Folk is an underserved genre on the Sputnik Music website. So I decided that since most of us currently have some down time <cough, cough>, I'd host a folk contest on the site, modeled on my friend Friday13th's annual prog rock contest.
I threw it out there and invited 15 other Users to submit albums by folk artists that had received 25 or fewer ratings on the Sputnik site. We got our 16 entries overall, and I put the numbers 1-16 through a randomizer, and we started with our first first-round matchup last Friday.
Here are the entries:
1. Eliza Gilkyson - Secularia (2018) - americana spiritual folk
2. Harrod and Funck - Live (1998) - pop folk
3. Augie March - Sunset Studies (2000) - chamber/indie folk
4. Jared Hart - Past Lives & Pass Lines (2015) - gruff folk
5. Pepper Proud - Water (2014) - new age spiritual folk
6. Clara Engel - The Bethlehem Tapes (2010) - bluesy folk
7. Laura Gibson - Goners (2018) - americana indie folk
8. Strand of Oaks - Leave Ruin (2009) country/americana folk
9. Matt Elliott - Farewell to All We Know (2020) - experimental/post rock folk
10. Borg - Woodland (2020) - medieval/renaissance folk
11. Gordon Bok - A Tune for November (1969) - New England sea shanty folk
12. Clem Snide - Forever Just Beyond (2020) - indie pop/alternative folk
13. Fire on Fire - The Orchard (2008) - apocalyptic folk
14. The Trees Community - Christ Tree (1975) - psychedelic "freak" folk
15. Ksiezyc - Ksiezyc (1996) - experimental ambient folk
16. Amigo the Devil - Everything Is Fine (2018) - murderfolk with a bluegrass twinge
So while we have a range of imaginative styles, all but three of the entries were recorded prior to 2000 (although the Borg album is a collection of traditional Swedish songs from the Renaissance period). My entry was the Eliza Gilkyson LP, which I reviewed on this blog a year or so ago. I've never heard any of the entries prior to the start of the tournament.
Round 1 has begun, and I'll be back soon to tell you about the first two contestants.
