Back in stock: Folk/Americana

Review: After Dinner is like one of those molecular gastronomy adventures, where dishes are both playful and highly complex, not necessarily revealing themselves until the very end. Done with talk of food? Let's just say this is a loose art collective led by a composer called Haco, who were concerned with taking musical plurality and splicing disparate elements together to create a kind of friendly Frankenstein's monster of sound.

And friendly it definitely is. Considered a true one-off of Japanese pop-art rock-avant garde, Paradise of Replica is jaunty, it's amusing, it's beguiling and, ultimately, incredibly immersive. There are moments where the clash of pianos plucked straight from a comedy of manners opera and rough electric guitars (to give one example of the juxtapositions) feel rather strange, but it doesn't take too long for you to get sucked right into the centre of this insane sonic universe.

Review: A reissue of a 1995 release from Texas songwriting great Guy Clark, this one gets a new mix from original co-producer Miles Wilkinson, restoring warmth and space to ten gorgeously plainspoken tracks. Clark's delivery is unhurried and unadorned, leaning on lived-in detail and dry wit, whether on the fiddle-laced resolve of 'Stuff That Works', the aching 'The Randall Knife', or the breezy storytelling of 'Baby Took A Limo To Memphis'. Cameos from Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Emmylou Harris and Darrell Scott add gentle texture, while the arrangements remain spare and acoustic-led, grounded in Clark's dry baritone and fingerpicked guitar. A quietly luminous return to one of Americana's most humane voices.

Review: Dando Shaft were a British folk rock band active during the early 70s, and at the time of the release of their debut self-titler, all seemed to be looking up. This is reflected in its sound as much, with the album combining original songwriting and a sunny acoustic disposition with regional folk musics, whether they hailed from or near their local Coventry, or the furthest-Eastern corners of the globe. Trading Places do well to reissue this one, as it's a time-honoured classic that does solid justice to Dando Shaft's cache as one of the foremost group figures in the English folk revival movement of the 1960s and 70s.

Review: Universally acclaimed British folk pioneers Fairport Convention had a remarkable rise to the top of a series of superb albums that came in quick succession. This, their fourth album, came in 1969 after the band was involved in a fatal car accident in which their drummer Martin Lamble was killed. Liege And Lief now gets reissued as it was back then and with its five traditional tracks sitting next to three originals in a folk style. It is the template they followed for many years after and the one that made them such a widely regarded band. The epic 'Matty Groves' is one of the band's most long-lasting anthems.

Review: Good things from those who wait, someone should have definitely said at some point. For Bill Fay, who had both the privilege and the nightmare of being able to choose from some 40 years of material to put this together. Amazingly only his third LP, arriving 50 years after his debut, at 76-years-young he has clearly mastered the art of keeping things simple in order to be truly, staggeringly powerful. It's unforgettable stuff to say the least. Tender vocals, gentile guitar, delicate pianos and little more, aside from some incredibly evocative lyrics. Works such as "I Will Remain Here" and the title track summarise Fay in many ways. Songs about ancient, mysterious places and histories imagined and real, our poet-cum-troubadour acting as both guide and accomplice to the act of marvelling at it all. Records like this literally don't come along everyday, and we should treasure every moment of them.

Review: For his new album, New York's anti-folk hero Jeffrey Lewis headed to record in Nashville with Roger Mountenot (long-time producer of Yo La Tengo, and the previous Jeffrey Lewis album Bad Wiring!). With the Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage band in-tow, the album carries on in the rambling sharp-witted, irreverent style that he's known for. Afterall with the album cover, he's nakedly re-staged The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan cover to prove he's "even more" freewhellin than Bob!, so you can understand that Lewis isn't taking life too seriously. The chorus to 'Sometimes Life Hits You' is "Ow! F*ck that hurt!". And 'Just Fun' is a playful, self deprecating ode to dating, whereby getting the jokes in about himself before someone else does he sounds stronger and more comfortable in his skin than any macho man ever would.

