LIVE: SLAVES – 17/11/2018

-ACADEMY, MANCHESTER- A boxing ring full of black belts with the overpowering aroma of cigarettes and alcohol, it’s Saturday night and the anticipation of Slaves coming out on stage begins to spill over despite the ironic pre-gig soundtrack playing cheesy 90s pop hits. Laurie and Isaac stomp onto the stage with the intentions of making […]
-CENTRAL METHODIST HALL, MANCHESTER- Being an enthusiastic reader of the liner notes of my favourite CDs as a kid, I remember seeing the SPARS codes that some of them had. The three-letter code, where each letter is either an A for Analogue or D for Digital, would indicate the type of equipment used in i) […]

LIVE: OFF THE RECORD CONFERENCE – MASTERING WITH KEVIN TUFFY – 16/11/2018

SINGLE: TY SEGALL – FANNY

Hot on the heels of the recently released ‘Fudge Sandwich’ album, is the brilliant charity seven-inch vinyl single ‘Fanny’ named after his beloved dog. Although there’s basically three versions of the same tune on this single, they’re all different from the one found on the album ‘Freedom’s Goblin’ released earlier this year, plus single is […]
A stereotypical day in Ty Segall’s life, must go something like this: wake up, have breakfast, record some new stuff with whoever you want, release it – such is his prodigious musical output, there seems to be a constant wave of Ty Segall records being unleashed into the world. That’s no bad thing either, although […]

ALBUM: TY SEGALL – FUDGE SANDWICH

LIVE: INTERPOL – 16/11/2018

-THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER- Last year, New York indie-punk mavericks Interpol embarked on a sold out world tour to celebrate 15 years of their vital debut album, Turn On The Bright Lights. The trio returned home feeling refreshed and inspired by their past which very much informed the making of their sixth album. Coming in like a […]
-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- With their latest release, Bark Your Head Off, Dog, Hop Along have forged a more mature and glossy album compared to their earlier works. They have side-lined their previous DIY and low-fi sounding ethos for a tighter result. The interesting song structures and intertwining melodies have been brought forward in the mix […]

LIVE: THE DECEMBERISTS / HOP ALONG – 12/11/2018

LIVE: MC5 – 11/11/2018

-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- Celebrating fifty years of a band’s existence is a rare thing these days, especially one whose releases and activities were closely monitored by the U.S. authorities back in the 1960s and 70s. Despite the fact there’s now only one remaining member left in the band, the rapturous reception guitarist Wayne Kramer receives […]
-DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER- It’s rare I go to watch a band whose back catalogue I have almost no knowledge of whatsoever, but when the chance to see Wand came up I was intrigued. Having only ever heard ‘Reaper Invert’ from 2015’s Golem and ‘Pure Romance’ from the Perfume EP released this year, I was intrigued […]

LIVE: WAND – 11/11/2018

LIVE: BICEP / MARIE DAVIDSON / LEON VYNEHALL – 10/11/2018

-MAYFIELD DEPOT, MANCHESTER- This Bicep show, a collaboration between the incredible Manchester International Festival (MIF) and the stalwart rave up artists Warehouse Project (WHP), is the last gig to be held at the wonderful, industrial (barely) survivor of many a decade, Mayfield Depot before it is refurbished. It’s part of a series of events put […]
At his final Manchester show in April 2016, Chris Cornell played ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’ Back’ – a re-working of Bob Dylan’s original, which was written in a time of political upheaval, it seemed a very appropriate choice for our current times. Cornell’s skilful re-writing of the lyrics to reflect the authoritarian and populist […]

ALBUM: CHRIS CORNELL – AN ARTIST’S LEGACY