Reviews
Howling Bells, Islington Academy, London (Rated 3/ 5 )
Back in 2004, the four-piece rock band Howling Bells swapped their base in Sydney, Australia, for the gritty music scene of London. Since then, they have been slowly gaining recognition and fans, as tonight’s packed NME Awards Show proves.
Inside Reviews
Ray Lamontagne, Barbican, London (Rated 2/ 5 )
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
It's a shame about Ray's reticence
Magazine,The Forum, London (Rated 4/ 5 )
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
They may not spend 2009 selling out stadiums or headlining Glastonbury, but to their small but fanatical band of supporters, the return of Magazine is undoubtedly the comeback of the year – already.
La Roux, Notting Hill Arts Club, London (Rated 4/ 5 )
Monday, 16 February 2009
So girls, you want to make it big in music now that the death knell for guitar bands is sounding? Judging by recent successes – Ladyhawke, Little Boots and Lady GaGa, to name but three – you could be forgiven for thinking it's as easy as giving yourself a quirky moniker, grabbing some synths, a keyboard and laptop and being heralded as the new sound of pop. A strong look is also essential, with these girls respectively resembling Stevie Nicks as re-imagined by Skins, Princess Leia meets the Left Bank and a drag queen. Just don't forget to write some deliciously catchy electropop tunes, too.
Pacifica Quartet, Wigmore Hall, London
Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment/Norrington, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
(Rated 4/ 5 )
Monday, 16 February 2009
Performing end-to-end the five string quartets that Elliott Carter composed between 1951-95 might seem simply too much, with their over two hours of unremitting musical invention, harmonic dissonance and expressive intensity. But that would be to reckon without the astonishing virtuosity and insight of the Pacifica Quartet.
Frankmusik / Keane, Brighton Centre, Brighton
Sunday, 15 February 2009
Banish memories of the Year It All Went Wrong
Album: Teitur, The Singer, (A & G) (Rated 5/ 5 )
Friday, 13 February 2009
A Faroe Islander whose distinctive, idiosyncratic tone compares to fellow "Northern Lights" artists such as Stina Nordenstam, Bjork and Sigur Ros. Teitur Lassen is an intriguing writer and a moving singer whose performances on The Singer wreak a kind of understated but devastating passion comparable to Anthony & The Johnsons. Despite having recorded several albums since 2003 – he spent a few frustratingly unappreciated years with Universal before opting for a more self-determined route – The Singer is, to my knowledge, his first UK release, albeit a year later than most other territories.
Album: Grand Duchy, Petits Fours (Cooking Vinyl) (Rated 3/ 5 )
Friday, 13 February 2009
Frank Black has always produced his best work when his more masculine tendencies are tempered by a feminine touch, and such proves the case on Petits Fours, on which he and his wife, Violet Clark, join forces as Grand Duchy. It was an alliance, if not of opposing forces, then of opposing attitudes. "She digs the Eighties," claims Black. "I had spent the latter part of the Eighties doing my part to destroy the Eighties." Yet the decade is the dominant touchstone for Petits Fours, with Clark's synth parts recalling The Human League in "Seeing Stars", and combining with Black's po-faced croon in the manner of Ultravox and Tubeway Army for "Black Suit", a perfect pastiche of the era's blend of style and alienation. Not that Frank comes too willingly along, slipping reassuringly into his Black Francis scream at points, and bashing out dirty buzzsaw guitar riffs with alacrity on tracks such as "Lovesick", which recalls "Brown Sugar", and "Long Song", which could be by The Killers. But his gentler side is responsible for some of the album's most engaging moments, notably the beautiful pop melody of "Ermesinde" and the seductive "Come On Over to My House", an invitation that includes the promise "I'll make you buckets of tea/Put your breath inside me".
Album: M Ward, Hold Time (4AD) (Rated 3/ 5 )
Friday, 13 February 2009
Each album sees Matt Ward edge closer to the mainstream, but also finds the guitarist cut further adrift from the sublime folk-blues picking that made his reputation.
Album: Morrissey, Years of Refusal (Polydor) (Rated 3/ 5 )
Friday, 13 February 2009
On 2006's Ringleader of the Tormentors, the confirmed celibate Morrissey seemed smitten with a rare giddy thrill of romance, offering a peek into the soul behind the carapace of sarcasm and irony.
Album: Candi Staton, Who's Hurting Now? (Honest Jons) (Rated 4/ 5 )
Friday, 13 February 2009
Like her acclaimed 2006 comeback album His Hands, Candi Staton's latest was produced by Lambchop's Mark Nevers and follows much the same formula of smouldering Southern soul commentaries on the rocky terrain of relationships, tempered with nods to faith-based redemption.
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