Smoke Fairies...

I've been sitting on this one for a while. I don't know why I haven't listened to it as much as I have in the last month, but it's my favorite thing I bought this year that's new. Smoke Fairies are a British band who sound like they could have fit in with 60's folk groups like Pentangle, Fairport Convention, Linda Thompson, etc. But it's an interesting meeting of gentle British folk music and some swampy blues. Weird. But it works. There is no filler on this album, every track is stellar top shelf stuff. Plus, it comes with a bonus CD with alternate takes of tracks off the album and a couple non album extras. This is the US version of this album, which came out in 2011, so it definitely makes the top of my top 10 albums of the year. Jessica Davies and Katherine Blamire's voices are almost the same, one is a little deeper, so when they harmonize, it's really haunting sounding. A great album for playing at night, the spooky, melancholic sounds have been my soundtrack many a night on the bus, or walking home from a show by myself. Highest recommendation that you purchase this right away. Like I said before, there are no filler songs on here, but "Dragon", "Storm Song", "Feeling Is Turning Blue", and "Human Concerns" warrant multiple listens.

Two CD's (packaged as one) equals 17 songs which makes the count at 17896....