Music news

• Ex-JLS singer Oritse Williams denies rape claim

  11-12-2016 20:25
  Former JLS singer Oritse Williams has denied an allegation that he raped a fan in a hotel room after a concert. Williams, 30, was arrested by police following a gig in Wolverhampton last week. In a statement, his representatives from 10 Worlds Music UK said: "All we wish to say at this time is that Oritse denies the allegations against him.
  
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• Esma Redžepova, 'queen of Gypsy music', dies aged 73

  11-12-2016 19:37
  
  Leading voice of husband Stevo Teodosievski’s ensemble who represented Macedonia at the Eurovision song contest Esma Redžepova, one of the most powerful voices in the world of Gypsy music has died in Macedonia’s capital after a brief illness. She was 73.Called the “queen of Gypsy music,” Redžepova in 2010 was ranked among the 50 greatest voices in the world by National Public Radio. The news website Sakam Da Kazam reported that she died on Sunday. Continue readi
  
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• Macedonia queen of gypsy music dies at age 73

  11-12-2016 19:30
  
  SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Esma Redzepova, one of the most powerful voices in the world of Gypsy music, has died in Macedonia's capital after a brief illness, according to local media. She was 73.
  
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• Victoria Beckham shares first look at son Cruz's music video

  11-12-2016 17:08
  
  Cruz Beckham is already making a music video at the tender age of 11.
  
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• Scarlett Moffatt Tipped To Enter Celebrity Big Brother 2017?

  11-12-2016 16:41
  
  I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here 2016 winner Scarlett Moffatt might be going into the Celebrity Big Brother house in January 2017
  
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• Zoella Speaks Out Against Trolls And Raises Awareness About Anxiety

  11-12-2016 16:25
  
  YouTube star Zoella has been talking about the suffering she endures from online trolls and her past struggles with anxiety
  
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• Fans Go Crazy For Rogue One After Star Wars Premiere

  11-12-2016 15:58
  
  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had it's Los Angeles premiere on Saturday ahead of it's December 16 release date
  
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• OAE/Suzuki review – Bach's Christmas Oratorio is all joy

  11-12-2016 15:24
  
  Cadogan Hall, London
  The Japanese conductor got into the swing with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for a performance of slow-burning, propulsive energyOnce almost synonymous with his Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki has more recently been broadening his reach in terms of repertoire – Stravinsky, Mahler and even Fauré are now on his résumé – and the ensembles he works with. This performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, its six cantatas played
  
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• Rocco Ritchie Lands A Job As A Deliveroo Cyclist Following Drugs Bust

  11-12-2016 15:01
  
  Madonna and Guy Ritchie's oldest son Rocco has been hired by Deliveroo to deliver takeaway food as he gets first job after being busted for marijuana possession
  
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• Scotty T Rinses His Haters As He Hits Back At Panto Critics

  11-12-2016 14:43
  
  Geordie Shore's Scotty T is playing Prince Charming in panto until January and has taken on his critics on Twitter
  
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• Low review – merry Christmas from the Minnesotan miserablists

  11-12-2016 14:40
  
  St Luke’s, Glasgow
  Slowcore perennials summon an eerie, schmaltz-free festive spirit in a former church, with added feedback and headbangingResponsible for writing something even rarer than a white Christmas – a credible festive song, in the shape the softly jingling Just Like Christmas – American slowcore perennials Low have long been synonymous with this time of year in the minds of many listeners. All the more reason to rejoice, then, as they bring a Christmas themed tour of
  
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• Ferne McCann And Stephen Bear Set To Join Celebs Go Dating Second Series

  11-12-2016 13:45
  
  Reality stars Ferne McCann and Stephen Bear are hoping to find love on E4's Celebs Go Dating!
  
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• Did Kylie Jenner Just Diss Her Sister Kendall?

  11-12-2016 13:13
  
  What is "I'm the Kylie you're the Kendall" supposed to mean?
  
