Lissie – Cuckoo Bouncy, accessible country-pop about driving around in a truck in small-town America, being totally wild, rebellious and free. “Let’s go driving, ‘cause there’s nowhere to go!” Yeah! It all sounds really fun, and really bad for the…
Author: For Folk's Sake
Album: Heidi Spencer & the Rare Birds – Under Streetlight Glow
Heidi Spencer and the Rare Birds latest, Under Streetlight Glow, was deliberately and lovingly constructed. Throughout the album Spencer carefully chooses when and how fill the listeners ears; often deciding that silence is the best way to mark a point…
Festival: Green Man
The Green Man promised magic and he didn’t disappoint. Once again the organisers pulled off the spectacular trick of attracting the friendliest festival crowd to the most laid-back festival there is, while enticing some of the weirdest and most wonderful…
Live: Mariner’s Children and Tristram
It was a windy night and the sun had begun to sink into the horizon, when a crowd of folk-loving youths sat their bottoms onto the deck of the Tamesis Dock, a boat moored along the south side of the…
Double EP: Twin Sister – Colour Your Life and Vampires With Dreaming Kids
What a sweet prospect this double EP from Twin Sister is. The sleeve of Color Your Life features a dollhouse furnished by lead singer Andrea Estella, fuzzily nostalgic, like an old Polaroid, and the sounds within are appropriately dreamy and…
Festival: Moor Music Fest
I so wanted to get through this review without using the words ‘mini Glastonbury of the north’, but there it is. I’ve gone and bloody done it in the first sentence. The truth is, though, that’s exactly what Moor Music…
Preview: Beatnik @ The Macbeth, Hoxton
Beatnik is a monthly event at The Macbeth in Hoxton, featuring a free rooftop barbeque, puppet-making, hula-hooping, open mic, vintage DJ-ing and fine folk. It’s the brainchild of singer-songwriter Russell Swallow, writer of warm, Romantic songs like a draught of…
Live: A Hawk and a Hacksaw @ Cafe Oto, London
It’s a sweltering evening in Cafe Oto – a Dalston jazz cafe somewhere between the shadow of the Balkans and the plains of New Mexico. A Hawk and a hacksaw are from one of these far flung locations and, in…
EP: Lost Cavalry – Waves Freeze To Rolling Hills
Waves Freeze To Rolling Hills is the début EP from The Lost Cavalry, who were formed in 2009 by ex-Fanfarlo guitarist Mark West. The nautical cover artwork gives a indication of the content; these are gentle, delicate songs which at…
Album: Sarah Blasko – As Day Follows Night
Sarah Blasko is quite a success in Australia, she already has two top ten albums and numerous award nominations down under, but she is relatively unknown in the UK. The first thing that drew me into Sarah Blasko is her…