New music
Album: Dubstar - TwoFriday, 13 May 2022
Dubstar didn’t really fit the niche where the 1990s put them. Signed to Food Records, original home of Blur, they were lumped in with Britpop but their music was always closer to the thoughtful electronic pop of Saint Etienne, and they also had –... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Marc Almond of Soft CellThursday, 12 May 2022
Soft Cell, the duo consisting of Marc Almond and Dave Ball, announced they were calling it quits in 2018. The two sold out shows at the 02 in London were supposed to be their swan song, waving goodbye to their Soft Cell days. But as their eponymous... Read more... |
Album: Van Morrison - What's It Gonna Take?Thursday, 12 May 2022
The mystifying chasm between Van Morrison’s personality and music became total with last year’s Latest Record Project Volume 1, as masterfully sung, textbook R&B rolled under biliously paranoid words. This 28-song more than double-album was... Read more... |
Clubbing with the Stones: Live at El MocamboWednesday, 11 May 2022
In a little over two week’s time, the three remaining ones will kick-start their 60th year as The Rolling Stones by taking to the stage at a stadium on the edge of Madrid on June 1, around the same time that Elizabeth Windsor marks her own @70... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Estonia: Tallinn-Narva Music Week review - solidarity through music on the Russian borderWednesday, 11 May 2022
The gentleman in the centre of the picture above is Ivan Dorn. In Ukraine, he’s a pop star. A big pop star. His music, as he puts it on stage during the show opening Tallinn-Narva Music Week, is “pure Ukrainian house music.” Yep, there’s the bing-... Read more... |
Album: Florence + the Machine - Dance FeverWednesday, 11 May 2022
The title of Florence + the Machine’s fifth album, Dance Fever is a bit of a misnomer, as it’s unlikely that it will ever come to soundtrack anyone losing themselves and their inhibitions on the dancefloor. In fact, it’s unlikely that many will feel... Read more... |
theartsdesk Radio Show 33: Ukraine special - musicians and artists direct from Ukraine, with co-host Anastasia PiliavskyTuesday, 10 May 2022
The latest edition of Peter Culshaw’s occasional global radio shows focuses totally on Ukraine, looking at music, art, culture and resistance.Culshaw has reported over the years on the Odessa Film and Jazz festivals for theartsdesk, and written for... Read more... |
alt-J, Barrowland, Glasgow review - unlikely anthems from the shadowsMonday, 09 May 2022
Prior to alt-j’s encore getting underway their video wall switched to the Ukrainian flag. “Fuck Putin!” bellowed keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton, to hearty roars of approval, in what was both a brief reminder of the outside world beyond the... Read more... |
Album: The Waterboys - All Souls HillMonday, 09 May 2022
This album starts with an unfortunate sound. Its title track begins with the kind of drum loop that rock bands from U2 on down adopted in the early 1990s having heard Massive Attack and Happy Mondays and deciding that they were going to get on the... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Kokomo - To Be CoolSunday, 08 May 2022
Over January, February and early March 1975, British music fans could buy tickets for what was titled The Naughty Rhythms Tour. Three bands were billed, with the running order changing each evening. The tour was the idea of Andrew Jakeman, who... Read more... |
Album: Emeli Sandé - Let's Say For InstanceSaturday, 07 May 2022
Around a decade ago, Scottish singer Emeli Sandé appeared during a golden time for original female songwriters. On well-wrought, richly-inhabited songs such as “My Kind of Love” she quickly established herself as a characterful performer able to... Read more... |
Album: Congotronics International - Where’s The One?Friday, 06 May 2022
The album title ‘Where’s the One?’ is the question that often cropped up during the album’s creation. That’s to say, ‘the One’ is the opening beat of each bar that the western rock musicians often had trouble locating in the rich, complex brew of... Read more... |
