Albums

Jason Dungan (aka Blue Lake) and Johan Carøe’s “Routine” is like a shared creative diary, its ideas growing slowly as their friendship developed. Real life imprints itself on the music, so this ostensibly ambient album explores different moods and shifting modes. Slow music that is rarely imposing and never overly showy, yet contains genuine emotional heft. It is also unabashedly enjoyable, from start to finish. 

Garefowl recorded “Things That Vanish” at night on Hirta, the main island of St Kilda. There are no synths this time: field and hydrophone recordings and X-ray diffraction drones take their place. In this Track by Track, the band introduce the seabirds behind the tunes. “It is not too late to learn the lessons of the past.”

Kahil El’Zabar’s “Sketches For Trane” is an astonishing suite in tribute to John Coltrane, released for the centenary of his birth. At 72, the Chicago drummer has gone back to the future to propagate Coltrane’s message of expanded human potential to a new generation of listeners. Alex Neilson calls it one of the best albums he has reviewed for KLOF.

The Leaf Library’s “Library Music: Volume Two” is a form of “compilation as curation”, drawn from a decade or so of recordings. Every release from the band feels like an exploration of pop music’s possibilities, and this archival collection is the perfect way of experiencing their range and sonic versatility. We can only hope that “Volume Two” isn’t the final instalment.

Margo Cilker’s third album “Little White Cross” comes from a place of darkness, full of gun violence, wildfires and abuse, but seeks glimmers of light. Bruce Robison sits behind the desk for a mix of originals and well-chosen covers. Forget any future comparisons to Lucinda; this is the here-and-now Margo Cilker, and she’s magnificent.

Good Habits’ “Better for Now” pushes outwards, from festival-ready trance-folk to intimate acoustic balladry. An overriding spirit of positivity runs through songs about body image and burnout, all carried on buoyant melodies. The result is a blend of virtuosity and sheer vitality, making them one of the most exciting bands on the British folk scene right now, and one of the most technically accomplished. 

Verdin Brothers’ “The Crooked Serpent” stitches together blues, Creole, bluegrass and drone into something all their own, with a healthy dollop of the weird. A companion recording, “The Great Work,” gives each song something like an alter ego. A singular work of high art and painstaking detail.

Martin Simpson’s “Some Kind of Jubilee” is a seventeen-song double album, made in the US and the UK to mark half a century since his debut. Veterans and newcomers play alongside him. The music is rich without ever being overplayed, and the vocals are warm and engaging. The album is a real achievement and a career highlight. Take a bow.

Biita Houdei’s solo debut “This Bed Was Made For Me” challenges quickfire disposability head-on. She sewed a patch for each of its fourteen songs, then recorded them over ten full, back-to-back days. The result exudes personality and feeling, a testament to the slow process and the commitment and patience required to create a complete work of art.

Jason McNiff talks through his latest album, Ten Blue Songs, which was recorded and produced live by Trevor Moss. Clarinet, double bass, piano, and violin accompany him on an album whose influences include Italo Calvino, Raymond Carver, Ernest Hemingway, and guitar legend Davy Graham. “This album is evidence of our working life and couldn’t exist without the gigs”.

Digressions #4 – Living Slow EP is the latest in John Blek’s series of download-only releases available via Bandcamp. From the minstrel-folk-mottled opener to the piano-waltzing closer, it’s a sublime and moodily atmospheric offering.

Jake Blount’s “Single-Footing Horse” has him coming full circle, returning to the old-time mountain music played by Appalachian string bands that first nurtured him. It’s a joyous and technically brilliant batch of tunes, every bit as potent – and, in a way, just as experimental – as his earlier forays into afrofuturism.