Collins shirley

Uplifting, melodic sixth is the Portland, Oregon conceptualists’ most immediate work...

Take a look at this, which has been the best thing I’ve heard this week by a mile, and the clip’s superb, too.

Great Scot draws deep from the wellspring of British folk + Q&A

Perhaps as a response to the American psych-folk scene, over the past few years there’ve been a handful of British bands who’ve sought to channel the late-‘60s/early-‘70s folk-rock scene. Most of them, unfortunately, have been more or less worthy but misfiring. Trembling Bells, though, are a big exception.

Mick Jones and Topper Headon join host of authors and musicians at Welsh festival

Final trawl of the vaults turns up a double CD’s worth of lost sounds by the Scottish folk starsailors

The man who inspired Paul Simon, Shirley Collins and John Martyn has died aged 68 from cancer

Over the past few weeks, I’ve seemed to accumulate a pretty impressive bunch of folk and folk-rock reissues on my desk. The most recent to turn up is a straightforward reissue of Anne Briggs’ first self-titled LP, on the excellent Water label out of San Francisco.

Plus new releases by Calexico, Kevin Ayers and Glasvegas

New albums reviewed, plus our recommended round up!