Release Date: Friday 4th Oct 2019 (Wren label) Rather belated we begin to turn the page on the new year (and into February!) with our review of Luke Daniels’ fourth solo offering “Old Friends & Exhausted Enemies”. Having been in partnership with the School of Philosophy at Edinburgh University and attended Celtic Connections to perform […]
Category: Album/EP Reviews
Reviews that get the senses going in the glorious field of folk music!
Reg Meuross – 12 Silk Handkerchiefs (album review)
Let us turn to Reg Meuross and his new album and project “12 Silk Handkerchiefs”. Constructed and composed alongside Brian W Lavery (who is the author of “The Headscarf Revolutionaries: Lillian Bilocca and the Hull Triple-Trawler Disaster); the album is a remembrance of the great Hull fishing tragedies of 1968 (of which there were three […]
Ruth Notman & Sam Kelly’s “Changeable Heart”
Photos by Redwood Photography 2019 is with us, and with it comes the next wheel of folk that propels it’s artists up and into the sun for the year to come. First in our more regular series of album reviews we would like to cast our eye over a new pairing of Ruth Notman & […]
Rachael McShane – “When All is Still” Album Review
Released 10 Aug 2018 Rachael Mcshane has trekked through the valleys of folk music theatre with her star turn as Susannah, a new mother fighting through hardship on a boat to Australia in “The Transports”, dazzled under the lights of big band folk in “Bellowhead”, and made a flourish as a solo artist and teacher […]
Robert Lane – Only a Flight Away – Review
Released 27th April 2018 With “Only a Flight Away” there is a gear change from the “Country Lane” to the “Highway Lane”. Working and skillfully taking influences from all round this is an artist who is more assured, more confident and more accomplished. What comes to mind when you think of refinement? Fine wine, some […]
Gem Andrews – North- Album Review 2018
An enticing mix of light and darkness tied together in a package of exploratory, urban Tyneside Country. BAND Gem Andrews: Vocals, Guitar Nicky Rushton: Piano, Accordion, Electric Guitar, Harmony Vocals Sarah Van Jellie: Double Bass, Harmony Vocals Bernard Wright: Violin, Mandolin, Harmony vocals Susanne Lambert: Drums, Percussion, Shells and Harmony vocals Sue McLaren: Harmony vocals […]
Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman – Personae (2018) Album Review
“Sharp, witty and accomplished there is a class to Roberts & Lakeman’s new album that cannot be measured on any known scientific apparatus” Album: Personae Producer: Sean Lakeman Tracks: 10 Iscream Music Records (2018) Released 9th March 2018 Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman are indeed a famous duo. Maybe the best known in folk circles […]
Peter Knight’s Gigspanner “The Wife of Urban Law” Review
“An album that greets old friends with a warm handshake which has arrived with a zest for life and a sense of adventure” Picking up Peter Knight’s Gigspanner’s “The Wife of Urban Law” you might think that the soul of this disc is wrapped up warm in a coat of high reputation. Like a […]
Bella Gaffney- Heaven Knows – Album Review
Album: Heaven Knows With: Bella Gaffney (Vocals and guitars, concertina, and more) Lauren Deakin Davies (Bass guitar, keys and percussion) Nick Hall (Backing vocals and lead guitar) Tim Spencer (Drums) Chris Elliott (Fiddle) Heather Sirret (Bass Guitar) James Gaffney (Piano) Tracks: 11 Produced by: Lauren Deakin Davies FOLKSTOCK RECORDS […]
The Twisted Twenty (Debut Album) Review
THE TWISTED TWENTY From: Penny Fiddle Records Tracks: 8 With: Holly Harman (baroque violin, vocals), Alexis Bennett (baroque violin, guitar, bodhran, electronics), James O’Toole, David Rabinovici (baroque violin), Ewan Macdonald (Cittern), Lucia Capellaro (baroque cello), Carina Cosgrave (baroque double bass Producer: Sam Proctor Zesty yet focused, the Twisted Twenty’s Debut is a fantastic window […]