folk | Musicosity

folk

Lumiere

There are multiple artists with this name: 1) A Japanese artist. 2) Lumiere is an Irish group consisting of two fine female voices, Éilís Kennedy and Pauline Scanlon. Both of them come from the small Kerry town of Dingle. Their sound recalls very early Joan Baez - just perfectly tuned voice with acoustic instruments. On their 2010 album, Lumiere, they sing seven songs in English - all in the Irish tradition - and four in Irish Gaelic.

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Julia Stone

Julia Stone is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Newport, Australia. She's part of the siblings Angus & Julia Stone Following four years of critically acclaimed collaboration with brother Angus, Julia Stone's
The Memory Machine marks her first foray into solo musical terrain. With the global success of the duo’s first two albums and accompanying sell out tours, Julia’s debut solo album demonstrates a musical confidence and story-telling capacity that reflects her evolution as an artist.

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Major Chord

Major Chord was born in the winter of 2006 on a living room table. It came into existence somewhere between the Minor Key and the Umbilical Cord. Major Chord is sometimes lonely - singing and strumming guitar, but usually wistful harmonies and whimsical violin appear, then occassionally caressed keys, bopping bass and beating drums you hear. Blending folk sugar with hints of tasty pop and a pinch of alt-rock spice, Major Chord creates a warm and vibrant delight.

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Karen O

Karen Lee Orzolek, better known as Karen O, is the lead vocalist for the New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She also performs as Karen O and the Kids. She was born on November 22, 1978 in South Korea. Karen's mother is Korean and father is Polish. Karen grew up in New Jersey, went to Dwight-Englewood high school, and attended Oberlin College, but transferred to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

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Frank Yamma

Frank Yamma is one of Australia's most talented contemporary performers. He also happens to be a traditional Pitjantjatjara man from Australia's central desert and speaks five languages. An extraordinary songwriter and an exceptional guitarist, Frank Yamma also has an incredible voice, rich, deep and resonant. When Frank sings about standing on a sand dune watching over the landscape, it is if you are standing with him. When he sings about the plight of Aboriginal children born into a world of chaos and alcohol, Frank wrenches the heart.

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Akron/Family

Akron/Family is a folk-influenced experimental rock band that formed in 2002, and is currently based in New York on the Dead Oceans label. Though each member of the band — Miles Seaton, Seth Olinsky, Dana Janssen and formerly Ryan Vanderhoof can be relegated to loosely defined roles (drummer, guitarist, bassist, vocalist), all of them in fact play several instruments and sing, as evidenced by their shows and recorded material.

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Julianna Barwick

Louisiana-bred, Brooklyn-based recording artist Julianna Barwick crafts ethereal, largely wordless soundscapes, all of which are built around multiple loops and layers of her angelic voice. Barwick, who credits a rural, church choir upbringing for her unique sound, begins most tracks with a single phrase or refrain, then uses a loop station and the occasional piano or percussive instrument to build the song into a swirling mass of lush, ambient folk.

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Angus & Julia Stone

Siblings Julia and Angus Stone come from Newport, Australia. Angus and Julia’s decision to collaborate was taken at the beginning of 2006. Prior to that, both had performed as solo artists at open mic nights but utilised the other as a backing partner. Ultimately they came up with the same idea, “Why don’t we play together? It kind of made a lot of sense”. In terms of composing the material, they write on their own, then work together on structure and harmonies.

Amelia Curran

Amelia Curran is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador and currently lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The National Post describes her music as “a bit like Leonard Cohen being channeled in a dusty saloon by Patsy Cline.” Curran started playing guitar and writing songs as a teenager and eventually dropped out of university in order to busk on the streets of St. John’s. That led to her first album release in 2000, and since then she has released four more.

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Ember

There are at least 5 bands that have recorded under the name Ember: 1. Chicago’s EMBER (1994-2000) is a legendary black/thrash thrash band that came from a pure black metal background with their 1995 demo. They released three demos, all three which comprise the Discography, released in 1998 - signaling the demise of Ember, occuring in 2002. Last members were Nader, Alan, Abbas, Chris & Pete (NAACP).

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