Category Archives: Folk
1970S ALGERIAN FOLK AND POP.
1970S ALGERIAN FOLK AND POP. During the late-sixties and seventies, life in Algeria wasn’t easy. It hadn’t been since 1963, when Ahmed Ben Bella came to power following the Sand War. Two years later, he was overthrown by President Houari Boumediene. He continued the program of industrialisation. Since 1963, industries were state-controlled, within the authoritarian, socialist …
JACKSON BROWNE-LATE FOR THE SKY.
JACKSON BROWNE-LATE FOR THE SKY. Before Jackson Browne embarked upon a solo career he packed a lot into a short space of time. His career began in 1966. That’s when he moved to Greenwich Village and joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Jackson wasn’t even eighteen. Soon, he was writing songs for the Nitty Gritty …
ROBBIE BASHO-ZARTHUS.
ROBBIE BASHO-ZARTHUS. The last time I wrote about Robbie Basho, I described him as a trendsetter and innovator. That was the case throughout his career. However, some of the most innovative and groundbreaking music Robbie Basho released was at Vanguard Records. Robbie’s Vanguard Records debut was The Voice Of The Eagle, which was released to …
SHARON VAN ETTEN-ARE WE THERE.
SHARON VAN ETTEN-ARE WE THERE. Are We There is singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten’s fourth album. Released on May 27th 2009, on Jaguarwar, Are We There was released to widespread critical acclaim. Critics hailed Are We There, the finest album of Sharon’s four album career. It surpassed everything that had come before. Sharon’s recording career began …
R.M. HUBBERT-BREAKS AND BONE.
R.M. HUBBERT-BREAKS AND BONE. For R.M. Hubbert, 2013 was the best year of his long musical career. A veteran, and some might say, unsung hero, of Glasgow’s music scene, Hubby won the Scottish Album Of The Year Award in June 2013, with his sophomore album, Thirteen Lost and Found. Considering the competition Hubby was up …
RICK REDBEARD-NO SELFISH HEART.
RICK REDBEARD-NO SELFISH HEART. All too often, when I pore through each week’s new releases, I wonder where music is heading? It seems that nostalgia is now officially the future. A deluge of third-rate reissues seems to be all some record companies are releasing. Then there’s compilations. Like greetings cards, there are compilations for every …
LINDA PERHACS-PARALLELOGRAMS.
LINDA PERHACS-PARALLELOGRAMS. In the music industry, sadly, talent alone doesn’t guarantee commercial success and critical acclaim. If only that was the case, then things would be very different. There would be no such thing as DJs, remixers and grid-iron producers. These three products of the modern music industry examples of where music has gone wrong. …
BEVERLEY MARTYN-THE PHOENIX AND THE FUTURE.
BEVERLEY MARTYN-THE PHOENIX AND THE FUTURE. It’s nearly fifty years ago since Beverley Martyn made her recording debut. This was as a member of The Levee Breakers. They were a jug band which featured Mac McGann, Johnny Joyce and Beverley. Their debut single was Babe, I’m Leaving You, which they released on Parlophone in 1965. …
EMMYLOU HARRIS-WRECKING BALL.
EMMYLOU HARRIS-WRECKING BALL. In 1995, Emmylou Harris was thirty-eight, and about to release the sixteenth album of her career Wrecking Ball. Emmylou hoped that Wrecking Ball would be the album that would transform her fortunes. Having enjoyed commercial success and critical acclaim between 1975 and 1981, Emmylou’s career had stalled. The problem was, she was no …
ROBBIE BASHO-THE VOICE OF AN EAGLE.
ROBBIE BASHO-THE VOICE OF AN EAGLE. There are some artists who follow trends, while others are trendsetters. Trendsetter describes Robbie Basho perfectly. His love and appreciation of various cultures, especially Indian culture, resulted in a series of albums of genre-defying music. Robbie’s raison d’être seemed to be broaden the minds of music lovers. He wanted …
RODRIGO AMARANTE-CAVALO.
RODRIGO AMARANTE-CAVALO. There aren’t many solo artists who can claim to have been part of one of the most successful bands of all time. Brazilian singer-songwriter Rodrigo Amarante can. His debut solo album Cavalo will be released on 5th May 2014, on Mais Um Discos. He was a member of Los Hermanos. Their four albums sold millions of …
END OF NEIL-HEADSPINNIN’
END OF NEIL-HEADSPINNIN’ Over the last couple of years, I’ve been documenting the rise and rise of End Of Neil, one of Scotland’s best up and coming singer songwriters. End Of Neil’s unique brand of acoustic folk has seen Neil Stewart continue to win friends and influence people. So, much so, that End Of Neil …
LINDA PERHACS-THE SOUL OF ALL NATURAL THINGS.
LINDA PERHACS-THE SOUL OF ALL NATURAL THINGS. Back in 1970, twenty-seven year old dental hygienist Linda Perhacs released her debut album Parallelograms. It was released to critical acclaim, but sadly, this psychedelic folk classic wasn’t the huge commercial success it should’ve been. Despite this, many people within the music industry forecasted a great future for …
SERENA KERN-I LIED E.P.
SERENA KERN-I LIED E.P. Hardly a day goes past without me receiving press releases about artists who have “a big future ahead of them.” Sadly, that’s often wishful thinking. Either that, or the result of an over exuberant P.R. company. Not in the case of Serena Kern. Serena Kern is the real deal. She has …
WITHERED HAND-NEW GODS.
WITHERED HAND-NEW GODS. Five long years have passed since Withered Hand recorded their debut album Good News. It was released to critical acclaim and praised for its stark honesty. There was a reason for this. The man behind Withered Hand, Dan Willson was a latecomer to music. He was already thirty when he wrote his …
BLOOD RELATIVES-DEERHEART.
BLOOD RELATIVES-DEERHEART. It’s about this time of year that people start that the movers and shakers in Scottish music start thinking about the nominations for the Scotland’s premier music award, the Scottish Album of The Year Award. Last year, R.M. Hubbert’s sophomore solo album Thirteen Lost and Found won the Scottish Album of The Year …
LOU ADLER-A MUSICAL HISTORY.
LOU ADLER-A MUSICAL HISTORY. Songwriter, producers, manager, director and impresario. That describes Lou Adler. During a long and illustrious career, that started back in 1958, Lou Adler has written over 150 songs and has 300 production credits to his name. Lou Adler has worked with some of the biggest names in music. Among them are …
FREDDIE FICTION-I DON’T DREAM.
FREDDIE FICTION-I DON’T DREAM. Nowadays, when we hear a song we’ve never heard before, we can find out everything we want to know at the click of a button. We either log on to the internet, or reach for our phones. Not this time. Freddie Fiction’s debut single I Don’t Dream isn’t all it seems. …
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