pop music
CD: Liam Payne - LP1Friday, 06 December 2019
Liam Payne is a Simon Cowell-manufactured pop star worth tens of millions off the back of music that’ll be regarded in a few years’ time much as the Bay City Rollers or Curiosity Killed The Cat are regarded now. Aesthetically an easy target, then,... Read more... |
CD: Coldplay - Everyday LifeThursday, 21 November 2019
For all they've inspired swathes of the most crushingly mundane music of the modern age from Sheeran on down, Coldplay have always been at their best at their most grandiose. That is, when they shake off Chris Martin's I'm-a-normal-bloke schtick and... Read more... |
CD: Beck - HyperspaceMonday, 18 November 2019
Beck stands on the front cover of his new album Hyperspace with a vintage Toyota and Japanese text resplendent above. It’s the perfect scene setter for an album you could easily imagine soundtracking a midnight drive through Tokyo. Or if the lyrics... Read more... |
CD: Celine Dion - CourageThursday, 14 November 2019
Of 2019’s pop culture phenomena, the critical reappraisal of Céline Dion as an international treasure is one of the most delightful. It’s been six years since the Quebecois singer last released an English language album, a period in which she closed... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 54: The Beatles, Prince, Kid Acne, Nirvana, Teebs, Monty Python, Pulp and moreWednesday, 13 November 2019
Without further ado, slightly delayed by the sheer volume of releases at this year time of year, here is the latest edition of theartsdesk on Vinyl. You will not find a more extensive monthly report on the goodies newly available on plastic anywhere... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Yesterday Has Gone - The Songs of Teddy RandazzoSunday, 10 November 2019
“It's Gonna Take a Miracle” just missed out on a mainstream US Top 40 placing after The Royalettes issued it as a single in June 1965. But the song had staying power. In 1971 Laura Nyro covered it, choosing it as the title track for the album she... Read more... |
CD: The Script - Sunsets & Full MoonsFriday, 08 November 2019
Massively successful Irish trio The Script could, loosely speaking, be called a rock band. But they aren’t really, are they? Their sixth album is an indictment of the kind of music they play. It’s packed with over-produced post-Coldplay anthem-pop... Read more... |
CD: Pumarosa - DevastationWednesday, 06 November 2019
Pumarosa picked the perfect time of year to launch their second album into the world: its skittish drums, claustrophobic melodies and haunted vocals are the perfect soundtrack to witching season. But the horrors that inspired Devastation are far... Read more... |
Lisa Stansfield, Royal Albert Hall - mutual Affection, 30 years onFriday, 01 November 2019
Rochdale boasts quite a number of star turns but those that spring readily to mind are William Walton, Andy Kershaw, Barb Jungr, Gracie Fields and Lisa Stansfield. And here’s a good pub quiz question: what, apart from Rochdale, links Gracie and Lisa... Read more... |
Charli XCX, SWG3, Glasgow - stripped of the gimmicks, but still the whole packageMonday, 28 October 2019
Considered logically, releasing an album as heavy on guest features as Charli XCX’s newest should present particular logistical problems when it comes to recreating the tracks on tour. Charli’s approach is the opposite: no gimmicks or trickery, just... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Kinks - Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British EmpireSunday, 20 October 2019
Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire hasn’t had the stratospheric levels of praise as the preceding Kinks album, 1968’s The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Yet in the band’s narrative, it’s probably more important... Read more... |
CD: Foals - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2Tuesday, 15 October 2019
Foals, the band with a trademark sound characterised by the African-style intricate interplay of rhythm rather than lead guitars, returns with what amounts to the second half of a double album. The first half was released last spring, and this new... Read more... |
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