LIVE: JIM JONES AND THE RIGHTEOUS MIND – 01/10/2015

– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – “Get involved!!!” screams Jim Jones to the audience who are just a few centimetres from the stage, asking us to get even closer. Yet, there are some fellows amongst the crowd with their shiny smartphones and cameras, trying to digitally grab the moment. I understand the temptation, souvenirs for the future. But […]
The latest offering from Manchester label Icecapades, who also have 7″s from the likes of Slowcoaches and Sex Hands, is by none other than London art punk quartet Vertical Slump (members of DIY cornerstones Shopping, Gloss Rejection, Omi Palone, and Circuit Breaker). Recorded back in Feb by Mark Jasper at Sound Savers, Ruined Value is a […]

EP Review: Vertical Slump – Ruined Value

LIVE: NADINE SHAH – 30/09/2015

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Despite having stuffed myself into oblivion more than once at Gorilla with vegetarian breakfasts and heavenly halloumi burgers, strangely enough it’s my first time at Gorilla as a venue, and I really like its size and the stage background studded with something that looks like thermometers but probably is not. Near […]
Pressing play on a Mercury Rev album is like the aural equivalent of opening a volume of fairy tales. You know you’ll be in for an intense and evolving series of narratives infused with melancholy and introspection best enjoyed in its entirety as an immersive experience. For a band with a track record of creating […]

Album Review: Mercury Rev – The Light In You

Album Review: Shopping – Why Choose

October sees the return of Shopping with their first full length since their 2013 début Consumer Complaints (difficult to find on a search engine on two counts, I know). The band have been busy of late, having supported Montreal post-punk outfit Ought on their UK tour last month, the London trio continue with a plethora […]
I just wanna point out straight away, this music isn’t my cup of tea at all. However, I do respect its beauty and inoffensive nature, which you can’t really say a bad word about…well, except “bored shitless” maybe. Track 1, ‘Never Change’, is just a little dull to be honest. Dreary. Trying to find the […]

Album Review: Kodiak Deathbeds – Kodiak Deathbeds

Album Review: Downpilot – Radio Ghost

Right from kick off with the track ‘Radio Ghost’, Downpilot instantly remind me of so many other artists. The vocals are like a strange mix of Michael Stipe and Thom Yorke, and the music itself has that sort of R.E.M./Radiohead melancholy sound which I like a great deal. The sense of sadness in the guitar, the […]
– CAMP & FURNACE, LIVERPOOL – After very much enjoying a number of smaller Psych Fest’s in Manchester, the idea of taking it to another level seemed a logical step. Just an hour’s train ride away, over 75 acts have congregated in this annual celebration of ‘music of drug-induced origin’. The truly international line-up is […]

LIVE: LIVERPOOL PSYCH FEST – 25+26/09/2015

LIVE: SUMMER CAMP – 28/09/2015

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – It’s a cold September night. I arrive at my destination, squeezing past two chaps busking quite literally on the door step of The Night & Day Café. It’s one way to get yourself on the bill I suppose. ‘You must be freezing,’ I say. ‘You must be mad,’ […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – I like it when the stars align the right way. I mean, is it a coincidence that Randolph Swain and The Red Lights almost sing to the latest ‘Blood Moon’? Don’t think so. I want to believe. The truth, in this case, is inside The Castle Hotel in Manchester. […]

LIVE: RANDOLPH SWAIN AND THE RED LIGHTS – 26/09/2015