Following on from the Top 100 albums and a number of personal Top 10s from our core reviewers, below are some of the other highlights of the year covering EPs, Compilations, Live Music Releases and Reissues. All these releases crossed my desk, but not all made it to review; I wrote about some in news pieces and featured others in Mixtapes and playlists.
Live Music Releases
Spell Songs – Gifts of Light (Hudson Records)
Gifts of Light is the first live album recorded by the Spell Songs collective, collating the very finest tracks from their critically acclaimed studio albums Spell Songs: The Lost Words (2019) and Spell Songs II: Let the Light In (2021). Recorded in front of live audiences in the majestic settings of the Hintze Hall of London’s Natural History Museum (2021) and Birmingham Symphony Hall (2022), respectively, the limitlessly talented septet astonish us with the beauty of live music and the splendour of our natural world with yet another breathtaking album. …At the confluence of light and dark, Gifts of Light is characterised by an uplifting vitality which soothes the soul, demonstrating the magic that results from combining live music with art and literature and representing collaborative music-making at its very finest.
Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert (Domino Records)
…Back in 1966, the rousing closer ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ was more like a battle cry, a defiant two-fingered salute to anyone who was failing or unwilling to keep pace with Bob’s relentless artistic forward momentum. Here, the roar that erupts at the song’s ending could not sound any more unanimous, an outpouring of love and gratitude deservedly raining down on a timeless set of music and an artist with the depth of understanding, integrity and feeling to pull it off. What a night this must have been.
OKI – Live at Café Oto (Mais Um)
As far as live music venues go, the work of Café Oto has always amazed me. They have held some great residencies (Xylouris White kick off their two-day residency from today) and have given voice to some incredible fringe artists over the years. A few years ago, I joined their digital subscription, which offers discounts and digital downloads. It’s through them I’ve discovered the likes of Old Heaven Books record label and bookshop based in Shenzhen, China (featured here), as well as numerous fringe artists.
I first came across OKI in 2006 thanks to the Irish group Kíla who released an album with him (Kila and OKI), a blend of Irish traditions with that of the Ainu culture – an indigenous people based in the far north of Japan whose culture has been suppressed for centuries. Much later, his 2022 album, Tonkori in the Moonlight, made waves, and, as part of the London Jazz Festival, this album was recorded live at Café Oto in 2022 and released this year (digital and cassette).
“This was a very special night for me. This tour we did in 2022 was great and it is always a joy to play with my family. We played different repertoire than I usually play with my Dub Ainu Band but always with the traditional rhythm structure from the tonkori. The tonkori is always behind the song – it is the foundation for the music. The feeling we got from the crowd was really warm – they liked our “family business”. OKI
Compilations
Various (Curated by Buck Curran) – Solstice: A Tribute to Steffen Basho-Junghans (Obsolete Recordings)
Buck Curran is, in a similar vein to Glenn Jones, a stalwart and academic of the guitar soli universe and a spellbinding musician. Buck is also a generous curator, being behind the wonderful Ten Years Gone: A Tribute to Jack Rose album that was released a few years back. Buck was a close friend of the wonderful Steffen Basho-Junghans, himself an ace instrumental acoustic guitar player and Robbie Basho scholar. Steffen sadly passed away last December, leaving a hole in the genre he loved and bequeathing Robbie Basho’s iconic, badly functioning Mexican twelve-string guitar to Buck, an obvious choice of recipient. Buck has now used the guitar to create two haunting slide pieces, bookending a broad compilation of tunes from players paying their respects to Steffen. The compilation also features Henry Kaiser, Joseph Allred, Liam Grant, Paul Pèrrim, E. Jason Gibbs, Rob Noyes, Kendraplex, Joost Dijkema, Jesse Sheppard, Paolo Laboule Novellino, Son of Buzzi, Isasa, D.C Cross, Blake Hornsby, Jeremy Nicholas, Shane Parish, Nick Jonah Davis, Ajay Saggar, Jakub Šimanský, and Pino Nuvola.
In Glenn’s words: This amount of musical quality and artistic depth is rarely found on one compilation; I urge you to purchase this remarkable collection immediately.
Imaginational Anthems Vol. XII: I thought I told You (Tompkins Square)
Back in September 2021, the music industry mourned the passing of the legendary singer-songwriter and guitarist Michael Chapman. A musician of the highest order who has influenced so many since he burst on the folk circuit in 1967 and released his debut album Rainmaker in 1969, it is only fitting that he be given a special tribute album.
