New music
Dido, Maida Vale Studios review - old hits bring unresolved ironyTuesday, 10 December 2019
She’s back. Dido stopped touring in 2004 and stayed away from it for 15 years. But since starting again in March of this year, she has gone at it with gusto and performed well over 50 concerts, with last night’s Maida Vale session for the series BBC... Read more... |
Dinosaur Pile-Up, O2 Institute, Birmingham review - grungy punk poppers end the weekend on a highTuesday, 10 December 2019
Dinosaur Pile-Up may have been around for more than a decade, but it would be fair to say that their career has been something of a slow burn. Indeed, while thanking tonight’s support acts, main man Matt Bigland claimed that they’d supported more... Read more... |
CD: Los Lobos - LLegó NavidadMonday, 09 December 2019
In a season awash with limp carols, dodgy glam-rock and schmaltzy jazz, all credit to Los Lobos for coming up with something different. LLegó Navidad (Christmas is Here) contains 12 festive folk songs, mostly hailing from Latin America.... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5Sunday, 08 December 2019
“I was just released from the hospital…the doctor told me that the medicine can’t do me no good. They told me what I have is beyond medical science…he told me that what I have is more serious than cancer. He told me what I have is a very, very bad... Read more... |
Rick Wakeman’s Grumpy Old Christmas Show, Cadogan Hall review – solo piano and Yuletide nostalgiaSaturday, 07 December 2019
The cape, the banked-up synths and the glam have gone. Rick Wakeman’s Grumpy Old Christmas Show consists of just the man, his piano and his stories and jokes, mostly about Christmas and family. The music is partly from his new solo piano album... Read more... |
Rufus and Martha Wainwright, A Not So Silent Night, RFH review - Christmas, family-styleSaturday, 07 December 2019
It’s 10 years this month since Kate McGarrigle gave her last concert, the annual Christmas concert that meant so much to her, at the Royal Albert Hall. Next month, 18 January, marks the first decade since her passing at the tragically early age of... Read more... |
My Baby, Concorde 2, Brighton review - Dutch three-piece deliver trance dance powerSaturday, 07 December 2019
“Trance boogie,” states My Baby frontwoman Cato van Dijck before submersing herself in the rising tribal rhythm of “Sunflower Sutra". Trance boogie is, indeed, what My Baby do. The song is decked with floating flecks of glissando guitar from... Read more... |
CD: Rob Halford - CelestialSaturday, 07 December 2019
If there’s one man who has got the chutzpah to sing songs about the Baby Jesus while flashing the Devil’s horns, it’s Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford. In fact, on the CD cover to his latest solo album, this is exactly what he’s doing – for... Read more... |
ABBA: Super Troupers The Exhibition, O2 - one for the supergroup's completistsFriday, 06 December 2019
Abba fans can already have an immersive dining/dancing/singing experience at the O2 in Mamma Mia! The Party, and now, almost as a companion piece, is ABBA: Super Troupers The Exhibition, a show that sets out tell “the story of the band, their music... Read more... |
CD: Liam Payne - LP1Friday, 06 December 2019
Liam Payne is a Simon Cowell-manufactured pop star worth tens of millions off the back of music that’ll be regarded in a few years’ time much as the Bay City Rollers or Curiosity Killed The Cat are regarded now. Aesthetically an easy target, then,... Read more... |
IDLES, Barrowland, Glasgow review - rowdy and raucous, but with heartThursday, 05 December 2019
As the number of sweaty bodies increased towards the front of the Barrowland stage, IDLES singer Joe Talbot had a direct message. “Keep safe” he implored on several occasions, like a concerned dad warning his kids, or perhaps a shepherd guiding his... Read more... |
CD: Gang Starr - One of the Best YetThursday, 05 December 2019
Before the days of stardom on Jay-Z and Kanye’s scale, before Brooklyn became a millionaire’s playground, Gang Starr were deeply influential in hip hop and became pioneers of jazz rap. However, Guru disassociated himself from long-term partner DJ... Read more... |
