Joanna NewsomEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

Our artists today represent a very specific category within the folk music genre, which lately has come to be known as “Freak Folk”: one is a contemporary singer-songwriter, and the other is an “ancestral” group (when you consider they derived from the early 1970s, before there was even a category for it); one hails from the U.K., the other from California. However, both The Incredible String Band and Joanna Newsom share an “off the grid” sense of musicality and exist in a space well beyond any pop music fashion - past, or present. JOANNA NEWSOM Who doesn’t like harp music? It’s the preferred instrument of the angels, after all, and Joanna Newsom is indeed one of those. Whimsical, profound, incandescent - all these adjectives apply to this nerdy goddess, who, I was delighted to learn, is also the life partner of the silly comedian, Andy Samberg (and, cousin to the Governor of California). These personal stats ground her in a concrete reality that detracts a bit from her mystery, but, at the same time enhances her approachability. Listening to The Sprout and the Bean is like being gifted a pass to the 100 acre wood to visit Pooh, or transported to an elven glade where everything - (animals, plants, earth, and water) is imbued with magic - where the pantheism between man and nature serenely collapses all sense of temporality…. Whoa…getting a bit woo woo here. Never mind all that. Just enjoy her otherworldly conjurings! THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND The Scottish duo of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron formed the nucleus of one of the strangest musical acts of the last century. It takes a moment to get past what initially seems like off-key meanderings to appreciate that there is a deep level of sophistication and prescience here, in terms of world music, that still sounds fresh and modern - over 50 years later. Props to Joe Boyd, the genius UK producer at Elektra records at the time, for discovering, recording, and introducing this band of medievally dressed musical magicians to the world. And, they would have made an even bigger splash (no pun intended), if the inclement weather at Woodstock hadn’t delayed their scheduled performing slot - (Melanie grabbed it) - which forced them to crowbar their gossamer stylings within the hardest of hard rock line ups the next day. As a result, their ethereal charms went unappreciated. Our featured cut, Waltz of the New Moon displays their unique vision and vocal technique perfectly.