Album Review: Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds – Haunted Head

After well-known spells in respected bands such as The Gun Club, The Cramps and Nick Cave’s The Bad Seeds, American singer/guitarist Brian Tristan looks set to continue his solo adventure under the guise of Kid Congo Powers. Backed by his band The Pink Monkey Birds, the group are set to release their third album, Haunted Head, […]
Alarms bells rang the moment I read Ezra Koenig’s interview in the NME a few months back. “People tried to pretend we were rich idiots ripping off African music”, he said defensively. But such statements belie the truth, that the revulsion Vampire Weekend inspires from certain people is getting to them. I was shocked to […]

Album Review: Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

LIVE: VONDELPARK / BLOOM – 09/05/2013

– ISLINGTON MILL, MANCHESTER –  Islington Mill tends to be home to the more freaky, experimental end of the live music spectrum in Manchester, so this visit of London-based indie-electronic trio Vondelpark is a little against type. Their music is vibey and textured rather than intensive or otherworldly, but on this occasion the setting works […]
For those who closely follow the fuzzy haze of the lo-fi scene, Mikal Cronin is no stranger. Having collaborated with garage rock god Ty Segall over the past decade, our eyes have spiraled as the pinching hum of the sixties revival generation has been taken over by the likes of these two Californian musicians. Already labeling itself as […]

Album Review: Mikal Cronin – MCII

Album Review: Small Black – Limits of Desire

Ah Brooklyn, that supposed musical paradise in a land far away. I am always a bit sceptical when checking out any hyped band from The Big Apple. I admit that there must be something in the water there that helps produce incredible music, however you also seem to get your fair share of shite that […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER –   Laura Mvula steps onto Gorilla’s stage, its backdrop a strange assemblage of archaic audio equipment, apparently salvaged from the recently deconstructed BBC building on Oxford Road.  The equipment looks almost steam-powered; incongruous perhaps, when set against the gorgeous, rounded voice that proceeds to part drift, part erupt, from the soul of […]

LIVE: LAURA MVULA – 07/05/2013

LIVE: UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA – 06/05/2013

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Rushing over from Salford’s Media City following a live set for Marc Riley’s BBC 6 Music radio show, Unknown Mortal Orchestra appear unsurprisingly hurried as they check their equipment in front of tonight’s sell-out crowd. Frontman and New Zealander Ruban Nielsen apologises for any inconvenience caused… Axel Rose and […]
As someone who grew up with the screams of Kurt Cobain in one ear and a stream of brilliantly unpredictable Radiohead albums in the other, I’ve reached an unfortunate plateau of boredom. I’m bored with bands that bafflingly become increasingly popular for being vaguely ‘vintage’ and ‘indie’ without being either vintage or indie at all. […]

EP Review: Death To The Strange – Sign On

LIVE: THE STAVES – 03/05/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER –  Not knowing too much about The Staveley-Taylor sisters before tonight, I must admit that I was expecting some delicate folky characters with wispy hair and long floral dresses to take to the stage. But happily, that was not to be the case with this Watford trio. After a timid start, Emily […]
The return of punk and riots seemed inevitable when this government took over. Calmly listening to acoustic folk and uplifting indie while being financially squeezed and in constant fear of redundancy, simply doesn’t tally. If you still receive as much as £10 working tax credits per month, you should seriously consider spending it on this […]

ALBUM REVIEW: SAVAGES – SILENCE YOURSELF