LIVE: SWEARIN’ – 31/01/2019

-YES, MANCHESTER- I’m not one to partake in salacious gossip (*side eyes emoji*), but it seems like talking about scrappy Philadelphia lo-fi heroes Swearin’ without talking about their storied past is almost impossible. So…after a couple of brilliant albums, including 2013’s magnificent Surfing Strange, singer/guitarist Alison Crutchfield and band mate Kyle Gilbride, who were dating, […]
A confession: ‘The Rip Tide’ was my last Beirut album. I’m not sure how I missed ‘No No No’ (so good they named it thrice) but…I did. Look. I’m sorry, okay? It wasn’t intentional, it just happened. For the keenest of Zach Condon and co. fans, it’s been a few years since the Francophile Americans […]

ALBUM: BEIRUT – GALLIPOLI

LIVE: DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE – 25/01/2019

-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- Ben Gibbard is modest with his ‘between-song’ banter tonight, but at one point the Death Cab frontman tells Manchester that this is their favourite city to play, adding that if that sounds like it’s made up, in this case it really isn’t. I believe him. I would believe him if he told […]
-YES, MANCHESTER- Fads come and fads go. It’s what keeps the system churning over. Our fair city has dozens of venues that need filling every night, whilst carefully curated publications like this one rely on fresh artists to emerge at a constant, consistent rate. We crave the new. And yes, at times the hype can […]

LIVE: BLACK MIDI – 26/01/2019

LIVE: MARC REBILLET – 27/01/2019

-YES, MANCHESTER- Marc Rebillet aka “Loop Daddy” has gained a huge following through his bedroom performances on social media, even managing to post new tracks from hotel rooms as the tour goes on. His brand of comedic electro loops is getting an ever wider reach and the power of social media shows its might as […]
-GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER- Nephew Rails We commence with a quintet (right word?), whose live debut is somewhat respectable, if a little underwhelming; a steady approach, with a few interesting tempo changes here and there that show evidence of something interesting as their set stumbles on, rendering them the perfect fit for being the quintessential ‘opening act’. […]

LIVE: THE ONE EYED GENERAL’S BANDIT / THE TINFOILS / NEPHEW RAILS – 25/01/2019

ALBUM: PAVO PAVO – MYSTERY HOUR

Being in a band with your other half can often be hard work, but then keeping the band together after a split takes some doing, and that’s the scenario Brooklyn’s Pavo Pavo found themselves in before the recording of their second album ‘Mystery Hour’. Pavo Pavo’s two members, Oliver Hill and Eliza Bagg, have done […]
With the ability to discover previously released tunes, in all genres, from the last forty odd years online where do you start? Thankfully compilations like this exist often covering the lesser known areas of a particular genre, and in this case the UK psychedelic and hard rock scene of the late 60s goes under the […]

ALBUM: VARIOUS ARTISTS – I’M A FREAK 2 BABY – A Further Journey Through The British Heavy Psych and Hard Rock Underground Scene 1968-73

ALBUM: STEVE MASON – ABOUT THE LIGHT

I can distinctly remember where I was the first time I ever heard ‘Dry The Rain’ by Steve Mason’s former outfit The Beta Band, I was off work with a cold, and on the radio during the day, as some sort of listener request, this subliminal piece of melodic slow building pop came wafting out […]
-APOLLO, MANCHESTER- Mike Skinner is one of those artists for me… you either relate to him so much that every word plays on your heart, mind and gangster finger wave, or you can’t for a second imagine being in his shoes when he wrote legendary albums such as Original Pirate Material and The Hardest Way […]

LIVE: THE STREETS – 26/01/2019