rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Rich Jacques has long known, and consistently proven, that music can be more powerful, more perfectly poignant, when it is used sparingly. It’s all very well to load up the musical space with all manner of instruments, double-tracked and ramped up, over-driven and over-played, if that's all you know, rock bands do it all the... Continue Reading →
Right from the word go there is something wonderfully captivating about Liam Moore’s vocals, not just the grace and gorgeousness of the delivery but the mystery which seems to ooze from these opening lines. And then he ushers in a cool baroque-folk-pop groove and Cosmic Noon is up and running, cool, charming understated and the... Continue Reading →
Although more often found weaving together musical building blocks with a more nostalgic and classic sound, In The Dark reminds us that, just like everyone else, The Jorgensens live in and are affected by the events of the modern world. Musically it embraces a much more contemporary sound, albeit one built around brooding cello undercurrents... Continue Reading →
This EP opens with an airy guitar track that took me right back to Vini Reilly's Durutti Column. Beautiful echoey plucked notes meander around a simple drum rhythm evoking warm summers and wistful idling. This theme continues and becomes more layered and textured as the time drifts gently by. There are moments of Celtic influence along... Continue Reading →
It’s always tough ploughing the singer-songwriter, acoustic troubadour furrow. Tough because there is such a legacy of great music already set in the musical stone. Tough because there is so much competition for the ears and the disposable incomes of music fans and gig-goers. But how do you stand out from the pack, particularly when... Continue Reading →
I’m always interested to find out just what genric description an artist is happy to use to describe their music. Most generic descriptions are limiting at best, at worst irrelevant, but occasionally you stumble across a gem. Meghan Pulles has used the term “emo-positive” at times to describe what she does and I find myself... Continue Reading →
I’ve listen to a lot of folk music in my, not so short, time on this earth and I’ve never come across anything quite like this before! To be honest, the term folk music probably doesn’t really do the album justice, for whilst there is folk music at its core, and a number of songs... Continue Reading →
This recording starts with a beautifully spacious sonic landscape that took me back to the time when Kate Bush experimented with the latest in Fairlight synthesizer technologies. Towards the end of the first track, big crescendos build from nothing to a dazzling ball of musical complexity. 'Bluebird' is driven along by a lo-fi 8 bit... Continue Reading →
There is an art of building a song, to creating understated atmosphere and tingling anticipation before unleashing into the musical Sturm und Drang that is the pay-off. And if part of that art is to keep the listener hanging on for as long as possible until they have abandoned all hope that there is even... Continue Reading →
Music tends to fall into one of a few categories; there are the musicians who deserve the title, they know their instrument inside out, know music theory inside out and can create and structure a piece like an architect. Everything in its correct place, the building blocks are the chords, melody and rhythm, yet they’re... Continue Reading →
As 2019 ends and we move into a new year it was with much excitement that I grabbed a cd from my haul of things to review but without knowing it I had a small pile of albums from last year that had somehow fallen by the by so the first album of the year... Continue Reading →
I sometimes cast my ears around the current pop scene and do that cliched, grumpy old man thing…"it was all better back in my day". It wasn't but with the onslaught of TV talent show wannabes and the synchronised dance routine driven videos which pour out of the ivory towers of the “music industry,” it’s... Continue Reading →
Given the musical theatre surroundings which formed Maxime’s formative years, it is hardly surprising that the drama and style of some of that world has crept into his music. But this formal approach is tempered by the fluidity of pop, folk and indie sounds and the result is an album which benefits from the best... Continue Reading →
Anyone can write a song! You want proof, just turn the radio on. It isn’t even that hard to get it recorded, modern studio technology being what it is. No, the art of ending up with something that really stands out is having a song which was worth writing in the first place. Something meaningful.... Continue Reading →
If you ever you hear Canada’s band, West My Friend‘s music described as ‘folk’ feel free to storm away in disgust at such a mention because although folk lies at the heart of the trio’s sound, there is so much more. It’s a little like saying Pablo Picasso was a painter, or Muhammed Ali was... Continue Reading →
