theartsdesk in Amsterdam: Club Culture Overdose

THEARTSDESK IN AMSTERDAM: CLUB CULTURE OVERDOSE How much house music can one critic handle?

How much house music can one critic handle?

The thought of attending a dance music conference in Amsterdam frankly gave me the creeping horrors. I'd never been to Amsterdam Dance Event before, and the combination of DJ egos, business hustling and relentless partying through hundreds of club venues in a renownedly liberal city presented so many opportunities for both boredom and complete catastrophe, it just seemed like a fool's errand. But this, of course, wasn't fair.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Giorgio Moroder, The Teardrop Explodes

The unsung side of Europe's synth-disco king and the difficult second album from Julian Cope's Eighties hit makers


Giorgio Moroder Schlagermoroder Volume 1 1966-1975Giorgio Moroder: Schlagermoroder Volume 1 1966-1975 / On the Groove Train Volume 1 1975-1993 / On the Groove Train Volume 2 1974-1985 / Son of my Father

CD: Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

CD: DAFT PUNK - RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES Do YOU believe the hype?

Do YOU believe the hype?

A wise man once said: DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE. It's a simple concept, but it seems so very hard to grasp, even – or especially – in a supposedly media-savvy world. The oddest thing of all is that it seems to be the people who consider themselves the most resistant to, or able to rise above, hype campaigns who have been caught up the most in the frenzy around this album.

Nile Rodgers: The Hitmaker, BBC Four

NILE RODGERS: THE HITMAKER, BBC FOUR A well-deserved, if workmanlike, appreciation of the great Chic guitarist, producer and songwriter

A well-deserved, if workmanlike, appreciation of the great Chic guitarist, producer and songwriter

It was one of those entirely unverifiable "facts" that music documentaries increasingly prefer over genuine insight: early on in this serviceable but routine overview of a truly stellar talent, we were told that Nile Rodgers’s guitar has “played on two billion dollars' worth of hits”. Who really knows? Who actually cares? You don’t measure the sheer joy of Chic’s “Good Times” or Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” by counting the cash or doing the math. You simply use your ears.

CD: Ke$ha - Warrior

Ke$ha is intriguing but her second album doesn't live up to her own hyping

Ke$ha’s presentation is very shrewd. When she first appeared a couple of years ago, she seemed to be trashy, binge-drinking progeny of the Lady Gaga phenomenon. As time passed, the 25-year-old Californian singer tempered this version of herself with a musical self-awareness contrary to tabloid reports of global boozing and bum-flashing. Notably, she worked with Wayne Coyne of space-pop alt-rockers The Flaming Lips, contributing a track to, and appearing on the cover of, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends.

theartsdesk in Pula: Dubstep's Croatian conference

THEARTSDESK IN PULA: DUBSTEP'S CROATIAN CONFERENCE As the post-dubstep generation grows up, can their festivals? We report from Dimensions

As the post-dubstep generation grows up, can their festivals? We report from Dimensions

It's a truism in dance music culture that “everyone's a DJ nowadays”. It's generally meant in a flip, pejorative sense – suggesting that cheap technology means every man Jack and his dog can put a sequence of records together and the role is somehow devalued. But it hides a rather more positive truth, which is that dance culture is intrinsically participative, that the line between industry and punters is so blurred as to be non-existent, that those punters truly are easily as important as the hallowed DJs they look up to.

In Water I'm Weightless, National Theatre Wales

IN WATER I'M WEIGHTLESS, NTW Five disabled actors give an impressionistic glimpse of themselves

Five disabled actors give an impressionistic glimpse of themselves

Adrian Burley MP would probably call In Water I’m Weightless “leftie multicultural crap”. I’d like to bestow similar praise. In common with Danny Boyle’s Olympic opening ceremony, director John McGrath’s exploration of issues facing disabled people is a bit of a mess, a bit of a tick-box exercise and thoroughly enjoyable.

Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Royal Albert Hall

FRANKIE VALLI & THE FOUR SEASONS: Las Vegas comes to Kensington Gore

Las Vegas comes to Kensington Gore

It was the right venue. Frankie Valli is New Jersey royalty. He might not have been crowned, but appearing in The Sopranos is as good as any coronation. As he leaned into the audience, shaking hands, he spread his magic. Even Jimmy Page had come along for this rare London show by one of pop’s greatest, most distinctive voices.

Robin Gibb, 1949–2012

Farewell to the distinctive Bee Gee and songwriter, who has died at the age of 62

The death of Robin Gibb was announced last night. He had been diagnosed with cancer following surgery for a blocked intestine in 2010, when it was discovered that he had cancer of the colon. This April, it was announced he had contracted pneumonia. His death leaves brother Barry as the only surviving Bee Gee.