LIVE: LOS PORCOS – 13/09/2013

– KRAAK GALLERY, MANCHESTER – “Welcome To Pork City” written on a newspaper stand ahead  of the dark back alley where Kraak Gallery is situated is about as ambiguous a notice as the band’s online surfacing, which carried with it a similar secretive obscurity. Signing to Caledonian records, the same label as upcoming Blaenovon, the band […]
A great artist releasing an album is always a good thing, but when new material comes at a machine-gun pace (hello Ryan Adams), it can sometimes detract from your relationship with their art. Listeners need time to acquaint themselves with an album, to let their perception of and relationship with the tracks evolve. Some days […]

Album Review: Nightmares on Wax – Feelin’ Good

LIVE: FUCK BUTTONS – 09/09/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Tonight Gorilla is darkly intense and chaotic, a quasi-bestial atmosphere collecting in anticipation of the sound explosion that Fuck Buttons promise to hurl. Touring their latest album Slow Focus after a near four-year hiatus, the Bristol duo recently headlined Glastonbury’s Park Stage and are on the brink of a world tour […]
The debut album from The Strypes, Snapshot, is a fast paced nod to the 60s rhythm and blues era. The preceding EP, Young, Gifted and Blue, came out in 2012 causing quite a stir. The timing of this record couldn’t be better, with the rise of stars such as Jake Bugg, the reemergence of The […]

Album Review: The Strypes – Snapshot

Album Review: Lanterns on the Lake – Until The Colours Run

Lanterns On The Lake is a five-piece band hailing from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Consisting of Hazel Wilde, Paul Gregory, Ol Ketteringham, Sarah Kemp and Andrew Scrogham, they have had a successful debut album and are now signed to Bella Union. They have performed at numerous music festivals, including Glastonbury, SXSW and Bestival and even toured with Explosions […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Nine years. It’s been nine whole years since Jetplane Landing were last in town, nine whole years since they last toured at all, in fact. Time flies, times change, but with their ‘Don’t Try’ comeback album, Derry’s finest are proving to still be as vital as they ever were. Twelve […]

LIVE: JETPLANE LANDING / DOCTRINES – 04/09/2013

ALBUM REVIEW: SNIPPET – DIY

Reviewed by: Nat Lyon. Johnno Casson is Snippet.   And Snippet is a DIY project band that creates lush sounding productions in a mythical garden shed somewhere in Colchester.  In that magic garden shed, Casson builds and shreds a number of different personalities.  He also writes and self-records arrangements that match the complexity of the characters […]
Money, The Shadow of Heaven, wealth and religion, the twin asteroids of humanity’s destruction, grand topics for an equally grand album. When you listen to this debut from the Manchester 4-piece it certainly seems that they are looking to encompass the city, the earth and stars and everything inbetween. Money mainman, Jamie Lee, expands in […]

Album Review: Money – The Shadow of Heaven

LIVE: CROCODILES / KULT COUNTRY – 28/08/2013

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – As I enter the musical cave that is The Ruby Lounge I can say that I haven’t seen it this busy in a long time. The atmosphere is great, people queuing for the bar, waiting for the band to start and the loud noise of chatter. Once Kult Country […]
– NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – There’s an American feel about this venue, and so Widowspeak should feel right at home. The support band come from Wigan but sound very Country indeed. The stage is set. It’s dark in here and I’m not wearing my glasses… but I can hear drumming and can’t see […]

LIVE: WIDOWSPEAK – 27/08/2013