new releases on cd & dvd
Thomas H. Green |
I didn’t want to review Shania Twain. My sense of her is of ancient mega-selling hits I can’t stand. I didn’t even go to her Sunday afternoon set at Glastonbury 2024. But it’s difficult to get most music writers to cover the biggest pop stars of our era.
Liz Thomson |
What an extraordinary band are The Punch Brothers, a bunch of conspicuously talented musicians whose six albums never fail to delight and stimulate as they push the boundaries of acoustic music to what you think would be beyond breaking point. It’s been said that they’ve taken “bluegrass to its next evolutionary stage, drawing equal inspiration from the brain and the heart.”
Joe Muggs
There’s a long and rich tradition of scabrous indie rock lyricism from Yorkshire. Sheffield’s Jarvis Cocker and Alex Turner tend to get the plaudits…
Kathryn Reilly
In a similar vein to 2024’s Mercury-nominated album Silence is Loud, Nia Archives' latest offering is an appealing blend of jungle and pop. It’s a…
Ellie Roberts
Everything I Ever Saw continues The Menzingers’ tradition of heartfelt storytelling through their signature Americana punk rock style. It's an album…
Mark Kidel
Enchanted sounds from a haunted man
Thomas H. Green
Bristol band aren't happy but offer up the occasional sing-along
Joe Muggs
Decades of psychedelia and wonder packed into a puzzling construction
Kieron Tyler
The sound of detachment
Graham Rickson
Hitchcockian black comedy from Luis Buñuel’s Mexican period
Guy Oddy
Neo-folk songs that are woozy and atmospheric but thoroughly engaging
Sebastian Scotney
Trio with Gene Calderazzo and Alec Dankworth is a jewel of British jazz
Thomas H. Green
Madonna and Stuart Price concoct a set that's bangin' and occasionally affecting
Joe Muggs
Boundaries not broken, but extraordinary interlocked playing, on the quintet's fourth album
Guy Oddy
US freak-rockers exhume their final album of supreme bizarreness
Graham Rickson
Satyajit Ray's poignant, thoughtful drama, set in 1960s Calcutta
Thomas H. Green
An entertaining second album full of feminist fun and lethal put-downs
Joe Muggs
Big disco balls and explosive affirmation make the stadium trio more ludicrous than ever
Kieron Tyler
Intriguing second album from Los Angeles musical auteur
Tim Cumming
Reflective, poetic, instinctive songs of renewal and resilience
Thomas H. Green
Snappy, there-and-gone set fired out of Montreal
Joe Muggs
Detroit techno, avant-classical discord and visionary sci-fi in dark disharmony
Ibi Keita
A warm, nostalgic celebration of home and family
Erin Lewis
Personal detail seasons universal themes as Rodrigo charts an unravelling love affair
Sebastian Scotney
A brilliant musician disappoints
Thomas H. Green
Genial strummings and spaciness as an underheard master drifts off
Guy Oddy
US garage rockers climb back in the ring with gusto
Joe Muggs
World-bestriding Australian house DJ hits all the right notes, albeit maybe too consistently
latest in today
We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
I didn’t want to review Shania Twain. My sense of her is of ancient mega-selling hits I can’t stand. I didn’t even go to her Sunday…
What an extraordinary band are The Punch Brothers, a bunch of conspicuously talented musicians whose six albums never fail to delight and…
Ana Mendieta’s work gives me the creeps. This is a deeply unfashionable view, so much so that I may well be cancelled for it. Mendieta is…
There’s a long and rich tradition of scabrous indie rock lyricism from Yorkshire. Sheffield’s Jarvis Cocker and Alex Turner tend to get the…
The first word of The Iliad is “war”; the first word of The Odyssey is “man”. After that, the twists and turns of Homer’s epic poems veer…
In a similar vein to 2024’s Mercury-nominated album Silence is Loud, Nia Archives' latest offering is an appealing blend of jungle and pop…
It is never a great sign when a local authority is forced to comment on a music festival. The opening night of the In The Park series of…
There is a story hidden inside my trumpet.Not the kind of story people usually associate with innovation today. No laboratory. No startup.…
Buxton International Festival, long known for its explorations of some of the less well-known parts of the opera repertoire, this year…