Albums

The founder of the late Penguin Cafe Orchestra Simon Jeffes died in 1997. Now his son, Arthur, has taken up where his father left off, no easy task. Where do you draw the line of familiarity and creativity? Difficult as this may be the latest Penguin Cafe offering A Matter of Life… manages to offer familiar trademarks amongst new inventions.

I Am Oak is formed around the central figure of dutch singer-songwriter Thijs Kuijken who manipulates minimalistic sounds into complex gentle sound arrays using voice as the main backbone complemented by guitar, banjo, organ, minimalistic beats and samples, all put together from his bedroom.

Following up their split EP with Karine Polwart, acclaimed Scottish folk trio Lau have embarked on another collaborative effort, this time with London based musician Adem. Read Melanie’s review below.

Emily Jane White’s new album, Ode to Sentience is an album of darkness and mystery. Vocally her dulcet tones have been likened to Mazzy Star and Cat Power, a voice that is at once both rich and wispy, a subtle whisper sucking you in much like the darkness she utters of being intoxicated by.

Diamond Mine is the work or maybe I should say the pleasure of King Creosote & Jon Hopkins. It is the most beautiful album I’ve heard in a long long time, the use of field recordings take you inside the solitude of the singer for a deeply moving experience. Album of the week without a doubt, listen in full below!

Pepe Belmont’s debut release: The Hermit’s Waltz is, in a nutshell, like hearing a classic in the making, an exceptional and beautiful album! It made such a big impression on me that I rang him up to tell him! It is our album of the week so listen out for it!

Through a Fogged Glass is the latest release of cellist and Songwriter, Wes Swing. His style is reminiscent of Andrew Bird with an uncanny ability to build beautiful soundscapes and poetry.

Armistice is a collaboration between Beatrice Martin (Coeur de Pirate) and Bedouin Soundclash frontman, Jay Malinowski. This debut 5 track EP calls to mind some of greatest Sixties duets such as Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood. Listen to the album and watch their new video!

Scott Orr is an indie folk singer from Hamilton, Canada. Aside from preferring the studio over live gigs he doesn’t give much away. His latest album, Where I Lived, And What I Lived For, which is released on a lovely little label called Other Songs Music Co. is beautiful.

Balto have just released their debut album, October’s Road. For a debut release they sound great. Lead singer Daniel Sheron found inspiration for the songs in a journey he undertook in Siberia: A great tale, A great album.

Erland and The Carnival come out trumps with their new release Nightingale. Gone are the acid folk beats, replaced with deeper re-inventions and new architecture seeking inspiration from one of the oldest poems in written form and the Egyptian Book Of The Dead. Listen to the opening track and watch the new video.

The Bony King of Nowhere enters the playlists of Folk Radio UK this week with his new album Eleonore. He is going to be big this year, just listen below to his distinctive voice and lyrics!