Album Review: The National – Trouble Will Find Me

Early reports of The National’s long-awaited follow-up to 2010’s acclaimed High Violet talk of new directions, fresh diversions. Indeed, singer Matt Berninger himself talks of these songs as more “immediate and visceral” than those of previous albums. I have to say, I don’t see it, nor I do it hear it. For me, the songs that start [...]

Album Review: Just Handshakes – Say It

The Leeds-based quartet Just Handshakes formed at university over a shared love of the C86 music scene. After a series of low-key singles and DIY cassette releases, which have finely honed their sound, they have now, via the Californian based label Bleeding Gold, delivered their debut album, Say It, which sees them drop a little [...]

Album Review: Cloud Boat – Book of Hours

Book of Hours is the debut LP from Cloud Boat. This London based duo already has quite the buzz building up around them and their forthcoming release. If you are a fan of The XX, Bon Iver, James Blake, Zero 7, Alt-J or any other group that emulate pure magic on record, then read on. This [...]

LIVE: THE SPECIALS – 15/05/2013

- THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER -  So picture this. Mass unemployment, disappearing high streets, strikes and burning effigies of Margaret Thatcher alight in crumbling pit villages. No, it’s not 1980. It’s 2013, and The Specials have never felt more relevant.  Given the political tension of the last few months, there’s a sense of adrenaline throughout the venue. [...]

LIVE: PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING – 14/05/2013

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER -  Over ten mock TVs are set up around the stage of Sound Control tonight, each hidden beneath vintage drapery, giving away any and all clues that this gig is going to be so much more than just an audio experience. Surfacing the unearthed propaganda material of the yesteryears, Public Service [...]

LIVE: HOW TO DRESS WELL – 15/05/2013

 - WHITWORTH GALLERY, MANCHESTER – I’m a relative latecomer to the stylised, lo-fi R&B sounds of How To Dress Well. At first listen, I was all “I really like this boy band”. And there are hints reminiscent of Boyz II Men and R Kelly but not in a bad way.  Rather, he is Chicago-born Tim [...]

Album Review: Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood – Black Pudding

Some musicians have forged such an enduring image and reputation that they have somehow achieved an untouchable, passé-proof status. Possessing their albums garners you untold points in the taste stakes, whether you’re looking for them or not. Mark Lanegan is one such artist – an enduring figure across respected genres, like a Machiavellian prince adapting to the [...]

Album Review: Hunter Valentine – Collide and Conquer

Hunter Valentine are a three-piece female rock band with catchy songs and a lot of attitude. Setting the bar for other girl bands, they hail from Canada, but more recently have been taking the NYC scene by storm. Now on the leg of their European tour, the band present us with their second album, Collide [...]

LIVE: BEACH FOSSILS – 15/05/2013

 - THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER -  In the past few years there has been a rise in bands, in particular American bands, making guitar driven pop music that’s heavy on the reverb and dreamy in its delivery. Brooklyn-born outfit Beach Fossils seem to have been there from the start of this lo-fi invasion, as frontman Dustin [...]

LIVE: THE COMPUTERS – 11/05/2013

 - THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER -  I find it hard to be critical of any band that manages to ad-lib ‘Surfin Bird’ into their live set (as part of Rhythm Revue) and so it is with The Computers. I think the term ‘reinvention’ would be a fair description of how they have changed or developed [...]

LIVE: JOHN GRANT – 14/05/2013

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER -  **WARNING** This review will be two things: 1) quite gushing, and 2) a bit sweary. Please do read on if you are comfortable with both those things. This is because tonight the magnificent John Grant is in town, and this gig is very, very special indeed.  In fact, I’d go [...]

Album Review: Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds – Haunted Head

After well-known spells in respected bands such as The Gun Club, The Cramps and Nick Cave’s The Bad Seeds, American singer/guitarist Brian Tristan looks set to continue his solo adventure under the guise of Kid Congo Powers. Backed by his band The Pink Monkey Birds, the group are set to release their third album, Haunted Head, [...]

Album Review: Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

Alarms bells rang the moment I read Ezra Koenig’s interview in the NME a few months back. “People tried to pretend we were rich idiots ripping off African music”, he said defensively. But such statements belie the truth, that the revulsion Vampire Weekend inspires from certain people is getting to them. I was shocked to [...]

LIVE: VONDELPARK / BLOOM – 09/05/2013

- ISLINGTON MILL, MANCHESTER -  Islington Mill tends to be home to the more freaky, experimental end of the live music spectrum in Manchester, so this visit of London-based indie-electronic trio Vondelpark is a little against type. Their music is vibey and textured rather than intensive or otherworldly, but on this occasion the setting works [...]

Album Review: Mikal Cronin – MCII

For those who closely follow the fuzzy haze of the lo-fi scene, Mikal Cronin is no stranger. Having collaborated with garage rock god Ty Segall over the past decade, our eyes have spiraled as the pinching hum of the sixties revival generation has been taken over by the likes of these two Californian musicians. Already labeling itself as [...]

Album Review: Small Black – Limits of Desire

Ah Brooklyn, that supposed musical paradise in a land far away. I am always a bit sceptical when checking out any hyped band from The Big Apple. I admit that there must be something in the water there that helps produce incredible music, however you also seem to get your fair share of shite that [...]

LIVE: LAURA MVULA – 07/05/2013

- GORILLA, MANCHESTER -   Laura Mvula steps onto Gorilla’s stage, its backdrop a strange assemblage of archaic audio equipment, apparently salvaged from the recently deconstructed BBC building on Oxford Road.  The equipment looks almost steam-powered; incongruous perhaps, when set against the gorgeous, rounded voice that proceeds to part drift, part erupt, from the soul of [...]

LIVE: UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA – 06/05/2013

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Rushing over from Salford’s Media City following a live set for Marc Riley’s BBC 6 Music radio show, Unknown Mortal Orchestra appear unsurprisingly hurried as they check their equipment in front of tonight’s sell-out crowd. Frontman and New Zealander Ruban Nielsen apologises for any inconvenience caused… Axel Rose and [...]

EP Review: Death To The Strange – Sign On

As someone who grew up with the screams of Kurt Cobain in one ear and a stream of brilliantly unpredictable Radiohead albums in the other, I’ve reached an unfortunate plateau of boredom. I’m bored with bands that bafflingly become increasingly popular for being vaguely ‘vintage’ and ‘indie’ without being either vintage or indie at all. [...]

LIVE: THE STAVES – 03/05/2013

- GORILLA, MANCHESTER -  Not knowing too much about The Staveley-Taylor sisters before tonight, I must admit that I was expecting some delicate folky characters with wispy hair and long floral dresses to take to the stage. But happily, that was not to be the case with this Watford trio. After a timid start, Emily [...]

ALBUM REVIEW: SAVAGES – SILENCE YOURSELF

The return of punk and riots seemed inevitable when this government took over. Calmly listening to acoustic folk and uplifting indie while being financially squeezed and in constant fear of redundancy, simply doesn’t tally. If you still receive as much as £10 working tax credits per month, you should seriously consider spending it on this [...]

LIVE: LOW – 25/04/2013

- CENTRAL METHODIST HALL, MANCHESTER – Manchester’s Central Methodist Hall is a most appropriate setting for Low, for this is a call to the devoted. The hall is an intimate, low-key and tee-total venue due to its Methodist origins, so with a pure emphasis on the band there is a sense of divine captivation among [...]

LIVE: KATE NASH – 20/04/2013

- GORILLA, MANCHESTER -  Kate Nash is back, but not how we know her! This is my first visit to Gorilla and as a long time Manchester resident I become excited when new venues open, being the sister of the Deaf Institute my hopes are high. After a few false starts getting lost, I am [...]

Album Review: Nick Drake – Bryter Layter (Remastered and Boxed Vinyl Edition)

John Martyn laughed when Nick Drake died, that was the first thought that came to mind when I read about the reissue and mastering of Drake’s sophomore album Bryter Layter. It was something for which his wife never forgave him. 18 months before Drake died of an overdose of antidepressants, Martyn released the acclaimed album, [...]

LIVE: TEMPLES / DRENGE – 23/04/2013

  - NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER -  With the sun about to set at half eight, we’re here to witness tonight’s double feature: a co-headlined tour by Temples and Drenge. Temples’ psychedelic tunes have put them in high demand since the release of their seven-inch back in November, which ultimately pushed them headfirst into the [...]

LIVE: THE FRONT BOTTOMS – 22/04/2013

 - THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER – In recent years there seems to be something exciting happening with the punk pop world. Having it taken somewhat of a back seat in the mid to late noughties as the UK were under an indie invasion, it seems that punk pop is back on top with an abundance of [...]

LIVE: THE LEISURE SOCIETY / KESTON COBBLERS CLUB – 21/04/2013

   - THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – The Leisure Society are an often overlooked, UK folk-indie outfit.  Formed in 2009 and twice Ivor Novello nominated, the band count Brian Eno and Guy Garvey as big followers (not present tonight). The line-up includes the super talented Nick Hemming and band-mates that include members from stellar indie [...]

LIVE: CHARLI XCX / YADI – 19/04/2013

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – One of my favourite places to watch a gig in Manchester is The Deaf Institute and it is nice to be back realising it has been a year since my last visit. The venue is fairly small which makes gigs intimate, which I prefer. The walls have parrots on [...]

Album Review: Crystal Fighters – Cave Rave

If you have been searching high and low for what your summer album could be, look no further; Cave Rave (out May 27th) is the new album from Crystal Fighters and it is a magical, summer anthem record. Their first album, Star of Love, was released in 2010 to critical acclaim, and they have taken [...]

LIVE: NIGHT BEDS – 17/04/2013

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Having watched Night Beds somewhat brief appearance the previous evening on Later…. I  was expecting a more lengthy performance tonight at Soup Kitchen. A double debut really. Night Beds first Solo UK tour, and my first time at this venue. From Jools to a damp Manchester cellar, a real baptism of fire [...]

LIVE: FINDLAY – 19/04/2013

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Findlay, the newest face of rock n’ roll in the UK is quickly gaining notoriety as one of Manchester’s best-kept secrets. The 21 year-old singer toured with Jake Bugg in November and thrilled audiences with what can only be described as an electrifying stage presence. Before I endlessly compare [...]

LIVE: A HAWK AND A HACKSAW – 19/04/2013

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – It’s Friday night and the Soup Kitchen crowd is itching for a musical tussle. Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost of New Mexico walk quietly onto the stage and without any introduction, shift the collective mood up an intellectual notch. Trost leads the opening piece with a gentle chorus that reverberates [...]

THE WAVE PICTURES – 17/04/2013

- TAKK COFFEE HOUSE, MANCHESTER – Having only found out the location for this secret gig the day before, I enter Takk, a coffee shop on the edge of Manchester‘s Northern Quarter, with a  little trepidation. The most common adjective used to describe this area is ‘trendy’. Well this is the closest physically I’ve ever [...]

Album Review: Junip – Junip

In a musical environment where ‘new bands re-doing something already established, but really well’ is the norm (think recent big-names Peace, Palma Violets and the fantastic Savages), Junip are something of an anomaly. Their debut album Fields exhibited an unusual blend of mellow classical guitar, accompanied by well-timed drums and sweeping synths, combining to create [...]

Album Review: Mudhoney – Vanishing Point

9 albums and 25 years later, Mudhoney provide an album of psychedelic alternative rock that keeps them at the pinnacle of “that sound”! Usually lumped in with grunge, Mudhoney were always a little bit more and this album shows why. From the opening scatter drums, bass driven, riff monster that is ‘Slipping Away’ the gentlemen [...]

LIVE: STEVE MASON – 10/04/2013

- GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Well, well, well, what do we have here then? Gorilla is tuning its dial towards a club night. I think this is my first gig preamble that feels more like post gig excitement. Bouncy, upbeat tunes and a nugget of Fool’s Gold cracked out before the main man gets on stage. [...]

Album Review: Iron & Wine – Ghost on Ghost

Wow!!! On a beautiful day with a chilled glass of whatever your tipple is, Iron and Wine have provided the perfect soundtrack to this summer and summers to come. This album is steeped in sublime folk with a pop feel; yeah it’s the most radio friendly album that Sam Beam (Iron and Wine) has done, [...]

Album Review: Peace – In Love

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past six months (a particularly deep cave, underwater, on Neptune, with a wi-fi connection that even Virgin trains would condemn as “poor”) then chances are you will have heard at least something about Birmingham based quartet Peace. The hype that’s followed this band is bordering on [...]

ALBUM REVIEW: UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS – MIND CONTROL

The previous long player from Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Blood Lust, became something of a cult classic almost overnight on its release, partly due to the very limited vinyl version (only 400 copies) that had vinyl junkies foaming at the mouth. Linking that exclusivity with gorgeous artwork and packaging resembling the giallo genre of [...]

LIVE: BRITISH SEA POWER – 12/04/2013

- GORILLA, MANCHESTER – “Is that a Polar Bear!!!” There is a subtle beauty that British Sea Power have always commanded and a fan base that understands this beauty and what it means. The opening ‘quiet set’ affirms this beauty with a warmth of songs like Salty Water that make you feel all fluffy inside. [...]

LIVE: JAMES BLAKE – 10/04/2013

- ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Manchester Academy 2 is not a particularly majestic venue, in fact, it looks almost identical to a high school assembly room, so it seems odd that such a place should host an artist like James Blake, a musician who could no doubt fill a space at least three times as [...]

Album Review: Kurt Vile – Wakin On A Pretty Daze

Smoke Ring For My Halo was my favourite album of 2011, and though, in retrospect it’s now eclipsed by M83′s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming and Slave Ambient by former bandmates the excellently named The War on Drugs, it remains an album I return to from time to time with real relish. What I like most [...]

Album Review: Vondelpark – Seabed

I took the review for Vondelpark’s Seabed on a bit of a whim – I know nothing about the band; I just know that Vondelpark is also an expansive public open space in Amsterdam*. I spent this morning listening to Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and the Rolling Stones and Seabed is something [...]

LIVE: THE SHEEPDOGS – 05/04/2013

- NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Oh Canada! Tonight’s the night Saskatchewan’s blues-rock four piece The Sheepdogs grace us Mancunians with their bearded presence. Having missed the opportunity to catch the boys live in Vancouver over the Christmas holidays, I was more than thrilled to find out they’d be on tour throughout the UK [...]

LIVE: HOOKWORMS – 05/04/2013

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – According to the bastion of truth that is Wikipedia, a hookworm is ‘a parasitic nematode that lives in the small intestine of its host, which may be a mammal such as a dog, cat, or human’. A parasite, something that sucks the life out of whatever unfortunate host it happens [...]

Album Review: James Blake – Overgrown

Following the critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, James Blake is back with Overgrown. An undeniable buzz surrounds this release. Blake himself has been teasing his fans, releasing previews and giving away free digital downloads of ‘Digital Lion’ creating an excitement that should surround release dates. Overgrown has more of a soulful tone than Blake’s debut [...]

Album Review: Bleached – Ride Your Heart

Jennifer and Jessica Clavin are the two sisters that together make up Bleached. Hailing from LA, and with the help of drummer Jonathan Safley, the trio release their 12 track debut record, Ride Your Heart, on Dead Oceans label. A fast-paced, all-American album, this brings to mind the LA punk-rock scene of the 80s with tones [...]

Album Review: The Flaming Lips – The Terror

As a writer of sorts, I use the advice of others when writing. One quote which I come back to again and again is from George Orwell and it is, ‘If it is possible to cut a word out, cut it out.’ And for me I find that this helps me produce more accurate and [...]

Album Review: The Shook-Ups! – Bad Reception

Let us forget about the deplorable strip that is King Street, and perhaps the amplified success of The Verve, to wipe our slates clean for Wigan’s next honourable mention – The Shook-Ups, a band whose repertoire includes past/present members of Moco, The Stags, Doktor Combover and The V.Cs. 1960s garage rock is back and, I’ll [...]

Album Review: Public Service Broadcasting – Inform – Educate – Entertain

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when this début album from Public Service Broadcasting popped into my inbox recently. Frustratingly, it turns out that I missed them playing in Bolton by a week or so (review here), and I’m certain that the added live audio visual dimension would’ve enhanced my feelings towards it. From the couple [...]

LIVE: BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB – 24/03/2013

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – There is an undeniable feeling of heaviness in the air tonight at The Ritz as San Francisco alternative rock trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are about to begin a sold out gig in Manchester in promotion of their seventh studio album Specter At The Feast.  At best, the new record [...]

LIVE: KID CONGO AND THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS – 22/03/2013

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Oh what a sexy night. From the moment the first chord reverberates through the dark, expectant air Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds are on a trip to crazy town, and they’re taking no prisoners. Brian Tristan of The Gun Club, The Cramps and The Bad Seeds infamy [...]

Album Review: Port St. Willow – Holiday

Port St. Willow is the poetically named brainchild of Nicholas Principe, a solo multi-instrumentalist working out of Portland, Oregon. He released his first EP, entitled Even // Wasteland in November 2010. It was a record that, albeit only an EP, carried and conveyed the ambition that we would come to expect from Holiday. This is [...]

Album Review: Cold War Kids – Dear Miss Lonelyhearts

American Indie also-rans Cold War Kids have been knocking around for a while now; long enough for them to be considered veterans by any rate. 8 years have passed since they first emerged onto the scene with their spiky yet soulful début EP Mulberry Street, in which time they’ve… well, they’ve continued doing just that: putting out [...]

Single Review: Charge Group – Run

Sophomore releases are a thing of beauty. They can either make or brake a fledging act – whether it’s a disappointing follow up to a smash record or a momentum builder which keeps the fans on side. It’s been over 4 years since they dropped their début record Escaping Mankind, but Sydney 4-piece Charge Group are back [...]

LIVE: WILD NOTHING – 19/03/2013

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Nocturne was one of my favourite albums of last year, and is certainly my favourite jangly-American-indie album of 2013. I only heard it in about October, so for such a summer-y album the climate at the time felt a bit at odds with the tunes within, but I fell hard [...]

Album Review: Diamond Rugs – Diamond Rugs

Match a group of dudes from different bands who each hone gritty vocals and a love of beer with borderline vulgarity in lyrical ascension, and you may just have yourself a trailer park indie super group. Diamond Rugs is the newest blue collared engaging side-project between John McCauley (Deer Tick), Robbie Crowell (Deer Tick), Ian [...]

LIVE: THEME PARK – 15/03/2013

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – There seems to have a lot interest surrounding London based outfit Theme Park since there formation back in 2011. Even before the release of their debut single they were already all over the press and all the underground indie scene kids were also getting far too excited. Since then, [...]

LIVE: SCHOLARS – 13/03/2013

- THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER – Scholars are five chaps from London who make passionate indie rock music and deserve to be massive! Having formed about 6 years ago, the Hemel Hempstead based outfit have watched their peers get to an almost arena bothering status, and although everyone loves an underdog, with a live show as [...]

LIVE: PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING – 13/03/2013

- THE RAILWAY, BOLTON – I really couldn’t believe it when I saw that PSB were playing at a little known venue in Bromley Cross just outside Bolton. The Railway is located on the main line between Manchester and Blackburn. The last time Bolton saw anything of this kind was 1990, when baggie Manchester band [...]

LIVE: MMOTHS – 07/03/2013

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Almost exactly a year ago I saw electronic musician Mmoths (Jack Colleran) play in the small, dark, hidden backstreet venue that is the Kraak Gallery. The progress that he’s made over the past 12 months now affords him a climb onto the next rung of Manchester’s trendy venue ladder. In [...]

