Married couple Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore return with their second album and they stick close to the game-plan on this one with its upbeat rock-lite country pop, near-perfect harmonies and clinical yet accomplished guitar and fiddle playing. The problem is that it’s all too polished and nice. When they tackle melancholic subject matter it … Continue reading
Gretta Ziller has already generated a great deal of critical and industry acclaim in the 2013 Telstra Road to Discovery Grand Finals at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, as well as her 2013 TSA/APRA New Songwriter of the Year award. Now she has released her debut EP Hell’s Half Acre which captures the essence and graceful Americana beauty of … Continue reading
Sylvie Simmons is best known as a renowned music journalist both in magazines and books (Leonard’s Cohen’s ‘I’m Your Man’ biography) but she has also played music since her childhood though primarily for herself. Bow she is finally stepping out from behind her keyboard and pen to release her debut album Sylvie, a collection of ukelele-based … Continue reading
Vashti Bunyan will release her new album Heartleap on October 6th (her first in nine years and in her words, her last) and from the sound of the first single ‘Holy Smoke’ her music is still as ethereal and hypnotic as ever. Continue reading
Lucinda Williams has a new 2CD/3LP album called Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone coming out on Ocotober 3rd. We’been listening to it this week and it’s a superb album, her best in years in our opinion. She hits all the right Williams’ moods and styles, a swampy, often Dylan-esque vibe and some incredible players including … Continue reading
Secretly Canadian have announced they are reissuing Jason Molina’s brilliant Songs: Ohia album Didn’t It Rain on 2CD and 2LP on November 11th. The release includes a second set of home recorded demos for the album. About the album Secretly Canadian have written: Didn’t It Rain is Jason Molina‘s first perfect record. Recorded live in a single room, … Continue reading
James Thomson released a very special debut album in 2012 which we described as “A slow growing collection of folk, blues and country songs – stark, brooding, intimate and elegant in the way they carry and convey emotional ache and weight. There are touches of Justin Townes Earle, and the rootsier side of Ryan Adams”. Now … Continue reading
CW Stoneking is back with the single from his new album Gon’ Boogaloo, his first since Jungle Blues in 2008. ‘Get On The Floor’ finds him mixing up a glorious cacophony of swing, boogie, blues and rock ‘n’ roll. It’s infectious stuff with suitably lo-fi and raw production, recorded live over 2 days with 2 microphones to … Continue reading
Darren Cross has been steadily building an impressive body of work as a solo alt-country singer/songwriter (and as half of Jep and Dep) in the wake of a long musical history in Gerling, as a DJ and many other projects. This feels like the most genuine channelling of his muse. The solo platform suits his … Continue reading
Emma Swift’s voyage as a songwriter has seen her progressively sink deeper and deeper into the soulful well of country music. As a broadcaster she has long championed Americana music in its many forms, soaking up its heart and nuances, traditions and spirit and as one half of duo 49 Goodbyes she showed her ambition … Continue reading
My new discovery of the day is Mary Roth aka HT Heartache who has just released her new album Sundowner. This is what I terms country soul, laden with melancholic waltzes, hazy shimmering guitars and reverb-laden shuffling drums as the backdrop for Roth’s late night sultry voice. Check out the clip for the single ‘Cowboy Poetry’ … Continue reading
Until recently there’s been something of a divide between pop-country and alt-country but now they seem to be finding common ground more often. Jenny Queen’s new album achieves that and now Tracy McNeil finds similar gold by mining the tried and true washes of guitar distortion, twang and tremolo that characterise melancholic americana with added … Continue reading
‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ is one of Neil Young’s finest songs, a tear-jerking, heart-wrenching treatise on love and its glorious dangers. Here’s the version that appears on the new CSNY 1979 live boxset. With the added harmonies of CSN it is near perfect. Hit the link below to hear the song: STREAM: CSNY … Continue reading
Mia Dyson has a brand new album called Idyllwild out now. Here’s the clip for the first single ‘When We’re Older’ and it’s an excellent song built on a beautiful sentiment, rough and raw guitars with one of those heart-tugging vocal performances. Emotive and catchy as hell. http://rd.io/x/QUN9AiIb81Y/ Continue reading
Melbourne singer-songwriter Les Thomas has a new single out that is a barbed and thoroughly deserved reply to the caustically conservative 2014 Australian Budget. Protest in song is strangely missing at the moment, especially in a country where there is so much growing dissent against a socially, environmentally and morally bankrupt government. Let’s hope this song … Continue reading
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