Live Reviews
by Matt Cotsell
Irony is a hard act to sustain. Initially it emphasises a certain sense of intellectual superiority to that which is being mocked, yet sustained exposure…
Deerhunter and Cate Le Bon have had a lot of fun together over the past couple of years. Le Bon spent the summer of last...
“It’s like playing in your front room!” exclaims Ian Broudie, looking out over the London Palladium stalls. “A pretty big front room though”, he laughs....
Since the release of Titanic Rising by Weyes Blood earlier in the year much of the writing about it has focused on comparing Natalie Mering’s...
Pick up any issue of the monthly Classic Rock slash Americana magazines on British shelves, and you’ll find at least two lengthy rehashed stories, about...
There’s a strange tension at the very heart of The Cult, who at this stage are comprised of original members (and primary songwriters) Ian Astbury...
The Barbican can’t be accused of hiding away from the big concepts this year. Their ongoing Life Rewired season has already seen Pantha Du Prince...
Hideousness and beauty are contained within each other. One may complement or contradict the other, but in no circumstances can they cancel each other out;...
A Korean celebration event at UKC’s Gulbenkian Theatre was treated to a combination of film, food and music which all built up to a celebratory...
There’s a moment in Jim Cain, one of Bill Callahan’s most popular songs, where he sings “I used to be darker, then I got lighter,...
In a stuffy venue in Hackney, in the middle of a thunder storm, Kristin Hayter is strung up between the lighting rig and a speaker...
One Hundred Billion Sparks, Max Cooper’s album from last year, portrayed an artist interested in music informed by the possibilities of scale and volume and...
Gigs rarely get as atmospheric as those at night at Union Chapel. The candles, the coloured light projected on to the surrounding architecture, the overhead...
CHRISTEENE is not used to such a grandiose palace as the Barbican. But then, of course, the Barbican is not use to such a grandiose statement as CHRISTEENE....
When Pixies re-formed in 2004, delight was mixed with concern that their legendary status would be tarnished. After all, the seminal Boston alt-rockers who’d had...
Tonight’s venue, rather fittingly, spends most of its time as a slightly faded seaside towns favourite seafront night club. The stage is not designed for...
It’s impossible to know what went through their minds as they took to the stage. The husky evening was drawing to a close and a...
Endurance is often an undervalued commodity in the music industry. Rather than artists being appreciated for their staying power, they are often scoffed at for...
Complaining about rainfall at a music festival held in the Brecon Beacons is no better than screaming at the passage of time. Much better to...
Some of the best gigs are those that are greater than the sum of their individual parts. This was certainly the case with the show...
Introduced on stage by Meltdown curator Nile Rodgers as one of his favourite producers, whose music he called “didactic” and “primal”, SOPHIE confirmed with this...
