Chris Roberts

Do You Remember The First Time? Chris Roberts On Japan’s Adolescent Sex

Members of Japan have long since turned their backs on their first two albums, Adolescent Sex and Obscure Alternatives. Who cares, says Chris Roberts, praising the adrenalised thrill ride of their early work

Who Will Stop The Rain? Lana Del Rey Live At Oya

Chris Roberts travels to Oslo’s Oya Festival and finds Lana Del Rey stopping the rain and moving fans to tears. Plus Pixies, The xx, Feist, The Shins, Mac DeMarco, Ryan Adams, Angel Olsen and more

Maverick Magic: Adam Ant Live Royal Albert Hall

Adam Ant tours his anthems and his insect nation fill the Royal Albert Hall. It’s a comeback which can only be hailed as triumphant. Chris Roberts argues that the later, solo hits are every bit as dynamic as the Antmusic which gave us the early Eighties’ brightest star

Out Of Time: Ultravox! & Ha! Ha! Ha! Revisited By Chris Roberts

1977 saw the release of both Ultravox! and Ha! Ha! Ha! Chris Roberts looks back four decades and finds that there's sometimes no prize for coming first...

ABC

The Lexicon Of Love 2

The Lead Review: Chris Roberts On Knifeworld’s Bottled Out Of Eden

On their third full-length out tomorrow on InsideOut Music, Chris Roberts examines how the group has moved away from prog and towards a sound that incorporates character, impishness, and multilayered ideas.

Time May Change Me: David Bowie, Blackstar & Mortality, by Chris Roberts

He was born David Jones but he died David Bowie and by the end the transformation was complete. Chris Roberts reflects on heaven, hell and mortality in forty years of Bowie magick

David Bowie: The Return Of The Thin White Hope

After a decade of artlessness Bowie is back. So why are so many clowns complaining, asks Chris Roberts

Sing It Again: Rod Stewart Interviewed

After five decades at the top, Rod Stewart finds himself telling Chris Roberts about stage-fright and swagger, recovery from illness, disco fever, wearing too much make-up and missing his shin pads

Galloping Free: Patti Smith Live At Field Day, By Chris Roberts

A sunlit summer park in East London might be a million miles from grimy 1970s New York, but Chris Roberts finds true wonder in Patti Smith's performance of Horses on the Quietus/EYOE main stage at Field Day. There's life in the old nag that is rock & roll yet. Photos by Valerio Berdini

Bethia Beadman

Chinatown

LIVE REPORT: 10 Years Of No Format!

Chris Roberts heads to France for the tenth birthday celebrations of the Parisian label. Featuring performances from Gabriel Garzon-Montano, Lucas Santtana, Ala.ni and Kasse Mady Diabate

Tokyo Dream-Logic: Chris Roberts On The Sights & Sounds Of A Lig In Japan

Chris Roberts travels to the Japan Night showcase, where the local music industry displays its wares to the world. Is there life in Tokyo, or will it get lost in translation?

FESTIVAL REPORT: Positivus Festival

Chris Roberts visits the biggest festival in the Baltics and finds Kraftwerk in 3D, enchanted forests, Future Islands as Queen, Anna Calvi as Bolan and Ellie Goulding as Satan.

FESTIVAL REPORT: Open’er Festival

Chris Roberts heads to a former military airfield in Poland for four days of music, art, fashion, and overly enthused crowds. Photo by Michał Murawski

Chris Roberts On Kate Bush Live

As Kate Bush announces her first live dates in three decades, Chris Roberts writes in praise of an artist who "has always operated outside logic and function."

LIVE REPORT: Bryan Ferry

Chris Roberts celebrates the many Bryan Ferrys at the Royal Albert Hall. Photography by Valerio Berdini

FESTIVAL REPORT: Optimus Alive

Chris Roberts heads to Portugal for the annual Optimus Alive festival for Depeche Mode, piloting a boat, much "obrigada" and the strange realisation that, in Lisbon, Alt-J are bigger than God

LIVE REPORT: My Bloody Valentine

Chris Roberts heads to MBV's final night of their UK tour and finds himself pondering linguistics and culture while stood in their volume wind-tunnel

Great Dame: David Bowie’s The Next Day Reviewed

Chris Roberts is inspired out of his clothes and on to the dancefloor by David Bowie's glorious return

LIVE REPORT: Elizabeth Fraser

As part of Antony's Meltdown, Cocteau Twins vocalist Elizabeth Fraser was coaxed out of semi-retirement to play her first shows since leaving the group in 1998. Chris Roberts was there, and found glimmers of something new and intriguing in her performance

Scarlet Fever: Red Desert Revisited

Chris Roberts marvels at Michelangelo Antonioni's first colour picture, which has been restored for a theatrical re-release to mark the centenary of the late Italian director's birth. Stills courtesy of the BFI

Bethia Beadman

Made Of Love

Screamwipe: The Cabin In The Woods Reviewed

Scripted by genius Buffy The Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, this smart horror flick is being promoted as "a game-changer" for the genre. Chris Roberts can't give too much away...

Anthony Reynolds

Life's Too Long 1995 - 2011

The Sick Of It: Carnage Reviewed

Roman Polanski's adaptation of a Yasmina Reza stage play has been hailed as among "the funniest and most intelligent films of the year" by such authorities as The Daily Mail. Our man Chris Roberts was mildly amused by the sight of Kate Winslet throwing up

Laid Wide Open: dEUS Interviewed

Chris Roberts takes a trip to talk to dEUS in arboreal splendour. Main picture by Olaf Heine

In Search Of Hyggelig: Copenhagen’s Trailerpark Festival & Christiania

Chris Roberts attends a mostly-rave festival in Copenhagen in search of "hyggelig" and finds people spinning in the sky, drunk acrobats, Peaches singing ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’, a hippie paradise and daredevil cyclists.

Waiting For Real Rain: A Classic Interview With Tom Waits

Our latest feature from Rock's Backpages sees Tom Waits - whose wife is about to go into labour - share a cab ride with Chris Roberts to discuss his 1985 classic album Rain Dogs

Olympian Heights: Bryan Ferry Talks To Chris Roberts

The legendary Bryan Ferry has just released Olympia, his best album in two decades, and continues the Roxy Music revival tour in the new year. Chris Roberts visits him to discuss the past and present, art, controversy, Keats, Kate Moss, and being stuck in a lift with Charlton Heston

Peter Gabriel 3: Melt 40 Years On By Chris Roberts

This was the exact moment Peter Gabriel showed us what he was capable of, says Chris Roberts

A Trip To Oya In Oslo Via Pavement, Munch & MIA

Chris Roberts