Ben Ray
Traditional folk music at its experimental best
Ben Ray finds Miranda Sykes’ latest release reaches dizzying new heights
OxFolk reviews: ‘March Glas’ by Elfen
Ben Ray is entranced by Elfen's debut release, giving a small insight into the joys of the Welsh folk music scene
The Transports at Cecil Sharp House
Ben Ray is carried away by an epic tale of transportation told through folk music and stories
OxFolk reviews: ‘Here We Go 1, 2, 3’
“Here we go, 1, 2, 3, hold your hands out to me…” so opens this beautifully formed album ‘Here We Go 1, 2, 3’...
Were the Nazis on drugs?
The Nazi regime was permeated with drugs, from morphine to heroin, taken by almost everyone in the Reich, from soldiers to housewives. This shocking...
OxFolk reviews: ‘Cold Old Fire’
There aren’t many folk groups that can claim to have originated in an ‘experimental psychedelic folk punk duo’, but then again Lynched, the self-styled...
OxFolk reviews: ‘a bit of blue’
There is something irresistibly lovable about Emily Maguire’s voice – it seems to swell silence the world around it, putting everything out of focus...
OxFolk reviews: Life in a Paper Boat
Ben Ray finds surprises in well-renowned folk musician Kate Rusby's new album Life in a Paper Boat
OxFolk Reviews: ‘Vortex’
Ben Ray reviews Methera's new album 'Vortex', and is swept away by their live Corpus performance
Jon Boden at the O2: Painted Lady and other folk
Ben Ray discusses folk music legend Jon Boden's latest album Painted Lady and performance at the O2 Academy
OxFolk Reviews: Faustus – Death and other Animals
Ben Ray looks at the UK folk three-piece's latest release
OxFolk Reviews: ‘Cycle’
If I’m being honest, Lady Maisery’s new album ‘Cycle’ came as a surprise to me not because of it’s accomplishment and beauty, but because...
OxFolk Reviews: ‘Bird’s Nest’
It isn’t often that you come across instrumental music that is so beautiful that each track feels like brushstrokes in a piece of artwork....
