Category: Music
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The [Insert Your Name Here] Arena
Earlier today I got an email advertising an upcoming gig with Sting and Paul Simon. Tickets are going on sale soon for the event taking place at the Phones 4U Arena. Phones 4U Arena? That’s a new one to me. I realised pretty quickly that it probably wasn’t new, and was just a recent sponsorship…
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Kate Bush
Back in March while I was on holiday – the internet suddenly came alive with the news that Kate Bush was going on tour. Kate Bush! I was very tempted. And then I stopped and thought. For one thing, it wasn’t going to be easy getting tickets in the US. I’d have to hope wherever…
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Woods
Woods from Adam Bowie on Vimeo. This video is a little different. It’s an analogue affair in a digital environment. What you have is a black and white Super 8 film (Kodak Tri-X) with a Korg Monotron-Delay soundtrack that has been multi-tracked. As I say, it’s a little “experimental” for me.
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Ministry of Sound v Spotify – What Does This Mean For Radio?
I find the story of Ministry of Sound taking legal action against Spotify absolutely fascinating, and potentially troubling, as it potentially opens up many cans of worms. As I understand it, it goes something like this. Ministry of Sound has a very profitable business releasing compilation albums. They licence tracks from various labels which they…
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RIP: My Local HMV
Today came the sad news that another batch of 37 HMVs are to close within the next few weeks. Included amongst them is my local HMV – a shop where, on and off, I’ve been shopping since 1980. Indeed, the first ever record I bought came from that branch of HMV. Yes, at some point…
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Bellowhead at the Roundhouse
I think Bellowhead is probably my favourite live band. They’ve just started a new tour, and last night it reached the wonderful Roundhouse in Camden. Cue lots of dancing, jigging, and a bit of polka on the floor of the Roundhouse. Watching Bellowhead makes you think that them going on tour is probably like throwing…
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Alison Krauss & Union Station
I do love hearing Alison Krauss. Last time I saw her, she was touring with Robert Plant and was playing in Wembley Arena. The Royal Festival Hall is a much nicer venue, and she was accompanied by Union Station, her band of some twenty years featuring Dan Tyminski who shares vocal duties. This concert was…
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Elbow at St Paul’s Cathedral
Last night Elbow played an exclusive set for Absolute Radio in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral – the first time that a rock band has ever performed there. It looked and sounded stunning. Watch an interview here and listen to the set on-air on 5 June. Looking down through the grate in the main…
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What Do I Do With My Music?
I’m facing a dilemma. I’m wondering whether I should ditch Apple for my music needs… Here’s where I am, as Duncan Bannatyne might say: I use iTunes to manage my music and audio. I have over 160GB of music/audio. Partly because I have a “reasonable” amount of music; partly because I rip that music at…
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The Unthanks
You can only hope that the current Unthanks’ tour must surely be coming to an end very soon. Their website suggest a few days time. The reason I say that is that Rachel Unthank is currently very heavily pregnant! She and her sister Becky shared the singing duties last week at The Junction in Cambridge…
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Piccard in Space
A couple of weeks ago, saw the premiere of Will Gregory’s Piccard in Space at the Southbank. Before you think anything else: no this is not about Jean-Luc Picard, the fictional Star Trek character, but August Piccard (although if Wikipedia is to be believed, there is a link). In 1931, Piccard and Paul Kipfer attempted…
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The Most Incredible Thing
There seems to be a lot of ballet around at the moment. We’ve just had the awesome Black Swan, and on BBC Four at the moment, we’re two thirds of the way into a great behind the scenes documentary about English National Ballet (“Unprecedented access” and all). Sky Arts has been showing a series of…