New music
Album: Rod Stewart - The Tears of HerculesFriday, 12 November 2021
Amid the spume of insults at the close of the song “The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle” by Malcolm McLaren’s Rotten-less, end-game version of the Sex Pistols, Rod Stewart is a prime target. Sandwiched between abuse for David Bowie and Elton John, Rod is... Read more... |
Black Pumas, O2 Institute, Birmingham review - bluesy grooves with high octane energyThursday, 11 November 2021
Having been founded only in 2017 by singer/songwriter Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada, Black Pumas have been rapidly rising to fame, with a Grammy award nomination in 2020 and the majority of their current European tour dates sold... Read more... |
Album: Damon Albarn - The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream FlowsThursday, 11 November 2021
Damon Albarn’s second solo album in a career otherwise defined by open-hearted collaboration confirms he sees operating under his own name as a chance for melancholic introspection. The deliberate austerity of its predecessor, Everyday Robots (2014... Read more... |
Album: Idles - CrawlerWednesday, 10 November 2021
Perhaps surprisingly for a band famed for the raw, tightly wrought, balled-up fury of their music, the most affecting moments of Idles’ fourth album are slower numbers. Chief among these is “Progress”, whose looping, repeated lyrics may reflect... Read more... |
Jane Weaver, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review – alt-popper struggles with lethargic audienceMonday, 08 November 2021
Back in the mid-'80s, in a time before acid house and Bez’s freaky dancing, there was a type of audience that seemed endemic at indie gigs and that just didn’t want to dance. Hordes of blokes (and it was mainly blokes) would stand facing the stage... Read more... |
Album: Jon Hopkins - Music for Psychedelic TherapyMonday, 08 November 2021
Music and therapy have always been closely connected – it is indeed possible that music grew out of a quest for a kind of medicine for the body and soul. Jon Hopkins’s latest adventure explores the possibilities of not only quietening the mind, but... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Blow My Mind! The Doré-Era-Mira Punk & Psych LegacySunday, 07 November 2021
Any compilation with a track credited to “Unknown Artist” is always going to entice, especially when it’s one which goes the full way by digging into original master tapes to find the best audio sources and previously unearthed nuggets. In this case... Read more... |
theartsdesk Radio Show 32: a conversation with Matt Johnson of The TheSaturday, 06 November 2021
Peter Culshaw’s occasional global music radio show returns with a two-hour conversation with one of the most innovative and enduring post-punk artists.TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW CLICK THIS LINKMatt Johnson, under his nom de guerre The The emerged into... Read more... |
Album: Susanna Hoffs - Bright LightsSaturday, 06 November 2021
It’s been almost 10 years since Bangles’ front woman Susanna Hoffs has released any original tunes, preferring instead to go for unexpected songs by reasonably well-known artists.This is a pity, as she’s had a hand in writing more than a few... Read more... |
Album: ABBA - VoyageFriday, 05 November 2021
Immortality is reserved for monotheistic religions and Marvel superheroes, but in the material world, we also know Abba’s songs are ageless and will not die. After all, they have their Abbatars; we have our abattoirs.Their songs from the Seventies... Read more... |
Album: Diana Ross - Thank YouThursday, 04 November 2021
In an ideal world, we would want the flashbulbs of fame that have been focused on Diana Ross for virtually her entire life to reveal a figure who is not just regal but also ageless. We would want her to be able to connect with us emotionally through... Read more... |
Album: Electric Eye - HorizonsWednesday, 03 November 2021
Bergen’s Electric Eye’s pithy description of themselves is “psych-space-drone-rock from Norway.” They also say they “play droned out psych-rock inspired by the blues, India and the ever-more expanding universe.” Horizons is their fourth studio album... Read more... |
