LIVE: YO LA TENGO – 30/04/2018

-ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER- The songs that have escaped New Jersey trio Yo La Tengo’s three-decades of eclectic experimentation spin in slow-motion in the form of little silver discs above the stage of Manchester’s Academy 2, and the evening aims to honour the dichotomy between unclouded atmosphere and razor-wire feedback that hangs above them as they […]
-THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER- Tonight is an exciting night for me for two reasons. Firstly, I have patronised the Castle Hotel on a few evenings, but have never ventured past the cosy piano room. Tonight I get to visit door number 2, joyfully adding another Manchester music venue to my ever growing list. Upon entering, […]

LIVE: STELLA DONNELLY – 07/05/2018

LIVE: WE ARE SCIENTISTS – 09/05/2018

-RITZ, MANCHESTER- Out of that mid noughties indie disco scene, there haven’t been many bands that have stood their ground and kept going in the same way that We Are Scientists have. Keith and Chris have just released their sixth long player Megaplex, which sees the band take a more electronically infused tone to their indie […]
-VARIOUS, SALFORD- Once a year the incredible people behind Sounds From The Other City (SFTOC) turn a section of Chapel Street and the surrounding area into an oasis of the best new music in the country that’s like a playground to explore and discover your next favourite band. Over 130 acts play across 20 odd […]

LIVE: SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY 2018 – 06/05/2018

LIVE: WYE OAK – 04/05/2018

-DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER- Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner tells us that she and her fellow American bandmates started their day in London, completing a radio session at a BBC studio for Lauren Laverne’s 6 Music show. Departing for Manchester in the van at around 2pm, for reasons of Bank Holiday traffic it was only by the […]
-THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER- A projectile courgette carves a path, like Gravity’s Rainbow, from the stage into the audience. This is music with menaces and only one of many signs that tonight is not the usual gig fare. When an artist is able to weaponise vegetables, you know they’re on to something. Kaze are the […]

LIVE: KAZE – 27/04/2018

LIVE: DRENGE – 02/05/2018

-GORILLA, MANCHESTER- My only live experience of Sheffield-based Drenge prior to tonight was in a television studio in Kent, the band performing a couple of songs to promote its self-titled début album in 2013. At the time, Drenge was very much just youthful brothers Rory (drums) and Eoin (vocals and guitar). Watching them perform, one […]
-SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER- Metz are an unstoppable machine. Since their formation in 2008, the Toronto trio have been hell bent on delivering the best noise punk going: whether it’s through their constantly reliable back catalog or their ear blitzing live shows, they have not slowed down. Due to the visceral nature of the band’s sound, […]

LIVE: METZ / MOANING – 02/05/2018

LIVE: MEXRRISSEY – 27/04/2018

-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- Is there a word for that thing the Church does where they re-write the life of a Saint retrospectively? As in, St. Patrick probably was actually a really great guy, but he probably didn’t drive all the snakes out of Ireland. St. David (my namesake) probably did actually love leeks, but probably […]
-BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER- Natalie Prass is familiar with the time it takes to release an album into the world. Her debut was ready to go in early 2012, but was shelved for some three years because her friend and label boss Matthew E. White was amidst the promotion of his own first album […]

LIVE: NATALIE PRASS – 27/04/2018