New music
Blk Jks, Moth Club review - Johannesburg’s art-rockers are more straightforward live than on albumThursday, 23 June 2022
Figuratively, “Tselane” is Blk Jks’s “Stairway to Heaven.” Both songs begin quietly and move through passages of turbulence suggesting an impending tempest. Each has a command of dynamics which pulls the listener in, generating anticipation for what... Read more... |
Album: Hollie Cook - Happy HourThursday, 23 June 2022
In a world seemingly devoid of joy, Hollie Cook's fourth album is a very welcome salve indeed. It’s not just the deliciously mellow groove of the genre and her mellifluous tones, but the feeling of stepping away from the everyday – a holiday from... Read more... |
Album: Porcupine Tree - Closure/ContinuationWednesday, 22 June 2022
Porcupine Tree’s members have said they don’t know if their 11th album and this autumn’s North American–European tour will conclude their 35-year career. If it does, it would be typical of the progressive rock trio – as averse to standing still as... Read more... |
Album: Vadim Neselovskyi - Odesa: A Musical Walk Through a Legendary CityTuesday, 21 June 2022
Odesa (Sunnyside) is a deeply-felt and wonderfully played solo piano album with a massive emotional and stylistic compass. New York-based composer/pianist Vadim Neselovskyi has made a strong statement in homage to the city by the Black Sea where he... Read more... |
The superstar, the Svengali and a rising young talentMonday, 20 June 2022
I'm at the New Theatre in Oxford. Elvis Costello is playing through the final stages of his 2022 UK tour. The venue is full of memories: I saw The Kinks and Tom Jones here in the 1960s and then The Who in the early 70s. On my left, there’s Paul... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Ban the Bomb - Music of the Aldermaston Anti-Nuclear MarchesSunday, 19 June 2022
“The case is quite simple. We think that the policy which is being pursued by the western powers is one which is almost bound to end in the extermination of the human race. Some of us think that might be rather a pity.”This extract from a 1958... Read more... |
Album: Linda Ayupuka - God Created EverythingSaturday, 18 June 2022
Africa is an endlessly surprising source of new music: sounds that grab you instantly, and combine the wisdom and grace of the ancestors with the creative and playful use the latest technologies. Linda Ayupuka is the latest singer to look out for,... Read more... |
Album: Alanis Morissette - The Storm Before the CalmFriday, 17 June 2022
This year marks 25 years since the release of Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill album. Not content with hitting the road for a celebratory world tour, the Canadian songstress is also releasing a new album – but it’s probably not what you might... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 71: Sparks, Ibeyi, Amy Winehouse, The Residents, Hanterhir, Astor Piazzolla and moreThursday, 16 June 2022
Summer has arrived outside and sunny sounds are blasting from the speakers at theartsdesk on Vinyl. But not just sunny sounds, to be truthful, also sounds that cover most of the human emotional range, all from plastic discs in varying colours. Check... Read more... |
Album: Binker Golding - Dream Like A Dogwood Wild BoyThursday, 16 June 2022
Dream Like A Dogwood Wild Boy (Gearbox Records) is such a strong album. Listeners who know Binker Golding from his numerous other contexts – the free jazz incarnation or the duos with Elliot Galvin or Moses Boyd – are going to be... Read more... |
KITE Festival, Kirtlington Park review - engaging speakers and tunes aplenty in the Oxfordshire countrysideWednesday, 15 June 2022
The label of "Guardian man" or "Guardian woman" is one that is bandied about as something of an insult these days. But if you can get past the name-calling and think about what might appeal to this imaginary couple (and possibly their kids) while... Read more... |
Album: Foals - Life is YoursWednesday, 15 June 2022
For the Oxford alt-rock mainstays Foals, the past two years brought an anti-climactic pause to a triumphant 2019: their meteoric trajectory had kept pace with their duo of albums, Everything Not Saved Will be Lost Part 1 and 2. The sister albums had... Read more... |
