I have never been to Devonshire and I did not know what a Georgic is. I have no immediate plans to visit Devonshire in the near future, but I did look up the meaning of Georgic: A poem or book dealing with agriculture or rural topics, which commonly glorifies outdoor labor and simple country life. … Continue reading Apples, history, local pride and a deep musical heritage: Jim Causley’s “The Georgic”
Tag: English folk music
Looking for unfiltered English folk? Go to Granny’s Attic!
Over the past decade or so, Granny's Attic have risen to the very top of English folk music, and deservedly so. The trio of Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, George Sansome and Lewis Wood are masters in their craft and they are among the finest musicians keeping the tradition fresh and vital. What I particularly appreciate about their … Continue reading Looking for unfiltered English folk? Go to Granny’s Attic!
Honey and the Bear’s “Away Beyond the Fret” feels like springtime :)
I utterly enjoyed the Suffolk folkies and singer-songwriters Lucy and Jon Hart's, aka Honey and the Bear, previous outing, their second album Journey Through the Roke (2021, my review can be read here). It was my first encounter with them and I was now very happy to press play on their new release. Away Beyond … Continue reading Honey and the Bear’s “Away Beyond the Fret” feels like springtime 🙂
“Namer of Clouds”: a belated discovery
Somerset folk singer-songwriter Kitty Macfarlane’s debut album came out in 2018 and I saw her brilliant solo gig supporting RURA in Celtic Connections 2020 but only now did I listen to the album, Namer of Clouds. And hear me: it’s a stunning achievement, especially as it was her first solo outing. Great tunes, wonderful lyrics … Continue reading “Namer of Clouds”: a belated discovery
Album Review / Ringlefinch: Tall Tales
England’s Ringlefinch have been around for several years before the release of this, their first album, this summer. And it shows: Tall Tales does not feel and sound like a debutante’s performance. It is a solid, excellently executed showcase by a band capable of both irrerestible grooves and introspective mood pieces. I have noticed some … Continue reading Album Review / Ringlefinch: Tall Tales
Album Review / Ninebarrow: A Pocket Full of Acorns
”Let’s go back there, you and I, where the hills stretch high towards the sun / we’ll go walking in the rain, when the days don’t end the same” That’s from Come January, a beautiful song and the first track of A Pocket Full of Acorns. I may by now be slightly obsessed by the … Continue reading Album Review / Ninebarrow: A Pocket Full of Acorns
Album Review / Sam Sweeney: Unearth Repeat
Wood. Living, rough, hewn, shaped into houses, burned for warmth we need. People and their stories; villages and towns and other places they live in. People whose language I don’t always speak but we understand each other anyway. Those are the feelings and mental images I get from British fiddler Sam Sweeney’s new album Unearth … Continue reading Album Review / Sam Sweeney: Unearth Repeat
Album Review / Sam Carter: Home Waters
Times have changed... Four years after Sam Carter’s London-themed How The City Sings comes his new album, Home Waters. It tells a different kind of story: floods rise, storms both natural and political threaten to rip society’s fabric apart, disaster survivors try to cope. But there are also bittersweet memories, slow waves and domestic sanctuaries. … Continue reading Album Review / Sam Carter: Home Waters
Quick Take Album Review / Jim Moray: The Outlander
The brilliant Jim Moray has injected fresh blood and ideas into English folk for over a decade now, but his new album The Outlander is a deliberate excursion to a batch of Ye Olde Songs - even the ancient John Barleycorn makes an appearance - with acoustic arrangements that are mostly fairly old school but … Continue reading Quick Take Album Review / Jim Moray: The Outlander
Quick Take album reviews: The Askew Sisters, MacDonald&Gamauf
The Askew Sisters continue their ”low-key but very intense” forays into the more shady forests of English folk. Enclosure is worthy of its name: a cosmos of it own, inhabited by songs mostly about various injustices, the minimal-yet-strangely-rich arrangements and the strong vocal performances by the sisters. As on their earlier albums, the overall mood … Continue reading Quick Take album reviews: The Askew Sisters, MacDonald&Gamauf
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