soul music
Reissue CDs Weekly: Cumbia Cumbia 1 & 2, Etienne de Crecy, The O'JaysSunday, 15 April 2012
Various: Cumbia Cumbia 1 & 2 Peter CulshawThese totally irresisitible compilations were originally issued as separate albums in 1989 and 1993, and were for many (including me) a first taste of this loping, vivacious sound, which originated... Read more... |
Who Do You Think You Are? USA: Lionel Richie, BBC OneWednesday, 04 April 2012
“It's about as close to a spiritual awakening as I’ve had in my entire life,” said Lionel Richie. He was standing close to the unmarked grave of his great-grandfather, in the pauper’s section of an overgrown Chattanooga cemetery. Richie began the... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Biz Markie, Iron Maiden, Wendy ReneSunday, 01 April 2012
Biz Markie: The Biz Never SleepsJoe MuggsThere are plenty who talk about hip hop's “golden age” as being circa mid-1980s to mid-1990s. This tends to be done out of snobbery or nostalgia and ignores all kinds of incredible musical developments that... Read more... |
Sing Inspiration! Festival, Royal Festival HallThursday, 15 March 2012
Bringing together the most talented choirs, vocalists and musicians from across London and the UK, iGospel's two-day Sing Inspiration! Festival came to a close in spectacular fashion. Lurine Cato opened the concluding "Gospel & Soul" concert,... Read more... |
East of Underground: America’s Vietnam-era Army Makes its Own MusicSunday, 22 January 2012
Whether it’s the British troupes which inspired It Ain’t Half Hot Mum or Bob Hope’s visits to Vietnam, the armed forces have long recognised that entertaining the troops is central to keeping on-going campaigns on an even keel. In 1971, the US army... Read more... |
CD of the Year: Mara Carlyle - FloreatSaturday, 31 December 2011
It's the effortlessness that does it. So many singer-songwriters strain like billy-oh to make obvious their artistry, their auteurship, their emotional authenticity, when behind it all they're doing something really quite ordinary. This album, on... Read more... |
CD: Anchorsong - ChaptersSunday, 27 November 2011
It's understandable that people get put off leftfield dance music, given how much micro-genre delineation and dog-in-a-manger protectionism there can be in underground scenes. It can seem a shame sometimes, but then again, these are part and parcel... Read more... |
CD: Buika – En Mi PielWednesday, 23 November 2011
With an expensive-looking camera in one hand and a cigarette in the other, Spanish singer Buika’s sepia-tinted CD cover photo is making eyes at me, making it hard for me to think of a bad word to say about this career-so-far summation. I don’t know... Read more... |
CD: Etta James - The DreamerWednesday, 09 November 2011
The Dreamer is the relatively low-key swansong from one of soul’s greatest divas, a mountain of barely restrained power, who inspired and influenced several generations of singers. Why some musicians survive lives of excess and others don’t is... Read more... |
Charles Bradley, 'Top Boy' soulmanFriday, 04 November 2011
Not only was Channel 4's Top Boy a brilliant slice of TV drama, but it delivered a neat little pay-off over the closing credits with Charles Bradley's track "The World (Is Going Up in Flames)". An anguished chunk of classic soul, sung by... Read more... |
CD: Florence + the Machine - CeremonialsSunday, 30 October 2011
There are two fundamentally opposing schools of thought on Florence Welch and her mysterious machine. For the believers, her music belongs to the tradition of questing, modernist pop with a pagan trim of the kind Kate Bush made before she started... Read more... |
CD: Joker - The VisionThursday, 27 October 2011
Joker, aka 22 year old Bristolian Liam McLean, is one of the most individual talents of the dubstep/grime generation. His long run of dancefloor-directed single releases, some originally recorded when he was in his early teens, showed natural gifts... Read more... |