LIVE: CONCRETE KNIVES – 08/03/2013

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – The blue icicle lights of the Castle Hotel cast a gaze over indie-pop rockets Concrete Knives, a French band who are currently romanced on stage in a group hug before they begin their first ever gig in Manchester. We are all pushed closely together in the crowd, our elbows [...]

LIVE: SAN CISCO – 04/03/2013

- NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – I asked a friend to accompany me to San Cisco, and he thought I was asking him out to a fancy restaurant. But San Cisco is actually a BAND (you might have guessed… this is Silent Radio after all) with a name that also apparently in no way [...]

Live: Sigur Ros – 04/03/2013

- THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – For the majority of the noughties, Sigur Ros transcended being Iceland’s most successful export to characterising everything that was best about the country. The band did that rare, seemingly impossibly feat of not only recalling Iceland’s wild, rugged and beautiful landscapes, but of providing a direct musical portal to the [...]

LIVE: MAPS AND ATLASES – 03/03/2013

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Sunday. The day of rest. And with it being the first Sunday of the month, there’s a hazy, hungover vibe around the centre of Manchester as people realise how much of this month’s pay cheque they’ve already spent. So, there is a somewhat sigh of relief as the small [...]

Album Review: Caitlin Rose – The Stand-In

Anybody that fell for 2010’s ‘Own Side Now’, the first full-length from Nashville singer-songwriter Caitlin Rose, will be aware that sheer force of personality was the key ingredient that separated her from the countless other country-tinged starlets vying for your attention. And it wasn’t confined to her live shows – the ten tracks on that [...]

LIVE: FOALS / THE INVISIBLE – 02/03/2013

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – I think it’s always exciting when a band that you’ve been following since their beginnings, released new material and go out on tour to support it. Particularly when a band challenge themselves with each record and know how to kick it live. It’s also even better when said band take [...]

LIVE: CAITLIN ROSE – 01/03/2013

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Caitlin Rose first began to grab our attention a few years back when she arrived on the scene with her debut album Own Side Now, which heralded her gorgeous ‘country-velvet honeyed’ vocals backed by an intelligent country-soul sound.  Now on her follow up The Stand-In completed with ramped up [...]

LIVE: ELIZA AND THE BEAR – 28/02/2013

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – As someone who has spent the winter months living on a diet of dubstep and dark electronic beats, this evening definitely offers me a change in tempo. We’re at an evening at The Castle Hotel (ace pub, great wine) entitled Thank Folk For That.  The evening’s genre needs no [...]

EP Review: Joe Banfi – Nomads

Joe Banfi’s Nomads is the second EP to come after 2012’s Iron EP and it is evidence of how far he has come since then. Banfi is a relatively new artist, but this is in no way clear – the production (Ian Grimble of Communion) and feel of this EP is outstanding. “Please don’t let [...]

LIVE: REEL BIG FISH – 27/02/2013

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – “A little faith goes a long way” It only seems like 5 minutes since Reel Big Fish played Manchester. They are a band that tours and tours and tours yet still entertain, changing their set list to suit, yet still providing a night of smiles, skankin’ and high quality musical [...]

LIVE: CHVRCHES – 25/02/2013

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – So, It’s a bitterly cold Monday night and I’m keeping out of the cold in the lush surroundings of The Ruby Lounge, hoping to be uplifted and warmed by Glasgow based outfit Chvrches. Having only formed in 2011, Chvrches have caused quite a stir with their retro electro tones, [...]

LIVE: EVERYTHING EVERYTHING – 22/02/2013

- ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Everything Everything are one of the great success stories to emerge from Manchester since the turn of the century. The band themselves reflect on their earliest days as fledgling art-rockers in and around the city a few times during the night, and here they are riding high on the wave [...]

Single Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Jubilee Street

I always had a bit of a gripe with the TV series 24 – which claims to be a drama screened “in real time”. Fair play, one hour after it has started, the story has moved on by an hour – but you have actually only watched 42 minutes of action. In fact, a bit [...]

Album Review: Kavinsky – OutRun

The end is so often embedded in the beginning – so it is with Kavinsky. Clocking up 30 million views on Youtube thus far due to the song’s Drive cameo, ‘Nightcall’ has propelled this French 80s cinematic throwback act into a very modern overnight sensation (a cross between the Terminator and Beverly Hills Cop soundtracks [...]

LIVE: WOLF ALICE – 21/02/2013

- TROF FALLOWFIELD, MANCHESTER – It’s my first time at Trof in Fallowfield and I’m not quite sure what to expect. Here to catch North London’s garage pop-four piece Wolf Alice on tour in our fair city, I stumble up the awkwardly narrow staircase into a room full of well-dressed music enthusiasts decked in their [...]

LIVE: MAZES – 19/02/2013

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Flannel shirts, member only jackets and Levi jeans bring back distant memories of the 90s and I am expecting more of the same tonight with London’s shoe gaze specialists Mazes stopping off at Soup Kitchen before continuing along on their nation wide tour. I’m pleasantly surprised to find Pierre Hall’s [...]

LIVE: COSMO JARVIS/RUBY-ANN PATTERSON – 14/02/2013

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – As you are all aware, today is the trashy commercial day often called Valentines, so I thought there would be no better time to lose my Soup Kitchen virginity and head to the venue for the first time. Good beer on tap, fun toilets and an eclectic mix of a [...]

LIVE: DARWIN DEEZ – 15/02/2013

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – A few years back I was reading an article about this up and coming artist called Darwin Deez; a 20 something hipster living in New York, working in a well respected vegetarian restaurant making lo-fi pop hits with jazzy guitar tones, quirky vocal hooks and jittery electro beats. Intriguing, right? [...]

Album Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away

There is famously a darkness to everything Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds create. Sometimes it’s glaring, violent, in your face darkness, like the bubbling anger and mystery of ‘Red Right Hand’, or the title of their ninth album ‘Murder Ballads’. Even Bad Seeds songs that seem harmless enough on the surface always have something [...]

LIVE: VILLAGERS – 13/02/2013

- GORILLA, MANCHESTER – The first time I encountered Connor O’Brien’s Villagers was almost too perfect. They were first on the Park Stage on the Sunday of Glastonbury 2011, a festival that was bathed in unusually hot June weather, a glorious weekend that had lead to an almighty cumulative 3 day hangover on the Sunday [...]

LIVE: ESBEN AND THE WITCH / EMBERS – 09/02/2013

- THE BUNKER, SALFORD – So, I’m currently sat in a taxi on my way to an unknown venue somewhere in Salford. I give the taxi driver an address I found online and he takes me down an almost pitch black alleyway which leads into a derelict industrial site, I’m a little worried. Two men [...]

LIVE: NME AWARDS TOUR – 08/02/2013

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – The NME Awards Tour is one of the most prestigious events in the music calendar. Renowned for launching the careers of some of the most influential bands in the past century; fromFlorence+ The Machine to Coldplay, many highly anticipate what is yet to come from the headliners Django Django and [...]

LIVE: PURE LOVE – 06/02/2013

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – So one of the many things I love about The Deaf Institute and why I think it’s one of Manchester’s best live venues is their conveniently placed seated area. Situated towards the back of the room in tiered blocks, it is perfect for those wanting to sit and enjoy [...]

Album Review: Veronica Falls – Waiting For Something To Happen

In the week that My Bloody Valentine have crashed back into the collective musical conversation, it’s particularly intriguing to listen to the sort of new record that Veronica Falls have created. Where the Valentines use their endless list of hip references to find some new path forward of their own making, Veronica Falls are more [...]

LIVE: THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE – 04/02/2013

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – It’s fair to say that it’s a pretty miserable night in Manchester tonight. But the few that are brave enough to battle through the wind, rain and snow are to be rewarded by catching two ace up and coming indie bands that we’re hoping will warm up our cockles with [...]

LIVE: DINOSAUR JR – 01/02/2013

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – There’s something metaphorical about the thirty-something Gen X-er, bearded but with his long hair cut off in favour of something more employment-friendly who shows up at a concert wearing his faded Dukes Devils, baggy t-shirt just about hiding a muffin-top and a hairy belly. Despite all that, I don’t care [...]

LIVE: MATTHEW WHITAKER – 31/01/2013

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – The Weekend is here at last (who actually does any work on a Friday anyway?) and local promotion company Hey! Manchester has agreed to help kick start my festivities by putting on a stellar night of music at the Castle Hotel. First up on stage is John Ainsworth, a [...]

LIVE: METZ – 28/01/2013

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – There is a moment roughly 10 minutes into Metz’ set, not long after the call-to-arms opening salvo of ‘Knife in the Water’ has jolted the Soup Kitchen into a frenzy, and just as the first circle pit of the night materialises, that you could just take a moment’s pause and [...]

LIVE: DROP THE MUSTARD PRES. SBTRKT 25/01/2013

VICTORIA WAREHOUSE, MANCHESTER Usually, Manchester’s Warehouse Project season finishes on the 1st of January, a bleak time of year that forces the city’s population back into normal sized clubs just to get their regular bass fix. Back they go in their sad masses to low-key venues like Joshua Brooks, The Roadhouse, Kraak Gallery and Antwerp [...]

Album Review: Fionn Regan – The Bunkhouse Vol. I: Anchor Black Tattoo

There’s a belief amongst some musicians, that more – not less – is more. The more singers, instruments, harmonies, the better. But Fionn Regan’s latest record, The Bunkhouse Vol. I: Anchor Black Tattoo, proves that music served raw can be equally powerful. Armed with just a guitar, voice, microphone and a 4 track recorder, this [...]

Album Review: Speck Mountain – Badwater

There are certain bands that demand attention, whether good or bad, whilst others (which personally I much prefer) draw you in gradually and seep under your skin. Speck Mountain are very much the latter and their melodic, dreamy soundscapes have been critically lauded over their previous two albums, Summer Above and Some Sweet Relief. The band centres around [...]

LIVE: PAUL BANKS – 22/01/2013

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – ‘This is not an Interpol gig. This is not an Interpol gig. This is not an Interpol gig’. That’s my mantra as I walk towards Sound Control for tonight’s show. I’m on my way to see Paul Banks do a solo gig in support of his latest effort, the simply [...]

LIVE: SERAFINA STEER / PADDY STEER – 16/01/2013

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – We arrive a bit late to a full Castle and, lingering by the door, we hear music but can’t figure out where it’s coming from. The crowd seems to be collectively looking towards the floor to the left, and as we shuffle around trying to find a view-hole, Steve [...]

ALBUM: MASAYOSHI FUJITA – STORIES

There’s something about winter – gazing at blankets of cold, soft snow – that invites introspection. Maybe it’s the human urge to hibernate, or perhaps its nature imposing on the 9-5 bustle that makes us stop and become happily enveloped in the wider picture. Nothing goes together quite so well as reflection and music – [...]

LIVE: DUTCH UNCLES – 14/01/2013

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – So it’s fair to say that I’m pretty excited ahead of tonight’s events! Not only is today the day that the first albums of the 2013 have been released but I’m also at my first gig of the year at one of my favourite venues in Manchester for an [...]

OUTSIDE BROADCAST: EUROSONIC 2013 – DAY 3

- Friday 11/01/2012 – Day 3 - Final coverage Right. I think I finally caught up with everything that went down in that crazy student town in the North of the Netherlands. Sure is clear that even 3 years after my last SXSW visit, the industry still knows how to work hard, play hard. As part [...]

ALBUM: YO LA TENGO – FADE

‘Fade’ is the 13th studio album to be released by Yo La Tengo since they formed in 1984. Hailing from America this three-piece band has worked on a multitude of projects, from charity singles, to soundtracks, to covers for compilation albums. Originally started by husband and wife duo Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, the band [...]

LIVE: 15TH CAREFULLY PLANNED ALL-DAYER – 12/01/2013

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – After a quiet few weeks for gig goers, the Manchester based live music promoters Carefully Planned helped wreck our New Years resolutions of a sober January by hosting the 15th CP All Dayer at Oldham Street institution, The Castle Hotel. I’m eager to see what the day has in [...]

OUTSIDE BROADCAST: EUROSONIC 2013 – DAY 2

- THURSDAY 10/01/2013 – Day 2 - Let’s see what we stumble across So as a Dutch resident myself, I’ve been bombarded with dozens of great sounding Belgian bands that make it across the border and invade our radio playlists. Therefore, whenever there is a Belgian neighbour, whose music is described to be inspired by The [...]

OUTSIDE BROADCAST: EUROSONIC 2013 – DAY 1

- WEDNESDAY 09/01/2013 -  DAY 1 – Less is more and more is better Kicking off with a quick visit to the European Border Breakers Awards, which culminates in French DJ quartet C2C pick up the ‘EBBA Public Choice Award’, we are off into the cold northern night to crawl our way from venue to [...]

Album Review: Ólöf Arnalds – Sudden Elevation

Sudden Elevation may be Icelander Ólöf Arnalds’ third album, but it remains a landmark, being her first sung wholly in English. For this I’m awkwardly grateful as reviewing it is my first encounter with her otherworldly brand of folk. However, as a latecomer I find myself trailing behind an influential admirer of Arnalds who has already hit [...]

Album Review: Nils Bech – Look Inside

Look Inside is the second album from Norwegian artist Nils Bech. His first critically acclaimed album Look Back, released in 2010, catapulted him onto the world stage. His music is indefinable by any one genre. It is the coming together of art, performance and music, giving birth to the hauntingly beautiful, concept that Nils Bech [...]

LIVE: CHAMELEONS VOX – 15/12/2012

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – My boss insists that I need to go and see a band called The Chameleons (I have to admit I have never heard of them) as part of my essential musical education.  A reformed 80’sManchesterband.  I am surprised that when we arrive at Sound Control at around 9pm a tout [...]

LIVE: THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS – 08/12/2012

- THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – For those of you unfamiliar to the vast, maze-like cavern that is Manchester’s Warehouse Project circa 2012, it’s essentially 3 brutally undecorated rooms linked together by a series of equally bleak corridors. Throw in some monstrous sound systems, a mind blowing lighting rig and a few thousand (very) wide-eyed [...]

LIVE: Scroobius Pip, Kate Tempest and Polar Bear (ft. Thick Richard) – 04/12/2012

- The Ruby Lounge – Scroobius Pip (Scroob) ventures from his long time contender Dan le sac for his first spoken word tour, accompanied by the long anticipated re-release of his 2006 album No commercial breaks, of which only a 1000 copies were produced. Descending into The Ruby lounge, I’m struck with the feeling that left with me the [...]

LIVE: YEASAYER – 03/12/2012

- ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Waves of hype often place bands at their crest and leave them floundering in the shallows once they die down. Such is the case with the Brooklyn-itis that thrust those such as the Dirty Projectors, MGMT and Das Racist into the spotlight in recent years, the latter having announced their split this week. The propensity for the more [...]

LIVE: BAND OF SKULLS – 05/12/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Southampton based trio Band of Skulls sure have come a long way since their formation back in 2004. They created quite an underground buzz with their 2009 debut ‘Baby Darling Doll Face Honey’ in all its sassy rock ‘n’ roll glory, touring up and down the country quietly building an [...]

LIVE: LUKE ABBOTT – 30/11/2012

- KRAAK, MANCHESTER – Occupying Manchester’s rapiest looking venue tonight is Border Community signee Luke Abbott. After maneuvering through a dirty ginnel and up a set of grimy looking stairs, a battered wooden door opens up to a warm and relatively lush room filled with hulking rhythms pounded out by Manchester locals, Ghosting Season. With [...]

LIVE: ADMIRAL FALLOW / OLYMPIC SWIMMERS – 03/12/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – As the rain howls down outside of The Deaf Institute, the need for some heartfelt Scottish warmth intensifies. Having seen Admiral Fallow upstage many a band earlier in the year as part of the Dot to Dot festival, my expectations are pretty dam high. The 6 piece band from [...]

LIVE: WILLY MASON – 02/12/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – A relaxed Sunday night atmosphere awaits American singer songwriter Willy Mason who sings his heart out to a packed Ruby Lounge. The son of folk singing parents, Mason is currently touring around the UK promoting his third album ‘Carry On’ which is due to be released on the 3rd [...]

LIVE: THE LOVELY EGGS / BAD GRAMMAR – 30/11/2012

- THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER – After a one-minute walk from the tram stop, I’m out of the cold, foggy night, down a flight of stairs and into the relative warmth of The Roadhouse. A hand stamp from the friendly door staff and the purchase of an Irish stout later, and I’m all set for the [...]

LIVE: SHEARWATER – 26/11/2012

- ST. PHILIP’S CHURCH, SALFORD – I love gigs in unconventional venues. Almost equally, is having to set off five minutes before this evening’s Shearwater gig starts. Tonight’s proceedings take place right on my doorstep, in the gorgeous, St Philip’s Church. Dating back to 1825, it’s a hidden gem, poking out onto Salford’s Chapel Street. [...]

LIVE: THE NORTH SEA SCROLLS – 26/11/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – We are here at the Deaf Institute to experience the performance of a peculiar conceptual album and academic lecture with Luke Haines (The Auteurs), Cathal Coughlan (Microdisney and The Fatima Mansions) and narrated by Andrew Mueller. They describe themselves as a “dauntless trio”. The North Sea Scrolls, written by [...]

LIVE: ADAM ANT AND THE GOOD, THE MAD AND THE LOVELY POSSE – 25/11/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – So Adam Ant is back – still or, again- this time with his band The Good, The Mad and the Lovely Posse. In his heyday, Ant – real name Stuart Goddard- was a very subversive kind of pop star, a British “pop glam-tinged” star. He began by riding that (new) [...]

LIVE: THE NEIGHBOURHOOD – 15/11/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – As The Neighbourhood take to the stage they ooze an effortless cool.  The LA five-piece rocketed in popularity after being selected as Zane Lowe’s Hottest Record in the World on Radio 1, with their infectious single ‘Sweater Weather’. As a band bathed in anonymity in their beginnings, and with [...]

LIVE: TURBONEGRO – 22/11/2012

- ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – Turbonegro must (never) be destroyed! The Turbojunged are out in force this evening in Manchester. The classic Denim jacket emblazoned with the leather cap and the area of fan base below. On the stairs up to Academy three there are Jungeds from Aberdeen, Stoke, Lisbon, Oslo, Lemmington, Madrid and of [...]

LIVE: FATHER JOHN MISTY / NO – 23/11/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Tonight, Father John Misty, supported by No, is a sold-out show at The Deaf Institute, probably my favourite gig venue, and one whose glitter ball seems to have grown each time I visit. Either it’s a trick of the mind or just maybe that mysterious sparkly sphere that ominously [...]

LIVE: THE VACCINES – 21/11/2012

- THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – The foyer of the Manchester Apollo is bristling with young teenagers, middle-aged indie throwbacks and entire families, all there to watch The Vaccines. I make my way onto the upper balcony. just as the 1st of 3 support bands are shuffling onto the stage. Their name? I don’t remember. Their [...]

LIVE: THE SPINTO BAND – 21/11/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – You might not want to read on much further when I say that I have NEVER seen the Ruby Lounge this empty. But don’t despair! I blame this anomaly on the fact that the support band Casablanca were…oh let’s not be mean: not stupendous. So put that into the [...]

LIVE: FUCKED UP – 14/11/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Canadian punk rock outfit Fucked Up are more than a force to be reckoned with. Since their formation at the start of the noughties, the Toronto based six piece have released an impressive back catalogue of forward thinking punk rock records, including the award winning ‘The Chemistry Of Common [...]

Album Review: Sekou Kouyate and Joe Driscoll – FAYA

Sekou Kouyate and Joe Driscoll present us with their first collaborative album, Faya, a collection of songs, which span genres from around the world. Communicating through music they have produced an album, which incorporates Kouyate’s sounds of Africa and Driscoll’s eclectic mix of New York bedroom-music styles. It’s an easy-listening reggae-funky-hiphop-afrobeat-rap-rock cocktail that’s refreshing and [...]

