Folk
Meet: Jessica Davies from Smoke Fairies
After a critically acclaimed debut album Smoke Fairies seemed on the fast track to success but a more a muted response to their second record Blood Speaks sparked a crisis of confidence. It promoted Jessica Davies to turn to band mate Katherine Blamire, and pose the difficult question – was it time for them to …
Track: Meesh – Lake/Endings/Glenn
I first came across Meesh last December, attracted in a sort of anti-Mumford and Sons fashion by their self-labelling of their music as anti-folk. Despite this label, their music was a little bit folky, but I loved it nonetheless (see my earlier review). They have just released three new songs, available to download for free, …
News: Final Cambridge Folk Festival line-up announced
Singing Scottish twins The Proclaimers are the latest big name added to the Cambridge Folk Festival bill joining veteran peacenik Joan Baez, posh troubadour Frank Turner, Joan Armatrading and Wilko Johnson who has recovered from his cancer scare. But if you want to go you’d better be quick as the strong bill means Saturday day …
Album Review: Stornoway – Bonxie
Oxford four-piece Stornoway are back with a new album called ‘Bonxie’, released on 13th April through Cooking Vinyl. It’s the first of Stornoway’s albums to take the services of a producer, their previous releases being very much DIY efforts, but not DIY in quality I hasten to add. The producer in question is none other …
Track: Jenny Hval releases That Battle Is Over, ahead of her new album Apocalypse, Girl
Already the veteran of albums under her own name and her guise of Rockettothesky, as well as being the singer of gothic metal band Shellyz Raven in her younger days, Norwegian singer songwriter is preparing to release her third studio album ‘Apocalypse, Girl’ on June 8th via Sacred Bones. Ahead of it, she’s released a …
Live: The Unthanks at Leeds Irish Centre
It seems unfair these days to label The Unthanks a folk band when they have clearly moved way past the restrictive traditions of that genre which all too often puts people off engaging with our nation’s indigenous music. They are on the road touring their new album Mount The Air and the dynamic live version …
Track: Folk troubadour Sam Lee releases new song, Blackbird.
Travelling the UK, Sam Lee has collected and reinvented folk song and story. His creations are inspiring a new generation of folk musicians to explore, adapt and experiment with folk and sound. Blackbird is Romany in origin and was imparted by May Bradley of Shropshire, passing on her cultural roots. The tale told in Blackbird has not lost its …
Not Forgotten – The Music Career of Leonard Nimoy
The sad passing of Leonard Simon Nimoy will inevitably result in many obituaries re-analysing his film career both in front and behind the career. Quite how many of those same obituaries will go into any depth about his five album music career which stretched from 1967 to 1970 remains to be seen. Much like his …
Live review: King Charles, Hebden Bridge Trades Club. 13/2/15
It might have been Friday the 13th, but for King Charles’ hardcore band of fans it wasn’t unlucky as he turned in a powerful greatest hits set with some new tracks thrown in. There’s some serious money behind Charles Costa – who has one minor hit behind him – as there is a double decker …
Not Forgotten: Elliott Smith – either/or
It was a movie that first brought my attention to Elliott Smith. On watching Good Will Hunting in 1998 I heard some remarkable songs on the soundtrack that I didn’t know. It was Miss Misery playing over the end credits that particularly caught my attention. I loved it so much that I stayed to the …