fri 29/03/2024

New Music Reviews

Reissue CDs Weekly: Dino Valenti, Monterey Festival

Kieron Tyler

 

Dino ValenteDino Valente: Dino Valente

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Fleetwood Mac, O2 Arena

Serena Kutchinsky

We all know the backstory of the Mighty Mac, the breakups, the betrayals, the addictions and now, finally, the reunion. These days they're more like the Mellow Mac with the emotional hatchets buried, lingering hugs on stage, and tender tales of their time as struggling Seventies hippies. Few other bands, not even Abba, have mined their private lives for inspiration to the same extent.

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Manic Street Preachers, Shepherd's Bush Empire

Russ Coffey

A fortnight after its release, fans now know the Manics’ latest album Rewind the Film to be a rich, contemplative affair. The musical dynamics are intimate and seemingly best suited to small venues, like the one that features in the video for the single “Show Me the Wonder”. As I made my way across London last night, I wondered if this new sound was why the band had chosen to downsize from last year's O2 to the cosy surroundings of Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

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Darbar Festival, Southbank Centre

Tim Cumming

Darbar Festival, now in its eighth year, encompasses four days of talks, yoga, food, and music – swathes of it, morning, afternoon, and night, with each concert featuring two main sets.This year’s focus was on female musicians, and included a talk featuring the great Carnatic singer Sudha Ragunathan discussing her own experiences and the role of women in Indian music.

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Live_Transmission: Joy Division Reworked, Royal Festival Hall

Kieron Tyler

From no visible source, the instantly recognisable voice of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis croons the words of “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. But the lyrics aren’t in their familiar setting. Alone, he’s stripped from the band, naked and vulnerable. He’s been dead for 33 years, but this was as close as he could possibly be.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: Nirvana

Kieron Tyler

 

nirvana in utero deluxeNirvana: In Utero

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Kings Place Festival

Matthew Wright

Hungarian composer Bela Bartók’s analytical rigour and folk-inspired voice have established his position as one of the most original voices of the twentieth century, but he still represented a bold choice for the opening event of the 2013 Kings Place Festival.

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John Etheridge and the Soft Machine Legacy with Keith Tippett, Pizza Express

Matthew Wright

Some people have all the luck. Listening to John Etheridge’s self-deprecating description of how his career has progressed (in interviews such as Radio 3‘s Jazz Library, or at a gig, when he is a disarmingly open host), you would think he had stumbled upon Stephane Grapelli and Nigel Kennedy (to name merely the most famous of his many stellar collaborators) while out for a pint of milk.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: Classroom Projects, Good Vibrations Records, Darrow Fletcher

Kieron Tyler

 

Classroom ProjectsVarious Artists: Classroom Projects

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Cutty Cargo presents Jessie Ware, Ely's Yard

joe Muggs

It was a bittersweet kind of evening. Walking down Brick Lane, it was striking how Caucasian, tanned and healthy most people we passed were, and we couldn't help wondering if the Bangladeshi locals were starting to get priced out of their own neighbourhood, while the artists and party-weirdos who ironically made the place such a tourist destination are fading away, sloping off to Dalston and Peckham to continue the gentrification process all over again.

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