LIVE: THE BLOCKHEADS – 10/07/2015

– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – “Stay alive!” Astonishing bass (and showman) Norman Watt-Roy gives us a hint to understand the enduring success of this legendary band, The Blockheads. This one and only funky band have been alive and kicking since 1977, and they have honourably survived several split ups, deaths and some other twists […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Tonight’s Modest Mouse show at The Ritz has effectively been delayed by two years. All of us who were due to attend their Summer 2013 show at the Academy had our tickets refunded, with the band explaining at the time that, rather than tour, they wanted to focus instead on […]

LIVE: MODEST MOUSE – 07/07/2015

LIVE: KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD – 08/07/2015

– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Tonight we have two of Heavenly Recordings finest acts on display and the event is sure to be packed. Arriving at the venue early, the room already has a good number of people milling about and that increases when Hooton Tennis Club take to the stage. The Liverpudlian quartet have […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – When he started in music, Leon Bridges admitted that he had not been listening to Sam Cooke ‘too hard’ and only began really digging into soul music, once his first single hit the cult blog ‘Gorilla Vs Bear’. It seems quite ironic then, when the widely-hyped OkayKaya covers Mr […]
Leon Bridges

LIVE: LEON BRIDGES 09/07/2015

LIVE: THE HOLYDRUG COUPLE / HORSEBEACH

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – The competition for ‘Who’s travelled the furthest to be here’ has a clear winner tonight; While The Holydrug Couple (Ives Sepúlveda and Manuel Parra) hail all the way from Santiago, Chile, Manchester-based Horsebeach (Ryan Kennedy) linger at the bottom of the pile being based in Manchester. Not all is lost […]
Ezra Furman’s rise to prominence stems from some hyperbolic words from Michael Hann. His five star review of Day of the Dog, where he proclaimed the record a “genre classic…that never feels like an exercise, but a living breathing piece of self-expression”, gave the band the success they enjoy in the UK. And those words aren’t unfounded, […]

Album Review: Ezra Furman – Perpetual Motion People

LIVE: THE CULT OF DOM KELLER – 03/07/2015

– KRAAK, MANCHESTER – Tonight at a hidden gem of a venue in Manchester’s thriving Northern Quarter, there is something rather special underway. Interstellar Overdrive have compiled a great line up and it’s sure to be a night to remember. Arriving at the venue it’s disappointing to here that 93MillionMilesFromTheSun have had to pull out due […]
Towards the end of Amy, her idol Tony Bennett comments that she has one of the true voices and should be remembered in the same vain as Billie Holiday. This struck a sore point in me, clearly highlighting the difference in the way musicians were treated then to now. A review of Amy said that […]

AMY HIGHLIGHTS HOW WE NEED TO TREAT OUR MUSICIANS BETTER

LIVE: BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB – 29/06/2015

– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – American rockers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have never been prolific in their presence, yet their string of albums and stunning live performances have always left fans wanting more earning them a demi-god status. Fans of BRMC are loyal and tonight’s event is set to be no exception with the […]
What is immediately striking about Jenny Hval’s third studio album Apocalypse, girl is the Norwegian’s fearlessness in exploiting speech and melody to convey her highly individual worldview. As a credited lyricist, writer and singer all rolled into one, her work demonstrates an artistic, experimental quality that incorporates familiar influences yet stretches out far beyond them. […]

Album Review: Jenny Hval – Apocalypse, girl