Music news

• Tame Impala's Kevin Parker decided to fill a 'hole' in his music - with disco beats

  12-07-2015 21:53
  
  When the band’s music emptied out a dance floor, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker realised he wanted to take the next album in a disco direction.
  
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• David Zowie Scores First UK No 1 With House Every Weekend

  12-07-2015 20:30
  
  As Ed Sheeran returns to top of Official UK Albums Chart...
  
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• Music council honors Kristofferson, Pride, Lauderdale

  12-07-2015 20:02
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The National Music Council is honoring the life-long musical contributions of Kris Kristofferson, Charley Pride and Jim Lauderdale.
  
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• Hang On, Is That Cara Delevingne In The New Star Wars Footage?

  12-07-2015 17:16
  
  Fans think they've spotted catwalk queen in clip...
  
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• The Roots review – a hip-hop group like no other keep their freak-flag flying

  12-07-2015 15:52
  
  Brixton Academy, London
  Cosmic jazz-funk, blizzards of electro-terrorism – the frantic Philadelphians shock and awe in this sprawling showA few years ago, the Roots were musing over how to make their music-industry career pay. With sales of their critically lauded albums solid but rarely spectacular, the veteran Philadelphia hip-hop group appeared to have little option but to tour non-stop to make ends meet.They resolved this situation in a most ingenious manner by becoming the house band on J
  
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• Ed Sheeran review: a singer, an acoustic guitar, an effects pedal – a triumph

  12-07-2015 14:10
  
  Wembley Stadium, London
  Sheeran commands the vast stage on his own for two hours and thrills the 87,000 audience without any pyrotechnics or grand spectacleA tiny figure, dwarfed by the Wembley Stadium stage, Ed Sheeran peers out at the audience. “There are,” he says, with an unmistakably nervous laugh, “a hell of a lot of you in here”. Apparently 87,000 tickets have been shifted for the first of his three nights here, an event so momentous, he notes, that they’re recording a live vide
  
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• Taylor Swift Celebrates With US Women's Football Team

  12-07-2015 12:25
  
  Pop star welcomes squad on stage at concert...
  
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• MTV Review: Ed Sheeran Absolutely Smashes Wembley Stadium Show

  12-07-2015 12:14
  
  He is without a doubt the world's best one-man band...
  
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• Canada-born dramatic tenor Jon Vickers dies at 88

  12-07-2015 12:10
  
  LONDON (AP) — The Royal Opera House says Canada-born opera singer John Vickers, nicknamed "God's tenor" for his voice and his Christian beliefs, has died. He was 88.
  
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• Badly Drawn Boy: ‘Music has saved me in a lot of ways’

  12-07-2015 12:00
  
  It’s 15 years since Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, became a household name by winning the Mercury prize with his much-loved debut, The Hour of Bewilderbeast. As he prepares to tour the album, he explains how his career hit the skids, and why he’s ready to make amendsLike so many great debut albums, when Badly Drawn Boy’s The Hour of Bewilderbeast was released – 15 years ago last month – it seemed to somehow both capture the zeitgeist and convey a magical timeless quality. “More th
  
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• Say Goodbye To Kylie Jenner's Blue Hair And Hello To Cornrows

  12-07-2015 11:47
  
  Reality TV star shows off new barnet after just a few days...
  
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• We've Seen The First Footage From X-Men: Apocalypse And It Is Incredible

  12-07-2015 10:52
  
  MTV among lucky fans given first peek at next instalment in franchise...
  
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• Batman v Superman Gets Stunning Full-Length Trailer At Comic-Con

  12-07-2015 10:28
  
  Director Zack Snyder shows up for San Diego event in Batmobile...
  
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• King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard review – weird warriors wig out

  12-07-2015 10:00
  
  Scala, London
  The latest Australian psychedelic garage export are a barrel of contradictions, but it works - strange time signatures, flute solos, two drummers and allIn between rapid-fire riffs, Stu Mackenzie has a chew of his guitar strings. His long, spindly legs, clad in brown cutoffs and ending with scuffed boots, are splayed in a wild lunge that seems to poke fun at guitarist histrionics, even as he risks collapse.Although the wild-haired Mackenzie is pretty much the King Gizzard in the li
  
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• Years & Years: Communion review – pastel chords and obvious key changes

  12-07-2015 10:00
  
  (Polydor)It is easy to be mistrustful of actors; faking it well is their business. As many will know, given the band’s handful of nagging singles – the ubiquitous, chart-topping King; the older but equally persistent Desire – Years & Years singer Olly Alexander first made his name on the small screen, as a stalker-ish photographer in Skins. (In mitigation, he also had a part in Skins’ antimatter, Stuart Murdoch’s film God Help the Girl.)The charge sheet doesn’t stop there. Y&
  
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• Rachel Sermanni: Tied to the Moon review – richer with swagger

  12-07-2015 10:00
  
  (Middle of Nowhere Recordings)Rachel Sermanni, at the age of just 23, is quietly proving herself to be one of Britain’s most promising folk artists. Tied to the Moon is a captivating follow-up to her 2012 debut, Under Mountains, offering a richer, darker take on the soft folk of that record. With its driving electric guitars and dreamy chorus, the album opener, Run, showcases Sermanni’s stunning voice and newfound swagger. Her lyrics shine through the slower songs – “How am I? I can’t
  
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• Little Boots: Working Girl review – sharp, recherché electropop

