The Music of Fayrierie

Spanish dark folk duo Fayrierie was founded in 2003, with Norax on the vocals, and Falke playing all instruments. Their goal is to express a inner artistic feeling based on the deepest and darkest landscapes of imagination, inspired by the old pagan traditions and cultures of the world. Their first album was Michelia Campaka, released in 2007 and another is currently in production.

The Green Children

The Green Children are Norwegian Milla Sunde and English Marlow Bevan. The duo’s ethereal electro-pop album Encounter was released to high acclaim in autumn last year. Encounter’s title song is inspired by the original green children of Woolpit, Suffolk. Taking such a mainstream pop route is unusual in ‘faerie’ music, but it’s an approach that works – Encounter is dreamy, uplifting and very listenable.
As well as being talented musicians, Milla and Marlow are also committed humanitarians. Their Green Children Foundation is a charity which aims to help the poor of the world through supporting microcredit, education and healthcare. Funds raised through sales of CD/DVD package have been used to build an eye care hospital in rural Bangladesh which opened in 2008 and serves some 60,000 patients already.

Band of Mythcreants, Tricky Pixie

Tricky Pixie is a trio made up of SJ Tucker, Alexander James Adams, and Betsy Tinney, all talented and prolific songwriters in their own right, who have some together to make “Gypsy Celtic Folk Rock for Naughty Punk Faeries”. They perform regularly at Faerie festivals in the US and have released one live album and one studio album, Mythcreants, to date. The songs range in style and tempo from raucous and silly to powerful and magical. You can listen to all the tracks on their website, and purchase the CD and other merchandise.

l’Effet Défée

The music of French quartet l’Effet Défée opens the door between the mortal and Faery world, the name l’Effet Défée being a play on words, an invitation to the faerie’s emotional world and sounds. Described as progressive rock and ‘fairygrind’ it is pretty epic. Their first album Al Trop was released in 2010 and features singer Maude’s intense vocals, using an invented language of backwards words to lift the veil between the two worlds.

Priscilla Hernandez Presents The Underliving

Ethereal singer/songwriter Priscilla Hernandez has released a short preview of her forthcoming album The Underliving. This long awaited follow up to Ancient Shadows takes us back to the shadowlands of the Otherworld with 16 beautiful tracks. Priscilla is truly dedicated to her craft and in the making of this album has learned a variety of new instruments, and the love just shines through. All that remains to do now is actually manufacture the CDs. You help support this amazing artist by making a small donation to the cause and help bring The Underliving to the world a little sooner!

The Society for the Preservation of Faerie Arts

“The fae were seduced over several months time, eventually being captivated by our enchanted harp known as Desiré. Sometimes visible, other times ethereal, the Fae came to play with Desiré. In the garden, by the creek… the music seemed to emerge from nature itself. At times we could hear the Faeries being accompanied by unseen instruments from the other realm.” The Faerie Archives Volume 1 represents the first live recording of ‘authentic faerie music’, presented by the Society for the Preservation of Faerie Arts.

Buy Faerie Archives Volume 1 from Amazon.co.uk

The Veil of Queen Mab

Italian duo Hexperos‘ second album, The Veil of Queen Mab, pays homage to the queen of fairies and dreams. 3 years in the making, the 13 songs feature the beautiful vocals of singer Alessandra and encompass classical, medieval, baroque, Celtic and Mediterranean elements. The result is an beautiful otherworldly opus which transports the listener. Pressed on gold disc and housed in a matt-varnished Digipak with gold foil print, The Veil of Queen Mab comes with a 16-page booklet beautifully illustrated with visuals by Polish artist Malgorzata Maj, of Sarachmet Photography & Illustration.

Enchanted Faerie Music

After four years in the making, the results of Karen Kay and Michael Tingle’s magical musical collaboration is being released this October 31st. Enchanted contains 10 beautifully crafted faerie songs singing of love and magic in the faerie realm. The pair approached the making of the album in a rather unconventional way, travelling to many of Cornwall’s beautiful sites in Michael’s mobile recording van to record Karen’s vocals. Visit the website to order the CD and listen to samples.

Woodland’s Seasons In Elfland

Woodland’s long awaited new album, Seasons in Elfland: Shadows will be released on this Midsummer. The album explores the dark side of the seasonal wheel and includes 13 new tracks by Woodland featuring guest appearances by German pagan folk band, Faun, ethereal-gothic singer Priscilla Hernandez, Australian songstress Louisa John-Krol, Spanish pianist Hector Corcin, ghost cellist Adam Hurst and more. The album features original cover artwork by UK faerie artist and Woodland collaborator Brian Froud.
The release coincides with Woodland’s appearances in the UK, firstly at the 3 Wishes Faery Fest (June 18-21st) then London’s first Urban Faery Ball on June 25th.

The Gypsy Nomads CD Giveaway

Regulars on the US faerie festival circuit, The Gypsy Nomads play a toe tapping blend of gypsy punk folk tinged with cabaret, tribal beats and good old-fashioned bawdy storytelling. The duo consists of French born Brit Samantha Stephenson and veteran punk Scott Helland, aka Frenchy and the Punk. Since 2005 they have toured extensively, and 2010 is no exception with a countrywide US tour which sees them play Faerieworlds, World of Faeries festival and Faeriecon (amongst many others!). Their new album Happy Madness is out July 13th and is their 4th album to date. As you’d expect, it is an upbeat collection of songs which showcase Samantha’s wonderful voice and Scott’s excellent guitar work. They’re ridiculously catchy, even after just one listen I was humming them all day long. Dark Carnivale and Vaudeville Voodoo are for me the real stand outs (as in, the ones I have been humming most!), but the whole thing is exceedingly well played and produced.
We have a signed copy of Happy Madness to give away to one lucky reader. To enter, leave a comment. Just for fun, please share your favourite Gypsy Nomads song.
Please ensure you use a valid email address, and one entry per person thank you! All entries must be received by July 1st.
Good luck!

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And the Winner is… Leah! Congratulations!
And thank you to everyone else who entered!

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