Folk

An interview with Salsa Celtica

22 May 2012

For anyone who’s not seen Salsa Celtica play live before, what can they expect? Great music, a really exciting gig with some amazing musicians from two very strong cultures and maybe a baby. I have forgotten how many times people have come back to us…

Mary Epworth - Dream Life

A lavish and eclectic debut album from the folk-rock singer

22 May 2012

Where shall we begin? With the banjo twang, Black Sabbath fuzz and Goldfrapping blues-stomp of ‘Black Doe’? With the brass-toting folk-rock euphoria of ‘Long Gone’? With the swirling psych-pop of ‘Come Back to the Bough’? Or perhaps we should start…

Dan Mangan – Stereo, Glasgow, Sun 29 Apr

The Canadian folk-pop tunesmith unleashes his experimental side

14 May 2012

Dan Mangan has previously mentioned that his band members ‘come from an experimental and free-jazz background’ – something that might not be immediately apparent on record but is plainly obvious at tonight’s performance. The brief squalls of noise that…

Eye o’ the Dug - St Andrews, Sat 14 & Sun 15 Apr 2012

Fantastic bill featuring Django Django, Malcolm Middleton and more

27 Apr 2012

They may have quadrupled the size of their show, and conscripted beefcakes to man the doors, but the spirit of Fence chiefly prevailed at the inaugural Eye O’ The Dug – a musical hoopla which (kind of) filled a Homegame-shaped hole in the calendar (and…

The Waterboys - Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Wed 3 Mar

Three hours of intense, lyrical rock music for grown-ups

26 Apr 2012

Backstage after tonight’s show, Mike Scott, Waterboy-in-chief since the band’s inception in 1983, is disgruntled. His band have put in a considerable shift, knocking out not only a connoisseur’s best-of set but the bulk of its recent and remarkable…

Kim Edgar - The Ornate Lie

Folk rock from The Burns Unit member Kim Edgar

26 Apr 2012

The second album from The Burns Unit member Kim Edgar raises the bar from where her acclaimed debut album left off, mixing delicate folk rock melodies with Kim’s uniquely Scottish and poignant lyrics. Edgar’s harmonious piano playing and a voice full of…

Eat, sleep and breathe: Cate le Bon

Cardiff’s answer to Nico shares her tour habits with us

23 Apr 2012

What time is breakfast? I am yet to find out. Tea or coffee? It’s a delicate mix of coffee in the morning followed by the relentless drinking of tea until bed. Smoking or non-smoking? Non, unless I fancy it. Sweet or savoury snacks? Savoury will…

Two Wings - Love's Spring

A warm-hearted fusion of vintage Americana and English folk-rock

23 Apr 2012

(Tin Angel Records) The strident classicism of Two Wings may come as a surprise to those familiar with the avant-folk of Hanna Tuulikki’s other group Nalle. That project’s eerie soundworld is replaced by a warm-hearted fusion of vintage Americana and…

Star Wheel Press - Life Cycle of a Falling Bird

A timeless album from the Americana heartbreakers

23 Apr 2012

Bonnie Prince Billy is not the only alt-country bard to have dibs on Glen Lyon. Americana heartbreakers Star Wheel Press are based in Aberfeldy (BPB’s erstwhile stomping ground), and have quietly amassed a dedicated following since their lovely debut…

Cate Le Bon - Cyrk

Brilliantly textured slice of Welsh psychedelic folk genius

18 Apr 2012

For her latest outing Cate Le Bon takes her pick of the current crop of Wales’ finest musicians, with H. Hawkline providing hypnotically undulating synth goodness, while Y Niwl’s wünderkind Sion Glynn weaves beautifully meandering melodies, at times…

Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra - Improcherto (for HB)

GIO, Evan Parker and Lol Coxhill pay tribute to trumpeter Harry Beckett

18 Apr 2012

The latest in Iorram’s strictly limited edition series of albums dedicated to the Glasgow free improvisation scene features the excellent GIO with two of the leading names in European improv, saxophonists Evan Parker and Lol Coxhill. They perform GIO…

Feist, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Tue 27 Mar 2012

Stunning concert from the Canadian alt.folkie

11 Apr 2012

‘Wan, two, freee, fourr’, some gentleman gargles towards the end of Feist’s second encore. Without thinking, she laughs it off before ending on a heartbreakingly beautiful solo run of ‘Intuition’ from 2007’s The Reminder. It’s pin-drop silence…

