The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #132501 Message #3002270
Posted By: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
08-Oct-10 - 03:25 AM
Thread Name: What is psych folk...?
Subject: RE: What is psych folk...?
The main attraction of the term 'folk' as a catch-all umbrella term which can be hyphenated into a multitude of creatures which bare no resemblance to actual folk probably has less to do with influence than the fact it's a single syllable. It's far too short for music journos who must feel terribly oppressed when confronted with such a simple musical term. And thus it begs cleverefication through hyphenated embellishment and obfuscation, which confuses everyone else ;-)
Seriously though, it's just a label on a box and no different to hundreds of others. Perhaps the folk word would never have become so vague and general if it hadn't have been the ambition of early revivalists to 'add to the tradition' with new songs. The stable door was opened and the folk horse (you know the one that doesn't sing) has bolted. Hence decades later we have psych-folk and all the rest merrily hyphenating away.