LIVE: PASSION PIT – 24/10/2009

– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – The realisation crept up on me, and then hit me in the face with all the effeminate power of an 80s disco dandy. It all started when I fell head over heals over head for the original Kate Bush version of Hounds of Love. Then came a dizzying urge to […]
– VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER – The infamous In The City crawl is less a series of gigs and more a package tour around the dives and dance floors of Manchester’s hippest hotspots for the price of a couple of dodgy kebabs. PLUS!!! There’s the all-inclusive opportunity to observe some of the most inventive new bands […]

LIVE: IN THE CITY 2009

LIVE: THE UNTHANKS – 20/10/2009

– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Few genuine folkies – singing the songs from their home region, raised on a diet of clog dancing and folk festivals – cross over to the mainstream music and achieve actual kudos. Of course, The Mercury nomination had something to do with Rachel Unthank and the Winterset’s sudden […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER- On arrival outside the Ruby Lounge on this busy Saturday lunch time in the city centre, it is strange to see a queue of parents and children waiting for the shutter of the venue to arise. The reason for this is the new child friendly Mrs Boon’s Cakes and Tea […]

LIVE REVIEW: Franz Ferdinand – 16/10/2009

LIVE: GLEN MATLOCK – 15/10/2009

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – “ The last time I was here, I played with the Pistols at Manchester Arena, woo-hoo!” jokes Matlock Tonight’s rare show finds Matlock – still wired and trim at 53 – alone on-stage in front of an audience of just 22 people. Well 25, if you count the sound […]
– 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 […]

LIVE: THE SLITS – 12/10/2009

SINGLE: Tanja Maritsa – Live For Today

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 […]
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 […]

ALBUM: Mumford and Sons – Sign No More

LIVE REVIEW: Thomas Truax – 21/09/2009

– 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 […]
– 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 […]

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