It was the hottest day of the year so far. Well, it certainly felt like it as I crossed into the wilds of south east London for the second time in a weekend. The sun was out, the pretty girls were out and I was heading back to the pub. I'd felt strangely drawn to return, and, unusually for me, it wasn't for the beer. No, I'd returned to the fox for another day of fun and new music at Foxfest 2009. I hadn't intended coming to both days, but I'd had such a good time the previous day that I'd already decided I was coming back even before I'd left the night before.

I arrived earlier than I had the previous day, as I didn't want to miss as much as I had the previous day, but, even though the start had been delayed by about an hour, I still managed to miss Jamie Commons. But I did manage to catch most of Dune Lake's set. As before, I'm writing this from a combination of the notes I made and listening to the various myspace pages. I simply wrote "Amazing voice, versatile band" for Dune Lake. And now as I listen to their music on their myspace page, I am reminded of their set. They play a suprisingly wide range of styles - some bluesy, some rock and roll and others such as the ethereal "Twilight", are so utterly gorgeous, you stand and listen hoping that they will stay on the stage for just that bit longer. Again, for a second time, I had the good fortune to arrive to a fantastic set. Perfect. The crowd thought so too.

Next up on the acoustic stage was Kate Weston, who delighted us all with a wonderful performance of classical guitar playing. I'll have to admit that my knowledge of styles of guitar playing is limited, so I really can't describe it too well, but for those of us who listened, it was an absolute pleasure. Despite some obvious nerves, she played beautifully, and thankfully, Johnny quietened the back of the room down while she played, as the noise was starting to overwhelm her music. That would have been a real shame, as this was a first for me; to hear such delicately crafted music performed so well in a pub was a real treat. Another great performance.

One of the reasons I enjoyed the previous day so much was the range of different musical styles, and already I'd heard a few, so it was no real surprise that the dynamic changed once more for the next act on the other stage, the wonderfully poptastic Yokoko. I'd had a conversation earlier where I expressed my disdain for pop acts. But I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this band. It must have been about four o'clock when they came on stage, if not earlier. I'm not used to dancing in pubs at this time, but I found myself dancing about to Yokoko's music as if it were compulsary. As I bopped up and down, I was reminded of St. Etienne's finer moments. It's a rare skill writing and performing this kind of music and they have it in spades. As they finished their last number, it was impossible to notice the grins on everyone's faces. Brilliant brilliant fun.

So, back to the other end of the pub for the next set by Vienna. I enjoyed this a lot. Each song she played, every word she sang, I found myself brought closer to the edge of my seat. She has an amazing tautness in her voice, that really conveys every emotion in her songs to a point that somehow you begin to feel her music rather than just listen to it. For the second half of her set she was joined by her sister, Lydia, on the cello. And what a masterstroke that was. All that was brilliant before was simply made better. I caught up with her later, and told her how much I enjoyed her music. After thanking me, she seemed much more interested in how I thought her sister did. She was so proud of her, and rightly so, and incredibly modest about her own performance. A truly memorable moment from two incredibly talented sisters.

Clay Pigeon were up next. And another storming performance. They play a fairly unique style. Unique for today at least, as they bring together some interesting styles, ska, hip hop, punk and reggae, which at times reminded me of the Red Wedge era, which is no bad thing. But what a way they played it. With passion, excitement and above all plenty of noise, this was like listening to Mike Patten duetting with Billy Bragg. On acid. No, really. Have a listen for yourself.

Next up on the acoustic stage was Dexy. On a weekend of superlatives, I feel almost guilty so say that this was probably my least favourite performance of the day. That's not to say there was no merit to his performance, but for some reason or another, it didn't hold me as much as I'd hoped. It probably didn't help that he was sandwiched between two great bands - the aforementioned Clay Pigeon and the rather excellent Witches. I loved them so much I bought the t-shirt. And I never buy band t-shirts. I think they saw me coming. I'd just seen them on stage. I staggered out into the garden, looking for their CD. Breathless and excited I pointed to it proffering a sweaty tenner. "You get a t-shirt with the album for an extra couple of quid", I was told. Bargain.

