Fern Knight is the eponymous third full-length release from this fixture on North Philadelphia’s internationally renowned musical community. As the primary cover for Margaret Wienk’s singing and songwriting, this record fully unleashes her style of melding acoustic and electronic sounds, her careful orchestration alongside the improvisational strengths of the quartet, well-placed strings and crystalline vocals. Displaying her classical roots and psychedelic leanings,Fern Knight will be released into the world by the VHF label late Spring 2008. I’m including a link to a live performance of them in their natural habitat, the Philly compound inhabited by members of Espers, Ex Reverie, Golden ball and frequented by just about all the folks on the Philadelphia avant-folk music scene.
There’s been a few pre-release reviews which have been lovely raves which I include below:
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Born in Wisconsin and raised in upstate NY, Fern Knight’s guitarist/cellist/singer Margaret Wienk grew up in a household that cultivated literature and music, and where on a given day one could hear the sounds of Allen Ginsberg reading “Howl” on cassette, a scratchy LP of Bob Dylan and someone practicing the piano. It was therefore no surprise when Margaret headed off to music school as a teen with her double bass, and it was there that she melded her love of poetry and music together in the form of songwriting: “I gravitate towards melancholic music, so I draw heavily from influences such as medieval and renaissance music, folk music from France and the British Isles and Indian classical music,” says Wienk of her songs. These influences are easy to discern on Fern Knight’s second full-length Music for Witches and Alchemists (vhf #101) on “Song for Ireland,” with its Eastern rhythmic underpinnings, and on Fern Knight, Â “Silver Fox” and “Synge’s Chair” feature narrative verse and repeated refrains, as in traditional folk song structures.
The folks in Fern Knight return with another unique album that is wonderfully out of place in today’s musical climate. This band is the project headed by Philadelphia-based guitarist/cellist/vocalist Margaret Wienk. Wienk and her associates create otherworldly progressive pop that seems to be influenced by some of the best British progressive art bands from the 1970s. Some of the compositions on this album could be compared to Curved Air and even Henry Cow at times…but that only gives a slight idea of what this music sounds like. The songs on this self-titled album are soft and thoughtful and feature some truly absorbing and unusual (and extremely subtle) arrangements. At the heart of the music are Margaret’s beautiful, heartfelt vocals. This album is the perfect fusion of folk, pop, and classical music. Folks who may be becoming increasingly tired of the same old generic throwaway pop of the twenty-first century will find a lot to take in here. Cool, classy cuts include “Bemused,” “Sundew,” “Loch Na Fooey,” and “Magpie Suite: Part II, Part III.” Highly recommended… (Rating: 5+++) Don Seven/Babysue.com April
Another beautiful piece of dark magic from Philly’s inner circle. Fern Knight is the guise of songwriter and gossamer voiced singer, Margaret Wienk. This is the most fully formed and devastatingly potent album she’s done under the Fern moniker yet. Her voice hangs unobscurred and terribly assured above the harmonic scrabble of sun baked guitars and harrowing strings, played amiably by a group that includes Jesse Sparhawk, Jim Ayre and James Wolf. Recorded by PA-Folk ringleader extraordinaire, Greg Weeks and put forth by VHF, this certainly has all the right pieces to the puzzle. Despite the cast and crew that bolter this production though, it really is Wienk’s voice and songwriting that shine on this eponymous album. When the tone is somber, her voice captures you in its sadness but never lets you feel pity and when the mood turns light, it pulls the sun from every corner of the room like drawing a shade. So far its been quite a fair year for folk but this is definitely the strongest folk release, and more to the point one of the strongest records I’ve heard all year. This is definitely one to anticipate. Fern Kight’s S/T is out May 6th. RavenSingsTheBlues.com