Music news

• Converge: The Dusk in Us review – glorious adventures in extreme noise

  02-11-2017 23:30
  (Epitaph)Jane Doe, the 2001 album from Boston quartet Converge, is one of the landmark works in the recent history of heavy music, a ferocious, highly technical and wildly inventive blend of punk, hardcore, math and metal that influenced almost every similarly minded band that has followed in its wake. While Converge have never since been able to replicate that shock of the new, they are remarkably consistent, with each new album finding surprising areas of extreme noise to explore. The Dusk in
  
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• Rabit: Les Fleurs Du Mal review – dancefloor deconstructed too far

  02-11-2017 23:15
  (Halcyon Veil)In underground clubbing there has been a recent vogue for “deconstructed” tracks; agglomerations of barely rhythmic noise that can prove brutally funky. Rabit, a producer who previously created icy grime-like tracks and blasts of apocalyptic techno, has now deconstructed to the point of collapse, and subsequent tedium. With its whirrs of brooding machinery and foreboding, far-off storms, Les Fleurs Du Mal is more sound design than music, and while second-to-second it is
  
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• Shamir: Revelations review – skyscraping indiepop outsider

  02-11-2017 23:00
  (Father/Daughter)Things haven’t gone swimmingly for 22-year-old Shamir Bailey since he made a splash with his 2015 debut, Ratchet. The androgynous Las Vegan was dropped by his record label and hospitalised with mental-health issues. However, strife has produced a rebirth. The debut’s shimmering postmodern disco has been ditched for a lo-fi but somehow bigger sound, which mixes Pixies-type basslines and skyscraping, 60s girl-group pop. The countertenor sings with an emotional, otherwo
  
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• Maroon 5: Red Pill Blues review – impeccable pop and middling R&B

  02-11-2017 22:45
  (Polydor)Quite how Maroon 5 have become one of the world’s biggest groups might seem a mystery worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. But, as Sherlock Holmes was wont to say: once you have removed the impossible, what remains – however unlikely – must be the truth. And what remains are a handful of impeccably structured pop songs – the likes of This Love and Moves Like Jagger – that are enough to generate Maroon 5’s huge popularity. On their sixth album, that conti
  
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• Universal Orlando’s Fast & Furious - Supercharged Ride Looks Bananas

  02-11-2017 21:32
  In the immortal words of Gwen Stefani…
  
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• Readers recommend: share songs to end a mixtape

  02-11-2017 21:00
  Make your nomination in the comments and a reader will pick the best eligible tracks for a playlist next week – you have until Monday 6 November This week we’re looking for songs that you have used to end a mixtape, or songs at the end of a mixtape made especially for you. For more on how to interpret the theme, keep an eye on the comments.You have until 11pm on Monday 6 November to post your nomination and make your justification. Regular RR contributor Paul Hayes, who posts as Fuel
  
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• Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet: Jersey review – impressive acoustic set from groove drummer

  02-11-2017 20:00
  (Motema)You hear a lot of 20th-century jazz history in New Jersey drummer Mark Guiliana – often tweaked by plenty of 21st-century electronics and dance grooves. Guiliana (who played on David Bowie’s Blackstar) can sound as metronomic as a drum machine, but can also readily soar on the turbulent crosscurrents of Coltrane legend Elvin Jones, or Miles Davis star Tony Williams. Jersey is the impressive second release by Guiliana’s all-acoustic Jazz Quartet. The opener turns cryptic
  
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• Fred Hersch: Open Book review – a world of teeming melodic colour

  02-11-2017 19:45
  (Palmetto)There’s no such thing as a casual listen to a Fred Hersch recording. Diving into the American pianist/composer’s work is no cold shower, though, but a trip into an enchanting world of teeming melodies, rich colours and criss-crossing stories. Like Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau, Hersch is a brilliant solo artist, and Open Book is a mix of originals and covers built around Through the Forest, a remarkable total-improv performance from a 2016 concert in Seoul. This 20-minute
  
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• O'Hooley & Tidow: WinterFolk review – glowing, and chilling, seasonal songs

  02-11-2017 19:30
  (No Masters)It’s only just November, but here come the seasonal, white-frosted songs. Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow’s festive offering is piano-drizzled and string-glistened, its sound as comforting on the ears as favourite jumpers on the body on dark, icy mornings. Comprising reimaginings of their back catalogue, plus a few traditionals and modern covers, some of its subjects are tougher than you’d expect. Winter Folk Carol is a beautiful a cappella original about lon
  
