Albums

For this month’s Ceremonial Counties offering from Folklore Tapes: Vol.XV Leicester/Northumberland, the first half features Experimental electronic musician Steve Watts and is dedicated to the legend of Black Annis. The second half, composed and performed by Grey Malkin, another British artist indebted to folk horror and hauntology, tells the story of the Duddo stone circle, an arrangement of five (formerly seven) sandstone megaliths in the shadow of the Cheviot Hills.

Ryan Wayne spent 10 years away from the music business, then suffered two strokes inspiring his return to recording music. On Functioning Dysfunctionals, his second album since the return, he plunges headfirst into the messy, mercurial thing called life. Blending and balancing many different influences make it almost impossible to categorise, but it distinguishes itself by combining honesty with a pure passion for the form and function of music.

Like the tarot’s major arcana, The Rabbit, the latest album from Melissa Lingo, aka meka, can be experienced as a kind of tarot reading, a mystical, alluring set of pathways into the human mind, a comment on fate, a dream with a cast of obscure characters. It’s no great stretch to put meka right up there with her heroes in the pantheon of folk songwriters.

Musically shaped by influences ranging from trip-hop to dreamy shades of Americana, Logan Farmer’s remarkable new EP, Butchers, presents a world in turmoil, addressing ownership and poverty, faith and obsession, and complicity in times of unprecedented evil…as it seeks ways to mitigate the inevitable damage. 100% of the proceeds from Bandcamp sales will be donated to the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.

Marc Ribot is less known as a vocalist, writer and solo performer, but Map of a Blue City, an album thirty years in the making, changes everything. For a man whose signature is sonic profundity, not surprisingly, every track has more going on in those grooves than can be absorbed in one listen, making it fit for repeated listens. It will definitely stand as his must-hear solo showcase.

Described by Hayden Pedigo as a ‘microdose psychedelic album’, the key word here is ‘micro’ because ‘I’ll be Waving as You Drive Away’ is a very subtly experimental instrumental acoustic guitar album, full of tiny flourishes and touches that see it stand out from the norm. It’s a record that feels meticulously thought out and handled. Without an ounce of fat, this is a sharp, elegant and subtly dynamic album.

From busking on the subway to performing at the Cambridge Folk Festival, New York’s theatrical indie-folk group Bandits on the Run have had a remarkable career. On The Shakespeare Tapes, they present six songs inspired by As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Together, they breathe new life into Shakespearean prose written over 400 years ago, ready for a new generation – true masters never die.

For his new album, Under a Familiar Sun, Sam Beste AKA The Vernon Spring further refines his unique sound…sitting somewhere between new age, neoclassical, jazz and a kind of pastoral electronica. It is the most immediately rewarding exercise in ambience you’re ever likely to hear, but it contains ideas and melodies, vague sensations and politically driven statements, that will stay with you long after the last notes fade away.

Safe Travels, the latest offering from Christina Alden & Alex Patterson, is an immensely well-crafted follow-up to their 2021 album, and while familiar, it rapidly delivers unexpected treats. From its beautiful illustrations and fascinating text to the final notes of The Mountain Hare, Safe Travels left a deep, appreciative smile on my face. It’s only May, but I feel I have a strong contender for my album of the year.

For their second album, The World That I Knew, Dublin-based duo Varo perform alongside a revolving cast of collaborators including members of Lankum, John Francis Flynn, Alannah Thornburg, Junior Brother, Lemoncello, Niamh Bury, Anna Mieke and more, picked judiciously from that fertile Dublin scene, and fostered by the sterling production of John ‘Spud’ Murphy. They track contemporary concerns through traditional song, and do so with beauty and fierce compassion.

The Gentle Good’s latest album, Elan, is a concept album of sorts, a study of the Elan Valley in Powys through music, recorded off-grid in the Cambrian mountains. An admirable creation, it’s a broad and generous soundscape for a beloved area of Wales, containing both music and singing that is diverse, adventurous and rich in character. Gareth Bonello’s most ambitious album so far, this bumper collection is a triumph.

With Somnia, Katie Schottland’s Swimming Bell has created something quite magical. While just five songs, the moments, the magic, and the memories reveal a depth to her music that will draw you back for repeated listenings.