New music
Album: The Boomtown Rats - Citizens of BoomtownSaturday, 07 March 2020
The new Boomtown Rats album – their first for 36 years! – is both preposterous and rather wonderful. This is as it should be. The Irish band surfed the so-called “New Wave” after punk rock to brief chart-topping stardom. They had some cracking... Read more... |
Lewis Capaldi, SSE Hydro, Glasgow review - triumphant homecoming from Brit-conquering heroFriday, 06 March 2020
Critical and commercial success haven’t gone to the head of Lewis Capaldi. The 23-year-old opened his first of two sold-out nights at Glasgow’s 14,000-capacity enormodrome – booked when he was yet to release his debut album – with a video montage... Read more... |
Album: Baxter Dury - The Night ChancersFriday, 06 March 2020
“I’m not your fucking friend,” intones Baxter Dury as recent single “I’m Not Your Dog” begins. As opening salvos go, it’s right up there with the best of them, full of sneering hostility and fiery intent. As an introduction, it’s a writer’s hook –... Read more... |
Max Raabe, Palast-Orchester, Cadogan Hall review - escapism with ironyThursday, 05 March 2020
Escapism sometimes feels not just useful but necessary. To be carried back, for an evening, to the world of the 1920s/1930s dance band, with foxtrots, pasodobles, crisp starched collars and secco endings, of slick hair and even slicker arrangements... Read more... |
Album: Moby - All Visible ObjectsThursday, 05 March 2020
Moby is perhaps better known these days for his two ultra-candid biographies, Porcelain and Then It Fell Apart, than he is for his massive album successes of two decades ago. His memoirs are compulsive, unique windows into the screwed up life of an... Read more... |
Stereophonics, Brighton Centre review - can't buy a thrillWednesday, 04 March 2020
Stereophonics climbed out of Cwmaman in the South Wales valleys minus charisma, musical originality or excitement. They make rock music that is conservative and unriotous, offering comfort not commotion. And yet their solid, straightforward... Read more... |
Album: Anna Calvi – HuntedWednesday, 04 March 2020
Calvi’s bewitching 2018 album Hunter has rightly been lauded and applauded. It represented the moment she moved onto another level, giving her extraordinary voice the challenge and the platform it deserved. Her legendary range is... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: musician Rick McMurrayTuesday, 03 March 2020
With them having famously been just teenagers when they released their debut single in 1994 it seems fitting – and not a little tongue in cheek – that the indie rock trio chose Teenage Wildlife for the title of their 25th anniversary compilation.... Read more... |
Album: Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott - Manchester CallingMonday, 02 March 2020
Paul Heaton’s career-spanning compilation The Last King of Pop depicted him crowned and enthroned like a Salford Solomon Burke, or self-aware Michael Jackson. The unique kingdom he has staked out through The Housemartins and The Beautiful South is... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Eric Burdon & The Animals - When I Was Young: The MGM Recordings 1967-1968Sunday, 01 March 2020
The titles conveyed the enthusiasm. “A Girl Named Sandoz”, “Gratefully Dead”, “Monterey”, “San Franciscan Nights” and “Yes, I am Experienced”. LSD, The Grateful Dead, Monterey Pop Festival, San Francisco and Jimi Hendrix. There they were, explicit... Read more... |
Big Thief, Eventim Apollo review - flashes of brillianceSaturday, 29 February 2020
Big Thief’s show promised that particular brand of raw singing and perfect guitarmanship that only they can provide, something which they presented with a playful, earnest charm. Adrianne Lenker shared the stage with her three bandmates, two other... Read more... |
CD: Califone - Echo MineSaturday, 29 February 2020
Inevitably expectations were high, given that this Chicago experimental rock band are one of my favourite groups of the 21st century, and this is their first album for seven years. And at first it’s hard to know what to make of Echo Mine. There are... Read more... |
