New music
CD: Seeker Lover Keeper - Seeker Lover KeeperMonday, 26 March 2012
In their native Australia Sarah Blasko, Sally Seltmann and Holly Thorsby are award-winning solo artists in their own right, even if their reputations have for the most part not yet preceded them internationally. Seeker Lover Keeper is both the name... Read more... |
CD: Lonely Drifter Karen – PolesSunday, 25 March 2012
Poles is a significant step for Lonely Drifter Karen. For their third album, the pan-European trio have moved their trademark piano-led, torch song-influenced introspection into new territory. The graceful Poles is a pop album of the very highest... Read more... |
JLS, O2 ArenaSaturday, 24 March 2012
The X Factor has made it far easier for fans to connect with artists from the get-go - as far as the viewer is concerned, the life story of each auditionee starts at episode one. Following JLS from that first audition to a third sold-out arena tour... Read more... |
CD: Madonna - MDNASaturday, 24 March 2012
Everyone wants their own Madonna. Some want the mischievous, tinny, Eighties, New York club chick; some want the sexadelic, Shep Pettibone-produced art-nudie; some want the gently euphoric Ray of Light trance angel; some want the house-tinted... Read more... |
theASHtray: Stanley Donwood, Mark Ronson, and Round Ireland with a flopSaturday, 24 March 2012
A couple of nights ago I went to a book launch at Waterstone’s, Notting Hill, for a collection of un-illustrated short stories (Household Worms) by a visual artist (Stanley Donwood) perhaps best known for his work in the music industry (producing... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Musician Todd SniderSaturday, 24 March 2012
He has been called “America’s sharpest musical storyteller” by Rolling Stone, and has enough talent to give Bob Dylan’s talking blues a run for their money. The East Nashville-based singer-songwriter, guitarist, yarn-spinner, troubadour and amiably... Read more... |
AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, Penderecki, Barbican HallFriday, 23 March 2012
I don't much like aspirational music-making. I like my classical classical and my pop pop. Give me Boulez over Bernstein, Britney over Radiohead, any day. Having said that, I'd heard a piece by Jonny Greenwood at Reverb last month that had gone some... Read more... |
Jessie Ware, The NaveFriday, 23 March 2012
It’s sometimes difficult to imagine that a new pop star can ever live up to even the most optimistic fan’s expectations. Spiralling hype and contagious squeals over mp3s are one thing, but with the subject standing before them to perform a full live... Read more... |
MBV reissue mystery deepensThursday, 22 March 2012The saga of legendary guitar noise experimentalists My Bloody Valentine took another twist today as Sony Ireland announced a date - 11 May - for the long-delayed release of remastered versions of their classic albums plus previously unheard material... Read more... |
EFDSS appoints Artist Development ManagerThursday, 22 March 2012Neil Pearson has been appointed as Artist Development Manager at the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS). Key aspects of this new role will be to commission new projects, administer the bursary programme, and to manage the Society’s Folk... Read more... |
CD: The Mars Volta - NoctourniquetThursday, 22 March 2012
First a word of warning: The Mars Volta is not for everyone. Their hardcore progressive metal may contain light and shade, but it's also there to show the world that Muse is for sissies. And, for all its delicate moments and complexity, at its most... Read more... |
Popcorn and Polymorphia: Jonny Greenwood meets PendereckiThursday, 22 March 2012
Krzysztof Penderecki's Polymorphia for 48 string instruments dates back to 1962, and still stands as one of the grand milestones of the avant-garde. It epitomised the Polish composer's technique of "timbre organisation", in which the plucking and... Read more... |
