New music
Album: OMD - Bauhaus StaircaseSaturday, 21 October 2023
The three previous albums that Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark have released since reforming in 2010 have all, to varying degrees, adhered to their early sound. The band were part of the post-punk, post-Kraftwerk, 1979-82 synth-pop boom, alongside... Read more... |
Snayx/Shelf Lives/Monakis, Patterns, Brighton review - storming, punking triple-headerFriday, 20 October 2023
Patterns is a small, low-ceilinged, underground, seafront venue. Tonight it would be a feast for any passing ancient succubae who happens to feed on raw human energy. From 7.00 PM until 10.00 PM, the room plays host to a package tour of three rising... Read more... |
Album: Sampha - LahaiFriday, 20 October 2023
In 2011 the BBC aired Wonders of the Universe, a documentary presented by physicist Brian Cox about the origins of the universe divided into four parts: “Destiny”, “Stardust”, “Falling” and “Messengers”. These episodes could easily have been titles... Read more... |
Maisie Peters, O2 Academy, Glasgow review - conjuring up an enjoyable pop spellThursday, 19 October 2023
When Maisie Peters first appeared onstage she loudly asked if the crowd were ready for “the best night of their lives”, and given the youthful nature of the audience the ensuing 80 minutes might have lived up to the hype. There were screams,... Read more... |
Album: Emma Anderson - PearliesWednesday, 18 October 2023
Well, this is lovely. Pearlies opens with “I Was Miles Away”, a puffball of a sonic cloud which marries twinkling electronica with guitar-led shoegazing. It has a familial resemblance with the sort of thing perfected by Sweden’s I Break Horses, but... Read more... |
Madonna, Celebration Tour, O2 review - spectacular, ambitious and occasionally bemusingTuesday, 17 October 2023
Exactly 40 years since Madonna’s first UK hit, “Holiday”, was skittering about the Top Five, she launches her global Celebration Tour at the O2.It is spectacle on the very grandest scale. In the latter half, following a video montage of tabloid... Read more... |
Album: The Rolling Stones - Hackney DiamondsMonday, 16 October 2023
It’s been a while since Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood sat down together at the Hackney Empire to introduce their first album of new songs in 18 years, and their single, “Angry”, is now approaching 20 million views on YouTube.The album... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Ibrahim Hesnawi - The Father of Libyan ReggaeSunday, 15 October 2023
Initially, it doesn’t sound so unusual. The collection’s first song is titled “Never Understand.” Sung in English, it’s poppy reggae with a light feel, twinkling keyboard lines and a lengthy, rock-oriented guitar solo. The singer appears to be a fan... Read more... |
Album: Agnetha Fältskog - A+Sunday, 15 October 2023
When ABBA split in 1982, Agnetha Fältskog went on to a solo career that was mostly overshadowed by the titanic popularity of her former band. By the 21st century ABBA’s status in pop, especially with the Mamma Mia phenomenon, had become iconic.They... Read more... |
Thea Gilmore, Union Chapel review - after Afterlight, a challengeSaturday, 14 October 2023
Recently recovered from her fifth bout of Covid, Thea Gilmore last night made a return to London’s Union Chapel, a wonderfully atmospheric venue where the price to pay for a concert is a numb bum (unless you remember to hire a cushion). For the... Read more... |
Album: Nitin Sawhney - IdentityFriday, 13 October 2023
Nitin Sawhney never fails to produce albums that draw on the talent of his brilliant friends, touch on issues of current urgency, and bridge musical styles with great deftness and in a way that avoids the frequent artifice of fusion.Perhaps more... Read more... |
Album: The Streets - The Darker The Shadow The Brighter The LightThursday, 12 October 2023
You may have heard that Mike Skinner’s made a film. He’s certainly done the rounds, press-wise, so you’d be hard pushed to have missed it. You have to admire the man’s tenacity. When the money to make a feature film didn’t surface, he decided to... Read more... |
