Rosie Upton's top 5 roots records

By dbiggane

ELIZA CARTHY

ALBUM: Dreams Of Breathing Under Water

WHY: This is without doubt Eliza's most exciting and distinctive album to date. Her voice, always lovely, with maturity is better than ever, but it is her vivid imagination and skill as a songwriter/storyteller and the complexity of the arrangements that really shine through and make this a stunner.

My first choice and an album that deserves to be played again and again just to hear something different each time.

FOTHERINGAY

ALBUM: Fotheringay 2

WHY: We've been waiting for this album for decades and thanks to Jerry Donahue it doesn't disappoint.

True it is an unfinished masterpiece and inevitably flawed because of that but the Sandy Denny tracks are tantalisingly brilliant.

The only difficulty is thinking what might have been had she not died before the album could be finished.

This is folk rock at its best but also most illusive, yet in many ways sounding as innovative as ever despite the intervening years.

MARIZA

ALBUM: Terra

WHY: Mariza, whose voice has a sensuous but melancholic beauty, knows how to bring a contemporary edge to the Portuguese traditional music Fado, translated simply as 'fate'.

My favourite tracks are the evocative Beijo de Saudade and the emotionally charged A Guitarras. This album owes as much to the music of Latin America as it does to Portugal combining brilliant flamenco guitar with stirring Cuban piano.

A sophisticated sound for quiet introspective moments.

ROBB JOHNSON AND THE IRREGULARS

ALBUM: Love and Death and Politics

WHY: Never was there a more aptly named album. Yet there is a lighter side to Robb who is widely regarded as one of this country's best cutting edge contemporary songwriters.

No one combines hard-hitting social commentary with ironic humour better or writes a bitter-sweet love song with greater self-assurance.

The songs on the album are a lament for our times – yet despite the bleakness of its content the album is lifted by Robb's musical integrity.

METHERA

ALBUM: Methera

WHY: The music ranges from traditional tunes to recent compositions with wonderful melodies and beautifully constructed harmonies.

Lovers of both traditional folk and classical music will revel in this innovative and perfectly paced virtuoso album that successfully combines the integrity of traditional English music with the fine texture of a classical string quartet.

All 12 tracks are stylish but my favourites are Apple Scrumping and In Its Time.