Albums

Elijah Minnelli’s Perpetual Musket is a highly unusual release, but brilliantly executed and bitingly relevant. And after one or two listens, you’ll never think about reggae or folk music in the same way again.

David Weir reports back from his time in the Cambrian Mountains at Fire in the Mountain festival – Being non-corporate, not-for-profit and volunteer-run, the difference between Fire in the Mountain and many other festivals is obvious from the outset. 

How in-sync this star-studded collaboration is with the spirit of Sun Ra; Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra succeeds in playing like a transmission from the stars, a deep space echo and chime…lay back and wait for lift off; what bliss.

Swamp Dogg’s ‘Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St’ is a warm and absorbing mix of the new and old, an attention-grabbing seamless blend of bluegrass/country and soul, topped off with Swamp Dogg’s underrated persuasive vocal delivery and unique presence.

On Beehive Cathedral, Joseph Decosimo, Luke Richardson, and Cleek Schrey take tunes they love and make them as strong and dynamic as possible while maintaining the spirit and the magic that has kept them alive for so long.

The inherent musicality of Afghan Music In Exile: Mashhad 2022 make it the perfect gateway into Afghanistan’s rich musical history and an essential conduit for ensuring that the voices of the artists involved are heard and not forgotten.

Georgia Ruth’s Cool Head is defined by subtle experimentation, highly accessible melodies and clever, heartfelt lyrics that have always been her forte, while her attention to the smallest musical detail allows her to draw out the latent emotion of a moment…It’s her strongest offering yet.

Five years since their last full-length album, Strange News Has Come To Town demonstrates that Naomi Bedford and Paul Simmonds remain as vital a musical force as ever.

Lankum’s music is vital, and ‘Live in Dublin’ is nothing if not heartfelt. It descends into a session, along with its deeper and more pressing elements—people, communities, and our cultural and historical underpinnings. It’s a band at the peak of their powers.

Beautifully considered, intricate and finely nuanced, SUSS’s ‘Birds & Beasts’ is a great piece of work. Fresh and confident, the album marks a new beginning for the band while acknowledging their lost comrade, Gary Leib.

On the final song of Linda Thompson’s Proxy Music there’s a refrain that pretty much summarises the whole album “Bound together in blood and song, who can break us?/When we are singing loud and strong, who can take us?” I hear no arguments to the contrary.

Beings are the New York City quartet Zoh Amba, Steve Gunn, Shahzad Ismaily and Jim White; their debut album, ‘There is a Garden’, is blistering, beautiful free jazz with an uncommonly sunny and accommodating outlook.