New music
Basia Bulat, Hoxton Square Bar & KitchenThursday, 14 April 2016
The cape is not an everyday item of clothing. Worn by magicians, it brings an air of the extraordinary. It billows in the path of superheroes. The cloak of invisibility confirms the cape’s singularity. Basia Bulat was first seen in a sparkly gold... Read more... |
10 Questions for Musician Graham NashThursday, 14 April 2016
It was in August 1968 that Graham Nash, then still a member of The Hollies, took a cab from LAX airport in Los Angeles to Joni Mitchell's house in Laurel Canyon. He was just embarking on a love affair with Joni, but also about to blast off on a... Read more... |
CD: Cate Le Bon - Crab DayThursday, 14 April 2016
Considering that it was recorded in North California, that she now lives in Los Angeles, that her musical co-conspirators include a member of The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and that the album’s co-producer Noah Georgeson was behind a raft of Devendra... Read more... |
CD: Hayes Carll - Lovers and LeaversWednesday, 13 April 2016
Absolute heartbreak has been part of country & western since before Hank Williams pined that he was so lonesome he could cry, way back in the 1940s. There’s a strand of country that’s an endless paean to the cowboy’s (and cowgirl’s) wandering... Read more... |
CD: Joachim Kühn - Beauty & TruthMonday, 11 April 2016
The youthful old master of European jazz raps on the Doors of Perception for his latest album, Beauty & Truth, with his piano trio of drummer Eric Schafer and bassist Chris Jennings. Their subject for analysis is The Doors’ “The End” and “Riders... Read more... |
Eliane Elias, Ronnie Scott'sSunday, 10 April 2016
Masterly improvising, outstanding compositions, a complete understanding between the musicians. On every count this was an exceptional set, as emotionally engaging as it was lovingly delivered.Working for three years in her late teens with the great... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Estonia: Tallinn Music Week 2016Sunday, 10 April 2016
“If we want to keep this free and democratic Europe of ours free and democratic, we must enlist ourselves, our skills and our commitment to liberty and justice. The problems we face are too great to simply say let the politicians do it. I say this... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: HauschkaSunday, 10 April 2016
Turn the clock back to early 2007. It’s not so long ago, but at this point Nils Frahm had issued just one album, Ólafur Arnalds was about to release his first, Jóhann Jóhannsson was one year into what would be two-album relationship with 4AD, and... Read more... |
CD: PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition ProjectSaturday, 09 April 2016
PJ Harvey's ninth album is one with a message. I know this because it marks the first time that my pre-release copy of an album has come with a lyric booklet, despite the fact that it is perhaps the least oblique thing that the Dorset-born... Read more... |
Hans Zimmer, Wembley ArenaFriday, 08 April 2016
Anyone who has been to the movies in the past 30 years will have heard the work of Hans Zimmer. His music is part of the very fabric of our lives, as was dramatically demonstrated last night at the packed Wembley SSE Arena when the opening notes of... Read more... |
CD: Hawkwind - The Machine StopsFriday, 08 April 2016
Hawkwind are one of rock's stranger institutions. Enigmatic too – despite inventing 'space rock', and teaching Lemmy his trade, they're still essentially known just for singing "Silver Machine". Yet search within their canon and you'll find real... Read more... |
CD: Rodion – GeneratorThursday, 07 April 2016
Before the resurgence in vinyl, and the resultant pursuit of audiophile perfection on pointlessly expensive sound systems, was the musician’s fetish for vintage equipment and analogue synths. Live, this makes sense: sounds go direct into the... Read more... |
