Category: Music
‘She couldn’t walk, she couldn’t talk’: music therapy helped Joni Mitchell recover from a stroke – could it ward off depression and dementia too?
In 2015, Joni Mitchell suffered a catastrophic stroke. According to her friend, the musician and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, “when she got back from the hospital, [more…]
How have the California wildfires affected Hollywood?
The California wildfires have to date killed at least 25 people, destroyed or damaged more than 12,000 structures and put about 300,000 people on evacuation [more…]
Lost Ella Fitzgerald recordings to be released – including her take on 60s pop
Lost recordings of a 1967 Ella Fitzgerald concert, including her spin on the era’s pop songs such as Alfie and Music to Watch Girls By, [more…]
‘Music is a magic’: how David Lynch used song and sound to transcend reality
‘Music,” David Lynch said when I spoke to him for the Guardian last year, “is a magic”. We were discussing the album Cellophane Memories, which [more…]
Drake’s lawsuit against Kendrick Lamar also puts artistic freedom on trial
There were people who thought Drake v Kendrick was the greatest hip-hop beef of all time, attracting a wider level of public interest and proceeding [more…]
Mobb Deep review – New York rap duo can still keep the temperature rising
Big Noyd holds up a half-drunk bottle of brandy as though it were an Olympic torch, pleading: “Lord forgive me, the Hennessy got me not [more…]
Songhoy Blues: Héritage review – the Malian rockers take a gorgeous acoustic turn
Each of Songhoy Blues’ albums has mapped slightly different terrain. The Malian rockers’ 2015 debut, Music in Exile, was a gripping, energising introduction to a [more…]
Mac Miller: Balloonerism review – poignant second posthumous album
The second posthumous album released since the death of American rapper Mac Miller in 2018 ponders delusions and lost innocence. Drug use and death are [more…]
Ale Hop & Titi Bakorta: Mapambazuko review – Congolese soukous gets a maximalist makeover
Peruvian multi-instrumentalist Ale Hop has a knack for unsettling reinventions of musical traditions. On her last album, 2023’s Agua Dulce, she and percussionist Laura Robles [more…]
Rose Gray: Louder, Please review – escapist dance-pop fizzes with inventiveness
The last few years have proved tricky for female-fronted dance-pop, with interesting artists wasting away as guest vocalists on songs credited to male DJs with [more…]
