New music
CD: King Of The Mountains - ZoetropeThursday, 17 April 2014
I'm starting to get irritated that the term “indietronica” steadfastly refuses to catch on. We live in a world now where Hot Chip, Metronomy, Fujiya & Miyagi, tUnE-yArDs, M83 and on and on and on are as much the norm in just-left-of-centre music... Read more... |
CD: Kelis - FoodWednesday, 16 April 2014
It’s hard not to admire Kelis Rogers’ spirited and unpredictable approach to the music business. She’s been through multiple incarnations, approaching them with real zest, the spiritual successor to Nena Cherry, albeit more prolific and emanating a... Read more... |
10 Questions for Drummer Billy CobhamMonday, 14 April 2014
Drummer Billy Cobham has been an innovative and influential figure since the 1960s across jazz, Latin, funk and the areas of fusion between. He has played with Horace Silver, Miles Davis, Randy and Michael Brecker, and in 1971 was a founder-member... Read more... |
CD: Wallis Bird - ArchitectSunday, 13 April 2014
The ease with which Wallis Bird can flit between genres armed with nothing but a guitar and her warm, raggedly bluesy voice has been apparent since at the very least her 2012 self-titled third album. Even still, those of us who fell for that album’s... Read more... |
Ivo Neame Quintet, Kings PlaceSunday, 13 April 2014
Pianist Ivo Neame, whose quintet gave a masterclass in the more reflective, concept-driven variety of contemporary jazz at Kings Place last night, is one of the lynchpins of the London scene. As well as leading and composing for this, his own group... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Vee-Jay RecordsSunday, 13 April 2014
Various Artists: Chicago Hit Factory – The Vee-Jay Story 1953-1966According to the book accompanying this 10-disc tribute to the Chicago independent label, “in one month alone in 1964 Vee-Jay records sold 2.6 million records. Two years later... Read more... |
CD: Led Bib - The People in your NeighbourhoodSunday, 13 April 2014
2014 marks rock-jazzers/post-jazzers Led Bib’s tenth anniversary as a going concern and three years since their Bring your Own album. It also sees the release of The People in your Neighbourhood: an album that in no way suggests a band that is... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Eels' frontman Mr ESaturday, 12 April 2014
Mark Oliver Everett, AKA Mr E, is the voice and brain behind US alt-rock heroes, Eels - a band that has been described as "frank, thunderous, and unusually uplifting”. That's some achievement given their overriding themes of loss and angst. But this... Read more... |
CD: Paolo Nutini - Caustic LoveSaturday, 12 April 2014
In the five or so years since Paolo Nutini’s last release, the profile of the tousle-haired Scotsman has hardly diminished. Ladies, of all ages, continue to find his raspy voice seductive whilst his laid-back style still gets of the nerves of many... Read more... |
CD: Wrangler - LA SparkThursday, 10 April 2014
In a galaxy all too near, amid tattered old copies of Future Music magazine, tangles of cables and a couple of broken sequencers, a trio of electronica nerds huddle around a glowing console plotting a recipe for the perfect album. “It should,” says... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Oslo: The Tape to Zero FestivalWednesday, 09 April 2014
The on-stage collaboration between north-Norwegian ambient maestro Biosphere and his similarly inclined but sonically darker countryman Deathprod was a one off. At Oslo’s Tape to Zero festival, Biosphere and Deathprod bought the you-had-to-be-there... Read more... |
CD: Phronesis - Life to EverythingWednesday, 09 April 2014
There's something about the way in which the musical surfaces of album opener “Urban Control” glitter and sparkle that immediately announces you're listening to a Phronesis recording. By the time Danish bassist Jasper Høiby reaches the end of... Read more... |
