We Write Lists – home of Six Albums

A couple of months ago I noticed a strange trend appearing amongst the visitors to We Write Lists. That week, and every single day since, we’ve had somewhere in the region of a hundred visits simply from people searching for the lyrics to ‘Steal My Heart’ – a wonderful song by our friends Emily and the Woods. The problem is, the post that drew everyone in didn’t actually feature any lyrics to the song. So consider this our apology – we emailed Emily, who has played our Folkroom gigs in the past, and she quickly and brightly obliged. So thanks to Emily, and all her fans – we couldn’t be happier to see her doing so well! If you want to see her do well for yourself, she’s playing unplugged at the St Pancras Old Church tomorrow night (16/12/11).

Steal His Heart

Get in my boat

We’ll sail away

I’ve always been scared, scared of the sea

I’ll give you some string, you’ll find your way home

And I will be waiting when you return.

I can’t steal his heart, but I can steal back mine

I can steal back mine,

I can steal back mine.

I can’t steal his heart, but I can steal back mine.

Stand on the shore

Arm is outstretched

The stars, in their heavens, are doing their best.

He calls my name, and I meet his eyes,

Now I have lived I might as well die.

I’m saying things are, (they are, they are)

I’m saying things are, (they are, they are)

I’m saying things are, (they are, they are)

Going to change

I’m saying things are, (they are, they are)

I’m singing things are, (they are, they are)

I’m singing things are, (they are, they are)

Going to change

I can’t steal his heart, but I can steal back mine

I can steal back mine

I can steal back mine.

I can’t steal his heart, but I can steal back mine.

Takes off my crown,

Throws it to the sky,

And we are emblazoned, as bright lights we’ll thrive.

Oh, we will thrive.

I can’t steal his heart, I can steal back mine

I can steal back mine

I can steal back mine.

I can’t steal his heart, but I can steal back mine.

Steal back mine.

‘Steal My Heart’ lyrics copyright Emily and the Woods.

The Leisure Society have come a long way in the past few years. Their rags-to-riches-or-if-not-riches-than-at-least-critical-acclaim story has been covered many times before, not least by us. But tonight at the Barbican the band have the chance to fully realise their own potential. Armed with the thirty-four strong Heritage Army – sorry, Orchestra – Nick Hemming’s wonderful songs are expanded, and expounded through the collaborative noise. They make more sense. And this is a band who are capable on their worst days of making you re-examine what it is to listen to music.

The orchestra shuffles onto the stage, below a sparse decoration of hanging bulbs – like the lighting aisle in a post-London riots Homebase. Nick Hemming, Christian Hardy and their band of merry musicians follow soon after. Opening with the twanging guitar of A Fighting Chance Hemming teases the crowd with the anticipation of the gang of sound behind him. When they unleash their gentle first notes their is a united outward breath across the Barbican. Everyone had wanted to know, and though they kind of did already, it’s lovely to hear it for real. So The Leisure Society are even better when backed by an orchestra. Huh.

They were always made for this, though. There are few bands in the world who could warrant an orchestra as much as The Leisure Society do. Hemming and Hardy have a wonderful vision for music. There are swoops and falls, and reprises and encores – usually all in the same track. Tracks like The Sleeper were made for nights like this – gentle fiddling songs of oblivion with occasional bursts that, in the hands of the Heritage Orchestra, become grand cinematic climaxes.

The collaboration works best on the band’s brighter songs – those with the natural inflections of irrepressible Disney-musical hope and affection. But the band’s best known song remains a world of devastating sadness, and backed by a string section of nineteen The Last of the Melting Snow was inevitably going to be a little too much for the man who declared it his favourite song of an entire decade. I wipe a finger across the bottom of my eye. Hope nobody sees. Publish it on the internet later anyway.

There are a hundred other highlights to the evening. Few bands would bring an entire orchestra onstage with them and yet still use a ukelele – let alone a wine glass and a wet finger. Hemming and Hardy are still one of the most lovable double acts in music, playing off of each other with Hardy the witty and wry straight man and lead singer Hemming his unlikely fall guy. An encore featuring the always-gorgeous hang drum and a cover of Erasure.

