New music
Kieron Tyler
Wheels of Fire was Cream’s third album. Issued in the US in June 1968 and in the UK two months later, it was a double LP. One record was of live recordings, the other of studio material. Of the nine tracks on the latter, three were co-written by the band’s drummer Ginger Baker – who wrote the lyrics – and British jazz pianist/composer Mike Taylor.This was the closest Taylor got to the mainstream. The tracks recorded by Cream – "Passing the Time," "Pressed Rat and Warthog" and "Those Were the Days" – also appeared as the B-sides of singles. In the UK and the US, “Pressed Rat and Warthog” was Read more ...
mark.kidel
There is a freshness about a show by Youssou N’Dour that never seems to lose its glow. He still has one of the great voices of Africa, a versatile and richly-textured tenor that doesn’t show the sign (at 65) of growing old and tired.At the Roundhouse, he started the show with one of his most well-known songs, “Immigrés”. Youssou and the Super Étoile de Dakar bounced in with the kind of energy that usually emerges gradually through the simmering build-up of a set. Here, it’s the deep end from the get-go, the high-pitched sabar drums clattering away furiously at the back of the stage, djembe, Read more ...
Liz Thomson
What a great album – and what a great story to lift the heart in these fetid times. A story that crosses oceans and decades and brings together a Canadian singer-songwriter for once worthy of the label “legend” and a bunch of Bob Harris Emerging Artist Award-winners with a clutch of well-received albums under their belt.Dreams is the result of a collaboration between Canadian Songwriters Hall of Famer Bonnie Dobson and the Hanging Stars, five “cosmic cowboys” comprised of Richard Olson (guitar, vocals, percussion), Patrick Ralla (guitar, keyboard), Paul Milne (bass), Sean Reed (horns, Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
The best-selling single so far this year in the UK is Californian singer Alex Warren’s “Ordinary”. It stayed at the top of the charts longer than any song this decade. If you’re not familiar, imagine the lyrical mood and production of Hosier’s “Take Me to Church” filtered through the bombast of early Bastille, and supercharged with Warren’s Christian faith and love for “worship music”. The rest of his album is equally overblown and icky.At the start of the 1960s, one of the twists that made pop blossom to greatness was gospel singers applying their craft to secular love songs. In the 2020s Read more ...
joe.muggs
In the eternal now of the strobe-lit sweatbox, innovation functions in a different way to the rest of culture. Yes of course, the thrill of the new has consistently been a vital part of dancefloor culture, but so has the familiarity of particular sonic signatures that emerged from its fervid evolutionary processes. From the endless echo of classic disco house and rave samples in the mainstream, to the purity of raw, churning acid house in underground basements: once something works, it works.Sometimes the sounds that endure are super niche. For example, some time around the middle of the Read more ...
Guy Oddy
As the name suggests, the Near Jazz Experience owe a huge musical debt to jazz, but that’s not the full story by any means. For a start, the rhythm section has more in common with the motorik groove of Can and the general atmosphere is closer to the soundtracks of ‘60s TV shows and films like The Avengers and Bullitt than any of Miles Davis’ famous ensembles.For those unfamiliar with the band, they are a trio of musical veterans, comprising Madness bassist, Mark Bedford, saxophone slinger for hire, Terry Edwards and his former Higsons’ confederate, Simon Charterton on drums. None of their Read more ...
Katie Colombus
Billie Eilish may be one of the biggest names in new music, but here at the O2 Arena, she’s just Billie – the one who stares deep into your soul, smiles at you like she knows your secrets, and shouts “I love you” like she means it. “You are seen, you are safe,” she tells us. We believe her. And judging by the thousands of utterly hysterical fans, heaving and shaking with sobs amidst their singing – mostly clad in jorts, sports vests and ties – the feeling is mutual.The 23-year-old pop sensation first appears crouched in the centre of a metal cube, dangling above the crowd, instantly evoking Read more ...
peter.quinn
This second album from London-based septet Kokoroko welcomes you into its warm embrace with the gorgeous, beatific vocal harmonies of “Never Lost” anchored by drummer Ayo Salawu's pulsating backbeat. A horn-driven celebration of West African disco, the unexpected key change in "Sweetie" catches you delightfully off-guard and epitomises the album's spirit of musical adventure. The hypnotic neo-soul sound-world of "Closer To Me" sees Duane Atherley's fluid bass line providing the foundation for an uplifting summer anthem. Meanwhile, the deeply personal "My Father in Heaven" strips Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
Tubeway Army’s “Are ‘Friends’ Electric” hit the top of the UK single’s chart in the last week of June 1979. It stayed there for four weeks. Its parent album, Replicas, lodged itself in the Top 75 for 31 weeks. In April, just as Replicas was out, Tubeway Army began recording demos for the next album: the band which had been assembled for the task debuted on BBC2’s The Old Grey Whistle Test on 22 May.At this point, Gary Numan – who, effectively, was Tubeway Army – was beginning to think a change in terminology was necessary. On 29 May, just a week on from the OGWT appearance, he and Billie Read more ...
Kathryn Reilly
War, pestilence, famine, death. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fill of them all. So what better time to visit the genuinely sunny uplands – the long-anticipated second album from Wet Leg.My, those seemingly demure, Amish-styled girls have grown (see the demonic cover, replete with scary talons and an unhinged-looking Rhian Teasdale). They’ve officially supplemented the line-up with the three very hairy boys who’ve been playing with them on live shows and everybody’s been involved in the writing. And everything’s turned out very well indeed.Superlative singles “CPR” and “catch these Read more ...
Thomas H. Green
Tami Neilson’s career is long and storied. The short version is that she began with a 1990s Canadian family band (opening for Kitty Wells, aged 10!), moved to New Zealand and became a country star there, then, over the last decade, has been “discovered by" and worked with all manner of US artists, ranging from Ashley McBryde to Willie Nelson. Her latest album is named in honour of the signage on Nashville Broadway, “the patron saint of heartbreak in downtown”, as she puts it. Less cheekily characterful than her output of recent years, it still has much to recommend it.Where her last album, Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
The branch of the fast-food chain Hesburger in downtown Tallinn shopping centre Solaris is busy. Nothing unusual as it’s located by the entrance to a multi-screen cinema. Double cheeseburgers and fries are going over the counter. Less typically, two-thirds of the people here are wearing traditional Estonian clothing. Men and boys with knee britches. Woman and girls in embroidered outfits with hats.It’s a fair bet that, after eating, all of them will head east to the Estonian capital’s Song Festival Grounds (the Lauluväljak). They might be members of the audience, or singing on the 15,000- Read more ...