New music
CD: Lorelle Meets the Obsolete – De FactoThursday, 10 January 2019
De Facto is the fifth album from Mexican duo Lorelle Meets the Obsolete and the first to be recorded in the home studio of core members Lorelle (Lorena Quintanella) and The Obsolete (Alberto González). The change has certainly served them well,... Read more... |
CD: Venom - Storm the GatesWednesday, 09 January 2019
“Hey you, motherfucker / What you looking at? / What a fucking loser / Acting like a twat.” Yes indeed. Venom, the originators of black metal, are back to celebrate 40 years of disregarding taste and decency at every opportunity with their... Read more... |
CD: You Tell Me - You Tell MeMonday, 07 January 2019
This 11-tracker begins with 35 seconds of rhythmically bedded instrumental colour which opens the curtain for a lovely, folky slab of art-pop titled “Enough to Notice”. Odd touchstones surface: Skylarking XTC, Stackridge, Dirty Projectors. Yet there... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Jon Savage's 1968Sunday, 06 January 2019
Without the necessary distance, characterising last year through its pop music is a mug’s game. A gulf of 50 years would bring some perspective. Nonetheless, in spite of that interval there are difficulties in creating a fitting soundtrack to 1968... Read more... |
CD: Yak - Pursuit of Momentary HappinessSunday, 06 January 2019
“Are you tired of being pissed and confused?” opens the epic title track of Yak’s second album. Later on singer Oli Burslem brokenly croons, “For now I’m in pursuit of momentary happiness; it’s vacuous and a game gonna lose [sic]. Do you remember... Read more... |
theartsdesk Radio Show 23 - the hottest Brazil sounds for 2019 with guest Tiago Di MauroSaturday, 05 January 2019
The focus of this radio show, one of Peter Culshaw’s occasional updates of global music, is the new sounds coming from Brazil in 2019. The country seems to entering a dark period with new President Bolsanaro having just taken office, but however... Read more... |
CD: Daniel Knox - ChasesceneSaturday, 05 January 2019
Genuine authorship in popular music often manifests as eccentricity. Commercially driven musical entertainment thrives on treading familiar paths, tweaking well-established genres, often rooted in the various traditions of African-American styles... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really FeelThursday, 03 January 2019
It’s been a great year for music: trailblazing and unforgettable EPs from Stella Donnelly and boygenius; the triumphant returns of Robyn, and Janelle Monáe; flawless albums from Kurt Vile and Tunng; stunning re-imaginings from St Vincent and... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Ashley McBryde - Girl Going NowhereWednesday, 02 January 2019
Ashley McBryde had a very busy year in 2018. After the Arkansas singer-songwriter and "curly-headed bourbon enthusiast" played a tiny stage at Country To Country, she released her debut album to huge acclaim and a Grammy nod; toured with fellow no-... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Janelle Monáe - Dirty ComputerMonday, 31 December 2018
Janelle Monáe had already established herself as pop’s next great innovator with The ArchAndroid and Electric Ladyland, two albums full of earworms, high production and retro-futuristic lyrics. This all-too-brief musical career seemed in jeopardy... Read more... |
Reissue of the Year: Carola Baer - The Story of ValerieSunday, 30 December 2018
Moments into “Maker of me”, it’s evident that The Story of Valerie is special. A circular piano figure accompanies a disembodied female voice singing and speaking of a relationship that’s “greater than myself.” Punctuation from a bass guitar is... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2018: Joan Baez - Whistle Down the WindSunday, 30 December 2018
We end 2018 “down to the wire, runnin’ out of time”, as Joan Baez sings in Eliza Gilkyson’s “The Great Correction”, the penultimate song from Whistle Down the Wind, the album which – at 77 – she says will be her last, though perhaps there’ll be a... Read more... |
