New music
Robert Cray Band, BarbicanWednesday, 07 May 2014
Robert Cray’s veteran blues band made a compelling case for their unique blend of soul and blues at the Barbican last night. Despite the five Grammys, record sales well into seven figures, and investiture in the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011 at the... Read more... |
CD: Swans - To Be KindWednesday, 07 May 2014
Anyone who is unfamiliar with Swans might reasonably assume that these veterans of New York’s early eighties “noise” scene to be well past their best by now. As powerful as Black Sabbath on steroids, Swans’ music has taken in industrial noise, art... Read more... |
Loose Tubes, Ronnie Scott'sTuesday, 06 May 2014
Crazed magnificence, off the cuff improv, pinpoint timing. And that was just MC and trombonist Ashley Slater's on-stage banter. In one of the most hotly anticipated jazz gigs of 2014, the return to the Ronnie Scott's stage for the seminal and... Read more... |
Clean Bandit, Library, BirminghamTuesday, 06 May 2014
The Library in Birmingham is a venue that is almost the dictionary definition of shabby chic, with its neo-classical plaster mouldings hanging onto the walls in a room that has definitely seen better days. Unfortunately, the sound quality for last... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Wayne CochranSunday, 04 May 2014
Wayne Cochran: Goin’ Back to Miami – The Soul Sides 1965-1970With his dyed-blond pompadour, Wayne Cochran looks bizarre enough. But once he opens his mouth, the weirdness level is kicked into orbit. He sounds exactly like a wild cross between... Read more... |
CD: tUnE-yArDs - Nikki NackSunday, 04 May 2014
That Nikki Nack, the third album from tUnE-yArDs, sounds as if it could share the name with some brightly-coloured superhero from a nursery rhyme seems appropriate, because that’s always been how I’ve pictured Merrill Garbus. It’s a persona that she... Read more... |
The New Arts Desk Radio Show 4Saturday, 03 May 2014
Back on the air for their best show yet, Peter and Joe are here to take you round the world, and occasionally further afield still.In the first half they focus on the groove, with Cambodian and Mexican-Peruvian psychedelia, Brazilian rap beats,... Read more... |
CD: Lily Allen - SheezusSaturday, 03 May 2014
Travelling minstrels once spread news and social commentary via song, leavening it with bawdiness, social satire and raw humour. On those terms, Lily Allen is the premier folkloric songwriter of our times. Her songs are filled with pin-sharp detail... Read more... |
CD: The Horrors - LuminousThursday, 01 May 2014
Anyone who remembers the critical mauling that The Horrors received on the release of their first album, 2007’s Strange House, might be surprised to learn that seven years later, they have just put out a fourth set of new songs. Not only that, but... Read more... |
Ode to the Human Spirit, Kings PlaceThursday, 01 May 2014
Who knew the human spirit needed such bureaucratic care? The celebration of International Jazz Day, founded by UNESCO in 2011, at King’s Place last night was nothing if not well cared-for. Sponsored SGI-UK, an arm of the global Buddhist movement,... Read more... |
CD: Brian Eno and Karl Hyde - Someday WorldWednesday, 30 April 2014
Brian Eno is a born collaborator as well as a highly esteemed producer. He is one of those musicians with a strong personal signature but who work with a minimum of ego. Branded as an egghead – a barbed label which reflects as much as anything... Read more... |
CD: The Menzingers - Rented WorldSunday, 27 April 2014
Dreaming about teeth, teeth falling out specifically, is supposed to represent anxiety and transition. Already this year The Hold Steady have based an album around the concept and now, on his own band’s fourth album, Greg Barnett of Pennsylvania... Read more... |
