‘Illustrating not only the distinctive arts of the older unaccompanied fiddlers but also the way in which the tradition is moving forward today.’

Several stretches of conversation, mainly in English, and eight songs in Gaelic composed by the crofter — who died in 1978 — accompanied by Roy Williamson and John Mackinnon, on flute and violin.

The legendary Gaelic concert singer, drawing on his vast repertoire — much of it learned traditionally, within the family circle.

Strathspeys, reels, slow airs, marches, waltzes and jigs from five different regions of Scotland, played by Hugh Inkster, Pat Shearer, Andrew Poleson, Donald MacDonell and Hector MacAndrew.

Warm, hazy and enigmatic Laurel Canyon country-folk — her debut — with well-measured baroque-ish brass and woodwind arrangements, reverbed and layered voices.

Beautiful, early-seventies, singer-songwriter, orchestral, countrified pop. The challenges of this second album put her back on heroin: it was her last.

Compositions from 1969/70, when Forti was based in Woodstock, New York — ‘stoned in the woods,’ she recalls — around the time of the Festival, just before moving to California, and working and performing with Charlemagne Palestine.
The seven songs here were recorded in 2012 during her exhibition Sounding, at The Box gallery in Los Angeles. The blue vinyl carries an etching of Forti’s Illuminations Drawing on the flip; accompanied by a sixteen-page colour book with images of the original sheet music scored by Charlemagne Palestine.

Soulful American folk: a gorgeous, heart-stopping mixture of the longing you get in saudade — singers like Cesaria Evora and Joao Gilberto — and political protest. Will Oldham’s in there; so is Dionne Warwick.

Back with a pared-down, western sound. Bitter-sweet and nostalgic, but cut with longing, fantasy and hopefulness, in a daze (sometimes child-like) over lost love, lost innocence, lost years. ‘****’ (Mojo).

‘An album of cathartic intimacy, built around electronic textures and sparse percussion, with White’s gently yielding, half-spoken vocals pitched pleasingly between Laurie Anderson and Joni Mitchell’ (Mojo).

Terrific, fresh compilation of rockabilly, country, and early rock instrumentals from this new label, via Mississippi. Graveyards, trains, ghosts, dread…

Hypnotic semi-acoustic mantras with spirits, bells and percussion from the driving opener to live favourite Silent Prayer. With Ethan Miller on sitar (Somewhere Between) and melting heads on the closer.

Respite from his recent firestorms, this conjures from spellbinding acoustics and drones galore something meditative and darkly unsettling by turns. Fine vocals and shredding axe work from Elisa Ambrogio.

‘The first thing is how unhinged it all sounds. The album brews and boils with an ominously dark tone in a desolate space, dense with energy, guitar overdriven past the point of sanity, slamming drum accents, vocals cutting through in what seems to be comprised of another, as yet unheard, language. Yet, inside the apparent wild abandon and destruction is a strict internal logic of construction that unveils itself upon listening…’ With Noel Von Harmonson from Comets On Fire on drums, and Rob Fisk from Badgerlore sharing the bass-playing with San Francisco psych legend Charlie Saufley.

Artfully printed on differently-shaded coated and uncoated stocks, perfect-bound with marbled-style end papers, this 196-page hardback contains 79 poems written by Molly Drake from 1935 until her death in 1993; plus lyrics, a 14-page introduction by her daughter, precious family photos, diary extracts, song manuscripts and handwritten notes by Molly, as well as the essay Give Me A Place To Be, which previously appeared in the tribute to her son, Remembered For A While.
Also 26 short recordings across two CDs, performed by Molly, taped at home by husband Rodney in the 1950s and 1960s: her own exquisitely poignant, heavy-hearted songs,  steeped in loss and wonder, and a treasurable, posh kind of ‘Englishness’ (not the usual bollocks). Have a listen to I Remember.
Joe Boyd has called this compilation ‘the missing link in the Nick Drake story’, but that’s to do it down.
A beautiful Christmas present.

Startlingly fresh and unusual, these timeless, traditional peasant songs from north-west Spain — mostly with percussion accompaniment, sometimes with flute, bagpipe, oboe or rebec.

Wonderful, previously-unheard recordings by the legendary Bahamian guitarist, at his peak in 1965, made at his only New York concert, at home in Nassau, and in a Manhattan apartment. Gripping, one-off playing, continuously stepping out of line, or surprising you with accents, like Monk; rough, enraptured singing in the age-old tradition of local sponge fishermen, with startling irruptions of humming, babble and scat.

Legendary stoner folk by former Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape member (who dropped some LSD and motorcycyled from California to the Nashville studio in his pyjamas).