New Music Reviews
WOMAD 2013, Charlton Park - Day TwoSaturday, 27 July 2013
If there’s a patron saint of WOMAD it must be Bob Marley. His visage, serious but gentle, peers out from more T-shirts than I care to count. And all the festival-goers who don’t have WOMAD-standard long, white, straggly hair sport dreadlocks. The silliest haircut goes to a fellow in (again) WOMAD-standard travellers’ pantaloons who sports small knots of hair, each tied with a different coloured elastic band. Read more... |
Wu-Tang Clan, O2 Academy BrixtonSaturday, 27 July 2013
Just how loyal is the average hip hop fan? This was the question on many lips after the fiasco that the previous Wu-Tang tour in 2011 turned out to be. Their last sojourn on these shores was marred by members dropping out at the last minute and a general lack of organisation. There was pressure this time for the band to deliver. Read more... |
WOMAD 2013, Charlton Park - Day OneFriday, 26 July 2013
I am a WOMAD virgin. “Princey will be here later, he usually frequents this bar,” a man with straggly white hair tells me as I wander aimlessly about. I think he means Prince Rogers Nelson, the diminutive rock star who sang “Purple Rain”, and I grow vaguely animated. He starts telling me about how last year he advised Prince not to shoot civilians and begins a short diatribe about how Prince is falling into the ways of his father and his grandfather. My mind is slow. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Michael Hurley, James Govan, Dan Penn, 14 Iced BearsSunday, 21 July 2013
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Hermeto Pascoal, Ronnie Scott'sSaturday, 20 July 2013
Squeaking toy pigs. Tea pots. Bicycle pumps. Yes, the dynamic Brazilian composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal was back in town, making a rare appearance at Ronnie Scott's. Read more... |
Devendra Banhart, Barbican CentreFriday, 19 July 2013
Last night the “freaky” Devendra Banhart didn’t make an appearance. No songs were performed cross-legged, nor were there any wig-outs. For the majority of the evening the 32-year-old American-Venezuelan hippy was, by his standards, practically understated. In keeping with his new album, Mala, he chose to emphasise songwriting over personality. For those of us who were beginning to lose faith in him, it all came as something of a relief. Read more... |
Friends, Coalition, BrightonThursday, 18 July 2013
Samantha Urbani is one of the sassiest frontwomen in all pop, a sexy, feline creature whose polyamorous lifestyle fuels her lyrics and adds to her projected sensuality. She sits outside Brighton seafront venue Coalition, watching water-skiers ride the mill pond sea in balmy summer heat, but one whisper from a bandmate in her ear and she's onstage within a minute, attacking opening song "Shattered". Read more... |
Bellowhead, Billy Bragg and Karine Polwart, Kew GardensTuesday, 16 July 2013
Sunday evening was the last of a week of Kew the Music concerts – from Blondie to Paul Weller via Jools Holland and Leona Lewis – six nights, 8,000 people per night. The gate money is going towards the £400m facelift of the Temperate House, where the stage was set for the closing Sunday night of English and Scottish folk songs from Karine Polwart, Billy Bragg and Bellowhead. Read more... |
Richard Hawley, Somerset HouseMonday, 15 July 2013
The specially erected sign on the lamppost on the way in said "Sheffield". For one night only the People's Republic of South Yorkshire seemed to decamp to Somerset House in honour of one of its numerous musical sons. A trickle of chippy north-south divide ran through last night's gig, with quips about the la-di-da PM and the price of London drinks, but the music undoubtedly united everyone as Hawley warmed to his fans: "I might get you a beer later…I did say one between the lot of you." Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Shadow Morton, Motorama, Rob Jo Star Band, Souad MassiSunday, 14 July 2013
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Michael Hurley: Armchair Boogie / Hi Fi Snock Uptown
Various Artists: Sophisticated Boom Boom!! – The Shadow Morton StoryPages
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