Albums

The eponymous debut album from young folk trio Tyde is an exciting and dynamic breakthrough piece of work. Finalists in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards in 2009 Tyde comprise of Heather Gessey on fiddle and vocals, Seth Tinsley on guitar and Andrew Waite on accordion.

London based singer songwriter David Thomas Broughton is a rare breed of artist whose flaws are charmingly kept intact thanks to healthy doses of spontaneity whether in the recording studio where he often lays down a track in one take, or on the stage which he too treats as a playground of sound, looping what noises he can from his throat, guitar and an amalgamation of objects stuffed into a …

The mighty Saltfishforty, comprising of Orcadians Douglas Montgomery on fiddle/viola and Brian Cromarty on guitar, mandola and vocals have steadily been wowing audiences with their infectious and feisty rhythms since the release of their debut album Goose Music way back in 2003.

Devendra Banhart may have cut his luscious locks but he is still the same, folky, psychedelic, Jim Morrison channelling, animal loving hippy he ever was. One member of a modern incarnation of the Laurel Canyon set, which today includes Vashti Bunyan, Vetiver and Joanna Newsom to name but a few, Banhart’s distinguishable hirsute 1970’s throwback look was the only thing lacking at a jam-packed Koko on Sunday night. Everything else: …

Seattle’s churning out some pretty decent musicians of late and delightful Bella Union are adding artist after great artist to their roster by the bucket load so Pearly Gate Music proves a perfect union between the label and the city of the moment. The moniker of Zach Tillman, younger brother of Josh; the Fleet Foxes drummer and acclaimed solo artist, released his impressive self titled debut earlier this year on …

It was a slightly subdued East Neuk audience that welcomed Spiers & Boden and Saltfishforty to the stage at the Byre Theatre, St Andrews on Friday, perhaps that was due to the heat of the warm July night. The boys, however, didn’t take long to rouse the audience and by the end of the night the quartet had the normally reserved St Andrew’s audience taping and clapping away they way …

UK record label Bella Union, now in their 13th year are one of the most recognised independent labels going, not least for their discovery of Fleet Foxes which earned the label its first Platinum record, but also for their impeccable roster of artists ranging from the highly acclaimed Andrew Bird and Explosions in the Sky, to the lesser known likes of their new recruits exposed at their Evening at Union …

Martha Tilston’s Lucy & The Wolves is her third solo album (although her backing band The Woods feature heavily throughout ) and is her first new album since 2007’s Of Milkmaids and Architects (2008’s Till I Reach the Sea being a compilation EP). The album marks a move away from the more political and social concerns of her earlier work (although these are still prevalent on Lucy & The Wolves …

Music has been used to spread messages; political, romantic, historical, for hundreds, probably thousands of years. It’s an effective medium and the musical traditions we’re so proud of owe their very existence to this fact. The trouble is, of course, that almost any message is open to interpretation. This CD, and the Folk Against Fascism movement it supports, have come about because of the misappropriation of British folk music and …

Never judge a book by its cover…or a record for that matter. However I love the pleasant surprise that often comes in doing just that. That was how I came to stumble upon Vadoinmessico, a five-piece based in London with members hailing from Mexico, Italy and Austria. They met at music college in the city in 2006 and it’s no wonder the summertime drizzle and grey skies made them yearn …

Fragmented, scrapbook recordings documented at his mother’s house, Mike Hadreas’ debut Learning is the kind of angst-ridden poetry that succeeds by being so shrouded in mystery and a tender incoherence that we are left intrigued rather than irritated. These lo-fi recordings echo the Woods, his vocals Sufjan Stevens’ girlish whisper and Neil Young’s pained falsetto.

Folk-shoegaze five-piece A Weather have been quietly lurking around since 2006, releasing The Feather Test 7 inch in 2007, followed by debut LP Cove the year after. This year’s Everyday Balloons, in keeping with the previous releases is out on Conor Oberst’s record label Team Love, and was produced by Adam Selzer who has worked with the likes of Norfolk & Western and M. Ward.