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Damon Albarn’s cartoon band release their eighth album but it lacks exuberance
The album’s attempts to create dramatic scenarios inspired by the landscapes of Iceland and Devon feel undeveloped
The musician’s melancholy songs came alive in a London show featuring tracks from his forthcoming album
After a long absence of live music, Damon Albarn’s band and friends brought delightful depth and diversity
The ambitious staging, exploring centuries of African history and colonisation, had a breathtaking score and lush vocals
Music in the band’s latest album is more coherent, mainly electronic in basis, with funk and soul influences
Damon Albarn’s sprawling roadshow attracted a multi-generational audience
Our fascination with the time-honoured, rags-to-riches narrative of the pop star obscures a more mundane truth
Damon Albarn delivers ennui-laden lines in the manner of David Bowie on this patchy album
An electric atmosphere greeted the rapper’s appearance — though it was one he struggled to maintain
Defeat, defiance and reasons to be cheerful at a festival mired in mud and national uncertainty
Damon Albarn to join Southbank line-up as part of UK-wide artistic programme
This new musical dazzles, but the show gets bogged down in its own ambition
The band’s juxtaposition of old and new songs was at times successful, at times troublesome
Band’s first album since 2003 includes Britpoppy riffs and fuzzy squalls of noise with excursions into dub-infused soul
The Nigerian singer is in deft form, driving forward hypnotic funk instrumentals and brassy Afrobeat workouts
There’s a depth to the south Londoner’s best songs, missing from the cartoonish outlines of his former work
Compilation of tracks recorded in Bamako is a perfect who’s who of the Malian music of the last fifteen years
The event celebrates its ninth edition in Suffolk with a choice of arts performances enough to overwhelm even the most organised fan
Friday was a day for dancing at this year’s festival, while Saturday belonged to Hall & Oates
Title track deftly works electronic beats, world music percussion, piano, violin and the artist’s sighing vocals into a slow lament
Star-studded and sold out, this concert belatedly celebrated Onyeabor’s Nigerian funk
London bass culture meets Malian traditional music in this successful collaboration between western and Malian musicians
Tim Smedley meets the practitioners who spend their time among the stars
International Edition