Catalllog entry: "elllegy" by the olllam
Thoughts
With Spotify Wrapped dropping earlier this week, it only feels fair that I write an entry for my 2024 most-played artist, which is impressive given that I didn't even know they existed until the middle of May. the olllam are something of a pop-folk supergroup, if that even makes sense. It's led by two pipers (yes, like the one of the "pied" variety) and supported by a drummer, renowned funk bassist Joe Dart of Vulfpeck renown (link goes to a full 90-minute live set of theirs at Madison Square Garden, and it's worth every second of the watch), and a rotating cast of characters on a variety of instruments, including guitar, synth/organ/piano, and what I think must be a hurdy-gurdy at one point (though I'm less sure about that one).
The music of the olllam is decidedly folk music at its core, but that doesn't stop it from being a tour de force of incredible musicianship, featuring trippy odd-meter sections and virtuosic solos blended perfectly with earworm melodies and luscious soundscapes. Even if the blanket genre of "folk music" doesn't usually trip your trigger, you owe it to yourself to give these guys a listen if you have not done so. And hey, if nothing else that I said convinced you, then at least check them out because they've made enough of a musical impact in their space that Zedd featured them on one of his newest singles.
"Similar" acts
N.B. I swear I'm not doing this on purpose even though this makes two entries in a row, but there isn't really any group that sounds quite like the olllam. I'll give a few tangential suggestions, understanding that none of them quite scratch the same itch for me.
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is one of the very few acts that I think comes from the exact same tradition as the olllam (while still sounding pretty different), which is to say "traditional folk instrument(s), taken to their extreme by excellent musicians, all under the pretenses of a quasi-fusion band."
Not to insult the reader's intelligence here, but I'll close by giving a short list of artists that are listed as "Similar to the olllam" on Spotify, along with a one-sentence super snap judgment of their sound:
- Elephant Sessions, fiddle-led, a little more pop and less exciting IMO
- Talisk, leans a lot more folk and less modern, but good energy
- Project Smok is really similar from an orchestration standpoint, but it's a lot more middle-of-the-road, not necessarily in a good way.