wed 04/12/2024

New Music reviews, news & interviews

Album: White Denim - 12

Kieron Tyler

White Denim’s literally titled 12th album opens with the fidgety “Light on.” Drawing a line between electronica and Tropicália, it exudes sunniness. “Econolining” and “Flash Bare Ass,” up next, are equally peppy, as bright and similarly accord with the idea of pop as a mix-and-match grab bag – albeit from an off-centre perspective.

theartsdesk on Vinyl 87: Roots Manuva, Bogdan Raczynski, Songhoy Blues, The Special AKA, Jhelisa, Tina Turner and more

Thomas H Green

VINYL OF THE MONTHBlood Incantation Absolute Elsewhere (Century Media)

Album: Panelia - Nothing and All At Once

Guy Oddy

Nothing and All at Once is the debut album from New Delhi electronica producer Jay Pei in his Panelia guise. Featuring a broad but seamless tapestry...

Music Reissues Weekly: John Cale - The Academy in...

Kieron Tyler

The return to shops of a consecutive sequence of five of John Cale's Seventies albums through different labels is undoubtedly coincidental. All have...

Album: Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles from...

Liz Thomson

When first I clicked on the stream for this album, I really wasn’t sure about it. In fact, I thought I wasn’t going to like it, much as I had wanted...

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Album: Three Cane Whale - Hibernacula

Tim Cumming

Delicate musical miniatures spun from the English landscape

Album: The Innocence Mission - Midwinter Swimmers

Kieron Tyler

Allusive reflections prompted by experience and the commonplace

EFG London Jazz Festival round-up review - youth, age, and the greatness in between

Sebastian Scotney

From Xhosa Cole Monking Around to 87-year-old Kirk Lightsey

EFG London Jazz Festival 2024 round-up review - from Korean noise to Carnatic soul

Tim Cumming

A trio of bands and artists blend world music, cinematic grooves and pure noise at the London Jazz Festival

Album: Alice Ivy - Do What Makes You Happy

Thomas H Green

Aussie producer's third is half gems and half pap

Music Reissues Weekly: Stefan Gnyś - Horizoning

Kieron Tyler

Folk-inclined Canadian’s brooding album emerges 55 years after it was recorded

Album: Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More

Joe Muggs

Gems in the rough on the Pixie / Breeder's long-awaited solo debut

Hannah Scott, Worthing Pavilion Theatre Atrium review - filling an arctic venue with human warmth

Thomas H Green

Singer-songwriter brings moving, autobiographical songs to the freezing south coast

Album: Joan Armatrading - How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean

Liz Thomson

Held in love and affection

Album: FaithNYC - Love is a Wish Away

Mark Kidel

Wonderfully produced off-piste music

English Teacher, Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow review - Mercury winners step up in size with style

Jonathan Geddes

The Leeds quartet's set was varied in genre but thrilling when punchy

Album: Father John Misty - Mahashmashana

Kieron Tyler

The flawless union of style and substance

Kenny Barron Trio, Ronnie Scott's review - a master of the cool

Mark Kidel

Eloquent story-telling from jazz giant

Album: Body Count - Merciless

Guy Oddy

Ice goes on autopilot

Music Reissues Weekly: Magazine - Real Life, Secondhand Daylight, The Correct Use of Soap

Kieron Tyler

The first three albums from Howard Devoto’s post-punk marvels hit the shops again

Bob Dylan, Royal Albert Hall review - cracked ritual from rock elder

Mark Kidel

A glorious mixture of mask and authenticity

ARK: United States V by Laurie Anderson, Aviva Studios, Manchester review - a vessel for the thoughts and imaginings of a lifetime

Sarah Kent

Despite anticipating disaster, this mesmerising voyage is full of hope

Album: Linkin Park - From Zero

Tom Carr

California metal icons mark new era with captivating eighth album

Rachel Chinouriri, Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow review - a formidable and genre-hopping talent

Jonathan Geddes

The singer lifted elements from throughout pop history during an exciting set

Album: Jon Batiste - Beethoven Blues

Sebastian Scotney

Beethoven's hits reimagined by the American musical celebrity

Album: Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens - American Railroad

Liz Thomson

American railroad history retold in a song cycle

Interview: Roy Haynes, Jazz Drumming Giant (1925-2024)

Nick Hasted

The jazz legend reminisces, from Satchmo to Metheny

Album: Dolly Parton & Family - Smoky Mountain DNA - Family, Faith & Fables

Joe Muggs

Forlorn hope, and a beautiful expression of family, from the American heartland

Amyl and the Sniffers, O2 Academy, Birmingham review - rowdy Aussies let loose

Guy Oddy

Melbourne pub rockers set Sunday evening alight

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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