new music reviews
Tim Cumming

The cover of her new album, I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss, has Sinéad O’Connor sporting a black wig and latex dominatrix dress, a glammed-up guitar wrapped in her arms. Well, at least she made the effort. On stage at the Roundhouse she launched her fine new album sans latex or hair, in black t-shirt and trousers, still the shaven-headed siren of unbidden passions and complicated yearnings.

Katie Colombus

Entering Wilderness is like stepping into the brain of Baz Luhrmann. It is a kaleidoscope of colours, swirling with noise and feathers, surreal in its array of vintage-bohemian-steampunk spectacle, and magical in its collaboration of the arts and nature.

Kieron Tyler

 

Front Line – Sounds of RealityVarious Artists: Front Line – Sounds of Reality

Kieron Tyler

 

Hadda Brooks Queen of the Boogie and moreHadda Brooks: Queen of the Boogie and More

Peter Culshaw

If I had to pick the highlight of this sun-drenched WOMAD it would have to be the fresh, emotionally charged set of Ukrainian band Dakha Brakha. I can’t recall seeing such a unanimously positive response for a relatively unknown band at the Festival. It wasn’t as if the music was obviously crowd-friendly, and parts were quite challenging, mixing soulfully sung Ukrainian folk tunes with other influences – Nigerian drumming, Bulgarian singing and Japanese koto.

Kieron Tyler


Troubadours Folk and the Roots of American Music Part 1 Various Artists: Troubadours - Folk and the Roots of American Music Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

Kieron Tyler

 

Ruthann Friedman The Complete Constant Companion SessionsRuthann Friedman: The Complete Constant Companion Sessions

Kieron Tyler

 

Lewis L'AmourLewis: L'Amour

Kieron Tyler

 

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young CSNY 1974Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: CSNY 1974

Matthew Wright

If, like Wynton Marsalis, you’re a gatekeeper of the jazz tradition, there’s little you’ll defend more staunchly than the Blue Note back catalogue. With the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, in London on a short tour, he presented a glossy and intriguing selection of Blue Note repertoire before an ecstatic audience in last night’s Barbican concert. Technically, this was a tour de force. Where the components of some big bands lose definition and melt into a raucous fudge, JALC boasted talon-sharp brass bite, regal articulation, and a deeply golden lustre.