I wore that t-shirt the next day at work. I wore that t-shirt as I listened to their album while I worked. At times, a little like Arcade Fire, but at times nothing like them, they have an imperious presence on stage that simply blew me away. I will definitely catch them again. They'd better have a different t-shirt on sale by then.

Now, I don't like saxaphones as a rule. So my heart sank a bit as the next act was introduced on the acoustic stage. Adam and the Jazz Daddy. Nice. I'd seen Adam the previous night playing drums with Breton. He'd been rather excellent then, but it was today's performance that showed off his brilliance on the drums. But this wasn't just about the drums. This was about some spectacularly smart jazz. I have no idea what the Jazz Daddy's real name is, and it really doesn't matter. His sax playing spoke for itself and I ate my own words about saxophonists. This was sensational stuff. A whole new experience for me, as I don't usually go in for jazz. Unbelievable. This festival gets better and better...

Which brings me to the next act. A beat box. We were told in his introduction that he would be competing in the world beatbox championship. I wasn't impressed. And that he'd be at glastonbury. I wasn't impressed by this news either. If Jazz isn't my thing, I can tell you that I don't do beatbox dudes. So, unusually for me, I couldn't be bothered getting up and walking to the stage as Reeps One started. I'm not even going to bother trying to describe the performance. But this was awesome. Unbelievably awesome. The crowd went nuts. And rightly so. Utterly brilliant.

I sadly missed the next act, The New Happiness as I, along with a number of other foxfesters did that day, went out in search of dirty chicken dinners. We shall speak no more of this as it was indeed dirty. With questionable chicken content. I missed quite a bit of Stuart O'Connor's too sadly. But what I heard I really enjoyed. There was an amazing variety in the songs, and it was great to see the double bass on stage. And then at the end he was joined by the Jazz Daddy. I was a bit of a new fan of him now, so this rounded of the set nicely. I wish I'd caught the whole set.

The day before I'd seen Matt Daley do some pretty cool things with the loop pedal. The Android Angel did things with loops I'd never heard before. The Android Angel is Paul Colto. He's only been doing this for about 6 months, according to his website, which is pretty amazing. A very unique performance, he brings a tremendous sense of fun to the stage that is really engaging. His final number ended with some crowd participation. He went around the audience handing out various pieces of percussion. I was desparately disappointed I didn't get anything to play myself! A really run ending to a great set.

Next up were a band called the Scaredy Cats a Ska Funk band. They weren't bad, and those in the crowd certainly had a good time dancing to their tunes. One of the guys in the band was wearing an England football shirt. This got me to thinking; what is it about Ska that really hits the right notes with the English? Not sure I had the answer to that one. Perhaps someone can enlighten me some day...

It hadn't been long since we'd been collectively blown away by Reeps One, so there was an audible murmur of anticipation from the crowd as he returned to the stage with Squab. Formed from two members of Clay Pigeon, this is a new project. Two guitarists and a beatbox. It's not something you often see or hear. And it's not something I would have raced along to see had it been described to me in that way. But this was really good. By this time, I think it's fair to say that Reeps One had established himself as a firm crowd favourite. And rightly so. I will definitely be trying to find him at Glastonbury. Foxfest had delivered again. This really was an embarassment of musical richness. And all for 6 quid!!

Johnny gave a great introduction to the next act Up-C Down-C. He told us that when he'd seen them for the first time, they had blown him clean out of his converse (at least he kept to the musical theme for an introduction, as I recall Clare seeming to be a fan of someone's sexy arse earlier in the day). This sounded interesting, so I moved up towards the front of the stage. I think I had a pretty good idea what was coming next as I looked at the vast array of effects pedals, and the Orange amp. I looked around and realised everyone else wasn't quite so close as I was. Maybe they knew something I didn't. As the band kicked off, it was patently obvious that they did indeed know something I didn't. This was loud. Very very loud. But awesomely good. They're a four piece instrumental rock band from Gillingham, in the mould of Mogwai, who I've seen before but I didn't have the opportunity to get as close to them as I was to Up-C Down-C. I'm not sure if this was an entirely good idea however, as I don't think my ears actually recovered until Tuesday. I nearly fell over laughing when a chap stuck his head right in front of one of the amps trying to take a photo. He spun away reeling in pain. But this wasn't a painful performance. They've written some amazingly powerful and moving songs. I loved every second. And the two quid for the CD was a bargain.

