LIVE: MYSTERY JETS – 22/10/2010
– MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, MANCHESTER – I love the Mystery Jets. I’d currently put them in my top ten bands. However, this gig at Manchester Cathedral is let down by the venue. It’s not usual for groups to do gigs in churches but this one is too big, its huge, cavernous expanse sucking the life out of what is a pretty decent performance. Entering the impressive medieval structure is a slightly surreal experience and I suspect few of the throng are religious, but I... Read More
LIVE: Warpaint – 24/10/2010
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – It’s not quite Halloween yet, but that’s not stopping the lighting crew at the Deaf Institute from making the stage look like London Fog, Jack the Ripper era. Warpaint casually take the stage engulfed by dry ice and sombre green ‘mood’ lighting, prompting singer Emily Kokal to rightfully ask ‘What’s with the Fog Machine?’ Ah those quaint Anglo – American differences. They say TO-MAY-TO we say TO-MAR-TO. We say Smoke... Read More
LIVE: BADLY DRAWN BOY – 21/10/2010
– ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, MANCHESTER – ‘Silent Sigh’ is one of the most beautiful songs written in the last 20 years and I am giddy with excitement as Damon Gough, AKA Badly Drawn Boy, sits down at the piano to play those first celestial notes. The mood is tempered, somewhat, by the fact Damon has just had a slanging match with a member of the audience about the more temporal issue of Wayne Rooney’s mooted move away from Old Trafford. Various comments... Read More
LIVE: YEASAYER – 20/10/2010
– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – How can you tell if a band is on the edge of commercial success? Have they been invited back to Later with Jools Holland? Check. Has BBC 6 Music played one or more of their songs to the point of exhaustion? Check. Has Drowned in Sound gone cold on them in a petulant ‘it’s not fair, I found them first!’ attitude? Check. And so the pattern re-draws itself for Yeasayer, the Brooklyn-grown five-piece, who’s first LP in 2007 was lauded... Read More
LIVE: SUCKERS – 20/10/2010
– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Signed to the Frenchkiss record label and with their album ‘Wild Smile’ on release, Suckers have managed to join the pool of New York art pop bands that are currently enjoying much attention. Renowned for their psychedelic pop skirmishes, animated sounds and eccentric audibles, they have gained a reputation for being a band close the sound-scapes of Animal Collective. They have been known to dress up in face paint and flamboyant attire,... Read More
LIVE: MELT BANANA/THE EX – 20/10/2010
– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – Tonight’s bill boasts a fine selection of avant-garde rock acts which has enticed a suitably weird and wonderful crowd to Islington Mill this evening. Underground multi-media act Jackdaw With Crowbar kick proceedings off. This current incarnation sees the band performing as a three piece, featuring dual vocalists and a heavily distorted slide guitar played over pre-recorded loops. The vocalists writhe around the stage theatrically (one... Read More
LIVE: DEBT AT THE DANCEHOUSE – 16/10/2010
– THE DANCEHOUSE THEATRE, MANCHESTER – Inside the Art Deco interiors of the surreptitiously situated Dancehouse Theatre, something pretty odd is happening. Onstage Alabaster Deplume appears to be having some sort of nervous breakdown/aneurism/? Having moved from a paranoid blaze of gentle strumming on his acoustic guitar, to an old fashioned typewriter where he repeats the number one while hitting the keys, he now stands twisted at the microphone trying to dislodge... Read More
LIVE: THE JIM JONES REVUE – 15/10/2010
– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Tonight is my first ever gig at Manchester’s Sound Control and as I walk through the door I can hear via the piped PA from upstairs that JJR have just started their first song. As I hurriedly make my way to the stairs, the sound from the ground level bar speakers is actually quite clear, so I’m expecting it to be even better on the upper level where the gig is actually taking place. As I enter at the rear of the room, I’m quite shocked... Read More
LIVE: IN THE CITY 2010 – DAY TWO – 15/10/2010
– VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER – Day two of the marathon that is In The City 2010 kicks off with, well, a pint. Technical gremlins have descended on erstwhile Oldham St. shithole, Gullivers, pushing Fiction‘s eagerly anticipated set well back, and leaving the Good Ship CityLifers stranded with a pint of Guinness. Egad, the misery of it all. Black Stuff drained, and with Weymouth’s finest still in no imminent danger of starting, it’s over to the ever-sweltering... Read More
The Factory Foundation Records Launch
To mark the launch of charitable organisation, The Factory Foundation Recordings, dedicated to the late, great Tony Wilson, the label releases two EPs simultaneously. With no human blood available, in otherwise classic Factory style, the bands are free to fuck off whenever they want i.e. they are only contracted release to release with the label. 50% of the proceeds go to funding the youf, finding them training and work in the creative industries, and the other 50% goes straight... Read More
