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

LIVE: HOW TO DRESS WELL – 24/11/2016

– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – How To Dress Well, aka Tom Krell, has come a long way. From the ‘mysterious’ bedroom R&B genius of his thrilling, lo-fi debut Love Remains six years ago, to his almost bombastic, shiny, pop-indebted album from earlier this year Care, he’s evolved and changed into something resembling a […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – I’m all about that DIY aesthetic. I really care about the bands that work hard and go about things with little outside help. Horsebeach and False Advertising that I musically admire for different reasons but with a similar attitude have become two of Manchester’s finest exports and therefore I am […]

LIVE: FALSE ADVERTISING / HORESEBEACH – 18/11/2016

LIVE: FUTURE OF THE LEFT / POST WAR GLAMOUR GIRLS – 23/11/2016

– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Walking from the centre of town Sound Control feels like an expedition tonight. It’s that time of year when pretty much the whole of Manchester feel that getting wrecked on a school night is acceptable ‘cos its Christmas’. I dodge several drunken parties this evening, swigging lager and chanting latter […]
– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – The last time I saw Jordan Lee, aka Mutual Benefit, was a couple of years back at the Deaf Institute, where he was coming off the back of his much lauded and much loved debut Love’s Crushing Diamond, and it was wonderful. Lee was timid and shy, but his gloriously understated […]

LIVE: MUTUAL BENEFIT – 22/11/2016

LIVE: BC CAMPLIGHT – 18/11/2016

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Brian Christinzio has one hand on the neck of his guitar and the other up a puppet’s ass.  Although BC himself provides the high pitched voice of the puppet, he is even then undermined by his cloth nemesis, who calls him on his insecurities about his age, teases him […]
– MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL – On a particularly memorable trip into town on the 216 bus, and before losing me briefly in Kendals, my grandfather took me during junior-school holidays for my first exploratory visit of Manchester Cathedral and other local historical sites. Since then, and though largely unchanged physically, of course, this imposing building, now […]

LIVE: JULIA HOLTER – 15/11/2016