I was lucky enough to get Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music as a present a few years back. It’s an amazing collection and in particular, volume two may just be the greatest item of music I own. Supreme among the songs on that volume is Rocky Road by The Alabama Sacred Harp Singers, [...]
Caitlin Rose is back. After a brief sojourn in London at the end of last year into which she managed to cram in a good number of gigs, she’s back in the capital for three shows next week, starting at The Black Heart next Tuesday. The most interesting one of the trio though has to [...]
When The Broken Family Band decided to call it a day at the end of last year, it was inevitable that its members would resurface sooner or later with other projects. The smart money would always have been on Steven Adams being the first to come up with something new, and sure enough he has. [...]
It’s taken me a while to get into the new Sparrow And The Workshop album. Not because it’s weak - far from it. I’m sure that it’s one of the best debuts I’ll hear all year. The problem I initially had was that after falling in love with the Glasgow-based three piece’s two EPs last [...]
I can’t believe that this song is twenty years old this year. TWENTY YEARS OLD. Can you imagine how old this makes me feel?
mp3: Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows
It still sounds brilliant after all these years though. And it’s still the song they close their gigs with. Speaking of which, here’s a reminder of how [...]
It’s sunny, it’s spring, so time to head down to the river. If you’d like some live music while you’re there, how about The Tamesis Dock, a converted, 1933 Dutch barge, now doubling as a bar-restaurant and a gig venue. And starting next week, there’s a whole bunch of Daily Growl-friendly shows, put on by [...]
Last year it was all about the warehouse worker who found himself rubbing shoulders with the stars after being nominated for an Ivor Novello award. The press loves a plucky underdog. This year the mainstream media stories are all over the concept cricket album. How quaint. Given that I neither understand nor care about cricket, [...]
When Lucky Soul released their debut album The Great Unwanted in 2007, it got a lot of critical acclaim, but criminally it lived up to is title. Not long afterwards, songwriter Andrew Laidlaw found himself broke and living inside the band’s studio, then a draught-ridden converted fire station on the gloomier side of Greenwich. Some [...]
While I’m on the subject of favourite albums of the year so far, how about Archie Bronson Outfit’s Coconut as a close third? Somewhat shamefacedly, I’m not very familiar with their previous work, so I can’t say that it’s their finest hour or anything, but it’s definitely very fine. It’s a beast of an album, [...]
This month’s MAP contains no new music from me, but instead an overdue inclusion of David Thomas Broughton. The only problem with introducing him to a worldwide audience is that he can never really be appraised on his music alone. It’s not that his recorded output is anything short of wonderful, but because it’s in [...]
