| | | Anne Rice, author of Interview With the Vampire, dies aged 80 | | by Alison Flood Dec 12, 2021 | | Horror writers pay tribute after bestselling gothic novelist dies of complications from stroke Anne Rice, the bestselling author of Interview With the Vampire, has died at the age of 80. The gothic novelist’s son Christopher Rice said in a statement on Sunday morning that Rice had “passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke”, adding: “The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated.” Continue reading... | | | | | Alicia Keys: Keys review – double album shows two faces | | by Michael Cragg Dec 12, 2021 | | (RCA)
With stripped-back and beefed-up takes on each track, Keys’s eighth album should be two for the price of one – but not all songs work both ways Alicia Keys’s eighth album – the follow-up to 2020’s guest-heavy Alicia – is a strange beast. A 26-track double album, the first side includes a suite of songs, (billed as Originals) that showcase a more stripped-back, piano-based sound, while the Unlocked side features beefed up, hip-hop-leaning reworkings co-produced by Mike Will Made It. It’s an intriguing concept that, when it works, offers a glimpse into an artist’s creative process, but when it doesn’t, feels like hedge-betting. Highlights include Old Memories, morphed from a jazzy standard into side two’s dancefloor goliath, and the original version of Daffodils, which pairs piano, delicate electronics and a lullaby melody to soothing effect. The ebullient, career-high Love When You Call My Name, meanwhile, works perfectly in both iterations. Continue reading... | | | | | Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything review – radical in every thought and gesture | | by Laura Cumming Dec 12, 2021 | | British Museum, London
Gods, elephants, the elements – the whole world bursts into life in the great Japanese artist’s rediscovered sketches for an encylopedia, drawn for a nation in lockdown and now on show for the first time Over the course of his long career – he was a master draughtsman at 12 – the Japanese genius Hokusai (1760-1849) was so prolific it seems absurd that the west knows him mainly for a single work, The Great Wave. His many thousands of images were treasured throughout Japan. For sale as cheap prints – the Wave originally cost no more than a double serving of noodles – and in bestselling volumes in city bookshops, they reached every corner of the nation through travelling libraries. One of these volumes was to be an encyclopedia, with the flamboyant title The Great Picture Book of Everything. But for some unknown reason the book was never published. Hokusai made 103 drawings for it, known to scholars but out of sight in the private collection of a French jeweller until his death in 1942. Whereupon they disappeared, all but forgotten until 2019, when Timothy Clark of the British Museum heard word of them at an auction and managed to secure them for the nation. This magnificent exhibition, jammed since it opened earlier this autumn, is the first time they have ever been shown in public. Continue reading... | | | | | BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Downie Dear review – mesmerising and moving | | by Rian Evans Dec 12, 2021 | | Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff
Sarah Lianne Lewis’s first works performed by BBC Now were brash and buoyant, while John Woolrich leant beauty and Ravel provided festive relief Creatures of Dust and Dreams is the first of Sarah Lianne Lewis’s works to be performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales since she was named as their composer affiliate a year ago. In this 10-minute piece, given its premiere by the orchestra under the baton of Finnegan Downie Dear, Lewis sought to reflect on the intrinsic frailty of the individual against their potential for gaining strength by reaching out to others. Conceived in 2019, pre-Covid, Lewis nevertheless recognised its resonance with the fears and uncertainties of the pandemic experience. Quarter-tones lent a brash edge to the buoyancy of the opening, with clarinet multiphonics adding to the abrasive element and an ongoing sense of unease, all of which contrasted wildly with the more straightforward melodic lines and far-from-dissonant harmonies. The initial playfulness and the musical material’s tendency to meander and periodically peter out – albeit perhaps redolent of the insubstantiality of dream – meant that the work didn’t quite carry the philosophical weightiness that Lewis intended. Nevertheless, her assurance in handling the textures was more than evident. Available on BBC Sounds until 7 January Continue reading... | | | | | Citizen Ashe review – a considered account of a true tennis hero | | by Simran Hans Dec 12, 2021 | | This moving documentary tells the story of Arthur Ashe – the first black man to win Wimbledon – from his civil rights beginnings to his tragic end This thoughtful documentary about Arthur Ashe, the first African American man to win Wimbledon in 1975, understands that representation is only one step towards equality. Born and raised in the segregated south, Ashe infiltrated the “lilywhite institute of top-tier tennis” just as the civil rights movement was gaining momentum. Yet for years he kept his head down, and felt guilty for it. The film charts his fraught political awakening, from protesting against apartheid to becoming an Aids activist, before his death from the disease in 1993. With his giant serve, sharp intellect and famously cool head, Ashe was pitted against more outspoken black athletes, such as Muhammad Ali. “We’re thought of as all brawn and no brains – I like to challenge that myth,” the young tennis player once said. Archive film is juxtaposed with contemporary footage of today’s sports star activists, including Naomi Osaka and Colin Kaepernick – a potent reminder of how expectations have since shifted. Continue reading... | | | | | |
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