New Music Reviews
Black Flag, The Mill, Birmingham review – hardcore punk originators come up trumpsThursday, 10 October 2019
Prior to this week, it had been 35 years since hardcore punk firestarters Black Flag had set foot in the UK. That said, it was not without some trepidation that I made my way to one of Birmingham’s more compact venues to see a band who had once been genre-defining, get on stage and do their stuff. Read more... |
Alice Cooper, The Stranglers, MC50, Brighton Centre review - a triple-headed blast of vintage rockWednesday, 09 October 2019
The Ol’ Black Eyes is Back Tour celebrates Alice Cooper’s 50 years using his stage name. He’d been around under other names before 1969 but Alice Cooper – originally the title of the band rather than the man – achieved success as the Seventies began by combining trash-glam drag with stompin’ riffy music. Read more... |
Kano, Brighton Dome review - simply joyousMonday, 07 October 2019
Kano’s lyrics often sound like a wake, mixing mournfulness and anger as they raise a toast to fallen friends on abandoned estates, casualties of crushing pressures alien to the authorities who pronounce on them in the tabloids and parliament. Read more... |
Two Door Cinema Club, O2 Academy, Glasgow - lively but risk averse party songs for the weekendMonday, 07 October 2019
The onstage arrival of Two Door Cinema Club was heralded by a tongue-in-cheek video countdown that reached zero and then flashed up an error message, before asking the crowd to “try again”. In truth, the band’s own performance was never likely to hit any hitches, being the sort of well-honed and slick display that you would expect from a group who have been touring steadily for the past several months. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Hollywood Stars - Sound CitySunday, 06 October 2019
The Hollywood Stars were not shy. Read more... |
Rodrigo y Gabriela, Eventim Apollo Hammersmith review - fiery flamenco rockSaturday, 05 October 2019
Rodrigo y Gabriela are no longer the youthful metalheads that once spawned an organic fan movement from the muso grapevine, via rigorous gig schedules and world tours. Read more... |
Jambinai, Purcell Room - launching K-Music Festival with a wall of soundFriday, 04 October 2019
K-Music has become one of the highlights of the autumn cultural calender since it launched in 2014, bringing an eclectic range of Korean artists and bands, from pop and rock to jazz and folk, and all the gradations between. Read more... |
Richard Thompson 70th Birthday Celebration, Royal Albert Hall review - not just a family affairTuesday, 01 October 2019
So it’s your birthday. Not just another one but your 70th. So who’s on the guest list? Read more... |
Minimalism Changed My Life: Tones, Drones and Arpeggios, QEH review - from Cage and Reich to 'Tubular Bells'Monday, 30 September 2019
Charles Hazlewood's 2018 two-parter for BBC Four, Tones, Drones and Arpeggios: The Magic of Minimalism explored work by some of the great composers of the genre Hazlewood dubs as “last big idea in classical music”, which emerged from the experiments of John Cage in the 1950s, with offshoots spearheaded by the likes of La Monte Young and Terry Riley, and later Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 53: U2, Moonlight Parade, Oasis, Stray Cats, Crass, Prefab Sprout and moreMonday, 30 September 2019
It’s reckoned that this time next year vinyl sales will have overtaken CDs. It’s still a small market and anyone who thinks vinyl will one day replace streaming is living on Planet Lah-lah. There’s so much coming out even theartsdesk on Vinyl cannot review it all, but what we can do is devote 7500 words to what grabs our attention. We are not limited by genre or by new vs reissue. Read more... |
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