But the defining moment of the night came three songs from the end of their orchestrated set. “We’ve never played this live before.” said Hemming of his early b-side If God Did Give Me A Choice. It showed, briefly, as he forgot a lyric in the first verses. Nevertheless, the song grew into a show-stopping victory song. Written when Hemming was depressed at his lack of success in music, the song tells of the wolf at his door that told him he wasn’t good enough to make it in the business. Tonight he stands centre stage, harmonising with his six bandmates and an orchestra present solely to play his songs to a packed out Barbican centre. Together, poignantly, all forty of them sing in unison. “If god did give us a choice, we would take it. We would take it.” And you know what? I think they did.

Like all the best silences, our recent break here at We Write Lists is about to end with a big bang. We’ve been busy, see. Busy buried away in the WWL Secret Bunker planning, and listening, and writing and scurrying about. We’ve done a lot of scurrying about. But it’s all been worth it, because our silence and semi-secrecy (we’ve been tweeting this shit for weeks, folks) allows us to announce our favourite thing ever – we’re starting a record label!

Folkroom Records. That’s what we’re calling it. It’s very exciting, and it goes a little something like this:

1. We are Folkroom Records. Every couple of months or so, we’ll be releasing EPs by some of our favourite acts.

2. You can buy them! Of course. That’s sort of how this works. We’ll be putting out full plans in the next few weeks, but know this – we’ll have a subscription service that allows you to buy the music cheaper, and earlier! BAM.

3. On the 17th of December, you can get a sneak peek of things to come! Why’s that? We’re releasing a free compilation album featuring a ton of acts who have played Folkroom gigs in the past – folks like Worry Dolls, Dave Gerard, Josienne Clarke, O. Chapman and Camille Delean. Or Woodfood Green, Andrew Butler, Jessie Moncrieff and Laura Boyle. In fact, ‘Folkroom Presents… Anthology One’ will be our first step into blowing your minds with genuinely gorgeous folk music.

4. Almost all of the acts will also be popping down to The Queen’s Head on Acton Street in London that night, playing sets at our Folkroom Launch Party! There’ll be cider, music, collaborations and excited sounds from me, sitting at the back, clapping. But seriously – the gig is free, and promises to be one of the most unique and special nights you’ll experience in music.

There’ll be more announcements in days to come, but for now we just suggest you check us out and pop on down on the 17th!

www.folkroom.co.uk

www.facebook.com/folkroom

www.soundcloud.com/folkroom

@folkroom

We’ve had a few treats in our time hosting the best kept secret on London’s folk scene, but not many compare to the first time we saw O. Chapman play for us. It was a busy night at the Folkroom, the crowd bustling with loud conversation and clinking glasses. Cash registers opening and shutting. Broken tankards and big laughs. Chapman sidles up to the stage, places a small chair in the centre and sits down, his head barely above those of the pub crowd who stand about him.  He’s an unassuming fellow to look at, our O. Chapman. He’s tall enough, sure, but he’s quiet and a little retiring. Nevertheless, he sits on our little stage and mumbles a little hello, and then gently manoeuvres into his first song. And then it happens. The place falls quiet. Silence, immediately, bar Chapman’s fiddling guitar and softly-softly vocals.

He probably resents me for bringing this up everytime WWL brags about a Folkroom line-up, but it’s genuinely true. We’ve seen it happen three or four times now, though none was as startling as that first occasion. A crowded room of people, all reverentially watching some sort of unprecedented talent on a Wednesday evening in London.

It might well be something to do with his voice. It’s just about the best voice a folk artist could ever want – balanced on a rare peak between the valleys of M. Ward and Nick Drake. For the former, see ‘Shadows’, which could so easily be a forgotten moment on Ward’s 2009 record Hold Time (in fact, we’d pay good money to see it covered by She & Him – but then we’d pay good money to see most anything covered by She & Him). Chapman’s recorded tracks are, in particular, treats – his regular collaborator Faith Barker pays wonderful compliments to his voice with nothing more than the whispers of her own. One day we’ll have them both play, and the whole of the city will turn quietly in their direction. Though that might be risky, so maybe we won’t.

It’s our favourite thing here at We Write Lists – we get our favourite acts to write about their favourite acts. It makes sense, if you think about it. We love the bands, these musicians, so why not discover their influences? The same thing goes for Queen of Hearts, who is going a little rogue this week. You see, Queen of Hearts is as much influenced by image as she is by sound. When it came to getting a Six Albums by Queen of Hearts, it made just as much sense to take advantage of her other love. As such, here are Queen of Hearts’ Five Fashion Icons.

