LIVE: GEORGE CLINTON & P-FUNK – 17/04/2014

 – THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – The mothership has landed, mo fo’s. Yep, George Clinton – one of the originators of funk music and general interstellar space oddity – is back on the road, taking his message of funk to believers across the lands. From the 1960s, Clinton has created some of low-down seediest and irresistible […]
 – ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Manchester’s Academy 2 welcomes with some anticipation the return of former Distillers and Spinerette anchor Brody Dalle as part of her short promotional tour to mark the release of her first solo album Dipoid Love (release date 28/04/14) The album has been a long time in the making, some 4 years since […]

LIVE: BRODY DALLE – 22/04/2014

LIVE: LAURA STEVENSON – 18/04/2014

– THE CORNERHOUSE, MANCHESTER – Tonight, it feels like we’re sat in a conservatory, beams run threateningly over our heads, and as Laura Stevenson sits at her stool plucking her first string, it feels like an invasion of privacy. She wears a tame blue polka dot dress and it feels like we are intruding on […]
– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Arriving at Academy 2 it is packed, with a slightly older crowd. It’s exciting to see an American band playing live as they always seem to contribute a slightly different energy on stage. When the band starts, the smoky tones of Billy echo through the building. They are also accompanied […]

LIVE: AUGUSTINES – 16/04/2014

Album Review: Gil Scott-Heron – Nothing New

As what would have been Gil Scott-Heron’s 65th birthday this past April 1st, Record Store Day is gifted with a magical posthumous release by the legend. Widely considered as a hugely influential figure in hip-hop and jazz, his unique style of spoken word poetry garnered worldwide acclaim. After a huge back-catalogue of 13 albums from […]
– KRAAK,  MANCHESTER – Tie-dye enthusiasts rejoice: Psychedelia is back. Truth is, it never really went away and follows the same ebbs and flows of popularity as any genre. The key difference now is that the movement is celebrated. Since the first Austin Psych Fest in May 2008, music inspired (directly or indirectly) by mind-altering […]

LIVE: CARLTON MELTON – 17/04/2014

LIVE: CUT COPY – 15/04/2014

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Let’s get this out of the way right now: I am a Cut Copy fanboy. I’ve seen them about 5 times live already in various sized venues across the country and beyond; they are a band that hold a very special place in my heart. Their music is one of […]
– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – “It’s nice to be back in our hometown”, are the first words we can hear from Manchester Orchestra after a couple of songs, in a marvellous night where the Atlanta-based quintet introduce their brand new album Cope. The indie-rock outfit grew out of songs that singer and songwriter Andy Hull […]

LIVE: MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA – 11/04/2014

LIVE: ARCANE ROOTS – 09/04/2014

– THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER – Arcane Roots are no strangers to the road, in fact this is about their third visit to Manchester in the past year. The Kingston-based trio have been working hard on the live circuit which is not a bad thing at all, but with the Manchester shows having been modestly attended, […]
Cleft are a turbo-prog two-piece (or that’s how they describe themselves) from grey Manchester bringing huge repercussions to the British experimental music scene. In the last few years there has been a growing instrumental scene in the UK, with a relevant number of bands supporting it such as That Fucking Tank or The Physics House […]

Album Review: Cleft – Bosh!