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• Louis Tomlinson Thanks Fans After Emotional X Factor Performance Dedicated To His Mum

  11-12-2016 12:20
  
  Louis Tomlinson performed his debut solo single on The X Factor hours after his mum died of leukaemia
  
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• ‘Nervous’ Patti Smith sings for Bob Dylan at Nobel prize ceremony – video

  11-12-2016 10:59
  
  A nervous Patti Smith sings ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ in Stockholm on Saturday, in a performance given to mark Bob Dylan’s Nobel prize for literature. Dylan, whose speech was read out by US ambassador to Sweden Azita Raji, says the prize was ‘something I never could have imagined or seen coming’Bob Dylan Nobel prize speech: this is ‘truly beyond words’
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• Neil Young: Peace Trail review – creatively loose protest songs

  11-12-2016 10:00
  
  (Reprise)Everything moves fast these days, including Neil Young, American rock’s vocal conscience. Young may not be over-fond of modernity, often inveighing against poor quality digital streaming, but the 10 songs that make up his 38th–ish studio album are the sonic equivalent of tweets: concise, swift and reactive.Lampooning our state of heightened anxiety, Young links it to xenophobia with skilful sarcasm Continue reading...
  
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• Kate Tempest review – a perfect storm

  11-12-2016 10:00
  
  The Ritz, Manchester
  Kate Tempest felt the love as she rhymed and rapped her way through her new album, Let Them Eat ChaosTonight’s gig begins a cappella, in space. We are standing in Manchester’s storied Ritz venue, but for the few minutes of Picture a Vacuum – the first track of Kate Tempest’s most recent album, Let Them Eat Chaos – we could be in a planetarium, or a documentary narrated by Brian Cox, or David Attenborough.The solar system is dangling in a dance a
  
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• Vaults: Caught in Still Life review – more than just the John Lewis ad

  11-12-2016 09:00
  
  (Virgin)The debut album from London three-piece Vaults is practically guaranteed success, given the inclusion of their cover of Randy Crawford’s One Day I’ll Fly Away on this year’s John Lewis Christmas ad. But it will be deserved, as this is an assured collection of commercially astute electronica. Indeed, such is the depth on show here, the single doesn’t even stand out on an album that’s laden with potential hits, from the irresistible, gospel-tinged Mi
  
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• New Orleans Funk Vol 4: Voodoo Fire in New Orleans 1951-77 – review

  11-12-2016 09:00
  
  (Soul Jazz)“Voodoo” here has little to do with zombies and all to do with the history of New Orleans, where religious practices and rhythms brought over from Africa became new forms. The Soul Jazz label has been putting out deep, dense and ear-popping compilations of vintage New Orleans party music since 2000; the well has not yet run dry on this superlative series, now in its fourth instalment. Styles and tempos vary; themes range from measuring up a man’s worth (Norma Jean&rs
  
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• Kurt Elling: The Beautiful Day review – flawless alternative Christmas album

  11-12-2016 09:00
  
  (OKeh/Sony)his album’s unlikely subtitle, Kurt Elling Sings Christmas, doesn’t signify wall-to-wall jingle bells. Read the three pages of notes if you want to know exactly where he stands, Christmas-wise. But if you want to hear a subtle, beautifully crafted and constantly surprising set of seasonal songs, just listen. The whole thing starts with bits of favourite carols, apparently thrown together at random, but in fact minutely layered. Along with his superb vocal technique, this a
  
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• Deadmau5: W:/2016ALBUM/ review – desperately lacking in personality

  11-12-2016 09:00
  
  (mau5trap)Masked pop-techno producer Deadmau5 has long been as famous for online beefs with Madonna and Kanye as for his music. His Twitter trolling is frequently hilarious, even as it hints at the underlying persona of a man who’d be at his happiest shouting up at an ex’s window at 2am about how he never cared anyway. This first album on his own mau5trap label will struggle to redress the balance back towards the tunes. When it’s good, it’s usually something that sounds
  
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• John Legend: Darkness and Light review – a late 2016 highlight

