Jeffrey Silverstein’s understated elegance comes into full focus on “Doggone”, his fourth LP and first for Full Time Hobby. Recorded in Portland with local musicians and clocking in at just under half an hour, it’s as lean as it gets, and all the better for it. No notes are wasted.

American composer and theatre artist Sheherazaad has shared “Registaan”, from her debut album “Khudgarzi”, due November 20th on Erased Tapes. The live video was filmed and edited by Vincent Moon. In her words, the song is set in “a crass desertland wherein really lonely women emerge.”

Buck Curran’s “Illuminations” honours the poet Arthur Rimbaud. He plays slowly on a 2009 Stefan Sobell guitar and leaves plenty of space; each note oozes richness and resonance, while family and environment enter the sound, making the album feel like an homage to his Bergamo life and family as well. Stripped back and beautifully inviting, it is the purest, most honest expression of his music to date.

Toronto-based cellist and songwriter Kyla Marlena has shared “In Paint”, the latest single from her forthcoming debut album “Hold Time”. The song is about “the tension between wanting to outgrow our ingrained patterns and fearing the loss of control that comes with that, as well as the added complexity of navigating that alongside another person.” Watch the accompanying video she co-directed with Jo Hirabayashi.

Chuck Roth’s “Texture Songs” is a highly accomplished album that expertly blends experimental guitar playing that Derek Bailey would be proud of with lyrics and singing that feel intrinsic and organic to the sound, adding a pulse, a beating heart. It’s an impressive balance, sounding both effortless and exciting.

Brìghde Chaimbeul’s first Tiny Desk Concert for NPR has already clocked over 340k views. Shahzad Ismaily joins her on synths, which lend the performance a stronger experimental feel. The set has tracks from “Sunwise” and “Carry Them with Us”. We look back at her time on KLOF since 2016, starting with the Radio 2 Young Folk Award.

For our latest “Off the Shelf” feature, Good Habits’ Bonnie Schwarz and Pete Shaw, whose new album “Better for Now” is a KLOF Mag Featured Album of the Month, choose ten objects from home. They include a stable door, a Mozart Mouse and a Beethoven Bear…there’s also a healthy discussion on whether art needs to have a story in order for it to make a connection.

With “Everything in Readiness”, Shovel Dance Collective have combined vision and virtuosity, intuitive gristle and scholastic rigour to create the best folk album of the year. This is folk music in its most potent form. By allowing itself to be hybridised and mongrelised by other influences, they are getting closer to what’s most vital and true about the form.