Extraordinary new album from Boston-based singer-songwriter Audrey Ryan. More here.
Produced by John Parish, French gothic folk rock from Cleo T. More here.
Stunning album from Welsh psych folk band No The No Ess. More here.
Here’s a one-take live recording of a new song from the hugely talent Andy Whittle entitled Tall Ship – a taster of things to come and a truly great performance:
TALL SHIP – Live @ Neils by Andy Whittle 1
Andy Whittle is often out on the road performing gigs up and down the UK. We highly recommend seeing him live if you get the chance. Meanwhile, check out his releases to date through Folkwit here.
Johnno Casson aka Snippet releases a single devoted to his adopted home county, Essex – produced by Wim Oudijk, release date – Monday 16 January 2012:
A download-only single available now from Bandcamp.
More here.
Johnno Casson‘s new single This is Essex challenges the image of his adopted home county created by reality TV:
“I haven’t watched one episode of ‘The only way is Essex’, I have no issue with the people or their right to portray themselves as they see fit, its just not the Essex I see when I open my front door so I wanted to write about my view, about the beauty & joy I see all around, about the hard working decent people with Es-Sex appeal.”
Johnno’s single is out on Monday 16 January – go check it out here.
Filmed in Glasgow during their recent UK tour, Seadog perform Haunted:
Filmed by Blair Young, edited by Christy Mearns, made through The Forest Of Black.
http://www.forestofblack.co.uk/
More about Seadog here: http://folkwit.com/artists/seadog
Our friends at On The Verge are promoting an all-dayer at the Polish Eagle Club in Nottingham on Saturday 18 February. It features ‘Sounds on the verge of folk’ from the likes of Nimming Ned, Kidnap Alice, Something Nasty in the Woodshed, David Gibb & Elli Lucas and many more…real ales, cider and food available throughout. Tickets £12/£8 – u16′s £5 – u5′s FREE.
Buy tickets online here: http://onthevergeevents.com/tickets
A free new Christmas single from the highly talented Daniel Maitland – free to download from now until the 12th night – enjoy:
“This is our first ever christmas single and we are more than happy to offer it as a free download to all the Folkwit family and friends up to the 12th day of Christmas. It’s philosophically a little in the Dicken’s Christmas Carol vein – with Gockenspiels, Prevarication, Childrens Choirs, Bittersweetness, Brass bands and Tubular bells.
Hope you like it as much as we do.Happy Christmas from Me, my talented producer Mr Tim Palmer and our wonderful Drummer boy Mr John Blease.”
- Daniel Maitland
Get the free single here.
We are pleased to announce that we now have a stock of the CD version of Wim Oudijk‘s album Tree courtesy of Disco Fair (NL).
Get the CD here:
Or the CD & downlaod package here:
Any of you (like us) who crave new sounds from the uniquely talented Louise Le May, feast your ears on this new song – The Lovers:
“Ash Cooke’s seventh album as Pulco is a collection of bedroom pop, stream of consciousness poems, and Cooke’s relentless quest to master noise. Small Thoughts is as much soul bearing, as it is experimental. It takes a collection of misaligned jigsaw pieces and creates a complex puzzle, full of beauty, but not readily discernible.
On the opening track, What’s In A Name, Cooke questions, “Pulco…what does it mean, anyway…it can’t be a random collection of letters, signifying nothing.” Invoking the Bard, while leading us down the rabbit hole, Cooke is at once mischievous and legitimately curious. Pulco is as much an exploration of identity and self-awareness, as it is a reflection of Cooke’s life. He is Pulco, and the album proceeds to unveil this fact through sketches of poems, songs, and random bits and clips.
The second track, Place Lid On Me, is sleepily melodic with lyrics that suggest Cooke is weary, ready to be buried. On Oxbow Lake, he compares his life to an oxbow lake, the water formation created by a river that has meandered off course, stymied and stuck. It’s at once reflective and hopeful, as he recognizes his ambition and need for a new course. The album is dotted with forthright admissions and subtle insights, all the while driven by Cooke’s steady flow of thoughts and introspection.
The album comes to a head with Travel Lodge Mirror. It opens with a beautiful bit of Spanish guitar before a narrative that has Cooke waking before a mirror, astounded by his reflection and the middle-aged man before him. As he narrates, Cooke comes to accept his lot in life and embrace his identity as “a musician, an artist, and a poet.” While he contends that his predilections for the arts will ultimately lead to his undoing, these gifts allow him to express small thoughts without appearing self-indulgent.
The album concludes with Mexican Mods Mexican Rockers, which is a cheeky attempt at providing the meaning of Pulco. My favorite explanation, “Pulco: Carlos the beardless revolutionary, leader of the Cuban revolution until it was realized that his face didn’t look good on t-shirts and posters.” He delivers definition upon definition until the album dissipates like a passing reverie, leaving the listener in a wistful, altered state. At the end of it all, it’s clear that Cooke has worked through much of the mid-life angst, and is ready to embrace his alter ego and its calling.
This is a lo-fi bedroom recording, and there are bits with kids interrupting songs, kids telling stories (i.e., Seahorse See Sheep), and sounds common to a house. For example, Old Stones sounds as if Ash left the footie game on while he taping the track. These subtle glimpses into Cooke’s life balance the introspection that mark this recording.
Musically, the album is a mish-mash of noise pop, folk, and power pop. Vocally, Cooke favors Elliott Smith. However, he’s a bit more robust and wont to see the humor in things.
In Small Thoughts, Cooke demonstrates the potential of integrated media, as he channels William Blake, Syd Barrett, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Dylan Thomas, and Frank Zappa. The subtleties and sundry pieces combine wonderfully with music to illustrate Cooke’s process of reflection and acceptance of mid-life.”
- The Dadada
Lyrics: 20/20
Composition: 16/20
Musicianship: 15/20
Production: 17/20
Originality: 10/10
Intangibles: 10/10
Score: 88/100
http://thedadada.com/2011/12/03/7639/
Folkwit records are proud to release the latest album by The Phil Langran Band – a wonderfully crafted album with songs based on the work of American poet Langston Hughes alongside composition by Phil Langran himself.
Jukebox Love Songs, Leaving Blues, Border Crossings & Lovers’ Laments – The Phil Langran Band – £8.99 + P&P
More here.
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