Folk
Track: Lucy Dacus – ‘My mother and I’
Americans are different. They have Electoral Colleges and TV programmes which come in seasons, and they have ‘holidays.’ This year. American Lucy Dacus is celebrating these ‘holidays’ through a series of singles. She’s already done Valentine’s Day with a cover of ‘La Vie en Rose,’ (https://youtu.be/ynDeTGUji1I). America celebrates Mother’s Day in May, so now we’re in …
Album Review: Larkin Poe – Venom & Faith
Larkin Poe have brought the music of their roots bang up to date on progressive third album ‘Venom & Faith’. Larkin Poe, aka Atlanta-born sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, have spent the last eight years releasing music that continues to surpass all expectations. From their ‘Band For All Seasons’ series of four EPs (one for …
Album Review and Interview: Gareth McLaughlin – Into The Ether
The great thing about the Internet age is that artists are now more accessible and searchable. For those artists, the means of production and distribution is now so immediately within their grasp that self-publishing is a real prospect for getting their music out there. Online platforms like Soundcloud and Bandcamp have enabled ‘bedroom troubadours’ to …
News: Celtic Connections Launch 2019 Festival Programme
Celtic Connections Festival delivers another exciting line-up of over 300 events featuring musicians from across the globe. After last year’s impressive 25th festival celebrations, when Celtic Connections welcomed over 2,300 artists from over 30 countries and recorded an exceptional 130,000 attendances, the largest winter music festival of its kind continues to grow and diversify. The …
Not Forgotten: Jethro Tull – This Was
For those that are familiar with the more complex and progressive output of Jethro Tull from the 70s, a first listen of their 1968 debut album, This Was, can come as quite a shock. Although it has always been obvious that Tull were influenced, at least in in some part by the blues, the fact …
Live: Three Queens in Mourning, Bishop’s House Sheffield 22.10.18
The Bishop’s House more usually hosts groups of schoolkids getting a bit of history lesson. But it’s an atmospheric place for an intimate gig celebrating the songs of Will Oldham – the self-styled Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. First up, Sharron Kraus was terrific. She has a beautiful voice allied to guitar folk tunes adorned with an …
Album Review: An Early Bird – Of Ghosts and Marvels
Here at Backseat Mafia, we have been following the career of Stefano De Stefano since our very inception when he was the front man for Italian folk/rock band Pipers. He has now ventured out on his own under the moniker An Early Bird and released his first full length album ‘Of Ghosts and Marvels’. Of …
Album Review – Gregory Alan Isakov – Evening Machines
Charles Spano’s review of Damien Rice’s “O” on All Music Guide has a fantastic description of the ‘special sauce’ that turns the ordinary into the extraordinary and takes seemingly simply songs and makes them soar: “Rice is master of what critic/ranter Richard Meltzer called “the unknown tongue” – basically the musical equivalent of the “punctum” in …
Not Forgotten: Neil Young – Comes a Time
Comes A Time is generally seen as Neil Young cycling back to the more laid back sounds of the hugely successful Harvest, and is therefore one of Young’s gentlest albums by some considerable distance. Actually it’s so laid-back that it’s almost horizontal in places, which can makes for a pleasant, if not exactly engaging, listen. …
Track: Maarja Nuut and Ruum – Kuud Kuulama
Estonian violinist and modern folk artist, Maarja Nuut has a burgeoning reputation for her delicate, multi-layered and looped song constructions. Kuud Kuulama is an advance snippet from her new album Muunduja, a collaboration with compatriot Ruum, coming next month. It’s a typically beautiful and haunting piece. Live, Nuut often embellishes her songs with electronics and …