New Music Reviews
Reissue CDs Weekly: Brenda Holloway, Era Records Northern Soul, DamonSunday, 10 November 2013
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The Radiophonic Workshop, Shoreditch Electric Light StationSunday, 10 November 2013
No preparation is sufficient for hearing the theme to Doctor Who live. It’s obviously going to be on the menu, yet as the familiar “dung-a, dung-a, dung-a” refrain kicks off something deep and unexpected stirs within. The emotional bond with this sound and this melody is so strong it’s akin to being transported to one of the Doctor’s exotic destinations. Recreated on stage, the familiar suddenly becomes thrillingly fresh. Read more... |
Brother Face, The Vortex, DalstonSaturday, 09 November 2013
Liam Noble has kept his fans waiting so long for some new music, they were beginning to wonder if he’d turned into David Bowie. The British jazz pianist’s last album of originals, Romance among the Fishes, was released in 2004. Since then he’s recorded the highly regarded Brubeck, which Brubeck himself declared "an inspiration and a challenge for me to carry on”, and collaborated with distinguished players on both sides of the Atlantic. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: William Onyeabor, Tears For FearsSunday, 03 November 2013
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Deap Vally, Concorde 2, BrightonSaturday, 02 November 2013
It’s a condition of certain music journalists – myself very much included – that we can be blindsided by originality to the detriment of much else. Thus I might rate a chunk of electronic weirdness that blows my mind on the first couple of listens over a more derivative piece of song-writing. Later on I sometimes find that the sonic weirdness wears thin, sucked dry of its original sparkle, while the more derivative music slowly reveals itself as something rather brilliant. Read more... |
Suede, 02 Academy, BirminghamFriday, 01 November 2013
Suede, lest we forget, exploded into a moribund music scene dominated by the fag-end of grunge in 1992. Initially cast as the John the Baptists of Britpop, they lost Bernard Butler, their wunderkind guitarist, early on, became as known for druggy indulgence as for albums that were incrementally dropping in quality, and spilt up in 2003. Vocalist Brett Anderson claimed he needed “to do whatever it takes to get my demon back”. Read more... |
Frank Zappa's 200 Motels, Royal Festival HallWednesday, 30 October 2013
One of the joys of the Southbank Centre’s year-long The Rest Is Noise series has been the opportunity to hear some unusual period pieces among the more standard repertoire. In the case of 200 Motels it is a concert premiere for a genre-bending work which was pulled from its 1971 Albert Hall slot due to complaints about its obscene content. Read more... |
Just in From Scandinavia: Nordic Music Round-Up 9Monday, 28 October 2013
Norway is currently attracting an uncommon degree of attention due to the absurd “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” by Ylvis, the comedy duo Bård and Vegard Ylvisåker. The country’s mainstream music hasn’t been this newsworthy since a-ha conquered the world in 1985. After 150 million YouTube hits for “The Fox”, the figure is still rising. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Oh Yes We Can Love - A History of Glam RockSunday, 27 October 2013
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The Who: The Story of Tommy, BBC FourSaturday, 26 October 2013
Grand claims and superlatives were not lacking in this examination of The Who's fabled rock opera. "This is a quintessentially important creation," said Des McAnuff, the man who staged Tommy on Broadway and in London's West End. "This might just be the first pop masterpiece," wrote pop critic (and Pete Townshend's pinball-playing buddy) Nik Cohn in his review in 1969. Read more... |
Brenda Holloway: The Artistry of Brenda Holloway / Various Artists: ERA Records Northern Soul
William Onyeabor: World Psychedelic Classics 5 – Who is William Onyeabor?
Various Artists: Oh Yes We Can Love – A History of Glam Rock Pages
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