Folk
Not Forgotten: Kathryn Williams – Little Black Numbers
Kathryn Williams was one of those acts that laid the ground work for the folk revival of the last fifteen years without us realising it at the time. Much like her contemporary Eliza Carthy, there was a certain level of buzz around Kathryn Williams at the end of the 90s, and there were a few publications singing her …
Album Review: The Hanging Stars – A New Kind of Sky (plus tour news)
Folk music seems to be a genre I dip in-and-out of; the multi-faceted style manages to have different elements that have the roots of traditional folk music underpinning those subversions that make it so sprawling. Anti-folk, neofolk, Americana – there is a list that can go on. Be it the earnest, lo-fidelity accomplishments of Willy …
Track: Nick Byrne – Houses
Inspired by a trip to Liverpool where he saw houses and streets falling into disrepair, Houses is the new single from singer-songwriter Nick Byrne. The track itself is a little underplayed gem of indie folk – hushed vocals, fingerpicked guitars and this insistent but low key little synth figure that gives way to the electric …
TRACK: ELRICHMAN – COP ON A HORSE
Elrichman – Cop on a horse Toronto based singer songwriter Paul Elrichman announces his new album Heaven’s Mayor out 24th April via Show Your Bones records, with the release of the first single Cop On A Horse. Its a wonky upbeat number dubbed by Erlichman as sounding like a country song set in a modern …
EP: Cate Le Bon & Group Listening – Here it comes again
Following up on the success of her 2019 Mercury Prize nominated album Reward, Cate Le Bon alongside ambient duo Group Listening (aka fellow Creative souls Sweet Baboo and Paul Jones) have reimagined five tracks from Reward for an EP, Here it Comes Again, out now via Mexican Summer on 12” vinyl and digitally. Of the …
Track: Bartelby Delicate – From Top To Toe
Luxembourg singer-songwriter Bartlelby Delicate (not his real name we assume, although if it is wouldn’t that be something) has just released a new single, From Top to Toe, available now on all your usual streaming platforms. After meeting German producer Taison (Lali Puna, Portmanteau) after travelling 1500km to play a show in Munich in which …
Classic Album: Bob Dylan – Oh Mercy
As the 80s drew to a close it was difficult to escape the conclusion that Bob Dylan‘s muse had been largely AWOL since 1976’s Desire. Since that album’s release there had certainly been allusions to greatness but it was usually by way of songs that Dylan chose to omit from shoddy albums. As a result, despite …
Not Forgotten: Jethro Tull – Stormwatch
If Jethro Tull’s ‘folk trilogy’ was not a reaction to Punk, then it was a stupendously well timed circumstance that saw the old rockers pull in the musical opposed direction to the fashionable youth rock movement of the time. While folk had always been an element of the Jethro Tull sound, 1977’s Songs From the …
Not Forgotten: Jethro Tull – Under Wraps
The mid 80s were a fascinating and fractious time for what would become known as classic rock. The two giant super bands of the 70s were no longer with us, with Pink Floyd having imploded in acrimony around Roger Waters’ ever more despotic tendencies, and Led Zeppelin coming to an end following the sad death …
Not Forgotten: Jethro Tull – Rock Island
1987’s Crest of a Knave went some way to re-establishing Jethro Tull as elder-statesmen of rock if not actual contenders. That album had even won a Grammy (and in doing so, annoyed a lot of Metallica fans), but other than that, it didn’t really break any new ground, other than being the sound of one of the …