Bjork I adore the way Bjork toys with fashion, her style is dark and mysterious yet has clear influences from nature using feathers, animals and flowers. She is one of those artists that from an early age taught me to identify with combining music and fashion. I clearly remember when she wore the infamous swan dress by Marjan Pejoski, on the 2001 Oscars red carpet and I just thought ‘Wow that is what an artist should be’. I really believe lots of artists that are around now are influenced by her.

Grace Jones Grace Jones epitomises everything a fashion icon is about. She is daring and controversial; combining overt sexuality with androgyny. I think her work in the early 80′s with Jean-Paul Goude is truly revolutionary – the square cut hair, angular padded clothes and bright make up created a look that really hadn’t been done before, and it’s a look we see being used by today’s popstars time and time again. Her ‘Slave To The Rhythm’ video is one of my favourites – so many iconic images. She really did lead the way when it comes to artists fusing fashion and music.

Roisin Murphy Roisin Murphy exudes style – it just seems so effortless for her. I am in awe of the way that she puts her outfits together to always make an impact but yet remain classic. I love the way she makes vintage seem so current by teaming it with statement pieces straight of the latest season’s runway. She always has beautiful hats and gorgeous shoes which is so important! She clearly has an outstanding knowledge of fashion and I am envious that her stage costumes are designed by fashion heavyweights like Viktor & Rolf, Gareth Pugh, and Givenchy.

Annie Lennox For me a style icon is someone who doesn’t conform and breaks the rules in an original way, bringing their own take on fashion – that is exactly what Annie Lennox has done. She is the queen of androgyny and she does it with style and finesse. I love the way she can carry off short hair and tailoring and yet still seem sexy.

Florence Welch I think what I love most about Florence is the way she combines her striking renaissance style looks with gorgeous clothes to match. She embraces bright florals and uses lace, feathers and sequins to make every girl’s dressing up dreams come true. She’s a true ambassador of long floaty dresses of which I am a fan and I admire the way she has such a distinct style. I am also insanely jealous that she has worn pieces from the recent Givenchy Haute Couture collection – which I think are some of the most beautiful clothes I have ever seen!

I was in the woods at End of the Road. It’s nice there, you’d like it. There’s a library, and a disco, and a large old bell that’s always mysteriously warm. Or at least there was a large bell. Someone stole it, I hear. Don’t know if they ever got it back. Anyway. I was there, in the woods. It was late at night, and dark, and I think it was wet, though I remember no rain. The Wilderness of Manitoba were gathered together in a half living room in the forest, singing amongst a crowd who existed only to hush each other and stand in some sort of quiet awe. That’s when I fell in love with TWoM. I’d just started the We Write Lists gigs – the Folkroom – and our first gig had been near empty, and noisy. This set was everything I hoped for the gigs – and what they have slowly become.

TWoM are magical. They lack the Paul Simon lyrics of Fleet Foxes, but instead are a band that seem impossibly natural – in two senses. They are, first, seemingly effortless in what they do. And what they do is so beautiful and so earthly that you kind of get the feeling you could plant a strand of their hair in the middle of some woodland and in twenty-eight years or so you’d return to find a fully-grown folk musician rooted deep below the top soil. We asked the band for a Six Albums, and they happily obliged, offering us a wonderfully in-depth look at their favourite music.

Bob Dylan – Nashville Skyline (chosen by Stefan) From the opening chords of “Girl from the North Country” to the closing crash of “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”, this is Dylan’s most focused album. His affected country drawl sounded so charming and effortless, and was matched perfectly by an excellent country band. The tunes are simple and fun, and the off the cuff duet with Johnny Cash (mistakes and all) is fabulous. I used to love putting this record on and just playing along, front to back.

Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (chosen by Stefan) The first time I put this record on I felt underwhelmed: Jeff Mangum’s voice felt strained, the acoustic guitars sounded poorly recorded and distorted, the horns were out of tune and there was a song about Jesus. A couple weeks later I put it on again and fell in love with those same things. The 8 minute masterpiece “Oh Comely” was apparently recorded in one take, at the end of which someone from the control room can be heard yelling out “holy shit”, which is exactly how I feel every time I come back to this very unpolished gem of an album.