Single Review: Liz Lawrence – Bedroom Hero

The melodic beauty of Laura Marling meets the atmospheric rises and falls of Florence + The Machine. Liz Lawrence’s new single ‘Bedroom Hero’ is the first track from her début album (out 2013) with the same title. At only 22 Lawrence has already been receiving rave reviews across Ireland, and it’s no wonder why. ‘Bedroom Hero’ has [...]

LIVE: HALLS – 12/11/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Having been a huge fan of Halls’ ever since their debut single, Solace, I came to Soup Kitchen in Manchester tonight with high hopes and a particular hankering for a spot of blissed out, ambient 2-step. Upon entering the venue however, said hopes were subsequently dashed as I noticed the [...]

LIVE: TY SEGALL – 08/11/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – There are times when it can take until the morning after for all the dust to settle on an evening’s events before you fully recognise how much you enjoyed a gig or not. Some of the times, it can be incredibly useful to mull it over, and writing a [...]

LIVE: HEY ROSETTA! / RICH AUCOIN – 08/11/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Thanks a bunch Canada, for Celine Dion and environment-boning Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. Fortunately some Canadians have a sense of decency, and tour the world trying to make amends by entertaining us all. Tonight, I am at Soup Kitchen to see some of those good people. I’ve never heard of [...]

LIVE: WHP X RBMA – 09/11/2012

- THE WAREHOUSE  PROJECT, MANCHESTER -  My disappointment at The Warehouse Project’s relocation is short lived after just a few minutes in the new venue. The Store Street car park served it’s purpose well for a number of years, and it was just up the road from my flat… though the place did have some [...]

LIVE: SAVAGES – 07/11/2012

- GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Arriving for the first time in Gorilla since its refit from the Green Room I am surprised and impressed at the rather cavernous space they’ve opened up towards the back of the building. With its curved archways, bare brick and cool décor it’s perfect as a new gig venue. Having already [...]

LIVE: JESSIE WARE – 08/11/2012

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Jessie Ware is very much your girl next door pop star. It was only a few years back that the South London based vocalist was just beginning her musical career as a backing singer for mid-noughties indie king Jack Penate. A few low key but seminal collaborations later and Ware [...]

LIVE: DEATH GRIPS – 06/11/2012

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Death Grips are probably the closest thing we have to actual punk these days. For those not aware, the story (roughly) goes: mysterious hip hop/hardcore band release a widely praised mixtape, play some intense shows. Band signs, somewhat bizarrely, to Sony backed major label Epic, announces that two albums will [...]

LIVE: HOW TO DRESS WELL – 03/11/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – There’s a rare down moment during How To Dress Well’s exposed performance when someone nervously shouts for a drum solo. Eyes turn to the nominal ‘drummer’ of the trio on stage, and what emerges as he tinkers with his magical toolbox is nothing like a drum, rather a highly strung [...]

LIVE: UN-PEELED – 27/10/2012

- THE NIGHT & DAY CAFE/GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – Un-Peeled is part reverent nod, part push forwards for the music the great man championed #Keepingitpeel Keepitpeel . The set is an all dayer at Oldham Street venues, Night & Day Cafe and Gullivers. I arrive at Night & Day round 7.30 at the tail end of The [...]

Single Review: City Reign – Ahead of Ideas

Manchester based trio City Reign’s new single ‘Ahead of Ideas’ is a guitar heavy tribute to the indie bands of the North. A well-written track with that iconic ‘Northern Sound’ sets this song up to be a success within its genre. Not only has the band produced a great new single, but they also manage [...]

LIVE: TWO GALLANTS / THE HICKEY UNDERWORLD – 31/10/2012

- ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – It’s All Hallows’ Evening and folk/blues rock duo, the Two Gallants are in town. There’s a spooky atmosphere in the air tonight, as hoards of young ‘uns line the streets, screeching and clutching each other from the freezing cold. Girls with thick make-up prance around in short, ripped skirts and devil horns. The [...]

Live: Beach House – 31/10/2012

- The Ritz, Manchester – It’s hard to say why some shows work and others do not. Rewind two years and Beach House, a previously unknown (to me anyway) Cocteau Twins-esque act hailing from Baltimore steal my heart in Manchester Cathedral. The setting, the sound and the light show gel completely, and the band, riding [...]

LIVE: THE WALKMEN / WILD NOTHING – 30/10/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Drinking my first beer of the night, I thought of my chumbuttlies with whom I would soon be road-tripping to the gig, singing nursery rhymes and drinking from stolen pint glasses as we went. On the road, we joyfully reminisce about the Ritz of our whipper-snapper days and had a [...]

LIVE: EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER – 29/10/2012

- CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – An 80′s Matchbox B- Line Disaster gig is like cuing for a ride at a theme park. You wait ages and then you’re rewarded with a forty second or in this case, forty minute thrill. As is their want, 80MBD (sorry abbreviations necessary) like to wait for as long as [...]

LIVE: TOY – 28/10/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – When Joe Jean & The Jing Jang Jong – the band more memorable for their name than their records – finally split up after a year of empty hype in 2009, you might have assumed that their members would spend their time in exile from the music industry ever [...]

Album Review: Cody ChesnuTT – Landing On A Hundred

Soul singer and funk guitarist Cody Chesnutt is back with his second album, a decade and a few EPs separating them both. Landing On A Hundred is a neo-soul and funk album with all the musical flex of a 70s classic. The sound he’s gone for is BIG in every sense –with bold melodies, a [...]

Album Review: The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico 45th Anniversary

It’s not for nothing that Rolling Stone magazine named The Velvet Underground & Nico the most prophetic album of all time. If the hippies hoped that universal fraternity, peace and love would be the basis for some teleological, utopian future, it is Lou Reed’s vision that – however unhappily – dominates contemporary society. 60s counter [...]

LIVE: ROLO TOMASSI – 27/10/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Rolo Tomassi are a band that have to be seen to be believed. The Sheffield based quintet have been messing with our heads since the mid-noughties, using hardcore as their base then combining it with every musical genre known to man to become one of the UK’s most eccentric [...]

LIVE: LUCY ROSE – 25/10/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – ‘CDs, T-shirts, Tea, Jam, Tote Bags’ is the list of merchandise on sale at Lucy Rose’s sold out Deaf Institute gig tonight, and it’s clear it’s going to be more of a tea and jam event than it is rock n’ roll as fans file in under the giant [...]

LIVE: PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING / CYRIL SNEAR – 27/10/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Well. Soup Kitchen. It’s a pleasure to meet you at last. I stand a few yards from your doors at five-ish most nights waiting for the bus to take me home and frequently wonder what the venue within is like. And now I know. You’re ace. Bare, flakey-paint walls and [...]

REVIEW: THE UNTHANKS PRESENT SONGS FROM THE SHIPYARDS – 25/10/2012

- GORILLA, MANCHESTER – I confess I don’t gravitate towards folk music on a day to day basis, but when I hear it live I’m reminded how life affirming and quite wonderful it can be. Afterwards, I’ll vow to pay it more attention in my own time, but never do. So I’m here to see [...]

LIVE: DJANGO DJANGO – 23/10/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – The night is brisk and the age range trickling into the Ritz are almost as many balding heads in number as there are sprouting ones, at least at first. Django Django are following up the release of their long awaited, self-titled album, with a UK tour. The second night of [...]

LIVE: DOG IS DEAD – 23/10/2012

- ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – Since their formation back in 2008, Nottingham based outfit Dog Is Dead have certainly put the time in with several single/EP releases and a large amount of gigs under their belts. It seems that all of their hard work is paying off though, as the quintet are now signed to [...]

LIVE: THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM – 18/10/2012

- THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – Diners, jukebox Romeos, diamond Sinatras, Elvis, Audrey Hepburn, Bette Davis, Miles Davis, Hollywood nights, Manhattan, New Jersey, New Orleans, high top sneakers, sailor tattoos, blue jeans, white T-shirts, party dresses, ribbons, classic cars, movie screens, parking lots, pay phones, ferris wheels, old haunts, forgotten ghosts, broken dreams, wild young hearts, [...]

LIVE: LITTLE COMETS – 16/10/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – It’s fair to say that the Little Comets aren’t so little anymore. Since the release of their sprightly debut album ‘In Search Of Elusive Little Comets’, the Newcastle based outfit have been flying up festival bills and packing out bigger rooms on every tour, so it comes as no surprise [...]

Single Review: Jessie Ware – Night Light

After the success of ‘Wildest Moments’ earlier this year, now comes Jessie Ware’s fourth single of the year, ‘Night Light’. This song is from her album, Devotion, which made it to number five in the UK charts upon its release in August and has now been nominated for a Mercury Prize. It starts as a promising, [...]

LIVE: THE NIGHTINGALES – 15/10/2012

- NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – “The best thing about this band, is we turn up”, growls frontman Robert Lloyd in the opening number. He has no reason to be so self-deprecating – cutting an intimidating sight on stage: A tall, suit-wearing, static figure looming over the audience with a leer veering between nonchalant and menacing. [...]

LIVE: BO NINGEN – 17/10/2012

Some gigs are difficult to write about. The band turn up, they fly through their set sounding exactly as they do on the album, and then they walk off and do it again somewhere else. Bo Ningen are not like that at all. ‘Psychedelic Japanese rock band’ is another genre that I can now happily [...]

LIVE: THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART – 15/10/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – The nights are drawing in, the students have taken control of the city, and we are back in the full swing of the live music season. Each night of the week, there is an exciting variety of bands and artists offering their services, and tonight a healthy number have [...]

LIVE: TAMARYN – 14/10/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – A Tamaryn press release featuring ‘I’m Gone’ from the forthcoming new album ‘Tender New Signs’ made an instant impression on me. Some bands just press all the right buttons, 5 seconds worth of listening could be all that’s needed to make you aware that a certain band is about to feature heavily on [...]

LIVE: RED DEER CLUB SECRET SESSION – 14/10/2012

- ?????, MANCHESTER – “Secret gig” How much do these two words excite me? Am I actually going to be taken to Narnia? Am I going to see Tumnus jam with Morrissey under the Printworks, for a stripped-down version of ‘The Queen Is Dead’? I have no idea where I’m going or what I’m seeing. [...]

LIVE: NADA SURF – 14/10/2012

- ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – It’s a mostly 30+ crowd in for the opening night of Nada Surf’s European tour, but old habits die hard, and half the early birds are still sat splayed across the Academy 3′s tacky floor by time Ezra Furman makes an appearance. He stands alone at 45º to the mic with just [...]

LIVE: FOSSIL COLLECTIVE – 13/10/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I’m standing at the back (or the back of the standing area, in front of the steps/seating area) but am drawn to the front when Leeds based FOSSIL COLLECTIVE begin by a strong urge to check out a rather intriguing bass instrument.  It looks, is played and also sounds [...]

Album Review: Tamaryn – Tender New Signs

American dream-pop, shoegaze combo Tamaryn are named after New Zealand-born Tamaryn, who provides soft girlish vocals, and guitarist Rex John Shelverton (Vue, Portraits of Past), who does the instrumentation and plays the role of producer. Tender New Signs is the follow up to their first full length album, The Waves, and in making this album [...]

Single Reviews: Fruits de Mer Records – October Releases

I look forward to Fruits de Mer records coming through my door. In some ways it seems strange that nobody else on the Silent Radio team seems to get jealous that I end up reviewing a good chunk of them – but it does make sense, because what Fruits de Mer (FdM) do is not [...]

LIVE: ERRORS – 10/10/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – It’s Wednesday night and Errors are playing at Soup Kitchen I have my name on the guest list with a plus one, so have my own purchased ticket to sell. Thankfully, on cue, a group of ‘revellers’ come round the corner “I haven’t got a ticket” a revel (er) announces, [...]

LIVE: NZCA/LINES – 04/10/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – A white backdrop adorns the wall and before it stands three figures resplendent in white shirts. Being projected onto the backdrop are shapes in monochrome hues, and then the band name ‘NZCA/Lines’ flashes sporadically.  Yet there is no need for an introduction. Through the entirety of support act, Jonquil’s performance [...]

LIVE: REN HARVIEU / LEWIS WATSON / THE SUNDOWNERS – 09/10/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – The Ritz seems like a wholly appropriate venue for tonight’s gig by Ren Harvieu. The Grade II-listed building’s art deco features, red velvety curtains, glitter ball and sweeping horseshoe balcony are a suitable setting for a singer whose cinematic songs hark back to an era of iconic Brill Building pop [...]

LIVE: WHY? – 10/10/2012

- CENTRAL METHODIST HALL, MANCHESTER – “Is this the right place?” A gent with a check shirt enquires from beneath the overhanging bristles of his russet beard. We’re between a pawn shop and a gigantic wig emporium on Oldham St, just facing Afflecks, and yep, we really are in the right place. Plenty of others [...]

LIVE: EGYPTIAN HIP HOP – 09/10/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Looks can be deceiving. I remember seeing a picture of Manchester based outfit Egyptian Hip Hop before hearing them and with their angular haircuts and flamboyant vintage outfits I was expecting to hear something loud, noisy and full of youthful exuberance. Instead, I heard perfect pop songs with electro tinges, [...]

LIVE: SBTRKT / FOUR TET / TNGHT – 06/10/2012

- THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – This is the second weekend of Manchester’s pop-up club nights which span September to New Year’s Day. Having outgrown the cavernous car park under Piccadilly station, The Warehouse Project has now relocated to an actual warehouse in Trafford Park. Its growing popularity since its opening in 2006 is no [...]

LIVE: RADIOHEAD – 06/10/2012

- MANCHESTER ARENA, MANCHESTER – The Manchester Arena is packed out to resemble a gladiatorial stadium, which is rather appropriate as being just a little above five feet tall I am preparing to fight like a ninja to catch a glimpse of the band I have paid a small fortune to see. But despite the [...]

Album Review: Ty Segall – Twins

Psych rock maverick Ty Segall is a man in a hurry. Not content with releasing two excellent albums already this year, namely the collaboration with White Fence’s Tim Presley, Hair, and Slaughterhouse, coming under the Ty Segall Band ‘nom de plume’, we now find ourselves with a third, Twins, which is officially a follow up [...]

LIVE: TWISTED WHEEL – 04/10/2012

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Playing to a sold out venue, Twisted Wheel are bound to go down a stormer when being so close to their avid followers, but more importantly their hometown; Oldham. After recently changing the shape of the band, Jonny Brown’s new look trio do not fall below expectations. Suited a like [...]

Album Review: Errors – New Relics

As someone who loves music, but isn’t a musician, I often wonder what inspires musicians to make music, and what they aim to achieve from making it. Errors always seem ambitious, yet understated, making music that sounds vast and sprawling, but with meticulous attention to detail. As a dance music fan, I love the range [...]

LIVE: DAN DEACON – 28/09/2010

- ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – Here in this intimate Salford venue, with a tangled mess of wires and boxes on the table in front of him and two live drummers either side of him, stands the husky frame of Dan Deacon, a man, who from behind his jam jar glasses, seems to have a permanent [...]

LIVE: NOW NOW – 30/09/2012

- THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER – It’s the typical Mancunian night. The rain is unremitting and miserly, the drains are kicking up a stink outside One Piccadilly, and to make matters worse, we’re off to The Roadhouse. It’s slipped down the pecking order of the city’s gig venues, and thanks to the rise of the Ruby [...]

LIVE: THOMAS TRUAX / SONGS FOR WALTER / SILVER – 28/09/2012

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – I’m not really sure what support would be fitting for a Thomas Truax gig when I think about it, but for some reason I am quite surprised to see this shy, sad seeming girl with purple hair and a red top playing some sort of ultra reverb guitar with [...]

LIVE: JOSHUA RADIN – 27/09/2012

- ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – “You can hear a pin drop…….” Joshua Radin is a talented man. That’s a fact. In times gone by he made his way as an artist, a teacher and a screenwriter. Then he picked up a guitar and began to write songs that capture the mind, body and soul. If [...]

LIVE: VENETIAN SNARES – 25/09/2012

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – If you see the name Venetian Snares in print somewhere, you usually won’t have to look very far before you start seeing words like ‘God’ and ‘Legend’ being thrown about. Aaron Funk’s long standing commitment to putting out records and his dedication to experimenting with his sound has garnered him [...]

LIVE: FRIGHTENED RABBIT – 19/09/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – With a name like Frightened Rabbit, you could be mistaken that this bunch of Glaswegians are all about the self-indulgent, emo vibes; the type you have a good old cry to when your parents don’t understand you or your homework’s dead hard. Frightened Rabbit are helping to fly the flag [...]

IN-DEPTH REVIEW: FESTIVAL NO. 6

Well it’s after lunch time on Friday and we’ve just arrived at Porthmadog Football Club, as this is the nearest parking for the park and ride facility for getting to the festival. It would appear that we have arrived at roughly the same time as many others and there is a healthy queue of eager [...]

IN-DEPTH REVIEW: FESTIVAL NO. 6 – DAY 2

After a sleep of sorts it’s a new day and the weather is holding out again as it did yesterday. First things first and it’s time for breakfast then time for me to see what all this Portmeirion Village fuss is all about. From where we are camped it’s maybe a three or four minute [...]

IN-DEPTH REVIEW: FESTIVAL NO. 6 – DAY 3

As we all know, all good things must come to an end, and not only is Sunday the last day for Festival No 6, but also the dry weather has decided to pack up a day early and head elsewhere. The rain isn’t leathering it down, but it’s enough to warrant that the waterproof coat [...]

LIVE: JENS LEKMAN – 19/09/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – “This album was a cycle that I had to go through.” That, explains Jens Lekman before the final song of an emotionally resonant night, is the most satisfying way to describe this confusing point in his career. Having built up a passionate following from his first two albums proper, [...]

LIVE: EUROS CHILDS – 05/09/2012

- THE KINGS ARMS, SALFORD – Well there’s tension in the air. Something of a first is happening to me tonight, I’ve bagsied the chance to see one of my musical heroes. He maybe an unlikely candidate for many, but Euros Childs was lead singer in one of my favourite bands, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. Let [...]

LIVE: ALLO DARLIN / BUTCHER THE BAR – 07/09/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I really like the Deaf Institute.  To me it’s a nice intimate little venue and I want all its quirky decorations in my house.  Whilst having a drink downstairs I am surprised to hear that this gig has sold 200 tickets already, and that’s not even a sell out.  [...]

ALBUM REVIEW: TOY – ‘TOY’

Googling Toy was a fruitless task at the start of the year. There was a certain buzz around the band after a successful support slot with The Horrors, but internet presence was otherwise non-existent. Their headline tour in spring attracted many curious enthusiasts who had their ear to the ground, and they were very much rewarded [...]

Album Review: DJ Shadow – Reconstructed: The Best of DJ Shadow

He sounds like a dark superhero nemesis haunting the alleys and sidewalks of some fictional North American future city. Or perhaps the murky pools that lie within the darker recesses of our psyches. In fact, he is Josh Davis, ironically from the Northern Californian town of… Davis, and for the last 20 years he has [...]

ALBUM: CAT POWER – ‘SUN’

It has taken 3 years for ‘Chan’ Marshall to write, produce and play all that you hear on this new Cat Power album. An impressive undertaking indeed. The result must prove to be her most personal release to date, I assume that was the intention. Her talents with various instruments will be scrutinised due to [...]

