KLOF Mag Regular Digest & Mixtape
New Mixtape, Poor Creature & Bonnie Dobson interviews, new album reviews, recommendations and news. Fuubutsushi, Mike Polizze, Sir Richard Bishop, Darren Hayman, Jason Molina & more
Listen to our latest Mixtape featuring Poor Creature, Jeffrey Silverstein, Old Pup, Gabriel Adels, Wheatie Mattiasich, Brigid Mae Power, MJ Lenderman, Collage, Fuubutsushi, Chris Staples, Fletcher Tucker, Grace Stewart-Skinner, Samih Madhoun, Nicklas Sørensen, Sun June, and Mike Polizze.
Enjoy
Interviews
Poor Creature on their debut album
All Smiles Tonight (reviewed here - Out Today), the debut album from Irish trio Poor Creature, feels like a new high point in the constantly evolving experimental folk scene centred around Dublin. It’s an alchemical fusion of drone-folk and glitchy, ambient-leaning electronica, a joyously constructed exploration of grief and loss, and a thoroughly modern foray into ancient musical territory. Members Ruth Clinton (from Niamh & Ruth and Landless), Cormac MacDiarmada of Lankum, and John Dermody from The Jimmy Cake (and live drummer for Lankum) have been close to the centre of the Irish scene for a while now, so when KLOF got the chance to talk to MacDiarmada and Clinton about their new album, it was only natural that we should kick things off by asking them just why that scene is so fertile at the moment.
For MacDiarmada, it comes down to a combination of history and confidence: ‘I think it’s always been there to a certain degree, though I think at the moment there’s a collective confidence in general. A lot of these musicians are also just great traditional musicians and singers. They still go to sessions. It doesn’t in any way dilute the sacredness within it but kinda takes the essence and applies it to other forms. It absolutely enhances it. Also the lines are blurred as they should be because genres and what they entail within a popular culture context can sometimes be a bit reductive. It assumes understanding without curiosity.’
That blurring of lines is evident right across All Smiles Tonight: it’s an album that is satisfyingly tough to pin down. Part of this might be down to the way it was recorded, with the band being driven by the nature of the instruments they were using. This instrument-led approach seems novel, but for MacDiarmada it came naturally.
‘It’s not a new way for me. I love going into the studio and just seeing what happens. Messing about with whatever sounds and noises that build up in the conscious and subconscious. That’s not to say that there isn’t prep or planning involved. On two of the tracks there’s a small hand held extremely cute synth called Otomatone that we got a lend off our good friend Chris. It’s kinda got an 808/techno feel to it so we just used it as a dance backbeat. That might not have been used that way if it didn’t sound like that, if that makes sense. So it’s possible the sound dictated the mood, though I’ve been listening to electronica for a long time, a lot of Warp Records in my teens and twenties so the building blocks are there.’
We Chat to Bonnie Dobson
Mark Underwood chats with Bonnie Dobson about her new album with The Hanging Stars ‘Dreams’, and she recalls memories of poverty and living in an emergency housing project in Canada, Pete Seeger Summer Camp, McCarthy-era blacklisting, the Cuban Missile Crisis, touring with The McCalmans and Mike Harding…and even Ken Dodd—and her secret to longevity: singing and satsumas. He also has a quick catch-up with The Hanging Stars’ Richard Olson.
My background in Canada was really poor actually. I know what real poverty is like. After the war, because of my Dad’s politics – he was a union organiser – he was basically blacklisted, and we lived in an emergency housing project outside of Toronto, which was actually a converted army barracks. There were 41 buildings and nine families, a toilet for the men, a toilet for the women, cardboard walls, bedbugs, cockroaches – and I’ll tell you what saved me was that in Grade Six, we moved out of there when I turned 11 thankfully, and I had a teacher and he walked into the classroom one day with an album by The Weavers, and he played this record, and that had a huge influence on me going to these summer camps. And by the time I reached Grade Nine, my first year of high school, we had to write a letter of application, so I’d been told about this summer camp in Quebec by a friend of my sister’s, so I wrote a letter to the Director of the camp saying I was applying for a job as a Junior Counsellor, but I fibbed as you had to be 15 years old, and I was only 13. But I got the job. At the summer camp I attended in Quebec, Pete Seeger was playing. And because it was the McCarthy era, he also couldn’t work in the States because he’d been blacklised, so he came up to Canada to our gently lefty camps, and that’s how I really got into it.
As regular readers are aware, due to the length of our articles, we provide excerpts (except for select full-length features in our paid newsletter). To read in full, click on a title below, which will take you to the full article on KLOF Mag.
Reviews/Recommendations
Fuubutsushi – Columbia Deluxe
On Columbia Deluxe, Fuubutsushi sound simultaneously like a bunch of musicians who have never met and a group who have been playing together for an eternity. These tracks, in a live setting, have developed a life beyond the logistical constraints of their conception. Beautiful and increasingly complex, they have become a celebration of live performance and a reminder of how music still plays a vital role in human interaction.
Mike Polizze – Around Sound
It feels like Mike Polizze has unlocked some doors with ‘Around Sound’. There is a tone that unites the whole record: a celestial, dreamy mirage of sound that shifts with the elements from bright sunshine heat to breezy clouds casting darker shadows. Where he travels next may be as hard to predict as ever, but if the results are as fine as this, then we must follow him.
Grace Stewart-Skinner - Auchies Spikkin’ Auchie
Grace Stewart-Skinner’s “Auchies Spikkin’ Auchie” is a remarkable debut. Its greatest strength lies in her fusion of the personal and the historical, where family heirlooms, such as poems from a beloved grandfather, become the foundation for a wider community archive. It not only preserves the Avochie dialect for future generations but also celebrates the spirit, humour, and resilience of the community that shaped it.
