Sometimes an idea comes from so far out of left field it takes you a while to realise just how perfect it is. Like Duane Eddy, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall-of-Famer who invented the famous ‘twang’ sound, recording an album…
Author: Ian Parker
Ian is For Folk's Sake's reviews editor. Find him on Twitter @iparky.
Album: Anna Waronker – California Fade
Former That Dog frontwoman Anna Waronker has kept fans waiting for her second solo album. While a little acting and film scoring may have got in the way, it’s nine years since her debut Anna was released, and no matter…
Album: Rubik – Solar
We’ll admit we don’t follow the Finnish music scene that closely, but were any of us to do so, we’d find Rubik somewhere near the top of the pile. Solar, released here in the UK only now, has already been…
Live: Alessi’s Ark @ The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
This is far from the first time FFS has seen Alessi Laurent-Marke perform live, but it might as well be. The shy girl whose last two gigs in Leeds were the lowest of low-key affairs in the corner of a…
Live: Smoke Fairies @ The Duchess, York
In the shadow of York’s great gothic Minster, the Smoke Fairies have come to weave their magic. Their haunting, ethereal music is ideal for this ancient city. While we may, in fact, be gathered in the basement of a 1960s…
Interview: Ron Sexsmith rises again
When Ron Sexsmith’s 11th album Long Player Late Bloomer was released earlier this year, FFS declared it to be the Canadian singer-songwriter’s “most exuberant album to date”. We’re sticking with that assessment, but the man himself told us it came…
EP: Cashier No. 9 – Goldstar
Cashier No 9 is, we’re pretty sure, a terrible name for a band. But luckily for them, that’s where the terribleness stops. The Goldstar EP will mark the end of their obscurity, serving as it does as their final self-released…
EP: Pete David and The Payroll Union – Underfed and Underpaid
Sheffield might currently lack a defining music scene, but in the wake of all those who were keen to ape Arctic Monkeys a few years ago this comes as a merciful shot of relief. What the Steel City offers instead…
EP: Anchor & The Wolf – The Cinema Suite
Even when listening to it, I can never quite figure out how some music manages to be both powerful and terribly delicate at the same time. But however that works, Anchor & The Wolf make it happen on the outstanding…
Album: Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter – Marble Son
Nothing is rushed in the world of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter. Their music a world of long, slow, brooding tracks that envelop you in a warm, melancholy sound. And their productivity rate does little to quicken the pulse…