New music
Black Cab Sessions: music TV catches up with the net?Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Tonight on Channel 4, a new music series begins with a fantastic premise. A group of music obsessives drive around the USA in a London black cab, finding interesting musicians and recording them performing and talking in the back of the cab. Sounds... Read more... |
CD: Vijay Iyer Trio - AccelerandoWednesday, 29 February 2012
Nobody could ever accuse pianist Vijay Iyer of having narrow tastes. This highly anticipated follow-up to his award-winning 2009 album, Historicity, runs the gamut from Heatwave's über-smooth slow jam, “The Star of the Story”, to the tricky... Read more... |
theartsdesk video exclusive: BlacksmifTuesday, 28 February 2012
Londoner Yemi Olagbaiye is the model of a new generation musician for whom the dissolution of genre categories means not homogenisation but an opportunity for greater individuality. Olagbaiye grew up playing guitar music, then moved on to drum'n'... Read more... |
St Vincent, Shepherds Bush EmpireTuesday, 28 February 2012
It ended with Annie Clark on her back, being passed around the audience like a volleyball. Scrubbing at her guitar, the squall didn’t stop. As encores go it was pretty memorable, the confirmation that Clark – as St Vincent – has arrived. Earlier in... Read more... |
Ana Silvera, Imogen Heap, Estonian Television Girls Choir, Holst Singers, Reverb 2012Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Freud would have loved the final night of Reverb 2012's opening weekend. First came a screening of a mad early Surrealist film from Germaine Dulac and Antonin Artaud, in which a priest chases a woman's breasts that have turned into two... Read more... |
CD: Sinead O'Connor - How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?Monday, 27 February 2012
Over the years, Sinead O’Connor has put her fan base though the mill but, with her ninth album, may have redeemed herself. Quite apart from her many well-publicized personal eccentricities, those who have been waiting for her to make an album that’s... Read more... |
Marina and the Diamonds, Shepherds Bush EmpireMonday, 27 February 2012
The way Marina Diamandis was tweeting last year – samples include “I hate pop” and “I want to disappear into a k-hole of Cheetos and beer” – some were half expecting the girl who used to be pop’s Next Big Thing to give up. Not that her debut album,... Read more... |
Your complete guide to which awards have (some) credibilitySunday, 26 February 2012
First it's Golden Globes, then Oscars, or it's Grammys, then Brits - you can hardly go by a Sunday this time of year without another set of awards. But which ones count? Who are the judges?The experts on theartsdesk (judges, some of them -... Read more... |
A soundscape of inheritance at Black Music ArchiveSunday, 26 February 2012
The legacy and influence of black music has led to a unique exhibition in South London. The South London Black Music Archive features memorabilia, listening posts, and a fascinating map of local musical landmarks.Visitors to Peckham Space are... Read more... |
CD: Robert Glasper Experiment - Black RadioSunday, 26 February 2012
Where the creative interconnections between hip hop, jazz and soul are concerned, Robert Glasper proves himself a master on Black Radio. Featuring an impressive roll call of guest singers and rappers, the pianist has finally made the album... Read more... |
Kathleen Edwards, Oran Mor, GlasgowSunday, 26 February 2012
Accompanying herself with the violin she hung from the mic stand, the Canadian songwriter Kathleen Edwards performed “Goodnight, California” - the last track from her 2008 album Asking For Flowers - in the sensual rasp of the late night gin-drunk.... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Musician Stephin MerrittSaturday, 25 February 2012
For those unfamiliar with his work, Stephin Merritt is like a modern-day Cole Porter: prolific, highly camp, and with a genius for beautifully crafted witty three-minute songs. He performs with the 6ths, The Gothic Archies, Future Bible Heroes as... Read more... |
