New Music Reviews
Edinburgh Fringe: Adam Riches/ Kristin HershSaturday, 20 August 2011
From the moment Adam Riches bursts onto the stage, spewing his business cards around as a manic showbiz agent who wants to sign up everyone and everything - including even the venue's walls and floor - this is a show of hyper energy and absurdist comedy. Read more... |
Anyone for Demis? How the World Invaded the Charts, BBC FourFriday, 19 August 2011
"Anyone for Demis?" wasn’t the only question posed by this trawl through some of the foreign – not American - popular music that’s been hugged to our collective bosom. That the large, hirsute, kaftan-shrouded Greek wonder that’s Demis Roussos was popular is obvious. He landed in the Top 10 in 1975 with “Happy to be on an Island in the Sun” and became a chart regular for the next two years. Everyone was for Demis. The other poser was the self-cancelling, “Now that pop music’s gone global, has... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: The Cave Singers/ The Real MacGuffins/ An Instinct for KindnessThursday, 18 August 2011
A three-piece hailing from Seattle and its environs, The Cave Singers are an authentically hairy proposition. With his tweed hat and red beard, at this Edge festival gig singer Pete Quirk looked like a cross between the late Robin Cook and a stray leprechaun from Finian’s Rainbow, while Derek Fudesco dispensed his lovely, liquid guitar lines from beneath a blur of flying hair. Read more... |
Wynton Marsalis Quintet, Ronnie Scott'sTuesday, 16 August 2011
“Wynton Marsalis has had an enormous impact on jazz over the last 40 years,” say the programme notes, “being one of the first artists to perform and compose across the full jazz spectrum from its New Orleans roots to bebop to modern jazz.” Although it seems to bestow an extra precociousness upon the American trumpeter, who was only born in 1961, the first part of that sentence is undoubtedly true. The second part is true too, until the last two words. Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Jackie Leven/ Jen Brister/ Doris Day Can F**k OffSaturday, 13 August 2011
Physically reduced he may have been, but his talents were as expansive as ever, and more than capable of holding a small room captivated with just voice and guitar. Read more... |
Teddy and Kami Thompson, Jazz Café CamdenFriday, 12 August 2011
These days Teddy Thompson seems entirely his own man. In fact, mentioning his family connections seems almost gratuitous. Last night, however, the son of Richard and Linda shared the evening with sister Kami and nephew Zak for a family knees-up before a devoted crowd. Read more... |
BBC Proms: Ensemble Modern, Steve ReichThursday, 11 August 2011
One thing became clearer to me last night – just how much Steve Reich has borrowed from world music in his compositions – we had the flamenco-tinged Clapping, Electric Counterpoint, using Central African guitar lines, and Music for 18 Musicians, a mix of West African rhythms, Indonesian gamelan and other elements. Read more... |
Neon Indian, ElectrowerkzTuesday, 09 August 2011
Obviously, minds are on more important, more urgent matters and this is a tiny facet of the effect of what is going on. Was looking forward to this tonight, and was going to review it. But it - like no doubt other shows and events of all types around the country – has been cancelled. The label’s statement: “We are really sorry to say that due to the insane and unique events this evening we’re pulling the Neon Indian show. Really sorry. Stay in and stay safe.”... Read more... |
Iron Maiden, O2 ArenaSaturday, 06 August 2011
Some bloke called Jack mailed to say that he did indeed have two tickets to Iron Maiden (baby), and for the Friday ‘n’all. So I called shotgun, threw on my cleanest “I ♥ Justin Bieber” T-shirt,* and pitched along to Docklands to hang out with the other teenage dirtbags – only to discover that they are, on average, actually about 40 years old. A lot of them in chinos. Read more... |
Mahala Rai Banda and The Trans-Siberian March Band, Rich MixThursday, 04 August 2011
Variety, as they say, is the spice of life. So it’s something to both celebrate and ruminate upon, that on Tuesday night I was reviewing a gig at which the guitar was undisputed king, whereas last night I was standing before an 11-piece band that didn’t include a single guitar. But the Romanian big band Mahala Rai Banda produce such a brassily dense sound that it’s hard to... Read more... |
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