Folk Bands and Artists
Milkweed
London
https://www.instagram.com/mlkwd_
Milkweed describe themselves as ‘slacker-trad’, a term that hints at their lo-fi approach to recording music, but not to the evident creativity that has gone into making their new album, Myths and Legends of Wales.
No, it’s not traditional music, but it will no doubt appeal to those attracted to the pagan-esque, folkloric traditions of these islands. You can imagine them going down very well, for instance, at a Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk festival, or perhaps soundtracking one of the movies that Ben Edge makes. The duo and their album might have sat very snuggly into James Hadfield’s ‘weird folk’ article, had we known about it sooner.
Very little is given away about who Milkweed actually are. Until recently, their press photographs showed their faces obscured by cartoon creations. For this release, as you’ll see in the image above, one of them has dropped the mask. What we do know is that they live and record together on a green narrowboat, moored somewhere in the British Isles, and that they appear to like things done ‘in the moment’. Myths and Legends of Wales was recorded in a day, with nothing – not even passing trains – getting in their way. While ostensibly the music of a duo, the album is a collaboration with whatever found-sounds crept into their microphones. There’s reverence for these natural occurrences, too. At one point early on in ‘The Teachings of Rhys’, the duo pause to allow a train to pass through, unaccompanied, almost as though they’ve checked the timetable and it’s meant to be there.
The second release from the unknowable slacker-trad duo explores Welsh mythology and Arthurian legend in eight songs spanning 23 minutes. As much an exploration of in-the-moment artistic expression as it is a folkloric compendium, this will appeal to readers who found much to love in our recent ´Weird Folk´ article.
Genre: Alt Folk
