sat 15/02/2025

New Music reviews, news & interviews

Fat Dog, Chalk, Brighton review - a frenetic techno-rock juggernaut

Thomas H Green

Ro first saw Fat Dog, before anyone had heard of them, at the Windmill in Brixton in front of a crowd of about 25 people. Their manic energy blew her head off. Vanessa and Al K first caught Fat Dog at the Rockaway Beach Weekender in Bognor Regis Butlins in January ’24. The tightly choreographed, manic show was the best thing all weekend.

Album: Park Jiha - All Living Things

Mark Kidel

Park Jiha is a super-talented and gloriously inspired Korean multi-instrumentalist. Her new album follows Philos (2018) and The Gleam (2022) and continues to mine a rich vein of Korean tradition, which she filters through a contemporary aesthetic. This isn't fusion, but the wonderfully original and beguiling exploration of a musical world in which sound, timbre, and form evoke the world of nature.

Album: Rizzle Kicks - Competition Is For Losers

Ibi Keita

After more than 10 years away, Rizzle Kicks are finally back, and it feels long overdue. Their music was a huge part of my childhood –...

Album: Fantastic Twins - Suite of Rooms

Joe Muggs

This album is SHORT. At 27 minutes and just five tracks, one might wonder why Julienne Dessagne (this is a solo act) didn’t call it an EP. But maybe...

Northern Winter Beat 2025, Aalborg review - The...

Kieron Tyler

The exhortations don’t seem necessary as the audience is already letting off the steam which has built up in anticipation of a full-bore show....

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Album: Manic Street Preachers - Critical Thinking

Thomas H Green

Lots of words but not so many catchy songs

Bowling For Soup, Civic Hall, Wolverhampton review - nostalgic, celebratory fun

Ellie Roberts

Texan pop-punk legends filled the sold-out Civic Hall with pure joy

Cyndi Lauper, OVO Hydro, Glasgow review - still having chaotic fun after all these years

Jonathan Geddes

The New York singer's personality was stamped all over her farewell tour.

Music Reissues Weekly: Beggars Arkive - The Lurkers’ 1978 John Peel session

Kieron Tyler

Vital components of British punk rock and what followed

Album: Squid - Cowards

Thomas H Green

South-coast five-piece continue their fitful journey into rock experimentalism

Album: Rats on Rafts - Deep Below

Kieron Tyler

The spirit of The Cure rematerialises in the Netherlands

Album: Hifi Sean & David McAlmont - Twilight

Guy Oddy

Indie veterans burrow deeper into their new electronica-flavoured guise

theartsdesk Radio Show 36 - legendary producer Joe Boyd discusses his recent book on global music

Peter Culshaw

From being producer of Pink Floyd and Nick Drake to running an influential global music label

Album: Biig Piig - 11:11

Joe Muggs

Pop so slick it slides right by you... until you start paying attention

Album: Inhaler - Open Wide

Tom Carr

Dublin indie rock quartet expand and adapt their sound

Music Reissues Weekly: You Got Me Hooked! - More Marylebone Beat Girls

Kieron Tyler

Brit-girl bliss

Album: Guided By Voices - Universe Room

Ellie Roberts

Unique soundscapes and a dynamic approach with clear standout tracks

Album: The Weeknd - Hurry Up Tomorrow

Thomas H Green

The Canadian superstar's latest is mopey and overlong but has its moments

Formal Sppeedwear, The Windmill review - Stoke-on-Trent trio reinvigorates the new wave era

Kieron Tyler

Daisy fresh idiosyncrasy which isn’t nostalgia

Album: Cymande - Renascence

Joe Muggs

A brave and mostly brilliant attempt to revive half-century-old magic

Album: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Purple Bird

Guy Oddy

Will Oldham exudes suitably laidback vibes from deep in the heart of Nashville

theartsdesk on Vinyl 88: Violent Femmes, Ringo Starr, ARXX, Dexter Gordon, Black Star, Dennis Bovell and more

Thomas H Green

The wildest, most wide-ranging record reviews in our galaxy

Album: Gary Kemp - This Destination

Kathryn Reilly

The master songwriter can't help but write a catchy tune

Music Reissues Weekly: New York Dolls - Showdown At The Mercer

Kieron Tyler

Historically important earliest-known live recording of the punk precursors

Album: ALT BLK ERA - Rave Immortal

Thomas H Green

Nottingham siblings' debut buzzes with amalgamated drum'n'bass and hard rock energy

Album: Ludovico Einaudi - The Summer Portraits

Sebastian Scotney

Long summer holidays remembered

Amelia Coburn, Komedia, Brighton review - short set from rising Teeside folk sensation hits the sweet spot

Thomas H Green

Jim Moray tour support slot offers an undiluted snapshot of a name to watch

Album: FKA Twigs - Eusexua

Katie Colombus

A transformative electronic journey across diverse sonic and emotional landscapes

Album: Tunng - Love You All Over Again

Joe Muggs

Tunng go full circle after 20 years of dreams and conjuration

Footnote: a brief history of new music in Britain

New music has swung fruitfully between US and UK influences for half a century. The British charts began in 1952, initially populated by crooners and light jazz. American rock'n'roll livened things up, followed by British imitators such as Lonnie Donegan and Cliff Richard. However, it wasn't until The Beatles combined rock'n'roll's energy with folk melodies and Motown sweetness that British pop found a modern identity outside light entertainment. The Rolling Stones, amping up US blues, weren't far behind, with The Who and The Kinks also adding a unique Englishness. In the mid-Sixties the drugs hit - LSD sent pop looking for meaning. Pastoral psychedelia bloomed. Such utopianism couldn't last and prog rock alongside Led Zeppelin's steroid riffing defined the early Seventies. Those who wanted it less blokey turned to glam, from T Rex to androgynous alien David Bowie.

sex_pistolsA sea change arrived with punk and its totemic band, The Sex Pistols, a reaction to pop's blandness and much else. Punk encouraged inventiveness and imagination on the cheap but, while reggae made inroads, the most notable beneficiary was synth pop, The Human League et al. This, when combined with glam styling, produced the New Romantic scene and bands such as Duran Duran sold multi-millions and conquered the US.

By the mid-Eighties, despite U2's rise, the British charts were sterile until acid house/ rave culture kicked the doors down for electronica, launching acts such as the Chemical Brothers. The media, however, latched onto indie bands with big tunes and bigger mouths, notably Oasis and Blur – Britpop was born.

By the millennium, both scenes had fizzled, replaced by level-headed pop-rockers who abhorred ostentation in favour of homogenous emotionality. Coldplay were the biggest. Big news, however, lurked in underground UK hip hop where artists adapted styles such as grime, dubstep and drum & bass into new pop forms, creating breakout stars Dizzee Rascal and, more recently, Tinie Tempah. The Arts Desk's wide-ranging new music critics bring you overnight reviews of every kind of music, from pop to unusual world sounds, daily reviews of new releases and downloads, and unique in-depth interviews with celebrated musicians and DJs, plus the quickest ticket booking links. Our writers include Peter Culshaw, Joe Muggs, Howard Male, Thomas H Green, Graeme Thomson, Kieron Tyler, Russ Coffey, Bruce Dessau, David Cheal & Peter Quinn

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