Gitta De Ridder - Feathers (Album Review)
If you like delicately crafted and quietly shimmering acoustic music then the debut LP from Gitta De Ridder is something you really ought to know about.
Read MoreIf you like delicately crafted and quietly shimmering acoustic music then the debut LP from Gitta De Ridder is something you really ought to know about.
Read MoreWith so much good music reaching us at Red Guitar Music these days we thought we'd add a few more in-brief style reviews for albums we feel are worthy of your attention from Greg Cornell & The Cornell Brothers, Cody Jinks and Lynne Hanson. As regular readers will know we have an eclectic approach here at RGM so you'll find a little folk an album of murders ballads and some old-school country for your perusal
Read MoreMakes Me Think Of Home’ is the second album of 2016 from singer-songwriter Ray Wilson following the acoustic ‘Song For A Friend’ release and for some artists they’d be stretching themselves a bit thin. This is not an issue for Ray Wilson as the inspiration well is far from dry and ‘Home’ is another fine addition to his solo discography that brings together multiple influences from the worlds of pop, rock and prog.
Read MoreVery occasionally an album comes along that just instantly feels like an old friend. It feels like you’ve owned it for years and you’ll always find yourself going back to it when the mood takes you. The title track which opens the new album from The Looking did just that for me. I felt an instant connection; one of those moments when a piece of music suits you right down to the ground and you just know ‘Lead Me To The Water’ is going to be a great album.
Read MoreSometimes a project just has a way of coming together and the superb new album from Seth Lakeman is a case in point. When Seth met Wildwood Kin at a charity event he was struck by the ability of the trio (sisters Emillie and Beth Key and their cousin Meghann Loney) to effortlessly create harmonies. One roughly recorded demo on a mobile phone of Seth and the girls singing together enticed famed producer Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Kings Of Leon, Paul McCartney) to get involved and the result is a sublime combination of strident instrumentation and delicious vocal harmonies.
Read MoreIan Hunter can trace his career back to the late 1950’s but has demonstrated absolutely no signs of slowing down his touring schedule (UK tour dates are booked for November) and even less signs of a drop in quality with ‘Fingers Crossed’ his first album since ‘When I’m President’ received great reviews in 2012. Opener ‘That’s When The Trouble Starts’ is a rollicking, ramshackle barroom brawl of a tune that shows that Hunter is in no mood to retire to a life of watching daytime TV in his slippers just yet and for that fans of quality tunesmiths can be very grateful.
Read MoreIt’s been a decade since I first heard Ruth Theodore. I remember a tiny girl playing in a tiny bar in Kentish Town to a tiny crowd. Nonetheless, she made a big impression. It was rare, at that time, to find a female singer-songwriter who wasn’t all insipid waif and whimsy (thanks, Dido) and Ruth Theodore, although blessed with a beautiful voice, backed it up with amazingly accomplished guitar skills, songs of substance and huge onstage cojones. It felt like I’d stumbled upon Britain’s answer to Ani DiFranco, because, basically, I had. She’s been a mainstay of the London circuit ever since and, living on a narrowboat deep in the East End, she’s a genuine troubadour of the capital. I’m very heartened to discover that with her fourth album, Theodore has matured but lost none of her youthful bite. Listeners ought to beware, Cactacus is a record with spikes.
Read MoreHard to believe but ‘Real’ is the fourth album from Ohio native Lydia Loveless and she’s still only 25. On previous Bloodshot album releases Loveless has been compared to country and rock royalty in Loretta Lynn and Stevie Nicks alongside highly influential alt-rock pioneers The Replacements (needless to say with The Replacements name checked there are guitars on this record…actually that should read… there are GUITARS on this record). The album was recorded close to home at Sonic Lounge Studios in Columbus, Ohio with Joe Viers (Dr John, Twenty One Pilots) her regular producer and the result is a very fine record indeed.
Read MoreHamilton, Ontario singer and guitarist Terra Lightfoot is clearly intent on making a statement with the release of ‘Every Time My Mind Runs Wild’ the subdued vibe of her debut album, released back in 2011, is but a distant memory. For her sophomore release a new band has been enlisted and producers Gus Van Go & Werner F, best known for their work with The Stills, are behind the desk. The result is a strident rock record that manages to successfully perform the delicate balancing act of maintaining Terra Lightfoot’s roots, soul and blues influences while adding a catchy pop sensibility.
Read MoreWay back at the beginning of the year and my day started, as usual, with a trawl through my inbox when I discovered the link (cheers Jay) to a video entitled ‘You and Me’ by Australian singer-songwriter Ben Abraham. The video put together by the very clever people at Production Company Oh Yeah Wow is visually stunning, the set decoration / lighting in the final third really is a thing of beauty. The video perfectly complements the song and it really caught my attention. I had no clue who Ben Abraham was but I was keen to find out.
