Reviews

A natural: Alexandra Burke shines

Alexandra Burke, Union Chapel, London (Rated 4/ 5 )

Sitting in the pews of the beautiful Grade II-listed Union Chapel, the drama of The X Factor could not seem further away. Yet, as the country remains gripped in the weekly twists and turns of Simon Cowell's singing competition, this 19th-century chapel is tonight the venue for the first proper headline show from Alexandra Burke, last year's victor.

Inside Reviews

Monsters Of Folk, Coal Exchange, Cardiff (Rated 4/ 5 )

Monday, 23 November 2009

Europe hails a supergroup

Album: Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster (Polydor)

Sunday, 22 November 2009

All hail this amazing avatar of avant-garde freako fashion

Sonny Rollins, Barbican Hall, London

Sunday, 22 November 2009

He blew like the legend he is – so why am I blubbing?

Album: Leona Lewis, Echo, (Syco/Sony)

Sunday, 22 November 2009

The problem for Lewis on her follow-up album is that while this is the exact point at which she should be marking out her own territory, Echo feels and sounds even more a part of the X Factory than her debut album.

Album: Trio VD, Fill It Up with Ghosts (Babe)

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Remember the Fast Show sketch about the trumpeter who, instead of blowing, sucked?

Album: N-Dubz, Against All Odds (Universal)

Sunday, 22 November 2009

The new N-Dubz album spins bleakly believable stories of urban life over the trio's now-familiar R&B/pop-rap/clubland hybrid.

Gary Numan, Dome, Brighton
Paloma Faith, Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Once alienated from much of the music scene by his Asperger's syndrome, Gary Numan is bringing himself back in from the cold

Album: The Dutchess & the Duke, Sunset / Sunrise (Hardly Art)

Sunday, 22 November 2009

The second album from The Dutchess (sic) & the Duke is a superior 10-song tranche of dusty-booted Americana.

Album: Paul Curreri, California (Hi-Ya / Tin Angel)

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Curreri accounts for a lot of the musical weight behind Devon Sproule.

Album: Brandi Carlile, Give Up the Ghost, (Sony)

Sunday, 22 November 2009

While the Gagas of this world hog the headlines and the spotlights, genre-defying artists such as Carlile establish themselves in the background, their records passed between music lovers with the seriousness of secrets.

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