New Music 2015 - Part 42 - Beth Porter & The Availables - Open Doors

After a run of posts in the 'New Music 2015' series that has concerned musicians on other continents it is time to come much closer to home.
You might have heard Beth Porter playing cello on the works of a number of artists that I have mentioned before but 'Open Doors' is an LP (and d/l but no CD) in which she takes charge of lead duties, including song writing, with the backing of her band The Availables that as the name suggests varies in both number and members according to those that are 'available' for any given event. It also explains why it has been several years in the making.

Indeed I mentioned that here after they played Frome's Cheese & Grain towards the end of last year when she mentioned that 'Open Doors' was forthcoming. 

Here she is then.

It is string based and acoustic. Here is the track list for it:

• Jack
• Time
• Open Doors
• These Days
• Willow
• Pylons
• Floorboards
• Salty Water
• Baby Are You Up
• Friends
• 30 Years
• Italy

Beth Porter and The Availables, if there are any, play Frome again very soon.

Here they are playing 'Salty Water' at the Bath Folk Festival in 2012. It returns from 8 - 16 August 2015.

New Music 2013 - Part 9 - Rhosyn - Elbow of Capture

Rhosyn, the stage name taken by Rose Dagul, was one of several acts from around the Oxford area to which I was introduced by the organisers of Truck Festival 2011 and Oxford-based collective Blessing Force. Since then I have been keeping my ears open for more. Here, I'm delighted to say is the first Rhosyn EP 'Elbow of Capture' inspired by writing and recording sessions that took place in a remote cottage at Rhoscolyn on the coast of Anglesey last year.
In its string arrangements you can almost detect the winds and the waves in a landscape where things change only through the forces of nature. It is music for moments of reflection.  It is released on the usual formats. It is also available, to the extent of 250 numbered copies, on translucent 12" 33 rpm vinyl.

The 5-track vinyl EP also comes with a code for a free download.
  

Elbow of Capture - Rhosyn

• A1 - Glass
• A2 - Birds
• A3 - Volcano
• B1 - Euridyce
• B2 - Since The Air Became Frantic

You can listen to the track 'Glass' here:

Tale To Tell - of strings and things.

I'm no longer sure what should surprise me and what should not. I can however still be surprised - and Mummers did it for me.

It wasn't a case of thinking that I wouldn't like it but, equally, it wasn't in the least bit like what I had imagined it to be either. Here they are on the Uncut Arena on Friday. They are also appearing at 'The End Of The Road' in September. Another Brighton-based outfit, the album 'Tale To Tell' was released in 2009; and Londoner Raissa Kahn-Panni's music and lyric actually have much to do with an unhappy year spent as a waitress in Brixton.