Another recent set of visitors to these parts were the wonderful Felice Brothers. Their latest eponymous album has echoes of The Band's rural Americana. Their label have put two tracks up for you to download and try (you can also get them here):
Sandy Denny was one of the great English singers, and its been good to see her getting some of the attention her genius deserves. She emerged out of the late 'sixties folk scene to join Fairport Convention. For them, she brought classic songs like Fotheringay and Who Knows Where the Time Goes, as well as lending her glorious voice to the classic folk songs and Thompson/Swarbick classics that made up the epochal Liege and Lief. With that she left the band, though continue to be part of a wider Fairport circle of musicians. She produced four solo studio albums: the first two pretty brilliant, though all undermined on occasions by overly bombastic string arrangements (perhaps owed to her record company's pressure for sales). For many, she is only known for her singing on Led Zep's Battle of Evermore. Tragically, she died young.
Recent years have seen increasing interest in her work. As a result, some of those songs have emerged in more stripped down forms, notably on the box set A Boxful of Treasures. These songs were from The North Star Grassman and the Ravens and Like an Old Fashioned Waltz:
Went to see Evan Dando playing one of the unadvertised gigs at The Cluny in Newcastle on Monday, and mighty fine he was too. He played the whole of It's a Shame About Ray, then lots of other stuff, all solo just accompanied by acoustic guitar. Interestingly, some of the highlights were from his solo stuff. Here's two oldies done on acoustic: mp3 The Lemonheads: Confetti (acoustic) mp3 The Lemonheads: Down About It (acoustic)
From his solo album Baby I'm Bored, one of the highlights of the gig:
Big news in the Observer et al, Bon Iver's album For Emma, Forever Ago is a must for all of us who love a proper I loved her and she's gone number. It's a real must:
Elvis Costello has finally brought out a new rock'n'roll album. Everytime he does this, it's nailed as the great comeback (and a sense of relief from all the left field experimentation and collaborations) and turns out not to be; I suspect this will be the case here. Nonetheless, it is very rare that a Costello album doesn't contain something great. What will it be on this? If we still had singles, I suspect this would be it:
Veedon Fleece. 1974, was the last of the great run of masterpieces Van Morrison produced, that began with Astral Weeks. The later ones tend to be forgotten. Veedon Fleece is steeped in Irish pastoral, and still sounds as fantastic now. Try these:
mp3 Van Morrison: Linden Arden Stole the Highlights (removed by request) mp3 Van Morrison: Streets of Arklow (removed by request) From the previous year, a previously unreleased track that came out on The Philosopher's Stone:
mp3 Van Morrison: Try for Sleep (removed by request) The cd doesn't seem to in print at the moment. Why not?
After a gap of four long years Hayden returns with In Field & Town. A genuine one-off, he writes fantastic songs. From the new one, try this for size mp3 Hayden: Lonely Security Guard
Of the older stuff, these very much float my boat still:
Coming out in 1978, Pere Ubu's Dub Housing took the new wave somewhere else altogether, to produce a surreal gothic masterpiece. Off kilter rockers collided with droning incantations. Beefheart meets the Velvets? Or not? Try these:
Just discovered The Dexatens. A heady blend of country rock. What's even better, you can download their album Lost and Found for free from their website here. If you want taster, try this:
The Jayhawks were one of the ultimate alt-country bands. Their long collapse saw solo records emerge. The last was main songwriter Gary Louris, who has released his first solo album Vagabonds. Try this:
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