Tag: folk
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Madra Salach live at The Grove review – Irish sextet seek pleasure and pain
Irish folk merchants Madra Salach delivered on the promise of their excellent debut EP with an evening of age-old songcraft and atmospheric experimentalism, adept at finding beauty in the midst of adversity.
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Eleanor Moss live at SWG3 Poetry Club review – crystalline classical guitar songs dazzle up close
Eleanor Moss’s quietly fascinating songs about tenderness and violence inspired a stunned silence in the crowd for this powerfully intimate set at the Poetry Club. A full backing band is all that’s needed to elevate her already transfixing compositions.
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Curiosity Shop: Bound For The Sky EP review – delightful debut is full of promise
After relentless touring built up an impressive following for the Edinburgh folk band before they even released their first single, Bound For The Sky confirms Curiosity Shop as one of Scotland’s most exciting new songwriting talents.
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Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Weekend review – blockbuster return will make you believe in magic
Phoebe Bridgers’ third album improbably lives up to the hype generated by her ingeniously orchestrated return to earth: a high-budget, detail-oriented showpiece about grief and hope packed with spectacular twists and turns. When it comes to indie folk, Bridgers really is on a planet of her own.
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Searows live at Leeds Irish Centre review – minimalist atmospherics from indie folk’s new leading light
Searows’ beguiling new album provided the most compelling songs for this understated performance in Leeds. At his best, his broadly coastal-themed new songs sound windswept and epic. Other times, it’s more of a wishy-washy damp squib.
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jasmine.4.t live at the Deaf Institute review – triumph and world-weariness from unbreakable trans singer
Returning to her hometown of Manchester after a breakout year, the Boygenius collaborator was let down by poor acoustics in an understandably tired-feeling performance. Still, she can dig into a thrashing System of a Down cover like the best of ’em.
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Ichiko Aoba live at the Glasshouse review – perfect serenity from the Japanese isles
Ichiko Aoba’s virtuosic guitar playing proved the main draw for a night of deeply beautiful experimental folk pieces from Japan, prefaced by one of the most extraordinary support acts I’ve ever witnessed.
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‘Often the first thought you have is the best one’: Divorce on their instinctive, brilliant debut album
Felix and Kasper from Divorce discuss their critically acclaimed new album and the key to its occasionally baffling lyrics.
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Divorce: Drive to Goldenhammer review – endearing, open-hearted folk-rock
Framed around a quest to the fictional place of ‘Goldenhammer’, the Nottingham indie band’s impressive debut is packed with one gorgeous duet after another, plus a wealth of plaintive melodic earworms.
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Undertone’s best songs of 2023
From chart-toppers to hidden gems, it’s time to reminisce about the most remarkable musical moments of 2023, as we countdown the year’s greatest hits.
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Rianne Downey live at Oporto review – bigger stages await
Her songwriting ability may be still developing, but Rianne Downey already owned the stage at Oporto, a low-key venue that felt far too small for a vocal talent of this calibre.
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Fergus McCreadie Trio live at Sage Gateshead review – overlong wanderings through Scottish wilderness
In front of a room full of attentive followers in the Sage, McCreadie’s trio indulged in expansive tangents away from the source material that only occasionally struck gold, although the technical ability and telepathic musicianship displayed throughout were undeniably immense.
