new music reviews, news & interviews
Thomas H. Green |
At the Dot To Dot Festival in Nottingham, back in May, I noticed some of the most exciting bands I caught were marinated in grunge. One of them was Grandmas House. Their debut album now arrives and the grunge element turns out to be only part of the deal.
Sebastian Scotney |
Miles Davis’s centenary this year has led to some fascinating work. The MILES play with Jay Phelps at Southwark Playhouse Borough in February – reviewed here – has been the most thought-provoking of the ventures so far. The Theo Croker Mixtape at the Festival Hall In March had only the briefest and most cursory glimpses of Miles, but did welcome Gary Bartz to blast us from the past.
Joe Muggs
Jorja Smith’s performance at the recent Radio 1 Big Weekend shebang is really worth tracking down if you want a lesson in high functioning…
Thomas H. Green
Almost 20 years ago, Late Of The Pier were an exciting post-nu-rave band who injected synthesizer sparkiness into indie. They even had a Top 30 album…
Kieron Tyler
“My Lost One”, Materia’s second track, is remarkable. Exemplifying the Julia Holter ethos to the max, it begins wispily with interweaving rippling…
Help secure the future of arts journalism
In this era of algorithmic recommendation, opaquely sponsored content and AI slop, theartsdesk’s mission to preserve real journalistic and critical values has never been more important.
If you like what you see here, please join us in this mission.
Subscribing to the site will help us in our coming redesign and expansion.
If you do this before the 31st August this will be at our guaranteed founder’s rate:
your subs will never increase again.
Subscribe now for £5 per month.
or yearly for just £40.
Or if you simply want to support us with a one-off donation, you can do so here.
Peter Culshaw
On the origins of WOMAD, music documentaries and Tarot
Thomas H. Green
Super-pummelling metal that's been assembled with a refreshing sense of imagination
Jonathan Geddes
30 years into their career, Idlewild were on snappy form in Glasgow
Kieron Tyler
Hitherto unknown tracks from the totemic British punks' earliest days with Stiff Records
Katie Colombus
A father mourned and a lover found, all in one extraordinary breath
Joe Muggs
A subtle, potent raging against the dying of the light from a low key great
Kieron Tyler
The US singer-songwriter offsets glacial shimmer with a dive into electric-guitar freakiness
Tim Cumming
The genre-crossing musician brings a New Age sheen to his solo piano tribute
Kieron Tyler
New York band’s blend of folk rock and psychedelia grabs attention
Joe Muggs
The London trio add toilet bowls and ugly crying to the hedonistic glamour
Thomas H. Green
Northern indie four-piece offer a vim-laden snapshot of disenfranchised Britain
Sebastian Scotney
Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Laura Mvula shine
Thomas H. Green
The most epic regular record reviews in the galaxy
Ibi Keita
Garage, French House and feeling collide in latest release
Camp Bestival 2026, Lulworth Castle review - where the daytime magic still outshines everything else
Katie Colombus
A creative, inclusive, endlessly imaginative festival for families
Guy Oddy
Prolific Aussie psychedelicists marry dance and prog sounds
Mark Kidel
Fiery crowd-pleasing jazz marred by excess
Ellie Roberts
A soaring fusion of atmospheric melancholy and energetic punk
Kieron Tyler
A hymn to when driving was an end in itself
Kieron Tyler
A breathless half-hour takes in screaming, stop-start song structures and the odd hint of reflectiveness
Guy Oddy
Punk veterans get decidedly trippy
Thomas H. Green
The American singer's eighth album is rife with downtempo ruminations on love
Joe Muggs
A thrilling blast of deep rooted culture and devout belief
latest in today
If we get lost or confused in the story he’s about to tell us, writer/performer Sam Ward explains, we shouldn’t worry: it all comes…
Hi. I’m Steve, creator of the solo show bearing my name on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and I’d like to make something perfectly clear: I…
At the Dot To Dot Festival in Nottingham, back in May, I noticed some of the most exciting bands I caught were marinated in grunge. One of…
Miles Davis’s centenary this year has led to some fascinating work. The MILES play with Jay Phelps at Southwark Playhouse Borough in…
It has taken until halfway through this year’s Edinburgh International Festival before we got to the first string quartet in the Queen’s…
Linus Karp Was Hit With An Umbrella, Underbelly, Bristo Square ★★★★From hectic Princess Di parody Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story (…
Max Olesker: Making the Cut ★★★★Pleasance DomeMost Fringe fans will know Max Olesker as one half of sketch duo Max and Ivan, but this…
Jorja Smith’s performance at the recent Radio 1 Big Weekend shebang is really worth tracking down if you want a lesson in high functioning…
Populist theatre really is a terrible flirt. You know the type of thing I mean: cheeky pursed lips, making eyes at the audience, strutting…
“How easily one thing grows into another,” sings abandoned Ariadne on her desert island before the advent of Bacchus quells her morbidity…
Most read
Ah, Benidorm… sea, sun, sand, sex, sangria and chips. In 5’s new six-part comedy drama, masterminded by Ian Jarvis, the popular Costa…
Miles Davis’s centenary this year has led to some fascinating work. The MILES play with Jay Phelps at Southwark Playhouse Borough in…
“How easily one thing grows into another,” sings abandoned Ariadne on her desert island before the advent of Bacchus quells her morbidity…
Populist theatre really is a terrible flirt. You know the type of thing I mean: cheeky pursed lips, making eyes at the audience, strutting…
Last night's BBC Prom was a celebration – of 40 years since the release of Paul Simon’s triumphant album Graceland in August 1986. Before…
At every turn in Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, references to other stories pop up. There are the murderous sexual shenanigans of The…
Linus Karp Was Hit With An Umbrella, Underbelly, Bristo Square ★★★★From hectic Princess Di parody Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story (…
Is this the near-future? The premise of Ann Droid is that in place of our over-stretched social services, before long we may find ourselves…
Anyone who’s ever been to a movie set can’t help but struggle to reconcile the utter dismembered chaos of these workplaces with the smooth…
It has taken until halfway through this year’s Edinburgh International Festival before we got to the first string quartet in the Queen’s…