rock
CD: Mama Rosin together with Hipbone Slim & the Knee Tremblers - Louisiana SunSaturday, 28 May 2011![]() What do you get when you cross a Swiss Cajun punk band with a London garage rockabilly band? Well, if it’s not a contrived record company manoeuvre, but instead came about because the two bands just happened to bump into each other at a festival and... Read more... |
Rush, O2 ArenaThursday, 26 May 2011![]() Explosions, 40ft flames, light shows and back projections. It may have been at the Dome but at times it felt more like being in a music video. A mini-film opened the concert. Rush circa 1973 were boys called Rash, and they’d play only when professor... Read more... |
CD: Status Quo - Quid Pro QuoWednesday, 25 May 2011![]() After 29 studio albums, eight compilations, four live albums, amounting to a total of 41 at pretty much one for every year of their existence, the denimosaurus we know as Status Quo has issued a release the title of which is entirely, and for the... Read more... |
UK Festivals 2011 Round-UpSaturday, 21 May 2011![]() It's time to dust down your tent and ice-box and plan some summer breaks with theartsdesk's definitive clickable festival guide - listings and links for all the UK festivals this summer, from rock by the lochs to DJs in London parks, and catching... Read more... |
CD: Kate Bush - Director's CutWednesday, 18 May 2011![]() Kate Bush’s musical legacy may speak for itself, but she’s more than just her songs. Her persona seems woven into the nation’s consciousness, and her time-lapse approach to making albums makes her every move an event. Her last record was in 2005,... Read more... |
Queens of the Stone Age, RoundhouseWednesday, 18 May 2011![]() “Tonight there’s no one else in the world – just us together,” announced Josh Homme halfway through the night. And it felt so. But it didn't seem like we were in the Roundhouse. More like we were sitting amid the heat haze of California’s Palm... Read more... |
CD: Miles Kane – Colour of the TrapTuesday, 10 May 2011![]() I missed out on Miles Kane's earlier work with The Rascals, but was quickly seduced by his partnership with Arctic Monkey Alex Turner as The Last Shadow Puppets, whose cinematic grandeur struck the right balance between contemporary pop, wistful... Read more... |
CD: Hanson - Shout it OutSunday, 08 May 2011![]() Of course, Hanson are a joke. Literally. On the internet you’ll find them as a subsection of "blonde jokes". And looking back on 12-year-old Zac’s ridiculous hair on “MMMBop”, it’s easy to see why. But they are no longer blond, nor are they kids... Read more... |
CD: Owiny Sigoma Band - Owiny Sigoma BandFriday, 06 May 2011![]() When Western musicians add their bit to traditional African music it can be disastrous: a programmed beat awkwardly forcing sinuous, sensual music to conform to its rigidity, or some dreadful rock vocalist doing a Bono all over some exquisite... Read more... |
CD: Wild Beasts - SmotherThursday, 05 May 2011![]() There's no doubt about it, Hayden Thorpe has the most manly falsetto in modern music. It's not the wheedling whine of the post-Radiohead generation of indie sadsacks, nor the haunted and haunting quaver of an Anthony Hegarty, nor yet the... Read more... |
Les Triaboliques, The LexingtonWednesday, 04 May 2011![]() London-based trio Les Triaboliques should perhaps be grateful that Wikipedia hasn’t included them in their entry on supergroups. There you will find a comprehensive list of so-called supergroups with leadenly histrionic names like Isles and Glaciers... Read more... |
Shelby Lynne, Queen's Hall, EdinburghSunday, 01 May 2011![]() It may not be a particularly popular statement, but the financial black hole rapidly consuming the music industry undoubtedly has its fringe benefits. Five years ago Shelby Lynne would have toured the UK with a session band and played for perhaps 70... Read more... |