Radiohead – OK Computer (chosen by Scott) I first came to this album through the video for the first single ‘paranoid android’. Muchmusic here, premiered the full, uncensored video ad after hearing the song for the first time, I immediately got on my bike and rode to Sam’s (Sam the Record Man) to buy the album. I’ll have to admit that the album was a grower, but it didn’t take long for me to completely get lost in it’s splendour. There were the singles, yes. Let Down, Karma Police, Paranoid Android; but to me it is the album tracks that really stand out. The sounds, the mood they create, delicately dark but still delightful. This record changed the way that I viewed music. It opened my ears to infinite possibilities and showed me that the best music will make you feel.

Gillian Welch – Time (The Revelator) (chosen by Melissa) This album never fails me. It’s funny because before listening to it for the first time, I didn’t consider myself a bluegrass fan but it opened my eyes to The Carter Family, The Louvin Brothers and other bands using banjo and close harmonies. Gillian describes, very well, the feelings you can have as a touring musician. I love ‘April the 14th, Part 1′ – “Was a five band bill, $2 show… and a girl passed out in the back seat, trashed, and there were no way they’d make even half a tank of gas” or in ‘Everything is Free’ – “Someone hit the big score, they figured it out that we’re gonna do it anyway even if it doesn’t pay”. Her voice and her honest lyrics are definitely what I hear and feel first but then David Rawlings’ soft guitar and banjo come in and then his harmonies that aren’t quite what I expect so I continue to be surprised every time I listen.

Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (chosen by Will) Although there are many hits and misses this band has sustained throughout time (as any long lasting band has), no album to me, was first to capture the pure rawness and angst coupled & contrasted with the dreamy & ethereal that this album did within its cultural period (‘grunge’ being the ‘zeitgeist’ here). We have the classic signature Corgan/Iha guitar fuzz interplay happening in songs like ‘Rocket’ and the earlier section of ‘Hummer’ that then explode into belted vocals & screaming solos in the later ‘Soma’ and ‘Silverfuck.’ There is the constantly emotive meter and pulse that Jimmy Chamberlin provides with D’arcy Wretzky in ‘Cherub Rock’ and ‘Quiet.’ And of course, there might be no greater pop sensibilities on the record lyrically speaking to the youth (or ‘mainstream’ of that time) than ‘Today is the greatest day I’ve ever known / can’t wait for tomorrow’ (‘Today’). But it isn’t any of these crucial elements that make the album so beautiful. It’s their hypnotic dream jams they lay on thick with the reverb & delays in the last section of ‘Hummer’ and intro/outro of ‘Mayonnaise’ or beginning of ‘Soma’ that are the closer. The combination of fender tele/stratocaster/mustang guitars fed through pedalboards that Iha and Corgan play at their most sombre within D’arcy and Jimmy’s perfect ‘heartbeats’ is what made this band, to me, who they are. Corgan has always had the ability to scream the way one does at their emotional melting point (‘despite all my rage’) and suddenly turn to melt you back with whispered lyrics (‘pick your pocket full of sorrow / run away with me tomorrow’) over the shoegazy walls of sound the 4 of them could always capture so well. It’s these moments that make Siamese Dream an album that is best listened to under a purple sky. I just find that contrary to their rock fuzz grunge persona, it’s easy to love them the most when they ‘disarm you with a smile.’

Joni Mitchell – For The Roses (chosen by Will) As her immediate follow up to the critically acclaimed ‘Blue,’ Joni had some proverbial and musical shoes to fill. But in her typical fashion, she followed her creative impulses first which led her to a remote cabin in the geographical landscape of British Columbia where most of the writing of ‘For The Roses’ took place. Somewhat known as a confessional about her departing romances with James Taylor, beyond that, I think this album is one of, if not the most vulnerable in her catalogue. In ‘Cold Blue Steel And Sweet Fire,’ she doesn’t hold back descriptions of the ugliest side of ones’ heroin use; “edgy black cracks of the sky / pin-cushion prick / red water in the bathroom sink” personifying the underworld with “the shadow of lady release” saying “come with me, I know the way / she says it’s down down down the dark ladder.” In ‘Lesson In Survival,’ we get to know her better; “I know my needs / my sweet tumbleweed / I need more quiet times / by a river flowing / you and me, deep kisses and the sun going down.” That’s the thing about Joni; you never have to ask her what she ‘really’ means!

