Villagers

LIVE: VILLAGERS – 15/10/2021

– Albert Hall, Manchester – The band are playing so softly, the loudest thing you can hear during the introduction of opening song ‘Song In Seven’ are drummer Gwion Llewelyn’s cymbals. The vocals come in after a few moments and take the crown of the loudest sound source, but everything remains gentle. Not that any […]
Do Nothing

LIVE: DO NOTHING – 13/10/2021

– YES Pink Room, Manchester – Nothing says ‘ready for action’ like a frontman strolling on stage a good two minutes after his bandmates clutching two cans of Guinness. Chris Bailey, singer in Nottingham band Do Nothing, cuts a suave presence: nicely fitted suit, a couple of buttons undone on his crisp white shirt, hair […]

GIG GUIDE

Our gig guide is handpicked and every act has been listened to before making it onto the list.

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ALBUM REVIEW: FAUST – 1971-1974 50 JAHRE FAUST BOXSET

Celebrating fifty years since they formed, German experimental pioneers Faust have released a seven album compilation of their recordings between 1971-74. This includes the mythical long lost fifth album ‘Punkt’ recorded in 1971 but never released until this box set. They were recording it for Virgin Records but having not consulted the label first, spent […]
Rival Consoles

LIVE: RIVAL CONSOLES – 10/10/2021

– RNCM, Manchester – Let’s get it out of the way up front. Yes, this is my first ‘proper’ post-covid-restrictions gig back in a full capacity venue (Squid at a sparsely populated, socially distanced Stoller Hall in Summer does not count), and yes it feels absolutely thrilling to be sharing a communal experience with actual […]
Maximo Park

LIVE: MAXIMO PARK / PEANESS – 10/10/2021

– Ritz, Manchester – In support of their seventh studio album ‘Nature Always Wins’, released earlier this year, Maximo Park are tonight playing at Manchester’s Ritz. I seem to have lost track of the band’s album releases somewhere along the way, pretty sure I haven’t heard all of them despite being a fan when they […]

A QUICK CATCH UP WITH HUNNYBEES

Non-Ferrous Types of Metal Titles… of Quality

Black Honey Live at Manchester Academy 2

LIVE: BLACK HONEY / PHOEBE GREEN / ARXX – 08/10/2021

– Academy 2, Manchester – Back in 2015, Black Honey headlined the first gig I reviewed in my thirties. They were playing a free show, to only a handful of people, at Manchester’s Castle Hotel. In the six years since they’ve hugely grown their fanbase, a prediction it was not hard to make in my […]

ALBUM REVIEW: THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT – UP

Released on Jack White’s Third Man Records, ‘Up’ is a swirling psychedelic gothic blast of an album, originally recorded in 1987 but only getting a release now after thirty three years. Formed in Manchester in 1986, and taking their cues from The Velvet Underground, The Fall and Buzzcocks, they had a guitar driven squalling soundscape […]

INTERVIEW: THE TELESCOPES

LOUDER THAN WORDS FESTIVAL RETURNS TO MANCHESTER FOR 2021

LISSIE IS ON A VOYAGE OF REDISCOVERY SHARING THE PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED SONG ‘ALL BE OKAY’

CHET FAKER GETS THE ROLLER BLADES OUT ON HIS LATEST SINGLE’S VIDEO TO MAKE PEOPLE ‘FEEL GOOD’

NICK WILSON PREVIEWS FORTHCOMING ‘NOW I’M FALLING’ ALBUM WITH LATEST SINGLE ‘YOURS TO TAKE’

ALBUM REVIEW: JESSE MALIN – SAD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD

Over the past twenty years, Jesse Malin has managed to craft some of the best americana, verging from more mainstream rock to laid back heartbreak  tunes. A sound that takes in Tom Petty, Springsteen, with a twist of Husker Du and Wilco. On his latest album, ‘Sad and Beautiful World’, he’s been inspired by the […]

THE SHADRACKS UNVEIL NEW SINGLE ‘YOU CAN’T LOSE’

HARTLEPOOL INDIE-POP TRIO MT. MISERY SHARE VIDEO FOR ‘TAKEN BY THE TIDE’

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING ANNOUNCE THEIR NEW ALBUM BRIGHT MAGIC AND SHARE NEW SINGLE/VIDEO ‘PEOPLE, LET’S DANCE’ FT. EERA

HOLLY HUMBERSTONE ANNOUNCES MANCHESTER YES HEADLINE FOR OCTOBER AND RELEASES ‘THE WALLS ARE WAY TOO THIN’

ALBUM REVIEW: BALLAKE SISSOKO – A TOUMA

In a sense, I have always had a prejudice against “world music” as being the sort of quirky but forgettable background to lunch in a vegetarian cafe – but on the other hand I really take offence at the arrogance of the sections of British music industry that pigeon-hole anything that isn’t English-speaking western-style music […]

ALBUM REVIEW: THE CHAMELEONS – ELEVATED LIVING:LIVE IN MANCHESTER, LONDON & SPAIN

The Chameleons, part of Manchester’s musical tapestry and post punk pioneers, may never have received the accolades many felt they deserved in the eighties, but since their split in 1987, followed by frontman and bassist Mark Burgess resurrecting them in various forms from 2000 onwards, their legacy has only expanded. Now touring again as The […]

“Psychedelic” Titles That Happen To Be Of Quality

RED RIBBON REVEALS NEWLY RELEASED ALBUM TITLE TRACK ‘PLANET X’

LONDON QUINTET SILVERTWIN RETURN WITH NEW TRACK ‘SAVIOUR’

DAS BEAT RELEASE FINAL SINGLE FROM DEBUT EP

‘PEAK BLEAK’ FOR LEEDS ART-ROCK OUTFIT MUSH WHO PURCHASE £100 EBOW TO RECORD THEIR LATEST TRACK

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