New music
theartsdesk on Vinyl: Volume 23 - Kate Bush, Elton John, Black Sabbath and moreWednesday, 14 December 2016
The big news as this year closes is that vinyl sales have brought more money in than downloads. They made £2.4 million compared to the £2.1 million from digital, the eighth consecutive year of growth in vinyl sales. Of course, to a large degree,... Read more... |
CD: Mr Tumble - Mr Tumble's Christmas PartyWednesday, 14 December 2016
For those of you who aren’t parents, or a member of theartsdesk’s burgeoning under-5 readership, Mr Tumble is the comic creation of Justin Fletcher a children’s entertainer and TV presenter. Among his CV highlights is providing the voice of Jake,... Read more... |
CD: Loretta Lynn - White Christmas BlueMonday, 12 December 2016
Another day, another country Christmas album. Yesterday, on theartsdesk, Kacey Musgraves’s A Very Kacey Christmas was given the once-over. Today, it’s the more storied, more venerable Loretta Lynn and White Christmas Blue, her second-ever Christmas... Read more... |
CD: Loretta Lynn - White Christmas BlueSunday, 11 December 2016
Another day, another country Christmas album. Yesterday, on theartsdesk, Kacey Musgraves’s A Very Kacey Christmas was given the once over. Today, it’s the more storied, more venerable Loretta Lynn’s White Christmas Blue, her second-ever Christmas... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Gilbert BécaudSunday, 11 December 2016
Anthologie 1953–2002 is a monster. A 20-disc set spanning almost 50 years, it tracks one of France’s most beloved singers and songwriters. Gilbert Bécaud died in December 2001, but songs from his posthumously released Je Partirai album are included... Read more... |
CD: Kacey Musgraves - A Very Kacey ChristmasSunday, 11 December 2016
Slade. McCartney. Jona Lewie. There’s a reason that every festive compilation album released since the mid-90s has featured exactly the same songs: the human race has lost the ability to write a Christmas-themed track that is just the right... Read more... |
CD: Gareth Malone - A Great British ChristmasSaturday, 10 December 2016
TV’s Gareth Malone has been pounding the pavement from the Perranarworthal Handbell Ringers in Cornwall to the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band in West Yorkshire to curate a national expression of Christmas. Each group gets Malone’s motivational... Read more... |
Peter Doherty, O2 Forum Kentish TownThursday, 08 December 2016
Now the celebrity-drug-addict phase of Pete Doherty's career seems to be over the question remains as to what sort of artist he really is. After all, Doherty's best material always appeared to be inextricably woven into his chaotic lifestyle. The... Read more... |
CD: Pentatonix - A Pentatonix ChristmasThursday, 08 December 2016
If Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” makes you want to burn the nearest decorated pine tree and Michael Buble’s Christmas croons give you the urge to shove brussel sprouts in your ears, Pentatonix’s new festive album could be the perfect... Read more... |
CD: Bob Dylan - The Real Royal Albert Hall ConcertTuesday, 06 December 2016
Hailing a lift in torrential rain one night from an early 2000s Dylan concert at Docklands Arena – that long-gone ghost of a room – I fell into conversation with a fellow passenger who apologetically turned to me, admitting in old-fashioned Received... Read more... |
CD: Public Service Broadcasting – Live At BrixtonMonday, 05 December 2016
Live albums can be tricky beasts, often characterised by large excruciating dollops of self-congratulation and self-indulgence, and are only to be recommended to the most hardcore and forgiving of fans. Public Service Broadcast’s Live At Brixton is... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The MicrocosmSunday, 04 December 2016
Pictured above is Sweden’s Ralph Lundsten. He might look like a guru or mystic but is actually a multi-disciplinary artist most well-known on his home turf for his pioneering electronic music. His first album, 1966’s Elektronmusikstudion... Read more... |
