SINGLE: THE GRAVELTONES – ‘I WANT YOUR LOVE’

Sure, it is easy to look at The Graveltones and quickly compare them to The Black Keys. Both bands compose of two men playing drums and guitar, both bands play fuzzy modern blues, and both bands draw their influences from the great rock legends of John Lee Hooker and Led Zeppelin. But unlike The Black […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Heading to The Ritz on a damp Tuesday night makes me wonder if strappy wedges and a gust sensitive skirt are a good combo. The weather isn’t dampening the spirits of folks up for a piece of the recently touted Michael Kiwanuka appearing tonight. This one is an eagerly anticipated […]

LIVE: MICHAEL KIWANUKA – 15/05/2012

LIVE: GAZ COOMBES – 17/05/2012

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – At twenty to ten it seems like an age since the support act went off.  The Axl Rose complex finally shows signs of lifting when people we assume to be in the band appear on stage one at a time.  Something’s happening as a couple of notes emerge on […]
The weather over the past few weeks has been fairly bad, but stumbling upon the latest release from Lettie will certainly give you good fortune. The London singer-songwriter’s new offering, Good Fortune, Bad Weather, is an album with the potential for plenty of hits with its great electro-pop sound and sublime songwriting. Lettie is a […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Lettie – Good Fortune, Bad Weather

LIVE: ∆ (ALT-J) – 18/05/2012

– QUAY HOUSE, MANCHESTER – As part of the annual audio/visual festival Future Everything, Now Wave have brought us to a disused office block situated next door to The Opera House, to see no fewer than six (that’s 6) bands. We’ve become accustomed to dirty industrial warehouses and basement venues in Manchester, so this is […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I first heard of Sharon Van Etten though a press-release, back in December. It was one of those moments where it became apparent this artist was going to be a regular feature on my MP3 player for the foreseeable future. Names dropped into that news item such as The […]

LIVE: SHARON VAN ETTEN – 17/05/2012

LIVE: DZ DEATHRAYS / EMBERS / FAWN SPOTS – 16/05/2012

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – When I hear word that FAWN SPOTS are coming to Manchester I cancel plans and jump at the chance to go see them.  Fawn Spots are Lee Bowden and Jonathan Meager; based in York where they are proactive in the music scene being heavily involved in truly great projects such […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I haven’t been upstairs at the Deaf Institute before and I’m struck by the glamour of the place.  For some reason it’s really unexpected and I like it!  It’s got big steps going up at the back for sitting on that creates a theatre kind of feel and a […]

LIVE: TRAILER TRASH TRACYS – 10/05/2012

Single Review: Wildeflower – Good Girl/Amazing Discovery

“Good Girl” is the debut single from Wildeflower, a six piece folk-rock band from Englefield Green. This single release offers a modern folk style with close three-part harmonies as well as coupling rich layered instrumentation with lo-fi production. Led by Max Kinghorn-Mills, the psychedelic folk group marries influences from rivals/progressives Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and […]
After the release of their self-titled début album, Django Django, the Scottish art-rock band, have released a perky little ditty titled ‘Storm’. Although some bands take inspiration from the headline names of the past, Django Django take theirs from the now defunct Scottish indie “semi-legends”, The Beta Band. The rigid drum beat, metronomic in style, keeps the track […]

Single Review: Django Django – Storm/Skies Over Cairo