LIVE: DRAMA – 29/01/2020

-NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER- The Night and Day Café is full tonight, and the crowd is full of love for the Chicago based smooth electro pop duo Drama. Drama is a collaboration between vocalist Viva Rosa and producer Na’el Shelade. They blend soulful R&B vocals over tightly crafted electro beats. Straight away their sound […]
-THE PEER HAT, MANCHESTER- Vat-Egg Imposition I suppose the obvious thing to comment on would be the leading vocalist’s decision to wear a costume resembling that of a poultry staple known to most as an egg (colour inaccuracy), tying in with one word in their name in a thematic fashion, presumably. Salted snacks, authoritarianism in […]

LIVE: THE EARLY MORNINGS / ROXY GIRLS / ALL GIRL ARSON CLUB – 24/01/2020

LIVE: BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD – 22/01/2020

-YES, MANCHESTER- Last night was a first for me; I saw the same band twice in two separate parts of the same venue, Manchester’s imperious Yes. That band, dear readers, are the best new band, scratch that, the best band operating in the world right now, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to consume […]
-ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, MANCHESTER- Francis Lung Discomforted by the balcony’s design flaws, I watch the support wither through a set I can only describe as somewhat square. Lacking any discernible rhythm as they dispense with mundane topics about ‘being too real’ and feeling invisible (eyes remained open), the opener’s minimalist tone hinders rather […]

LIVE: WHYTE HORSES / FRANCIS LUNG – 18/01/2020

ALBUM REVIEW: PINEGROVE – MARIGOLD

Easy listening music is often mocked by some music snobs who only accept the highest echelon of music enter their eardrums and nothing less than challenging is considered ‘good music’. Pinegrove is very much an easy listening band, as the term goes. Their formula of indie, country and folk with stripped down instrumentation is very […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- Playing their self-titled debut album in its entirety, The Futureheads have filled out the Ritz with an eager crowd of all ages. With an album that is as quick and snappy in length as the guitar riffs that fill it, it is a concern whether they will fill the evening. But, with […]

LIVE: THE FUTUREHEADS – 15/12/2019

LIVE: THE LIBERTINES – 10/12/2019

-VICTORIA WAREHOUSE, MANCHESTER- It’s that time of year again, The Libertines are on tour. It’s been the same program more or less for the last five years for the likely lads: a few festival slots during the summer and then a lovely tour of their home ground at the back end of the year. Last […]
-YES (THE BASEMENT), MANCHESTER- Locomotion across these fair Isles carries risks varied in quantity; the expense of purse, untimely demise (Ringo Starr’s narration would be of little use here), disorientation (route discernment failure typically), contributing to the coffers of the faceless conglomerates, and in the case of this narrative impeding one’s travel with the unfortunate […]

LIVE: MOLD / STARLIGHT MAGIC HOUR / BLANKETMAN – 13/12/2019

ALBUM REVIEW: G STANDS FOR GO-BETWEENS VOL 2

In an ideal world, The Go-Betweens should have been as big as REM – they had melodies bursting from their pores, and in the songwriting partnership of Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, two of the finest songsmiths around. They wrote tunes that shimmered with guitar riffs jangling, and tales of love won, lost and yearned […]
-YES, MANCHESTER- It’s beginning to feel a lot less like Christmas recently, I still feel dampened by the election results, but time to dry off in Manchester’s finest YES venues for a very special Boy Azooga Christmas Show. The night starts with the fantastic support act that is John Myrtle, his heavily humorous lyrics and […]

LIVE: BOY AZOOGA – 14/12/2019