ALBUM: FUTURE ISLANDS – THE FAR FIELD

I fell hard for Future Islands when I heard ‘Seasons (Waiting For You)’ from their last album – 2014’s Singles.  To be more accurate I fell in love when I saw them play the track on Jools Holland – that lush, buxom electronic backdrop and lead singer Samuel T. Herring’s impassioned vocals.  Actually to be […]
– ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – Let’s get a couple of things out of the way right up front here guys: 1) I am a massive Grandaddy fan-boy who has been waiting to see them for around 15 years, and 2) I cry a lot. I cry at things I find joyous, I cry at things […]

LIVE: GRANDADDY – 28/03/2017

LIVE: CAR SEAT HEADREST – 24/03/2017

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Will Toledo and the rest of Car Seat Headrest have quite the following in Manchester, if I’m honest it was totally unexpected. I know they’re a great young band with two fantastic albums under their belt, Teens of Style (2015) and Teens of Denial (2016), but I had no idea how […]
– ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – The Jesus and Mary Chain became a household name in 1985 when they released their critically acclaimed debut album Psychocandy. The East Kilbride outfit, formed by brothers Jim and William Reid in 1983, recorded a series of six studio albums before disbanding in 1999. The band briefly reformed in 2007 to […]

LIVE: THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN – 25/03/2017

LIVE: FORMATION – 24/03/2017

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – It’s a special day for Formation before they even step on the jam-packed-full of equipment corner stage at the Night and Day Cafe. It’s the release day of their debut album, Look at the Powerful People. The five-piece, founded by twins Will and Matt Ritson, walk on stage […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Jacques Greene’s new album Feel Infinite was released but days ago, an exquisite deep house album with some great vocal collaborations and banging basslines (listen to ‘I Won’t Judge’, I urge you) . The electronic music diehards have been in need of a 2017 album to dance to. Although he […]

LIVE: JACQUES GREENE – 24/03/2017

LIVE: THUNDERCAT – 23/03/2017

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – I first recall listening to Stephen Bruner, alias Thundercat, in 2014, accompanying Taylor McFerrin (child of Bobby) on his debut album Early Riser, released on Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder label. It was only upon further investigation that I clocked he was, sub-rosa, in my record (and, admittedly, CD) collection. In 2008 and […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Soup Kitchen is sticky, dank and a scene of squalor… it’s perfect for The Garden. Despite the glossy, cartoony sound the Shears brothers have recently embarked on with ‘Call This # Now’ and ‘California Here We Go’, there’s a definite element of filthiness as they explode onto stage tonight with ‘U […]

LIVE: THE GARDEN – 21/03/2017

LIVE: ELBOW – 19/03/2017

– O2 APOLLO, MANCHESTER – Music forms the soundtrack to our lives, the bedrock beats that orientate us through relationships, friendships, heartache, like fluorescent buoys in the sea. An example. I began (re)dating my high schoool sweetheart in early 2006 – around 25 years after the first time – and just around the time the […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – It’s always a good vibe when a band you dig announce a tour with an equally excellent support, so tonight I excitedly make it down nice and early to see Indiana based three piece Cloakroom open up for instrumental mavericks Russian Circles. Cloakroom is a name I’ve heard a lot over […]

LIVE: RUSSIAN CIRCLES / CLOAKROOM – 20/03/2017