LIVE: JONNY KEARNEY & LUCY FARRELL – 18/03/2012

– THE CORNERHOUSE, MANCHESTER – I would like to think I approach most new experiences with an open mind, but I have noticed a little bit of pre-judgement creeping in where certain events loom on the horizon. Unfortunately for ‘folk nights’ this genre has fallen into my room 101 of predictable nights out. All too […]
– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – It’s Sunday at The Academy 2 and it’s sure to be sordid. I’ve always imagined The Felice Brothers as this band of rough-as-old-boots American country boys with their tales of violence and alcoholism and impregnating peoples daughters, and despite the fact that they’re actually all fairly young and handsome fellas, […]

LIVE: THE FELICE BROTHERS – 18/03/2012

LIVE: MISSING ANDY – 15/03/2012

– MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – You know how you have your preferred music venues and your jaunts, which you would like to avoid at all costs? Well, tonight is one of those nights where it takes a special band to convince me to go to Moho. I could go on a rant right now, but […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – I normally like to go into gigs ‘blind’, so to speak, to have no preconceptions, but as I planned to review this one I thought I ought to do some research.  My research brought up some mellow, yet lively sounding songs sung in English that suggested they were written with […]

LIVE: THE RUMOUR SAID FIRE – 13/03/2012

NEWS: RICHARD HAWLEY – NEW ALBUM DETAILS

Following the success of his award-winning, hugely acclaimed 2009 album ‘Truelove’s Gutter’, Richard Hawley will release his sixth studio album, ‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ – his first for new label Parlophone – on 7th May. Recorded at Sheffield’s Yellow Arch Studio in 2011, ‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ marks a seismic shift in direction for Hawley. The album is a euphoric, […]
– THE CONTINENTAL, PRESTON – Boldly venturing north tonight to experience some premier psych-drone-folk direct from France. After last year’s appearance at the Tusk Festival in Newcastle (supposedly only the duo’s second gig in the UK), Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte of Natural Snow Buildings must have caught the live performance bug as they are in […]

LIVE: NATURAL SNOW BUILDINGS – 08/03/2012

Album Review: Performance – Red Brick Heart

Rarely do you find a band that makes you want to take the singer to the best indie disco in town for a drink and a proper chat and then dance like an idiot for the next ten hours. This is that band. By all accounts Performance have been through the wringer: record label misdemeanours, […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Well this guy has been on my radar for quite some time now. I first stumbled onto Mayer Hawthorne when he was due to play at the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium last summer. Unfortunately, there was the quite apocalyptical storm that destroyed the festival site on the first day […]

LIVE: MAYER HAWTHORNE – 09/03/2012

LIVE: NEW BUILD – 09/03/2012

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – As I saunter into The Deaf Institute tonight I hear a unique electro sound, and as I make my way to the bar (priorities) I then also hear a familiar voice. When I look up I see Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip on stage filling this evening’s support slot for New […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Gang Colours (Will Ozanne) falls under my personal classification of dark, underground, glitchy beat, mood music. The shoegazing electronic Southampton lad was brought to the attention of Gilles Peterson and his Brownswood label by Ghostpoet, resulting in the February release of his debut album ‘The Keychain Collection’. Heavyweight endorsements […]

LIVE: GANG COLOURS – 07/03/2012