The Specials, Margate Winter Gardens review - ska legends passionate and on-point

★★★★★ THE SPECIALS, MARGATE WINTER GARDENS Ska legends passionate and on-point

Two Tone stars relevant and fired up as they tour their new album

Here they come again – the band most adept at capturing the mood of an era in catchy, critical three-minute songs. Just at the very point we need them most, the original ska-punk popsters surface and their message is as deeply relevant as it was four decades ago. But is this a 40th anniversary or a number one album tour? Or both?

theartsdesk on Vinyl 49 - Part 1: Keith Richards, Asian Dub Foundation, Popul Vuh, Nirvana, Cage the Elephant and more

THE ARTS DESK ON VINYL 49 Keith Richards, Asian Dub Foundation, Popul Vuh, Nirvana & more

The largest, most wide-ranging monthly record reviews on the planet

Due to exciting matters beyond theartsdesk on Vinyl’s control there’s been a slight delay to this month’s edition but, never fear, to ensure we cover all that’s juicy, we’re doing a special two-volume version, with Part 2 coming next week. Watch this space.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile review - pedestrian Ted Bundy biopic

Another rehash of a legendary serial murderer's killing spree

Why make a feature film about Ted Bundy, the notorious 1970s serial killer when you’ve already made Conversations with a Killer, a four-part factual series for Netflix about him? A charitable explanation would be that it offered documentarian Joe Berlinger a chance to explore aspects of the story that could only be told with drama.

CD: Leo Sayer - Selfie

Seventies superstar's self-produced latest fails to ignite

For Brits below a certain age Leo Sayer is the curly haired middle-aged chap who swearily walked out of the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2007 and disappeared. However, for those around in the 1970s his diminutive dancing form, ever-ready grin and wild coiffure were a constant presence as he had pop hit after pop hit, notably the contagious, disco-friendly “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Crass

The anarcho-punk legends back catalogue is treated with appropriate respect

Abbey Road Studios and the anarcho-punk legends Crass seem an unlikely pairing. The new, vinyl-only reissues of The Feeding of the Five Thousand (The Second Sitting), Stations of the Crass and Best Before 1984 each bear a sticker saying “Remastered by Alex Gordon at Abbey Road Studios, as close as possible to the sound of the original release. ‘as it was in the beginning’.”

Terry Riley & Gyan Riley, The Old Market, Hove review - gently pleasing evening of improvisation

Familial pairing slowly move from avant-jazz to somewhere further out

“I don’t know if I’m going to recognise any of it,” I say to my accomplice as we drain a couple of light ales amid the sea of grey beards in The Old Market’s bar. “I don’t think they’ll play the hits,” he replies, deadpan, “but don’t worry, there should be some onstage banter that’ll give you a couple of the titles.”

Reissue CDs Weekly: Marvin Gaye - You’re The Man

Essential archive trawl, but not the unreleased album it’s touted as

The sticker on the sleeve says “Marvin Gaye’s Lost Album.” A prime internet sales site states “You’re The Man was the album that was proposed to follow-up the monumental What’s Going On.” According to the marketing and promotional material, You’re The Man is “Marvin Gaye’s never-released 1972 Tamla/Motown album” and that it’s the “music legend’s shelved follow-up to What’s

Reissue CDs Weekly: Three Day Week - When the Lights Went Out 1972-1975

Agenda-setting Saint Etienne-compiled overview of a Britain laid low by inflation, shortages and strikes

This new collection, compiled by Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs of Saint Etienne, aurally delineates a period when much that was British had an edge of bleakness. Accordingly, Three Day Week – When the Lights Went Out 1972–1975 ought to be a grim listen, a slog during which the mind is improved and new outlooks are brought on board but is as lively as a tractor reversing through swiftly setting concrete.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Rema-Rema - Fond Reflections

Belated confirmation that Marco Pirroni’s pre-Ants outfit was more than a post-punk footnote

Until now, Rema-Rema’s only release was a 12-inch EP released in August 1980. It had hit shops after the band fell apart at the end of the previous year. Negotiations with 4AD, a new offshoot of the Beggar’s Banquet label, were underway towards the end of 1979 but then guitarist and future Adam and the Ants-man Marco Pirroni left. They rehearsed without him but called it a day in November. Yet 4AD issued that EP, titled Wheel in the Roses.