We were coming up to the finale of the night, but first up was Heath over on the acoustic stage. Like Their Hearts Were Full of Spring last night, this was a performance that was fun, endearing, and so so good. He's a real crowd favourite here and you can see why. Fantastic stage presence with a great sense of humour, he brought the crowd to fever pitch. I double took when I saw the crowd surfing. Yes, crowd surfing. In the fox. Totally unbelievable. As was the cover of Bohemian Rhapsody. He's a bit of a foxfest regular so I'm lead to believe. And that's understandable, I can't wait to see him again next year myself! This really should have been the final act of the night, as it ended with all the laughter and smiles that made this weekend so endearing. But there was one more band to come.

King of Conspiracy gave the final performance of the night. But somehow, it just didn't feel right after Heath. Don't get me wrong, I love a loud tight band, and this was a great performance for sure. But I couldn't help feeling that Heath should have ended it, not them. I looked around me, and I think a number of other people felt the same. There were less people, and we were all a little muted. That was a bit of a pity, as I think I'd still like to give them another listen.

So there it was. My first foxfest. All over until next year. You will not believe how much I have bored people telling them how good the whole event was. But it really was that good. Believe me. Go next year if you can. You will not regret it for a moment.

I've got a feeling that in the time of writing this and the next articles I will have become myspace friends and/or fans of a few more people. It will be useful to do at the very least as I think I'm going to struggle to remember who was on. Luckily, with the help of the flyer from the festival, the notes I made and the rather helpful live blog that Dan made at the time, I think I'll piece it all together.

First a big apology to the acts I missed at the start of the fest. They are in no particular order Heath, Let Our Enemies Beware, Grim Hilde, Shaun Grimsley, Wonk Unit, Monkish, Glass and 23 Frames . Bugger. Now I write them all down like this, I realise I missed quite a lot. Must try harder next year...

Well, I would have arrived earlier if:

a) I'd not been up late with some friends who'd crashed over at mine
b) I'd have got my act together earlier, and not lay around in bed vainly trying to catch up from the night before, but most irritatingly,
c) The fact that I'd circled the immediate vicinity of the venue a number of times looking for a parking spot.

Actually I think I may have heard a little of Glass and then later 23 Frames as I waited at the traffic lights. But Jane didn't help the performance telling me I had reached my destination over and over again. God she can be so irritating. Only this time instead of it being perfectly obvious that I had reached my destination by looking out the window, I could also hear it. But to no avail. No parking to be had. Not anywhere near though. So round and round I went as the clock ticked by. And Jane kept talking...

But I was lucky. Very lucky as it turned out as I walked in as Miss Jo Williams was performing on the acoustic stage. What a start to my fest. The crowd was hushed and attentive listening to what was for me an exceptional start to an exceptional event. Her voice has a beguiling quality, tremendously expressive and beautiful, backed by some simple well executed guitar playing. I walked over to the bar, bought a drink and was captivated. I knew that this was going to be a brilliant evening. Thanks Jo.

It's at this point I then got the idea of how the venue worked. Two stages at either end of the pub. One is the acoustic stage and the other is er... the not acoustic stage. So up on this other stage was Hindley. I confess I didn't see much of them as I remained at the other side of the pub chatting. But they sounded pretty decent from where I was sat. What made this possible for me was discovering that there was a big screen to see the band if you couldn't be bothered walking all of 10 yards forward to see the bands. So lazy...

