Listening to the self-titled debut album by singer-songwriter Grace Pettis, it's no surprise to learn that she was recently awarded the "Best Song" prize in the Mountain Stage New Song Festival. Like last year's winner Rose Polenzani , Grace is a very talented independent artist who plays and sings delicately beautiful songs. Songs like the opener "The Gypsy's Code" possess the dusky Western folk sound of Patty Griffin and Kate Rusby, and Grace's voice has a warm lilt similar to Beth Nielson Chapman. [...]
This year's most-asked questions, according to Google search terms: 1. Why no AC/DC on iTunes? 2. Whatever happened to Samantha Mumba? 3. Who owns guitar hero? 4. What happened to Rick Waller? 5. Who is Beth Ditto? 6. What genre are Kasabian? 7. Who's gay in hip-hop? 8. Where does Chad Kroeger live? 9. Why the Fugees split? 10. When are the Brit Awards 2010? This were new, and might be worth having a looks at: The Clientelle - Bonfires On The Heath [...]
Sweet William's Ghost is a folk song, collected by Francis James Child in 1868 as Child ballad number 77. It exists in many forms but all versions recount a similar story. A lover, usually named William or a variant, appears as a ghost to his love, usually Margaret or a variant. He asks her to release him from his promise to marry her. She may insist that he actually marry her, but he says that he is dead; she may insist that he kiss her, but he says that one kiss would kill her; she may insist on [...]
This is from her 2003 album Ten which marked her tenth year of performing. It is a selection, chosen by Kate, of her favorite songs. MP3 File yousendit
The Poozies : Ma Plaid/ Freya Dances [ purchase ] Ma Plaid is a traditional Scottish tune which, as recorded by The Poozies, comes in at about six minutes. But the group placed it in a medley with an original instrumental, Freya Dances, which brings the whole thing in at 7:07. It is a tribute to Mary MacMaster, who wrote Freya Dances, that it serves as the perfect coda to Ma Plaid; I cannot imagine hearing the one without the other. MacMaster and Patsy Seddon were the harp duo Sileas [...]
This is from 2007's Awkward Annie and is her own composition. MP3 File
My weekend visit to London also included a little trip to the countryside. On Sunday, my mate John and I took a short train ride to Hatfield in Hertfordshire to attend the second annual Folk by the Oak festival that takes place in the scenic Hatfield House. This is a one-day festival that is quite inexpensive and extremely relaxed and full of British acts that play folk and traditional music. John knew a lot more of the bands' music than I did, but I quite enjoyed the music, the performers, the audience, the cider and the craic. The [...]
Maura O'Connell's unparalleled vocal power is beautifully displayed in her impressive new album. Naked With Friends is the Irish singer's humorous way of describing this very serious and poignant work of vocal art. Determined to show that "just a singer" can possess as much talent as any musician, O'Connell recorded this collection of a cappella performances with the help of singers Kate Rusby, Dolly Parton, The Settlers Connection, Jerry Douglas, Crooked Still's Aoife O'Donovan, Sarah Dugas of The Duhks, Altan's Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Clannad's Moya Brennan, Mary Black, Alison Krauss, Tim O'Brien, Darrell Scott, Paul Brady, Liam Bradley, [...]
Nos próximos dias 4, 5 e 6 de Setembro, a festa acontece na Atalaia, no Seixal, em mais uma edição da Festa do Avante. Aldina Duarte Possuidora de uma voz única, a fadista conta no seu terceiro álbum uma história feminina em 11 temas, donde emergem os segredos e a coragem, as subtilezas e as dúvidas, as transgressões ponderadas e a ousadia, os impulsos e as emoções, a confiança e a frontalidade, a liberdade como valor supremo individual e colectivo. Um trabalho unanimemente considerado uma as grandes revelações [...]
Lisa Hannigan is probably best known for her association with fellow Irish musician Damien Rice, but her debut solo album Sea Sew has proved that she has what it takes to make it on her own. The album is by no means perfect but Hannigan's ambition and determination shines through with a number of brilliant songs. Opener Ocean And A Rock, the dark Keep It All and the best song I Don't Know lead the way with the more aggressive Venn Diagram completing the highlights. The rest of the album drifts along, either light and whimsical or flat and listless, [...]