Loch Lomond, Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Sat 10 Mar 2012

Bewitching chamber folk from Portland

3 Apr 2012

For those of you wondering how the vaguely surreal, harmonic and orchestral notes of Portland’s Loch Lomond might translate to a live setting, the first minutes of their Sneaky Pete’s show would give you a fairly accurate answer: with a bold and…

Hanna Tuulikki talks about Two Wings

The group is a collaboration between the singer and co-songwriter Ben Renolds

28 Mar 2012

Hanna Tuulikki is musing on deficiencies in the human form. ‘I’d much rather have a syrinx [bird’s vocal organ] and wings than a larynx and arms,’ reflects the singer-songwriter, visual artist and multi-instrumentalist. ‘Birds are masters of the two…

Bob Dylan to return to Hop Farm music festival

Peter Gabriel, Suede, Damien Rice and Primal Scream also announced

27 Mar 2012

This year's Hop Farm festival has again attracted huge acts to the fifth annual no branding, no sponsorship festival running from June 29th to July 1st.

Exposure: Hannah Cohen

The NY model/photographer-turned-singer/songwriter is beloved by The National's Thomas Bartlett

27 Mar 2012

Two years ago New York-based model and photographer Hannah Cohen met Antony and the Johnsons and The National pianist Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman, at a party. She shyly played him some songs she’d been secretly penning, and he immediately offered to…

Counterflows Festival introduces some premier experimental and folk acts

27 Mar 2012

Held across Glasgow, London and Berlin, Counterflows is a glorious stramash of experimental songwriting, clamorous avant-rock, and absurdist improv. In bringing Japan’s great Kazuki Tomokawa to Europe, the organisers have pulled off a real coup. A…

Decembrists singer Colin Meloy writes children's book Wildwood

The novel is the product of collaboration with his wife Carson Ellis

9 Mar 2012

Wildwood is the debut illustrated children's novel from husband-and-wife creative double act Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. Meloy is probably best known as the lead singer of US indie-folk group The Decembrists (for whom Ellis supplies album artwork).

Rob St John, Banshee Labyrinth, Sat 18 Feb

Intimate gig from a new breed of folk troubadour

8 Mar 2012

The first thing to note about the venue for Rob St John’s sell-out gig is how dark, small and shivery it is – it's basically a subterranean cavern which fits perfectly with the haunted alt-folk to come. Support, marred slightly by sound issues, comes…

RM Hubbert, Stereo, Glasgow, Fri 27 Jan

1 Mar 2012

The launch RM Hubbert's second album, 13 Lost and Found, is both a celebratory and elegiac affair. A punk and post-rock veteran, Hubbert turned to the classical guitar as a way of dealing with bereavement and depression. To perform his latest album with…

Alt folkie Feist to play Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall

The Broken Social Scenester to play tracks from latest album Metals

29 Feb 2012

Leslie Feist isn’t the first artist successfully to balance the welcome commercial exposure a ubiquitous hit song can yield with a desire for continuing creative integrity and freedom. But not many manage it quite as gracefully as the Canadian has with…

Hazy Recollections – O2 ABC2, Glasgow, Sun 22 Jan

Electro-folk and French lullabies bring weepie and comedy moments

3 Feb 2012

Celtic Connections’ Hazy Recollections sessions are great for two main reasons. Firstly, they provide a gathering place for the legion of those with beards and plaid shirts. Secondly, you get to see just how far the festival’s remit of ‘folk, roots and…

The Banana Sessions - Mixtape

Long-awaited debut album from the folksy Edinburgh fivesome

3 Feb 2012

Waiting four years before releasing debut album Mixtape, Edinburgh five-piece The Banana Sessions certainly can't be accused of rushing in to anything. Exhibiting an eclectic combination of styles Mixtape opens with 'Two Seasons' a well crafted folk…

Five picks from Celtic Connections 2012

Featuring Zoe Muth, Jack Bruce, King Creosote and Jon Hopkins and Vieux Farka Touré

6 Jan 2012

Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers The year in Americana 2011 belongs to Gillian Welch and the release of her album The Harrow & the Harvest, but amongst a promising field of young female country singers, Zoe Muth stands out. With her ear for an instant…

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy to play Celtic Connections set

Some facts you may not know about Will Oldham's alterego

6 Jan 2012

1. This will be first Scottish performance in over five years The music of Will Oldham (aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) has haunted independent music for over two decades now, through various monikers (Palace Music, Palace Brothers, Palace Songs to name a…