Iggy Pop, Barbican review - proto-punk legend goes jazz... sort of

★★★★ IGGY POP, BARBICAN Lively, nuanced set combines new album with choice career cuts

A lively, nuanced set combines Iggy's new album with choice cuts from his long career

A few years ago it would have been hard to envisage proto-punk maniac Iggy Pop being a star feature of the EFG London Jazz Festival. His last few albums, though, have been heavily flecked with jazz, and let’s not forget that as far back as The Stooges’ 1970 album Funhouse, free jazz sax squalling was part of the mayhem.

Jazz Voice, Royal Festival Hall - engulfing beauty and hidden gems

★★★★ JAZZ VOICE Dreamy reminiscences, nifty footwork & blazing energy at EFG London Jazz Fest

EFG London Jazz Festival's opening-night gala provides dreamy reminiscences, nifty footwork and blazing energy

Jazz Voice unfailingly supplies a gigantic sugar-rush of auditory pleasure, and this year’s edition was no exception. Arranged, scored and conducted by the brilliant Guy Barker, the evening’s opener saw rising US vocalist Judi Jackson and the EFG London Jazz Festival Orchestra transform Nirvana’s brooding “Come As You Are” into a swaggering, Vegas-style workout.

theartsdesk on Vinyl 54: The Beatles, Prince, Kid Acne, Nirvana, Teebs, Monty Python, Pulp and more

THEARTSDESK ON VINYL 54 The Beatles, Prince, Kid Acne, Nirvana, Teebs, Monty Python, Pulp and more

Vast acres of new records reviewed in detail

Without further ado, slightly delayed by the sheer volume of releases at this year time of year, here is the latest edition of theartsdesk on Vinyl. You will not find a more extensive monthly report on the goodies newly available on plastic anywhere on the internet. Every conceivable genre is theartsdesk on Vinyl’s game so dive in and get involved!

VINYL OF THE MONTH

Dallas Acid The Spiral Arm (All Saints)

Hubro 10th-Anniversary Concert, The Spice of Life review - boundary pushing Norwegian label marks its birthday

Building Instrument, Bushman’s Revenge and the Erlend Apneseth Trio celebrate their imprint’s first decade

A fiddle projects upwards from between Erlend Apneseth’s knees. Seated, he holds another in his right hand facing-off the instruments against each other. He’s plucking both, the pizzicato pitter-patter suggesting water drops on a bell or a koto. On the other side of the stage, guitarist Stephan Meidell is looping the sound, treating it to form a wash akin to that of a waterfall. In between, percussionist Øyvind Hegg-Lunde is behind a drum kit rattling and scraping what looks like a cheese grater attached to some allen keys.

CD: Land of Kush - Sand Enigma

★★★★ LAND OF KUSH - SAND ENIGMA Eclectic mash up paints a fascinating sound collage of modern Cairo

Eclectic mash up paints a fascinating sound collage of modern Cairo

Land of Kush are an ambitious 20-piece plus ensemble which features all manner of instruments from strings, horns, piano, guitar, santur, darbouka, oud and synths, as well as multiple vocalists and percussionists.

CD: Jeff Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra

★★★★ JEFF GOLDBLUM AND THE MILDRED SNITZER ORCHESTRA An all-star band to make us happy

An all-star band to make us happy

Jeff Goldblum’s 2018 debut, Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra - The Capitol Studios Sessions, was one of the great surprises of last autumn, its infectious, feel-good vibe and self-deprecating retro pastiche as engaging as a favourite Hollywood movie on a grey day. And live at the Cadogan Hall Goldblum was a treat, a real-life Mr Nice Guy who was just so good and so funny.

CD: Harry Connick Jr - True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter

★★★★ HARRY CONNICK JR - TRUE LOVE: A CELEBRATION OF COLE PORTER The New Orleans native delivers a finely-crafted songbook

The New Orleans native delivers a striking songbook

From brooding masterpieces (”Love for Sale”) to classic list songs ("Let's Do It"), Cole Porter was one of the greatest songsmiths of the 20th century. As one of his peers, Richard Rodgers, eloquently put it: "Few people realise how architecturally excellent his music is. There's a foundation, a structure and an embellishment. Then you add the emotion he's put in and the result is Cole Porter."

theartsdesk on Vinyl 53: U2, Moonlight Parade, Oasis, Stray Cats, Crass, Prefab Sprout and more

Possibly the most extensive monthly vinyl reviews in the world

It’s reckoned that this time next year vinyl sales will have overtaken CDs. It’s still a small market and anyone who thinks vinyl will one day replace streaming is living on Planet Lah-lah. There’s so much coming out even theartsdesk on Vinyl cannot review it all, but what we can do is devote 7500 words to what grabs our attention. We are not limited by genre or by new vs reissue. We eat it all up and want more. So check below for the juice on what’s out there. Dive on.

CD: Tonbruket - Masters of Fog

Swedish quartet celebrates 10 years with fifth jazz-rock fusion album

Bassist Dan Berglund was a founding member of the highly influential euro-jazz Esbjörn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.) until the accidental death of Svensson, while diving, in 2008. The first Tonbruket album appeared the following year, with Berglund joined by guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Johan Lindström, keyboardist Martin Hederos and drummer Andreas Werlin, the music stretching into prog-rock territory, some distance away from e.s.t.’s supple euro-jazz dynamics.