Rock
The disturbing ambient music of William Tyler
One could argue that all musical forms are essentially incomplete until the listener joins the party, but ambient music seems…
Divorce are the best young British band I’ve seen in an age
Can we talk business for a moment? When reviewers like me go to big arenas, we get the best seats…
Shades of Berlin Bowie and Ian Curtis: Hamish Hawk, at Usher Hall, reviewed
I am a regular attendee at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh’s most ornate and venerable concert venue. On more than one…
Kneecap are basic but thrilling
It was Irish week in London, with one group from the north and one from the south. Guinness was sold…
Perfectly imperfect: Evan Dando, at Islington Assembly Hall, reviewed
‘Can I have a photo with you, please?’ It’s the most embarrassing question you can ask of someone you’re interviewing.…
Terrifically good value: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds reviewed
A few years ago, I received an early morning phone call from Nick Cave’s former PR, berating me for not…
Too bombastic to be country music: Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion reviewed
Grade: B Country music has become the acceptable route through which American pop stars resuscitate their floundering careers: sales are…
Never admit that your band is prog – it’s the kiss of death
Sensible prog-rock bands try to ensure no one ever realises they play prog. What happens when you are deemed a…
Virgin on the astonishing: Madonna, at The O2, reviewed
When I was a kid listening obsessively to AC/DC and Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, I despaired of music writers.…
Confounding and fantastic: 100 Gecs, at O2 Forum Kentish Town, reviewed
Let me introduce you to the two poles in pop and rock. One is marked by authenticity, musicianship, a certain…
The new master of the American Whine: Ezra Furman, at Edinburgh Festival, reviewed
The American Whine is one of the key vocal registers in rock and roll. You can trace that thin disaffected…
As good, and inventive, as modern rock music gets: Black Midi's Hellfire reviewed
Grade: A+ The difficult question with Black Midi was always: are you listening to them in order to admire them,…
Only traces of their eerie early spirit remain: Kings of Leon, at OVO Hydro, reviewed
A few years ago, I spoke to Mick Jagger and asked him which of the (relatively) new crop of rock…
I’m a tourist in my own town
‘Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in,’ groans a weary Al Pacino in The Godfather…
A joy – mostly: Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets, at Usher Hall, reviewed
Drummers are patient chaps, in the main. Think of Ringo in Peter Jackson’s recent Beatles docuseries, Get Back. Lolling around…
The awfulness of the Red Hot Chili Peppers has always felt weirdly personal
Squaring up to the prospect of a new Red Hot Chili Peppers album, I’m reminded of a vintage quote by…
No one should be doing indie rock at 43: Band of Horses's Things Are Great reviewed
Grade: B That thing, ‘indie rock’, is so well played and produced these days, so pristine and flawless, that it…
The buzz band of 2022 sound like they're from 1982: Yard Act, at Village Underground reviewed
One of the curiosities of modern pop’s landscape is that no one knows any longer how to measure success. An…
The quiet radicalism of the Chieftains
Pop quiz time: which act was named Melody MakerGroup of the Year in 1975? The answer is not, as you…
The death of the live album
Next week The The release The Comeback Special, a 24-track live album documenting the band’s concert at the Royal Albert…
Banal and profound, bent and beautiful: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis at Edinburgh Playhouse reviewed
Nick Cave has always been drawn to parable and fable, but more than ever these days he is engaged in…
Good noisy fun: black midi, at the Edinburgh International Festival, reviewed
This year we must love Edinburgh for her soul rather than her looks. The EIF should be commended for making…
The joys of musical comfort food
I’ve given up comfort food. I’m trying to shift lockdown pounds that have left me with the physique of the…
