For fans of Folk and the word 'ramshackle'.

 I like it when it sounds like the band are playing on the ground floor whereas the vocals are being done in some vaulted basement far below, barely audible - or fuzzed beyond interpretation. This why I think this new one by Spectre Folk (great name) rocks. Not only are the vocals low in the mix they also sound slightly inebriated. Which imho gives the song some 'warmth' ( in the same way that Tonight's The Night era Neil Young is great because they're all off their faces and not really playing that much attention to things such as singing in key). Ramshackle, that's it.

Released by the great Woodsist label at the back end of March, this is one to look forward to. Get some fuzz folk in ya life. Or have it free courtesy of the fork here.

New Branch - Fruit Tree Foundation EP

Fruit Tree Foundation - Hired Help

One of my fav cuts this year, this song rocks. As does the album. Members of awesome Scottish bands - Delgados, Idlewild, Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit, James Yorkston etc- combined splendidly to produce a great set of songs in aid of a mental health charity. That said, there is nothing charitable about the sentiments endorsed in these songs- harsh, bleak, yet beautiful- this album deserves an airing.
Download their new EP here for free. 'Quack', as recommended by said the gramophone, is perhaps the best track on the album, mixing REM style preppy rock with the hooky yet lugubrious style of Elliott Smith.
Makes me want to listen to 100 Broken Windows, one of my fav ever albums. Thanks Rod Jones.

Kathleen Edwards

Kathleen Edwards - Sidecar

 Lovely, Justin Vernon produced number from this Canadian chanteuse. I like a lot. Her new 7" Wapusk is out now. It's difficult to see the Bon Iver influence other than in subtle electronic flourishes, and more obviously, the raw sounding drums with which the song opens. It's much more straight forward than a Vernon penned number, but with just enough edge to keep the catchy melody from becoming saccharine sweet. Concise, too. Under Vernon's aegis Miss Edwards should find the audience her gorgeous voice deserves.

Youth Lagoon

Just a short one today. This is a cut from a new discovery whose album was recently best new music nominated by Pitchfork. It's an awesome bit of bedroom lo fi with pretensions to epic grandeur. Think of a shyer Sigur Ros playing in a Beach House with just a keyboard, guitar and drum machine for company.

Free Frightened Rabbit!

Calm down, calm down, no rabbit is in need of liberation! No animal is held captive. Though some great music is being given away for free. Just go here to download Frightened Rabbit's new eponymous three tack EP. 
     These Pict miserablists have written an absolute cracker in EP opener ,'Scottish Winds', a proud and nationalistic ode to the title's inspiring zephyr. A fantastic gritty riff does its best to emulate this gale, rollicking around the baleful lyrics like a slamming shed door. Where Scott Hutchison's rasp implores all that is Scottish to come "burr into his veins," with the wild feel of a battlle cry.
   I've already digressed at some length about my love of all that is Scottish when it comes to music, and how I dig it when their accent becomes, in itself, another piece of their musical arsenal. Hutchinson certainly does that here imprecating the 'fucking English'.
          Don't worry lads, I don't take it personally, keep being angry, pissed and Scottish- it makes for some awesome and rousing music. Bravo.

A slightly less bellicose acoustic take below, yet I still don't think this guy's going to forget all that spilt Scottish blood he alludes to.

Fanfarlo

Fanfarlo are a band that I have never heard anyone talk about anywhere other than on Mark Riley's evening 6music show.Needless to say, that's where I first heard them, in session, it must have been over two years ago now. Well, thank you very much Mark, I pretty much had this band's first LP, Reservoir, on repeat during the spring of 2009. It was so good I did that rare thing about bought a physical copy of the CD after hearing them.
   Anyway, they are a band whose music evokes some very vivid memories of that spring, and certain hopes that turned out to be false dawns. It also makes me want to cycle again ( I cant as I have a broken neck) as that was mostly when I listened to it.             

Fanfarlo: auditioning for the United Colours of Benetton ad.

   About the music; they are a young, lively indie pop outfit with a penchant for orchestral flourishes and very catchy choruses. They also have a great singer in Simon Balthazar (whose tones are not dissimilar from the warbler for The Stills, or Zack Condon of Beirut) and a talent for making hummable, yet moving music.
          In a just world they would be occupying the space in which bands like Coldplay are now ensconced. There is nothing challenging or difficult about their music, and it deserves to be heard. It's unbelievable they are not better known. Though on checking, their tunes have been used in Grey's Anatomy (which is known for some awesome music), and Twilight. So perhaps they are better known than I thought. Either way, their stately melodies can brighten many another person's spring I'm sure. There should be a new album on the way this year. For now, enjoy this brace of vids below.
                                             ( Oh, and if you are reading this on the day of posting, check out 6 music at 7 tonight as Iron & Wine are in a {pre-recorded} session. Of whom, more anon. )                                       

 They also have ace taste, just check out their impressive website to see covers of the Bonnie Prince Billy's classic 'Minor Place', and Neutral Milk Hotel.

