A couple of months ago I received what I thought was the latest and greatest from this brilliant young British blues-rocker. I was wrong. It was in fact a re-release from 2008 and this record is his new release (out 26 October 2009). That last album revealed a 22 year-old with the blues running through [...]

The story of the Portico Quartet is a fascinating one, not least because it describes how four talented (very) young (British) musicians have grown into one of the world’s most creative instrumental groups. Debut album KNEE DEEP IN THE NORTH SEA for me remains one of the most justified nominations for the Mercury Music prize (for [...]

A brief e-mail from the States from an unknown singer/songwriter and within a few days I was in possession of his new album. But it’s not just any album, and not just any singer/songwriter. You see this is different and primarily because Hickey set himself the task of writing and recording a song a day (on a hand-held [...]

Gray is a Leed-based singer/songwriter formerly with popular local folk-rock band The Smokestacks. Gray has got back onto his horse with this mini-album of 8 songs, but at a time when singer/songwriters (signed and unsigned, good and mediocre) proliferate - it’s one helluva competitive market out there…
It’s therefore more important than ever before, if one is to [...]

So what’s the finished product like? I can best sum it up as the most exciting and exhilerating 66 minutes of instrumental music I have heard since first hearing Australia’s Dirty Three album, HORSE STORIES and the classic live acoustic set, FRIDAY NIGHT IN SAN FRANCISCO, from the John McLaughlin Trio (back in the mid-90’s). [...]

So what’s the finished product like? I can best sum it up as the most exciting and exhilerating 66 minutes of instrumental music I have heard since first hearing Australia’s Dirty Three album, HORSE STORIES and the classic live acoustic set, FRIDAY NIGHT IN SAN FRANCISCO, from the John McLaughlin Trio (back in the mid-90’s). [...]