For Folk's Sake » Alessi’s Ark

EP | Stealing Sheep – Noah And The Paper Moon

For Folk's Sake — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:19:10 +0000

With their long drapes of hair and songs dotted with twangling loopy bits and swooping girl-trio harmonies, Stealing Sheep are a bit of a throwback to hippydom, but they have more than retro appeal going for them. Noah and the Paper Moon feels fresh and playful, with beautifully textured tracks that are lifted out of twee predictability by shifts in pace, dramatic drum-thuds, and sharply-toned meanderings that veer back into more anchored choruses, like a drunk bumblebee.

Even when they’re dealing with sadness, or being far from home (‘Your Saddest Song’, ‘Noah’s Days’) they sing “go outside and take some air”, cheerful without being too tame. They’d fit alongside Alessi’s Ark and Laura J. Martin in this sense, but ultimately sound unique.

The Noah theme runs through the album; beginning with ‘I Am The Rain’, droning synth undertones and echoing, silvery vocals make it feel like the songs were somehow recorded in a flood. ‘I Am The Rain’ and ‘The Mountain Dogs’ are the most accessible tracks, but the more complex, dreamy bedtime narratives of ‘Bats’ and ‘Paper Moon’ also really shine. This is a very impressive collection, all spirited stories and adventure.

Words: Becky Varley–Winter

News | Herman Dune, Peggy Sue, Sam Amidon for Willkommen Foxtrot 2011

Lynn Roberts — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 11:38:16 +0000

I expect you’re wishing you could spend a day hanging out in a stately home with some of your favourite folkies, aren’t you? Well wish no more! Because Willkommen – the lovely Brighton-based collective of musicians – has announced the line-up for the third Foxtrot Festival.

The event, which has previously seen the likes of Laura Marling, The Leisure Society, Anna Calvi and Rozi Plain grace Stanmer House near Brighton, will take place on the 11th September.

This year, Foxtrot alumni Peggy Sue and Alessi’s Ark will return to the 2-stage venue to support headliners Herman Dune. Other FFS-recommended performers on the line-up include Sam Amidon, Nancy Elizabeth, This Is The Kit and Hannah Peel.

Tickets are £22.50 and available from We Got Tickets.

Live: Alessi’s Ark @ The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Ian Parker — Sat, 28 May 2011 14:17:17 +0000

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 noisy bar, Alessi stumbling over her lyrics as she performed alone, has gone. The artist who charmed us with her quirks, with an infectious smile audible in her music, has grown up.

In her place is a young woman, stood before us with the full Ark, and ready to give us a performance more befitting of her talent. Perhaps it’s having her band with her, but Alessi is noticeably more confident than she has appeared in these parts before. Her banter with the crowd is more than just laughing at her herself: “This is a bit like Vegas, with all the lights,” she declares. “We’ve fucking made it. Celine Dion’s got nothing on us.” There’s no way on earth we’d have heard this kind of thing at the Nation of Shopkeepers last year.

With this new confidence comes greater projection as she performs with authority. Having broken through as a shy teenager, Alessi is now more comfortable with who she is. Although she drops in a few old treats, ‘The Horse’ and ‘Hummingbird’ amongst them, most of the songs she plays are drawn from Time Travel, the new album that shows us the new Alessi.

She wows the Brudenell with ‘Wire’, ‘The Robot’ and the new album’s standout track ‘Maybe I Know’. But the shy teenager has not completely disappeared. She almost apologises for ‘Must’ve Grown’: “It’s very honest,” she said. “I thought I would be more grown up by now.” But, as usual, she’s underselling herself, because by this stage of the show, she’s already proven herself to be an accomplished young artist with the world at her feet.

Festival Preview: Truck

Helen True — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:14:45 +0000

The 14th Truck Festival (22nd-24th July) will, unfortunately for FFS, be our first. We had a rough idea that something good was going on in a field in Oxford all these years, but we’ve only just been informed of the gravity of the situation. Why did no one tell us? WHY?

Truck is a teensy-weensy family-run affair (there’s space for 8,000 people this year), spearheaded by a pair of brothers with impeccable taste and some pretty cool friends.

This year, they’ve palled up with Transgressive, Heavenly Recordings and Bella Union, each of whom will curate the new Clash Stage for a day.

