New music
Kano, Brighton Dome review - simply joyousMonday, 07 October 2019
Kano’s lyrics often sound like a wake, mixing mournfulness and anger as they raise a toast to fallen friends on abandoned estates, casualties of crushing pressures alien to the authorities who pronounce on them in the tabloids and parliament.... Read more... |
Two Door Cinema Club, O2 Academy, Glasgow - lively but risk averse party songs for the weekendMonday, 07 October 2019
The onstage arrival of Two Door Cinema Club was heralded by a tongue-in-cheek video countdown that reached zero and then flashed up an error message, before asking the crowd to “try again”. In truth, the band’s own performance was never likely to... Read more... |
CD: Babymetal - Metal GalaxyMonday, 07 October 2019
There’s something in the dichotomy of Babymetal that I just can’t fathom. Cutesy J-pop meets heavy metal. Sheeny bubblegum-bounce dance routines to thrash. Sweet teen vocals over shredding.It’s like something that would get the audience vote on X... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Hollywood Stars - Sound CitySunday, 06 October 2019
The Hollywood Stars were not shy. In 1976, in keeping with their assertive handle, they sang “some last a year, then disappear as if they were magicians, but while I’m here no need to fear at the top I’m a pop musician, they call me the Houdini of... Read more... |
Rodrigo y Gabriela, Eventim Apollo Hammersmith review - fiery flamenco rockSaturday, 05 October 2019
Rodrigo y Gabriela are no longer the youthful metalheads that once spawned an organic fan movement from the muso grapevine, via rigorous gig schedules and world tours.They are grown up now, having been in the game for 20 years – something Rodrigo... Read more... |
CD: 808 State - Transmission SuiteSaturday, 05 October 2019
Prior to the UK dance music explosion of summer 1988, house and techno were American micro-scenes, geographically restricted to Chicago, Detroit and New York. Small coteries showed interest in the UK, but few thought of making the stuff. Mancunian... Read more... |
Jambinai, Purcell Room - launching K-Music Festival with a wall of soundFriday, 04 October 2019
K-Music has become one of the highlights of the autumn cultural calender since it launched in 2014, bringing an eclectic range of Korean artists and bands, from pop and rock to jazz and folk, and all the gradations between. Next Sunday Korean... Read more... |
CD: Mika - My Name is Michael HolbrookFriday, 04 October 2019
When he arrived on the scene in the mid Noughties Mika – yes his name is Michael Holbrook – flew the flag for grandiose pop classicism. He had The Feeling as fellow travellers, and to an extent The Killers in their first wave of... Read more... |
CD: Wilco - Ode to JoyThursday, 03 October 2019
Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy has been pondering how to react to oppression, and his own music’s obsolescence. What use is a rock band’s eleventh album at the best of times, he’s wondered, let alone in these worse ones under Trump?Wilco’s response is not to... Read more... |
CD: The Menzingers - Hello ExileWednesday, 02 October 2019
Punk rock, more so than any other genre, comes with a built-in age limit. There’s only so long you can play weeknights at basement venues for a share of the door and travel expenses; only so many years your back can withstand so many nights on... Read more... |
Richard Thompson 70th Birthday Celebration, Royal Albert Hall review - not just a family affairTuesday, 01 October 2019
So it’s your birthday. Not just another one but your 70th. So who’s on the guest list? Let’s see – master concertina player Alasdair Anderson, the "guvnor" Ashley Hutchings, Husker Du’s Bob Mould, bassist extraordinaire Danny Thompson, Fairporters... Read more... |
Minimalism Changed My Life: Tones, Drones and Arpeggios, QEH review - from Cage and Reich to 'Tubular Bells'Monday, 30 September 2019
Charles Hazlewood's 2018 two-parter for BBC Four, Tones, Drones and Arpeggios: The Magic of Minimalism explored work by some of the great composers of the genre Hazlewood dubs as “last big idea in classical music”, which emerged from the experiments... Read more... |
