Anti-folk (sometimes referred to as unfolk) is a
music genre
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...
that emerged in the 1980s in response to the remnants of the 1960s
folk music scene. Anti-folk music was made to mock the perceived seriousness of the time's mainstream music scene,
and artists have the intention to protest with their mocking and clever lyrics.
History
In the United States
Anti-folk was introduced by artists who were unable to obtain gigs at established folk venues in
Greenwich Village such as
Folk City and The Speakeasy.
[ (article in on pages 1 and 36)] In the mid-1980s, singer-songwriter
Lach
Lach is an American singer-songwriter associated with the anti-folk movement. As a songwriter, Lach founded the anti-folk art and music movement, which is cited as a main inspiration by contemporary performers like Beck, Jeffrey Lewis, Hamell o ...
started The Fort, an after-hours club on NYC's
Rivington Street
Rivington Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which runs across the Lower East Side neighborhood, between the Bowery and Pitt Street, with a break between Chrystie and Forsyth for Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Vehicular traffi ...
in the
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
.
The Fort's opening coincided with the New York Folk Festival. Because of this, Lach dubbed his event the
New York Antifolk Festival.
Other early proponents of the movement included
The Washington Squares,
Cindy Lee Berryhill,
Brenda Kahn
Brenda Kahn (born May 3, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, poet and educator based in South Salem, New York, who is known for her poetic lyrics.
Background
Her career began in 1990, when her first album, ''Goldfish Don't Talk Back'', was ...
,
Paleface,
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...
,
Hamell on Trial
Edward James "Ed" Hamell, performing as Hamell on Trial, is an American punk rock, anti-folk, spoken word musician, described by Righteous Babe Records as "loud, fast music informed by politics, passion, energy and intelligence, played by a guy ...
,
Michelle Shocked, Zane Campbell, and
John S. Hall
John S. Hall (born John Charles Hall, September 2, 1960) is an American poet, author, singer and lawyer perhaps best known for his work with King Missile, an avant-garde band that he co-founded in 1986 and has since led in various incarnations.
...
.
,
Kirk Kelly, and
Block.
The original Fort was shut down in 1985 by the police, and because of this the club moved locations several times, including
East Village bars Sophie's and Chameleon, before settling in the back room of the
SideWalk Cafe starting in 1993.
The
New York Antifolk Festival was held annually at the
SideWalk Cafe until its closure in 2019 (long outlasting the original Folk Festival). Events have also taken place in the
band shell
In theater, a shell (also known as an acoustical shell, choral shell or bandshell) is a curved, hard surface designed to reflect sound towards an audience.
Often shells are designed to be removable, either rolling away on wheels or lifting into ...
s in
Tompkins Square Park and
Central Park.
While living in San Francisco in the early 1990s, Lach helped establish a West Coast anti-folk movement at the Sacred Grounds Coffee House.
Other artists to have achieved a notable level of success who have been considered anti-folk include
Jeffrey Lewis,
Regina Spektor and
The Moldy Peaches.
In the United Kingdom
In the 2000s the term was adopted in Britain, particularly in the London underground scene, with acts including
David Cronenberg's Wife and The Bobby McGee's. The UK anti-folk scene, largely centred in London and
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, has established its own identity, which has been written about in a six-page feature in the September 2007 issue of ''
Plan B'' magazine. In 2004 the
lo-fi musician
Filthy Pedro Filthy Pedro is an antifolk musician based in London. Born Simon Parry in Anglesey, Wales, he moved to London in the late 1990s. Parry had grown interested in antifolk after hearing Beck's ''Stereopathetic Soulmanure'' album (1994). However, it was ...
started seasonal anti-folk festivals, which he promoted with Tom Mayne of the band David Cronenberg's Wife. An anti-folk scene in Brighton, curated primarily by Mertle, was quick to follow that of London.
Other key figures within the UK anti-folk community include
Dan Treacy of Television Personalities,
Jack Hayter
Jack Hayter is a British musician. He is best known as a multi instrumentalist with Hefner but is also an acclaimed folk singer-songwriter in his own right. ,
Milk Kan
Milk Kan is a musical duo from south London, England, formed in 2003. Their EPs, the acoustic "Bling!" (2003) and "Wat U See Ain't Wat U Get" were followed, in December 2005, by a single, "Bling Bling Baby" and their later single, "God with an ...
,
Extradition Order,
Benjamin Shaw, Lucy Joplin, Candythief, JJ Crash, Larry Pickleman and
Paul Hawkins.
Emmy the Great and
Laura Marling were added to the roster of antifolk artists as they play antifolk music with mocking lyrics.
Kate Nash started her music career playing anti-folk-style shows, including a concert promoted by Larry Pickleman and Mertle in Brighton.
Dan Willson, who performs under the name
Withered Hand, is an Edinburgh-based musician often considered part of the genre. His first studio album, Good News, was released in 2009.
Welsh anti-folk artist
Mr Duke has gained some popularity in Wales, and
Crywank, an anti-folk project from Manchester, surfaced in 2009. Crywank's popularity can be seen through the disappointment of fans when the break-up was announced in 2019. Though in 2021, Crywank released a final album.
See also
*
Anticomp Folkilation
*
Psychedelic folk
*
Counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed throughout much of the Western world in the 1960s and has been ongoing to the present day. The aggregate movement gained momentum as the civil rights mo ...
References
External links
*
''Antifolk.com'' The most updated Antifolk website, covering the movement across the world''Antifolk.net'' The New York Antifolk website, started by Lach to promote the scene''Morning Star'' article on Anti-folk''Village Voice'' article on UK Anti-folk* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/02/01/feature/this-hillbilly-madman-is-country-music-royalty-so-why-havent-you-heard-of-him/ Washington Post article about Zane Campbell's part in Anti-folk]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Folk
Anti-folk music, *
American styles of music
British styles of music
Punk rock genres
1980s in music
1990s in music
2000s in music
2010s in music