mon 18/08/2025

New Music Reviews

Heartless Bastards, Borderline

Russ Coffey

Some consider Heartless Bastards to be the best band you’ve probably never heard of – albeit blighted by an awful name. Others say the Texas-based four-piece are merely a jumped-up garage band. Wherever you stand, though, one thing is beyond dispute – the awesome power of Erika Wennerstrom’s voice. For much of last night she sounded like the love child of Robert Plant and Janis Joplin.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: The Isley Brothers

Kieron Tyler


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theartsdesk at Green Man 2015

Barney Harsent

Sunday. Brecon Beacons. Very early in the morning. I am woken, as I have been every 20 minutes or so since falling asleep, by water dripping on my head. So far, I’ve been able to ignore it, the pain of sitting upright outweighing the inconvenience of a wet head by a factor I can’t begin to fathom. Now, however, the hangover has lifted slightly and the need to piss is so painful I can no longer ignore it.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: Julian Cope

Kieron Tyler


Julian Cope: World Shut Your MouthJulian Cope: World Shut Your Mouth, Fried

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Just in From Scandinavia: Nordic Music Round-Up 14

Kieron Tyler

Don’t be fooled by the header picture. Despite the relaxed poses, Iceland’s Pink Street Boys are amongst the angriest, loudest, most unhinged bands on the planet right now. Hits #1, their debut vinyl album – which follows distorted-sounding, lower-than-lo-fi cassette and digital-only releases – is so impolite and wild that once the rest of the world gets the message the story of what constitutes the current-day music of their home country will have to be rewritten.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: Stax Soul Sensations

Kieron Tyler

 

Ian Levine’s Stax Soul Sensations Various Artists: Ian Levine’s Stax Soul Sensations

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theartsdesk on Vinyl: Volume 8 - Björk, Joy Division and more

Thomas H Green

In October a special tribute will be paid to the late great DJ Frankie Knuckles, the man who defined house music in the 1980s. A former bank In Chicago, now known as the Stony Island Arts Bank, which houses an archive relating to black culture, will be showcasing his gigantic record collection.

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theartsdesk at Forgotten Fields 2015

Thomas H Green

A person with any sense of outdoor adventure can enjoy a camping trip with friends, especially when the skies are clear blue and blazing, the booze is decent and flowing, and the barbecue is tasty and sauced. Thus was the case with my trip to Eridge Park, in the northern reaches of Sussex, for a new festival from the team behind the Lake District’s successful, decade-old Kendal Calling. How much the festival itself contributed to the good times, however, is debatable.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: America

Kieron Tyler

 

AMERICA THE WARNER BROS YEARSAmerica: The Warner Bros. Years 1971–1977

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theartsdesk at Camp Bestival 2015

Thomas H Green

Camp Bestival 2015 was bathed in four days of glorious sun, a rare window of idyllic weather in this most cantankerous of summers. It took place, as it has since it began in 2008, amid the hilly, verdant and well-kept grounds of Lulworth Castle in Dorset. Run by DJ Rob da Bank, his wife Josie and their team, it remains the country’s premier family festival, attended by some 30,000. Those are the facts, yet Camp Bestival is a curious creature, tricky to encapsulate.

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