Milkweed / The Bloody Bones at Bishops' House (in association with Sensoria)

Milkweed's "Folklore 1979" takes its lyrics exclusively from an academic journal published by the Folklore Society and renders it into a piece of music that blurs the lines between what is found and what is created.

Across a beguiling 11 minutes, Milkweed unspool like a single disjointed dream narrative, taking in ritual, extinction, migration, esoteric cosmogony and Arthurian legend. This new collection also offers the duo's third such work in as many years.

In 2022 they released Myths and Legends of Wales, which saw them hit on a formula that has served them well ever since: a short album inspired by the discovery, manipulation and interpretation of a specific folkloric text. In this case it was a 1984 title by Tony Roberts.

The Mound People followed in 2023, this time inspired by a 1974 text on preserved bronze-age human remains by Danish archaeologist Peter Glob. The duo describe their sound as ‘Slacker Trad’ which is both true and somehow insufficient.

On the face of it, their musical concerns are transatlantic – they follow the rich creative line that runs between British traditional music and the songs and tunes of the eastern United States. In reality, their scope is global and rooted in deep time, with influences from prehistory bleeding into a troubled and troubling modern era. As a result, their music doesn’t sit easily anywhere, but ricochets between bewitching Appalachian folk music and disconcerting hauntological experimentation.

https://milkweedfolk.bandcamp.com/album/folklore-1979-2

The Bloody Bones is a new duo project featuring Jon Griffin (Sairie / Sweet Williams) and Rebecca Tann. They previously performed as Twenty One Crows, dark and often political storytelling. There is no further information but anything Jon is involved in, is touched with quality! Anyone who came to see Sairie in July will know this too.