Category: Reviews

Album | Arborist – An Endless Sequence of Dead Zeros

“Sometimes these are the best dreams I’ve ever had/Like a sparkle of crystals in the palm of my hand”. From the opening lines of Arborist’s third album, we are welcomed into a world observed from a different angle. Arborist, aka Mark McCambridge,…

Album | Lucy Farrell – We Are Only Sound

Lucy Farrell has been a name on the English folk circuit for a number of years, duetting with Jonny Kearney for a while and gaining acclaim in supporting slots or the likes of The Unthanks and Bellowhead. After winning the…

Album | Esther Rose – Safe to Run

Esther Rose has lived a bit of a nomadic existence, and now living in Santa Fe, after stays in Columbiaville, Michigan; and New Orleans, Safe to Run suggests that trading places has had a certain appeal. It’s as if she…

EP | Angel Olsen – Forever Means

Sometimes things just don’t fit. Angel Olsen had that problem with ‘Nothing’s Free’, the first track from her new EP, Forever Means. Soulful in a way that the other songs on Big Time weren’t, it became obvious it wouldn’t make…

Album | The New Pornographers – Continue as a Guest

Creating one of the densest openings a song has ever had, The New Pornographers take ‘Really, Really Light’ from Continue as a Guest and rather than sounding soft and reflective they almost sound like Electric Light Orchestra. Everything jangles and…

Album | Nickel Creek – Celebrants

“My God it’s good to see you/ Right here in the flesh.” With that Celebrants takes a look at what has gone on in the nine years since Nickel Creek released their last LP. Times and people change. Examining that…

Album | Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman – Almost A Sunset

Inspiration can come from anywhere. In the case of Almost A Sunset by Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman it seems to come from everywhere. Gargoyles, Robin Hood, tight rope walkers, even lions in revolt are spun into gold by the…

Album | Iris DeMent – Workin’ On A World 

Life works in mysterious ways, Iris DeMent nearly gave up on the songs from Workin’ On A World, the album that had its genesis after America’s 2016 presidential anomaly. By 2020 the recordings helmed by Richard Bennet and Jim Rooney…

Album | Brett Dooley – The Long Road

Brett Dooley might best be known in the Arizona scene as Whiskey Treats’ frontman. No stranger to an energetic performance, Dooley and the crew have long-since left their mark in Tucson and beyond with their electrifying roots stylings. Now, he’s…