Sydney nu-folkers Tin Sparrow have definitely seen their profile lifted recently with spots supporting Husky and Matt Corby as well as with Boy & Bear for their upcoming national tour. They’ve also got a brand new EP titled Fair & Verdant Woods, a new single “My Own” and a mini tour to support both.
We’ve embedded Fair & Verdant Woods below and you can also download “My Own” for free from their Unearthed or Bandcamp pages. Their EP Tour kicks off tonight at the GoodGod Small Club in Sydney and winds its way through Wollongong, Melbourne, Brisbane and Byron Bay. The full list of dates are below:
Thursday 19th April – GoodGod Small Club, Sydney, NSW
Friday 20th April – Yours & Owls, Wollongong, NSW
Saturday 21st April – Grace Darling Hotel, Melbourne , VIC *SOLD OUT*
Sunday 22nd April – Grace Darling Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
Friday 27th April – Ric’s Bar, Brisbane, QLD *FREE*
Saturday 28th April – Railway Friendly Bar, Byron Bay, NSW *FREE*
We’re lovers of folk music in all its various forms here at Timber and Steel but when it comes down to it there’s not much that beats a sing-songwriter with nothing but their guitar, their voice and their songs. Patrick James is one such singer-songwriter and boy are we glad we stumbled across him.
Originally from Port Macquarie but now calling Sydney his home Patrick James is all of 19 years old. His songs are toe-tappingly catchy with lyrics that are both intelligent and mature while still being accessible. Reminiscent of Passenger, Georgia Fair or perhaps a stripped back Boy & Bear, James has that unique ability to hook audiences in with his upbeat, hummable melodies and then keep them engrossed with his lyrics.
Patrick James can regularly be seen busking around Sydney but recently managed to score a support slot on Old Man River’s 1000 Cranes tour. He also has a pretty stellar 3 track EP out which is available for download free via his triple j Unearthed Pageor his Facebook Band Page.
If you’re a fan of beautifully executed folk songs that get you smiling and tapping your feet then you should be sure to seek Patrick James out. With only 19 years under his belt we have a feeling there’s a lot more to come from this singer-songwriter.
We say it every time but we should really be writing more about San Francisco based nu-folkers Vetiver. With a brand new album (The Errant Charm) due for release on the 14th June the band have just released their new single “Wonder Why”, the video of which features some awesome stop motion goodness:
The result is the two or three (depending which version you buy) disc album The Flowerpot Sessions bursting with awesome folky goodness. The copy I managed to get my hot little hands was the standard, two CD edition but I’m not complaining – that’s over two hours of music from some of my favourtie up and coming bands.
Beginning with Kill it Kid and The Joker and the Thief collaborating on the awesome blues number “Something Funny”, you know that The Flowerpot Sessions is going to be something special. For a live recording I’m surprised at how crystal clear the production is on the album and how little audience noise has been captured. The skills of the performers combined with the outstanding mixing/production means a very polished album that could well have been put together in a studio.
It’s almost impossible to do justice to just how many standout tracks there are on The Flowerpot Sessions. Almost every single song is a masterpiece but a few do need a special mention:
The Treetop Flyers, a group that hasn’t been featured on Timber and Steel yet but really should be, contribute their track “It’s About Time” to the first CD and it’s an absolute gem. The opening guitar riff is almost Celtic in the way it dances over the guitar but Reid Morrison’s lead vocals drag the song straight into the twenty first century with a sense of pain and longing.
The two contributions from Angus and Julia Stone, “To Let Go” performed with Sarah Blasko and the Grease cover “You’re The One That I Want” performed with Damien Rice, are at the standard you’d expect from the brother/sister duo. I’ve heard “You’re The One That I Want” so many times from the Stones so this version is almost passe (even with the inclusion of Rice) but “To Let go”, which was written for the performance, is just mesmerising.
Probably my favourite track off the entire compilation is the brand new Passenger song “Patient Love”. Mike Rosenberg’s ability to craft a seemingly simple song with the lyrical depth and maturity of “Patient Love” is a true gift – I really hope this one makes his next album.
Overall a stunning album from start to finish – and I’ve only heard two of the possible three discs. If this is an example of the talent that Communion is able to muster it’s no wonder that they’re one of the hottest labels in the UK right now.
The Flowerpot Sessions currently has no Australian release date (despite the inclusion of the Stones and Sarah Blasko). If you’re keen to have a listen to tracks from The Treetop Flyers, Kyla La Grange, Passenger and Matthew and the Atlas head over to this I-D Magazine article and scroll down to the end for a link to some free downloads. Other than that you have to scour the interwebs for a download or hard copy site that delivers to Australia. If we hear anything about a local release you’ll be the first to know.
