pop music
Reissue CDs Weekly: Manfred Mann, The Searchers, The YardbirdsSunday, 12 May 2019
Repackaging and resuscitating the catalogues of endlessly reissued bands is fraught. By their nature, completists already have everything and the casually interested are not fussed by alternate versions of obscure tracks or disinterred lo-fi live... Read more... |
Olly Murs, SSE Hydro, Glasgow - a little cheesy, a little laddish, but sincerely entertainingMonday, 06 May 2019
In an alternate timeline, Olly Murs - runner-up on a TV talent show a full decade ago - would have faded into obscurity by now. This, as the relentlessly charming performer on stage delights in reminding us, is not that timeline. Some internet... Read more... |
CD: Leo Sayer - SelfieThursday, 02 May 2019
For Brits below a certain age Leo Sayer is the curly haired middle-aged chap who swearily walked out of the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2007 and disappeared. However, for those around in the 1970s his diminutive dancing form, ever-ready grin and... Read more... |
CD: Vampire Weekend - Father of the BrideWednesday, 01 May 2019
Three albums in, and Vampire Weekend were due a shake-up. Enter Father of the Bride, by far their most ambitious record to date. It’s an 18-track behemoth featuring 14 musicians and six different producers, spanning from folk to jazz. It may be a... Read more... |
CD: Editors – The Blanck Mass SessionsMonday, 29 April 2019
Editors’ last album, the electronic-infused Violence, was hailed as a big departure for the indie rock band on its release a little over a year ago. It wasn’t really, it was simply the latest stage of a transformation that can be traced back to... Read more... |
CD: P!nk - Hurts 2B HumanThursday, 25 April 2019
Look behind the lyrics of some of P!nk’s biggest hits, and you’ll see that those powerhouse vocals and big pop-rock choruses have always been used to distract from a certain vulnerability. But even by that standard, eighth album Hurts 2B Human might... Read more... |
CD: Kornél Kovács - Stockholm MarathonThursday, 25 April 2019
On his second album, Swedish star DJ Kornél Kovács has achieved the impossible and made “tropical house” interesting. Somehow, he's taken every cliché of that slow, lilting pop dance sound Drake and lifestyle influencers Instagramming from pristine... Read more... |
Suede, Brighton Dome review - Brett Anderson gives it full frontman chutzpahWednesday, 24 April 2019
Suede finish “Sabotage”. It’s a mid-paced, elegant number set off by swirling, circling central guitar. Frontman Brett Anderson hangs from his microphone stand on the left apron of the stage to deliver it, with the lights down low. Afterwards he... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: Pet Shop Boys - Inner SanctumTuesday, 23 April 2019
Pet Shop Boys are never shy of producing stylishly conceived fan mementos. Coming not long after Faber & Faber’s hardback collection of Neil Tennant’s lyrics, this four-disc set is just such a slice of lovingly rendered memorabilia. After well... Read more... |
Take That, SSE Hydro, Glasgow review - capes and cameos in 30th anniversary spectacularFriday, 19 April 2019
This year, says Gary Barlow, marks 30 years since five boys walked into a room in Manchester and auditioned for what would turn out to be the UK’s most successful pop act. It is fitting, then, that what they are billing as the Odyssey tour features... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: BananaramaThursday, 18 April 2019
Bananarama are one of the most successful girl groups of all time. Consisting of Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward, the band’s third original member Siobhan Fahey left in 1988 to form Shakespears Sister. The trio reunited in 2017 for a tour but new... Read more... |
CD: Bananarama - In StereoSaturday, 13 April 2019
And then there were two... again. Following on from the Original Line-Up tour, Bananarama are back to the core duo of Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward for their first album in 10 years. If it is true that co-founding member Siobhan Fahey’s 1988... Read more... |
