New music
CD: U2 - Songs of InnocenceMonday, 22 September 2014
Though advertised as a heartfelt and autobiographical work, U2's 13th studio album tells you far more about the state of the music industry than it does about the intimate inner stories of the musicians. Tying the album release to the launch of... Read more... |
CD: Leonard Cohen - Popular ProblemsSunday, 21 September 2014
Leonard Cohen has always been, first and foremost, a poet. His thoroughly grounded mix of Vedanta, Zen and Jewish mysticism places him in a class apart. He is both rabbinical high priest and consummate entertainer. As he’s never traded on borrowed... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Sun RaSunday, 21 September 2014
Sun Ra and his Arkestra: In the Orbit of RaUp till his death in 1993, the space-fixated jazz bandleader, composer, musician and visionary born Herman Blount had issued around 117 albums, about 46 of which were live sets. Trying to pin down... Read more... |
10 Questions for Musician Gruff RhysSaturday, 20 September 2014
It hardly sounds like the springboard for an album, a film, a book and an app. In the 1780s a young Welsh explorer called John Evans journeyed across the unmapped North American continent in search of a tribe of Welsh-speaking Native Americans. His... Read more... |
CD: Aphex Twin - SyroSaturday, 20 September 2014
Even if this album were dull, which it is far from, Aphex Twin Richard D James’ return would be welcome. Although he’s only a pop star in the loosest sense, his return via the “dark web” and a nonsensical press release reminds that he’s the eternal... Read more... |
Sarah Jane Morris, Union ChapelFriday, 19 September 2014
Recorded in the UK, Johannesburg, Paris and Tel Aviv, Sarah Jane Morris's latest album, Bloody Rain, is undoubtedly a labour of love. Hearing it performed live last night in the Union Chapel, in front of an adoring audience, confirmed that it is... Read more... |
Joan Baez, Royal Festival HallThursday, 18 September 2014
The next revolution of civil disobedience is unlikely to be a ticketed event, with a sedentary congregation of grey-haired, nostalgic former hippies. And the Royal Festival Hall (even at full capacity) is a mere campfire compared to Joan Baez's... Read more... |
DVD: Otway the Movie – Rock and Roll's Greatest FailureThursday, 18 September 2014
For someone who tags himself rock and roll's greatest failure, John Otway hasn’t done too badly. Anyone attempting to navigate their way through a career in rock ‘n’ roll wouldn’t do badly looking to Otway as an example to follow. He’s had chart... Read more... |
First Person: From Insolence to DefianceWednesday, 17 September 2014
Not that long ago, certainly when I was old enough to know better, I managed to get myself mugged by a gang of teenage street girls down by Lisbon docks. I had been following a long chain of beer and whisky glasses from the end of one bar to the... Read more... |
CD: Goat – CommuneWednesday, 17 September 2014
Goat are the Swedish psychedelic rock band that made themselves known to the world in 2012 with their sublime debut album, World Music. Much critical acclaim was piled upon their gumbo of psychedelia, motorik and afrobeat and most of these... Read more... |
CD: The Juan MacLean – In a DreamMonday, 15 September 2014
John MacLean has been recording as The Juan MacClean for just over a decade on former LCD Soundsystem main man James Murphy’s label DFA Records. Previously, Murphy was involved in MacLean’s old band Six Finger Satellite. In a Dream makes the link... Read more... |
Foo Fighters, Olympic ParkSunday, 14 September 2014
“There goes my hero,” sang the Foo Fighters at the end of the Invictus Games last night. True to form, the Foo Fighters’ performance was a barrage of energy and goodwill, which closed the games - characterised by much the same - on an all-round high... Read more... |
