richard hawley

With a lovely, sympathetic production by Richard Swift -- sort of budget-priced Phil Spector -- and melodies which swell with Fifties and Sixties pop-romanticism, this is one of those album (like Swift's) which will be taken to heart with a passion by those who discover it. Previously Jurado out of Seattle came at you from the...
> music/3304/damien-jurado-saint-bartlett-secretly-canadian-rhythmethod/

Named for a small town in the Outer Hebrides and affecting a kind of folksy pop, Stornoway from Oxford pull light and slightly satirical styles (We Are The Battery Humans with its references to people born to be free-range but preferring to watch television) together with Anglofolk of the Amazing Blondel-to-Fleet Foxes continuum and literary...
> music/3220/stornoway-beachcombers-windowsill-4ad/

As with Fairport Convention (which included Richard Thompson), Steeleye Span were in the vanguard of the British folk-rock movement of the late Sixties. Unlike Fairport however, Steeleye Span didn't move as often and as far from the roots of folk and frequently drew on Francis Child's text The English and Scottish Ballads for inspiration and...
> fromthevaults/3009/steeleye-span-cam-ye-oer-frae-france-1973/

This four-piece from London may have a banjo on hand and a similar way with an archaic lyric and alt.folk melody as Fleet Foxes, but here on their debut album with widescreen producer Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire's Neon Bible) they bring some dramatic urgency which kicks them clearly into the alt.rock territory. With songs which have a...
> music/3021/mumford-and-sons-sigh-no-more-universal/

The musically itinerant Josh Rouse has long been an Elsewhere favourite for his musical curiosity (Seventies singer-songwriters, Nashville, indie-rock and so on) and he doesn't disappoint here as he gets his passport stamped and takes off for the tropical pleasures of Brazilian moods and music (in Portuguese mostly) which come subtlely...
> music/3003/josh-rouse-el-turista-bedroom-classics/

Mercury Prize nominated or not, the previous album The Bairns by these Geordies -- then under the name Rachel Unthank and the Winterset -- did not do it for me, and hence didn't get posted at Elsewhere. It sounded far too finger-in-the ear gloom-folk and of marginal interest to anyone outside the English folk circle (and Mercury panels)...
> music/2988/the-unthanks-heres-the-tender-coming-shock/

The previous album by M Ward, Post-War, was one of the Best of Elsewhere 2006 albums for its dark hues, free-range musical approach (blues, alt.rock, indie-folk, Americana etc) and the fact it had something to say. At that time I noted his musical magpie tendencies (a good thing) and because of its layers said it would stand the test of...
> music/2207/best-of-elsewhere-2009-m-ward-hold-time-4ad/

The surname behind this belongs to Trevor Jones who is one half of Miracle Mile, a British outfit previously featured at Elsewhere (their Coffee and Stars) who deliver glistening, almost ambient, adult pop music which whispers and understates in a poetic, melodic manner -- and which is often rejected by those who don't hear pop perfection as a...
> music/2544/jones-hopeland-meme/

Back in 2001 Elbow were shortlisted for Britain's prestigious Mercury Prize for their debut album Asleep in the Back* and for my money it has all been up since then, although I suspect sales haven't followed accordingly. They are a cult name in New Zealand (mid-sized cult however) and a band that is too easy to let slip past you. But they...
> music/1550/elbow-the-seldom-seen-kid-mag/

This is the album that famously wasn't released in time for Bragg to promote at this year's Big Day Out appearances. Not that he seemed to mind (much), he noted that he was flown to the other side of the world, there was an all-day backstage bar, he got to hang out with great musicians, and he only had to play for about 30 minutes. "We...
> music/1521/billy-bragg-mr-love-and-justice-cooking-vinyl/

These one-man-band singer-songwriters such as Richard Swift, Jude, Hobotalk and others who have appeared in Elsewhere are just so irritatingly good they send you into a spin. As with those others mentioned Stoltz from San Francisco (who multi--tracks just about every instrument here) sounds like something more than the sum of his...
> music/1469/kelley-stoltz-circular-sounds-subpop-rhythmethod/

More 60s-framed pop for alternative radio from the PopFrenzy label (Clientele, Camera Obscura, Lightning Dust) which refers to the great bands who never really made it (The Association, Left Banke) as much as big names like Bacharach and the Monkees, as well the slightly psychedelic BeeGees and alt.country. Whatever really works, in fact....
> music/1409/institut-polaire-the-fauna-and-the-flora-popfrenzy-rhythmethod/

This gritty, rocking album has been floating around for a few weeks but seems to have been passed over by most writers. That's strange given Penate's high profile in the UK where he has been hailed like a Billy Bragg on heat, as a South London soul poet, and "the new darling of pop" (The Sun) There is an undeniable energy to his...
> music/1411/jack-penate-matinee-xl/

Elsewhere has been around long enough to do a bit of bragging about bringing certain people to your attention long before anyone else: one of them being this American singer-songwriter whose previous album The Animal Years (see tag) was such a gem. I just kept bringing it back and named it as one of the Best of Elsewhere 2006. Then he was...
> music/1380/josh-ritter-the-historical-conquests-of-josh-ritter-shock-best-of-elsewhere-2007/

If you believed what you read in the British press about this album by former Longpigs and Pulp guitarist you'd probably cross the street to avoid it. Distance lends us a better view I suspect, because Hawley's swooning croon (which at various times brings to mind Morrissey, Scott Walker, Roy Orbison and others with rich, dark and melodic...
> music/1326/richard-hawley-ladys-bridge-mute-best-of-elsewhere-2007/

Okay, let's just hear what the British press had to say about this, the debut album from an Australian singer-songwriter now living in London. "Simply captivating" --- The Sun "A refreshing breeze to ruffle all preconceptions" -- Time Out "Divine!" -- The Observer "Pop never had it so good" --...
> music/1322/martin-craft-silver-and-fire-longtime-listener-rhythmethod/

The previous album by this Californian singer-songwriter -- actually a double disc collection of his previously released singles and EPs -- made an appearance on Elsewhere many months ago and I hailed it to the skies. And I've played it with alarming frequency ever since a first hearing. This is his fully-fledged debut album proper, and...
> music/1131/richard-swift-dressed-up-for-the-letdown-secretly-canadian-best-of-elsewhere-2007/

Years ago this Chicago singer-songwriter-violinist helmed his band Bowl of Fire through strange back-alleys of music which referred to blues and jazz of the 20s, circuses and travelling shows, low-rent bars and brothel music of old time New Orleans, and a bit of Tom Waits. After a while I gave up telling people how good he was. It's that...
> music/1132/andrew-bird-armchair-apocrypha-spunk-best-of-elsewhere-2007/

What to make of this large and flexible UK group which sometimes sounds like the charming Penguin Cafe Orchestra, sometimes suggests the wonderfully groove-orientated Beta Band (sadly no more), sometimes comes off like introspective Anglo-folk from the late 60s, and at other times drops in loops and samples? Stylistically it's called...
> music/877/tunng-comments-of-the-inner-chorus-emi/