ALBUM: MINISTRY – TRAX! RARITIES

Ministry is a band I’ve been recommended numerous times. I have generally found them too heavy and monotonous for my liking but I’ve never given them a serious go. “A serious go” is definitely what’s on offer with a recently-released double vinyl called Trax! Rarities. I am actually listening on an electronic copy, but the […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Found at heights greater than 20,000 feet, Cirrus Clouds are formed of narrow bands of white, delicate filament. Gifting painterly waves, they do little to diminish the brightness of the sun and fade as quickly as their fibrous bodies complete. The subdued, sonic equivalent of such formations ghosts Manchester’s […]

LIVE: PALLBEARER – 09/04/2017

INTERVIEW: CHRISTINE FRANZ – FILM MAKER ‘SLEAFORD MODS – BUNCH OF KUNST’

One of the least likely stories of the last few years in music has been the rise of Nottingham swear-punk duo Sleaford Mods from sweat-dripping bars to major festivals and big shot venues. When Berlin film-maker Christine Franz began to follow the band on tour in early 2015, neither she nor they could have seen […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Soulwax’s 2004 album Any Minute Now was a bit of a seminal album for a 20 year old me. My previous excursions into electronic music had started at Radiohead’s Kid A and finished at Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works – they were literally the only two electronic type albums I […]

LIVE: SOULWAX – 09/04/2017

LIVE: JESCA HOOP – 06/04/2017

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – There is something undeniably special about a hometown gig. Adopted hometown it may be, but it is no less special to see Californian Chorlton-dweller Jesca Hoop on her own stomping ground. It’s certainly been a journey getting here for the American. A Mormon upbringing, a spell as nanny to Tom Waits’ […]
– THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – The last time I was at The Bridgewater Hall was well over half a decade ago for my graduation, so it feels like a special occasion of sorts. It doesn’t look too much different from what I remember – and I don’t remember much, I hardly remember it being a […]

LIVE: AMY MACDONALD / NEWTON FAULKNER – 06/04/2017

ALBUM: TOM HICKOX – MONSTERS IN THE DEEP

Music writing is full of unending discussion of the fabled album number two. It’s a hurdle so many fall at – buckling under the weight of expectation, overreaching, rushing – all pitfalls for the difficult second album™. Well, one way to side step that particular cliché is for your debut record to go unfairly unnoticed. […]
I don’t need to tell you about Father John Misty (FJM for brevity’s sake) if you’re here, because I’m taking it you know about him. If not, you can just scroll through any half decent music news website’s newsfeed, as they report literally everything he says or tweets as a bone fide news story. This […]

ALBUM: FATHER JOHN MISTY – PURE COMEDY

COMPETITION: PINS – MUSIC AND MERCH GIVEAWAY

Just look at this lot! One lucky Silent Radio reader/PINS fan can have all of it. The day before PINS set off on their latest stint of live dates, that will conclude at Salford’s White Hotel on the 22nd of April, we managed to get a fantastic haul of music and merchandise from the band. Inside […]
North West independent record label Loner Noise are proud to present WRONG Festival – A Festival For The Freakscene; a one day happening on the 22nd April 2017 at the newly formed creative hub of the Liverpool Docklands. Aiming to create something truly unique and very special for the first time in Liverpool, organisers are proud to announce […]

NOW CLOSED – COMPETITION: WRONG FESTIVAL: A FESTIVAL FOR THE FREAKSCENE – GUESTLIST GIVEAWAY