New Music - Part 14 - Kelly Richey - Sweet Spirit

Kelly Richey has returned, after 2008 release 'Carry The Light', with a new band and a new studio album 'Sweet Spirit' and again it is released on her own label 'Sweet Lucy Records'. It has not had a UK release as yet but no matter. This is the track list:

• 1. Feelin' Under
• 2. I Went Down Easy
• 3. Leavin' It All Behind
• 4. Something's Going On
• 5. Everybody Needs a Change
• 6. Fast Drivin' Mama
• 7. One Way Ticket
• 8. Risin' Sun
• 9. Dyin'
• 10. Workin' Hard Woman

It is on its way to me from the US and, while we are about it, here is the album artwork. Blues rock of the highest order awaits if the samples I have heard are in any way representative of the whole. I'm pretty confident that this is so.

New Music - Part 13 - Tasha Taylor Johnson

It is none too rare for something like this to happen and oft-times I make nothing of it. This, however, was destined to prove an exception. I only got the chance yesterday evening and having now listened to the album four times I must say I'm impressed.
That album is 'Feed Your Ego' and is to be released by Quiffman Records (her own independent label) on May 5, 2013. The artist is Tasha Taylor Johnson. There is plenty going on here and my first thoughts are about how it is a throw-back to earlier times but almost always in a wholly good sense. Track-by-track dissections are not really my kind of reviewing. The mark of an album, I believe and especially in these download days, is if it stands as a satisfying whole. This one does.
She is young, this is her first album but that, as has been the case quite often of late, should not cloud your conceptions of it. My first thought was "OK, then", because I had no idea what to expect. My second thought was rather more telling; "I need to see this live."
Some things, many things actually, are so much better live and this music had all the hallmarks of being one of them. Of course I have as yet had no possibility of testing this theory. Here, instead and plundered from the website mentioned above, is a reason to believe that I might be right:

The image itself gives the only clues as to where this is. If it isn't 'The Old Queen's Head', Islington, London then tell me about it.
  
This is one of the songs from 'Feed Your Ego'.

Ol' Blues Eyes might be rolling his, whilst rotating in his grave, at the lyric. What the hell - who cares anyway - this album is so much fun. In a way I think that he might have seen the funny side of it, and Nancy likewise. I'd wager that Basil Kirchin would not have been displeased. 
  

*** SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT ***

Why am I not adding new items in 'Recently Listened To...' and why are the light-box views of images not working? These are Google Blogger issues at the moment and are widely reported. I hope that they will be fixed sooner rather than later.

The EP and me.

Around about six years ago I had a problem concerning music.
I had started blogging about six months previously, and discovered that liked doing so, but now I had a shortage of new material.
This was soon to presage my conversion to festivals, but I didn't yet countenance it at this time; that would take another three months or so. It did however turn my mind towards looking for new music beyond that which could be heard on the mainstream radio or learned about in the traditional music press.
What this means is that, for me at least, music changed forever. Way back then I thought that the EP - in any format - was a thing of the past although I had a few from back in the day.  That was only one thing that I was totally wrong about!
If I were to put all the (physical) EPs that I have accumulated since then in a pile it would be quite impressive. I shall continue by mentioning a few more that have very recently come to my attention...
The first is very recent and, as far as I am aware, currently only available as a download. It is from an act that, while dividing its time between widely spaced parts of our island, pulled this out of the bag.

It is their début release and I owe it to For Folk's Sake for bringing it to my attention and needless to say there is plenty more great stuff on show there.

The next one is very real, in a CD sense, and it arrived this week. I have mentioned this EP and the artist Pip Mountjoy before. This is the follow-up to the 2012 Lousiana EP. I have, more than anything, Deer Shed Festival to thank for letting me find out about this artist.

Still unsigned, I believe, but for how much longer? Certainly BBC Introducing have her locked on the radar and she's playing at venues and supporting better known artists as each month passes.
This next artist I have to thank Folkroom Records for bringing to my attention, courtesy of their first compilation.
Salwa Azar works a line surprising, and works it very well indeed. This EP is also download only and, oh my goodness, is it worth it.

It also provides a pivot on which to turn to a new album, but not her own although she has mentioned a forthcoming Kickstarter project, that has caught my attention very recently. In fact an artist that became known to me via another valuable resource for discovery - Amazing Radio.

Here is a taste of that; 'Between Destinations' is the first single from album 'The Story Of Me'. This is the début album by Laurence Made Me Cry aka Jo Whitby. It is available now as digipack cd here or widely on mp3 from the usual sources.
  

Acoustic+ - Frome, 15 March 2013

It has been a few months now since the last edition of Acoustic+ but it returned with a vengeance yesterday. It is, without doubt, the best evening of music that you can get for £5 and this one was the first of the series to take advantage of the new stage in the Cheese and Grain.

