New music
Sticky Fingers: unzippedTuesday, 02 June 2015
Sticky Fingers is the Stones’ defining album, a record that preserves the band in all its ragged, outlaw rock'n'roll glory. It captured them, too, between worlds of their own making, as the exploratory Sixties solidified into the excessive Seventies... Read more... |
CD: Florence + The Machine: How Big How Blue How BeautifulMonday, 01 June 2015
That How Big How Blue How Beautiful is as much a mission statement as an album title will come as little surprise to anyone with even a passing familiarity with either Florence Welch or her pop juggernaut of a voice. With new producer Marcus Dravs... Read more... |
The Beach Boys, Royal Albert HallSunday, 31 May 2015
You might think that the carefree, gleeful melodies of sunny Californian surf-rock giants The Beach Boys would render them immune to the kind of egotistical wedge-driving that sunders most rock groups eventually. You would, of course, be wrong.... Read more... |
Fatoumata Diawara and Roberto Fonseca, BarbicanSunday, 31 May 2015
Though they're separated by thousands of miles, Cuba and Mali share a common musical connection. Right at the heart of Cuban music lie rhythms from sub-saharan African and last night the two traditions were united once again when Havana-born piano... Read more... |
CD: Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard - Django and JimmieSunday, 31 May 2015
Merle and Willie – these kind of senior country summits can either be a bit of a coaster, all well and good underneath your tumbler of Bourbon, or actually something to write home about. Keep this one away from the liquor. It’s produced by Buddy... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Marvin GayeSunday, 31 May 2015
Marvin Gaye: Marvin Gaye 1961–1965On single, Marvin Gaye’s earliest years were defined by a head-long rush beginning with his fourth 45, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow". After that, future classic followed future classic: "Hitch Hike", "Pride and... Read more... |
Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular, SSE Hydro, GlasgowSaturday, 30 May 2015
It seems a peculiar conceit to pack up a full symphony orchestra and choir and take them the length of the UK solely to perform suites of music from a popular television show – and I say this as a fan of the show in question. Yet I left the... Read more... |
CD: The Darkness - Last of Our KindSaturday, 30 May 2015
The Darkness, despite their current sober lifestyle, claim to be back with music that makes “women weak at the knees and men shit their pants”. If only. The lorry loads of booze and cocaine may be a thing of the past, but also, it seems, is their... Read more... |
When Pop Ruled My Life, BBC FourFriday, 29 May 2015
A long time ago I went out into the field to research a feature about the three ages of obsessive fandom. At the entry level was a bog-standard legion of young teenage girls who simply hung around outside the mansion block in Maida Vale where one or... Read more... |
Fleetwood Mac, Reunion Tour, O2 ArenaThursday, 28 May 2015
To begin at the very bizarre ending. Fleetwood Mac, finally reunited as a five-piece with Christine McVie stage right on luscious vocals and keyboard, had just thrashed out a show of great finesse for two hours. It had all gone peachily. McVie was... Read more... |
CD: Jamie xx - In ColourThursday, 28 May 2015
There has never been any doubt of Jamie xx’s skill as a producer. Since he first appeared with the spectral, soundscaped atmospherics of The xx, he has remixed artists such as Adele and Eliza Doolittle but his work on Radiohead and Four Tet, as well... Read more... |
Common People Festival, SouthamptonWednesday, 27 May 2015
Perhaps it was after Bestival 2008 that its organizer, Rob da Bank, made his pact with the ancient gods. That year the Robin Hill Country Park site was reduced to a cold, sleet-raked, tornado-blown mire. The event truly lived up to every overuse of... Read more... |
