Category Archives: Music

The Band from County Hell’s Ghosts & Spirits

Christopher White wrote this review. The Band from County Hell website tells us that the eight-piece (plus or minus) group was formed in 1995 by its front man, Glasgow native Steven “Jock” McClelland. McClelland and his wife Julie are responsible … Continue reading

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Richard Thompson’s Front Parlour Ballads

A new release from Richard Thompson is always an occasion, although this one is perhaps a bit less so than most. For an “aging folk-rocker,” Mr. Thompson is in the midst of an extraordinarily productive period. Freed from the constraints … Continue reading

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Steven Posch’s Radio Paganistan: Folktales of the Urban Witches

Faith J. Cormier wrote this review. The stories in Radio Paganistan were “recorded live at the fullness of the Hunter’s Moon 2002, by the enchanted garden, near the waters of Mississippi, West Paganistan.” I think that should tell you pretty … Continue reading

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Le Vent Du Nord’s Les Amants Du Saint-Laurent and La Volute’s Descendez A Gaspé

While both of these recordings were made by Québec folk musicians, the resulting music displays some differences. Le Vent Du Nord (meaning North Wind) is a band composed of Benoît Bourque (a multi-instrumentalist who appears on accordion, mandolin, jaw harp … Continue reading

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Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas’s Fire & Grace

We get the loveliest things here at Green Man, often without any clue that they are coming! Fire & Grace, the latest CD from Alasdair Fraser, who’s perhaps the best Scottish fiddler ever, arrived in the post this week. Fraser … Continue reading

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Dick Smith’s Woozy

The band behind one of my favorite CDs of 2002, Dick Smith, is back. Woozy, their third release, finds the Illinois-based trio becoming a quartet, and still making delirious acoustic music about life on the fringes. The addition to the … Continue reading

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Miles Davis’s Ascenseur pour l’echafaud

This is a one-of-a-kind album, an audio documentary of the making of a movie soundtrack by Miles Davis, as he was poised on the brink of his big popular breakthrough. Davis was in France for a brief tour with a … Continue reading

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Daniel Lanois’ Belladonna

Daniel Lanois has been known chiefly in the past for his recording work with other artists. He was producer on career-reviving records by two mature, established artists: Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy in 1989 and a decade later Time Out of … Continue reading

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Ion Petre Stoican’s Sounds From A Bygone Age, Vol. 1

This record has quite a back-story. Ion Petre Stoican was a relatively unknown musician in the lively Bucharest scene of the 1970s. He had played professionally, particularly for weddings and such, in a port town for some 15 years, but … Continue reading

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Jolie Holland’s Springtime Can Kill You

Two of the most stunningly original female singer-songwriters in today’s field of American music are both recording for Los Angeles’ independent label Anti-: Neko Case and Jolie Holland. And both redheads have new albums out in 2006, which makes it … Continue reading

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