The Week - UK (2020-09-12)

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THEWEEK 12 September 2020

ARTS

The Week’s own podcast,The Week Unwrapped,covers the biggest unreported stories of the week (available on Apple and Google)

TheBritishcomedyduoAlex

OwenandBenAshenden,

collectivelyknownasThePin,

provetobe“perfect

mockumentaryfodder”in

Audible’s“starry”newshow

TheSpecialRelationship,said

HannahVerdierinTheGuardian.

Theset-upisthatapairof

delusionalposhcomedians–the

brokeandbumblingOwenand

Ashenden–areonamissionto

breakAmerica.Meanwhiletheir

effortsarebeingtrackedbyan

investigativejournalist(playedby

“asublimelydry”CecilyStrong)

whoisfarfrompleasedathaving

tocoversuchaninconsequential

story,saidFrancescaAngelini

inTheSundayTimes.“Silly

knockaboutanticsarebrokenupbytheduo’ssignature,sharp,

metastand-uproutines”andthereareamusingturnsfromthe

likesofSallyPhillips,JamieDemetriouandFredArmisen.It’sall

“very entertaining”.

KimNobleisanother comedianwhohastoyed withthe podcast

format toprofitableeffect,saidBrianLoganinThe Guardian.

Hoveringbetween“cringinglyawkward, darklycomicand

beautiful”,FutileAttempts(AtSurviving Tomorrow)

chroniclesNoble’s“glumadventuresinthesearchformeaning”.

Describinghimselfasa“failedperformance artist”,he splices

“narration,dreamymusic, and secretaudio recordings”madeas

hegoesabouthisunglamorouslife

whilethesounddesign“loops,

refractsandfuzzesuptheaudio”:

sometimesitseemstobeasitcom;

atothertimesit’smorelike

“ambientinvestigativejournalism”.

Forthcomingepisodesfocuson

“sex,exerciseand,er,queueing.

I’llbeatthefrontofthequeuefor

allofthem.”

Don’tTellMetheScoreisalong-

establishedpodcast( 100 episodes

areavailableonBBCSounds)which

askswhatsportcanteachusabout

life.EachweektheBBCsports

reporterSimonMundiesitsdown

withabignamefromtheworldof

sport,oranexpertfromarelated

field,fora“freewheeling”

discussionthatembracessport,psychologyandgeneral

well-being,saidCliveDavisinTheTimes.It’san“ingenious

concept”whichshedsfascinatingandfreshlightontopicssuch

asresilience,confidence, nutrition,management, meditation and

mindfulness. Inoneoutstanding episode, thesnookerchampion

Ronnie O’Sullivan reflectscandidlyon“howhe hastriedto

confronthis innerdemons”. Inanother,Mundietalkstothe

Olympic-goldmedalwinningdecathleteandtransgenderrights

activistCaitlynJenneraboutthe“hyper-masculine” cultureof

athletics,saidCharlotteRuncie inTheDailyTelegraph. Mundie’s

show isthoughtfulandwarm –andtheconclusions itteases out

areofteninspiring.

Podcasts... mockumentary, musings and mindfulness

CaitlynJennerandSimonMundiediscussmasculinityinsport

Nubya Garcia:

Source

Concord

Records

£12

“Over the last five years, Nubya Garcia

has becomeacentral figure in London’s

contemporary jazz community,” said

Dhruva Balram in NME. The 28-year-old

saxophonist has playedakey role in

developing its sound, and has been “a

crucial component and player” on “great”

releases, such as 2018’sWe Out Here

compilation. Now, she steps into the solo

spotlight withaboldly original album meld-

ing dub overtones with Calypso rhythms,

two-step, “bluesy hard bop, improvisatory

jazz and splashes of electronica”.

Garcia’s virtuosity is unquestionable, but

“it is the expression she puts into the notes

that stays with you”, said Will Hodgkinson

in The Times. She moves from “sweet

melody to impassioned noise” onPace,

“sinks into dub reggae” on the title track,

and “glides offabedrock of Colombian

rhythm” on the hypnoticLa Cumbia Me

Está Llamando.With contributions from

the likes of Cassie Kinoshi and Joe Armon-

Jones, the album encapsulates “British jazz

2020: wide-ranging, respectful of history

and optimistic”.

The Welsh singer, producer and songwriter

Kelly Lee Owens has “long beenamaster

at crafting beautifully textured yet banging

techno-pop”, said Ben Jolley in NME. But

onInner Song–her Covid-de layed follow-

up to 2017’s brilliant self-titled debut–she

surpasses herself. After what she calls “the

hardest three years of my life”, the artist

channels feelings of loss and grief into

“emotive-yet-euphoric” music that is made

for “late-night reflection”. This is “one of

the most beautiful records of the year”.

On one highlight,Arpeggi,Owensoffers

awonderfully fluid instrumental reworking

of Radiohead’sWeird Fishes/Arpeggi,said

Ludovic Hunter-Tilney in the FT.Melt!ups

the tempo witha“tigh tgrid of percussive

beats”. And onCorner of My Sky,the

former Velvet Underground grandee John

Cale (who was born and brought up in

Wales) singsa“paean to landscape and the

passing of the seasons overatida lambient-

techno pulse”,withlyric sinboth English

and Welsh. This is an adventurous, experi-

mental album, with an “acute grasp of

musical dynamics and resonance”.

On this “superb” coupling of two Mozart

piano concertos –No. 19 inFmajor(K459)

andNo. 27 inBflat major(K595)–the Swiss

pianist Francesco Piemontesi “establishes

himself asapeerlessMozartian stylist of the

younger generation”, said Hugh Canning in

The Sunday Times. Piemontesi phrases the

Allegretto in the former and the Larghetto

in the latter witha“patrician, singing

cantabile”, while conductor Andrew Manze

upholds the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s

“gold standard” in Mozart. With the SCO’s

elite team of wind principals, Manze and

Piemontesi find an “easy, conversational

rapport that sparkles” in the opera buffa-like

finale of theFmajor concerto.

The SCO’s players are “lithe and spirited”

–and make “excellent companions” for the

Swiss soloist, agreed Fiona Maddocks in

The Observer. Piemontesi is in “total, joyful

command of his material”–scrupulous in

detail, and “imaginative (but not to excess)

in ornament and cadenza”. And Manze

brings his period-instrument expertise to

proceedings, “giving fresh insight to this

beloved repertoire”.

Kelly Lee

Owens: Inner

Song

Smalltown

Supersound

£10

Albums of the week: three new releases

Francesco

Piemontesi/

SCO (Manze):

Mozart–Piano

Conc ertos Nos

19 and 27;

Rondo K386

Linn

£15