Albums

Awakening shows Ímar are back with a vengeance, producing music that is even more imaginative and adventurous than their first two albums. If I had to single out just one quality in praise of this album, I’d pick the sheer joy they exhibit when playing music, a quality that infuses Awakening from start to finish.

The Colours Of Rubab, a newly commissioned album from Worlds within Worlds featuring the music of Gulab Afridi, accompanied by Murad Afridi on tabla. Listen to the lead track, Raag Kirwani.

Yo La Tengo deliver two mammoth sets at Bristol’s SWX – including music from their new album This Stupid World – from urban kosmische to kraut-rock and all points in between – it’s an exhilarating and unforgettable evening from one of the world’s best live bands.

Nico Paulo’s voice and songs strike chords that are impossible to ignore. She goes places that have not been traversed, creating music in a genre all her own. This is merely the beginning of what will hopefully be a long and productive journey.

For their latest album Sølvstrøk, Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silvola created a Chamber Orchestra, adding another dimension to their sound while maintaining the duo’s integrity. It is music that is as wonderfully performed as it is confident and generous; another masterpiece.

Drawing once more on his life on the rural farm he built in Indiana, including family, tradition and community issues, Tim Grimm charts a more internal and personal landscape on his new album The Little In-Between, that again marks him as one of America’s finest songwriters.

A standard bearer for Southern Gothic Americana noir, you don’t come to Ben de La Cour albums looking for an uplift to get you through the day, but his new album, Sweet Anhedonia, despite the comfortably numb evocation of the title, holds dark pleasures indeed.

Mike Tod’s self-titled debut is an excellent addition to the increasing interest in old time American music, both preserving its heritage and infusing it with contemporary musical relevance; I suspect and trust this is just the first committing Mike Tod’s ethnomusicological ventures to disc.

Brìghde Chaimbeul’s ‘Carry Them with Us’, is an extraordinary experience that has slowly begun to resemble a series of strange, beautiful dream-stories, told with flair, nuance and incredible technical proficiency, but more importantly, with a real sense of ambition and innovation.

Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection 2 forms a perfect complement to the dawning of spring, offering a world of endless possibilities. He and his “nice little crowd of weirdos” have created something truly magical.

A shake-up in circumstances in tandem with a fresh wave of focus and inspiration has resulted in the strongest Nick Waterhouse album of his career so far; take my advice and go get yourself lost in the magical world of ‘The Fooler.’

On Onliness, Josienne Clarke re-explores material from her own back pages – those that were overlooked, or simply songs she felt were abandoned. As a result, her music in 2023 is alive and simmering.