Music news

• Robert Finley: Goin’ Platinum! review – swamp blues and lewd stompers

  07-12-2017 21:45
  (Easy Eye Sound)The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach calls Robert Finley “the greatest living soul singer”. Thus, he has signed the 63-year-old to his label, produced him, written the songs (along with the likes of Nick Lowe and John Prine) and paired him with stellar musicians from Elvis sidemen to legendary “guitar man” Duane Eddy. The results are decidedly retro-modern – that bit too well produced to have been authentically blaring out of a roadside bar in the 1960
  
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• Jim James: Tribute to 2 review – a refreshing dip into pop's past

  07-12-2017 21:30
  (ATO Records)My Morning Jacket, the Kentucky rock band Jim James has fronted since 1998, are known for their line in eclectic cover versions, having paid homage to everything from Erykah Badu’s Tyrone to Elton John’s Rocket Man. As if to cement his dedication to the art, James’s first move as a solo artist was to release Tribute To, an EP of George Harrison covers. It’s successor stays largely in that 60s/70s milieu, and includes a gorgeous, minimalist version of the Beac
  
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• Charles Hayward and Thurston Moore: Improvisations review – strong noise grooves

  07-12-2017 21:15
  (Care in the Community)Since he and Kim Gordon split, effectively bringing Sonic Youth to an end, Thurston Moore has been living in north London, where he’s been a regular fixture in the city’s improv scene, popping up alongside the likes of Steve Noble, the Thing and Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce. Here he jams with This Heat drummer Charles Hayward, pulling out rough skeins of noise from his guitar as Hayward lays down driving glam-rock rhythms, speeding up into jittery post-pu
  
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• Readers recommend: share songs about Asian cities

  07-12-2017 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 11 December We’re taking a tour around the cities of Asia this week, looking for songs inspired by anywhere from Singapore to Seoul, Tehran to Tokyo and of course wherever else your tunes may travel. For more on how to interpret the theme, keep an eye on the comments.
  You have until 11pm on Monday 11 December to post your nomination and make your justi
  
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• Large Unit: Fluku review – Paal Nilssen-Love explores the outlands of jazz

  07-12-2017 20:00
  (PNL Records) The variety of ideas on Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love’s first two Large Unit albums – from ferocious collective and intimately conversational exchanges to world-improv collaborations with Brazilian players – showed how much of a work in progress he means it to be. Fluku is more conventionally structured and features a tighter 12-piece core of the band, but the incandescence is undimmed. The 27-minute opener reveals an enthusiasm for repetitively riff-rooted,
  
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• Chris Thile: Thanks for Listening review – topical songs for a Trumped America

  07-12-2017 19:40
  (Nonesuch)Not content with conquering the worlds of bluegrass, indie-folk, jazz and JS Bach in recent years, mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile is now the host of liberal America’s most revered radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. He took over from Garrison Keillor just in time for the 2016 election, so these topical songs (written to open each week’s show) have soundtracked the trauma of the left-leaning part of the nation during the Trump era.Related: 'I've spent the last year in a dre
  
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• Maciej Obara: Unloved review – exhilarating drive and mercurial energy

  07-12-2017 19:20
  (ECM)Early in his first album for ECM Records, the Polish saxophonist Maciej Obara seems to be confirming that he knows all about the label’s famous penchant for vaporous tones and moonlit moods. But anyone who has heard Obara and his regular piano partner Dominik Wania live knows otherwise - both are improvisers of mercurial energies. If Ula, the opening ballad, begins in melancholy long tones and cymbal whispers, a jazzier urgency soon surfaces, and the Polish pair’s ensemble empat
  
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• Damien O'Kane: Avenging and Bright review – Irish turmoil and Boston jailbirds made bland

  07-12-2017 19:00
  (Pure Records)Not many folk records begin with 30 seconds of 90s new-age trance, morphing into a vaguely Balearic lost Dire Straits B-side. And when the cover art features a man dressed in furs and gauntlet like a Game of Thrones extra, there is extra cause for alarm. Then again, Damien O’Kane says on his website he’s always tried “new ways of telling the old stories I love to find”. The electronics are glibly smooth throughout this album, turning tales of jailbirds in Bo
  
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• Ariana Grande & The Heirs To Mariah Carey’s Christmas Throne

  07-12-2017 18:59
  From Bieber to Sia and Kelly Clarkson all getting festive over the years, who can compete with the OG Winter Queen?
  
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• Robert Finley: the army and R&B veteran finding fame half a century late

  07-12-2017 18:00
  After playing in army bands while in the US army, the Louisiana singer gave up on music. Now, with the help of the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, the 63-year-old is finally ready for stardomIf the Vietnam war had not come to an end, Robert Finley might not have released this year’s best classic R&B album.Finley, from rural Louisiana, joined the US army aged 19 in 1974. His father had been killed in a car crash a couple of years before, and he needed to help support his mother and get
  
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• Johnny Hallyday to get spectacular 'people's tribute' send-off in Paris

  07-12-2017 17:52
  Thousands of fans are expected to line Champs Elysées to witness cortege accompanied by sound of rocker’s hitsFans of the French rocker Johnny Hallyday will be given a chance to say a final adieu to their hero with a “people’s tribute” in Paris on Saturday.With all the showbiz theatrics for which his live concerts were legendary, the body of France’s answer to Elvis Presley will be driven slowly down the Champs Elysées from the Arc de Triomphe, accompa
  
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• Get to Know: TIEKS

  07-12-2017 17:47
  We caught up with the exciting new artist to find out a little bit more about him and his music...
  
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• Marnie Simpson And Casey Johnson Celebrate Moving Into Their First House

  07-12-2017 16:48
  The Single AF couple have just taken a major step in their relationship.
  
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• Luke Bryan: What Makes You Country review – cool stories, bro | Alexis Petridis' album of the week

  07-12-2017 16:30
  The reigning king of country returns with more bulletproof tracks about drinking, hunting, driving trucks and babes in Daisy DukesAnyone who needs reminding of the vast gulf that can still exist between British and American pop culture might consider the case of Luke Bryan. His name is unlikely to provoke more than a blank stare in Britain, but in the US he is one of country music’s biggest stars, a man who has sold 34m albums and singles, and whose last album, 2015’s Kill the Lights
  
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• From Kylie Jenner To Harry Styles: 9 Of The Most Requested Celebrity Body Parts For Plastic Surgery

  07-12-2017 15:43
  We can totally see why tbh...
  
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• Emma McVey Teases The 'Unusual' Baby Name She And Gaz Beadle Are Considering

  07-12-2017 15:36
  It turns out they've gone off their initial choice.
  
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• N.E.R.D and Future Tackle Police Brutality in New Video

  07-12-2017 14:23
  This is essential viewing...
  
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• If You Love Christmas, You’ll Love This Cookie Dough Inspired By Christmas Movies

  07-12-2017 14:02
  This bespoke cookie dough is inspired by classic Christmas movies and it might just be your new fave treat.
  
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• The Average Teenager's Makeup Collection Is Worth SO Much Money Now

  07-12-2017 13:59
  A whole lot more than the average mum's
  
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• The woke Slim Shady – understanding Eminem in the age of Trump

  07-12-2017 13:43
  Marshall Mathers became a megastar by partly tapping into the same disaffected white rage later mobilised by the ‘alt-right’. But the rapper has made it clear he doesn’t want to share fans with the president. With a new album out soon, can he prosper in an age of conscious protest?October’s 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards were a big night for Cardi B, DJ Khaled and Kendrick Lamar. Between them, they more or less swept the board: Cardi B took home five gongs, Khaled and Kendrick t
  
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• Camila Cabello Releases Two Amazing Brand New Songs

  07-12-2017 13:39
  You need to hear 'Never Be the Same' and 'Real Friends' now...
  
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• Sam Smith Weighs In On Kim Kardashian And Taylor Swift's Complicated Feud

  07-12-2017 13:28
  This is what happened when he was forced to pick between the pair.
  
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• Nothing More review – muscular melodies and bare-chested bravado

  07-12-2017 13:27
  Dingwalls, London
  Following three Grammy nominations last week, flamboyant frontman Jonny Hawkins struts across the post-screamo landscape amid a storm of ferocious riffsNothing More frontman Jonny Hawkins has his top off even before the show has begun, but it’s not just to show off his toned torso, or a reflection on the furnace temperatures down in the moshpit. (The modest dimensions of the jam-packed Dingwalls mean Hawkins’ signature Giger-esque scorpion’s tail prop has been
  
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• Why Wear Clothes When You Can Wear This Giant Knitted Body Sock All Winter

  07-12-2017 13:23
  Snug as a bug
  
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• Holly Hagan Is Ridiculously Relatable As She Asks Not To Be Judged For Her Latest Antics

  07-12-2017 13:18
  We have literally all been where the Geordie Shore lass is rn.
  
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• Readers recommend playlist: your songs about education

  07-12-2017 13:00
  A top of the class playlist from your suggestions featuring Pearl Jam, the Specials, George Michael and a classic Ramones trip to rock’n’roll high school
  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.After 30 years living in Madrid and a quarter of a century married to my beautiful, flamenco-dancing Spanish wife,
  
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• These Single AF Spoiler Pics From Episode 8 Need To Be Seen RN!

  07-12-2017 12:58
  Don't miss brand new Single AF on Mondays at 11pm - only on MTV!
  
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• Ugg Boots With Heels Now Exist And They Will Make You Feel Some Things

  07-12-2017 12:39
  *blinking man meme*
  
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• Chris Evans Has This Crazy Idea For A Captain America Comedy Spin-Off And It Needs To Happen

  07-12-2017 12:29
  Chris is definitely on to something here.
  
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• Sophie Kasaei Drops Huge Bombshell That She's Not Actually Called Sophie

  07-12-2017 12:05
  Geordie Shore's Sophie Kasaei just revealed her real name and our whole lives have been a lie.
  
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• Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall Praises CNCO in Instagram Post

  07-12-2017 12:04
  The star also gave PRETTYMUCH some social media love...
  
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• Kylie Jenner Aint Playing As She Launches Solid Lipsticks And A Huge Range Of Concealers

  07-12-2017 11:50
  Move over liquid lipsticks
  
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• Nicki Minaj and Cardi B Wow in the 'MotorSport' Video

  07-12-2017 11:41
  The two stars shine alongside Migos in their all-star visual...
  
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• Marnie Simpson Hits Out At Rumours She's Pregnant With Casey Johnson's Baby

  07-12-2017 11:33
  The Geordie Shore lass is clearing up all the speculation once and for all.
  
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• Jennifer Lawrence Reveals Her Dream Dinner Date Is Scott Disick

  07-12-2017 10:57
  The actress would love to probe the mind of the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star.
  
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• Justin Bieber Was Asked About Proposing To Selena Gomez And His Reaction Was The Cutest

  07-12-2017 10:47
  Wedding bells for Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez already?
  
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• Sia: ethics of fame and Maddie Ziegler 'a question I have asked myself often'

  07-12-2017 05:07
  Artist says she checks in weekly with 15-year-old star of her videos and live shows: ‘If she ever wants it to stop, it stops’Performing artist Sia Furler has responded to concerns about her use of 15-year-old dancer Maddie Ziegler as a creative partner, saying the use of children in entertainment is “a conversation we should all be having”.On Thursday the enigmatic singer responded to a Guardian column which questioned Sia’s use of Ziegler as an avatar of herself in
  
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• Jealousy (Acoustic)

  07-12-2017 01:00 via mtv.co.uk
  Disciples' Duvall shows off his silky vocals in this stripped back live performance of the group's latest single 'Jealousy'...
  
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