LIVE: STEALING SHEEP – 05/08/2015

– THE OAST HOUSE, MANCHESTER – You’d be forgiven for not realising that Stealing Sheep were playing at The Oast House in Spinningfields tonight. Yes, there’s a stage set up but that’s been there for a few weeks now without any obvious action. There are no posters, there’s been no promotion. Google is coming up […]
Misissippi psych stomper ‘Pretty Pimpin’ is the lead track from the b’lieve I’m going down… album, Vile’s hotly anticipated fifth. It catches him in fine form but also in contemplative mood, and in the midst of an identity crisis. The whole ensemble reads like the rueful dregs of a drunken weekend, swilling at the bottom of […]

Single Review: Kurt Vile – Pretty Pimpin

ALBUM REVIEW: THE MACCABEES ‘MARKS TO PROVE IT’

The Maccabees in my opinion have always been an underrated outfit. When you’ve got groups like Kasabian and Kaiser Chiefs pissing around the industry like headless chickens desperately trying to reinvent themselves, it’s nice to see a band come along with a positive correlation rather than a disjointed ‘progression’ in accordance with fashion trends in […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – For some reason, now seems the right time to catch The Dandy Warhols live. Since being a fan of theirs when they were arguably at their peak, around the turn of the century, they have always remained in my thoughts largely due to the The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Ironically, The Dandy’s […]

LIVE: THE DANDY WARHOLS – 31/07/2015

LIVE: THE GORIES / THE HIPSHAKES – 29/07/2015

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – The Hipshakes are like those kids you see hanging around the hallway in High School at the beginning of a John Hughes movie. They don’t figure in the main plot, but they’re far more interesting. They ain’t nerds and they aren’t jocks, they are the music obsessive vinyl collectors […]
ATO Records’ press release states that this album is “Nashville Psych-Rock for fans of Pond, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, T Rex, The Doors”. I would argue that they’re not really too much like any of those bands at all, but still, they’re right, if you like those bands you’ll probably like Fly Golden Eagle. They’re brash, bold, and […]

ALBUM REVIEW: FLY GOLDEN EAGLE – QUARTZ BIJOU

EP Review: The Lilac Time – Prussian Blue

In my review of its parent album, No Sad Songs, I referred to ‘Prussian Blue’ as a “blissful summer lullaby”. A single release in July is therefore not wholly wrong. However, whether it is the kind of song to grab the attention of distracted radio listeners is another matter. The bouncier ‘Babylon Revisited’ would arguably have […]
Can an album sound retro, contemporary and futuristic at the same time? Y Dydd Olaf certainly succeeds in doing so. This is a beautiful album of contrasts from start to finish, and is one that demands close attention. As a non-Welsh (or Cornish) speaker (the featured languages for Y Dydd Olaf), it would be easy […]

ALBUM REVIEW: GWENNO – Y DYDD OLAF

LIVE: KAWEHI – 28/07/2015

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – “Holy shit, I’m in Manchester!” exclaims Kawehi as she takes to the stage in front of an initially quiet crowd at The Deaf Institute. The tiny American, who hails from Hawaii but is now based in Kansas, already seems quite comfortable addressing the room and gets a rowdy cheer […]
– THE EAGLE INN, MANCHESTER – C Duncan’s career has been transformed in the past few weeks. He released his debut album Architect and has had his lead single ‘Garden’ played a number of times on BBC6Music – and it’s probably playing now. This increased exposure, explains why there are just six tickets left on […]

LIVE: C DUNCAN – 22/07/2015