Hear songs from the British Isles: re-imagined folk songs from Irish experimental folk-doom quartet ØXN and others, and the latest by author, composer, and singer-songwriter PJ Harvey.

Listen to experimental doom-folk tunes by Irish quartet, ØXN, (pronounced 'oc-en' and named after castrated draft animals – “sometimes worshipped, sometimes doomed for domestication,” they say), (The Guardian.) John Schaefer writes, “ØXN is a new band that features some familiar names on the Irish indie music scene. We’ve met singer Radie Peat with the drone-folk band Lankum; John “Spud” Murphy is that band’s producer (and has produced Black Midi and many other bands); Katie Kim is a gifted singer/songwriter on her own; and Eleanor Myler is from the band Percolator. I had thought that you couldn’t find a darker, more chilling take on folk music than Lankum’s, but ØXN’s debut album, Cyrm (pronounced sigh-rim and meaning a spell, usually cast by a woman at the expense of a man), has moments that are genuinely spine-tingling.” 

Also, listen to uncanny, unearthly songs from author, composer and singer-songwriter PJ Harvey, which come from her 2023 album, I Inside the Old Year Dying. The songs are loosely based on Harvey’s second book of poetry “Orlam,” and written in the Dorset dialect, the county in the west of England where Harvey was brought up. Plus, there’s a version of the traditional English song "John Barleycorn (Must Die)," which might be as old as the 1300's, along with a dark and brooding funeral song from northernmost England, “The Lyke-Wake Dirge”.  - Caryn Havlik

Program #4817, Old Weird Britannia (First aired 11/20/2023)

ARTIST: The Young Tradition
WORK: A Lyke Wake Dirge [1:00]
RECORDING: Anthems in Eden
SOURCE: Sanctuary Records Group / Castle Music
INFO:  mainlynorfolk.info

ARTIST: ØXN
WORK: Cruel Mother [9:28]
RECORDING: Cyrm
SOURCE: Claddagh Records
INFO: https://OXN.lnk.to/CYRMSO

ARTIST: The Young Tradition
WORK: A Lyke Wake Dirge [2:49]
RECORDING: Anthems in Eden
SOURCE: Sanctuary Records Group / Castle Music
INFO:  mainlynorfolk.info

ARTIST: ØXN
WORK: The Trees They Do Grow High [7:42]
RECORDING: Cyrm
SOURCE: Claddagh Records
INFO: https://OXN.lnk.to/CYRMSO

ARTIST: PJ Harvey
WORK: All Souls [4:22]
RECORDING: I Inside the Old Year Dying
SOURCE: Partisan Records
INFO: https://pjharvey.lnk.to/iinsidetheoldyeardyingID

ARTIST: ØXN
WORK: The Feast [4:47]
RECORDING: Cyrm
SOURCE: Claddagh Records
INFO: https://OXN.lnk.to/CYRMSO

ARTIST: PJ Harvey
WORK: I Inside the Old I Dying [3:09]
RECORDING: I Inside the Old Year Dying
SOURCE: Partisan Records
INFO: https://pjharvey.lnk.to/iinsidetheoldyeardyingID

ARTIST: Knights of the Occasional Table
WORK: John Barleycorn [11:25
RECORDING: John Barleycorn 2000
SOURCE: Middle Earth #1011
INFO: Available at Amazon.com, AppleMusic, Spotify, and Amazon.com