New music
Rodrigo Y Gabriela, O2 Academy BrixtonSaturday, 25 February 2012
Rodrigo y Gabriela’s flamenco gymnastics have gained such a reputation over the past couple of years, it’s been suggested that watching them is like being at a circus. Ever since these two Mexican buskers came over to Europe and started dazzling... Read more... |
CD: Carolina Chocolate Drops - Leaving EdenSaturday, 25 February 2012
The fourth album by Carolina Chocolate Drops, the old-time string and jug band with 21st-century attitude, fizzes with their characteristic energy. They’re essentially a live band, great communicators and purveyors of a musical style that was... Read more... |
theASHtray: Homeland, Kings of Leon, and we need to talk about AïdaSaturday, 25 February 2012
So Homeland is here, and mid-ranking-CIA-operative Claire Danes is chasing Marine-Sergeant-and-possible-al-Qaeda-double-agent Damian Lewis all over the shop (but really only in their heads, so far), and neither of them is getting anywhere fast, so... Read more... |
Gerry Rafferty: Right Down the Line, BBC FourSaturday, 25 February 2012
“Baker Street” and “Stuck in the Middle With You” will live forever. Once heard, each is never forgotten. Both are perfect. Both were written and sung by Gerry Rafferty, the subject of Right Down the Line, an affectionate David Tennant-narrated... Read more... |
Kaiser Chiefs, Hammersmith ApolloFriday, 24 February 2012
The first time I ever saw Kaiser Chiefs was on Saturday morning children's television. While the musicians performed onstage, vocalist Ricky Wilson went walkabout, continuing to belt out "I Predict a Riot" while lurking out of view. Halfway through... Read more... |
Oh Land, HeavenFriday, 24 February 2012
Oh Land is Nanna Øland Fabricius. A proper pop star in her native Denmark, based on last night's show there’s no reason why she can’t be one here too. She’s been living in Brooklyn and the international market is clearly in her sights. The... Read more... |
Rebecca Ferguson, Clyde Auditorium, GlasgowThursday, 23 February 2012
Ever since that first Saturday night when Simon Cowell pulled back the curtain on mainstream pop music's most underhand dealings, there has been a certain type of artiste that a certain type of person struggles to take seriously. What is often... Read more... |
CD: The Ting Tings – Sounds From NowheresvilleThursday, 23 February 2012
It’s four years since their extremely successful debut album. But then again it’s not easy to hone perfect dumb-ass pop music from just two or three major chords while still making it shine like a new gold coin. The art of simplicity is a complex... Read more... |
Sport and classical music: they should hang out moreWednesday, 22 February 2012
Classical music and sport: should they spend more time together? The idea was posited more than 20 years ago that football and opera made for ideal bedfellows, so long as the football was being played in Italy and the operatic aria was Nessun Dorma... Read more... |
CD: Santiago Latorre - EcliptícaWednesday, 22 February 2012
There's a whole world of music out there that floats in the zone somewhere between jazz, club music, sound art, contemporary classical and meditative new age background sound – so much of it that it all too easily blurs together. But there are... Read more... |
The BRIT Awards: The Brand leading the BlandWednesday, 22 February 2012
It's awards season for the music industry, and no amount of complaining, ignoring or pointedly watching BBC Four in protest is going to stop the BRIT Awards from ordering in a few thousand servings of homemade tomato chutney and crostini to be laid... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Oslo: by:Larm Festival 2012 and the Nordic Music PrizeWednesday, 22 February 2012
Although the four days of Norway’s 15th by:Larm Festival were dominated by the presentation of the second annual Nordic Music Prize, there were plenty of other distractions: a sobering tour of Norwegian black metal’s infamous sites, a talk by... Read more... |
