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Releases
Jack McNeill & Charlie Heys
Album:Two Fine Days
Label:Fellside
Website:www.myspace.com/jackmcneillandcharlieheys
"Two Fine Days" is a far more intimate album than it's predecessor, "Light Up All The Beacons". It's as though former Young Folk Award Finalists Jack NcNeill & Charlie Heys have fully grown into their sound. Whereas the former album seem to be an album of life's journey, this one seems more intimate as though time has been spent exploring that which has been found, as album of hearts and hearths if you like. "Pennies In A Jar" is a track that spans both releases and played back to back really helps to define how the duo have progressed in drawing you in to their world.
Album:Two Fine Days
Label:Fellside
Website:www.myspace.com/jackmcneillandcharlieheys
"Two Fine Days" is a far more intimate album than it's predecessor, "Light Up All The Beacons". It's as though former Young Folk Award Finalists Jack NcNeill & Charlie Heys have fully grown into their sound. Whereas the former album seem to be an album of life's journey, this one seems more intimate as though time has been spent exploring that which has been found, as album of hearts and hearths if you like. "Pennies In A Jar" is a track that spans both releases and played back to back really helps to define how the duo have progressed in drawing you in to their world.
Clare Free
EP:How It Is
Label:Self Released
Website:http://www.clarefree.co.uk
"How It Is" has beenout a while, but with a full blown album coming rushing over the horizon, it seemed like a good time to remind people that this EP is out there and provide a welcome reminder of Clare's talent as a blues guitarist. Not that she should need that much of an introduction having recently landed the WRC award for "Best Acoustic Performance". Clare knows her way around the fretboard, developing an extremely intutative and expressive style which is why it's the live tracks on "How It is" that seem to closer capture Free's relationship with guitar and audience.
EP:How It Is
Label:Self Released
Website:http://www.clarefree.co.uk
"How It Is" has beenout a while, but with a full blown album coming rushing over the horizon, it seemed like a good time to remind people that this EP is out there and provide a welcome reminder of Clare's talent as a blues guitarist. Not that she should need that much of an introduction having recently landed the WRC award for "Best Acoustic Performance". Clare knows her way around the fretboard, developing an extremely intutative and expressive style which is why it's the live tracks on "How It is" that seem to closer capture Free's relationship with guitar and audience.
State Of The Union
Album:State Of The Union
Label:Reveal
Website:www.stateoftheunionmusic.com
If there is such a thing as a power duo, State Of The Union featuring blues guitarist Brooks Williams and English singer/songwriter Boo Hewerdine, must surely be the act that defines it. The album, recorded over a three day period last Summer, takes the songbook approach to an album, bringing in a number of acoustic styles, and explores the duos skills as performers, writers, arrangers and interpreters of songs and firmly declares them not to be slouches in any of the music disciplines they touch. "State Of The Union" is master craftsmen carving a signature piece.
Album:State Of The Union
Label:Reveal
Website:www.stateoftheunionmusic.com
If there is such a thing as a power duo, State Of The Union featuring blues guitarist Brooks Williams and English singer/songwriter Boo Hewerdine, must surely be the act that defines it. The album, recorded over a three day period last Summer, takes the songbook approach to an album, bringing in a number of acoustic styles, and explores the duos skills as performers, writers, arrangers and interpreters of songs and firmly declares them not to be slouches in any of the music disciplines they touch. "State Of The Union" is master craftsmen carving a signature piece.
BabaJack
Album:Rooster
Label:Kross Border
Website:http://www.babajack.com
Winebox guitars, wild agressive percussion and vocals and I'm not totally convinced the bass player is all there, it can only mean one thing, BabaJack have a new album! Recorded live in the round "Rooster" sounds like it could be a pre-war blues album. Listening to this album reminds you that blues is a very spiritual music, but that doesn't mean it's light and redemption, there's an inherent darkness in early blues that reflects the tough times the performers grew up in. People starved, people stole and some paid with their lives. BabaJack capture that harshness and bottle it.
Album:Rooster
Label:Kross Border
Website:http://www.babajack.com
Winebox guitars, wild agressive percussion and vocals and I'm not totally convinced the bass player is all there, it can only mean one thing, BabaJack have a new album! Recorded live in the round "Rooster" sounds like it could be a pre-war blues album. Listening to this album reminds you that blues is a very spiritual music, but that doesn't mean it's light and redemption, there's an inherent darkness in early blues that reflects the tough times the performers grew up in. People starved, people stole and some paid with their lives. BabaJack capture that harshness and bottle it.
