New Music Reviews
David Bowie, 66, releases first new single in a decadeTuesday, 08 January 2013
Well, he was always ahead of the game. In a few years’ time 66 will become the new official pension age in his native United Kingdom, but David Bowie has chosen to celebrate his 66th birthday by coming out of what many perceived to be retirement. “Where Are We Now?” was launched without any previous fanfare earlier this morning, and you can listen to it and watch the video (directed by Tony Oursler) here. Read more...
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Reissue CDs Weekly: Broadcast, João Gilberto, James, Here Comes the HurtSunday, 06 January 2013
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Reissue CDs: The Best of 2012Sunday, 30 December 2012
Can’s The Lost Tapes towers over any of the other reissues theartsdesk has covered this year. Although not strictly a reissue – it collected unheard recordings from tapes which had lain in the band’s archive – it rewrote the story of the seminal German band, offering a new perspective on their creative process and what they had issued. Read more... |
CD of the Year: Christine Tobin – Sailing to ByzantiumThursday, 27 December 2012
On Sailing to Byzantium Christine Tobin's utterly singular music fuses with the amaranthine force of WB Yeats's poetry to create one of the most transporting jazz releases in aeons. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Gil Scott-Heron, K.T. Oslin, Motorpsycho, Feeling HighSunday, 23 December 2012
Kieron Tyler Read more... |
Lives in Music #2: How Music Works by David ByrneWednesday, 19 December 2012
Reading How Music Works feels a bit like breaking into David Byrne’s house and randomly nosing around the Word files on his computer. First there’s some stuff about whether specific types of music were subconsciously written with certain acoustic spaces in mind, then there’s a biographical bit about Byrne’s experiences as a performer. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Prodigy, Man Chest Hair, Jackie Ross, Del ShannonSunday, 16 December 2012
Thomas H Green Read more... |
Beth Orton, Oran Mor, GlasgowFriday, 14 December 2012
With a hollered “hello Glasgow” and immediate launch into “Magpie”, the emotionally ragged song that opens this year’s Sugaring Season, it was as if Beth Orton had never been away. On this last date of her UK tour, the night before her 42nd birthday, Orton’s notoriously husky singing voice was unsurprisingly even throatier, more tremulous than usual. Read more... |
Viva Forever!, Piccadilly TheatreThursday, 13 December 2012
Viva Forever! isn’t the clunker it’s been labelled. It’s also not the thin gruel of the standard West End jukebox musical. The real problem is that it can never be Mamma Mia!, the globe-conquering, ABBA-derived franchise previously devised by its producer Judy Craymer. Read more... |
Lou Doillon, Trans MusicalesWednesday, 12 December 2012
It was predestined that Lou Doillon would shadow her half-sister Charlotte Gainsbourg and their mother Jane Birkin by going into music. More surprising is that her full-length calling card, debut album Places, is entirely written by her. The female members of her clan have generally relied on material from outside, so Doillon is a trailblazer. Read more... |
The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land 15th Anniversary Expanded EditionPages
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