The Ollam – Norton’s, Birmingham: Live Review
The Ollam – with more posts than a picket fence: post rock, post funk, post trad and post grunge. File under eclectic.
Seuras Og
"Well, what sort of music do you like, Seuras?" Ever since that question was first aired by his mother a decade or six back he has struggled with the answer. And struggles still now. Call him a folkie, a country dude, a bluesman and he'll be happy, but don't forget the whiff of jazz, electronica and more. Not so keen on the charts, mind.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – The Purple Bird: Album Review
A veritable smorgasbord of country motifs allow Will Oldham to further project his idiosyncrasies, with deceptively conventional masterclass.
Morganway – Kill The Silence: Album Review
Rousing UK Americana/folk/prog band Morganway unlock a vivid and varied third treasure chest of power and positivity.
Cynefin – Shimli: Album Review
A personal dispatch and a musical petition to maintain a language, culture and way of life. Cynefin transcends understanding of the language, through the beauty of its construction.
Notify – Worlds Collide: Album Review
Worlds Collide by Notify. Orchestras and a jazz tinged folk tradition emerge triumphant, after a bit of a wait.
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwart – Looking For The Thread: Album Review
Carpenter, Fowlis & Polwart. Astonishing, astounding, amazing. All of that. More.
Sam Amidon – Salt River: Album Review
A sometimes perversely evasive listen, Amidon remains in charge of his muse, capturing the extremes of American Music of the last 200 years.
Doug Kershaw – Mama Kershaw’s Boy/Alive & Pickin’/Ragin’ Cajun/Flip, Flop & Fly: Album Review
Re-release of the first 4 releases from fiddle man Doug Kershaw, all together across 2 discs.
Jess Silk – Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham: Live Review
Acoustic guitar toting singer songwriter and prolific social media queen, Jess Silk is at the Kitchen Garden Cafe.
Bridget Hayden & The Apparitions – Cold Blows The Rain: Album Review
Masterfully bleak songs of winter from Bridget Hayden, delivered with a feel of disinterment rather than revival.
The Sharon Shannon Big Band – A Tribute To Shane: Live Review
Sharon Shannon and her Big Band pay tribute to Shane in Brum.
Boss Morris – Boss Morris: Album Review
Morris for both minors and matures, to absorb and enjoy. File under ‘lovely’.
My Darling Clementine – Kitchen Garden Café, B’ham: Live Review
My Darling Clementine at Kitchen Garden Cafe. Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish surmount the insurmountable.
Jackie Oates & John Spiers – A Midwinter’s Night: Album Review
A squeezebox-and -fiddletastic Christmas (plus) to soothe any a jaundiced ear. And all of those in the know. A Spiers & Oates production.
Ross Ainslie – Pool : Album Review
Wow! Blimey! All of that as neo-trad goes disco. New album – Pool – from Ross Ainslie.