Back catalogue: Folk/Americana

Review: This collaborative effort matches up a band known for their free-flowing and repetitive instrumentation with a singer with an extremely distinctive voice and metier, yet it's testimony to a both certain magnanimous spirit in Bonnie Prince Billy, and to the invention and ideas of Chicago's Bitchin' Bajas that he doesn't dominate the proceedings on this euphonious and adventurous effort. Matching his rich tones to a free-spirited and warm atmosphere replete with deliriously strange drones and loops, out-folk shapes and a tangible communal atmosphere, these two maverick forces have conspired to create something unique and uplifting.

Review: This collaborative effort matches up a band known for their free-flowing and repetitive instrumentation with a singer with an extremely distinctive voice and metier, yet it's testimony to a both certain magnanimous spirit in Bonnie Prince Billy, and to the invention and ideas of Chicago's Bitchin' Bajas that he doesn't dominate the proceedings on this euphonious and adventurous effort. Matching his rich tones to a free-spirited and warm atmosphere replete with deliriously strange drones and loops, out-folk shapes and a tangible communal atmosphere, these two maverick forces have conspired to create something unique and uplifting.

Review: It's always nice when an album comes with a backstory so genuinely absurd it renders the project a surrealist work of art. Welcome to "I Made A Place", the first fresh material from Bonnie "Prince" Billy in time, dedicated to life's simple and most instinctive pleasures. Because in the face of real adversity overthinking is wasting time. So here's the yarn - Hawaii, January 2018, Will and Elsa, the creatives at work here, are in the midst of an artistic residency when a warning goes off about an impending missile attack. A song is written, "Blueberry Jam"; whimsical flight of fancy laughing in the face of impending Armageddon. Thankfully the "attack" was a false alarm, but it catalysed further work resulting in this album. Complex song craft and enchanting folk instrumentation rooted in what we feel when all is about to be lost.

Review: It was probably easy to come up with a catchier title for this collection of treasured recordings from one of the 20th Century's greatest lost talents. But like everything Buckley and music, ease isn't really part of the story, that is unless you're referencing the pure bliss of listening to this legend's voice, which is as easy on the ear as you could ask for.

Comprising tracks that were originally captured for broadcast, they reveal the very essence of what Buckley was about. Heartfelt, open-veined songs that grasp the human condition in astute swoops, by this point in his career the folk and Americana signatures had merged with jazz and abstract elements, presenting an image of a restless artist determined to keep exploring. It's been said before, but we will reiterate; had it not been for the tragic overdose a year after the OGWT recording featured here, we can only imagine where his oeuvre would have ended up.

Review: It's not often you can legitimately call a record brave. Most of the time, when we use that word it's to describe wildly experimental sonics, cutting edge arrangements and never-heard-before noises. Anna Burch doesn't quite fit those descriptions, not that her unarguably 90s-influenced, Gen X survivalist rock tones don't impress. Nevertheless, she's taking the biggest risk of all on 'If You're Dreaming'; turning to face herself head on, and analyse what she sees. There's catchiness, and a stoner-ish, downtrodden or at least lackadaisical air to the way in which she approaches guitar scuzz and this immediately jumps out and grabs the ears. However, that slightly retro leaning approach to arrangements is contrasted by a very 21st Century take on life's great lessons, losses and triumphs - guiding themes behind much of the songwriting.