LIVE: WARPAINT – 22/03/2015

– ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – An energetic aura surrounds Warpaint – these 4 ladies from LA have together developed a way of conveying a message with deep sincerity and emotion, whether it be about darker times, or simply about having fun. Their spirit of adventure is evidently infectious – there’s disappointment at the door for many, at this, one […]
-GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – On Tuesday night, Gullivers was heaving as the crowds swarmed to watch their hometown prodigy Kiran Leonard. Tonight it feel as if the crowd has just left to the last drones of ‘Geraldo’s Farm’ as barely 20 people stand in the audience for Cloud Castle Lake. The hype for this band which […]

LIVE: CLOUD CASTLE LAKE – 18/03/2015

LIVE: KIRAN LEONARD – 17/03/2015

– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – Tonight, we are part of a chosen few who are lucky enough to hear songs from Kiran Leonard’s new album Grapefruit, coming later this year, for the first time. There is no better audience to unleash a set of new songs at like a hometown audience and that is exactly what […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Vessels’ recently released album Dilate is something of a departure from their lean, guitar-focussed Slint-via-Radiohead post-rock stylings. Previous record Helioscope is a brilliant, greyscale exercise in tension and release and where Dilate still uses similar dynamics in terms of building layers to a dramatic climax, this time it’s in glorious […]

LIVE: VESSELS – 16/03/2015

LIVE: JOSE GONZALEZ / OLOF ARNALDS – 14/03/2015

– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – It could be that I’m biased in favour of anything Nordic, but it seems to me that Northern Europe always walks proudly on an independent path, away from mainstream styles, genres and attitudes. Tonight at the Academy 2 (justifiably sold out) I am blessed with the experience of Swedish-Argentinian singer […]
– ANTWERP MANSION, MANCHESTER – The website insists that this venue didn’t used to be a squat… to be honest, it looks as though it still is a squat. Graffiti covers  any area that’s reachable, inside and out – electric extension leads twist through holes in the walls and ceiling like overgrown vines – the […]

LIVE: COSMOSIS – 14/03/2015

LIVE: CLINIC – 13/03/2015

– THE NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – As I make the trip to Manchester tonight to finally see Clinic perform, it occurs to me that the Liverpool band of electro-psyche obscurists have always been on the periphery of my musical ‘default setting’. What I mean is, I listen to quite a lot of music […]
– ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – I’m not sure how I feel about full album shows. On one hand, if you love the album it’s great – you know what’s coming and you know the band will play your favourite song from it because, er, they have to. On the other hand, there’s no surprise, there’s […]

LIVE: UNDERWORLD – 13/03/2015

LIVE: RADKEY – 06/03/2015

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Home-schooled and raised on a diet of the Ramones, Misfits and Zeppelin by their manager father, Missouri based three-piece Radkey have earned many plaudits for their live shows.  They’re in town for a one-off UK appearance to celebrate the conclusion of the recording of their debut album in […]
Following last summer’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘Contour Lines’, Manchester’s electro dark-pop duo Claire Brentnall and Richard Knox look to maintain the momentum with 4 new tracks. They’re like a collaboration between Kate Bush at her most melancholy, singing over a minimal version of Massive Attack’s Mezzanine, or Forest Swords. Much like Lamb’s work, Richard provides an unpredictable […]

EP REVIEW: SHIELD PATTERNS ‘VIOLET’