avant-folk

Experimental Scottish folk duo Burd Ellen are Debbie Armour and Gayle Brogan. They have carved out a sonically adventurous niche informed by a deep love and respect for traditional song. Combining drones, electronica and distinctive vocals, their sound is hypnotic, stark and uneasy. 

We talk to singer Debbie (on the left in the photo) about tarot, the power of unaccompanied singing and ancient Scottish traditional songs. We feature music from Burd Ellen's recently released and highly acclaimed album 'A Tarot Of The Green Wood'

https://www.burdellen.com/
https://burdellen.bandcamp.com/

Avant-folk producer Fiona Soe Paing is a Scottish vocalist and sound artist. Combining multi-layered vocals with dark electronica, field recordings, archive material and traditional instruments, her music creates atmospheric and often unsettling songscapes.

Sand, Silt, Flint (released November 2022) is Fiona's second solo album, a re-imagining of folk tales and traditional ballads from North East Scotland. Sense of place is an important factor. Fiona has made the innovative step of linking each song to a specific location creating a virtual ‘Ballad Map' where the album is presented as a series of sound-walks via the Echoes phone app. The audio is triggered by GPS, enabling audiences to experience the music in the environments which provided it's inspiration.

• Visit Fiona's website https://www.fionasoepaing.co.uk/
• Purchase Sand, Silt, Flint from https://fionasoepaing.bandcamp.com/album/sand-silt-flint-3
• Read a review in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/21/fiona-soe-paing-sand-silt-flint-review
• Investigate the Echoes interactive sound walks app https://echoes.xyz/

The following songs from Sand, Silt, Flint are featured in this podcast:
1 Bessie Bell
2 Bonny Udny
3 Forvie
4 Ballad of John Hosie

For more information about Invisible Folk go to https://invisiblefolk.com/