Chapman was born in Leeds in 1941 and was a proud Yorkshireman his whole life, so it also seemed fitting to the guys at Tompkins Square (a label Micheal worked with extensively in his later years) gave I Thought I Told You a Yorkshire bent, therefore enlisting hotshot Yorkshire singer-songwriter-guitarist Henry Parker to curate the album and bring in other Northern English musicians to offer their own covers of Chapman songs. …I Thought I Told You is an adventurous and daring take on the tribute album. Each artist here brings something special to their chosen song and ensures it is more than just a respectful and respectable cover version of Michael’s. It adds freshness to the songs and offers a different perspective on many of them. It also makes this a fascinating and rewarding album.
Various – Playing for the Man at the Door (Smithsonian Folkways)
Review Extract: This is music that reverberates from rocks to rivers, from great plains to piney woods. It’s the wild wolflike blues, red in tooth and clawhammer. Rawness and reality, without the spit and polish of record label recordings. Every song tells a story, but behind these lie the actual artists whose life stories are often absorbing. CeDell Davis himself is a fascination. Badly disabled in his teens from polio and left on crutches, he relearned the guitar left-handed, using a silver case knife for his slide. His recordings on this compilation include the lovelorn grit of Darlin’ (You Know I Love You), some tough boogie-woogie on It’s Alright, whilst his parched vocals crack on the heartbroken Rollin’ And Tumblin’. Davis would lay his knife flat across the frets or at an angle for certain notes. He claimed to be a true original, and no one should doubt it.
Secret Museum of Mankind – Atlas of Instruments: Fiddles vol. 1 (Jalopy)
I was so blown away by this compilation that I tracked down a number of previous vinyl releases and they have been getting played a lot. The Secret Museum of Mankind – Atlas of Instruments, Fiddles, Vol. 1, is a far-ranging offering both in terms of history and music covering a vast array of countries from Crete to Madagascar – Mexico, England, Sicily, Norway, India, the USA, Cape Verde, China and more. It extends the beloved Secret Museum of Mankind series, which explores global music from the first half of the twentieth century, compiled by “a kind of ethnic-music scholastic… audiophile, guitarist, postal worker” (New York Times) Pat Conte since 1996; this new compilation marks the tenth volume. Since 2021 Jalopy Records have been home to the series, and they have kept the same design and feel. This gatefold package features liner notes booklet by curator Pat Conte, original drawings of rare and unique fiddles in Conte’s collection, by artist Jeff Tocci, and a selection of historic images of fiddlers, also curated by Conte and drawn from his collection. Audio restoration, mastering, and engineering was done by Don Fierro.
An aside: Who is Pat Conte? A common man, with an uncommon passion for music – uncommon enough that the suburban New Yorker has collected hundreds of exotic instruments from around the world, and photos and artefacts of musicians from other cultures. The video below was originally broadcast on September 24, 2000.
John McCusker – The Best Of (Under One Sky)
The cast list of musicians and singers on this release is, perhaps unsurprisingly, extensive. That said, there is a core of Scottish, English, and Irish players that John has worked with through almost all of the music on these two discs (having largely been brought together for Hourglass, Kate Rusby’s first solo album in 1997, and then Kate’s subsequent records for the next eight years). Virtually ever-present – album by album, if varying track by track – is Ian Carr on guitar (as far back as the first solo album), Mike McGoldrick on flute, whistle and uilleann pipes, and Andy Cutting on accordion. Regulars include Simon Thoumire on concertina (also on the first solo album), Phil Cunnigham on accordion (there is a track from Phil’s Christmas Songbook), Tim O’Brien on mandolin, Neil Yates on trumpet, James Mackintosh on drums and Ewen Vernal or Andy Seward on bass. Never far away are Duncan Chisholm on fiddle, John Doyle on guitar and Donald Shaw on keyboards. That large company provide a sense of coherence and continuity, and also, unsurprisingly, given the high calibre of musicianship, flexibility, inventiveness and ensemble playing capability that John has consistently made maximum use of.
What you hear consistently across all of these tracks is not in any sense flashy. John’s playing and production are always in service to the song or tune, and you also notice how empathetic he is to what his fellow musicians are doing. If you either aren’t familiar at all with John’s music or only know some aspects of his output, this 30th anniversary Best Of is an ideal introduction to the breadth and depth of one of the very best traditional musicians working today.