LIVE: ESBEN AND THE WITCH – 30/08/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Haunting and spellbinding songs  in a basement as it draws close to midnight.   The Brighton trio’s band name acts like a book title, alluring to its contents, which stray uncompromisingly away from anything mainstream. Grimes are playing a sell-out gig at The Ritz tonight across town, and so I [...]

LIVE: GRIMES – 30/08/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – On arrival at the Ritz, I‘m quite puzzled by the apparent appeal of the ‘Vagina Rings’ on sale at the merch desk – replicas of Grimes’ very own lady parts [“one size fits all” but it’s a bit tight for me, natch!]. I feel a little bit uncomfortable just browsing, [...]

Calexico – Algiers

“We were talking about wanting to go to Europe and record,” Burns says, “but we never get our shit together in time to make plans that far in advance. So where do you go…? New Orleans.” Collaborator, Producer – Craig Schumacher Algiers is the sixth studio album from Calexico, recorded in and titled after the [...]

Album Review: Easy Star All-Stars – Thrillah

It’s almost thirty years since the release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller – now the best-selling album of all time. It’s hard to forget the saddening procession of Jackson’s life after the success of the videos and (seven!) singles from Thriller propelled him into mega-stardom, through circus sideshow, disgrace and eventually to an untimely end, the [...]

EP Review: Bird – Shadows

Liverpool ‘s musical renaissance continues aplenty with the recent emergence of Stealing Sheep and a thriving local live music scene to rival Manchester. One of the latest talents to emerge is the three piece band Bird, who comprise of Adele Emmas (singer, songwriter), Sian Williams (guitar, harmonies) and Alexis Samata (drums). Their press release talks [...]

LIVE: DARK DARK DARK – 19/08/2012

- SACRED TRINITY CHURCH, SALFORD – Half a dozen weeks before the release of their third album ‘Who Needs Who’, Dark Dark Dark come to Salford for an intimate set in the cosy Sacred Trinity Church. Nancy Elizabeth is playing solo when I enter the space, I’ve no choice but to wait just outside the [...]

Single Review: Minus The Bear – Steel And Blood

The first time I heard Minus The Bear was on a beach and it seemed their thoughtfully composed yet totally chilled out style of music was the perfect backing to an afternoon in the sun – whether that be on the white sands of Hawaii or, in my case, the somewhat darker sands of a [...]

ALBUM: Don Niño – In The Backyard Of Your Mind

Don Niño (in reality a French chap called Nicolas Laureau) has a voice resembling Devendra Banhart, a drum sound evoking David Bowie’s Low, acoustic guitars reminiscent of  Love’s Forever Changes, and an album title that evokes the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band’s 1968 ditty ‘Canyons Of Your Mind’. However, to suggest that this album is as good as [...]

LIVE: BRITISH SEA POWER – 03/08/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Krankenhaus Mankenhaus! British Sea Power take the fun and frivolity of their monthly Brighton residency on tour as they venture north for the first Krankenhaus to be staged outside of East Sussex. The intriguing line-up includes a DJ set from Duncan of Dutch Uncles, a ventriloquism act from locally based BBC 6 Music radio hero [...]

ALBUM: WILD NOTHING – NOCTURNE

To me, Jack Tatum’s music has always seemed contradictory. On his 2010 album, Gemini, Tatum used the stylistic devices of pop music as a stencil to aid his vision. Verses sunk into choruses perfectly, bridges obligingly followed and earworms were unearthed in their masses. As if Tatum’s song writing was akin to slotting together pieces [...]

ALBUM: JOHNNO CASSON – WINDOW SHOPPING

Ah, Coinstar Day. £21.47 redeemed from jean-pocket oblivion, all thanks to your charitable counting-machine friend. Know the feeling? Well, stand by: the improbable satisfaction that comes from just such little victories fills Johnno Casson’s delicate, quirky album, Window Shopping. Colchester singer-songwriter Casson, armed with previous self-releases under the name Snippet, delights a growing internet fanbase [...]

LIVE: PLANK! / HOOKWORMS – 27/07/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – It’s certainly the night for a mind-altering statement. At the very same time as one great Mancunian artist is subverting all expectations in front of a global audience, another group of them are tapping into the dark recesses of our imaginations on a far smaller scale. But whereas Danny Boyle [...]

ALBUM: MOEBIUS + TIETCHENS

There comes a time when most music lovers will claim to have heard it all before. Of course, the battle against jaded apathy is constant, and must be fought on all fronts. However, unctuous press releases try hard to extol the virtues of their offering, pitching it as the Third Coming and a cure for [...]

LIVE: SAVAGES – 24/07/2012

- The Deaf Institute, Manchester – The blow of missing the first two local Savages gigs this year – in a cage in a bunker in Salford and at Islington Mill in June – has been eased now that I can witness ‘everyones favourite new band’, in my favourite venue. Parma Violets are the main support, I saw them at [...]

SINGLE: MAJOR LAZER – ‘GET FREE’

The pioneers of booty shaking, reggae fuelled, dancefoor smashers; Major Lazer, rope in the talents of Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors in their latest release; “Get Free”. A much more downtempo outing than their previous material but by no means lacking in quality. The track kicks back at a dub-paced flow with light smatterings of [...]

Single Review: Richard Hawley – Down In The Woods

It’s been 3 years since Sheffieldite, Richard Hawley, released an album. Even though he teased fans with guest vocals on an Arctic Moneys track earlier this year, Hawley returns with his punchy, rock ‘n’ roll fuelled 7th album, Standing On The Sky’s Edge. And fuelled with Rock ‘n’ Roll it certainly is. ‘Down In The Woods’, [...]

SINGLE REVIEW: Electric Guest – Awake

As one of the showcasing artists at this year’s SXSW festival, a great deal of attention has been thrown Electric Guest’s way. In May, I saw Electric Guest perform to a sparse crowd during Liverpool Sound City and it’s their newest single, ‘Awake’, that has the potential to rouse the music aficionados and create a [...]

Album Review: Laetitia Sadlier – Silencio

Laetitia Sadlier, erstwhile singer with 90s influential experimental krautrock pop band Stereolab and main member of Stereolab side project Monade, follows up her debut solo album, The Trip, with her second album for Drag City, Silencio. On first listen, Silencio immediately comes across as a more fleshed out sound with more nuanced textures than The [...]

LIVE: OF MONSTERS AND MEN – 11/07/2012

- ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – There are few more cherished moments in a band’s career – the breakthrough song has found a handle on a niche audience, the underground buzz has begun to filter out, the debut album will drop in less than a month. The band rock into town, and play upstairs in the attic of [...]

LIVE: THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE – 08/07/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Dangerous, unhinged and unpredictable are all words I would have at one time used to describe The Brian Jonestown Massacre. An opinion I had formed after hearing numerous fan’s accounts of the band’s on tour antics and more so after watching the 2004 documentary ‘Dig’, which until now was my [...]

LIVE: NO CEREMONY/// – 05/07/2012

- SACRED TRINITY CHURCH, SALFORD – There is without doubt a veritable buzz surrounding tonight’s performance. Over the past few months Manchester locals, NO CEREMONY /// have been steadily building up steam for this, their first ever headline show. Singles, Hurtlove and Heartbreaker have both done the rounds on major radio stations XFM, Radio 1 [...]

LIVE: REGINA SPEKTOR – 04/07/2012

- THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – The beauty of Regina Spektor, is that you never know what to expekt. The quirky Russian-American redhead is known as much for her crazy musical experimentalism as she is for her heartfelt, melancholic piano ballads. But tonight at the Manchester Apollo, rather unexpectedly, Spektor performs a set which is far [...]

ALBUM: PURITY RING ‘SHRINES’

Searching for Purity Ring‘s discography seemed a logical idea at the time, as I kicked myself for letting their back-catalogue pass me by… before discovering that ‘Shrines’ is in fact a debut album. 4AD guarantee quality with a roster full of forward thinking artists who seem to have something in common, and yet all produce their [...]

LIVE: JESCA HOOP – 28/06/2012

- LEAF TEA SHOP, LIVERPOOL – As you arrive at the venue for this much anticipated show you can sense, even at the bar that something big is going to happen. There is an aura about Leaf this evening and that is clearly down to the queue building up well before doors. First to the [...]

SINGLE: THE WILD EYES – I LOOK GOOD ON YOU

The debut single from The Wild Eyes “I Look Good On You b/w Too Much” features Huw Robert’s (vocals, guitars), Sam Gill (drums) and Neal Johnson (bass), who were nurtured and stifled in equal measure by the small towns of their youth.  They now reside in Liverpool and the trio have recently earned a fierce [...]

LIVE: EASTER – 22/06/2012

- KRAAK, MANCHESTER – This is my second night in succession at Kraak, the schedule here this month isn’t all that busy but quality seems guaranteed. Hey! Manchester have put together tonight’s lineup to celebrate the launch  of Easter‘s debut album ‘Innocence Man’, which was released a few weeks ago through White Box recordings. Gladly, it’s [...]

LIVE: GHXST – 21/06/2012

- KRAAK, MANCHESTER – One of my favourite scene’s in cinema history: Fight Club – Tyler and Co. walk through the bar down to the hidden, dark and dingy basement where grown men choose to punch each other for fun… Tom Waits ‘Goin’ Out West’ is on the jukebox. Entering Kraak when a rock band [...]

LIVE: BEST COAST – 17/06/2012

THE HMZ RITZ, MANCHESTER Now Wave gigs regularly promise plenty of bands and no fillers, as with tonight’s quadruple bill. The thankfully renovated Ritz is starting to get a little sticky underfoot again, due to spilt beer. At £4.35 for a pint of Guinness, I’m not wasting a drop. Psychedelic dark punk pop rock band [...]

LIVE: FEAR OF MEN – 17/06/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – I had the pleasure of catching Brighton based outfit Fear of Men as part of the wonderful Sounds From The Other City Festival which took place in Salford last month, and it was their simplistic indie pop melodies that won over my heart and have refused to leave my head [...]

ALBUM: TY SEGALL BAND ‘SLAUGHTERHOUSE’

There’s no stopping Ty – releasing singles and EPs under various names, playing in numerous bands and hopping from record label to record label as if they were bars on a pub crawl. He started in 2005 with Epsilons, then joined Party Fowl as well as The Traditional Fools, The Perverts and Sic Alps as [...]

Album Review: Levellers – Static on the Airwaves

Grab your fiddles and dust off your digeridoos, folk-rock veterans Levellers are back with their tenth studio album Static on the Airwaves – their most polished but traditional album to date. Opening with white noise reminiscent of our very own Silent Radio, and an electro sequence Gary Numan would envy, you could be forgiven for [...]

Single Review: The Lucid Dream – Hits Me Like I’m Stoned

What’s not to like about the crazy kids* at Fruits de Mer records? They are a small, independent UK label; they only release on limited edition vinyl; they have a sister label called ‘Regal Crabomophone’ (whatever that’s supposed to mean); they even send their press releases on shiny silver 200gsm paper… Fruits de Mer are [...]

Album Review: Smoke Fairies – Blood Speaks

The signs of Smoke Fairies’ newfound maturity are there from the very start of second album, Blood Speaks. As muscular drum crackles join moody guitar, the trademark dual vocals of Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies announce their presence with a heavy confidence: “You got the power to bring me down, but I’ve got some sense, [...]

LIVE: DOT TO DOT FESTIVAL – 04/06/2012

- VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER – Back for its third year in Manchester, Dot to Dot has come along tremendously since it started in Nottingham in 2005. Ever since then they have continuously created compelling line-ups, bringing some of the best new and upcoming talent to an exciting inner-city environment. This year’s line-up is certainly no [...]

LIVE: CURSIVE – 04/06/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – While the rest of the nation is bopping away to the legends of pop strutting their stuff outside the Queen’s gaff, we’re in town’s most luxurious subterranean pit for something altogether less bombastic. “Hey, I’m Kevin Devine from New York…” the slender troubadour onstage announces, “did you guys revel [...]

ALBUM: SQUAREPUSHER – ‘UFABULUM’

With the 90′s dance music scene very much making a comeback, the likes of Squarepusher have the perfect opportunity to show the young pretenders how it’s done. Another of  Warp’s electronical wizards, Tom Jenkinson, has been producing mind-bending sounds since 1994, along with label mates and veterans Aphex Twin and Autechre. ’4001′ kicks things off [...]

LIVE: SAVAGES / HIGH PLACES / DIE HEXEN – 30/05/2012

- ISLINGTON MILL. SALFORD – I’m not usually one for forward planning but I felt quite gutted that I couldn’t go to the SAVAGES gig at the beginning of the month due to it being sold out (how does a few months old, pretty unknown, four piece all female band sell out in a city [...]

LIVE: THE MELVINS – 30/05/2012

- MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – After discovering the latest release of The Melvins EP ‘The Bulls and the Bees’ (a free download by the way) I was on the hunt to find the tour that follows, and to my delight they were coming to Manchester’s Moho Live, four long years since their last visit to [...]

LIVE: TENNIS – 25/05/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Tonight, in the dark underbelly of Manchester’s Northern Quarter, a cluster of like-minded music fan poseurs are readying their Friday nights with a low-profile offering from Denver’s most cherished lo-fi indie poppers. The crowd is modestly sized, given the relatively established nature of the night’s headliners – Tennis released their [...]

ALBUM: DEPAKOTE – ‘I LIVE TO DIE AND I DIE TO LIVE’

Depakote is a drug used to treat depression and bipolar disorder. Apparently, this has relevance to the Californian producer who also goes by the name of Count Chopula. The latest offering from the rather prolific Depakote has been released on the Manchester/LA based record label This City Is Ours. His first album ‘It’s Not ’94 Anymore’ [...]

LIVE: DUKE SPECIAL – 25/05/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Getting into the Deaf Institute a bouncy, pub sing along atmosphere hits me. The upstairs’ room is rammed. There’s a packed turn out for tonight’s gig from a slightly older, dare I say more refined audience. The sing along atmosphere is coming from Duke Special, with band and on [...]

LIVE: THE HANDSOME FAMILY / TINY RUINS – 24/05/2012

- ST.CLEMENT’S CHURCH, MANCHESTER – It’s such a beautiful, warm evening (I don’t even need a jacket, hooray!) and I’m stood in the grounds of St Clements church surrounded by trees and greenery forgetting that I’m in a city.  I’m here on the recommendation of a friend and considering the facts: a husband and wife [...]

LIVE: POND – 26/05/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – England are playing a pointless friendly in Norway and the Eurovision circus is on the hypnotic light box, making my journey to see an Australian psychedelic rock band in a sweaty basement all the more satisfying. The Soup Kitchen is, as always, pretty busy. The extended, repetitive soundcheck gives a [...]

LIVE: JAPANDROIDS – 23/05/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Rewind to November 2009, and a certain SR scribe is cursing his luck after only catching the vinegar strokes of Japandroids’ début Manchester show at Moho Live, so he makes a solemn oath that night that he’ll definitely, 100%, without any shadow of doubt catch them on their headline tour [...]

EP Review: Protect-U – Motorbike

Here is something new from Planet Mu with this latest EP from Protect-U, the brainchild of Mike Petillo and Aaron Leitko, two of the “new breed of dance music producers” presently emerging from Washington DC. ‘Motorbike’ opens with a half drunken metallic coated bassline pulsing its way through the track, kept in check by the [...]

Album Review: Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix

Kyle Gass, half of the core duo behind Tenacious D, has gone on record to argue Rize of the Fenix, third longer player from this most awesome of rock acts is “much like Nirvana’s first album Bleach or the Beatles first album Help. Rough and yet a masterpiece.” And how could a humble music reviewer [...]

SINGLE: THE GRAVELTONES – ‘I WANT YOUR LOVE’

Sure, it is easy to look at The Graveltones and quickly compare them to The Black Keys. Both bands compose of two men playing drums and guitar, both bands play fuzzy modern blues, and both bands draw their influences from the great rock legends of John Lee Hooker and Led Zeppelin. But unlike The Black [...]

LIVE: MICHAEL KIWANUKA – 15/05/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Heading to The Ritz on a damp Tuesday night makes me wonder if strappy wedges and a gust sensitive skirt are a good combo. The weather isn’t dampening the spirits of folks up for a piece of the recently touted Michael Kiwanuka appearing tonight. This one is an eagerly anticipated [...]

LIVE: GAZ COOMBES – 17/05/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – At twenty to ten it seems like an age since the support act went off.  The Axl Rose complex finally shows signs of lifting when people we assume to be in the band appear on stage one at a time.  Something’s happening as a couple of notes emerge on [...]

ALBUM REVIEW: Lettie – Good Fortune, Bad Weather

The weather over the past few weeks has been fairly bad, but stumbling upon the latest release from Lettie will certainly give you good fortune. The London singer-songwriter’s new offering, Good Fortune, Bad Weather, is an album with the potential for plenty of hits with its great electro-pop sound and sublime songwriting. Lettie is a [...]

LIVE: ∆ (ALT-J) – 18/05/2012

- QUAY HOUSE, MANCHESTER – As part of the annual audio/visual festival Future Everything, Now Wave have brought us to a disused office block situated next door to The Opera House, to see no fewer than six (that’s 6) bands. We’ve become accustomed to dirty industrial warehouses and basement venues in Manchester, so this is [...]

LIVE: SHARON VAN ETTEN – 17/05/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I first heard of Sharon Van Etten though a press-release, back in December. It was one of those moments where it became apparent this artist was going to be a regular feature on my MP3 player for the foreseeable future. Names dropped into that news item such as The [...]

LIVE: DZ DEATHRAYS / EMBERS / FAWN SPOTS – 16/05/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – When I hear word that FAWN SPOTS are coming to Manchester I cancel plans and jump at the chance to go see them.  Fawn Spots are Lee Bowden and Jonathan Meager; based in York where they are proactive in the music scene being heavily involved in truly great projects such [...]

LIVE: TRAILER TRASH TRACYS – 10/05/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I haven’t been upstairs at the Deaf Institute before and I’m struck by the glamour of the place.  For some reason it’s really unexpected and I like it!  It’s got big steps going up at the back for sitting on that creates a theatre kind of feel and a [...]

Single Review: Wildeflower – Good Girl/Amazing Discovery

“Good Girl” is the debut single from Wildeflower, a six piece folk-rock band from Englefield Green. This single release offers a modern folk style with close three-part harmonies as well as coupling rich layered instrumentation with lo-fi production. Led by Max Kinghorn-Mills, the psychedelic folk group marries influences from rivals/progressives Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and [...]

Single Review: Django Django – Storm/Skies Over Cairo

After the release of their self-titled début album, Django Django, the Scottish art-rock band, have released a perky little ditty titled ‘Storm’. Although some bands take inspiration from the headline names of the past, Django Django take theirs from the now defunct Scottish indie “semi-legends”, The Beta Band. The rigid drum beat, metronomic in style, keeps the track [...]

Album Review: Beach House – Bloom

The Wire, widely regarded as the best TV series of all time, is particulalry celebrated for its complex story lines, slowly coiling plot, use of authentic slang (only understandable via subtitles), and the way it mercilessly dissects a self-annhilating society from the bottom, with its petty drug dealers and tenement tower blocks, all the way [...]

LIVE: PERFUME GENIUS / CATE LE BON – 09/05/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – The buzz of a full-bodied Deaf Institute is never anything less than thrilling, but tonight is special. We are blessed with a venerable safe pair of hands to open proceedings – Cate Le Bon is such an established and cherished figure in the national music scene that she actually [...]

LIVE: FRIENDS / ALUNAGEORGE – 08/05/2012

- ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – Disco. It’s a dirty word. People are scared to be associated with it, and I often find myself breaking down the locked doors of people’s closets, and saying, “you don’t have to hide!” Now is the best time for disco, it is a burst of decadence without the calories or [...]

