New music
CD: Barry Gibb - In The NowThursday, 06 October 2016
“If tears were diamonds, I’d be a rich man now.” Barry Gibb, that famous falsetto still pitch-perfect, isn’t mincing his words on the solo album that, at the age of 70, he never expected to be left to make. Whether writing with the Bee Gees or his... Read more... |
Songlines Music Awards, BarbicanWednesday, 05 October 2016
Four headliners, one bill – Sam Lee, Debashish Bhattacharya, Songhoy Blues and Mariza: it was an impressive line-up at the Barbican for a Monday as the world and folk music magazine Songlines hosts its annual awards bash. Now, these are readers’... Read more... |
CD: Norah Jones - Day BreaksWednesday, 05 October 2016
The human voice is as individual as a fingerprint: the emotional, melancholic pull of Billie Holiday; the slightly nasal, always ironic quality of Donald Fagen; the overheated melismas of Mariah Carey; and Michael Bolton, the aural equivalent of the... Read more... |
First Person: Nico Muhly on music for two pianosTuesday, 04 October 2016
Writing for two pianos is something that – until last year – I had not attempted. I was contacted by Katya Apekisheva and Charles Owen, two pianists who have performed as a duo for many years, asking me to compose a duet for them to perform at the... Read more... |
CD: Kaiser Chiefs - Stay TogetherTuesday, 04 October 2016
Kaiser Chiefs have been knocking out chart-aimed New Wave-ish guitar pop since 2004, and while they might have generally given the impression of leaning a bit more towards musical theatre than anything truly heartfelt, it hasn’t stopped them... Read more... |
Oasis in Their Own Words, BBC iPlayerMonday, 03 October 2016
Trying to pip the release of Mat Whitecross’s documentary Supersonic to the post, this brief hack through the BBC’s archive throws together a galloping overview of Oasis’s rise and fall, narrated by their own interviews and quotes. Arguably Oasis... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Les PantiesSunday, 02 October 2016
What should a band called Les Panties sound like? Melodic, Ramones-like pop-punk? Dirty garage rock a la early White Stripes? From the name, either surmise seems reasonable. In the event, what reverberates through this incongruously named Brussels... Read more... |
CD: Regina Spektor - Remember Us To LifeSunday, 02 October 2016
Regina Spector’s eclectic seventh album Remember Us To Life shows the Russian-born singer-songwriter’s brilliant knack for storytelling. Her style is stream of consciousness, melodic musings in poetic form which avoid extreme emotion in favour of... Read more... |
CD: Slaves – Take ControlSaturday, 01 October 2016
Slaves’ 2015 debut album, Are You Satisfied? was a breath of fresh air in a music industry which seemingly had very little to say about the state of the country, as it kicked back at Austerity Britain with quite some relish. Take Control may see... Read more... |
CD: Bon Iver - 22, A MillionThursday, 29 September 2016
Justin Vernon hasn’t put an album out under the name Bon Iver for five years but you wouldn’t necessarily have noticed. Falsetto-strained, bearded, lumber-jack shirted folk introspection seems to have spread through music like Japanese knotweed, its... Read more... |
Ana Moura, BarbicanWednesday, 28 September 2016
“If someone asked me what fado is,” says Ana Moura, in her introduction to “Lilac Wine”, “I would tell them that it means something like this song.” And with its notes of sadness, yearning and loss – fado means destiny or fate – this classic number... Read more... |
CD: Craig David - Following My IntuitionWednesday, 28 September 2016
Craig David’s comeback has been astonishing. Partly this is due to the reason his career stalled in the first place. Lampooning him was, famously, the core element of Channel 4 comedy show Bo’ Selecta!. That programme and his career wound down... Read more... |
