Music news

• James Arthur Reveals Plans To Quit The UK And Move To Hollywood

  26-03-2017 15:07
  
  The Say You Won't Let Go singer wants a life in the California sun
  
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• Adele Admits Her Toddler Son Has Learnt How To Swear After Copying Her

  26-03-2017 14:44
  
  Is this any f**king surprise?
  
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• Aaron Chalmers Says He Has Made Up With Lewis Bloor But They Might Still Fight For Charity

  26-03-2017 14:22
  
  The lads previously engaged in a public war of tweets
  
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• Craig David review – resurrected Romeo pays homage to a fallen playa

  26-03-2017 14:02
  
  O2 Arena, London
  Date night is sold out for the UK garage pioneer who proves he has moved beyond Bo’ Selecta! with humility and DJing abilityIt’s date night at the O2: thousands of long-established – by the look of things – couples are gearing up for a Saturday night with the man who could well have provided the playlist for their first kisses. As with half the shows on Craig David’s first arena tour in 15 years, this one is sold out, and, throughout, there’s
  
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• Marty McKenna Can't Tell If He And Chloe Ferry Are Friends As He Can't "Keep Up With Her Mood Swings"

  26-03-2017 14:00
  
  The former lovers are friends. Maybe.
  
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• Scotty T Claims He Is Now The Biggest Ladies Man On Geordie Shore

  26-03-2017 13:20
  
  He thinks he's overtaken Gaz as the ladies man of the show
  
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• Marnie Simpson And Lewis Bloor Are Stuck Sharing A Flat Together Despite Breaking Up

  26-03-2017 12:58
  
  The ex-lovers are stuck together for the time being
  
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• Khloe Kardashian And Girls Aloud Congratulate Cheryl And Liam Payne - But All Of One Direction Seem To Ignore The Happy News

  26-03-2017 12:25
  
  Girls Aloud stars express joy, One Direction stars express nothing at all
  
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• Harry Styles Steals Liam Payne And Cheryl's Thunder With Shock Debut Album Release Announcement

  26-03-2017 11:54
  
  Liam and Cheryl's baby isn't the only thing to arrive
  
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• The Jesus and Mary Chain: Damage and Joy review – a return of two halves

  26-03-2017 10:00
  
  (ADA/Warner Music)
  The Reid brothers’ first album since 1998 contains old and new songs and moments of pure blissThere is guitar music driven by testosterone and showboating, and then there is rock’n’roll made by anaemic runts with a sneer. If you are at all receptive to passive-aggressive siren songs, you’ll have heard of Scotland’s Jesus and Mary Chain.A pair of dyspeptic brothers (and a supporting cast of long-suffering helpmeets), their misanthropic sulking has
  
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• Raekwon: The Wild review – a welcome return to form

  26-03-2017 10:00
  
  (IceH2O/Empire)If 2015’s disjointed Fly International Luxury Art groaned under the weight of its big-name guest spots, Raekwon’s seventh solo album finds him operating a more selective door policy. While Cee-Lo Green (on a heartfelt tribute to Marvin Gaye) and Lil Wayne both feature, tellingly there isn’t a single cameo from any of his Wu-Tang colleagues. The more direct style works well, the Chef’s own slick flow getting far greater prominence. Imperi
  
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• Formation: Look at the Powerful People review – too little, too late

  26-03-2017 10:00
  
  (Warner Bros/Meno)As the career of rappers the Mitchell Brothers illustrates, an endorsement from Mike Skinner is no guarantee of success. The Streets star’s current favourites, south London band Formation – founded by twins Will and Matt Ritson – might have been a more enticing proposition had they emerged in the early 00s. Their snarling debut album, all cowbells and warped grooves, is competent punk-funk that rarely deviates from the model established by the Rapture and LCD
  
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• Drake: More Life review – high-quality filler

  26-03-2017 10:00
  
  (Island)Billed as “A Playlist by October Firm”, these 22 tracks of new music from Drake and guests reflect the desire of a big hitter – who “keeps the lights on in the building” (Can’t Have Everything) – to put out an album without industry song and dance. Cohesion is not vital, so grime MCs such as Skepta (Skepta Interlude), UK “road rap” proponents like Giggs (duetting on No Long Talk, grandstanding on KMT) and a South African producer call
  
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• Andy Scott & Group S: Ruby and All Things Purple review – the joy of sax

