Albums

Tim Linghaus’ Memory Sketches takes the listener on a very personal journey during which he takes precious personal memories from his own past and preserves them in music. An album filled with both melancholy and immense beauty.

Listening to Ten Thousand Miles will bring back memories of the very best Irish pub sessions…but, for a pub session to sound as good as this, you’d probably have to be in heaven, that’s the magic of Danú.

If it’s her aspiration of seeking perfection in song-writing and performing, then Love Come Down takes Thea Hopkins one step closer to this goal – the pinnacle of her recorded output so far.

Fen, Farm & Deadly Water is an album filled with fun, thought and good tunes. The Trio bring a distinct flavour of versatility – in tunes, songs and arrangements. A lovely album with a great variety; a very accomplished set of parts and a very cohesive whole.

Kindness, A Rebel finds River Whyless taking a new and refreshing direction from their debut and confirms that the Asheville, North Carolina quartet are an increasingly musical force to be reckoned with.

“Over the Years,” a collection of demos made from 1968 to 1980, is an outstanding new release from Graham Nash. The songs are brilliantly underproduced, raw and naked, mainly recorded with just acoustic guitar and piano. There’s raw, heroic quality hidden in these versions.

Following the release of her 2015 album, The Ones That Got Away, Paisley-born Jill Jackson returns with her very fine new album “Are We There Yet?’ which was produced by Boo Hewerdine.

All Souls seduces the senses with songs that individually open from a distance and come rapidly closer, but collectively flow along like a gentle river current. An album that’s sure to become a firm favourite.

The finest CD of English fiddling I have heard and I enjoyed ALL aspects of it. An outstanding and major contribution to English fiddle playing that it should be heard throughout the land and considered the high water mark of England’s music.

At times nakedly exposed, at others complexly layered, introverted yet expansive, it marks a major stride forward in their musical journey, one which, it is hoped will find the travelling companions it so fully deserves.

On her beautifully presented latest album, Caelum Scalptorium (The Engraver’s Chisel), Gemma’s simply guitar-accompanied tracks have a timelessly plain and unadorned quality…delivered with care and attention to detail yet without ever coming across as precious.

Whilst this sampler can be but a snapshot of John Tams work over the years and can only hint at his polymathic talents, it is a timely reminder of what a powerful songwriter he is and what a significant contribution he has made to the folk world.