Albums

By slipping out at the end of the year, Winter In London may not get the attention it deserves, but this is well worth seeking out, heralding a further step up the ladder for a highly distinctive talent.

March Glas is a great debut album for Elfen, not least in being well representative not only of the special interpersonal “connection” that clearly exists between the band members but also of the trio’s high degree of instrumental and vocal inventiveness.

It’s taken a fair few years for Fields to go from playing on the family front porch and around the local bars to making the transition to a recording studio and a wider audience, but Martha Fields is making up for lost time with a vengeance, she has the potential to become a very significant name in Americana roots music.

Ewan MacPherson’s abilities as tunesmith, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and collaborator shine through in a delightful album that should be essential listening for anyone who embraces the multi-cultural influences and contemporary folk music.

This duo’s positive drive and clear, confident and distinctive sense of musical identity are both introduced and confirmed here – which is not an easy feat for a debut album.

Amanda Rheaume’s Holding Patterns is a terrific album, at the heart of which is the powerful ‘Red Dress’ on which she is joined by Juno Humanitarian Award winner Chantal Kreviazuk to tackle what she and others see as Canada’s cultural genocide. She tours the UK in January.

Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith return with their second album, Night Hours. Backed by the members of folk trio Teyr, it is an album that is exhilaratingly diverse and full of impeccably crafted and beautifully realised songs.

Samson is a purveyor of indelible lyrical imagery, both direct and opaque, real and imagined, drawing inspiration from a head-spinning range of subject matter…and a late contender for my favourite Canadian release of 2016.

Blue Rose Code put on a spectacular performance at Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall for his Homecoming show. One which featured some of Scotland’s finest musicians, as well as a more than fifty members of Edinburgh and Glasgow Contemporary choirs – a musical celebration of everything that’s wonderful about this region of the country.

As they days draw near their darkest, it’s tempting to sit by an open fire and listen to wintry folk music with fiddles and traditional tunes. But if you want to inject a splash of summer (with a melancholy edge), then this release will get you singing, dancing and pondering. Sometimes a pendulum swing helps you see life from a fresh perspective.

When Hands Up For Trad, the organisation that promotes and supports developing talent in Scots traditional music, invited Folk Radio UK to attend this year’s MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards we knew we’d be in for a treat, and we weren’t disappointed. Neil shares his highlights and details of the winners.

Dodgy Bastards, the latest offering from Steeleye Span, places an audible degree of emphasis on a heavier-duty rock sound. There is a wealth of classic nimble prog-rock-styled guitar manœuvres and an outstanding strength and flexibility in the coordinated harmony work. The newer band members are also given the chance to shine.