JAMES WALSH is moved by a provocative and original take on the relationship between ecology and architecture, and a plea to work with, not against, the materials and minerals of our world
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Album round-up
Ian Sinclair reviews the latest from Dear Reader, Townes Van Zandt and Ralph Towner
An immersive, participatory display by a queer Australian Aboriginal performer, and a rebellious unravelling of traditional Scottish dance
EWAN CAMERON witnesses a political farce that lacks a clear message
EWAN CAMERON picks out two fascinating music shows, fusing the Korean, and the Celtic, with the modern
BENJAMIN POTHIER suggests that Palaeolithic cave paintings in Spain point to the ceremonial use of hallucinogenic flora
The bard confirms that the right has a humour bypass, and replays the English Revolution on period instruments
Dear Reader Day Fever (City Slang)
RECORDED in San Francisco, this is the fifth album by Dear Reader — South African singer-songwriter Cherilyn MacNeil — following her politically infused 2013 record Rivonia. Like her previous work, it’s an impressive mix of orchestral indie music, all dubbed to tape by analog enthusiast John Vanderslice.
Joanna Newsom is a key influence, especially on MacNeil’s fairy-tale vocals on tracks like So Petty So Pathetic. The grandiose ambition and attitude of critics favourite Sufjan Stevens also seems an important touchstone.
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