David McAlmont to support Erasure's Andy Bell in Powys
HiFi Sean and cult indie favourite David McAlmont will be coming to the Albert Hall in Llandrindod Wells on May 17.
The pair will be supporting headliner Andy Bell the lead vocalist in the 198os duo Erasure who will be performing at the venue as part of his tour.
These two artists both have a rich history in the music industry, Sean as a member of The Soup Dragons and more recently as a DJ and electronic artist HiFi Sean, and McAlmont as a renowned solo artist and vocalist on what is consider to be one of the most underappreciated pop songs of the 1990s, 'Yes' by McAlmont & Butler.
The two met when Sean invited David to feature on his 2019 album FT, which also featured Alan Vega, Bootsy Collins, Crystal Waters, Little Annie, Paris Grey (formerly of Inner City) and more - the single Testify (ft Crystal Waters) was a US Dance Chart topper and Radio 2 A List record.
Their collaboration developed via WhatsApp, email and eventually Dropbox, with Hifi uploading arrangements and McAlmont returning demos.
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The record was completed with 'No studios. No engineer.' Just McAlmont and Hifi on the eighteenth floor of a London tower block within hearing distance of the Bow bells.
The lofty setting with "spectacular 270-degree views of the city", complete with sunsets, sunrises and murmurating ravens when storms approached was perfect for McAlmont who detests studios.
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Hifi, on the other hand, 'armed with a laptop and progressive plug ins, can make music anywhere'.
The result is an 'exciting collection of songs' on their debut album HAPPY ENDING which is described as 'an electronic, psychedelic soul adventure featuring an eighty-piece Bollywood orchestra recorded in a film studio in Bangalore India on some of the tracks'.
The current sister album and 3rd album by the duo is TWILIGHT was released on Valentines day and depicts the darker winter months 'but with a warm hue that gets you completely sonically bathed in sound'.
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Times
06-08-2025
- Times
Boo to Boléro! The classical music favourites we never want to hear again
There are more than 80 concerts in this year's BBC Proms season, spanning the gamut of baroque to modern, orchestral behemoths to delicate arias. You can, however, almost guarantee that certain pieces will always feature. That list of indestructible favourites includes Beethoven's Fifth, Holst's The Planets — and Ravel's 15-minute earworm, Boléro, due this month at the Albert Hall, which, put simply, I am becoming allergic to. I am not alone in finding that one ubiquitous piece of music sets my teeth on edge. With tens of thousands of gems from the classical repertoire — there's an excellent guide to 100 of them here — orchestras and radio stations spend a surprising amount of time beating the life out of shop-worn classics. Here, The Times music critics share their own bêtes noires, from the crashing chords of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1 to Delibes's Flower Duet. Which pieces of classical music would you prefer never to hear again? Let us know in the comments by Neil Fisher'I've written only one masterpiece,' Maurice Ravel confided in Arthur Honegger. 'Unfortunately there's no music in it.' The French composer — celebrated this year, 150 years after his birth — was being playful with the truth when he talked about Boléro, which was, regrettably, his biggest hit. I think he knew exactly what he was doing with Boléro — playing a musical game. Ravel was at heart a miniaturist (he was obsessed with intricate mechanisms like clocks and machinery). In Boléro he took a tiny idea, just two themes, and upscaled them into a repetitive, mechanistic crescendo; those two themes repeated 18 times, the orchestration growing purpler each time (the snare drum doesn't stop, playing the same rhythm 169 times, an exciting recipe for RSI if you are a percussionist). So to call the result sterile is a bit like calling custard gloopy. It's supposed to be. It has been claimed that Boléro is performed every 15 minutes somewhere in the world, so you probably needn't even wait until the BBC Proms performance on August 13 (its 57th outing at the festival) to hear it live next. My plea, especially in the year when Ravel gets his glow-up, is to pivot back to the work's roots: it's a ballet score. Conceived at the behest of the dancer, actress and belle époque siren Ida Rubinstein, the original choreography by Bronislava Nijinska cast Rubinstein's heroine as a sexual predator, dancing on a table, luring 20 young male performers to, er, her beat. The choreographer Maurice Béjart reinterpreted the premise in the 1970s, casting the central seducer as a man. And if Boléro got another turbo boost from Torvill and Dean's icy caperings in Sarajevo in 1984, the pair drew sensuousness and athleticism from the monotony. Bolero's endless repetitions, after all, mean that it's perfect soundtrack music. As for