CDs/DVDs
Album: Blur - The Ballad of DarrenWednesday, 19 July 2023
Full disclosure. I actively dislike Blur and always have. Don’t get me started on why. That would last seven times as long as this review.In this game, though, at theartsdesk, if no-one will review an album, and it’s one we absolutely should review... Read more... |
Blu-ray: Twilight (Szürkület)Tuesday, 18 July 2023
Early editions of Swiss novelist Friedrich Dürrenmatt's 1958 novel The Pledge carried the subtitle “Requiem for the Detective Novel”, the writer’s point being that murder cases can take years to solve (if at all) and that those doing the... Read more... |
Album: Rain Parade - Last Rays of a Dying SunMonday, 17 July 2023
The atmosphere is foggy. What can be discerned through the murk is either out of focus or translucent. Words drift in from somewhere which can’t be pinpointed. “I’m tuning you in,” “I’ve picked up the loaded dice,” “Everything you know is everything... Read more... |
Album: Bokanté - HistorySaturday, 15 July 2023
Everyone has their "what-if" moments. But the “Sliding Doors” inflection points in the life of Guadeloupe-born, Montreal-based Malika Tirolien, after which everything that happened afterwards could been very different, are truly extraordinary.What... Read more... |
Album: Mahalia - IRLThursday, 13 July 2023
Ever since she broke through in her teens, Leicestershire singer Mahalia Burkmar’s music has often been referred to as retro or revivalist R&B. But that framing is a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the genre operates for young 21st... Read more... |
Album: Lindstrøm - Everyone Else is a StrangerWednesday, 12 July 2023
The response to this album will depend almost entirely on whether the listener regards Norwegian electronic musician Hans-Peter Lindstrøm’s Seventies-synth-wizard-goes-disco thing as tasty noodle or just noodle.He’s tried on many hats over the years... Read more... |
Blu-ray: Inland EmpireTuesday, 11 July 2023
Searching for a coherent narrative thread in David Lynch’s Inland Empire (2006) is probably futile, so it’s best to begin with the movie’s nervy central performance by Laura Dern in multiple, overlapping roles as “a woman in trouble”... Read more... |
Album: Kool & the Gang - People Just Wanna Have FunSaturday, 08 July 2023
Forty years ago, the songs of New Jersey’s Kool and the Gang formed an essential soundtrack to many a suburban lothario’s weekend. “Celebration”, “Ladies’ Night” and “Get Down on It” were undisputed chart classics of the time – laying down slick... Read more... |
Album: PJ Harvey - I Inside the Old Year DyingFriday, 07 July 2023
As an authentic artist, PJ Harvey manages to remain true to her essence as well as constantly shifting her creative stance. Each of her albums has been a leap forward, and yet anchored in a sound and style that are immediately recognisable as hers.... Read more... |
Album: Gabriels - Angels & Queens - Part IIThursday, 06 July 2023
You could say the catalyst behind it all was Rocketman himself. During his Apple Music Show, celebrated CBE Elton John named Gabriels’ self-released EP, Love and Hate in a Different Time, one of the most seminal releases in the last ten years. At... Read more... |
Album: ANOHNI - My Back Was a Bridge for You to CrossWednesday, 05 July 2023
A “back to basics” album is a risky thing. When an act has expanded into big, lavish or experimental production, it’s not a simple act to strip that away. Trying to go back to the intimacy or spontaneity of early work can feel forced: they may find... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: Western ApproachesTuesday, 04 July 2023
Writer-director Pat Jackson’s Western Approaches (1944), a Technicolor tour de force partly shot in turbulent seas by Jack Cardiff, is a stirring World War II story documentary that demonstrates the bravery, resilience, selflessness, and collective... Read more... |
