Albums

I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose is the debut album by Jack, Jamie, Suren and Ed, four old schoolfriends from North London, known collectively as Bombay Bicycle Club.

Following on from his previous solo outing Baby, Wolves Abound, Owl Service guitarist Jason Steel continues to fingerpick his way through classic bluegrass and Americana on this massively enjoyable new full-length.

Stornoway have newly signed to 4AD and their pastoral pop-folk and crystalline four-part harmonies have been getting a lot of attention with references to them being the Mumford and Son of 2010.

Armed with little more than an acoustic guitar and her fragile alto, San Francisco folk singer/songwriter Emily Jane White offers complex tales of melancholy and isolation. While comparisons to contemporaries like Cat Power and Hope Sandoval are frequent, Emily’s music owes a clear debt to classic female jazz and blues singers such as Billie Holiday.

You know that with a name like The Existence of Harvey Lord you would need to be bloody good to carry off such a title, well, this ten peice psych-folk group who are all based around Lancaster do not disappoint.

I finally got to listen to Sam Amidon’s latest album, I see the Sign. It feels like it’s been a long wait, but  it was worth it. I didn’t expect anything less to be honest, but he has delivered a lot more than I ever expected on this, his fourth album. It was a pleasure to see the Whale Watching Tour cast present but the addition of Beth Orton was …

In describing her culture, Joy Dunlop also manages to describe the very personal qualities that she herself brings with Dùsgadh: a vibrant collection of material that showcases the spirit of a thriving, young generation who embrace their Gaelic culture with big hearts and open minds.

Lynn Miles is one of Canada’s most accomplished singer/songwriters with five albums to her credit including the stark Unravel, winning Miles a 2003 Juno Award for Roots & Traditional solo album of the year and Love Sweet Love earning her multiple Canadian Folk Music awards (best English songwriter, best contemporary singer).

Kris Drever is doubtlessly one of the most appealing singers of his generation working the current folk scene. He approaches each song in such a laid-back manner, without sacrificing a scrap of intensity or subtlety. With a distinct talent for interpretation of song that manges to be both robust and sympathetic, Drever’s delivery is unassumingly stirring. He could well be the Christy Moore of his generation: he certainly brings a …

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.