Doom rock pioneer, influential drone-master, occultist and professed anglophile, Dylan Carlson ov Earth comissioned by the Southern studios on 16th April, 2012 to record six covers and one original song, found on his latest Drcarlsonalbion issue. Accompanied by Teresa Colamonaco on vocals and Jodie Cox on guitar, 'La Strega and The Cunning Man In The Smoke' continues a progression from his ace instrumental recordings for The Tapeworm to the more recent, collaboration-oriented work 'Modern English Folklore Volume One: Hackney'. Aside from the cover of PJ Harvey's 'Last Living Rose' we'd struggle to inform you what the other versions are, but that's by the by. It's really all about that famous tone which Carlson coaxes from his guitar; a deserted, windswept sound which has influenced everyone from Kurt Cobain to Raime and long been at the heart of Earth's pyroclastic flow of releases over the last two decades. We hear it in full effect beneath Teresa's unadorned vocals amidst unfurling mists of the title track and subtly accompanied by Jodie Cox in the low-lying, melancholic sprawl of 'The Faery Round' on the A-side, whilst the eldritch folk themes are more prominent in 'Reynardine', next to the carefully plotted covers of 'Little Woman' and 'Wicked Anabella'. In all, it's a well measured mixture of expansive Americana and English folk, the likes of which we've not heard executed quite in this way before.