On perhaps one of her best songs (though there are many) ‘Blonde In The Bleachers,’ she strips away any sense of romantic idealism when she sings “you can’t hold the hand of a rock & roll man very long / or count on your plans with the rock & roll man very long / compete with the fans for your rock & roll man for very long / the girls and the bands and the rock & roll man.” Love songs to me are always better if they’re about the one who got away and I’ve always admired her musical timing & ability to ramble, having it all come together so naturally in her playing style. I had a number of her albums on permanent rotate in my Toyota corolla a few years ago, but I’m pretty sure it was this one (and perhaps some of ‘Court And Spark’) that partially blew the speakers.

The Wilderness of Manitoba release a new EP, Orono Park, on Monday and bring their superlative folk to London for two gigs next week – one at Thamesis on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday at The Slaughtered Lamb.

It’s been another sweaty 48 hours hidden away down in the disturbingly stuffy WWL Secret Bunker, but we’ve once again settled on a winner for this year’s Hg Prize! They will be amongst prestigious company – this third year of the prize follows wins by Emmy the Great and, more recently, Laura Marling. We had to choose this year’s winner from our twelve shortlisted acts: Adele, Matt Berry, Josienne Clarke, Cocknbullkid, Elbow, Emmy The Great, The Leisure Society, James Vincent McMorrow, Noah and the Whale, Rumer, Sound of Rum and Aaron Wright. It was a tight competition this year Adele and previous winner Emmy the Great coming very tightly into the runner-up spots. But one album stood out above the rest, making it the proud winner of our third annual award.

So a hearty congratulations then to Elbow, for their fantastic fifth album build a rocket boys! The win earns them our traditional prize of a pint of beer or cider of the band’s choice*! We’ll even extend our traditional offer to one pint per band member – no sharing for our winners!

With build a rocket boys! Elbow faced the toughest of temptations. Their last record, The Seldom Seen Kid, brought the band the success they had been worthy of since their first album was released way back in 2001. Thanks in part to a Mercury win and in part to the runaway success of their majestic single ‘One Day Like This’, the band found themselves with a whole new audience that ranged from melody loving kids to Radio 2 drivetime workers. Lesser bands have fallen to these temptations – Snow Patrol gave into arena rock after they came good with Final Straw. The difference between Athlete’s invigorating debut and their sophemore stadium sound is a little bit saddening.

But Elbow approached build a rocket boys! without any give or compromise – one gets the feeling the record would have been the same if Seldom Seen Kid had been heard by no-one beyond the band’s parents. It has all the elements of ‘One Day Like This’, only scattered across eleven songs. It also shares a musical history with the band’s earliest albums. The building of ideas – putting a song together step by step until something altogether bigger and more all-encompassing emerges. Try ‘The Night Will Always Win’ and ‘Lippy Kids’, both of which swell out of single repeated notes.

And yet despite all this granduer, and all the scope of the band’s music, they remain documentarians of the everyday. They are in many ways the contemporary musical equivalent of Raymond Carver – drawing from little events and small town life a strange beauty that makes you proud to be an everyman. ‘Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl’  could indeed by a Carver short story made into song; a song about having your girlfriend move in with you that is both hopeful and seemingly nostalgic for the relationship between vocalist Garvey and his house.

Much has been made of Garvey and his role within the band. Pitchfork decided that build a rocket boys! was the closest we’ve yet got to a Guy Garvey solo album, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. This is an album twenty years in the making – a band free at last to do whatever they want with their music, and then proving that they’ve been doing it all along anyway. Though Garvey is the voice of the band both aurally and lyrically (and few albums this year will be able to compete lyrically with his), the band are the driving force behind everything. It’s evident in their interviews and it’s visible when they share a stage. Most importantly though, it’s evident in the coming together of each song and every note.

Only time and many multiple listens will determine whether or not build a rocket boys! is Elbow’s best album. But in these last twelve months at least, it’s been the United Kingdom’s best album, and we congratulate them warmly on that.