Watch the “trailer” to The Flowerpot Sessions below:
American indie-folk artist Beirut (AKA Zachary Francis Condon and friends) are releasing their new single “East Harlem” today. The song is a beautiful exploration of the nu-folk sound with some gorgeous instrumentation and melodies. Listen to “East Harlem” in all its Soundcloud glory below:
If you’re a live music junkie then you’ll know that you often pay the price for your obsession. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve turned up to a tiny bar somewhere to catch a gig from an up and coming singer-songwriter or acoustic band only to find they should have stuck to playing Bob Dylan covers in their lounge room and not unleash themselves on the general public. But what makes it worth while is every now and then you stumble across someone who just blows your mind and makes you thank your lucky stars you’ve managed to catch them before they start playing stadium venues and demanding gold plated puppies.
A couple of months ago I attended the regular Sydney folk night Shut The Folk Up! without really any idea about the artists that were playing. Cj, who runs the night, does his best each month to combine old-time folk greats with up and comers presenting one of the most diverse and interesting folk nights around. So it probably shouldn’t be any surprise that it was here I became transfixed with the wonderful Jess Locke.
My first thoughts upon hearing hearing Jess Locke perform was “wow, she’s like an Aussie Laura Marling“. The tone of her voice and the depth of her lyrics are both reminiscent of Marling’s style but to assume Locke is a mere imitator would not do her justice. Jess Locke is definitely an amazing artist in her own right. Her shy stage presence is offset by her confidence as a singer and the way she loses herself in her words. Her lyrics show a depth and maturity that take the listener on a journey into Locke’s consciousness and beyond. This is not idle pop-music – this is music that requires attention, that makes you think.
Late last year Jess Locke released a split album with fellow musician N. Martin through independent label Less Talk Records called The (temperamental) Locket that includes four originals each plus one cover of each others songs. The album can be purchased via the Less Talk Records Bandcamp, with options to order the CD or cassette versions for those not as technologically inclined. Locke seems to play regularly around Sydney with her Myspace seemingly the best place to keep up to date with her comings and goings – but seriously do yourself a favour and track her down.
Country of Origin: Australia (Sydney) File Under: Nu-folk Sounds Like: The Australian Laura Marling Myspace:www.myspace.com/jesslockemusic
I first came across English group The Leisure Society when I heard there enchanting track “The Last of The Melting Snow” on Folk Radio UK. The way the group brought an orchestral sensibility to their brand of nu-folk really captured my imagination and I devoured their 2008 album The Sleeper. When news surfaced on the interwebs of a new album from The Leisure Society this year I did everything in my powers to get my hot little hands on a copy. And am I glad I did.
Into The Murky Water is every bit as majestic and wondrous as The Leisure Society’s debut release, taking the listener on a musical journey through a soundscape peppered with classical, indie, rock and of course folk stylings. Incorporating the best of their contemporaries (think Noah and the Whale at their most orchestral or Arcade Fire without the severity) The Leisure Society have carved a nice little folk niche for themselves.
Kicking off with the syncopated rhythms of the title track Into The Murky Water threads each seemingly different track together showcasing the bands strengths (in particular their amazing arrangements) without ever feeling disjointed or lost. Nick Hemming’s distinctive vocals add cohesion to the record and allow the listener to be taken on a journey from beginning to end.
“Dust On The Dancefloor” and “Our hearts Burn Like Damp Matches” will delight nu-folk fans with their charming harmonies and beautiful melodies but for me it’s the forth track, “You Could Keep Me Talking” where Into The Murky Water really comes into its own. Recalling the folk rock of Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span or, more recently, Bellowhead, the track is instantly uplifting and foot-stomp-worthy. The wailing guitar break in the middle of the song does well to remind you that “You Could Keep Me Talking” is not merely an imitation of what has come before but something new an exciting – the next step in the folk-rock evolution.
Easily my favourite track on the entire album would be “This Phantom Life”, possibly because it is the first single (see below) and therefore already embedded on my consciousness. Regardless the track is catchy and positive, standing shoulder to shoulder with anything currently being produced by the likes of Vampire Weekend or Arctic Monkeys. It’s chorus (“If we only knew the answers, we would print them up onto t-shirts/We could sing for revolution/We could fight all our wars and win them”) seems to capture the spirit of the current generation of music fans – do we really have a cause worth fighting for and if we do can we really make a difference?
Overall an amazing piece of work from The Leisure Society. Their musicianship alone is far and beyond most of their contemporaries but when you combine that with the strength of Hemming’s songwriting then its hard to see how Into The Murky Water won’t become an instant classic. It may be a little harder to get a hold of a copy in Australia but trust us, its well worth the effort.
