New music
Carly Rae Jepsen, Brixton Academy review - punchy, polished popTuesday, 11 February 2020
Few will forget back in 2012, when Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen came crashing into the airwaves of pretty much every pop station on the planet, with the sugary synth-pop sounds of Call Me Maybe. With a track as big as that – even Jepsen herself... Read more... |
Album: Tame Impala - The Slow RushTuesday, 11 February 2020
And so, Tame Impala’s evolution from riff-laden psych-mongers to dancefloor-fillers is complete. It’s undeniable from the opening drum machine on “One More Year” supplanting Kevin Parker’s trademark kit-work. The band’s music has always been built... Read more... |
Album: Elephant Stone - HollowMonday, 10 February 2020
In the times long before Oasis and certainly before indie music made much of an impression on the public consciousness and wallet, Alan McGee’s Creation Records carved something of a niche for itself, by championing fey psychedelic guitar-pop... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Hank WilliamsSunday, 09 February 2020
Any knowledge of the Hank Williams narrative heavily influences how he is perceived. He died at age 29 on New Year’s Day 1953, in the back of a car while travelling to a show in Ohio. His schedule was punishing. A day earlier he had played in West... Read more... |
Transatlantic Sessions, Symphony Hall, Birmingham review - folk fusion from Burns to the bossSaturday, 08 February 2020
In its seventeenth incarnation, Transatlantic Sessions - a concert comprising music from some of the finest names in Scottish, Irish and American folk - had its penultimate night of its UK tour in a packed-out Symphony Hall, Birmingham on Friday... Read more... |
CD: Tennis - SwimmerSaturday, 08 February 2020
There is something deliciously normal about Tennis, the Denver husband and wife team of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. Steeped in the best pop of a bygone age, the couple’s lyrics seem so simple and yet unpack hidden depths on repeated listening.... Read more... |
Jonas Brothers, SSE Hydro, Glasgow - reunited siblings look to the future with slick showFriday, 07 February 2020
No matter how much the Jonas Brothers try, they can’t totally escape the mouse. Commercials for new Disney TV shows flashed up onscreen not long before the siblings took to the stage, and although the trio’s days of appearing in such fare are long... Read more... |
CD: Green Day - Father of All MotherfuckersFriday, 07 February 2020
Without wanting to get into what constitutes punk, we can, at least, agree that brevity is to be lauded? Right? Good, because at 26 minutes, Green Day’s 13th studio album, Father of All Motherfuckers, is a volley delivered at velocity. That’s... Read more... |
Album: La Roux - SupervisionThursday, 06 February 2020
10 years ago, a wave of exciting femme-pop was cresting, women taking the reins with singular visions; the results were shiny, personally honest, inventive and ebullient, from Gaga to Adele and beyond. A leading light was La Roux, a duo fronted by... Read more... |
Album: Sepultura – QuadraWednesday, 05 February 2020
After 35 years on the global scene, Sepultura are entering the Twenties with the force of great quality metal music. Quadra is unlikely to bring new hits that resemble Sepultura’s classic “Roots Bloody Roots”, 1996, or “Refuse/Resist”, 1993; however... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Aalborg: Northern Winter Beat 2020 reviewTuesday, 04 February 2020
U-Bahn’s second-ever live show outside their home country Australia took place in Aalborg, in Jutland, in the north of Denmark. They were in this congenial, routinely rain-sodden city last weekend for Northern Winter Beat, the annual festival of... Read more... |
Celtic Connections 2020, Glasgow review - Yorkston/Thorne/Khan and Roaming Roots Revue celebrate joy of collaborationMonday, 03 February 2020
While there’s usually something for everybody on the Celtic Connections festival programme, where Glasgow’s midwinter festival tends to shine is in its collaborations and special events. Over the past 18 days the city has hosted folk icon Peggy... Read more... |