Back at the acoustic stage, was Robert Rorison. I didn't need to move to see him, which was good, but I quickly discovered that this wasn't a venue to be lazy in. You might think that you'd found the best place to settle down to listen to a set, but no sooner had you found it then someone stood in the way. So, up on my feet to catch his act, which I enjoyed. Some great songs of his own with some quality covers thrown in for good measure.

Next up were David Goo and the Variety Band. Now this is interesting. I know I enjoyed this. A lot. But my notes read something along of "Goo: A lot of fun". Hmmm. Well I know they were a lot of fun. I had my first dance of the day to them. I loved them - it was certainly not what I expected. It's one of those ones I think that's best left by saying go see them for yourself. It says on their website they'll be at Glastonbury. I'll try and catch them there for sure. I'm sure they'll be even better with a few ciders down the hatch...

Back to the acoustic stage for Clare Portman. I said in a previous post that I couldn't wait to see her perform. So, it was with much anticipation that I stood and listened to a really quite breathtaking set. I've listened to her album Little Red quite a lot recently, so it was nice to hear some new material (new to me at least - she's very popular in these parts). I loved her two new songs, one of which she wrote for her best friend, which was really touching as she stood there and listened. Her cover of "I drove all night" was also quite superb. But it was all over too quickly. Even when she found that she had time for a quick encore by popular request. Was it worth the wait? You bet. Can't wait to see her again.

Next up were the unfortunate Ocarina. Unfortunate? Well, only in my mind I guess. But I think they were going to struggle to compete with the previous act. But that's not fair on them at all. They were in actual fact one of the most orginal, innovative bands I'd seen over the two days. How to describe them? Their myspace page describes their music as Trip Hop / Breakbeat / Psychedelic. What they don't say is that they do it with some rather delightful strings. I have to be entirely honest here, I didn't actually get it that much at the time, but now I'm listening to their music as I write this, I want to try them again. Follow the link and give them a listen.

Back to the acoustic stage. So, you'll get the picture now, it's quite metronomic. Almost hypnotic. Back and forth. One stage to the other. But it all works. All festivals should do this. No hanging about. Just turn around and watch the next act. Let me tell you, the crew at the fox are truly awesome. Good work guys. So, Matt Daley begins playing. And what a set this is. Brilliant and enjoyable use of the loop pedal. Nice soothing reggae. Lovely.

The thing I really enjoyed about this fest was the breadth of talent that was on show. And I loved the way the lineup was put toether so that you never became too comfortable listening to one style of music. Just as the nice warm feeling that Matt gave us was really beginning to take hold, Bleech kicked in. A really exciting three piece that are beginning to get some real attention they are Jennifer on Guitar and vocals, Matt on drums and Katherine on Bass. The thing that struck me most was that they were as visually appealing as their music was enthralling. Jennifer's tangled hair masking her face as she powered through the songs with a real old school rock attitude, whilst Katherine the bleached blonde barefoot bassist marched up and down. Matt not wanting to be forgotten provided the entertainment between the songs. The stand out song for me was "Is it true that boys don't cry", a real indie box of delights. Go see them if you get the chance.

Guess what happened next? We turned around, back to the acoustic stage for Russell Joslin. The set didn't get off to a good start for Russell as he broke a string. It took a little while to sort out, but it wasn't a problem. These things happen. It was however, a difficult performance to listen to. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was me, but he seemed a bit uncomfortable on the stage. I'm listening to his music now on his myspace page and I have to say I'm enjoying it. So it's not the song writing that I didn't like (give them a listen, they're good). I don't know. Maybe it's the flip side of the different music styles that were on display - maybe after Bleech I couldn't quite get into Russell's particular groove. But I think, judging by the reception of the now large crowd in the fox, I was in a very small minority.

The next band Ten City Nation were special. Really special. A brilliant noisy, spectacular 3 piece. Tremendously energetic, with some great tunes they really took the roof off. And what a perfect venue to see them, as Seymour, their guitarist went nuts. Quality. As I watched them, I was drawn into wondering how he'd met Mike the bassist. As two opposite looking people as you could see in a band. Seymour, the lithe geeky looking guitarist with the wedge and the glasses, jumping up and down, falling around, struggling to stay on the stage, standing next to Mike, the tall much more robust bassist. Both feet planted firmly on the ground at all times. All held together by some top drumming by Neil. Superb. Not sure why I didn't buy their album for a quid. No bother I downloaded it from their website. Although it's not a patch on the way they play live. I might even go see them again tomorrow.

