Albums

A welcome return to a solo platform and a springboard to new musical paths, The Winter Yards reaffirms Steve Knightley’s amply deserved reputation and status as one of the foremost names on the English folk scene.

The Instruments was a project centred around cellist and composer Heather McIntosh. Released in 2008, Dark Småland has both blissful and melancholic moments, with vast vistas to lighten the soul.

Jake Blanchard has made a union with the divine on Fermentation. It’s an album with the whomp of Elkhorn and the godliness of Tuluum Shimmering. Think of sound waves being dosed out to herbal plants. Close your eyes and drown in its wyrd bliss.

For all of the enjoyable free expression present across Blake Hornsby’s ‘A Village of Many Springs’, there is also a real sense of musicianship and creativity; it’s an exhilarating listen. Pull up a chair and allow it to wash over you.

On his album, Nasgino Inagei Nidayulenvi, Oklahoma Cherokee singer and songwriter Agalisaga “Chuj” Mackey makes beautiful country and roots songs that speak of love, death, a reverence for the natural world, all a key part of his personal vision to revitalise the endangered Cherokee language.

On Still + Bright, Amythyst Kiah’s iron-willed music is full of immortal longings, her strident voice radiating warmth and magick. At times, she sounds like a sensual figure going on epic quests, with groove-steeped melodies big enough to span oceans…throughout, she expresses great divinity.

Nylon string guitar maestro Niwel Tsumbu is a hell of an accomplished player. Throughout Milimo, his tunes sound complex yet are impeccably performed; each song feels like a polished gem, with nothing superfluous or surplus to requirements. What a lovely thing this album is.

A Thousand Pokes is the most potent expression of Stick in the Wheel’s yet. Their songs ring with the joy of specificity and detail, the ferocious joy of marginalised voices making themselves heard, the angry joy of people reclaiming their heritage.

The Ridge Trilogy EPs are tantalising, appetite-whetting snapshots of a work in progress and an atmospheric collection in its own right, Dean Owens is mining gold…

The Circular Train is Ava Mendoza’s second solo LP of charged avant garde rock, blues and jazz music. It’s an album she should be proud of–no frills, no pretensions and totally ace.

“Another Tide, Another Fish” is an intelligent, intuitive album that demonstrates Andrew Tuttle’s highly creative and inquisitive nature. The late great Michael Chapman’s previously unfinished album now feels complete, showing his subtle psychedelic music at its best.

Taking in traditional English, Scottish and Irish tunes as well as self-penned material, Thorpe  & Morrison’s “Grass & Granite” is a glowing testament to their musicianship and virtuosity drawing on themes that explore both longings for home and moving on to new experiences.