It started off with Lady Nade, who I have seen live in Frome twice before - at Frome Festival Food Feast 2011 (in the Cheese and Grain) and then again at Frome Folk Festival 2012 (in the Masonic Hall), but playing as a duo this time.

Both EPs, 'All I Am' and 'Wrap Me Up, Pick Me Up, Take Me Home' were selling well.

Next up was Switch, one of two three-piece acts, on what was at least nominally their first ever public gig. To be fair you wouldn't have guessed that but on the other hand, young though they are, the members have both history and fans!

Switch have a self-titled CD EP and it seemed to be doing good trade too.

Next to play was Daisy Chapman, solo this time, and her third appearance at Acoustic+. She was showcasing some songs from the album 'Shameless Winter', to which I shall return before long. She decided to perform her opening song a capella. She had inadvertently left her tambourine at home, which might explain the vexed countenance, but the situation was soon rescued by Switch that loaned her one.

She also obliged us with the appropriate, given the weather yesterday, cover version that she played on her last visit to Frome - that being Rihanna's 'Umbrella'. One thing that was particularly noticeable this time was the use of live self-looping as accompaniment on many songs. I'm sure she did it before but perhaps I have become more attuned to spotting what is happening and how it is done.

Last to play was Crash and The Coots and they most certainly didn't disappoint either.

The next edition of Acoustic+ is on April 26.

Rock and Roll Joe

This is a little something for this dark, cold Sunday evening. It's been in my head all day so I decided to let it out...

Joe is every guitar player
Who played it from his heart.
Here's to Joe.
Joe is every funky drummer
Who knew when to stop and start.
Way to go, Joe.
  
And we all bow down to the ones that took us to him
The ones that took us some place where we needed to go
Then we all bow down to the ones that got us through it.
Here's to Rock and Roll Joe.
  
Joe is every bass player
Who played it from his balls.
Here's to Joe (Here's to Joe...)
And Joe is every fiddle player
Who slammed us to the walls.
Way to go, Josephine.
  
And we all bow down to the ones that took us to him
The ones that took us some place where we needed to go
Then we all bow down to the ones that got us through it.
Here's to Rock and Roll Joe.

Joe is every keyboard player
Who played it like he's from the South.
Here's to Joe.
Joe is every sweet horn player
That pressed that thing up to his mouth.
Way to go, Joe.
   
And we all bow down to the ones that took us to him
The ones that took us some place where we needed to go
Then we all bow down to the ones that got us through it.
Here's to Rock and Roll Joe.

New Music - Part 12 - Lucy Cait - Gabriel's Wharf

Folkroom Records is quite new to the game but don't you bet against it or the choice of artists.
Lucy Cait - Gabriel's Wharf EP is her first label recording and is to be released on March 18, 2013 by Folkroom Records (CD and d/l).  This is the title track:

It is uncompromising but also quite wonderful.

New Music 2013 - A malleable wishlist

The post title says it all really. I have just got to a point that, although rather enviable, I can't keep up. Here is a partial list of the albums that I really want to hear - The order in which they are listed is merely alphabetical by artist. Not all have been released yet, but some may be available in part to stream legally and I shall likely add some links to that, as well as some more thoughts that I see as key, in the coming days:

• Dear Reader - Rivonia
• Emily Baker - All at Sea
• Gabrielle Aplin - English Rain
• Little Boots - Nocturnes
• Pascal Pinon - Twosomeness
• Polly Scattergood - Arrows
• Widowspeak - Almanac
• Wild Belle - Isles

Of the eight I have already seen five of them live: the exceptions are Pascal Pinon (Iceland), Widowspeak and Wild Belle (both US acts). Widowspeak is already confirmed for End of The Road 2013.

New Music - Part 11 - Pip Mountjoy - Your Skeleton

To be quite honest, the first time I heard of Pip Mountjoy was when I was browsing the artist list for Deer Shed Festival 3, shortly before I attended it last summer. This is one of the very best features of festivals that showcase new artists. Her début EP 'Louisiana' had recently been released. Her second EP, 'Your Skeleton' has recently been released and is the reason that, now on the BBC Introducing programme, she has appeared twice in my New Music radar within the space of a year.

Downloads (GBP 3) are already available here.

CDs, again with hand-made covers, are also available and are likely to ship later this month.

Casual Conversations With A Woodpigeon

It is about to appear, I have mentioned this artist and band before, and yet this début EP also remains unknown to most.
Here it is... 'Casual Conversations With A Woodpigeon'.

As album titles go it is, I think, on a par with 'Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose'. It's not a short name, but an unforgettable one, and that matters. It is also a self-released EP, funded using Kickstarter. It is officially launched on March 26...