me, if it were banned from concert halls altogether, I'd be thrilled. • BBC Proms 2025 reviews: our music critics' verdicts on the concerts by Richard MorrisonI never used to hate Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto — you know, the one that starts 'parp, parp. parp, parp … crash!' My feelings were more of irritation that, having devised that spectacular opening, Tchaikovsky never brought it back for a bow anywhere else in the work. It's like tearing flamboyant wrapping paper off a birthday present and discovering a pair of socks inside. Then, about 12 years ago when it was still kosher to hobnob culturally with the Russians, I went to the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, in which that very concerto becomes a battleground for a keyboard joust between the world's most phenomenal young pianists. For hour after hour a poor old Steinway that had done no harm to anybody was pounded, punched and pummelled into submission by these 19-year-old 'prodigies', each apparently intent on playing faster, louder and frankly coarser than anyone in history. Meanwhile a baying crowd hissed non-Russian competitors as well as cheering their own. This wasn't music-making. It was war without guns, which I suppose is at least better than what the Russians are doing now. None of which is Tchaikovsky's fault, of course. But, as with people, you judge pieces of music by the company they attract. I can't listen to that concerto now without recalling that bear pit in Moscow. • Read classical reviews, guides and interviews by Rachel Halliburton Even Mickey Mouse had a bash at it. Rachmaninov's thunderous prelude, composed in 1892 when he was 19, quickly seized the popular imagination. Simultaneously epic and turbulent, it seemed to capture the spirit of a world on the brink of cataclysmic often, though, it's the party piece of amateur pianists intent on channelling their inner elephant. I've watched them repeatedly, steeped in pseudo-seriousness, egos maxed out because they're playing four at its worst it's a piece of musical masturbation. At its best? Well, that's the problem. It eclipses so much else. Full-bodied and romantic, it identifies Rachmaninov as a creature of the 19th century when he was one of the 20th century's most forward-thinking individuals. I'm in good company. Another person who hated the prelude's popularity was … Rachmaninov. Harpo Marx once drove him out of his hotel suite by repeatedly playing the first four bars. Far from being his calling card, it was his albatross. We owe it to him to explore his repertoire more imaginatively. by Rebecca FranksCan I blame my aversion to Pachelbel's Canon on it being a wedding favourite? Playing in an amateur string quartet many years ago, at receptions and charity events, certainly didn't endear me to it. Perform anything often enough and it might start to grate. That's not the entire reason I reach for the off button when I hear the Canon's familiar bass line start up. I also played Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik (which surely will be at least one reader's own classical nemesis) far too many times, and I'm not that bothered by hearing its chirpy theme nowadays. I'd contend that Pachelbel's Canon is an inherently annoying piece. Granted, the way in which this baroque composer uses imitation between the three violins to spin out the piece is admirably economical, but the stepwise theme isn't exactly scintillating. And while Purcell uses a ground bass — a repeating bass line — to write some of the most beautiful music in history, Pachelbel picks a circling sequence of eight notes that's especially prone to sounding like a dirge. Repeat that 28 times (or more, if you need to fill time at a wedding) and the sense of droning predictability looms large. If that opening cello solo drags, you're in for a long haul — pour yourself a prosecco. • Our review of this year's First Night of the Proms by Jessica DuchenTry again, they said. Give it another go, they said. You might like it this time. Well, I've tried. I've done everything: blamed the conductors, tried different orchestras, interviewed people, even written programme notes — but in the end there's a basic personality clash between me and Anton opening of his Seventh Symphony, a soaring sunrise on the cellos, is, honestly, one of the most beautiful things ever composed. But the wonder lasts approximately one minute (with just 69 more to go) before he trashes it with glum, ploddy dabbling. Eventually Bruckner goes into his usual shtick: building up and up, desperately trying to climax. Trying again. Trying again. And then giving up and doing something else adore Bruckner for (I'm told) his innocence, his religiosity, his amateurish enthusiasm, the fact that he tries so very hard. They hear ineffable mystery, grand Alpine landscapes and a good workout in the brass section. But I'd want to solve the mystery, climb the mountains and have a good laugh at the hot air. Instead, I can only sit there and squirm as that sad, portentous, humourless incel chunters on through