pop music
The Posters Came From The Walls, Clapham Picture HouseTuesday, 01 December 2009
In a pirate television (pirate television!) broadcast from 1992, a large group of Russian youths in flat top haircuts and leather jackets discuss Depeche Mode's appeal. “It's romantic style,” suggests one with absolute assurance, “it's music for the... Read more... |
Jeremy Deller on The Posters Came From The WallsSaturday, 28 November 2009
"Depeche Mode," says Jeremy Deller, "have always been seen as a bit naff in this country, at least in the media. They could never shake off the image of their earliest Top Of The Pops appearances, so no matter how musically exploratory they got,... Read more... |
Imagine: Dame Shirley Bassey, BBC OneWednesday, 25 November 2009
The mechanism for securing a publicity still from the BBC is as follows. Go to the relevant website, log in, look for the photographs that illustrate the programme, then take your pick. For Dame Shirley Bassey: The Girl from Tiger Bay there wasn’t... Read more... |
Martha Wainwright sings Piaf, BarbicanThursday, 12 November 2009
Martha Wainwright’s decision to perform and record a selection of songs by the late Edith Piaf is a bold, not to say high-risk strategy that made for a fascinating one-off concert at the Barbican last night. Plenty of pop divas from Minelli to... Read more... |
Matthew Herbert, British Council 75th anniversary concert, BarbicanTuesday, 27 October 2009
Before Matthew Herbert’s triumphantly anarchic appearance in the second half, stiflingly good taste ruled at last night’s concert at the Barbican. Middle-aged suits were out in force to celebrate the British Council’s 75th anniversary and a... Read more... |
Spandau Ballet, O2 ArenaWednesday, 21 October 2009The success of Spandau Ballet's ecstatically received reunion lies in no small part in its impeccable timing. The band could hardly have chosen a better moment to re-form and revisit their well stocked catalogue of 1980s hits. Not only are their... Read more... |
Appetite For Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital AgeSaturday, 19 September 2009Even with the 20-20 vision of hindsight, the failure of the major record labels to grasp the implications of the internet seems extraordinary. As Rolling Stone contributing editor Steve Knopper explains in this pacey account of corporate greed and... Read more... |
Noughty Girls: Britney, Amy, Beyoncé, Kylie... and KaijaThursday, 17 September 2009
Last night I was thinking, as I often do, of Britney, Kylie, Beyoncé, and less of Shakira, mainly because her name doesn’t end in y or e. The reason that my thoughts turned to Britney et al (incidentally we are delighted to have britneyspearsfans @... Read more... |
50 years of Kind Of BlueWednesday, 16 September 2009
When Miles Davis led his band into a deconsecrated church in New York in August 1959 to record the album that became Kind of Blue, drummer James Cobb recalled that “it was just another date for us. ” How wrong he was. A little over 50 years later,... Read more... |
Beatles For (Multiplatform) SaleMonday, 07 September 2009Oasis have split up, but The Beatles keep getting bigger. This week, in a synchronised splurge of Beatle product of almost D-Day like proportions, their complete remastered albums are being reissued, the group appear in virtual form in the computer... Read more... |
The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success and BetrayalSunday, 06 September 2009At first sight, it seems extraordinary that there has never been a serious biography dedicated to the Supremes before now. They achieved more than enough to deserve a shelf-ful. In their heyday from 1964 to 1969 America loved them to... Read more... |
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