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• Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino: Canzoniere review – easy ballads and full-tilt pizzica

  02-11-2017 19:15
  (Ponderosa Records)Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino have built a deserved global following by specialising in pizzica, the hypnotic music of south-east Italy reputed to cure spider bites, with its pounding frame drums, violin, accordion, bagpipes and harmony vocals. They have always mixed traditional and contemporary influences, and here their songwriter Mauro Durante collaborates with European and US writers, including the album’s producer, Joe Mardin, who has worked with Aretha Franklin. I
  
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• James Holden & the Animal Spirits: The Animal Spirits review – shimmering astral jazz

  02-11-2017 19:00
  (Border Community)James Holden is an Oxford University maths graduate turned DJ, producer and synth wizard who made his name with a suitably cerebral variety of Aphex Twin-inspired rave music. In the last decade, he’s forsaken DJing to front a live band that mixes minimalism, astral jazz and the rhythmic textures of north African gnawa music. The results are often joyous. Spinning Dance overlays Alice Coltrane’s rattling percussion with shamanic drones and ecstatic, burbling flute im
  
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• Zayn Says New Album Is '90% Done', Is Working With Timbaland

  02-11-2017 18:59
  The 'Dusk Till Dawn' singer plans to drop it in the next few months...
  
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• Fashion Fix: Kendall Jenner's Halloween Outfit Is Beyond Risqué And Christmas Jumpers Are Back With A Vengeance

  02-11-2017 18:20
  Everything you need to catch up on if you've been living under a rock for a week.
  
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• Uri Caine review – master improviser moves from Mozart to Monk

  02-11-2017 17:59
  Vortex Jazz Club, London
  The Philadelphia pianist’s jazz-classical crossover takes plenty of liberties with much loved tunes but never loses sight of their enduring magicThe pure of heart used to sniff at jazz-classical crossovers as tending to be more interesting than successful, but, over two decades, US pianist and composer Uri Caine has been inventively and entertainingly proving the naysayers wrong. Caine is a piano improviser with a mastery of jazz from ragtime to freebop, but his yo
  
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• Get to Know: Phoebe Bridgers

  02-11-2017 17:21
  We caught up with the exciting new artist to find out a little bit more about her and her music...
  
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• Lady Gaga Is 'Born To Dare' In Tudor Campaign

  02-11-2017 17:11
  The 'Million Reasons' singer goes full Gaga for the watch collection...
  
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• 13 Reasons Disney’s DuckTales Reboot Is Simply Quacktastic

  02-11-2017 17:08
  Catch DuckTales ‘Woo-oo’ special on Saturday 4th November at 9.30am on Disney Channel.
  
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• Martinů: The Epic of Gilgamesh CD review – confidence and colour for an ancient text

  02-11-2017 17:00
  Crowe/Staples/Welton/Martinik/Callow/Prague Philharmonic Choir/Czech Philharmonic/Honeck
  (Supraphon)In 1955, Bohuslav Martinů was a composer in exile looking back to the most ancient of texts for answers to life’s enduring questions. His secular cantata The Epic of Gilgamesh was initially a success yet never caught on in the way of, say, Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, which it initially seems to emulate in its clear declamation, nervy rhythmic drive and colourful orchestrati
  
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• Bling King: Elvis Presley's glam tour outfits go on display

  02-11-2017 16:55
  More than 200 artefacts from Graceland – jumpsuits included– give London fans colourful picture of singer’s life on the roadThere is the wildly impractical Fringe suit that got caught up in guitar leads and microphone cables, the ornate Spanish Flower suit complete with a 20lb cape, and of course the Black Phoenix suit that was originally created as a zebra.“Elvis looked at the design upside down and said ‘that’s a weird looking bird,’” explained G
  
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• Beethoven: Violin Concerto CD review – Ehnes is eloquent and understated

  02-11-2017 16:40
  Ehnes/RLPO/Manze
  (Onyx)James Ehnes here for the first time on disc takes on the warhorse that is the Beethoven Violin Concerto, and the result is more than worth the wait: the Canadian violinist does an uncommonly good job of giving this colossal and not unrepetitive masterpiece shape, taking the long view of every phrase, and making the music speak in whole paragraphs. His playing may be understated, but it is as secure and eloquent in the tricksy Kreisler cadenzas as it is in the unadorned mel
  
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• Camila Cabello Is A Carefree Fashion Queen In GUESS Jeans Campaign

  02-11-2017 16:31
  The 'Havana' star es muy caliente in the summer-y winter collection...
  
