Albums

Tegan and Sara released Sainthood, their sixth album, in October 2009 . They chose to have Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie) return to produce the album.

Krista Detor is one of those slow-burning artists, who quietly turns out albums brimming with classy and engaging songs, portraying a view of life that is sometimes wry, and always thoughtful. Listeners fall at her feet following their first encounter, and whole audiences find themselves quickly under Krista’s spell, eating out of the palm of her hand.

Adeliade’s Cape is the name given to the work of Edinburgh born songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Taylor, and the often changing collective of musicians that contribute and bring that larger sound to his work. His influences vary from Nick Drake, Richard Thompson, Fleet Foxes, Martin Simpson, Johnny Flynn, samba, John Betjeman, Ted Hughes to the whiskey soaked work of Charles Bukowski.

Bridge Carols, the new project from Portland, OR friends Laura Gibson and Ethan Rose, began as a conversation of mutual appreciation and curiosity – a shared desire to challenge old ways of working. Ethan had mostly distanced his music from words, while Laura had often felt bound by them.

The official release of Valgeir Sigurdsson’s Draumalandið (Dreamland) is today! This is an original-soundtrack album from the film Dreamland, with music written for a + 20 piece chamber ensemble and electronics. The recording features Nico Muhly (arrangements, piano, celesta, harmonium), Sam Amidon (vocals, banjo, guitar) Ben Frost (electronics),

Tune Yards caught my attention a while back when 4AD released a video of Meril Garbus performing in studio. I’m not going to post it again…but I was hunting around the net to find out what Tune Yards had been up to and came across this live footage at Cargo this week.

An explorer, ecologist, and folk hero, Jonathan Meiburg is the Jacques Cousteau of indie-rock. A former graduate student with a specialty in geography and ornithology, the Shearwater frontman named both his Austin, Texas-based band and their critically-acclaimed 2008 album Rook after types of birds, and his gorgeously pastoral music examines nature with a scientist’s eye.

The long-awaited second album from Breabach titled The Desperate Battle of the Birds is due for release on 22nd March. Breabach caught the attention of Folk Radio UK and many celtic folk music fans back in 2007 with release of their debut album “The Big Spree”. They had a very clear Scottish stamp on their work thanks to a great line-up as well as a double bagpipes.

The artwork for Salamander greets you with a vibrant warmth: a glowing and alluring amalgam of reds and oranges that is both classy and intense. It is therefore the perfect visual embodiment of the aural splendour that awaits the listener, for the music presented on Salamander is all of these things… and so much more.

Midlake have just released their third album The Courage of Others which has already been primed by Mojo as possibly the album of the year. They have spent the last three years making this album which has led them on a musical journey they have never been on before. They have discovered Fairport, Steeleye Span and ’70s British Folk, all of which has been an influence on this album.

To the opening strains of Sheema Mukerjhee’s sitar joined by Mr Carthy’s trademark guitar the Imagined Village cross fertilisation of different cultures continues apace with a clever re-interpretation of the ballad “My Son John” utilising a more chilling, modern ‘take’ on the song’s powerful anti-war

In the music of Mike Edel, listeners are gently brought into contact with what it means to be a human being. Born in rural Alberta with a constantly reflective mind, adventurous spirit, and compassionate heart, his honest lyrics poignantly and humanly wrestle with such universal themes as lost love, fear,