Hot Press' Folk Albums of the Year

Music
20 Dec 18

It's been an incredible year for folk music, especially in Ireland. National treasures The Gloaming gave us a powerhouse of a live record and rightly take their place at the top of our list of folk albums of the year.

1 THE GLOAMING Live At The NCH (Real World Records)
2. SAINT SISTER Shape of Silence (ie:music)
3. MARIANNE FAITHFULL Negative Capability (BMG)
4. GLEN HANSARD Between Two Shores (Anti)
5. MOUNT EERIE Now Only (P.W. Elverum & Sun)
6. CHRISTIE HENNESSY/RTE CONCERT ORCH The Last Goodbye (Universal Music Ireland)
7. LISA O’NEILL Hear A Long Song Gone (River Lea)
8. OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW Volunteer (Sony Music Cmg)
9. RICHARD THOMPSON 13 Rivers (Proper Records)
10. JOHN PRINE The Tree of Forgiveness (Oh Boy Records)
11. RY COODER The Prodigal SoN (Concord Records)
12. GAVIN GLASS Opus Pocus (Orphan Records)
13. KARINE POLWART Laws of Motion (Hudson Records)
14. JOAN BAEZ Whistle Down The Wind (Proper Records)
15. KARAN CASEY Hieroglyphs That Tell The TalE (Vertical)
16. THE LOST BROTHERS Halfway Towards A Healing (Bird Dog Recordings)
17. JOSEPHINE MARSH Music In The Frame (Tara)
18. LÚNASA Kas (Lunasa Records)
19. BILLY ROCHE Dead Man’s Shoes (Billy Roche Music)
20. BEN HOWARD Noonday Dream (Universal/Island)
21. ALTAN Gap of Dreams (Compass)
22. ROSALIA El Mal Querer (Columbia)
23. SARAH McQUAID If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous (Shovel & Spade Records)
24. IMARHAN Temet (City Slang)
25. THE FURROWS Fathoms (Hudson Records)
26. SUFJAN STEVENS Mystery of Love (Self released)
27. BREATNACH/BRACKEN /TOURISH The Whistle Blower (Dioscaí Mandala)
28. EMMA RUTH RUNDLE On Dark Horses (Sargent House)
29. MARY GAUTHIER Rifles & Rosary Beads (Proper Records)
30. BRIGID MAE POWER The Two Worlds (Tompkins Square)

ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...

1. MOUNT EERIE (after) (P.W. Elverum & Sun)
2. KATHRYN JOSEPH From When I Wake The Want Is (Rock Action Records)
3. MARLON WILIAMS Make Way For Love (Dead Oceans)
4. TOMBERLIN At Weddings (Saddle Creek)
5. FAUASTINA MASIGAT Faustina Masitat (Mama Bird Recording Co.)
6. LE TRIO JOUBRAN The Long March (Cooking Vinyl Limited
7. LAURA VEIRS The Lookout (Bella Union)
8. PLANXTY Live In Bremen (MIG Music)
9. SHOOTER JENNINGS Shooter (Low Country Sound/Elektra)
10. STEVIE DUNNE Live At The Crosskeys Inn (own label)
11. BROWNOUT Fear Of A Black Planet (Fat Beats Records)
12. COURTNEY MARIE ANDREWS May Your Kindness Remain (Loose)
13. WILLIE NELSON Last Man Standing (Legacy Recordings)
14. SAMBA TOURÉ Wande (Glitterbeat Records)
15. COLTER WALL Songs Of The Plains (Young Mary’s Record Co.)
16. SEAMUS McGUIRE AND JOHN LEE The Legacy of Stephen Grier (Independent Release)
17. ULTAN CONLAN Last Days of the Night Owl (DarkSideOut Records)
18. ONE HORSE PONY Hot One EP (Independent Release)
19. S.CAREY: Hundred Acres (Jagjaguwar)
20. DAMIAN JURADO: The Horizon Just Laughed (Secretly Canadian)