Elbow’s fifth studio album, build a rocket boys! is out on Fiction Records. The band each win one pint of the beer or cider of their choice, and maybe a packet of scampi fries if there’s a packet available. If not, they’ll have to do with the pints. The Hg Prize will return next year, so you have ten months or so to guess the shortlist. Who will win a nomination in 2012? Laura Marling? Lisa Hannigan? The ginger one from Girls Aloud? All three, probably, if I have my way. Which I will. Because it’s my site.

One of the rumours currently floating about the internet this afternoon hints that with the James Bond film series back on track, Adele is recording the next movie’s theme. This rumour is one that makes us very happy. In fact, just yesterday we were listening to a song in the car thinking about all the different acts we’d approach to record Bond themes. For you reading pleasure this Saturday evening in the sun, we present Six Acts Who Should Record The Next Bond Theme.

Adele

She’s the centre of the rumour itself, yes. But for good reason – first, she’s apparently hinted at it herself on this evening’s pilot episode of Jonathan Ross’ new chat show. More importantly though, Adele is the perfect woman to sing a 21st century Bond theme. She embodies the vocal powers of Bond-Theme-Queen Shirley Bassey just as much as she does the intelligence and wit of Carly Simon (who is, of course, the mind behind the very best Bond song yet). In any doubt? Check out her collaboration/cover of Raconteurs’ ‘Many Shades Of Black’. Big, brassy, very rock but oh so soulful and – more importantly than anything else – incredibly fun. Everything, as it happens, that Jack White’s own addition to the canon didn’t offer.

Lucky Soul

Given James Bond’s British credentials, the call for a British act to take the helm of the next theme should be deafening. Sure, Adele would fill that need, but when it comes to British music our forté is intelligent pop songs, and Lucky Soul have these in abundance. They have an incredible understanding for big swinging ballady-themes and given that the current take on Bond has him as a young agent learning from his mistakes, what better song could there be than the band’s own ‘Coming Of Age’? Swooping and majestic with all the brash class Bond is renowned for.

Ennio Morricone

A little bit of a curveball here, I’ll admit. What’s been missing from recent efforts has been a sense of old-fashioned grandeur, though. It might have been a few years (decades, even) since Morricone produced the best of his work, but his very boldest moment – The Ecstacy Of Gold – still has such a power and dignity to it that adverts, sports events and Dr Who regularly use it for a bit of drama. Team our man Morricone up with a great modern lyricist (can we suggest Guy Chambers, who co-wrote the fantastic pseudo-Bond theme ‘Millenium’) and maybe that Adele lass again, and we predict he’d step right up to the plate and give the world another classic film score.

Cee Lo Green

Big soul, big vocals and – let’s face it – a big man. Cee Lo Green even opens his latest album with ‘The Lady Killer Theme’, which he introduces with the explanation that “When it comes to the ladies, I have a licence… to kill.” Amazing. Ignore the fantastic but entirely out-of-context dance hits he’s capable of. As invigorating as ‘Bright Lights, Bigger City’ might be on the sweaty dancefloor at 1 in the morning, it’ll never front the biggest film franchise in the world today. Take a step instead towards his slower and more honest soul songs. In our mind there hasn’t been a single song in the last twenty years as timelessly soulful as Old Fashioned. It plays with unnecessary grandeur, but never quite tips over, and features Green’s unbeatable vocals.

Pulp

Pulp actually wrote a Bond theme back in 1997 for the film Tomorrow Never Dies. It was an unfortunately subtle affair by Pulp standards, with only shimmering glimpses at the bombastic song we knew they were capable of giving the series. Sheryl Crow and k.d lang were chosen instead for the film and the song found eventual release as the B-Side to ‘Help The Aged’. At the same time, the album from which the single was taken gave us on of the best Bond themes we never had in title track ‘This Is Hardcore’. Slow and cool, yes. Understated, yes. But never anything less than a perfect title track for Mr. Bond.