sound and fury signifying … you guessed it. by Geoff BrownThere are certain singers, outside the classical sphere, that I'm desperate to avoid. Think Judy Garland, Édith Piaf: singers who to this reserved Englishman appear neurotically absorbed with their own emotions, living on their nerves and getting on mine. I'm not partial to Ethel Merman either, though that's more a matter of her decibel level and brassy tone. Perhaps this explains why I can't stand Tchaikovsky's Pathétique. It's a brilliantly engineered, imaginative and daring piece: I'm not blind to its power and singularity. But it's also Judy Garland in classical dress, throbbing so much with self-pity and melodrama, never allowing for a quiet reflection or any escape from subjectivity. If a big tune isn't mugging its way into your heart, you're being trampled by a blazing march. Arpeggios shriek like escapees from a horror movie; solo instruments are pushed to harmful extremes. Only the most judicious conductor can balance and shape the symphony's elements so that it doesn't seem a gargoyle. The audience really needs conducting too, if only to stop thunderous clapping after the whirlwind march when the maestro's panting for the slow, heartbreaking finale. Heartbreaking, that is, if the listener — well, me — is fully functioning at the close. by Daniel Lewis My mother worked for British Airways for 25 years, so this particular piece might be more of an irksome feature of my life than most, but it has felt near inescapable since the airline adopted, or co-opted it as its jingle, as well as its onboarding soundtrack, in the early Eighties. I don't really think there's anything wrong with the piece, laying aside the orientalism, but it is overexposed and liable to produce a Pavlovian response from me if I hear it in a concert. I'll start passive-aggressively fighting with the person next to me over the armrest, demonstratively checking for the nearest exits and wondering are we there yet. It could be worse: the piece is only five minutes long. And I think BA has since switched to something as untouchably wholesome as Dvorak's Serenade for Strings for its flights. But, back in the day at least, if you were stuck on the tarmac while they were refuelling or fixing the air conditioning or the pilots were finishing their game of Scrabble, you could be listening to this duet on repeat for as long as it might take to get to Paris. Shudder. • The best classical albums of 2025 so far by Mark PullingerI love Tchaikovsky. He's probably my desert island composer, as I'll have all bases covered: operas, ballets, symphonies, concertos, songs, string quartets. That said, there's one piece of his that doesn't press my buttons: the Rococo Variations. It's a non-concerto for cello and orchestra, a tame set of variations on a pretty dull theme, written vaguely in the classical style. It is 20 minutes of aimless doodling and it remains a mystery to me why cellists want to take it on. The work was written in 1877 for the German cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, a fellow professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Tchaikovsky allowed Fitzenhagen to modify the solo part but was aghast when he discovered that, in performance, the cellist cut the 8th variation and reshuffled the order of the others. 'Fitzenhagen's been here. Look what he's done with my composition — everything's been changed!' When asked what action he was planning to take, a despairing Tchaikovsky replied: 'The devil take it! Let it stand as it is!' Perhaps, deep down, Tchaikovsky didn't particularly care much for the work either.
BreakingNews.ie
29-07-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
The 1975's Matty Healy warns of ‘cultural erasure' as he backs small venue event
The 1975 singer Matty Healy has warned of 'cultural erasure' as he threw his support behind a new festival which aims to back small music venues. The Seed Sounds Weekender, which will take place September 26th-28th, will see more than 2,000 gigs take place in more than 1,000 venues in an attempt to unite small venues. Advertisement Speaking of the event, Healy told the PA news agency: 'The political neglect behind this crisis, steadily hollowing out arts funding and cultural infrastructure is a class war by omission. 'Councils across England have slashed arts budgets by 20% to 30% over the last decade. Without government-led reforms – like a mandatory stadium-and-arena ticket levy, VAT relief, business rates reform, and real investment in venue survival – this ecosystem collapses. Matty Healy on stage at the Glastonbury Festival (Yui Mok/PA) 'The UK music industry delivers £5.2 billion to the economy, supports 228,000 jobs, and exports its soft power globally – but its entire pipeline starts in those 150‑capacity rooms above pubs. 