LIVE: JAMES BLACKSHAW – 04/05/2012

- SACRED TRINITY, SALFORD – There are two possible reactions to the suggestion of spending a Friday night in a small Salford church watching a prodigious, virtuoso acoustic guitarist perform a number of solo, instrumental pieces. Sure, it may sound a little on the arduous side to some. Indeed, more often than not, it would [...]

LIVE: NHAM QUARTET / HELMUT LEMKE / BRIDGET HAYDEN – 04/05/2012

- ST. MARGARET’S CHURCH, MANCHESTER – I read an article on The Guardian website this week about a venue in London called Cafe Oto which puts on experimental music, free-jazz etc. There was the option to comment after the article and there were lots of disparaging remarks about this kind of place being for ‘hipsters’ [...]

LIVE: WE ARE AUGUSTINES / MY GOODNESS – 02/05/2012

- ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – In less than two months since a shimmering set in the Night & Day Cafe, We Are Augustines have returned home from their first European tour, galvanised neutrals at South By Southwest and Coachella, delivered headline sets from Hollywood to native New York, and released their debut album, Rise Ye [...]

LIVE: NEDRY – 28/04/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Catching a band for the last gig of a tour is a good idea. They’ve had a chance to perfect their setlist, they know exactly what they’re doing, they’re (I would presume) keen to go out on a high note, and there’s a chance of scooping up some of [...]

LIVE: VARIOUS CRUELTIES – 25/04/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Tonight I find myself skipping down the steps in to what feels like a musical cave that is The Ruby Lounge. Personally I have never seen it heaving in here, (tonight is no exception) which I can’t understand as it has a decent sound system, and good gig listings. [...]

Album Review: Billy Vincent – She

Building on the country-folk-rock template laid down in their King Island Coyote and Once on the Grand Union EPs, London quintet Billy Vincent are set to launch their debut album, She. A vivid, well-observed collection of songs, the five-piece capably bring together a range of big-hearted influences on this lively LP. One of the more [...]

LIVE: OF MONTREAL – 22/04/2012

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Ahhhh. You know that feeling you get when you’ve been at work early, taken an afternoon nap, and wake up to find you resent the effort of going next door to fix yourself a coffee, let alone getting dressed, stepping out your front door and trudging to a gig? The [...]

Album Review: North Atlantic Oscillation – Fog Electric

It’s been two years since North Atlantic Oscillation crashed into this planet of ours and tackled the preconceptions of the different musical amalgamations that were already lingering about. Back then, I found Grappling Hooks to be a triumph. One of my first experiences with their music was set to the background of a beautiful sunset [...]

LIVE: MAPS & ATLASES / TALL SHIPS – 18/04/2012

- THE NIGHT & DAY CAFÉ, MANCHESTER – I’ve set out early to make sure I catch Tall Ships who are tonight’s support act. Having supported Maps & Atlases on their previous UK tour last October, the boys have been invited back, which I couldn’t be happier about. Tall Ships are one of the most [...]

LIVE: ODONIS ODONIS – 18/04/2012

- KRAAK GALLERY, MANCHESTER – I discovered Odonis Odonis by accident last autumn when a stray link unexpectedly took me to a download of their debut album (all above board). I thought I’d give it a go… 10 seconds into the title track ‘Hollandaze’, I was hooked. Shimmering, reverb laden guitar chords pulsed and cascaded like [...]

LIVE: JOSH KUMRA – 16/04/2012

- ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – I have a confession to make, one that I probably shouldn’t tell, but there is a reason behind it. I am late, only about 5 minutes but that’s enough to miss the best bit of the gig. Me and my friend are running up the stairs and I hear the [...]

LIVE: ANDREW WK – 13/04/2012

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – I’m not a fan of parties. On the rare occasions that I fail to worm my way out of an invite, you can pretty much guarantee than I’ll be one of the beer guardians in the kitchen or back yard, grumbling about the forced gaiety of it all. I even [...]

EP Review: Dream Continuum – Reworkz EP

Dream Continuum is the coming together of two artists, Machinedrum (aka Travis Stewart) and Om Unit, (Jim Coles), also known as Philip D. Kick. The partnership formed when the two realised they’d both been working on the same concept separartely, and so naturally put their heads together to produce this phenomenal EP. The concept in [...]

LIVE: TOY – 10/04/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Having never entered the basement of the Soup Kitchen before I am pleasantly surprised! I get in very early and there is about ten people inside, which makes the room look huge. I decide to leave and come back when the bands are due to start. As I walk down [...]

LIVE: ORBITAL – 05/04/2012

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – The return of Orbital has been long overdue. They told people in 2006 that they were over and went their separate ways, but in Take That- esque fashion they rose like a phoenix out of the ashes to provide the world with their new album Wonky. It has been album [...]

LIVE: SLOW CLUB – 08/04/2012

 - THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – So it is Easter Sunday and I am waiting. Jesus did a lot of waiting, but on Easter Sunday he spectacularly came back to Earth and most people turned around and said, “Oh… well that was worth the wait.” So you see it is good to make people wait, [...]

LIVE: 2:54 – 04/04/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – 3rd time lucky. 2:54 have a habit of playing in Manchester when I can’t be there to see them. Their 4 track Scarlet EP has racked up an obscene amount of plays in a relatively short space of time, my only hope is that this lengthy buildup isn’t met [...]

LIVE: REN HARVIEU – 01/04/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Tonight’s Ren Harvieu gig at the Ruby Lounge is a sell out. Her history reads like one of those true life stories you get in the middle of Closer Magazine. “A shy girl is born and raised in a gritty Northern town.  The daughter of a singer father, she discovers [...]

ALBUM: SALIM NOURALLAH – HIT PARADE

“Listen to it once, you’ll get it.” This was the closing line of the press release to Salim Nourallah’s latest release, Hit Parade. With such an outlandish comment I was intrigued to listen to what musical delight the American singer-song writer had produced. Sadly, I didn’t get it. Not the first time anyway. But after [...]

ALBUM: ALASDAIR ROBERTS AND MAIRI MORRISON – URSTAN

If you had asked me a week ago my thoughts on Gaelic folk music, I would have to be honest and say that it isn’t exactly my cup of tea. But this album is something a little different; Urstan is one of those collaborations that makes so much sense that you have to wonder why [...]

LIVE: AFTERSHOCK 10 WITH NITIN SAWHNEY – 24/03/2012

- BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Band on the Wall are playing host to a pretty special night. Tonight is close to the 10 year mark of the original Aftershock event that began in Manchester during the Commonwealth games. Aftershock represents a collaborative smorgasbord of musical talent, with the sense someone shook up the genres, threw [...]

Album Review: Fruits de Mer Records – Sorrow’s Children

The Pretty Things’ 1967 album ‘S. F. Sorrow’ is the tragic story of the life of Sebastian F. Sorrow (“nobody knew what the ‘F’ stood for, and nobody really cared”); from humble beginnings, interrupted by war and destroyed by the death of his life-long love. It has been referred to as “the first rock opera” [...]

Album Review: Hal – The Time The Hour

After a 7-year hiatus that apparently saw main man David Allen ply his trade around the US on his own, Hal returned in February with a 4-track EP, Down In The Valley. Their second album, The Time The Hour, combines that EP’s best track and worst track with eight other new songs. It’s my sad [...]

ALBUM REVIEW: ORBITAL – WONKY

‘Wonky’ is the work of true masters in their field. Or in any field (speaking geographically). Many will be familiar with Phil and Paul Hartnoll’s story, as prominent producers of early 90′s ambient techno. Lying on an Ibiza beach as the sun comes up, listening to ‘Belfast’, was high on everyone’s list of things they’d [...]

LIVE: BBC MANCHESTER INTRODUCING LIVE – 30/03/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – So the premise: get unsigned acts, the undiscovered and under the radar talent to bigger audiences. The Beeb do the filtering and venues get the benefit of seeing something different to what PR types and labels might be promoting. Great! We’re in the Ruby Lounge and expecting to do [...]

LIVE: THE STRANGE BOYS – 29/03/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – The Deaf Institute is the home to all things band at the moment. I find myself checking their online diary to see who is playing, and then immediately checking them out and sorting out heading to the gig. This last week I discovered Strange Boys, listened to a few [...]

LIVE: BRETON – 29/03/2012

- ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – By going through these doors, we agree to let ourselves be filmed for a commercial. I was under the impression that this gig would be a little shy on punters tonight, so the scenes inside the mill come as a complete surprise. Breton‘s debut album ‘Other People’s Problems’ was released through [...]

LIVE: BBC PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA – 24/03/2012

Images (part of the series ‘Reflections of Debussy in the Mirror of the East’) – THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – This show is based on the theme of musical representations of the visual, as part of a wider series focussed on the works of the influential turn-of-the-(20th)-century French composer Claude Debussy, his influence by the [...]

LIVE: DRIVER DRIVE FASTER – 23/03/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – They arrived like a breath of fresh air, last summer. The hidden trendy rough gem of a venue Kraak Gallery played host to the launch of their debut album ‘Open House’, while a number of high profile muso’s were liberally throwing their name around the airwaves, providing enough favourable [...]

ALBUM REVIEW: IMPERIAL LEISURE – DEATH TO THE ONE TRICK PONY

Not sure what the One Trick Pony ever did to Imperial Leisure, but this sophomore album forms a riotous call to arms. That poor pony is punked. I grew up in the same part of the capital as the band and remember their early gigs in various, nefarious down-at-heel North London pubs. They’ve come a [...]

SINGLE REVIEW: BILLY VINCENT – BOTTLE TOP

London five-piece Billy Vincent blend folk with a touch of rock and a dash of country on this, their first single release. Just as their name fuses those of the band’s best-friend vocalists Billy Barratt and David Vincent, so the quintet’s sound brings together that of Ed Harcourt, Jeff Buckley and James Morrison. With début full-length She [...]

LIVE: KINDNESS – 22/03/2012

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – I am underneath a kitchen. Upstairs they’re serving soup. On tonight’s menu: Kindness, the creation of London lad, Adam Bainbridge. His name has been floating about the online music atmosphere since 2009, but now in 2012 he has released his debut album, ‘World, You Need A Change Of Mind,’ produced [...]

LIVE: JONNY KEARNEY & LUCY FARRELL – 18/03/2012

- THE CORNERHOUSE, MANCHESTER – I would like to think I approach most new experiences with an open mind, but I have noticed a little bit of pre-judgement creeping in where certain events loom on the horizon. Unfortunately for ‘folk nights’ this genre has fallen into my room 101 of predictable nights out. All too [...]

LIVE: THE FELICE BROTHERS – 18/03/2012

- ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – It’s Sunday at The Academy 2 and it’s sure to be sordid. I’ve always imagined The Felice Brothers as this band of rough-as-old-boots American country boys with their tales of violence and alcoholism and impregnating peoples daughters, and despite the fact that they’re actually all fairly young and handsome fellas, [...]

LIVE: MISSING ANDY – 15/03/2012

- MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – You know how you have your preferred music venues and your jaunts, which you would like to avoid at all costs? Well, tonight is one of those nights where it takes a special band to convince me to go to Moho. I could go on a rant right now, but [...]

LIVE: THE RUMOUR SAID FIRE – 13/03/2012

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – I normally like to go into gigs ‘blind’, so to speak, to have no preconceptions, but as I planned to review this one I thought I ought to do some research.  My research brought up some mellow, yet lively sounding songs sung in English that suggested they were written with [...]

NEWS: RICHARD HAWLEY – NEW ALBUM DETAILS

Following the success of his award-winning, hugely acclaimed 2009 album ‘Truelove’s Gutter’, Richard Hawley will release his sixth studio album, ‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ - his first for new label Parlophone - on 7th May. Recorded at Sheffield’s Yellow Arch Studio in 2011, ‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ marks a seismic shift in direction for Hawley. The album is a euphoric, [...]

LIVE: NATURAL SNOW BUILDINGS – 08/03/2012

- THE CONTINENTAL, PRESTON – Boldly venturing north tonight to experience some premier psych-drone-folk direct from France. After last year’s appearance at the Tusk Festival in Newcastle (supposedly only the duo’s second gig in the UK), Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte of Natural Snow Buildings must have caught the live performance bug as they are in [...]

Album Review: Performance – Red Brick Heart

Rarely do you find a band that makes you want to take the singer to the best indie disco in town for a drink and a proper chat and then dance like an idiot for the next ten hours. This is that band. By all accounts Performance have been through the wringer: record label misdemeanours, [...]

LIVE: MAYER HAWTHORNE – 09/03/2012

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Well this guy has been on my radar for quite some time now. I first stumbled onto Mayer Hawthorne when he was due to play at the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium last summer. Unfortunately, there was the quite apocalyptical storm that destroyed the festival site on the first day [...]

LIVE: NEW BUILD – 09/03/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – As I saunter into The Deaf Institute tonight I hear a unique electro sound, and as I make my way to the bar (priorities) I then also hear a familiar voice. When I look up I see Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip on stage filling this evening’s support slot for New [...]

LIVE: GANG COLOURS – 07/03/2012

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Gang Colours (Will Ozanne) falls under my personal classification of dark, underground, glitchy beat, mood music. The shoegazing electronic Southampton lad was brought to the attention of Gilles Peterson and his Brownswood label by Ghostpoet, resulting in the February release of his debut album ‘The Keychain Collection’. Heavyweight endorsements [...]

Album Review: Efterklang – Magic Chairs

It’s a tricky thing coming at a band that you’re not entirely familiar with, that also ride on a wave of critical praise. It’s as if you have to like them, and if you don’t, your opinion is somehow defective. Nothing forces a person into their shell further than the feeling of being forced to [...]

Album Review: Arch Garrison – King Of The Down

Warm, evocative and quintessentially English, the press release’s claim that King Of The Down was recorded in pastoral Wiltshire before a crackling fire rings true here. Craig Fortnam (usually of North Sea Radio Orchestra semi-fame) weaves textured tapestries of dazzling intricacy from his guitar, fusing classical and folk stylings via nylon and steel strings, with [...]

Album Review: Marina & The Diamonds – The Family Jewels

The beauty of the music industry is that, just when you feel that you’ve heard it all, and that you’re about to be buried under a welcome wave of apathy, some wide-eyed Turks slap your face, twist your nipples and wake you to its latent vibrancy. Marina and her spangly Diamonds are those Turks, and they’re [...]

Album Review: The Tenebrous Liar – Jackknifed & Slaughtered

The first impression Jackknifed & Slaughtered gives you, as heralded by the macabre album title itself, is one of bristling threat. It’s as if The Tenebrous Liar don’t want you to listen to them because they fear you won’t be able to take it. You won’t be able to handle the truths enclosed, and you’ll [...]

Album Review: You Me At Six – Hold Me Down

You’ve no doubt at some point caught yourself thinking, in-between episodes of Gilmore Girls, “What if Fall Out Boy came from Weymouth in Sussex?” Well what started out as a mere hiccup in your bored brain has convinced itself into reality, in the form of band You Me At Six.  Hold Me Down is the band’s [...]

Album Review: Codeine Velvet Club – Codeine Velvet Club

Some albums take a bit of getting used to, some are an instant rush, and some get better with each play. This joy of 11 tracks manages all three. It’s difficult to pin down as it gyrates from the foot stomping indie pop of ‘Little Sister’, to waltz-like ‘Nevada’, to the eerie ‘Reste Avec Moi’, [...]

Album Review: Tanja Maritsa – Fragile

If I was going to review an album by the physical quality of the promotional material, Fragile would be the finest album of all time.  It arrived by special delivery. Inside the reinforced A4 cardboard envelope was a translucent plastic wallet. Inside that I discovered to my delight four different press releases printed on paper [...]

Album Reviews: Metronomy – Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 You Owe)

Music that sounds like a computer going insane is a bit of a hard sell. When my computer goes potty and starts emitting unearthly forlorn bleeps it makes me want to kick the ridiculous contraption to pieces, whilst laughing maniacally. Kudos to Metronomy then for managing to change a very similar sound from an object of [...]

Album Review: Moby – Wait For Me (Deluxe Edition)

Maybe it’s unlikely that anything Moby releases can top the mega success of his Play LP, but Wait For Me’s charms lie in the fact that it doesn’t really try. Moby’s chilled-out tunes still sound as if they were concocted in the late 1990s where genres mixed and matched in the holy cause of the [...]

Album Review: The Gilded Palace of Sin – Your Break Our Hearts, We’ll Tear Yours Out

Cinematic in scope and Gothic in mood, The Gilded Palace Of Sin forge modern day blues from sparse arrangements and a willingness to approach ambitious metaphysical themes beyond standard relationship squabbles. Singer Pete Phythian has a characterful, lived-in voice, though sometimes his vocal melodies are a little too rudimentary and syllabically out of step. The band’s alchemic [...]

Album Review: The Lovely Eggs – If You Were Fruit

This début album could easily be from a slightly off kilter parallel universe. All fourteen sumptuous offerings served up here,are your ticket to this wonderful constellation that has been lovingly created from scratch by Holly Ross and David Blackwell. The opening track ‘Sexual Cowboy’ kicks off with a thrashing guitar which is reminiscent of the great bands [...]

Album Review: White Rabbits – It’s Frightening

If you receive an album titled ‘It’s Frightening’ you expect to receive something covered in angst, terror and paranoia. It should hint at the end of the universe whilst never allowing you space to breath.  White Rabbits have attempted to create this feeling with a combination of dual drummers and heavy piano chords, which, at [...]

Single Review: Justice – On ‘N’ On

It is without doubt that Justice are one of the most iconic and influential French dance duos to successfully orientate themselves through the herds of sweaty makeshift bedroom DJ’s that make up a large part of the electronic dance scene. The mighty glowing crucifix takes centre stage during their shows and album artwork and it [...]

Album Review: Phenomenal Handclap Band – Form & Control

The name Phenomenal Handclap Band may suggest a novelty act, but this Brooklyn-based outfit challenges no conventions. Instead it combines disco, dance and rock elements with varying levels of success, on second album Form & Control at least. When they nail it they really nail it. Opening number ‘Following’ is funky and addictive, the sort [...]

EP: HAL – Down In The Valley EP

It never really happened for Hal. Seven years ago they were being overshadowed by the Magic Numbers at their co-headline show at the Roadhouse (as most bands would have been). A few months later they released their exceptional début album to mass public indifference. And then they disappeared The band’s return now is something of a surprise. [...]

LIVE: HANNAH ATKINS – 15/02/2012

- BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Arriving into the bar something of an official event appears to be underway. Charity stands, flyers and poster art for sale isn’t the usual greeting at Band on the Wall’s entrance. The crowd also breakaway from the regulars. Noticeably older with more than a strong hint towards the [...]

Live: Real Estate – 17/02/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Tonight’s sell-out Real Estate gig at the Deaf Institute sees New Jersey, indie-pop darlings, make a welcome return to Manchester following their last No Wave gig at Islington Mill back in October. This evening, is one of just five UK appearances of their nine-date European tour. It’s Friday night, the weekend’s [...]

LIVE: FIELD MUSIC / STEALING SHEEP – 19/02/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Sunday has a magical quality. A dignified presence, the end of the week, and a time to reflect and contemplate the mysteries of life.  What better environment to do all this, than The Deaf Institute? You can usually find me on the dance-floor, twirling underneath the sparkling mirrorball… But [...]

LIVE: NME AWARDS TOUR 2012

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Sorry, but this is going to be a biased review. I miss Azealia Banks due to the ridiculous idea of scheduling the first act 10 minutes after doors opening. I’m obviously disappointed to find out from the light technician that I have missed the filthy talking Azealia, who has been [...]

