It’s been a tough weekend here at FFS HQ, but through bitterly fought arguments, desperate whittling down and some pretty poor attempts at using maths to help us choose, the FFS Schmercury shortlist for 2009 is ready for your listening pleasure.
Category: News
Alessi’s artwork on show in Hammersmith
As many of you will know, Alessi Laurent-Marke, able captain of Alessi’s Ark, does much more than writing scintillating, magical folk songs. She’s the worthy purveyor of a delectable variety of handmade and lovely things via her blog, and she’s rather keen on having a scribble with the ol’ felt tips.
Kings of Convenience Announce New Album
After five years in the wilderness, Kings of Convenience have finally announced the details of their new album, Declaration of Dependence, which is due for release in the autumn.
Martha Wainwright teams up with Liam Frost – free mp3 download
Mancunian rocker Liam Frost has enlisted Martha Wainwright to enhance and adorn a track on his upcoming album, We Ain’t Got No Money, Honey, But We Got Rain (after legendary beat poet Charles Bucowski). The Duet, entitled ‘Your Hand in Mine’ is available as a free download here, and gives listeners a thrilling sneak preview of the album, which is due out on September 28th.
*UPDATED* The FFS Schmercury Awards long list – submissions wanted!
We at FFS are not impressed with the Mercury Prize nominations this year. Not one bit. So we’ve decided to create our own: The FFS Schmercury Prize. And cos we’re not jingoistic types we’re allowing artists from the WHOLE world.
FFS Exclusive competition: Win a T-shirt designed by Rilo Kiley, New Pornographers, Bon Iver and more
For Folk’s Sake have teamed up with Yellow Bird, which asks indie artists to design t-shirts for charity, to offer two FFS readers the chance to win a t-shirt by their chosen band.
Artists involved in the project include Bon Iver, The New Pornographers, The Magic Numbers, The Shins and Au Revoir Simone.
First Aid Kit ask fans to suggest songs to cover
FFS first became aware of First Aid Kit thanks to the YouTube video of their beautiful cover of Fleet Foxes’ ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’, which has been seen over half a million times. Following on from its success Johanna and Klara have decided to recording a series of covers suggested to them by their Twitter followers.
The Leisure Society sign with Full Time Hobby + free download
Ivor Novello nominees and all-round nice chaps The Leisure Society have signed to Full Time Hobby.
The record label announced this week that they’ll be rereleasing TLS’s lovely album The Sleeper as a double CD pack on 5th October. The second disc will be an eight track EP consisting of B-sides and demos including the band’s cover of Cars by Gary Numan, which they played at the Wilkommen Collective’s Union Chapel show.
Bloom Festival Moves To Chepstow Racecourse
Organisers of the lovely Bloom Festival have announced a change of venue for 2009, and the weekend-long event will now be held at Chepstow Racecourse.
Southbank announces Emmy the Great and Laura Marling summer shows
The Southbank Centre has announced it’s series of summer gigs, which features folk artists Laura Marling, Emmy the Great, Mary Gaulthier and Emiliana Torrini.
The gigs begin on July 19th. Here are FFS’s picks: