Category: Folk
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Beans on Toast: A Spanner in the Works
Beans On Toast is the stage name of folk singer Jay McAllister from Essex. He’s a mate of Frank Turner, and thus gets to play Wembley supporting Frank and then considerably smaller venues on his own account. (He just played Manchester Gorilla). A Spanner in the Works opens with an angry rant about 2016. If…
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Non Canon: Non Canon
Non Canon is Barry Dolan, also known as Oxygen Thief, about whom we know nothing: he has supported Frank Turner and InMe so we guess it’s punky folk. Non Canon is more folky, with string instruments to the fore, though Turner is an obvious comparison. This is the kind of act you’d see at a…
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Will Varley: Kingsdown Sundown
He’s an interesting guy is Mr V. He began playing open mic nights in London in the early 2000s, then set up Smugglers Records with the band Cocos Lovers (who we last saw at Green Man). He released his debut album Advert Soundtracks in 2011 and toured the album on foot, and has since toured…
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Dan Whitehouse: That’s Where I Belong
Anyone who saw Danny And The Champions Of The World at Biddulph this year will know the Whitehouse sound — soul mixed with a splash of country and folk; this pleasant new album is in fact produced by Danny of Danny And The Champs. That’s Where I Belong is the standout song; it’s very familiar…
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Seasick: Steve Keepin’ The Horse Between Me And The Ground
This is undoubtedly Seasick Steve’s best album; the title aside it has no music hall showmanship about it — or at least no back of the cowboy wagon showboating — and it’s got depth and subtlety. Maybe Mr Wold is as sick of Seasick as we are, though it’s been an excellent career move. Though…
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Amy Duncan: Undercurrents
This is a gentle and refined pop/folk album that seems to go on too long. If you like her voice, you may find it caressing your ear throughout and never tire, but otherwise the good moments are left stranded between the overly saccharine or bland. She’s a talented musician: she plays guitar, piano and double…
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Robin Sarstedt: Tu
There’s going to be a lot of people who like this — people with a fondness for acoustic guitar and singer-songwriters doing it well. There’s nothing laboured about Sarstedt’s music, no shoe-horning words to the tune or trying too hard. It may not be breaking any new ground and despite skirting around topics one might…
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Rob Richings: Parka and Boots
Sometimes you want to forget about seminal and influential albums and listen to nice music. The CDs that have the most legs with us are just good songs — Crash My Model Car and Martin John Henry might not have sold many albums but they get played a lot in the Review Corner. We were…
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