New music
Mari Kvien Brunvoll, Kings PlaceThursday, 05 March 2015
Mari Kvien Brunvoll - Norwegian improviser, singer and composer - enters the Kings Place stage more like a pianist's page-turner than the night's sole performer, and sits cross-legged at her pedals. Dressed in a neutral dark grey, she doesn't seek... Read more... |
CD: Fairport Convention - Myths & HeroesThursday, 05 March 2015
Fairport Convention might have been around for almost 50 years, but they still clearly know how to deliver timeless quality. Their new album, made up of all new tracks (a departure from the previous album By Popular Request which comprised re-... Read more... |
Spectres, The LexingtonThursday, 05 March 2015
I first saw Spectres last October at the 10th birthday celebrations for their label, Sonic Cathedral. That night, they struck me as noisy, spiky and fun. If that sounds like faint praise, it really wasn't meant to be – noisy, spiky fun is in my all-... Read more... |
CD: Jimmy Somerville - HomageWednesday, 04 March 2015
Disco was about the dancefloor: a music that delivered the goods in one-song bursts which made assembled revellers move. The album was not its natural home. Of course, the compilation thrives and albums with side-long tracks hit the right note, but... Read more... |
CD: Emily Saunders - Outsiders InsidersMonday, 02 March 2015
Emily Saunders has crafted a reputation for cool, sophisticated songs blending Brazilian themes and rhythms with a clean, precise, almost Scandinavian delivery. On this, her second album, she includes electronic sounds and distorted vocals, moulding... Read more... |
CD: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – Chasing YesterdaySunday, 01 March 2015
The enduring appeal of Noel Gallagher isn't hard to fathom. His music is brimming with resolution and resolve; it does what we expect it to with a rewarding honesty and an often admirable lack of pretence. This meant that, on 2011’s Noel Gallagher’s... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Bridget St. JohnSunday, 01 March 2015
Bridget St. John: Dandelion Albums & BBC CollectionPigeonholing Bridget St. John is gratifyingly difficult. Although generally categorised as folk, her early albums actually posited her as a singer-songwriter following her own path. Like... Read more... |
Jazz for Labour, BarbicanSaturday, 28 February 2015
Jazz and politics go way back. Throughout its history the music has been involved with underground resistance movements in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. It was inextricably entwined with civil rights campaigns in the United States and it played... Read more... |
Extract: I've Always Kept a Unicorn: The Biography of Sandy DennyFriday, 27 February 2015
Sandy Denny was well known within the folk world by 1968 (writes Kieron Tyler). Although the recordings were as-yet unreleased, in July 1967 she had recorded with The Strawbs. She featured on two albums which were in the shops in August 1967: Alex... Read more... |
CD: Katzenjammer – RocklandWednesday, 25 February 2015
Norwegian alt-folkies Katzenjammer may have gained some attention with their distinctive versions of Genesis’ “Land of Confusion” and Nick Cave’s “Henry Lee”, as well as the multi-instrument approach on their previous albums, Le Pop and A Kiss... Read more... |
CD: Tuxedo - TuxedoWednesday, 25 February 2015
I work in an office where music is generally played in the background. Picking the soundtrack for a Friday afternoon can be a particularly fraught moment: one person's idea of a wind-down from work and a promise of leisure to come can be too cheesy... Read more... |
The War on Drugs, O2 Academy BrixtonWednesday, 25 February 2015
It would probably be best to start this review with a mention of the band, The War on Drugs, whose 2014 LP, Lost in the Dream, saw them realise their potential in a flurry of "Best Of" lists and almost unbelievable hyperbole. However, before we get... Read more... |
