LIVE: CHARLIE BOYER AND THE VOYEURS – 21/05/2013

 – SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER –  I think we’re all starting to lose count of the number of bands like Charlie Boyer & The Voyeurs who have emerged in the last 2 or 3 years. You know the ones – bands in a perpetual haze of smoke, with brightly coloured imaginations and great swathes of static […]
 – ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – This year, electronic pop gods, The Postal Service celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their 2003 release Give Up, the band’s only album. Tonight’s gig at Manchester Academy is the first of only 3 UK gigs on this special tour to mark a decade’s hiatus from the much revered state-side duo. […]

LIVE: THE POSTAL SERVICE – 18/05/2013

Album Review: The National – Trouble Will Find Me

Early reports of The National’s long-awaited follow-up to 2010’s acclaimed High Violet talk of new directions, fresh diversions. Indeed, singer Matt Berninger himself talks of these songs as more “immediate and visceral” than those of previous albums. I have to say, I don’t see it, nor I do it hear it. For me, the songs that start […]
The Leeds-based quartet Just Handshakes formed at university over a shared love of the C86 music scene. After a series of low-key singles and DIY cassette releases, which have finely honed their sound, they have now, via the Californian based label Bleeding Gold, delivered their debut album, Say It, which sees them drop a little […]

Album Review: Just Handshakes – Say It

Album Review: Cloud Boat – Book of Hours

Book of Hours is the debut LP from Cloud Boat. This London based duo already has quite the buzz building up around them and their forthcoming release. If you are a fan of The XX, Bon Iver, James Blake, Zero 7, Alt-J or any other group that emulate pure magic on record, then read on. This […]
– THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER –  So picture this. Mass unemployment, disappearing high streets, strikes and burning effigies of Margaret Thatcher alight in crumbling pit villages. No, it’s not 1980. It’s 2013, and The Specials have never felt more relevant.  Given the political tension of the last few months, there’s a sense of adrenaline throughout the venue. […]

LIVE: THE SPECIALS – 15/05/2013

LIVE: PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING – 14/05/2013

– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER –  Over ten mock TVs are set up around the stage of Sound Control tonight, each hidden beneath vintage drapery, giving away any and all clues that this gig is going to be so much more than just an audio experience. Surfacing the unearthed propaganda material of the yesteryears, Public Service […]
 – WHITWORTH GALLERY, MANCHESTER – I’m a relative latecomer to the stylised, lo-fi R&B sounds of How To Dress Well. At first listen, I was all “I really like this boy band”. And there are hints reminiscent of Boyz II Men and R Kelly but not in a bad way.  Rather, he is Chicago-born Tim […]

LIVE: HOW TO DRESS WELL – 15/05/2013

Album Review: Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood – Black Pudding

Some musicians have forged such an enduring image and reputation that they have somehow achieved an untouchable, passé-proof status. Possessing their albums garners you untold points in the taste stakes, whether you’re looking for them or not. Mark Lanegan is one such artist – an enduring figure across respected genres, like a Machiavellian prince adapting to the […]
Hunter Valentine are a three-piece female rock band with catchy songs and a lot of attitude. Setting the bar for other girl bands, they hail from Canada, but more recently have been taking the NYC scene by storm. Now on the leg of their European tour, the band present us with their second album, Collide […]

Album Review: Hunter Valentine – Collide and Conquer