Little Mountain
Album: Little Mountain
Label: Fly Agaric
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.littlemountain.co

Until I heard "Little Mountain, pretty much the only thing I knew about Forest Gate is that there used to be a Barclays Bank processing centre there. I think that's a long gone proposition, but if that's the case and Little Mountain are based there, fair exchange is no robbery.

According to the blurb, Little Mountain, is a project born out of dreams, chance encounters and coincidence and if that really is the case, then due respect needs to be paid to the Goddesses Of Fate, because it is an album born of California, doo whop, Edith Piaf, busking and Southport and if that sounds quite a handful, let me throw in a pregnancy, some six string bass and a 1960s, early seventies vocal harmony style.

The album is dedicated to Nina, the daughter of Ross Godfrey and Amanda Zamolo, who make up two thirds of the duo, with the final third coming from Southport's Ste Forshaw, who happened to be busking in the right place at the right time and who had a voice that drew in Ross and Amanda.

"Little Mountain" is an album that draws on both west coast influences and the 1960s pop/rock folk of the likes of Pentangle and Fairport, to create a sound that really does give the trio that is Little Mountain a sound all of their own.

It's an album that has an original sound, but at the same time makes no secret of its influences. It's an easy album to listen to, but that doesn't detract from some comparatively complex arrangements and lyrical input and a feeling that songs from Little Mountain are born out of jamming than a more formal writing process. It's an album that has helped me eat a train journey or two.

Neil King