EP Review: The Lilac Time – Prussian Blue

In my review of its parent album, No Sad Songs, I referred to ‘Prussian Blue’ as a “blissful summer lullaby”. A single release in July is therefore not wholly wrong. However, whether it is the kind of song to grab the attention of distracted radio listeners is another matter. The bouncier ‘Babylon Revisited’ would arguably have […]
Can an album sound retro, contemporary and futuristic at the same time? Y Dydd Olaf certainly succeeds in doing so. This is a beautiful album of contrasts from start to finish, and is one that demands close attention. As a non-Welsh (or Cornish) speaker (the featured languages for Y Dydd Olaf), it would be easy […]

ALBUM REVIEW: GWENNO – Y DYDD OLAF

LIVE: KAWEHI – 28/07/2015

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – “Holy shit, I’m in Manchester!” exclaims Kawehi as she takes to the stage in front of an initially quiet crowd at The Deaf Institute. The tiny American, who hails from Hawaii but is now based in Kansas, already seems quite comfortable addressing the room and gets a rowdy cheer […]
– THE EAGLE INN, MANCHESTER – C Duncan’s career has been transformed in the past few weeks. He released his debut album Architect and has had his lead single ‘Garden’ played a number of times on BBC6Music – and it’s probably playing now. This increased exposure, explains why there are just six tickets left on […]

LIVE: C DUNCAN – 22/07/2015

ALBUM REVIEW: OMAR SOULEYMAN – BAHDENI NAMI

Omar Souleyman’s own promoters have labelled Bahdeni Nami as his “second proper studio effort”, but this does little to convey the man’s career. Performing since 1994, Souleyman has made over 500 recordings, the majority of which were released as cassettes of his performances at wedding ceremonies in his native Syria, the resale of which has […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – The Sonics wrote, arguably, four of the greatest 60’s garage punk songs ever, Cinderella, Psycho, Strichnine and The Witch.  They wrote and covered a bunch of other fantastic songs during their short recording career in the mid-sixties and the influence of those songs and that band cannot be overstated.  The […]

LIVE: THE SONICS – 24/07/2015

Album Review: Sleaford Mods – Key Markets

“Wonderful Cunts. That is all.” That’s ideally what I’d like to have published however, due to the restrictions of word count and “professionalism” more of an explanation as to why I love this band is required. But hey it’s Sleaford fucking Mods so I couldn’t give a fuck! Key Markets sees the boys from Nottingham, Jason […]
– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – After a wonderful intro from Positive Force, bandleader Femi Kuti tells the audience that he is going to take us on a tour of afrobeat (or a crash course for the uninitiated) from the early music of his father Fela Kuti, through the present and into the future. […]

LIVE: FEMI KUTI AND POSITIVE FORCE – 16/17/2015

LIVE: TESS PARKS & ANTON NEWCOMBE 13/07/2015

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe and London-based Canadian songwriter Tess Parks released a collaborative album I Declare Nothing earlier this month and have coupled the release with some live dates. Out on Newcombe’s own label, A Recordings, it has been causing rather a stir in the psychedelic minded community. […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – As I’m walking towards The Castle, I blame the atmospheric pressure and this thick humidity for feeling so worn out, but as soon as I enter the tiny room for gigs of this cosy pub all the (environ)mental haze goes away at a stroke. “From the bowels of Scotland”, Thee […]

LIVE: BONES SHAKE – 11/07/2015