Music news

• Nabihah Iqbal: Weighing of the Heart review – nostalgic, sweet pop and pristine beats

  30-11-2017 23:30
  (Ninja Tune)For the last few years, Nabihah Iqbal has been confecting bright and airy electronica as producer Throwing Shade. For her debut album, she bursts out from between the synths with a warm and fuzzy vocal-led collection of tracks that nod to both New Order-ish post-punk and the intimate dream pop of the early 90s. The record also recalls fellow Londoners Real Lies, whose layering of street-lamp lit synths and gutter/stars portraits of the city echo in tracks like Zone 1 to 6000. The lat
  
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• Van Morrison: Versatile review – lively trip through the swing songbook

  30-11-2017 23:15
  (Caroline) It’s evidently too late to stop now for Van Morrison. Just three months after Roll With the Punches, a record of the blues, he’s put out his 38th studio album. Versatile is a curious little joy of a record – largely standards from the pre-rock golden age of American songwriting, supplemented with a handful of Van originals (some rerecorded, some new – Take It Easy Baby’s opening chords bear a startling resemblance to the theme from Police Squad, itself a
  
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• Neil Young + Promise of the Real: The Visitor review – energised, pithily funny protest songs

  30-11-2017 23:15
  (Reprise)“I’m Canadian, by the way, and I love the USA”, begins the first of 10 songs which survey Donald Trump’s United States with a long-settled immigrant’s sorrowful and disdainful eye. However, Neil Young’s third album with (son of Willie) Lukas Nelson’s band shrewdly eschews stereotypical angry songs for warm, pretty and even funny protest music. At best, this is really effective. He responds to Trump’s “Make America great again”
  
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• Miguel: War & Leisure review – brilliantly imaginative pop

  30-11-2017 22:07
  (RCA)Having dropped acid on to his R&B sugar cube for his previous album, Wildheart, giving it a richly psychedelic flavour, Miguel continues his trip to create some of the most imaginative pop music around. The production is exceptional, with distorted guitars and ambient noise offset by whip-crack drum programming; moments of pure body-high pleasure, like Travis Scott’s Auto-Tuned arrival on Skywalker, the Latin strut of Caramelo Duro or the Prince-level funk of Told You So, are surr
  
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• Readers recommend: share songs about education

  30-11-2017 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 4 December It’s not quite the end of term so we’d this week like to hear your songs on the topic of education. For more on how to interpret the theme, keep an eye on the comments.
  You have until 11pm on Monday 4 December to post your nomination and make your justification. Regular RR contributor Andrew Morrissey (known as Makinavaja in the commen
  
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• Criolo: Espiral De Ilusão review – seamless samba with conscious lyrics

  30-11-2017 20:00
  (Sterns Music)Criolo’s latest album will startle many of his fans. The popular Brazilian rapper and singer is best known for mixing hip-hop with anything from reggae and funk to samba, but on this release, he switches exclusively to samba, with a relaxed set dominated by his often crooned, no-nonsense vocals, with backing provided not by keyboards and programming but by the tiny, guitar-like cavaquinho (played by a member of Pagode da 27, a neighbourhood samba project in São Paulo),
  
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• Mônica Vasconcelos: The São Paulo Tapes review – bossa nova with bite

  30-11-2017 19:45
  (Movas/Proper Records)Bossa nova might have been forged in a spirit of futurism and progress, but within a few years of its birth its leading songwriters had to address Brazil’s brutal military dictatorship. Here São Paulo-born, London-based singer Mônica Vasconcelos and producer Robert Wyatt collect 10 Brazilian protest songs from the 1960s and 70s. To avoid censorship, the original versions had cunningly disguised lyrics with blandly generalised expressions of love, longing
  
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• Andrew Bain: Embodied Hope review – drummer leads accessible, energetic set

  30-11-2017 19:30
  (Whirlwind)Edinburgh-born drummer Andrew Bain – a player with jazz and classical connections – was an impressive presence on the Mike Gibbs’ band’s recent UK tour. Bain’s Embodied Hope suite was recorded with three gifted Americans – pianist George Colligan, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, and London-resident bassist Michael Janisch – on their 2016 UK tour. Colligan’s hurtling fluency and Irabagon’s stylistic versatility (whether nailing a byzantin
  
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• Miguel Does The British Slanguage Test and It's High-larious

  30-11-2017 19:20
  The 'Pineapple Skies' singer learns a few things about British colloquialisms...
  
