New music
CD: Esperanza Spalding - Radio Music SocietyThursday, 15 March 2012
Following last year's remarkable Grammy win for Best New Artist, the first time a jazz musician has won the award, the bassist, singer and composer returns with a companion piece to her previous disc, the intimate Chamber Music Society. And within a... Read more... |
Sing Inspiration! Festival, Royal Festival HallThursday, 15 March 2012
Bringing together the most talented choirs, vocalists and musicians from across London and the UK, iGospel's two-day Sing Inspiration! Festival came to a close in spectacular fashion. Lurine Cato opened the concluding "Gospel & Soul" concert,... Read more... |
Mark Lanegan, Shepherds Bush EmpireWednesday, 14 March 2012
He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws… Ah wait now, that’s The Gruffalo. Mark Lanegan doesn’t have any of the above (although he does have tattooed fists and a considerable jaw, and past heroin addiction... Read more... |
CD: Paul Weller - Sonik KicksWednesday, 14 March 2012
There are times when Paul Weller seems little more than a strutting anachronism, his gear-box jammed permanently in reverse. His appearance – a toasted walnut with a tinsel trim; or, if you prefer, Ian McLagan in aspic – is a pitch-perfect rendition... Read more... |
Paul Buchanan to release first solo albumTuesday, 13 March 2012The former Blue Nile singer Paul Buchanan will release his debut solo album, Mid Air, on May 21. Describing it as a "record-ette" of 14 short voice-and-piano songs, it will be his first release since the Blue Nile's fourth album, High, in 2004. Mid... Read more... |
Simone Felice: Video Exclusive part 2Tuesday, 13 March 2012
In the final instalment of our exclusive Simone Felice video series, the singer and poet from New York's Catskill mountains takes us on a tour of three further locations that kept him sane, whilst, around him, life seemed like an extract from the... Read more... |
Fundraising Gala for SyriaTuesday, 13 March 2012
In answer to the desperate need for humanitarian relief for the Syrian people inside their country as well as in Syrian refugee camps in neighbouring countries, Mosaic Initiative for Syria has announced a fundraising gala taking place this... Read more... |
Simone Felice: Video Exclusive Pt 1Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Simone Felice has both a back story to make Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon seem like a graduate of Fame, and the poetic gifts to make it as real to you as the air you breathe. In a two-part exclusive, he has recorded a series of videos for theartsdesk to... Read more... |
CD: Michael Kiwanuka - Home AgainMonday, 12 March 2012
From Amy to Adele there’s been so much retro of late, frankly it’s becoming old hat. Literally. But if you’re tempted to consign all your wannabe Seventies albums to the bin, hold your horses. Michael Kiwanuka’s much-anticipated Home Again may be... Read more... |
Singles & Downloads: March 2012Monday, 12 March 2012
After a nine-month absence, during which Joe Muggs explored the world's largest natural bassbin in the Amazonian rain forest and Thomas H Green waited to receive his passport back from the Bolivian government, Singles & Downloads returns to... Read more... |
Earth, Union ChapelMonday, 12 March 2012
There have been many Earths. Dylan Carlson has been the only constant, using the shifting line-ups as the vehicle for his vision of a music that is all about space, slowness, and repetition. As last night's concert made clear, he no longer needs a... Read more... |
Sinéad O'Connor, Queen Elizabeth HallSunday, 11 March 2012
Some people – a very few – just have it. Never mind whether her songs appeal, or the style in which she performs them, but Sinéad O’Connor’s presence is extraordinary - as, of course, is her voice. She sings “I Am Stretched on Your Grave” a capella... Read more... |
