LIVE: THE MELVINS – 30/05/2012

– MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – After discovering the latest release of The Melvins EP ‘The Bulls and the Bees’ (a free download by the way) I was on the hunt to find the tour that follows, and to my delight they were coming to Manchester’s Moho Live, four long years since their last visit to […]
– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – Savages, an all-girl four-piece based in London, has been much-hyped in some quarters, but as I head to Salford’s Islington Mill for the band’s second gig in the city within the space of a month, I’m determined to keep an open mind. Despite the girls only playing their first gig […]

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

LIVE: TENNIS – 25/05/2012

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Tonight, in the dark underbelly of Manchester’s Northern Quarter, a cluster of like-minded music fan poseurs are readying their Friday nights with a low-profile offering from Denver’s most cherished lo-fi indie poppers. The crowd is modestly sized, given the relatively established nature of the night’s headliners – Tennis released their […]
Depakote is a drug used to treat depression and bipolar disorder. Apparently, this has relevance to the Californian producer who also goes by the name of Count Chopula. The latest offering from the rather prolific Depakote has been released on the Manchester/LA based record label This City Is Ours. His first album ‘It’s Not ’94 Anymore’ […]

ALBUM: DEPAKOTE – ‘I LIVE TO DIE AND I DIE TO LIVE’

LIVE: DUKE SPECIAL – 25/05/2012

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Getting into the Deaf Institute a bouncy, pub sing along atmosphere hits me. The upstairs’ room is rammed. There’s a packed turn out for tonight’s gig from a slightly older, dare I say more refined audience. The sing along atmosphere is coming from Duke Special, with band and on […]
– ST.CLEMENT’S CHURCH, MANCHESTER – It’s such a beautiful, warm evening (I don’t even need a jacket, hooray!) and I’m stood in the grounds of St Clements church surrounded by trees and greenery forgetting that I’m in a city.  I’m here on the recommendation of a friend and considering the facts: a husband and wife […]

LIVE: THE HANDSOME FAMILY / TINY RUINS – 24/05/2012

LIVE: POND – 26/05/2012

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – England are playing a pointless friendly in Norway and the Eurovision circus is on the hypnotic light box, making my journey to see an Australian psychedelic rock band in a sweaty basement all the more satisfying. The Soup Kitchen is, as always, pretty busy. The extended, repetitive soundcheck gives a […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Rewind to November 2009, and a certain SR scribe is cursing his luck after only catching the vinegar strokes of Japandroids’ début Manchester show at Moho Live, so he makes a solemn oath that night that he’ll definitely, 100%, without any shadow of doubt catch them on their headline tour […]

LIVE: JAPANDROIDS – 23/05/2012

EP Review: Protect-U – Motorbike

Here is something new from Planet Mu with this latest EP from Protect-U, the brainchild of Mike Petillo and Aaron Leitko, two of the “new breed of dance music producers” presently emerging from Washington DC. ‘Motorbike’ opens with a half drunken metallic coated bassline pulsing its way through the track, kept in check by the […]
Kyle Gass, half of the core duo behind Tenacious D, has gone on record to argue Rize of the Fenix, third longer player from this most awesome of rock acts is “much like Nirvana’s first album Bleach or the Beatles first album Help. Rough and yet a masterpiece.” And how could a humble music reviewer […]

Album Review: Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix