Reviews

Inside Reviews

Bestival, Isle of Wight (Rated 4/ 5 )

Monday, 14 September 2009

Bestival closes festival season with a feast of song and dance

Album: Muse, The Resistance, (Helium/WEA)

Sunday, 13 September 2009

A politicised Muse take the path of vague resistance

Tori Amos, Hammersmith Apollo, London
Passion Pit, Concorde 2, Brighton

Sunday, 13 September 2009

Amos seems visibly unhinged but, as she purrs and grabs her crotch, you can't help but be captivated

Album: Nelly Furtado, Mi Plan, (Polydor)

Sunday, 13 September 2009

Like fellow Anglo-Latin crossover stars Shakira and Christina Aguilera, Furtado knows the value of keeping all her demographics happy.

Album: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, White Lunar, (Mute)

Sunday, 13 September 2009

As their work with the Bad Seeds and Grinderman has turned increasingly visceral, Cave and Ellis have given an outlet to their contemplative sides by composing soundtracks.

Album: David Gray, Draw the Line, (Polydor)

Sunday, 13 September 2009

Old wobbly-head is back with his songwriting as strong in places as it was circa White Ladder, the album that brought him to the attention of those living outside Ireland (where WL is still the biggest selling record of all time).

Album: Michel Petrucciani / NHOP, Live, (Dreyfus)

Sunday, 13 September 2009

The perfect complement/antidote to Crystal Silence, this unrehearsed 1994 live radio recording from Copenhagen is the pure essence of jazz, piano and double bass combining for a truly magical duet.

Album: Gary Burton/ Chick Corea, Crystal Silence, (ECM)

Sunday, 13 September 2009

When the star duo's Crystal Silence first appeared in 1973, it heralded a new house-style of ambient-friendly chamber jazz, where Corea's piano and Burton's vibes seemed to float amidst the listening space like benevolent feng shui sprites.

Album: Big Star, Keep an Eye on the Sky, (Rhino)

Sunday, 13 September 2009

Ahead of the reissue of the Memphis power-pop superheroes' first two albums comes this four-disc set, a rattlebag of bits, bobs and things that were never meant to see the light of day. It is, of course, an academic exercise only to be properly appreciated by scholars.

Album: John Hammond, Rough and Tough, (Chesky)

Sunday, 13 September 2009

An umptysquillionth album by the son of the man who discovered Bob Dylan, a veteran bluesman with all the payable dues duly signed and docketed except for the unfixable fact of his whiteness.

Album: A Filetta, Una Tarra Ci Hè, (Deda/Reedition)

Sunday, 13 September 2009

This Corsican ensemble is almost unknown in Britain – and when you look at their packaging, you understand why.

Album: The Orb, Baghdad Batteries, (Malicious Damage)

Sunday, 13 September 2009

The Orb these days are founder member Dr Alex Patterson and Thomas Fehlmann, whose influence in moving them Berlin-wards, towards minimal techno and glitch-dub, has put the Orb more in touch with current trends than at any time since they were setting them 20 years ago. But Patterson's sampledelic zaniness persists.

First Night: Bestival, Isle of Wight (Rated 3/ 5 )

Saturday, 12 September 2009

Mercury nominees make Bestival a very hot ticket

Album: Jamie T, Kings and Queens (Virgin) (Rated 3/ 5 )

Friday, 11 September 2009

In planning his follow-up to Panic Prevention, Jamie T considered several options, largely depending on what happened to be influencing his muse at any specific time.

Album: Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Reunited (EMI) (Rated 2/ 5 )

Friday, 11 September 2009

In the current hubbub over the Beatles, the reunion of Cliff and the Shadows may have been overlooked, despite representing an even more venerable anniversary of 50 years since their first chart appearance.

Album: David Gray, Draw the Line (Polydor) (Rated 2/ 5 )

Friday, 11 September 2009

It's taken David Gray four years to follow up Life in Slow Motion, and frankly, you have to wonder what's been holding him up, as these 11 pleasant, predictable songs represent no great development or deviation from the course of his previous work.

Album: Pere Ubu, 'Long Live Père Ubu!' (Cooking Vinyl) (Rated 3/ 5 )

Friday, 11 September 2009

Pere Ubu albums are always prickly affairs, and this one more than most.

Album: Muse, The Resistance (Helium 3) (Rated 3/ 5 )

Friday, 11 September 2009

It's hard not to harbour a grudging admiration for Muse's Matt Bellamy, even if the band's stadium-rock stylings aren't to your taste.

Album: Joan As Police Woman, Cover (Reveal) (Rated 4/ 5 )

Friday, 11 September 2009

Cover is Joan Wasser's Pin-Ups, a compilation of cover versions that reveals much about her approach to music.

Chipmunk, Royal Opera House, London (Rated 3/ 5 )

Thursday, 10 September 2009

Despite the notoriety associated with grime music, Chipmunk will always be the rapper you'd happily bring home to mum. It's a pity the Royal Opera House didn't see it that way.

Punk Rock, Lyric Hammersmith, London (Rated 4/ 5 )

Thursday, 10 September 2009

Simon Stephens' powerful and compelling new play – which signals a new Lyric Hammersmith regime under Sean Holmes – does not quite deliver what it says on the tin. It's set in an old, traditional library in a fee-paying grammar school in Stockport and the music by Big Black, the Cows and White Stripes is only punctuation between scenes.

Katrina, The Bargehouse, London (Rated 3/ 5 )

Wednesday, 9 September 2009

Not quite a perfect storm

Muse, The Den, Teignmouth (Rated 4/ 5 )

Tuesday, 8 September 2009

Seaside Special was never like this: two Mr Punches leer over the stage from posters either side, a circus ringmaster opens proceedings, yet big-top glitter and knockabout humour are way off the agenda.