ALBUM REVIEW: ROEDELIUS – ROEDELIUS PLAYS PIANO

Roedelius Plays Piano is a live concert recording that has lurked in the vault since the eighties and is only now seeing the light of day. Hans-Joachim Roedelius himself explains thusly: “I always knew that this concert would have to be made available some day. I was just waiting for the right moment, for the [...]

SINGLE REVIEW: CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG – ANNA

As the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte carries a lot of musical expectation on her shoulders. Having Beck by her side for her last album ‘IRM’ must’ve helped her along the way a little, his influence is still occasionally apparent and her vocal style could be likened to her breathy and deep sounding French father. [...]

THE XFM New Music Award – 08/02/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – There’s been a flurry of excitement around Ren Harvieu on the radio. Touted as the Salford lass with the big voice, she’s getting plenty of attention with her new single ‘Through the Night.’ We get into The Ritz at 8, and as I’m trying to get 2 pints poured our [...]

Live: BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards – 08/02/2012

- THE LOWRY, SALFORD –  This year is a year of firsts for the BBC Radio 2 Folk awards. For the first time, the ceremony is being held outside of London in the Lowry at Salford Quays – much to the delight of the northern musicians. 2012 also saw members of the public being allowed [...]

LIVE: MURKAGE – 04/02/2012

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Yes it’s cold, yes it’s snowing and yes, you could be easily convinced to stay in. Or so you’d say on other nights. Personally, I’ve been looking forward to witnessing the guys that are on tonight for quite some time now. Having grown out of their, now notorious, Monday Murkage [...]

LIVE: LAURA VEIRS – 01/02/2012

- THE LOWRY, SALFORD – It’s the first of February at The Lowry in Salford, and tonight gracing the stage is another of Portland’s exports, folk songstress Laura Veirs. Veirs has been a regular on the American circuit for some time now; having released seven albums, but this is the first time her presence in [...]

LIVE: REEL BIG FISH – 02/02/2012

- ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – You know they have a good thing going…………and I don’t want to see that end! I suppose ska punk died a commercial death a good few years ago. Fads come and go and music media can dictate what is hot and what is not. Reel Big Fish however are still [...]

ALBUM: Lana Del Rey – Born To Die

Divisive, talented and manufactured, Lana Del Rey is the most hyped (over-hyped?) artist of her generation. The superlative ‘Video Games’ has racked up 24 million hits on youtube, and press attention has reached unprecedented levels, rivalling that of a royal hip-replacemnt. Everyone is expecting big things from the 25-year-old New Yorker. For someone whose debut [...]

Single Review: Inspiral Carpets – You’re So Good For Me

This is the first new material Inspiral Carpets have recorded in fifteen years after singer, Tom Hingley, departed the band in 2008 amid frustration over gigs and rumours that venue choices were dictated by Clint Boon honouring the network he had built up during his DJ career. Hingley was replaced by original singer and founder [...]

Album Review: Django Django – Django Django

Django Django’s sound is difficult to define. To say that they have a sound is probably all that needs to be said, but I have been asked to write a review so I have to struggle to find words that define them. I doubt they are interested in reducing their music to a few soundbites, [...]

LIVE: CASIOKIDS – 20/01/2012

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – When a press release came through a few months ago saying that Casiokids were to play a handful of live dates in the UK, I was to say the least, rather giddy. But giddyness was short lived, as I glanced down the list of towns and cities to be visited [...]

Rough Trade Shops – Electronic 11

The London-based label has unleashed it’s annual hardware upgrade of all things electronic and this year features everything from Nicolas Jaar to Rustie to the already legendary collab between Flying Lotus and Thom Yorke, but also the likes of Solar Bears, Ayshay, Modeselektor and Hercules & LoveAffair. For specifics you can find the track listing [...]

LIVE: INTRODUCING TAKE ON MR. SCRUFF – 14/01/2012

- BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Ok so the idea is simple: choose an artist who samples other people’s records to make their own music. Let’s use Mr Scruff as an example. Perfect. Then find a band who performs his back catalogue but subtract the samplers and play every note live. So it’s songs [...]

Live: DJ Derek – 23/12/2011

- ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD - Friday 23rd December: the night before the night before Christmas. The party season is well and truly under way, but it’s not really Christmas yet. There’s no sitting around, feeling bored and consuming more food in one day than you have done all week. This is the fun bit of Christmas, [...]

Album Review: Elvis Costello & The Imposters – The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook

It’s a neat conceit. In a cramped marketplace of ever diminishing record store shelves; in a world where established artists continually look to re-interpret their back catalogue, to breathe life into old songs, it can be hard to divine an original approach. Some artists strip their songs down to their naked nuts and bolts, some [...]

LIVE: FOALS – 31/12/2011

- THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – I enter the Warehouse Project’s Store Street venue a little late, and on my own and so have to somehow find my friends- this is no easy task in the refurbished car park, which looks as much like a done up archaeological dig as it does a music venue. [...]

LIVE: NEW MODEL ARMY – 15/12/2011

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – I like gigs at the Ritz in Manchester. They’re more like events, the ones you should have been at. They are the ones your mates talk about in the pub while you look glumly into your beer. It must be something to do with the history of the place. It’s [...]

LIVE : SLOW CLUB – 15/12/2011

- ST. PHILIP’S CHURCH, SALFORD – Lovely as this ecclesiastical venue is, my view is partially blocked by a sizeable eagle carving near the chancel, so what follows is filtered via a large, wooden bird of prey. I’m assuming it’s an eagle anyway – if you happen to know, don’t write in. Unperturbed by raptor-based [...]

Album Review: Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire De Melody Nelson (2CD+DVD Deluxe Edition)

Antoine de Caunes, presenter of 90s comedy titillater Eurotrash, famously once said: “Only one French person per generation makes it in England”. Serge Gainsbourg was that Frenchman of his generation, and like Antoine de Caunes he is today most famous for his sexually-charged material – who could forget ‘Je T’aime’? Unlike the Eurotrash man, Serge [...]

LIVE: CHERRY GHOST – 11/12/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Cherry Ghost is the moniker of singer songwriter Simon Aldred. After doing the rounds in bands for a number of years he decided to go it solo in 2005. Listening to his latest album “Beneath this Burning Shoreline” comparisons to Stephen Fretwell and Ben Howard can be made. Cherry [...]

LIVE: THE DRUMS – 10/12/2011

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – So here I am at the Manchester Ritz and while I’m not a die hard fan, I’ll confess right now to have a bit of a liking for The Drums and so as it turns out, there were a number of surprises in store. It hit me immediately how much [...]

LIVE: MODESELEKTOR – 09/12/2011

- THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – The car park under Piccadilly Station has showcased some incredible line-ups over the last few years. Friday night sees The Warehouse Project bring in some of the most innovative and forward thinking electronic artists in the world, headlined by Modeselecktor, with Squarepusher, Four tet, Skream, amongst others. Upon entering [...]

LIVE: PEAKING LIGHTS – 10/12/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – All the way from a basement in Wisconsin, the duo of Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis finish their brief European tour in Manchester tonight, bringing their very young son Mikko along for the ride. Peaking Lights‘ homemade equipment, jumbled together from random bits of old electrical goods such as alarm [...]

LIVE: OMAR SOULEYMAN – 09/12/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – The UK has been treated this year to tours from the full roster of artists on the Sublime Frequencies label. Locally, Group Doueh visited Islington Mill back in May, last week Group Inerane stopped off in Leeds as part of their first European tour, and tonight Omar Souleyman is [...]

EP Review: Ital Tek – Gonga

The chameleon of the jungle, Ital Tek, changes colour once again as he turns his hand to carving his own EP of footwork-influenced beats. Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you Gonga. Title track ‘Gonga’ opens the EP. Those shattered footwork-style drums set the pace, rising and falling from one to the next, and create a [...]

LIVE: HEY SHOLAY – 02/12/2011

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Yorkshire based 5 piece Hey Sholay have had a pretty good year, gaining air play on Radio 1 and winning NME’s competition to play Exit Festival in Serbia. I head along to the Ruby Lounge hopeful of a night of fun energetic performances headlined by the band I’ve heard [...]

Fruits de Mer/Regal Crabomophone – Annual 2012 (free download)

There are two records on offer in this special-edition double 7” vinyl set; one each from the sister labels Fruits de Mer and Regal Crabomophone. It’s nice to see young people producing real physical things; it’s how the government wants the population to dig them out of our current economic hole. It’s refreshing too, that [...]

LIVE: THE ORDINARY BOYS – 02/12/2011

- CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – After years of an ill-fated romance with the media, it’s a day that many fans thought they’d never see. But without any fuss or ado, the Ordinary Boys are in Manchester tonight, with a nostalgic show tailored to the fans that supported them all the way. Once inside Club Academy [...]

LIVE: I BREAK HORSES – 03/12/2011

- THE SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Rumour has it, this is I Break Horses second (or maybe third) gig. Ever. It’s certainly their first gig in the UK. The debut album ‘Hearts’ gained many a rave review after it’s summer release. The Swedish pairing of Maria Lindén and Fredrik Balck have recruited 3 others to take their [...]

LIVE: PANDA BEAR – 02/12/2011

- METHODIST CENTRAL HALL, MANCHESTER – Right, where do I begin? Just another Friday-night planned to be spent indoors out of solidarity with the ‘big society’ (…) when I get a call whether I fancy joining a friend to see Panda Bear at Central Methodist Hall. “Panda Bear, Panda Bear… name rings a bell but.. [...]

LIVE: FIONN REGAN – 01/12/2011

- ST.PHILIPS CHURCH, SALFORD – Having been a fan since his first album, the Mercury Prize nominated ‘The End of History’, it’s not until his third album tour that I finally get a chance to catch Fionn Regan in person. This is the second stop for the Irishman, who is playing six dates in just [...]

EP Review: Keep Shelly In Athens – Campus Martius

In keeping with its string of synth-pop releases throughout 2011, Planet Mu presents Keep Shelly In Athens. Unfortunately, there isn’t much information I can give you about the duo. My research produced few answers, but I can confirm that there are two of them, the singer, Sarah, is a very pretty lady and together they [...]

LIVE: THURSTON MOORE – 30/11/2011

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – First thing’s thirst.  How much? Four-twenty for a bleedin’ pint?  The Ritz has come a long way (it thinks) from its sticky floors and pound-a-pint student days.  Now that HMV has got its grubby paws on the place. Perhaps the stricken, shrinking giant is making its last desperate grasp for [...]

LIVE: WIDOWSPEAK – 27/11/2011

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Widowspeak‘s self titled debut album  is definitely in my top 5 for 2011. Highly regarded local indie store Piccadilly Records agree somewhat, naming it in their own top 10. The Brooklyn based trio have only been together since summer last year, can the live performance meet my high expectations? The [...]

LIVE: THE JESSIE ROSE TRIP – 25/11/2011

- THE NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – The legendary Night and Day Cafe is 20 years old this year and tonight Stockport trio, The Jessie Rose Trip have been invited to headline their Birthday shindig. The Jessie Rose Trip have been flying the ‘next big thing’ banner for a few years now and come [...]

LIVE: FRANK TURNER – 26/11/2010 (plus free download)

- THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – It’s a windy, drizzly and cold November night, and quite frankly, the prospect of a going to a gig over a hot drink and bed seems unthinkable. But tonight I’ve been persuaded. It’s the turn of Frank Turner to grace the Apollo in Manchester, and after a long period of [...]

LIVE: MARIACHI EL BRONX – 23/11/2011

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – I’ve fallen in love with a Mariachi band. Over the last few weeks ‘Mariachi El Bronx’ have been beeping all over the Vic radar. Guy Garvey’s played them numerous times on his 6 Music show. And in exclusive Silent Radio interviews Norwegian folkies The Captain and Me told me how [...]

REVIEW OF LATER WITH JOOLS HOLLAND (22/11/2011)

I’m watching Jools Holland, and goodness me, it really will be a blast from the past, with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Noel Gallagher and Bjork all appearing. So what’s in store? Perhaps an lot of pallid playing from past-it performers – or perhaps some real quality from the old pros. So how does it [...]

LIVE: DWARVES – 22/11/2011

- MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – The local support slot is occupied tonight by Manchester nutters Bad Taste Barbie.  If you can imagine Fuzzbox fronted by Divine then you might get the idea. They have a song that goes ‘SiegHeil, Jeremy Kyle’.  No, Really! The main support is from Girl Spit (I think) whose front man [...]

EP: MOUNT FABRIC – THREADS

Mount Fabric are a Manchester-based band whose lyrics walk a fine line between profound and ridiculous – “The flickering embers of a sleeping fire/The shivers descending down a grid of wires/The master pretending like he has not heard/The tectonic bending of his island world.” Admittedly, these words do at least avoid the usual clichés and [...]

LIVE: THE BESNARD LAKES – 18/11/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Another sellout weekend crowd at The Deaf Institute, Now Wave bring us a couple of Canadian bands tonight, both the established, and the up and coming. The crowd are a mixture of young and older post-rock fans, it’s possible to tell which band each audience member has come here [...]

LIVE: DUM DUM GIRLS – 13/11/2011

- FAC251, MANCHESTER – I said last year that it probably wouldn’t be long before the Dum Dum Girls were playing bigger venues.  It hasn’t necessarily turned out that way.  Well, not here anyway.  But tonight’s gig at Fac 251 is certainly a lot more rammed. It’s packed out and getting pretty bleeding warm for [...]

LIVE: ST. VINCENT – 12/11/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Fresh from touring America, appearing on Letterman and releasing their third album ‘Strange Mercy’ through 4AD, St. Vincent are set to face a sell out crowd in Manchester’s cosy Deaf Institute. It’s difficult to move in here, there’s a buzz of real excitement and it looks as though this [...]

LIVE: RINGO DEATHSTARR – 11/11/2011

- THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – Texas band, Ringo Deathstarr are finally beginning to gain notoriety. Riding high on the waves of this years shoegaze revival along with bands such as the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Yuck, Deathstarr’s steadfast commitment to punk makes for a more boisterous sound, imbuing them with a sense [...]

ALBUM: ODONIS ODONIS – HOLLANDAZE

Hollandaze is the debut album from Canadian, Dean Tzenos.  It was recorded in Vancouver with Black Mountain’s Colin Stewart and sent over to Brighton label FatCat Records, who were immediately galvanised into releasing the 10 track selection compiled here from the prolific newcomer, recording under the moniker Odonis Odonis. Apparently there were over 60 different [...]

LIVE: NORTH SEA RADIO ORCHESTRA – 10/11/2011

- ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, SALFORD – What a splendid venue. I must confess, gentle reader, that I chose to cover this gig almost as much for the location as the band. St Philip’s in Salford is a prime example of the modern use of churches as music venues, thus getting bums on pews and coffers [...]

LIVE: ANE BRUN – 08/11/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Norwegian folkstress Ane Brun is back in the UK to show-off her new album It all Starts With One. This is her forth studio-release, which has reached the top spot across Scandinavia, hooking up with the likes of Joe Gonzalez, Ron Sexsmith and Peter Gabriel on the way. Yeah, [...]

LIVE: CASHIER NO.9 – 09/11/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Manchester is Cashier No.9‘s second port of call on their 13 stop tour of the UK. The Belfast band have received rave reviews for their debut album ‘To The Death of Fun’, from myself included (link), and it’s always a pleasure to see a band who’s on the verge [...]

LIVE: ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE – 07/11/2011

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Where to start? Hmm, a bit of background to set the scene on tonights ‘happening’ would probably help. Wikipedia helpfully informs me that Acid Mothers Temple is “a psychedelic rock band, the core of which formed in 1995” So far, so good, but there appear to be a myriad [...]

LIVE: THROWING MUSES – 06/11/2011

- CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – Of the 4AD bands that lit up the late 8o’s and 90′s most people would cite the Pixies as the main draw. Myself, I loved the Throwing Muses. The dual vocals of Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly swirled around angular guitars with a melodic sensibility about their work. Donelly left the [...]

LIVE: TWIN SISTER – 07/11/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – It seems I’ll be spending half of November at The Deaf Institute, their gig list for this month is right up my street and hopefully, by December, the bar staff will all come to know what I drink. Wot God Forgot have brought together the 3 performers tonight, all [...]

LIVE: MAGAZINE – 04/11/2011

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Manchester Academy has seen its fair share of great music but on tonight it witness’ musical history in the making. With teeth- rotting talent shows hijacking our beloved television screens on a Saturday night it is great to see a real bona fide band returning to show all of those [...]

LIVE: I AM BLACKBIRD – 04/11/2011

- SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER -  As I walk down into the dusky basement of the Soup Kitchen I can feel the goodwill in the room. It’s been nearly six months since I Am Blackbird have played in their hometown and, by the looks of it, their loyal local following have missed them. After a self-imposed [...]

LIVE: JAMES – 01/11/2011

- THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – Entering the Bridgewater Hall expectations feel high for James performing with Orchestra Of The Swan and The Manchester Consort Choir. Hang on is that someone actually wearing a (non-ironic) dickie bow? This isn’t James’ usual venue of choice; a sign at the bar confirms this: “Please refrain from leaving [...]

LIVE: ALICE COOPER/NEW YORK DOLLS – 30/10/2011

- THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – It’s a gloomy Sunday evening in Manchester, but for the hundreds of fans queuing at the O2 Apollo, who’ve waited over a year for this night to arrive, they couldn’t be happier. Following last year’s outstanding Halloween gigs at London’s Roundhouse, Alice Cooper finally brings his Halloween Night Of Fear [...]

LIVE: OTHER LIVES & YOUNG GALAXY – 30/10/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Oklahoma five piece Other Lives have arrived in Manchester once more in what frontman Jesse Tabish describes as ‘one of his favourite places to play’. Promoters Now Wave and Hey Manchester have worked together on this one, spoiling the close to capacity crowd with the bonus of an extended support [...]

LIVE: THE HYMEK MANOEUVRE – 28/10/2011 (with free download)

- LLOYDS HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Lesson one on how to light up a place – get The Hymek Manoeuvre playing live. The last time I saw them they were playing at Beech Road Music Festival to upwards of 4000 people, spreading their feel good sounds from a large stage across a full field of mainly [...]

LIVE: Elbow – 27/10/2011

- MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, MANCHESTER – What more is there to say about Elbow? Their story has been so well covered it has rendered itself redundant. There’s something so Hollywood, something hopelessly romantic about their rise to fame and fortune. Their long tête-à-tête with obscurity, the band that make it with their make or break album, [...]

LIVE: Cut Copy – 26/10/2011

- CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER - Of all the electro indie revivalists Cut Copy is one of the few not to suck balls…and that is because Cut Copy is essentially a good time, euphoria-inducing dance act that happens to play guitars. The indie element is thankfully minimal. This is not music for the grey matter, it’s for [...]

LIVE: Laura Marling – 24/10/2011

- MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, MANCHESTER - The video openings to latest (and extraordinary) single ‘Sophia’ and debut EP opener ‘New Romantic’ are identical: Laura Marling, sitting on a chair, singing about her love life with an eloquence and directness that act like a direct channel between you and her. The differences are more interesting than the similarities. [...]

EP: Fruits de Mer Records – Do Not Adjust Your Set

This latest release from the splendid Fruits de Mer record label is a six track EP that is a kitsch retro fest. Six theme tunes, three each from the halcyon days of the BBC and ITV when summer holidays meant badly dubbed and almost impossible to follow TV shows from the colonies, and SUPERMARIONATION meant [...]

LIVE: EXILE PARADE – 22/10/2011 (WITH FREE DOWNLOAD)

- NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Tales of Owen Morris’s eccentric behaviour during the recording of Exile Parade’s debut album are fuelling my anticipation as I make my way to see them perform at the Night and Day Cafe. Apparently, things took a confrontational turn during the sessions at Monnow Valley Studios, when the [...]

