MOTHER Natalie Maines (Sony) When the Dixie Chicks joined the Axis of Evil it killed their country music station playability but the anti-Bush backlash helped them to Grammy success.
Tag Archives: ballads
Singer from Gaza wants to be Arab Idol
Arab Idol is an over-the-top TV ratings smash in the Middle East, and a young crooner from a Palestinian refugee family, whom admirers have nicknamed “the Rocket”, is stealing the show. The surprise breakout of the second season is a 23-year-old Gaza Strip resident named Mohammed Assaf, whose patriotic folk songs and romantic ballads – with their themes of grit, longing and love – have propelled him into the final rounds.
Album review: Opposites – Biffy Clyro
OPPOSITES Biffy Clyro (Warner) After five previous full-lengthers, these Scots rockers have hit a pinnacle of sorts with this grandiose, swaggering album stacked full of stadium-sized anthemic belters, primetime alt-rock and heartstring tugging ballads.
Album review: Live At The Royal Albert Hall – Emile Sande
LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL Emile Sande (Universal) There’s no doubt Scottish siren Emile Sande was the pop diva breakthrough o of 2012.
Review: Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran TSB Arena, Wellington, March 8 There’s a lot about Ed Sheeran that I didn’t know.