rock
CD: Lostprophets - WeaponsThursday, 29 March 2012
Before I came to what I was surprised to discover is a fifth album from hard-rock six-piece Lostprophets, there were two things I knew about the band: firstly, that they are Welsh; and secondly, that they showed up in magazines like Kerrang! a lot... Read more... |
MBV reissue mystery deepensThursday, 22 March 2012The saga of legendary guitar noise experimentalists My Bloody Valentine took another twist today as Sony Ireland announced a date - 11 May - for the long-delayed release of remastered versions of their classic albums plus previously unheard material... Read more... |
CD: The Mars Volta - NoctourniquetThursday, 22 March 2012
First a word of warning: The Mars Volta is not for everyone. Their hardcore progressive metal may contain light and shade, but it's also there to show the world that Muse is for sissies. And, for all its delicate moments and complexity, at its most... Read more... |
Popcorn and Polymorphia: Jonny Greenwood meets PendereckiThursday, 22 March 2012
Krzysztof Penderecki's Polymorphia for 48 string instruments dates back to 1962, and still stands as one of the grand milestones of the avant-garde. It epitomised the Polish composer's technique of "timbre organisation", in which the plucking and... Read more... |
Sting, Hammersmith ApolloTuesday, 20 March 2012
Unlike his old buddy, Phil Collins, who now claims to be considered the “Antichrist of Music”, public consensus on Sting seems elusive. His popularity in the States has never wavered, but back home, it’s difficult to tell if the "tantric" one is... Read more... |
CD: The Shins - Port of MorrowSaturday, 17 March 2012
It’s two songs into Port of Morrow, the Shins’ first album since 2007’s Wincing the Night Away (and the band’s first to be distributed by a major label, Columbia) and it hits me that what I’m hearing isn’t something I’ve heard before. Sure, the... Read more... |
Mark Lanegan, Shepherds Bush EmpireWednesday, 14 March 2012
He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws… Ah wait now, that’s The Gruffalo. Mark Lanegan doesn’t have any of the above (although he does have tattooed fists and a considerable jaw, and past heroin addiction... Read more... |
CD: Paul Weller - Sonik KicksWednesday, 14 March 2012
There are times when Paul Weller seems little more than a strutting anachronism, his gear-box jammed permanently in reverse. His appearance – a toasted walnut with a tinsel trim; or, if you prefer, Ian McLagan in aspic – is a pitch-perfect rendition... Read more... |
Singles & Downloads: March 2012Monday, 12 March 2012
After a nine-month absence, during which Joe Muggs explored the world's largest natural bassbin in the Amazonian rain forest and Thomas H Green waited to receive his passport back from the Bolivian government, Singles & Downloads returns to... Read more... |
Sinéad O'Connor, Queen Elizabeth HallSunday, 11 March 2012
Some people – a very few – just have it. Never mind whether her songs appeal, or the style in which she performs them, but Sinéad O’Connor’s presence is extraordinary - as, of course, is her voice. She sings “I Am Stretched on Your Grave” a capella... Read more... |
The Duke Spirit, KOKOThursday, 08 March 2012
You could say the Duke Spirit have come a long way since I saw them support The Rapture (the who, now?) at the Oxford Zodiac, in 2004 – where, for my five quid, they accidentally sold me their band-wagon copy of Roy Orbison’s Big Hits from the Big ‘... Read more... |
CD: Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking BallSunday, 04 March 2012
It’s a sign of Bruce Springsteen’s contribution to the canon of American rock music that we no longer spend time comparing his music to others. Springsteen’s problem tends to be living up to different versions of himself. It seems like every... Read more... |