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• James & Dave Franco On What They Love About Each Other & CRAZIEST Auditions Ever

  30-11-2017 18:50
  The stars of The Disaster Artist reveal the thing they love most about working together, all the deets on Zac Efron’s cameo and more!
  
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• Cheryl and Nadine Coyle Celebrate Girls Aloud's 15th Anniversary

  30-11-2017 18:28
  The 'Can't Speak French' icons look back at their incredible legacy and careers...
  
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• Russell Simmons steps down from companies after new sex assault allegation

  30-11-2017 18:12
  The hip-hop mogul and Def Jam founder has said ‘I don’t want to be a distraction’ after he was accused by screenwriter Jenny Lumet of sexual intimidationRussell Simmons, the mogul who founded iconic hip-hop label Def Jam as well as a host of other companies, has stepped down from them after a fresh sexual assault allegation was made against him.The screenwriter Jenny Lumet, whose credits include Rachel Getting Married and The Mummy, and whose father is acclaimed director Sidney
  
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• Disturbing London’s A2 Drops ‘BLUE’ EP

  30-11-2017 18:00
  South London rapper A2 is back with his new EP ‘BLUE’ – Before Love Undoes Everything...
  
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• Olly Alexander Says New Years & Years Music Is Coming "Soon"

  30-11-2017 17:46
  Pop's funkiest hitmakers have been working on their second album for the past year...
  
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• Geordie Shore's Nathan Henry Just Had The Most Embarrassing Sex Toy Moment

  30-11-2017 17:19
  This is awkward AF.
  
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• Pauset: Canons CD review – cool precision and dense virtuosity

  30-11-2017 17:00
  Nicolas Hodges
  (Wergo, two CDs)Canons have been a feature of western music since at least the 13th century, and it seems that composers are still fascinated by their possibilities. Brice Pauset, the French-born, German-resident former pupil of Gérard Grisey has taken that fascination further than most; as well as these cycles of canons for solo piano, he has composed equivalent cycles for chamber ensemble and chamber orchestra.The 18 pieces in these four collections were composed between
  
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• BBCSO/Oramo – Hillborg premiere showcases Batiashvili's fearless playing

  30-11-2017 16:57
  Barbican, London
  Lisa Batiashvili gave a tonally rich, technically immaculate performance in the first UK outing for Hillborg’s colourful but contrived second violin concertoAnders Hillborg’s second violin concerto has travelled widely since Lisa Batiashvili, its dedicatee, gave the first performance in Stockholm in October last year, with Sakari Oramo conducting. Other violinists have taken it up, too, but it was Batiashvili who introduced it to the UK, as the centrepiece of the BBC
  
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• The BRITs Announce 2018 Critics' Choice Nominees

  30-11-2017 16:42
  It's an all-ladies club as Stefflon Don, Jorja Smith and Mabel are nominated this year...
  
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• Saint-Saëns: Works for Violin and Orchestra CD review – formidable fiddling by Yang

  30-11-2017 16:40
  Yang/Schwabe/Malmö SO/Soustrot
  (Naxos)Here is another winning addition to the Saint-Saëns series Marc Soustrotis conducting for Naxos. Anyone who enjoys hearing a good violinist showing off will probably already know the composer’s Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, perhaps also his heat-hazy Havanaise. The five less familiar pieces that join them on this disc also shine, partly because of the stylish pacing and playing of Soustrot and his orchestra, but also thanks to the intel
  
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• Zahida Allen Reveals Upsetting Reason She's Been 'Too Nervous' To Post On Instagram

  30-11-2017 16:26
  The former Ex On The Beach star has broken her silence after ghosting the app.
  
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• Debussy: Images CD review – Cho paints with transparency and exuberance

  30-11-2017 16:20
  Seong-Jin Cho
  (Deutsche Grammophon)Seong-Jin Cho made his name with Chopin. Now he brings his understated, coiled-spring pianism to Debussy, and his playing is riveting as ever. Cho studied in Paris, where he immersed himself in impressionist art, and indeed what comes across strongly here is how he makes each of these little pieces into a complete canvas: every adjustment of speed or volume finely weighted to keep the whole in balance. Yet there’s no sense he’s overthinking things.
  
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• Check Out These Exclusive Spoilers From Just Tattoo Of Us Series 2 Episode #10!

  30-11-2017 16:14
  Don't miss Just Tattoo Of Us on Mondays at 10pm - only on MTV!
  
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• TOWIE's Megan McKenna Hints At Heartbreak Over Pete Wicks Split

  30-11-2017 16:00
  The former Ex On The Beach babe seems adamant there won't be a reunion this time.
  
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• The Wagner Project CD review – velvet and jolts from Matthias Goerne

  30-11-2017 16:00
  Goerne/Swedish Radio SO/Harding
  (Harmonia Mundi)Other singers have Wagner discs, Matthias Goerne has a Wagner Project – which is typical of his probing approach to whatever he sings. This double CD teams him with conductor Daniel Harding and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in key monologues from the composer’s biggest baritone roles. He’s an unusually tender Wotan bidding farewell to his daughter, a contemplative rather than bluff Hans Sachs. Similarly, he lavishes velvet
  
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• LPO/Jurowski review – Marx's Autumn symphony overstays its welcome

  30-11-2017 15:55
  Royal Festival Hall, LondonThe London Philharmonic brought grandeur – and 10 percussionists – to this ripe evocation of a single autumn day, but the work felt bloated beside a more poetic seasonal reflection by RespighiVladimir Jurowski has long been admired for the adventurousness of his programming and his willingness to explore areas of the repertory from which other conductors have shied away. He has forced reappraisals of neglected works and composers, most notably, perhaps, Ale
  
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• Eugene Onegin review – Tatyana ditches the husband and much of the Tchaikovsky

  30-11-2017 15:50
  Arcola theatre, London
  It’s all shag-pile carpet, lace curtains and 60s cocktail hour in OperaUpClose’s reimagined version, which benefits the characters, especially Tatyana, if not the scoreOperas don’t always belong to their title characters. Tchaikovsky’s Pushkin–based Eugene Onegin, the latest work to get the OperaUpClose treatment, should really be called Tatyana, because the tragedy is all hers: as the curtain falls on a conventional production, Onegin is fina
  
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• BTS Perform 'MIC Drop' and Greatest Hits On Jimmy Kimmel Live!

  30-11-2017 15:39
  The K-Pop superstars put on an exclusive mini concert for their die-hard fans...
  
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• Casey Johnson Doesn't Want Marnie Simpson To Undergo Any More Cosmetic Surgery

  30-11-2017 15:33
  The Geordie Shore lass has always been upfront about her multiple surgical procedures.
  
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• A New X-Files Games Is Coming To Facebook & Mobile And It Looks CREEPY

  30-11-2017 15:27
  Will The X-Files: Deep State be as spooky as the TV show? Here are all the details.
  
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• Clarke Peters: from green hair to good times, Louis Jordan brought joy to my world

  30-11-2017 14:52
  Clarke Peters didn’t just grow up listening to Louis Jordan. The singing legend’s feelgood numbers also inspired his hit musical Five Guys Named Moe. With the show now revived for a new generation, he relives those hazy hellzapoppin’ daysMy first encounter with Louis Jordan must have been somewhere between my first breath and five years old. In 1957, rock’n’roll was everywhere and AM radio ruled the airwaves in the car and at home. On long rides to Jones Beach in Ne
  
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• Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus Cover Christmas Classics For Spotify

  30-11-2017 14:07
  Fifth Harmony, Sam Smith and Kelly Clarkson all appear on the gorgeous festive set...
  
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• Mavis Staples: ‘All that progress we made – and now we have a liar in the White House'

  30-11-2017 14:01
  For this month’s instalment, the singer – whose career spans the protest music of the 60s to Arcade Fire and Gorillaz – talks about the records that shaped her life and politics, from Mahalia Jackson and Dylan to Curtis Mayfield and her beloved friend Prince In a hotel room in Detroit, a 78-year-old woman is rasping down the phone. She can’t quite hear every word I say, as she spent last night in a loud theatre with her old boyfriend, Bob: “We talk about old times.&
  
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• All The Best Memes Of 2017

  30-11-2017 13:58
  Gone but not forgotten
  
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• Crash Karaoke: New MTV Series Swaps Cash For Karaoke In A Battle Like No Other

  30-11-2017 13:31
  Don't miss brand new Crash Karaoke on Friday at 10.30pm - only on MTV!
  
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• Chris Hughes Responds To Olivia Attwood Cheating Rumours: 'All Of Us Do Things We Shouldn't'

  30-11-2017 13:26
  The Love Island star admitted to being a 'drunk tw*t' after he was filmed with another woman.
  
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• Geordie Shore's Aaron Chalmers Has A Message For People Trolling His MMA Career

  30-11-2017 13:19
  He's also eyeing up two major fights in the future. Any guesses?
  
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• It's Here! Hyped Platformer Yooka-Laylee Is Finally Coming To Nintendo Switch

  30-11-2017 13:13
  But will it be better than Super Mario Odyssey? Here are all the details.
  
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• Get To Know: Kah-Lo

  30-11-2017 13:12
  We meet Riton's right-hand woman as she sets out on her solo domination...
  
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• Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé Releasing 'Perfect' Remix Tomorrow

  30-11-2017 13:05
  Queen Bey is hopping on the winter ballad for that Christmas Number 1 spot...
  
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• These Single AF Spoiler Pics From Episode 7 Need To Be Seen RN!

  30-11-2017 13:03
  Don't miss brand new Single AF on Mondays at 11pm - only on MTV!
  
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• U2: Songs of Experience review – fantastic return to form | Alexis Petridis' album of the week

  30-11-2017 13:00
  Three years and nine producers in the making, U2 unveil an album full of self-awareness, gravitas and humour – and enough great moments to forgive its clumsier touchesLast summer U2 toured the world, triumphantly performing 1987’s The Joshua Tree in full for the first time. Bono and the Edge made rather a song and dance about this not being a nostalgic event, but there was little doubt that the shows felt redolent of a lost era, when U2 made their unlikely passage from awkward post-p
  
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• Readers recommend playlist: your unlikely collaborations

  30-11-2017 13:00
  This week’s reader-curated list gives us pairings such as Neneh Cherry and Youssou N’Dour, and the combined powers of Bono, Brian Eno and PavarottiHere 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.The KLF, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, the world’s biggest-selling singles act of 1991, were never short of ideas.
  
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• Stormzy and Stefflon Don Win Big At The 2017 MOBO Awards

  30-11-2017 12:59
  The grime superstar claims hat-trick with triple win, including the most-wanted Best Album award...
  
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• 6 Of The Best Pop Cult Christmas Jumpers For 2017

  30-11-2017 12:31
  Move over Rudolph
  
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• UK Producer Joe Hertz Releases Nostalgic RnB EP

  30-11-2017 12:30
  South-London producer Joe Hertz is back with his nostalgic new EP ‘Night / Daze’...
  
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• Single AF Spoiler Video: Marnie Simpson Admits She’s ‘Torn’ Between Casey Johnson And Kyle Walker After Casey Confesses His True Feelings

  30-11-2017 12:30
  Don't miss brand new Single AF, Mondays at 11pm - only on MTV!
  
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• Is Selena Gomez Apologising To The Weeknd After Getting Back With Justin Bieber?

  30-11-2017 12:29
  The Wolves singer gets seriously cryptic after The Weeknd deletes all traces of her.
  
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• Aaron Chalmers Has His Say On Ex Marnie Simpson Moving In With Casey Johnson

  30-11-2017 11:55
  The Geordie Shore lad speaks up about his ex-girlfriend purchasing a house with her Single AF partner.
  
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• Run the code: is algorave the future of dance music? – video

  30-11-2017 11:05
  By building up tracks through the manipulation of programming code – and pairing them with visuals also made on the fly – algorave producers are among the underground's most dextrous and daring work. Iman Amrani heads to Sheffield to meet those at the heart of the scene Continue reading...
  
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• Run the code: is algorave the future of dance music?

  30-11-2017 11:05
  By building up tracks through the manipulation of programming code, algorave producers are among the underground’s most dextrous and daring. We head to Sheffield to meet those at the heart of the sceneAs part of the Guardian’s underground music series, we asked readers where they thought we should be looking for weird scenes. We’ll round up the best suggestions next week to close out the series, but one that stuck out to me was algorave, put forward by an anonymous reader from
  
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