The Guardian » Music
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Latest music news, comments, reviews, and analysis from the Guardian.
The Guardian » Music
2h ago
As Nena’s 99 Red Balloons turns 40, we look back at the best continental foreign-language songs that achieved cross-Channel success
Shuffling French Euro-disco with vocals in Spanish and a melody line worthy of a John Barry spy thriller theme, El Bimbo might be the apotheosis of the 70s “holiday hit”, brought back from the continent as a souvenir like the musical equivalent of a straw donkey. Still, far better than 1974’s other big holiday hit, Y Viva España ..read more
The Guardian » Music
2h ago
(Domino)
These two reissued solo albums from the German singer have a fearsome reputation – but they offer an experience like no other
To say Nico is an artist more talked about than listened to is putting it mildly. In recent years, her life has been the subject of two plays, two autobiographies, a biopic and at least four songs, Low’s Those Girls (Song for Nico) and Beach House’s Last Ride among them. But Spotify’s list of her 10 most popular tracks contains two of her three contributions to the first Velvet Underground album – These Days and The Fairest of the Seasons – the two Jackson Brow ..read more
The Guardian » Music
2h ago
The way musicians are compensated is highly unfair. A new bill in the US Congress could fix that – and it’s about time
Many of the younger musicians I know – musicians in the full flush of their career – don’t see a path forward toward making a living. These aren’t artists failing to connect with a public; on the contrary, they are releasing widely reviewed albums, going on tours and communicating (constantly) with their fans via social media. But this work is not paying them enough to manage without second jobs or side hustles.
That’s a broken system. It’s not just broken for individual artis ..read more
The Guardian » Music
2h ago
In his last weeks of life, the Oscar-winning composer is filmed at the piano by his son. It is an almost wordless paean to a remarkable career
Short of presenting nothing more than music and a blank screen, this documentary about the late Japanese composer-performer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s last appearances is as stark and minimal as a concert film can get. And yet it’s a work suffused with emotional tones and shades, surprisingly not all of them sad even though the subject knew at the time of filming he had mere weeks left before he’d die of cancer.
There are moments when director Neo Sora, Sakamot ..read more
The Guardian » Music
2h ago
In 1981, photographer Brian Aris was invited to join the rock’n’roll legends at rehearsals in Boston. He captured their intense musical bond – but couldn’t corner Charlie Watts ..read more
The Guardian » Music
2h ago
In the past nine years, the musician and artist has lost two sons – an experience he explores in a shocking, deeply personal new ceramics project. He discusses mercy, forgiveness, making and meaning
Nick Cave has a touch of Dr Frankenstein about him – long, white lab coat, inscrutable smile, unnerving intensity. He introduces me to his two assistants, the identical twins Liv and Dom Cave-Sutherland, who are helping to glaze his ceramics series, The Devil – A Life. The twins are not related to Cave. His wife, the fashion designer Susie Cave, came across them one day, discovered they were cerami ..read more
The Guardian » Music
2h ago
White will star as the musician in a biopic centring on the making of Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska
Jeremy Allen White looks set to swap his white t-shirt for a vest later this year, when he takes on the role of Bruce Springsteen for a new biopic, once shooting is completed on the fourth series of hit kitchen drama The Bear.
The film, provisionally titled Deliver Me from Nowhere, will be written and directed by Crazy Heart’s Scott Cooper and centres on the making of Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska. It is based on Warren Zanes’ non-fiction book of the same name ..read more
The Guardian » Music
2h ago
O2 Academy Leeds
The Southampton newcomer uses her superpowers of candour and comedy to full effect
Of all the words to describe Caity Baser, shy would not be high on the list. On the opening night of her Still Learning tour (“my mixtape, which is number fucking seven in the charts by the way!”), the Southampton newcomer appears in silhouette behind a giant L plate, striking a pose as disembodied voices bemoan her attitude, her songwriting, the feeling that “she’s fit but can’t sing”. Tearing things down with a baseball bat, she steps out in a mesh top and frilly pantaloons, lurching headlong ..read more
The Guardian » Music
2h ago
A tight unit with a riotous party spirit, K-pop collective are bringing their culture to the masses
Balming Tiger are a many-headed beast. Formed in 2018, this 11-strong K-pop collective boasts a rotating cast of rappers, vocalists, writers, producers and cinematographers. Despite the mass of personalities involved, they’re a tight unit. In interviews they deliver neat slogans about their mission to bring Korean culture to the masses, like executives readying themselves for a product launch.
But there’s a riotous spirit underpinning that professionalism. Last year’s debut album, January Never ..read more
The Guardian » Music
2h ago
AI is taking performance to the next level in the new Samsung Galaxy Book4 series. With connectivity at their core, these sleek machines could make it easier than ever to work on the go
One of the great promises of the modern age is that – in theory – it should be possible to work from anywhere. Whether you’re working on your side hustle from a coffee shop in Manhattan, or connecting to a corporate Zoom call from the beach in Bali, as long as you have your laptop, you can get serious work done. That’s the theory, anyway.
In reality, our laptops can be under-powered, sluggish to respond, and no ..read more