LIVE: IRON & WINE – 15/03/2011
– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Iron & Wine are now coming to the end of their UK tour. They have been promoting their new album ‘Kiss Each Other Clean’ from which their new single ‘Walking Far From Home’ is taken. Lyrically, this single is slightly weaker than other songs on the album, but the music behind it makes it hard not to listen to. Since the previous album ‘The Sheppard’s Dog’, their style has developed and morphed to include more synths, which... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: J Mascis – Several Shades Of Why
I was quite excited to hear J Mascis is finally releasing a solo album – although I’d always thought of his other post Dinosaur Jr. albums as mainly solo efforts. Still, the thought of a solo album is an interesting prospect, and I thought it might be not unlike his previous work with Dinosaur and The Fog. That was until I’d read the press sheet that came with the LP, having not picked up on the advance release news from Sub Pop. In reality it’s about as far removed from... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
The title of The Vaccines’ debut album is, perhaps, a response to the masses of hype they’ve been the subject to since releasing their début single ‘Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’ last November. Most of this is due, perhaps, to the online buzz that they’ve created, and their tendency to keep their cards very close to their chests. Then again, their contacts list is pretty hefty too. Front man Justin Young has already had some success with folk-indie project, Jay Jay... Read More
LIVE: DEBT RECORDS SHOWCASE IN AID OF NORDOFF ROBBINS – 13/03/2011
– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Debt Records is a creative co-operative that ‘swaps favours, trades skills and shares round the good fortune of our individual members.’ By birthright, the in-effect music label is the love child of three members of ‘Louis Barabas & the Bedlam Six ’ (Who were also one of the awesome headline acts.) It is built by musicians, for musicians, with a recognition of the current tropics that surround the music industry; ‘music... Read More
LIVE: CAITLIN ROSE – 12/03/2011
– ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – Academy 3 Manchester is in alcohol slicked high spirits, though the sort that could end in a drunken sing-song with a ephemeral best friend or spirited scrap outside the men’s toilets, depending entirely on whether somebody steps on your shoes or not. And they’re not sure what to make of the strange American lady with the funny voice. Persistent heckles are emphatically Junior School goading – pinching the girl you fancy on the arm... Read More
LIVE: THE DECEMBERISTS – 11/03/2011
– THE ACADEMY, LEEDS – Few bands are quite so deeply unfashionable and misconstrued as The Decemberists. Though the NME grudgingly (and correctly) conceded that their charm permeated out as: “They transposed wordy Victorian melodrama onto folky sea shanties. But at least once they had a snappy poetic sensibility and an admirable interest in history.” The reviewer went onto describe their latest album as an “exercise in cuntery”. The NME is an exercise in... Read More
ALBUM: New York Dolls – Dancing Backward In High Heels
New York Dolls are back on fantastic creative form with their wonderful new album, ‘Walking Backward In High Heels’, which was recorded and mixed in sunny Newcastle – miles from their home in New York City. Just shows you what you can achieve when you are taken from the clean streets of NY to the mean streets of Newcastle. A lot of heartache and pain has passed through the NY Dolls camp since their formation back in 1971, and there are only two members from the classic... Read More
LIVE: THE NAKED AND FAMOUS – 08/03/2011
– ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – Bam! £25 gone just like that for a ticket from a tout that costs £7 at face value. And now for the key question that I will be asking myself for the rest of the night: does this make me a fuck wit?! I’m quite used to weaseling my way onto the guest list in return for a few hundred words – not as easy as it might sound – but tonight I can only get one (two is the norm) as The Naked and Famous are so well regarded by the critical cognoscenti... Read More
LIVE: FICTION/FILMS – 04/03/2011
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – The Castle Hotel is a perfect example of how Manchester’s Northern Quarter has always been an interesting place. I’m not referring to the last decade or so since a few overpriced clothes shops, bars and apartments appeared; I’m talking about since its inception over two and a half centuries ago. Obviously there have been few changes here and there, but the Castle itself has only really seen one change to its use since being built... Read More
LIVE: FUJIYA & MIYAGI – 03/03/2011
– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – Listening to ‘Transparent Things’ by Fujiya and Miyagi reminds me of a fabulously misguided time when I bought a one- way ticket to Barcelona, and having no firm plans once I got there it was the perfect soundtrack to an adventure I didn’t know how would end. However, because of my mission to ‘find myself’ I missed Fujiya and Miyagi’s first gig at Night and Day Café and was therefore grateful for their return to Manchester,... Read More
