New music
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... |
Van Dyke Parks: reissues and showWednesday, 21 March 2012Van Dyke Parks, the lyricist on The Beach Boys’s legendary Smile, is to be the subject of a reissue campaign. Song Cycle (1968), Discover America (1972) and Clang of the Yankee Reaper (1975) , his first three solo albums, are... Read more... |
David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Imogen Heap Gigs Streamed OnlineWednesday, 21 March 2012As part of Artangel’s year long programme of writers and musicians creating work in A Room for London, a one-bedroom installation above the Thames, David Byrne has produced a new soundwork inspired by the city and particularly the sights... Read more... |
Dr John London dates announcedWednesday, 21 March 2012The renowned New Orleans pianist and singer Mac Rebennack - aka Dr. John - will be launching his acclaimed new album Locked Down at Under the Bridge in West London on July 18th and 19th. The album was produced by and features Dan Auerbach... Read more... |
The Civil Wars, Shepherd's Bush EmpireWednesday, 21 March 2012
The Civil Wars are one of those bands rendered suddenly white hot in the UK by a classy performance on Later with Jools Holland. They’re a photogenic country-ish acoustic singer-songwriter pairing whose style is just un-country enough to fit neatly... Read more... |
CD: Blood Red Shoes - In Time to VoicesWednesday, 21 March 2012
There's an unlikely comparison in the publicity material that accompanies my copy of In Time to Voices, the third release from Blood Red Shoes, in which the Brighton boy-girl duo are likened to Fleetwood Mac. While name-checking sound-alikes is the... Read more... |
Sting, Hammersmith ApolloTuesday, 20 March 2012
Unlike his old buddy, Phil Collins, who now claims to be considered the “Antichrist of Music”, public consensus on Sting seems elusive. His popularity in the States has never wavered, but back home, it’s difficult to tell if the "tantric" one is... Read more... |
South Asian festival at SouthbankMonday, 19 March 2012Southbank Centre’s third annual Alchemy festival returns 12-22 April with a mix of music, dance, literature, film, fashion and design reflecting the economic and cultural landscape of the Indian subcontinent. The centre's Thames-side venues and... Read more... |
Justin Broadrick previews JK Flesh albumMonday, 19 March 2012The veteran noise artist Justin Broadrick - whose previous projects include Godflesh, Head of David, Napalm Death, Jesu, Greymachine, Palesketcher and Techno Animal, the latter in collaboration with Kevin Martin - has unveiled the new track "... Read more... |
Cockney Rejects film comingMonday, 19 March 2012The team behind Oil City Confidential, Julien Temple's award-winning documentary about Dr Feelgood, has made East End Babylon, the story of London punks The Cockney Rejects. Directed by Richard England, who exec-produced Oil City Confidential, the... Read more... |
Paul Weller, RoundhouseMonday, 19 March 2012
I had a terrible fright last week. While listening to BBC London DJ Robert Elms introduce a track from the new Paul Weller album, Sonik Kicks. What I heard sounded remarkably like Oasis. It seemed that the man who once influenced Noel Gallagher was... Read more... |
CD: John Foxx and the Maths – The Shape of ThingsMonday, 19 March 2012
I decided to listen to the new album by former Ultravox frontman John Foxx on a trip to buy some louvre doors at a branch of Homebase. I thought the journey to the city's edge industrial estate via flyovers and concrete spur roads would provide the... Read more... |
