New Music 2018 - Part 3 - Laura Cannell - Hunter Huntress Hawker

I mentioned this yesterday. Towards the end of 2017 I started a Friday spot on Facebook in which I mention a music release that has captured my attention. I'm planning to revive that idea after the break for Christmas and New Year although perhaps not every week. I rather like the idea of more blog posts but the two are not incompatible by any means.  To date it has been a very recent release but I'm thinking that this should not always be the case.

Hunter Huntress Hawker - Laura Cannell (Brawl Records, 20 October 2017).

This album (it is actually her fourth) is one that, while I mentioned it on Facebook, has not appeared here before. You may find it challenging but I'm not going to apologise for that. It has two key-words that might be used to describe it that tend to put people off  -  experimental and improvised.
It was recorded live in a ruined church (St. Andrew, Covehithe, Suffolk) that is the only significant structure that remains of a one-thriving fishing community on the east coast of England, the rest of which has now been almost entirely claimed by coastal erosion.
Half-an-hour of truly haunting over-bowed violin playing might just make the cold and damp of early January seem rewarding. I have wavered about choosing a tune (for they are all thus, there are no words). I decided on this:

The penultimate item on the collection - Nordhalla.

New Music 2017 - Part 38 - Tilly Moses - Alight & Adrift

So why post New Music 2017 in 2018? For exactly the same reason that I posted New Music 2018 in 2017!

Alight & Adrift - Tilly Moses (Ginger Dog Records, 2 June 2017).

It's a continuum, whatever the calendar might imply to the contrary. Increasingly, and this is much to my liking, the release of new music pays little heed to that nowadays. Now twenty years of age and relocated to York, this is not her first release by any means but it is quite a statement of intent.  The only traditional song on it is Hares on the Mountain.

Tilly Moses - Alight & Adrift:

• Definitions
• Water Man
• Paper Conflicts
• Fear With Fire
• Harbour (feat. Sam Kelly)
• One of Them
• Flatlands
• Lonely Birds
• Hares on the Mountain
• Ragdoll
• Footprints
• Whisky

This is certainly not the only album released in 2017 that invokes the east coast of England and has captivated me. Another notable one, at least in my opinion, will follow in a post tomorrow. The great thing about them is that they are actually very different indeed. This first might possibly be the most accessible of the two, it is certainly the more lyrical but neither suffers from comparison with the other.

Thoughts on... how many festivals?

It is only possible to do so much...
I'm rather regretting the fact that, after much consideration, I decided not to head off to deepest Suffolk for Maverick Festival last weekend. There is however an excellent review of it - that attempts the impossible and almost succeeds - by Three Chords and The Truth. To some extent that makes up for not being there but more importantly it does put it firmly in my sights for 2016. A lot of temptation was indeed put in my direction when I was a EOTR 2014 I have to say. There is an argument to be made that I should have yielded to it. 
Lots of great artists there, including some of whom I was not aware of until this review (this is always a good thing in my opinion) but also some that I was.
One that the author of the above was not able to see (because of the inevitable clashes that we all know about) was The Rosellys, newly signed to The Clubhouse Records family. I hope that I've got this band covered - as I mentioned here they are playing The Great Western Saloon Bar at Truck Festival 2015. I'm set on seeing that and for good reason. Their new album 'The Granary Sessions' will be released on 7 September. It is their first record with a full band.
Here is a taster (somewhat hazard strewn) from that.

The Rosellys - Two Much Like Trouble (2011).
That said, while it has been a very close run thing, in the last fortnight this has been listened to as much as any other LP here; that is actually saying something.

It is Priddy Folk Festival this coming weekend and I am not going to that either albeit that it is just ten miles away. Outcider Festival is not much further away and is the following weekend (and therefore clashes entirely with Cambridge Folk Festival). 

There are only so many things that I can do and I have to make choices as best I see fit. 

Do I stay? Or do I go? - Latitude Festival 2012

It's decision time folks... I've been to the last five, but whether I go to Latitude 2012 is largely down to you this time. I had a few issues with Latitude 2011 and the weather wasn't really one of them although it was an inconvenience to all.  What do you think about the line up (as already announced) below? Please note that I go almost only for the music.

