New music
Albums of the Year 2017: Offa Rex - Queen of HeartsWednesday, 27 December 2017
I’ve only seen Olivia Chaney perform live a handful of times – once at a Copper Family celebration at Cecil Sharp House, 10,000 Times Adieu, singing unaccompanied with Lisa Knapp and Nancy Wallace, and at the nestcollective’s Unamplifire festival at... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The BeatlesSunday, 24 December 2017
The official reissue of The Beatles’ Christmas records is a major event. Since Live at the BBC was issued in 1994, archive Beatles’ releases have fallen into two categories. There have been releases devoted to or drawing from archive disinterments:... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Yusuf/Cat Stevens - The Laughing AppleSunday, 24 December 2017
2017 was the year I began to feel my age. It started with mild fatigue and soon progressed to general world-weariness. I wasn't the only one feeling worn-out. This year everyone seemed tired and angsty. From Brexit to Harvey Weinstein,... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Bob Dylan - Trouble No MoreSaturday, 23 December 2017
“Passion! You gotta have passion!” I still feel the full force of Tricky’s conviction, as I was filming him in 1997, for my film Naked and Famous. He’s right: music works better than words when expressing the deepest emotions.This year has been a... Read more... |
Blu-ray: The Complete Monterey Pop FestivalFriday, 22 December 2017
The Monterey Pop Festival in California in mid-June 1967 was a key event in the history of festival culture. There had been music festivals before in the US – Newport Folk springs to mind – but Monterey marked the point where the whimsical trend for... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Susanne Sundfør - Music For People in TroubleWednesday, 20 December 2017
At two minutes and 39 seconds, Music For People in Trouble’s “Good Luck Bad Luck” executes an abrupt shift. An examination of whether a liaison would end up as “an empty cup” suddenly stops and the sound of a smoky jazz combo takes over with a... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Rising Appalachia - AliveMonday, 18 December 2017
2017 has been a time of change if not turmoil, on both personal and political stratospheres. So the music of two sisters whose jam is made up primarily of protest and healing songs, is the perfect antidote.When chaos abounds, the relentless... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6Sunday, 17 December 2017
The title Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6 suggests this 24-track compilation might be a rag-bag; a collection of random musical floor-sweepings which couldn’t be collected under any other heading. Not a bit of it. Instead, every... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Arcade Fire - Everything NowSunday, 17 December 2017
I’ve long thought there should be an arts website called ‘On Second Thoughts’ where critics post their reconsidered opinions of albums, books, films or whatever, once they’ve been properly digested. After all, it’s often the case that either first-... Read more... |
Liam Gallagher, Brighton Centre review - a rip-roaring sing-alongSaturday, 16 December 2017
Liam Gallagher is a great rock star. However, he often comes across as not a likeable person. He’s called himself “a cunt” on more than one occasion. But he bleeds inarticulate insouciance and arrogant rage. He doesn’t raise even half a smile... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2017: Tom Russell - Folk HotelSaturday, 16 December 2017
A regular reviewing gig inevitably opens the ears to lots of “stuff”, what with the CDs (and downloads, so irritating to review from) dispatched by hopeful PRs and Spotify (great for browsing, crap for artists) offering the opportunity to dip in and... Read more... |
CD: N.E.R.D - No_One Ever Really DiesFriday, 15 December 2017
In the seven years since N.E.R.D last had an album out, Pharrell Williams’ profile, which was already massive, has achieved some sort of pop supernova. “Happy”, “Get Lucky” and the less loveable “Blurred Lines” have made him a megastar. He now... Read more... |
