INTERVIEW: THE WEDDING PRESENT – CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF INDIE GREATNESS!
Back in 1985, the brilliant guitar pop of ‘Go Out And Get Em Boy’ was the Wedding Present’s first single, and in the intervening decades, it’s fair to say that David Gedge and the Wedding Present have done exactly that. Their blend of shimmering guitar tunes, often with a rockier overtone, and lyrics capturing love won, lost, heartbreak, romance and everyday escapades has endeared this Leeds bunch to thousands of music fans across the globe. Never ones to rest... Read More
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 10 OCTOBER 2025
Laura Veirs Laura Veirs And The Choir Who Couldn’t Say (Live In Angoulême) The recording documents Veirs’ May 2025 performance of 14 of her songs – as well as one by case/lang/veirs (Veirs’ 2016 collaborative album with k.d. lang and Neko Case) – alongside a French school choir composed of 32 students (30 girls and 2 boys, ages 12-18) and featuring arrangements by their director, Patrice Cleyrat. The Orb Buddhist Hipsters ... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – LONG FLING: LONG FLING
It takes considerable chutzpah to preview your first, and it is claimed only, album with what proves to be the record’s most awkward and wiry song. That is what Long Fling do with ‘Flung’ which starts with ten seconds of ominous hum that could herald the arrival of aliens on a sci-fi movie soundtrack before wonky guitars and drum machine rhythms which bring to mind the slew of ‘Trout Mask Replica’ influenced bands that formed the more interesting part of the C86 movement... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – FLOCK OF DIMES: THE LIFE YOU SAVE
The third solo album from Jenn Wasner, recording under the name Flock of Dimes, is an unflinching account of addiction, co-dependency, trauma and finding peace in the face of other’s suffering. In Wasner’s own words, “As it turns out, this record is not someone else’s story–it is mine, the story of my life. A life spent believing I had escaped, and that I deserved to feel guilty for doing so. A life in which I believed that the right combination of words, actions, effort,... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW- GUITAR: WE’RE HEADED TO THE LAKE
Guitar’s We’re Headed To The Lake is a scruffy album. Coming from me that’s a compliment, by the way. As a slacker rock band in the vein of Pavement etc. this kind of scruffiness is kind of the point. But Guitar does pull enough from the various corners of the genre umbrella to not be just another slacker record – especially when the tag is used more to describe Mac Demarco-inspired bedroom pop than it is the likes of 90s indie rock nowadays (this isn’t my old man... Read More
GIG GUIDE – OCTOBER 2025
October is an exciting time in Manchester, with all sorts of events happening across the city and the sudden chill and dark evenings making a reappearance, what better to cure those pre-winter blues than to watch some of your favourite bands and artists, here is what you can expect in Manchester this October. October 1o Mamuthones — The Rat and Pigeon o Martin Luke Brown — Yes Basement o Only The Poets — Deaf Institute October 2o Billy Nomates — Academy... Read More
EP REVIEW – SPARKS: MADDER!
The biggest constant throughout over half a century of Sparks has been their willingness to try something new. In the case of ‘MADDER!’, it is one of their least revolutionary acts, merely their first ever EP, and acts as a companion piece to ‘MAD!’ which achieved their highest ever UK album chart position. What is apparent from lead single ‘Porcupine’ is that these are not a bunch of scruffy extras but songs so good it would be unjustifiable to leave them unreleased.... Read More
EP REVIEW – HOLYBONES: I GOT A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP
When I was 16/17, I got really into writing poetry. That was largely because I was consuming a lot of bands that did spoken word set to music and the stuff I was writing massively ripped off the likes of Listener or whoever else I had on rotation at the time. I cringe to think back on it – especially the stuff I posted online – but I’m glad to say I swiftly moved past the point in my life where I was writing substanceless melodramatic poetry. It’s not necessarily... Read More
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 3 OCTOBER 2025
Širom In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper Slovenian avant-folk trio. Navigating almost two dozen instruments (some of which they’ve handcrafted), and hypnotic compositions that often exceed ten minutes in length, they court patient, deep-dive listeners via intricately woven atmospheres, rhythms and sonics. Idlewild Idlewild Across the ten songs of ‘Idlewild’ they welcome... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – THE ANTLERS: BLIGHT
A glance at a record’s list of songtitles often offers an indication of its type of music. The Antlers’ ‘Blight’ is deceptive in that respect. In addition to the title track, there are songs called ‘Carnage’, ‘Calamity’ and ‘A Great Flood’ which suggests that they could be accompanied by some brutal, pummelling Napalm Death type obliteration. That could not be further from the truth. While the themes covered by Peter Silberman’s nine songs are bleak (humanity’s... Read More
