rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Echo Park Orchestra have a gift that is rarely found in contemporary music, to be able to take extremes and weave them together into a middle ground experience that ticks more boxes than you were even expecting to be presented with. I’m not talking about extremes in mere musical terms, more in concept, as they... Continue Reading →
If the universe is indeed infinite as those clever types on BBC 2 shows are always trying to explain to my less than comprehending brain, then there must be a place where traditional Balkan folk tunes and first generation British punk meet. So why not here and now? Okay, a bit of clarity before I... Continue Reading →
Yes, I’m always banging on about how pointless generic tags and labels are, especially in this largely post genre world. But then again when I pick up a press release for a band described as “Parisian avant-garde psych desert metal” how can I not go there, I would defy anyone to pass by such a... Continue Reading →
Although well known and highly regarded on the acoustic and open mic. circuit as a mainly solo player, what becomes immediately obvious upon hearing Good Times is that Jimmy has totally embraced the scope that the recording studio has to offer. Not only is everything you expect from his sound present, the inclusion of a host... Continue Reading →
Like a bunch of genetic scientists beavering away in secret laboratories, for the last decade The Imagined Village have been exploring the secrets of splicing the core sounds of folk and world music into new musical forms. This, their third album, Bending the Dark, is the biggest success story so far. Like Simon Emmerson’s Afro-Celt... Continue Reading →
Loreena McKennitt is not a household name for many, though she has been creating a very unique brand of music for many years, her first album, Elemental was released in 1985. The cover of 1997's release, Book of Secrets, does suggest something of what you are going to find inside. The artist herself stands framed... Continue Reading →
The flippant journalist might say that Cocos Lovers are the band that Mumford and Sons wish they were. Being a flippant journalist I definitely adhere to that sentiment. But as the leading lights of the London folk mafia shed all their early promise of being the new Waterboys in favour of being David Gray with... Continue Reading →
History has shown that mixing music and spirituality rarely pays off. The results are largely shallow, new age kitsch at best or stiff necked, pompous Bible bashing at worst. It takes a deft musical hand, a sincere heart and clear mind to combine these factors with any real success. Thankfully Mantrasphere ticks all of these... Continue Reading →