thu 26/06/2025

New Music Reviews

Reissue CDs Weekly: The Monochrome Set

Kieron Tyler

 “An exercise in bizarre mixtures, combining the bleak acid hangover of half-hearted Velvet Underground impersonators with muted razzmatazz: a long and rather stylish joke.”

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Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? review - documentary about Springsteen's saxophonist

Veronica Lee

I must confess the sum total of my knowledge of Clarence Clemons before watching this documentary was that he was, for many years before his death in 2011 at the age of 69, the mighty saxophone player in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. And what a sax player...

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theartdesk on Vinyl Lockdown Special 2: Luke Haines, Finnish jazz, cosmic country, blues and more

Thomas H Green

Welcome to the second of our lockdown specials. It’s a small but vital dip into what’s new on plastic. Other than that, theartsdesk on Vinyl wishes you well in these strange times. Stay at home, play records, turn up the volume.

Various Cadence Revolution 1973-1981: Disques International Vol. 2 (Strut)

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New Music Lockdown Livestream Special 1: Miley Cyrus, Metallica, Diplo and more

Thomas H Green

Given the times, theartsdesk’s New Music section is starting weekly round-ups of new streaming fare to liven the spirits and entertainingly pass the time during this lockdown. Here are our first five suggestions. Dive in!

Light In The Attic Showcase

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ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band From Texas, Netflix review - riffs, drugs and rodeos

Thomas H Green

ZZ Top always seemed like a Texan version of Status Quo. It turns out, from watching this entertaining but hardly revelatory documentary, that is kind of what they are.

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Colors performance stream on YouTube review - vocalists on lockdown

joe Muggs

The Colors studio in Berlin has quietly created one of the biggest new brands in music from filming back-to-basics performances with laser-focused branding. From international megastars (Billie Eilish, Mac DeMarco) to up-and-comers, singers and occasionally rappers are filmed alone in a simple cube-shaped stage with distinctive colour-cycling lighting.

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theartsdesk on Vinyl Lockdown Special 1: Napalm Death, Brazilian jazz-pop, 1980s indie and more

Thomas H Green

For the duration of this C19 Lockdown, rather than the usual sprawling monthly epic, theartsdesk on Vinyl will be presented regularly in bite-sized editions, roving across the pile of releases we have already, since those incoming have been whittled down a trickle. Welcome, then, to a cross edition of plastic ranging from the beautiful to the bizarre. Dive in!

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Reissue CDs Weekly: Hangman’s Beautiful Daughters

Kieron Tyler

A raga-rock circularity. Finger cymbals. A distant, etiolated female vocal. A fuggy atmosphere. A kinship with Jefferson Airplane’s “Come Up The Years”, The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey” and The Velvet Underground’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties”. Hangman’s Beautiful Daughters' “Love is Blue” is a beautiful, haunting recording.

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ReMastered: Tricky Dicky and the Man in Black, Netflix review - dynamic saga of music and politics

Thomas H Green

Netflix’s ReMastered series is one of the streaming channel’s undersung gems.

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Elton John’s iHeart Living Room Concert for America, YouTube review - the real star was a Mayo Clinic doctor named Elvis

Liz Thomson

Available in Britain now on YouTube for only a couple of days, Elton John’s iHeart Living Room Concert for America was put together in less than a week and was broadcast in the US on Sunday evening. In normal circumstances, the slot would have been occupied by the iHeart Radio Music Awards, which were to have been carried live from the Shrine Auditorium in LA.

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