Part 6 of our Best Albums of 2013 is our final albums list. It wasn’t an easy task coming up with a list of the best, as I’ve said before, we only review music that we love which makes things like this extra difficult. We’ve only included albums we’ve covered (reviews / news) or given airplay to.
In the final list I’ve also included some re-issues or ‘Best of’ releases which we thought were also very worthy of appearing here, many of which featured previously unreleased recordings.
I’ve also included a complete list below of all the albums included over this ‘Best of’ series.
All of the links go to articles that include multimedia (to get a taster). I purposefully did not include audio/video etc. for every entry due to the overall load times for youtube, soundcloud etc.
The Urban Folk Quartet – UFQ Live II
Having been to the first leg of the recording of this new UFQ Live II CD, it feels great to reconnect with this supremely talented foursome, a band that lives up to its promises.
Review
The Gentle Good – Y Bardd Anfarwol
Y Bardd Anfarwol is the latest offering from The Gentle Good, a record which sounds new and fresh, as delicate as a watercolour yet with the energy of a master calligrapher’s work.
Review
Benjamin William Pike – Being & Nothingness
Benjamin William Pike is both an outstanding guitarist and songwriter. His Mattie Foulds’ produced debut CD, Being & Nothingness, is a very worthy end of year list album.
Review
Blowzabella – Strange News
Celebrating 35 years of incredible music making, Blowzabella released an excellent new album, Strange News, featuring four songs and some of the most outstanding tunes you’ll hear…ever!
Review
Devon Sproule & Mike O’Neill – Colours
American chanteuse Devon Sproule teamed up with Mike O’Neill and released Colours, an album that sounded like they’d been playing together for years!
RM Hubbert – Breaks & Bone
RM Hubbert’s ‘Breaks & Bone’, the final instalment of a trilogy, demands to be listened to in its entirety and acts as a perfect denouement to a fascinating series of records.
Review
Doug Tielli – Keresley
Doug Tielli picked out Kersley’s idiosyncrasies and made them into a beautiful and wide-ranging collection of songs that for all their strangeness and stylistic audacity sound as if they were plucked from the rain-soaked ground.
Review
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – You Have Already Gone To The Other World
A Hawk and a Hacksaw do not disappoint on their latest release You Have Already Gone To The Other World. The opener is like a portal and once you cross it you’re in another world. A magical album!
Review
Kathryn Williams – Crown Electric
Kathryn Williams’ new album Crown Electric unites disparate elements from the simple to the complex, light and dark, loud and quiet through musicianship & gorgeous singing. You need this record in your life.
Review
Jason Isbell – Southeastern
Southeastern was Jason Isbell’s fourth studio album since leaving the Drive by Truckers, an album of outstanding song writing and a pleasure to add this to our list.
Review
Israel Nash Gripka – Rain Plans
Israel Nash Gripka’s release ‘Rain Plans’ is music that knows no bounds, rich and complex and just a little mysterious. But the pleasure of a mystery is surely to unravel its secrets…
Review
Breabach – Ùrlar
On Ùrlar Breabach brought together varied aspects of the Scots tradition with contemporary compositions…executed by five musicians at the top of their game, both individually and collectively.
Review
David A. Jaycock – Ten Songs
Ten Songs is hailed by James Yorkston as the best album of the year so far…David A. Jaycock has crafted an album that is eerie, eclectic and often beautiful. It deserves to bring him wider acclaim.
Review
Charlie Parr – Barnswallow
Charlie Parr’s latest release ‘Barnswallow’ is a lovingly executed album that comes across as authentic, organic and honed from a deep-rooted love of the music….and it’s all true.
Review
Lonesome Southern Comfort Company – The Big Hunt
From the Swiss Italian come the Lonesome Southern Comfort Company, the vision of John Robianni and crew offering a brooding, intense take on the classic Americana sound.
Review & Interview
Anaïs Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer – Child Ballads
Anais Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer who whilst both being from across the Atlantic demonstrated a love for British folk music. Their Child Ballads album was played a lot over 2013 by Folk Radio UK and their UK tour went down a treat.
Performing at Cecil Sharp House.
Re-Issues and Best of Albums
There was certainly no shortage of Re-issues and special ‘Best of’ releases in 2013. Two have already been covered (Lal Waterson – Teach me to be a Summer’s Morning & Live At Caffe Lena : Music From America’s Legendary Coffeehouse, 1967-2013) and there were a few others that caught my eye that are worthy of a mention:
Eliza Carthy – Wayward Daughter
Eliza Carthy’s new compilation Wayward Daughter featured stunning tracks from across her 21 year career which spans from folk music to to the four corners of the musical compass. Bewitching and utterly brilliant!
Review | Interview
Jim Moray – Sweet England (10th Anniversary Edition)
Jim Moray celebrated his 10th Anniversary in style with a reissued his debut album Sweet England. Jim was just 21 when he made the album in his student bedroom. He also produced, engineered and every instrument was played almost entirely by Moray.
