pop
CD: Babymetal - Metal GalaxyMonday, 07 October 2019
There’s something in the dichotomy of Babymetal that I just can’t fathom. Cutesy J-pop meets heavy metal. Sheeny bubblegum-bounce dance routines to thrash. Sweet teen vocals over shredding.It’s like something that would get the audience vote on X... Read more... |
CD: Mika - My Name is Michael HolbrookFriday, 04 October 2019
When he arrived on the scene in the mid Noughties Mika – yes his name is Michael Holbrook – flew the flag for grandiose pop classicism. He had The Feeling as fellow travellers, and to an extent The Killers in their first wave of... Read more... |
CD: Tegan & Sara - Hey I'm Just Like YouFriday, 27 September 2019
There comes a time for reflection in everyone’s lives – perhaps for Canadian indie-pop duo Tegan & Sara this is it. Harking back to the 1990s, they have found and re-worked tracks written in their teenage years, taking grains of truth from their... Read more... |
George Ezra, Royal Albert Hall review - a thumping good timeWednesday, 25 September 2019
"The reason why it's so special to be here," says Ezra halfway through the show, "is because this is where I saw so many of my heroes". Tonight is the 26-year-old's debut at the Royal Albert Hall and the look on Ezra's face says he can't quite... Read more... |
CD: Charli XCX - CharliFriday, 13 September 2019
Charli XCX would make a cracking mixtape. I mean that not in the hip hop culture sense - although she’s knocked out a few of those in the five years since the release of Sucker, her last album proper - but like the mixtapes you used to make for your... Read more... |
Edinburgh International Festival 2019: JARV IS review - Britpop legend still deliversSaturday, 24 August 2019
”Cunts Are Still”. Well, that got your attention, didn’t it? Not my words, merely the title of one of JARV IS’s new tracks. In case you didn’t get it, JARV IS is a play on words and the name of given to Pulp frontman and founder Jarvis Cocker’s... Read more... |
CD: Taylor Swift - LoverSaturday, 24 August 2019
If there's a central motif to the sprawling, 18-track opus that is Taylor Swift’s seventh release - and it’s an album that references both Drake and Springsteen, so it's hard to pin down - it first emerges in track three, the title track. Stripped... Read more... |
Wilderness Festival 2019 review - marvellous misbehaviourWednesday, 07 August 2019
The thing about Wilderness is that it’s just so jolly decent. Acres of decadence, sprawled safely over the yawning magnificence of Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, combine to create a scintillating country fair reverie – a heady mix of good music, high... Read more... |
Burt Bacharach Together with Joss Stone, Eventim Apollo review - an evening of timeless classicsWednesday, 17 July 2019
Whatever age you are, in whatever era you grew up – wherever you grew up – you will know, perhaps unknowingly, a large handful of songs by Burt Bacharach, almost all written with lyricist Hal David. The two men met in 1957 in New York’s celebrated... Read more... |
Florence + the Machine, BST Hyde Park review - mastering the matriarchyMonday, 15 July 2019
It’s a rare thing that musicians sound better live than they do on Spotify. But Florence Welch sings a note perfect set – even when jumping up and down like a pogo stick, whirling and spinning, or sprinting along the front of the stage to meet fans.... Read more... |
CD: Molly - All That Ever Could Have BeenThursday, 11 July 2019
The first thing you notice when listening to the debut album from Austrian duo Molly (Lars Andersson and Phillip Dornauer) is that it is a collection lit with the glow of confidence. Introducing themselves with a delicately paced 15-minute Mogadon-... Read more... |
Janelle Monae, SSE Wembley Arena review - strong in both sound and sentimentThursday, 04 July 2019
Janelle Monae says her show is all about making memories. She tells the crowd: “I hope that I can become a memory for you that you access when you’re feeling down – a memory that’s rooted in love and freedom.”Themes of #loveislove, courage to... Read more... |
