New Music Features
theartsdesk at Tectonics Festival, AdelaideTuesday, 22 March 2016
The Tectonics festival concept began in Iceland, 2012, created by the Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov. Although, loosely speaking, it’s concerned with a modern classical programme, there’s a peculiar aspect to Volkov’s orientation that lends a special quality. Read more... |
10 Questions for Musician Tad DoyleMonday, 21 March 2016
Tad Doyle was the mainman in grunge first-wavers Tad, who helped to put Seattle firmly on the rock’n’roll map in the late ‘80s with such fine discs as God’s Balls, Salt Lick and 8-Way Santa. Read more... |
James Burns – Let’s Go To Hell: Scattered Memories of the Butthole SurfersMonday, 14 March 2016
During the ‘80s there was no US rock band that hoisted its freak flag higher than the Butthole Surfers, and certainly none that put out albums of the stature of Locust Abortion Technician and Hairway to Steven in such quick succession. Read more... |
Brighton Festival 2016 Launches with Guest Director Laurie AndersonWednesday, 17 February 2016
The Brighton Festival 2016, which explodes into life again this year on Saturday May 7, has revealed its programme. Read more... |
theartsdesk in Groningen: Uniting Europe with MusicSunday, 24 January 2016
The nature of Europe, its administration, institutions and its porousness are hot topics. Sectors of Britain’s media and political class hyperventilate over trumped-up concerns while real issues which are just about impossible to address remain unresolved. In this climate, the European Border Breakers Awards are ripe for misinterpretation. Read more... |
David Bowie: Unforgettable and UnrepeatableMonday, 11 January 2016
If each man's death diminishes us, we're all about a foot shorter today. When Elvis Presley died, his manager Colonel Tom Parker said "this won't change anything!", and he promptly set about ensuring his client's immortality by turning him into a production line of merchandise and memorabilia. This won't happen to David Bowie, because he had already seized control of his own myth. Read more... |
David Bowie, 1947-2016Monday, 11 January 2016
He knew. Read more... |
Goodbye, Lemmy Kilmister 1945-2015Wednesday, 30 December 2015
Motörhead played loud rock ’n’ roll. Now, like The Ramones, they are gone. They burned with unbelievable vigour from the mid-Seventies until earlier this year, when the wheels started to fall off Lemmy’s wagon. His health suddenly gave way – as was clear at this year’s Glastonbury Festival – and now, as one of his greatest songs roared with rabid conviction and a cheeky wink, he has finally been killed by death. Read more... |
theartsfest 2015 - SundayWednesday, 30 December 2015
So, the first day's done. We awake, bleary-eyed and emerge from our tents and survey the scene. No matter how bad it looks for our immediate future health, the clouds are sure to clear before the inaugural beer and opening bands. The quality continues as we run through the very best we've seen this year to create the best bespoke festival we can imagine given theartsdesk's collective gig-going this year. Read more... |
theartsfest 2015 - SaturdayTuesday, 29 December 2015
The festival market is one that has, like much of Britain, become oversaturated of late. Here at theartsdesk however, we feel that there’s room for one more as long as it’s of the highest possible quality. Here, then, is our line-up, a dream festival pulled together from our writers’ highlights of the past year. Read more... |
Pages
latest in today
Fauda, Season 4, Netflix review - Israeli terrorism thriller...
Bald, barrel-shaped and pugnacious, Doron Kavillio (Lior Raz) could have been conceived as the anti-Bond or the un-Ethan Hunt. But as action...
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish review - thrilling adventure wi...
The Shrek universe expands a little more with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, another...
Album: Shania Twain - Queen of Me
Shania Twain describes her sixth studio album as “a song of gratitude and appreciation. I was inspired that I still had air in my lungs” – and it...
Titus Andronicus, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse review - notorious...
If All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida have earned the sobriquet "‘problem plays...
The Whale review - Brendan Fraser stars in a fat suit
Yes, Brendan Fraser gives a fine, Oscar-nominated performance as a...
Philharmonia, Hrůša, RFH review - total brilliance in Bartók...
Salome was not to get her head on a silver platter: Jennifer Davis, due to sing the bloody final scene of Strauss’s opera, had been experiencing...
2:22 A Ghost Story, Lyric Theatre review - Cheryl makes an i...
The set of 2:22 A Ghost Story is open to the auditorium when we arrive and locates us at once in gentrification-land. We are...
EO review - lyrical tale of a donkey's odyssey
It’s been a good year for donkeys at the cinema. Not only did Martin McDonagh make a surprise star out of Jenny the miniature donkey in The...
Album: Kelela - Raven
Kelela, the DC-born artist, has been fusing R&B with experimental electronics since her 2013 mixtape Cut 4 Me...
Tannhäuser, Royal Opera review - true goodness triumphs in t...
It’s always a disappointment when the Venusberg orgy Wagner added in 1861 to his original, 1845 Tannhäuser to suit Parisian tastes gives...