Glenn Kimpton

At sixteen songs, Eliza Carthy & Jon Boden’s “Glad Christmas Comes” is, appropriately, like a big Christmas lunch that you won’t want to finish. Beautiful music from two of our very finest and most valuable artists, it is a very easy album to love.

On ‘When the Roses Come Again’ Daniel Bachman returns to the past and does a wonderful job in skilfully blending his electronic touches with traditional music. Of his whole quartet of recent work, starting with 2018’s Morning Star, this is his strongest.

D.C Cross’s Wizrad: Adventures into Ecstatic Guitar is a must for fans of the more experimental and adventurous side of the solo acoustic genre, as well as those who enjoy serious acoustic guitar flexing.

On Imaginational Anthems Vol. XII: I thought I told You, a tribute to Michael Chapman, each artist brings a freshness to the songs and offers a different perspective on many of them, making it a fascinating and rewarding album.

Amoskeag, Liam Grant’s follow-up to his 2021 debut does not disappoint. The whole thing is so well-played and highly creative that it’ll have you hooked. I’ll have to agree with Rob Vaughn, this is f*****’ ace.

Chris Brain’s ‘Steady Away’ is an introspective and reflective offering. Intelligently written and considerately handled, it’s everything a second album should be; an excellent album by a musician really starting to bloom.

Take a bow Bill Mackay and Cooper Crain – BCMC’s Foreign Smokes is like one continual experimental, inquisitive journey, filled with an appealing freshness and dynamism – a strange and thrilling tonic.

Shone a Rainbow Light On is an unusual beast; there is no pretence or anyone trying to overdo things. For all its space and organic spirit, there is a complexity present that the band allows the listener to discover at their leisure. I recommend doing so.

Catrin Finch & Aoife Ní Bhriain’s ‘Double You’ goes beyond virtuosic; it’s also layered with emotion, appreciation for style and tradition and the freedom of just playing. You are left feeling that this partnership was inevitable and absolutely necessary…an essential release.

For those less familiar with John Fahey’s later catalogue, Proofs and Refutations is a great starting point, juxtaposing elegant acoustic picking, crazed vocals in places and distorted guitar. For the rest of you, just enjoy this wonderfully rich and idiosyncratic set.

Talking about “Carrying”, Sally Anne Morgan says: “So much of what we accumulate and carry around with us burdens us, but we also can’t or don’t know how to let go.” Through her music, she leaves you feeling that, in a world full of perils, love can surely overcome all.

Steve Gunn, John Truscinski and Bill Nace’s ‘Glass Band’ is an unpretentiously experimental and adventurous album, with lots to discover and each player bringing plenty to the table. It rewards, perhaps even demands, repeated listens, which is certainly no hardship.