The Country, Folk & World Recommendation Thread

[Lisnaholic]

^ That's a beautiful track!
SM has a great voice and an impressive history; escaping from Algeria when she was branded a trouble-maker, singing in Paris before landing a UK record contract. In the space of a few years, she went from receiving death-threats in Algeria to being head-hunted in Europe, so if they ever make a film of her life, it should be pretty dramatic.
(I have a cd of her stuff, but unfortunately I don't have the tracklist or sources for it, otherwise I'd post a follow-up recommendation; she has lots of good songs.)

[rostasi]

I'd recommend "Deb" & "Mesk Elil" from her.
You can get a video thru Wrasse Records,
but it's solely an acoustic affair if you find that kind
of thing interesting. Wrasse, by the way, is a label
you may want to pursue/peruse for more goodies.

now playing:

Mahanojaus Lietuviška Mainerių Orkestra - Storo Yono

A band of Lithuanian coal-miners.

[Lisnaholic]

Thanks for the recommendations. If I ever have the patience, I might cross-check them against the tracks I already have.

Originally Posted by rostasi

A band of Lithuanian coal-miners.

^ I had to laugh at this for its sheer unexpected obscurity!

If I had to chose an obscure talent, I might go for Aynur Kalay. She sings traditional Kasakh folk songs with a strong voice; doesn't have a page on Wikipedia, but has quite a few clips on Youtube. They all have an exotic but cheesy look, as if she's about to be photographed for a 1950s edition of National Geographic.

[Chiomara]

Lithuanian coal miners? Say no more!!

The last several videos posted are all new to me.

I don't have many to offer today, but here is a folksy TV On The Radio cover:


I'm also fond of Bulgarian music lately:

[grindy]

Great mix of tuvan music and a bit of blues. Sainkho of course rocks as always.

[The Batlord]

Okay, so I'm having trouble finding folk recs on the internet that aren't infested with folk rock and indie folk, so if I just wanted a top 10 of folk albums to check out for a beginner then what should I listen to? I'm cool with folk rock albums being included, but **** off with indie folk.

[Neapolitan]

1. Various ‎– Mountain Music Of Kentucky
2. Mississippi John Hurt ‎– Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings (Country Blues, Folk, etc. etc.)
3. Roscoe Holcomb‎ – The High Lonesome Sound
4. Erik Darling ‎– Instrumental Music And Songs Of The Southern Appalachians
5. The Kingston Trio ‎– The Kingston Trio
6. Patrick Sky ‎– Patrick Sky
7. The Byrds ‎– ‎The Byrds Play Dylan
8. Leo Kottke ‎– Six n Twelve String (Primitive American instrumental)
9. Sibylle Baier - Color Green
10. Kate Wolf ‎– Close to You

I chose "The Byrds Play Dylan" to kill two birds with one stone (no pun intended) I wanted to combine two recs into one. Roscoe Holcomb‎ is on the Mountain Music of Kentucky, still I wanted to give him another mention cause he was an influence on Bob Dylan. I no idea how popular or not Pratick Sky, Sibylle Baier and Kate Wolf are. They appeal to my quiet and retiring side.

[Frownland]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Okay, so I'm having trouble finding folk recs on the internet that aren't infested with folk rock and indie folk, so if I just wanted a top 10 of folk albums to check out for a beginner then what should I listen to? I'm cool with folk rock albums being included, but **** off with indie folk.

I'm sure you know about Simon and Garfunkel but if you only have a peripheral familiarity with them, definitely check out their live albums. I'll just give you amazing folk albums and see where it goes from there.

1. Gary Higgins - Red Hash
2. Richard Dawson - Nothing Important
3. Joni Mitchell - Count and Spark
4. Kath Bloom and Loren Connors - Restless Faithful Desparate
5. The Microphones - The Glow Part 2
6. Comus - First Utterance
7. Current 93 - All the Pretty Little Horses
8. Tim Buckley - Goodbye and Hello
9. John Fahey - The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death
10. Sun City Girls - 330,003 Cross Dressers From Beyond the Rig Veda

[Pet_Sounds]

I'll toss in Nick Drake's Pink Moon, Simon and Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home, and Elliott Smith's Either/Or.

[Lisnaholic]

Two good lists so far, with some familiar/ some new mentions.

If it's all English-language folk, my list goes like this:-

1. Ewan McColl and A.L. Lloyd - Blow Boys Blow
2. Andy Irvine and Paul Brady - Self-titled album
3. Woody Guthrie - Dust Bowl Ballads
4. Dando Shaft - An Evening With...
5. Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall
6. Various, led by Ashley Hutchins - Morris On
7. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
8. Simon and Garfunkle - Bookends
9. Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding
10. Steve Earl and the Del McCoury Band - The Mountain
11. Ry Cooder - Chicken Skin Music

Notes:
+ I dropped some favourites if the artist has already appeared on Neapolitan's or Frownland's list
+ Italics means the music is from the British Isles, if not, it's from North America
+ They are listed in order of folk purity, from #1 (very pure traditional folk) to #11 (counts as folk doesn't it?)