Sparrow and The Workshop

LIVE: SPARROW AND THE WORKSHOP – 18/09/11

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I saw Sparrow and The Workshop at The Roadhouse back in May. My enthusiastic review concluded with me wrongly predicting that their return to the city would be greeted by a much larger audience. Unfortunately, the majority of the crowd tonight is comprised of the support bands and staff. The […]
– THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – This is the first night of The Warehouse Project’s final series of events at Store Street. The car park under Piccadilly Station has been an ideal venue for some jaw dropping lineups over the last few years, the abandoned Boddington’s Factory was the first temporary home in 2006 and […]

LIVE: DJ SHADOW – 17/09/2011

LIVE: CRYSTAL FIGHTERS – 15/09/2011

– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – It has been a while since I walked into a gig half way through the support act and immediately thought this is good…no, this is great. And glancing across at my partner in crime for the evening, she too is nodding along in complete agreement. I would like to say […]
– BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – After decades of playing huge capacity stadiums and open-air festivals, it seems the creative genius behind The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, has discovered a penchant for smaller venues. At Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, with an audience of just 2,300 fans, it is something of a novelty to see him perform close […]

LIVE: BRIAN WILSON – 13/09/2011

LIVE: SCOTT MATTHEWS – 12/09/2011

– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Scott Matthews, a relatively unknown singer-songwriter is back on the ‘ole wagon’ to promote his third studio album ‘When The Night Delivers’. Having only heard the track ‘Elusive’ which propelled him into the lime light – although maybe not enough. I signed up to my first ‘session’. consequently, […]
Skyline is Yann Tiersen’s seventh album, so perhaps it’s uncharitable to kick off by saying he is still best remembered – especially on this side of La Manche – for his score of the movie Amelie. But Christ on a bike, what a soundtrack that was – one of the few soundtracks I have actually […]

Album Review: Yann Tiersen – Skyline

Album Review: The Drums – Portamento

The new Drums album is named after a 17th Century Italian word meaning a slide between two vocal pitches, an apt name for an album, which also slides from one mood to another. The first album, Summertime!, is a release the band describe as a concept album, that while visceral and fun, lacked depth. This […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Ooh blimey, I’m not sure which stings the most, the fumes of fresh paint in my eyes, or the £4.20 I’ve just handed over for a pint. But tonight one of these two things is very out of the ordinary, and it’s not being charged London bar prices in a […]

LIVE: DAN LE SAC Vs SCROOBIUS PIP – 06/09/2011

LIVE: JUNIP – 07/09/11

– SOUNDCONTROL, MANCHESTER – If a song is strong enough, it can stand alone without the need for excessive production. José González has proved that point already, so the danger now is, will his songwriting become swamped with the addition of 4 other band members? José shot to fame by providing the soundtrack to a […]
– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Waltz With Bashir. Ever seen it? It’s an animated film that centres on the Israel/Lebanon war of 1982. At the film’s culmination, Israeli troops move in onBeirut. At night they fire flares into the night sky so that the Christian Phalangists can massacre Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee […]

LIVE: Beirut – 06/09/2011