New music
EFG London Jazz Festival, first weekend review - Jeff Goldblum a jazz musician?Monday, 19 November 2018
The choice of what to go and hear in the London Jazz Festival can be bewildering: this first weekend of its 10-day run presented over 120 events. I managed to attend eight, of them at least in part, including some of the show that has predictably... Read more... |
Florence + The Machine, Genting Arena, Birmingham review - flying the flag for a hopeful futureMonday, 19 November 2018
Many established artists, when out on tour, can get all a bit bashful about their new material. In fact, it’s not unusual for bands to hide a couple of new tunes in the middle of their live set with embarrassed mumbling about “you don’t really want... Read more... |
CD: Josephine Foster - Faithful Fairy HarmonyMonday, 19 November 2018
Faithful Fairy Harmony is in the tradition of The Beatles’ White Album, Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard, a True Star and The Clash’s London Calling, all double albums because an outpouring of songs couldn’t be stemmed. Also like these, Josephine Foster’s... Read more... |
CD: Cliff Richard - Rise UpSaturday, 17 November 2018
Cliff Richard has been the butt of many jokes down the years, but he’s always looked the other way, true to himself. But he couldn’t look the other way when BBC TV conspired to air live coverage of a police raid on his home. Vindicated in court (... Read more... |
CD: Planet B - Planet BFriday, 16 November 2018
It’s fair to assume that the current state of American politics has US underground punker Justin Pearson and hip-hop producer Luke Henshaw somewhat riled. Planet B’s debut album is a 35-minute rant in the form of a relentless anti-love letter to... Read more... |
The Ballads of Child Migration, St James's Church, Clerkenwell review - into the heart of darknessWednesday, 14 November 2018
What adjectives best describe a performance of The Ballads of Child Migration? None of those you’d normally expect to see applied to an evening of superlative music-making, for the song cycle chronicles the deprivations suffered by child migrants... Read more... |
CD: Mumford & Sons - DeltaWednesday, 14 November 2018
Wow, can it really be 10 years since Mumford & Sons blazed their trail across the musical world with Sigh No More? The release of Delta, the band’s fourth album, marks the start of a 60-date world tour, which will keep them on the road – first... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 44: Thom Yorke, Primal Scream, Elvis, Noisferatu, R.E.M., Bauhaus, Mo'Wax and moreTuesday, 13 November 2018
Enough hyping! This month, without further ado, let’s head straight to the reviews…VINYL OF THE MONTHLOR Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (Lo Records)With Public Service Broadcasting’s The Race for Space making a noise only three years ago (and First Man... Read more... |
CD: Imogen Heap - The Music of Harry Potter and the Cursed ChildTuesday, 13 November 2018
London’s Palace Theatre this week celebrated the thousandth performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which opened there back in 2016. Like everything else JK Rowing puts her hand to, it’s been an outrageous success, taking the post-Hogwarts... Read more... |
CD: Liela Moss - My Name is Safe in Your MouthMonday, 12 November 2018
My Name is Safe in Your Mouth takes off with “Above You, Around You”, its fourth track. Up to that point, progress has been stately. Minimal piano refrains, distantly chiming guitars, heartbeat percussion, string swells and a plaintive, multi-... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Jazz on a Summer's DaySunday, 11 November 2018
When Jazz on a Summer's Day was first seen in American cinemas in March 1960, it showed that seeing popular music live could be a leisure activity akin to watching high-end sports. Indeed, director Bert Stern intercut the musical performances he... Read more... |
CD: Sarah Gillespie - WishbonesSunday, 11 November 2018
Whatever happened to real singer-songwriters? That is to say the kind of artist that raged against society’s ills in one song, and sung tenderly or bitterly of lost love in the next. Today’s insipid equivalent tends to be stuck in a perpetual... Read more... |
