New music
CD: The dø - Shake Shook ShakenMonday, 26 January 2015
Whether intentional or not, the third album by French chart-topping duo The dø is effectively a renewal of “Sweet Dreams”-era Eurythmics. The synth bubble-‘n’-pulse and vocal lines nodding towards the choral and gospel inescapably evoke what Annie... Read more... |
Jan Garbarek Group, Stormen, BodøMonday, 26 January 2015
Norway’s celebrated jazz colossus Jan Garbarek hadn’t played the north Norwegian city of Bodø for 15 years. Moreover, he and his group took the stage of the spanking new Stormen concert house as the openers of Bodø Jazz Open, the city’s four-day... Read more... |
CD: Renegades of Jazz – Paradise LostSunday, 25 January 2015
Renegades of Jazz is the alter ego of German DJ David Hanke, whose blending of breakbeats, a distorted big band, rap vocals and electronica to create something billed to bring jazz back to the dancefloor would already be an unusual combination even... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Tyrannosaurus RexSunday, 25 January 2015
Tyrannosaurus Rex: My People Were Fair and had Sky in Their Hair, Prophets, Seers & Sages: Angels of the Ages, Unicorn“I was just reflecting and talking about things most people thought or wanted to hear about at the time.” Marc Bolan’s... Read more... |
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, October GallerySaturday, 24 January 2015
There have been Throbbing Gristle reunions at Tate Modern, and Psychic TV last played in London at the now-demolished Astoria in 2008 – the band in nurse’s uniforms, playing psych garage rock over projections of medical procedures and sex scenes –... Read more... |
CD: Meghan Trainor - TitleSaturday, 24 January 2015
Meghan Trainor may not yet be a household name, but you’ll be familiar with her feelgood hit of last summer. “All About That Bass” is many things: insistent, catchy, possibly anti-feminist body-shaming – but it also sparked a little debate on... Read more... |
PJ Harvey: Recording in Progress, Artangel at Somerset HouseSaturday, 24 January 2015
Artangel continues to instigate extraordinary events in extraordinary places. Over the past two decades and more, directors Michael Morris and James Lingwood have helped generate major and ground-breaking work by Rachel Whiteread, Brian Eno, Laurie... Read more... |
CD: Napalm Death – Apex Predator – Easy MeatWednesday, 21 January 2015
To say that the music industry’s response to the ongoing world financial crisis has been pitiful is an understatement. There’s been no “Ghost Town”, no “Step down Margaret” and no “Holiday in Cambodia”. However, Napalm Death have come to remedy this... Read more... |
Latvian Radio Choir, Kļava, St John's Smith SquareWednesday, 21 January 2015
Latvia likes to be different. At least that’s the message they sent out with the cultural programme marking the start of the country’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. Pomp and circumstance were out, and instead we got a Cage-... Read more... |
CD: Africa Express Presents... Terry Riley's In CWednesday, 21 January 2015
If humanity first emerged in Africa, so did music, that’s for sure. The continent provides an endless reservoir of sounds and rhythms that have fed into blues, gospel, rock and jazz and influenced musical culture the world over. Not surprising... Read more... |
CD: Panda Bear – Panda Bear Meets the Grim ReaperMonday, 19 January 2015
Some have suggested that the title of Panda Bear’s fifth studio album means this could be the last we hear of Noah Lennox’s musical alter ego. If he is going, he’s certainly not doing it quietly, as this follow up to 2011’s Tomboy takes the intense... Read more... |
Die Antwoord, O2 Academy BrixtonSunday, 18 January 2015
After three albums the question remains: is Die Antwoord more than a just a clever joke or is the act simply a caricature of South Africa’s trashy “Zef”-side? The guys and gal behind "Ninja and Yo-landi Vi$$er" are in no doubt – they claim to be “... Read more... |
