Bob Fish

Allowing yourself to get lost in the magic of Rose City Band’s “Earth Trip” you come out in a most unexpected place, refreshed and revived. These are moments that we need to hold on to…take a moment just to breathe.

Amythyst Kiah is an artist who goes her own way, which is what gives “Wary + Strange” the qualities that make it a truly great album from an artist who refuses to dwell in a world of limitations.

Comprising 17 songs in 45 minutes, Reason to Live is a thesis in what it means to be Lou Barlow at the age of 54. As Barlow finally gets comfortable in his skin, it’s his call to look around and find the inspiration to keep going.

Adrian Crowley has a voice that insists you listen and hang on to every word of The Watchful Eye of the Stars. It’s an album that stays with you long after the end, a testament to the vision of its author.

There’s a rugged beauty to Elephant Micah’s Vague Tidings that reflects the Alaskan wilderness…something that not only reflects the northern locale, but the people populating it.

If there’s a question that remains it’s whether one really needs a Spanish language version of songs from Parallel Line. The answer: The magic is in the music and that has always been there with Paper Beats Scissors and it’s there in La Mitad.

Recorded live outdoors on the island of Grande Comore, these 10 snapshots provide the slightest of inklings into a culture significantly different from our own yet their music is still universal in its hopes, fears and dreams. Ian Brennan has captured some incredibly exciting music.

Naked and unadorned, the new EP from Ben Watt Storm Shelter captures the artist at his most vulnerable. It’s been far too long since we had just Watt and a piano.

Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi’s new album is unlike anything else you will experience this year. They’re Calling Me Home is a metaphor for our times. We all need to find our way home. Let this album serve as your guide.

There’s nothing florid about Loney dear’s ‘A Lantern and a Bell’. The nine songs feel so frail and simple that a slight breeze might blow them away. Yet there are unexpected depths at every turn.

We live in strange times, in an even stranger world. And the music Chad VanGaalen creates on World’s Most Stressed Out Gardener is a reflection of that. That he is able to capture all the joy and weirdness makes the album that much better.

These days positivity can be in short supply, which is one of the things that makes Crys Matthews new collection Changemakers nothing short of incredible. Matthews puts it all on the line, speaking words of hope at every turn.