pop music
Elbow, O2 ArenaTuesday, 29 March 2011
Is Guy Garvey really as lovely as he seems? I hope so. Last night, on the first of two nights for the Bury band at the O2 Arena, their lead singer, this big bearded bear of a man, came across as clever, funny, confident, warm, positive and... Read more... |
CD: Katy B - On a MissionSunday, 27 March 2011
Katy B has something of the everygirl about her. Part of her appeal is that, unlike Ke$ha, The Saturdays and so many other female pop stars, she hasn't embraced pole-dancer chic, nor does she appear to be gagging to be spread over the pages of... Read more... |
CD: Micachu & The Shapes and London Sinfonietta - Chopped & ScrewedSaturday, 26 March 2011
Forget Lady Gaga – Mica Levi, aka Micachu, is modern pop’s true maverick. More likely to sport jeans and T-shirt than frock of flesh, she’s a skinny, scruffy tomboy who can hold her own in a game of keepie-uppie. Her take on music is similarly... Read more... |
Peter Gabriel, Hammersmith ApolloThursday, 24 March 2011
If you just knew him from the pop and world-music part of his career you might struggle to believe that Peter Gabriel was once considered to be synonymous with everything that was white and stiff in music. His Genesis work, all public-school poetry... Read more... |
The Most Incredible Thing, Sadler's WellsWednesday, 23 March 2011
There was not likely to be much ballet here, despite the Pet Shop Boys’ proud use of the word to distinguish their substantial three-act score. This delivers a richly James Bond-ish ride through big pop tunes, opulent filmic moments and some nice... Read more... |
CD: Poly Styrene - Generation IndigoSunday, 20 March 2011
Anyone expecting the 1977-style foghorn-voiced Poly Styrene from Generation Indigo is going to be disappointed. Instead, this album is sweetly delivered, melodic and driving modern pop with a Euro electro-dance sheen. She’s not bellowing “Oh Bondage... Read more... |
CD: Chris Brown - F.A.M.E.Saturday, 19 March 2011
Anyone remember Haddaway? Or Dr Alban? These were flash-in-the-pan early-Nineties pop stars who combined European dance music with tints of R&B and Afro-Caribbean pop. Who'd have thought their sound would be the template for mainstream American... Read more... |
Jet Harris, the original Shadow RIPSaturday, 19 March 2011
Jet Harris was one of the architects of British rock'n'roll. His death rams home just how distant that era now seems. A former skiffler, he joined The Shadows after a spell backing Terry Dene, British rock's first bad boy. In time, Harris became a... Read more... |
First UK show for Arnaud Fleurent-DidierThursday, 17 March 2011
Arnaud Fleurent-Didier’s La Reproduction was one of the most striking albums of last year. The news that he and his band are playing the UK for the first time next week at the Institut Français is exciting as La Reproduction was more than great... Read more... |
CD: Britney Spears - Femme FataleWednesday, 16 March 2011
Googling for academic articles about Britney Spears is one rabbit hole I've managed to avoid falling down thus far, but one imagines there are reams of the things. From demonically driven Disney child star via pigtailed Lolita and sex-droid air... Read more... |
Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags, Channel 4Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Why were any of us watching Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags last night, about the pop star's move from selling millions of tracks to stacks of vintage clothes? It was not because we need a lesson in the hardships of starting up a business - Allen... Read more... |
Watcha Clan, Rich MixWednesday, 16 March 2011
Why do bands still insist on dabbling in drum’n’bass? It was always an absurd, overwrought style, even when it first assaulted our eardrums in the mid-1990s. It’s more like a technological malfunction of the drum machine than a natural, felt groove... Read more... |