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• Kim Kardashian And Demi Lovato Fans Battle Over Selena Quintanilla Costume

  02-11-2017 16:30
  Can't we all just agree that both ladies looked sensational?
  
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• Sibelius: Tapiola, En Saga, 8 Songs CD review – freshness and glitter with Anne Sofie von Otter

  02-11-2017 16:20
  Von Otter/Finnish Radio SO/Lintu
  (Ondine)Here is another addition to the flood of high-calibre Sibelius recordings prompted by the composer’s 150th anniversary two years ago. To mark that occasion, Finland’s current grand old man of composition, Aulis Sallinen picked eight of Sibelius’s songs and reworked the piano parts for orchestra. The voice he had in mind was Anne Sofie von Otter’s and she sings them beautifully here. Sallinen strikes a skilful balance between a dark
  
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• Selena Gomez and Marshmello Release Vertical 'Wolves' Video

  02-11-2017 16:17
  This is gorgeous...
  
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• Sam Smith: The Thrill of It All review – sanitised soul meets genuine despair | Alexis Petridis' album of the week

  02-11-2017 16:00
  An outpouring of authentically moving romantic misery, this could have joined the ranks of the all-time great breakup albums – if only the backing music weren’t so staleAs Sam Smith recently tearfully confessed to a New York Times journalist, the songs on his second album were provoked by the collapse of a five-month relationship. On the one hand, this sounds like a pretty sad state of affairs. On the other, you can’t help thinking: ker-ching! It’s over 60 years since Fra
  
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• Posadas: Sombras CD review – slow reveal of consummately performed mystery

  02-11-2017 16:00
  Sun/Rosman/Quatuor Diotima
  (Naive)Pieces for string quartet figure very prominently in Alberto Posadas’ output. The Spanish composer’s five-movement Liturgia Fractal is one of the most impressive quartets of recent times, and it is the three movements involving string quartet that provide the framework for the arc-like structure of Sombras, a 75-minute sequence inspired by The Book of Delusions by the Romanian philosopher and nihilist Emil Cioran. A lengthy setting for soprano and qu
  
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• Float like a butterfly, sing like a soprano ... how Muhammad Ali's epic life became an opera

  02-11-2017 15:30
  Teddy Abrams, the director of the Louisville Orchestra, tells us why The Greatest – his ‘opera-rap-oratorio mashup’ – is the perfect way to tell the story of the local legend who changed boxing and America for everAmong the many tributes to Muhammad Ali – books, films, documentaries, exhibitions and plays – an immersive orchestral experience might be one of the least expected. But in Louisville, Kentucky, the boxer’s birthplace, the ambitious young maest
  
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• ASOS Launch A 'Try Before You Buy' Service And We've Never Been More Ready

  02-11-2017 15:29
  We have a sneaky feeling they're hoping we'll keep the lot.
  
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• Margot Robbie Is Tonya Harding In Insane New Trailer For I, Tonya

  02-11-2017 15:25
  And she's set to get even more batsh*t cray than Harley Quinn.
  
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• 12 TV Co-Stars Who Had Major Long Running Feuds

  02-11-2017 15:19
  Imagine working together 15 hours a day pretending to be BFFs. Grim...
  
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• Steven Van Zandt webchat – post your questions now!

  02-11-2017 15:05
  Whether it’s mafia bosses or the Boss, Steven Van Zandt has packed a lot in – and now he’s back on the road for his first UK tour in 25 years. He’ll be answering your questions from 1pm on Monday 6 November 2017 12.28pm GMTFor years, Steven Van Zandt was known mostly as Little Steven – bandana-clad guitarist for The E Street Band and Bruce Springsteen’s right-hand man during his rise to arena-straddling fame. Van Zandt had knocked around in Jersey Shore bands
  
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• Best Beauty Brands For Diverse Skin Tones

  02-11-2017 14:56
  This is how you do it.
  
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• Taylor Swift Is Releasing A Song Titled 'Call It What You Want' Tomorrow

  02-11-2017 14:22
  We cannot wait to hear this...
  
