CDs/DVDs
CD: Death In Vegas – TransmissionMonday, 23 May 2016
Transmission fades in with “Metal Box”, a droning minimalist soundscape that evolves with a steadily building pulse that is brooding, cinematic and a tasty hint of things to come. Icy European synths dominate the sonic pallet of Death In Vegas’s... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Manic Street PreachersSunday, 22 May 2016
“Over the horizon they come; the anniversaries; joyous, arduous, remorseless.” The opening words of Stuart Maconie’s fine, nuanced essay in the book accompanying this 20th-anniversary reissue of Manic Street Preachers’ fourth album acknowledge the... Read more... |
CD: Leyla McCalla – A Day For The Hunter, A Day For The PreySunday, 22 May 2016
Brave is the songwriter who sets a piece of classic poetry to music, never mind creates almost a whole album of such Frankenstein creations. Poetry is meant to work against silence, not compete for attention with melody and rhythm. Yet miraculously... Read more... |
CD: Beth Orton – KidsticksSaturday, 21 May 2016
Beth Orton is generally filed under folktronica, but neither the label, nor the pigeonhole, do such a restless musician any favours. After a gradual transition from the gauzy electronic sound of her 1990s albums towards a more acoustic set-up, this... Read more... |
DVD: Janis – Little Girl BlueFriday, 20 May 2016
The Janis Joplin bio-doc has been a long time coming. The rock star’s family were notoriously cautious about exposure: who wouldn’t be, with a career so tragic and brief?As it happens, their collaboration made possible the inclusion of the rock star... Read more... |
CD: Harleighblu - FuturespectiveThursday, 19 May 2016
It’s a foolish game to wonder who might fill the musical void left by Amy Winehouse’s passing. She was a one-off, after all. However, it’s natural to occasionally look about and ponder where there might be talent of a similar ilk. Not all the doomed... Read more... |
CD: Bob Dylan - Fallen AngelsWednesday, 18 May 2016
In his latest album, Bob Dylan once again interprets, in his own slightly ironic and yet lovingly respectful way, standards that Sinatra made famous. This is one of those moments when it feels like he's treading water, or perhaps allowing himself to... Read more... |
DVD: A WarTuesday, 17 May 2016
The premise driving A War – lead character Claus Pedersen’s war – is the decision he makes as Company Commander while leading an army patrol in Afghanistan: whether or not to say he and his Danish unit are under attack from a specific house in a... Read more... |
CD: Kate Jackson - British Road MoviesMonday, 16 May 2016
There was always something otherworldly about Kate Jackson, the voice of late, great Sheffield rockers The Long Blondes. Guitarist Dorian Cox, whose stroke in 2008 precipitated the premature breakup of the band, may have been its primary songwriter... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Bernard HerrmannSunday, 15 May 2016
“Ladies and gentlemen, in view of the controversy already aroused the producers of this film wish to re-emphasise what is already stated in the film: that there is no established scientific connection between mongolism and psychotic or criminal... Read more... |
CD: Eric Clapton - I Still DoSunday, 15 May 2016
Sometimes it seems that Eric Clapton’s versatility and musical range still remain underappreciated. How during the Slowhand era, for instance, he mixed elements of country with a fine ear for West Coast sensibilities. Then there was Unplugged, ... Read more... |
CD: Richard Ashcroft – These PeopleSaturday, 14 May 2016
The solo album can present a tricky prospect for many mature artists as they drift in and out of the public consciousness. Do they make a stab at a variety of styles to display their artistic depth; do they get on the latest bandwagon to show they’... Read more... |
