New Music Reviews
Pat Metheny & Side-Eye, Eventim Apollo review - energy and melodic clarityMonday, 13 June 2022
Nobody could ever force guitarist Pat Metheny into doing the touring schedule he imposes upon himself. The 67 year-old still does well over 100 concerts a year. The current European tour alone, which started at the end of April and finishes in 10 days' time contains no fewer than 44 dates. Read more...
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Harry Styles, Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow review - pop prince lets the music do the talkingMonday, 13 June 2022
A guessing game could be played prior to Harry Styles taking to the stage at this gig, the first night of his UK tour and, as he later noted, his first stadium show as a solo act. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Barney Wilen - ZodiacSunday, 12 June 2022
In 1966, the combo fronted by French sax player Barney Wilen issued an album of musical interpretations of each sign of the zodiac. In the US in 1969, Mort Garson released 12 albums, each dedicated to a single sign. Read more... |
The Great Estate, Redruth review - Cornwall's finest festival extravaganzaSaturday, 11 June 2022
For those wishing to avoid the bloated plutocracy of #PlattyJoobs, the Great Estate Festival was the perfect antidote. Set in the beautiful estate of Scorrier House in Redruth, Cornwall it is described as “the most rambunctious garden fete”. Read more... |
Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Brighton Dome review - screams, not whispersThursday, 09 June 2022
The usherette’s hands are clamped over her ears, and Elvis Costello is playing like it’s 1996, when the briefly reunited Attractions played a pummelling last stand, burying fatal internal rifts with punk thunder. Read more... |
Album: Shearwater - The Great AwakeningThursday, 09 June 2022
The title The Great Awakening is a metaphor for America’s switch from its previous presidential administration to the current: the arrival of a new era and, with it, a fresh phase of life. Emblematic of this is the xenarthran, a type of armadillo, which lends its name to the album’s third track. Native to South America, it slogs its way into Texas where it deals with a new environment. Read more... |
Bloc Party, Barrowland, Glasgow review - falling back on past glories brings a jubilant responseMonday, 06 June 2022
As Bloc Party singer Kele Okereke noted at one point in this gig, his band have now been visiting Glasgow for nearly two decades. Yet few of the shows played in that 18 year span, which have touched upon nearly all of the city’s main music venues, have been as contrasting as this one. Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: In A Rocking Mood - Beverley’s Rock Steady 1966-1968Sunday, 05 June 2022
Beverley’s was an ice-cream shop and restaurant on Orange Street in Kingston, Jamaica. Records were on sale too. In 1961, an aspiring singer-songwriter named James Chambers turned up there with a song he’d written called “Dearest Beverley.” If it was recorded, it’d give its creator a leg-up on the music scene and also might be good promotion for the business. Read more... |
Album: Wren Hinds - A Child's Chant for a New MillenniumThursday, 02 June 2022
Side Two of A Child’s Chant for a New Millennium opens with “Wrenbird,” a consideration of whether it’s possible to have a bird’s freedom of mobility. “Anywhere but here,” sings Wren Hinds. He may not be happy where he is, but the accompanying soundtrack is enough to make anyone stick around. Read more... |
ABBA Voyage, Abba Arena, London review - technical mastery and musical joyWednesday, 01 June 2022
he first part of one of ABBA’s most famous lyrics, “You can take the future, even if you fail”, has been bought to life in Pudding Mill Lane, in a musical event that has completely re-defined the possibilities of the future of live music – and has put to bed the latter part about failure. Read more... |
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