electronica
Reinventing the Record: Strange New Formats of the Digital AgeThursday, 28 April 2011
While rumours of the album's demise may well have been premature, the digital age certainly does present increasing challenges when it comes to getting punters to keep and treasure music. Of course, really it all went wrong with the CD: those... Read more... |
CD: Kode9 & The Spaceape - Black SunSunday, 17 April 2011
There's something about this album that feels as if it's already existed for a long time. Full of post-apocalyptic images of smoke, dust, decay and weakness, and themes of struggling individuals and implacable political forces, it thematically fits... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Electronic Musicians Hype WilliamsSaturday, 16 April 2011
The music of Hype Williams is the definition of an acquired taste. It sounds ramshackle, thrown together, deliberately awkward – either deeply contrarian or the work of very, very messed-up people just playing around with archaic home recording... Read more... |
CD: Gorillaz - The FallTuesday, 12 April 2011
Record Store Day this Saturday, 16 April, will give vinyl a small boost. Many artists are creating special limited editions. Bands love all that. It reminds them of when people cared about music as more than "content". The Fall was originally... Read more... |
CD: Metronomy - The English RivieraWednesday, 06 April 2011
For weeks there have been rumours that the new Metronomy release would be electronica that would appeal to people who don’t really listen to it. The last bit, at least, is true. I don’t listen to much of that genre and yet every time I get to the... Read more... |
Singles & Downloads 11Tuesday, 05 April 2011
This month, what's on offer in theartsdesk's Singles and Downloads veers towards the fresh and new rather than the tried and tested. We'll always chew over whatever's out there and right now these nine tunes speak loudest. Starting with carefree New... Read more... |
Out Hear: Exaudi play John Cage Song Books, Kings PlaceTuesday, 29 March 2011
At its best, and most preposterous, John Cage's work can be a mind-cleanser. The overwhelmingly silly randomised conjunctions and ontological punning of the great Zen master of the 20th-century avant-garde can coax and trick you into letting go of... Read more... |
CD: K-X-P - K-X-PWednesday, 23 March 2011
This is the most gorgeous Finnish Krautrock album I've heard in ages. Yeah, I know, how wacky, how alternative, how off-piste – but bear with me. If you associate Krautrock with over-serious record collectors it might sound like damning with faint... Read more... |
CD: King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - Diamond MineTuesday, 22 March 2011
The name King Creosote conjures up an image of an old jazz player, lips cracked from cigarettes smoked and horns played. In actual fact it’s the stage name of Kenny Anderson, a prolific Scottish folk and indie singer with more than a passing... Read more... |
A Taste of Sónar, RoundhouseSunday, 20 March 2011
The Sónar festival occupies a very special place in the New Music calendar – and is this year expanding outwards temporally and geographically, with new franchises in Tokyo and A Coruña, Galicia. Now into its 17th year, the parent festival in... Read more... |
CD: The Human League - CredoSunday, 27 February 2011
Listening to The Human League’s Credo is a bit like listening to one of Ray Davies’s more recent outings – you know they’ve both said all they have to say years ago, but there is still something very pleasing about just hearing... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: DJ Annie NightingaleSaturday, 26 February 2011
In 1970, Annie Nightingale became Radio 1’s first female DJ. The appointment was made somewhat grudgingly - DJs, believe it or not (and we’re talking about the likes of Ed “Stewpot” Stewart and Tony Blackburn here), were perceived to be “husband... Read more... |
