The Ultimate Guide to English Folk

We’re not short of compilations of British folk music, but this comes with a difference. Its compiler is Jon Boden, who features on the tracklist (under both Spiers & Boden and Bellowhead) and provides a good introductory essay. His main criterion was for songs ‘at least a hundred years old (mostly much older) and generally of unknown or collective authorship’. The artist biographies are taken from their websites – I’d have preferred Boden's remarks – but his choices are eclectic and strong. There are two songs from ‘source singers’ among artists – the Copper Family's ‘Come Write Me Down’, and a 43-second snatch of the ‘Murder of Maria Marten’ by Joseph Taylor, the gardener who triggered Victorian collector Cecil Sharp's first journey into the tradition. There are greats of the 1960s and 70s – Steeleye Span, Anne Briggs, Martin Carthy, Nic Jones and Peter Bellamy – the latter being a powerful influence on Boden's vocal technique. From the resurgent 90s comes Eliza Carthy, Oysterband , and Waterson:Carthy. The weight, deservedly, falls on a post-millennial new wave that includes Jim Moray, Jackie Oates, Sam Lee, Fay Hield, Leveret, the Unthanks and Faustus. The folk tradition is in rude health, and Boden's selection reflects that.