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Website: http://www.myspace.com/leskikernow

Leski have been together for little more than eighteen months, but in that time, Richard and Kerensa, who make up the duo, have developed a musical understanding that others take years to acquire, if they get there at all. The album is predominently instrumental and features the much neglected hammered dulcimer as one of the core instrumentss. It's a traditional album, that draws heavily on the Cornish traditions. The songs are rich and full of life, listen for the clog dancers on the title track. "Leski" is bright and mournful, vibrant to it's core, fresh as a Kernow stream.

Website: http://www.myspace.com/therosellys

Forget about the gun crime, if you've got a passion for great music, then now's the time to pack up and head for Nottingham. To the list of great singer/songwriters from that city, we can now add Americana and inparticular Rebecca Rosewell and Simon Kelly, aka The Rosellys. "One Way St." captures the vibe of the open road. It feels like a journey album, not just in a physical sense, it feels like it's on the path to self discovery and relationships. It feels like it's about sharing dreams and being awed by feeling part of wide open spaces. Nashville to Nottingham it's quite a trip.

Album:Struggles & Lulls

Website: http://www.myspace.com/joancoffey

There is a very theatrical feel to "Struggles & Lulls". It feels big, the production imagining a huge audience getting intimate with the performance on the stage. Even the quiet numbers and on the tracks where Joan Coffey drops her voice down to almost whisper feel as if they're a performance, she reaches out to her audience to engage with them. It's not a relationship any singer can pull off. Of course it helps if you've got a voice that can enchant. Coffey's vocal chords deliver liquid gold with a divine Irish lilt. There's a sense of vulnerability, but ultimately inner strength.

Website: http://www.myspace.com/adeleswallow

Adele's songs sound as though they've always been written with a band in mind. It's not surprising as Adele's background is in indie bands, more than a trace of which subverts the acoustic pop/rock that she wraps her vocal sround. It gives her songs a bit more grunt. This is not a girl seeking empathy, rather a woman striding out with confidence, sure of her place in the world around and taking confidence from it. It's not feminist because Adele Swallow knows she's equal, assertive without being agressive. It's Adele's name on the tin, but this really is a band effort, indie folk rock.

The Demon Barbers

Website: http://www.myspace.com/thedemonbarbers

If you needed proof that The Demon Barbers have picked up the baton from the Oysterband and sprinted away into the distance with it, then "+24Db" is it. Tradition in their heart, innovation in their heads, The Demon Barbers are setting a new direction for aspects of English folk music. Proud and passionate, strongly rhythmic, as much about setting the toes tapping as it is about stimulating the mind and ideally getting you off and dancing. There are few bands where you can picture Joe Strummer and Ralph McTell guesting, this is one of them, ancient meets modern, folk music wins.

Website: http://www.myspace.com/regmeuross

I checked out "Dragonfly" because I knew top fiddle singer Jackie Oates was one of the musicians on it. Looks like I owe Jackie a big vote of thanks. Reg Meuross is a singer/songwriter in the Neil Diamond/Don McLean style. Songs, mainly about and inspired by people, that reach out to the human psyche. Injustice is a common thread running through the album. A couple of tracks explore how war impacts on life. Wealthy officers sent home to be rehabilitated, young working class lads shot for cowardice. Couples disowned for loving out of their class. Meuross is a real wordsmith.

Label:Lisaleo Records

Website: http://www.sophiebancroft.co.uk

Having enjoyed Sophie Bancroft's previous cut, I was really pleased when her new album, "Handwritten", popped through the letterbox and onto the office mat. There is a cheekiness and a hint of a Gallic shrug to Ms Bancroft's light jazz style. Her songs tend towards the observational often with a rye sense of perspective. "Won't Be You" sees an unfaithful partner sent on their way, but whose now going to service the car and walk the dog? Populated with people and places, including a memorial song to the much missed Martyn Bennett. Like chasing butterflies on a summer's day.

Single:Football On The TV

Website: http://www.myspace.com/theclayfaces

A precursor to their full length debut, "Football On The TV" is out there to garner some interest and raise the band's profile, though with none of the home nations qualifying for Euro 2008, I think I might have chosen a different track :-) With elements of both the Pogues and the Mescalaros in their sound, The Clay Faces are good honest hard grafting folk rock, with a bit on an indie twist. At times they remind me of a Stoke Version of The Whiskey Priests, which is definitely no bad thing, Rough and ready, from the heart, role on the full album

A Band Called Quinn

Album:Sun Moon Stars

Label:Tromolo Records

Website: http://www.myspace.com/abandcalledquinn

For a masterclass in acoustic rooted dream pop, you could do a lot worse than dig out A Band Called Quinn's(ABCQ)"Sun Moon Stars". It's an album that postitively bristles with a sense of fun. A pomp beat drives the album along, while Louise Quinn lays out a vocal that could charm the birds from the trees. It's like someone took the blonde sound from the ninties and decided that it needed just a touch more acoustic class and a lot less cynicism. A dark bitter chocolate shell hides a lushious liquid centre.

Album:The Long Notes

Website: http://www.myspace.co./thelongnotes

A few short weeks back I commented on instrumetal albums, you wait ages for a good one to come along and then three all come at once. The Long Notes are a power trio of three great musicians who have all established reputations in their own rights, namely, Charlotte O'Leary(Accordion), Jamie Smith(fiddle) and Brian Kelly(Banjo). "The Long Notes" is an album very much informed by the live scene. The songs old and new have been explored in pub and hall. You feel the musicians are amongst old friends, relaxed and ready for a good time and able to relay that to the audience.

Album:Dance Like Flames

Label:Borealis Records

Website: http://www.tanglefootmusic.com

Hailing from Canada and recently out on a tour of the UK, "Dance Like Flames" is the most recent album from folk rock act, Tanglefoot. Back home the band have been winning awards for their vocal performance and it's easy to see why, tight harmonies and vocal dynamics dominate the album. A sense of pride in what Canada is and how it got there dominates the songwriting themes. Banks driving farmers to the wall, priests eating shoes to survive in blizzards and an eighty year old maple syrup loving bridge builder are just some of the topics covered. History is inspiration.

Website: http://www.myspace.co./ericbibb

It's been a while since we've heard from Eric Bibb and suddenly he appears to be everywhere, radio and most importantly a new cut. "Get Onboard" is his most spiritual album to date. Bibb has always had a blues voice that's a little bit special, but he seems to have found a more soulful dimension to it. It's given him a new freedom, it's like he's climbed Blueberry Hill and seen a more spiritual place. It's not the preachy in nyour face stuff, there's a more personal vibe going on. Eric's moved to being a troubadour to a troubadour with a mission and he wears it well.