Albums

★★★★★ The latest release from The Quiet American ‘Vol ii’ mixes interpretations and reworkings of old time blues and gospel numbers with original songs.

Michael Farrant caught First Aid Kit at London’s Bush Hall last week. The noise of the audience reached ear-splitting volume as the sisters took to the stage…

★★★★★ Jack Harris’s long awaited release ‘The Flame And The Pelican’ showcases his immense talents as a storyteller reminiscent, in so many ways, of a young Dick Gaughan.

★★★★★ James Deane’s Diamonds & Hearts has some clever and effective lyrical approaches, a great voice, and a winning way with a guitar.

★★★★★ Sentimental Gentleman is the latest album from Snailhouse, the moniker under which the Montreal singer/songwriter Mike Feuerstack is known by.

Findlay Napier gives us a behind the scenes account of Scots Trad Music Awards 2011, the nearest thing Scottish folkies have to the office Christmas party!

★★★★★ Cahalen Morrison & Eli West’s ‘The Holy Coming of the Storm’ gets a big thumbs up!

★★★★★ A Future Tethered is the latest release from Butcher the Bar, an easy listening pop folk album but lacking a heartfelt approach.

★★★★★ The new album from husband and wife duo Rapunzel and Sedayne, ‘Songs from the Barley Temple’, is a mesmerising mixture of old folk ballads and newly penned songs.

★★★★ Lincoln Durham’s debut album The Shovel vs The Howling Bones has all the markings of an early classic.

★★★★★ Emily Portman’s new EP ‘Hinge of the Year’ is a stunning release that mixes tradition with dark fairytale like twists. Wherever she takes her inspiration from I hope it is bottomless!

Jeffrey Foucault’s Cold Satellite finally sees a European release. The songs are based around unpublished poems and fragments from the young poet Lisa Olstein.