Album Recommendations
Ahead of her upcoming tours with Stereolab and Jane Weaver, Emma Tricca has released a new live album, Prisms of Winter. Recorded in Shoreditch with Simon Alpin, the collection captures the raw, fragile intimacy of her songwriting against a backdrop of East London street sounds. It’s a soulful reimagining of her catalogue, offering fans a beautifully unpolished, heartfelt experience.
Our latest recommendations include an orchestral meditation on the American women’s suffrage movement, a dizzying joyride through the golden age of Thai popular music, Congolese rumba by Docteur Nico, Will Guthrie’s experimental percussion, and rare archival blues by Allen Ginsberg (with cameos by Bob Dylan and Don Cherry). Plus, Estonian wetland soundscapes to sun-drenched Laurel Canyon folk, from cosy winter solstice hymns to the sophisticated grooves of 1970s Ethio-jazz.
An introspective autopsy of time, Keaton Henson talks us through his new album, Parader, released today. Known for his rare performances and heart-on-sleeve vulnerability, Henson revisits his past, embracing the grunge-infused sounds of his youth. Production, split between Luke Sital-Singh and Alex Farrar, harnesses these heavier sounds. The album, which Henson describes as his “weird ‘me’ version” of his youth’s influences, is an acceptance of all parts of himself.
Ivan Moult takes us through his new album ‘Stood Out In The Storm’, his most deeply personal offering yet – “a musical insight into the mind of a stressed-out family man who has a complete breakdown but then recovers…” Following the warmth and intricate songwriting of Songs From Severn Grove (2023), this new album takes a significant, vulnerable step, charting Moult’s gradual process of healing and recovery.
Tepid Toad Records presents a new double A-side from avant-folk duo Alula Down, featuring Mark Waters’ double bass with Kate Gathercole’s alluring, dreamy vocals. From the haunting, poignant field recordings of “High Germany” to the warm improvisation of “Summer Song,” this atmospheric release arrives on November 14th on digital and limited-edition 7″ lathe-cut vinyl.
Robyn Hitchcock’s “Invisible Hitchcock (Outtakes and Demos)” gets a re-release on December 15th. Originally from 1986, the collection gathers home recordings and studio outtakes from his fertile 1981-1985 period, which produced albums like I Often Dream of Trains. Hitchcock preferred this “homemade” approach, avoiding the “digital patina” of 1980s pop to capture his best, most intimate performances.
Black Sweat Records releases Mariolina Zitta’s Concert For Bats, Voices and Natural Sounds. This arcane work, born from speleology and sound archaeology, is a “magical ritual” celebrating bats. Using special detectors, Zitta transforms bat calls into an organic synthesiser, fusing them with natural instruments like stalactites and bone whistles, plus harmonic singing. A total sensory experience.
Our ten selections for this month Subscriber Exclusive (one of the perks for those who support our work) include releases from New England’s Old Saw, a remastered “holy grail” of psychedelic Latin-funk, Mélanie Pain, Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band, Thomas Dollbaum, a landmark collaboration that brings together two generations of South African guitar mastery, Lady Queen Paradise, Dartmoor-raised artist Dominie Hooper, Jessica Moss and the incredible singer-songwriter Daudi Matsiko.
Swiss-Portuguese guitarist Tiago Almeida releases “Rivages,” an artistic exploration of Portuguese fado reimagined for the classical guitar. The album is a masterful blend of tradition and innovation, drawing on influences from jazz, classical, and even electronic music. Exploring profound themes of migration and identity, “Rivages” promises to be a significant and unique addition to the contemporary classical guitar repertoire.
In his latest release, Archipelago of Shadows, Belgian composer Lieven Martens presents a work of profound gravity. The album, a five-track suite of field recordings and electronics, is directly shaped by his experience as a humanitarian aid worker in eastern Congo, where he interviewed survivors of sexual violence—a practice deliberately used as a weapon of war to shatter communities.