She & Him have always felt a little bit too good to be true. Take an indie boy’s dream starlet, pair her up with one of the folk world’s most talented musicians, and let the two of them make sweet,…
Category: Reviews
Single: Draw Me Stories — Becomes the Hunted/Oars
Draw Me Stories have a dark, foreboding, mood that infects their music. It’s a quality they share with cult 90’s emo pioneers Sunny Day Real Estate. It also makes for addictive listening. Their new single contains the songs ‘Becomes the…
Single Review: Laura Marling – Rambling Man
Gone are the wispy, brittle songs of Alas I Cannot Swim. Twenty-year-old Marling’s second album, I Speak Because I Can, is simmering with a certain confidence in style that seems to have replaced the endearing tenderness of the debut. ‘Rambling…
Live: FFS @ The Camden Crawl
FFS’s Chris Gent moseyed on down to the Camden Crawl for the May bank holiday weekend. Here, he provides his impressions of three folk-tastic bands for your esteemed consideration. Kurran and the Wolfnotes @ The Enterprise Kurran and the Wolfnotes…
Album: Pearly Gate Music – Pearly Gate Music
Zach Tillman, the man behind Pearly Gate Music, is the brother of Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman. There are two reasons why it’s best to mention this up front, I think, rather than dance around it. Firstly, Josh’s name is…
FFS’s New Band Review Panel: Maia – The Band
With the release of their debut album just around the corner, Maia The Band are ready to take off. The four piece from the North West of England combine an array of different sounds for our New Bands Panel to…
Album: Turner Cody – Gangbusters!
Over the years, Turner Cody hasn’t strayed far from the country-twanged folk that characterised his early contribution ‘Unconscious Repeat’ on the 2002 compilation Antifolk Vol. 1. In the time that Adam Green has gone from painful shrieking clarinets to smooth…
Live: Efterklang @ The Black Box, Dublin
As far as concert venues in Belfast go, The Black Box is definitely one of the nicer ones. Gracefully skimming the line between rowdy, leery pub and wanker-infested bohemian dive, it’s a blessed haven where you won’t be immediately saturated…
FFS’s New Band Review Panel: Aspen Sails
Mary Machin: The music of Aspen Sails is nostalgic, infectious and personal all in one breath. Much of the material is accessible and could be any folk fan’s cup of tea. Going back to the personal element of Aspen Sails’ music,…
Album: Harper Simon – Harper Simon
Harper Simon’s first album, Harper Simon is so good on paper that it would have to work pretty hard to be bad. Ten tunes squeezed into half an hour of music – always a good omen, some of Nashville’s canniest…