Albums

In contrast to a career spanning two decades and over a dozen recorded albums – including those as his earlier moniker Smog – to his name, Bill Callahan is a man of surprising few words onstage. It’s forgivable however, as captured in his dry wit and deep seated vocal wisdom are enough tales of surrealist simplicity to make up.

The familar bluesy vocals of Fink are back with a new single release on June 13th titled ‘Yesterday Was Hard On All Of Us’. Get your first taster below and download the title track ‘Perfect Darkness’, from his forthcoming album.

Kill it Kid are a cross between Johnny Cash, The Black Keys and The White Stripes; taking inspiration from the likes of Blind Willie McTell, Son House, Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, it’s hard to believe they come from Bath.

Simon Knighton’s debut release ‘Leave My Bones’ hops between melodramatic storytelling and danceable, bouncy off-beat tunes, sometimes resembling the early Noah and the Whale. This is true campfire deluxe.

Hauschka is the alias of German pianist / composer Volker Bertelmann, who currently resides in Dusseldorf. Having only recenlty released Foreign Landscapes in October last year he has unveiled a new release titled ‘Salon des Amateurs’.

Delta Swamp Rock: Sounds from the South is a new compilation album released this week on Soul Jazz Records which centres around 1968-1975, a period in which country, rock and soul met. Some real gems can be found on this.

Dan Haywood’s New Hawks set comprised of songs which flitted between folky laments, coupled with intricate Celtic fiddle from two onstage violinists, to more bizarre and lightly psychedelic flirtations which would see Haywood stand nicely (though perhaps uneasily) beside David Thomas Broughton’s spontaneous, alternative folk performances.

Amanda Jo Williams sounds entirely out of place and time. A musician born and raised in Hogansville, Georgia she has been likened to classic country stars such as Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris for her countrified drawl and raw, ragged musical approach. But it’s her voice that really makes her stand out from the LA crowd she now finds herself playing before multiple nights of the week. It resonates the …

This self-titled release captures the timelessness of artists like Neil Young while adding a modern twist to countrified characteristics and songs that have been dragged through their haunting histories to the bleak and yet somehow sepia tinged hopefulness of Mount Moriah’s present.

Andrew Vladeck of New York City is releasing not only his EP Passing Knowledge this spring, but a book by the same title. It is also the first edition of the Pocket Songster Series, paying homage to the Pocket Poet Series of San Francisco and through which Beat poet Allen Ginsberg’s works were printed.

Swedish band Mire Kay recently released their debut EP Fortress, it comprises of five songs, tied neatly together with chamber pop arrangements, ethereal vocals and dark often mythical lyrics built out of rich images and hollow, natural sounds which, layer upon layer, create a warmth out of their often sombre subject matters of longing and searching.

Puzzle Muteson is the latest artist to join the Bedroom Community label. His debut recording En Garde plays out a spellbinding and hauntingly evocative fairytale of emotions of one man’s imagination.