It is rare for an album to so effectively embody the mood of the location it was recorded in; yes, apart from THAT album from Bon Iver’s wood cabin. Released in 2002, James Yorkston and The Athletes’ debut album Moving…
Author: For Folk's Sake
Album | Hannah Cohen – Child Bride
A first listen to Hannah Cohen’s debut album Child Bride may feel making a new friend who has a familiar face. Aspects of the album clearly resemble others’ good work, but it is surely best to take in Child Bride…
Album | Mystery Jets – Radlands
According to the Mystery Jets’ latest album opener, when we die we’ll end up in a ‘horseshit-shaped hole in the sky’. It’s a number that sets the tone for an LP than bridges the gap between the band’s legendary aptitude…
Album | Ellen & The Escapades – All The Crooked Scenes
If you’ve ever seen Ellen and the Escapades live, you’ll know they’re full of energy, tight as a pair of spanks and, well, thrilling. Their songs are a whirlwind of pop folk and the voice of singer Ellen Smith is…
Album | Cate Le Bon – CYRK
John Cale, improvisational viola player in The Velvet Underground and one of the finest musicians to ever hold a Welsh passport, has one daughter. Cate Le Bon, a singer-songwriter from Wales, is not that daughter. However, imagine for a moment…
Album | Loudon Wainwright III – Older Than My Old Man Now
Loudon Wainwright’s 22nd album ‘Older Than My Old Man Now’ is another addition to his extensive folk-rock autobiography. At 65 some would say he’s not old, just older, but he’s at the point of feeling it. After the quite recent…
Album | Tom Williams & The Boat – Teenage Blood
It’s been four years since I first saw Tom Williams & the Boat perform on a mini BBC Introducing tour of Kent – the moment I chose to probe the band using my rookie work experience reporter technique and an…
Live | Soap&Skin @ Scala, London
Anæmic-white and hidden in the black waves of her dress, Anja Plaschg condenses down to a voice. A voice uncomfortable and unsettling for all its deep and rounded beauty. A voice, and behind that voice a vortex for all the…
Album | Cornshed Sisters – Tell Tales
How do you like your harmonies? Rich and plentiful? Well this one could be for you. Despite a name which alludes to the deep south of America, the Cornshed Sisters are actually from the north east of England. Indeed, north-east…
Interview | James Yorkston Looks Back
TEN YEARS AFTER James Yorkston’s beautiful album Moving Up Country hit our ears it’s been reissued with a bonus disc of demos and Peel sessions. FFS caught up with James to talk about listening back to an album, what it…