– YES, Manchester – Reader, a confession: I am very hungover. I have been in London for the weekend visiting friends and taking a trip to the Oval Space to see Tirzah and Koreless as part of the Pitchfork London festival (really very good, would go again). I’m trying to be enthusiastic about mustering the […]
Is black midi performance art now? Halfway through this absolutely ferocious gig, keyboardist ‘Shank’ sneaks up behind the extraordinary saxophonist ‘Cassanova’ with a plastic pirate cutlass, and proceeds to ‘slash’ his neck. But lo! Casanova rises (through ‘the power of love’, we are told by vocalist and guitarist Geordie Greep, who is narrating the pantomime […]
Good Morning is a two piece band from Melbourne, who are part of the indie rock revival movement occuring with other bands like Boy Pablo, Crumb and Yellow Days just to name a few. Their latest release ‘Barnyard’ is a laidback album, which feels as if you are listening to an intimate live session instead […]
Combining delicate pop harmonies with Americana style guitars, La Luz are the missing link between floaty, dreamy indie and cosmic country, with plenty of vocal harmonies and reverb drenched guitar sounds throughout the album. There’s the twangy opener ‘In The Country’ then the surf rock blast of ‘The Pines’ with its gentle vocal harmonies. ‘Metal […]
Sepulnation is a collection of the five studio albums released by Sepultura after they replaced original vocalist Max Cavalera with Derrick Green. Sepulnation spans 1998’s Against and Nation, Roorback, Dante XXI and finishes with 2009’s A-LEX. With some bonus material thrown in, it boasts a mammoth 83 tracks in an 8 LP / 5 CD […]
Ah, the sixties, a time of Beatlemania, rock n’ roll rebellion, pop dominating the charts, three tv channels, and space exploration. While the world was fascinated by what lay beyond our own planet, in the late 1960s music fans around the world were discovering other ways to get ‘far out’ and ‘go cosmic man’ thanks […]
– Castle Hotel, Manchester – It’s a later than expected start tonight, scheduled support act Loose Articles are sadly unable to perform, here’s wishing a speedy recovery. It means I arrive barely ten minutes before the main event, just in time to hear Black Flag then Black Sabbath playing as background music, as though the […]
– Soup, Manchester – Spoiler: this is, hands down, the most extraordinary vocal performance I’ve witnessed live. Lyra Pramuk, the American producer and composer, constructs songs from just her vocals in the most remarkable way. Her debut album ‘Fountain’, released in 2020, sounds like little else released last year (or since, tbf), and when you […]
– Castle Hotel, Manchester – I’d forgotten, after all this time, just how intimate the back room at The Castle is, and what a wonderfully evocative room it is too. It’s like being in someone’s front room, albeit a front room with a stage. It also has a slight vicarage vibe about it, with its […]
– Albert Hall, Manchester – The band are playing so softly, the loudest thing you can hear during the introduction of opening song ‘Song In Seven’ are drummer Gwion Llewelyn’s cymbals. The vocals come in after a few moments and take the crown of the loudest sound source, but everything remains gentle. Not that any […]
GIG GUIDE
Our gig guide is handpicked and every act has been listened to before making it onto the list.
See this month's guide
ALBUM REVIEW - JIM JAMES: WOWED OUT
EP REVIEW - KATSEYE: WILD
EP REVIEW - KOJO FUNDS: HELLO IT'S ME AGAIN
ALBUM REVIEW - ELANOR MOSS: THE KNIFE, THE NEEDLE
ALBUM REVIEW - THE SCRIPT: THE USER'S GUIDE TO BEING HUMAN
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 14 AUGUST 2026
LIVE REVIEW - OMD, PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT, A CERTAIN RATIO: ROCHDALE TOWN HALL SQUARE - 07/08/2026
ALBUM REVIEW - SWEEPING PROMISES: YOU SAY I ROMANTICIZE
EP REVIEW - CRAWLERS: TURN OFF THE TV
ALBUM REVIEW - MAN/WOMAN/CHAINSAW: CANNONBALL