If Never Could Be Wrong was build on fierce melodicism and the most restrained of rock urges, this time out Levitas starts from a more delicate platform. Taking acoustic guitar rhythms and dexterous piano lines, the song runs on a lilting and likeable groove, one that is spacious and light and uses little more than... Continue Reading →
After successful tours in the UK and US East coast, Fred Abong will soon be touring the West Coast and Midwest with Kristin Hersh and playing several live dates with the influential art-punk band Throwing Muses in support of his new 'Pulsing' EP, a six-track offering released in spring of 2019. It is fitting that Abong should... Continue Reading →
Like all art forms, music is at it’s best when it divides opinion, creates conversation and brings about strong feelings, after all, art is something created for others to experience. Back in 1998 Canadian singer songwriter Suzie Ungerleider recorded ‘Johnstown’, an ambitious debut album that has been described as a contemporary folk-noir masterpiece and gained... Continue Reading →
Dripping with the same hazy beauty as Mazzy Star, the shimmering textures of The Byrds, the understated soundscaping of Ride wrapped in a wealth of reflection and positivity, this perfect blend of timeless folk, lush late 80’s indie and 60’s West Coast psychedelic pop is one of those sounds that you know that you are... Continue Reading →
I love the way that MARBL is able to wander neatly between infectious pop, indie-folk cool and a more sophisticated pathway echoing timeless soul and jazz classics. And after a string of singles that lean towards one or the other of those styles, You're On My Mind somehow mixes all of them together in equal... Continue Reading →
It is when we fear that the worst is happening that we find ourselves focusing on what is really important. The false missile alert in Hawaii last year probably made a few people think about what really mattered to them in those minutes between thinking the worst and realising that it was all a big... Continue Reading →
If you want your love songs haunting and brilliant with more than a twist of the atmosphere that David Lynch conjurs, look no further than Danish singer Ida Wenoe. Drifty guitar, bottomless drums and clever backing vocals underpin the angelic Nordic voice of Wenoe perfectly. She might just be your new favourite female singer. There... Continue Reading →
One of the joys of being long in the tooth as a reviewer is that you get to watch acts evolve over the years and Wilding has been one of the more enjoyable and rewarding careers to watch. From the sleek and simple lines as a solo singer-songwriter to the brilliant textures that the Lighterthief... Continue Reading →
Photographs are powerful things. We carry around all sorts of ideas about how we feel about people, especially those we have lost, but sometimes it isn’t until we are confronted with an actual image that our real feelings come to the fore. That is the starting point for this latest single from Chrissie Romano Band... Continue Reading →
As soon as the name Glen Hansard comes up most people think of that iconic sonic moment in the film Once or perhaps a general allegiance to the classic lines and timeless songwriting styles of artists such as Dylan, Van Morrison and Leonard Cohen. But Hansard has always found ways of upsetting expectations and this... Continue Reading →
The history of contemporary music is littered with high drama and over the top behaviour. The path to rock ’n’roll infamy is paved with imploding bands, bad behaviour, reckless acts and personal feuds. That side of history might make good copy and is thus assured the column inches in the press but the reality for... Continue Reading →
See, this is exactly what I have been talking about for years. Folk music and indie music make the perfect match, the deft and delicate delivery of the former and the cool and polished sound of the latter make an exquisite musical hook up. But a practical on too. If folk is going to stay... Continue Reading →
The idea of just another young female artist folk-popping her way to chart success with an acoustic guitar and a chilled and minimalist tune might have collective eyes rolling and audible sighs of “here we go again". Maybe it is a style that has been overdone of late, perhaps but rarely has it been done... Continue Reading →
Folk music has wandered down some interesting pathways of late. Like any genre it needs to move with the times and although there are always going to be the “folk police” - normally a bearded guy called Brian in a June Tabor tour shirt - trying to dictate what is and isn’t folk music, change,... Continue Reading →
Stock in the Bauhaus name is riding high at the moment. With one half of the band currently working as Poptone and David J undertaking an extensive world tour with Pete Murphy as we speak, it is certainly the perfect time to re-release J’s sophomore solo album, a record which he describes as “ a... Continue Reading →