Folk and avant-garde are not necessarily immediate neighbours on the musical map. But when you pick up the loose ends of both genres and connect them in a logical way, the results can be astonishing. Like Dorothy Carter’s 1978 album »Waillee Waillee«. It is a forgotten masterpiece of psych-folk. The New Yorker released it as a private pressing on her own label, Celeste. Since then the album has fallen into oblivion. Now it’s being reissued for the first time in collaboration with the two labels Palto Flats and Putojefe Records.
Dorothy Carter plays a variety of instruments, but most notably the hammered dulcimer, whose unique sound gives the album its character. She is joined by German-American visual artist, musician, composer and instrument maker Bob Rutman, who contributes subtle drones on his home-made steel cello. The mix of Appalachian and British folk sometimes has traditional touches, but always veers into the psychedelic and ethereal. A fantastic album that we would have put in the »freak folk« drawer 15 years ago.
