Speak Slow

"In the distance we now hold on to you..." Fans of British freakfolkers supreme Tunng will love this cool collection of non-album ditties. I know I do.
Tunng - Clump

World Of Mystery

After quite a long absence due to marital bliss and parenthood, Mr. Deadpan strikes again. And although not as firmly focused as his 2013 tour de force Dream River, the twenty short and sweet stream of conciousness tracks collected here certainly don't disappoint. The track below has him at his most tender, crooning about the woman of his dreams. But being Bill C, he just can't help himself and has to add a wacky detail concerning Willie Nelson's guitar.
Bill Callahan - What Comes After Certainty

Holy Grace

Lovely story in last week's Guardian about a veteran ice-cream man from Eastbourne and the changing of the times. Made me think of this gruff beauty.
Kevin Coyne - Eastbourne Ladies

Bob's Yr Uncle

"Well uncle Pen played the fiddle, Lord, how it would ring? You could hear it talk, you could hear it sing..." Presenting a six pack to go about uncles, with extravagant art by the all-seeing Tinca.
Bill Monroe - Uncle Pen
Pearls Before Swine - Uncle John
Brian Eno - Third Uncle
Screaming Trees - Uncle Anesthesia
Bad Livers - Uncle Lucius
Drive-By Truckers - Uncle Frank

And let's go all out with a familiar trio of bonus tracks, just because we can...
Uncle Walt's Band - High Hill
Uncles - Settler's Song
Unkle - Bloodstain

So Uncanny

The Dead fronted by a female version of Damo Suzuki? Trippy SF spacerock collective Dire Wolves pulls it off on Spacetime Rider, the price track of their new Grow Towards The Light album. 3, 2, 1... and we have lift off.
Dire Wolves - Spacetime Rider

Without Her

Two delightful (and very different) modern takes on an old ballad from the Ozark mountains by way of Scotland. Find them on two brand new, high quality folk albums by kindred souls Jake Xerxes Fussell (Out Of Sight) and House and Land (Across The Field).
Jake Xerxes Fussell - The Rainbow Willow
House and Land - Rainbow 'Mid Life's Willows

Moody Sky

Hurrah once more for the good folk over at Light in the Attic, who recently saw fit to re-release Sachiko Kanenobu's only solo album Misora from 1972. A delicate Japfolk classic I can't get enough of at the moment.
Sachiko Kanenobu - Sora Wa Fukigen

Burning Hell

Floyd Batts didn't need no accompaniment to sing the blues. No sir. Recorded in '59 by songhunter Alan Lomax at the notorious Louisiana prison called Parchman Farm.
Floyd Batts - Dangerous Blues

Come On In

Nederbeat, always a treat. The charming Condors are in girl trouble, the Rodys stay optimistic, while the Zipps do a Dylan, complete with flute. "And remember, let bygones be bygones..."
The Condors - It Was A Lie
The Rodys - Looking For Something Better
Zipps - Hipsterism

Hasta Pronto

Jerez meets Seville, or: Jesús Méndez lends his voice to the delicate pickings of Dani de Morón. Simply irresistable. I'll be away from my desk for a week or so, traveling south to sunny Andalucía, home of flamenco. Back before you know it, my amigos da musica.
Dani de Morón con Jesús Méndez - Tientos

Living Is A Joke

Always heartwarming: the unmistakable, languid London drawl of the one and only Peter Perrett. "I'm gonna sleep on a bed of nails, never to wake up..." Bonus points for that lovely gypsy violin.
Peter Perrett - Believe In Nothing