pop music
CD: The Drums - BrutalismMonday, 01 April 2019
The Drums appeared a decade ago out of New York, riding a media froth about indie music to critical acclaim and, at least for their debut album, some degree of commercial success. They were a four-piece who owed a large debt to New Order but had... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Three Day Week - When the Lights Went Out 1972-1975Sunday, 31 March 2019
This new collection, compiled by Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs of Saint Etienne, aurally delineates a period when much that was British had an edge of bleakness. Accordingly, Three Day Week – When the Lights Went Out 1972–1975 ought to be a grim listen... Read more... |
CD: Billie Eilish - When We All Go To Sleep Where Do We Go?Saturday, 30 March 2019
Billie Eilish is a vaudevillian. Crack that and everything else falls into place. Her impossible precociousness (at 17, she's a superstar and has been in the public eye for four years) and voraciousness (her and her brother Finneas's writing swerves... Read more... |
CD: Sleeper - The Modern AgeThursday, 21 March 2019
While Oasis have so far resisted the temptation of the big pay-off that a Gallagher family reunion would ensure, plenty of other Britpoppers have been considerably less coy about getting back together since the heady days of the 1990s. We’ve already... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Where The Girls Are Volume TenSunday, 17 March 2019
The US music trade weekly Cashbox chose a picture of the then-hot Diana Ross & the Supremes and Temptations joint enterprise for the cover of its 14 December 1968 issue. On page 28, under the header “Best Bets”, a review of the “It’s the Loving... Read more... |
CD: UB40 - For the ManyThursday, 14 March 2019
Birmingham’s reggae veterans UB40 are a band who have often worn their politics on their sleeves, and the title of their new album is taken from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party mantra. The parallels between the two have already been noted, of course.... Read more... |
CD: Sigrid - Sucker PunchThursday, 07 March 2019
You’d be forgiven for thinking, in the age of streaming, that the promotional single was a dying art. And yet there’s already something familiar about Sigrid’s long-awaited debut album. It’s almost two years since “Don’t Kill My Vibe” was the song... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: SparksSunday, 03 March 2019
Although American, Sparks’ initial commercial breakthrough was in the UK where their rococo art-rock chimed with ears attuned to, say, Roxy Music. Their sensibility has always been more European than American. In 2009 they issued an album titled The... Read more... |
Yes is More: Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon, Tramshed - utterly convincingMonday, 18 February 2019
Compared to Scotland, Welsh independence has yet to hit the mainstream. The idea has been mostly supported by the Welsh-speaking population, with opinion polls hovering around 19 per cent. It’s fallen to Super Furry Animals keyboardist Cian Ciaran... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Manchester - A City United In MusicSunday, 17 February 2019
Full marks for shoehorning-in the names of city’s two major football teams into the title of Manchester - A City United In Music. But this spiffy double-CD compendium roams further than the boundaries of the titular metropolis. Leigh, Salford,... Read more... |
CD: Avril Lavigne - Head Above WaterSaturday, 16 February 2019
Avril Lavigne was the original Punk Pop Queen. Fearless, feisty and perfectly fitting for the early noughties as the manufactured antithesis of Britney and Christina, she was the rebellious antidote alongside the likes of Pink and Gwen Stefani.... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 47: The Beta Band, Ry Cooder, The Cardigans, Sgt. Pepper goes jazz and moreWednesday, 13 February 2019
Let’s cut straight to the chase. Here are reviews of 48 records, running riot across genre boundaries and categorizations, from preposterous pop metal to woodland-themed classical piano pieces. It’s the wildest vinyl ride in review-land, an... Read more... |
