Lately, it seems like everywhere an indie kid goes, they can find a freak-folk record. The music which was once associated with jugs, long beards, and county fair performances to which a misguided parent dragged you, has suddenly become strangely hip. Yet this growing interest in the freakier side of folk music rarely extends to the straight Americana and world-based folk from whence it came. Hopefully, the latest release from Tompkins Square, Imaginational Anthem, Vol. 2, will help shake off some more of the dust from the history of folk.
Imaginational Anthem is a series of compilations showcasing some of the best voices in modern folk today, as well as bringing older folk musicians who may have been overlooked back into the public eye. Yet the compilers of this second volume have accomplished a rare feat and made the disc appealing to older folkies as well. By including rare cuts from the older generation of obscure folk artists, this compilation also helps to bring more recent musicians to an older eye. Smart marketing was definitely employed when they included the heralded first-released live recording of Robbie Basho's "Kowaka D'Amour," as well as a home-recorded release of Fred Gerlach's "Devil's Brew."
Most of the tracks are lovely - almost to the point of absurdity. James Blackshaw's "River of Heaven" is tremendously evocative, yet at the same time overwhelming. To quibble, one could subjectively say that "River of Heaven" should be overwhelming, yet at the same time the song is of such a force as to leave a listener slightly exhausted after five minutes. And while the following track, "Future Shot at the Rainbow" by Peter Lang, begins to give the listener a moment to catch their breath, it ends up getting wrecked with an overwhelming sense of tedium. "Future Shot at the Rainbow" is a lovely song, but half-way through it also seems to become a test for the listener. The composition becomes more like background music and less of a showcase of the music we're all missing.
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