LIVE: CATE LE BON – 14/12/2016

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Known as being one of Cate Le Bon’s favourite venues, tonight she returns for the second night in a row to a packed Deaf Institute. “I wish I could play Manchester every night”. Her latest album ‘Crab Day’ somehow managed to upstage her superb 2013 album, ‘Mug Museum’, and so […]
– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – The smothering pill of harpist Mary Lattimore’s semi-improvised, semi-digital dialogue dissolves in the pool of Manchester’s Night & Day Café – forming clouds of glittering movement and swallowing, memory-landscape. As Lattimore’s moon-music pushes and pulls, red velvet swims up behind the audience – leading a band of cowboy-coloured […]

LIVE: MARISSA NADLER – 08/12/2016

LIVE: IDLES – 10/12/2016

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER –  Idles certainly put on a fantastic show and they are living up to the ‘antics’ name the venue has labelled the club-night.  They are a volatile bunch from the start. Between bursts of ferocious diatribe, with singer Joe Talbot driving each angry line through gritted teeth, he is […]
– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – I’m at Gullivers tonight to watch Canadian band The Burning Hell, hot off the release of their latest album, The Public Library. This is the 7th album and possibly their best work yet. I’m in a vibrant mood waiting for the showcasing of as many a variety of tracks as they […]

LIVE: THE BURNING HELL – 05/12/2016

LIVE: HONEYBLOOD – 02/12/2016

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I may be entering the Deaf Institute alone tonight but I’m met by a strong sense of collective energy.  The venue has sold out for the Glaswegian duo Honeyblood and there is a fire kindling with excited anticipation for the night ahead.  I’m near the back but have a […]
– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Hinds are coming to the end of the beginning. Tonight marks the first night of a final jaunt around the UK in support of their debut album Leave Me Alone, and they appear for the first time to be taking in what has happened to them. The Madrid quartet, who […]

LIVE: HINDS – 26/11/2016

LIVE: CIGARETTES AFTER SEX – 23/11/2016

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Manchester’s Deaf Institute is buried deep within Adriatic blue. The over-sized disco-ball that hangs from the ceiling is projecting stars and things, viciously everywhere and purblind, across the spectrum of turquoise. With eyes shut, Greg Gonzalez, leader of Cigarettes After Sex and purveyor of hypnogogic bliss, walks into this […]
– THE DANCEHOUSE, MANCHESTER – Manchester band Whyte Horses who formed in 2014 are debuting their first album Pop Or Not in their hometown at the wonderful Dancehouse Theatre in the hub of the city centre. Having already been given the gong of Piccadilly Records 2016 album of the year, for the fans and newcomers […]

LIVE: WHYTE HORSES – 26/11/2016

LIVE: WEYES BLOOD – 23/11/2016

– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER –  I suppose singer-songwriters would traditionally use either their birth name or a stage name for their musical career, but I do like the trend nowadays for more arcane or abstract stage names (more akin to band names) like Iron & Wine, Bat for Lashes and Weyes Blood. Natalie Mering’s […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Many of my nearest and dearest would tell you that, when it comes to music I like to throw around the word ‘favourite’ a lot. But I can honestly say, hand on heart, that the latest LP from Three Trapped Tigers is my favourite release of the year. These London […]

LIVE: THREE TRAPPED TIGERS – 24/11/2016