new music reviews, news & interviews
Guy Oddy |
In recent years, Sleaford Mods have moved on somewhat from sounding like an insistent and angry drunk yelling over a cheap Casio keyboard. Fortunately, not too much, though.
Kieron Tyler |
Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong is the debut album by the London-based duo Woo. Originally issued on the Sunshine Series imprint in May 1982, it was subsequently picked up for a 1987 US release by the LA-based Independent Project Records label.
Tim Cumming
One of the founding partners of theartsdesk back in the day, author of the immersive Manu Chao biography, Clandestino, roving world music journalist…
Graham Fuller
That was clever. The original Wet Leg – singer Rhian Teasdale and guitarist Hester Chambers – instantly snagged global attention with a droll novelty…
Ellie Roberts
2025 was another year of flaunting for the ever impressive beast that is female-led pop domination. The now iconic line up of legends and future…
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?
Kieron Tyler
Unaffected Doors homage from the most unlikely band
Ibi Keita
Never enough hype, never enough volume, never enough Turnstile
Kieron Tyler
Unadorned chronicle of the Brian Jones years
Tom Carr
Second album from Canadian metallers edged ahead with its graceful yet heavy tones
Sebastian Scotney
Natural harmonics ring out subtly, gloriously, magically
peter.quinn
From haiku to heartstrings: the year's essential vocal jazz recordings
Kathryn Reilly
Imbued with duende, this stellar masterpiece sets the bar sky-high
Kieron Tyler
Fresh slants on the known, in a year when Yeah Man, It's Bloody Heavy!! was the most startling archive release
howard.male
Documentary adds little to what we know about British rock's greatest solo star
Nick Hasted
Saxophonist's beautiful, bittersweet melodies confront a time of war
Liz Thomson
Authentically Mary
Katie Colombus
Finding strength not in reinvention but in turning inward to listen
Kieron Tyler
Home-counties prog rockers are collected in a box
Kieron Tyler
Intensity, jazz-oriented psychedelia and the joys of recontextualisation
Tim Cumming
One among a new wave of folk artists exploring their music's outer limits
Thomas H. Green
A seasonal slant on the most wide-ranging record reviews in the universe
Thomas H. Green
Alongside a whole heap of other excellent music from the last 12 months
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, O2 Academy, Glasgow review - revisiting the past produces mixed results
Jonathan Geddes
The American trio's 20th anniversary celebration of 'Howl' did not always convince
Joe Muggs
Softness, resilience and rewriting history in the most glorious possible way
Kieron Tyler
How the Edgar Froese-led trio were integral to inventing the future of music.
Guy Oddy
A dubby trip hop and woozy neo-soul treat
Jonathan Geddes
The Sunderland band played a variety of Christmas classics, with varying success
Guy Oddy
The former child actor's past meets her present
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…
Composer Zoë Martlew’s album (Album Z) launch in the surround-sound environment of Hall 2 at Kings Place thrived on a theatricality rare…
As one of the characters tells us: “There are two sides to every story… someone is always lying.” This telly-isation of Alice Feeney’s…
In recent years, Sleaford Mods have moved on somewhat from sounding like an insistent and angry drunk yelling over a cheap Casio keyboard.…
Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong is the debut album by the London-based duo Woo. Originally issued on the Sunshine Series…
Never mind the singing, Roderick Williams could have been a great TV presenter or even stand-up, on the evidence of his spoken introduction…
Just weeks after the theatrical version of the cult film Paranormal Activity successfully recreated the original’s nail-shredding fear, A…
Image
M'a dit Amour: Songs by Debussy, Louis Beydts, Enescu and Isabelle Aboulker…
Lyle Kessler’s 1983 three-hander has embedded itself in the American repertory, attracting a Tony nomination and star casting. Here it was…
One of the founding partners of theartsdesk back in the day, author of the immersive Manu Chao biography, Clandestino, roving world music…
Most read
If any readers can still remember 2024’s first iteration of Red Eye, they will have an approximate idea of the kind of things they can…
A foreign-language release steeped in Catholicism isn’t exactly what you’d expect to top virtually every end-of-year album list. But…
“This is our last concert, ever. And we’d love to do you for now on our last concert ever…” After the words peter out, a ragged, yet…
As one of the characters tells us: “There are two sides to every story… someone is always lying.” This telly-isation of Alice Feeney’s…
When Hamlet the Dane talked about “the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to”, it was typical of the way that Shakespeare…
Stéphanie Di Giusto, who directed the Belle Époque arts biopic La Danseuse, about the groundbreaking Paris Opera performer Loie Fuller,…
In recent years, Sleaford Mods have moved on somewhat from sounding like an insistent and angry drunk yelling over a cheap Casio keyboard.…
Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong is the debut album by the London-based duo Woo. Originally issued on the Sunshine Series…
Never mind the singing, Roderick Williams could have been a great TV presenter or even stand-up, on the evidence of his spoken introduction…
If your heart sinks every time a Shakespeare funny-man enters, here comes the RSC to put an unforced grin on your face. Its latest Feste is…