New Music Reviews
theartsdesk in Fes - world music centralFriday, 06 June 2025
With WOMAD not happening this year, where could one go for a feast of global sounds? Fes in Morocco has been presenting its sacred music festival for 29 years. I’ve been several times and although this wasn’t an absolute classic, it was as ever, full of extraordinary moments. Read more... |
Songhoy Blues, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - West African crew raise the roofFriday, 06 June 2025
No-one needs to be living in Trump’s USA to be aware that governments never feel that it’s in their interest to prioritise great art and music over attention-grabbing and ill-conceived populist policies. Mali’s Songhoy Blues, unfortunately, have now found themselves at the receiving end of such nonsense. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Pete Shelley - Homosapien, XL-1Sunday, 01 June 2025
Pete Shelley’s departure from Buzzcocks felt abrupt. When he left the Manchester band which had been integral to British punk since 1976, the other members thought it was still a going concern. Shelley had reached a different conclusion. Read more... |
Alan Sparhawk, EartH Theatre review - an absorbing game of two halves from the former Low mainstayFriday, 30 May 2025
For the first half-hour of this show – on the day before the release of his new album Alan Sparhawk With Trampled by Turtles – Alan Sparhawk moves ceaselessly. Whirling, arms sweeping like the sails of a windmill, gliding across the stage. He sings, his voice treated: auto-tuned, pitch-shifted. The only breaks come with momentary pauses to set rhythm tracks for the next song. Then, off again. Read more... |
Album: Garbage - Let All That We Imagine Be The LightThursday, 29 May 2025
Garbage’s eighth album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light, arrives with weighty intentions and a strong sense of purpose, but the end result feels more admirable than truly compelling. While the band still knows how to craft polished, politically aware alt-rock, the album often plays it safe musically, lacking the punch or experimentation that once defined them. Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 90: Small Faces, ESKA, Luvcat, Dope Lemon, Celia Cruz, Monolake and moreWednesday, 28 May 2025
VINYL OF THE MONTH Emily Saunders Moon Shifts Oceans (The Mix Sounds) Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Johnnie Taylor - Who's Making Love The Stax Singles 1966-1970Sunday, 25 May 2025
Johnnie Taylor’s big break came with the ever-fabulous September 1968 single “Who's Making Love.” His ninth 45 for the Stax label, it went Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Up to this point, the Arkansas-born singer had been on the R&B charts only. Hitting the mainstream countdown had taken a while: Taylor’s first solo single had been issued in April 1961. Read more... |
Pixies, O2 Academy, Birmingham review - indie veterans pack the houseThursday, 22 May 2025
Pixies might just be the ultimate Radio 6 Dad band. They’ve been around (on-and-off) for around 40 years; they’ve got a fine back catalogue of slightly weird, guitar-driven scuzzy rock music and they have absolutely no pretentions to being flash at all. Read more... |
The Great Escape Festival 2025, Brighton review - a feast of music from across the worldTuesday, 20 May 2025
Photographer Finetime and I have our first pints outside Dalton’s, a bar on Brighton seafront, at almost exactly midday. They are Beavertown Neck Oil IPA at 4.3%. The sun is out, glinting off the sea. Feels like the calm before the storm. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Chapterhouse - White House DemosSunday, 18 May 2025
Quoted in an early music press article on his band Chapterhouse, singer-guitarist Stephen Patman said their ambition was “to have our records on sale in 20 years’ time. To leave something behind when we die." That was September 1990, in a piece tied-in to their soon-to-be-issued debut single. Read more... |
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