LIVE: SAVAGES – 24/07/2012

– The Deaf Institute, Manchester – The blow of missing the first two local Savages gigs this year – in a cage in a bunker in Salford and at Islington Mill in June – has been eased now that I can witness ‘everyones favourite new band’, in my favourite venue. Parma Violets are the main support, I saw them at […]
The pioneers of booty shaking, reggae fuelled, dancefoor smashers; Major Lazer, rope in the talents of Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors in their latest release; “Get Free”. A much more downtempo outing than their previous material but by no means lacking in quality. The track kicks back at a dub-paced flow with light smatterings of […]

SINGLE: MAJOR LAZER – ‘GET FREE’

Single Review: Richard Hawley – Down In The Woods

It’s been 3 years since Sheffieldite, Richard Hawley, released an album. Even though he teased fans with guest vocals on an Arctic Moneys track earlier this year, Hawley returns with his punchy, rock ‘n’ roll fuelled 7th album, Standing On The Sky’s Edge. And fuelled with Rock ‘n’ Roll it certainly is. ‘Down In The Woods’, […]
As one of the showcasing artists at this year’s SXSW festival, a great deal of attention has been thrown Electric Guest’s way. In May, I saw Electric Guest perform to a sparse crowd during Liverpool Sound City and it’s their newest single, ‘Awake’, that has the potential to rouse the music aficionados and create a […]

SINGLE REVIEW: Electric Guest – Awake

Album Review: Laetitia Sadlier – Silencio

Laetitia Sadlier, erstwhile singer with 90s influential experimental krautrock pop band Stereolab and main member of Stereolab side project Monade, follows up her debut solo album, The Trip, with her second album for Drag City, Silencio. On first listen, Silencio immediately comes across as a more fleshed out sound with more nuanced textures than The […]
– ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – There are few more cherished moments in a band’s career – the breakthrough song has found a handle on a niche audience, the underground buzz has begun to filter out, the debut album will drop in less than a month. The band rock into town, and play upstairs in the attic of […]

LIVE: OF MONSTERS AND MEN – 11/07/2012

LIVE: THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE – 08/07/2012

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Dangerous, unhinged and unpredictable are all words I would have at one time used to describe The Brian Jonestown Massacre. An opinion I had formed after hearing numerous fan’s accounts of the band’s on tour antics and more so after watching the 2004 documentary ‘Dig’, which until now was my […]
– SACRED TRINITY CHURCH, SALFORD – There is without doubt a veritable buzz surrounding tonight’s performance. Over the past few months Manchester locals, NO CEREMONY /// have been steadily building up steam for this, their first ever headline show. Singles, Hurtlove and Heartbreaker have both done the rounds on major radio stations XFM, Radio 1 […]

LIVE: NO CEREMONY/// – 05/07/2012

LIVE: REGINA SPEKTOR – 04/07/2012

– THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – The beauty of Regina Spektor, is that you never know what to expekt. The quirky Russian-American redhead is known as much for her crazy musical experimentalism as she is for her heartfelt, melancholic piano ballads. But tonight at the Manchester Apollo, rather unexpectedly, Spektor performs a set which is far […]
Searching for Purity Ring‘s discography seemed a logical idea at the time, as I kicked myself for letting their back-catalogue pass me by… before discovering that ‘Shrines’ is in fact a debut album. 4AD guarantee quality with a roster full of forward thinking artists who seem to have something in common, and yet all produce their […]

ALBUM: PURITY RING ‘SHRINES’