New music
CD: Lionel Richie - TuskegeeWednesday, 07 March 2012
When an artist releases an album of new readings of old material, there’s usually cause for concern. But not with Lionel Richie’s new release, a foray into light country. In fact, given Richie’s recent efforts to stay down with the kids, maybe he... Read more... |
CD: VCMG – SsssTuesday, 06 March 2012
Electropop royalty does not get more illustrious than this. VCMG stands for Vince Clarke (&) Martin Gore, who started out together in Depeche Mode, only for main songwriter Clarke to depart in 1981. Gore stayed in the band and took kinky leather... Read more... |
Interview & Video Exclusive: The Magnetic NorthTuesday, 06 March 2012
John Charles Gunn’s Orkney: The Magnetic North was published in 1932 as a guide to the islands and their history. Now, along with a dream, it’s inspired The Magnetic North’s album Orkney: Symphony Of The Magnetic North. With former Verve member... Read more... |
AV Festival, Newcastle/ Heiner Goebbels's Surrogate Cities, RFH/ London Contemporary Orchestra, Brunt, The RoundhouseMonday, 05 March 2012
It's often more fun on the margins. The pickings are richer. The view is clearer. You can take aim easier. The AV Festival has spent more than eight years here, on the counter-cultural edges, delving into the divisional cracks between art, music and... Read more... |
CD: The Stranglers - GiantsMonday, 05 March 2012
This album caught me completely off guard. The Stranglers work of the late Seventies/early Eighties is classic post-punk pop but their critical and (slight) commercial comeback since 2004’s Norfolk Coast album has been less convincing. Giants,... Read more... |
X Factor Live, Wembley ArenaSunday, 04 March 2012
The X Factor has been rewriting the Gregorian calendar since its inception in September 2004. It’s now more acceptable (nay, expected) for major label pop acts’ careers to fall like dominos after the first year, while at the other end of the scale... Read more... |
Laura Marling, Colston Hall, BristolSunday, 04 March 2012
Laura Marling has a way, in mid-song, of arching her head back as far as it will go, as if she were opening herself up to the heavens. She’s never been one to let herself go on stage, at least not physically: there are no unnecessary... Read more... |
CD: Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking BallSunday, 04 March 2012
It’s a sign of Bruce Springsteen’s contribution to the canon of American rock music that we no longer spend time comparing his music to others. Springsteen’s problem tends to be living up to different versions of himself. It seems like every... Read more... |
Portico Quartet, The Komedia, BrightonSaturday, 03 March 2012
I do not envy the Portico Quartet’s stage manager. The Komedia stage is not very big and most of it is covered in wire, effects boxes, electronic gizmos and other units. Amidst this carnage of cables, before the band arrives on stage, stands laptop... Read more... |
CD: Mouse On Mars - ParastrophicsSaturday, 03 March 2012
Jan St Werner, half of German duo Mouse On Mars, recently held forth on their inspirations, citing the tension between metrical freedom and metronomic funk in the work of Sun Ra and Funkadelic as their key motivator. And while it might seem odd to... Read more... |
The Speech Project, Purcell RoomFriday, 02 March 2012
Released last month on One Fine Day Records to excellent reviews, last night saw the first of an 11-date UK tour for Gerry Diver's remarkable multimedia work, The Speech Project. Conceived over the past four years by musician, composer and producer... Read more... |
Sbtrkt, KokoFriday, 02 March 2012
A mea culpa from me: I never gave Sbtrkt's records the attention they deserved. I always thought they were a capitulation, a softening of the radical developments of the post grime and dubstep generation with more traditional musicality and indie... Read more... |
