New music
CD: Rick Redbeard - No Selfish HeartSunday, 27 January 2013
On first play No Selfish Heart, the solo debut from The Phantom Band’s stately baritone Rick Anthony, sounds a world away from the sonic experimentation often played out in the singer’s work elsewhere. Take the time to listen closely, however, and a... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: 94 Baker Street Revisited, Buzzcocks, Tim Hardin, Julian CopeSunday, 27 January 2013
Various Artists: 94 Baker Street RevisitedAlthough the label is the only aspect of The Beatles’ Apple venture to endure, there was more to it than half-baked or ephemeral concerns like Apple Electronics, the Apple Boutique and the almost still-born... Read more... |
CD: Biffy Clyro – OppositesSaturday, 26 January 2013
Biffy Clyro's sixth album certainly wins in the value for money stakes. Opposites is a double album clocking in at 78 minutes which finds the Kilmarnock trio developing their big, expansive sound and getting to grips, both lyrically and musically,... Read more... |
Matthew Halsall/Zara McFarlane, Ronnie Scott'sFriday, 25 January 2013
Fronting her four piece band - pianist Peter Edwards and saxophonist Binker Golding among them - the young jazz/soul singer Zara McFarlane performs a mix of new songs and tunes from her album, Until Tomorrow. Among the former, “Woman in the... Read more... |
Hammer & Tongue + Slipjam:B - 10th Annual Poets vs MCs, Concorde 2, BrightonFriday, 25 January 2013
For a decade these two outfits, the Hammer & Tongue poetry collective and the Slipjam:B crew of hip hop MCs, have been taking each other on. They both run their own successful nights but this evening is their yearly face-off. As it reaches its... Read more... |
Special guest presenters announced for Radio 3's 'The Choir'Thursday, 24 January 2013
After seven years, Aled Jones is stepping down as presenter of Radio 3's Sunday evening programme, The Choir. During his stint at the helm of the 90-minute show, the ebullient Welshman has showcased choral classics ancient and modern, hosted choirs... Read more... |
CD: Delphic - CollectionsThursday, 24 January 2013
When Mancunian trio Delphic appeared a couple of years back they said all the right things. They were modest about themselves but fiercely into the music, acknowledged their home city’s heritage but were keen not to use it as a tacky profile raiser... Read more... |
CD: Ulrich Schnauss - A Long Way to FallWednesday, 23 January 2013
The last proper Ulrich Schnauss album – there have been collaborations and pseudonymous outings since – was going to be hard to top. Goodbye, released in 2007, breathtakingly took shoegazing further out than ever before: although gossamer, its sonic... Read more... |
RBMA presents LFO, XOYOMonday, 21 January 2013
Of all the major acts from the the acid house/rave explosion, Leeds's LFO seem least interested in becoming a “heritage act”. Perhaps it's because Mark Bell (the sole member of LFO since the early departure of Gez Varley) has no need to cash in on... Read more... |
CD: The History of Apple Pie - Out of ViewMonday, 21 January 2013
A confession: for much of this debut album from London fuzz-pop fivesome The History of Apple Pie, I have little to no idea what vocalist Stephanie Min is on about. Sweet and half-whispered, floating above crunchy bass and tuneful guitar riffage, it... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Hawkwind, Dual Form, The Children’s Hour, Buddy GuySunday, 20 January 2013
Hawkwind: Space RitualAlthough it was released 40 years ago, Space Ritual sounds contemporary. Hawkwind’s repetition, simplicity and single-minded focus effectively created trance-inducing mantras. Now, they cast a shadow over Six Organs of... Read more... |
CD: Adam Ant - Adam Ant is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s DaughterSunday, 20 January 2013
“Punky young girl needs a middle aged man/ Whose mid-life crisis you began/ …such a work of art…lift up your skirt, let me lick the alphabet/ …what’s under there? I hope to Christ it’s lingerie.” The voice is sinuous, cajoling. The creepy,... Read more... |
