New music
Percy Sledge: 'When a man loves a woman he can't even think right'Sunday, 19 April 2015
No soul singer has been associated with one hit in quite the same way. Percy Sledge, who died last week at the age of 74, recorded “When a Man Loves a Woman” in 1966 and launched himself as a tearful balladeer. Its simple chord structure, featuring... Read more... |
Wild Card, Jazz Café POSKSunday, 19 April 2015
Jazz-funk organ trio Wild Card have been slowly building a reputation for smoking funk tunes and grooves you could lose a pantechnicon in for some years now. Led by French guitarist Clément Régert, with organist Andy Noble and drummer Sophie Alloway... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Bert JanschSunday, 19 April 2015
Bert Jansch: Bert JanschNorth Villas is a short street parallel to Camden Road, the main artery linking Camden Town to Holloway in north London. It’s off Camden Square, where Amy Winehouse lived and died. In August 1964, Bill Leader began... Read more... |
CD: Speedy Ortiz - Foil DeerSunday, 19 April 2015
To let you understand the spontaneous grin that burst across my face when I first heard Foil Deer probably needs a little context: I studied, and now have a job involving, corporate law. Still, there’s no getting away from the fact that the powerful... Read more... |
CD: Passenger – Whispers IISaturday, 18 April 2015
Mike Rosenberg kept the name "Passenger" for his solo folk-pop project even when the rest of the band left in 2009, even though, for a one-man outfit, the concept of being a passenger is a curious one. (Who’s driving then?) For the most part, this... Read more... |
The Necks, Village UndergroundFriday, 17 April 2015
Novelty and rapture are rare commodities in Shoreditch these days, where everything has already been tried, and nothing surprises. But Australian post-jazz trio The Necks, ending their European tour at Village Underground last night, mesmerised the... Read more... |
Paul Simon and Sting, O2 ArenaThursday, 16 April 2015
Put your hand up if you were in the audience last night, or indeed on any of the nights of this ambitious On Stage Together tour, and came only to see one man, and that man was Paul Simon. I’m sure you won’t need much nudging. After all, after... Read more... |
CD: Alabama Shakes - Sound & ColorThursday, 16 April 2015
Alabama Shakes' 2012 debut album, Boys & Girls, was well-liked by both critics and music-lovers. It was appreciated for its tuneful, sassy reimagining of US southern rock, via the persona, songs and voice of front-woman Brittany Howard. The... Read more... |
CD: Stealing Sheep - Not RealWednesday, 15 April 2015
The Liverpool-based female trio Stealing Sheap’s second album Not Real frustrates. By turns immediate and deliberate, its Meccano-kit pop isn’t bolted together as a harmonious whole. Instead of meshing, electro beats and chanted vocals clash. It... Read more... |
CD: Skip&Die - Cosmic SerpentsMonday, 13 April 2015
Most people like new music to sound as much as possible like music they’ve heard before. At the very least it should adhere to core genre tenets that don’t force listeners from their comfort zone. Music that’s regarded as brave by a conservative... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: David Kauffman and Eric CaboorSunday, 12 April 2015
David Kauffman and Eric Caboor: Songs From Suicide BridgeThe tale of David Kauffman and Eric Caboor is not unusual. Two singer-songwriters form a duo, play some live shows to zero interest, record an album which goes nowhere after it’s... Read more... |
CD: 8:58 - 8:58Sunday, 12 April 2015
In 2004 the era-defining dance duo Orbital supposedly went their separate ways. In fact, they merely took a four-year sabbatical. Three years later one half of the sibling pairing, Paul Hartnoll, released his debut solo album, The Ideal Condition.... Read more... |
