Marisa Anderson – The Anthology Of Unamerican Folk Music (Vol. 1)

Marisa Anderson's The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music takes its cue from the private archive of the late Harry Smith, the collector behind the 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, but turns that history inside out. Drawing on songs from regions the United States has been in conflict with since 1970, Anderson builds this first volume from music rooted in Southeast Asia, the former USSR, and Arabic and Islamic traditions. It is a thoughtful, clearly argued project as much as a beautiful one, asking who gets left outside the idea of “American” music.

That idea suits Anderson especially well. She has spent decades working through the tangled roots of American folk, not as a revivalist but as a player who treats tradition as a live conversation. Here she adapts nine pieces through transcription, close listening, and research, reshaping material originally played on instruments such as the rubab, duduk, and dambura for her own guitar-based language. The results do not smooth away the distance between sources and performer; they keep that tension audible, which gives the record much of its character.

The album also sounds richly varied within its focused concept. "Quodibet" opens with an intricate medley feel, while "Hamd" and "Zar" show how Anderson can make unfamiliar forms feel intimate without domesticating them. Violin from Gisela Rodríguez Fernández adds another colour to parts of the set, and across the record Anderson's playing makes room for curiosity, restraint, and emotional weight in equal measure.

Features

• Black Vinyl standard edition
• Full two-sided 12x24 insert
• Includes download card

Reviews

• Ringing with warmth and emotion - The Guardian
• steeping her stunning interpretations in humility and humanity - Pitchfork