Folk
News: Lanterns on the Lake announce live dates, plus rescheduled release
“One for the introverts and dreamers, the ones that still find beauty and magic in things” Now, technically speaking, we at Backseat Mafia have already previewed this back in October, ahead of a physical release on December 11th, but, this being 2020, nothing is ever that straightforward, so, this has now been rescheduled to 18th December …
Feature: The 50 best albums of 2020
Well, it’s been a bit of a year, hasn’t it? Global pandemics, George Floyd, environmental issues, terrorism, dissatisfaction with those in charge, not least in the ongoing (it seems) fallout from the American Presidential election. None of that has stopped artists from all persuasions and genres making some fantastic music over the last 12 months. …
Track: Benjamin Lazar Davis releases new track ‘What if I’
You may have picked up on Benjamin Lazar Davis from his 2018 debut ‘Nothing Matters’, an impressively carefree collection of contemporary song-writing, rhythmic heartbeats and lush musical landscapes. Or maybe you latched onto the surging electronic soul pop of his earlier ‘Let it be You’ collaboration with Joan Wasser (Joan As A Policewoman). Or you …
PREMIERE: Ben Eisenberger – ‘Soloists’: hear a set of warming folk grace from Omaha tunesmith
Beautiful and drawing respectfully on a number of strands in the wider folk pantheon, Ben’s songwriting, arranging talents and his musicianship pull this record into a pretty special place indeed
TRACK: Becca Mancari – ‘I’m Sorry’
HAZY music is indeed the trademark of Captured Tracks, so that Becca Mancari has made another turn towards an increasingly layered Americana for her debut with the label is no surprise. The New York songwriter is now presenting a new single and video from The Greatest Part, which she released in June; “I’m Sorry” is …
TRACK: Leif Vollebekk – ‘Long Blue Light’: beautiful alt.folk from Montreal
CANADA’S Leif Vollebekk is another excellent alt.folk singer-songwriter in a country that seems, these past few years, to produce them just for fun. Andy Shauf, Patrick Watson, Yves Jarvis, Sing Leaf … there’s so much delicate and necessary songsmithery being produced north of the 49th parallel. He’s just released a digital two-track EP, “Long Blue …
TRACKS: Erland Cooper – ‘Landform’: a digital companion to the Orkney trilogy
ORCADIAN soundscaper and composer Erland Cooper has today released one final digitally streamed companion piece to accompany his beautiful Orkney Triptych. Take a listen below. Its a seven-track, 35-minute ambient accompaniment to his most recent album, Hether Blether with the tracks entitled “Cairn I” to “Cairn VII”, for which he collaborated with artist, producer and …
Premiere: Sasha & The Shades release the Dark beauty of ‘Falling’
South London’s Sasha & The Shades are rounding off the year with a new single, out on December 4th titled ‘Falling’, and we’re delighted to premiere it right here on Backseat Mafia today. As with many artists, 2020 has been a debilitating year, and with shows and festivals cancelled, front man Sasha Adamczewski, who has …
NEWS: Gazelle Twin & NYX announce March album – hear their distention of The Wicker Man’s ‘Fireleap’
GAZELLE TWIN: love her or baffled by her, you cannot deny the deep, artful, playful, pranksterish, eerie, sheer damn potency of her work. The creative extension of composer Elizabeth Bernholz, her last album, Pastoral, held a mirror up to the steadfast old folk tales and traditions of Merrie England, fucked that mirror into unimaginable and truer …