LIVE: AXEL FLOVENT – 11/06/2019

-CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER- Just a quick missive from the front line, as I find myself rolling out of the award-winning Cocktail Beer Ramen Bun into the Castle Hotel and happen upon a gig from an Icelandic singer songwriter called Axel Flóvent and his troupe (well, his two accompanists). It is lovely, gentle, chilled music and […]
Sheffield’s Richard Hawley is now in his twentieth year as a solo artist, and not one to re-tread old ground, his eighth album marks a turning point, as not only is this is the first album which doesn’t feature a Sheffield landmark but it’s one of his most full on rock records to date, finding […]

ALBUM REVIEW: RICHARD HAWLEY – FURTHER

LIVE: FEMI KUTI & POSITIVE FORCE – 09/06/2019

-BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER- It’s Sunday night and the Positive Force are warming us all up for the incredible, inimitable Femi Kuti and as the groove swells and the brass punches in and Femi starts dancing, we all start dancing too, and all the cares in the world melt away and a huge grin […]
It’s safe to say that Chester’s music scene is just a shadow of its big brother Manchester.  It might have something to do with the lack of venues, or maybe just the lack of interest from the ageing demographic of the city, but for somewhere that doesn’t stop fucking raining it is miraculously dry. However, not […]

SINGLE REVIEW: YAMMERER – POISONOUS REPTILIAN COLLEAGUES & CO

LIVE: SNAIL MAIL – 04/06/2019

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – If one has been paying attention to the indie music sphere over the past 365 days, you will have definitely come across the name ‘Snail Mail’, the solo project of classically-trained guitarist Lindsey Jordan. Much like preceding Habit EP did in 2016, her debut album Lush has raided review sites and […]
IRAH, named for an entity that Danish vocalist Stine Grøn encountered during meditation, is a collaboration between Grøn and respected pianist, Adi Zukanović, a Bosnian refugee who came to Denmark as a four-year-old when his family fled Sarajevo when war broke out in the early 1990’s. Their collaboration has resulted in an evocative and generally […]

ALBUM REVIEW: IRAH – DIAMOND GRID

LIVE: YES FEST – 26/05/2019

-YES, MANCHESTER- For YES Fest on this bank holiday Sunday, thirteen artists and bands are invited to play gigs in the Basement and Pink Room at YES. The two bars and the roof terrace are open as usual, so there are a lot of people in the multi floor venue. The Psychedelic Porn Crumpets from […]
Learning to drive is never easy at any age, so fair play to Black Mountain’s frontman Stephen McBean, who’s passed aged 47. Proving it’s never too late to learn, the freedom of the open road and the first adrenalin rush of being behind the wheel have fed into the album. The album is apparently named […]

ALBUM REVIEW: BLACK MOUNTAIN – DESTROYER

LIVE: DOT TO DOT FESTIVAL – 24/05/2019

-VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER- For this bank holiday Friday, Dot To Dot is back in Manchester to celebrate its 15th anniversary. In 19 venues over Manchester city centre, several dozens of artists of different genres are performing. The first gig I decide to see is Northern indie rock band Broke Casino at The Venue. So far, […]
-YES, MANCHESTER- The whistles chirrup, as though there are unseen urban disco crickets stalking the dancefloor of the Pink Room at Yes, rubbing their legs in celebration at the home-coming of Manchester’s A Certain Ratio. Old ravers have oiled their joints well enough to groove at the front; even older Factory heads have their arms […]

LIVE: A CERTAIN RATIO – 24/05/2019