The Best Folk Music on CD or Vinyl 2025

1. Remembering Merle

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Remembering Merle

2. Nightfall

Nightfall

Nightfall

3. Songs of Love and Hate (CD) by Leonard Cohen

CD. Songs of Love and Hate is one of Leonard Cohen's most emotionally intense albums -- which, given the nature of Cohen's body of work, is no small statement. While the title Songs of Love and Hate sums up the album's themes accurately enough, it's hardly as simple as that description might lead you to expect -- in these eight songs, "love" encompasses the physical ("Last Year's Man"), the emotional ("Famous Blue Raincoat"), and the spiritual ("Joan of Arc"), and the contempt in songs like "Dress Rehearsal Rag" and "Avalanche" is the sort of venom that can only come from someone who once cared very deeply. The sound of the album is clean and uncluttered, and for the most part the music stays out of the way of the lyrics, which dominate the songs. Thankfully, Cohen had grown noticeably as a singer since his first two albums, and if he hardly boasts a range to rival Roy Orbison here, he is able to bring out the subtleties of "Joan of Arc" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" in a way his previous work would not have led you to expect. And while Bob Johnston's production is spare, it's spare with a purpose, letting Cohen's voice and guitar tell their stories and using other musicians for intelligent, emotionally resonant punctuation (Paul Buckmaster's unobtrusive string arrangements and the use of a children's chorus are especially inspired). And Songs of Love and Hate captured Cohen in one of his finest hours as a songwriter, and the best selections (especially "Famous Blue Raincoat," "Joan of Arc," and "Love Calls You by Your Name") rank with the most satisfying work of his career. If Songs of Love and Hate isn't Cohen's best album, it comes close enough to be essential to anyone interested in his work. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Songs of Love and Hate (CD) by Leonard Cohen

4. Lord Invader, Duke Of Iron, MacBeth The Great, Etc. - Calypso After Midnight (marked/ltd stock) - CD

A calypso concert sponsored by People's Songs and hosted by Alan Lomax, with Lord Invader, the Duke of Iron, Macbeth the Great, and Gerald Clark and his Invaders, performed in December 1946 at New York's Town Hall during the post-World War II calypso boom in the United States. This CD is a sentimental journey back to an historic performance of early calypso in the U.S. and back to the era when progressive politics and folk music were joined. The Concert and Radio Series: A series devoted to live concerts, radio shows, and programs produced by Alan Lomax. The Alan Lomax Collection: The Alan Lomax Collection gathers together the American, European, and Caribbean field recordings, worldmusic compilations, and ballad operas of writer, folklorist, and ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax.

(marked/ltd stock)

5. Live at the Cactus Cafe: What Was I Thinking?

Live at the Cactus Cafe: What Was I Thinking?

LIVE AT THE CACTUS CAFE: WHAT WAS I THINKING?

6. Awake Me in the New World

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Awake Me in the New World

7. John Renbourn - Traveler's Prayer - Music & Performance - CD

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TRAVELER'S PRAYER Music & Performance Shanachie

8. Truth Is Stranger Than Fishin

After years of accumulating original songs and polishing their performance, TFIA was in the first wave of artist-owned lhels when the CD revolution started and they produced Truth Is Stranger Than Fishin'. The three-time Grammy Award nominees were recently chosen by Performing Songwriter magazine as one of the 100 most influential independent artists in the past fifteen years, sandwiched between Phish and Widespread Panic.

After years of accumulating original songs and polishing their performance, TFIA was in the first wave of artist-owned labels when the CD revolution started and they produced Truth Is Stranger Than Fishin . The three-time Grammy Award nominees were recently chosen by Performing Songwriter magazine as one of the 100 most influential independent artists in the past fifteen years, sandwiched between Phish and Widespread Panic. SKU : ADIB000003JX7

9. The New Lost City Ramblers - Early Years 1958-62 - Music & Performance - CD

The first, and certainly the most prominent of the old timey revival bands! This outstanding collection includes 26 cuts from 12 albums by the original band, which included Mike Seeger, John Cohen and Tom Paley. Over 70 minutes of music in all!

EARLY YEARS 1958-1962 Music & Performance Smithsonian Folkways

10. Something Passing Through

Debut album from Austin, TX singer/songwriter & guitarist who has become a folk femme fatale after being trained as a classical guitarist; she has biting humor & dark introspection on 10 originals & 3 covers.

Something Passing Through