Albums Selection

If the flautist Juli Deák boasts an impressive tone in the opening moments of the title song to her new album Brisk what becomes truly startling is that her sounds never cease. Already on the hugely propulsive 'Brisk' we get a steady patter of whittling gestures, short breathy pulses and the percussive toing and froing of her fingerings as...

M.I.A. has always elicited her share of controversy in a way that much like her music cuts across fields or genres or zones and resolutely subverts all expectations. That might involve the trenchant support for the Sri Lankan Tamils which is part of her heritage, her daring evocations of the immigrant experience which suggest a capacity to engage and...

Over the course of what is now three extended plays Natalie Wildgoose has summoned apparitions of the North York Moors - with their purple blooming heather and their hobs and witch hares or mermaids as they reach the cliffs of the coast - while offering a compelling blend of British and American roots traditions. On her debut First Birdsongs...