ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
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Moon master
This is music that brings the party, the catharsis and the love all at once, says GEORGE FOGARTY
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SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
Dizraeli’s Joy Machine
Jericho Tavern, Oxford
KNOWN for his masterly blend of rap with English folk — most notably on the album Engurland: City Shanties — Dizraeli opens today’s set with an acapella singalong of that album’s anthemic Take Me Dancing, a fitting way to start a set that is all about connection.
After that, though, we’re off somewhere entirely new. A Love for the Rain, opening track of new LP Joy Machine (released May 31) is a shimmering triptych of spoken word, free jazz and roof-raising, butt-shaking funk. The drums kick in like a shamanic calling up of the spirits, echoed by Dizraeli’s literal calling up of “freaks to the front.” We oblige willingly.
Dizraeli has been open about his struggles with depression. And tonight his call to “soak up the rain when it comes” reminds me of Emily Tammam’s wise words on how grief, through its contrast with beauty and joy, heightens them both.
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