New music
Album: Maria Somerville - LusterSaturday, 19 April 2025
Luster’s fifth track “Halo” has the lyric “mystical creatures… of Éirne,” referencing the Irish river and lough of the same name – both of which are associated with a mother goddess. Earlier, the album’s opener is a short, ambient-styled, scene-... Read more... |
Album: Ronny Graupe's Szelest - Newfoundland TristesseFriday, 18 April 2025
In this new album, three top-flight musicians based in Berlin, guitarist Ronny Graupe, Lucia Cadotsch (voice) and Kit Downes (piano) work collaboratively, superbly, as a real team. The music, some well-known tunes which Cadotsch sings hauntingly,... Read more... |
Album: Gigspanner Big Band - TurnstoneThursday, 17 April 2025
For lovers of British folk from the 1970s on, Peter Knight is a potent force – renowned for his years with Steeleye Span, in their 1970s heyday and from 1980 through to 2013’s classic set written with Terry Pratchett, Wintersmith.The first iteration... Read more... |
Album: Mark Morton - Without the PainWednesday, 16 April 2025
Mark Morton is best known as a guitarist with US metallers Lamb of God. They’ve been going for three decades, established and successful, at the more extreme, thrashier end of the spectrum, but still achieving Top Five albums on the Billboard charts... Read more... |
Manic Street Preachers, Barrowland, Glasgow review - elder statesmen deliver melody and sing-a-longsTuesday, 15 April 2025
As you might expect from a Manic Street Preachers gig, literary influences were never far away. A DH Lawrence quote was prominently displayed on the video wall before the group took the stage, and band lyrics would randomly flash up throughout the... Read more... |
Album: Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson - What Did the Blackbird Say to the CrowMonday, 14 April 2025
At a time when the powers that sadly be in America are trying their damnedest to erase and rewrite history, the latest release from Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson is a welcome reminder of the rich culture of the Black community and how much it... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Motor City Is Burning - A Michigan Anthology 1965-1972Sunday, 13 April 2025
In October 1967, John Lee Hooker released a single titled “The Motor City is Burning.” The song commented on the civil unrest which had taken place in his Michigan home city of Detroit that July. “Oh, the motor city's burnin',” sang Hooker. “My home... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl: Record Store Day Special 2025Friday, 11 April 2025
Record Store Day 2025 is tomorrow (Saturday 12th April 2025)! At theartsdesk on Vinyl we’ve been sent a selection of exclusive RSD goodies. Check the reviews. Then check your local record shop! See you amongst it.THEARTSDESK ON VINYL CHOICE CUT FOR... Read more... |
Album: Joe Lovano - HomageFriday, 11 April 2025
Tenor titan Joe Lovano is thrilled by how Homage has turned out. He actually told me so himself in person a few weeks ago, and his new album has a very appealing, natural, free-flowing ease.Cleveland-born saxophonist Lovano first met Polish pianist... Read more... |
Album: Bon Iver - SABLE ƒABLEThursday, 10 April 2025
With a sound that's instantly recognisable, Justin Vernon – known as Bon Iver - continues to astonish. Purveyor of wonder, sculptor of enchanting sounds, he treads a miraculous path between melancholy and joy and has established himself as one of... Read more... |
Primal Scream, O2 Academy, Birmingham review - from anthems of social justice to songs of heartbreakWednesday, 09 April 2025
Bobby Gillespie and Andrew Innes may have been steering the good ship Primal Scream for some 40 years but, on the evidence of this week’s visit to Birmingham, they are in no way ready to join the heritage circuit – banging out the hits exactly as... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 89: Wilco, Decius, Hot 8 Brass Band, Henge, Dub Syndicate, Motörhead and moreWednesday, 09 April 2025
VINYL OF THE MONTHRattle Encircle (Upset! The Rhythm)Rattle are an unusual band. Consisting of Nottingham duo Katharine Eira Brown and Theresa Wrigley, their set-up is two drum kits, with which they build simple hypnotic patterns then add repetitive... Read more... |