SINGLE: Casiokids – Det Haster!

‘Det Haster!’, roughly translated (by google translator of course) to ‘Urgency’, is particularly apt. Norway’s Casiokids are absolutely amazing live. Fact! They are a blistering, amphetamine ball of electro energy, vibrance and fun. This spectacle has not yet successfully translated onto vinyl. On record the keytarists are a vapid, 2D disappointment. It’s a bit like [...]

ALBUM REVIEW: Magazine – No Thyself

To reform or not to reform? For many grey-haired rockers, post-punks and Manchester indie sorts (hello Stone Roses!) the answer has of late been in the affirmative. The results of these reformations have been mixed. The Go-Betweens and Gang Of Four both picked up like they never stopped, successfully pushing their original sounds to new [...]

LIVE: THE HORRORS/THE KILLS – 15/10/2011

- THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – With less than three weeks to go to Halloween, tonight’s event seems like a completely suitable way to start the gothic season, right down to the names of the headliners – The Horrors and The Kills, playing in an old air raid shelter in the dead of night. Spooky. [...]

Album Review: Jeffrey Lewis – A Turn In The Dream Songs

The way Jeffrey Lewis churns out near identical album one after the other leaves little room for innovative description. Musically, A Turn In The Dream Songs is pretty much the same as ‘Ere Are I. But then, in a Dylan-esque way, the music is incidental to Lewis’ appeal. It is merely a vehicle for Lewis’ [...]

LIVE: BRETT ANDERSON – 11/10/2011

- CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – I’m not sure what to expect tonight as I follow the flow of thirty or forty-somethings down into the basement of the university. I’ve seen Brett Anderson peacock strutting across most of the stages on this university campus, but this is perhaps one of its more cramped gig spaces. The [...]

LIVE: TUSK FESTIVAL – 7-9/10/2011

- THE CLUNY/THE STAR & SHADOW CINEMA, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE – This is my first review since June so forgive me if it is even worse than my previous efforts. Having missed some great gigs this summer / autumn (in particular Moon Wiring Club at the Dog and Partridge in Bolton) I have launched myself back in [...]

LIVE: GHOSTPOET – 09/10/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Receiving a Mercury Music Prize nomination is one of the biggest and ultimate accolades a UK act can receive. Coventry-born Ghostpoet bestowed the respected roll of honour this year, for his debut album Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam. Even before the nominees were announced, GP was named as [...]

LIVE: GRUFF RHYS – 07/10/2011

- CENTRAL METHODIST HALL, MANCHESTER – Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys’s, or more commonly known as Gruff Rhys, lead of Welsh rock-outfit the Super Furry Animals, brings his latest solo UK tour to Manchester’s Methodist Central Hall. People have big love for Gruff, anyone who I’ve told about this gig, has nearly murdered me for my ticket, [...]

LIVE: DECONSTRUCTED / CALVIN HARRIS – 09/10/2011

- THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – First I must confess to being a Warehouse Project Virgin (WHPV). I do get a quick initiation from some lovely peeps from Telford on my approach to the underground car park venue. You came from where?! Yes my reaction too, but the WHP reputation is travelling far and wide, [...]

LIVE: NEDRY – 05/11/2011

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – As events unfold, for me, this night comes to embody all the reasons that I love small gigs so much. Music In Beta kindly grant free entry for anyone with a Facebook account and the ability to click a button that says ‘Like’. Though, in wanting to repay them [...]

LIVE: JOHNNY MARR & THE HEALERS – 04/10/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – “You’re cool!” This adoring yelp erupts mid-crowd of this packed room of the Deaf Institute. Johnny Marr carries on tuning up, having not even plucked note 1 of tonight’s set.  Then he looks up and whispers into the mic: “I know.” And you know what – he is.  He [...]

Album Review: Male Bonding – Endless Now

With Male Bonding often being described as “noise pop”, their new release, Endless Now, seems to occupy the popular, if not the cooler, end of that sub-genre’s spectrum.  The slightly rougher edges of last year’s debut, Nothing Hurts, have been ground away and the London accents smoothed out and made a little more generic.  Could [...]

Album Review: Rinse:016 – Ben UFO

What can you write when it comes to Rinse? Anyone who has ears and a half decent taste in music will have stumbled across these boys at some point. Starting out as an online radio station, Rinse FM has proved its worth dozens of times over the past couple of years, constantly evolving and keeping [...]

LIVE: BETH JEANS HOUGHTON/STEALING SHEEP – 01/10/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – On a typical early autumn evening (28 degrees, hello?) I wait for my sister outside Sand Bar enjoying a cold pint, almost dreading the prospect of a static folk gig in a warm, crowded club. I know little about Stealing Sheep and Beth Jean Houghton so that is the [...]

SINGLE: Pritch & Trim – Stereotype/Kiss My Arse

The man of many names and countless brilliant tracks, Mark Pritchard, takes to the studio with one of Grime best-est, MC Trim. The single comes with two tracks from the pair and instrumentals to boot. Mark lays down a swaggering, light-hearted beat on ‘Stereotype’ with hooks redolent of a soundtrack to a 1970s comedy skit. [...]

EP Review: City Reign – Numbers For Street Names

Numbers For Street Names, the second EP from the Manchester based foursome, reeks of nostalgic alternative rock, familiar with the likes of Oasis, Nine Black Alps and Joy Division – all great bands to emerge from the depths of the northern city. The record oozes light anthemic rock with complex layerings of rustic vocals, fiery [...]

LIVE: SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA – 03/10/2011

- HMV RITZ, MANCHESTER – With night organisers Hit & Run proclaiming that they refuse to be “pigeon-holed and categorised”, tonight’s headliners Submotion Orchestra offer a diverse enough spectrum of influences to uphold their ethos. The Monday ‘Quality Bass Music’ night, now in it’s 5th year, has moved on from it’s Mint Lounge residency to spend [...]

LIVE: GET CAPE WEAR CAPE FLY – 30/09/2011

- MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – Sssshhhhh! It’s Get Cape Wear Cape Fly! Apart from hearing like Jack and Vera’s cheeky little son, Sam Duckworth aka Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly also manages to mix it across a million genres indie/emo/ folk/ electronic/ techno, dancy dance, with a touch of rave, the lot.  A little birdie [...]

LIVE: MALE BONDING – 28/09/2011

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – I’m back at the Ruby Lounge again and it seems to be turning in to a bit of a ritual.  The place has definitely pulled its finger out of late and is getting some top bands through its doors and down its stairs into its gloomy embrace. It’s certainly [...]

LIVE: CONNAN MOCKASIN – 26/09/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – The musical landscape created by Connan Mockasin is full of childlike innocence and a sense of wide-eyed wonder. It’s a world inhabited by Unicorns, Dolphins and Snats (a snake/rat hybrid in case you were wondering) all pitched against a backdrop of perfectly constructed, off kilter psychedelic pop. You would [...]

Single Review: The Rifles – Tangled Up In Love

Don’t mistake The Rifles for just another indie band. Their new track is catchy, and has a really vintage feel about it. Team that with a serious string section and guitar solo and you have a very strong song from their new album Freedom Run. Chris Potter, who really has brought his experience to the [...]

LIVE: SPARROW AND THE WORKSHOP – 18/09/11

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I saw Sparrow and The Workshop at The Roadhouse back in May. My enthusiastic review concluded with me wrongly predicting that their return to the city would be greeted by a much larger audience. Unfortunately, the majority of the crowd tonight is comprised of the support bands and staff. The [...]

LIVE: DJ SHADOW – 17/09/2011

- THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – This is the first night of The Warehouse Project’s final series of events at Store Street. The car park under Piccadilly Station has been an ideal venue for some jaw dropping lineups over the last few years, the abandoned Boddington’s Factory was the first temporary home in 2006 and [...]

LIVE: CRYSTAL FIGHTERS – 15/09/2011

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – It has been a while since I walked into a gig half way through the support act and immediately thought this is good…no, this is great. And glancing across at my partner in crime for the evening, she too is nodding along in complete agreement. I would like to say [...]

LIVE: BRIAN WILSON – 13/09/2011

- BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – After decades of playing huge capacity stadiums and open-air festivals, it seems the creative genius behind The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, has discovered a penchant for smaller venues. At Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, with an audience of just 2,300 fans, it is something of a novelty to see him perform close [...]

LIVE: SCOTT MATTHEWS – 12/09/2011

- BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Scott Matthews, a relatively unknown singer-songwriter is back on the ‘ole wagon’ to promote his third studio album ‘When The Night Delivers’. Having only heard the track ‘Elusive’ which propelled him into the lime light – although maybe not enough. I signed up to my first ‘session’. consequently, [...]

Album Review: Yann Tiersen – Skyline

Skyline is Yann Tiersen’s seventh album, so perhaps it’s uncharitable to kick off by saying he is still best remembered – especially on this side of La Manche – for his score of the movie Amelie. But Christ on a bike, what a soundtrack that was – one of the few soundtracks I have actually [...]

Album Review: The Drums – Portamento

The new Drums album is named after a 17th Century Italian word meaning a slide between two vocal pitches, an apt name for an album, which also slides from one mood to another. The first album, Summertime!, is a release the band describe as a concept album, that while visceral and fun, lacked depth. This [...]

LIVE: DAN LE SAC Vs SCROOBIUS PIP – 06/09/2011

- THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Ooh blimey, I’m not sure which stings the most, the fumes of fresh paint in my eyes, or the £4.20 I’ve just handed over for a pint. But tonight one of these two things is very out of the ordinary, and it’s not being charged London bar prices in a [...]

LIVE: JUNIP – 07/09/11

- SOUNDCONTROL, MANCHESTER – If a song is strong enough, it can stand alone without the need for excessive production. José González has proved that point already, so the danger now is, will his songwriting become swamped with the addition of 4 other band members? José shot to fame by providing the soundtrack to a [...]

LIVE: Beirut – 06/09/2011

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Waltz With Bashir. Ever seen it? It’s an animated film that centres on the Israel/Lebanon war of 1982. At the film’s culmination, Israeli troops move in onBeirut. At night they fire flares into the night sky so that the Christian Phalangists can massacre Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee [...]

Album Review: A Winged Victory For The Sullen – A Winged Victory For The Sullen

While primal guitar and catchy lyrics may be desired at a gig or during a night on the town, at home many people are more than partial to something delicate and enigmatic. Sometimes sad, sometimes uplifting, panoramic, but never anything less than beautiful, they will find A Winged Victory for the Sullen to be just [...]

LIVE: KURT VILE AND THE VIOLATORS – 05/09/2011

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Kurt Vile and the Violators: it’s a great name isn’t it? On hearing it I was convinced that latest album, Smoke Ring For My Halo, was the work of some fuck-witted thrash metaler, but its dreamy acoustic psychedelia and Leonard Cohen-esque enunciation quickly insinuated itself into my best of 2011 [...]

LIVE: TREEFIGHT FOR SUNLIGHT – 06/09/2011

- THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Support band ‘New Hips’ are a tech-rock four-piece based around young music graduates with all sorts of equipment – two guitars, bass, two keyboards, trumpet, one-and-a-half drumkits, and effects boards all over the place. It’s quite a surprise that they manage to use it all. It’s quite challenging, very [...]

Single Review: Seasick Steve – It’s A Long Long Way

‘It’s A Long Long Way’ is the latest release from Seasick Steve’s new album, You Can’t Teach A Dog Old Tricks.  In the typical Seasick style, ‘It’s A Long, Long Way’ has great lyrics while Steve’s delivery make it incisive and poignant. It is a very versatile effort which I could image being played both [...]

LIVE: My Reading Festival -26-28/08/2011

My Chemical Romance: They are the first headliners of the weekend, and boy do they kick things off in style. Now many people often slate My Chemical Romance, be it because they are secretly trying to mask their forbidden love for them, or that they really just hate them, but whether you like it or [...]

Album Review: Cranium Pie – Mechanisms Part 1

I used to go to music college with this guy: http://youtu.be/6eehugX2zOI *. I occasionally went to his house to listen to mind-bending music, look at his (insane) art and borrow books like Robert Sheckley’s ‘Dimension of Miracles’. He has an amazing collection of 60s garage and psychedelia as well as obscure gold, like The Residents’ [...]

EP Review: Walton – Walton EP

It’s always nice to see an email come through from Hyperdub, even more so when it contains the debut EP from a hometowner. On this latest release, Sam Walton brings us four interesting and original tracks, pulling influences from House, UK Funky and grime whilst keeping the energy levels high. ‘Aggy’ starts proceedings. Hard kicks [...]

LIVE: JESCA HOOP – 27/08/2011

- BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – If you are to be judged by the company you keep, then Jesca Hoop is in some pretty esteemed company. Beatnik Bard Tom Waits is already somewhat out there… so imagine what his nanny might look like.  Jesca Hoop was that gal, nanny to his three children and [...]

Album Review: Beirut – The Rip Tide

Beirut (aka Zack Condon) is quite the peculiarity.  His song writing technique is tantamount to musical colonialism (with all the positive and negative connotations involved) as he claims and manipulates great swathes of sovereign musical territory, and bedecks them with layers of semi-operatic baritone. On Gulag Orkestar he gobbled up much of Eastern Europe; on [...]

LIVE: AIRSHIP – 26/08/2011

- A CELLAR IN CHORLTON, MANCHESTER – Ahead of the release of their new album (September 5th), I happen to catch Airship in concert at a 30th birthday house-party for the guitarist from my band. To say it is a ‘somewhat intimate venue’ might be an understatement, as fifty-plus people risk fire-related death, crammed in to one [...]

ALBUM: DJ SHADOW – THE LESS YOU KNOW, THE BETTER

Having followed DJ Shadow since the release of his seminal debut album ‘Endtroducing…’, I’ve yet to hear anything from the Californian producer that surpasses it. I still very much enjoy his work and follow his career, though nothing compares. ‘The Less You Know, The Better’ would appear to be an appropriate instruction, if I’m to [...]

LIVE: SEBADOH – 23/08/2011

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Sebadoh are the band you should love…why you ask? Basically, Lou Barlow is the lecturer that you wanted to teach you English literature and philosophy whilst Jason Lowenstein is the kool guy that you wished taught you the guitar, bass, drums, keyboards etc – mainly because he plays them all!!! [...]

LIVE: WYE OAK – 22/08/2011

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – The loudest thing in music must be the 2 piece rock band. The White Stripes managed to make my ears bleed from the other side of a field in Leeds, The Black Keys had Manchester Academy shaking in it’s foundations and I remember The Kills forced the keen ones at [...]

LIVE: WILD NOTHING – 21/08/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Now Wave have built a great reputation in Manchester, their events always appear to provide large crowds and great support acts to supplement their exciting, current and fresh headliners. Tonight is no exception, I’ve regrettably been unable to leave the house earlier due to too much Sunday roast and [...]

Single Review: King Midas Sound (Kuedo & Mala Remixes)

Two musical pioneers break it and remake it on Hyperdub’s fifty fourth release, as Kuedo (aka Jamie Vex’d and Mala) rework two tracks off King Midas Sound’s début long player, Waiting For You. The tracks are our first taste of what to expect from King Midas Sound’s next album Without You, a re-voiced and re-worked [...]

EP Review: DJ Shadow – I Gotta Rokk

DJ Shadow is perhaps the ultimate postmodern expression of the potential within electronic dance music.  His 1996 debut album “Entroducing” was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the first to be composed purely of samples.  Forget the Halle orchestra – all Josh Davis needs to make music is an Akai sampler, a dark mood, and [...]

LIVE: SHONEN KNIFE – 13/08/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Turning up at the Deaf Institute tonight to celebrate their 30th anniversary, Shonen Knife is a musician’s band, in the same way Peter Cook was a comedian’s comedian, loved by connoisseurs and music buffs but managing, relatively, to avoid even the alternative music scene’s radar during their impressive career. [...]

LIVE: DANIEL JOHNSTON – 12/08/2011

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Recording and releasing music with paced regularity since the early eighties, seeing Daniel Johnston on an occasion when he is not touring new material is something of a treat, as you come expecting everything and nothing. No latest album obligations, just a timely run through of his best and biggest [...]

LIVE: CHAMELEONS VOX – 12/08/2011

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – The sign outside Manchester’s coolest gig venue reads ‘Sold Out’. There’s a large crowd milling around, most with tickets and a few poor sods without. So what’s the difference between Chameleons Vox and the band of old? Well musically, almost nothing. Mark Burgess has handed his bass guitar to [...]

SINGLE: FUTURE PROOF – ONE MORE CHANCE

‘One More Chance’ is the Debut single from new pop boy band, Future Proof. Think a Busted style line up, with more of a new McFly style track, over a Taio Cruz beat…Basically there will be thousands of girls across the country screaming their names at some point in the next year. The track is [...]

LIVE: WASHED OUT – 08/08/11

- DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER - I found it difficult to tear myself away from the live news coverage, tonight. Watching businesses in London with families living above, being looted and then torched, didn’t really put me in the mood for a gig. But, as they say, the show must go on. Star Slinger has the unenviable [...]

LIVE: KENDAL CALLING 2011

Saturday Waking up from possibly the worst night’s sleep and feeling like a microwave meal – it was so hot in the tent I burst out before I exploded; I feel far from ‘top of the morning’.  Although we are in the quiet family camping area large groups of teenagers and lads camping together seem [...]

LIVE: KENDAL CALLING 2011

- LOWTHER DEER PARK, PENRITH – The final weekend of July sees the 6th Annual addition of Kendal Calling Festival.  Continually growing in strength and size it managed to bag the Best Small Festival award for 2010 and with only 13000 tickets for 2011 it sold out in record time. Since a move in 2009 [...]

ALBUM: I BREAK HORSES – HEARTS

‘Hearts’ is the product of 2 years of refining and experimenting from the Swedish duo. The sound, which now cascades from my speakers like a pure, hot spring, wastes no time in elevating you to a lofty vantage point. Waves of reverb emerses you and the Cathedral-esque organs inspire while the light guitar adds sparkle. [...]

LIVE: YACHT – 25/07/2011

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Manchester’s roller coaster weather is at one of its brief peaks and I’m off to go and sit in the dark basement that is Ruby Lounge. Monday evenings don’t get much better… But at least it’s cool and the place has really shaped up in to a decent venue [...]

LIVE: OFF WITH THEIR HEADS – 22/07/2011

- ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – Salford: Home of The Smiths, LS Lowry and at one time The Ting Tings! Their original home was Islington Mill a converted mill founded by Bill Campbell as a space for artists and musicians with a performance area on the ground floor. This year Campbell received an honorary MA from The [...]

ALBUM: DEPECHE MODE – REMIXES 2 81-11

It’s quite a hard task, even for some of the experienced synthesiser generals present here, to remix well-known, established songs. Sometimes the concept evokes square-pegs-in-round-holes, as the remixer attempts to force the song in a direction it was never intended to go in – sometimes this is a good thing, often it is not. Sometimes [...]

LIVE: VIVIAN GIRLS 17/07/2011

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – It’s a rain-drenched Sunday night and murky, grey Manchester looks like it’s turning into mud.  The promoter at The Ruby Lounge is anxiously looking up and down the street for his crowd, but there’s barely a soul about. Discouraging, perhaps, is the fact that the only other person who turns [...]

EP: HYPE WILLIAMS – KELLY PRICE W8 GAIN VOL.II

The extravagantly named ‘Kelly Price w8 gain vol.II’ EP comes from Hype Williams. In all honesty I’ve never heard of him before, but I trust Hyperdub’s taste explicitly and opened my ears to some very new sounds indeed. Hazed out ‘Rise Up’ starts up the A side, Inga Copeland (one of the two) lays down soft [...]