Transgressive’s Friday take-over will see the likes of Mechanical Bride, Dry the River and Johnny Flynn take to the stage.

On Saturday it’s the turn of Heavenly, who’ve invited acts as diverse as Edwyn Collins, Cherry Ghost, and FFS favourite Sea of Bees to join the Truck family.

The last day of the festival sees Bella Union take their turn on the Clash Stage. They’ve lined up John Grant, Philip Selway (him out of Radiohead), the delightful Alessi’s Ark, Treefight for Sunlight and Lanterns to ensure that Truck finishes on the best possible note.

We expect to be exhausted, of course, but we also expect to be taken on one pretty delectable ride. Watch out Truck, FFS is coming.

Tickets are a mere £99, and you can get yours here.

Album: Alessi’s Ark – Time Travel

For Folk's Sake — Sun, 08 May 2011 11:09:06 +0000

‘Oh by now I must’ve grown’, sings Alessi Laurent-Marke on her second album Time Travel. And she has. Her writing, her melodies, the playing, the whole ambience of this album is stronger, more mature and simply wonderful. She’s yet to turn 21 but, like her contemporaries and friends – you know, that lot, the Mumfords and the Marlings – she’s proving that beauty comes before age.

The beauty here is some of the gorgeous songs on this album, showing off her unique tremolo-ing vocals, vibrating like an owl under water, but also the musicianship. The playing is rich like a summery woodland in bloom and, while not some of the most complex you’ll ever hear, props the Ark up perfectly. That’s not to say this latest offering will be everyone’s cup of folk. Alessi’s voice is an acquired taste and one that could grate rather than be great so some. But this album is more than just the voice. The occasional use of trumpet, flute and harp pushes Alessi straight out of that ‘any other young folky’ box. It’s verging on Joanna Newsom beautiful, and not only because of the harp similarity.

There are definitely more than a few songs on this album that will shoot to the top of the favourites list. The Robot, heard on last year’s Soul Proprietor album, is quaint, vintage, cute and lovely, while Maybe I Know, with its poppy country feel is Dolly Parton sweetness with an English Rose attitude.

But these more obvious tracks are not the ones that make this album so listenable. Instead, it’s the more soulful, more heart-achingly delicate. It’s the kind of song writing that sets Laura Marling apart from Lily Allen.

Wire, produced like Alessi is singing in a warm wooden box, is a simple pop song, but so lovely. Stalemate too, plodding along like an elderly beach donkey, its double bass protruding through some lovely brushed percussion and a basic strummed guitar, is one of those songs that just lingers on your skin way after the album’s finished.

The Fever, an instrumental break with the before-mentioned harp and a well-loved piano, is one of my favourite bits of the album, just for the way it pulls together to rest of the album and, once again, pushes it a step further from the commercial folk pop.

And Blanket, at just over a minute long, wraps up the listener and soothes them with a swirling melody and ghostly vocals before the album jumps feet first back into something a bit more mainstream. It’s these slightly odd and personal additions to albums that prick up ears instead of bashing out tune after tune of radio-playable songs. It’s nice to see the art of the album isn’t dead.

Words: Gemma Hampson

Alessi’s Ark’s new video and free MP3 download

Lynn Roberts — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:46:49 +0000

Put two uber-talented 20-year-olds together and what do you get? Well in this case it’s a tricycle-filled music video in which every frame and note is a beaut.

Artistic wonderwoman Anika Mottershaw and dream-folk darling Alessi Laurent-Marke got together to produce the video for new Alessi’s Ark song ‘Wire’.

The song is taken from her second album Time Travel, which will be released on Bella Union in April.

Watch video:

Download ‘Wire’:
Alessi’s Ark – Wire by Bella Union

New Alessi’s Ark album ‘Time Travel’ due in April

Lynn Roberts — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:14:20 +0000

Hurraaaaaaaaaaaay! Alessi and her Ark, whom FFS has loved for many years, has announced the release of her second album Time Travel.

Since the release of her debut album Notes from the Treehouse, Alessi has shared the stage with the who’s who of UK folk including Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons, Peggy Sue and the Wilkommen Collective.