I'd heard bits and pieces before this point but then saw Cloudi and her band live at the first North Dorset Folk Festival last autumn and was very impressed. Still wondering? Well here they are live at Urban Outfitters, in Southampton, this very afternoon.
  

The second edition of North Dorset Folk Festival has a new venue, Marnhull Village Hall, and will take place on Saturday October 26, 2013.
Tickets go on sale soon. See you there.

Acoustic+ is back in Frome.

Friday, March 15 at the Cheese and Grain, Frome. Adults: £5; Children & un-waged £2.50.

  

I might add that this is a serious declaration of intent on the part of the organisers.

  
If you didn't see Lady Nade at either Frome Festival Food Feast 2011 or (the much missed in 2013) Frome Folk Festival 2012 then this is another chance. Likewise Daisy Chapman, another artist I have seen twice before at Acoustic+.  If you wonder what I mean then head to her most recent (2012) album 'Shameless Winter'.
  
Acoustic+ is just about as good value for money as it gets and I've only mentioned half of the line-up thus far!
Crash and The 'Coots (formerly Crash and The Bandicoots) are certainly well known locally. Now a four-piece you can find out more here (Facebook) and here (Soundcloud). Last but not least, is Switch (Facebook) and also on Soundcloud. It has not previously figured in these pages in its own right. This is the début EP (in its various colour schemes).

If there is one thing to be said about it all, it is the organizers of Acoustic+ don't get the credit that they deserve.

First Thoughts on Record Store Day 2013

Record Store Day 2013 is looking to exceed all previous events and all expectations. It takes place, all around the globe, on Saturday April 20, 2013. More special releases than even before, more locations and stores than ever before, and that's just the start.

Here's someone who has done quite well these last couple of years...

Who, or what, is going to be the next big breakout?

There is certainly no shortage of new music out there that is well worth listening to.

New Music - Part 10 - Siddi - Un Tro

There are three terms that frequently cause alarm in many readers and, in no rational order, they are thus...

• folk music
• concept album
• foreign language lyric

I'm delighted to say that I have found one that is so wonderful - it combines all three. That, in itself, is not a particularly difficult quest but this is the one I want to mention specifically...

... and it is constructed around a fairy tale, just to make it even more improbable.

It is the début album by Siddi, the sibling duo of Osian and Branwen Williams. They also have previous convictions for appearing with (fraternal trio Hughes) Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog. That includes live performance. The album Draw Dros Y Mynydd was amongst my favourites of 2012.
I just don't get the problem with things such as this.

HMV - what really went wrong?

I have made a few comments in the last few years albeit as an outsider and, some time ago (that says something), as a former customer.

This post is so good it is almost beyond comment:
http://jennakinstxs.tumblr.com/post/42226338294/sound-it-out

Live Music 2013 - Larry Miller live in Frome

I don't seem to have been to see much live music this last couple of months and here in Frome has been no exception.  Back in the autumn of 2012 I mentioned that I had been to see a number of blues-rock artists, many of them here in Frome, although it started off a week or two earlier with Joanne Shaw Taylor live at Tavistock Wharf.
It looks like things are going to change in the next couple of months and it started last Saturday. The first time that the new stage at the Cheese and Grain in Frome was used in earnest was by Bath four-piece Fabric that played a fairly short support set but it was very enjoyable indeed and, to be honest I'd like to catch Fabric playing a longer set very soon. Here is Fabric playing on Saturday.

I must admit this was the first photo that I took, while they were just finishing tuning, but it turned out to be the best of the fifteen that I took of the band. That was entirely my fault, not theirs.
  
After a swift turn-around Larry Miller was on stage. I'd never seen him live before and I don't own any of the albums. On the other hand the fact that I will buy recorded music unheard is reason to suggest that I feel the same way about risking it live, even when not at a festival. For me at least, this justified the approach perfectly. Right from the off I was taken in and as the set went on it just got better and better. This is probably reflected in the number of pictures I took, the majority were unusable but no change there. Here are a few of the better ones:
  

Sometimes slow blues...

 Oft-times nothing of the kind.

  

And then came the encore songs - well over twenty minutes of them!

This picture was taken during one of them.

Not much more I can say. A really good evening of entertainment. So good that, with some friends, I'm off to see it all over again quite soon!

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:

New music and festivals - random thoughts...

Some excitement.
The first tranche of acts for Deer Shed Festival 4 has been announced and it looks very promising.
Stealing Sheep and Public Service Broadcasting are just two that have appeared in these pages before. On the other hand I have seen neither live! Also of great interest to me are Glasgow five-piece 'Kitty the Lion' and singer-songwriter 'Blue Rose Code'. Things are looking up - this is the kind of news that I like the best.

Music from the past - discovered (Part 1).

