Reviews
Queyras, Melnikov, Wigmore HallMonday, 01 December 2014
Even the most reluctant of completists should find the prospect of the Beethoven works for cello and piano undaunting. In their totality, these pieces consist of just five sonatas and three sets of variations, which fit neatly on to just two CDs, or... Read more... |
Eastern BoysMonday, 01 December 2014
Eastern Boys is a disturbing film. Robin Campillo’s second feature as director catches the often aggressive world of immigrant grifters in Paris – they’re a gang of young men largely from the former Soviet Union – and their interaction with the... Read more... |
Marianne Faithfull, Royal Festival HallSunday, 30 November 2014
“I have quit smoking!” the rock star exclaims to rapturous applause, taking a luxurious drag on an e-cigarette. And the artificial smoke dissipates across the stage, revealing a 67-year-old Marianne Faithfull perched on an antique leather chair... Read more... |
Conflict, Time, Photography, Tate ModernSunday, 30 November 2014
This huge exhibition is an awesome and terrifying compilation of photographs of the sites of conflict, and the remnants of wars and conflicts of all kinds – local, civil, short, long, global, technological, industrial and hand-to-hand. Taken from... Read more... |
Jaga Jazzist, Union ChapelSunday, 30 November 2014
Expectations can be dangerous when it comes to live music, but sometimes managing them is easier said than done. Go and see a band like Jaga Jazzist, a genre-crossing collective of Norwegian multi-instrumentalists who skyrocketed to fame in 2002... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Native North AmericaSunday, 30 November 2014
Various Artists: Native North America (Vol. 1) – Aboriginal Folk, Rock and Country 1966–1985America’s music could be jazz, gospel, blues or rock ’n’ roll. Or all of them. Each has black roots. Then there’s the white-rooted country, which also... Read more... |
Silent Planet, Finborough TheatreSaturday, 29 November 2014
Russian prisoner Gavriil is telling his psychiatrist a story about a strange and frightening dragon who demands a female sacrifice from the local townsfolk every year. When Gavriil gets to the end of his hot-breathed tale, his doctor drily remarks... Read more... |
Lily Allen, Brighton CentreFriday, 28 November 2014
There is an odd moment about halfway through Lily Allen’s set. Clad in a shaggy white mini dress akin to a Puli dog’s coat, she announces the next song will divide the audience into those that love it and those that hate it. Her sweet voice then... Read more... |
J-Sonics, The Hideaway, StreathamFriday, 28 November 2014
Last night Latin jazzers J-Sonics confirmed their reputation as one of the most compelling proponents of the delicate art of fusion with a deeply grooving, deeply addictive performance of their propulsive repertoire. Their two Brazilian-flavoured... Read more... |
Pelléas et Mélisande, Philharmonia, Salonen, RFHFriday, 28 November 2014
In an operatic world in which the director is an increasingly despotic king, it’s good to be reminded that, sometimes, not staging an opera is the most radical reading of all. No elaborate set or concept dominated David Edwards’s one-off Pelléas et... Read more... |
HockneyFriday, 28 November 2014
David Hockney was continually rejuvenated by his transatlantic commuting. The painter, printmaker, draughtsman, photographer, and stage designer, was also a writer producing theories of seeing, and was fascinated by digital... Read more... |
LittleBigPlanet 3Friday, 28 November 2014
Before Minecraft there was LittleBigPlanet. This series lets you jump around cute homespun platform levels, then go in and edit them and create your own. The latest adds all sorts of new editing tools, but still fails to communicate simply enough... Read more... |
