Album Review: Yann Tiersen – Skyline

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 […]
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 […]

Album Review: The Drums – Portamento

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

– 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 […]
– 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 […]

LIVE: JUNIP – 07/09/11

LIVE: Beirut – 06/09/2011

– 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 […]
While primal guitar and catchy lyrics may be desired at a gig or during a night on the town, at home many people are more than partial to something delicate and enigmatic. Sometimes sad, sometimes uplifting, panoramic, but never anything less than beautiful, they will find A Winged Victory for the Sullen to be just […]

Album Review: A Winged Victory For The Sullen – A Winged Victory For The Sullen

LIVE: KURT VILE AND THE VIOLATORS – 05/09/2011

– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Kurt Vile and the Violators: it’s a great name isn’t it? On hearing it I was convinced that latest album, Smoke Ring For My Halo, was the work of some fuck-witted thrash metaler, but its dreamy acoustic psychedelia and Leonard Cohen-esque enunciation quickly insinuated itself into my best of 2011 […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Support band ‘New Hips’ are a tech-rock four-piece based around young music graduates with all sorts of equipment – two guitars, bass, two keyboards, trumpet, one-and-a-half drumkits, and effects boards all over the place. It’s quite a surprise that they manage to use it all. It’s quite challenging, very […]

LIVE: TREEFIGHT FOR SUNLIGHT – 06/09/2011

Single Review: Seasick Steve – It’s A Long Long Way

‘It’s A Long Long Way’ is the latest release from Seasick Steve’s new album, You Can’t Teach A Dog Old Tricks.  In the typical Seasick style, ‘It’s A Long, Long Way’ has great lyrics while Steve’s delivery make it incisive and poignant. It is a very versatile effort which I could image being played both […]
My Chemical Romance: They are the first headliners of the weekend, and boy do they kick things off in style. Now many people often slate My Chemical Romance, be it because they are secretly trying to mask their forbidden love for them, or that they really just hate them, but whether you like it or […]

LIVE: My Reading Festival -26-28/08/2011