LIVE: MODERAT/HUDSON MOHAWKE/JOY ORBISON/BEN KLOCK/MARCEL BETTMAN – 11/12/2010

– THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – Why does the Warehouse Project hate me? I don’t know what I’ve done to offend them, unless giving them lots of money is offensive, and judging by the crowd tonight, and the crowds it has attracted over the last few years, it has certainly raked in its fair share […]
– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – The Wedding Present are the latest in a line of classic bands indulging in the late fad for performing their albums in their entirety. Their album of choice is their second: Bizarro, in celebration of its 21st year. The set seems to begin with an encore, starting with ‘Heather’ from […]

LIVE: THE WEDDING PRESENT – 10/12/2010

LIVE: MOON DUO – 10/12/2010

– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – Eric Johnson on vocals and guitar places himself to the right hand side of the stage leaving Sanae Yamada to the centre front with her keyboard. The projection on the wall flits about and they both create shadows on the back wall merging with the changing images. I must admit […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Ever since Laura Marling started helping out those Whale and Mumford boys, people seem to have decided folk is now fashionable, so I’ve been wondering when people are going to start paying attention to Moulettes and their theatrical antics. Three lovely ladies and a couple of not too shabby […]

LIVE: MOULETTES – 10/12/2010

LIVE: CHAPEL CLUB/DAVID’S LYRE – 09/12/2010

– ST. PHILIP’S CHURCH, SALFORD – Hell. You wait all this time to go a gig in a church, then two come along at once. After I Am Kloot’s hometown lap of honour at the Cathedral last week, here come Chapel Club for a one-off Christmas special. You wonder what bands are hoping for by […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Starting with Former Bullies; a scruffy sounding band consisting of two guitars and drummer, they play a swift set of songs, all using prolonged feedback and driving guitar rhythms. I think their whole dismissiveness of perfection adds to their set as you see the singer mouthing, “what are you […]

LIVE: TY SEGALL – 09/12/2010

LIVE: DELOREAN – 07/12/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Stepping into the Ruby Lounge, hearing the pulsating Screamadelica style rhythms of Humanizer you might think you’d entered a time machine and gone back to the Madchester days of the 90’s. Slurred vocals reel their way from the lead singer’s mouth like a modern day Shaun Ryder, without his […]
– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – “Genius” they said “One of the great hopes of 2010”. Admittedly, it doesn’t take a lot these days to be plastered onto the front cover of the NME and heralded as the saviors of modern music, but lately it feels as if there’d be something afoot if The Drums hadn’t […]

LIVE: THE DRUMS – 06/12/2010

LIVE: TIM HECKER/ASTRAL SOCIAL CLUB – 06/12/2010

– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – It’s freezing in Salford. The snow from the coldest November in years has given way to a hard layer of ice on the pavement, making the route to Islington Mill all the more treacherous yet picturesque. The ice sheet gives Salford’s tower blocks and the Mill, a remnant of the […]
– MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, MANCHESTER – There’s something resolutely I Am Kloot about the whole thing tonight; the pink snow-bulging sky, the crisp cold air, the none-more stately venue. It’s a slightly disorienting experience for sure. The bar area is set around an imposing white marble figurine, stone memorials looming down from the walls. Spotlights occasionally pick […]

LIVE: I AM KLOOT – 03/12/2010