– 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 […]
– YES Pink Room, Manchester – Nothing says ‘ready for action’ like a frontman strolling on stage a good two minutes after his bandmates clutching two cans of Guinness. Chris Bailey, singer in Nottingham band Do Nothing, cuts a suave presence: nicely fitted suit, a couple of buttons undone on his crisp white shirt, hair […]
Celebrating fifty years since they formed, German experimental pioneers Faust have released a seven album compilation of their recordings between 1971-74. This includes the mythical long lost fifth album ‘Punkt’ recorded in 1971 but never released until this box set. They were recording it for Virgin Records but having not consulted the label first, spent […]
– RNCM, Manchester – Let’s get it out of the way up front. Yes, this is my first ‘proper’ post-covid-restrictions gig back in a full capacity venue (Squid at a sparsely populated, socially distanced Stoller Hall in Summer does not count), and yes it feels absolutely thrilling to be sharing a communal experience with actual […]
– Ritz, Manchester – In support of their seventh studio album ‘Nature Always Wins’, released earlier this year, Maximo Park are tonight playing at Manchester’s Ritz. I seem to have lost track of the band’s album releases somewhere along the way, pretty sure I haven’t heard all of them despite being a fan when they […]
– Academy 2, Manchester – Back in 2015, Black Honey headlined the first gig I reviewed in my thirties. They were playing a free show, to only a handful of people, at Manchester’s Castle Hotel. In the six years since they’ve hugely grown their fanbase, a prediction it was not hard to make in my […]
Released on Jack White’s Third Man Records, ‘Up’ is a swirling psychedelic gothic blast of an album, originally recorded in 1987 but only getting a release now after thirty three years. Formed in Manchester in 1986, and taking their cues from The Velvet Underground, The Fall and Buzzcocks, they had a guitar driven squalling soundscape […]
Over the past twenty years, Jesse Malin has managed to craft some of the best americana, verging from more mainstream rock to laid back heartbreak tunes. A sound that takes in Tom Petty, Springsteen, with a twist of Husker Du and Wilco. On his latest album, ‘Sad and Beautiful World’, he’s been inspired by the […]
In a sense, I have always had a prejudice against “world music” as being the sort of quirky but forgettable background to lunch in a vegetarian cafe – but on the other hand I really take offence at the arrogance of the sections of British music industry that pigeon-hole anything that isn’t English-speaking western-style music […]
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 - SASHA AND JOHN DIGWEED: NORTHERN EXPOSURE REDUX
ALBUM REVIEW - BHAJAN BHOY: ELECTRISOL
ALBUM REVIEW: JOHNNY MARR - THE AGE OF EVERYTHING
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 2 OCTOBER 2026
GIG GUIDE - OCTOBER 2026
ALBUM REVIEW - BLOSSOMS: SONGS FROM THE WEDDING CAKE
ALBUM REVIEW - YUSUF/CAT STEVENS: BUDDHA AND THE CHOCOLATE BOX
ALBUM REVIEW KEO: PUT A SMILE ON FOR ME
ALBUM REVIEW - KODALINE: WE WERE ONLY YOUNG
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 25 SEPTEMBER 2026
