New Music Reviews
Edinburgh International Festival 2019: JARV IS review - Britpop legend still deliversSaturday, 24 August 2019
”Cunts Are Still”. Well, that got your attention, didn’t it? Not my words, merely the title of one of JARV IS’s new tracks. In case you didn’t get it, JARV IS is a play on words and the name of given to Pulp frontman and founder Jarvis Cocker’s latest outfit. Cocker still is releasing new material. He still is an exuberant and energetic performer. He still is wearing those glasses. And still is very good. Read more... |
Eels, Hammersmith Apollo review – dark, swampy and endlessly entertertainingThursday, 22 August 2019
"Would you mind if I jammed on my new... castanets?" We’re halfway through Eels’ triumphant set at Hammersmith's Eventim Apollo and this is the kind of question we’ve come to expect from frontman Mark Oliver Everett, AKA "E". Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Phil Manzanera - Diamond HeadSunday, 18 August 2019
Diamond Head was Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera’s first solo album. Released in May 1975 and recorded the previous December and January during a lull in his parent band’s activities, it hit shops between Roxy’s Country Life and Siren albums. Singer Bryan Ferry had done a short solo tour in December 1974 which culminated with a show at The Royal Albert Hall where he was backed by an orchestra. Read more... |
Foo Fighters, Bellahouston Park, Glasgow - communal singalongs and career highlightsSunday, 18 August 2019
Foo Fighters are an unlikely candidate for one of the biggest bands in the world. There’s nothing workmanlike about the sheer joy with which Dave Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins approach playing live. Read more... |
Pram, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - a fine hometown return for the psychedelic oddballsSaturday, 17 August 2019
While Pram could hardly be described as representative of the UK psychedelic scene, it would be hard to imagine South Birmingham’s favourites being birthed by any other sub-culture. Read more... |
Josienne Clarke, Green Note review - world-class melancholia hits its markFriday, 16 August 2019
It’s been a period of upheaval and change for singer-songwriter, and compelling interpreter of traditional ballads, Josienne Clarke. These days she’s a Rough Trade artist, now sailing solo seas away from her long-time musical partner, producer and arranger Ben Walker. Read more... |
CD: Frank Turner - No Man's LandWednesday, 14 August 2019
Frank Turner’s compendium of extraordinary female lives, from the “impudence” of a Byzantine princess to his mum via Mata Hari, is admirably ambitious and historically intriguing. The arena-playing folk-punk digs deeper into factual byways than he has any career need to, insisting on his own wayward course. |
theartsdesk in Oslo: Øya Festival 2019 reviewSunday, 11 August 2019
The timing seemed odd. Sigrid is internationally successful. She’s Norway’s highest-profile musical ambassador since a-ha. Yet instead of headlining at 2019’s Øya Festival, she hits the stage at 6.45. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Come On Let's Go!Sunday, 11 August 2019
The core paradox with powerpop is that most of those who sought to create the perfect guitar driven, hook-laden pop song failed to score hits. Come On Let's Go! – Power Pop Gems From the 70s & 80s is stuffed with the classy and memorable, but under a third of its 24 participants had any sort of chart profile. Read more... |
Johnny Marr, Royal Festival Hall review - rock royalty having the time of his lifeFriday, 09 August 2019
Nile Rodgers, the beaming, beret-sporting curator of this year’s splendidly eclectic Meltdown, strolls on to the Royal Festival Hall stage tonight to introduce his “dearest friend in the world”. Read more... |
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