So, once more back to the acoustic stage. But this next band wasn't acoustic. Oh no. Breton were no such thing. Well, discounting the drummer. Which I guess was acoustic. Kind of. But the other two were knob twiddling. No other words for it, but unlike Justice they play their stuff very very live. I am told that this was very much experimental for them, as I was lead to believe that they really do play guitars and stuff, but by jove this was good. I've seen Holy Fuck a couple of times, and they're pretty damned good at this kind of stuff, but they've been doing it for years. So if this really was an off the cuff performance from these boys then this really was sensational. Somehow they even kept it together when the drum kit appeared to fall apart in the middle of the set. Fantastic beats, searing bass, and skillfull tight drumming made this the stand out performance of the night for me. Totally unexpected, and the crowd went absolutely nuts for it.

It was coming up to the end of a long day, and I think a lot of people were beginning to feel the pace, so it was perfect timing to have Breton do their thing. Because I think this was the band that people here were waiting for. They're called Their Hearts Were Full of Spring and are quite clearly a crowd favourite here. And rightly so. A tremendously delicious band to look at, they really deserved their top billing tonight. With fantastic songs played with real passion and perhaps more importantly, with a great sense of fun, the band ended the night on the greatest of highs. So many smiles, with love and laughter passing between the band and the crowd, this was something to see. Something you might only see at something like foxfest. What a way to end the night.

Think of the best festival experience you've ever had. What made it special? Was it the people you were with? The music? Or was it just that you were in the right place at the right time?

Now think of the best party you've ever been to. What made that special? What made you stay? Did you fall about laughing after having drunk too much? Or was it just that you had such the best time with all the people you know and love, that you truly couldn't think of a better place to be?

Now imagine a pub in South East London. Think of somewhere that's not so glamorous, what some people might describe as off the beaten track. Walk past a friendly security man at the front. It's dark. It's full of people. As your eyes become accustomed to the light, you can see at the back of the room a stage. Someone's singing. But you can't see anyone on the stage at the far end. She's got a stunning voice. So beautiful. Slowly you turn around to the other stage. You're not expecting that, but there sat on a stool is the source of the music. Captivated, you slowly turn around. There's a tap on your shoulder, a big hello and a huge hug from a friend. The music stops. Applause. Genuine affection for the artist from the audience. At the back of the room, there's a man on the microphone on the other stage. He's calling you over to listen to the next act. Another band begins to play...

You've arrived at Foxfest. The best festival you've ever been to. A weekend party like no other. It's all of these things. Yet something much more. It's a work of unadulterated love brought to you by an unbelievably talented and passionate group of musicians, artists and friends. Never in my life have I felt so privileged to have seen and heard so much talent in a single weekend. Never have I been to a festival where the artists are the audience; where time and again these artists are greeted with such enthusiasm that it genuinely took my breath away.

Stay a little longer and you'll discover why. This really is one big family party you've come to. Look around and you'll soon discover that everyone seems to know each other. The crew on the sound desk, the hosts, the photographers, the videographers, the bands, the bar staff, the bloggers, technicians and security.

This whole thing is an labour of love; love for music, love for friends and a love for building a true artistic community, of which I was unaware of until but a few weeks ago. It's based around the Fox and Firkin (or just plain "The Fox" to it's friends), together with an internet radio station Kooba Radio, (and the recently launched Kooba TV). In some way or another, seemingly everyone I spoke to had a connection with one or the other and almost always both.

And not a single big ego to be seen, which is remarkable as there's some big talent on show throughout the weekend. And not just on the stages. This was an immensely well organised event. Nearly 40 acts on two stages over two days is not easy to organise. And it went off perfectly. For that alone, I stand in admiration of Carl, who brought it all together.

