New music
CD: Richard Thompson - StillWednesday, 24 June 2015
The songs of Richard Thompson have always been tinged with a hint of bitterness and anger, passions that are tempered by guitar paying of near-miraculous fluency. His new album, produced with brilliance and tact by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, is no... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl: Volume 6 - Miles Davis, Giant Sand and moreMonday, 22 June 2015
It's becoming clear that the appeal of vinyl is two-fold. On the one hand there are older buyers who are returning to it as a validation of their own life journey though music and, on the other, there are young enthusiasts whose honeymoon with... Read more... |
CD: Wolf Alice - My Love is CoolMonday, 22 June 2015
Do you remember Alisha’s Attic? The '90s sister-duo’s debut was the first album I bought, and it was full of pretty pop songs soaked in vinegar and malice. Wolf Alice, a grunge-pop four-piece from north London, remind me of Alisha’s Attic, at least... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Peter ZinovieffSunday, 21 June 2015
Peter Zinovieff: Electronic Calendar – The EMS TapesRoxy Music’s June 1972 debut appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test found them miming to “Ladytron” from their debut album, released that week. A prime focus for the camera was Eno, in a... Read more... |
CD: Kurt Elling – Passion WorldSunday, 21 June 2015
Being on everyone’s list of top jazz singers isn’t always helpful. Elling’s eleventh album, a kind of musical travelogue inspired by his onerous touring schedule, is a compendium of international repertoire extending from traditional pieces such as... Read more... |
Seb Rochford and Co, Brilliant CornersSaturday, 20 June 2015
If you still haven’t been to Played Twice, a monthly jazz night held at Brilliant Corners in Dalston, I suggest you do something about it. The concept is simple. First there’s a playthrough of a landmark album on the venue’s top of the range... Read more... |
CD: The Parrots - Weed For The ParrotsSaturday, 20 June 2015
There’s way too much proficiency in music these days. There’s way too much interest in high production values. Also, half the people involved in popular music seem more interested in the business side, the branding and the online imprint. It is very... Read more... |
CD: The LaFontaines - ClassFriday, 19 June 2015
The LaFontaines are one of Scotland’s biggest new bands but have yet to make the same impact south of the border. There is, however, nothing about their debut album that’s parochial. To make a crude comparison, they sound, at first, like a grime-... Read more... |
CD: The Orb – Moonbuilding 2703 ADThursday, 18 June 2015
Every 75 years or so, Halley’s Comet comes round to say, "Hi". When it does, there’s genuine excitement, not because there’s any kind of stock trade in fond reminiscence when it comes to glowing lumps of rock, but because it’s a genuinely... Read more... |
Supersonic Festival, BirminghamTuesday, 16 June 2015
The Supersonic Festival of the weird and the wonderful may now be in its 12th year but it is still more than living up to its long-running tag-line, “For curious audiences”. This year, an eager audience was treated to sets by both the Will Gregory... Read more... |
CD: Arthur Russell - CornMonday, 15 June 2015
The story of singer-songwriter-cellist-composer Arthur Russell is tragic and life-affirming in equal measure. A Zelig-like figure, from his corn-belt beginnings he glided through underground scenes in the 1970s and '80s, collaborating with everyone... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Lesley GoreSunday, 14 June 2015
Lesley Gore: California NightsThe reissue of 1967’s California Nights is a timely tribute to both Lesley Gore, who died in February this year, and Bob Crewe, the producer of most of the album’s tracks, who died in September last year. Gore... Read more... |
