New Music Reviews
Reissue CDs Weekly: Tunnelvision - Watching the HydroplanesSunday, 01 September 2019
A ghostly voice pronounces “there’s no need to make the sepulchre white.” Following this declaration, what sounds like an ocarina wails mournfully over spindly guitar, a sonorous bass guitar and circular, heartbeat drumming. Tunnelvision’s “Whitened Sepulchre” isn’t a happy-go-lucky look at life. Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 52: Yardbirds, Fad Gadget, Spoon, Cate le Bon, Cabaret Voltaire and moreSaturday, 31 August 2019
Welcome to the latest edition of theartsdesk on Vinyl, the monthly online musical resource that knows no genre boundaries as it treks through every release on plastic that it can find. Read more... |
Duff McKagan, Islington Assembly Hall review – Guns N' Roses bassist revels in the spotlightFriday, 30 August 2019
Guns N’ Roses members do love a side project, from Slash’s Snakepit and Conspirators to Axl’s stint as AC/DC frontman. Read more... |
Peaches, Royal Festival Hall review - blissful anarchyThursday, 29 August 2019
“Thank you for making us so fucking special!” It’s the end the set and both adjectives are appropriate. “Yes I had to say fucking special,” Peaches yells, combative and loved. Read more... |
CD: Whitney - Forever Turned AroundWednesday, 28 August 2019
As days get shorter and the sun tucks itself behind a blanket of clouds, Whitney return with the bittersweet sound of summer ending. Forever Turned Around is the long-awaited follow up to 2016’s Light Upon the Lake, and the band have lost none of their melodic magic. Read more... |
Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Dingwalls review - What's going on? Good questionTuesday, 27 August 2019
There’s something truly sad and dispiriting about listening to an artist trash their back catalogue and absolutely totally ruin their greatest song, especially when that song has acquired anthemic status and been chosen to be preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Creedence Clearwater Revival - Live at WoodstockSunday, 25 August 2019
Apparently, Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug Clifford’s snare drum broke during the first song of their set at Woodstock Festival. On the new double album Live at Woodstock, it’s impossible to detect this happening. As “Born on the Bayou” progresses, the band’s forward motion is relentless and their dedication to the groove is undiminished during this and the remainder of a blistering, paint-peeling set. Read more... |
Edinburgh International Festival 2019: JARV IS review - Britpop legend still deliversSaturday, 24 August 2019
”Cunts Are Still”. Well, that got your attention, didn’t it? Not my words, merely the title of one of JARV IS’s new tracks. In case you didn’t get it, JARV IS is a play on words and the name of given to Pulp frontman and founder Jarvis Cocker’s latest outfit. Cocker still is releasing new material. He still is an exuberant and energetic performer. He still is wearing those glasses. And still is very good. Read more... |
Eels, Hammersmith Apollo review – dark, swampy and endlessly entertertainingThursday, 22 August 2019
"Would you mind if I jammed on my new... castanets?" We’re halfway through Eels’ triumphant set at Hammersmith's Eventim Apollo and this is the kind of question we’ve come to expect from frontman Mark Oliver Everett, AKA "E". Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Phil Manzanera - Diamond HeadSunday, 18 August 2019
Diamond Head was Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera’s first solo album. Released in May 1975 and recorded the previous December and January during a lull in his parent band’s activities, it hit shops between Roxy’s Country Life and Siren albums. Singer Bryan Ferry had done a short solo tour in December 1974 which culminated with a show at The Royal Albert Hall where he was backed by an orchestra. Read more... |
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