Music Reissues Weekly: Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night

TRIBAL RITES OF THE NEW SATURDAY NIGHT Significant collection soundtrack

Significant collection soundtracking what really inspired ‘Saturday Night Fever’

“It all started with a June 7, 1976 article in New York magazine about Queens, New York working-class young adults who flocked to a local disco in platform shoes and outlandish clothes to perform organized dances. [Bee Gees manager] Stigwood read Tribal Rites of Saturday Night, and immediately bought the rights from the author, seminal rock critic Nik Cohn.”

Album: Django Django - Off Planet: Parts 1 - 4

Sprawling, eclectic and ear-pleasing fifth from London indie-psychedelic fourpiece

Brit alt-indie outfit Django Django refuse easy categorisation and, as a result, during a decade-plus career, have never quite found their place with the wider public. Critical acclaim has come their way, and those who’ve kept an ear open know their catalogue contains gems (“First Light”, “Hail Bop” and “In Your Beat” spring to mind) as well as great remixes.

Chvrches, Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow review - homecoming provides only intermittent thrills

The second night of the trio's Glasgow shows relied on a bombastic sound

Of all the Scottish bands to be name dropped at a Chvrches gig, the Bay City Rollers would be far down the list. Thankfully singer Lauren Mayberry was only citing the 70s group in reference to her tartan outfit, and not a surprise cover of “Shang-A-Lang”, but the Glasgow trio do share another similarity, in that they’ve proved to have considerable staying power in the pop world.

Album: Janelle Monáe - The Age of Pleasure

★★★★THE AGE OF PLEASURE Janelle Monáe turns saucy in a creative renaissance

Monáe's turn for the saucy marks a true creative renaissance

There’s been a good deal of discussion on “the socials” about how much Janelle Monáe’s sexy image is a new thing or a big deal.

Casual viewers, still stuck on the suit-wearing image with which she crashed into public consciousness in 2010, have acted shocked at her going almost or completely unclad in recent videos and shoots. In turn fans have pointed out the obvious – that her outré sense of fashion and costumery has manifested in many ways over the years, including in plenty of flesh-baring. 

Róisín Murphy, Royal Albert Hall review - shamanic razzle dazzle keeps us on our feet

★★★★ ROISIN MURPHY, ROYAL ALBERT HALL Shamanic razzle dazzle keeps us on our feet

Mercurial goofing from the queen of weird disco

In one sense you know what you’re going to bet with Róisín Murphy. Disco beats, a lot of bright colours, costume changes, goofing about, kick-arse vocals, and hats – lots and lots of hats. And yes, all that was present and correct at the Royal Albert Hall. But in another way, any given show is alien territory.

Jah Wobble, Brighton Festival 2023 review - Coronation bank hol Sunday marathon

Our writer goes on a May Bank Holiday Brighton Festival opening weekend beano

Jah Jah Jah blah blah blah. We’ll get to that.

I meet Everest at Worthing station at 3.20pm. He’s clad in a light brown corduroy jacket and a cap. He looks dapper. Like a Len Deighton spy. We board the train to Brighton. I hand him a chilled bottle of Henney’s Herefordshire cider (6%) and tuck into my own bottle of St Austell Proper Job Cornish IPA (4.5%). We open a small box of Morrisons All Butter Mature Cheddar Cheese Crumbles, and talk about the harshness that life can deal out to the old.

Mimi Webb, O2 Academy, Glasgow review - TikTok queen fails to fire with sparse set

★★ MIMI WEBB, O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW TikTok queen fails to fire with sparse set

A lack of legitimate pop bangers held the performance back

Blake Rose clearly wasn’t leaving anything to chance. The support act bounded onstage draped in a Saltire, and soon brought up his days growing up in Aberdeen before moving to Australia. That Scottish upbringing helped inspire one of his songs, “Sweet Caledonia”, and going by the lively reaction he received from the youthful Glasgow crowd they were glad to take him as their own.

Album: Thomas Bangalter - Mythologies

An impressive move into composition, but where is the original voice?

Popular musicians “going classical” can work well. Look at Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, at Richard Reed Parry and Colin Stetson from Arcade Fire, or at the late Jóhann Jóhannsson who had a successful career as indie and electronic musician in Iceland before becoming a globally beloved orchestral composer. Of course the boundaries are flimsy anyway these days, with the likes of Max Richter, Nils Frahm and Anna Meredith existing comfortably with one foot in the concert hall and one in the gig venue.

Album: Nia Archives - Sunrise Bang ur Head Against the Wall

★★★★ NIA ARCHIVES - SUNRISE BANG UR HEAD AGAINST THE WALL The jungle-pop star shows precisely what she's made of in this condensed statement

The jungle-pop star shows precisely what she's made of in this condensed statement

We are way, way past the point where it makes any sense to talk of jungle or drum’n’bass “revivals”. Thirty years from the emergence of jungle from the rave scene, its tempo and tropes have remained a staple sound for generation upon generation of clubbers, boy racers and festival goers. It is woven into the fabric of global, and particularly British, culture just as integrally as, say, indie rock guitars are.