Freaky Party

Music Reviews and more

Main menu

Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
  • Pop/Rock
  • Metal
  • Indie
  • Electronic
  • Folk
  • Jazz
  • Classical

Post navigation

← Older posts

Pussy Riot: CYKA review – debut album from iconic Russian agitators is let down by blunt-force EDM

On a disappointing record helmed by co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova, corny guitars and generically moody synths undermine the activist group’s political acuity

Matías Aguayo: Anenoa review – the funkiest, freest singer in the business hits the dancefloor

The Chilean-German producer’s shapeshifting vocals stir Latin rhythms, ghetto house, trance and more into a playful party

Boards of Canada: Inferno review – after 13 years away, their prodigal return is a big disappointment

The Scottish electronic duo remain hugely influential – but their new album’s interrogation of religion is dubious, and the drum programming is worse still

Kraftwerk review – after more than half a century of techno supremacy, they still sound like the future

Ralf Hütter and his bandmates show how profound their influence has been on huge swathes of popular music – and they give a tender tribute to the late Ryuichi Sakamoto

PinkPantheress review – singer proves she’s ready for pop’s A-list at sensational New York show

The viral star electrified Brooklyn with winking visuals, self-aware humor and a slew of special guests

Olof Dreijer: Loud Bloom review – the Knife star’s debut solo album is a garden of earthly delights

On a floral-themed LP, squiggling melodies and quizzical distortion banish the winter gloom Dreijer brought to the Knife and his tracks with Fever Ray

Serokolo 7: Maramfa Musick Pro review – South Africa’s latest club export is a relentless adrenaline shot

Reinvigorating the South African mapanta subgenre, producer Serokolo 7 blends folk vocal melodies with seething 180bpm rhythms, creating a barrage of sound

Massive Attack: Boots on the Ground (ft Tom Waits) review – first single in a decade is a dark hymn for our times

Unsettling breathing, arrhythmic clatter, gloomy piano and military snares underpin a Beefheartian portrayal of a boorish warmonger on the band’s ominous return

The xx at Coachella review – indie trio reunites for spellbinding, rangy set

The English band’s first festival set in eight years hypnotized with their atmospheric dance sound

Pet Shop Boys review – no hits? No problem on first night of a masterful obscurities run

The era-defining duo’s ultras are suitably spoiled in the first of this intimate five-day run, showered with rarities that put a different spin on their well-known history

Fcukers: Ö review – hyped Harry Styles-supporting NYC hedonists have the hooks to merit the hoopla

The duo’s snotty nonchalance may capture the post-Brat zeitgeist, but their true appeal lies in a talent for turning vintage dance influences into pointed modern pop

Robyn: Sexistential review – pop doyenne returns with emotional grenades and a new philosophy

After 2018’s meditative Honey, the Swedish star returns to her trademark skin-tingling electro bangers – but this time she’s unpicking her trademark fixation on romantic love

FKA twigs review – an Olympian display of pop prowess

The British artist’s brilliantly ambitious first arena show is a breathtaking showcase of her artistic range, with pole dancing, vogue battles and sword fighting

Diagonale des Yeux: Madeleine review – wacky multilingual outsider pop with winning quieter moments

Music boxes, miaows and strange melodies pepper the whimsical and charmingly lo-fi post-punk of Laurène Exposito and Théo Delaunay

James Blake: Trying Times review – platitudes about politics and Kanye can’t detract from an excellent album

Amid the stylistic shifts of Blake’s seventh record come samples of Dusty Springfield and Dizzee Rascal: gripping distractions from some preachy sentiments

Post navigation

← Older posts
  • Metallica review – metal legends break out the pyrotechnics … and a Proclaimers cover
  • Candomblé: Sacred Rhythms in Brazil review – ceremonial drumming remixed for the dancefloor
  • Downtown Boys: Public Luxury review – a joyful blast of bilingual political punk
  • Jonathan Kuo: Java Dreams album review – young pianist brings unflashy exuberance to complex works
  • Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Boys review – ghosts, guns and guileless youth on generational songwriter’s return
  • Brahms’ Last Concert review – OAE and Emelyanychev take audience back to 1897
  • Anna Netrebko review – high camp and bel canto brilliance as star soprano shows she’s still the real deal
  • Orchestral Works of Mel Bonis album review – full justice is done to her finely crafted and sensuous music
  • Muse: The Wow! Signal review – stupendous space-rock silliness … yet somehow surprisingly subtle?
  • Turandot review – Opera Holland Park celebrate 30 years with Puccini’s grand guignol
  • Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) review – Tyshawn Sorey’s meditations yield their mysteries slowly
  • Giulio Cesare review – nightmarish take on Handel has snakes, sadism and a mummy
  • Hayley Williams review – punk and R&B expertly intertwine on first solo tour for Paramore star
  • Aldeburgh festival roundup – Tansy Davies and Freya Waley-Cohen premieres, plus blistering Shostakovich
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland review – Lewis Carroll’s familiar characters move in from the garden
  • Das Rheingold review – a sure-footed feast as Alberich descends into madness
  • Gorillaz review – a staggering hi-tech mini-festival from the magpie mind of Damon Albarn
  • Il Ritorno d’Ulisse review – a sensuous slice of opulence and luxury
  • Ibeyi: Offering review – French twin sisters master the balance between mysticism and edge
  • Joe Lovano: Paramount Quartet review – inspired sax maestro bounces from bebop to fertile improv
  • Elgar and Dvořák: Cello Concertos album review – Gerhardt’s readings are forthright, refreshing and thoughtful
  • Brahms: Violin Sonatas album review – Ehnes and Armstrong’s performances exude an effortless rightness
  • Myles Smith: My Mess, My Heart, My Life review – faceless, formulaic mush of Mumfords, Sheeran and Coldplay
  • Lily Allen review – West End Girl’s marital collapse is superbly evoked at arena scale
  • L’Orfeo review – Kentridge’s exhilarating creativity animates compelling Monteverdi
  • BBCSSO / Wigglesworth / Osborne review – jazz energy meets its match in French insouciance
  • Zach Bryan review – colossal US country star converts the UK to his inclusive take on the rodeo
  • Download festival review – Guns N’ Roses flop and Letlive thrive as metal’s biggest fest enters the future
  • Ariana Grande review – glittering hits and powerhouse vocals in stunning return to stage
  • Pelléas et Mélisande review – luminous semi-staging but Debussy’s elusive opera keeps its secrets

Contact www.freakyparty.net   Terms of Use