Michael Bublé

As a general rule I don’t particularly listen to Michael Bublé. I’ve nothing against him – all evidence points to him being the nicest guy in music. I’ve just been subjected to the same three albums on far too many car journeys with my parents and sister, all of whom swoon over him as though he is some Rat-Pack inducing deity. Maybe he is. Certainly, though, his take on Ella Fitzgerald’s old torch song ‘Cry Me A River’ is an irresistable burst of big booming Bondiness. In fact, even if they don’t use him for the film, the first trailer should be snippets of the intense action Daniel Craig’s Bond is best at over the opening brass blasts of the song. Up until exactly thirty seconds, in fact, when the chord that acts as a micro-cosm for every bit of music ever associated to James Bond hits us like a heady cocktail. Mmmmmwwwannng, it goes. Mmmmmwwwannng.

For the post-summer return of Six Albums we’ve brought in one of the most exciting new folk acts in England today! That all sounds like a very generic way to introduce a band though, so let’s mix it up a little. When we were asked to help judge the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition earlier this year it was Treetop Flyers who went on to win. Their eventual sets at Glastonbury were about as riotious as folk gets without bringing the clogs out, and balanced the stomping fun of Mumford and Sons with the cheeky glint of a band as yet unburdened by the wider industry. That won’t last long, though – Treetop Flyers release their new single on Communion in a couple of weeks, and from there it’s just a short treetop fly to Folk Fame! Which is definitely a Real Thing.

Treetop Flyers’ Six Albums

The Beatles – Revolver Wherever I’m at and whoever I’m digging musically I always go back to this album. It’s quite simply the greatest record ever made. Everything is just bang on. It not only displays the amazing songwriting of Lennon and McCartney but the playing is out of this world. If you listen to ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ you’ll hear one of the greatest bass lines ever recorded. The words are all great, the harmonies are beautiful and the songs are just out of this world. Everything about this album is perfect. This one set the standard and I don’t think will ever be bettered.

The Band – The Band We love The Band. It amazes me the amount of people who still haven’t heard them. It takes you to a certain point in time and paints this beautiful picture, like that of a good book. Did I mention the music?! So many styles, such great playing and some of the most influential singing ever committed to a record. You think you can sing then you hear Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Richard Manuel belting out these insane harmonies and you realise you’ve still got a lot to learn. A timeless classic.

Van Morrison – Moondance This record encapsulates everything that is great about Van the Man. A huge mélange of styles and a complete collection of work..

Nobody sings like this guy, what a voice! Every note he sings you feel. Not only that you know he’s feeling every word too. The band back him up perfectly with serious understated soul power. It’s a hard task to blend so many different styles of music together but Van does it so effortlessly.

Bob Marley and The Wailers – Catch A Fire What a record! I used to listen to this record religiously everyday. It’s not simply reggae, it’s a completely unique sound that incorporates a huge range of influences from all around the globe played by Jamaicans. I can remember the first time I heard this record, it totally blew me away. The grooves! I’d never heard anyone play like it. The bass playing is unreal, to list but one of the contributing factors. The other great thing is it’s not all about Marley, it’s a Wailers record.

Fleetwood Mac – Then Play On This one has been a huge influence on us as a band. From the first notes it grabs you and takes you on a psychedelic blues journey. Peter Green’s tone will make you want to laugh and cry. His playing is not of this world, he managed to find his way into a part of the musical cosmos no one else had found before. The songs are brilliant, both vocally and instrumentally. Whilst Peter Green and Danny Kirwan are exchanging heart felt licks, John Mcvie and Mick Fleetwood are locked in so tight together. Aspiring bass players and drummers, TAKE NOTE. It’s such a shame that it wasn’t this album that catapulted them into stardom as this is Fleetwood Mac at their best.

James Taylor – Sweet Baby James Words cannot express how I feel about this man’s music but I will try. I remember listening to this when I was about 6 and it has stayed with me ever since. He crafts such amazing songs, so understated, so beautiful and so good! Never get bored of that trademark guitar style either. The band behind him are the best of the best and they really emphasize that less is more. You put this record on and it’s like he’s playing in your front room. The lyrics are so heartfelt. He has this great way of telling a story. So many different elements in his lyrics. There’s joy, depression, addiction, hope, heartache, and faith. This record pretty much taps into every human emotion there is. A real joy from start to finish.

Treetop Flyers release their new single ‘It’s About Time’ on Communion Records this September 18th. That’s, like, well soon.

