Glenn Kimpton

Swallowtail, Jim White’s and Marisa Anderson’s latest offering, is an album of quiet assurance and power. Shaped through improvisation and musical conversation, it encapsulates everything there is to love about improvised instrumental music.

Halocline, the debut album from Malin Lewis, our Artist of the Month, is a highly creative and singular forty minutes of music that’s unique in its character and emotion. Clever in its approach and balanced in its execution, in short, it’s quite exceptional.

We meet with the ever-generous Martin Simpson to discuss Skydancers, his bumper new double album, out now on Topic Records, plus some of the tools of the trade.

James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg are known for putting out intelligent, thought-provoking music and All Gist is the finest example of their skills as a duo so far. A wonderfully soothing recording of top-level musicianship.

Repertoire sees Shane Parish flex across fourteen cover songs arranged for acoustic guitar inside thirty-two minutes. Finely nuanced and not without some remarkable moments, it’s a beautifully executed collection and a fitting tribute to the likes of Alice Coltrane, Roland Kirk and John Cage.

Martin Simpson’s Skydancers is a beautifully packaged album. The music exudes class and quality, but what impresses most is the restraint. No notes are wasted and all instrumental flourishes land, enhancing each song. It is an excellent record from a master of his craft.

David Murphy’s ‘Cuimhne Ghlinn: Explorations in Irish Music for Pedal Steel Guitar’ is an incredibly confident debut album. Balanced against its elegance and the dreamlike sound of his pedal steel is a quietly adventurous spirit that is beautifully judged and unpretentious—an extraordinarily great album.

We met Jenny Sturgeon and Boo Hewerdine to talk about their new Outliers album, a beautiful celebration of spontaneity and space, blending strong songwriting with acoustic arrangements and subtle electronics.

On ‘Incarnation’, Raoul Eden draws from the dramatic side of instrumental guitar music as well as Eastern and oriental music. The ghost of Jack Rose looms alongside weird and playful moments in an engaging album.

Alongside moments of restraint and beauty, James Elkington’s ‘Me Neither’ is a fascinating insight into the encyclopaedic mind of a particularly creative and accomplished musician.

Glenn Kimpton shares his Top 10 Albums of 2023 including Daniel Bachman, Salt House, Juni Habel, Bill Orcutt, Liam Grant, Xylouris White, Steve Gunn & David Moore, John Fahey and more.

We meet up with English folk masters Eliza Carthy and Jon Boden, our current Artists of the Month, to talk about their wonderful new album Glad Christmas Comes and rum topped diplomacy…