The Five Ghosts is a bit more electro-sci-fi-broadway-extravaganza than typical FFS fare, but these Canadian darlings have storytelling capabilities to rival the beardiest of banjo strummers. The subject matter of their musical tales ranges from the utterly everyday (lying in…
Category: Reviews
Album: Mary Gauthier – The Foundling
Mary Gauthier has never been afraid to tackle the emotional and the personal in her songwriting. In five albums prior to this, she’s taken on issues of love, loss, politics, faith and family problems. But where that last one is…
An open letter to Stornoway (or our review of Beachcomber’s Windowsill)
Dear Stornoway, I feel we owe you an apology of sorts. You see, I have been tasked with writing a review of your wonderful debut album Beachcomber’s Windowsill for a certain folk music website. It sort of makes sense, I…
Live: Quasi @ Captain’s Rest, Glasgow
After an hour-long set from hipsters Dead Meadow with songs containing increasingly long almost psychedelic jam sessions in the middle (as one over-eager heckler said, “Take that and some hallucinogenic drugs”), the crowd at Glasgow’s cramped Captain’s Rest seemed more…
Live: Slow Club @ Koko, London
Just as Ronseal Quick Drying Woodstain does exactly what it says on the tin, the presence of the two protagonists of Slow Club on the front cover of their debut album Yeah So implies that two people will take to…
Live: Peggy Sue @ Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
When you listen to Peggy Sue on record – and if you haven’t done so, I strongly advise you to – two things are immediately striking. One is the captivating sound made by the voices of Rosa Rex and Katy…
Live: Forest Fire & Phosphorescent @ Deaf Institute, Manchester
You can usually tell what niche of music is in order for an evening’s entertainment by those there to witness it. This evening, I find myself in a sea of beards, and once one gets a glimpse of Phosphorescent and…
Live: Scout Niblett @ The Borderline
The show opens with Canada’s Ora Cogan. The one woman, one guitar, powerful folk songs set up is a common one, and although often Cogan’s songs sound familiar, they are never predictable or dull, but thoughtful and soft, and a…
Live: Sia @ The Roundhouse, Camden
The Roundhouse still has the ambience of a new venue even several years after its 2006 re-opening as London’s newest kid on the block. This may be because at times it feels like a new flat before the inevitable trip…
Live: Villagers @ Deaf Institute, Manchester
Villagers have been around for a wee while now, causing hubbub in the most remote corners of the music world, one such corner being the little known TV show, ‘Later… With Jools Holland’. Playing to a full to the brim…