Over at my LibraryThing reviews account I just posted my review of Shaun Tan’s beautiful story-in-pictures The Arrival. I can’t recommend it highly enough. You can see some images on the artist’s website (I’ve linked a few from the review also).
After posting the review I started wandering through other people’s reviews (the perils and joys [...]
The CD release by Caspian Hat Dance last night was awesome, and so are they.
How else could you describe a seven-piece gypsy dance band in demented clown makeup and vaguely Victorian costume howling out dazzlingly fast Hungarian folk tunes while dangling in climbing harnesses from the ceiling?
It’s been a long while since I gloated, and I’ve accumulated a lot to gloat about. In fact, it’s been so long that I’ve read a fair few of ‘em, so some of the following will be capsule reviews as well as the usual stories of how I wandered on a whim into a bookstore [...]
Last night’s gig, Katchafire at the Sugar Factory, went off. Those guys were magnificent — deeply traditional reggae by a bunch of Māori fellas, with dense Pacific vocal harmonies and lots of Kiwi warmth and enthusiasm.
They started early, and the crowd was pretty thin even by the end of the show (they played from about [...]
This post combines a short review of Björk’s concert last night (short version: disappointing but good) with a rant about Dutch concert-going habits (short version: they’re tall and don’t care if you’re not).
Last night’s concert at the Bimhuis was pretty extraordinary. I hadn’t heard of any of these folks before, so many thanks to Marijn and Frans for prodding me into going!
The Belmondo brothers are I believe Paris-based, a brass duo, do not miss an opportunity to see these guys play. Yusef Lateef is apparently a bit [...]
Yesterday’s post brought SteamPunk magazine with it, which explains me turning up bleary-eyed an hour late to work this morning. It’s a new no-budget zine, pdfs for free download or you get a handsome printed copy on recycled paper for US$3 plus shipping.
The good
It’s very handsome. The design and typography is great, mixing up faux-Victorian [...]
As promised, my LibraryThing reviews account has a bunch of new reviews. I even managed to keep some of them short.
(I’m not really here until March, just poking my head up for a short-short review of last night’s concert by The Decemberists.)
The Decemberists rock. I was explicitly planning not to buy the album (there’s about a straight day’s music coming from New Zealand in the post)… but after hearing the concert, I couldn’t pass it [...]
I left Richard Bona’s concert at the Melkweg last night feeling an unpleasant mix of awe and irritation. Funnily enough, both reactions can be traced back to one thing: his professionalism.