Albums

Timber Timbre, the moniker of Taylor Kirk, is the rich onomatopoeic term given to what he describes as his “very woody sounding” early recordings. A Canadian musician whose music has been described as “swampy, ragged blues” both “cinematic and spooky” the solo project has now expanded to comprise an additional two members, violinist Mika Posen and Simon Trottier on lap-steel and auto harp. I got to catch up with Kirk and co at their label, Full Time Hobby’s offices for a …

Josh Ritter and his suit adorned Royal City Band played possibly their biggest show to date at London’s Barbican Theatre on Thursday evening – ‘the only venue’, Ritter joked, ‘to have a tube stop named after it’.

The closing night of the three-day Campfire Trails event at East London’s The Troxy was highly anticipated enough for hosting bluegrassers Old Crow Medicine Show and their frequent touring partners Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, and yet Friday, rounding off two prior evenings headlined by The Felice Brothers and Wild Beasts respectively; culminated in a ferocious display of musical talent and surprise special guests, making this one of the live performance highlights of the year – not to mention hugely surpassing most punters already sky …

I only recently discovered Agnes Obel whilst trawling myspace. She has been described as a cross between Ane Brun and Joanna Newsom. I can understand why the comparison has been made but try and put that out of your mind when you listen, not that my mention of it helps…bit like saying don’t think of pink elephants, alas… her EP, Riverside, features two songs written and performed by herself and …

Rachael Dadd is seated onstage at North London’s The Luminaire, arranged on a table beside her is a collection of crockery and three sets of chopsticks. It is an interesting experimental set up that I’m lucky enough to watch blossom into a spontaneous, twinkling performance of a new song that she tells me is inspired by her husband’s cooking of rice.

Despite musical beginnings a decade ago in Athens, Georgia under the moniker Fillup Shack, Matthew Houck’s better known Phosphorescent guise only recently crept out of the woodwork with acclaimed 2007 LP Pride, the lo-fi, haunted tones of which earmarked him as an artist of a similar highly praised songwriting stature to Will Oldham and Iron & Wine’s Samuel Beam.

On the back of a beautiful performance at End of the Road festival in Wiltshire, Iron and Wine, the moniker of Sam Beam returned to London’s Union Chapel to a silent, near motionless crowd hypnotised by his Southern, sombre folk songs.

Yes, The Vaselines are back after a long hiatus…some of you might feel the urge to run behind the sofa like you did when you were ten after watching Dr. Who when the Daleks ambled along on trolley wheels shouting “EXTERMINATE!” (children back then didn’t need special effects to scare the shit out of them). But hold on…don’t run yet! Apart from the fact that it seems to be the …

“Before, I was pretty lost. Really unhappy. For years. A lot of times I didn’t want to leave my apartment because I felt too self-conscious”, Matt Bauer once confessed. This may, in part, explain why this Brooklyn-based banjo player sings the way he does, in a gruff whisper that is, more often than not, softer than that of his female vocal contributor Dana Falconberry. It’s a tone so hushed that …

Soft Landing are a Brooklyn-based three-piece comprised of Beirut’s Paul Collins and Perrin Cloutier; together with pal Mike Lawless. Forming during a touring hiatus from Zach Condon’s collective, they played together day and night, perfecting these Brazilian born tracks that were later recorded with producer and Icy Demons frontman Griffin Rodriguez; in Chicago this January.

The Low Anthem put on a performance last night in Belfast that immediately won the crowd over. They are the type of band that will always give a consistently good performance. They get the balance right: they play the hits and they play them well. Their timing, delivery and stage presence is second to none.

My first night at Open House Festival was a real treat. I opted for the main Festival Marquee for the night and was saturated in sound from the quiet revolution. Kicking off with Nathaniel Rateliff, followed by The Low Anthem and Iron and Wine.