LIVE: JACCO GARDNER – 8/6/2013

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – On a summers day such as this, psychedelic 60’s baroque pop is as good an idea as ordering a tall glass of iced lemonade. The Parklife festival is in full swing just north of here; Netherlanders Jacco Gardner’s stage, however, is in a basement in the centre of town. Patrons […]
 – THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER –  It’s always a wonderful feeling when you finish work on a sunny day. I’ve rolled up virtually every item of clothing I’m wearing and I don’t intend on taking off my sunglasses until it’s real dark. My soundtrack to this glorious afternoon? The tropical pop grooves of London based […]

LIVE: FAIR OHS – 04/6/2013

LIVE: ALLISTER – 30/5/2013

 – SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER –  About 10 years ago as a younger, thinner gig goer I saw Allister play in Manchester supporting their then new release Last Stop Suburbia. A decade later Allister are playing that album in full, plus more. It’s at Sound Control, a venue I’ve heard about but actually not been too […]
Tribes are a relatively new band, forming only in 2010 in Camden, London. They released their first EP in 2011, first album in 2012, and their second album Wish to Scream in 2013.  The band plan on releasing a new record every year, and despite their constantly hectic touring schedules and the fact this album […]

Album Review: Tribes – Wish To Scream

LIVE: IRON & WINE – 30/05/2013

 – THE OPERA HOUSE, MANCHESTER – Everything about this gig was luxurious, from the opulent setting of the grand Manchester Opera House, through the twelve musicians on stage, to the two hour, 22 song running time of the set, it was an old school occasion, the likes of which we don’t see much any more. […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Things are really moving fast for Obaro Ejimiwe, a.k.a Ghostpoet. His bedroom produced debut album ‘Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam’ was nominated for the Mercury Prize, which thrust him into the limelight with a little help from Gilles Peterson’s label Brownswood. Two years on, he has released his 2nd album (through […]

LIVE: GHOSTPOET – 28/05/2013

Album Review: Trigger Effect – What’s Left To Eliminate?

What’s Left To Eliminate? is the fourth studio album from Montreal Punk/Rock/Metal band Trigger Effect. They have already toured as an opening act for Iron Maiden, Queensryche and Rob Halford. This album doesn’t just start, it lurches into a loud, violent, attack from the very start that doesn’t stop until they are finished. Every track flows into the next in […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER –  Formed in 2003 by Québécois husband and wife team Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, The Besnard Lakes are something rather special live. With earlier albums The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse and The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night erring towards the intellectual indie side of indie rock, over […]
Besnard Lakes

LIVE: THE BESNARD LAKES – 23/05/2013

Album Review: Little Boots – Nocturnes

You know that feeling that only arises as a result of watching Eurovision? That nauseous glee that accompanies a man from Belarus singing like he’s got a pineapple in his colon; or the haughty guffaw at a trio of leather-clad Moldovans babbling over some mimed sub-Rihanna dance-pop. This, combined with the schadenfreude developed as a […]
 – SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER –  I’ve only relatively recently gotten into Mount Eerie, the moniker adopted by Phil Elverum after he stopped the incredible Microphones (seriously, if you never have, check out The Glow Pt 2 album…all sorts of amazing), so this show at the ever brilliant Soup Kitchen was my chance to see an […]

LIVE: MOUNT EERIE – 23/05/2013