New Music Reviews
Alfredo Rodriguez and Pedrito Martinez, Ronnie Scott's review - Cuban wizards of piano and percussionTuesday, 04 June 2019
Percussionist Pedrito Martinez is one of those musicians who forces you to re-think what instruments are capable of – while making you wonder if there is actually anything he can’t do. He plays congas, batá drums and bongos with breathtaking facility and flow. He sings everything from Yoruba chants to “Quizás”. He dances. Read more... |
theartsdesk at Red Rooster Festival 2019 - bustling Suffolk stately home hoedownTuesday, 04 June 2019
Only those who’ve just popped in from an early 20th century Tennessee cotton field will have recently observed more pairs of dungarees in one place than at Red Rooster. It’s a festival that prides itself on a rich diet of Americana alongside a defiantly retro aesthetic. Read more... |
Bon Iver, All Points East festival review – powerful, poignant and a little bit weirdMonday, 03 June 2019
With thousands of people trooping in to see headliners including The Strokes, Bring Me the Horizon, Mumford and Sons and, tonight, Bon Iver, this corner of London’s beautiful Victoria Park has become a bit of a dustbowl – and the dust certainly gets kicked up as the 10-day festival concludes. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: JeanetteSunday, 02 June 2019
Jeanette’s “Porque Te Vas” is a prime example of a type of Europop which – beyond a brief flirtation around 1968 to 1971: think Clodagh Rogers – Britain had little time for. It’s not quite schlager, but still has the tell-tale martial rhythm. The singing voice conforms with the breathy stereotype still favoured in France. Read more... |
Michael Bublé, O2 Review – an entertainer second to noneSaturday, 01 June 2019
“How did all these people get in my room?” the greatest crooner of them all once quipped, as he threaded his way through the Count Basie Orchestra and out onto the stage at The Sands in Las Vegas. But whereas Sinatra in 1966 had to convince an audience of just 600 people that they were seeing an intimate show, Michael Bublé sets himself the task of doing the same for 20,000. Read more... |
Emmy the Great, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow review - emotions recollectedSaturday, 01 June 2019
“I appreciate the irony of me singing this in my mum jeans,” says Emmy The Great, whose five-month-old is travelling with her on this tour, before playing “We Almost Had a Baby”. Despite its jaunty little riff the song, from her 10-year-old debut album, is a desperately sad one, about a pregnancy scare. Read more... |
Mélanie De Biasio, QEH review – six years after 'No Deal'Wednesday, 29 May 2019
“Alexa, play Mélanie De Biasio”... and you know exactly where you’re headed. The Charleroi-born singer has created a sound-world, a place which is instantly recognisable. Read more... |
Neneh Cherry, Brighton Festival 2019 review – beloved bohemianTuesday, 28 May 2019
Neneh Cherry’s matchless bohemian life has perversely secured her pop position. The crowd tonight is maybe three-quarters female, and as unconcerned by a setlist almost wholly drawn from new album Broken Politics as Cherry is by the long lacuna in what you could hardly call a career. Read more... |
Peter Perrett, Concorde 2, Brighton review - it’s a family affair for the former Only OneTuesday, 28 May 2019
It’s been a couple of years since Peter Perrett, the former frontman and creative force behind the much loved but commercially under-performing Only Ones decided that he’d had enough of being a mere legend and got back into the musical ring. Read more... |
Manic Street Preachers, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - 20th anniversary tour lets underrated songs shineMonday, 27 May 2019
Nothing brings home the difference between sequencing an album and sequencing a live show like going to see a classic album played in its entirety. Read more... |
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