New music
Vampire Weekend, O2 Academy, Birmingham review – clean-cut Americans fail to igniteTuesday, 12 November 2019
By the time Vampire Weekend reached Birmingham on their latest UK jaunt, they had unfortunately managed to mislay their support band, the colourful Songhoy Blues. This was a great shame, as the Malians would surely have added a bit of colour to the... Read more... |
CD: Aziza Brahim - SahariMonday, 11 November 2019
Last month this Western Saharan singer-songwriter stood on stage at London’s Jazz Café and turned the venue into a hallowed holy space with just her voice and the rhythm she summoned from her tabal drum. Translated from the orginal Arabic, two lines... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Yesterday Has Gone - The Songs of Teddy RandazzoSunday, 10 November 2019
“It's Gonna Take a Miracle” just missed out on a mainstream US Top 40 placing after The Royalettes issued it as a single in June 1965. But the song had staying power. In 1971 Laura Nyro covered it, choosing it as the title track for the album she... Read more... |
Ólafur Arnalds presents OPIA, Southbank Centre review - many strange delightsSaturday, 09 November 2019
Ólafur Arnalds is almost secretly huge. Millions adore the melancholy beauty of the Icelandic composer’s music, yet his name still brings blank stares from some. The Royal Festival Hall was predictably full to bursting, though, to see Arnalds... Read more... |
CD: Ronnie Wood - Mad LadSaturday, 09 November 2019
There’s plenty going on in Ronnie Wood’s world, with Mike Figgis’ feature documentary, Somebody Up There Likes Me, a mini tour with his band The Wild Five – London, Manchester and Birmingham – and this platter, subtiled "A Live Tribute to Chuck... Read more... |
CD: The Script - Sunsets & Full MoonsFriday, 08 November 2019
Massively successful Irish trio The Script could, loosely speaking, be called a rock band. But they aren’t really, are they? Their sixth album is an indictment of the kind of music they play. It’s packed with over-produced post-Coldplay anthem-pop... Read more... |
CD: Luke Combs – What You See Is What You GetThursday, 07 November 2019
With US number one singles and Grammys coming out of his ears, a record-breaking streak at the top for debut album This One’s For You and collaborations with country big-timers aplenty, Luke Combs is riding high. The North Carolina-born toast of... Read more... |
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Village Underground review - more than a homage to FelaWednesday, 06 November 2019
The joy of Afro-Beat comes from the intricate play of polyrhythms, eloquently constructed around the subtle interplay of guitars, bass, backing vocals, percussion and horns: each voice follows a distinct path, and the combination of each in a rich... Read more... |
CD: Pumarosa - DevastationWednesday, 06 November 2019
Pumarosa picked the perfect time of year to launch their second album into the world: its skittish drums, claustrophobic melodies and haunted vocals are the perfect soundtrack to witching season. But the horrors that inspired Devastation are far... Read more... |
CD: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - GhosteenTuesday, 05 November 2019
After the bleakness in the parts of Skeleton Tree touched directly by his son Arthur’s death, and the desolate grief of the accompanying documentary One More Time with Feeling, this is Nick Cave’s statement of faith. Ghosteen is unlike any record he... Read more... |
Hubro 10th-Anniversary Concert, The Spice of Life review - boundary pushing Norwegian label marks its birthdayMonday, 04 November 2019
A fiddle projects upwards from between Erlend Apneseth’s knees. Seated, he holds another in his right hand facing-off the instruments against each other. He’s plucking both, the pizzicato pitter-patter suggesting water drops on a bell or a koto. On... Read more... |
BaBa ZuLa, Jazz Cafe review - much more than mere entertainment from 'Turkish Psych' specialistsMonday, 04 November 2019
BaBa ZuLa only fully manifest their free spirit when they play live, and in the intimate setting of a venue like the Jazz Cafe, where the entre audience is close to the stage. The Istanbul purveyors of "Turkish Psych" began their set by infiltrating... Read more... |