LIVE: WU LYF – 16/07/2011

- THE TUNNEL, MANCHESTER – Despite the presence of world renowned artists Bjork and Snoop Dogg in the city over the last couple of weeks, for many, the potential musical highlight of this years Manchester International Festival is the prospect of seeing one of the city’s own acts. Wu Lyf’s slot at the festival is [...]

LIVE: WINE & SONG IN THE GARDEN (NOT PART OF) 14/07/2011

- FERRIOUS, MANCHESTER – Three words attracted me, and probably many others, to this event tonight – wine, song and garden. Another draw is the unlikely setting, as the Not Part of Festival-organised event is held in uber-cool furniture store Ferrious, underneath a railway arch on the edge of the River Medlock. After arriving at [...]

LIVE: KARIMA FRANCIS – 09/07/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – My mum said, “You can’t call a venue that”, I tried to explain to her that ‘The Hard of Hearing Institute’ might not have the same ring to it. Grade II listed, I will have you know as well. Nice to get a bit of history into these reviews, so it’s a [...]

LIVE: TAME IMPALA / WOLF PEOPLE – 06/07/2011

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – As if going to see Tame Impala live wasn’t enough, news that Wolf People were to support had made my week. Sounding as though they’d been locked in a barn, in Devon, with nothing but their instruments and a copy of ‘The Rolling Stones: Rock and Roll Circus’, the hairy [...]

LIVE: JOHN BUTLER TRIO – 07/07/2011

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Opportunities to impress people with your knowledge of Burkina Faso are few and far between – as are summer gigs, especially ones of such quality as John Butler Trio, so I’m surprised to score on both counts tonight. I missed JBT last year, as I was at the Soundwave festival [...]

LIVE: MEMORY TAPES – 07/07/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Tonight’s early attendees watch support act Star Slinger while sat on the stepped area at the back of the Deaf Institute hall. The Mancunian beatsmith makes an impression, however, and the dancefloor steadily fills during his half-hour on stage as the crowd gets into his skittering, tuneful mixcraft. He [...]

FESTIVAL REVIEW: Chester Rocks – 03/07/2011

- Chester Racecourse – Thousands of revellers are enjoying the sunny weather for the inaugural Chester Rocks festival. The two-day event at Chester Racecourse, treats music fans to big name bands such as McFly, The Wanted, The Saturdays, Iggy And The Stooges, Lightning Seeds, Shaun Ryder, Australian Pink Floyd as well as promising local acts. [...]

LIVE: DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE – 04/07/2011

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Okay, I’ll be honest. When I got the message I’d been called up to review Death Cab For Cutie’s Manchester gig at Academy 1 at four hours’ notice, I could only have told you the name of one of their songs and probably hummed you the chorus if I tried. [...]

ALBUM: VANDAVEER – DIG DOWN DEEP

This is Washington based singer songwriter Mark Charles Heidinger’s 3rd album in 4 years. Clocking up an impressive 450+ gigs in the process, and a few EP’s, he would appear a busy man. But his music sounds anything but hectic and urgent. He’s like a confident and empowered Damien Rice… a vocally deeper version of [...]

LIVE: TV ON THE RADIO – 27/06/2011

- ACADEMY2, MANCHESTER – From their debut album, Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes, to their recent release, Nine Types Of Light, there is something deeply unsatisfying about much of TV On The Radio’s mercurial, recorded output. They are, at times, ludicrously experimental. There are few genres that they do not try to incorporate into their template, [...]

LIVE: BJORK – BIOPHILIA 27/06/2011

MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL - CAMPFIELD MARKET HALL (MOSI), MANCHESTER – The festival that promises nothing but original work continues to draw an impressive list of international a-list artists, inspired by the concept. Maybe it’s the creative freedom that they are entrusted with that beckons these already world famous names to step out of their comfort zones [...]

SINGLE: THE MISERABLE RICH – ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE

Dubbed as ‘the world’s foremost purveyors of bar room chamber music‘, ‘Anything’s Possible’ is the first release taken from The Miserable Rich’s upcoming third album ‘Miss You in The Days’, a swift follow up to last year’s ‘Flight of Fancy’. I’ve been listening to the track on and off for almost a week now, and [...]

LIVE: CRYSTAL STILTS – 24/06/2011

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – There’s something very ’Ian Brown’ about the way Brad Hargettt, lead singer of Crystal Stilts, approaches the microphone. Though he sings like Jim Morrison on downers. The huge impact made when they start their set can partly be accredited to a support band. Dirtblonde are playing early when I arrive. [...]

EP REVIEW: DOK – West Coast

No stranger to the wax, DOK’s first EP outing on Hyperdub sees him team up with long time partner and some say evil twin (or is that eviler twin?) Terror Danjah for this filthy, funk fuelled slice of east coast, west coast grime goodness.   ‘West Coast’ is a hard hitting, grimey, filthy, low-riding roller. [...]

LIVE: THE BLANKS 23/06/2011

- MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – Well, it was always going to be a weird gig. I’m standing in a dimly lit, smoky room with about fifty other people as hip-hop blares through the speakers , and the only real indicator I’m here to see an a capella group and not a heavy metal band is [...]

LIVE: THE HORRORS – 16/06/2011

- ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – The Horrors were unfairly labelled a novelty act by the music press when they burst onto the live scene in 2005. With their birds-nest hair, black eyeliner and tighter than tight jeans, many thought it was all just style over substance; a Cramps tribute band with a singer who looks [...]

Album Review: Bon Iver – Bon Iver

When the Manchester Evening News relaunched CityLife a few years back – not long before the axe was plunged through its privates – Neil Sowerby, the then editor, personally warned me not to request the Bon Iver gig because everyone wanted it (and presumably I was not CityLife´s star critic). Fine, I was completely unaware [...]

SINGLE: WU LYF – DIRT/LYF

A pair of plain recycled cardboard CD sleeves popped through my letterbox, and if I hadn’t already known who Wu Lyf were, I wouldn’t have found out much more on the internet. Especially before the release of Go Tell Fire To The Mountain, their marketing strategy was to hide behind a bizarre mix of imagery [...]

EP REVIEW: VEZELAY – LYRE

This, the latest outing on Planet Mu, sees Vezelay (aka Matthieu Le Berre) make his label debut with this six track EP of electro pop dream dust. The EP opens with ‘Sedative’, where arpeggios and a simple but effective, kick and snare combination lead the way for distant vocals to float upon. ‘Demure’ follows on [...]

EP REVIEW: Ossie – Set The Tone

East Londoner Ossie, gives us three gifts of musical goodness for his second outing on wax with the “Set The Tone EP” on a personal favourite of mine: Hyperdub. Imagine the scene if you will. I am just about to get off the bus and begin my walk to work. For me, the only way [...]

LIVE: DRIVER DRIVE FASTER – 17/06/2011

- KRAAK GALLERY, MANCHESTER – You hear a buzz about a local band, there are a few tunes knocking around on the interweb and you like what you hear. You go to their album launch in a hidden back street venue/art gallery and you buy the album from the merch stall… then you have trouble [...]

ALBUM: CASHIER NO.9 – TO THE DEATH OF FUN

The band name and album title suggest a disliking of the Post Office and the cover art depicts moody, painted skies… I’m expecting some retrospective analysis of the dreary UK here, from this Belfast five piece. Immediately after pressing play, the bright acoustic guitar chords on ‘Goldstar’ suggest a sunnier disposition, but the lyrics contain a [...]

LIVE: GOMEZ – 14/06/2011

- ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – As a relative newcomer to the music of Gomez, I’m not entirely sure what to expect from tonight’s Academy 2 gig, but based on good feedback from many fans that’d seen their shows and several intensive Spotify sessions, I’ve come to see their live act with high hopes. Support band [...]

LIVE: TOM VEK/BRETON – 13/06/2011

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – After 5 Long years the wait is over, Tom Vek returns to the stage to launch his second album ‘Leisure Seizure’.  Upon entering the Ruby Lounge I am greeted by a sense of anticipation and excitement for tonight’s sold out show, so  as the venue slowly fills to capacity [...]

ALBUM: WU LYF – GO TELL FIRE TO THE MOUNTAIN

They’re an odd bunch, Wu Lyf (aka World Unite! Lucifer Youth Foundation!). At a time when most unsigned bands would give their right arm for a record deal, these four men of mystery did anything but look for one. It seemed, for a time, that Wu Lyf’s manifesto was to shy away from the music [...]

ALBUM: GOODLUCK JONATHAN – THIS IS OUR WAY OUT

Sometimes, when you sit down to write a review, you have to be honest with yourself. I consider myself to be someone who ‘gets’ the music that falls within post-hardcore’s boundaries. But do I enjoy it? That is another matter. There is fun to be had when listening to experimental, futuristic sounds and song concepts. [...]

LIVE: KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS – 10/06/2011

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Inadequacy is not something that anyone would willingly choose to suffer from, but tonight I’m going to put myself in the firing line by going to see Kitty, Daisy & Lewis at Manchester’s Ruby Lounge. I first heard them on the wireless on Phil Jupitus’ 6Music breakfast show back [...]

LIVE: MONO – 09/06/2011

- SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Mono are in Manchester as part of their 2011 European Tour and following their stop in London two days prior for an extra special performance of the ‘Holy Ground’ concert, originally performed in New York in 2009 to celebrate the band’s ten year anniversary, accompanied by the 24-piece Wordless Music [...]

LIVE: Tera Melos/Tangled Hair – 09/06/2011

- NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – What’s going on here, then? Why has everyone swept to the front like some kind of beardy avalanche to see the support act? It transpires that Kingston trio, Tangled Hair, are a remoulded version of Colour, the math-pop pioneers who split in 2009 and whose delicate template Tubelord [...]

LIVE: SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE – 07/06/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Male singer songwriter types playing solo with acoustic guitars are not my thing. The whole lonesome sensitive soul routine of acoustic indie rockers like Bon Iver et al just leaves me cold. On sight of another 20′s / 30′s male (and it generally always is males) with an acoustic [...]

LIVE: JAMES BLAKE – 07/06/2011

- SANKEYS, MANCHESTER – Gigs are better when you arrive fashionably late; rarely do I catch the support act and when I do I usually stand there impatiently waiting for the main event. However, it would seem there is fashionably late and just plain old, late. My sister and I rock up to Sankeys at [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Emmy The Great – 06/06/2011

- SACRED TRINITY CHURCH, SALFORD – Jesus may have won the battle, when he kicked the moneylenders out of the temple, but he lost the war. Idolatrous, life-sized silver male and female torsos (nipples intact) – which clearly contravene one or more of the Ten Commandments – stand to the left of the stage on [...]

LIVE REVIEW: IBIZA ROCKS OPENING PARTY – PLAN B – 01/06/2011

- IBIZA ROCKS HOTEL, SAN ANTONIO – The summer is finally here which means two things to most of us – festival season and holidays. Music lovers and party people seem to head to one particular little island in the Balearics at this time of year. An island that needs no introduction – Ibiza. Famous [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Æthenor – 04/06/2011

- ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – In Islington Mill for a show promoted by Fat Out Till You Pass Out, who generally have excellent taste in music and artwork for their gig posters. They have a series of interesting shows coming up this summer including their own two day festival in August, and they are kicking [...]

LIVE: NOW WAVE PRESENTS CARIBOU/BATTLES – 04/06/2011

- THE APOLLO THEATRE, MANCHESTER – Just before Battles take the stage a friend of mine gets into a fight in the crowd.  Some over-priced cider is accidentally spilt over a punter which results in said punter taking issue.  Insults are exchanged, a tussle ensues where the cider spiller jumps on the back of the [...]

LIVE: I Am Blackbird – 03/06/2011

- SACRED TRINITY CHURCH, SALFORD – Gigs in Churches are the new black. Sacred Trinity nestled on the cusp of Manchester, on Salford’s Chapel Street – which is now getting quite a reputation, of the good kind. Bang in the middle of this new creative cluster, round the corner from Islington Mill, the uber top [...]

SINGLE REVIEW: Seasick Steve – Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks

When I first saw new pictures of Seasick Steve in Elton-esque shades I did wonder if the once homeless blues player had got a bit big for his denim dungarees. But after a listen to his latest single, I realised that the OTT appearance was more than well deserved.  If his last album was a [...]

SINGLE REVIEW: The Naked & Famous

With its sparse, yet super-melodic intro, ‘Girls Like You’, the 4th single from Passive Me, Aggressive You, caught me off guard on first listen. Immediately electronic, with synth sounds swelling between percussion, it is reminiscent of MGMT’s ‘Oracular Spectacular’, which is,of course, no bad thing, but it does mean that The Naked & Famous are [...]

LIVE: SPARROW AND THE WORKSHOP – 29/05/2011

- THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER – Three support bands have been lined up for tonight and the Roadhouse only has a handful of customers. I arrive late and manage to catch Meursault (while ordering a Guinness) who I would simply describe as The Twilight Sad, if they were a little sadder. Wire lights run along the [...]

LIVE: THE KILLS – 27/05/2011

- CENTRAL METHODIST CHURCH, MANCHESTER – High on my list of bands to see, The Kills caught my attention six years ago on a TV broadcast of Fashion Rocks. The duo of Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart played the minimal and raw ‘No Wow’ as models paraded around the stage. As a darker version of [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Three Trapped Tigers – 23/05/2011

- NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – What better way to continue City’s post-parade celebrations than with a good old gig at the good old Night & Day, eh? Well, as Advances In Mathematics are first up, there’s quite a few. As their name suggests, the local quartet dabble in twinkly, arpeggio-laden post-rock which inevitably [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Friends of Mine Festival 2011

- CAPESTHORNE HALL, CHESHIRE – The Friends of Mine crew have been doing good things in and around Manchester and the North West for a while now, shoving the pick of the region’s up n’ coming acts in the shop window and giving them precious exposure. A festival seemed a more-than-logical progression, and when FOMFest [...]

ALBUM REVIEW: Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts

Four years after Trees Outside The Academy, Thurston Moore has once again emerged from the little music place artsy rock stars go to hide and has come back with his most depressingly beautiful album to date. Working with legendary singer-songwriter, Beck, Moorehas managed to create an extremely moving, symphonic folk opus, well-worthy of attention as [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Okkyung Lee and John Butcher / Open Eye Quartet – 20/05/2011

- ST. MARGARET’S CHURCH, MANCHESTER – Improvised music can be a nightmare. Overwhelming in terms of scope and size as a ‘genre’; seeming to require an encyclopaedic set of references; over-intellectualised; pretentious; snobbish and cliquey; perplexingly theoretical. Just when you think you have got a handle on it, something new will fall in your lap [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Sufjan Stevens – 19/05/2011

-THE APOLLO THEATRE, MANCHESTER- Somewhere near the beginning of Sufjan Stevens’ awesome spectacle of a performance he introduces himself as the entertainment for the night and promises a journey through space: the space of the exterior; the cosmos, and the space of the interior; the body, in the spaceship Apollo. This statement may cause the [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Explosions In The Sky – 17/05/2011

- THE ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – Explosions In The Sky produce a sound that feels paradoxical in the sense that it is intimate and yet epic. They are playing to near full capacity in Academy 1 and I wonder how the venue might detract from the musical experience but rush through and forget your not in [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Chain & The Gang – 17/05/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I was reading an interview with Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream in Uncut a while back and in it he name-checked Chain &The Gang’s first album ‘Down With Liberty.. Up With Chains’. He went on to add that it was the only new band he was into at the [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Panic! At The Disco – 16/05/2011

- ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – You know you’re getting old when you arrive at a gig and the bar area is pretty empty even though the show is sold out. I feel a little concerned that the new breed of Panic At The Disco fans has left the old ones behind. Maybe the departure of [...]

LIVE: WARPAINT – 14/05/2011

- THE RITZ BALLROOM, MANCHESTER – I was lucky enough to see Warpaint last October at The Deaf Institute, and despite the addition of only one new tune, I am keen to see them again. That gig was possibly my favourite from 2010, in my favourite venue, so there is a lot to live up [...]

LIVE REVIEW: SCOUT NIBLETT – 13/05/2011

- ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – Preceded by former-Gowns singer, EMA, touring her debut album Past Life Martyred Saints and generally strutting around like a preening mental patient – Scout could only go on to raise the bar. Scout enters wearing a high-visibility jacket – the only piece of clothing that quite literally says ‘notice me’. [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Moon Duo – 12/05/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I’m here tonight in the ever cool surroundings of The Deaf Institute’s music hall on the strength of one single. Is this right or is this wrong? Who knows, but Moon Duo’s last single ‘Mazes’, has been played to death on my walks to and from work and has [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Gang Gang Dance – 11/05/2011

- THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Brooklyn act Gang Gang Dance seem an obvious choice to play Manchester’s annual FutureEverything festival. The Festival is a celebration of digital culture, with a strong emphasis on innovation and breaking new ground. Over the course of five studio albums Gang Gang Dance have displayed a willingness to experiment, [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Group Doueh/Brothers Unconnected – 11/05/2011

- ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – There is activity across the city/cities tonight owing to this year’s Future Everything Festival which is running throughout the week. In fact, I could’ve been somewhere else tonight as Gang Gang Dance are over at the Ruby Lounge (also reviewed on the site). But there are very few things which [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Hugh Laurie – 07/05/2011

- ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, MANCHESTER – It is worth remembering that before Hugh Laurie was the debonair Dr. House, glibly diagnosing obscure ailments and generally maintaining a detached air of alluring misanthropy, he was one half of Jeeves and Wooster. And before that, A Bit of Fry and Laurie. And of course, Blackadder. [...]

ALBUM REVIEW: Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact

Over the past few years, a few of the most talked-about indie bands have been those making music with a historical sense of mystical drama. Fiery Furnaces, Yeasayer, Grizzly Bear, and Animal Collective, among others, have been variously and inventively appropriating rock ‘n’ roll’s roots in ritualistic sounds. By and large, they draw upon ideas [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Bill Callahan – 06/05/2011

- CENTRAL METHODIST CHURCH, MANCHESTER – The queue for Manchester’s Central Methodist Church stretches all the way down Oldham Street to Piccadilly Gardens, and consists of people of all ages and backgrounds, all braving the sporadic sudden downpours in anticipation of spending an evening in the company of one of the most widely revered and [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Psychedelic Horseshit – 05/05/2011

- THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I wasn’t too sure what to expect this evening at the Deaf Institute. I get the impression that the point of Psychedelic Horseshit’s lo-fi pop, or ‘shitgaze’ as the band has pleasantly christened it, is that the music is more important than the presentation. Recording most of their records [...]

LIVE REVIEW: I Am Kloot – 04/05/2011

- THE LOWRY THEATRE, SALFORD – So there I am at The Lowry Theatre in an all seated auditorium wondering how good a gig can be in such plush settings. A grand, cinematic sound sweeps in and Kloot enter to an appreciative, albeit theatre crowd, welcome. There’s the three maestros themselves plus backing musicians: guitar, [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Fight Like Apes – 05/05/2011

- THE NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Sombre and introspective, Man Made cuts a lonely figure on the Night & Day’s stage. The nameless troubadour radiates his glumness through the venue like a black hole gobbles light, chopping away at his guitar from the elbow and mercilessly zapping any remnants of joy from the [...]

LIVE REVIEW: Noah and the Whale – 03/05/2011

- THE RITZ BALLROOM, MANCHESTER – I like Noah and The Whale but during this virtuoso display at Manchester’s Ritz, I decide I don’t like their crowd. The five piece don’t set a foot wrong all night: every harmony, hook and holler is flawless. But they’ve attracted seemingly serious types who aren’t interested in letting [...]