new music reviews, news & interviews
Thomas H. Green |
VINYL OF THE MONTH
Manduria Bite Me (Wild Honey)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, O2 Academy, Glasgow review - revisiting the past produces mixed results
Jonathan Geddes |
Towards the end of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's run-through of their old album Howl, bassist Robert Levon Been told the crowd the "pain was nearly over". By BRMC standards that's a wisecrack, referencing the gloomy, pared-back tone of that 2005 release, but some of the Glasgow audience seemed to have experienced it for real, having headed for either the bar or exits as the set progressed.
joe.muggs
One of this year’s best music books, Songs in the Key of MP3 by Liam Inscoe-Jones, paints a picture of musicians of the “streaming era” having a…
Kieron Tyler
Heard now, 50 years after its release, Tangerine Dream’s Rubycon sounds like what it became: part of the musical template for Jean-Michel Jarre’s…
Guy Oddy
In all honestly, 2025 has not been a vintage year for new recorded music and there certainly seems to have been a significant paucity of high-profile…
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
Jonathan Geddes
The Sunderland band played a variety of Christmas classics, with varying success
Guy Oddy
The former child actor's past meets her present
Thomas H. Green
Hokey but entertaining seasonal barndance
Sebastian Scotney
Tasty harmonies from The Sunhouse Singers
joe.muggs
Strange for something so individual to sound so familiar - but they've done it
Kieron Tyler
Album of previously unissued BBC recordings is a valuable addition to the British jazz maverick’s catalogue
Tim Cumming
Seasonal classics and a handful of self-penned songs light up this quietly sophisticated set
Ibi Keita
A perfect selection for sound system veterans, and newcomers too
Guy Oddy
Gallic psychedelic pop that struggles to change gears
Liz Thomson
A reminder of when hope and music rhymed
Kieron Tyler
The Icelandic singer-songwriter acknowledges that one’s own traditions can be enough
mark.kidel
Dancing to feed the spirit and the soul
Thomas H. Green
Pop-rockers on fine musical form but undermined by stop-start dynamics
Kieron Tyler
Too-often below par box-set version of the album which used to be called ‘Axis: Bold As Love’
Jonathan Geddes
The Hives were on typically brash, sweaty form
peter.quinn
Textural variety and sonic clarity captivate from first note
Guy Oddy
Birmingham gets a good and proper kneecapping
Jonathan Geddes
The five-piece delivered a pummelling set that was at times overwhelming
Tim Cumming
McMurray is joined by Don Was and R&B singer Kem
Thomas H. Green
Remembering one of reggae's breakout stars, in a full 2012 interview
Liz Thomson
Forever Rufus
Kieron Tyler
Smart new editions of the two albums by the late-Sixties American harmony pop outfit
Guy Oddy
Punk really isn’t dead
Tim Cumming
Jazz meets world music at these four contrasting nights across the capital’s annual jazz celebration
the future of arts journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
latest in today
We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
Wonder is a word that is used too often in theatre, somewhat emptied of meaning by marketing’s emasculating of language. It’s used even…
VINYL OF THE MONTHManduria Bite Me (Wild Honey)
Image
The debut from Milan punkers…
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, O2 Academy, Glasgow review - revisiting the past produces mixed results
Towards the end of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's run-through of their old album Howl, bassist Robert Levon Been told the crowd the "pain…
Family crises and relationship breakdowns are familiar subjects for films to tackle. Both are central to Aribam Syam Sharma’s 1990 feature…
Chinese-American director Bing Liu’s first feature – his Minding the Gap, a wonderful documentary about himself and his skateboarding…
One of this year’s best music books, Songs in the Key of MP3 by Liam Inscoe-Jones, paints a picture of musicians of the “streaming era”…
Heard now, 50 years after its release, Tangerine Dream’s Rubycon sounds like what it became: part of the musical template for Jean-Michel…
This follow-up to 2022’s Man vs Bee finds Rowan Atkinson reprising the role of Trevor Bingley, a bumbling no-hoper who is somehow still at…
There is, of course, a long tradition in this country of Christmas Messiah performances – but it’s not one I’ve ever previously…
Most read
You forget how fast the night descends in the tropics, in half an hour the light goes, the sun disappearing with a grand melodramatic…
VINYL OF THE MONTHManduria Bite Me (Wild Honey)
Image
The debut from Milan punkers…
Caetano Veloso gets more extraordinary. After his 2010 show in London, one critic (me) said that at 67 his “wings seemed a little clipped…
Wolf Alice are a band who consistently over-deliver. Their presentation is so staid, their cited influences so safe (The Beatles! Blur!),…
Sometimes compared to Boardwalk Empire or The Wire, and raved over by the likes of Brad Pitt, Snoop Dogg and even Jose Mourinho, Peaky…
“Look at the pictures”, yells apoplectic Senator Jesse Helms as he brandishes a clutch of photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe, “a known…
Fire and ice are the elements invoked at the start of Handel’s remarkable opera of jealousy and betrayal, yet what gives it its power is…
This follow-up to 2022’s Man vs Bee finds Rowan Atkinson reprising the role of Trevor Bingley, a bumbling no-hoper who is somehow still at…
Hail the spirit of the dance. And of acting. And of driving and flying. At a time when new writing is clearly in decline, and the most…
Even people who are unfamiliar with Kneecap’s sharp but raucous music may well be aware of the legal issues that have beset the Irish-…