Nickie’s Niches #39: March 2025

Artist Song Time Album Year Martin Springett The Garden’s of Al Rassan / Garden 1 4:26 Bright Weaving 2015 Cynefin Cwm Altcafan 4:56 Shimli 2025 Polky Rutka (feat. Basset) 4:18 Single 2024 Marry Waterson & Adrian Crowley Watching The Starlings 3:23 Cuckoo Storm 2024 Paul Sadler Stowaway 6:49 The Irrational EP 2025 Daria Kulesh Lully Lullay 6:15 Motherland 2023 Jim Ghedi The Seasons 2:46 Wasteland 2025 Maud The Moth Despeñaperros 9:36 The Distaff 2025 2025 Tyler Kamen Charming King Snake 4:09 Third Eye Temple 2025 Corde Oblique Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde 7:04 Cries and Whispers 2025 Jonathan Hultén Afterlife 4:07 Eyes Of The Living Night 2025 Bright Weaving by Martin Springett favorite track The Garden’s of Al Rassan / Garden 1 Martin Springett returns with this beautifully layered release, inspired by a fantasy trilogy that he designed the cover for in the 1980s (“Fionavar Tapestry,” by Guy Gavriel Kay). In a world music vein, ornately presented with acoustic and electric guitars, fretless bass, various percussive instruments, violin, cello, and regular and bansuri flutes. It’s a lovely journey and may lead you to seek out the books, as well. Shimli by Cynefin favorite track Cwm Altcafan Welsh singer/songwriter Owen Shiers brings us this stunning new release. A cultural historian, this is actually the second part of a project that began as a musical map of his home county. This one studies the crossroads where music, poetry, and nature converge. His gorgeous voice and the spare production provide the perfect pastoral setting for these tunes. A wonderful booklet accompanies even the download version, providing historical context. RUTKA by Polky, Basset Polky are based in Canada and draw on folk music of Poland, infused with Americana accents. They highlight dissonant vocal harmonies and traditional and modern instruments. This piece is about a woman planting rue, and realizing that love may never come to her, and she is not sad about it. Many women were persecuted as witches for planting herbs and the like in Poland over the centuries, as elsewhere. This song celebrates the quiet strength of such women. Cuckoo Storm by Marry Waterson & Adrian Crowley favorite track Watching The Starlings Marry Waterson’s rich musical lineage (being part of the Waterson/Knight/...