Anniversary Article
John Martyn – The Island Years
John Martyn – The Island Years was a significant collection of his music that illustrated perfectly the many journeys his muse took him on…John Martyn’s finest years.
Review
The Band – Live at The Academy of Music 1971
The quality of the new 4CD+DVD release ‘The Band – Live at the Academy of Music 1971′ sounds fabulous and must surely rate consideration as their best record alongside ‘Rock of Ages’.
Review
Dave Van Ronk – Down in Washington Square (Boxset)
Compiled by Smithsonian archivist Jeff Place this Boxset really has done justice to the legendary Dave Van Ronk and whilst the Coen Brothers Inside Llewyn Davis may draw a light towards Van Ronk, Smithsonian Folkways created a well researched and brilliantly presented masterpiece.
More about Dave Van Ronk
The Complete List: Best Albums of 2013
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – You Have Already Gone To The Other World
Aidan O’Rourke – Hotline
Alasdair Roberts & Friends – A Wonder Working Stone
Alasdair Roberts and Robin Robertson – Hirta Songs
Allysen Callery – Mumblin’ Sue
Anaïs Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer – Child Ballads
Arborea – Fortress of the Sun
Barrule – Barrule
Bella Hardy – battleplan
Benjamin William Pike – Being & Nothingness
Billy Bragg – Tooth & Nail
Blowzabella – Strange News
Blue Rose Code – North Ten
Breabach – Ùrlar
Cara Luft – Darlingford
Carthy, Hardy, Farrell and Young – Laylam
Charlie Parr – Barnswallow
Chris Wood – None The Wiser
Cocos Lovers – Gold or Dust
Dan Haywood – Dapple
Dave Van Ronk – Down in Washington Square (Box set)
David A. Jaycock – Ten Songs
David Rotheray – Answer Ballads
Devon Sproule & Mike O’Neill – Colours
Doug Tielli – Keresley
Ducie – MANCUNIA
eagleowl – This Silent Year
Éamonn Coyne & Kris Drever – Storymap
Eliza Carthy – Wayward Daughter
Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo – Dear River
Emma Sweeney – Pangea
Erica Buettner – True Love And Water
Farriers – Years Ago In Our Backyard
Faustus – Broken Down Gentlemen
Fionn Regan – The Bunkhouse Vol. I: Anchor Black Tattoo
Gavin Davenport – The Bone Orchard
Georgia Ruth – Week of Pines
Gill Sandell – Light The Boats
Grey Reverend – A Hero’s Lie
Heidi Talbot – Angels Without Wings
Iain Morrison – To the Horizon, Sir
Israel Nash Gripka – Rain Plans
Jack Day – The First Ten
Jackie Oates – Lullabies
Jason Isbell – Southeastern
Jim Moray – Sweet England (10th Anniversary Edition)
John Martyn – The Island Years
John Smith – Great Lakes
Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker – Fire & Fortune
Kathryn Williams – Crown Electric
Katy Carr – Paszport
Lal Waterson – Teach me to be a Summer’s Morning
Linda Thompson – Won’t Be Long Now
Lisa Knapp – Hidden Seam
Live At Caffe Lena : Music From America’s Legendary Coffeehouse, 1967-2013
Lo’jo – Cinéma El Mundo
Lonesome Southern Comfort Company – The Big Hunt
Lord Huron – Lonesome Dreams
Lucy Ward – Single Flame
M G Boulter – The Water Or The Wave
Martin Simpson – Vagrant Stanzas
Megan Wyler – The Fraying
Ólöf Arnalds – Sudden Elevation
Phosphorescent – Muchacho
Reason To Believe – The Songs of Tim Hardin
Richard Thompson – Electric
Rick Redbeard – No Selfish Heart
RM Hubbert – Breaks & Bone
Rob Heron & The Teapad Orchestra – Money Isn’t Everything
Roddy Woomble – Listen to Keep
Ruth Theodore – Dear Lamp Love Moth
Sam Amidon – Bright Sunny South
Sean Taylor – Chase The Night
Serafina Steer – The Moths are Real
Sharron Kraus – Pilgrim Chants and Pastoral Trails
Southern Tenant Folk Union – Hello Cold Goodbye Sun
Steve Martin & Edie Brickell – Love Has Come For You
The Band – Live at The Academy of Music 1971
The Black Twig Pickers – Rough Carpenters
The Full English – The Full English
The Gentle Good – Y Bardd Anfarwol
The John Langan Band – Bones Of Contention
The Leisure Society – Alone Aboard The Ark
The Memory Band – On The Chalk (Our Navigation of the Line of the Downs)
The Paul McKenna Band – Elements
The R G Morrison – Diamond Valley
The Self Help Group – Not Waving, But Drowning
The Urban Folk Quartet – UFQ Live II
The Willows – Beneath Our Humble Soil
Thirty Pounds of Bone – I Cannot Sing You Here, But For Songs Of Where
Way to Blue – The Songs of Nick Drake
Willard Grant Conspiracy – Ghost Republic