come For Your Soul".

Here's his bona-fides.

I fucking love traditional Mongolian music, so amazing. I can always use more of it in my life.

My infant daughter chills the fuck out whenever I put this kind of thing on.

And accordians/concertinas.... or anything with that sort of binaural/multi-octave sound & tempo.

I had a sped moment and thought you said Swedish music. When I clicked the link and saw them dressed as Slavs I was extremely lost. I don't think I've heard much traditional Slavic music, if any. What I'm familiar with I think is more mid century. Definitely doesn't sound like this, this is something else. Very unique!

Yeah, DakhaBrakha is more of a modern fusion of Ukrainian & Belarusian.

But if you want Scandinavian, how about something Finnish?

 

[OfflineCyberBully]

Here's some tunes from Newfoundland. There's strong Celtic trad influences in NL folk music, particularly Irish.

Great Big Sea: Excursion Around the Bay

Well it was on this monday morning And the day be calm and fine A harbour grace excursion With the boys who had the time And just before the sailor Took the ...

youtu.be

The Old Polina

Provided to YouTube by CDBaby The Old Polina · `Chris Andrews · Mark Hiscock Songs of the Sea 2 ℗ 2011 Avondale Music Released on: 2011-06-07 Auto-generated ...

youtu.be

Sarah - Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers - Lyrics

I came upon a charming girl and Sarah is her name, Her parents want a husband with riches, wealth, and fame; I haven't no wealth, but riches and fame have ne...

youtu.be

 

[Friendly_AI]

I love folk songs, prepare for my sperging XD
Sometimes I wonder if what we listen to know is only in a distant semblance of what it was. And sometimes you can't help but think how many modern songs will survive the test of time and can mass culture become folklore in its own way.

Отава Ё (Otava Yo) has nice covers of traditional songs, however, I can't say they don't introduce modern elements and instruments at all.
For example, this music video details an old Russian wedding tradition as it survived to XIX-early XX century, but not in it's entirety (for the artistic purposes, probably) - and has modern motor on a boat at the end. Still, a nice song and a nice video:

Here's their modern take on an old Russian fighting song:

Western Slavic tradition is also nice, there are more modern takes, as here, in Rusin song from Carpathian Mountains by band Hrdza (Rusin are people of a very small Slavic ethnic group that lives in Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, and in Germany as well):

And some projects, like these Polish singers from Laboratorium Pesni, preserve more traditional elements in their covers:

They also do covers of Eastern and Southern Slavic songs. Here is the most popular song from a Southern Slavic tradition, covered by them:

And then, since Finnish music was mentioned earlier, there is this band, Värttinä:

People say their old albums were better, so keep that in mind if you want to listen to more of their songs.

And... since there were a lot of Finns in Karelia region, which is a part of Russia right now, there's this band doing old Karelian songs:

I found them a while ago, but only just found they did a cover of a song, preserved by Finnish-American immigrants to early USSR. Not exactly folk, but an interesting part of history, detailing how young and naive Communists came to build a bright new future... you all know how it ended. The song is cheerful, though - it's literally a propaganda piece, with a little bit of humorous description of hardships:

EDIT: To conclude, as this is Kiwi Farms, well-known for support of the nation of Israel, I would also like to mention Jewish band, singing songs in Yiddish. My favorite song by them is "Traktorist":

 

[nagant 1895]

I'll throw this out there for people looking. There's a youtube channel called threelegsoman https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJch3Y2Oumj528v2d9wrVPw
Just an old guy who can play a few instruments and sing decently but over the years he's done recordings of TONS of old folk songs with a few more recent covers mixed in.

 

[Positron]

In the music of Islamic world, the word muqam (or makam or various many different spellings) has a meaning that doesn't fall into neat Western categories. It means at once a musical scale, a melodic formula, rules of composition, and a suite. The Uighur people of Western China have twelve extant muqams. Each is based on a scale and consist of epic-narrative songs, instrumental interludes, lyrical songs, and dances. Each muqam takes one to two hours to perform. I had the chance to listen to the complete twelve, over a week, almost 20 years ago but I only bought ticket for one show.

 

[Dick Pooman]

Mega Bump, but I've been on a big folk music binge lately. Almost every great song I've listened to is right in that sweet spot for me where it's like 2-3 minutes long and short enough and so pleasant that it makes me want to listen to it again once or twice.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Grab some hooch.

 

[Rafal Gan Ganowicz]

La musique traditionelle de la nation du Quebec:

La Bottine souriante - La montagne du loup

Suivi du reel à Zellus. Y a ben du changement (1978) © Les productions Mille-pattes Par un dimanche au soir en m'en allant veiller (bis) Sur mon chemin renco...

www.youtube.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUqh7FJhYgQ&list=PLuDCBN4mO8mtMadOnNneR1TAvxXGg08xr&index=5