Habibi Funk is a German-based record label that has been dedicated to releasing an eclectic range of high-quality unknown or neglected music from the Arab world since 2015. Their latest excellent release marks a departure for Habibi Funk as the acts they featured previously experimented with soul or funk for a couple of tracks before […]
It might be glib to suggest that anyone apart from government sponsored purveyors of dodgy PPE had a good pandemic but Ajay Saggar definitely used the time productively. Between January 2021 and June 2022, he spent most days at his Soundation Studios recording and mixing music aided by a top team of collaborators, the result […]
– Castle Hotel, Manchester – I came across Sophie Jamieson’s astonishing, raw debut album at the very start of the year. Gold Flake Paint, one of the best music blogs around, has a knack of presenting albums to me in their end of year roundup that I’ve never heard of, but because of their brilliant […]
A psychedelic twist on electronic music is what Gnoomes have been carefully crafting over their four albums, now having fled their home country of Russia, and relocated elsewhere, their latest album is awash with hypnotic electronica. Opening track ‘Ural Sun’ sounds like a dystopian dream, with deep rumbling sounds which build into a mountainous soundscape […]
It takes bravado to open an album with a track that feels like a close sibling to an all-time classic symphonic pop song, ‘I Saw The Light’. With its piano line echoing Todd Rundgren’s melody, indulging in jigs with dual saxes, a brilliant dip as most the instrumentation temporarily drops out leaving a solitary piano […]
Jen Cloher’s latest album is an unashamedly political record but that should not conjure images of angry, shouty music. Thankfully, what is on offer is a warm collection of songs which celebrates community and acknowledges creating art as an act of resistance, The opening track on ‘I Am The River, The River is Me‘ evolved […]
It’s testament to the musical ambition of Mogwai that more than twenty-five years years after they started they can now sell out Manchester’s Albert Hall so fast a second date had to be added. Not bad for a band whose spellbinding tunes mostly consist of epic instrumentals with minimal vocals. Having recently spoken to Stuart […]
Over seventeen studio albums Lawrence has given us some of the finest off kilter guitar pop melodies with his bands Felt, Denim and Go Kart Mozart, now with his latest project Mozart Estate, his brand of wonky pop takes another turn as he focuses firmly on modern day consumerism. Recent single ‘Relative Poverty’ finds him […]
Following the success of her EP’s ‘This Is What It Feels Like’ (2021) and ‘Minor’ (2020), Abram’s debut album ‘Good Riddance’ was a guaranteed winner. Each track takes us on a journey to a new part of the story told breakup via soothing vocals and melodic riffs, I was hooked from the minute it began. […]
With eleven tracks of pure rapture, Inhaler makes the wait so unbelievably worth it. ‘Cuts & Bruises’ is an album that needs to be listened to, screamed to, danced to, and, at a minimum, shared across the entire universe. Following the release of their debut album, ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’, which hit no. […]
GIG GUIDE
Our gig guide is handpicked and every act has been listened to before making it onto the list.
See this month's guide
ALBUM REVIEW - YAMILA: NOOR
ALBUM REVIEW - JD MEATYARD: THE MISSION
ALBUM REVIEW - MAYHEM: LITURGY OF DEATH
ALBUM REVIEW - THE MOLOTOVS: WASTED ON YOUTH
SINGLE REVIEW - PIPPA BLUNDELL: BIG BEAR
ALBUM REVIEW - CONGRATULATIONS: JOIN HANDS
GIG GUIDE - FEBRUARY 2026
ALBUM REVIEW - CORY WONG: LOST IN THE WONDER
LIVE REVIEW - WESTSIDE COWBOY: MANCHESTER GORILLA - 29/01/2026
ALBUM REVIEW - BUZZCOCKS: ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT
