LIVE: SUNFLOWER BEAN – 16/02/2016

 – SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – “Keep the music going for a second?” asks Julia Cumming of the sound man, as the rest of the Brooklyn hailing trio, seemingly consisting of a young Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan circa 1967, race to the stage of Manchester’s Soup Kitchen to perform an impromptu half-cover of Parquet Courts’ […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – The Melbourne-based band share this moment with us at Gorilla, starting off the night with a rapturous applause from the crowd. From the get-go, it’s a complete sensory overload and as all seven members of the band pick up their instruments, within seconds we are treated to ‘Robot Stop’, a new track that weaves […]

LIVE: KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD – 15/02/2016

LIVE: FOALS – 13/02/2016

– MANCHESTER ARENA, MANCHESTER – Walking casually out onto stage to a packed crowed at Manchester Arena to screams that are enough to make you lose your voice, must have been a pre-Valentine’s treat for Foals. The Oxford band have made their mark as one of Britain’s most artful and expressive musicians. With four albums […]
– THE EAGLE INN, SALFORD – A Carefully Planned Festival is best known for taking over the Northern Quarter every October to shine a light on some of the country’s unknown acts, commonly known only to those in-the-know *hush hush* *sniff *sniff*. Tonight I cannot stroke my beard or nod along knowingly though, as tonight […]

LIVE: THE TUTS / BABY BRAVE / GURGLES – 11/02/2016

Album Review: Levelz – LVL 11

Representing themselves as a collective supergroup consisting of Chunky, Jonny Dub, Black Josh, Truthos Mufasa, Sparkz, Fox, T-Man, Chimpo and Skittles, LEVELZ started working together a little over two years ago. The Manchester squad has done some crazy things, such as touring London in a stretch Hummer while delivering melons and mixtapes around the city, a […]
 – THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – It’s been a long time coming, but Mancunian Sam Shepherd’s debut album Elaenia was certainly worth the wait. After releasing a string of outstanding DJ friendly EP’s and singles, since 2009, we’re finally able to immerse ourselves in a long player that ebbs and flows from danceable bloops and bleeps, to […]

LIVE: FLOATING POINTS – 12/02/2016

LIVE: TAME IMPALA / JAGWAR MA – 11/02/2016

– MANCHESTER ARENA, MANCHESTER – It has been four years since I had a chance to see Tame Impala play a gig in Manchester. Holidays, plus, I had missed them by about 3 months when moving here, and have been waiting ever since. Tame Impala, whether you know them, like them or not, have been at […]
– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – In a year where the great and the good are checking out at an alarming rate, it is important that we appreciate those still walking amongst us.  John Grant is such an individual. Thankfully that appears to be the case, if the praise for his latest album and string […]

LIVE: JOHN GRANT – 08/02/2016

LIVE: SUEDE – 09/02/2016

 – THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – Thunder rolls over Manchester’s Albert Hall from behind a sky sized silver-screen. The whirring thrashes and builds until the sounds of post-millennial paranoia are greeted with silence. The floor-to-ceiling sheet is finally filled with oceanic endlessness, and from behind the separation an incredible otherness cuts through the waves in […]
Plastic Animals have been slaving over Pictures From The Blackout, their debut album, for two years now. It all starts very promisingly, ‘Ghosts’ is ‘Knives Out’-style Radiohead, all urgency and fuzzy chords and heading off down a woozy rabbit hole halfway through before blossoming into a noisy crescendo. It’s followed by a whisper of feedback […]

ALBUM REVIEW: PLASTIC ANIMALS – PICTURES FROM THE BLACKOUT