MARIA DUARTE recommends a remarkable study of the friendship between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, broken by a hostile state
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Culture Sat Dec 23: Attila the Stockbroker’s albums of the year
Volcanic: Gecko
MATTHEW HAWKINS rakes through un-fancy words and flair-free summaries to find who and what might be flamboyant
PETER MASON is exhilarated by an exciting, well-considered and historically minded tribute to the great Trinidadian instrument
Reducing historical lives to ‘male’ and ‘female’ roles, we lose the nuance of those lives and a clearer understanding of past societies, suggests CLAIRE ISABELLA GILMOUR
CHRIS SEARLE relishes the genius of pianist Alexander Hawkins, his many ensembles, and his new album
TO START with the obvious — the mighty Rancid’s Trouble Maker (Epitaph) is one of their strongest for years, with their catchily diverse punky/ska melodies well to the fore, with Telegraph Avenue and Farewell Lola Blue absolute anthems. Just a shame they hardly every play in this country. rancidrancid.com
The King Blues have come up with an absolute cracker in The Gospel Truth (Cooking Vinyl), in which singer/rapper/wordsmith Itch pours out his heart and tries to make amends for, as he confesses quite candidly, completely fucking things up in the past few years for himself and, more importantly, those he claimed to care about.
I’ve known him for 13 years — his talent is enormous and deserves more than being pissed up the wall and lost in welters of accusation and abuse. I really hope he can find the redemption he craves. kingbluesofficial.com
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CHRIS SEARLE urges you to listen to two new albums by the US Indian pianist VIJAY IYER
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to US saxophonist CAROLINE KRAABEL
Fiery words from the Bard in Blackpool and Edinburgh, and Evidence Based Punk Rock from The Protest Family