CDs/DVDs
Katie Colombus
When the world seems to be so politically off-kilter, fracturing before our eyes into a typhoon of misogyny and racism, Alicia Keys is singing out with a defiant voice, with positive songs about society and, in particular, women.Keys’ music is interspersed with powerful spoken word poetry that demands a connection with her audience: “I'm the dramatic static before the song begins, I'm the erratic energy that gets in your skin, And if you don't let me in, I'm the shot in the air when the party ends.” It’s inspiring and compelling, and leads you in to be “here”, in her moment.There is strength Read more ...
Nick Hasted
This tragicomic romp is loosely based on a bizarre footnote in Spanish history. The Italian Duke Amadeo was offered the throne after the previous occupant’s violent overthrow. But when the kingmaker who invited him was assassinated just before his 1870 coronation, the new monarch went from guest of honour to gatecrasher at a convoluted constitutional party, where the last thing anyone wanted him to do was rule.As Amadeo, Alex Brendemühl is quietly dignified, looks smoulderingly good in uniform, and yearns to bring enlightened reform to a sclerotic, corrupt nation. Humiliations are heaped on Read more ...
Lisa-Marie Ferla
To anybody who was able to resist the girl gang siren call that was Honeyblood’s 2014 debut album, the Glasgow duo is upping their offer. Babes Never Die is both a motto and a call to arms, the words – apparently – tattooed on the ribcage of singer/guitarist Stina Tweeddale and echoing, mantra-like, through the hypnotic chug of the album’s 45-second “Intro” track.Sure, tacking a mostly instrumental fade onto either end of an album is the calling card of the self-important prog rocker, but, as with most things Honeyblood, it’s done with a knowing smirk and a tongue firmly in cheek (never more Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
Man & Myth, released in September 2013, was Roy Harper’s best album in two decades. The live shows which came on its back were stunning. Amongst this activity – instead of building on the momentum – he was arrested and charged with historic sexual abuse. Police had contacted him about allegations in February 2013. Following an innocent verdict, all other charges were dropped in November 2015.Of the ordeal, Harper said “I have now been acquitted on all the charges that were brought. This case should never have gone as far as this, or taken so long to resolve. I lost my livelihood and I Read more ...
Liz Thomson
It’s 58 years since “Britain’s answer to Elvis Presley” had his first top 10 hit and now he’s back, and back to his roots, with a new CD, Just… Fabulous Rock ‘n’ Roll, released by Sony with whom, at the grand old age of 76, he has signed a lucrative new contract. And don’t mock. It’s a terrific album: 15 classic songs including a “duet” with Elvis Presley, without whom.Recorded at the Blackbird Studio in Nashville, where the likes of Dolly Parton, Sheryl Crow, Hank Williams Jr, Taylor Swift and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers have worked, it’s produced by Steve Mandile of country quintet. Sixwire Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
At 15 seconds in, it becomes obvious Ruins means business. A brief snatch of acoustic guitar lays the table for a hard-edged, groove-driven slab of melodic guitar psych immediately bringing to mind the heavier moments of Sun Dial’s classic 1990 album Other Way Out. Dungen (and their flute) are in there too. As are Kak’s “Trieulogy” and a hefty dose of vintage Swedish progg.These touchstones make it overwhelmingly clear that the Bedfordshire-formed Wolf People are aiming high on their third album proper. Where its predecessors were a little ragged, unfocused and seemingly born from jamming, Read more ...
graham.rickson
This new Blu-ray release of Ken Loach’s Kes looks and sounds terrific, but the film’s glories would be just as well-suited by a scratchy print projected in a school hall, or on a distressed VHS cassette. Chris Menges’ cinematography is outstanding, capturing the coal-streaked grime of 1968 Barnsley along with its beauty. This is a work of bright, cool light and pitch blackness, the dark bedroom which Billy shares with his step-brother, Jud, a contrast with the bleached skies where the titular kestrel soars. Kes feels eerily contemporary: Barnsley’s streets look marginally smarter in 2016 but Read more ...
Barney Harsent
“My main talent is for turning trauma into something showbizzy,” said Robbie Williams in an interview to plug this, his 11th studio album. While a point immediately apparent to anyone with a passing knowledge of his work, it also speaks volumes about why, with The Heavy Entertainment Show, he has produced an album that never tries to turn his feelings into something universal, opting instead to give us a guided tour of his emotions using musical emojis.While John Grant (who contributes one of the album’s best moments in “I Don’t Want to Hurt You”) is prepared to open wounds down to the bone Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Whatever you think of their music, it’s hard not to admire a band who wilfully make music as oppressive, uncommercial and solemn as British south-coast trio Esben and the Witch. They’ve been ploughing their unfashionable, gothic furrow for eight whole years. Funereal gloom, however, has limited appeal and they faltered somewhat circa 2014’s Wash The Sins Not Only The Face. Happily, with help from producer Steve Albini, 2014’s A New Nature saw them discover that lamentation can be balanced with dissonant, invigorating noisiness. Older Terrors continues to explore this idea.For their fourth Read more ...
graham.rickson
Conveniently released as the nights get darker and the shadows lengthen, Inner Sanctums is a package to give nervous viewers nightmares. Stop-motion animators Stephen and Timothy Quay moved from Philadelphia to London in 1969 after winning scholarships to study at the Royal College of Art. They've been here ever since.Some of this material was included in a previous BFI compilation, but among the new extras is a beautifully shot mini-documentary directed by Quays fan Christopher Nolan. Nolan’s camera shows the twin brothers at work in their Southwark studio: a cramped, dusty marvel of a Read more ...
Matthew Wright
New Orleans icon Dr John (Mac Rebennack) epitomises that city’s diversely blended musical traditions. This release was recorded live in May 2014 at a New Orleans Jazz Festival celebration of his career, which began in the 1950s on the Los Angeles studio scene. The generous double CD (even this double release is only half the original gig) allows enough time to sample the full range of his output. The live event programmed alternating local and guest performers. Inevitably, the recording has favoured the names from elsewhere, though there are still plenty of New Orleans veterans, such as Big Read more ...
Guy Oddy
Until The Hunter is the third solo album by Mazzy Star singer, Hope Sandoval, and the long awaited follow-up to 2009’s Through the Devil Softly. It’s safe to say that the intervening time hasn’t encouraged any great stylistic leaps but to say that it’s been worth the wait, would be an understatement.Mellow Gothic country and folkie blues tunes abound here and if you’re looking for something to get you through the early hours of the morning when things aren’t necessarily at their best, look no further: Until The Hunter is exactly what the doctor ordered. “Into the Trees” opens with a gently Read more ...