And then there's the music. If I were to say that this was an unsigned band festival, then it would not quite convey the sheer breadth of music that was performed. This wasn't a homogeneous indie line up, with identikit indie bands wearing matching skinny jeans performing the same tunes one after the other. Far from it.

We had punk bands, signer songwriters, electronica, beatbox, ska, pop, reggae, rock, jazz, folk, classical and indie. We had guitars, we had trumpets, we had cellos, basses and violins. There were horns and saxes. There were drums, xylophones, tambourines, maraccas. Cowbells and triangles. Soft words and screams. Sweet harmonies and harsh discordant cries from the heart.

I can honestly say that there was not one bad performance out of the probably 30 or so that I saw (I sadly missed a few). Think about that for a moment. Every band, every artist was memorable and I hope to write some more about them all in later articles.

We'll all go to other festivals, other gigs. We'll see great bands. We'll see some amazing sights. We'll have great times with our friends. But none of them, not one, will ever be quite as good as this.

My thanks to all at the Fox and all involved with Kooba Radio and TV for letting me into your wonderful community. It was a truly jaw dropping experience from beginning to end.

Please can I come again next year?

Full band reviews for Saturday can be found here and Sunday's bands are reviewed here.

Odd one this. I've never reviewed 2 gigs at the same time. I'm not sure it's ever been attempted before. Maybe this is a world first. I do hope so as it's always good to be the first to do something.

Anyway. Its probably pertinent to answer the question as to why I'm reviewing both gigs at the same time. There are many reasons, but I guess the one that needs to be addressed first is the one that sticks in my craw the most. On the way home from the koko gig I was mugged. Nothing violent. No harm done. But it still sucked. I'd had a great time at the gig, and I was planning to write it up on the way back. But then calling the police kind of got in the way. And somehow I never got to write the review. And not a single one since. I'm not using it as an excuse. How can I? But from that point on, I never kept this blog up to date. An excuse? Who knows.

But I rememeber that night just under a year ago. I was never lucky enough to see Husker Du. I was stupid enough to miss Sugar at the Manchester Academy all those years ago. But how I love Bob Mould's music. One of the true greats of music, despite pushing 50; a legend, an innovator and an inspiration to the following generation of musicians and artists to follow. If you don't believe me just google his name.

This year (2009), he celebrates the 20th anniverary of his debut solo album "Workbook". Tempted as I am to review this album and many others, i'll leave it at this; he has a whole lifetime of songs to choose from when he performs. He's a true talent as a performing artist, but more importantly as a singer songwriter.

But for me, a fan who owns as many of his recordings as I can get hold of, and a veteran of a few of his gigs, a dichotomy emerges. Hearing the man play with a small focussed well rehearsed band is an experience for which I have yet to find a match. Songs crash into one another like a relentless east coast storm. No break between the songs. Every one as taut and strained as the last. A masterpiece of simple, plaintive songwriting. But all of them, without exception driven by the quick syncopated fusion of bass and drums, topped off with a sweat soaked wall of sound from quick driven guitars that came to define the sound of post punk rock in the 90s.

And in hearing it performed by Mould and his band is something to hear. Loud. Tight. Relentless. I honestly can't compare something to Bob Mould when he's on the edge with a well rehearsed band. And at Koko, he went back to some of the material he'd previously refused to play. The set took us through the Husker Du years, through Workbook, Black Sheets of Rain, the Sugar Years, and ending with his then most recent album District Line. Of the Husker Du material, "I apologize" was the stand out song of a truly stunning encore. There was no coming back from this performance for me. It was the end of it all, the retirement speech. End of the line. No more.

But he wasn't done. Then there was the album "Life and Times". The album and supporting tour was announced on his blog with the lines "Yes. There's a new album. Yes, there's going to be a tour. Yes, there will be a band". I bought the tickets the day they were released.

