New music
Spandau Ballet, Brighton CentreThursday, 12 March 2015
Of course they had to end with “Gold”. It’s one of those songs which, once heard, even if you dislike Spandau Ballet, is impossible to remove from the brain, a bona fide Eighties classic. Lead singer Tony Hadley and guitarist Gary Kemp, the man who... Read more... |
CD: The Rezillos - ZeroThursday, 12 March 2015
There’s a particular sound that the best 1970s British punk rock has, scuzzy, scorched riffage emulating Chris Thomas’s multi-layered guitar production for the Sex Pistols. The Rezillos had it and they still have it. This is their first album since... Read more... |
'The Pain Swallowed Her Up' – Rebecca Ferguson Sings Billie HolidayWednesday, 11 March 2015
Platinum-selling singer Rebecca Ferguson has released two acclaimed albums, Heaven (2011) and Freedom (2013), though she broke through (in?) to the heart of the music-listening public on The X Factor (2010), when she came in runner-up behind... Read more... |
2015 Parliamentary Jazz AwardsWednesday, 11 March 2015
Compered by the velvet-toned broadcaster Moira Stuart, the winners of this year's Parliamentary Jazz Awards were announced last night in a packed Terrace Pavillion at the House of Commons.Now in their eleventh year, the Awards are organised by the... Read more... |
CD: Madonna - Rebel HeartWednesday, 11 March 2015
These days, reflections on Madonna’s 30 years at the top of the pop podium may only be framed in terms of the pagan Triple Goddess: maiden, mother and crone – or, at least, that’s what the global reaction to The Fall That Was Heard Around The... Read more... |
CD: Sam Lee & Friends – The Fade in TimeSunday, 08 March 2015
What was that about the difficult second album? If you thought Ground of its own, Sam Lee’s Mercury-nominated album of 2012, broke new and fertile ground for traditional folk music, then you’ll find The Fade of Time even richer, even more musically... Read more... |
CD: Laura Welsh – Soft ControlSunday, 08 March 2015
With the use of her song “Undiscovered” in the soundtrack of the recent 50 Shades of Grey film, you’d expect the control Welsh sings about to be of the firm, if not positively disciplinary, variety. Yet this album, her solo debut, scores highly as a... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Tav FalcoSunday, 08 March 2015
Tav Falco & Panther Burns: Hip Flask – An Introduction to Tav Falco & Panther BurnsStart with track three. “Bourgeois Blues” is a one-take, six-minute grind through the Leadbelly song, which also draws on Johnny Burnette and the Rock ’n’... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Musician Mark StewartSaturday, 07 March 2015
Mark Stewart is the singer and a founding member of iconoclastic band The Pop Group, who reformed in 2010. He grew up in Bristol and, with The Pop Group, between 1978 and 1981, pioneered an abrasively different post-punk sound based on jazz, funk... Read more... |
Say Yes To Another Excess - TWERK, Sadler's WellsSaturday, 07 March 2015
"The music will be loud," the slender usher warns on entry to altered natives' "Say Yes To Another Excess" – TWERK, as a Grime bassline shakes the flimsy theatre floor. She hands over a text-heavy programme and does not frisk me. This is no London... Read more... |
CD: Marc Almond - The Velvet TrailSaturday, 07 March 2015
Chris Braide is at the heart of the LA songwriting machine, knocking up tungsten-plated radio candy with Britney, Beyoncé, Sia and the like. A Cheshire lad transported to Hollywood (he also wrote the music for Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby), he’s... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl: Volume 3 - Nick Cave, Max Richter, Vessels, and moreFriday, 06 March 2015
Did you know there's a heated debate going on about “hot stampers”? As the resurgence in vinyl continues, there are those who wish to attribute value to their own knowledge and to their vinyl collections. In the e-consumer trenches, where... Read more... |
