New music
Albums of 2015: Keith Richards - Crosseyed HeartWednesday, 23 December 2015
The year has seen great albums from the fringes – in English folk, Leveret’s beautiful instrumental debut New Anything, or Stick in the Wheel’s visceral, political, London stew of an album, From Here, and Sam Lee’s assured, exploratory second album... Read more... |
Just in From Scandinavia: Nordic Music Round-Up 15Tuesday, 22 December 2015
Is language a barrier to international recognition? Is English necessary to make waves worldwide? Musicians from the African continent and South America regularly perform in their native tongue beyond the borders of their home countries. But often... Read more... |
Albums of 2015: Alina Orlova – 88Monday, 21 December 2015
Choosing an album of the year is an exacting process. For an album to be arresting, it either has to come as a bolt from the blue or build on what’s come before in a way which represents an identifiable artistic development which takes things to new... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: LushSunday, 20 December 2015
The news that Lush have reformed didn’t come as surprise. Their comparable contemporaries Ride and Slowdive had also done so over the past couple of years, and My Bloody Valentine – an influence looming over all three – returned in 2007 after over a... Read more... |
Albums of 2015: Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To LoveSunday, 20 December 2015
There's a line of argument – and a fairly convincing one – that this is the decade that pop culture lost its imagination. Right now the cinemas are booked out with the latest sequel to a 38-year-old movie franchise, my Twitter feed is... Read more... |
Brad Mehldau, Wigmore HallSaturday, 19 December 2015
Contemporary jazz is a world full of magpies – artists who flit between genres and build glittering nests of disparate musical influences. Rock up to a so-called jazz night today and the repertoire can come from anywhere, you’re as likely to hear... Read more... |
Albums of 2015: Jamie xx - In ColourSaturday, 19 December 2015
Bar-debating recently, I argued that Jamie xx wasn’t a full crossover success, more a fringe thing. The next day I heard his gorgeous tune “Loud Places” playing as incidental music on the Strictly Come Dancing spin-off programme It Takes Two. So I... Read more... |
Albums of 2015: Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A ButterflyThursday, 17 December 2015
You don’t have to take it from me. “How Much a Dollar Cost” is Barack Obama’s favourite song of this year. The album also has 11 Grammy nominations, more than any other. But the unanimous praise for Kendrick Lamar’s third studio album and its... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl: Volume 12 - SWANS, Sparks, Edith Piaf and moreWednesday, 16 December 2015
As theartsdesk on Vinyl concludes its first year of existence, vinyl is on the rise. There are justified moans that the boom is being taken over by predictably-curated, low quality, major label reissues aimed at 50-something men, causing the likes... Read more... |
CD: Kim Wilde - Wilde Winter Songbook (Deluxe)Wednesday, 16 December 2015
As many colleagues have remarked over the past week, Christmas is that time of the year when, musically speaking, all bets are off. Whilst some prefer the season's more artsy offerings, personally, I still enjoy the soothing and ... Read more... |
CD: Astrocolor – Lit Up: Music for ChristmasMonday, 14 December 2015
Any Christmas album worth its salt draws from the classics. Versions of, say, “We Three Kings”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Silent Night”, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” and “The Little Drummer boy” are compulsory. What is not so... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Comsat AngelsSunday, 13 December 2015
The Comsat Angels’ debut single for Polydor, July 1980’s “Independence Day”, was an instant classic. After setting a rhythmic bed, each subsequent instrumental contribution is measured out: a guitar string's harmonic; a spare keyboard line; drop-... Read more... |
