Patrick Clarke
@paddyclarke.bsky.social
Deputy Editor and folk music columnist at The Quietus // my book Bedsit Land: The Strange Worlds Of Soft Cell is out now // demented forces push me madly round a treadmill
Pinned
Patrick Clarke speaks to the figures behind the new Black British Folk Collective about their story so far, and reviews eleven new records including harsh noise bodhran, an extraordinary Occitan freakout, Armenian duduk, Polish oberek
Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Winter
buff.ly/faSJA4o
Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Winter
buff.ly/faSJA4o
New folk column has arrived!!!
I spoke to the good people of the Black British Folk Collective, and reviewed some amazing new records including an absolutely nuts 20 min Occitan pipe drone freakout, joyous psychedelic reworks of Polish folk dance, a harsh noise/bodhran mashup AND MORE
I spoke to the good people of the Black British Folk Collective, and reviewed some amazing new records including an absolutely nuts 20 min Occitan pipe drone freakout, joyous psychedelic reworks of Polish folk dance, a harsh noise/bodhran mashup AND MORE
Reposted by Patrick Clarke
Great article about the Black British Folk Collective, founded in our very own basement! @thequietus.com @angelcakepie2.bsky.social
thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Winter, by Patrick Clarke | The Quietus
In October last year the musician Angeline Morrison, whose 2022 masterpiece The Sorrow Songs drew on deep research to present new folk music that centred the real Black British figures who are often w...
thequietus.com
February 6, 2026 at 11:58 AM
Great article about the Black British Folk Collective, founded in our very own basement! @thequietus.com @angelcakepie2.bsky.social
thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
Reposted by Patrick Clarke
'Throughout the project was an idea of 'retracing the journey of the banjo from West Africa to the plantation in the Caribbean, to the American South.' "It feels really significant to re-establish the connection to that instrument and where it comes from."
Folk Music for Winter
buff.ly/faSJA4o
Folk Music for Winter
buff.ly/faSJA4o
February 6, 2026 at 1:45 AM
'Throughout the project was an idea of 'retracing the journey of the banjo from West Africa to the plantation in the Caribbean, to the American South.' "It feels really significant to re-establish the connection to that instrument and where it comes from."
Folk Music for Winter
buff.ly/faSJA4o
Folk Music for Winter
buff.ly/faSJA4o
Reposted by Patrick Clarke
New folk column has arrived!!!
I spoke to the good people of the Black British Folk Collective, and reviewed some amazing new records including an absolutely nuts 20 min Occitan pipe drone freakout, joyous psychedelic reworks of Polish folk dance, a harsh noise/bodhran mashup AND MORE
I spoke to the good people of the Black British Folk Collective, and reviewed some amazing new records including an absolutely nuts 20 min Occitan pipe drone freakout, joyous psychedelic reworks of Polish folk dance, a harsh noise/bodhran mashup AND MORE
Patrick Clarke speaks to the figures behind the new Black British Folk Collective about their story so far, and reviews eleven new records including harsh noise bodhran, an extraordinary Occitan freakout, Armenian duduk, Polish oberek
Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Winter
buff.ly/faSJA4o
Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Winter
buff.ly/faSJA4o
February 5, 2026 at 11:19 AM
New folk column has arrived!!!
I spoke to the good people of the Black British Folk Collective, and reviewed some amazing new records including an absolutely nuts 20 min Occitan pipe drone freakout, joyous psychedelic reworks of Polish folk dance, a harsh noise/bodhran mashup AND MORE
I spoke to the good people of the Black British Folk Collective, and reviewed some amazing new records including an absolutely nuts 20 min Occitan pipe drone freakout, joyous psychedelic reworks of Polish folk dance, a harsh noise/bodhran mashup AND MORE
New folk column has arrived!!!
I spoke to the good people of the Black British Folk Collective, and reviewed some amazing new records including an absolutely nuts 20 min Occitan pipe drone freakout, joyous psychedelic reworks of Polish folk dance, a harsh noise/bodhran mashup AND MORE
I spoke to the good people of the Black British Folk Collective, and reviewed some amazing new records including an absolutely nuts 20 min Occitan pipe drone freakout, joyous psychedelic reworks of Polish folk dance, a harsh noise/bodhran mashup AND MORE
Patrick Clarke speaks to the figures behind the new Black British Folk Collective about their story so far, and reviews eleven new records including harsh noise bodhran, an extraordinary Occitan freakout, Armenian duduk, Polish oberek
Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Winter
buff.ly/faSJA4o
Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Winter
buff.ly/faSJA4o
February 5, 2026 at 11:19 AM
New folk column has arrived!!!
