New music
CD: Mavis Staples - One True VineSaturday, 29 June 2013
Mavis Staples keeps on comin': with a contralto voice soaked in gospel and soul, she delivers consistently heart-warming music.This is her second collaboration with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, a rocker with enough knowledge and taste to create a... Read more... |
CD: Editors - The Weight of Your LoveThursday, 27 June 2013
Being assigned to review Editors on the Other Stage at Glastonbury 2007, when Shirley Bassey was on the main Pyramid, was not a good way to consolidate my already fragile critical relationship with the Brummie quartet. Their music pushed my mind to... Read more... |
CD: Waxahatchee - Cerulean SaltWednesday, 26 June 2013
It could be Katie Crutchfield's voice: in the moment, its ragged timbre packs the punch of a cross-my-heart whispered secret. It could be the songwriting itself: stories half-told in two minute bursts, frank and funny and even contradictory the more... Read more... |
Lucinda Williams, Queen's Hall, EdinburghMonday, 24 June 2013
Lucinda Williams’s current tour might be billed as “intimate”, but anyone who has seen her perform before will know that intimacy tends to come with the ticket. It is true, however, that this pared-down format, in which she performs drummerless and... Read more... |
CD: Nicky Haslam – Midnight MatineeMonday, 24 June 2013
Nicky Haslam is best known as an interior designer. His clients include Rupert Everett, Bryan Ferry and Mick Jagger. His first book was called Sheer Opulence. He has also written, bred horses and performed in cabaret. Accompanying him on his album... Read more... |
Marianne Faithfull & Bill Frisell, Queen Elizabeth HallSunday, 23 June 2013
“Marianne Faithfull, you are first of all a timbre, a warm and bewitching voice…” Those were the words of the French Culture Minister in March 2011, when he awarded her the title of Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres. That celebrated vocal... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Scared to Get HappySunday, 23 June 2013
Various Artists: Scared to Get Happy – A Story of Indie-pop 1980-1989It’s a good thing this box set has the hedge-betting sub-title A Story of Indie-pop. Making the definitive statement on a whole decade of pop’s undergrowth is probably... Read more... |
CD: Deap Vally - SistronixSunday, 23 June 2013
It is unfortunate that those who hate Deap Vally find it way easier to articulate why than those who love them. There’s little new in the bluesy, garage-rock riffs that pose and swagger their way through debut album Sistronix, and it’s not as if -... Read more... |
Urban Voices Collective, Pizza Express Jazz ClubSaturday, 22 June 2013
When it comes to live performance, nothing quite socks it to the solar plexus like a choir singing their heart out. Last night, in the intimate space of Soho's Pizza Express Jazz Club, Urban Voices Collective (UVC) gave it to us with both barrels.... Read more... |
CD: Tom Odell - Long Way DownSaturday, 22 June 2013
Long before the release of Tom Odell’s debut, certain critics’ knives were drawn ready to give this middle-class lad a good stabbing. The recent stories about his dad ringing up the NME to complain about his no star review, and the contents of that... Read more... |
Iggy and The Stooges, Royal Festival HallFriday, 21 June 2013
Having witnessed Neil Young’s shambolic O2 concert on Monday – Young treating the occasional venture into his back catalogue with listless contempt whilst serving up multiple banalities from his recent albums – I considered skipping seeing more... Read more... |
The Gloaming, Union ChapelThursday, 20 June 2013
While the melodic and rhythmic subtleties of traditional Irish music are best experienced through listening to the solo performer, it's very much through groups that the music has reached a global audience. While some so-called "supergroups" have... Read more... |
