Twisted Folk

When a fresh, leftfield perspective is applied to the vivid storytelling and rustic instrumentation of traditional folk music, what emerges is something fascinating, compelling, gorgeous and . . . twisted. This shimmering set of Essentials is sure to leave you blissfully hypnotised, thanks to a classic throwback moment ("Pink Moon") from Nick Drake — arguably the godfather of twisted folk — as well as more recent material from the likes of Devendra Banhart ("This Is the Way"), Nevada City harpist Joanna Newsom ("This Side of the Blue") and supergroup-of-sorts, Monsters of Folk, who kicked of their 2009 debut album with "Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)".

Angelic harmonies and sublime melodies abound along the tangents explored in Next Steps.

Our Twisted Folk Essentials develop a few extra kinks and knots here, as Scottish outfit Frightened Rabbit sets the tone, musically and thematically, for third studio album, 2010's The Winter of Mixed Drinks, with "Swim Until You Can't See the Land". Oxford-based four-piece, Stornoway — part of the hand-picked line-up on the February 2010 Twisted Folk tour (an imaginatively-curated, ongoing event that has picked up a solid following during the second half of the '00s) — stirs up a rich blend of pop melody and lyrical smarts with "I Saw You Blink" and San Francisco's Vetiver ropes in Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval for "Angel's Share" on their 2004 self-titled debut.

Things start to get decidedly weird, as we sidewind through the shrubbery of our Deep Cuts.

Here's where our already-skewed folk Essentials get twisted so far out of shape, we're left with something alien and magical . . . like the lo-fi neo-psychedelia of MV + EE (a mutating group based around core members Matt Valentine and Erika Elder) whose "East Mountain Joint" places us round a campfire in some enchanted woodland, and bids us sing along; or "Grim Reaper Blues" by Entrance (aka the Entrance Band), which writhes like a scalded viper and takes us deep into stoner territory; and "Northern Lights" by North Carolina's Bowerbirds, whose 2009 album Upper Air lacks nothing in rustic charm and creates unforgettable moments of luminous loveliness.

In the great Venn diagram of music there's a space that exists somewhere outside of folk (but not too far away), edging into fuzzier territories: areas of crossover drawing on psychedelia, indie rock, baroque pop, creating a plethora of hybrid categories that are no easier to pin down than a rolling, shape-shifting cloud — but hopefully many of them sit well under the Twisted Folk banner. In fact, much of the appeal of these Essentials can be found in their diversity. Here you'll find astonishing tunes played by men with beards, enchanting songs performed by girls with harps, and all manner of curiosities whose loveliness will lift you out of everyday drudgery and levitate you into undreamed of realms you'll never want to leave. Like a kaleidoscope, this collection gets better the more you twist.