Come all you pretenders and hear folk music the way it should be played. He's always been very good, but with this great new single it really feels like underground folk hero Rob St.John has come of age musically. band name: Rob St.John & the Coven Choir release name: Charcoal Black & the Bonnie Grey/Shallow Brown Label: Song by Toad Format: single Rating: 8.1 out of 10
This is more like it. Real music on real instruments, and it's really good. Gondola run the gamut from breezy acoustic pop to rowdy indie with an assured deftness that's never less than charming band name: Gondola release name: We Are The Map Label: Drunken Piano Format: EP Rating: 7.1 out of 10
The distorted bass in the chorus of this song is simply fantastic. New London four-piece Life blend synthetic elements with a raucous live approach on their debut single See The Light. band name: Life release name: See The Light Label: Big Ship Records Format: single Rating: 6.8 out of 10
An energy boost to pick your spirits up. New London band Shy Nature launch themselves with lively and energetic single Deadly Sin. band name: Shy Nature release name: Deadly Sin Label: Self-released Format: single Rating: 6.5 out of 10
By far the best album I've heard in 2013. With their debut album If You Leave, indie trio Daughter come as close to a perfect record as I’ve heard in a long time. band name: Daughter release name: If You Leave Label: 4AD Format: album Rating: 9.6 out of 10
This is a year for ‘quiet music’ to become the mouse that roared Oh So Quiet have more bombast than their name suggests, but still confirm 2013 as a vintage year for subtle, thoughtful music band name: Oh So Quiet release name: Oh So Quiet EP Label: Cool For Cats Format: EP Rating: 6.7 out of 10
Jonnie hits the bullseye yet again For someone so prolific, Jonnie Common’s quality control is mightily impressive. And what’s this? A remix I actually like?! band name: Jonnie Common release name: Figurehead Label: Red Deer Club Format: single Rating: 7.9 out of 10
Happy music for happy people. Yuck! There’s not much to dislike about Stornoway’s latest album Tales from Terra Firma, but it can be oppressively jolly. band name: Stornoway release name: Tales from Terra Firma Label: 4AD Format: album Rating: 6.9 out of 10
I like the idea of this record much more than I like the record itself. There are moments of genius, but John Grant’s new LP Pale Green Ghosts still fails to connect on a basic level. band name: John Grant release name: Pale Green Ghosts Label: Bella Union Format: album Rating: 6.9 out of 10
Blues by the numbers, but it sounds pretty good European bluesman Emil Lager keeps it simple with his track You Will Kill Me. band name: Emil Lager release name: You Will Kill Me Label: Self-released Format: single Rating: 4.8 out of 10
