Travels Over Feeling: The Music of Arthur Russell, Barbican review - a sublime evening undercut by tonal shifts

★★★★ TRAVELS OVER FEELING: THE MUSIC OF ARTHUR RUSSELL a sublime evening undercut by tonal shifts

Tribute to Russell brings together contemporary talent in an emotional concert

Last night’s Travels Over Feeling: The Music of Arthur Russell (a concert in part accompanying the recent publication of a book about his life by Richard King) was a brilliant way to honour the legacy of a fascinating, challenging, and sublime musician who, largely unrecognised in his lifetime, is now loved by many. The tribute was truly moving (reader, I cried twice), but a tonal shift towards the end, whilst enjoyed by many, was a little jarring.

Pop Will Eat Itself, Chalk, Brighton review - hip hop rockers deliver a whopper

★★★★★ POP WILL EAT ITSELF, CHALK, BRIGHTON Hip hop rockers deliver a whopper

Eighties/Nineties indie-tronic dance mavericks take the roof off

By midway, things are cooking. “Can U Dig It?”, a post-modern list-song from another age (Ok, 1989), boasts a whopping guitar riff. Keys-player Adam Mole, his ushanka cap’s ear-covers flapping, leaps onto his seat, waves his synth aloft. Frontmen Graham Crabb and Mary Byker fly up’n’down the stage-front, launching airwards for chest-bumps, staccato-firing rapped lyrics about the Furry Freak Brothers, Renegade Soundwave, Bruce Lee, DJ Spinderella and, of course, how writer-magician Alan Moore “knows the score”.

Music Reissues Weekly: Little Girls - Valley Songs

Deserved tribute to the Los Angeles new wave popsters who failed to click

The name, Caron and Michelle Maso explained to Los Angeles radio DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, was a literal description. “We’re both like five feet. We’re all grown up, but we’re still little.”

Music Reissues Weekly: Congo Funk! - Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River

CONGO FUNK! Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River

Assiduous exploration of the interconnected musical ecosystems of Brazzaville and Kinshasa

Brazzaville is on the north side of the Congo River. It is the capital of the Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is on the south side of the Congo. It is capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaïre. The cities face each other, about 1.5km apart, divided by the river and being in different nations.

This Town, BBC One review - lurid melodrama in Eighties Brummieland

★★ THIS TOWN, BBC ONE Lurid melodrama in Eighties Brummieland

Steven Knight revisits his Midlands roots, with implausible consequences

Industrious screenwriter Steven Knight has brought us (among many other things) Peaky Blinders, SAS: Rogue Heroes and even Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?, but This Town may not be remembered as one of his finest hours. Here, we find Knight revisiting his Midlands background for a story that begins in 1981, during Margaret Thatcher’s first term as Prime Minister. There’s rioting on the streets, unemployment is soaring and Bobby Sands is on hunger strike in Belfast.

Foam, Finborough Theatre review - fascism and f*cking in a Gentlemen's Lavatory that proves short of gentlemen

★★★ FOAM, FINBOROUGH THEATRE Skinhead finds his feet (in a pair of DMs) then leads double life as street thug and gay cruiser

Infamous neo-Nazi brought to life in compelling drama

In a too brightly tiled Gentlemen’s public convenience (Nitin Parmar’s beautifully realised set is as much a character as any of the men we meet), a lad is shaving his head. He’s halfway to the skinhead look of the early Seventies, but he hasn’t quite nailed it  he's too young to know the detail.

theartsdesk Q&A: Singer Dee C Lee

Q&A: DEE C LEE The vocalist discusses music, life, love, heartbreak and glorious Eighties times

The vocalist chats through music, life, love, heartbreak and glorious Eighties times with The Style Council and WHAM!

Dee C Lee was born Diane Sealy in London in 1961. She is best known for her 1985 hit “See the Day”, later covered by Girls Aloud, and for being in two of the Eighties' most notable pop acts, The Style Council and WHAM!. But she was also prolifically involved in multiple other musical projects, and now has a new album appearing, Just Something, her first in over 25 years.

Robot Dreams review - short circuits of love

★★★★ ROBOT DREAMS A colourful tale of a pooch and its metal bestie

A colourful tale of a pooch and its metal bestie

As everyone knows, the two most likeable creatures in the fictional world are the dog and the robot. Who doesn’t love a waggly tail or an aluminium cranium? So putting the two together in an animated movie looks like a Bennifer-perfect match.

theartsdesk Q&A: Musician Karl Wallinger

RIP KARL WALLINGER World Party wizard in 2012 on aneurysms, Robbie Williams, drugs and fame

RIP Karl Wallinger: a 2012 interview with the World Party wizard on aneurysms, Robbie Williams, drugs and fame

In February 2001 a brain aneurysm nearly killed Karl Wallinger. It didn’t do World Party many favours either. The aftermath of devastating illness resulted in a five year hiatus for his band, followed by a gradual, tentative return. Since 2006 there have been shows in Australia and America, but no new music and no gigs on this side of the pond. Until now.

Lisa Frankenstein review - a bitchy trawl through the high-school horror movie back catalogue

★★★ LISA FRANKENSTEIN A bitchy trawl through the high-school horror movie back catalogue

Diablo Cody delivers a comic but gory pastiche of 1980s pop culture

Diablo Cody’s biggest screenwriting hit was 2007’s Juno, a larky but tender story of teenage pregnancy. She’s gone back to high school for her latest, Lisa Frankenstein, which focuses on another troubled teen. This one has goth looks accessorised with an axe.