  12-07-2015 10:00
  
  (On Repeat)Refined, savvy pop music always has a job competing against its more lurid and lowest common denominator counterpart. This is Victoria “Little Boots” Hesketh’s third album of recherché electropop and, like its predecessors, Nocturnes (2013) and Hands (2009), it packs a selection of nagging tunes that could easily light up the mainstream as, say, the Pet Shop Boys once did, if rave-ified R&B didn’t exert such a stranglehold on the charts. Lead single Better in the Mo
  
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• Gerhard Richter/Arvo Pärt; David Matthews: Toward Sunrise; Sacconi Quartet – review

  12-07-2015 09:00
  
  Whitworth gallery, Manchester International festival; Lichfield festival
  Gerhard Richter’s paintings and Arvo Pärt’s music complement each other perfectly
  Judging by the warm smiles, joyful tears and gleeful hugs between them, Manchester international festival nurtured a profound friendship when it introduced two of the world’s great artists, Gerhard Richter and composer Arvo Pärt, and suggested they work together. It’s a match made in heaven.Richter has a long, symbiotic relations
  
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• Sleaford Mods: Key Markets review – vivid, furious pictures of Britain

  12-07-2015 09:00
  
  (Harbinger Sound)
  Nottingham duo Sleaford Mods were one of 2014’s least likely success stories, Jason Williamson’s furious stream-of-consciousness abstractions and Andrew Fearn’s primitive beats seemingly at odds with all other prevailing sounds. Any worries that wider approval might have dimmed Williamson’s anger prove to be unfounded: Key Markets finds him railing against politicians – Clegg, Miliband (“a chirping cunt”), Boris Johnson – as well as less obvious targets, includi
  
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• Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos review – a mixed double

  12-07-2015 09:00
  
  Arabella Steinbacher (violin), Charles Dutoit, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
  (Pentatone)Munich-born violinist Arabella Steinbacher, now in her early 30s and well-established internationally, has coupled two of the best-loved romantic concertos here, performing with the experienced partnership of Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR). The results are mixed. She and Dutoit favour a long-breathed but mannered approach to the Mendelssohn, lingering on detail sometimes to the d
  
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• Krept & Konan: The Long Way Home review – hip-hop that takes cues from dancehall, trap and grime

  12-07-2015 09:00
  
  (Virgin EMI)A good portion of this debut from hotly tipped south London rappers Krept & Konan, who bagged a lucrative record deal and various awards in the wake of a hit 2013 mixtape, is spent puzzling over their recent success. How have they managed to make rap pay when so many others struggle and fail? If their reaction sounds subdued, it’s in tune with the music: hard-edged rhymes over slow, austere production that takes cues from trap and dancehall as well as grime. Mainstream exposure
  
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• Tina May and Enrico Pieranunzi: Home Is Where the Heart Is review – delightful

  12-07-2015 09:00
  
  (33 Jazz)There’s so much to absorb in these nine pieces that, after two concentrated listenings, I’m sure there’s a lot more to take in. Enrico Pieranunzi, pianist and composer (and former professor of music), is one of Europe’s leading jazz stars, while the extravagantly gifted jazz vocalist Tina May should need no introduction. She has written lyrics that match his rangy melodies so well they now belong together. One song has words in both English and French, another contains a lyric a
  
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• Iness Mezel: Strong review – upbeat and contemplative

  12-07-2015 09:00
  
  (Wrasse)The French-Algerian singer’s previous album, Beyond the Trance, focused on her north African heritage, helped by the rousing production of Justin Adams. This fourth album opts for a broader palette, mixing up-tempo pieces such as the clattering Izha Wuliw, sung in the Berber language, and contemplative, semi-acoustic numbers such as Eau fil de l’eau and Just For Me (she sings in English for the first time). Producer John Reynolds, another veteran fusioneer, puts Mezel’s flowing voc
  
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• Bob Chilcott: The Angry Planet review – touching innocence of young choirs

  12-07-2015 08:00
  
  (Signum)Bob Chilcott’s The Angry Planet caused a stir when it premiered at the Proms in 2012. A heartfelt cry for sense in the climate-change debate, its power lay in the simplicity of children’s voices - tomorrow’s adults and inheritors of the mess that today’s generation is leaving for them. This recording, which uses similar forces to that first performance, is again directed by David Hill and expertly weaves the professionalism of the BBC Singers and Bach Choir with the touching inno
  
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• Biber: Sonatae tam Aris quam Aulis Servientes review – wonderful music

  12-07-2015 08:00
  
  (Challenge)Don’t be put off by the title: this is wonderful music, and all the words indicate is that the pieces can be used in church or court. Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber is the finest of the 17th-century Bohemian baroque composers whose music explores the rich sonorities of strings and brass. There is great instrumental variety here, as violin and violas antiphonally echo or imitate two trumpets, and while there is limited harmonic interest compared with the later baroque, what you get in th
  
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• Sophie Hunter: the opera director who has to dodge paparazzi

  12-07-2015 01:05
  
  Marriage to Benedict Cumberbatch has brought her fame, but her focus is on avant-garde productionsIf you want something done, so they say, ask a busy mother. This advice may well hold true, but if the mother in question is Sophie Hunter, wife of Benedict Cumberbatch, then it is best not to refer to her new maternal status.Although fans gathered on Valentine’s Day last year to catch a glimpse of her Isle of Wight wedding to the star of Sherlock, and paparazzi have swooped this month for shots o
  
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