In a crowded festival marketplace that nevertheless often cleaves to a relatively timid and tight crop of British, European and American artists, Womad provides a vital yearly reminder of the breadth of the planet’s music. […]
Cull Portal slowly mutates in various directions. Analogue synths burble; intense meditative improvisations develop on the piano; pastoral string sections fade in and grow more harmonically complex; wispy saxophones spray modal jazz riffs over coruscating […]
Evan Hofer, Scarlett Spears, and Maurice Benard of ‘General Hospital.’ Photo Credit: Markos Papadatos On July 29, actor Maurice Benard of “General Hospital” hosted a fan event in Glendale, California, for an intimate group of […]
Lynn Herring. Photo Credit: ABC, Christine Bartolucci On July 28, actors Lynn Herring and Kin Shriner of “General Hospital” participated in a “General Hospital” fan event in Glendale, California. Shriner is known for playing Scott […]
Joni Mitchell’s surprise appearance at last year’s Newport folk festival marked the singer-songwriter’s first time at the festival in 53 years, and her first live appearance since a near-fatal 2015 aneurysm that led to fears […]
Billy Joel. Photo Courtesy of Myrna Suarez On July 24, Billy Joel played a show at Madison Square Garden as part of his monthly residency. He also took the time to remember the late Tony […]
Nine albums in, Blur do not owe anyone any bangers. They are a four-piece very much in the post-urgent stage of their career, reaping the rewards of their long musical life at a pair of […]
As I survey the garden from my miniature spaceship – watching a team of minions breaking down a brick wall over there, another transporting treasure (a discarded rubber duck) back to base, and a third […]
I haven’t heard anyone talk about this, but when AI does take over Hollywood (which everyone does talk about), it might well start with cartoons. Robot voices are already working onscreen, imitating dead people for […]
Jessy Lanza’s third album, 2020’s All the Time, traded in suggestion. The Canadian producer let fly little wisps of desire – “want / you” – on the breeze of her off-kilter, neon-hued club music in […]
Broccoli City Festival returned in 2023 with plays to take over a summer weekend, a change from its usual spring presence. The showcase, which was known to open its doors in May, opted to push […]
Mongolian music has a long history of producing captivating vocal styles. The best-known is throat singing – a reverberating technique that produces multiple pitches during a single phrase. Raw, earthy and a predominantly male pursuit, […]
‘We’re taking down the scaffolds very soon,” sings Damon Albarn, midway through Barbaric, presumably one of the songs he wrote for Blur’s ninth studio album while on tour with Gorillaz last year. Whether it was […]
Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” an exuberant, sometimes exhaustingly clever piece of Mattelian neorealism, opens with an extended, heavily trailer-spoiled homage to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” We’re at a drab early moment in the history of the […]
It’s sometimes said that jazz vocals are supposed to sound like the singer, not the song. Departed legends from Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald to Mark Murphy and Betty Carter have epitomised that, as idiosyncratic […]
“Mother of God,” says Maggie Smith flintily, when her character is confronted with something of which she disapproves — which is most things — in Irish director Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s blandly buttery “The Miracle Club.” “Mother […]
Matchbox Twenty. Photo Credit: Jimmy Fontaine On July 15, Matchbox Twenty brought their “Slow Dream” Tour to the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. Acoustic singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson served as their opening act. […]
Hans-Peter Lindstrøm is nothing if not consistent. The Norwegian electronic producer is known for his romantic, cosmic take on disco: along with his countrymen Todd Terje and Prins Thomas, he helped popularise a sleek, euphoric […]
Before I set up the Wi-Fi-connected, AI-powered Bird Buddy smart bird feeder, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about the birds in my backyard. Now I can’t stop wondering if I’m violating […]
This summer marked 22 years since the release of Alicia Keys’ debut album Songs In A Minor and the official start of what became a massive music career. Since then, numerous Grammy Awards and multiple […]