I'd emailed a friend earlier in the day hoping that he was coming with a band. I knew there wasn't a band deep down. I'd seen him a couple of times before without one. They weren't good. And so I walked throught the doors a little late, a little drunk and very optimistic that I'd be wrong. I heard the voice. I heard the guitar.

Good.

And then I listened for the bass. The drums, and the tightness, the togetherness, and most importantly,the songs I love.

I heard Bob. I heard the guitar. I walked in, disappointed. I wasn't the only one. Bob and guitar. The guitar and Bob. Only the songs needed more.

Am I being unfair? Would I be upset if I turned up to a football match expecting to see something special and only finding a team of 3? Would I turn up to the symphony only to find the brass, the percussion and the woodwind weren't there and be happy?

I don't think so. That wouldn't detract from the efforts of the individuals involved. Far from it; they would try that much harder I think as Mould did tonight. But the end result was a fraud. A diminished experience. The fans knew that. I knew that. And Mould knew it. It turned into one of those embarrassing middle aged gigs where the die hard fans heaped praise on their hero and he returned the love. But with not a single special memory to take home.

I'd dreamed for years to hear him play "Celebrated Summer". I can't fault the way he performed it. But can one man aged nearly 50 with his guitar truly do justice to this? Truth be told. It felt wrong.

We all get old. Bob Mould is no exception. He's moved on. He loves electronica. He's a respected DJ on the East Coast Gay club scene. It's where his heart lies. He can make album after album of genuine post punk mid-life rock. He can perform it. And perform it well.

But you get the impression he doesn't want to much these days. He really wasn't interested. I wasn't either. Not tonight.

Its been some time since I bought some music. I've been thinking about this recently. I had the slightly scary thought that this may have been something to do with not having as much time for music as I used to. Well, all things are possible as I appear to have less time for this blog. Which is a bit of a shame (for me at the least).

So, the music buying hiatus has come to an end. Kind of. I got this album for free. And before the PRS comes running after me, I was lucky enough to be given it by Clare herself after having listened to some of her music on myspace.

Clare lists her influences as Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Sheryl Crow, Jeff Buckley, Counting Crows and Turin Brakes. I'll be honest here (and I hope she never reads this) but this didn't exactly fill me with a great deal of enthusiasm as I waited for her first song to start playing. I actually have no idea who Jewel is at all, but I know I'm not such a big fan of the others.

Don't get me wrong. I like a singer songwriter as much as the next music fan. But Sheryl Crow isn't on my playlist. Never will be. No sirree.

Until now that is. For if that's the music that influences this rather unassuming but truly endearing collection of songs then I'll give it another go. Promise. (Even if she was engaged to Lance Armstrong, but we'll save that for another time).

"There are many shades of me", she sings in the opening track. It would be easy to label this album as just another story of love, loss and regret. But to do so would be to do the music and the song writing a great disservice. Clare's brilliance is to let us into her life with such a brutal honesty but tell us her story with a delightful delicacy in her musicianship and songwriting.

This is an album of great simplicity. Songs and emotions stripped to the bone. But that's not to say the music isn't challenging. From the vocal adventure of "All yours now" to the haunting strings in "Mum's Song", she displays a gift for composition that merits a wider audience.

But at the core is her talent as both a guitarist and a singer. Her voice at times brings a quite unexpected soulful flavour to her songs which adds an unusual texture to her guitar playing. And the light touch production of this album let them both speak for themselves. For me the stand out song, "Never Been" exemplifies everything that she does well. A song that despite repeated listening remains for me an enigma; neither mournful or hopeful. It it is quite simply, in her own words, another shade of her.

There are indeed many shades to Clare, "some you haven't seen yet", she continues in the opening song. I do get the impression that there is much more that we have yet to hear. Each song gives us a chance to see just a little bit more. And just for good measure she rounds it all off with "Standing before you", a song of such powerful raw emotion and vulnerability it just makes you play the whole album again.

So, I was lucky enough to tell her how much I liked her music tonight. She seemed a bit puzzled and she said "but you haven't seen me play yet". True. And on the strength of this album I can't wait.

http://www.myspace.com/clareportman