New music
CD: CrossHarbour - CrossHarbourWednesday, 14 May 2014
Materializing out of London's thriving traditional Irish music scene, this debut recording from new five-piece CrossHarbour presents an 11-track collection whose appeal should go way beyond traditional Irish music initiates. Featuring a judicious... Read more... |
Chaka Khan, Ronnie Scott'sTuesday, 13 May 2014
Did you know that Chaka Khan has her own brand of gourmet chocolate she calls Chakalate? Or that she recently extended a helping hand to the media's favourite punchball, Lindsay Lohan, after they spent some time in the same rehab centre (Chaka for... Read more... |
Kelis, Brighton DomeMonday, 12 May 2014
When Kelis first walks onstage in a shimmering blue ball dress, a gigantic mane of black hair falling down her back, gay men all about me in the circle seats spring to life, some veering into “Go girl!” territory, others simply shrieking, and one in... Read more... |
Zara McFarlane, The Old Market, BrightonMonday, 12 May 2014
Zara McFarlane’s exquisite synthesis of jazz and nu-soul, an intoxicating proposition on CD, breathes more freely live, we discovered, in last night’s Brighton Festival performance. A recent appearance on Later... with Jools Holland was mentioned... Read more... |
CD: Nick Mulvey - First MindMonday, 12 May 2014
Ah, Jeff Buckley - so much to answer for. Damien Rice, Bon Iver, William Fitzsimmons, James Morrison, David Gray, James Vincent McMorrow, Chet Faker, Joshua Radin and on and on and on, endless waves of male singer-songwriters – usually bearded - who... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Aarhus: SPOT Festival 2014Sunday, 11 May 2014
At last night’s Eurovision Song Contest, host country Denmark submitted “Cliché Love Song”, a weedy Bruno Mars-a-like designed to ensure they did not win for a second year running. It came ninth. While understandable that Danish national broadcaster... Read more... |
CD: Tori Amos - Unrepentant GeraldinesSunday, 11 May 2014
“If 50 is the new black, hooray, this could be your lucky day,” Tori Amos sings on “16 Shades of Blue”, the track from new album Unrepentant Geraldines most obviously touched by the big birthday that the singer, who has been releasing music since... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Josef KSunday, 11 May 2014
Josef K: The Only Fun in TownJosef K seem like one that got away. Their fellow Postcard Records’ bands Aztec Camera and Orange Juice had high-profile afterlives with, respectively, the careers of their songwriters and front men Roddy Frame and... Read more... |
Janelle Monae, O2 Brixton AcademySaturday, 10 May 2014
Before Janelle Monáe even materialises at Brixton’s O2 Academy, her presence is already felt in the stagecraft. Lab-coated, bow-tied techies unsheath the instruments from their black covers, revealing a glimmering monochrome set-up in the centre of... Read more... |
Bo Ningen, Hare and Hounds, BirminghamSaturday, 10 May 2014
Tonight Birmingham was treated to a guitar fest of epic proportions, as the Japanese, Hawkwind-esque experience that is Bo Ningen hit town. Prior to the main event, we were treated to the boisterous thrash of The Scenes, who finished their set with... Read more... |
CD: Little Dragon - Nabuma RubberbandSaturday, 10 May 2014
Little Dragon are all about the slow burn. The Swedish band had been going for 10 years before they released their first single in 2006, and in the time since then they've built their profile steadily through hard gigging and interesting... Read more... |
Lykke Li, Village UndergroundFriday, 09 May 2014
A mournful voice sings “even though it hurts, even though it scars, love me when it storms, love me when I fall” over a strummed acoustic guitar which shares the lyrics dolefulness. As the centrepiece of her set last night, Lykke Li’s delivery of... Read more... |
