LIVE: THE PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND – 03/03/2010

– DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – It’s great to see The Deaf Institute almost full to capacity. Most are probably here to listen to the song with lots of numbers in it, but there’s much more to The Phenomenal Handclap Band than their Tings Tings-style smash hit. It’s worth mentioning the support band to put things […]
– THE RITZ BALLROOM, MANCHESTER – When it was rumoured that Groove Armada’s latest album, Black Light, was a homage to the 80s, I feared the worst. As one of Thatcher’s children, born in 1975, I hated the 80s and I’m finding it pretty hard to stomach all this nostalgia, especially from bands that I […]

LIVE: GROOVE ARMADA – 02/03/2010

LIVE: GIRLS – 02/03/2010

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – 2009 was a good year for California based act, Girls. The tragic story of main man Christopher Owens’ upbringing in a cult, and his subsequent change of fortune when he was taken under the wing of a rich benefactor and moved to San Francisco where he formed Girls in […]
– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – “If you like yoghurt then you might know this one”, announces Shingai Shoniwa before the second song of the evening, ‘Wild Young Hearts’, and judging by the reaction of the crowd, a lot of people like yoghurt. Two of the Noisettes songs have been used in adverts, most notably the […]

LIVE: NOISETTES – 02/03/2010

EP: Starkey – Stars EP Ft. Anneka

Philadelphian producer and general musical wizard Starkey, brings us a 4 track EP, giving us another team up with vocalist Anneka, two solo ventures, and a remix from Slugabed. After catching his recent appearance on Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental Show where he teamed up with Anneka and Reso to build a track from scratch over […]
In the inlay, Kris Drever thanks, ‘All the people I play with in my day job’. And it’s true – despite the critical acclaim heaped on Kris Drever’s first album, Black Water – mainstream audiences will know Kris as the quieter one who plays with Idlewild’s frontman in their acoustic project, Drever McCusker Woomble, and the folkies will be more acquainted with Lau, […]

ALBUM: Kris Drever – Mark The Hard Earth

LIVE: KONG – 28/02/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – My friend warned me that last time he saw Kong, they were almost criminally loud. That in mind, I’ve brought some earplugs just in case. When I arrive, Trojan Horses are ignoring the audience and playing whatever it is that they play. The band looks like a weird face-off […]
– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – It’s another dark and rainy night in the back streets of Salford. Islington Mill is packed, Marc Riley (#saveBBC6music) is here and there’s a buzzing atmosphere. The filler CD fades down and is replaced by what sounds like a secret sample recording from an empty concert hall. A note is […]

LIVE: FIELD MUSIC – 26/02/2010

LIVE: David Thomas Broughton – 24/02/2010

– The Ruby Lounge, Manchester – David Thomas Broughton quietly takes the stage at the Ruby Lounge aided only by an acoustic guitar and gently begins strumming. The majority of the Wednesday night Ruby Lounge crowd are initially not even aware that the PA has stopped and the performance has begun. Making use of some […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Shearwater arrive on a cold February night in Manchester off the back of their latest release, ‘The Golden Archipelago’. The five band members take up their designated positions on stage and the show begins – lead singer Jonathan Meiburg stands centre stage with a fixed and purposeful intensity and […]

LIVE: SHEARWATER – 24/02/2010