LIVE: THE SLITS – 12/10/2009

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MACHESTER – Ari Up looked magical, yet slightly kooky as she confidently bounced onto the warmly lit stage. With her eyes blazing beneath a huge shock of dread-locked hair that would make Heather Small weep with envy and wearing figure hugging gold lamé hot pants and tatty bomber jacket, the 50-year-old […]
Tanja Maritsa’s gentile, jazzy folk comes from a time that I just can’t quite place. Before the 60s my knowledge gets a little hazy. Not my fault! I’m only 25 and I was brainwashed from an early age to believe that The Beatles were year zero, and nearly everything that came before was rendered redundant […]

SINGLE: Tanja Maritsa – Live For Today

ALBUM: Mumford and Sons – Sign No More

There’s a festival feel here. I’m not sure which one either. Whether it’s the easy informality of Leicester’s Summer Sundae or something more profound like echoes of Woodstock. But I am sure that the songs are wonderful. They’re uplifting, skipping along with a deftness of touch which makes them comfortably familiar and yet still fresh […]
– TROF, MANCHESTER – Not only is Thomas Truax a talented songwriter and musician, he is also an inventor of probably the most bizarre looking instruments you could possibly imagine. Now the tricky thing for me to do here is explain what each of them does, but I shall try my best. Apart from his […]

LIVE REVIEW: Thomas Truax – 21/09/2009

LIVE: BILLY CHILDISH & MUSICIANS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE – 18/09/2009

– BOSTON ARMS, LONDON – At the beginning of August I had a decision to make. This was due to the fact that Billy Childish and Musicians of the British Empire had lined up two dates at The Dirty Water Club in Tufnell Park. I had to decide whether to attend one or both. On […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Have you ever seen a one man band? Have you ever seen a one man band wearing a pair of Chelsea boots? Have you ever seen a one man band wearing a pair of Chelsea boots and an electric blue human cannon ball jump suit that is adorned with […]

LIVE: BOB LOG III – 17/09/2009

LIVE: KENDAL CALLING 2009

– LOWTHER DEER PARK, PENRITH – Now in its fourth year, Kendal Calling has grown at an unprecedented rate. When it opened its gates for the first time in 2006, the capacity was a mere 900. This weekend they have sold all six thousand tickets for its arrival in the beautiful surroundings of its new […]
The problem With It Feels So Good When I Stop is that it was recorded as an accompaniment to his novel of the same name, and though I know it would infinitely augment the quality of this review I can’t be bothered to read it. However, if I was to take a wild stab at […]

ALBUM: Joe Pernice – It Feels So Good When I Stop (Novel Soundtrack)

ALBUM: Dan Mangan – Nice, Nice, Very Nice

Gracenotes only gives you one option – Nice, Nice, Very Nice is folk it solemnly declares. But don’t let that mislead you, as it most certainly isn’t. Acoustic singer-songwriter… OK, so those are misnomers too. Whatever it is or whatever it isn’t, Dan Mangan’s got an earnest voice, wrapping his vocals around decisive lyrics – these aren’t […]
– 24:7 THEATRE HUB, MANCHESTER – As the Manchester International Festival came to an end, the 24:7 Theatre Festival held its official opening night in a small function on the ground floor of New Century House. Finding tonight’s venue was not the easiest of tasks, as it is tucked away in a corner of a […]

LIVE: BILLY CHILDISH – 19/07/2009