pop music
The Bodyguard, Adelphi TheatreThursday, 06 December 2012
It's Academy Award season within the showbiz-centric world of The Bodyguard, but even the greatest of Oscar obsessives - count me among them - would be hard-pressed to toss many a trophy in the direction of the 1992 film or toward the largely... Read more... |
Michael Jackson: Bad 25, BBC TwoSunday, 02 December 2012
The latter years of Michael Jackson were a sorry saga of debt, lawsuits and sordid allegations about his private life, with the artist seeming an increasingly desperate and isolated figure. Director Spike Lee aims to salvage Jackson's artistic... Read more... |
Stone Free: Andrew Loog OldhamSunday, 25 November 2012
The return of The Rolling Stones to the world stage is headline news, but the man who put them there in the first place has decided to reveal the tricks of being an impresario, the hustler that can make or break a band. In this poignant, exclusive... Read more... |
Squeeze, The Dome, BrightonThursday, 22 November 2012
Any gig is partly defined by its audience. Brighton audiences, particularly Brighton Dome audiences, are usually a lively bunch but tonight’s crowd, at least until beyond halfway through, are still as dummies in their seats, quiet as mice. Looking... Read more... |
CD: Christina Aguilera - LotusSaturday, 17 November 2012
Entirely in keeping with the heightened narrative surrounding pop stars and their perpetual crises, Christina Aguilera’s recent history has been spun into the kind of tragedy worthy of Piaf or Callas. Her last album, Bionic, singularly failed to... Read more... |
Noisettes, Oran Mor, GlasgowFriday, 16 November 2012
There is something so otherworldly about Shingai Shoniwa, the vocal powerhouse who fronts Noisettes, that it is unsurprising to see the band play on it. Shoniwa arrived onstage in a blaze of light, in a spinning gold-hooped skirt that seemed to... Read more... |
CD: Little Mix - DNAThursday, 15 November 2012
Well that's a shame. Little Mix were likable, talented winners of The X Factor – four times Everygirl in clashing neon, funky, funny, vulnerable but self aware. They proved repeatedly on the show that they could sing and then some, and even though... Read more... |
CD: One Direction - Take Me HomeSunday, 11 November 2012
It’s nigh on impossible to separate One Direction’s music from their horrid, grinny, showbiz persona or their gigantic success representing Palpatine Cowell’s Syco empire. This is especially the case if you’re a 45 year old music journalist rather... Read more... |
CD: Robbie Williams - Take The CrownSunday, 04 November 2012
A certain type of pop star takes time to lose their baggage. Once upon a time it was hard to enjoy The Monkees’ "Daydream Believer" or The Osmonds’ "Crazy Horses" because the bands were mired neck deep in record company shittiness and (as they didn’... Read more... |
Rambert Dance, Sadler's Wells/ Michael Clark Company, Barbican TheatreFriday, 19 October 2012
Waves of modern dance history beat upon the shore this week with Rambert at Sadler’s Wells offering four works going back nearly 40 years, and Michael Clark’s newest Britdance creation at the Barbican. The hip people will be at the Barbican, of... Read more... |
CD: Mika - The Origin of LoveThursday, 04 October 2012
“Killer Queen” by Queen, “Rocket Man” by Elton John and “Laura” by the Scissor Sisters are all songs that reek of design. Their finest details have been engineered to their smallest component parts, yet the tone is light, almost throwaway. They’re... Read more... |
theartsdesk at the Berlin Festival and Music WeekTuesday, 11 September 2012
Sometimes, it doesn’t matter who you are. You might be a charismatic performer, or the most energetic band in the world. But some settings can’t be outperformed. Holding Berlin Festival at the city’s astonishing out-of-commission Tempelhof airport... Read more... |