If I stay (much nearer home) I still have the option to go to Priddy Folk Festival, or indeed the revived Truck Festival instead. If not those then plenty of other opportunities are available and I'm already going to 'No Direction Home 2012' (its first offering at Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire) and 'End Of The Road 2012' so I'm hardly going to be feeling left out. In fact the line up announced for these, and it is far from complete, is pretty amazing from my personal perspective and is something about which I shall comment in more detail very soon.

Latitude Festival 2012

I have been to five Latitude Festivals, 2007 - 2011, and loved them all in various ways.

This time you really need to persuade me that I should do so again in 2012.  I feel a change is as good as a rest and, to this effect, I have several alternatives in mind.  I could still be persuaded but I'm certainly not buying a pre-sale ticket this year.

Latitude 2011 - Play List - Version 1

I know that a great number of people will want to know who is performing on which day.  On past experience you may not get that in any clarity for some time to come...

Just looking at the music line-up - my main preoccupation - there are plenty of artists and acts to keep me busy for three days - and this is only a partial list consisting of those already confirmed.  More commentary to follow soon ...
  
Note added July 12:
For updated play list and clash finder see here:
http://rpgreenhalgh.blogspot.com/2011/07/latitude-2011-play-list-and-clash.html

The future beckons...

We don't know what it holds other than to say that it is pretty certain that it will happen regardless. I am planning on being party to it in 2010 and, this being so, I've just bought a ticket for Latitude 2010 (15 - 18 July 2010). Pre-sale tickets are available at 2009 prices for a limited time only.

I also have no idea whatsoever who the chosen artists might be (but I can already think of a few that might be on my wish list) and since it has not disappointed for three years in a row I see no reason to expect that it will do so next year. In fact not knowing, until relatively late in the run-up, is just a part of the anticipation and excitement!

Latitude 2009

Just a very quick note: Tickets for the fourth installment of Latitude, held as always at Henham Park, Suffolk, went on sale at 7pm UST (GMT) this evening - 23 March 2009. It sold out well in advance in 2008, so don't ponder too long before joining in. The dates are 17 - 19 July 2009, with the camping area opening from around midday on 16 July.
The main stage headline acts are:

Friday: Grace Jones
Saturday: The Pet Shop Boys
Sunday: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

For the latest additions see here Latitide 2009 - news and for criticism see here.

I was there in 2007 and 2008 and, don't even doubt it, I'm going again in 2009.

See you there?

Don't just talk about it... go!!!

Yes, it is true!

The better part of twenty years after I last went to a proper festival I've decided to take my own advice and go to one again. A week on Thursday I will be heading to the far eastern edge of England - the 'Sunrise Coast' - and what I'm reliably told was the best kept festival secret of last year, which returns for its sophomore event this year bigger, and if all goes well, even better.
Click the image above to see the list of bands performing.

Updated: Sunday 8th July:

It is almost exactly a week since I decided, absolutely on the spur of the moment, to take myself off to Latitude. I had concluded that there would be no tickets left, but went to look at the website anyway and to be disappointed. There were still tickets available however (and even still some yesterday too it seems) and, without a further thought for the practicalities, the die was cast when I entered my credit card number and clicked.

A funny week it has been too...
On Monday morning I did wonder for a moment what I had let myself in for; I was suddenly thinking "Am I too old for this now?" . I got over it and ever since I've been feeling ever younger as each day goes by.
It is excitement and I have suddenly rediscovered that childlike feeling of really looking forward to something while simultaneously not knowing quite what to expect - and actually I like it as much now as I did then!

Yesterday I went shopping (in Argos) for cheap camping kit and this was an odd experience too because I already have a collection of camping kit that can keep me warm and snug in the Scottish mountains in winter. The problem is that it is too costly to be worth risking at a summer festival!

To see if the weather will be any better that at Glastonbury you can click on the the image below. No warranties included except to say that I'll be there, on the ground or perhaps sinking in the mud, to report on both the music and the weather!