LIVE: JOHN COOPER CLARKE – 13/02/2009

– THE DANCEHOUSE THEATRE, MANCHESTER – It’s gone 10pm when our very own Broughton Bard strides gingerly on stage at Manchester’s Dancehouse Theatre. Clutching a bottle of water in one hand and tatty carrier bag in the other, there is no mistaking this instantly recognisable skinny figure. As the years have passed since his support […]
– THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER – The boys behind Manchester’s bi-weekly Contort Yourself night at The Roadhouse managed to pull a rabbit from the hat tonight. The decks this evening are adorned by Rachel Barton (BBC Radio 1), Emma Chibuku and Natalie Esquire (Murkage). If for one moment you think this all-girl line-up could not be […]

LIVE REVIEW: La Roux – 07/02/2009

LIVE: HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT – 30/01/2009

– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – On arrival at Manchester’s Academy 1, it is clear to see that Half Man Half Biscuit are very much a boy’s band (not boy band), or maybe I should re-phrase that to a man’s band. Blokes in their late thirties and early forties make up a large percentage of this […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Sometimes a gig is just a gig, but on other occasions they can be much much more. Tonight’s sold out performance on the top floor of The Deaf Institute is by far, the latter of the two! Before Peter Wilson, A.K.A Duke Special and his percussionist ‘Temperance Society’ Chip […]

LIVE: DUKE SPECIAL – 25/01/2009

LIVE: THE ONLY ONES – 24/01/2009

– ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – Over the past few years, we have seen an abundance of bands reforming. Some have worked and some have not. So there is always an air of anticipation when heading to one of these gigs, and tonight is no exception to this. Slightly later than expected, Peter Perrett and Co […]
The de-balled prisoner in The Tower of London (the BBC) has named Delphic in the BBC Sound of 2010 Longlist.  It’s a highly credible choice. By replacing the guitar with the synth (and hopefully the keytar) they have the sound of a band preparing to shoot themselves into the future by rehashing and splicing together […]

SINGLE: Delphic – Doubt

LIVE: EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER – 31/12/2008

– DRY BAR, MANCHESTER – 2009 will see Dry Bar on Oldham Street turn 20 years of age. It was another creation from Manchester’s legendary Factory Records and was given the number of Faç 201. I have personally attended some memorable nights here since it opened on July 25, 1989, including the first year of In […]
Opening with gentle guitar picking and breathy vocals, Hey Rosetta!’s ‘Into Your Lungs’ gradually builds, picking up all manner of instruments along the way and regularly bursting into uplifting chorus. One can’t help but be buouyed by the mood of these Canadian rockers, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard such an eclectic mix of […]

ALBUM: Hey Rosetta! – Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood)

ALBUM: Castrovalva – We Are A Unit

Whether Castrovalva took their name from the Escher lithograph or the Doctor Who series is unclear. What is certain is that this band’s output, which sounds like it’s been brewed up in Satan’s oily tar pits to bubble out through one of BP’s catastrophes, is as murky as hell. “We Are A Unit” is a […]