Reviews

Album: Tricky, Knowle West Boy (Domino) (Rated 4/ 5 )

Ten years for a new Portishead album may have seemed an interminable wait. But listening to the four albums their Bristol contemporary Tricky cooked up in that time was far more painful.

Inside Reviews

Album: Beck, Modern Guilt (XL) (Rated 4/ 5 )

Friday, 4 July 2008

Bashed out, by his standards, in ten weeks, this is Beck's most satisfying album since Sea Change (2002).

Album: Black Kids, Partie Traumatic (Almost Gold) (Rated 3/ 5 )

Friday, 4 July 2008

This Jacksonville, Florida quintet were shot through the UK's hype machine so quickly, they have barely had time to write the songs on this debut, which includes clear fillers.

Album: Ian Siegal, Meat & Potatoes (Nugene) (Rated 3/ 5 )

Friday, 4 July 2008

Ian Siegal's live shows confirm him as the leading bluesman in Britain. Their sweaty catharsis is hinted at here.

Album: Patti Smith and Kevin Shields, The Coral Sea (PASK) (Rated 3/ 5 )

Friday, 4 July 2008

Kevin Shields' first sustained original work since My Bloody Valentine's last record, 1991's Loveless, is entirely in the service of Patti Smith's long poem in memory of her early lover, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who died of Aids.

Album: Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis, Two Men With the Blues (Blue Note) (Rated 3/ 5 )

Friday, 4 July 2008

Willie Nelson takes it all as it comes these days, collaborating with everyone from Toby Keith to Toots Hibbert. But this live set with the don of trad jazz sparks his interest.

You write the reviews: Elvis Costello, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool (Rated 5/ 5 )

Friday, 4 July 2008

This concert with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra was one of only two shows that Elvis Costello will perform in the UK this year. He has been spending most of his time recently recording the TV series Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... and scoring the Twyla Thorpe ballet Nightspot for the Miami City Ballet. His latest "rock" album, Momofuku, meanwhile, has received some the best reviews of his career.

White Denim, Audio, Brighton (Rated 4/ 5 )

Friday, 4 July 2008

"More cowbell!" cries a man in a severe state of excitement. It's not necessarily what you expect to hear at a gig from one of the most hotly tipped garage rock bands of the year, but then White Denim don't do things by the book.

Spiritualized, Concorde, Brighton (Rated 3/ 5 )

Thursday, 3 July 2008

Following a near-death experience, some people enjoy a new lease of life, resolving to replace their dreary nine-to-five existence with a fun-filled schedule of adventure sports.

Erykah Badu, Brixton Academy, London (Rated 3/ 5 )

Thursday, 3 July 2008

Countering expectation is a risky high-wire act. Fortunately for the adventurous Erykah Badu, her presence and peerless soul-drenched back catalogue provided her with a respectable safety net.

Lucerne Festival Strings/Fiedler Poltera, Goldsmiths' Hall, London (Rated 3/ 5 )

Thursday, 3 July 2008

Raised on a dais amid the splendours of the Goldsmiths' Hall in Foster Lane, the 17 young players of the Lucerne Festival Strings were ardent and polished under their conductor, Achim Fiedler, for their appearance in the Swiss-themed City of London Festival.

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