New Music Reviews
Album: Ajukaja & Mart Avi - Death of MusicThursday, 12 December 2024
Death of Music was created in Estonia. Despite the English lyrics, directness is absent. Take the title track. “Drop the music” exhorts Mart Avi over its pulsing five minutes. “Fight the music” he declares. The word “execution” crops up. There is reference to a “rope ladder.” The specific meaning of this torrent of imagery is unclear. Nonetheless, it is certain the untrammelled outpouring confirms Avi’s total surrender to the music. Read more... |
Vampire Weekend, OVO Hydro, Glasgow review - a mixture of brilliance and self-indulgenceTuesday, 10 December 2024
When Vampire Weekend arrived onstage they numbered only three and were bunched together at the front with a large curtain draped behind them, obscuring their backdrop. By the time this marathon set ended two and a half hours later, they’d more than doubled in number and had made full use of their surroundings, a shift which summed up a constantly changing, often contradictory show. Read more... |
Julia Holter, Islington Assembly Hall review - shelter from the storm in experimental delightMonday, 09 December 2024
On a wet, dreary, winter evening in north London, at Islington Assembly Hall, a crowd gathered for an ethereal although not always engaging set by Julia Holter. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: John Leyton - Lone Rider The Holloway Road Sessions 1960-1962Sunday, 08 December 2024
For John Leyton, it was third time lucky as far as his singles were concerned. The actor’s manager Robert Stigwood teamed him with producer Joe Meek, but Leyton's first two 45s – August 1960’s “Tell Laura I Love Her” and October 1960's “The Girl on the Floor Above” – didn’t made waves. The next one – July 1961’s “Johnny Remember Me” – was it, the hit, the chart topper. Read more... |
Katy J Pearson, Saint Luke's and the Winged Ox, Glasgow review - warm-hearted songs to banish the coldThursday, 05 December 2024
'Tis the season for all manner of bugs, colds and illnesses. One had befallen Katy J Pearson, who struck an apologetic note after the night’s first number to say she had been unwell all day and was going to do her best to get through the gig. That added an unexpected element to proceedings, namely by creating the potential for the whole show to come to a sudden halt at any point. Read more... |
Album: White Denim - 12Wednesday, 04 December 2024
White Denim’s literally titled 12th album opens with the fidgety “Light on.” Drawing a line between electronica and Tropicália, it exudes sunniness. “Econolining” and “Flash Bare Ass,” up next, are equally peppy, as bright and similarly accord with the idea of pop as a mix-and-match grab bag – albeit from an off-centre perspective. Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 87: Roots Manuva, Bogdan Raczynski, Songhoy Blues, The Special AKA, Jhelisa, Tina Turner and moreTuesday, 03 December 2024
VINYL OF THE MONTH Blood Incantation Absolute Elsewhere (Century Media) Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: John Cale - The Academy in Peril, Paris 1919, Fear, Slow Dazzle, Helen of TroySunday, 01 December 2024
The return to shops of a consecutive sequence of five of John Cale's Seventies albums through different labels is undoubtedly coincidental. All have been previously reissued multiple times and none are scarce in any form. Anyone wanting any of these albums presumably already has a copy. Nonetheless, it’s good that these makeovers sustain the profile of Cale’s idiosyncratic take on art-rock. Read more... |
Album: The Innocence Mission - Midwinter SwimmersWednesday, 27 November 2024
A sycamore tree is described to an appaloosa horse before it is mounted to ride off to visit a friend. The thread used for sewing evokes a map where each street has a doorway which, once opened, reveals memories of those who are missed. Read more... |
EFG London Jazz Festival round-up review - youth, age, and the greatness in betweenTuesday, 26 November 2024
Jazz music crosses, mixes and unites generations, and the 10 concerts I’ve seen at this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival (out of more than 300 in total) have really brought that home. Read more... |
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