LIVE REVIEW – SUNFLOWER BEAN: YES PINK ROOM – 11/12/2025

I’ve been a fan of NYC trio Sunflower Bean for a while now – since the release of their third album, ‘Headful of Sugar,’ in 2022, to be precise – but it’s their most recent material that has kept my eyes (and ears) fixed upon them. For one, there was last year’s ‘Shake’ EP, a […]
When Erykah Badu announced she was touring her ‘Mama’s Gun’ album, it was challenging to have any sort of self-control. After an unfortunate experience of her dropping out of the ‘X The tracks’ festival with no explanation, I was particularly thrilled about seeing her. I’ve only been to a select few venues in Manchester, and […]

LIVE REVIEW – ERYKAH BADU: MANCHESTER APOLLO – 26/10/2025

ALBUM REVIEW – DERYA YILDIRIM & GRUP SIMSEK: YARIN YOKSA

Describing themselves as “outernational” rather than international to capture the idea of a sound that is inclusive and beyond borders, Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek bring together their varied backgrounds to create an intoxicating sound. Yıldırım is German born to Turkish parents whose language she sings in as it best reflects her emotions. Drummer Helen […]
As the temperature drops and Winter descends, I find myself returning to the genre that I’ve always loved: Darkwave. The synth-centric child of new-wave and post-punk, darkwave combines everything I love about goth music. Monotonous vocals, synths upon synths and most importantly, the underlying sense of dread. Releasing on the 12th of December, David Galas’ The […]

ALBUM REVIEW – DAVID GALAS: THE NIHILIST

LIVE REVIEW – ALABAMA 3: MANCHESTER RITZ – 05/12/2025

“This one is for Keir Starmer” Larry Love states as the band launch into ‘Mansion on the Hill’. A song calling out the corrupt elites and the frontman of Alabama 3 has just directed it at the Prime Minister, clad in a silver suit and shades. Entertaining doesn’t begin to cover it. At the start […]
Twiddling your thumbs after finishing your A levels? Not if you’re Red Ivory. The South-London teenage four-piece released a new EP, Please Leave, I Need to Wake up Now instead. It’s gritty indie rock that hits you in the face – and the gut – offering confrontation rather than escape. The first notes of opener […]

EP REVIEW – RED IVORY: PLEASE LEAVE, I NEED TO WAKE UP NOW

ALBUM ROUNDUP DECEMBER 2025

As this is the only week of the month with a significant number of releases, the latest episode of our releases guide encompasses the entirety of December. 1 December Singer.Mattress.Cat     Subtropical Personality            Written over the last two years on NYC’s Lower East Side on an old acoustic guitar and recorded in Melbourne, the forthcoming lo-fi […]
As Ellie Rowsell takes centre stage, megaphone in hand, my view is once again blocked by a man scurrying to the bar – a confused mind who thinks beer is more important than listening to one of the most alluring front-women of the 21st Century. I’m not ashamed to admit that hearing “Yuk Foo” live […]

LIVE REVIEW – WOLF ALICE: MANCHESTER ARENA – 28/11/2025

LIVE REVIEW – THE LAST DINNER PARTY: AVIVA STUDIOS – 26/11/2025

There’s something almost poetic about seeing The Last Dinner Party inside Aviva Studios, the cavernous, concrete warehouse that Factory International has turned into a kind of blank canvas for big, theatrical ideas. Tonight, the space feels less like an industrial arts hub and more like a forgotten churchyard: mossy rocks scattered across the stage, rusted-looking railings, fabric and ropes hanging […]
‘Dreamflasher,’ the sixth track on 22-year-old rapper/singer/producer Jane Remover’s third studio album, Revengeseekerz, begins with the satisfying whistle that plays when you cross the finish line in Mariokart DS. The listener is then bombarded with an onslaught of noise, including a sample of their own 2024 track ‘Flash in the Pan,’ that sounds like Remover […]

ALBUM REVIEW – JANE REMOVER: REVENGESEEKERZ