New music
Album: Leftfield - This Is What We DoWednesday, 30 November 2022
This Is What We Do is only Leftfield’s fourth album in a career that has lasted almost 35 years (on and off). But if there is a dance outfit that can demonstrate the worth of quality over quantity, it’s the duo of Neil Barnes and Adam Wren (Barnes’... Read more... |
Justin Adams & Mohamed Errebbaa, The Jam Jar, Bristol review - the African roots of rock'n'rollTuesday, 29 November 2022
Justin Adams has been exploring music that produces trance or near-trance states for a number of years. Along with being Robert Plant’s lead guitarist for a long while, he has followed his own path, seeking out what he had dubbed the secret heart of... Read more... |
theartsdesk Radio Show 34 - with post-punk visionary Lu EdmondsTuesday, 29 November 2022
Welcome to the latest edition of Peter Culshaw’s occasional radio show, which normally has a global music focus. This week’s guest for the entire two hours is the musical cult hero and all-round good bloke Lu Edmonds.Lu has an unusual background,... Read more... |
Park Jiha, Stone Nest, K-Music - timeless evocative East-West soundscapesTuesday, 29 November 2022
Even those with the most tangential connection to pop music will be aware that K-Pop is all conquering, and the likes of BTS and BlackPink are on some metrics the most successful of recent acts anywhere. But at the same time, there is also a growing... Read more... |
Remembering Wilko: unforgettable encounters with the Dr Feelgood guitaristMonday, 28 November 2022
Looking back on the most exciting, atmospheric and musically challenging gigs I’ve seen to date, there are several contenders in each category. But for the distinction of THE MOST DISTURBING GIG I’VE EVER BEEN TO there is only one possible option:... Read more... |
Album: Stormzy - This Is What I MeanMonday, 28 November 2022
“All of this music, it’s nothing to do with the listener,” Stormzy announced to Louis Theroux in a recent TV interview. “All I can do is feel what I feel and document that, and whatever that is, that’s what it’s going to be.”The 29-year-old rapper... Read more... |
Mary Gauthier, Union Chapel review - a living room concert in all but nameSunday, 27 November 2022
Mary Gauthier’s first tour in more than three years landed at London’s Union Chapel on Saturday, concluding with another sold-out gig. The venue is perfect for unplugged acts – intimate, architecturally pleasing and acoustically spot on. But cold,... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Love - Expressions Tell EverythingSunday, 27 November 2022
Any reminder of the greatness of Love is welcome, and Expressions Tell Everything does this in fine style. A box set, it contains eight picture-sleeve seven-inch singles, a book and a couple of postcards. It’s very stylish.The period dwelt on is... Read more... |
Wet Leg, O2 Forum Kentish Town review - eclectic glee from an emerging bandSaturday, 26 November 2022
Arriving to the second night of two shows in the same venue, you would expect it to be a little quieter. But Wet Leg’s second outing at the O2 in Kentish Town was anything but – their burgeoning reputation (they are supporting Harry Styles next year... Read more... |
The Manhattan Transfer, Queen Elizabeth Hall review - a class actSaturday, 26 November 2022
On a dreary evening in our dark winter of discontent, a couple of hours spent in the company of The Manhattan Transfer was a joyous uplift. The sell-out audience at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall clearly agreed, happily engaging in a sort-of call-and... Read more... |
Album: Sophie Jamieson - ChoosingSaturday, 26 November 2022
Choosing packs a punch – the effect of which lingers. What’s captured by these 11 songs comes across as unfiltered, disconcertingly direct. And what it is that’s captured appears to be an account of someone getting to grips with how their lifestyle... Read more... |
Hewitt, Hallé, Schuldt, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - lightening the gloomFriday, 25 November 2022
If there was a certain doom-laden dimension to Clemens Schuldt’s Bridgewater Hall programme with the Hallé ( … Requiem … Mozart in D minor … Strauss describing Death and …), it was easily lightened by the conductor’s own approach and personality.... Read more... |