Real To Reel: Garech Browne & Claddagh Records (Claddagh Records)
This was so much more than a compilation and was one of the most beautifully presented box sets I’ve seen in a long time. This hardcover book, 12″ vinyl and poster presented in a rigid slipcase together chronicle the stories of both the world-renowned Claddagh Records record label and the extraordinary life of its founder Garech Browne. It includes Masters of Their Craft, an album featuring 17 remastered tracks from Claddagh Records’ immensely rich catalogue, including a never-before-released poem from Pulitzer Prize For Poetry and T.S. Eliot Prize-winning poet, Paul Muldoon. Alongside the album was Real to Reel: Garech Browne & Claddagh Records by James Morrissey – a large-format 228-page hardback book celebrating the life of Guinness heir Garech Browne and his quest to preserve Ireland’s musical and spoken-word heritage with Claddagh Records.
With contributions from President Michael D. Higgins, Bono, Garech’s housekeeper Margaret Traynor, his librarian Mary Hayes, friends Anthony Palliser, Tara MacGowran and Mary Finnegan, among others, this incredible book provides unprecedented insight into the life of one of Ireland’s most intriguing figures.
Real To Reel: Garech Browne & Claddagh Records is an extraordinary tale that weaves stories of rugged Connemara sean-nós singers such as Vail O Flaherta and rock ‘n’ roll icons such as Brian Jones into one captivating narrative, accompanied by previously unpublished photographs that give the reader a glimpse into this extraordinary world.
This release spurred me to purchase a number of previous releases from Claddagh and to put together a Claddagh Records Mixtape:
Ecuatoriana – El Universo Paralelo de Polibio Mayorga 1969-1981 (Analog Africa)
For Ecuatoriana – El Universo Paralelo de Polibio Mayorga 1969-1981, the label’s 37th compilation, Analog Africa returned us to South America, more specifically Quito, the capital of Ecuador, to bring us more breathtaking music, this time from the titular Polibio Mayorga, one of the country’s musical pioneers and legends, whose rise to fame can be traced to the synchronicity of several contributory factors. …Analog Africa transports the listener to a parallel universe and confirms Polibio Mayorga as a legendary icon of Ecuadorian music.
Leon Keita (Limited Dance Edition No. 16) (Analog Africa)
A trip to Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso in 2006 saw Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb drawn to the city to explore the Madingue culture (the Mandinka or Malinkebeing a West African ethnic group), where the sounds of neighbouring Mali and Guinea had merged with local styles. Whilst giants of Madingue, such as Bembeya Jazz National and Super Djata Band de Bamako, led by the late Zani Diabaté, were still best sellers, during his time there, Redjeb was able to source most of the recorded output of Guinean guitarist Leon Keïta, from which this offering, Leon Keïta (Analog Africa Limited Dance Edition No.16), has been compiled. …Once again, Analog Africa are to be congratulated on having unearthed another gem. Leon Keïta (Analog Africa Limited Dance Edition No.16) is an irresistible riot of rhythm, its dazzling virtuosity a feast for the ears, sounding as fresh today as when it was recorded.
Reissues
Dave Evans – Elephantasia (Earth)
For the first time in over fifty years, Dave Evans’ 1972 folk opus Elephantasia is to be reissued on Earth Recordings in collaboration with his estate and original Village Thing producer Ian A. Anderson. Elephantasia’s scant sleeve notes recounted the songs’ creation, featuring tales of experimentation in sound inspired by elephants, old memories recounted with all of the unpleasant bits edited out, storylines for escapists, the residents of St Agnes Park, broken beauty queens and a fat feline. It’s an eclectic but beautifully fluent narrative from a finger-picking maestro with a warm and engaging vocal style that wowed Peel and Whispering Bob back in the day.
From Bob’s Fish’s review:
Evans is simply the epitome of being laid back. Combine that with a wanderlust that eventually took him to Belgium, where he plied his trade as a ceramicist who also repaired and restored instruments. He followed his own path and never worried about what others would think. Songs like That’s My Way and St. Agnes Park offer a myriad of delights that could be considered contemporary pieces if one was unaware of Evans’ history.
Unique to Evans is the notion that, for better or worse, he’s in charge. He made the most amazing music imaginable but did so on his own terms. Elephantasia is music that needs to be heard. It never demands it because that was never Dave Evans’s way.
Umeko Ando – Upopo Sanke (Pingipung)
It was thanks to knowing about OKI, mentioned above, that I heard about this reissue. Umeko Ando (1932-2004) was a folk singer from Japan. She, like OKI, was a representative of the Ainu culture on Hokkaido Island in the north of Japan – Alongside Oki Kano on the Tonkori harp, She sings their traditional songs together. The album is quite beautiful, a true folk album…“Upopo Sanke“ was recorded on a farm in Tokachi in the summer of 2003. We hear dogs barking, a distant thunderstorm and voices imitating animals. The liner notes that accompany the 2LP release gather the anecdotal memories of Umeko Ando and Oki Kano about the stories of the 14 songs.
