“As the alien living amongst you, I’m glad to see we can finally live in peace,” coos Maia’s lead singer Tom Clegg on the opening track of ‘Pepper Stars’, in a vocal style similar to what one images an extra-terrestrial’s…
Category: Records
Singles Round-up | Abi Wade, Family Machine, Killing Fields of Ontario, Magmana, Jennifer Left, Reuben & the Dark, Songs For Walter
Abi Wade – Heavy Heart/Faker Often compared to Joanna Newsom and Regina Spektor, cellist-percussionist Wade suffers the same pitfalls as those kindred spirits in that the germ of a great idea can be lost in excessive quirkiness. ‘Faker’ is the…
Album | The Cairo Gang – The Corner Man
Emmett Kelly is, to all intents and purposes, the only permanent gang member and since a debut album under that name in 2006 has put out only an impossible to find follow-up, a solitary EP and a collaboration with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. The latter, the occasionally fantastic Wondershow of the World, was certainly not time wasted, but The Corner Man is too deeply felt and too thoroughly delivered to be the work of a regular sidekick.
Album | Musical Charis – Fool$ Gold
Sacramento’s Musical Charis have created a little gem of a record with Fool$ Gold. Knowing how lovely the band are (not many bands open their own music school for their community!), I was willing for this album to be good.…
Album | Richard Walters – Regret Less
Richard Walters returns with the fantastic Regret Less. Having already become a feature on American prime-time shows like Grey’s Anatomy, released brilliantly received albums and wowed many an audience with his music, it is surprising but welcome that the Oxford-based…
Album | Jo Mango – Murmuration
Given that it’s six years since Jo Mango released her debut album Paperclips and Sand, we can imagine a fair few listeners will be discovering this Scottish songbird for the first time with sophomore release Murmuration. It’s not like she’s…
Album | The Unthanks – Diversions Volume III: Songs from the Shipyards
If there’s one thing The Unthanks can do really well, it’s evoke images of a northern yesteryear. In this latest offering from the sisters and their band, they rework folk songs by the likes of Graeme Miles, Alex Glasgow and…
EP | Marcus Foster – The Last House
The Last House is the latest offering from 24 year old London based singer-songwriter Marcus Foster. Interestingly, though this is not entirely relevant, he has an MA in sculpture and I have seen his work exhibited in the Saatchi Gallery.…
EP | The Murder Barn – Gotta Good Man
After a year holed up in the mysterious self-constructed studio from which they take their name, The Murder Barn emerge blinking into the light. The band cite Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Ennio Morricone among their list of…
Album | The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter
What more do you expect from two banjo and guitar playing brothers from North Carolina than utter charm? This is exactly the sentiment that the Avett Brothers have created with their latest album The Carpenter. The lilting country harmonies, charming…