Echoes of Resilience: Samih Madhoun’s “Oud Music from Gaza Volume 2”
The 18-year-old Palestinian oud virtuoso Samih Madhoun has released “Oud Music from Gaza Volume 2”, a profound testament to the enduring power of art in the face of unimaginable adversity. Recorded entirely in the Gaza Strip, throughout you can hear the everyday sounds of life, including ambulance sirens, rubble being moved and cleared, a reminder of the unchecked hell the Palestinians face.
Laurel Morgan / Richard Chamberlain: Ceremonial County Series Vol.XVI – Essex | Rutland
This month’s edition of the Ceremonial Counties tape series from Folklore Tapes features Essex and Rutland, two counties that share strong links to Britain’s Roman history. Laurel Morgan’s contribution, The Last Stand at Ambresbury, draws lines between the mythic Boudicca and modern ideas about landscape, ecology, feminism and rebellion, while guitarist and improviser Richard Chamberlain creates seven distinct pieces, each inspired by a different phase of Rutland’s history.
The World Is But a Place of Survival: Begena Songs from Ethiopia
The World Is But a Place of Survival: Begena Songs from Ethiopia is the latest compilation offering from the London-based record label Death Is Not The End, which delves into the deeply spiritual and rarely heard music of the begena, a large ten-stringed lyre intrinsic to the Amharic heritage of Ethiopia.
Past Moments: How Gia Margaret Found Her Voice by Losing It
When an illness stole her ability to sing, Chicago artist Gia Margaret turned to her synthesizer for comfort. The result was “Mia Gargaret,” her stunning 2020 ambient album. Weaving field recordings with immersive soundscapes, it’s a deeply personal document of self-healing and a powerful testament to the restorative nature of creating music.
Old Pup – Spider Towns
Throughout Spider Towns, Will Hansen (Old Pup) finds profundity in the everyday, shrugging off the ephemeral and delivering delicate, melancholic hooks. The album captures moments of quiet absurdity, heartfelt earnestness, and pastoral mystique, leaving listeners entangled in its beautifully crafted web.
Film: The Archivists: A short film by Igor Drljaca
The Archivists (2020) is a Canadian short film directed by Igor Drljaca that explores how artistic creation is the ultimate expression of our interconnectedness. Set in a dystopian future where past art is forbidden, the film follows three musicians who discover a secret room in an abandoned home containing vinyl records and a gramophone. Selecting one of the albums to play, they are inspired to perform one of the songs.
News/Tracks
Sir Richard Bishop announces new album, Hillbilly Ragas, and shares “They Shall Take Up Serpents”
Sir Richard Bishop has announced his new album, Hillbilly Ragas, set for release on September 26th via Drag City. Today, he shares the first single, the entrancing “They Shall Take Up Serpents,” accompanied by a new music video created by Bishop himself.
Watch: Darren Hayman and his Electric Guitars – It’s Gotten Quiet Round Here
Darren Hayman and His Electric Guitars have released a new single, “It’s Gotten Quiet Round Here,” accompanied by a uniquely crafted video. The track is the latest offering from the forthcoming album, Amazing Things, due out on August 22nd via WIAIWYA.
Run For Cover Records announce I Will Swim to You: A Tribute to Jason Molina
Run For Cover Records will release I Will Swim to You: A Tribute to Jason Molina on September 5th. The album honours the late songwriter with twelve covers from artists like MJ Lenderman, Sun June, Hand Habits, and Horse Jumper of Love. Listen now to Lenderman’s take on “Just Be Simple” and Sun June’s “Leave The City.”
Fletcher Tucker Channels 12th-Century Mysticism in New Single “To Light A Fire”
Inspired by the modal compositions of Hildegard von Bingen, the 12th-century German abbess, interdisciplinary artist Fletcher Tucker has shared “To Light A Fire,” the powerful second single from his forthcoming album, Kin. The track, a compelling fusion of animistic verse and hypnotic drones, features notable contributions from Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie) and Spencer Owen.
Requiem For The UK – Two Folk Songs: Mike Cooper’s Enduring Protest
Decades after their conception during Thatcher’s reign, Mike Cooper re-releases “Law And Order” and “Our Emotional Style.” A stark protest titled “Requiem For The UK”, the songs use “cut-up” lyrics from Pynchon novels and improvised guitar. Cooper states that despite years of political change, “nothing has changed,” giving these sonic poems a renewed poignancy.
Lucrecia Dalt unveils intense new Single & Video “caes (ft. Camille Mandoki)” from upcoming album
Colombian-born, US-based artist Lucrecia Dalt has released “caes,” the third single from her forthcoming album, A Danger to Ourselves. The track, a powerful collaboration with Mexican singer and sound artist Camille Mandoki, is a stark and intense exploration of raw human emotion. The accompanying video, filmed between Dalt’s new home in the Southwestern US and Mandoki’s base in Mexico City, visually interprets the song’s theme of surrender.
Swimming Bell Unveils Dream-Like Video for “95 At Night”
Los Angeles-based songwriter Swimming Bell, the musical project of Katie Schottland, has released a surreal new music video for “95 At Night,” a standout track from her latest EP, Somnia. Directed by Christopher Good, the video is a hypnotic visual journey that draws heavily on Maya Deren’s seminal 1943 experimental film, Meshes of the Afternoon.
Modern Nature share new single + video “Source” from upcoming album
Modern Nature returns with “Source,” a new single from their anticipated album The Heat Warps, out August 29th. The politically-charged track confronts the 2024 UK riots directed at asylum seekers, sparked by online misinformation. Frontman Jack Cooper notes that amidst the hate, he saw a desperation for community, which he turned into a strangely uplifting song.