Mark Atherton
Album:To Bring Me To You
Label:Self Released
Website:http://www.markathertonmusic.co.uk
"To Bring Me To You" is Mark Atherton's fourth album, which sees him joined by multi-instrumentalist Martin Coleman and fiddler Ceri Ashton. There is a wonderful sense of optimism that Mark manages to capture in his music, even when he's at his most critical of people and politics in his songs, you get a heartwarming feeling that things can get better if we work at things better with the right frame of mind. There is a poetry to hi lyrics, which you notice more on the tracks where he is finger picking the guitar, rather than strumming, it seem to provide emphasis and focus.
Album:To Bring Me To You
Label:Self Released
Website:http://www.markathertonmusic.co.uk
"To Bring Me To You" is Mark Atherton's fourth album, which sees him joined by multi-instrumentalist Martin Coleman and fiddler Ceri Ashton. There is a wonderful sense of optimism that Mark manages to capture in his music, even when he's at his most critical of people and politics in his songs, you get a heartwarming feeling that things can get better if we work at things better with the right frame of mind. There is a poetry to hi lyrics, which you notice more on the tracks where he is finger picking the guitar, rather than strumming, it seem to provide emphasis and focus.
Ledfoot
Album:Gothic Blues Volume One
Label:Hypertension
Website:http://www.ledfoot-gothicblues.com
I guess I was expecting to hear something lioke the voodoo blues of Dr John, calling an album "Gothic Blues VolumeOne" tends to create that impression. What I got was an album that reminded me of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and it's been an absolute age since I got to listen to any variations on that theme. Ledfoot layss out his stall with the two opening numbers, "I Don't Want This Worry Anymore" and "Save My Ass" and from kits out the whole store with songs about darkness and redemption. This is the music of a tortured soul, one that is seeking self forgiveness.
Album:Gothic Blues Volume One
Label:Hypertension
Website:http://www.ledfoot-gothicblues.com
I guess I was expecting to hear something lioke the voodoo blues of Dr John, calling an album "Gothic Blues VolumeOne" tends to create that impression. What I got was an album that reminded me of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and it's been an absolute age since I got to listen to any variations on that theme. Ledfoot layss out his stall with the two opening numbers, "I Don't Want This Worry Anymore" and "Save My Ass" and from kits out the whole store with songs about darkness and redemption. This is the music of a tortured soul, one that is seeking self forgiveness.
Mike Jones
Album:Halfway To A Dream
Label:Self Released
Website:http://facebook.com/mwdjones
There is an element of "Halfway To A Dream" that feels like it's coming out of the folk revival of the late sixties and it doesn't come as a surprise to discover that at one point Mike Jones had supported the likes of Ralph McTell. What is more telling is that after a sabbatical, Mike found his way back into music through open mics, started performing his own songs and has discovered his own voice. It gives the album a real strength and confidence, "Half Way To A Dream" a bitter tale of non-completion, but rather a celebration of the first part of a journey with more still to come.
Album:Halfway To A Dream
Label:Self Released
Website:http://facebook.com/mwdjones
There is an element of "Halfway To A Dream" that feels like it's coming out of the folk revival of the late sixties and it doesn't come as a surprise to discover that at one point Mike Jones had supported the likes of Ralph McTell. What is more telling is that after a sabbatical, Mike found his way back into music through open mics, started performing his own songs and has discovered his own voice. It gives the album a real strength and confidence, "Half Way To A Dream" a bitter tale of non-completion, but rather a celebration of the first part of a journey with more still to come.
Cormac O Caoimh
Album:A New Season For Love
Label:Self Released
Website:http://www.cormaco.net
I described Cormac O Caoimh's new album "A New Season For Love" as being as mellow as a rusty nail, but 140 characters weren't enough to give the explaination. If the album were a drink, the whiskey would provide the complex notes, the distinctness of the songs as they draw subtle meaning out of the flavour of the words, blending with the sweet honeyed tones of the Darmbuie to deliver an album that has an underlying strength in the harmonies and leaves you feeling that all can be right with the world. In non drinks terms, Cormac O Caoimh knows how to set a mood.
Album:A New Season For Love
Label:Self Released
Website:http://www.cormaco.net
I described Cormac O Caoimh's new album "A New Season For Love" as being as mellow as a rusty nail, but 140 characters weren't enough to give the explaination. If the album were a drink, the whiskey would provide the complex notes, the distinctness of the songs as they draw subtle meaning out of the flavour of the words, blending with the sweet honeyed tones of the Darmbuie to deliver an album that has an underlying strength in the harmonies and leaves you feeling that all can be right with the world. In non drinks terms, Cormac O Caoimh knows how to set a mood.
