REVIEW - BROKEN TWIN, DEAD SKELETONS, FRIDA HYVÖNEN, SUSANNA, TARTU POPI JA ROKI INSTITUUT, UNA PRÉSENTE TÉLÉ ROUGE, STIAN WESTERHUS AND MORE

Review here: The Arts Desk Just In From Scandinavia:Nordic Music Round-Up 5

The full list -

DENMARK: Broken Twin Hold on to Nothing; Cody Fractures; Efterklang Piramida; Thee Attacks Dirty Sheets; Una Présente Télé Rouge

ESTONIA: Tartu Popi ja Roki Instituut Biidermeier-Psühedeellia

THE FAROE ISLANDS/DENMARK: MonkeyRat Sunshine; White Flag Society Surrender

FINLAND: Big Wave Riders Life Less Ordinary; Kiki Pau Pines; Koria Kitten Riot The Lows & the Highs; LCMDF Mental Health; RinneRadio StaRRk; Shine 2009

ICELAND: Dead Skeletons; Of Monsters and Men  My Head is an Animal

NORWAY: Deeyah Presents Nordic Woman; Philco Fiction Take it Personal; Susanna Wild Dog; Stian Westerhus The Matriarch and the Wrong Kind of Flowers; Stian Westerhus  and Sidsel Endresen Didymoi Dreams

SWEDEN: Frida Hyvönen To the Soul; iamamiwhoami kin; Jens Lekman I Know What Love Isn’t

Too long since the last of these.

REVIEWS - LOVING ON THE FLIPSIDE, THE DURUTTI COLUMN SHORT STORIES FOR PAULINE, THE GARY BURTON QUARTET IN CONCERT, HEAVY METAL KIDS KITSCH, ACTION! THE SONGS OF TOMMY BOYCE & BOBBY HART

And more.

Loving on the Flipside

The Durutti Column: Short Stories for Pauline

The Gary Burton Quartet: In Concert

Heavy Metal Kids: Kitsch

Action! The Songs of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart

REVIEW - TAME IMPALA: LONERISM

Bloody great this. (didn’t Inner Speaker sound an awful lot lke Dungen?)

Review here: The Arts Desk Tame Impala Lonerism

JABULA – THUNDER AND HAPPINESS: THE COMPLETE ALBUMS ON RPM INTERNATIONAL

Jabula brought South Africa’s music to the world over a decade before Paul Simon’s Graceland. Thunder And Happiness: The Complete Albums anthologises their two albums: 1975’s Jabula and 1976’s Thunder Into Our Hearts.

Formed in Britain in 1974 by exiled apartheid-era musicians who had left South Africa, Jabula – the Zulu word for happiness - infused the sound of the townships with jazz, creating a compelling rhythmic stew. Their music was accessible, compulsive and fresh. Jabula were an important musical force. Mike Oldfield invited them to play on his Ommadawn and Incantations albums. Their leader Julian Bahula also played on Oldfield’s Amarok and Stevie Wonder’s Characters album.  Jabula were the subject of the 1981 film Jabula – A Band in Exile.

Julian Bahula was previously with the legendary Malombo Jazzmen. After arriving in Britain he was also central to the ANC, and organised Nelson Mandela’s 65th birthday concert in 1983 at London’s Alexandra Palace (held while Mandela was still in jail). In April 2012 South African President Jacob Zuma bestowed the National Order of Ikhamanga to Julian Bahula for his exceptional contributions to music and the arts, and the struggle for a free and democratic South Africa.

The release of Thunder And Happiness: The Complete Albums is significant, allowing this historic band to be heard again and includes an essay by Julian Bahula.

Release date is 22 October

1. Jabula Happiness
2. Badishi-Herdboys
3. Listen To Me
4. CryingOur Fathers
5. Baleka - Run Away
6. Naledi
7. Siakala - We Are Sad
8. Ithumelang ba Mamelodi
9. Baile - They Are Gone
10. Journey Of Afrika
11. Tears Of Afrika
12. Thandi
13. Thunder In Our Hearts
 14. Soweto My Love
15. Harvest Part II
16. Let Us Be Free

REVIEW - NEIL SEDAKA: THE REAL NEIL

This was a surprise, although it probably should not have been.

Review here: The Arts Desk Neil Sedaka The Real Neil

And here's a curious one...

MOJO OCTOBER 2012 REVIEWS - SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE ASCENT, JIM NOIR JIMMY'S SHOW, LEE HAZLEWOOD A HOUSE SAFE FOR TIGERS

California (he moves about), Manchester (he also moves about), Arizona/Sweden (he moved about a lot)

REVIEW – LET IT BE, PRINCE OF WALES THEATRE, LONDON

It’s not scientific, but the few of these jukebox musicals that have come my way tend to suggest a conclusion that the presence of this type of thing has resulted in a lowering of theatrical standards. They draw audiences, but judging by Let It Be (review here) what ought to be unacceptable is being allowed through. 

Let It Be had its moments, which sweetened what would otherwise have left a nasty aftertaste. But it wasn’t consistent and took too many shortcuts. Starting by thinking that replacing harmonica parts with an off-stage keyboard and no one would care is emblematic of how low the bar is set.

Shortcuts might be a theme with these shows. Soul Sister (review here) was defined by them, as the portrayal of Tina Turner was so strong there was no need to do much more than rest the entire show on those shoulders. With Backbeat (review here), again being Beatle-driven appeared to be enough. Rock Of Ages The Musical (review here) was silly, but had a good ensemble cast, so hung together, was fun and went some way to grabbing hold of the coat tails of the musical. 

This is the West End,  a showcase  to the world – with what should be world-class stages hosting  world-class shows. It’s not enough (at least for me) just to see and hear these songs being bashed out. But perhaps that’s where things are. What a disappointment. 

Then there was Christmas With The Rat Pack Live From Las Vegas (review here), which offered evidence that these things can have the magic theatre is supposed to have.

So it is possible to do it well and with panache. It'd seem that, at least some of the time, those mounting the shows can't be bothered.