Don’t ask me where I find this stuff cause I honestly don’t know. Just thank me in the comments;) Seriously, a folk opera of the old South by a band out of the UK, how cool is that? On the song “Southern Boys” it sounds like Joe Strummer meets Charlie Daniels and you know that can’t be bad. The band is called Lee’s Company and the new record is White Mansions.
Buy the new record here.
The blogosphere was in a bit of a tizzy a month back with the announcement of the debut record from UK “folk singer” Ed Laurie. The track “Albert” was such a nice approximation of Leonard Cohen meets Gilberto Gil that it rightfully stoked a few fires in bloggers searching for tangible, authentic music. For now things have calmed down but expect to hear more from this artist as release date approaches.
In the meantime here are a couple demo’s. One from the new record and a bonus one that didn’t make the cut. As I’ve said before sometimes a demo is the best way to judge an artist. Stripped of any studio wizardry these songs are usually a good indication of whether the artist has the songs and the chops to succeed.
The new record, Meanwhile In The Park, comes out October 2 on Dangerbird. It was originally released in the UK in 2006.
Bonus demo
And the title track from the new record
London born and occasional Detroit resident Mr. David Viner has been signed by my favorite UK label Loose Records. It’s a great signing since David Viner’s brand of folk blues relies heavily on a gothic blues underpinning that should play well in Europe (think Nick Cave, Grinderman). His debut for Loose will be out Sept. 22 and is called Among The Rumours and the Rye. The first single will be a duet featuring Jaymay called “Go Home”.
You can hear bits of blues, Rolling Stones’ swagger, English folk and more in these three unreleased tracks from Viner’s archives.
Ron Sexsmith’s voice is sublime, his songs are consistently great, and he’s the consummate live performer, but he’s been jumping from sub genre to sub genre over the past couple of albums. And with nine albums under his belt you can hardly blame him. The new record is titled Exit Strategy of the Soul and features horns on every single song and a blend of soul and gospel influences. This is a far cry from the americana records that hint at alt-country that he’s done of late and I think it’s a welcome one
“This Is How I Know” is the first song Ron wrote for the new record. Here’s what Ron says about that one:
The album finds Sexsmith at his most soulful—not that he sounds like Al Green. “I don’t have that kind of voice,” he acknowledges, unnecessarily. “’This Is How I Know’ was the first song I wrote for the record,” says Sexsmith, “and it felt to me kind of like a gospel tune. As I continued writing, I started getting this vibe that there was a spiritual element to them.
Pre-order this July 8th release now here. Or to find out more about the record visit the Yep Roc eCard here.
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I’m always talking the talk about over-produced records and how something lofi is usually ultimately more satisfying. Well today we walk the walk with the new record from Trailer Star aka Shaun Belcher. This arrived unannounced in my inbox by way of England. Shaun Belcher is a singer songwriter along the lines of our own Jim White. That means he’s concerned with sin and salvation and creates folk music that has a southern gothic feel to it. To go along with the music Shaun creates original artwork that is clearly influenced by the folk art of the deep south. Here’s his song “Firework Factory” and the artwork that goes with it.
Suit of Nettles is the new record and the limited edition cd can be purchased here.
It’s a rainy, dreary day here in Chicago and what better way to spend it than with the Baroque English folk of Nick Hudson. Nick Hudson’s new record, The Elegy, is out on Kiddiepunk Records in June.
On the song “Atlantic Dash” Nick hits just one note: somber. But listening to some of the other songs that are streaming on MySpace show an experimental side to this artist that’s not apparent from this one song.
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