FOLK

Artist: Various Artists Label: Sub Rosa

Downloadcode. Mercury-nominated singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams releases a ‘soundtrack album’ to a brand new novel by best-selling author Laura Barnett, that follows the life of a fictional singer. Greatest Hits, the hotly-anticipated follow-up to Barnett’s novel The Versions of Us, is released alongside the brand new album by Kathryn Williams – Songs from the Novel Greatest Hits. The original songs are written by Kathryn Williams, with lyrics by Laura Barnett and Kathryn Williams, and is released through One Little Indian. Record Label: One Little Indian Style: Folk

This high-quality 3-CD compilation is dedicated to the Scottish city of Edinburgh, which is world-renowned for its variety of music festivals. On 3 CDs with 47 songs, the sound of the Scottish High- and Lowlands in all its forms and facets is presented. Record Label: Zyx/Elb Style: Celtic

Drawing from British folk, avant-rock, and jazz traditions alike, Wintres Woma-- Old English for "the sound of winter"-- is James Elkington's debut solo record, but you've likely heard his masterful guitar playing and arranging, even if you didn't realize it. Elkington (an Englishman living in Chicago) is an inveterate collaborator who brings his lyrical compositional and improvisational sensibilities to any group. He has toured, recorded, and/or collaborated with Jeff Tweedy, Richard Thompson, Steve Gunn, Michael Chapman, Joan Shelley, Nathan Salsburg and Brokeback, to name just a few of his many enthusiastic admirers. His assured album, recorded at Wilco's Loft, is baroquely detailed and beautifully constructed, featuring both his baritone vocals and some of Chicago's finest, including Tomeka Reid. RIYL Steve Gunn, Michael Chapman, Kevin Ayers, Bert Jansch, Ryley Walker, Jim O'Rourke, Scott Walker, Talk Talk. "Jim is a great guitarist and a tremendous, empathetic listener." -- Richard Thompson Record Label: Paradise Of Bachelors Style: Indie Rock

Artist: EAMON / CARTER,JUSTIN HARKIN Label: Republic of Music

LP version pressed on virgin vinyl and packaged in an LP jacket printed on uncoated stock with spot UV gloss printing, printed inner sleeve, and free download card. CD version in 4 panel mini-LP style gatefold package. House and Land is the duo of Sally Anne Morgan (fiddle, shruti box, banjo, vocals) and Sarah Louise Henson (vocals, 12-string guitar, shruti box, bouzouki). Sally and Sarah started playing together after Sarah opened for The Black Twig Pickers for whom Sally plays the fiddle. The duo quickly discovered that they were both interested in the same very specific forms of traditional music. Additionally, they both viewed it through the lens of their shared love of modern, experimental and minimal music. “We honor what two voices and bodies can do in one moment in time. It totally shapes our sound.” Their playing together is wholly unmediated, without amplifiers and using just two sets of hands and voices. With a minimalist approach, their music considers the space between notes as much as the notes themselves. The material on their debut is drawn from traditional southern hymns and Appalachian ballads that originated in England and elsewhere hundreds of years ago. Microtonality is as essential to certain Appalachian vocal styles as it is to a Tony Conrad composition and the often spare adornment to their singing puts these complexities on full display. The songs, however, are not entirely unadorned. Sally and Sarah are both masters of their instruments and on several tracks they bring in percussionist Thom Nguyen, who plays with an improviser’s ear. House and Land features many drone elements, which is a direct homage to the presence of drone in Appalachian music. Equally important is their knowledge of the use of drone in contemporary classical music, which itself has often taken inspiration from nature-based drone styles from around the world. This connection between nature and minimalism is not uncommon and can be seen in artists like Agnes Martin and composers such as Éliane Radigue and John Luther Adams. Repetition is linked to music across the spectrum that evokes trance and other spiritual states. A historical review of ballads tells a history of patriarchy. These songs have been arranged for and by two women with an extensive knowledge of the form and filtered through their own feminist perspectives. In some cases, like in “Rich Old Jade,” their singing bears witness to the hardships women have endured. In other cases, they have changed lyrics to honor women through imagined histories. In “Johnny,” for example, “My father offers house and land” becomes “My mother offers house and land.” House and Land’s music is less adorned and certainly less processed than much popular music today. The hand-hewn quality transports the listener to another time the way a Shirley and Dolly Collins recording can. The themes are universal and the songs intergenerational. “Home Over Yonder,” for example, came from the singing of Frankie Duff of Lexington, Kentucky, who passed away in January 2017 at the age of 102. While there is a temptation to view this music nostalgically, this would be a mistake. This living music is constantly being rearranged. The obscure songs on this album, like many well-known traditional songs, are in a state of nearly constant evolution, a testament to their continued significance. Naturalistic and entirely modern, the music of House and Land continues this tradition with its own contemporary and beautiful interpretations. Record Label: Thrill Jockey Style: Folk

