sat 03/05/2025

New Music Reviews

Katy J Pearson, Saint Luke's and the Winged Ox, Glasgow review - warm-hearted songs to banish the cold

Jonathan Geddes

'Tis the season for all manner of bugs, colds and illnesses. One had befallen Katy J Pearson, who struck an apologetic note after the night’s first number to say she had been unwell all day and was going to do her best to get through the gig. That added an unexpected element to proceedings, namely by creating the potential for the whole show to come to a sudden halt at any point.

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Album: White Denim - 12

Kieron Tyler

White Denim’s literally titled 12th album opens with the fidgety “Light on.” Drawing a line between electronica and Tropicália, it exudes sunniness. “Econolining” and “Flash Bare Ass,” up next, are equally peppy, as bright and similarly accord with the idea of pop as a mix-and-match grab bag – albeit from an off-centre perspective.

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theartsdesk on Vinyl 87: Roots Manuva, Bogdan Raczynski, Songhoy Blues, The Special AKA, Jhelisa, Tina Turner and more

Thomas H Green

VINYL OF THE MONTH

Blood Incantation Absolute Elsewhere (Century Media)

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Music Reissues Weekly: John Cale - The Academy in Peril, Paris 1919, Fear, Slow Dazzle, Helen of Troy

Kieron Tyler

The return to shops of a consecutive sequence of five of John Cale's Seventies albums through different labels is undoubtedly coincidental. All have been previously reissued multiple times and none are scarce in any form. Anyone wanting any of these albums presumably already has a copy. Nonetheless, it’s good that these makeovers sustain the profile of Cale’s idiosyncratic take on art-rock.

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Album: The Innocence Mission - Midwinter Swimmers

Kieron Tyler

A sycamore tree is described to an appaloosa horse before it is mounted to ride off to visit a friend. The thread used for sewing evokes a map where each street has a doorway which, once opened, reveals memories of those who are missed.

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EFG London Jazz Festival round-up review - youth, age, and the greatness in between

Sebastian Scotney

Jazz music crosses, mixes and unites generations, and the 10 concerts I’ve seen at this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival (out of more than 300 in total) have really brought that home. 

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EFG London Jazz Festival 2024 round-up review - from Korean noise to Carnatic soul

Tim Cumming

November can be a month to hunker down for the onset of winter and its weather, and where better to do that than in one of the myriad venues across the capital hosting the annual London Jazz Festival and its hundreds of concerts, from cosy clubs like Ronnie Scott’s and Pizza Express Dean Street to the big stages of the Barbican and South Bank.

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Music Reissues Weekly: Stefan Gnyś - Horizoning

Kieron Tyler

For most of Canada’s listening public, their country-man Stefan Gnyś – pronounced G'neesh – wasn’t a concern. The 300 copies of his 1969 single didn’t make it to shops. There was little promotion and limited radio play. Gnyś had paid RCA Limited Recording Services to press the seven-incher. Beyond this transaction, there was no record company involvement.

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Hannah Scott, Worthing Pavilion Theatre Atrium review - filling an arctic venue with human warmth

Thomas H Green

London-based singer-songwriter Hannah Scott has warned her next song may reduce us to tears. It is, she says, inspired by events following the death of beloved father. The undertaker advised her, and her sister, that it wasn’t really done for women to bear the coffin. They considered this and ignored it. The resulting song, over a simply repeating piano motif played on her Roland keyboard, is called “Carry You Out” (“You carried me into this world/I will carry you out”).

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English Teacher, Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow review - Mercury winners step up in size with style

Jonathan Geddes

Props designed like flowers were scattered across the QMU stage for English Teacher's performance. A fitting choice given the Leeds group are evidently in full bloom these days, with an upgraded venue in Glasgow due to demand and, of course, a Mercury Music Prize collected along the way for debut album “This Could Be Texas”. 

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