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• A life in music: Robert Plant on Led Zeppelin, Alison Krauss and his endless wanderlust

  02-11-2017 14:02
  In our series where great musicians tell the stories behind memorable records from their back catalogue, the Led Zep frontman discusses his enduring love for Patty Griffin and why he’s happiest in the land of cider, Wolves and Welsh mythology
  “I’m 17, full of myself, in a youth club with Noddy Holder …” It’s a warm-boned autumn afternoon in London’s Primrose Hill, and Robert Plant, 69, is luminous as a cartoon lion, a Soul Jazz records T-shirt tight ove
  
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• Miguel Unveils Stunning 'War & Leisure' Album Artwork

  02-11-2017 13:23
  The 'Sky Walker' singer's album must be coming soon...
  
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• Let's dance: unseen images of David Bowie on tour in 1983

  02-11-2017 13:23
  The images in Denis O’Regan’s new book Ricochet: David Bowie 1983 are candid chronicle of the singer performing and offstage during his Serious Moonlight world tour Continue reading...
  
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• Little Mix Surprise Fan with Glory Days Tour Tickets on Twitter

  02-11-2017 13:21
  This is too cute...
  
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• Rihanna Is Reportedly Releasing Another New Single Next Week

  02-11-2017 13:02
  We need this in our lives now...
  
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• Readers recommend playlist: songs about redemption

  02-11-2017 13:00
  Primal Scream, Grateful Dead and Van Morrison lead the call for atonement and renewal
  Here is this week’s playlist – songs picked by a reader from hundreds of suggestions on last week’s callout. Thanks for taking part. Read more about how our weekly series works at the end of the piece.Redemption is a common theme in religion, though my idea for this topic was shaped more by movies and TV shows: I mentioned a favourite, My Name Is Earl, in the callout. The idea that one can att
  
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• Liam Payne Shares Adorable Video Of Baby Bear For The Very First Time

  02-11-2017 12:53
  He and Cheryl have been fiercely guarding their son's privacy. Up until now...
  
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• The unlikely return of PP Arnold: 'I put myself in God's hands'

  02-11-2017 12:51
  She fled an abusive husband to tour with Ike & Tina, was brought to swinging London by Mick Jagger, and ended up singing for the KLF. Now the soul great has dusted off a lost album produced by Eric Clapton and Barry GibbI meet PP Arnold in the top-floor restaurant of a hotel in London’s West End. The windows offer a panoramic view of central London, which turns out to be perfect for illustrating her conversation. You can see Regent’s Park, where Mick Jagger took her for a walk af
  
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• Lady Gaga Is Engaged To Christian Carino

  02-11-2017 12:41
  Looks like the pop star found herself a Good Romance...
  
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• Shawn Mendes And Hailey Baldwin Were Spotted ‘Holding Hands’ So Does This Mean They’re Dating?

  02-11-2017 12:02
  We need to know if Shailey is alive and well or if we’re just barking up the wrong tree entirely.
  
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• Single AF Spoiler Video: Marnie Simpson Gives Casey Johnson A Willy Rating After Seeing It For The First Time During Their Naked Skinny Dipping Session

  02-11-2017 12:00
  Don't miss brand new Single AF, Tuesdays at 10pm on MTV!
  
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• Gemma Collins Hits Back At Cruel Trolls With Defiant Message About Body Confidence

  02-11-2017 11:58
  The TOWIE star DGAF if you don't like her mesh swimsuit.
  
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• Beyoncé Officially Joins Disney's The Lion King Remake

  02-11-2017 11:52
  Queen Bey leads the all-star cast for the Disney remake...
  
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• Chrissy Teigen Just Discovered A Game-Changing Secret iPhone Feature

  02-11-2017 11:45
  Technology is both incredible and super creepy. Will you be utilising this pretty wild feature?
  
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• Sam Smith and Fifth Harmony Team Up for Epic Carpool Karaoke

  02-11-2017 11:41
  This is incredible...
  
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• EXCLUSIVE: Calvin Harris Releases Behind the Scenes Video of 'Faking It' with Kehlani and Lil Yachty

  02-11-2017 11:32
  You need to watch this...
  
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• These Single AF Spoiler Pics From Episode 3 Need To Be Seen RN!

  02-11-2017 11:23
  Don't miss BRAND NEW Single AF on Tuesdays at 10pm - only on MTV!
  
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