Nicole Atkins has one of the most incredible voices of any artist recording right now. She channels the spirit of Judy Garland, Roy Orbison and Edith Piaf. Her haunting tones were central to the sweeping, cinematic tracks of 2007 debut…
Author: For Folk's Sake
Live: Jesca Hoop @ Leeds Cockpit – 21/03/2011
In a cramped, sweaty bunker of a venue, Jesca Hoop is serenity itself, charming an attentive Leeds crowd with a hypnotic set of her eclectic but distinctive melodies. The little arched attic at the top of the Cockpit ought to…
Album: The Crookes – Chasing After Ghosts
The first point of note here is that this is not, by any measure, a folk album. The second is that it is extremely enjoyable. Formed in Sheffield in 2008 and signed to Fierce Panda – who, put simply, very…
Album: Erland & The Carnival – Nightingale
Having enjoyed success as a rank-and-file member of The Verve, Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad and The Queen, Simon Tong is surely one of the biggest-selling guitarists you’d struggle to pick out of a line-up. His latest collaboration with…
Album: William Fitzsimmons – Gold In The Shadow
Before listening to the album, I’d heard word that Gold in the Shadow is the most optimistic of William Fitzsimmons’ releases so far. Everything is relative of course, and bearing that in mind I’m inclined to agree. The title immediately…
Album: Josh T. Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen
Ten years on from his work with Texan psych-rockers Lift to Experience, Josh T. Pearson is a broken man, and Last of the Country Gentlemen is a sparse, delicate and unrelenting trawl through the darker recesses of the soul. Confessional…
Album: Paper Aeroplanes – We Are Ghosts
Paper Aeroplanes started life back in 2005 when Sarah Howells and Richard Llewellyn first crossed paths in West Walians, Wales. The duo promptly headed to Cardiff and began playing acoustic sets under the name of Halflight and began to gain…
Album: Thousands – The Sound of Everything
For those of us who resolutely refuse to heed the long-given advice not to judge a book by its cover, seeking out new bands can be a fraught mission. You look for little hints – the cover art, a particular…
Album: Tiny Birds – Hymns For The Careless
I reviewed Tiny Birds for the New Bands Panel back in June, and liked what I heard – ‘Ariadne’ remains perhaps the best song I’ve been introduced to via that route – so when Hymns For the Careless cropped up…
EP: Austra – Beat and the Pulse
I was first made aware of Katie Stelmanis through her work with Canadian wonders Bruce Peninsula. Stelmanis now goes under the name of Austra, a project that sees her powerful vocal talent given an electronic twist. ‘Beat and the Pulse’…