New music
Album: Soft Cell - Happiness Not IncludedMonday, 02 May 2022
When Soft Cell first caught the imagination of the nation it was a time of hope, opportunity and change. One of the first bands to bring technology to the top of the charts, they seemed to herald a new age after the grey years of the Seventies. They... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Dusty Springfield - Dusty Sings SoulSunday, 01 May 2022
First on were The Supremes with “Baby Love.” Next, The Miracles performed “You Really Got a Hold on me.” After this, Stevie Wonder’s “I Call it Pretty Music But the Old People Call it the Blues,” The Temptations’ “The Way You do the Things You do”... Read more... |
The Divine Comedy, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - a pleasing pop trip through the yearsFriday, 29 April 2022
Careful consideration is needed when leaving your seat at a Divine Comedy gig. “He’s off for a drink,” observed Neil Hannon of the audience member ambling away during a rendition of “Gin Soaked Boy”, before adding, accurately, “this song’s excellent... Read more... |
Album: Warpaint - Radiate Like ThisFriday, 29 April 2022
Radiate Like This is the first album in six years from American indie rock outfit Warpaint. The wait is, in part at least, down to Covid, which took hold just after they’d finished early recording sessions, forcing the band – like the rest of the... Read more... |
Album: Willie Nelson - A Beautiful TimeWednesday, 27 April 2022
All power to Willie Nelson – marking his 89th birthday this week with a new album, A Beautiful Time. He and Trigger have been making music together for more than half a century, Nelson releasing his first album in 1962. From his pen have come some... Read more... |
Album: Ches Smith - Interpret It WellWednesday, 27 April 2022
Drummer/vibraphonist Ches Smith’s previous release on the Pyroclastic label could not be more different from this one.Last year's Path of Seven Colors was well received: it was the Guardian’s 2021 jazz album of the year. That disc was an... Read more... |
The Vaccines, Barrowland, Glasgow review - pacy but predictable rock'n'rollTuesday, 26 April 2022
You could never accuse the Vaccines of being the most subtle of bands. When the London quintet ran through the intro to “Surfing in the Sky”, their frontman Justin Young started to shoogle around onstage as if, yes, he was riding a surfboard, in... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 70: Marianne Faithful, Honey Bane, Tinariwen, Kraftwerk, PJ Harvey, Dowdelin and moreTuesday, 26 April 2022
Spring is in the air and vinyl is, as always, on the turntable here at theartsdesk on Vinyl. We’ve been ploughing through all the latest releases and reissues, played loud on a large sound system, each evaluated as fully as possible. Below you’ll... Read more... |
Album: Trombone Shorty – LiftedMonday, 25 April 2022
Trombone Shorty has been described as “part Jimi Hendrix, part James Brown and all New Orleans”. I can’t vouch for the New Orleans part of this description, but on the evidence of this album, part Lenny Kravitz and part Bobby Brown might be closer... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Fame - Jon Savage’s Secret History Of Post-Punk (1978-81)Sunday, 24 April 2022
“The Method” by The Method Actors was issued as the top side of a single in July 1981. Although recorded in London during September 1980 and only released by a British label, the band – a duo of guitar/vocals and drums/vocals – were from Athens,... Read more... |
Album: Fontaines DC – Skinty FiaSunday, 24 April 2022
Incanting, declaiming, and growling, as if actual singing might prettify the Fontaines DC’s post-punk dirges, Grian Chatten has never sounded more aggrieved than he does on the Irish combo’s third album. Disarmingly, he also sounds younger on Skinty... Read more... |
Foals, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - a euphoric returnSaturday, 23 April 2022
Much has changed for Foals since their current run of shows were first announced. Initially scheduled to support 2019’s twin releases of Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 and 2, so much time has passed that the group are now set to release... Read more... |
