Lucie Thorne- Black Across the Field
"Black Across the Field" has been referred to by critics as the finest female vocal album released by an Australian in years. It won the Sydney Morning Herald Award for the Best Roots album of 2009 and was also shortlisted for the Australian Music prize. But this high praise for her voice almost neglects the fact that, apart from being a gifted songwriter and performer, Thorne is an extremely good guitar player with an above-average set of production values. She knows how to make a tube amplifier growl and her sensual approach to her craft has an edge that sets her apart from the rest.
LSR008 2010 Order (17,50 Euro)
Davie Lawson- Tree Tumble Wake Mother
Welshman Davie Lawsons 2nd album “Tree Tumble Wake Mother” could easily find its home among the classics of the late 60’s early 70’s British folk sound. Comparisons to John Martyn, Nick Drake or more recently, Bon Iver are not out of place but, this is something else again. Welshman Davie Lawson walks an emotional tightrope this time, balanced precariously above an inner world, with everything swirling softly away into the dark below. His voice is true. See if you can find something false, overstated or unfelt here. We guarantee you wont.
SR011 2010 Order (17,50 Euro)
BIG LOW - The Junction of the Two Rivers
Some people are going to refer to this as Americana but it's something else isn't it -we prefer to think of it as Australiana.What's that bit in the middle of that last song where all that glass and crystal shatters on the rocks? Like waltzing with a river in a flood, or like that feeling you get before a storm when it all goes dark and wrong. This is fierce fire and Big Low have done it again. A must hear for lovers of Woven Hand, Tom Waits or Calexico but particularly for those looking for something that doesnt sound quite like anything else you've ever heard.
SR010 2010 Order (17,50 Euro)
PARNE GADJE - Mangupi SR009
Recorded during a series of theater concerts in Germany late 2006, this is Parne Gadje doing what they do best. 13 brand new tunes with the feeling that you are sitting in the front row at one thier shows - thier reputation as a phenomenal live band needs no further proof. We'll let the music do the talking here. From firey Rroma jigs, sparse rebetiko ballads and trance-like dervish grooves, Parne Gadje do it thier own way and answer to no-one. A "mangupi" is a slavic/balkan term for renegade, lawbreaker, non-comformist. Need we say more?
SR009 Order (17,50 Euro)
DAVIE LAWSON - Konichiwa?
A warm and natural sounding singer/songwriter album from a young Welsh lad who sings like a bird and writes like a mad poet. Its just acoustic guitar and vocals but there isn’t a weak song on it and that’s why it’s on Smoked. The recordings are raw and simple, the performances are heartfelt and the lyrics prosaic. Classify under quintessentially post modern English folk and put it in the rack amongst your early Bob Dylan bootlegs, just underneath the place where you keep your copy of “Jude the Obscure”
SR008 Order (17,50 Euro)
KAMAL HORS - The Dance of the Lute
This is a beautiful album of instrumental compositions for UD written by Kamal Hors, a highly regarded composer and player. The atmosphere of the album is distinctly Arabic yet sparse in its approach. The rich and varied tones of the instruments of Kamals heart ring like night sounds in the Moroccan desert. Rhythmic and textural accompaniment is provided by two other expert Ud players and the whole thing is given an exquisite Indian twist with the presence of Sandip Bhattacharya on tabla’s.
SR007 Order (19,50 Euro)
GJUNLER ABDULA and PARNE GADJE - ‘BIZOAGOR’
Gjunler Abdula is a Rroma playwright and poet whose collaboration with Parne Gadje leader Marc Constandse has yielded a majestic piece of work. ‘Bizoagor’ merges the story of the ancient sojourn of the Rroma out of the Punjab with visions of dancing horses, roadside fires, the night sky and the cosmos. Constandses compositions around Abdula’s poetry result in a sweeping and visionary soundtrack–like a dream perched on your shoulder. There’s more to Constandse and his band than meets the eye….this is pure acoustic alchemy.
SR006 Order (19,50 Euro)
BIG LOW - 'No Tears in Paradise'
If you listen closely enough you’ll hear talking snakes and all sorts of strange creatures on this album. From the whispered folk sound of songs like ‘When I Got Back’ and ‘Old Macleay’ to the maddening drunken dirge of ‘We Gunna Die Out Here’ – No Tears is an album full of surprises. Dreamlike imagery, sounds that come from another planet and some unconventional instrumentation featuring the Parne Gadje lads. This is a singer/songwriter album you must have…
SR005 Order (17,50 Euro)
PARNE GADJE - "O Manuš"
Parne Gadje soar over and above all expectations with their second full length album. Recorded live during marathon sessions in the Smoked studio over the course of 2003, ‘O Manuš’ forms a blistering account of the groups’ virtuosity and emotional intensity. The crisp production has the guitar work sparkling over the dark pulse of this bandoneon driven Balkan style quartet and, as usual, singer Marc Constandses delivery is right on the money. Guaranteed to convert even the most unshakable purist. You’ll search far and wide to hear a better world music album this year.
SR004 Order (17,50 Euro)
Big Low "Ghost Hunt migration"
A ragged masterpiece of travelling songs and stories that drift out of your speakers like old sea ghosts. Strange percussive sounds, space guitars, samples and tape effects combined with more conventional instruments (guitar, violin, bass, dobro etc) form the backdrop for Australian Dan Tuffy’s dangerous songwriting talents. At a stretch, you could place this stunning debut in the singer-songwriter/folk genre but to leave it at that would be selling the imagination evident here short. Stark, laid-back and big on atmosphere - Big Low will take you there.
SR001 Order (17,50 Euro)
Big Low (live) "3 songs for 10 bucks"
"3 songs for 10 bucks" is exactly what you get but its not 10 bucks anymore - its 5 Euro or the equivalent in Zloty. Recorded live to hard disc at a gig back in February 2000, this little gem not only maps the seminal stages of Big Lows’ existance; its a bona fide collectors item, an official personalised bootleg and will make a damn fine birthday present for someone you don’t like very much! Honesty counts.
SR001 Order (5,00 Euro)
Parne Gadje
A whriling emotional concoction of Bosporus torch songs, Macedonian ballads, Rembetikas, RRoma polkas and Middle Eastern dirges. Set alight by frontman Marc Constandses’ masterful bandoneon playing and red-blooded approach to interpreting the tunes, the untradional instrumentation of guitar, banjo (Michiel Hollander), home-built bass (Dan Tuffy), violin (Murray Cambell), hand percussion (everyone) and bandoneon is minimalist but blindingly effective. One listen and the question on everyones lips is "Where the hell does this stuff come from!". An absolute must for anyone even the slightest bit interested in the magnificent labyrinth of Balkan underground folk variations. Class, depth and beauty.
SR003 Order (16,00 Euro)
Wild Pumpkins at Midnight" "Instant Ocean"
First released back in 1998 on their own label, "Instant Ocean" was the last album that Tasmanian psychadelic pop/folksters, the Wild Pumpkins at Midnight, ever got around to making. The band was well into its twilight period by then but after 13 years of touring and several unrequited brushes with the big time they still managed to come up with this slice of magic. Astonishing! Only 500 of these were ever pressed so this classic is as rare as rocking horse shit!"…starting somewhere around folk before arriving at a sort of burnished, sweetly executed pop" MOJO 1997"…one of Australias finest musical exports".
WOT03 Order (7,00 Euro)