music – Page 2 – criticismism ii

July 7, 2010July 27, 2010

Why do so many artists choose The Fall?

This blog entry is being put together to the sound of The Fall, in an attempt to understand why so many artists claim, or are said, to draw or paint to the sound of Mark E Smith’s timeless band. Usual conditions for producing these musings are, for the record, a…

June 22, 2010July 27, 2010

7 days of silence: my week inspired by John Cage

Take one iPod and Spotify addict, give him the text of a lecture by John Cage, take away his music for a week, and see what happens. It was a recent, quite unscientific experiment and the guinea pig was me. The first few days were harsh. Putting on the stereo…

June 11, 2010

Preview: Cage Mix – Sound and Sculpture at BALTIC

Exhibition: Cage Mix – Sound and Sculpture, BALTIC, Gateshead, until September 19 2010 If ever a course sounded challenging, it was this one: Experimental Composition at the New School for Social Research; tutor: John Cage. Cage taught the classes towards the end of the 1950s and his students were by…

May 15, 2010

Report: No Soul For Sale at Tate Modern

No animals. No nudity. No feeding the customers. Apart from that almost anything goes at No Soul For Sale. 50 non-profit art organisations from around the world have been invited to set up a stall in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern. By the time dusk falls, the scene is…

May 12, 2010

Feature: Soundtracks for an Exhibition

Art is getting noisier. Galleries echo with moving image installations. The quieter ones provide you with audio-guides. Sound is now such a vital dimension of art, some artists are making art about that very phenomenon. In a boxlike construction at Ikon in Birmingham, you can pull up a beanbag and…

May 1, 2010

Music review: Boy George at Brighton Dome

Going to review Boy George for News of the World was an interesting experience. The audience was full of die hard fans, grannies and members of the Hare Krishna. You can read the results, here.

April 15, 2010

Preview: Art Must-Sees in Museums at Night 2010

Museums at Night is a nationwide campaign running the weekend of May 14-16, organised by Culture24. Here are my picks of the best after-hours activities in the world of contemporary art: Light Night at the Bluecoat, the Bluecoat, Liverpool, Friday May 14 Local musicians with world influences bring rhythms of…

April 6, 2010

Music Review: Turin Brakes at Concorde 2, Brighton

Turin Brakes were better than expected, on the last night of their UK tour at the end of March. Here’s a review I wrote for News of the World. The paper also recently sent me to Editors, who were so-so at Brighton Dome, and Grizzly Bear, who were outstanding at…

April 2, 2010

Review: Ron Terada – Who I Think I Am

Exhibition: Ron Terada â€“ Who I Think I Am, Ikon, Birmingham, until May 16 2010 A brief digression on Vancouver may be needed. Thanks to a generation of artists that includes Jeff Wall, the third largest city in Canada has become an unlikely art world capital. So Ron Terada has…

February 22, 2010

Review: Richard Grayson at De La Warr Pavilion

The end of the world is nigh in the art of Richard Grayson. But we might just be saved by work like this. It has a light touch, which never gives way to despair. There is irony even in the title of Ways The World Ends. Competing prophecies are ranged…