Weclome to the first ever 405 Gig Guide! Every week we'll be selecting the top ten gigs that you should be checking out. So sit back, have a read and get your credit card out! Monday Marianne Faithfull @ The Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London This one off special show promotes her March released album Easy Come, Easy Go. So…err if you haven't got yourselves a ticket you better just grab the CD and a bottle of red instead. I'm pretty sure the fabulous [...]
Table of contents for Learning to Like the Decemberists Are the Decemberists Overrated? The Decemberists - Ripping Off R.E.M.? The Crane Wife - The Decemberists Become Accessible! The Decemberists: The Final Verdict Look! Quirky photo! The question I asked myself as I prepared my [...]
When I was a young lad I got this groovy cassette deck. Kids, that was what dinosaurs listened to before CDs. My birthday was coming up, and all I had to play on my new piece of equipment were blank TDKs that I used to tape obscene phone calls with. One time, we called all the guys named John Rambo at 3AM, and made sounds of explosions and gunshots. Yeah, we were a scream. Pissed ourselves laughing. But I digress. I needed some tunes, so I asked my buds to get me [...]
This is a Kinks' song, and I have always loved it and them. When I first started watching the BBC program called Clatterford here and Jam and Jerusalem in England, I heard Kate sing it for the first time. The song served as the program's theme. I couldn't find the song but Kate finally released it as part of her 2007 album Awkward Annie. MP3 File yousendit
For most of my life, the military has been an abstraction. Though war itself lives everpresent in our newsdriven culture, and memorial statues and parades a recurring part of community, my concept of life in the armed forces, and the risks and stresses thereof, is based on popculture parables, mostly: fictionalized movie and television portrayals fleshed out by fleeting glimpses of men and women in uniform in airports, reporting to places I cannot imagine, to carry out tasks I could not describe. My connection with family members who have served has been long after the fact. [...]
I have a strong memory of being halfway up the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Hill, the sun setting, the stage small in the distance, trying to figure out what people see in Richard Thompson . The man was clearly a legend, and a draw indeed; the hill was as full as I've seen it. But that voice, and the signature solo electric guitar, echoed off the hills like a sour note in my ears. I wandered off to put the kids in their bunks, and tucked Thompson away in my mind for [...]
I have a strong memory of being halfway up the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Hill, the sun setting, the stage small in the distance, trying to figure out what people see in Richard Thompson . The man was clearly a legend, and a draw indeed; the hill was as full as I've seen it. But that voice, and the signature solo electric guitar, echoed off the hills like a sour note in my ears. I wandered off to put the kids in their bunks, and tucked Thompson away in my mind for [...]
Leaving the North Carolina sound for the long drive north is always bittersweet. Grateful for the respite from the scheduled world, saddened that it has to end, we shake the sand from our shoes one last time. The long road ahead of us looms large, threatening our carefully recovered sense of self. By the time we arrive, late and tired from the miles, there will be but tatters left. Who Knows Where The Time Goes is properly a song of autumn's end; the lyrics speak clearly of winter's impending [...]
Hello, campers. Been busy tarting up my new house this week so not really had the time or the inclination (or the internet connection now I think about it) to do any blogging. And for some reason I can't get this song out of my head at the mo. The Freshies - House Beautiful mp3 (right click - here we go again, Davy!) Also, apropos of absolutely nothing, here's my favourite Kate Rusby song, Our Town , which I've never got round to [...]
I was very interested to hear this album. It was out last year in Ireland and the US and is now released in the UK. I heard a couple of tracks and the signs were great. But the album is a bit of a let down with four excellent songs and a lot of fluffy padding which does little to set it aside from many other albums in the same style. The review: Best known for her wonderful collaborations with fellow Irish musician Damien Rice, folk singer Lisa Hannigan is [...]
‘09 Been Kind
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
Zipper (Dj Manaia Remix)