The history of this; it became something of a project that in essence goes back a long time and to 1977, at least for me. This is the first post on that, and it involved this album originally released in 1971:

As I mentioned then, back in early 2012, it had taken me almost thirty-five years to actually track this down. For some reason, in early December 2012, I decided upon a more ambitious project. That was (to attempt to) track down the two albums that preceded 'High Level'. The proviso was threefold:

• it would be done on a tight budget, with no particular time limit therefore
• the albums had to be playable (not mint or wrapped, as I fully intended to play them)
• the albums had to be the original vinyl releases

You might wonder about this, as did I but a little searching it proved what recordings I was actually looking for. Knowing what you are trying to find is always a good place to start.  It turned out to be this trio:

• Northumberland For Ever (1968) - Topic Records 12TS186
• The Lads of Northumbria (1969) - Trailer Records LER 2007
• Keep Your Feet Still Geordie Hinnie (1970) - Trailer Records LER 2020

I was already aware in essence of the first two of the above, which are studio albums, but not the third and that is how it turned out to being a search for three albums. The last was the final one to succumb and also the most expensive although not by much. Keep Your Feet Still Geordie Hinnie is a live album recorded in a single take at Balmbaras, an old-time music-hall pub in Newcastle.

Here are the covers of the three albums that I purchased, as taken by me just now:

  

  

So there you are. The total cost for all three, including all delivery charges, was £33.71.  In Part 2 of this post I shall try and comment on the music and also the history behind some of it, not least that of Balmbaras.

Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)

This is a post that I couldn't resist. I love snow, and there is plenty of it here right now, but there is however a certain ambivalence to that comment; it actually makes me want to be at home, warm and with good food. I could do the whole snowed in thing - at least for a week, I guess.
This song sums it up far better than I ever could.

You were so smart then
in your jacket and coat.
My softest red scarf was warming your throat.
Winter was on us,
at the end of my nose,
but I never love England more than when covered in snow.

And a friend of mine says it's good to hear you believe in love even if set in fear
well I'll hold you there brother and set you straight
I won't make believe that love is frail and willing to break.

I will come back here,
bring me back when I'm old.
I want to lay here forever in the cold.
I might be cold but I'm just skin and bones
and I never love England more than when covered in snow.

I wrote my name in your book,
only god knows why,
and I bet you that he cracked a smile,
and I'm clearing all the stuff out of my room,
trying desperately to figure out what it is that makes me blue,
and I wrote an epic letter to you,
but it's 22 pages front and back and it's too good to be used
and I tried to be a girl who likes to be used
I'm too good for that.
There's a mind under this hat,
and I called them all and told them i've got to move.

Feel like running
Feel like running,
running off.
And we will keep you
we will keep you little one,
safe from harm,
like an extra arm you are part of us.

You were so smart then
in your jacket and coat
and my softest red scarf was warming your throat.
Winter will leave us,
left the end of my nose,
so goodbye old England 'till next year's snow.

New Music 2013 - Part 8 - Wolf's Law

One of the things I am really coming to like now is the fact that there are some bands and artists that I have followed, often as a result of festival performances, since the early days and who are continuing to flourish. This is one of them, The Joy Formidable, and here is the band early one day on the small but lovely Sunset Stage at Latitude Festival 2008, before the release of their début mini album 'A Balloon Called Moaning' (2009).

They release their second full LP 'Wolf's Law', and the follow up to 'The Big Roar' (2011) on Monday, 21 January - on Canvasback Music distributed by Atlantic Recordings. To say that their live performance is energetic would be litotes of some order.

They are touring the UK and Ireland in support of the album between late January and early March and I'm much minded to try and catch them during the latter stage of the campaign.

The Fall of Glorieta Mountain

I thought I saw you by the side,
Illuminating foreign climes.
A figment, a splinter, a vessel for me.
To wander as freely as I'll ever be.
  
Shrapnel stars puncture brightly,
Wounding skies that stretch so widely.
Other dunes of dust, in shades of rust
Where shadows claim the both of us.
  
Is that an answer or is this an echo?
Are you the answer or are you an echo?
  
These godly skies kindly provide
The perfect scene for our goodbyes.
A providence, so palpable
It sets aflutter, palpiter.

Bleached by the moonlight
Bathed in bone white
Undercover of cobalt and shelter of slate
You appeared immaculate.
  
Is than an answer or is this an echo?
Are you the answer or are you an echo?
  
I know that distance lends enchantment to the view
But I know that I see you and I know you see me too
And so I called out.

See more here:
New Music 2013 - Part 1 - Wash The Sins Not Only The Face

I just felt like some lyrics. Not particularly cheerful but then what did you expect? The album 'Wash The Sins, Not Just The Face' is released  by Matador Records on vinyl, CD and d/l. Let us celebrate the third Monday in January at it is often said, by those that believe this sort of thing, to be the most depressing day of the year.
You can currently listen to the whole album streaming on Pitchfork here.