New music
Love Supreme, Roundhouse review - Laura Mvula's defiant confidence tops the billMonday, 15 April 2019
There is increasing urgency, commitment and assuredness about the way Laura Mvula performs her music. The context for her performance here was Love Supreme's day at the Roundhouse. As the event's main headliner and the stand-out performer, she... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Marvin Gaye - You’re The ManSunday, 14 April 2019
The sticker on the sleeve says “Marvin Gaye’s Lost Album.” A prime internet sales site states “You’re The Man was the album that was proposed to follow-up the monumental What’s Going On.” According to the marketing and promotional material, You’re... Read more... |
CD: L’Impératrice - MatahariSunday, 14 April 2019
The French have developed an international reputation for a certain smooth style of electronic music. It’s the place where disco and house collide with something more urbane and far less sweaty. Daft Punk provided a defining moment with their 2013... Read more... |
Oumou Sangaré, Earth review - the new Mama Africa takes her crownSaturday, 13 April 2019
Oumou Sangaré is not a woman to be trifled with – tales of people who have crossed her and lived to regret it abound: one story (of many) has her personally hiring a bulldozer in a land dispute and getting a recalcitrant local official sacked. She... Read more... |
CD: Bananarama - In StereoSaturday, 13 April 2019
And then there were two... again. Following on from the Original Line-Up tour, Bananarama are back to the core duo of Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward for their first album in 10 years. If it is true that co-founding member Siobhan Fahey’s 1988... Read more... |
Sigrid, PRYZM Kingston review - unassuming, energetic and melodicFriday, 12 April 2019
Sigrid Raabe bounced onto a tiny stage, fizzing with energy, and launched straight into her recent single "Sucker Punch". Following her recent support slot with George Ezra, this concert was the 22-year-old Norwegian's big thank you to fans who have... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl: Record Store Day Special 2019Friday, 12 April 2019
Record Store Day is tomorrow which means that your local record shop will be packed with all sorts of exclusive, limited edition goodies as well as major label cash-ins. There are hundreds of releases but many aren't available before the day itself... Read more... |
CD: Fat White Family - Serfs Up!Friday, 12 April 2019
Fat White Family’s second album, 2016’s Songs for Our Mothers, caused something of a stir in indie circles and even generated a fair amount of radio play with its wide-eyed exuberance and chaotic motorik sounds. However, after the musical madness of... Read more... |
CD: LSD - Labrinth, Sia, Diplo Present...Thursday, 11 April 2019
Impressively, this collaboration of three of pop's hardest grafters feels like a real group endeavour. Certainly, the multi-quintillion-selling Australian songwriter Sia's piercing tones and melodic style are the most recognisable thing here, but... Read more... |
CD: The Chemical Brothers - No GeographyWednesday, 10 April 2019
The Chemical Brothers just keep on coming. No Geography could as well be called No Surrender. It’s the sound of two men approaching 50 but still keenly attuned to making feet move on the dancefloor. Partly made using old synths relegated to a dusty... Read more... |
CD: Jessie Buckley - Wild Rose OSTTuesday, 09 April 2019
Reviewing the soundtrack for a film you’ve not seen is a tricky act. It’s like reviewing a book based on its pictures – you’re missing the context of the music’s purpose. But then, not all soundtracks are created equal, and Wild Rose is one designed... Read more... |
CD: Sun Kil Moon - I Also Want to Die in New OrleansMonday, 08 April 2019
Like Dylan when he went electric, and Waits when he went Beefheartian, Mark Kozelek (aka Sun Kil Moon) divided his fans when he moved from jangly elegiac rock of standard proportions to expansive, digressive prose enquiries into the crumbling state... Read more... |
