LIVE: TRASH KIT / SEX HANDS / ILL – 26/02/2014

– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – The best and most interesting bands demonstrate free, just will like the rest of us,  and make their decisions according to their own vision, for good or ill.  Relying on formula is clearly not on the agenda of for Ill, who are already on stage as I arrive at Gullivers.  First […]
– THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – 2013 belonged to two brothers, known to their parents as Guy and Howard Lawrence, but known to the world as thrilling electronic duo Disclosure. Their incredible debut album Settle went to number one in the UK, they had a number two single with the Aluna George featuring ‘White Noise’, they […]

LIVE: DISCLOSURE – 06/03/2014

LIVE: RADKEY – 03/03/2014

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Radkey are three brothers from Missouri who have so far released two EPs, both in the second half of last year. They come to Night & Day Cafe as part of their first ever headline tour and are already building a solid reputation for putting on a good […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – I remember hearing London-based indie dance outfit Breton a few years ago and being blown away by how many great artists they managed to sound like in one piece of music. With Foals-esque vocals, Tom Vek’s grooves and the weirdness of Late Of The Pier, Breton made an eclectic debut […]

LIVE: BRETON – 04/03/2014

Album Review: Real Estate – Atlas

There’s something bizarrely unfathomable about Real Estate, and third album Atlas especially. There’s nothing overwhelmingly striking about their sound, we have a classic jangly guitar dynamic, eschewing any Zeitgeist leap towards electronica. There’s a distinct lack of choruses, at least in the traditional sense of reaching a musical, emotional, vocal pinnacle. Previous album Days‘ carefree languidness […]
The beasts are back and the beasts are burdened. Charged with following up the success of their previous three long players – Limbo, Panto, Two Dancers and Smoother – the Leeds based indie-electronic four-piece are back with their latest – Present Tense. Is there a pun to be found in that title… is it ‘present, […]

Album Review: Wild Beasts – Present Tense

LIVE: I LIKE TRAINS – 28/02/2014

– ST. PHILIP’S CHURCH, SALFORD – To celebrate their 10th anniversary as a band, everyone’s favourite Leeds-based epic post rockers I Like Trains (they’ve dropped the ridiculously structured iLiKETRAiNS thankfully) are doing a jaunt around the UK playing their debut EP Progress Reform in full. Their Manchester stop (actually in Salford), is the beautiful St Philip’s […]
– KRAAK GALLERY, MANCHESTER – Hidden away almost as though it’s meant to be a secret, Kraak Gallery is a strange little venue, but it has a level of charm. The bill for this evening has 5 acts, unfortunately my arrival is delayed and I only catch the last three of these. The first of […]

LIVE: GERARD AND THE WATCHMEN – 26/02/2014

LIVE: JOHN MURRY – 26/02/2014

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Phew! It’s warm in The Deaf Institute again tonight. What’s the deal with that? I was here last week for a gig and was actually quite pleased when a lad carrying a couple of beers overhead through the crowd accidentally tipped half of one down my back. Never has […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – “I know I haven’t said much, Manchester’, says Midlake frontman Eric Pulido.  And you know what… he hasn’t. We’re a good few tracks into their set at a respectfully packed Ritz and yes, it would be good to hear more from the hirsute bear-like character, newly crowned Daddy Bear to […]

LIVE: MIDLAKE: 20/02/2014