New Music Reviews
WOMAD 2015, Charlton ParkWednesday, 29 July 2015
Now was the summer of our disco tent. The disco tent in question backstage was not jumping as much as in previous years – somehow strutting your Travolta moves in wellies doesn’t quite cut it. A glam tribute band at Molly’s Bar on Thursday night, knocking out Bolan and Bowie numbers dressed in cheap sci-fi tat were hugely entertaining though. Read more...
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WOMAD 2, Charlton ParkWednesday, 29 July 2015
Trudging through the mud at last weekend’s WOMAD provided fleeting moments of random entertainment, as if surfing old-style across the bandwidths of a short-wave radio, you’d stumble unexpectedly on snatches of exotic sounds from around the globe: an eerie double-bass Mongolian throat-song one minute, and a horror-dark wisp of electronically enhanced tango the next. The food was taste-bogglingly varied too, from Algerian-flavoured steak wraps to a mysterious array of Tibetan treats. Read more... |
Tom Jones / The Shires, Greenwich Music Time FestivalTuesday, 28 July 2015
With its time and observatory, Greenwich is a fitting venue for record-breakers, and Sir Tom Jones, who sang at the Greenwich Music Time Festival last night, has some impressive vital statistics. The still-slim, still-dynamic figure in a black suit has sold 100 million records in a career of over 50 years, and on a good day, he can be Elvis Presley with a touch of Bryn Terfel. Read more... |
Peter Perrett, The GarageTuesday, 28 July 2015
Peter Perrett reappears for his third encore. This time his band doesn’t play with him. He attacks the guitar alone, “No Peace for the Wicked” and “It’s the Truth”, both songs from his days in The Only Ones, 35 years ago. His distinctive cracked voice is strong. In any case, the crowd assist him, even though these are not sing-along songs so much as perfectly constructed mini-melodramas of the heart. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Tennessee Ernie FordSunday, 26 July 2015
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Irakere, Ronnie Scott'sSunday, 26 July 2015
When Afro-Cuban jazz pioneers Irakere first played Ronnie Scott’s, back in 1985, they sold out the venue for five weeks on the trot. Thirty years later, and 40 years since the pioneering Latin jazz outfit began, they’re back to celebrate the anniversary, playing two shows a night across six nights, with pianist and founder Chucho Valdes at the helm. Read more... |
theartsdesk at Latitude Festival 2015Wednesday, 22 July 2015
Many festivals have become increasingly family-friendly. The children who, 10 years ago, were taken to outdoor multi-dayers such as Latitude, Camp Bestival and the now-defunct Big Chill, are now teenagers. Many have grown up with festivals as a usual part of their summer holidays - rather than a countercultural escape - and now they want to strike out on their own. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Mission of BurmaSunday, 19 July 2015
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theartsdesk on Vinyl: Volume 7 - Northern Soul, The Fall and moreFriday, 17 July 2015
One of vinyl’s more controversial corners is the postal subscription club. Sign up to one of these and, for a fee, a number of records are sent to your home. The draw is supposed to be exclusivity of content or simply trusting the taste of a faultless musical guru. Subscription is thus, to put it mildly, a mixed bag. Sites such as Wax&Stamp are typical. Their policy is to send two-per-month, one chosen by them and one by a guest selector. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Love AffairSunday, 12 July 2015
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Tennessee Ernie Ford: Portrait of an American Singer
Mission of Burma: signals, calls, and marches/Vs.
The Love Affair/Steve Ellis: Tim...
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