LIVE: ORBITAL – 05/04/2012

– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – The return of Orbital has been long overdue. They told people in 2006 that they were over and went their separate ways, but in Take That- esque fashion they rose like a phoenix out of the ashes to provide the world with their new album Wonky. It has been album […]
 – THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – So it is Easter Sunday and I am waiting. Jesus did a lot of waiting, but on Easter Sunday he spectacularly came back to Earth and most people turned around and said, “Oh… well that was worth the wait.” So you see it is good to make people wait, […]

LIVE: SLOW CLUB – 08/04/2012

LIVE: 2:54 – 04/04/2012

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – 3rd time lucky. 2:54 have a habit of playing in Manchester when I can’t be there to see them. Their 4 track Scarlet EP has racked up an obscene amount of plays in a relatively short space of time, my only hope is that this lengthy buildup isn’t met […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Tonight’s Ren Harvieu gig at the Ruby Lounge is a sell out. Her history reads like one of those true life stories you get in the middle of Closer Magazine. “A shy girl is born and raised in a gritty Northern town.  The daughter of a singer father, she discovers […]

LIVE: REN HARVIEU – 01/04/2012

ALBUM: SALIM NOURALLAH – HIT PARADE

“Listen to it once, you’ll get it.” This was the closing line of the press release to Salim Nourallah’s latest release, Hit Parade. With such an outlandish comment I was intrigued to listen to what musical delight the American singer-song writer had produced. Sadly, I didn’t get it. Not the first time anyway. But after […]
If you had asked me a week ago my thoughts on Gaelic folk music, I would have to be honest and say that it isn’t exactly my cup of tea. But this album is something a little different; Urstan is one of those collaborations that makes so much sense that you have to wonder why […]

ALBUM: ALASDAIR ROBERTS AND MAIRI MORRISON – URSTAN

LIVE: AFTERSHOCK 10 WITH NITIN SAWHNEY – 24/03/2012

– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Band on the Wall are playing host to a pretty special night. Tonight is close to the 10 year mark of the original Aftershock event that began in Manchester during the Commonwealth games. Aftershock represents a collaborative smorgasbord of musical talent, with the sense someone shook up the genres, threw […]
The Pretty Things’ 1967 album ‘S. F. Sorrow’ is the tragic story of the life of Sebastian F. Sorrow (“nobody knew what the ‘F’ stood for, and nobody really cared”); from humble beginnings, interrupted by war and destroyed by the death of his life-long love. It has been referred to as “the first rock opera” […]

Album Review: Fruits de Mer Records – Sorrow’s Children

Album Review: Hal – The Time The Hour

After a 7-year hiatus that apparently saw main man David Allen ply his trade around the US on his own, Hal returned in February with a 4-track EP, Down In The Valley. Their second album, The Time The Hour, combines that EP’s best track and worst track with eight other new songs. It’s my sad […]
‘Wonky’ is the work of true masters in their field. Or in any field (speaking geographically). Many will be familiar with Phil and Paul Hartnoll’s story, as prominent producers of early 90’s ambient techno. Lying on an Ibiza beach as the sun comes up, listening to ‘Belfast’, was high on everyone’s list of things they’d […]

ALBUM REVIEW: ORBITAL – WONKY