New music
theartsdesk on Vinyl 71: Sparks, Ibeyi, Amy Winehouse, The Residents, Hanterhir, Astor Piazzolla and moreThursday, 16 June 2022
Summer has arrived outside and sunny sounds are blasting from the speakers at theartsdesk on Vinyl. But not just sunny sounds, to be truthful, also sounds that cover most of the human emotional range, all from plastic discs in varying colours. Check... Read more... |
Album: Binker Golding - Dream Like A Dogwood Wild BoyThursday, 16 June 2022
Dream Like A Dogwood Wild Boy (Gearbox Records) is such a strong album. Listeners who know Binker Golding from his numerous other contexts – the free jazz incarnation or the duos with Elliot Galvin or Moses Boyd – are going to be... Read more... |
KITE Festival, Kirtlington Park review - engaging speakers and tunes aplenty in the Oxfordshire countrysideWednesday, 15 June 2022
The label of "Guardian man" or "Guardian woman" is one that is bandied about as something of an insult these days. But if you can get past the name-calling and think about what might appeal to this imaginary couple (and possibly their kids) while... Read more... |
Album: Foals - Life is YoursWednesday, 15 June 2022
For the Oxford alt-rock mainstays Foals, the past two years brought an anti-climactic pause to a triumphant 2019: their meteoric trajectory had kept pace with their duo of albums, Everything Not Saved Will be Lost Part 1 and 2. The sister albums had... Read more... |
Pat Metheny & Side-Eye, Eventim Apollo review - energy and melodic clarityMonday, 13 June 2022
Nobody could ever force guitarist Pat Metheny into doing the touring schedule he imposes upon himself. The 67 year-old still does well over 100 concerts a year. The current European tour alone, which started at the end of April and finishes in 10... Read more... |
Harry Styles, Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow review - pop prince lets the music do the talkingMonday, 13 June 2022
A guessing game could be played prior to Harry Styles taking to the stage at this gig, the first night of his UK tour and, as he later noted, his first stadium show as a solo act. There were ripples of excitement whenever anyone was near the stage... Read more... |
Album: Ron Trent presents WARM - What Do the Stars Say to YouMonday, 13 June 2022
In 1990, teenage prodigy Ron Trent released a single on Armando’s Warehouse imprint. Recorded on cheap equipment it was, nevertheless, a staggering piece of music. Urgent, insistent and unrelenting its piercing strings, metallic cymbals and ... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Barney Wilen - ZodiacSunday, 12 June 2022
In 1966, the combo fronted by French sax player Barney Wilen issued an album of musical interpretations of each sign of the zodiac. In the US in 1969, Mort Garson released 12 albums, each dedicated to a single sign. Two years earlier Garson was... Read more... |
The Great Estate, Redruth review - Cornwall's finest festival extravaganzaSaturday, 11 June 2022
For those wishing to avoid the bloated plutocracy of #PlattyJoobs, the Great Estate Festival was the perfect antidote. Set in the beautiful estate of Scorrier House in Redruth, Cornwall it is described as “the most rambunctious garden fete”.There... Read more... |
Album: Hercules & Love Affair - In AmberSaturday, 11 June 2022
A gothic aesthetic is very common in the left field of electronic/club music these days – but it tends to go with fairly extreme sounds: either industrial pummelling, or glitched-out “deconstructed club” as in artists like Ziúr.But Andy Butler... Read more... |
Album: Nick Mulvey - New MythologyFriday, 10 June 2022
In these meta times when everything – EVERYTHING! – is ironic, a smirk to be replayed forever on a screen, the last thing we expect is a hippy, a proper real-life hippy, preaching oneness and love. Even yoga sorts these days mostly go on about... Read more... |
Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Brighton Dome review - screams, not whispersThursday, 09 June 2022
The usherette’s hands are clamped over her ears, and Elvis Costello is playing like it’s 1996, when the briefly reunited Attractions played a pummelling last stand, burying fatal internal rifts with punk thunder.The Imposters – the Attractions with... Read more... |
