New Music Reviews
theartsdesk on VinylTuesday, 16 December 2014
Have you been to a record shop lately? Now that our honeymoon with virtual music is revealed as completely lacking romance, record shops are thriving again. And it’s not CDs these shoppers are after. Those have been squeezed off into a far corner stocking only immediately sellable fare such as The Beatles, The Smiths, Led Zep, and early Oasis. No, the rest of the shop has been taken over by hoards, layers, tranches of alphabetized 12” vinyl, ordered by genre. Read more... |
The Human League, Brighton CentreSunday, 14 December 2014
The Human League front-load their set to such a degree it’s unclear how they’re going to maintain such momentum. Their stage set is amazing, just for starters. Stage-length steps rise up to a podium at the back, on which two synth-players are placed either side of the drummer, the backing band, all of them and all around in white. Surrounding the whole lot are three layers of equally white hoarding upon which projections and lighting effects envelop the performance. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The CzarsSunday, 14 December 2014
|
Reissue CDs Weekly: 2014 RevisitedSunday, 07 December 2014
With just over two weeks to Christmas, thoughts might be turning to which of the deluge of 2014’s reissues might be suitable as a gift, worth putting on your own wish-list for Santa or even merit buying for yourself. So if help is needed, theartsdesk is happy to provide a one-stop guide to the essential reissues covered so far this year. Read more... |
Jon Hopkins, Brighton DomeFriday, 05 December 2014
The last time I saw Jon Hopkins he was bangin’ out techno to a marquee full of sweating ravers at a festival on the Silesian plains of Poland, one man and a small gaggle of black boxes. Today the boxes have expanded from a small gaggle into a congregation and he is joined, upon occasion, by guitarist Leo Abrahams and a violinist, as well as a hefty dose of backdrop visuals and lighting. Read more... |
Marianne Faithfull, Royal Festival HallSunday, 30 November 2014
“I have quit smoking!” the rock star exclaims to rapturous applause, taking a luxurious drag on an e-cigarette. And the artificial smoke dissipates across the stage, revealing a 67-year-old Marianne Faithfull perched on an antique leather chair, shoulder raised and pouting as if caricaturing her own youth. Read more... |
Jaga Jazzist, Union ChapelSunday, 30 November 2014
Expectations can be dangerous when it comes to live music, but sometimes managing them is easier said than done. Go and see a band like Jaga Jazzist, a genre-crossing collective of Norwegian multi-instrumentalists who skyrocketed to fame in 2002 when the BBC named A Livingroom Hush jazz album of the year, and you expect it to be big. Especially when it’s the group’s 20th anniversary tour and you arrive at Union Chapel to find the queue stretching around the block. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Native North AmericaSunday, 30 November 2014
Read more... |
Lily Allen, Brighton CentreFriday, 28 November 2014
There is an odd moment about halfway through Lily Allen’s set. Clad in a shaggy white mini dress akin to a Puli dog’s coat, she announces the next song will divide the audience into those that love it and those that hate it. Her sweet voice then wraps itself around the soundtrack to last year’s John Lewis seasonal TV ad, her version of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know”. Read more... |
J-Sonics, The Hideaway, StreathamFriday, 28 November 2014
Last night Latin jazzers J-Sonics confirmed their reputation as one of the most compelling proponents of the delicate art of fusion with a deeply grooving, deeply addictive performance of their propulsive repertoire. Read more... |
The Czars: Best ofPages
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
latest in today
Help to give theartsdesk a future!
It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
Album: Lambrini Girls - Who Let the Dogs Out
Phoebe Lunny and Lilly Macieira are furious. Livid with the rapist...
Maria review - Pablo Larraín's haunting portrait of an...
As Bono once commented about Luciano Pavarotti, “the opera follows him off stage”. Legendary...
Titanique, Criterion Theatre review - musical parody sinks d...
This Celine Dion jukebox musical has been a big hit in New York, but...
Album: Franz Ferdinand - The Human Fear
Travel back in time to the mid 2000s and you would be hard pressed to escape "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand on the air waves. On the radio,...
Babygirl review - would-be steamy drama that only flirts wit...
Babygirl starts with the sound of sex, piped in over the credits. There's a lot of it on our screens at the moment, from ...
It's Raining Men review - frothy French comedy avoids d...
Iris (Laure Calamy) and her husband Stéphane (Vincent Elbaz) haven’t had sex for four years. Waiting at school for the parent-teacher conference (...
Album: Bridget Hayden and The Apparitions - Cold Blows The R...
The title Cold Blows The Rain encapsulates it. A mournful, unembellished female voice sings of loss. The musical backing is sparse....
A Real Pain review - Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin take...
Jesse Eisenberg's first film as writer/director...