New Music Features
theartsdesk at the Setúbal Music Festival 2018: youth leads the wayFriday, 15 June 2018
"Get those creatures off the stage, or I won't answer for what I'll do". The exclamation of the Prima Donna in the backstage prologue of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, about to share her grand opera with lower forms of theatrical life, seems to have been shared by a head teacher at the first Setúbal Music Festival in Portugal eight years ago, faced with the arrival of special-needs children to join his pupils. Read more... |
Ryuichi Sakamoto: 'Ideally I'm recording all the time, 24 hours a day' - interviewSaturday, 26 May 2018
Ryuichi Sakamoto has conquered underground and mainstream with seeming ease over four decades, never dropping off in the quality of his releases. Read more... |
Jazz FM Awards 2018 - a banner year for Ezra CollectiveWednesday, 02 May 2018
Hosted by Jazz FM presenters Chris Philips and Jez Nelson on UNESCO’s International Jazz Day, rising stars and international icons were honoured at the fifth Jazz FM Awards on Monday night. Read more... |
theartsdesk in Ramallah - the music biz turns its sights on PalestineFriday, 27 April 2018
Maen, a member of the rap collective Sa’aleek, was working one night in their small makeshift studio in the Qalandia refugee camp near Ramallah. He dozed off, only to find the studio door had been concreted over and he was trapped. It took fellow band members 36 hours to dig him out, but Maen didn't seem that worse for wear. As studio disaster anecdotes go, that takes some beating... Read more... |
10 Questions for Courtney Pine: 'How do you express rage?'Friday, 20 April 2018
Over 30 years after he made his debut as a solo artist, woodwind multi-instrumentalist Courtney Pine is still Britain’s most prominent and influential jazz musician. He had a crucial role in reviving interest in jazz in the 1980s and 1990s, and has been an important role model for black British musicians. Read more... |
Tony Banks: ‘You either do it by diplomacy or you do it by violence’ - interviewFriday, 23 February 2018
In a career that began in 1967 and may yet have further life in it, Genesis have sold 150 million albums (and possibly more), and in their original incarnation with Peter Gabriel as vocalist were an influential force in the development of progressive rock. Read more... |
Iceland Airwaves 2017 review - political change at Reykjavík's major music festivalMonday, 13 November 2017
Óttarr Proppé, the stylish chap pictured above, was appointed Iceland’s Minister of Health in January this year. Last Saturday, when the shot was taken, he was on stage in his other role as the singer of HAM, whose invigorating musical blast draws a line between the early Swans and Mudhoney. Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Homer Flynn, spokesman for The ResidentsSaturday, 28 October 2017
An encounter with Homer Flynn is disconcerting as the extent of his involvement in The Residents is unclear. He acknowledges that he speaks for the eyeball-headed quartet whose identities are unknown. As he talks, it's clear he has intimate knowledge of their creative process, their motivations and what they think. He discusses them as “they”. Occasionally the word “we” is used. Read more... |
2017 Parliamentary Jazz Awards: the votes are inThursday, 12 October 2017
Held auspiciously on the hundredth birthday of one of the giants of the music, composer and pianist Thelonious Sphere Monk (1917-1982), the winners of this year's Parliamentary Jazz Awards were announced at a congenial ceremony at London’s newest live venue, PizzaExpress Live Holborn. Read more... |
Woody Guthrie: 'The true voice of the American spirit'Monday, 09 October 2017
Some will rob you with a six-gun |
Pages
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 10,000 pieces, we're asking for £3.95 per month or £30 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take an annual 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?
latest in today
Julius Caesar, BBC Four review - electrifying TV launch of a...
Who would have thought, when Phyllida Lloyd's ...
Falstaff, Garsington Opera review - Sir John under pressure
All those pranks, set-ups, fake letters and disguises, they just keep coming thick and fast in...
English, Festival of Voice, Wales Millennium Centre review –...
Despite the Welsh repute for singing, the Festival of...
Scorpions/ Megadeth, O2 Arena review - by turns lavish, sill...
Scorpions stepped on stage wearing leather jackets and shades, and launched straight into "Going Out With a Bang". For a...
Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill, Opera North, City Variet...
Peer at the small print and it’s clear that Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill is actually a spruced-up repackaging of a...
Paloma Faith, Bedgebury Pinetum review - positive pop in a w...
There is a real festival ambience to this quintessentially English field-gig, set amidst the stunning forests of Bedgebury Pinetum as part of the...
CD: Jim James - Uniform Distortion
How great is Uniform Distortion? As great as Greg Sage’s Straight Ahead or Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s Ragged Glory...
Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott: Swan Song review - Capote redu...
Here you will find Babe Paley, Slim Keith, CZ Guest, Gloria Guinness, Lee Radziwill, Marella Agnelli, the stylish leaders of society, gorgeous,...
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Rose Garden
The Rose Garden didn’t linger in the bright lights but for those inclined towards harmony pop their name resonates due to the quality of their...