The National review – dependable dose of broody euphoria and empathy | The National

Matt Berninger.

Are the National the most important American alternative group of their generation? Perhaps, though it would be as much from their members’ activities outside the parent band as because of their own music. Bryce and […]

Tame Impala review – a rowdy, romping multisensory extravaganza | Tame Impala

Tame Impala.

What an unusual proposition Tame Impala are. Kevin Parker, a genial Australian with a laissez-faire look that might be described as surfer rave Jesus, started out in the late 2000s as a one-man psychedelic rock […]

Green Man festival review – the absurd, the wonderful and the otherworldly | Green Man

Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler performing on the Walled Garden stage at Green Man on Friday.

The tapestry of Green Man is woven from a reverence for the past and the promise of a future that, for one August weekend, feels thrillingly attainable. Nestled in the natural amphitheatre of a Welsh […]

Coldplay review – one massive, euphoric singalong | Coldplay

Chris Martin in the middle of ‘90,000 bouncing souls’ at Wembley.

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at the production meetings for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour, currently winding up a run of six sold-out nights at London’s Wembley stadium. Umpteen stakeholders […]

Beast review: Idris Elba fights a lion in a short, effective creature feature

Idris Elba stands against a locked, rusty exterior door, nervously looking over his shoulder in Beast

Early in the man-versus-nature horror movie Beast, one of the characters wears a faux-vintage Jurassic Park T-shirt — a choice that scans as clear homage, from one Universal summer nature-from-hell creature feature to another. Beast […]

‘Spin Me Round’ review: Alison Brie stars in disappointing comedy

'Spin Me Round' review: Alison Brie stars in disappointing comedy

Director Jeff Baena reunites his regular repertory players for “Spin Me Round,” another droll ensemble comedy that, like his 2017 nunsploitation riff “The Little Hours,” becomes an opportunity for genre experimentation and a trip to […]

‘Spin Me Round’ review: Alison Brie stars in disappointing comedy

'Spin Me Round' review: Alison Brie stars in disappointing comedy

Director Jeff Baena reunites his regular repertory players for “Spin Me Round,” another droll ensemble comedy that, like his 2017 nunsploitation riff “The Little Hours,” becomes an opportunity for genre experimentation and a trip to […]

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: Let’s Turn It Into Sound review – glistening arpeggios and heavenly vocals | Music

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: Let’s Turn It Into Sound album cover

There’s often a whiff of joss sticks surrounding the music of Los Angeles-based composer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. In the past she has made an LP of drones for yoga and meditation, a new age album […]

This Is Memorial Device review – memories of fictional indie heroes burn brightly | Edinburgh festival 2022

Thrilled even when bewildered … This Is Memorial Device.

A few years ago, the director Stewart Laing invented a character called Paul Bright. He was a Glasgow performance artist who had staged an epic adaptation of Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg […]

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law review: a lean, green, uncanny valley machine

Smart Hulk wearing a white a-shirt sitting with his hands pressed together while he smiles at She-Hulk, who is sitting across from him in the same position, and wearing a black tank top. In the background, a remote island is pictured.

She-Hulk herself isn’t a telepath, but Disney Plus’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law knows exactly what you were thinking when you first saw its statuesque heroine in all her uncanny VFX glory, and it appreciates all […]

Coldplay review – a barrage of hits and eye-popping spectacle | Coldplay

Singer Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, drummer Phil Harvey and bassist Guy Berryman.

“You’re never quite sure when you go home how people are going to receive you,” says Chris Martin from Wembley’s stage. It’s the kind of thing that hugely successful rock stars say to get a […]