Come back to me at the end of December and ask me what my biggest regret of 2011 is. It won’t be that I didn’t take advantage of the London riots and finally become caped crusader The Woodland Bear. It certainly won’t be that I didn’t eat enough bacon, because I’ll never have enough bacon. No, ask me my biggest regret of 2011 and I’ll answer thusly: “It’s that I didn’t go to End of the Road. Also, not enough bacon.”

End of the Road is, in my mind, the second best festival in the world after Glastonbury. Admittedly it’s not entirely fair to compare it to Glasto. One is the biggest musical event around, the other is 5000 people gathered amongst peacocks and parrots and listening to folk music. And when I put it like that, one seems significantly more tempting than the other. Still – just because we’re missing out, doesn’t mean you are. Here’s our round-up of the Unmissables at this year’s festival.

Dan Mangan

I had the pleasure some time back of interviewing Dan Mangan for FFS. He is officially The Most Likeable Musician You Probably Haven’t Heard Of. Like a strange crossbreed between Seth Rogen and Matthew Houck, Dan will warm over any crowd with a cheeky grin and an affable beard. Note that Dan has a tendency towards climbing into the crowd during set-closer ‘Robots’. If his Glasto set is anything to go by, he also loves him some Mr Whippy.

Phosphorescent

If Last.fm took into account vinyl plays, Phosphorescent would easily top my chart for Most Listened To. Every night before I settle into bed (and I really do settle, walking around on it in circles like a cumbersome dog) I put on the band’s wonderful LP ‘To Willie’. Whilst that album is entirely formed of Willie Nelson covers, their more recent effort ‘Here’s To Taking It Easy’ is very much their own. In a live setting the band will steal your heart – it was their EotR set last year that introduced me to them, and now I own three vinyl records of theirs, have seen them live again, and have promised myself to name any first-born child I might have Willie, so I can tell them that they are who the album is dedicated to.

John Grant

Recently voted the year’s best live act at the Mojo awards, John Grant catches you offguard when first he takes the stage. His strange and soft baritone should come from some gigantic fat man in a fusty old tweed suit. In fact, his remarkable debut ‘Queen of Denmark’ sounds as though it was recorded by someone who looks like the late Orson Welles. But then John Grant comes on stage, white-tee and sunglasses. Strangely glamourous. Beautifully sparse in his performance, there’s room for something special at EotR – his album backing band Midlake are also present, you know… talking of which…

Midlake

When I chose to see Midlake over Muse at Glasto 2010, I was widely scorned for being a fool. But why? Midlake are, in many ways, the thinking man’s Muse. They share a sense of drama, and for sweeping, epic songs. The only real difference is that whilst Muse write songs that sound like a teenage mathematician trying to work out the meaning of love using a guitar and the voice of the late Freddie Mercury, Midlake sing with soul and emotion and sadness and a real feeling of experience. And live, you ask? What are they like live? I don’t know words that will do that question justice. I could show you through interpretive dance, maybe, but you’re probably better off just trusting me on this one.

Laura Marling

Best night of music ever? I don’t know, actually. Sufjan was pretty special earlier this year. A couple of Folkroom gigs genuinely have a look in. But that Midlake night at Glasto, with Laura Marling as main support. That was something else, for sure. I was chatting with Laura Boyle last night about music, and influences and all those vague things. We were talking Marling. You know, there’s not enough women in folk music at the moment. Have a look over the full EotR line-up and you’ll notice they’re a gender in minority. Marling is changing all that, though. Her music alone almost makes up for the lack of internationally renowned modern folk women elsewhere (though there is one more to come, at least). But working in a small London folk gig, you really see the impact Laura Marling is having. Suddenly, from nowhere, dozens of girls with guitars making gorgeous music that is indebted, at various levels, to Laura and her unique voice. Laura Boyle said last night that it was Marling who inspired her to pick up a guitar. She’s one of hundreds (though perhaps one worth watching a little more intently).

Joanna Newsom

And then we have Joanna Newsom. Perhaps the most renowned woman in folk today after Laura Marling. Perhaps renowned further still. How many of her notoriously long songs Newsom will fit into her headline slot at the festival remains to be seen, but nobody is really going to mind as long as the bewitching voice and beguiling lyrics are all present and correct. There isn’t an act in the world today like Joanna Newsom, and you’d be a fool to miss her.

End of the Road is this weekend, and is sold-out, and I am bitter and resentful for not being one of those who made it so.