LIVE: DEAP VALLY – 26/07/2016

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Deap Vally from California make abrasive rock music, combining the riffs of Arctic Monkeys’ humbug days with vocals not unlike those of Alabama Shakes. Their songs are instantaneous, with catchy choruses smacked right up against razor teeth sharp guitar shredding. Just three songs in, Lindsey Troy the lead […]
– THE RIBBLE VALLEY, LANCASHIRE – Ah yes, the return of Beat-Herder. The Ribble Valley’s own dance-in-the-forrest fest has grown in its 11 years from a mere 2,000 capacity to a bustling 10,000+ turnout, so really, they’ve gotta be doing something right. The event has become somewhat of a Lancashire institution over the last few summers and […]

LIVE: BEAT-HERDER FESTIVAL – 15-17/07/2016

LIVE: LOLA COLT – 14/07/2016

 – SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Hot on the heels of their second album release Twist Through The Fire Lola Colt cram themselves into the shabby chic surrounding of Manchester’s Soup Kitchen.  I have had the good fortune of watching Lola Colt twice at both Cosmosis and Liverpool Psych Fest and was impressed by their widescreen […]
The Cult of Dom Keller are a four-piece from the Midlands who offer up their third LP Goodbye to the Light via Fuzz Club Records on 21st July 2016. Having grown in depth and intensity since their foundation in 2008, they are now a tour de force. They have pushed themselves to the sonic limits […]

ALBUM REVIEW: THE CULT OF DOM KELLER – GOODBYE TO THE LIGHT

LIVE: THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS – 10/07/2016

– CASTLEFIELD BOWL, MANCHESTER – Castlefield Bowl is erected temporarily for the summer season. A stage over the waterway, set in the amphitheatre in the shadow of the YMCA leisure centre.  The atmosphere is of a festival that you’ve been at for a couple of days. A much needed buzz and cheer of a warm […]
– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – It’s quiet tonight. There’s a slight lull. Whether Wales Euro 2016 related (they won). Pay day week related (another four more weeks to go). Weather related (typically British). Or Friday night ‘I’m in the mood to party’ related. Who knows. I know for sure people are missing out. Little Scream really […]

LIVE: LITTLE SCREAM – 01/07/2016

LIVE: ED HARCOURT – 29/06/2016

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – The world certainly seems to be on fire, as Ed Harcourt warns a lurking crowd. He and his band – with silent John J Presley guest starring, are warmly welcomed. There’s a misty atmosphere surrounding this track, ‘The World Is On Fire’, from his brand new album Furnaces, produced by […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – It’s a suspiciously warm evening on the eve of the so-called ‘Independence Day’. The storm, in every single sense, is dangerously approaching. After a proper warm up courtesy of Proto Idiot and Nine Black Alps, Baby Lemonade comes full of love, with a very special guest star: Love’s original […]

LIVE: LOVE REVISITED – 23/06/2016

LIVE: TY SEGALL & THE MUGGERS – 23/06/2016

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Ty Segall is a name that I’d heard a lot over the years but never investigated until recently. The incredibly prolific multi-instrumentalist released his eighth album in eight years at the start of the year and was the first time I had embraced the genius of this man. Emotional Mugger […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Car Seat Headrest (let’s do CSH from now on for the sake of my fingers) are what one would call ‘quite prolific’. Starting off as the solo project of Will Toledo (apparently called CSH due to recording the vocals for his first album in the back seat of his […]

LIVE: CAR SEAT HEADREST – 22/06/2016