[rating=4]
Released June 13, 2014
Ultraviolence is the sound of an artist being freed to fulfil her own creative desires. The sound is very different from what came before and also very much the same.

“Ultraviolence has just about secured Lana Del Rey’s status as An Artist to be Taken Seriously, irritating to many maybe but difficult to deny or avoid .”

June 18, 2014

Practice your Pride March look for 2014! Polari Safari by David Shenton.

Queer Words.

In the first of a series on queer performance poets, Laura Macdougall talks to Nick Field about blending physical theatre, music and spoken word.

“For queer artists in spoken word and performance poetry there are still challenges in getting heard and featured, even if the work is not necessarily queer focussed.”

Queer Voices.

The Queer’Say events celebrate the power of the spoken word. We introduce a series of interviews with performance poets, and consider why the medium is so popular.

“This is poetry that is populist and democratising, and contagious, as can be seen by videos of spoken word poets that have gone viral in recent years.”

In Cold Blood.

Morgan Kibby, M83 collaborator, is the force behind White Sea. She talks about what it was like to write, record and produce her own album.

“If I hadn’t learned how to use ProTools my music would ultimately have been shaped by another producer instead of myself. I make beats, layer vocals, play with synth sounds and so my music is very much defined by my ability and flexibility with technology.”

[rating=4]
Released May 26, 2014
The Feast of the Broken Heart is Hercules and Love Affair’s most optimistic, euphoric and consistently engaging album to date.

“A record to dance to, from start to finish a non-stop movement and joy which is never dumb or repetitive. The Feast of the Broken Heart is a celebration of dance floor families, love and survival.”

June 11, 2014

All hail the wet English summer and the advent of Slugfest! Polari Safari by David Shenton.

Dangerous Writing.

Tom Spanbauer talks about how he uses confessional writing and graphic sex scenes on his search for truth.

“If my father could have owned slaves he would. He was a brutal man who beat me, you know? There’s still some part of me who’s trying to get that little boy out of that space of doom and fear and bring him back up to the light.”

[rating=5]
120 min • Roundhouse, London • June 5, 2014

Prince wows in his London show, where he performed two concerts in one night. Nothing compares to his Purple Highness.

“As the indigo light covers the stage, it’s time to send us off singing into the night with a show-stealing performance of the timeless classic ‘Purple Rain’, which has every member of the audience holding hands and singing along like a faithful choir.”

[rating=4]
Released May 13, 2014
Changing Light continues to showcase Mirah’s supreme knack for writing songs that charm and bewitch, with glorious melodies.

“It’s unexpected, not cynical in the slightest and conveys Mirah’s constant refusal to be pigeonholed into one, tidy category. She is making music now that is put together with staggering precision and beauty.”