New music
Reissue CDs Weekly: Front Line – Sounds of RealitySunday, 10 August 2014
Various Artists: Front Line – Sounds of RealityA month after The Sex Pistols sighed their last in San Francisco in January 1978, their label boss Richard Branson flew ex-frontman John Lydon and his entourage to Jamaica. Sid Vicious would... Read more... |
CD: The Gaslight Anthem - Get HurtSaturday, 09 August 2014
It’s been that long since the Gaslight Anthem could be called a punk band with any sort of seriousness that a good half of the crowd at their last round of UK shows would have balked at the notion. But it leaves the critic/fan with something of a... Read more... |
CD: Benjamin Taubkin - Al Qantara - The BridgeSaturday, 09 August 2014
Geoff Dyer’s book on jazz But Beautiful predicted the future of jazz would come from places like North Africa and this is a perfect example. Southern Morocco has become a hothouse of cultural fusion, partly due the number of foreign musicians... Read more... |
CD: Jerry Léonide - The KeyWednesday, 06 August 2014
Pianist Jerry Léonide arrived on the international jazz scene with a splash when he won the Montreux Jazz Festival solo piano competition last year. Born and raised in Mauritius, then transplanted to France at 17 to further his musical education,... Read more... |
CD: Sinéad O'Connor - I'm Not Bossy, I'm the BossWednesday, 06 August 2014
Sinéad O’Connor has adopted quite a range of personas over the 30 years or so of her singing career. There was the proto-Riot Grrl of her first album, The Lion and the Cobra; the ballad singer of “Nothing Compares 2 U”; the Irish folkie of Sean-Nos... Read more... |
CD: FKA Twigs - LP1Monday, 04 August 2014
Just in case anyone thought the hype surrounding Gloucestershire-born Spanish/Jamaican singer FKA Twigs was based only on her unique looks, startling styling and slightly silly videos, this album begins with her voice alone. It too is utterly... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Hadda BrooksSunday, 03 August 2014
Hadda Brooks: Queen of the Boogie and MoreThe rolling piano is irresistible. Upbeat and swinging, it powers forward with an unstoppable momentum. Accompanied by walking double bass and brushed two-step drums, the right hand suddenly peels off... Read more... |
CD: Angus & Julia Stone - Angus & Julia StoneSunday, 03 August 2014
Three releases into their career as a duo, the Sydney-based Stone siblings have named an album after themselves. Whether the muse simply couldn’t supply an alternative (several of the tracks, particularly “Main Street” and “Heart Beats Slow” might... Read more... |
The New Arts Desk Radio Show 6Saturday, 02 August 2014
Due to summer festival mayhem and a technical glitch or two, June's show is here slightly belatedly - but it's more than worth waiting for as it's an absolute beast of a two-hour spectacular.Peter and Joe are culturally globetrotting as ever, and... Read more... |
CD: Trans Am - Volume XSaturday, 02 August 2014
Volume X is the tenth album by American post-rock originators Trans Am – which could, quite reasonably, encourage listeners to assume that there is nothing new here. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as the band push themselves to... Read more... |
CD: Eric Clapton & Friends - The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ CaleThursday, 31 July 2014
It’s not quite true to say no one would have heard of JJ Cale without Eric Clapton. Clapton’s cover of “After Midnight”, released in 1970 as the first single on his debut solo album, put Cale on the map as a songwriter and paved for his own... Read more... |
theartsdesk at the Secret Garden PartyWednesday, 30 July 2014
After a manic B-road wriggle to avoid traffic that was at a standstill I arrived in glorious sunshine, gazing benignly down on rolling green English fields, complimented by a lake and river. Secret Garden is undoubtedly one of the best settings for... Read more... |
