The Tomáš Kočko Orchestr are one of the great musical treasures of my new home city of Brno.  They band mixes true Moravian folk music, including some melodies with pre-Christian roots (so, at least a millennium of music here), world music and even touches of metal to great effect. The concept of their latest album is based on the women of Moravia, whose character and strength preserved the…

Sufjan Stevens released this album in 2006, and it manages to hold up well.  He does a fine job interpreting classic Christmas tunes that are charming, sometimes irreverent and silly, but it makes a fine listen as we prepare for the coming of the Savior of the Universe this snowy evening.

This Z Tapes release left me floored.  Rapt are a folk band out of London who have an ethereal sound which reminded me of musicians like Nick Drake fronting a band on 4AD.  Think, perhaps, of a more airy-sounding This Mortal Coil gone neofolk. The sound is folky without being stale, and adding elements like shoegaze and dreampop make for a rich, rewarding listen.  I really like this.

Z Tapes is a small-but-mighty label out of Bratislava, Slovakia, who release everything from bedroom pop to properly polished indie music.  They have a massive roster of artists they work with, and also, bucking the current trend for vinyl, offer cassette releases.  There is a lot of appealing music on this comp, but the track that sold me on how good this record was was 動物園 by Stargirl, which…

We have quite a treat tonight.  The Lamplight Club was a six-piece band out of Essex, England who produce a sound that fits comfortably between 60’s garage-psych, gothic folk and touched with a noir country tinge to it. You can stream their songs via Spotify here.  If there are more honorable streaming services to recommend, please do so.

Considering how bad Top 40 music is, I never listen to the radio unless I’m subjected to such torture when I visit a mall or other public place of business.  Because I was doing some late night work related to China, I figured I would take a look at a link which popped up for the BBC radio program hosted by a lady whose name doesn’t come to mind right now, but who is on my Twitter feed, and it…

Graham Janzis a very eclectic folk singer who originally called Brandon, Manitoba, Canada home, though he now resides in Groningen, Netherlands.  He sent me a note asking me to listen to his sketches, and I’m quite pleased that I took him up on his offer. This isn’t a proper album per se, but home recordings he did, as these are home recordings, but in the spirit of hearing demos by artists like

Percival Elliott isn’t the name of a musician, but a friendship. Two musicians, Olly Hite and Samuel Carter-Brazier, paired to make a deeply touching indie-folk sound which reminds me of the best of artists like Jeff Buckley (may his memory be eternal). If you’re curious about following their exploits, consider “liking” their Facebook or Twitter feeds.

https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1743076849/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/package=1795750288/transparent=true/

Johanna Warrenis a folk singer from Portland, Oregon, who caught my ear. There’s a very sweet tone to her voice that I’m not used to hearing from other American folkies. This is my first encounter with her work, and I’d say I’m looking forward to hearing more from her.