ALBUM REVIEW – THE STREETS: THE DARKER THE SHADOW THE BRIGHTER THE LIGHT
Mike Skinner, a musician and producer, legend (responsible for my parents’ marriage) established the British music project The Streets. The group is noted for its peculiar blend of UK garage, hip-hop, and electronic music, with lyrics that frequently explore everyday hidden truths like drug life, romance, and honesty. Rather than talking about limos and fancy carpets, Mike would write about Vauxhalls and fancy ‘Yayo’. The Streets rose to prominence in the early 2000s, and... Read More
EP REVIEW – DAISY THE GREAT: TOUGH KID EP
Daisy the Great’s ‘Tough Kid’ EP is their first EP after releasing three albums, including the deluxe edition of ‘All You Need Is Time’. It’s undeniable that the musical duo have mastered their own sound, with their most popular track, ‘Record Player’ earning more than 60 million streams on Spotify, and with 850k monthly listeners for the band overall. With five songs and two music videos, the ‘Tough Kid’ EP is just under 20 minutes long, but there’s a lot... Read More
LIVE REVIEW: PJ HARVEY – ALBERT HALLS 03/10/23
Having witnessed the ever evolving PJ Harvey perform live in many guises over the years from the guitar fury of the 1992 Manchester Boardwalk gig in the early days, to the more abstract folk of her last few releases, it’s safe to say that you never quite know what to expect from a PJ Harvey gig. With each new release she seems to reinvent her approach to live performance, and each tour becomes less like a gig and more like an all encompassing musical theatre experience, the... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – CATATONIC SUNS: CATATONIC SUNS
Self titling an album is a big move; it’s a band signifying that the album is their definitive sound and a true representation of their work. So, if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it right. Returning with their third album, Pennsylvania-based trio Catatonic Suns are back with a self-titled album. A heavy sounding, the Verve-inspired blend of shoegaze places you right back into the 90’s and makes the album a great listen. Beginning with ‘Deadzone’, you’re... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – SUFJAN STEVENS: JAVELIN
An early successful album can cast shade over an entire career. Sufjan Stevens’s 2005 release, ‘Illinois’, was one of the first great albums of the 21st Century. Following on from 2003’s ‘Greetings From Michigan The Great Lake State’, it was the second full length release of what he claimed would be a set of song cycles about the 50 states and managed to combine unlikely stories about the state and its history with emotion, epic sweeping sound with intimacy. Subsequently... Read More
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 6 OCTOBER 2023
Silent Radio’s guide to another exceptional week of releases, several of which are covered in greater depth elsewhere on this website. Mutual Benefit Growing at the Edges A lovely, expansive record that revels in jazz and country riffs together with chamber folk arrangements. A Savage Several Songs About Fire Second solo album from Parquet Floors member, produced by John Parish and influenced... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW – PETER BREWIS: BLOWDRY COLOSSUS
It is easy to imagine the Brewis brothers issuing a mutual challenge for 2023. Who can make a record that sounds least like Field Music. David was first out of the blocks with the early 70s singer-songwriter flavoured, acoustic and string quartet backed, ‘The Soft Struggles’. Now, coming out of left-field, Peter has emerged with the primarily instrumental ‘Blowdry Colossus’ which combines the synth inventiveness of Yellow Magic Orchestra, the electronic/classical crossover... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: MODERN NATURE – NO FIXED POINT IN SPACE
Having a stressful day? Let Modern Nature help you with that. ‘No Fixed Point In Space’ is an album which pours out a soothing concoction of ethereal, otherworldly tunes from the musical innovator Jack Cooper. Whereas Cooper’s previous bands, Ultimate Painting and Mazes were taking their cues from more indie rock treasure troves, his song writing for Modern Nature ploughs a different path entirely. Cooper has stated that he wanted the music in this record to... Read More
NOVEMBER 2022
We have trawled through the forthcoming gigs in and around Manchester so you don’t have to. We believe that if we are going to recommend a gig to you, then it should be exactly that, a recommendation. Our gig guide is handpicked and every act has been listened to before making it onto the list. It has been compiled by the ears of our editors and not by any promoters, band’s management or PR’s. ************* NOVEMBER 2022 1 – Kojey Radical – Albert Hall 2 –... Read More
LIVE: WESTERMAN – 25/10/2022
– Yes, Manchester – Westerman Will Westerman’s only album of his short career so far Your Hero Is Not Dead, came out at that oddest of moments, June 2020. Cast your mind way back to that time two and a half years ago, and you’ll probably have memories of cautiously, but giddily, emerging from your home to see people IRL, albeit at a safe distance, less the plague jumped from them to you. It was a weirdly joyous time for me, tempered by the restrictions and the... Read More
