LIVE: MANCHESTER PSYCH FEST II – 29/11/2014

– NIGHT AND DAY, MANCHESTER – Psych! A few years ago, if you’d asked me to define the genre, I’d have had an easier job. It seems the category now encompasses any new band that’s influenced by anything from the 60’s and early 70’s; no longer restricted to the output of those on hallucinogenic drugs, or who sought spiritual enlightenment… […]
There’s an innate appeal in hearing bands who push boundaries and plough their own furrow. The interest for the listener in being at the edge of the musical map is there are fewer points of reference, no landmarks to keep us on track and provide comfortable orientation. For the bands performing in this space, there […]

Album Review: Trash Kit – Confidence

LIVE: DEERS – 25/11/2014

– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – Beyond being a two-club city obsessed with football, there are few similarities between Manchester and Madrid. The weather is possibly the most glaring contrast, not that it seemed to bother Deers, who stand outside a sold-out Castle Hotel in the Northern drizzle, laughing and joking with fans 900 miles […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – I like Gorilla a lot, but I also like the Salisbury pub around the corner, which is why I miss the first support band Shinies: too busy propping up the bar with a pint of Old Peculiar while I wait for my mate to turn up. I’ve seen Shinies before a […]

LIVE: PULLED APART BY HORSES – 21/11/2014

LIVE: JACKSON BROWNE – 18/11/2014

– THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – Composing his reflective songs on piano or guitar, Jackson Browne has been exporting his music from California since the early 1970s. Regarded as classics, albums like Late for the Sky and The Pretender rightly stand alongside works of Laurel Canyon contemporaries like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. In a […]
– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER –  It’s always a winning moment when you first get into a band to discover that they’re playing near you that week. This is what happened when I first heard the well praised debut long player from Montreal based quartet Ought. I remember thinking ‘this is really cool, I wonder if […]

LIVE: OUGHT – 18/11/2014

LIVE: CHRISTOPHER OWENS – 17/11/2014

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER –  Oh my. I’ve been waiting to see Christopher Owens in some form or other for about 5 years. I missed his band Girls when they passed through both London and Manchester at various points, and when they went and broke up and I thought I might never get to […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Post hardcore, alternative rock, indie rock, progressive rock, math rock, art rock, noise rock: these are the genre labels on Trail Of Dead’s Wikipedia page. It’s fair to say that every rock genre has been levelled at the Texan band across their 15 year, 9 album lifetime, and tonight […]

LIVE: …AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD – 16/11/2014

LIVE: PERE UBU / THE PERE UBU MOON UNIT – 15/11/2014

– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER –  Not many rock bands have a motto, and those that do seldom live out their philosophy with the dedication of Pere Ubu.  “Ars longa, spectatores fugaces” translates as “Art is forever, the audience comes and goes”. and tonight it proves to be a perfect articulation of the Pere […]
It is difficult not to be excited by Meanwhile. Sounding somewhere between Prince and the Pet Shop Boys, the former Home Counties dweller (born Tom Andrews), creates dance-able songs with great hooks. On tour with La Roux and signed to Fiction Records, the future for Meanwhile looks as bright as their glorious Technicolor pop. First […]

Q&A QUICKIE: MEANWHILE