Albums

Michael Chapman’s ‘True North’ is a raw and honest album from a musician well aware of the legacy behind him and his place on that timeline. It is lean, unpretentious, wonderfully played and so very listenable throughout.

Deer Tick’s latest offering ‘Mayonnaise’ is a fine collection for longtime fans and serves as a nice introduction for those less familiar with the band. Give it a listen!

Buffalo Blood is as potent as anything written by Buffy Sainte-Marie and deserves to be acclaimed for exposing the injustices inflicted on the First Nation.

Bassekou Kouyaté’s fifth release sees him in a more lugubrious, reflective mood, ‘an album about love, friendship, family and true values in a time of crisis.’ Extraordinary and beautiful music.

Fifty years on, Shirley Collins returns to London’s Roundhouse… It is hard to imagine anyone who deserves to be on that stage more than Shirley Collins, as the ovations and cheering voices tonight will attest.

Ian Carr and Niklas Roswell’s new album will grab your attention and keep it. With lots to explore and savour, Time Flies is, like this duo, a real treasure.

It’s so rare to hear a duo that are this good across the board, and especially on a debut collaboration. The songwriting, performing and production of Songs by the King Heat Ensemble is quite astounding.

This year’s impressive guest line-up for the Transatlantic Sessions included Tim O’Brien, Gretchen Peters, Molly Tuttle, Cara Dillon and Paul McKenna. The tour kicked off at Celtic Connections with a hugely entertaining evening.

Rowan:Morrison’s latest offering is an ambitious and necessarily thought-provoking work and makes an important and powerful statement that proves both irresistible and cumulatively convincing.

Daoirí Farrell, our Artist of the Month, returns this month with his third solo album, A Lifetime of Happiness. The songs are delivered with infinite care and deep affection; it is a wonderful album that delights on every level.

Maintaining the tradition of wrapping their lives into the process of getting their art out into the marketplace, Jacken Elswyth’s end product is a wholly credible, hypnotic and fascinating piece of work. Time to dig out your old tape player perhaps?

Like last year’s Folk Fever album, Variations is a reminder of just how flexible music can be in the hands of an artist who sees genre boundaries as a challenge rather than confinement.