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1 Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley The Country Blues (Compass 4669). Ace dobro player Ickes teams up again with guitarist/singer Hensley and the result is far from the Country Blues. Too often excess is the order of the day with long instrumental passages that destroy rather than enhance listening pleasure. www.compassrecords.com


2 Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters Father’s Day (Stony Plain SPCD 1385). What a magnificent guitar player that man Ronnie Earl is. Precision, tone, dexterity are all pre- sent in his fingertips. He doesn’t sing but, for Father’s Day, he’s got a great vocalist in Michael Ledbetter who could double for Otis Rush whose influence is stamped across much of this album. Great production, great blues, lovely album. www.stonyplainrecords.com www.continental.nl


1 Half Deaf Clatch The Life and Death of AJ Rail (Half Deaf Clatch). Hull’s Andrew McLatchie prefers to be known as Half Deaf Clatch, which suits his down-in-his-boots, growly voice and doom-laden lyrics. He’s a competent, though basic, clean toned gui- tarist and some of his songs are quite atmo- spheric, although quite often he seems to be striving for effect. halfdeafclatch.com


2 Candido Fabré Carretero (Tumi 240). Singer-composer Fabré, his signature gravelly voice and a cooking Cuban combo, serves up a scorching blend of son and charanga, along with a tribute to Juan Formell and Los Van Van, and experiments with bachata, salsa, and Latin pop. tumimusic.com


2 Eddie Martin’s Big Red Radio Live In Tuscany (Blueblood BRRRCD100). Bluesman from Bristol found deep in heart of Italy play- ing his National resophonic guitar (lots of slide), blowing his harmonica, and in fine voice performing eleven of his own songs backed by a big bunch of talented Italian musicians. www.bluebloodrecords.com


1 Nessi Gomes Diamonds & Demons (Nessi Gomes). Debut album by British-Por- tuguese artist, released after a staggeringly successful crowdfunding campaign. A slick, contemporary singer-songwriter record with a subtle fado aesthetic and Sam Lee singing a fragment of Polly On The Shore during the title track. nessigomesmusic.com


2 MP3 Guldvingen (Acoustic World AWPCD0004). Top-class trio of self-effacing but mightily admired Swedish musicians. Mia Marin on five-string violin, Nina Pérez violin and viola d’amore, and Mattias Pérez’s extraordinarily sophisticated lines on Ådin twelve-string guitar. Huge skill and interaction in airy lift and swing that’s both listening delight and dance-impelling. mattiasperez.com


1 Arvvas Remembrance (Nordic Notes NN075). Sámi Sara Marielle Gaup (of Ádjagas) and Norwegian double-bassist Steinar Raknes continue where Skáidi – the bass/joiker duo of Raknes and the late Inga Juuso – left off, but here Raknes unfortunately counterpoints Gaup’s joik-style vocalising with lyrics in strained, gruff, rockerish, cliché-sodden Americana English. www.nordic-notes.de


2 Three Legg’d Mare Tincer (3LM Records). Canny trio from Aberystwyth who understand trad sources be they Welsh or English and give a different spin to the very familiar. They’ve a dulcimer and they aren’t scared to use it! Unusual arrangements, atyp- ical instrumental accompaniments mean that songs that you might believe are common currency prove surprising winners in the rise again stakes. You’ll like this y’hear? A winner. www.facebook.com/threeleggmare/


1 Adroneline Homebound (Bird Creek BCR004). Celto-world high-energy grooves with just about everything chucked in, the gamut of folk instruments from Europe and beyond plus Indian and Middle Eastern per- cussion and wordless vocalising from growl to wail. Big-noise outdoor festival-fodder per- haps, but more skilful and well-wrought than most. www.homebound.info


1 Tannara Trig (Braw Sailin’ Records, CD001BSR). Debut from Scottish four-piece band on fiddle, harp, accordeon, guitars and vocal, performing traditional and contempo- rary tunes and songs. The harp and piano- accordeon create some subtle, delicate and attractive musical combinations. The songs are less convincing, the vocals occasionally off-key. tannaramusic.com/


1 Sunburst Ave Africa (Strut128CD/LP). The hotel lobbies of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, were rocking in the early 1970s with the new soulful sound of Sunburst. Many of the recordings on these two CDs are muffled and loosely performed, but with a bit of digging, you can find a few diamonds in the rough. www.strut-records.com


@ Various Artists Mornas De Cabo Verde (Lusafrica 762342). It’s not like the world real- ly needs another compilation of Cape Verde morna. But hey, why not scavenge the Lusafrica vaults just in case someone wasn’t paying attention the first time around? lusafrica.com


1 Uusikuu Suomi-Neito (Nordic Notes NN078). Finnish tango songs, and the occa- sional waltz, foxtrot or humppa, learned from the recordings of stars of the past, done in something like ’30s-ish Finnish style featur- ing the crooning of, mainly, Laura Ryhänen, with violin, accordeon, guitar and double- bass. www.nordic-notes.de


1 Iona Fyfe Band East (Iona Fyfe IFB16EAST). Young folk singer Iona Fyfe grew up in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and this EP draws on the song tradition of northeast Scotland. Thoughtful instrumental accompaniment is provided by fiddle, guitars, double bass, pipes, piano, shruti box. Charlie Grey’s fiddle is particularly engaging. ionafyfemusic.com/


Nesi Gomes


1 Ciro Hurtado Selva (Inti Productions 700261–441634). Los Angeles-based Peruvian- born guitarist-composer fluently covers the Latin waterfront from the Amazon to the Andes and Mexican jarocho, with an eclectic blend of voice, accordeon, fiddle, requinto, jaranas, charango, keyboards, Latin percus- sion, and pre-Colombian instruments. cirohurtado.com


1 Fifth House Ensemble/Baladino Nedudim (Cedille CDR 90000 164). Collabo- ration between Mediterranean folk band and a Chicago Chamber Music group. When Bal- adino lead the arrangements they produce some stunning results however the Chamber group-led tracks tend towards blues riffs and, what sounds like, Incongruous ’70s American sitcom music. CedilleRecords.org


2 Western Centuries Weight Of The World (Free Dirt DIRT-CD-0077). Resonant roadhouse twang from Cahalen Morrison, Ethan Lawton, Jim Miller and co, here’s some pureblood country rock with lyricism at its core. Band members turn take on lead vox and instruments on a series of beautifully- honed honky tonk anthems. Dancin’, drinkin’, hurtin’… all appropriate responses. Real nice! www.westerncenturies.com


1 The Eskies After The Sherry Went Round (Parochial Dancehall). Bewildering stylistically but a great party band, The Eskies just can’t stop collecting genres and applying them with much panache and good time inclination to their own catalogue. There is a swagger about the album which tells you much about their confidence and surety. www.theeskies.com


1 Changüí Majadero El Changüí Majadero (Changüí Majadero 190394- 008970). Mexican American East LA would seem an unlikely place to encounter changüí, now ever rarer in its eastern Cuban home. Changüí Majadero interprets the classics and writes its own material, with a political edge, transforming changüí into a 21st Century pan-Latin genre. changuimajadero.com


2 Georgia Shackleton Trio The Dog Who Would Not Be Washed (Georgia Shackleton Trio). Exciting and innovative young trio (gui- tar/fiddle/mandolin with accomplished three-part vocal harmonies), strongly Ameri- cana-influenced, performing quirky (mostly) original material (dealing much in East Anglian-related topics) penned by sparky, charismatic and intensely assured singer Georgia. A hefty thumbs-up. www.georgiashackletontrio.co.uk


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