Beatnik is a monthly event at The Macbeth in Hoxton, featuring a free rooftop barbeque, puppet-making, hula-hooping, open mic, vintage DJ-ing and fine folk. It’s the brainchild of singer-songwriter Russell Swallow, writer of warm, Romantic songs like a draught of…
Category: Reviews
Live: A Hawk and a Hacksaw @ Cafe Oto, London
It’s a sweltering evening in Cafe Oto – a Dalston jazz cafe somewhere between the shadow of the Balkans and the plains of New Mexico. A Hawk and a hacksaw are from one of these far flung locations and, in…
EP: Lost Cavalry – Waves Freeze To Rolling Hills
Waves Freeze To Rolling Hills is the début EP from The Lost Cavalry, who were formed in 2009 by ex-Fanfarlo guitarist Mark West. The nautical cover artwork gives a indication of the content; these are gentle, delicate songs which at…
Album: Sarah Blasko – As Day Follows Night
Sarah Blasko is quite a success in Australia, she already has two top ten albums and numerous award nominations down under, but she is relatively unknown in the UK. The first thing that drew me into Sarah Blasko is her…
Album: Feldberg – Don’t Be A Stranger
Iceland has been spoiling us with some glorious music in recent years. From the wonderfully gorgeous folk of Ólöf Arnalds to the breathtaking Sigur Ros (not to forget Jonsi‘s brilliant solo album earlier this year) and the unimitable output of…
Festival: Indietracks 2010
When they said Indietracks was held in a remote part of Derbyshire, they weren’t joking. High on road-trip junk-food and cursing the iPhone’s rubbish navigation, we circled Swanwick’s one-way system 7 times. But all rumours of troll-like staff were quashed…
Album: Common Prayer – There is a Mountain
Ok, so it’s true, listeners. There is a mountain. It has its roots planted in old-time folk, back-country blues, gutsy 50s doo-wop and military brass, but it is reaching.. well, somewhere into the sky. Or the future. Somewhere strange and…
Album: The Unthanks — Here’s The Tender Coming
Though their previous album, The Bairns, was Mercury-nominated in 2008, I hadn’t heard The Unthanks until I stumbled across Here’s The Tender Coming in a second-hand record shop, spied the pensive-looking girls on the cover, recognised My People and took…
Festival: Secret Garden Party 2010 – Fact or Fiction
After a journey to secretdom (somewhere between Cambridge and Norwich), the garden unfurls itself all centred around a huge flying machine anchored in a giant lake. This years theme was ‘Fact or Fiction’ and no effort was spared with the…
EP: Rachael Dadd – Elephee
Rachael Dadd’s new EP Elephee sounds delicate and raw, precise and spontaneous. It’s a beautiful collection of songs that could have been recorded just a few hours ago or sometime in the early 1970s. Imagine finding a vinyl record in…