Various Artists – Antifolk Vol. 1
The title of this New York compilation, which revolves around the weekly open-mike “Antihoot” at Manhattan’s Sidewalk Cafe, is misleading. The assorted singers, strummers and satirists represented by its twenty tracks are not antifolk in any real sense. They mostly play acoustic guitars and sing about bad relationships, alcohol and social issues, just like real folk musicians.
What they actually oppose isn’t folk music, but the middlebrow conception of folk as the haven of safe, sensitive, self-conscious singer-songwriters, girls with long straight hair and Ivy League literature degrees. Of course, that’s hardly a fair picture of modern folk music (Ani DiFranco, anyone?). But if it provides a rallying point for music as freewheeling and shamelessly entertaining as the stuff on Antifolk Vol. 1, then so be it.
The most visible members of this Lower East Side ensemble are Kimya Dawson and Adam Green, a.k.a. the Moldy Peaches, who served as executive producers of the compilation. And while this collection, much of it home-recorded, is on the whole more restrained than the Peaches’ playground punk, it shares much of their aesthetic (if you can apply such a highfalutin’ word to such down-home sounds).
Sing-along melodies, oddball lyrics of both the spooky and silly variety, and a determined lack of polish characterize most of the album. Stand-outs include Dawson’s melancholy “I’m Fine”, Lach’s hilarious “Drinking Beers With Mom”, and Paleface’s “Say What You Want” (which suggests Pavement unplugged). The predominant vocal style is a sort of laconic, off-the-cuff patter, but a few of the contributors, among them Diane Cluck and Patsy Grace, can flat-out sing. And more than a few can write a sharp tune. You may well be tempted to search out some of their individual full-lengths.
What’s most endearing about the whole effort is its sense of community; many of the performers play on or co-produce each other’s songs, and the group photo on the back looks downright familial. Antifolk? Don’t believe it for a second.