redfiona99

- The basic set up for the show is that there's a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost sharing a house. So far, so sitcom zany. Only it isn't about that, it's about how they got there and where they go from there, and existence, and it's nicely dark and mildly twisted underneath it's comedy exterior. The writing is occasionally clunky, and the acting is off every now and again, but it's still probably the best thing on UK TV at the moment, partly because it reaches beyond its or our comfort zones. I love it dearly. Even with new Mitchell.

The pilot was probably still the best episode but episode 3 almost matches it and I've heard good things about episode 6.

- First of all, may I apologise for my British Isles bias. It's the music I was brought up with (along with classical music). My Mum was an old folkie from back in the day, so that's what was on most of her tapes. She's a Scotophile, so it was mostly Scottish folk music, and that's why the only national anthem I know all the words to is the Scottish one, which is Flower of Scotland, no matter what anyone else would have you believe. Because, originally, it was a song by the Corries, who are probably my Mum's favourite band. Their version - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyx1xeZo_tk

The version, as done properly, by 15 good men, strong and true, up against the Sassenach foe at Murrayfield park, backed up by the rest of the Stadium - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA6cnXFiE6I

I have heard it done better but once, when it was Ronnie Brown (the Corrie with the beard), the 15 men and Hampden park, and I can't find a video of it.

My mother's fondness for such things didn't end at Scotland. As I grew older, the Dubliners were introduced into my listening. There are some similarities between the music of the two places. Not least of all because several songs were done by bands in both places because of population and cultural drift. Whether the lady is Spanish or from Ettrick, I'll leave to your decision (Ettrick Lady- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtbBv-9JL98 , Spanish Lady- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmm7u7Z7kPU). The Dubliners also happened to have recorded my favourite version of 'Rare Old Times' one of my top three favourite songs of all time, and the only song that will reduce me to tears no matter what circumstance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T7OaDDR7i8

(I've seen them live.)

This use of songs from different countries is why Dirty Old Town (a song about Salford [Dubliners version - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCYpgVZ4HrE]) is a standard for most folk bands, as is the Leaving of Liverpool [Very young Dubliners - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY2F7E-_Bxg], as well as actually English folk bands. For example, the Houghton Weavers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drRZNcouO4k

(I've seen them live.)

And Norcsalordie - Leaving of Liverpool - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8lBVlg1e94 They were chosen entirely because I've seen them live too.

Each part of the UK has its own sounds, the Houghton Weavers are from Lancashire, Norcsalordie are from Leicestershire, Seth Lakeman is from Dartmoor - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svlv7F8bgoQ

And he is awesome. And I haven't seen him live ... yet.

As I got even older, I was introduced to the Wolfe Tones, on the understanding that my Grandmother must never know, because while she was well aware that my Mother learnt Irish rebel songs at her father's knee, she wasn't to find out that I was learning them at my mother's.

Not to be played around anyone who is likely to be offended. The Ballad of James Connolly - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYH5h-5Dz40

My Mother's folkiness did extend further, not least of all to Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and Joan Baez.

Dylan (ft Baez) - With God On Our Side - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbw2GD0t3T4 Which as we all know is based on an Irish folk song.

Baez - It Ain't Me, Be - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cmNRVL1drA Which is all about not getting married. My views on matrimony may have been somewhat formed by this and it's ilk. I blame my Mother, I've known the words to this for far too long.

Seeger - What Did You Learn In School Today? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VucczIg98Gw

This fusion of new ideas with old styles is one of the things I like about folk music, and it's certainly one of the reasons why I like the Pogues.

Pogue feat. Dubliners - Irish Rover - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHDX9qb2-BQ

and all their spiritual descendents such as the Dropkick Murphys (Spicy McHaggis Jig - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZN3weW1udE) and Flogging Molly - Kilburn High - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNkkudZ_eGk

(I've seen Flogging Molly live too.)

Some folkies haven't gone semi or fully electric.

Billy Bragg - Milkman of Human Kindness - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Goxm0x4dTw

Loudon Wainwright III, my fondness for him gets me funny looks when I point out that I like him a lot better than either of his children.

And so on.

We went to a tall ship's festival in Liverpool a couple of years ago, and one of the themes were sea shanties, with contributors from the Isles, France, the US and Canada, because as with genetics, sailors spread their songs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQzVhVZvdn4

because that's one of the things, every place has it's folk music, and if your place has any you'd like to suggest, feel free to, at any point, I like hearing new things.

Random rec - Tinariwen, whose thing is Toureg folk songs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhlVVuxnRwc&feature=PlayList&p=AF48503CBE935E7F&index=0&playnext=1

While there are lots of new folk performers (see also Seth Lakeman), it's also wiggled its way into lots of other formats, for instance, I still say 'To Have and Have Not' by Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards is one of the best folk songs of the past 10 years - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHE4e5As3Q4

Rap - 'Never Went to Church on Sundays' The Streets - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu3y_BrewFs

Even metal (System of a Down, loudly proclaim their folk influences - Chop Suey - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdRd3k4CIAg)

So, what makes a song a folk song. To me, it's a specificness to detail. Pop songs, even the good ones, gain a level of their power from being universal, we've all felt happy, we've all felt sad, and folk songs tap into this too, but rather than being about a generic girl/guy or situation, they're about a specific one.

To use some of the examples in this post - Flower of Scotland, although it sweeps with an amazingly broad brush, could only be about Scotland (see the line about Proud Edward's army), the Ettrick/Spanish Lady has him riding into town at a specific time, Rare Old Time is all about Dublin changing through a man's lifetime and so on and so forth.

Even something as awesome as Words or Father and Son is generic. The devil, or rather the folk, is in the details.