The death of Mark Linkous on Saturday is a saddening reminder that for some musicians, it’s for real. He was one of a very few artists who are capable of creating beauty out of overwhelming despair – as he said himself, he only started to find his voice when he gave up on becoming a 
And so, having survived the icy wastelands of Yorkshire, Chimera Musica returns to the South Coast, only to find temperatures plummeting to hitherto unrecorded depths. The roads being too icy to drive, the sensible option is surely to take a moment of calm reflection, to evaluate some of the gems that were somehow missed in 
Rickie Lee Jones – Balm in Gilead (2009)
A perplexing, iconoclastic talent; responsible for one of the best and most heartbreaking albums of the eighties, or maybe any decade in “Pirates“, Rickie Lee Jones does exactly as she pleases with zero regard for the vulgar business of commerce. “Balm in Gilead” continues the return to form [...]
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions – Through The Devil Softly (2009)
For some, Hope Sandoval will always be synonymous with Mazzy Star, a band whose particular brand of opiated country balladry casts a long shadow down the years, making itself felt in the music of the Cowboy Junkies and more recently The XX, to name [...]
