It’s a quiet Monday night in Soho and we somehow find ourselves at what must surely be the most exclusive gig in town. We arrive in time for folk stalwart, Polly Paulusma, the small British girl with a southern American…
Category: Reviews
EP | Frightened Rabbit – State Hospital
Once news broke of Frightened Rabbit’s move from FatCat to Atlantic, some fans were understandably concerned about whether the Selkirk quintet would lose some of the qualities that endeared them to their loyal following in the first place. It’ll no…
New Bands Panel | Johnno Casson – Window Shopping
Album | Mumford & Sons – Babel
It’s difficult to write a review aware that it will serve no purpose. After the phenomenal success of their debut album Sigh No More, Mumford & Sons now find themselves with a legion of devoted fans. Folk fans, pop fans.…
EP | Abagail Grey – Dark Wood
Claire Campbell chose the stage name Abagail Grey after meeting the character in what is described as an “eerily vivid dream”. And for that, she could hardly have a better name, because listening to her music seems like a slightly…
Album | Rachel Sermanni – Under Mountains
Glasgow-based Rachel Sermanni has been plugging away for a few years now, releasing various singles and EPs, but now the time has come for her to release a full-length effort with help from various piano and fiddle players that she’s…
Album | Alberta Cross – Songs of Patience
Alberta Cross have certainly racked up a lot of attention since their acclaimed debut album, Broken Side of Time. Tour commitments with Oasis and Them Crooked Vultures, plus coveted airtime on Radio 1 mean that their latest release, Songs of…
Album | Malcolm Holcombe – Down The River
Malcolm Holcombe has never previously sounded like a man in much of a hurry. A 57-year-old of remarkable sideburns, the North Carolina bluesman was in his 40s when he finally got around to releasing his debut album, and the follow-ups…
Album | The Fresh & Onlys – Long Slow Dance
The Fresh & Onlys look, according to their press release, “exactly like a biker gang composed of record store employees who could stomp your ass while shouting Kobaïan (that language ‘70s French prog band Magma made up) at you, if…
Album | Grizzly Bear – Shields
It’s far from an unfamiliar story: art-house indie band makes a huge breakthrough album, and then wrestles with the right way to follow it up for years. Veckatimest catapulted Grizzly Bear out of the experimental backwaters and firmly into the…