indie
CD: The Soft Cavalry - The Soft CavalrySunday, 30 June 2019
Releasing this record must be a daunting process for Steve Clarke. For one, it's his first record as a frontman and main songwriter, after a lifetime as a jobbing bassist and tour manager. For two it's a collaboration with his wife – they've been... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 50: Depeche Mode, Black Midi, Primal Scream, U2, Nazareth, Quantic and moreWednesday, 26 June 2019
So theartsdesk on Vinyl reaches its 50th edition. That’s at least a novels’ worth of words. Maybe two! But we’re not stopping yet. The heat of the summer has arrived but the vinyl deluge hasn’t dried up, so check in for everything from Germanic... Read more... |
CD: Bedouine - Bird Songs of a KilljoyThursday, 20 June 2019
With her timeless vocals and jazz-inflected folk melodies, it feels like a bit of Los Angeles songwriter Bedouine lives in the golden age of Hollywood. It’s a dichotomy she goes as far as to address on “Echo Park”, a woozy Sunday morning wander... Read more... |
CD: Hot Chip - A Bath Full of EcstasyWednesday, 19 June 2019
Nineteen years, seven albums and untold side projects into their career, Hot Chip have for the first time enlisted outside producers: Rodaidh McDonald and French disco/house don Philippe Zdar. And it's worked. Over the course of the previous albums... Read more... |
CD: Jane Weaver - Loops in the Secret SocietyFriday, 14 June 2019
If contemplated without a context, Loops in the Secret Society initially appears to be a bold 68-minute, double-album fusion of Hawkwind’s hum and whir, Krautrock insistence, spacey electronica and folky otherness. Jane Weaver’s voice is disembodied... Read more... |
Manic Street Preachers, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - 20th anniversary tour lets underrated songs shineMonday, 27 May 2019
Nothing brings home the difference between sequencing an album and sequencing a live show like going to see a classic album played in its entirety. And Manic Street Preachers’ This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours – described by frontman James Dean... Read more... |
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Cardiff Castle review - wonder within castle wallsSaturday, 25 May 2019
Blessed with a red sunset and an adoring crowd, Noel Gallagher brought life to the ruins of Cardiff Castle. With support from fellow 90s alumnus Gaz Coombes, and Wales’s next-gen prodigies Boy Azooga and Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, the... Read more... |
CD: Honeyblood - In Plain SightWednesday, 22 May 2019
At its best, the music of Glasgow band Honeyblood often sounded like a girl gang you weren’t cool enough to be a part of - making the news that singer-guitarist Stina Tweeddale had split with drummer Cat Myers and recast the name as that of a solo... Read more... |
Primal Scream, The Haunt, Brighton review - up-close, short, raucous and sweatyTuesday, 21 May 2019
Primal Scream have played in this city, in the recent past, at the 4,500 capacity Brighton Centre but tonight they’re in a venue which holds well under 400. A bananas atmosphere reigns when bands of their stature play intimate shows, and so it is... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 49 - Part 2: Prince, Johnny Cash, Sparks, Toyah, Adrian Sherwood and moreSaturday, 18 May 2019
We return, after only a week away, with Part 2 of Volume 49. Starting out with an amazing comeback from Adrian Sherwood’s Pay It All Back compilation series as Vinyl of the Month, this edition takes in everything from Prince to death metal to... Read more... |
The Great Escape Festival 2019, Brighton review - a juicy smörgåsbord of new music from all overTuesday, 14 May 2019
Now going for over a dozen years, ever-busier since Live Nation took over its parent company in 2015, The Great Escape Festival is the annual multi-venue band showcase and music conference which sees Brighton swamped with music biz sorts. This year... Read more... |
Better Oblivion Community Center, Shepherd's Bush Empire review - a winning combinationMonday, 13 May 2019
Better Oblivion Community Center may be a supergroup of sorts, but the name still draws less recognition that its members (Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes). Maybe it’s just too complicated to remember, because a packed Shepherd’s... Read more... |
