As we turn the corner of the year, I find that I've already posted on, and generally interacted with, this little corner of the internet more regularly in the first six months of 2026 than in the entirety of both 2024 and 2025, something I'm quietly pleased about, particularly given that I've not really been in a great place for the last month or so. What strikes me though, leafing through my back pages, is that I've barely made mention of the records I've purchased or of the many gigs I've attended so far this year, an oversight on my part and something I'll attempt to rectify as we forge ahead through the second half of 2026.
Brown Wimpenny are a Manchester folk collective whose membership currently stands at 11, down from an earlier, somewhat daunting, 25. They've been playing live for over two years and finally released their debut LP last month, on the ever magnificent Broadside Hacks label. The record bursts at the seams with richly drawn characters, largely from the Northern English tradition, and is by turns angry, rambunctious or, in the case of Old Molly Metcalfe, really quite moving. This ancient tale of sheep-counting in the North Riding of Yorkshire is based upon an accappella piece by the late (and really bloody great) Jake Thackray, whose voice is heard in the song's introduction.
(As a bonus, I've included a 1971 BBC shiny floor clip of Old Molly Metcalfe from Jake, which is honestly worth four minutes of everyone's time).
1 comment:
Hope the place you are in gets lighter and brighter soon. And thanks for the Wimpenny/ Jake double bill. I like them both.
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