LIVE: THE HORRORS/THE KILLS – 15/10/2011

– THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – With less than three weeks to go to Halloween, tonight’s event seems like a completely suitable way to start the gothic season, right down to the names of the headliners – The Horrors and The Kills, playing in an old air raid shelter in the dead of night. Spooky. […]
The way Jeffrey Lewis churns out near identical album one after the other leaves little room for innovative description. Musically, A Turn In The Dream Songs is pretty much the same as ‘Ere Are I. But then, in a Dylan-esque way, the music is incidental to Lewis’ appeal. It is merely a vehicle for Lewis’ […]

Album Review: Jeffrey Lewis – A Turn In The Dream Songs

LIVE: BRETT ANDERSON – 11/10/2011

– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – I’m not sure what to expect tonight as I follow the flow of thirty or forty-somethings down into the basement of the university. I’ve seen Brett Anderson peacock strutting across most of the stages on this university campus, but this is perhaps one of its more cramped gig spaces. The […]
– THE CLUNY/THE STAR & SHADOW CINEMA, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE – This is my first review since June so forgive me if it is even worse than my previous efforts. Having missed some great gigs this summer / autumn (in particular Moon Wiring Club at the Dog and Partridge in Bolton) I have launched myself back in […]

LIVE: TUSK FESTIVAL – 7-9/10/2011

LIVE: GHOSTPOET – 09/10/2011

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Receiving a Mercury Music Prize nomination is one of the biggest and ultimate accolades a UK act can receive. Coventry-born Ghostpoet bestowed the respected roll of honour this year, for his debut album Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam. Even before the nominees were announced, GP was named as […]
– CENTRAL METHODIST HALL, MANCHESTER – Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys’s, or more commonly known as Gruff Rhys, lead of Welsh rock-outfit the Super Furry Animals, brings his latest solo UK tour to Manchester’s Methodist Central Hall. People have big love for Gruff, anyone who I’ve told about this gig, has nearly murdered me for my ticket, […]

LIVE: GRUFF RHYS – 07/10/2011

LIVE: DECONSTRUCTED / CALVIN HARRIS – 09/10/2011

– THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – First I must confess to being a Warehouse Project Virgin (WHPV). I do get a quick initiation from some lovely peeps from Telford on my approach to the underground car park venue. You came from where?! Yes my reaction too, but the WHP reputation is travelling far and wide, […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – As events unfold, for me, this night comes to embody all the reasons that I love small gigs so much. Music In Beta kindly grant free entry for anyone with a Facebook account and the ability to click a button that says ‘Like’. Though, in wanting to repay them […]

LIVE: NEDRY – 05/11/2011

LIVE: JOHNNY MARR & THE HEALERS – 04/10/2011

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – “You’re cool!” This adoring yelp erupts mid-crowd of this packed room of the Deaf Institute. Johnny Marr carries on tuning up, having not even plucked note 1 of tonight’s set.  Then he looks up and whispers into the mic: “I know.” And you know what – he is.  He […]
With Male Bonding often being described as “noise pop”, their new release, Endless Now, seems to occupy the popular, if not the cooler, end of that sub-genre’s spectrum.  The slightly rougher edges of last year’s debut, Nothing Hurts, have been ground away and the London accents smoothed out and made a little more generic.  Could […]

Album Review: Male Bonding – Endless Now