It’s an outstanding album, and the vinyl edition is especially beautiful.
The Scrub Jay Orchestra – Postcards Of The Twanging (Ghosts From The Basement)
Part reissue/part compilation…Hot Vultures was the brainchild of the self-confessed failed-folk-singer-songwriter-guitarist-with-blues-tendencies Ian A. Anderson, who had decided to declare upfront his eclectic, anything-goes musical credo and teamed up with Maggie Holland for a free-spirited life on the road, at first primarily across Europe but later returning to Britain to both fuel and soak up the sea-change sweeping through the British scene in terms of an increasing open-minded receptiveness to a myriad of roots music. The Scrub Jay Orchestra was the name they adopted when touring in 1979 with “wunderkind” guitarist Martin Simpson, who in 1976 had released his own impressive debut LP Golden Vanity. Although the three didn’t actually release any records under the Scrub Jay name, Martin appeared as a guest musician on the second and third of the Hot Vultures LPs (1977’s East Street Shakes and 1979’s Up The Line), from which are sourced the eight tracks assembled for this release (three cuts from the former LP and five from the latter). …this brief collection is welcome for its chance to reassess just how well-matched were the three musicians making up The Scrub Jay Orchestra.
The Malombo Jazz Makers – Down Lucky’s Way (Tapestry Works)
First issued in 1969, Tapestry Works reissued the Malombo Jazz Makers’ unknown third album ‘Down Lucky’s Way‘ earlier this year. The core trio featured Abbey Cindi on flute and sax, Julian Bahula on malombo drums and Lucky Ranku, one of the greatest African guitarists of his generation.
The liner notes feature interviews with Julian Bahula and a 2014 interview by Francis Gooding with Lucky Ranku, who passed away in 2016. Originally, the band were only paid for their session time and received no royalties from Gallo and HMV, something Julian pursued in the South African courts when the apartheid regime fell; he managed to recover outstanding royalties as well as publishing and copyright. This reissue is officially licensed from Julian, with monies going to Abbey Cindi and the family of Lucky Ranku in South Africa.
It’s a significant album, being the first to feature additional instruments with Dick Khoza on drums, Zakes Mkhubule on bass and Andrew Mfundi on organ. It was also the first time that Abbey Cindi played on soprano saxophone as well as flute. Even Lucky was shocked when shown the album in 2014; he’d never seen it before.
Michael Hurley – Sweetkorn (Mississippi Records)
Over the years, Michael Hurley and Mississippi Records have enjoyed a fruitful relationship which comes as no surprise when considering their backgrounds.
The songs that made the final cut on this reimagined ‘Sweetkorn’ were remixed, placing Hurley’s gentle vocals centre stage. As you can hear on O My Stars below, it sounds beautiful, and there is also a totally new track included – Murderer’s Home Blues, recorded in 2021 at the Rope Room, Astoria, Oregon. Hurley has also created new artwork for this release (main image).
Some of the most beautiful recordings of legendary American troubadour Michael Hurley’s entire catalog, remixed under Hurley’s supervision and available for the first time on vinyl. This newly imagined version brings Hurley’s voice and guitar to the forefront, turns up some elements, and turns down others. We’ve also omitted a couple songs from the O.G version and added a completely unheard tune from the session.
Dorothy Ashby – With Strings Attached, 1957 – 1965 (newland)
New Land’s 6-LP release is a beautifully presented boxset release that includes a 44-page book with a foreword by Brandee Younger, a contemporary harpist influenced by the pioneering work of Ashby who released her first album in 1957, eleven years before fellow Detroit-born harpist Alice Coltrane released her debut in 1968. While Coltrane is better known, they both made a lasting contribution to contemporary music and inspired future generations, something Younger has helped to highlight.
Ashby’s early vision for the harp went beyond anything else at that time, and she seemed unperturbed by the practicalities involved in getting the sound she wanted. In an interview with W. Royal Stokes for his Living the Jazz Life book, she stated, “Nobody told me these things were not done on the harp, I was just doing what I knew I liked.”
