... But who the hell should you be looking out for? And what do these people want anyway? Well, let Slashmusic talk you through the best, the brightest and the barmiest of the ‘Ooh look! They’re like new Bohemians or something!’ scene.
COCOROSIE
Gorgeous voices and electronic toy cockerels.
Are they weird? Damn right. Opera, folk, blues, harps, beatboxing, jingling jewellery and various musical toys form the backdrop to the Casady sisters’ warblings. Brought up by ‘spiritual’ parents who let them witness Native American hallucinogenic peyote rituals as children, they are 100% ‘out there’.
Are they beardy? Unsurprisingly not, what with them being ladies and that, but younger sister and lyricist Bianca frequently sports a very elegant drawn-on moustache (her sister Sierra prefers Pierrot makeup).
Do they like funny little animals? Heck yes. They describe their sound as being like “cartoons in black and white of female fish batting their eyelashes and belting out tiny love songs in bubbles”. And you know what? They’re right.
Essential purchase: ‘La Maison De Mon Rêve’ (Touch & Go)
Find out more…
DEVENDRA BANHART
Marc Bolan-ness meets folky strangeness. And monkeys.
Is he weird? And then some. His performance on Jools Holland’s show last year showed off his penchant for hooded robes, Persian rugs, odd mannerisms and twee lyrics. It also showed off his mesmerising, angelic voice. Romantically linked to Cocorosie’s Bianca, he causes mass outbreaks of swooning wherever he goes. His band, Vetiver, are a bit of all right too.
Is he beardy? Copiously so. Like a big foxy wizard.
Does he like funny little animals? Massively. Practically every song is about naughty monkeys or playful jellyfish.
Essential purchase: ‘Nino Rojo’ (XL)
Find out more…
SUFJAN STEVENS
Geography-obsessed musical dramatist.
Is he weird?Well, he currently claims to be writing an album for every state in the US (he's done Michigan and his new album covers Illinois), with individual songs dedicated to local weirdos, astronauts and murderers. Previous songs titles include ‘All The Trees Of The Field Will Clap Their Hands’. So yes. Weird as a bottle of crisps. Don’t let that distract you, though, from his huge arrangements and utterly amazing songwriting.
Is he beardy? No – but he is rather handsome, so it’d be shame to cover that in chin-fungus, no matter how much it would boost his boho credentials.
Does he like funny little animals? ‘Predatory Wasp’, ‘Sleeping Bear’, ‘Asthmatic Cat’ and a whole album dedicated to the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Animal quotient = high.
Essential purchase: Illinoise (Rough Trade)
Find out more…
ESPERS
Psychedelic wig-out hippiness.
Are they weird? Well, they’re very intense, and they’re touring with Devendra next month so that says it all. Their self-titled debut album – just re-released on Wichita – has gentle acoustic strummings, swooning cellos, lush vocal harmonies and madly tootling jazz flutes all over the place. Track titles like ‘Meadows’ and ‘Flowery Noontide’ are gloriously, unashamedly hippie-ish.
Are they beardy? Surprisingly, only one of Espers is beardy. Their general look is that of nerds far too mild-mannered to come out with such crazed sounds.
Do they like funny little animals? Well they don’t mention them by name but doubtless their ‘Meadows’ have more than a few strange critters in them.
Essential purchase: ‘Espers’ (Wichita, released mid-August)
Find out more…
IT’S JO AND DANNY
Pretty songs courtesy of Green Man organisers.
Are they weird? Only a bit. Jo & Danny organise the Green Man festival – a haven for New Boho acts like Adem, Four Tet, Joanna Newsome, The Earlies etc – in the beautiful countryside of the Welsh Borders where they live with their two kids. They also make some extraordinarily pretty folky songs with electronic whooshes and swooshes; their fourth album comes out to coincide with The Green Man in August.
Are they beardy? Their debut album is called ‘Lank Haired Girl To Bearded Boy’, so draw your own conclusions.
Do they like funny little animals? Reasonably so. With track titles like ‘Porch Dog’ and ‘Adonis And The Pig’, their back-to-nature quotient is well within acceptable boho levels.
Essential purchase: ‘Lank Haired Girl To Bearded Boy’ (Double Snazzy)
Find out more…
THE MEMORY BAND / FOLKY DOKEY SOUNDSYSTEM
Bird song-sampling / vinyl obsessives.
Are they weird? Jonny Trunk and The Memory Band’s Steven Cracknell, who collaborate as Folky Dokey Soundsystem, are two of the country’s most obsessive music hunters. Jonny has put out some bizarre and wonderful releases on his Trunk label, including music from ‘The Clangers’, ‘The Wicker Man’ soundtrack and ‘Dirty Fan Male’, a recital to music of ‘glamour’ models' fan letters which now enjoys cult status at the Edinburgh Festival. The Memory Band are among the loveliest of the current generation of folksters.
Are they beardy? No. Boo! But Jonny has had some incredible sideburns in his time.
Do they like funny little animals? They’re more into birds, really – the Memory Band’s ‘Once Bittern’ samples of the “booming” of the rare fenland waterbird, ack-chew-alley.
Essential purchase: ‘The Memory Band’ (Spinney) / Basil Kirchin ‘Abstractions Of The Indistrial North’ (Trunk)
Find out more…
GARY HIGGINS
Old school ginger eccentric back from obscurity.
Is he weird? His ex-bandmates went on to form the legendarily bizarre Silver Apples, and Higgins recorded his 1973 acid-folk masterpiece ‘Red Hash’ in a mere 40 hours before being banged up for a long stretch on drug charges. 31 years later, it’s re-released on US rock hipsters’ label Drag City, and it sounds absolutely marvellous and absolutely weird.
Is he beardy? Hugely – and his rampant face-fuzz is bright ginger to boot.
Does he like funny little animals? He’s certainly ‘pastoral’. Song titles include ‘Cuckoo’, ‘Stable The Spuds’ and ‘Down On The Farm’, so we assume a tolerance at least of small creatures.
Essential purchase: ‘Red Hash’ (Drag City, re-released July 29)
Find out more…
VASHTI BUNYAN
The goddess of boho just keeps on going…
Is she weird? Pretty much. A friend of many of the most famous figures of the 60s, she wrote her legendary ‘lost’ album ‘Just Another Diamond Day’ in a horse and cart heading for a commune in the Hebrides. When she got there, all the hippies had gone back to London :(. Vashti gave up music for almost 30 years, but was coaxed out of retirement with a re-release of ‘Diamond Day’ and shows with Kieren ‘Four Tet’ Hebden.
Is she beardy? Sadly no, but ‘Diamond Day’ was recorded with members of the Incredible String Band who were none-more-beardy.
Does she like funny little animals? Oh yes. Glow worms, minnows, swallows, cockerels – you name it.
Essential purchase: ‘Just Another Diamond Day’ (Spinney)
Find out more…