                      

                  

Fruit Tree Foundation

Scotland: land of the dour, the bleak, the ginge. A desolate land with its own peculiar brand of misery. Though luckily for us, these Pict's have been using their native angst to make some fantastic music. The Fence Collective, a group of musicians from the Fife district, fronted by Kenny Anderson of King Creosote fame, have been at it for years. And lets not forget indie twee heroes Belle & Sebastien and Camera Obscura, who both hailed from north of the border. Of course then there is Idlewild, who used to be good (100 Broken Windows has got to be one of the best indie albums of the noughties). And lesser known artists such as The Twilight Sad, and criminally overlooked folky troubadour, James Yorkston both of whom are fantastically engaging, dark artists. Speaking of dark, lets not forget the consummate chroniclers of domestic violence and fucked up relationships, Arab Strap. In short the nation punches far above its weight artistically.
                    This is why it is not surprising that this latest pooling of Scottish musical talents, The Fruit Tree Foundation, is such a success. The 'supergroup' consists of nine like minded artists who cross the gamut from folk to indie.The album was recorded in a bothy in deepest Perthshire during the glacial February of last year.The outfit is led by Rod Jones (Idlewild) and Emma Pollock (Delgados). Pollock said of the troupe, that they each were completely "unaware of what they were about to do." Such spontaneity, however, seems to have suited them well as the results are consistently compelling. I Forgot The Fall, sounds like Idlewild before they lost their edge. Then there is the equally upbeat 'All Gone But One', another Rod Jones composition, who seems on fine form.

 The first sentence of this review makes me sound derogatory, but it was not intended, it was a purely facetious method of enticing a potential reader. Sorry. I absolutely love all that is Scotch, and this album has reaffirmed my faith. I mean, I had forgotten just how good The Twilight Sad were, it has been a while since that memorable Autumns record. So what a lovely surprise to hear lead singer James Graham's voice on opener, 'Splinter'. He wears his Scottish accent with pride, it almost becomes an instrument itself. Imbuing the songs, somehow, with an extra profundity. A kind of warts and all honesty, dripping with emotion. Evident as he sings, stoically, of being able to take "the splinter, if you'll only miss my eye."

         The disparate array of artists here is beneficial as we are treated to rocky, indie boppers one minute then dark folky lamentations, such as 'Beware Beware', reminiscent of Bonnie Prince Billy, the next. It helps break up the mood and tempo. Each artist complementing the next in symbiotic union.

  There is something chilling about many of the tracks, such as the spectral 'Under the Fall Arch', and it conjures images of these artists in bleak isolation in the Scottish wilderness. Yet the ample boy girl harmonies and the more upbeat moments provide a welcome respite. Like a stepping inside, and stoking up of the fire.

   If there is one record you buy this month make it this, as not only is it great, but half of all sales go to a charity. It also serves as an entry point to many other oft overlooked Scottish artists. Let's just hope Kenny Anderson, of King Creosote, gets in on the second edition next time.

Here are a selection of songs from the featured artists, not on the LP, that I think are worth hearing.

James Yorkston and the Athletes – Banjo #1
Idlewild – Let Me Sleep (Next To The Mirror)

The Elusive Professor Penguin

Whilst having my (mid afternoon) breakfast today and listening to 6music, I heard something quite special. It was something that sounded as if it should already be big and lauded but I for one had never heard it before. Lovely horns with some electronic clicks and bleeps dancing around some beautiful chords and singing. It sounded kinda like Guillemots doing Radiohead covers, but better; fresher.
                 When the song finished I was told it was by a band called Professor Penguin, and was chosen, of all people, by Brian Eno. Well, the only decent version I could find on the internet is an acoustic rendition of the song I heard this morning, called Pilot. And it sounds nothing like the tune earlier, but still great, think an English Fleet Foxes.
              Here is a band that deserves recognition, and although I havent heard their album, such is the quality of this song, one just knows it will be good. Oh, and if anyone can find it (or a studio version of this song) online, let me know. Ta