'Lose them, and you aren't just losing venues – you are losing the conditions that made all that possible. That is cultural erasure, and it will not come back. Advertisement 'And that's precisely why movements like the Seed Sounds Weekender are so important, this festival isn't just a celebration, it's about uniting and sustaining this network, ensuring that art isn't just for the privileged, and that Britain's unique, musical heartbeat keeps beating.' Last year, the Music Venue Trust's annual report warned that, in 2023, 22.4 per cent of venues closed as a result of 'operational issues', while 42.1 per cent of its members reported 'financial issues'. Just last month, Sheffield's well-known Leadmill venue saw its last gig in its current form, after losing a long-running eviction battle with its landlord, the Electric Group, with singer Miles Kane performing on June 27th. Tickets for most of the gigs which take place as part of the Seed Sounds Weekender will be free, with events taking place across 20 UK towns and cities including London, Liverpool and Manchester. Advertisement Healy added: 'Local venues aren't just where bands cut their teeth – they're the foundational infrastructure of our culture. Without them, you don't get The Smiths, Idles, Little Simz, or Wet Leg, you get silence. 'Since 2007, we've lost 38 per cent of UK grassroots music venues – over 1,200 of them – and venue closures continue at a frightening pace. In 2023 alone, 125 venues shut down, and right now two venues are closing every month. 'These rooms barely scrape by, average profit margins are just 0.5 per cent – under £3,000 per year – and nearly 44 per cent operate at a loss. The sector effectively subsidises live music by £162 million annually. 'That means communities across the country: working-class towns; inner cities; regional centres; lose their only accessible creative spaces. Advertisement 'When that happens, the only art that thrives is the art already bankrolled, safe, sanitised, and profitable. Art becomes a luxury for the privileged.' Organised by live music marketplace GigPig, the event will partner with Uber to give attendees discounted rides to and from gig venues, with tickets available from the Seed Sounds Weekender website. It comes after Healy and his band recently headlined the 2025 edition of Glastonbury Festival, having achieved five UK number one albums and 12 UK hit singles. The 1975 are best known for songs such as Chocolate, The Sound and Love Me. Advertisement
Telegraph
25-07-2025
- Telegraph
Kef XIO soundbar review: A great British TV speaker
Score: 9/10 We like: Immersive movie sound The most musical sounding soundbar Well-organised app We don't like: No display to indicate modes or volume levels Expensive What is the Kef XIO? While many specialist loudspeaker manufacturers have dabbled in the soundbar market over the years, British audio maker Kef has kept its distance. That changes as of now, with the debut of the new Kef XIO soundbar. This is a premium-priced 5.1.2-channel sound system with upwards-firing speakers that aims to raise the stakes when it comes to high-end, one-box soundbars. Kef says that it offers a gateway to 'transcendent, high-fidelity spatial audio' and has been designed to offer 'sound quality and performance that rival Kef's renowned Hi-Fi systems', albeit for a more general audience. The XIO comes without a subwoofer, but Kef says that the bass response should be plenty enough for most users. A dedicated wireless surround speaker system, designed to be paired with the XIO to create a more expansive 7.1.2 setup, is planned for launch later in 2025, with details and pricing to follow. JUMP TO: How we test soundbars I always test soundbars at home for a minimum of two weeks. For video, I mainly use content from live TV, streaming services including Netflix, Disney, and Amazon Prime, as well as Dolby Atmos and DTS content from my resident Sony UBP-X800M2 4K UHD Blu-ray player. Music listening is mostly from Spotify Connect, with more content accessed from my Plex server. I have a mixture of LG OLED screens at home, as well as a 70-inch Philips 4K LED model. For big-screen viewing, I'm also currently using two 4K projectors: the Valerion VisionMaster Plus2 and the XGIMI Horizon S Max. As well as assessing soundbars for outright sound quality, with a varied diet of live TV, movies and music, I also put soundbars through their paces to see how they stack up for relative ease of use, design, features and connectivity. Why you can trust Telegraph Recommended Our tech experts continuously conduct in-depth, independent, real-world tests, scoring devices against pre-set testing metrics and industry benchmarks, so we can deliver definitive and comprehensive buying advice. Telegraph Recommended reviews are never shared with product manufacturers before publication, we don't accept payment in exchange for positive reviews, nor do we allow brands to pay for placement in our articles. Visit our Who We Are page to learn more. Design, setup and usability Score: 9/10 This elegant-looking soundbar is available in grey or black. Placed in a living room, it's best partnered with 65-inch TVs or larger, as it looks a little absurd with smaller screens. The XIO can be turned through 90 degrees for wall-mounting. You have to rotate it so that the