New Mixtape + Album Reviews, News and a new Off the Shelf
New Mixtape + Album Reviews, News and a new Off the Shelf
A new one-hour plus Mixtape taking in the best folk and experimental music, the latest bundle of album reviews from the KLOF Mag team, and the latest happenings.
Jun 05, 2026
4
The KLOF Team are amazing and they have been pulling out some great reviews this week. It’s been a busy time for releases, and the calibre of what I’ve been listening to is very high. Whilst we can never review all the albums I’d like covered, our Mixtapes and playlists help make up ground and further the reach of the artists we’re championing.
One of the albums I’ve really been enjoying recently (especially in the evening) is the latest offering from New Mexico banjoist Johnny Bell. Paid supporters will have read the message I got from Mike at Centripetal recently, but I was pretty touched by Johnny’s own comments in an email to me:
As a working dad with two young children, my music discovery time is limited, and I depend on publications like KLOF to filter through the noise and find new sounds worth exploring. Very grateful for all you do for listeners and music makers!
I’ve been doing this for so long now, over 22 years, and words like that still mean the world to me. I’m incredibly passionate about the music we feature, and words like that make it all worthwhile.
If you feel we make a difference, and you’d like to enjoy more of what we do by way of a regular weekly playlist, music recommendations, exclusive and advance articles, then now is a great time to consider becoming a paid member, as we are offering 20% off for 12 months. Your support also makes what we do happen.
New Mixtape: KLOF No. 86
Our latest Mixtape: KLOF No. 86 (Folk, Experimental, Alternative) is live now. It opens with Frankie Archer, whose new album “The Dance of Death” is out today, and runs past the hour mark through some of the best folk and experimental music. There’s fresh material from Zoh Amba, Simon Joyner and Johnny Bell, plus a near-fifteen-minute finale from Brown Wimpenny ( their debut is also out today ) that brings the whole thing to a close.
Along the way you’ll hear Iona Zajac, Stein Urheim, The Deadlians, Hack-Poets Guild, Naomi Alligator, Deer Scout, Cat Clyde & Jeremie Albino, Josh Kimbrough, Nora Brown, ann annie, Jonny Kearney & Lucy Farrell, Kinloch Nelson, Robert Wyatt, Maxine Funke and Lisa Knapp.
We’ve also included The Modern Folk’s “Automaton”, taken from “The Perilous Fight – Vol. 1: Justice for All”, a benefit compilation raising funds for the National Immigrant Justice Center.
An hour-plus of folk, drone, experimental music and the stranger corners in between.
Off the Shelf with MorganEve Swain
Ahead of The Huntress and Holder of Hands’s new album Babylon, MorganEve Swain opens up LadyBird Cottage to share ten objects and the stories behind them.
Our latest Off the Shelf guest is MorganEve Swain. Her latest musical project is The Huntress and Holder of Hands — one that phoenixed from the loss of her songwriter husband and musical partner, Dave Lamb ( Brown Bird) in 2014 — Babylon, their second album, drops this week on June 5th ( pre-order the album on Bandcamp).
Album Reviews
Johnny Bell – Mountain States
by Glenn Kimpton
“an excellent, wide-ranging and mercurial album with a deep sense of place.”
The imagery New Mexico banjoist Johnny Bell throws up on his first fully composed solo banjo album, Mountain States, is often along the lines of slow-moving, sun-scorched skylines, or a scorpion in a desert with its tail quivering. There is an element of unease and an underlying gravity running through this music that is a far cry from a more ambient style of country banjo music.
Zoh Amba – Eye’s Full
by Thomas Blake
“an album so complete and so accomplished that it’s hard to believe that it’s their first foray into songwriting.”
Zoh Amba has been making waves recently as a free jazz saxophonist in the same vein as Peter Brötzmann or Albert Ayler. With a reputation built on incendiary live performance, a list of high-profile collaborators, and a handful of critically acclaimed albums.
Deer Tick – Coin-O-Matic
by Danny Neill
“Top-drawer Americana, self-produced and unfiltered.”
Occasionally, when I am soaking up the contents of a new album and trying to articulate in writing an emotional response to what I hear, one word or thought may come to mind that perfectly illustrates both the music being played and how I feel about it. With Deer Tick‘s Coin-O-Matic, the word I keep returning to is ‘pure.’
Brown Wimpenny – Long Live Brown Wimpenny
by Thomas Blake
“They have created a folk music that resounds with originality and freshness.”
Brown Wimpenny formed in Manchester in 2023. Within weeks, their ranks had swelled to twenty-five, with members based in Liverpool and London.
Bedouine – Neon Summer Skin
by Danny Neill
“A record about the end of childhood and the ache of realising you weren’t ready for it.”
The extremely personal nature of this album is evident in the introduction to the song “ Canopies.”
Mary Stark & Monkshood: Ceremonial County Tapes Vol.XXIV – Cumbria | Wiltshire
by Thomas Blake
“The final tape in Folklore Tapes’ landmark series arrives as a family portrait.”
REXEN – The Chauffeur
by Danny Neill
“A restless maverick bends faintly sinister Americana into one new shape after another.”