Lankum – False Lankum : Album Review
Stunning showcase confirms this Irish band are way more than just dronetastic as they expand and extend their mastery of upending the tradition.
"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.
Stunning showcase confirms this Irish band are way more than just dronetastic as they expand and extend their mastery of upending the tradition.
Scrap any sense of spot the genre, Hayes is back with more of his fiddle sans frontières. Indisputably Irish, and probably trad, little else is.
A robust revisiting of the Gaelic, a revitalised and retro revamp into folk rock from Joy Dunlop.
Rura stake their claim in the premier league, firing on all cylinders from the front.
Re-wilding their native rivers provides the fishy inspiration for Salt House, who continue to make a resounding and resonant case for their feast of songs and musical fare.
First solo album from journeyman guitarist, Miller Anderson, brushing up surprisingly well, showing what coulda been.
The Levellers (Collective) line up in Birmingham. The Symphony Hall? Sitting Down? No dogs? Terrific!
A bunch of folkies from Brighton prove they’re not beyond such a comparison, with a further visceral acoustic take of the back catalogue.
Dan Walsh does O’Neill’s Tunes -Heaven for both the seasoned banjophile and the banjocurious, which may even convert the odd banjophobe.
And it isn’t a question, either. Sterling second from the virtuoso stalwarts Assynt; individually and collectively award winners in their fields.
A terrific pell-mell helter-skelter whirl through the possibilities of harmonica, box and guitar, from Will Pound and Jenn Butterworth. Also features voice.
Sharon Shannon Trio – Live at Norton’s Digbeth. Much glee – given and shared with a heaving audience.
Psychedelic wyrdness of a distant age through a prism. Darkly.
Snotty, surfy psych-punk/power-popsters the Barracudas, catching every wave from their first few summers.
Cheerful pessimism and wry acceptance duel here, in a triumph of, mostly, melancholia, to uplift and aerate the soul. Altogether quietly superb.