new music reviews, news & interviews
Thomas H. Green |
Phil Campbell, guitarist for Motörhead from 1984 onwards, died on Friday 13th March after a "long and courageous battle in intensive care following a complex major operation". He was 64.
Jonathan Geddes |
Juanita Stein had a simple request for her bandmates. “Don’t fuck this up”, she joked, before the Australian group played a song from their new album for only the second time ever. You could understand the concern, however lightly it was expressed. These are still early days in the band’s reformation, with this year’s “Strange Days” offering the first material in 11 years.
Guy Oddy
Once upon a time, albums of cover versions were something of a “go to” (along with hastily assembled live records or compilations with one or two new…
Thomas H. Green
It’s disquieting, as a bloke, to hear 2000 female voices singing about the sexual frustration caused by premature ejaculation. A noisy chorale,…
Kieron Tyler
Although the bulk of the 20 tracks collected on Eternal Journey - The Arrangements and Productions of Charles Stepney were originally issued between…
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
Thomas H. Green
Now a trio, the synth-poppers' sound takes a trip to Ibiza, long ago, with mixed results
Kieron Tyler
Sell-out show suggests embracing difficult music won’t impede an upwards trajectory
Thomas H. Green
Heavy riffin', punk rock, food poisoning, snark and moshpit mayhem
Guy Oddy
The brothers Robinson pay tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Rolling Stones again
Joe Muggs
The godmother of punk takes a leap into the unknown but doesn't quite stick the landing
Guy Oddy
Beautiful chaos that blends hardcore punk and spacious dub sounds
Jonathan Geddes
The former Talking Heads singer mixed old and new alike in a compelling show.
Tim Cumming
An assured third album from the acclaimed singer songwriter
Music Reissues Weekly: This Can’t Be Today - A Trip Through The US Psychedelic Underground 1977-1988
Kieron Tyler
Significant box-set examination of an important strand of America’s pre-grunge musical landscape
Ellie Roberts
A muted approach that will likely age well
Joe Muggs
A serial and prolific collaborator finally steps into the spotlight, full of life lessons
Jonathan Geddes
The 'Dunboyne Diana' mixed great songs with star power and cheeky humour
Kathryn Reilly
After a six-year hiatus, Morrissey's still at odds with the world
Kieron Tyler
London-based goth-rockers seek solace from concerns about where the world is heading
Rachel Halliburton
From Sunderland to the Bahamas: one of the great rock chameleons of our time speaks
Thomas H. Green
Difford and Tilbrook reanimate songs they wrote as teenagers, with mixed results
Kieron Tyler
Thought-provoking primer in US pop’s varied pre-psychedelic musical landscape
peter.quinn
A love letter to the women who changed music forever
Tim Cumming
Interior musical meditations on life and art pulls on the harp strings
Thomas H. Green
Despite a limited audience, an evening of whole-hearted sing-alongs
Ibi Keita
World music meets every other genre in this new project
Kieron Tyler
When guitar solos are as important as the meaning of the song
Thomas H. Green
The widest ranging record reviews in the cosmos
Tom Carr
Earnest and from the heart one moment, paranoid and uncertain the next
the future of arts journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
latest in today
We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. Er… another nostalgic play about growing up in a Yorkshire post-industrial city?…
There were scattered moments of genuine excitement during the 98th Academy Awards, which saw One Battle After Another emerge with six…
Phil Campbell, guitarist for Motörhead from 1984 onwards, died on Friday 13th March after a "long and courageous battle in intensive care…
Another day, another few million bucks for Taylor Sheridan. Hot on the heels of Marshals, his latest Yellowstone spin-off, his inexorable…
The London Handel Festival delivered extra rations at Smith Square Hall on Saturday. A bright, crisp beginning-of-spring afternoon made a…
Juanita Stein had a simple request for her bandmates. “Don’t fuck this up”, she joked, before the Australian group played a song from their…
Coinciding with Mothers' Day, and a week after International Women’s Day, Manchester Camerata gave this fascinating window into the world…
Once upon a time, albums of cover versions were something of a “go to” (along with hastily assembled live records or compilations with one…
It’s disquieting, as a bloke, to hear 2000 female voices singing about the sexual frustration caused by premature ejaculation. A noisy…
Most read
Another day, another few million bucks for Taylor Sheridan. Hot on the heels of Marshals, his latest Yellowstone spin-off, his inexorable…
Reading the torrent of press-releases and blurbs on the many – and ever-growing – contemporary poetry collections over time, one starts to…
Is this person dead? It’s a wise question to ask yourself when reading George Saunders. In his Booker Prize-winning Lincoln in the Bardo,…
Apart from voting, there is only one duty the United Kingdom asks of its residents: if, or less likely when, it comes, to answer the…
Somewhere in the bowels of the BBC, far away from the overheated stories of serial killers and female mutilation that clamour for the…
Filippo Timi plays the young Mussolini of Marco Bellocchio's Vincere as a glowering, virile force of nature. Watching this and his other…
It’s disquieting, as a bloke, to hear 2000 female voices singing about the sexual frustration caused by premature ejaculation. A noisy…
Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. Er… another nostalgic play about growing up in a Yorkshire post-industrial city?…
I had anticipated a sweltering evening at the Albert Hall. Sadly, though, the heatwave prevented me from even getting there – buckled rails…
Coinciding with Mothers' Day, and a week after International Women’s Day, Manchester Camerata gave this fascinating window into the world…