New music
CD: Jill Scott - WomanSunday, 02 August 2015
Jill Scott albums should, in theory, be a bit of a chore. Everything about them, this one included, is like listening to a life coach: positive affirmations, exhortations to self-care, expressions of gratitude to the universe, homely snippets of... Read more... |
CD: Julio Bashmore - Knockin' BootsSaturday, 01 August 2015
“Julio Bashmore” is actually the nom-de-dancefloor of Bristolian DJ-producer Matt Walker who’s been slowly building a rep over the last five years. Outside clubland, music-lovers may have heard of him via his production on Jessie Ware’s early... Read more... |
Prom 16: Late Night with Radio 1, Pete TongThursday, 30 July 2015
After years of pussyfooting around pop, hoping the Pet Shop Boys will write something in a passable classical idiom, the Proms has embraced the most euphoric popular genre of all - dance - to its bosom. Pete Tong, long-standing Radio 1 presenter and... Read more... |
CD: Richard Fairhurst & John Taylor – DuetsThursday, 30 July 2015
With the sad news of John Taylor’s sudden death at the age of 72 following a heart attack during a performance at the Saveurs Festival (France) earlier this month, this delightful and intimate but low-key release acquires unexpected lapidary weight... Read more... |
WOMAD 2015, Charlton ParkWednesday, 29 July 2015
Now was the summer of our disco tent. The disco tent in question backstage was not jumping as much as in previous years – somehow strutting your Travolta moves in wellies doesn’t quite cut it. A glam tribute band at Molly’s Bar on Thursday night,... Read more... |
WOMAD 2, Charlton ParkWednesday, 29 July 2015
Trudging through the mud at last weekend’s WOMAD provided fleeting moments of random entertainment, as if surfing old-style across the bandwidths of a short-wave radio, you’d stumble unexpectedly on snatches of exotic sounds from around the globe:... Read more... |
CD: 10.000 Russos - 10.000 RussosWednesday, 29 July 2015
There is something strange happening in mainland Europe at the moment. Perhaps this has been spurred on by a feeling that the old certainties of the past aren’t quite so solid, but a mind-expanding psychedelia with an eye for the dance-floor and... Read more... |
Tom Jones / The Shires, Greenwich Music Time FestivalTuesday, 28 July 2015
With its time and observatory, Greenwich is a fitting venue for record-breakers, and Sir Tom Jones, who sang at the Greenwich Music Time Festival last night, has some impressive vital statistics. The still-slim, still-dynamic figure in a black suit... Read more... |
Peter Perrett, The GarageTuesday, 28 July 2015
Peter Perrett reappears for his third encore. This time his band doesn’t play with him. He attacks the guitar alone, “No Peace for the Wicked” and “It’s the Truth”, both songs from his days in The Only Ones, 35 years ago. His distinctive cracked... Read more... |
CD: Vetiver – Complete StrangersMonday, 27 July 2015
The listless Complete Strangers drifts by in such a haze that it’s impossible to maintain any concentration on it after the first 10 minutes or so. When it ends, after 43 minutes and 10 songs, awareness that it’s finished only comes when whatever... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Tennessee Ernie FordSunday, 26 July 2015
Tennessee Ernie Ford: Portrait of an American SingerAlthough there are different American music charts, success in one category but not another is not a marginal accomplishment. A major star on the country chart can be as popular, heavy... Read more... |
Irakere, Ronnie Scott'sSunday, 26 July 2015
When Afro-Cuban jazz pioneers Irakere first played Ronnie Scott’s, back in 1985, they sold out the venue for five weeks on the trot. Thirty years later, and 40 years since the pioneering Latin jazz outfit began, they’re back to celebrate the... Read more... |
