VA - Rough Trade Shops - Psych Folk 10 (2010)

Rough Trade Shops - Psych Folk 2010 collects twenty one, modern day troubadours doing their best to both honor and propel the genre that inspired them. Psych-folk, freak-folk, acid folk (whatever you want to call it) has enjoyed a mild renaissance over the last decade or so, and outfits like Philadelphia’s Pentangle/Shirley Collins-loving Espers, drone and raga-heavy, Northern California band Six Organs of Admittance and modern day Scottish bard Alasdair Roberts, all of whom appear on this fine compilation, have managed to wiggle their way into the lower falls of the mainstream. Lesser known acts like the Steeleye Span/Fairport Convention-inspired Owl Service and the fuzzed out, Brooklyn-based Woods offer up some quality stuff as well, resulting in one of the better genre samplers of the year.