New Music Reviews
The Vaccines, Barrowland, Glasgow review - pacy but predictable rock'n'rollTuesday, 26 April 2022![]()
You could never accuse the Vaccines of being the most subtle of bands. When the London quintet ran through the intro to “Surfing in the Sky”, their frontman Justin Young started to shoogle around onstage as if, yes, he was riding a surfboard, in case the song’s title and Ventures-cum-Beach Boys opening hadn’t made the inspiration clear enough. Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 70: Marianne Faithful, Honey Bane, Tinariwen, Kraftwerk, PJ Harvey, Dowdelin and moreTuesday, 26 April 2022![]()
Spring is in the air and vinyl is, as always, on the turntable here at theartsdesk on Vinyl. We’ve been ploughing through all the latest releases and reissues, played loud on a large sound system, each evaluated as fully as possible. Below you’ll find 7000 words to pick through and locate what sounds good to you. Unrestricted by genre, all musical life is here. Dive in! Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Fame - Jon Savage’s Secret History Of Post-Punk (1978-81)Sunday, 24 April 2022![]()
“The Method” by The Method Actors was issued as the top side of a single in July 1981. Although recorded in London during September 1980 and only released by a British label, the band – a duo of guitar/vocals and drums/vocals – were from Athens, Georgia. Read more... |
Foals, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - a euphoric returnSaturday, 23 April 2022![]()
Much has changed for Foals since their current run of shows were first announced. Initially scheduled to support 2019’s twin releases of Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 and 2, so much time has passed that the group are now set to release their next album instead, while in the meantime they’ve seen keyboardist Edwin Congreave depart and, on a rather less dramatic note, released their own brand of hot sauce. Read more... |
Album: Linnéa Talp - Arch of MotionFriday, 22 April 2022![]()
Contrary to the title’s implication, there initially seems to be little movement in Arch of Motion. A note is held on an organ. Then another note comes in and is also held. Chords build up gradually. Maybe one or two ascending or descending notes come and go. And that seems to be it. Read more... |
Teenage Fanclub, Union Chapel review - pushing forward with gustoWednesday, 20 April 2022![]()
Teenage Fanclub open their set with “Home”, the first single from their last album Endless Arcade. It’s followed by the title track, “Endless Arcade”. The first was written by Norman Blake, the second by Raymond McGinley – the album’s sole songwriters. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Saturno 2000 - La Rebajada de Los Sonideros 1962-1983Sunday, 17 April 2022![]()
What’s in the groove isn’t necessarily the end of the story. Sound is fixed into a record when it’s pressed. Get it revolving on a turntable, dump the needle onto it and what’s heard is what’s intended to be heard. It’s fixed. Nonetheless, DJs realised a record can be part of the route to something else, something which becomes their creation. Read more... |
Goldfrapp, Symphony Hall, Birmingham review - crowd-pleasing nostalgia for the fansFriday, 15 April 2022![]()
Felt Mountain is not one of Goldfrapp’s most dynamic albums. So, what better venue to stop off in Birmingham to celebrate 20 years since its release than the iconic all-seater Symphony Hall? This the venue, after all, that is renowned for some of the best acoustics in the whole of Europe. Read more... |
The Mission, Chalk, Brighton review - the hits, delivered straight, to an enthused crowdWednesday, 13 April 2022![]()
“Play something we can dance to,” heckles a fan. “Fuck off, we are not a dance band,” fires back Wayne Hussey, leader of The Mission. He’s right. They’re not. But still there is dancing. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: My World Fell Down - The John Carter StorySunday, 10 April 2022![]()
Fat Man’s Music Festival. The Haystack. Red Line Explosion. Stormy Petrel. Butterwick. Sweet Chariot. Names which don't immediately spring to mind. Read more... |
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