New music
Medicine Festival review - sound and music healing in the depths of BerkshireFriday, 23 August 2024
I had been softened up for the Medicine Festival by a recent visit to the global music extravaganza WOMAD – a trio of us met a guy called Paul aka SpriITman – an ex-IT expert who after a health crisis realised he was a healer. Bear with me on this.... Read more... |
Album: Jon Hopkins - RitualFriday, 23 August 2024
Jon Hopkins is on a journey, and we’re fortunate that he feels he can share the trip with us. His latest offering takes the listener beyond the paths opened up in Singularity (2018) and Music for Psychedelic Therapy (2021).There's a coherence in the... Read more... |
Album: Cassyette - This World Fucking SucksThursday, 22 August 2024
The music of Brit alt-rocker Cassy Brooking, AKA Cassyette, comes from the emo school of pop-metal. Her 2021 debut single was, appropriately, called “Dear Goth”, she’s much-hyped by Kerrang, and has been tour support for both Bring Me the Horizon... Read more... |
Stowaway Festival, Buckinghamshire review - old ravers and their kids get on oneWednesday, 21 August 2024
The UK festival scene has been going through a bit of a difficult time in the last couple of years, with a number of events closing down due to financial problems. This has obviously hit the “boutique” end of the marketing hardest, with several... Read more... |
Album: Susanna - Meditations on LoveWednesday, 21 August 2024
For a record whose subject matter involves unfaithfulness, ageing, loneliness, fear of death, darkness, sorrow, battles, haunting, sleeplessness and struggling to breathe, this is a lot of fun. But then Susanna Wallumrød has always leavened... Read more... |
Album: Illuminati Hotties - PowerMonday, 19 August 2024
From time to time, we all come across a band name that’s new to our ears and that raises a smile and the hope of some wild and original sounds. Illuminati Hotties is such a name.However, Illuminati Hotties isn’t really a band – being the solo... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Having a Rave-Up! - The British R&B Sounds of 1964Sunday, 18 August 2024
“The Rollin' Stones are probably destined to be the biggest group in the R&B scene if it continues to flourish. They aren't the jazzmen who were doing trad 18 months back and who have converted their act to keep up with the times. They are... Read more... |
Album: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - WoodlandSaturday, 17 August 2024
Named after the duo’s Woodland Sound Studios in Nashville, badly damaged in a 2020 tornado and restored by them, Woodland Studios is Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ first album in four years, when All the Good Times won the Grammy for Best... Read more... |
theartsdesk at Jaminaround 2024 - preview of the unique Dorset venue's second editionFriday, 16 August 2024
We’re in deepest Dorset, on the edge of the village of Cranborne. The sun has just set. A cluster of thatched rooves, ancient looking barns and outhouses.It could be a set for Game of Thrones, a reconstruction of pre-industrial times. Groups of... Read more... |
Album: Rosie Lowe - Lover, OtherFriday, 16 August 2024
Trip hop is everywhere these days. From Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey on down, some of the biggest artists in the world channel a smoky, bluesy, late 90s mood – and in the UK something even more interesting is happening that taps into a longer,... Read more... |
Album: Osees - Sorcs 80Thursday, 15 August 2024
Aside from their musical output, the fame – or notoriety – of Californian rockers Osees derives from two main factors. First, their consistently changing the spelling of their name on different releases (eg, Thee Oh Sees, OCS, etc). Second, their... Read more... |
Album: Pom Poko - ChampionWednesday, 14 August 2024
The musical equivalent of a firework display, the third album from Norwegian art-poppers Pom Poko is bright, energised and unstoppable. It is also considered; clearly the culmination of a careful creative process. Fusing the spontaneous and the... Read more... |