Where perseverance didn’t pay off, she adapted, so when jazz promoters showed no interest in booking Ashby and her harp, she sought out alternative venues, including cafes and colleges, eventually building enough of a reputation to get her first record deal in 1957 with The Jazz Harpist with the help of Frank Wess who played the flute on her first three albums. Ten more albums would follow alongside some impressive sidewoman appearances in the 1970s and early 80s on albums by Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers, Bobby Womack and more.
EPs
Frankie Archer – Never So Red
The lack of musical constraint is a big part of what makes Never So Red such a persuasive, innovative release. Too often, on other records, electronic sounds intrude and make almost every track a dance track. Frankie Archer’s music is not at all like that; her use of electronics, synths and loops is carefully crafted and nuanced to always be in service of the song. She describes herself as primarily a fiddle player, and her playing is excellent throughout the EP, but for me, it is her singing that really stands out; her quiet yet convincing vocals are never hidden in the mix, always bringing your attention back to the song. As Adrian McNally of The Unthanks said: “Not many manage to sound so modern and traditional at once”; it’s quite unlike any other folk music release out there today.
Iona lane & Ranjana Ghatak – Cove
These words say it all: Cove is a beguiling and transfixing EP which provides for a memorable listening experience The juxtaposition of two exceptionally fine voices from such diverse musical backgrounds is a thing of great beauty, and the pairing of the song choices is extremely well-judged, both in terms of lyrical content and melody.
Glenn Kimpton – Ruminate
This is maybe more of a mini-album than an EP, but either way, there was something quite special about this latest offering from Glenn, who is no stranger to Folk Radio…
Ruminate! was recorded outdoors, in woodland just outside Bristol, and the ambient sounds – birdsong, tree rustle, the artificial thunder of a nearby railway line – are more than just background noise. They form part of the internal weave of the record, the visible threads that combine to provide a hint of dramatic heft or narrative thread to a variety of music that could otherwise run the risk of being ephemeral. That’s not to say that there’s anything lightweight or trifling about Kimpton’s playing. He is a skilled stylist adept at capturing mood and has a brilliant ear for the timing of a musical phrase. Indeed one of the most notable things about the six improvisations that make up Ruminate! is the way time seems to be stretched or condensed seemingly at will. Opener From This Distance is meditative and slightly eerie, full of deliberate strums that are both exploratory and welcoming. Acarophobia (the fear of being infested by tiny invertebrates, just in case you were wondering) is stranger and more experimental: a series of warped, bent notes build into a weird web that is as rewarding as it is uncomfortable. …the whole cycle seems to glimmer with the kind of hushed light that filters through trees. It is beautiful, even slightly intoxicating, and is another assured instalment in Glenn Kimpton’s increasingly impressive catalogue.
Sam Sweeney & Louis Campbell – Shapes
There is something inherently uplifting about Sweeney’s fiddle playing – it soothes, replenishes, and heartens the soul. Add in Campbell’s electric guitar, and Shapes proves a stunning listening experience – fiddle and electric guitar have rarely sounded so breath-taking. Sweeny and Campbell are masters of their game. Haunting and strangely poignant throughout, how Sweeney and Campbell manage to stir such feelings and emotions from their playing is a sure sign of their talent. Allow yourself time to savour Shapes, and you will be richly rewarded.
Nora Brown and Stephanie Coleman – Lady of the Lake
Banjo player and singer Nora Brown and old-time fiddle player Stephanie Coleman are no strangers, having played together since 2017 after meeting in the tight-knit old-time music community in Brooklyn, NY, where they both live.
There is a shrewd exuberance in the way Nora and Stephanie play together on this EP, taking turns to lead and leaving plenty of space for each other to shine. They play with consistent flair and an audible mastery of their instruments. The production by Peter K. Siegel, who has also produced albums by Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton, Joseph Spence, Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, is outstanding – there is a lovely analogue-like warmth and resonance on each track. Lady of the Lake leaves you wanting more.
Elly Lucas – In The Quiet Of The Waiting
Elly Lucas approaches folk music from multiple directions at once. Her violin playing is influenced by classical music; her songs are indebted to the DIY aesthetic of the more experimental side of contemporary folk; the settings are notable for their use of space and restraint and often utilise field recordings. And her singing has an unaffected clarity that places her in the same lineage as Anne Briggs or Lisa Knapp. How Can I Keep From Singing is a perfect example: Lucas’s voice, accompanied only by birdsong, turns a 150-year-old hymn into a secular rallying cry, an appeal to positivity at a time when positivity is in short supply. …an EP with an understated sparkle and a deceptive emotional depth.