cables enter and exit from the bottom, which results in a messy arrangement. Built-in sensors automatically detect the orientation, adjusting the audio to accommodate. On the top left of the XIO, there is a basic set of illuminated manual touch-sensitive controls, augmented by a simple backlit remote control. The Kef Connect app is available if you want to do anything more involved than just switching and volume changing. This acts as a control hub for music streaming services, radio and podcasts, and allows you to customise your control options. There isn't a physical display on the soundbar itself, so unless you have the smartphone app open, there's no way of knowing which mode or volume level is selected. Sound quality Score: 10/10 There are six EQ presets (settings to adjust the audio balance) in the app, but that's your lot when it comes to fine-tuning options. I stuck with the default mode for general listening, movie when watching Dolby Atmos films, and music for two-channel audio. Having listened to most of the standalone soundbars currently on the market, I was floored by the XIO's sound quality. There are three things that it does spectacularly well. The first is that it creates a remarkably palpable, full-bodied soundstage that's distinctly tangible. By that, I mean there's easily perceivable depth, as well as width and height. Cheaper soundbars rarely manage to excel at all three of those aspects. I can't recall hearing a soundbar so far that recreates human speech as accurately. Turn up the volume in a large room and you can hear just the faintest hint of raspiness creeping in. However, at normal levels, speech sounds natural and convincing Tight, extended and well-defined, the XIO's low-frequency performance completely avoids the one-note bass trait that renders so many soundbars unlistenable. Rarely, adding an external sub doesn't improve a soundbar's performance, but here it's not a 'must have'. Lastly, you won't be surprised to hear that the XIO does a brilliant job with music. Aside from a slight softness in the upper bass, it's tuneful and engaging in a way that few soundbars can manage. Connectivity Score: 9/10 The W2 wireless platform used by the XIO works so sweetly, delivering a fuss-free way of enjoying all the major cloud-based music streaming services, including Spotify, Qobuz and Amazon Music, with AirPlay 2 provided for Apple Music fans. At the rear of the unit, you'll find a physical power on/off switch plus a pairing control for your smartphone (using Bluetooth 5.3), a digital optical input, and a solitary eARC-enabled HDMI 2.1 socket. Which, I have to say, is a disappointment. Given the lofty price point, I would have expected a second passthrough HDMI to be provided, allowing the XIO to be used as a central hub for all sources, as opposed to a TV. If you crave even more bass than already on offer (and there's a lot), there's also an analogue RCA subwoofer output provided. You also have the somewhat pricey, previously mentioned, option of purchasing the XIO with a Kef KW2 wireless sender/KC62 subwoofer combo. Technical specifications While there is a smaller selection of contenders in the XIO's premium soundbar category than, say, at below £1,000, there's still plenty of competition. Granted, it's not a standalone soundbar, but I daresay the Samsung HW-Q990F, which is a great sounding system comprising a soundbar, subwoofer and satellites, would also be high on the shortlist for anybody considering buying an XIO. Should you buy the Kef XIO? There's no getting away from it, the Kef XIO is an expensive proposition, especially for a standalone soundbar. Having said that, it's also one of the select few that's genuinely as skilled at reproducing stereo music, as it is at conveying multi-channel film soundtracks. If a soundbar that excels at both of those tasks is your number one priority, then consider your search over: the XIO will deliver what you're after. Yes, if: You want a standalone, high-end soundbar with class-leading performance Listening to music is as important to you as watching TV You're going to partner it with a 65-inch TV or larger No, if: Kef XIO soundbar FAQs Can a £2,000 soundbar possibly be classed as good value? The XIO certainly isn't cheap. However, having now spent a couple of weeks with it, I'd have to say it genuinely sets a high standard for both music and movie sound. Few soundbars handle both tasks with as much sonic panache. What if I decide I want to go beyond 5.1.2-channel performance? Kef will be launching wireless surround sound speakers to accompany the XIO later in 2025, so building a 7.1.2-channel system around it (by adding two additional back speakers) will be possible. How futureproofed is the Kef XIO soundbar? According to Kef's Dr Jack Oclee-Brown, the XIO soundbar has enough memory and processing firepower to accommodate any foreseeable upcoming surround sound formats. It's been designed from the outset to deal with demanding MPEG-H 3D Audio-based ecosystems, Sony's 360 Reality Audio being the current, most high-profile example.
