Ghosts, Mice & Vagabonds - hard to find music from America...

A few weeks ago I mentioned US artist Stephanie Dosen in this blog and I commented that her first album, Ghosts Mice and Vagabonds has not had a UK release and the only copies available (on Amazon Marketplace) were about £25 (US$ 52) - and were dispatched from the US anyway. I suggested, but with a caveat, a possible alternative in that blog post and that was to order it direct via her website.
I did exactly that and it all worked out perfectly - the CD arriving in about eight days, despite the recent industrial action by Royal Mail in the UK! What is more the $12 I mentioned included shipping to the UK, where it was not subject to customs charges (individual packages valued at less than £18 are not usually subjected to the collection of VAT when imported in to the UK by an individual).

More important is the fact that Ghosts, Mice & Vagabonds is a very fine album in its own right. In many ways she is the perfect modern alt-folk songstress - she doesn't write or sound like an American; neither does she have the traditional lyrical 'hang-ups' that tend to hinder her UK counterparts.
I've been listening to both albums a great deal in the last week. I don't think that I could really choose between it and A Lily For The Spectre if I were asked which I preferred overall; certainly they are subtly different but, as far as I'm concerned, it is more a matter of my mood rather anything particular about the music.
Anyway at $12 delivered it is an utter bargain - if you like A Lily For The Spectre just buy it! Even if Bella Union should decide to release it in the UK it will probably cost more than it currently does ordered as described above.