SINGLE REVIEW: Badly Drawn Boy – Too Many Miracles

You’d struggle to find a more down to earth, northern, quirky songwriter than Badly Drawn Boy. With his trademark woolly hat and delightfully Mancunian vocals, Damon Gough is the epitome of the North.  After three years of producing soundtracks, the hat clad, lyrical genius is finally back and releasing “too many miracles,” the first single […]
Britain’s leading exponents of “council-pop” – Britain’s only exponents of council-pop – are back with a new single, ‘Some Frontier’.  The track comes from Orphan Boy’s second album Passion, Pain and Loyalty, which was released in August. It’s got radio-friendly-hit written all over it, in that it’s catchy but there’s a slight air of blandness to it.  […]

SINGLE REVIEWS: Orphan Boy – Some Frontier

LIVE:MARK RONSON & THE BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL – 02/10/2010

– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Uniqueclectlic. That’s the word for a Mark Ronson gig. Ok I made it it up. But this experience was unique and electric as the throbbing crowd at The Apollo get taken on tour de force ride consisting of 80s electro through to indie rock via hip hop. Kick off begins […]
– THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER – If a sign was needed that Exit Calm were gathering a bit of momentum, the crowd that greets me at The Roadhouse is it. It’s certainly a welcome sight – vindication of my faith in this young band from South Yorkshire. The previous time I saw them, I could have […]

LIVE: EXIT CALM – 01/10/2010

SINGLE REVIEW: DVA (ft. Fatima) – Just Vybe (Soule:Power Mix)

Hot on the heels of his last release, DVA comes through on Hyperdub for round two. ‘Just Vybe (Soul:Power Mix)’ took me by surprise. The track opened to the exact sound of ‘Natty’ (his first outing on Hyperdub), making me think that I’d somehow picked the wrong file or bounced back in time – I […]
Whenever you hear of another band from NYC, you have to think, are they really from NYC or have they just relocated there and adopted the NYC brand name because it’s ‘cool’?  Violens are one of the latest acts to come out of the city peddling their debut album, Amoral, which is due to be released shortly. Maybe, […]

ALBUM: Violens – Amoral

ALBUM: Badly Drawn Boy – It’s What I’m Thinking Part 1: Photographing Snowflakes

An idiot once said to me: “All the best trilogies come in threes”.  I thought about it, and realised the idiot had a point.  This came to mind upon hearing what Damon Gough was planning to do next, for the bearded behatted one has cut quite the elusive figure of late.  Aside from the soundtrack to […]
– ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – Who said pop was dead? It’s a drizzly September evening and the dancefloor of the humid broom-cupboard known as Academy 3 is seeing more action than Darren Day’s grotty bedpost. Scores of teenagers brandishing glowsticks, make-shift banners and Gladiators-style polystyrene headwear are foaming at the mouth at the thought of […]

LIVE: 3OH!3 – 28/09/2010

LIVE: MGMT – 26/09/2010

– APOLLO THEATRE, MANCHESTER – Midway through ‘The Handshake’ a beer sails through the air and hits the drummer on the head. He glances over his shoulder, sticks his middle finger up at the unattentive, bored audience and, like the consummate professional he is, finishes the track. After which he again sticks his middle finger […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Managing to ram so many people into such a small space you can see how The Vaselines got their name (wince). Just on the off chance that there was any call for yet another petroleum jelly related pun when discussing the Glaswegian outfit… The Vaselines, Eugene Kelly and Frances […]

LIVE: THE VASELINES – 23/09/2010