Dub provocateur Elijah Minnelli has finally dropped a record with some guest vocalists and it is immense. Real life reggae legends Little Roy and Earl Sixteen, and the younger voices of Shumba Youth and Joe Yorke take turns interpreting old English folk standards over Elijah’s powerful and haunting dub reggae instrumentals. This is a heavyweight release that has already seen praise from folk royalty Peggy Seeger and is bound to find love from the progressive dub-heads as well as the traditionalists. Read / Listen.
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Nino Gvilia 'Nicole' (Hive Mind Records) - single premiere!
Video and single premiere! We invite you to enter the strange and enchanting world of Nino Gvilia, where nothing is quite what it seems. ‘NICOLE’ is the first track of the eponymous two EP's project (presented on one disc in March 2024 on Hive Mind Records) that will draw you deep into her dreamlike sound-world of hushed late night atmospherics and surreal songwriting. Watch // Listen.
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E.R.Thorpe 'E.R.Thorpe' (Cwm Saerbren) - a review
E.R. Thorpe’s self-titled E.P. of smouldering and spectral ‘dark folk’ came out in July and has been a presence on our playlists for some time. A member of The Low Drift and a collaborator with Huw Costin and the late Mark Lanegan, Emma’s beautifully constructed songs of poetic uncertainty draw in religious visions, nature’s murmurings and the unsaid thoughts of the self. Fans of PJ Harvey etc will love this. Read / Listen.
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Daniel Ögren 'Fastingen-92' (Mr Bongo) - a review
Originally released in 2020 on Sing A Song Fighter, Daniel Ögren’s brilliantly uncategorisable 'Fastingen-92' LP is being lovingly repressed by Brighton’s Mr Bongo (sing hossana!). A founding member of cosmic soul outfit Dina Ögon and a contributor to Sven Wunder’s musical universe, Daniel is a prime example of Sweden’s new golden age of musicians, producers and labels. Hugely ambitious in scope, he slides easily from cinematic orchestral grooves into Balearic dreamscapes via pan-global dancing oddities without ever being too difficult to understand. In an alternative dimension, this would be topping the mainstream charts. Read / Listen.
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Meiko Kaji 'Hajiki Uta' (WEWANTSOUNDS) - a review
The cult Japanese exploitation actress Meiko Kaji never planned to be a singer but with a push from her film studio she discovered a natural talent. 'Hajiki Uta' is the first of five albums that she made for Teichiku in the early 70s and is being comprehensively reissued by the always excellent WEWANTSOUNDS label. The record is a stunning collection of torch ballads and funky-orchestral-psyche grooves propelled by the slasher queen’s achingly melancholic voice; Tarantino created ‘Kill Bill’ around Meiko’s character in ‘Lady Snowblood’ and this album also contains ‘Urami Bush’ from Tarantino’s soundtrack. Read / Listen
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Maxine Funke 'River Said' (Disciples) - a review
Maxine Funke is a wonderful singer/songwriter from New Zealand and here on her fifth album, she has delivered two very different sides to her artistry. One side of the record is made up of intimately recorded lo-fi folk-inspired songs that are reminiscent of Vashti Bunyan or Sybylle Baier at their sparsest, side two contains organic sounding atmospheres that Eno would be proud of. Read / Listen
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Artwork by Issaya Mellors
Lakiko 'What To Do, How To Live' (Lakiko Records) - a review
This new album 'What To Do, How To Live' from the Bosnian cellist, singer and composer Lakiko is one of the most emotional musical experiences that I’ve experienced in some time. Sung in the ancient Balkan Sevdalinka tradition, she stares unflinchingly into the face of uncertainty and the horrors of the world, her otherworldly vocals and classical-folkloric-experimental cello playing unlike anything I have heard. Can’t recommend this enough really. Read / Listen / Watch
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Credit - Nicola Schmid
Howald 'Amnis Alsace' (BlauBlau Records) - a review
A touching and poetic soundtrack to a filmic diary that was made in response to the music from Swiss multi-instrumentalist Dimitri Howald. Touching on Afro-Brazilian, jazz, post-rock and 80s New Wave flavours. Read / Listen / Watch the film here
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Elijah Minnelli 'SLATS' (Breadminster County Council) - a preview
Elijah Minnelli creates dub that effortlessly brings cumbia, western and eastern folk idioms into the sound and it is brilliant. His new single is out in August on the Breadminster County Council label. Here is a preview. Read / Listen
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Marco Woolf 'Lets Build This House' (Phlexx Records) - Video Premiere
We are delighted to premiere the brand new video single from the inspirational alt-jazz artist Marco Woolf. A gorgeous and intimate video of compelling potency featuring many of Marco’s own family members, the single will be released on Friday 9th July on Phlexx Records as a second taster of his brilliant forthcoming EP ‘Francine, i’. Watch / Read here…
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Photo: Justice Mukheli
Urban Village 'Udondolo' (Nø Førmat!) - a review
The debut album ‘Udondolo’ by the Soweto four-piece Urban Village is a wonderful multilingual journey of positivity through a diverse palette of South African folk traditions and modern musical forms. Maskandi, Zulu Rock and Marabi to funk and jazz, an identity shaped by the melting pot of the metropolitan squeeze of Johannesburg’s most famous Township. This is a peach of a record and will be released next week on the brilliant French label Nø Førmat!. Read / Listen here……….
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Maria Chiara Argirò 'Hidden Seas' album - a review
‘Hidden Seas’ is the second album from Italian pianist and composer Maria Chiara Argirò and it is a lovely collection of songs exploring the theme of water with a finely balanced blending of jazz, electronica, classical and folk forms….read/listen more…
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