LIVE: LANTERNS ON THE LAKE – 02/12/2015

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Lanterns On The Lake are a moody Geordie band – doesn’t sound right, I know, but that oxymoron sort of sums up their sound, dramatic but never without a tinge of ever-present joy. The five-piece’s stellar new track ‘Faultlines’, the first single to be taken off their third album […]
– FAT OUT’S BURROW (ISLINGTON MILL), SALFORD – As another underwhelming and frustrating day at work draws to a close the abbreviation “WWPD?” is whirling around my head. Because I know the lady I am going to see would not stand for this boring, crap job: yes, “What Would Peaches Do?” Peaches (real name Merill) would […]

LIVE: PEACHES – 03/12/2015

THE SYNTH SYMPOSIUM – 01/12/2015

 – FACTORY 251, MANCHESTER – “The new instrument for the new music”. That was the slogan for the synthetisers back in the early 70s. Shortly after, the American Minimoog set “an absolute turning point”, as Gordon Reid tells his ‘Incredibly Brief History of the Synthetisers’ speech to a packed Factory251. This is the Synth Symposium, […]
 – THE LOWRY, SALFORD QUAYS – In an age of dreary X Factor hopefuls and manufactured pop acts, it’s always easy to forget the existence of raw talent in the music industry. Benjamin Clementine represents a refreshing alternative to the norm. Having been born in London, he plied his trade by busking on the Metros of […]

LIVE: BENJAMIN CLEMENTINE – 01/12/2015

Album Review: Lanterns on the Lake – Beings

The first time I picked up Lanterns on the Lake’s début full-lengther Gracious Tide, Take Me Home it was for embarrassingly superficial reasons – the band’s unusual, starry-eyed name, a cover designed like a battered old book – it all seemed to give off an independent, DIY impression I hoped would reflect in their sound. Thankfully […]
  -THE O2 RITZ, MANCHESTER – As the year draws to a close, Courtney Barnett can look back on it as being something of a successful one. The last twelve months has seen the release of her latest album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit and the acclaim on the back […]

LIVE: COURTNEY BARNETT – 30/11/2015

LIVE: ALT-J – 29/11/2015

 – MANCHESTER CENTRAL, MANCHESTER – Alt-J & Manchester Central – a duo that is definitely up there on the matches made in heaven list, alongside peanut butter & banana or Courtney Love & Kurt Cobain. Festival speakers hang from each side of the stage and an impressive catenary curved roof spans over the wave of […]
Fuzz Club’s exploration of the psychedelic underground has yielded another stellar discovery in Italian coldwave duo Throw Down Bones. With live performances at Liverpool Psych Fest and the Fuzz Club Festival both being treated with great accolades, the debut album is eight tracks of instrumental electronica born from experimentation, and is the most played album […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Throw Down Bones – Throw Down Bones

LIVE: THE CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA – 27/11/2015

– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – It’s been over 8 years since The Cinematic Orchestra played in Manchester. Suitably, this fantastic, ornate music hall is full to the rafters with nu-jazz fans of all ages, who are eager to welcome them back. Jason Swinscoe’s pioneering band, since the turn of the century, have helped to breath life back […]
 – GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – It’s a very damp evening in Manchester but that doesn’t stop the fans turning out in the Northern Quarter, where Hey Manchester! have put on a fantastic bill this evening. Opening we have TVAM, the work of one man from Wigan. Having been recently released on a compilation cassette via Blak […]

LIVE: HATCHAM SOCIAL – 24/11/2015