Albums

Michael shares a magical evening spent with the multi-talented Phil Beer Band at The Octagon Theatre in Yeovil, the warm audience reception more than made up for the chill in the air outside.

The Broken Pledge, the latest offering from Irish traditional music group The Bonny Men, is an album that shows how the handing on of the music, the tradition, is carried out very successfully. Clear the floor and start dancing.

Featuring an impressive cast including Bill Frisell, John Paul Jones, Matt Chamberlin, and Dave Mathews, Danny Barnes continues his message of finding the good that helps us get through these hard times. It’s one thing you can always count on. Just like his music.

Swamp Dogg is a force of nature, his music is often wild and unruly, with a voice that crackles with emotion. Sorry You Couldn’t Make It illustrates just how incredible he can be. There is magic in these tracks. It is an album not to be missed!

Dana Anastasia’s ‘cry if you need to’ is a song cycle and meditation on what it means to be human in these strange days of the twenty-first century. That these are questions without answers just makes this collection all the more compelling.

‘Time in the Trees’ reveals so much more than you may initially be ready for, making it ripe for repeated listening – it should get us all thinking about our relationship with the natural world amid the clutter of the electronic jungle that can monopolise our attention.

What makes Dixie Blur so special is Wilson’s ability to allow a team of crack musicians to come along for a ride on his emotional roller coaster. Together they have created an organic revelation that once again illustrates the immense talent that is Jonathan Wilson.

Borrowed Songs contains pieces both original and traditional and Ewan treats them in the same way, which is as songs and stories that need to be kept alive by playing them, hearing them and passing them on. This brief and quietly powerful album is one of subtle beauty and astute skill.

Totally improvised and recorded live in a single take, Adam Summerhayes and Murray Grainger’s “Untold” is work of startling, immediate beauty. It is a rich, durable and mercurial sound that will reward repeated listens.

Seven years on from her excellent debut, Anna Lynch returns with a five-track acoustic EP of heartbreak rural Americana. If you’ve not discovered her yet, then do yourself a favour and check this out.

As sophomore releases go, ‘A Dobritch Did As A Dobritch Should’ is almost as seismic a leap as one could imagine from their debut. Musically, this is an accomplished, engaging offering, with high-quality contributions and performances from all involved.

Untied Kingdom makes a truly inspiring and magnificently empowering sound: the voices of Commoners Choir combine a gutsy, edgy delivery with an enviably well-drilled precision – an exhilarating display of rousing natural togetherness, of pride and of passion.