December 2019 – Page 2

Saw Black & The Toys “Christmas In The Background” (WarHen Records, 2019)

December 20, 2019 Sean Hannam 0

Christmas albums should be approached with caution – most of them aren’t very good and, like an unwanted present, need to be discarded as soon as possible. Thankfully, ‘Christmas In The Background’ by US indie-folk/Americana singer-songwriter […]

Mosa “Mama’s Got Brand New Shoes” – Listen

December 20, 2019 Jonathan Aird 0

We could make the glib comment that she’s getting them for Christmas – but that’d be so patronising, wouldn’t it? And so against the intent of the song that’d it be doing it a sizable injustice. […]

The best gigs of 2019: a personal reflection

December 20, 2019 Clint West 0

“I think that live music is something that the internet can never kill” – Jim James (My Morning Jacket). In an age when we can access our favourite music in so many ways and so many […]

John Prine gets Lifetime Achievement Award at 2020 Grammys

December 20, 2019 Mark Whitfield 0

A nice bit of news to end the year with this morning from Rolling Stone Country who are reporting that John Prine has been named one of the recipients of the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Awards at […]

The Hackles “A Dobritch Did As A Dobritch Should” (Jealous Butcher Records, 2019)

December 20, 2019 Steven Rafferty 0

The second time around the duo of Kati Claborn and Luke Ydstie took a much more collaborative approach to the musical arrangements that support their still lovely harmonies and vocal interplay. Whereas their debut album was […]

Stamping on the passion: Why AI written PR is a bad thing for music

September 21, 2026 1

If a music writer opens ten press releases this month, they’ll spot something odd. They all sound like the same person wrote them. Not because the artists share a publicist, or because there’s a house style […]

Carla Gover and Friends “Williams Branch is Hard to Find”

September 21, 2026 0

A cycle of Appalachian folk songs from writer and activist Si Kahn, subtitled Songs for Strong Kentucky Women The subtitle for this album is “Si Kahn’s Songs for Strong Kentucky Women”. Si Kahn is one of […]

Ad for American Beauty album 5th December 1970

For the Sake of the Song: Grateful Dead “High Time”