The Folklore Tapes Ceremonial Counties series continues apace. We are now a quarter of the way through the proposed twenty-four releases, and the quality and range on offer shows no sign of abating. Hot on the heels of Vol. V, which featured contributions from Pefkin and Dean McPhee (reviewed here), the sixth instalment covers Cornwall and South Yorkshire and passes the creative reins over to experimental-leaning guitarist David A Jaycock and Sheffield-based avant-psych drone merchants Slug Milk.
The two sides here present two very different faces of experimental folk music. Jaycock gives us Arthur Gernow, a beautiful mini-suite full of melodic nuance and tonal control. Thematically, it explores the links between Cornwall and the life of King Arthur. It is split into seven distinct parts, each of which reacts to a different part of Arthur’s myth. The mood at times is strange, dark and otherworldly, like on the opening section, which deals with the frankly creepy sexual shenanigans surrounding Arthur’s conception. But Jaycock is a dab hand when it comes to balance and juxtaposition. For every uncanny, twitchy soundscape, there is a pretty acoustic aside or a delicate dance. The second section, for example, is a short but fleet-fingered passage that bears comparison to some of John Renbourn‘s solo work.
Elsewhere, there are courtly processional pieces, otherworldly dream fragments, swathes of exploratory electric guitar, and creaking background dissonance. Jaycock crams an impressive array of styles and techniques into fifteen minutes; it all flows together admirably and allows the human aspect of the Arthurian myth to come to the surface.
In contrast to Jaycock’s method of examining a theme kaleidoscopically, Slug Milk’s fifteen minutes is given over to a single drone-based piece. Ever-growing, ever-changing, consistently weird, it is inspired by the story of a nineteenth-century resurrection scandal at Wardsend Cemetery near Hillsborough. The collective conjure up an eldritch brew of howling strings, droning hurdy-gurdy and primordial percussion. The story – which appeared in the national press in 1862 – concerns the nefarious actions of a sexton, who sold body parts for personal gain and whose dwelling was later destroyed when angry parishioners set fire to it. Slug Milk manage to convey the strange violence of these events with tense build-up of atmosphere, which becomes a fiery, fraught cascade of sound. They repurpose the tropes of wyrd folk into a long-form piece with a discernible narrative arc.
Not much is known about the history of Slug Milk, except that they’ve contributed tracks to two Hatch label samplers, including the utterly wonderfully titled Bogroll Snuffkin. Their lineup seems to depend upon circumstance, and they perform in capes or ritualistic headdresses. This kind of mystery is sorely missing from most music – perhaps from human existence in general – in times of increasing technological connection and constant availability. But groups like Slug Milk and projects like the Ceremonial Counties series are doing their bit to add a much-needed aura of enigma to the folk scene. Fortunately, there are still eighteen more Ceremonial Counties tapes to go, so there is plenty more scope for the weird and the wonderful to flourish.
Note on the Series: Each tape can be collected individually each month or as one entire subscription and they are available via Folklore Tapes direct at www.folkloretapes.co.uk or via their Bandcamp at https://folkloretapes.bandcamp.com/ and via selected independent record shops.
More from Slug Milk: