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Live Music Photo Galleries
We’ve been reviewing live shows for a few years now on Music Riot and we’ve collected a good selection of live music photos from some of those gigs. Most of these have never been published before and we think that they’re too good to be consigned to forgotten sectors of the servers in the basement at Riot Towers. So we’ve decided to share them with you. We’ll be launching an occasional series of galleries of pictures from events covered by Music Riot plus some very, very interesting archive shots from the late 70s and early 80s which are about to see ...
Closet Classics
If you’ve been checking out Music Riot for a while you’ll probably realise that we don’t just tell you about one type of music. If it comes in for review we cover it, whichever genre it belongs to. If you like that approach, then watch out for our new feature “Closet Classics”. It’s all about those albums in our collections that we love but everyone else hates or no-one else has ever heard of. The albums that we loved the first time we heard them, the albums that we play when we’re trying to impress with our musical eclecticism or just ...
IMHO – Nick Lowe
The first time I saw Nick Lowe play was the first proper gig I saw. It was at Mansfield Civic Theatre in the early 70s when he was singing, playing bass and writing songs for the criminally under-rated band Brinsley Schwarz (who later became the nucleus of Graham Parker and the Rumour). The support bands on the tour were picked up locally and the support for the Mansfield show was a rock covers band named Care with a substantial following from the local Hell’s Angels chapter. Care did their set and went down pretty well; we were all ready for ...
“Stage Whisper” – Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Gainsbourg has a voice and a presence that is perfectly suited to a recording studio. Her second album, ‘IRM’, where she worked with and was produced by Beck was more successful than her, passive ethereal debut (as an adult at least), ‘5:55’, which found Jarvis Cocker on song-writing duties along with Nigel Godrich producing. It had far more bite and sonic diversity with Beck coaxing a more sardonic and engaging performance from Gainsbourg and her plummy, plaintive voice (no sign of a French accent although she occasionally sings in the language) and showed that she could be an interesting, ...
Over the top productions
Why is that you can’t listen to mainstream radio now without hearing totally over the top productions? There was a time when you could write a good song, record it in a morning, release it the next day and have a gold record a week later. Why isn’t a good song with a few good hooks enough anymore? You must be getting the hang of this by now; that’s a rhetorical question. I’m not really asking for your opinion, it’s just a way of getting to my next pithy observation. The major artists are so desperate to maintain their profile and ...
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“Master of My Make-Believe” – Santigold
Santigold’s (previously Santogold but that name was already taken by a jewellery retailer, of all people) second album starts with a magnificent, euphoric rush that would be near impossible to sustain throughout an entire 40 minutes. The appropriately named ‘Go!’ was released last year and features Karen O from the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s and, like ‘L.E.S. Artists’ from... [Read more]
“Moonlight” – Lilygun
OK, I’ll start with the facts. “Moonlight” is the second single from the upcoming debut Lilygun album and it’s out this week. The band, fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarist Anna-Christina, has been building up a loyal following on the London live circuit and it sounds like they’re ready to reach a wider audience. It’s not easy to categorise Lilygun; there are a lot of diverse elements... [Read more]
Dawn Richard – “Armor On”
Dawn Richard is someone who I’m familiar with only because she appeared on the under-rated 2011 P Diddy (is he still calling himself that? who can keep up) album “Last Train To Paris” as part of the female duo that accompanied him called Dirty Money. They have since split up with the two members, Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper, now going it alone as solo artists. Richard was also a member... [Read more]
“Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” – Nicki Minaj
Not a re-issue of Minaj’s disappointing but hugely successful debut offering ‘Pink Friday’ with a few added new tracks and remixes as the title suggests but a brand new album with 19 tracks and no interludes; 22 on the obligatory ‘deluxe’ version. The second red herring is that Nicki’s alter ego and referred to in the album’s title, Roman, is almost completely absent in... [Read more]
“MDNA” – Madonna
Will MDNA contain Madonna’s first number 1 single this decade? She’s had at least two for the last three the last one being in 2007 with ‘Hung Up’. But does it even matter? This album is the equivalent of a can of Coke, an I-Pad, a pair of Converse; not because it’s disposable necessarily but because it’s a product designed to sell in shed loads because of pure... [Read more]
