Melanie McGovern

Lau vs Adem – Ghosts EP

by Melanie McGovern 31 March 2011 Reviews

Following up their split EP with Karine Polwart, acclaimed Scottish folk trio Lau have embarked on another collaborative effort, this time with London based musician Adem. Read Melanie’s review below.

Review: Emily Jane White – Ode to Sentience

by Melanie McGovern 30 March 2011 Downloads

Emily Jane White’s new album, Ode to Sentience is an album of darkness and mystery. Vocally her dulcet tones have been likened to Mazzy Star and Cat Power, a voice that is at once both rich and wispy, a subtle whisper sucking you in much like the darkness she utters of being intoxicated by.

Live Review: Bella Union Christmas Service @ Union Chapel

by Melanie McGovern 10 January 2011 Live Reviews

What an end to a great year for Bella Union, their issue of John Grant’s Queen of Denmark debut successfully found itself in most magazine and national newspapers’ ‘Albums of 2010′ features, and he too headlined the last uniting of label artists at Union Chapel in the summer.

Live Review: Angus and Julia Stone @ Royal Festival Hall, London

by Melanie McGovern 18 December 2010 Live Reviews

The Midsummer Nights Dream stage set up at the Royal Festival Hall, complete with lamps, foliage, a tree strung with fairy lights and a starry backdrop marked the occasion as magical before Australian siblings Angus and Julia Stone, and their Transatlantic band, even set foot on stage.

Interview with Kate Stables of This is the Kit

by Melanie McGovern 6 December 2010 Interviews

Kate Stables is the staple of folk project This is the Kit, who, alongside long-time collaborator Jesse D. Vernon, perform ordinarily as a two-piece splitting their time between Bristol and Paris. Initially noticed in 2006 thanks to a Folk Off compilation featuring other nu-weird-folksters Animal Collective and Vashti Bunyan, This is the Kit were hailed [...]

Live Review: Dark Dark Dark @ The Lexington

by Melanie McGovern 2 December 2010 Live Reviews

With their second recording Wild Go receiving airplay on UK shores Dark Dark Dark’s pitch and note perfect re-creation of their Balkan inspired tracks tapped out a heartfelt oscillation between liveliness and loneliness, with the precision of it all framing their Eastern-folk and pitch dark jazz hybrid.

Live Review: Magic Lantern @ Cafe Oto

by Melanie McGovern 30 November 2010 Live Reviews

The candle-lit environs of Dalston’s Cafe Oto felt a particularly apt setting for chamber-folk five-piece The Magic Lantern to host their single launch party. Amongst the flickering tea-lights atop wooden tables, decorated with remnants of Organic beer and homemade cakes, a crowd of friends, family and listeners new and old gathered.