  26-03-2017 10:00
  
  (Basho)You haven’t heard what the saxophone is capable of until you’ve heard a mixed bunch of them – from tiny sopranino to monster bass – in the hands of nine virtuosi, playing compositions by Andy Scott. Jazz is just one ingredient in a style that also ranges freely through modern classical and world music. Of all wind instruments, the saxophone has the most flexible, almost human, tone of voice, and it’s Scott’s mastery of this that makes these 12 pieces so
  
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• Thundercat review – adventurous ace of bass

  26-03-2017 09:00
  
  Gorilla, Manchester
  The gifted bassist and Kendrick Lamar sidekick twists fusion, soul and hip-hop into magical shapesContrary to the lamentations of Ryan Gosling’s Sebastian in La La Land, jazz is enjoying a surprising moment in the sun. Few would have predicted that the most acclaimed albums of the past two years would be partnerships with forward-thinking jazz musicians. On last year’s Blackstar, the versatility and dynamism of Donny McCaslin’s band enabled David Bowie to ma
  
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• Orchestra Baobab: Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng review – a sumptuous return

  26-03-2017 09:00
  
  (World Circuit)When Latin styles crossed to West Africa in the 1970s, a beautiful hybrid was born. Senegal’s Orchestra Baobab distilled Afro-Cubana to perfection on 1982’s Pirate’s Choice, though it was 20 years before the west discovered their genius and they reformed. Producer Nick Gold, of Buena Vista fame, doesn’t fix what ain’t broke; this first album in a decade purrs along, a sumptuous matrix of slinky rhythms, soaring voices and tooting saxophones. Foulo and
  
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• James Blunt: The Afterlove review – likable isn’t listenable

  26-03-2017 08:55
  
  (Atlantic)“I’ve been called a dick/ I’ve been called so many things,” sings go-to musical punchline James Blunt in the opening lines of his fifth album, on which he twice makes reference to his 2004 millstone megahit You’re Beautiful. He’s made a lot of capital recently out of this self-aware sense of humour, mainly via self-deprecating Twitter quips. But likable isn’t listenable , and it’s hard to stomach the everyman shtick from an Old Harrovian
  
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• The First Commandment; Madama Butterfly review – child's play at the opera

  26-03-2017 08:30
  
  St John’s Smith Square; Royal Opera House, London
  A rare performance of 11-year-old Mozart’s The First Commandment works a treat. And Ermonela Jaho triumphs in Madama ButterflyWhatever preconceptions you might have about an opera by an 11-year-old, even if the wonder child in question is Mozart, The First Commandment shatters them all. Written for Lent 1767 but far from pious and at times scurrilous, Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots – literally “the obligation of the fi
  
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• Music for the 100 Years’ War CD review – the full early English

  26-03-2017 08:25
  
  The Binchois Consort/Kirkman
  (Hyperion)The mysterious and influential John Dunstaple (c1390-1453) is the best known of the composers here. His Missa Da gaudiorum premia and Veni Sancte Spiritus are highlights on a fascinating disc. Commemorating the battle of Agincourt (1415) and other events in the hundred years war, this unaccompanied vocal music explores themes of kingship, martyrdom and nationhood. “England, hope for light for yourself/ after the turbulent darkness” commands the
  
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• Monteverdi, Sartorio, Rossi: La storia di Orfeo CD review – glorious Jaroussky

  26-03-2017 08:20
  
  Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor), Emöke Baráth (soprano), I Barocchisti/Fasolis(Erato)Orpheus, with or without his lute, is one of the most resonant figures in musical history, the inspiration for dramas from Monteverdi to Birtwistle. This cleverly assembled disc limits itself to the 17th century, and ranges from the Mantuan Orfeo of 1607 through to Antonio Sartorio’s little-known successor of 1672. The presiding genius is countertenor Philippe Jaroussky who sings gloriously (
  
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• Bruch: String Octet, String Quintets CD review – grace and verve

  26-03-2017 08:15
  
  The Nash Ensemble(Hyperion)You would never guess that these amiable, good-natured pieces were the product of Max Bruch’s declining years, or indeed that they were written at the end of the first world war, when his fellow Germans were facing severe privations at home and defeat at the front. As he sailed serenely past his 80th birthday, he chose to return to chamber music in a late flowering of creative endeavour. The always rewarding Nash Ensemble add warmth and grace to the sprightly Str
  
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