LIVE: BEST COAST – 17/06/2012

THE HMZ RITZ, MANCHESTER Now Wave gigs regularly promise plenty of bands and no fillers, as with tonight’s quadruple bill. The thankfully renovated Ritz is starting to get a little sticky underfoot again, due to spilt beer. At £4.35 for a pint of Guinness, I’m not wasting a drop. Psychedelic dark punk pop rock band […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – I had the pleasure of catching Brighton based outfit Fear of Men as part of the wonderful Sounds From The Other City Festival which took place in Salford last month, and it was their simplistic indie pop melodies that won over my heart and have refused to leave my head […]

LIVE: FEAR OF MEN – 17/06/2012

ALBUM: TY SEGALL BAND ‘SLAUGHTERHOUSE’

There’s no stopping Ty; releasing singles and EPs under various names, playing in numerous bands, and hopping from record label to record label as if they were bars on a pub crawl – He started in 2005 with Epsilons, then joined Party Fowl as well as The Traditional Fools, The Perverts and Sic Alps as a […]
Grab your fiddles and dust off your digeridoos, folk-rock veterans Levellers are back with their tenth studio album Static on the Airwaves – their most polished but traditional album to date. Opening with white noise reminiscent of our very own Silent Radio, and an electro sequence Gary Numan would envy, you could be forgiven for […]

Album Review: Levellers – Static on the Airwaves

Single Review: The Lucid Dream – Hits Me Like I’m Stoned

What’s not to like about the crazy kids* at Fruits de Mer records? They are a small, independent UK label; they only release on limited edition vinyl; they have a sister label called ‘Regal Crabomophone’ (whatever that’s supposed to mean); they even send their press releases on shiny silver 200gsm paper… Fruits de Mer are […]
The signs of Smoke Fairies’ newfound maturity are there from the very start of second album, Blood Speaks. As muscular drum crackles join moody guitar, the trademark dual vocals of Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies announce their presence with a heavy confidence: “You got the power to bring me down, but I’ve got some sense, […]

Album Review: Smoke Fairies – Blood Speaks

LIVE: DOT TO DOT FESTIVAL – 04/06/2012

– VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER – Back for its third year in Manchester, Dot to Dot has come along tremendously since it started in Nottingham in 2005. Ever since then they have continuously created compelling line-ups, bringing some of the best new and upcoming talent to an exciting inner-city environment. This year’s line-up is certainly no […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – While the rest of the nation is bopping away to the legends of pop strutting their stuff outside the Queen’s gaff, we’re in town’s most luxurious subterranean pit for something altogether less bombastic. “Hey, I’m Kevin Devine from New York…” the slender troubadour onstage announces, “did you guys revel […]

LIVE: CURSIVE – 04/06/2012

ALBUM: SQUAREPUSHER – ‘UFABULUM’

With the 90’s dance music scene very much making a comeback, the likes of Squarepusher have the perfect opportunity to show the young pretenders how it’s done. Another of  Warp’s electronical wizards, Tom Jenkinson, has been producing mind-bending sounds since 1994, along with label mates and veterans Aphex Twin and Autechre. ‘4001’ kicks things off […]
– ISLINGTON MILL. SALFORD – I’m not usually one for forward planning but I felt quite gutted that I couldn’t go to the SAVAGES gig at the beginning of the month due to it being sold out (how does a few months old, pretty unknown, four piece all female band sell out in a city […]

LIVE: SAVAGES / HIGH PLACES / DIE HEXEN – 30/05/2012