Freda D’Souza – Windowledge
Windowledge, the title track of Freda D’Souza’s debut EP, was written when the London-based songwriter was still a teenager, but there is nothing hesitant or unformed. The clear, enunciated vocal style is offset by washes of strings and flutters of piano, while the melody weaves in and out, implying an underlying structure without ever being constricted by one. The sound of rainfall bookends the song, but it’s more than just a signifier, a way of telling the listener how they should be feeling. It creates a very specific kind of space, one that allows the words and music to explore with quiet determination both a set of emotions and a sonic landscape: we are instantly aware of D’Souza’s wide range of musical influences and her precocious skill as a songwriter, though the way we receive this information is so subtle that we hardly notice it’s happening.
Amazingly, the rest of the EP is just as good or even better. …Windowledge is one of the most accomplished debuts of recent times: not just full of promise but perfectly formed in its own right.
Karine Polwart & Pippa Murphy – Seek the light
This EP found Karine Polwart back in the company of award-winning composer and sound designer Pippa Murphy and pianist and composer Dave Milligan. The EP ‘Seek The Light’ accompanied the BBC Radio 4 series that combines a love of science, history, folklore and the natural world.
Anyone who follows the singer, storyteller and seven-times Radio 2 Folk Awards winner Karine Polwart will know that her love and fascination for the natural world have frequently inspired her projects. The notion to combine music, spoken word, natural history and science (ancient and modern) in a live performance was first realised in 2016. A Pocket of Wind Resistance was born through her own experiences, the history of her neighbours and local wetlands, and the inspiration of geese in flight. From festival to a fully-fledged award-winning stage production and later an album adaptation, the project took flight. Collaboration has always been a critical element of Karine’s work, and sound designer Pippa Murphy’s contribution to that stage production and studio album was immeasurable. …Seek the Light will transport the listener from the heavy heat of the tropical glass house in Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden to a wind-swept seabird island on Scotland’s east coast via the cratered surface of the planet Mercury.
Rosie Miles – Still Life
When the world shut down in 2020, Rosie Miles was paralysed, not literally but figuratively. The result is her debut EP, Still Life, which she calls “a moving study of unmoving parts.” It is a fascinating record of sounds and silences, lightness and darkness, all being watched from afar as life goes on, even though everything comes to a complete stop. …Not only does it showcase a new talent, but it also gives us a window into our world and one inhabitant who has much more to say.
Samana – Dharma
On Dharma, Samana continue their inspiring and unconventional journey. The musical and artistic vehicle of Rebecca Rose Harris and Franklin Mockett, the due presents us with mythic landscapes, forgotten memories, and the innate search for freedom and peace. All of their songs have a beautiful dynamic and this EP was yet another mesmerising offering.
Olivia Chaney – Six French Songs
This one came out of the blue – Six French Songs was Olivia Chaney’s spontaneous and celebratory review of the French chanson, from medieval ballad to 60s yé-yé pop classic. As we’ve come to expect from Olivia, her interpretations are sublime and enchanting, and there’s an underlying warmth to these songs that makes them perfect for this time of year as the evenings draw in. The distinctive and playful arrangements on Six French Songs frame afresh the unbroken tradition of French chanson–with their ‘formes fixes’ and full-blooded themes of life, death, love and longing.
Jenny Sturgeon with Alice Allen & Grant Anderson – Wintergreen
Another one that slipped out quietly was this offering from Jenny. Released on Hudson Records on 3rd November, ‘Wintergreen’ is a collaborative collection of 6 songs written by Sturgeon with Alice Allen, Grant Anderson and Lynn MacFarland, featuring an adaptation of Isobel Wylie Hutchinson’s poem ‘Song for Pyrola uniflora’ and a rework of ‘Frost and Snow’ from Sturgeon’s 2020 album, ‘The Living Mountain’.
‘Wintergreen’ is a hypnotic musical journey. Each of the six songs offers something dynamically distinct, whether it is the choice of instrumentation or lyricism. What unequivocally joins them together is Sturgeon’s strength to create an intimate and concentrated musical shared space that is without geographical borders.
Samantha Whates – Early Works
This one was something of a surprise. It’s not, as the title may suggest, a release of earlier works, but instead finds Samantha going back to her early bedroom lo-fi DIY experiments, swapping her acoustic for Casio, Yamaha, Fisher Price, Fender, Zoom H4N, Voice, Roland, Apple, Arturia, SE Electronics, SSL etc etc…
Quirky, playful and psychedelic, I loved this refreshingly original experimentation and just hope she expands this to a full album at some stage.