LIVE: ALICE COOPER/NEW YORK DOLLS – 30/10/2011

– THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – It’s a gloomy Sunday evening in Manchester, but for the hundreds of fans queuing at the O2 Apollo, who’ve waited over a year for this night to arrive, they couldn’t be happier. Following last year’s outstanding Halloween gigs at London’s Roundhouse, Alice Cooper finally brings his Halloween Night Of Fear […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Oklahoma five piece Other Lives have arrived in Manchester once more in what frontman Jesse Tabish describes as ‘one of his favourite places to play’. Promoters Now Wave and Hey Manchester have worked together on this one, spoiling the close to capacity crowd with the bonus of an extended support […]

LIVE: OTHER LIVES & YOUNG GALAXY – 30/10/2011

LIVE: THE HYMEK MANOEUVRE – 28/10/2011 (with free download)

– LLOYDS HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Lesson one on how to light up a place – get The Hymek Manoeuvre playing live. The last time I saw them they were playing at Beech Road Music Festival to upwards of 4000 people, spreading their feel good sounds from a large stage across a full field of mainly […]
– MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, MANCHESTER – What more is there to say about Elbow? Their story has been so well covered it has rendered itself redundant. There’s something so Hollywood, something hopelessly romantic about their rise to fame and fortune. Their long tête-à-tête with obscurity, the band that make it with their make or break album, […]

LIVE: Elbow – 27/10/2011

LIVE: Cut Copy – 26/10/2011

– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – Of all the electro indie revivalists Cut Copy is one of the few not to suck balls…and that is because Cut Copy is essentially a good time, euphoria-inducing dance act that happens to play guitars. The indie element is thankfully minimal. This is not music for the grey matter, it’s for […]
– MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, MANCHESTER – The video openings to latest (and extraordinary) single ‘Sophia’ and debut EP opener ‘New Romantic’ are identical: Laura Marling, sitting on a chair, singing about her love life with an eloquence and directness that act like a direct channel between you and her. The differences are more interesting than the similarities. […]

LIVE: Laura Marling – 24/10/2011

EP: Fruits de Mer Records – Do Not Adjust Your Set

This latest release from the splendid Fruits de Mer record label is a six track EP that is a kitsch retro fest. Six theme tunes, three each from the halcyon days of the BBC and ITV when summer holidays meant badly dubbed and almost impossible to follow TV shows from the colonies, and SUPERMARIONATION meant […]
– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Tales of Owen Morris’s eccentric behaviour during the recording of Exile Parade’s debut album are fuelling my anticipation as I make my way to see them perform at the Night and Day Cafe. Apparently, things took a confrontational turn during the sessions at Monnow Valley Studios, when the […]

LIVE: EXILE PARADE – 22/10/2011 (WITH FREE DOWNLOAD)

SINGLE: Casiokids – Det Haster!

‘Det Haster!’, roughly translated (by google translator of course) to ‘Urgency’, is particularly apt. Norway’s Casiokids are absolutely amazing live. Fact! They are a blistering, amphetamine ball of electro energy, vibrance and fun. This spectacle has not yet successfully translated onto vinyl. On record the keytarists are a vapid, 2D disappointment. It’s a bit like […]
To reform or not to reform? For many grey-haired rockers, post-punks and Manchester indie sorts (hello Stone Roses!) the answer has of late been in the affirmative. The results of these reformations have been mixed. The Go-Betweens and Gang Of Four both picked up like they never stopped, successfully pushing their original sounds to new […]

ALBUM REVIEW: Magazine – No Thyself