Neil McSweeney

The next Hudson Records Listening Club is this Sunday, 7th June at 10.30 am and features Neil McSweeney (as well as some his band), who will be listening to and talking about his album “A Coat Worth Wearing”.

Neil McSweeney’s latest offering ‘A Coat Worth Wearing’ is reminiscent of the romantic poets Wordsworth or Shelley, but like Blake, he has a darker side, a rebellious streak and a decisive need to push for positive change. It is a rare songwriter that can combine these elements over the course of an album or even a career. McSweeney often manages to do it in the space of a single song.

This March sees the release of Neil McSweeney’s fourth album, A Coat Worth Wearing. Featuring a line-up of faces well-known to the folk world, the release also marks a development in his sound and approach. Watch him performing ‘Land of Cockaigne’ live.

We talk to producer and engineer Andy Bell about his new label Hudson Records which has some great releases lined up from the likes of The Furrow Collective, Neil McSweeney and Richard Warren. This is a label you music lovers should all get behind. Great vision and a potentially great future!

With Wolves the Lamb Will Lie balances richly detailed lyrics with accessible arrangements which present M.G. Boulter’s musical vision intact. Anyone looking for instruction in the dark art of writing meaningful and original songs would be well-advised to give this a good, close listen; meanwhile the rest of us will be over here, losing ourselves in Matt’s music.

We have a video premiere today from M.G. Boulter for ‘The Last Song‘, a song that tears-along like that stolen bicycle in the film, it’s taken from his new album With Wolves The Lamb Will Lie due for released on 29 January 2016

There’s no doubt that Emily Portman has, with a little help from her friends, created and curated a dazzling display of writing and musicianship, but the real success of Coracle lies in the balancing of many seemingly disparate aspects to create an intensely luminous collection of songs whose articulate lyrics, virtuoso performances and intricate arrangements never overshadow the very real humanity which is at the heart of it all.

I mentioned a little while ago (on facebook) that I was going to be featuring an occasional piece on venues that offer something a bit different and unique. The first place to catch my eye was The Rude Shipyard run by Pete David and Sally Smith in Sheffield. It’s a cafe/bookshop and the sort of place I’d love to have on my doorstep! In their own words: