Albums

There is no harmony like brotherly harmony. Something indelible in the weave of voices and play of sensibilities is stamped into the fraternal DNA and also stems from a lifetime of shared experiences. You can hear it in classic brother acts across the musical spectrum, from the Louvin Brothers to the Everly Brothers

El Radio is Chris Garneau’s follow-up to his 2007 debut, Music for Tourists. The addition of an orchestra as well a feeling of new quirky inventiveness in the whole music structure make this release an absolute gem. The balance and feel is spot on.

Gareth Dickson has spent the last two and a half years touring with Vashti Bunyan as her guitarist. This gave him the opportunity to work with great musicians like Devendra Banhart, Juana Molina and Coco Rosie,

If I handed you an album and described it as “Decemberists meet Tom Waits meet Beirut meet Leonard Cohen”…you’d be impressed, yes? Well I would be. These are the words chosen to describe Brooklyn Singer/songwriter / Multi-instrumentalist, Robin Aigner’s latest release, Bandito.

A new arrival on Folk Radio UK is artist, Cam Penner with his third album, Trouble and Mercy which is released this week. I’ve been looking forward to reviewing this album ever since I first heard it.

At the Oupost is Edinburgh based Chris Bradley’s second album. The album has already caught the worthy attention of media critics including The Times who gave it very high praise. Chris is gifted in the songwriting and composing department where he has plied his trade for TV and radio in the past.

A welcome return to our Rootie channel is Eric Bibb. I can still remember buying his 1997 album Good Stuff from the basement folk section of Rays Jazz in London. He has maintained that smooth baritone and unfancy guitar delivery since.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops just keep getting better. Having seen some recent performances, I figured it was only a matter of time before they released a finely honed album that would be an amalgamation of their modern day musical influences crossed with their hallmark Piedmont String Band sound from the foothills of the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Blues Americana guitarist singer and songwriter Brooks Williams delivers the deepest and most intense interpretations of everything from early blues songs to his recent original compositions on Baby O!, his 17th CD, his first recorded in the UK.

On Among The Oak & Ash, Pennsylvania-born New Yorker Josh Joplin and the Mississippi-bred, Nashville-based Garrison Starr lend their distinctive voices to a dozen folk songs

It was by complete chance that I came across this release. The chain of events that led me to it are not worthy of a mention, honest. My initial thoughts were that I must have missed something somewhere, I did.

Karen Elson’s The Ghost Who Walks marks the debut solo release from the British singer/songwriter. Her transformation from fashion’s favorite redheaded ingénue to beguiling chanteuse has been something of a slow burn. In 2003 she provided vocals for a version of Robert Plant’s “Last Time I Saw Her”