TESS
Album:Magpie
Label:Vintage Voice
Website:http://www.tessnotes.com
In all honesty, "Magpie" is an album that's been out a little while, but when it dropped through the office letterbox, we thought it would be rude not to, especially as it looks like there's going to be a new album in the offing soon. "Magpie" is an album that showcases an artist that really knows his way around the acoustic pop/rock genre' he's got a real wordsmith's touch, knowing when he's said enough and knowing when he can let the lack of vocal carry the song. It leaves an album that is polished and accomplished, but not to the point where it detracts for that that lies beneath the surface.
Album:Magpie
Label:Vintage Voice
Website:http://www.tessnotes.com
In all honesty, "Magpie" is an album that's been out a little while, but when it dropped through the office letterbox, we thought it would be rude not to, especially as it looks like there's going to be a new album in the offing soon. "Magpie" is an album that showcases an artist that really knows his way around the acoustic pop/rock genre' he's got a real wordsmith's touch, knowing when he's said enough and knowing when he can let the lack of vocal carry the song. It leaves an album that is polished and accomplished, but not to the point where it detracts for that that lies beneath the surface.
Jake Morley
Single:Feet Don't Fail Me Now
Label:Sandwich Emporium
Website:www.jakemorley.com
There was a day when being described as 'the next big thing' was greeted with the sort of enthusiasm a football manager gets when he's told he's got the confidence of the board, but Adele has changed that rule. Jake Morley preceeds his debut album "Many Fish To Fry" with a glorious single "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" which combines lush gospel choirs with an agressively delivered tale of a lad fighting to make his way in the world, that draws influence from the likes of XTC. It's a great calling card, radio friendly without compromising the integrity of the passion.
Single:Feet Don't Fail Me Now
Label:Sandwich Emporium
Website:www.jakemorley.com
There was a day when being described as 'the next big thing' was greeted with the sort of enthusiasm a football manager gets when he's told he's got the confidence of the board, but Adele has changed that rule. Jake Morley preceeds his debut album "Many Fish To Fry" with a glorious single "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" which combines lush gospel choirs with an agressively delivered tale of a lad fighting to make his way in the world, that draws influence from the likes of XTC. It's a great calling card, radio friendly without compromising the integrity of the passion.
Florence Joelle's Kiss of Fire
Album:Florence Joelle's Kiss of Fire
Label:Zoltan
Website:http://www.florencejoelleskissoffire.com
I first came across Florence Joelle's Kiss of Fire via her appearance on Bob's Folk Show earlier in the year. My first reaction was to immediately accquire a copy of the self titled album, good decision. Paris born, Camden based, Florence manages to combine Left Bank cool and rock 'n' roll for a sound that is both sultry and fiesty. It is, however, the tracks where she adds Gypsy jazz into the heady brew that really stand out amongst a fine set of peers. The sound is very retro, you can almost smell the cigarette smoke in the coffee bar. This is an abum of cafe racers, bad boys and bad girls.
Album:Florence Joelle's Kiss of Fire
Label:Zoltan
Website:http://www.florencejoelleskissoffire.com
I first came across Florence Joelle's Kiss of Fire via her appearance on Bob's Folk Show earlier in the year. My first reaction was to immediately accquire a copy of the self titled album, good decision. Paris born, Camden based, Florence manages to combine Left Bank cool and rock 'n' roll for a sound that is both sultry and fiesty. It is, however, the tracks where she adds Gypsy jazz into the heady brew that really stand out amongst a fine set of peers. The sound is very retro, you can almost smell the cigarette smoke in the coffee bar. This is an abum of cafe racers, bad boys and bad girls.
Mitch Laddie
Album:Burning Bridges
Label:Mystic
Website:http://www.mitchladdie.com
I was surprised to discover that it's been three years since North East blues rock guitarist, Mitch Laddie, launched his debut album, "This Time Around" onto an unsuspectging world. Maybe that's because it's keeps on appearing on my music player, well album number two "Burning Bridges" looks like doing the same thing. With Rhian Wilkinson(bass) and Lee Clifford(Drums), he's produced an album of blues that balances power and intensity and works on the spiritual level the genre was always intended too. Yes the instrumental fireworks are there and they come with feeling.
Album:Burning Bridges
Label:Mystic
Website:http://www.mitchladdie.com
I was surprised to discover that it's been three years since North East blues rock guitarist, Mitch Laddie, launched his debut album, "This Time Around" onto an unsuspectging world. Maybe that's because it's keeps on appearing on my music player, well album number two "Burning Bridges" looks like doing the same thing. With Rhian Wilkinson(bass) and Lee Clifford(Drums), he's produced an album of blues that balances power and intensity and works on the spiritual level the genre was always intended too. Yes the instrumental fireworks are there and they come with feeling.
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