To help share a wider range of insights and ideas beyond mine and the artists on the label, I'm keen to open the floor to members of Inner Echo, a community for fans and artists of the Whitelabrecs and Driftworks labels. We recently had Adrian Newton's guide to Whitelabrecs and this time, I'm delighted to share a guest post from Nigel Spencer who runs the Folk Police record label.

What is wonderful here is that Nigel had been quietly working on pulling together what he calls a Field Guide to Ambient Folk and presented it to me as a mix, playlist, write-up and complete with artwork too. I personally see the Ambient genre as really wide and already have picked up many fantastic records on Nigel's recommendation, so I was so excited to sink into his mix. It turns out that his definition of Ambient Folk is right up my street and hopefully, you'll enjoy it too.

If you're curious to find out more about Folk Police, you can check out the website HERE.
You can check out Nigel's mix, the tracklist and Nigel's thoughts below...

Tracklist:

1. Golden Brown - Abergris
2. Pefkin - Snowdrops By The Lade
3. Mat Eric Hart - Samara
4. John Swanke - Dance of the Green Crab
5. David A. Jaycock - Deancombe Weaver (pt1-3)
6. Jacob Sunderlin - Birdflute, Battle Hymn
7. Michael Scott Dawson - Spirit Forward
8. Seabuckthorn - Come Eluding II
9. Matthew J. Rolin - Stillness Of Air
10. Andrew Heath - The Sun Reveals Our Shadows
11. Andrew Weathers & Hayden Pedigo - Unclipt Wings
12. Matt LaJoie - Mammoth
13. Tomáš Niesner - Pod Lipami
14. Gavin Miller (feat. Aaron Martin) - Upper Course IV
15. Pinesong - Yukimi
16. Elizabeth Still - Sleeping In The Sun
17. David Colohan - A Lunar Standstill
18. The Green Kingdom - Coral Garden
19. Channelers - Full Of Time
20. Natalia Beylis & Eimear Reidy - A Shelter of Junipers
21. Black Brunswicker - The Cave
22. Joseph Allred - Who Will Heal Your Wounds

Nigel: This playlist came about as a result of a discussion on the Inner Echo message board about what ambient folk sounds like. As a long term listener to both folk and ambient music, this got me thinking not only about what the markers and parameters of ambient folk as a genre might be, but more fundamentally, whether such a genre could even be said to exist, which is far from a forgone conclusion. It’s possible that Black Brunswicker - Manchester-based Etta Helfrich - might be the only artist on the playlist who actually uses the term to describe their music, in this case, fittingly, a sun-glazed melange of acoustic guitar, field recordings and loops.

There’s an extensive range of different sounds and approaches at play here: at one end of the spectrum, we have David Jaycock, for instance, who often appears to be soundtracking an imaginary folk horror movie, whilst at the other, Andrew Heath’s experiments with a deconstructed autoharp render at least some aspects of his electroacoustic soundscaping ambient folk adjacent. Meanwhile, while there is a world of difference between Natalia Beylis and Eimar Reidy’s modern-composition-with-hints-of-Irish-traditional-music and Joseph Allred’s pure, devotional American Primitive guitar improvisations, both cross over into ambient music in its broadest sense; both are deeply informed by folk music.

Unapologetically, there is a lot of untreated or minimally treated acoustic guitar on this playlist. Guitar soli is a key part of the ambient folk sound, stretching back to the mid-1970s, where fingerstyle guitar formed an important part of Windham Hill’s early repertoire, embraced by the burgeoning new age scene, which in turn segued with nascent ambient and environmental music. On this field guide, the fingerstyle guitar offerings are occasionally unadulterated, but more often combined with field recordings, synth, flute, lap steel or even, as with Matthew Rolin’s Stillness of Air, are almost submerged in a wash of environmental sounds.

The only vocal track included is Snowdrops by the Lade. The plan was to make this an all instrumental playlist, but in many ways, Gayle Brogan - Pefkin - embodies the ambient folk sound: melodeons, fiddles, bells and chimes combine with nature recordings and electronics, and a resonating drone underpins evocative sweeps of melody. Drone - there’s another celestial sound that is held in great reverence in both folk and ambient circles.

So, here you will find harmoniums, cellos, dulcimers, bowed, plucked and prepared acoustic and electric guitars, alongside plenty of modular synths, tape loops, vintage keyboards and field recordings, and hopefully much to love. All the tracks included, and the albums they are taken from, are available to buy on Bandcamp - find them collected together HERE.

If the Inner Echo community sounds like something you'd be interested in perhaps for opportunities to get involved like this, then why not join us? Simply complete the form below to join the Whitelabrecs email newsletter. You'll hear first about the music and creativity that is shared via the label, receive a free compilation album and, you'll be able to join the Inner Echo community!