Albums

A compilation featuring two essential live albums and unearthed, previously unreleased 1971/72 material from Träd, Gräs och Stenar, Sweden’s greatest underground music export.

Musically situated somewhere between late 60s American folk and early 70s Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter territory with lyrics, that address the personal and the political.

Curse of Lono have lived up to the promise of their fascinating début and somehow manage to offer even more. There are big ideas and compelling prose, and that music is just thrilling. As I Fell is an exceptional album.

“Sauvage Formes” is a delight for ears and brains. Do yourself a favour and allow yourself to be gently led into the zany and wonderful world of “Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp”, where high brow meets low brow and worlds collide in an irresistibly catchy symphonic pop album.

AHI’s debut follow-up is suffused with a similar optimistic and positive vibe with home as the anchor of hope. The swelling musical arrangements in which his songs are couched, only serve to bolster the emotions they stir.

The London-based folk rock outfit returns with a pointedly eponymously titled third album that, as such, serves to underscore their musical self-confidence as well as standing as a statement of identity while staying true to their 60s West Coast and psychedelia influences.

The album title (and the song’s lyrics) serves as an image of the distant horizon and the need to move on. The last few years have been a  hard road for Winslow-King to walk, but, as this album amply proves, his feet haven’t failed him yet.

Karl Culley’s ‘Last!’ is a double album and an acoustic affair, his complex but melodic guitar playing keeps the music rich and a suitable complement to his rather humble but enriching vocals and honest songwriting.

Chasing Ghosts is Philip Marino’s best yet, a 10-track collection of predominantly acoustic-based Americana that harks to such influences as John Mellencamp, Dylan, Cat Stevens and Neil Young. Seek him out. 

Featuring Christian Sedelmyer and Rachel Baiman, 10 String Symphony’s latest album finds them pushing the musical boundaries of their instrumentation with Kris Drever on production.

With Rooftop Sessions Dreamers’ Circus celebrate more than the colour and vibrancy of Scandinavian music, they celebrate the ability it has to drive inspiration and innovation, and place themselves firmly in the vanguard of that movement.

The opportunity presented here to experience the stripped back songs in all of their raw glory is an aural delight. This collection proves that less can indeed sometimes be more, and with Distant Days, Steve Tilston, one of our most revered songsmiths, has confirmed his reputation as a jewel in the folk and acoustic-world crown.