Read More“Sometimes it feels like darkness has taken over. I know sometimes it feels that hope’s just not there” are the opening two lines of ‘Enjoy It While It Lasts’ from ‘Amen 1’ the debut solo album from Mikko Joensuu. Needless to say when you match the lyrics to plaintive pedal steel, gently picked acoustic guitar and the swell of strings it’s obvious that Mikko Joensuu is dealing with some seriously weighty issues. The fact that the track has an incredibly stark, raw beauty to compliment the melancholy marks ‘Amen 1’ as the beginning of something a little bit special.
Read MoreWith 2015’s self-recorded and highly acclaimed The Bearer of Bad News, Andy Shauf put himself firmly on the musical map, playing all the instruments and recording the album single-handedly. Barely more than a year later, here he is with The Party, his debut release for ANTI- and it’s a very impressive thing. As I write, Shauf is quite deservedly being exposed to a wider audience, supporting The Lumineers on their current European tour.
Read MoreIn late 2014 Red Guitar Music was pleased to review a very fine album by Scottish singer-songwriter Fraser Anderson. The album ‘Little Glass Box’ was originally self-released in 2012 and sold at gigs but a deal with the Membran label allowed the album to reach a much wider audience. This was a very welcome development as ‘Little Glass Box’ is a gem and the soulful, folk sound of the album was compared in the press to Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell and John Martyn, esteemed company indeed. Two years on and Fraser has relocated to Bristol, England after a decade living in France and has also returned, musically, with ‘Under The Cover Of Lightness’.
Read MoreSteven Casper is a new name to Red Guitar Music but his discography goes back a decade so we would seem to be a little late to the party. His latest release ‘Snakes’ was produced by Ira Ingber (Bob Dylan / Van Dyke Parks) in Los Angeles and the mini album / EP does a fine job of showcasing his particular brand of Americana which incorporates influences that range from Classic Rock to Country with a dash of Tex-Mex thrown in for good measure.
Read MoreWe enter 2016 and find Gretchen Peters embarking on a UK tour only a few months after her last visit to the UK where she performed a string of sold out shows. In 2015 the ‘Blackbirds’ album had given Peters her highest chart placing ever in the UK where she has been embraced as both a singer and a songwriter, which has not always been the case for artists in Nashville (Chris Stapleton may have recently changed that way of thinking). To coincide with the tour UK label Proper Records has put together a stunning two disc career retrospective set that will please fans old and new.
Read MoreOktoba is the brainchild of Brighton-based singer-songwriter Chris Athorne. His debut EP Tales and Shadows was positively received last year, so Athorne has wasted no time in assembling a good cast of supporting musicians for an album proper, enlisting the manifold talents of Tim Bidwell as producer and engineer. Bidwell, best known for his work with fellow Brightonian Kate Walsh, clearly lavishes wagonfuls of care and attention on his subjects and, as a result, this release sounds fantastic. There’s oodles of space and texture in the arrangements and it’s impeccably recorded and mixed, as you might expect. All this really helps Oktoba stand out among the vast crowd of confessional male songsters vying for our attention.
Read MoreThe Frames’ redheaded frontman has come a long way since the world first glimpsed him as a scrawny, fresh-faced guitarist named Outspan in The Commitments film back in 1991. In the same year, Hansard’s real-life group released their Island Records debut and The Frames still remain one of Ireland’s best-loved bands, nearly twenty five years on. He returned to the big screen in 2006, via the nicely understated film Once, which was pretty much built around his music and that of Czech singer songwriter Markéta Irglová. The runaway success of Once, now immortalised (for better or worse) by its conversion to a West End musical, marked the start of Hansard’s transition from cult star to national treasure.
Read MoreVeteran singer-songwriter Jack Tempchin will forever be linked to Eagles and his composition ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’ which was instrumental in launching the early 70’s country rock movement into the mainstream. Tempchin continued to work with Eagles over the years on such classic tunes as ‘Already Gone’ and enjoyed continued success in collaboration with Glenn Frey when Frey embarked on his successful solo career. Tempchin has continued to work with Eagles and has credits on 'Hell Freezes Over' and 'Long Road Out Of Eden'.
Read MoreOver the last few months Red Guitar Music has received a plethora of releases that we have been unable to give a full review due to the fact that there are only 24 hours in the day. With this in mind we thought an occasional round up of a few quality releases that you might have missed would be in order. So without further delay here are album reviews for Peter Blachley, Pi Jacobs and Brian Ashley Jones.
Read MoreIf you were David Bronson and had poured a decade of your life into the release of an album ‘The Long Lost Story’ then a step back, and a good think on what you might like to do next, might be required. This time out Bronson wanted a more soulful approach and with the classic David Bowie album ‘Young Americans’ forming a musical inspiration hooked up with famed producer Godfrey Diamond (Lou Reed), a man with one hell of an address book, and the result is ‘Questions’ an album that embraces his 70’s singer-songwriter influences and takes them to a place inhabited by the soulful rock of Joe Cocker, Van Morrison and, of course, the aforementioned ‘Young Americans’.
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