fri 20/09/2024

New Music Reviews

theartsdesk on Vinyl 54: The Beatles, Prince, Kid Acne, Nirvana, Teebs, Monty Python, Pulp and more

Thomas H Green

Without further ado, slightly delayed by the sheer volume of releases at this year time of year, here is the latest edition of theartsdesk on Vinyl. You will not find a more extensive monthly report on the goodies newly available on plastic anywhere on the internet. Every conceivable genre is theartsdesk on Vinyl’s game so dive in and get involved!

Read more...

Vampire Weekend, O2 Academy, Birmingham review – clean-cut Americans fail to ignite

Guy Oddy

By the time Vampire Weekend reached Birmingham on their latest UK jaunt, they had unfortunately managed to mislay their support band, the colourful Songhoy Blues. This was a great shame, as the Malians would surely have added a bit of colour to the early part of an evening that would most certainly have benefitted from a bit of light and shade.

Read more...

Reissue CDs Weekly: Yesterday Has Gone - The Songs of Teddy Randazzo

Kieron Tyler

“It's Gonna Take a Miracle” just missed out on a mainstream US Top 40 placing after The Royalettes issued it as a single in June 1965. But the song had staying power.

Read more...

Ólafur Arnalds presents OPIA, Southbank Centre review - many strange delights

Chris Harvey

Ólafur Arnalds is almost secretly huge. Millions adore the melancholy beauty of the Icelandic composer’s music, yet his name still brings blank stares from some.

Read more...

CD: Luke Combs – What You See Is What You Get

Ellie Porter

With US number one singles and Grammys coming out of his ears, a record-breaking streak at the top for debut album This One’s For You and collaborations with country big-timers aplenty, Luke Combs is riding high.

Read more...

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Village Underground review - more than a homage to Fela

mark Kidel

The joy of Afro-Beat comes from the intricate play of polyrhythms, eloquently constructed around the subtle interplay of guitars, bass, backing vocals, percussion and horns: each voice follows a distinct path, and the combination of each in a rich and complex whole is both powerfully mind-blowing and irresistibly danceable.

Read more...

Hubro 10th-Anniversary Concert, The Spice of Life review - boundary pushing Norwegian label marks its birthday

Kieron Tyler

A fiddle projects upwards from between Erlend Apneseth’s knees. Seated, he holds another in his right hand facing-off the instruments against each other. He’s plucking both, the pizzicato pitter-patter suggesting water drops on a bell or a koto. On the other side of the stage, guitarist Stephan Meidell is looping the sound, treating it to form a wash akin to that of a waterfall.

Read more...

BaBa ZuLa, Jazz Cafe review - much more than mere entertainment from 'Turkish Psych' specialists

mark Kidel

BaBa ZuLa only fully manifest their free spirit when they play live, and in the intimate setting of a venue like the Jazz Cafe, where the entre audience is close to the stage.

Read more...

Reissue CDs Weekly: Gene Clark - No Other

Kieron Tyler

Three years after its release, Gene Clark explained where he was heading while creating 1974's No Other. “I was strongly influenced at that time by two other artists. Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions and [The Rolling Stones’s] Goat’s Head Soup.

Read more...

CD: fka twigs – mary magdalene

Kathryn Reilly

Tahliah Barnett has been having a rough old time of it. There was that doomed celebrity romance (Robert Pattinson) and some health issues (I’m not entirely sure if we need to know about her operation to have fibroids removed) but suffering, as we are all aware, is the fuel of creativity.

Read more...

Pages

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

A Very Royal Scandal, Prime Video review - a fairly sound re...

Why do production companies think the world needs yet another reconstituted TV drama involving famous people in infamous situations? Newspapers...

The law's sick voyeurism - director Cédric Kahn on...

The trial of the left-wing intellectual Pierre Goldman, who was charged in April 1970 with four armed robberies, one of which led to the death of...

Notes from Sheepland review - her farm is her canvas

Orla Barry laughed when she was advised to take up sheep farming, and not just because she had no experience. “Orla with the sheep eyes,” she...

The Substance review - Demi Moore as an ageing Hollywood cel...

If you like a body-horror movie to retain a semblance of logic in its plot line, then The Substance – grotesque, gory and finally...

Moby, O2 review - ebullient night of rave'n'rock...

Sometimes a gig suddenly and completely elevates. Such is the case tonight when Moby, on his first UK tour in 12 years, plays “Extreme Ways”, his...

Strange Darling review - love really hurts

“Are you a serial killer?” asks a woman sitting in a pick up truck with a man she just met at a bar. The neon sign from the motel...

The Goldman Case review - blistering French political drama

It’s a bold move to give a UK cinema release to this fierce courtroom drama about a French left-wing intellectual who was assassinated in1979....

Zoë Coombs Marr, Soho Theatre review - stock checks and spre...

You have to admire the ambition of a show called Every Single Thing in My Whole Entire Life, the latest from Zoe Coombs Marr, which she...

The Truth About Harry Beck, London Transport Museum Cubic Th...

Iconic is a word the meaning of which is moving from the religious world into popular culture – win a reality TV...

theartsdesk Q&A: young pianist Ignas Maknickas on appear...

The high level of entries for this year’s Leeds Piano Competition – 366, almost twice the...