As winter turns to spring, summer comes into view and we begin to shed the extra layers of clothing. Time then to find some music to listen to while dozing in the sunshine or taking a walk in the country.…
Album | This Is The Kit – Bashed Out
Category: Records
Album | The Leisure Society – The Fine Art of Hanging On
When a band like The Leisure Society releases their fourth album, there’s bound to be slight trepidation. After being lauded by critics for their first three releases and being counted among Brian Eno and Ray Davies favourite bands, there’s a lot of pressure…
Album | Villagers – Darling Arithmetic
After his debut Becoming A Jackal and the harder sounds of Awayland, Conor O’Brien’s latest offering is carefully intimate and stripped-down, recorded in his home studio. Opening song ‘Courage’ is characteristically stoical/masochistic: the knowledge that life is not always easy is framed as ‘sweet relief’.…
Album | Benjamin Clementine – At Least For Now
I hadn’t heard Benjamin Clementine before this album, but it’s pretty apparent that he’s a star, often compared to Nina Simone in his compelling delivery and stage presence. At Least For Now opens with ‘Winston Churchill’s Boy’: beginning just with…
Album | Calexico – Edge Of The Sun
In the nearly 20 years since their debut, Tucson group Calexico have made some outstanding albums, weaving together roots sounds, Americana and Tex-Mex. On their first album since 2012’s New Orleans-themed Algiers, they make what is (surprisingly, given their influences)…
Album | Waxahatchee – Ivy Tripp
Ivy Tripp is Katie Crutchfield’s third record under the name Waxahatchee, but just because she’s settled into the role doesn’t mean she’s ready to stop moving. Over the course of this record, Crutchfield never sits still, and offers a little…
Album | Ron Sexsmith – Carousel One
Ron Sexsmith has been around for an age now (well, 24 years since his debut – sorry Ron, we’re not meaning to rub it in), constantly knocking out great albums and somehow completely avoiding the commercial radar. It seems criminal,…
Album | Lord Huron – Strange Trails
Michigan artist Ben Schneider’s debut album as Lord Huron, Lonesome Dreams, was all about wide open spaces, its cover depicting a lone rider peering into a starless desert night. Based on a Western pulp fiction concept it found our hero…
Album | Emily Barker- The Toerag Sessions
Once, every two or three years, an artist comes along so fully formed and talented that they fast become one of your favourite musicians, and when Emily Barker, supported by the very talented multi-instrumentalists of the Red Clay Halo, released…
Album | Josh Rouse – The Embers Of Time
Josh Rouse approached The Embers of Time, his 11th studio album, at something of a turning point. Facing a mid-life crisis after ten years as an ex-pat in his adopted Spanish homeland coupled with the strains of raising a young…