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1 Earnest Lovers Sing Sad Songs (Elko 8 88295 24327 8). Debut EP from Portland, Ore- gon, duo who claim the classic country sound of Buck Owens and the likes. Afraid not folks. Whilst the ingredients may be there this recipe is not quite right. www.theearnestlovers.com

2 She Shanties Spanker Boom (EP) (Own label, no cat no). Twelve-strong all-female shanty crew/choir, dipping toes (and more) in male-infested waters and steering a harmony- rich course through well-charted latitudes. Proof (if needed) that women can shanty wi’ th’ best! Jolly, jolly lusty, and jolly good. More power to ’em! www.sheshanties.com

The albums – good (2), adequate (1) and bad (@) – which didn’t get the full-length treatment, contributed individually by a selection of our various reviewers cowering under the cloak of collective anonymity.

1 The Dovetail Trio Wing Of Evening (RootBeat Records RBRCD27). Wiltshire singer Rosie Hood, guitarist Jamie Roberts and con- certinist Matt Quinn, dovetailing (!) their respective talents to make fresh waves in pre- senting traditional English song; bold and confident, if arguably not entirely radical. www.dovetailtrio.com

2 Various Artists Cruinneachadh Chaluim: Field Recordings Of Gaelic Music And Song From The Highlands And Islands By Calum Maclean (Greentrax, CDTRAX9026D). Between 1945 and 1960, MacLean collected a priceless audio archive of Scottish Gaelic songs and music. Here are the voices of ordinary people of various social backgrounds, performing traditional Gaelic material spanning from the late middle-ages to the 20th Century. www.greentrax.com

2 The Revelers Get Ready (Own label, no cat no). Calling up sounds of mid-century southwest Louisiana, the Lafayette-based Revelers transform Cajun, zydeco, rockabilly, and R&B into what seem but different accents of a single vernacular language. Their dizzyingly rambunctious songs feel, though certainly not current, not dated either. The good times roll for all within hearing dis- tance. www.revelersband.com

2 Leo ‘Bud’ Welch I Don’t Prefer No Blues 2015 (Big Legal Mess BLM0510). How many elder blues masters are left these days? Seems the old guys that fit the bill are getting few and far between. One of the last, 82 year old Leo ‘Bud’ Welch from Sabougla, MI, is the real deal and proves it on his second album, the deep blues follow-up to his gospel debut. Feat Jimbo Mathus and Shardé Thomas. www.leobudwelch.com

2 Darrell Scott Songs Of Ben Bullington (Full Light 7 96859 94617 2). Ten songs by an unknown writer, the late Ben Bullington. Scott is a superb, grossly under-rated per- former, and his delivery on these starkly pre- sented songs is outstanding. Wordy, often moving and grows in depth with every play- ing.www.darrellscott.com

1 The Railsplitters The Faster It Goes (Own label, no cat no). Colorado-based blue- grass band who are the vehicle for the voice of Lauren Stovall with a a set of nearly all original songs by the band. All tuneful and well played but nothing to make you really sit to attention. www.therailsplitters.com

@ Backyard Burners There’s A Box (Own label, no cat no). From Leeds, father and son plus one who evidently learned their trade busking, and it shows. Guitar, banjo, bass and three voices, often lose time and pitch. Best played on street corners. www.backyardburners.co.uk

1 Kirsty Bromley Time Ashore (Kizzy Records KIZCD02). Engaging, disarmingly assured (and nicely-packaged) debut from bright-voiced Sheffield-based singer who clearly knows all the right people and makes the right connections (a hand-picked host of musician accompanists) to help communicate her keen personal choice of contemporary and tradition-based songs. www.kirstybromley.com

1 Eden MacAdam-Somer My First Love Story (A-Side Records 0002). Compleat violin- ist / fiddler and singer delivers stimulating, cutting-edge collection embracing self- penned material (including a part-improvised sequence based on Rumi songs), Duke Elling- ton, Barbara Allen and a Vaughan Williams song-cycle. Quite technique-driven (trending more towards classical than folk), yet remain- ing highly musical. www.fiddlegarden.com

1 Mike Reinstein A Long March Home (Irregular IRR096). Singer-songwriter’s second collection, tackling, with plain-spoken hon- esty and an intelligent approach to accompa- niment, aspects of love, life and intolerance. Viewed through the experiences of history and memory, though with a refreshing absence of sentimentality that in itself is rather touching. www.mikereinstein.co.uk

1 Ensemble Ex Silentio Mneme (Carpe Diem Records CD 16306). Measured perfor- mances of late mediæval and traditional music aimed at early music audiences rather than folk. The final track, the Greek traditional Astropalia Castle, is a killer however, transcend - ing all genres. www.carpediem-records.de

1 Blick Bassy Ako (No Format NØF27). Very precise and carefully assembled, a soft Cameroonian voice and guitar come gift- wrapped in a welter of electro-gimmicks, cello and jazzy frills. All very artsy-fartsy and clever. Says he loves Skip James. www.blickbassy.com

The Dovetail Trio

1 Brigid Power-Ryce I Told You The Truth (Abandon Reason Records ABRE003). Surrepti- tiously recorded in a Galway church, this beguilingly-voiced artist should appeal to Aine O’Dwyer/United Bible Studies admirers. Gui- tar, accordeon and ukulele canticle with seag- ulls and motorcycles, while the ghosts of Mar- garet Barry and John Fahey flicker in candlelit shadows. brigidpowerryce.bandcamp.com

1 Donovan Retrospective (Salvo SALVOCD226). Attractively packaged 50th anniversary two-CD compilation includes all the hits and the best of the troubadour-era songs like Summer Day Reflection Song and Oh Deed I Do. Nothing post-1969, bar the new (and frankly wretched) One English Sum- mer. www.donovan.ie

1 Various Artists UCLU Folk And World Music Society Compilation Album Vol- ume One (Own label, no cat no). Student recordings, mainly Americana and folk-pop influenced. UCLU Ceilidh Band’s Coconut Polka and Tom Blackburn’s deftly-picked John Barleycorn supply the trad, while Sarah Q’s Las Campanas Lloran represents world music. Wholehearted stuff – more power to their collective elbows! uclufolkandworldmusic.bandcamp.com

@ Ismaël Lȏ Best Of (Capitol 4720910). Some implausible berk once dubbed Ismaël

Lȏ the ‘African Dylan’, all because he played an acoustic guitar and a mouth organ. But not with Dylan’s danger and tension, quali- ties entirely missing here. Strictly regimented arrangements, ponderous melodies, no flash and crackle at all. No website available.

1 Laura Cannell Beneath Swooping Talons (Front & Follow F&F036). Laura Can- nell plays fiddle and recorder. This instrumen- tal selection of compositions and minimalist improvisations is occasionally dissonant. Don’t expect too many ‘tunes’. I like the ambience it creates, a bit like a one-woman Kronos Quartet doing early music. www.frontandfollow.com

1 Big Galut(e) Big Galute(e) (Own label, no cat no). A mainly classically trained team play klezmer, tangos, gospel, early music and more. Excellent musicianship. However, it could have benefited from less restraint and also less over-thinking – just kick off them shoes and play! Enjoyable nevertheless. www.biggalute.com

1 Jungle By Night The Hunt (Kindred Spirits KS045 CD). Witty rhythm and riff from Amsterdam, a young collective playing some- thing like movie-score afro-jazz-funk. Lots of brass, mood noir. www.junglebynight.com

Photo: © Judith Burrows