Category: folk
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samantha crain – a small death (2020)
A Small Death was born after Samantha Crain, almost implausibly, was involved in three car accidents in three months. After living without the use of her hands for years, Crain’s sixth full-length LP condensed the pain of not playing and of being out of step with the world and sharpened it with the equal difficulty […]
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cass mccombs – heartmind
There’s an attractive quality to writing that is brave enough to tackle the literarily ‘inconvenient’—stories that are unglamorous and settings that reek of cringeworthy, modern bile. Cass McCombs’ stage is set with fast food, human error, and everything in between on that bizarre scale. But, as the beautiful, light instruments indicate, this album isn’t a […]
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lijadu sisters – danger (1976)
Watching the Lijadu Sisters in an interview is like observing two parts of the same brain popping off with thoughts: “If I’m in the kitchen singing a song, and I’m walking towards the bathroom, I hear her singing exactly the same thing”. The death of Kehinde Lijadu in 2019 signalled the physical end of a […]
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jake thackray – la-di-dah (1991-compilation)
On first listen, Jake Thackray’s music might seem like pure embellishment, mawkish even. The Yorkeshireman was tall, lean, and looked like a more robust Dean Martin. With his fashionably unfashionable flair, he appears into view as though a national treasure. Then comes the voice: lugubrious, rising like the Dales, and quieting into a mist. Finally, […]
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lee bains + the glory fires – old-time folks
Lee Bains seems to write like it’s physical exercise. Having negotiated the hegemonic politics of the South with his own views, the singer-songwriter sounds assertive and assured. Although the album does lack its own unique school of thought, The Glory Fires’ energetic drive aligns with Bains’ gushing words to form a high-octane road trip across […]
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