  11-12-2016 08:45
  
  (Columbia)Five albums into a career peppered with syrupy love songs, Darkness and Light opens with a statement of intent. “They say sing what you know, but I’ve sung what they want,” John Legend reflects on the sparse gospel of I Know Better, setting the tone for an album that interweaves the personal with 2016’s general aura of despondency (the closing song is called Marching into the Dark). Even when he’s in his comfort zone of singing about love, the production,
  
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• Christine Tobin: Pelt review – precise evocations of Paul Muldoon poems

  11-12-2016 08:45
  
  (Trail Belle)Christine Tobin has an affinity with poets. The New York-based Irish singer and composer has previously cut inspired albums of Leonard Cohen covers (A Thousand Kisses Deep and WB Yeats poems (Sailing to Byzantium) . Here she brings her rich voice and idiosyncratic arrangements to the work of the poet Paul Muldoon. The moods and styles are varied. Zoological Positivism Blues and Longbones hit wonky, Waitsian grooves animated by the guitar squalls of Phil Robson, Promises Promise
  
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• Bach: Actus Tragicus – Cantatas BMV 106, 150, 131, 12 CD review – winning purity

  11-12-2016 08:25
  
  Vox Luminis/Meunier
  (Alpha Classics)The Belgian group Vox Luminis pares everything down to the smallest forces. For these early cantatas, eight singers and nine instrumentalists are the maximum used. Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, or Actus Tragicus, is taken at a slow speed, convincing on repeated listening. Director, bass Lionel Meunier, plays one of two recorders that colour the sound in this ever consoling cantata. Other highlights: the dissonant lines of the sinfonia of BWV 150 (Nach d
  
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• Vejvanovský: Festive Baroque Music for Trumpets and Strings CD review – lively fanfares

  11-12-2016 08:20
  
  Ars Antiqua Austria/Letzbor(Pan Classics)If you are looking for some cheerful fanfares to brighten up your Christmas festivities, this will be just the thing. Pavel Josef Vejvanovský (1633-93) was the first trumpeter at the court of Kroměříž, which had one of the largest musical establishments of middle Europe in the 17th century. He wrote dazzling sonatas and suites for several trumpets and strings, many matched to occasions of the church year such as Christmas and
  
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• Prince remembered by Amma Asante

  11-12-2016 08:00
  
  7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016When the star asked to play at the premiere of her film Belle, it was the beginning of an unusual friendship, recalls the director• David Bowie remembered by Gail Ann Dorsey
  • Read the Observer’s obituaries of 2016 in full here For me, Prince was part of growing up – at home my brother and sister played him all the time. He was always there. There was never a question of, do you like Prince? It was obvious that you did, at least in my world.When m
  
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• Leonard Cohen remembered by Rufus Wainwright

  11-12-2016 08:00
  
  21 September 1934 - 7 November 2016
  The singer-songwriter – and father of Cohen’s granddaughter – recalls an intelligent, humorous, slightly scary presence• Read the Observer’s obituaries of 2016 in full hereIt’s quite weird to say that I got to know Leonard Cohen first as a person rather than an icon. I didn’t get into his music as a teenager – I was an opera fanatic from 13 – but my sister Martha did, so there we were, embarking on very dram
  
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• ‘He gave his musicians the freedom to play as a child plays – fearless and free’

  11-12-2016 08:00
  
  8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016
  The bassist in Bowie’s band remembers a towering creative force with a vision beyond music
  • Prince remembered by Amma Asante
  Bowie was smart… really smart. For someone who had allegedly done so many drugs, the wealth of intellect he possessed and exuded was astonishing. He used to tell me he was thankful I didn’t know him when he was on drugs, that I wouldn’t have liked him very much. I was thankful too, although I couldn&rsqu
  
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• Bob Dylan Nobel prize speech: this is 'truly beyond words'

  11-12-2016 01:20
  
  Songwriter sends a speech and Patti Smith to the Nobel awards dinner in Sweden rather than attending in personBob Dylan admitted he was stunned and surprised when he was told he had won a Nobel prize because he had never stopped to consider whether his songs were literature.Dylan, whose speech was read out by the US ambassador to Sweden at the annual awards dinner, said the prize was “something I never could have imagined or seen coming”.Continue reading...
  
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