Against Which the Sea Continually Beats is Glenn Jones’ second album originally released in 2007 on CD-only by Strange Attractors Audio House. This first time vinyl issue has been re-mastered and features expanded liner notes written by Jones just for this release. 2xLP is pressed on virgin vinyl and packaged in a gatefold jacket including notes and tunings for each song and free download card. Glenn Jones is a master of American Primitive Guitar, a style invented in the late 1950s by John Fahey, whose traditional fingerpicking techniques and wide-ranging influences were used to create modern original compositions. Jones, who led the post-rock ensemble Cul de Sac, brings his own made-up tunings, the use of custom-crafted partial capos, and a highly skilled picking style on both banjo and guitar, to create personal compositions that are lyrical, emotive and elegant. What sets him apart from the myriad guitarists playing today is his ability to tell stories with the guitar and banjo, and to convey a range of emotions. This process starts with the compositions themselves and carries through to his selection of recording environment and engineer. Against Which the Sea Continually Beats was recorded over four days during late September 2006 in beautiful West Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard, MA. The peaceful, seafaring setting of the island community inspired the recording sessions, lending an air of tranquility that served to coax from Glenn Jones impeccable performances, most of which were captured in just one take. Book-ended by the brief slide blues laments “Island 1” and “Island 2”, the album’s eleven tunes travel from Delta to Appalachia, from classical to a cinematic sort of folk sound in a language that is purely imbued in the artists’ own dialect. Graceful and subtle, resonating with confidence and at times sheer power, Against Which the Sea Continually Beats is a masterpiece of guitar soli by a truly singular talent. Record Label: Thrill Jockey Style: Folk

180 gram black vinyl LP - original recordings remastered! Record Label: Wagram Style: Folk

Stand on the corner of Cedar & 42nd in South Minneapolis and it can feel like you are eavesdropping on the sounds of a jukebox smuggled out of 1960s Havana. On summer nights, when windows fling open gasping for cool air, Afro-Cuban rhythms and celebratory exclamations radiate from a basement up the street where nine dedicated musicians are rehearsing classic, timeless Latin songs. Malamanya began in 2009 aiming to create music that would fuel late nights of dancing, drinking, and connection. music that anyone could get down to, regardless of language, race, or ethnicity. From these intentions and desires came their band name, Malamanya (Spanish for the bad habit). After eight years together, Malamanya is releasing their first full length album. The self-titled LP is comprised of their favorite vintage songs from throughout Latin America filtered through their uniquely eclectic yet traditionally rooted Latin sound. From track to track, conga drums, timbales, and bongos provide foundationally hypnotic rhythms. Accenting these rhythms and adding melodies are upright bass,acoustic piano, and the Cuban tres guitar. Lead vocals by Cuban-native Zusel Balbincut through this combination, soaring back to another time when Celia Cruz and La Lupe dominated Latin airwaves. Recorded using the same approach employed on their favorite Latin records from the 50s and 60s, Malamanya's debut effort was cut to tape live in one room by the group's co-founder, Tony Schreiner, at his Minneapolis-based Brown Bag Studios. Whether you are brand new to Latin music, or a long time aficionado, Malamanya is sure to lift your spirits and move your feet. Record Label: Secret Stash Style: Latin

Re-release on CD of their 3 first LPs, the split with Lunatic Invasion, Averno and "Suppose it was you"... Essential pieces of grind noise!!! I can confess that the early Agathocles recordings are my favorites. This LP contains all their early hits (their early hits are all-time hits!) with this special "rehearsal" sounding really not "clean" at all and great! The good old times of real grindcore! The second part has alot of live tracks, and contrary to "Razor sharp dagger" & "Black clouds determinate" live bonus tracks, this live material is not boring, without a big cheezy sound, just what grind needz: detuned guitars, blasting drums and simply grunt-roared or screamed vocals: what do you want more? Judge by the track listing, there are only great tracks! "Fog", "The accident" or "Big one": cult! cult! cult! The third part contains also live material from 92 and 93 recorded on different place in europe. The CD re- issue comes with lyrics and liner notes Record Label: Power It Up Style: Grindcore

