SINGLE: DVA – Natty/Ganja

I’d go so far to say, Hyperdub is one of my top labels of all time, alongside Moving Shadows, Offkey Recordings, Tempa and a handful more. It’s a label that to me truly pushes boundaries, and isn’t afraid to bring you something new. To clarify, by new I don’t just mean a new artist, I […]
Three small, stupidly juxtaposed words used in connection with Musée Méchanique sent my blood pressure soaring with near fatal consequence. They are Neutral Milk Hotel – the finest band with the stupidest name of all time. Is this an appropriate comparison, or were the promoters raising my hopes only to dash them with crushing force? […]

SINGLE: Musée Méchanique – Like Home

LIVE: RIDING THE LOW – 22/01/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – I’m a little dubious about tonight’s gig, as it is not the first time I’ve been to see a band that is fronted by an actor. My last experience of this was a couple of years ago, when I chanced upon The Peth playing at a club in Wigan. […]
– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Despite their name, there are only five people in Sonic Boom Six. The female-fronted Mancunians explode into action, the whole sound penetrating and aggressive like only girls from northern England can be. ‘Six’ become eight when the brass section from Big D And The Kids’ Table join them for a […]

LIVE: REEL BIG FISH/SONIC BOOM SIX – 22/01/2010

LIVE: ZICO CHAIN/TO THE BONES – 24/01/2010

– MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – Although I’ve already seen three bands (all of whom failed to introduce themselves), the most interesting part of the evening so far has been finding out that my girlfriend ties her shoelaces differently than I do. I’m hoping to be rescued by To The Bones, and they up the game […]
– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – In a performance which draws mainly from new album, July Flame, Laura Veirs lulls listeners along on a barely lit journey through songs of the seasons. A glow of contentment surrounds Veirs which is particularly visible during I Can See Your Tracks, and there is something near spiritual about the […]

LIVE: LAURA VEIRS – 19/01/2010

LIVE: FUTURE OF THE LEFT – 19//01/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Intense, heavy rock can often be a po-faced affair with little room for humour or playfulness, so what better way to obliterate any lingering post-Christmas blues than a couple of hours in the company of Kong and Future Of The Left, two bands who are fully capable of creating […]
In a recent interview, Travis Bonilla, pseudonym Quail Lungs, tells of a New Year bender which left him with a two day hangover not even weed could cure.  From the quality of the recordings which range from near inaudible to a whining assault on your senses you figure these tracks were made the wrong end of […]

SINGLE: Quail Lungs – Dumb Dadadum

ALBUM: Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM

Charlotte Gainsbourg may very nearly share a surname with a hill-town in darkest Lincolnshire, but in fact she shares more in common with Jared Leto than arable land and sausages. This is because she an actress (a good one, best actress at Cannes Film Festival 2009 anyone?) and also a musician. So not like Jared […]
It’s always strange when hype focuses its attention on the young age of the artists in question: the press, the industry, need musicians to be young. They need to believe in youth, to keep the hype – the legend – alive. If The Big Black And The Blue had been made by two middle-aged, rather […]

ALBUM: First Aid Kit – The Big Black And The Blue