I had been handed a Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens album late last year and really enjoyed what I heard. I duly added them to my to-spotlight list (which grows almost daily) and waited until I was ready to revisit them. And that time has now come – after seeing an absolutely wonderful set by the band at this year’s National Folk Festival.
Taking the stage at the Majestic Tent (where the National Folk Festival seem to put on their “young” or “alternative” acts) Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens delivered a mature and captivating performance to the delight of the audience. It was pretty much the only time I looked around a venue at the festival and struggled to see a single grey beard and I kept thinking that the older generation were missing out – Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens were pure nu-folk goodness.
Front woman of Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens, Julia Johnson, is a combination of Kate Miller-Heidke, Taasha Coates (The Audreys) and Laura Marling wrapped up in the body of a young strawberry-blonde Canberran. Despite her youth Johnson’s music is delivered with a depth and worldliness more befitting an older singer-songwriter. It is only in the introductions to her songs (“this is about a boy I went to high school with”) that context of the music is revealed. The rest of the band (The Deep Sea Sirens) consists of Nicholas Peddle, Lachlan Coventry and (according to the group’s Facebook) sometimes Graham Thompson, Emma Kelly, Sam King and a nine-piece choir – all very talented musicians and the perfect collaborators.
Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens seem to be quite active on the local Canberra scene. If you’re in the nation’s capital you have to make sure you look them up – they are destined for big things. Now that we’ve seen them live and spotlighted them you’ll be sure to hear about all upcoming Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens news here in future.
UK singer-songwriter Bobby Long has been getting quite a bit of buzz of late, not just because of his songwriting contribution to the Twilight movies but also through much lauded the release of his debut long player A Winter Tale. As he prepares to hit our shores for Bluesfest plus a series of sideshows beginning at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne on the 19th April supporting Rodrigo y Gabriela we thought it was about time to bring you our thoughts on his latest release.
Bobby Long, like most of his contemporaries has had his fair share of Dylan comparisons which are not completely unfounded given his mastery of art of finger-picking guitar (as demonstrated on the track “The Bounty of Mary Jane”). He has even admitted to purchasing his Gibson J-200 after seeing Dylan with one on the cover of Nashville Skyline. But, like most young contemporary folk musicians, Long’s influences don’t stop at Dylan and instead incorporate sounds from a diverse range of artists. A Winter Tale is, if anything, a tribute to these influences and a joy to listen to.
The opening and title track of the album, “A Winter Tale”, begins with a distorted, trembling guitar riff that would make the Pixies proud. Long’s music is filled with longing and a dispirit pain giving you the feeling he’s singing the blues without actually singing the blues. Folk is definitely a foundation to “A Winter Tale” but Bobby Long has made a statement by including one of his rockiest tracks as the album opener.
“In The Frost” is probably the most Mumford-and-Sons-like track on the album and probably my favourite. Its driving rhythm and joyous tone defy a fairly morbid subject matter but this seems to be a trademark of Bobby Long’s music. I love the way his voice sores over the melody of this track and the way the backing vocals seem to melt into the lap-steel guitar to create a soulful undercurrent.
The way A Winter Tale is able to switch between full band jams to solo singer-and-guitar numbers without losing any cohesion shows just how versatile a songwriter Bobby Long is. The entire mid section of the album seems like a exercise in the blues with “Sick Man Blues”, “Penance Fire Blues”, “A Passing Tale” and the wonderful “Dead and Done” all taking their cues from the genre, juxtaposing with the rockier numbers at the beginning of the album and the folk tracks at the end. But somehow it just all works.
Overall A Winter Tale is a must-have for any fan of English produced nu-folk. Bobby Long may not be a superstar yet but on the strength of this album and his rising profile across the globe it’s only a matter of time. If you’re curious enough make sure you get down to one of Long’s Bluesfest sideshows over the next couple of weeks or pick up your own copy of A Winter Tale.
Sydney readers are probably well aware by now that one of the best venues for folk and acoustic music, The Raval, is closing. We’ve seen countless blog posts and had numerous conversations with artists about what this means for live music, and more specifically folk music, in Sydney, but as always we’ve had faith that another venue would rise up to fill the gap left by The Raval’s demise.
And wouldn’t you know it, it’s already begun. Sydney folk duo The Falls have picked up the live music baton and are running with it, hosting a weekly night of nu-folk/alt-country/melodramatic pop for free at the Hotel Hollywood, Surry Hills (literally a block from The Raval). The night will take place every Wednesday and will feature a performance by The Falls along with special guests including some of the the best local, national and international folk acts going around.
If you live in Sydney and are sick of the state of live music there then you should get down to the Hotel Hollywood this Wednesday and every Wednesday to show your support. It’s free – it’s not like you have any excuse.
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