LIVE: MURKAGE – 04/02/2012

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Yes it’s cold, yes it’s snowing and yes, you could be easily convinced to stay in. Or so you’d say on other nights. Personally, I’ve been looking forward to witnessing the guys that are on tonight for quite some time now. Having grown out of their, now notorious, Monday Murkage […]
– THE LOWRY, SALFORD – It’s the first of February at The Lowry in Salford, and tonight gracing the stage is another of Portland’s exports, folk songstress Laura Veirs. Veirs has been a regular on the American circuit for some time now; having released seven albums, but this is the first time her presence in […]

LIVE: LAURA VEIRS – 01/02/2012

LIVE: REEL BIG FISH – 02/02/2012

– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – You know they have a good thing going…………and I don’t want to see that end! I suppose ska punk died a commercial death a good few years ago. Fads come and go and music media can dictate what is hot and what is not. Reel Big Fish however are still […]
Divisive, talented and manufactured, Lana Del Rey is the most hyped (over-hyped?) artist of her generation. The superlative ‘Video Games’ has racked up 24 million hits on youtube, and press attention has reached unprecedented levels, rivalling that of a royal hip-replacemnt. Everyone is expecting big things from the 25-year-old New Yorker. For someone whose debut […]

ALBUM: Lana Del Rey – Born To Die

Single Review: Inspiral Carpets – You’re So Good For Me

This is the first new material Inspiral Carpets have recorded in fifteen years after singer, Tom Hingley, departed the band in 2008 amid frustration over gigs and rumours that venue choices were dictated by Clint Boon honouring the network he had built up during his DJ career. Hingley was replaced by original singer and founder […]
Django Django’s sound is difficult to define. To say that they have a sound is probably all that needs to be said, but I have been asked to write a review so I have to struggle to find words that define them. I doubt they are interested in reducing their music to a few soundbites, […]

Album Review: Django Django – Django Django

LIVE: CASIOKIDS – 20/01/2012

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – When a press release came through a few months ago saying that Casiokids were to play a handful of live dates in the UK, I was to say the least, rather giddy. But giddyness was short lived, as I glanced down the list of towns and cities to be visited […]
The London-based label has unleashed it’s annual hardware upgrade of all things electronic and this year features everything from Nicolas Jaar to Rustie to the already legendary collab between Flying Lotus and Thom Yorke, but also the likes of Solar Bears, Ayshay, Modeselektor and Hercules & LoveAffair. For specifics you can find the track listing […]

Rough Trade Shops – Electronic 11

LIVE: INTRODUCING TAKE ON MR. SCRUFF – 14/01/2012

– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Ok so the idea is simple: choose an artist who samples other people’s records to make their own music. Let’s use Mr Scruff as an example. Perfect. Then find a band who performs his back catalogue but subtract the samplers and play every note live. So it’s songs […]
– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – Friday 23rd December: the night before the night before Christmas. The party season is well and truly under way, but it’s not really Christmas yet. There’s no sitting around, feeling bored and consuming more food in one day than you have done all week. This is the fun bit of Christmas, […]

Live: DJ Derek – 23/12/2011