Albums

‘IS’ opens with an epic eighteen-minute six string slide piece entitled ‘When The Plains are Singing’. You can imagine flying over a wide open landscape with cold blue mountains, sweeping down over wild fields of long grass dancing around in the wind, until finally coming back to the imposing natural towers of the mountains. Steffen Basho-Junghans’s work has the uncanny ability to take the listener into almost lucid visual realms …

[rating=4] Laish have released their Obituaries EP which also signals a new development in the band’s direction. Whilst the title track ‘Obituaries‘ is a contemplative song dealing with a coomon theme throughout of obsession with death and legacy it showcases a much bigger and dynamic sound. Songwriter for Laish, Daniel Green: “I have begun to loosen my grip on my songs. What started life as a song-writing and bedroom recording …

‘To What Strange Place’ is a compilation conceived by Ian Nagoski, much like the music compilations of Harry Smith‘s multi-volume Anthology of American Folk Music, Nagoski’s obsession and extensive research is a gift to the world.

The audience at Queen Elizabeth Hall that witnessed Neil Cowley Trio’s live performance seemed to recognise the watershed nature of the performance and rewarded it with a deserved standing ovation.

[rating=4] Luke Roberts sophomore album The Iron Gates at Throop and Newport offers a departure from the sparse sound found on his debut Big Bells and Dime Songs. He continues to portray the fragility of human nature but things have changed in Luke’s life since his last release and those changes have naturally influenced his music. He now lives in Nashville, TN where he was raised I was born into …

The Big Eyes Family Players newest album, Family Favourites, is a collection of reworked old songs alongside new material, a “best-of,” if you will, or perhaps a retrospective…

★★★★★ Black Peak’s latest release ‘In Times Back When’ is an album that, while fitting very comfortably within the spectrum of folk music, allows their individuality and skill to shine through.

★★★★★ Simian Ghost’s latest release ‘Youth’ offers a fuller sound mixing guitar pop with synths and laptops.

★★★★★ An intricate web of ideas that tease the ear and hypnotise the soul, it’s difficult to believe that Andrew Bird‘s Break It Yourself took around about a week to record.

★★★★★ Django Django have been kicking up a storm in the music world recently. So drought hardened are we for new guitar led rock/pop music that every droplet is sucked up in the hope of much needed revitalisation.

★★★★★ Sólaris, the recent collaboration between experimental musicians Ben Frost and Daniel Bjarnason, re-imagines the score to Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 film Solaris.

★★★★★ Will Oldham’s moniker here finds the perfect place to root his warm and deep timbre, and Sioux a perfect nest for her shrill bird call.