Review: The latest missive in the evocative and open-minded Late Night Tales series comes from Agnes Obel, a Danish singer/songwriter whose fragile, pastoral songs seemingly join the dots between traditional folk music, neo-classical and early music. Fittingly, Obel's selections, while more diverse than many may have expected - see the soulful reggae throb of Nora Dean, the creepy jazz of Yello's "Great Mission" and the whispered synth-pop shuffle of Lena Platanos - are every bit as atmospheric and ethereal as her own work. It helps that she's included several of her own compositions, alongside inspired cuts that touch on Berlin School ambient, hazy easy listening, neo-classical, psychedelia, lo-fi art rock and, of course, folk.

Review: When members of mega-bands work with relatively obscurer artists, we're always intrigued. But a potential trapping factor is in thinking Jarak Qaribak, for example, is more of a Jonny Greenwood album than a Dudu Tassa one, when in fact the exact opposite is the case. Tassa, an Israeli singer-guitarist who fuses Middle Eastern stylings with contemporary rock, lends a challenging structural terrain to the Radiohead member's electric guitar licks, with the former's Arabic and Hebrew lyrics moving atmospherically against them. A star cast of fellow Israeli artists accompany the pair, as serene vocal beat-driven movements plod and swell away in an appealingly nu-proggy fashion.

Review: The American musician and guitarist newest album is a collection of compositions that balance melancholia with quiet defiance. From the disorienting, tape-warped opening moments to the album's delicate final waltz, Tyler crafts an introspective instrumental landscape where the past and present converge. 'Cabin Six' starts with a hazy, found-sound texture, its distant hum of static giving way to Tyler's contemplative guitar. It's a track that feels suspended in time, evoking the isolation of its recording process. 'Concern', in contrast, unfurls a luminous melody atop warm strings, the steel guitar lifting the piece into a realm of understated grandeur. It's among Tyler's most affecting compositions, a quiet affirmation amid uncertainty. On 'Star of Hope', the album's spiritual centerpiece, an AM radio-sourced hymn weaves into Tyler's delicate loops, creating a ghostly, celestial resonance. The interplay between organic and electronic texturesitape hiss, processed echoesigrounds the track in a space both intimate and otherworldly. 'Electric Lake' shimmers with ecstatic drone, its weightless progression nodding to La Monte Young, while 'Howling' sways between ambient pastoralism and an undercurrent of discord, its background noise a restless specter. The album closes with 'Held', a sigh of relief wrapped in a gentle acoustic waltz. The ever-present tape warble lingers, a reminder of unease, but Tyler leans into beauty. Time Indefinite is a triumph of instrumental storytellingione of quiet reckoning, but also persistence, offering solace in its hypnotic, evocative swells.

Review: Neil Young's return to this 1977-recorded "lost" collection of songs feels like a snapshot of an artist in transition, navigating between the raw edges of his 70s output and the more polished direction he would take in the years to come. Recorded between Florida's Triad Studios and Malibu's Indigo, the tracks resonate with a kind of unforced authenticity that's increasingly rare in modern music. You'll know some of these tunes - the majority did turn up in other LP tracklistings eventually - but re-pieced together it's clear there's a quiet confidence here, as if Young, unburdened by the pressures of commercial expectation, was simply allowing the music to flow out. Opening with the delicate 'Sail Away,' Young sets a tone that's both intimate and expansive, a rare combination that permeates the entire set. 'Lost In Space' follows, its understated melancholy giving way to moments of real tenderness, as though Young was channeling something deeply personal without ever letting it feel too heavy. The rolling 'Captain Kennedy' showcases his gift for storytelling, while 'Goin' Back' and 'Human Highway' bring with them echoes of past greatness, weaving themes of reflection and longing with his signature mix of folk and country. By the time 'Pocahontas' rolls around, it's clear that the collection, though rough around the edges, forms a cohesive whole, a snapshot of Young's restless creativity and unflinching approach to songwriting.

Review: This is the great Neil Young's latest "lost" album, now released as part of his Analog Original Series. Recorded between May and December 1977, it precedes Comes A Time from 1978 but it also shares its country and folk sound. Three tracksi'Goin' Back,' 'Human Highway' and 'Field of Opportunity' appear on both albums in fact. This vinyl release reflects the album's original planned tracklist and 'Oceanside' finds Young perform solo, while 'Countryside' features collaborators like Ben Keith, Rufus Thibodeaux and Levon Helm. Some tracks differ from Archives Vol. III, with original versions of 'Field of Opportunity' and 'Dance Dance Dance' featuring Young's backing vocals.