Fursaxa is a United States-based

psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music. Chara ...

freak folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music. Charac ...

project led by Tara Burke of Pennsylvania. Her home-recordings feature acoustic guitar, simple

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It ...

electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs an ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

and her heavily

overdubbed Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

vocals on a 4-track recorder. She has been making music since childhood. Her music has been compared to

Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company Société à responsabilité limitée#In Switzerland, limited (NICO) is a Switzerland, Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC bu ...

's solo work and is often categorized among

New Weird America New Weird America is a 21st century style of music that primarily draws on psychedelic and folk music of the 1960s and 1970s. Etymology The term was coined by David Keenan in the issue 234 (August 2003) of ''The Wire'', following the Brattlebo ...

artists. The writings of Medieval mystic

Hildegard von Bingen Hildegard of Bingen (german: Hildegard von Bingen; la, Hildegardis Bingensis; 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher ...

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...

, and

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanians, Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who establ ...

have influenced the lyrics and mood of her work. Her musical influences include: World music, Krautrock, film soundtracks, Minimalism, Medieval and Renaissance music. She has recorded with numerous bands as a guest or side-project, including

Acid Mothers Temple Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., commonly shortened to Acid Mothers Temple or AMT, is a Japanese psychedelic rock band, the core of which formed in 1995. The band is led by guitarist Kawabata Makoto and early in their career feat ...

, fellow Philadelphians

Bardo Pond Bardo Pond are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1991, and who are currently signed to London-based label Fire Records. The current members are Michael Gibbons (guitar), John Gibbons (guitar), Isobel Sollenberger (flute and vocals), Cl ...

Iditarod The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of between 12 a ...

, Scorces,

The Valerie Project The Valerie Project is a Philadelphia-based psychedelic folk band. Their first (self-titled) album, released in 2007, is intended to serve as an alternate soundtrack to the cult Czech New Wave film '' Valerie and Her Week of Wonders''.Six Organs of Admittance Six Organs of Admittance is the primary musical project of American guitarist Ben Chasny. Chasny's music is largely guitar-based and is often considered new folk; however, it includes obvious influences, marked by the use of drones, chimes, and ...

. Fursaxa is currently signed to the London-based

ATP Recordings ATP Recordings is a British independent record label that was started in 2001 by London-based concert promoter Barry Hogan of Foundation/All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival), All Tomorrow's Parties. It was originally created to bring out a c ...

label. Live performances in 2010 saw Fursaxa expand to a trio, with Burke backed by harpist Mary Lattimore and cellist

Helena Espvall Helena Espvall is a Swedish-American musician noted for her participation in the post-millennial psychedelic folk and free improv scenes. Her primary instruments are cello, guitar and voice."Helena Espvall interviewed and introduced by Buck Cur ...

, culminating in an appearance at the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York. Burke and Espvall also record and perform together as a duo under the name

Anahita Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associate ...

Discography

Studio Albums *''Immured LP, Sloowax (2016) *''Mycorrhizae Realm'' – CD & LP ATP Recordings (2010) *''

Alone in the Dark Wood ''Alone in the Dark Wood'' is the sixth major studio release by Fursaxa Fursaxa is a United States-based psychedelic folk or freak folk project led by Tara Burke of Pennsylvania. Her home-recordings feature acoustic guitar, simple Casio electro ...

'' – CD, ATP Recordings & LP, Eclipse Records (2007) *''

Amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...

'' – CD, Last Visible Dog (2005) *''

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

'' – CD, ATP Recordings (2005) *''Madrigals in Duos'' – LP, Time-Lag Records (2004) *''Fursaxa'' – LP, Ecstatic Peace! (2002) *''Mandrake'' – CD, Acid Mothers Temple (2000) & LP, Eclipse Records (2004) Singles, EPs, and Limited Releases *''Maidenstone'' – 7-inch EP, Mt. St. Mtn. (2007) *''Harbinger of Spring'' – 3"CD, Jewelled Antler (2004) *''Fursaxa/Juniper Meadows'' – split CDR, Foxglove (2004) Self Released (Sylph) Recordings *''Kobold Moon'' – CD (2008) *''Myriad of Satyrids'' – CDR (2006) *''Amulet'' – CDR (2004) *''The Cult From Moon Mountain'' – CDR (2003) *''Trobairitz Are Here From Venus'' – CDR (2002) With Helena Espvall, as Anahita *''Arcana En Cantos'' – CD-R, Deserted Village (2006); LP, alt.vinyl (2010) *''Matricaria'' – CD, Important Records (2008) With Sharron Kraus, as Tau Emerald *''Travellers Two'' – CD, Important Records (2008)

External links

fursaxa blogATP Recordings pageThe Philadelphia Ambient ConsortiumFree Music Archive
{{Authority control New Weird America Psychedelic folk musicians 1969 births Living people Ecstatic Peace! artists ATP Recordings artists