Reviews
Brancusi, Pompidou Centre, Paris review - founding father of modernist sculpture
Wednesday, 08 May 2024
One hundred and twenty sculptures, and so much more: the current Brancusi blockbuster at the Centre Pompidou, the first large Paris show of the Romanian-born sculptor’s work since 1995, provides an exhilarating and in many ways definitive perspective on one of the founding figures of 20th century modernism.
Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, Disney+ review - how the boy from Sayreville, NJ conquered the world
Tuesday, 07 May 2024
To mark the 40th anniversary of New Jersey’s second-greatest gift to rock’n’roll, Disney+ have served up this sprawling four-part documentary which tells you more about Jon Bon Jovi and his band of brothers than you ever needed to know. Or, possibly, wanted to.
L'Olimpiade, Irish National Opera review -...
Monday, 06 May 2024
In Vivaldi’s more extravagant operas, some of the arias can seem like a competition for the gold medal. L’Olimpiade is relatively modest in most of...
Red Eye, ITV review - Anglo-Chinese relations...
Monday, 06 May 2024
Aircraft hijacking is a ghoulishly popular theme in films and TV, but Red Eye brings a slightly different twist to the perils of air travel. This...
Music Reissues Weekly: West Coast Consortium -...
Sunday, 05 May 2024
West Coast Consortium’s first single was July 1967’s “Some Other Someday,” a delightful slice of Mellotron-infused harmony pop which wasn’t too far...
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Love Lies Bleeding review - a pumped-up neo-noir
There's darkness on the edge of town in Rose Glass's sweaty, violent New Queer gem |
CVC, Concorde 2, Brighton review - they have the songs and they have the presence
Welsh sextet bring their lively Seventies-flavoured pop frollicking to the south coast |
Hallé, Wong, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - meeting a musical communicator
Drama and emotional power from a new principal conductor |
Nezouh review - seeking magic in a war
A movie that looks on the dreamier side of Syrian strife |
Laughing Boy, Jermyn Street Theatre review - impassioned agitprop drama
Strong ensemble work highlights the plight of people with learning disabilities |
Guildhall School Gold Medal 2024, Barbican review - quirky-wonderful programme ending in an award
Ginastera spolights the harp, Nino Rota the double bass in dazzling performances |
Minority Report, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre review - ill-judged sci-fi
Philip K Dick’s science fiction short story fares far better on screen |
Mitski, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - cool and quirky, yet deeply personal
A stunningly produced show from one of pop’s truly unique artists |
Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York), Criterion Theatre review - rueful and funny musical gets West End upgrade
A Brit and a New Yorker struggle to find common ground in lively new British musical |
Queyras, Philharmonia, Suzuki, RFH review - Romantic journeys
Japan's Bach maestro flourishes in fresh fields |
Nadine Shah, SWG3, Glasgow review - loudly dancing the night away
The songstress offered both a commanding voice and an almost overwhelming sound. |
Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and the Blue Rider, Tate Modern review - a missed opportunity
Wonderful paintings, but only half the story |
Orbital, O2 Institute, Birmingham review - the techno titans celebrate their rave years in style
The 'Green' and 'Brown' albums get a full airing to an ecstatic crowd |
Fern Brady, Netflix Special review - sex, relationships and death
Cynicism laced with playfulness |
Album: The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All We Know
When self-assurance trumps unashamedly showcasing influences |
Götterdämmerung, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review - outside looking and listening in, always with fascination
Every orchestral phrase and colour perfect, vocal drama often a notch below |
Music Reissues Weekly: Warsaw - Middlesbrough 14th September 1977, Joy Division - Manchester 28th September 1979
Thrilling live document of one of Britain’s greatest bands |
Testmatch, Orange Tree Theatre review - Raj rage, old and new, flares in cricket dramedy
Winning performances cannot overcome a scattergun approach to a ragbag of issues |
I.S.S. review - sci-fi with a sting in the tail
The imperilled space station isn't the worst place to be |
Eye to Eye: Homage to Ernst Scheidegger, MASI Lugano review - era-defining artist portraits
One of Switzerland's greatest photographers celebrated with a major retrospective |
Christian Pierre La Marca, Yaman Okur, St Martin-in-The-Fields review - engagingly subversive pairing falls short
A collaboration between a cellist and a breakdancer doesn't achieve lift off |
That They May Face The Rising Sun review - lyrical adaptation of John McGahern's novel
Pat Collins extracts the magic of country life in the west of Ireland in his third feature film |
Stephen review - a breathtakingly good first feature by a multi-media artist
Melanie Manchot's debut is strikingly intelligent and compelling |
Blue Lights Series 2, BBC One review - still our best cop show despite a slacker structure
The engaging Belfast cops are less tightly focused this time around |
latest in today
Brancusi, Pompidou Centre, Paris review - founding father of...
One hundred and twenty sculptures, and so much more: the current Brancusi blockbuster at the Centre Pompidou, the first large Paris show of the...
Album: Bab L'Bluz - Swaken
Bab L’Bluz are a French-Moroccan four-piece that play a tasty blend of fiery psychedelic rock backed up with hypnotic North African gnawa rhythms...
Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, Disney+ review - h...
To mark the 40th anniversary of New Jersey’s second-greatest gift to rock’n’roll,...
Album: Pokey LaFarge - Rhumba Country
Pokey LaFarge has always defied categorisation. He likened his 2020 album Rock Bottom Rhapsody to a mix tape, with elements of...
L'Olimpiade, Irish National Opera review - Vivaldi...
In Vivaldi’s more extravagant operas, some of the arias can seem like a competition for the gold medal. L’Olimpiade is relatively modest...
Red Eye, ITV review - Anglo-Chinese relations tested in junk...
Aircraft hijacking is a ghoulishly popular theme in films and TV, but Red Eye brings a slightly different twist to the perils of air...
Album: Josienne Clarke - Parenthesis, I
Parentheses, I is an album title – (I) – that’s a hieroglyph of the self, the brackets like...
Music Reissues Weekly: West Coast Consortium - All The Love...
West Coast Consortium’s first single was July 1967’s “Some Other Someday,” a delightful slice of Mellotron-infused harmony pop which wasn’t too...
Love Lies Bleeding review - a pumped-up neo-noir
Somewhere along a desert highway in the American Southwest, where there's not much to do besides get drunk, shoot guns, and pump iron, a stranger...
Remembering conductor Andrew Davis (1944-2024)
As a human being of immense warmth, humour and erudition, Andrew Davis made it all too easy to forget what towering, incandescent performances he...