LIVE: BAND OF HORSES – 01/02/2011

– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Towards the end of tonight’s gig, during intense crowd favourite ‘Funeral’ – which Band of Horses threaten to swap for an “obscure cover track” – lead vocalist Ben Bridwell’s mic screws itself free and falls down to his knees. “There are some technical demons here tonight”, beardy keyboardist Ryan Monroe […]
Pete Yorn’s self titled 6th studio album is the result of an impromptu 5 day recording session with Pixies frontman and indie rock legend Frank Black. Recorded in a makeshift studio over the summer of 2008 whilst the prolific songsmith was in the middle of making his 4th LP Back & Fourth, this record perhaps demonstrates […]

ALBUM: PETE YORN – PETE YORN

ALBUM: Amplifier – The Octopus

Amplifier’s third album is a gargantuan piece of work. Stunning in its scale, over the course of a two-hour opus, Sel Balamir, Neil Mahony and Matt Brobin ramp up the bombast to galactic proportions, somehow doing so without leaving the light of their earthly observatory. Self-financed and three years in the making, The Octopus is not merely […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – George Lewis Jr (AKA Twin Shadow) has star quality in abundance. He steps on stage looking every inch the pop star, with a rock ‘n’ roll bouffant which must be a contender for the best hair in music at the moment. From this point on it’s difficult to take […]

LIVE: TWIN SHADOW – 26/01/2011

LIVE: SMOKE FAIRIES/SEA OF BEES – 26/01/2011

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Julie Baenziger AKA Sea of Bees has just brought out her album ‘Song for Ravens’, which has been received rather well. The album is made up of songs crafted with emotional expression, highly beautiful and rather twee. Clad in a knitted jumper with a hair cut that reminds you […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Tonight’s gig is Sold Out with a capital Hype. Bodies jostle for non-existent dancing space, condensation drips from the windows and it takes so long to push your way to the smoking area, it might as well be on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Probably just as well for […]

LIVE: SLEIGH BELLS – 21/01/2011

ALBUM – THE DARK SKY SINGERS

– LIKE NO ENGLISH – Unusually in these times saturated with the minutiae of celebrity life, there is no superlative press release issued with this EP and little information available on the internet. This paucity of background detail is a predicament faced by those reviewing this EP before me, if the scant online critiques are […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Tonight is the first night of Metronomy’s tour and downstairs bar at The Deaf Institute is jam packed with people from an hour before the gig. Upstairs the first support act, Get People, are filled with good intentions. Their poppy tropical disco songs are full of drum fills that […]

LIVE: METRONOMY – 19/01/2011

LIVE: THE BURNS UNIT – 19/01/2011

– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – The Raconteurs, Audioslave, the Good, the Bad and the Queen – supergroups are generally looked upon with a critical eye. This is because listeners suspect, sometimes rightly, that the artists involved are stuck for cash, trying to sell something we’ve all seen before in different packaging. It’s like being handed […]
– CENTRAL METHODIST HALL, MANCHESTER – Many consider a visit to Manchester as a musically religious experience. The Walkmen must have that feeling too but for a different reason. The last time I saw them was in St. Philips Church in November. The old, ornate spiritual venue had made no special dispensation for housing a […]

LIVE: THE WALKMEN – 20/01/2011