I spoke to the good people of the Black British Folk Collective, and reviewed some amazing new records including an absolutely nuts 20 min Occitan pipe drone freakout, joyous psychedelic reworks of Polish folk dance, a harsh noise/bodhran mashup AND MORE
I spoke to the good people of the Black British Folk Collective, and reviewed some amazing new records including an absolutely nuts 20 min Occitan pipe drone freakout, joyous psychedelic reworks of Polish folk dance, a harsh noise/bodhran mashup AND MORE
Lovely morning in the Greenwich mud, found my new favourite pipe with a mysterious figure carved into the side, another with a lovely thistle
February 4, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Lovely morning in the Greenwich mud, found my new favourite pipe with a mysterious figure carved into the side, another with a lovely thistle
New Silvia Tarozzi is absolutely sublime
Lucciole, by Silvia Tarozzi
15 track album
silviatarozzi.bandcamp.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:50 AM
New Silvia Tarozzi is absolutely sublime
😤
The Bristol Christ
YouTube video by Brenda Wootton - Topic
www.youtube.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:43 PM
😤
Reliably on brand
January 21, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reliably on brand
I'm (obviously) all for people paying so that quality music journalism can continue, but surely P4K's 'readers-pay-to-review-albums' thing just devalues its own writers? I want the music journalism I read to be an authoritative voice to cut through noise, not yet another social media debate vessel
January 20, 2026 at 5:10 PM
I'm (obviously) all for people paying so that quality music journalism can continue, but surely P4K's 'readers-pay-to-review-albums' thing just devalues its own writers? I want the music journalism I read to be an authoritative voice to cut through noise, not yet another social media debate vessel
I can't handle any more albums of pleasantly distorted saxophone loops. Thank you but I am full.
January 19, 2026 at 4:39 PM
I can't handle any more albums of pleasantly distorted saxophone loops. Thank you but I am full.
From the way I'm feeling this morning, I'm starting to wonder whether the independently brewed stouts consumed last night shouldn't have tasted quite so much like beef McCoys
January 15, 2026 at 10:38 AM
From the way I'm feeling this morning, I'm starting to wonder whether the independently brewed stouts consumed last night shouldn't have tasted quite so much like beef McCoys
Reposted by Patrick Clarke
'Whether an angular groove so watertight that it can serve as a song’s foundation, or a little lick of slide guitar that ups the sweetness just the right amount, Dry Cleaning have never felt so closely intertwined, nor as broad in their capabilities'
Dry Cleaning - Secret Love
buff.ly/Glktbc9
Dry Cleaning - Secret Love
buff.ly/Glktbc9
January 13, 2026 at 5:02 PM
'Whether an angular groove so watertight that it can serve as a song’s foundation, or a little lick of slide guitar that ups the sweetness just the right amount, Dry Cleaning have never felt so closely intertwined, nor as broad in their capabilities'
Dry Cleaning - Secret Love
buff.ly/Glktbc9
Dry Cleaning - Secret Love
buff.ly/Glktbc9
Horrible, horrible news. RIP Matt.
Founding Black Midi guitarist Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin has died, aged 26
January 12, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Horrible, horrible news. RIP Matt.
Today is 10 years to the day since I started at @thequietus.com as an intern (!)
here’s me around then, greasy and hungover and looking annoyed about something in the dodgy stairwell leading up to the freezing old office
here’s me around then, greasy and hungover and looking annoyed about something in the dodgy stairwell leading up to the freezing old office
January 10, 2026 at 10:05 AM
Today is 10 years to the day since I started at @thequietus.com as an intern (!)
here’s me around then, greasy and hungover and looking annoyed about something in the dodgy stairwell leading up to the freezing old office
here’s me around then, greasy and hungover and looking annoyed about something in the dodgy stairwell leading up to the freezing old office
Reposted by Patrick Clarke
I felt dreadfully.
December 10, 2025 at 3:47 PM
I felt dreadfully.
Shovel Dance on very fine form indeed at this year’s festive show, my favourite part of the Christmas gig onslaught 4 years in a row
December 10, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Shovel Dance on very fine form indeed at this year’s festive show, my favourite part of the Christmas gig onslaught 4 years in a row
Personally, in terms of physical/mental health, housing, loss of loved ones, skintness, creative knockbacks etc, 2025 was deeply grim
It might be trite to say, but helping build the best AOTY chart and full of so much good music that I really believe in means that even still 2025 ends on a high
It might be trite to say, but helping build the best AOTY chart and full of so much good music that I really believe in means that even still 2025 ends on a high
Hark! The Quietus Albums of 2025 chart is here! Prepare to be astounded, thrilled and (potentially) perplexed. tQ subscribers can also dive into selections from all 100 albums in our bumper 9-hour playlist. #tQCharts
What have been your top picks of the year?
buff.ly/sltLcA7
What have been your top picks of the year?
buff.ly/sltLcA7
December 2, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Personally, in terms of physical/mental health, housing, loss of loved ones, skintness, creative knockbacks etc, 2025 was deeply grim
It might be trite to say, but helping build the best AOTY chart and full of so much good music that I really believe in means that even still 2025 ends on a high
It might be trite to say, but helping build the best AOTY chart and full of so much good music that I really believe in means that even still 2025 ends on a high
tQAOTY is here plz read it’s a killer list
Hark! The Quietus Albums of 2025 chart is here! Prepare to be astounded, thrilled and (potentially) perplexed. tQ subscribers can also dive into selections from all 100 albums in our bumper 9-hour playlist. #tQCharts
What have been your top picks of the year?
buff.ly/sltLcA7
What have been your top picks of the year?
buff.ly/sltLcA7
December 1, 2025 at 10:39 AM
tQAOTY is here plz read it’s a killer list
Bonus bump for my latest folk music column for The Quietus - plz read if you enjoy radical and interesting and strange takes on traditional music and/or instrumentation thanks
The new edition of my folk music column has just come out on
@thequietus.com! 10 of my favourite new releases, from abstract banjo freakouts to Japanese court music via Herefordshire hauntings, the King of Zulu Guitar, Occitan psychedelia and much much more!
(this time with the correct link)
@thequietus.com! 10 of my favourite new releases, from abstract banjo freakouts to Japanese court music via Herefordshire hauntings, the King of Zulu Guitar, Occitan psychedelia and much much more!
(this time with the correct link)
Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Autumn, by Patrick Clarke | The Quietus
The room that is now Dalston’s EartH Theatre first opened as a cinema in 1936, five years before the birth of Martin Carthy. In the decades since both man and room have endured swings in fortune. One ...
thequietus.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Bonus bump for my latest folk music column for The Quietus - plz read if you enjoy radical and interesting and strange takes on traditional music and/or instrumentation thanks
I absolutely love the latest entry in our new North American music column
My absolute fave MaxelleTalena has her first piece up at The Quietus this week and it’s a doozy: trü underground nyc noise and pop narcotics, w/ H20 and Michael Rappaport slander thrown in for taste. I guarantee that this is the stuff not covered anywhere else. thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
North American Music: tQ in New York City, by Maxelle Talena
New York isn’t dead, says Maxelle Talena in the latest of tQ’s dispatches from the North American underground. It’s being killed.
thequietus.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:52 AM
I absolutely love the latest entry in our new North American music column
Just seen this band live at the Windmill and it’s blown my head clean off - they’re doing Bristol, Liverpool and Leeds next and if you live even slightly near those places you’d be insane not to go
Always the way that as soon as EOY list season is done I come across something that would have been straight in my top 10 - this rager from Detroit via Lebanon is fucking ACE
prostituteband.bandcamp.com/album/attemp...
prostituteband.bandcamp.com/album/attemp...
Attempted Martyr, by Prostitute
9 track album
prostituteband.bandcamp.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Just seen this band live at the Windmill and it’s blown my head clean off - they’re doing Bristol, Liverpool and Leeds next and if you live even slightly near those places you’d be insane not to go
Reposted by Patrick Clarke
#Folk fans! 🥁🥁🥁
More of that Radical Traditional from @paddyclarke.bsky.social — always essential nourishment.
Really glad to see Greet on there – we performed in Lore last year with him (www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/lore/). Not to mention them Goblins, who we had a show with in Colchester Castle...
More of that Radical Traditional from @paddyclarke.bsky.social — always essential nourishment.
Really glad to see Greet on there – we performed in Lore last year with him (www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/lore/). Not to mention them Goblins, who we had a show with in Colchester Castle...
One of my favourite regulars on @thequietus.com is deputy ed @paddyclarke.bsky.social's folk column, this month opening with fine reflections on a recent event devoted to Martin Carthy. Looking forward to digging into the ten contemporary selections that follow too:
thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Autumn, by Patrick Clarke | The Quietus
The room that is now Dalston’s EartH Theatre first opened as a cinema in 1936, five years before the birth of Martin Carthy. In the decades since both man and room have endured swings in fortune. One ...
thequietus.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:50 PM
#Folk fans! 🥁🥁🥁
More of that Radical Traditional from @paddyclarke.bsky.social — always essential nourishment.
Really glad to see Greet on there – we performed in Lore last year with him (www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/lore/). Not to mention them Goblins, who we had a show with in Colchester Castle...
More of that Radical Traditional from @paddyclarke.bsky.social — always essential nourishment.
Really glad to see Greet on there – we performed in Lore last year with him (www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/lore/). Not to mention them Goblins, who we had a show with in Colchester Castle...
Reposted by Patrick Clarke
The new edition of my folk music column has just come out on
@thequietus.com! 10 of my favourite new releases, from abstract banjo freakouts to Japanese court music via Herefordshire hauntings, the King of Zulu Guitar, Occitan psychedelia and much much more!
(this time with the correct link)
@thequietus.com! 10 of my favourite new releases, from abstract banjo freakouts to Japanese court music via Herefordshire hauntings, the King of Zulu Guitar, Occitan psychedelia and much much more!
(this time with the correct link)
Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Autumn, by Patrick Clarke | The Quietus
The room that is now Dalston’s EartH Theatre first opened as a cinema in 1936, five years before the birth of Martin Carthy. In the decades since both man and room have endured swings in fortune. One ...
thequietus.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:14 PM
The new edition of my folk music column has just come out on
@thequietus.com! 10 of my favourite new releases, from abstract banjo freakouts to Japanese court music via Herefordshire hauntings, the King of Zulu Guitar, Occitan psychedelia and much much more!
(this time with the correct link)
@thequietus.com! 10 of my favourite new releases, from abstract banjo freakouts to Japanese court music via Herefordshire hauntings, the King of Zulu Guitar, Occitan psychedelia and much much more!
(this time with the correct link)