New music
Sónar 2011: Day 1Friday, 17 June 2011
“This is what Ibiza used to be like,” said the man dancing next to me. I've never been to the White Isle, so I have to take his word for it, but he presented a very convincing argument that the commercialisation of dance music's Mediterranean Mecca... Read more... |
A Tribute to Tony Wilson, Purcell RoomFriday, 17 June 2011
The Meltdown Festival's tribute to Tony Wilson was a lot like the charismatic post-punk legend himself: funny, eccentric, obscure, populist; all over the place but never dull. Wilson died in August 2007 and this event was a reminder of his... Read more... |
CD: Marilyn Mazur - Celestial CircleThursday, 16 June 2011
One of the great strengths of Manfred Eicher's ECM label is the way in which it has encouraged and documented many unlikely yet fruitful musical collaborations throughout its thousand-plus discography. First assembled for her season as artist-in-... Read more... |
Eliane Radigue/New London Chamber Choir, London Sinfonietta, James Weeks, Spitalfields MusicWednesday, 15 June 2011
What strange goings-on at this year's Spitalfields Music festival. One church is set ablaze by a female laptop trio; another is swamped by 17th-century collectivists; one man opens up a black hole with the back of his guitar; and a harpist becomes a... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Fes: The Festival and the Moroccan SpringWednesday, 15 June 2011
Strange portents – the weather is always dry and baking hot this time of year in Fes. This time it was like winter, with lashing rain and thunder for the first few days of the Fes Festival. But then things are strange in general here; events are... Read more... |
CD: Bon Iver - Bon IverMonday, 13 June 2011
Well, he’s certainly moved on from his log cabin. It’s three years since Justin Vernon’s group, Bon Iver, released For Emma, Forever Ago, the quietly powerful indie-folk album recorded during a bitter winter in his father’s remote Vermont cabin –... Read more... |
CD: Take That - ProgressedSunday, 12 June 2011
Following in the stilettoed footsteps of Lady Gaga’s extended-play reissue of her platinum-selling The Fame, Take That’s Progressed is a two-disc repackaging of the November 2010 Progress album featuring eight additional tracks. With its menacing... Read more... |
CD: Emmy the Great - VirtueSaturday, 11 June 2011
I'm tired of Emmy the Great being lumped in with crappy singer-songwriters who've had way too much hype but couldn't write a decent lyric if they were tied to a chair and had a pistol pointed at their temple. Emma-Lee Moss bloomed from a singer-... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Musician Seasick SteveSaturday, 11 June 2011
Seasick Steve Wold (b 1941) has achieved widespread popularity over the last five years with his raw, rootsy, blues-flavoured sounds. He's also renowned for his customised guitars, such as one featured on his new album, You Can't Teach an Old... Read more... |
RIP house music singer Darryl PandySaturday, 11 June 2011
The house music of Chicago, led by producers and DJs, has long had a tendency to feature the greatest vocals of any genre yet not make stars of its singers. And for most of his working life, Darryl Pandy, who died yesterday aged 48, was not the star... Read more... |
Maverick Sabre, Jazz CaféFriday, 10 June 2011
Until a few weeks ago, I’d never heard of Maverick Sabre. Then I saw his weird potato-face looks and heard his utterly distinctive voice on Later... With Jools Holland, and was intrigued; thus I found myself last night at the Jazz Café in a sold-out... Read more... |
CD: Vetiver - The Errant CharmFriday, 10 June 2011
Early on, Vetiver were apparently a freak folk band. Associations and collaborations with Joanna Newsom and Devandra Banhardt helped that tag stick. But constraints don’t concern Vetiver main man Andy Cabac. Fifth album The Errant Charm is... Read more... |