House and Land is the duo of Sally Anne Morgan (fiddle, shruti box, banjo, vocals) and Sarah Louise Henson (vocals, 12-string guitar, shruti box, bouzouki). Sally and Sarah started playing together after Sarah opened for The Black Twig Pick Style: Folk

On 26.05.2017 the new album Human by Wimme & Rinne will be released at Westpark Music. Wim Saari is a well-known joiner worldwide for more than thirty years, and Tapani Rinne is one of the most exciting and internationally successful experimental musicians in Finland and has made a name for himself with his band RinneRadio as well as projects with Jimi Tenor or DJ Spooky. With the new album, whose title "Sami" is "I speak", they go back to an exciting exploration of sounds that sometimes sound archaic, sometimes classical, ambient or acoustic. In addition to titles with an almost uncanny sense of tranquility and restraint, Upbeat plays describe, for example, the joyful atmosphere of an Arctic weekly market, which encounters a continental European disco, or songs about a fagot, the creation of the world or petty bourgeoisie Always with a Wimme & Rinne-own approach. As guest musicians, Ilpo Väisänen (Pan Sonic), DJ Slow (Pepe Deluxe), Iro Haarla and the Norwegian choreographer Elle Sofe Henriksen. Record Label: Westpark Style: Folk

Artist: VARIOUS ARTISTS Label: Light in the Attic

Artist: JOSHUA BURNSIDE Label: Quiet Arch

Artist: STEEL WHEELS Label: Big Ring Records

2LP - Double Heavyweight Vinyl With Download Code. With Best Troubador, Bonnie 'Prince Billy pays homage to a long-time and forever hero, the late Merle Haggard. A singer who, some 25 years previously, first performed in public by playing a Merle Haggard song, Bonny has often cited Merle's work in performance, on records and in conversation with anyone who was around, even talking to Merle himself for Filter magazine in 2009. Merle's body of work was considered by Bonny for a record such as this for some time, but his passing in April of 2016 almost put a stop to it. The goal was to participate in the handing forward of the songs of a living legend, as Merle had done so many times in his own career. With Merle gone, some of the impetus of the project was in peril. A plan to make the album in Nashville studios was abandoned. The songs still called to be played again, however - and so sessions were endeavored at home, capturing feeling, memory and new expression in familiar confines with the full-hearted playing and singing of the Bonafide United Musicians: Van Campbell, Nuala Kennedy, Danny Kiley, Drew Miller, Cheyenne Mize and Chris Rodahoffer, with special guests Mary Feiock, Emmett Kelly, A.J. Roach and Matt Sweeney. The songs sung on Best Troubador are pulled from all over - from Haggard's 3rd album in 1967 though to his 47th in 2011 - but this is no simple hits compilation. Capable only of occupying a shared space between himself and Merle Haggard, Bonny chose personal favorites, singing the songs he wanted to sing, to find Merle and himself together in the music. Only two of Hag's thirty-eight (!) country number ones are included, and only two others that charted at all. Seven of the sixteen songs are from his later period, after his long run at the top of the country charts had ended, but before encroaching mortality could finally cease the singular and indefatigable creativity of Merle Haggard. Best Troubador flips through his song book, landing on pages unmoored from their time and located anew. Moving from 1978 to 1969 to 2003 to 1981 allows the album to circle Haggard's music in a simulation of thought and memory, slipping around from spot to spot as if they were discrete impressions, unknown but knowable yet. Dedicated to new life and old, Best Troubadour is wistful and bittersweet and no lament at all but a tribute instead, for the triumph of a life spent in unending pursuit of the goal: new and expressive music, as our inspirations and heroes once sang it. Record Label: Domino Records Style: Singer / Songwriter

This powerful disc anthology features the very best of Leonard Cohen broadcasting live. Record Label: Laser Media Style: Folk

BOB DYLAN'S GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK - RARE LIVE RECORDINGS OF DYLAN’S CLASSIC RADIO & TELEVISION PERFORMANCES Record Label: Bob Dylan Archive Style: Folk

Artist: Juana Molina Label: CRAMMED DISCS

Artist: Harry Taussig/Max Ochs Label: Tompkins Square