Nickie’s Niches #56: August 2026

Start Artist Song Time Album Year 0:01:57 Thurnin The Elysian Grove 5:41 Termina 2026 0:07:56 Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble Gelino (Georgia) 5:40 Kolo 2026 0:14:02 Jim Ghedi Twa Corbies 3:33 The Death of Robin Hood (Original Soundtrack) 2026 0:18:07 Moon Mother World in a Glass Jar 4:56 Meadowlands 2026 0:23:21 Wild Gods Carlene’s Pin 9:29 The Glorious Abysmal 2026 0:33:05 Cinder Well Beyond the Pale 4:23 A Blooming Body 2026 0:37:53 Flight76 abyss 5:15 The Abyss 2026 0:43:23 The Thorn Fountain 3:11 Single 2026 0:46:54 Michael Trew Shaniko 5:01 Shaniko b/w The Valley The Shadow 2026 Termina by Thurnin favorite track The Elysian Grove Jurre Timmer is the primary artist here, with additional vocals, guitars, and flute. These elegiac pieces in honour of lost loved ones is pensive and thoughtful. If delicate, melancholic guitars with sparse and subtle accompaniment is your thing, as it is mine, you will love this Kolo by Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble favorite track Gelino (Georgia) Kitka is based out of Oakland, CA, but you’d never guess it from their spine-tingling vocalizations. This release offers 15 exquisite renderings of the women’s vocal traditions from Eastern Europe. Lushly layered and unforgettably eerie. Jim Ghedi “The Death of Robin Hood Soundtrack” 2026 Almost serendipitously, Jim Ghedi was tapped to provide the soundtrack to Michael Samoski’s new film, starring Hugh Jackman. Typical of Ghedi, it is very dense, dark, and drone-y, the perfect combination for this film. I am torn between the original, What Will Become of England, and the traditional rendering of Twa Corbies, two ravens rendering the body of a slain knight. I’m going with the birds. Favourite Track: Twa Corbies Meadowlands by Moon Mother favorite track World in a Glass Jar Swedish dark/doom/psych/folk duo bring us this lushly melancholic offering. There are elements of post rock here and there, and plenty of reverb. The hushed guitar and softened percussion suit the delicate, wistful vocals. The Glorious Abysmal by WILD GODS favorite track Carlene’s Pin Here is some more delicious, dense, drone-y music, this time out of Scotland. As the title suggests, it is wonderfully dark and gloomy. A trio of long tracks are interspersed with short palate-cleansing entr’actes. Best heard straight through, but chew on Carlene’s Pin to get a good taste. A Blooming Body by Cinder Well favorite track Beyond the Pale Bleak introspective dark folk, with delicately subdued production. The stories are what matter to multi-instrumentalist Amelia Baker on this release. Confessional and haunting. The Abyss by Flight76 favorite track abyss Multi-instrumentalist/composer Ian Wright’s fourth release of music finds him still in fine classic progressive form. As in the prior release, the performances are stellar, the production impeccable. The Flight 76 project as released is an amalgamation of surviving original recordings, and newly recorded and reimagined tracks, keeping one foot firmly in the past, and another in the present. Fountain by The Thorn Formerly known as Large Plants, The Thorn have recently released two singles, and this is the older of the two. They have a lovely sense of psychedelia, melding it with folk rock, in pastoral settings. I hope they plan another full release soon. Shaniko b/w The Valley The Shadow by Michael Trew favorite track Shaniko I’m always eager to hear what Michael Trew has come up with, and never disappointed. This is a true single format, with two pieces, both with his wonderfully evocative vocals at the fore, a bit of a retro alt/rock feel. Both are exceptionally moving, but I’m going with the one about the Oregon ghost town, “Shaniko.”