She says: “This is a collection of songs that have mostly grown from travelling and touring, away from the familiarity of home, family and friends”.

The album is due to be released on 25th April on Bella Union.

Listen to Wire:
Alessi’s Ark – Wire by Bella Union

Video: Alessi’s Ark and Rachael Dadd introduce Japan to The Robot

Lois Jeary — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:12:24 +0000

While sat barefooted on the tatami mats in Kyoto’s Cafe Yugue (home to arguably the best bagels in all of Japan. Seriously.), FFS filmed Alessi’s Ark at her first Japanese gig.

Alessi was accompanied on a few songs by fellow British folkster Rachael Dadd, and here they perform ‘The Robot’ from the Soul Proprietor EP.

Brian’s Mixtape #44: Then & Now

Lynn Roberts — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 22:36:20 +0000

FFS turned two last month, and while we don’t like to make a fuss, it’s made us a tad reflective. Especially Brian, who’s a sentimental sort of owl. He has been remembering all the beautiful music he’s listened to over the past couple of years and has concluded that it has made his life approximately 160 per cent better than it otherwise would have been.

When FFS began in 2008 it was because we were very excited indeed about artists like Laura Marling, Noah & the Whale, Johnny Flynn, Peggy Sue and Mumford & Sons. And in our humblest of opinions, the music these bands make has just got better and better.

As well as being sentimental, Brian is a fan of science and so he has constructed an experiment to test our hypothesis. Here are some examples of the work of our heroes and heroines then and now. Cast your votes on which mini playlist you prefer.

And listen to the whole lot on Spotify – Brian’s Mixtape #44: Then & Now

Then:
Laura Marling – New Romantic
Mumford & Sons – White Blank Page
Johnny Flynn – Hong Kong Cemetry
Noah And The Whale – 2 Bodies 1 Heart
Slow Club – Me And You
Emmy The Great – Canopies And Drapes
Broadcast 2000 – Pep Talk
Alessi’s Ark – The Horse

Now:
Broadcast 2000 – Gonna Build A Mountain
Johnny Flynn – Kentucky Pill
Laura Marling – Rambling Man
Slow Club – It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful
Mumford & Sons – Thistle & Weeds
Emmy The Great – We Almost Had A Baby
Noah And The Whale – Love Of An Orchestra
Alessi’s Ark – The Bird Song

Deer Shed to host Alessi’s Ark & Blue Roses

Helen True — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:19:55 +0000

Fancy some Gothic Morris dancing? Of COURSE you do.

If you’re on the look for a laid-back festival with a bit of class, look no further than the intriguingly named Deer Shed Festival, a one day festival (camping’s an optional extra) taking place at Baldersley Park, North Yorkshire on 17th July. It’s one for all the family, but they’ve not compromised on quality when it comes to booking super bands.

You won’t have to compromise on what you see though, as with 13 acts on two stages, you’re unlikely to need a clashfinder or make any heart-rending choices. Alessi’s Ark, Blue Roses, Lone Wolf, and headliners The Wedding Present will entertain a select crowd of just 1,200 guests.

Children can indulge in mosaic workshops, a deer treasure hunt where specially commissioned model deer will be hidden across the festival site, or learn to make a freedom boot: “a marvelous percussion instrument made out of a stick, a boot, some beer tops and various other bits and pieces”.

Grown-ups can dabble in a bit of yoga, do a spot of vintage shopping or catch some live comedy, and all the family can marvel at the (probable) brilliance of the Jet Set Gothic Morris Dancers.

Tickets are a snip at £35 for adults, and this is guaranteed to be a small, intimate affair all round. Get your mits on them here.

Words: Helen True

For Folk's Sake » Alessi’s Ark

EP | Stealing Sheep – Noah And The Paper Moon

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News | Herman Dune, Peggy Sue, Sam Amidon for Willkommen Foxtrot 2011

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Live: Alessi’s Ark @ The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

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Album: Alessi’s Ark – Time Travel

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Alessi’s Ark’s new video and free MP3 download

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New Alessi’s Ark album ‘Time Travel’ due in April

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Video: Alessi’s Ark and Rachael Dadd introduce Japan to The Robot

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Deer Shed to host Alessi’s Ark & Blue Roses

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