rock
CD: Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't KnowSunday, 04 September 2011
The music-buying public must sometimes get tired of critics declaiming that modern songwriting is as good as ever. As good as The Stones, or Al Green, or Joni Mitchell? Really? Laura Marling’s first two albums do a lot to shore up the critics’ case... Read more... |
Red Hot Chili Peppers, KokoFriday, 02 September 2011
I'm not quite sure why Anthony Kiedis bothered to put on his multicoloured frock coat. It certainly wasn't to keep warm. The atmosphere in Koko was positively volcanic even before the Red Hot Chili Peppers appeared on stage at this exclusive Radio 1... Read more... |
CD: Bombay Bicycle Club – A Different Kind of FixFriday, 26 August 2011
In a recent interview with theartsdesk Bombay Bicycle Club talked about jamming together in their kitchen in Covent Garden in central London, but listening to A Different Kind of Fix it sounds as if they had their sights set further afield at the... Read more... |
CD: Lenny Kravitz - Black and White AmericaFriday, 19 August 2011
In 1989 when Lenny Kravitz released his debut Let Love Rule people complained that he had failed to quite master the Sixties influences that cut through it. They were wrong. That year it made Kravitz the most exciting black/white crossover artist... Read more... |
CD: Taranta Container – Nidi d’aracSunday, 07 August 2011
The title in part refers to the container ships that as well as bringing food stuffs etc, to many of the world’s ports, also bring people and their music. But this album is far from just another melting-pot fusion of all the usual styles - Balkan,... Read more... |
CD: JD Souther - Natural HistorySaturday, 06 August 2011
Having arrived in the Golden State via Detroit and Amarillo, Texas, John David Souther became one of the architects of the Californian soft-rock sound. It didn't hurt that he shared an apartment with future Eagle Glenn Frey and lived upstairs from... Read more... |
Iron Maiden, O2 ArenaSaturday, 06 August 2011
Some bloke called Jack mailed to say that he did indeed have two tickets to Iron Maiden (baby), and for the Friday ‘n’all. So I called shotgun, threw on my cleanest “I ♥ Justin Bieber” T-shirt,* and pitched along to Docklands to hang out with the... Read more... |
Mahala Rai Banda and The Trans-Siberian March Band, Rich MixThursday, 04 August 2011
Variety, as they say, is the spice of life. So it’s something to both celebrate and ruminate upon, that on Tuesday night I was reviewing a gig at which the guitar was undisputed king, whereas last night I was standing before an 11-piece band that... Read more... |
The Killer B’s, The Blues KitchenWednesday, 03 August 2011
The Killer B’s have been heralded as a kind of alternative supergroup (their line-up consisting of ex-members of The Screaming Blue Messiahs, Chicken Legs Weaver and The Men They Couldn’t Hang) so my expectations last night were high. But a poor... Read more... |
CD: Vieux Farka Touré – The SecretMonday, 01 August 2011
I’m pleased to report that the expression “like father like son” becomes more applicable to Vieux Farka Touré with each album he makes. But perhaps I should qualify that statement. It’s not about Vieux slavishly imitating the legendary Malian blues... Read more... |
theartsdesk at Camp Bestival, Lulworth CastleSunday, 31 July 2011
“Huxley! Electra!” called a plummy mummy to a couple of dawdling children. “Hurry up or you'll miss the BMX display!” Thursday night and Camp Bestival was, to a rather comical degree, looking like a playground for slightly funky middle-class... Read more... |
Athlete, Union ChapelThursday, 21 July 2011
They’ve called the tour "The Hits - Stripped Back". But they weren’t all hits. More importantly, they weren’t merely stripped back either. They’d evolved. The band’s ability to write quality anthemic indie rock is undeniable. But so is the fact that... Read more... |
