Here’s a selection of great titles that I’ve been enjoying that were either sent to me or have recently graced my Bandcamp feed: Daisy Rickman – Howl Gorgeously psych-tinged Cornish folk dedicated to the sun, the stars and the turning of the wheel of the seasons within and around ourselves? Well, that checks off so many boxes for me. With cellos, bouzouki and sitar mingling with the likes of fiddles, guitar and synthesizers underneath Daisy Rickman’s densely layered vocal harmonies, this is a record with a richly lived-in and elemental sound. Certainly one of the best LPs of the year thus far ..read more

Tompkins Square has released today the startling debut of Irish blues singer and guitarist Muirreann Bradley, and it’s certainly a late contender for album of the year. Bradley breathes fresh new life into a bag full of classic folk and blues numbers from Elizabeth Cotton’s “Shake Sugaree” to Blind Blake’s “Police Dog Blues” with her fluttering, crystalline-like vocals and fluid fingerpicking. The nimble but precise fretwork Bradley displays is nothing short of awe-inspiring, and reflects a deep appreciation of the original blues pickers and the revival artists of the ’60s that were initially ..read more

Today is Bandcamp Friday again, and even though that site is in its death spiral, thanks to it being recently bought out by the moronically named Songtradr, we still want to help the artists that could benefit from a day like this. So here’s a few selections of great new releases you can pick up today while Bandcamp waives its fees and lets the artists and labels keep each cent that they earn. (Now if only Spotify could learn to do the same, but I digress…) Tacoma Park – “What About Collage” John Harrison and Ben Felton, of the electro kosmische boogie outfit, Tacoma Park, consistently prove ..read more

Archangel Hill proves that Shirley Collins is not only deeply connected to the very land and atmosphere of her native England, but her music is almost a part of the English landscape itself. Collins has spent the bulk of her existence breathing new life into British folk music and customs, spearheading the folk revival boom of the 1960’s in her home country. Without Collins, we would certainly not have the music of Sandy Denny, Donovan, Billy Bragg or even Current 93. Here, in her late 80’s, Collins continues to reawaken classic folk songs and stories with the gusto of her much younger se ..read more

James Waudby’s On The Ballast Mast is a striking revelation in fingerstyle guitar. Fans of ’70s UK folk music will immediately recognize the greatness that lies within this LP. Hailing from the coastline of eastern Yorkshire, Waudby might be a new artist for many, but I am sure he’ll soon be a household name for us all. This album features the English musician playing totally unaccompanied, so his skillful fingerpicking and crisp vocals shine brightly here. The songs come alive thanks to Waudby’s effortlessly fluid guitar lines, which glide as smooth and free as spider silk caught on a soft br ..read more

Nathan Salsburg duets with the most plaintive ghosts of his 78s collection on this new entry in his Landwerk series. Available this Friday from No Quarter Records, Landwerk No. 3 is a collection of startlingly unique guitar soundscapes that are built around spectral samples lifted from shellac recordings cut between the 1910’s and 1940’s. Salsburg’s stoic and airy electric lines float through seas of ancient hisses and scratches and loops of spectral piano, brass and other dust-choked instruments. There’s a very particular composed and meditative mood to this record. Between the hypnotically r ..read more

Lily Henley, a singer-songwriter, composer and fiddler, tapped into the ancient traditions of Ladino-speaking Sephardic Jews to create her latest work, the soul-stirring Oras Dezaoradas. Already known for finding the similarities between Sephardic and American folk music and fusing them together, Henley went even deeper for this release. She fully immersed herself into the old ballads of the nearly extinct Ladino tongue, deeply channeling the musicians and storytellers of this bygone culture. Ladino, a language that contains elements of old Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish, was once spoken ..read more

Joseph Allred continues to prove themselves as being one of the most imaginative and skilled artists in folk-inspired music today with their new song, “Sweetcorn Ramble,” from their upcoming LP, The Rambles & Rags of Shiloh. The record, which comes out July 1 on Worried Songs and is available for preorder today, is a truly outstanding collection of instrumental string pieces that lean heavily into a vast array of folk and blues traditions. From solo guitar dance tunes to nimble banjo fantasias, Allred channels the myths, people and history of the small rural Appalachian town of Shiloh, Ten ..read more

J.M. Hart sings of the woes and wares of the working man on “Wednesday,” the lead single from his upcoming record, Slips, Trips, & Falls. If you’re new to RCU, Hart is an exceptionally personal and genuine singer-songwriter and podcaster based in Virginia. His music is often a blend of different aspects of the folk rock spectrum, with some tunes dipping further into country flavors, while others lean further into slightly psychedelic territories. Regardless of what style Hart happens to be finding himself in, his humor, humanity and love for a good story always shine through. This is espec ..read more

With the help of Jerry David DeCicca in the producer’s chair, Ralph E. White has returned with a new record of surreal folk-inspired music on Worried Songs called It’s More in My Body Than in My Mind. White is a wonderfully eccentric and sadly underestimated southwestern American artist that has been operating within the tangled weeds that exist between the worlds of psychedelic rock, folk and avant-garde music for over 30 years. Apart from his own solo work, White has been in bands like Bad Liver and Precious Blood and has worked with everyone from Jandek to Jack Rose and Michael Hurley (just ..read more