LIVE: MICHAEL KIWANUKA – 15/05/2012

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Heading to The Ritz on a damp Tuesday night makes me wonder if strappy wedges and a gust sensitive skirt are a good combo. The weather isn’t dampening the spirits of folks up for a piece of the recently touted Michael Kiwanuka appearing tonight. This one is an eagerly anticipated […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – At twenty to ten it seems like an age since the support act went off.  The Axl Rose complex finally shows signs of lifting when people we assume to be in the band appear on stage one at a time.  Something’s happening as a couple of notes emerge on […]

LIVE: GAZ COOMBES – 17/05/2012

ALBUM REVIEW: Lettie – Good Fortune, Bad Weather

The weather over the past few weeks has been fairly bad, but stumbling upon the latest release from Lettie will certainly give you good fortune. The London singer-songwriter’s new offering, Good Fortune, Bad Weather, is an album with the potential for plenty of hits with its great electro-pop sound and sublime songwriting. Lettie is a […]
– QUAY HOUSE, MANCHESTER – As part of the annual audio/visual festival Future Everything, Now Wave have brought us to a disused office block situated next door to The Opera House, to see no fewer than six (that’s 6) bands. We’ve become accustomed to dirty industrial warehouses and basement venues in Manchester, so this is […]

LIVE: ∆ (ALT-J) – 18/05/2012

LIVE: SHARON VAN ETTEN – 17/05/2012

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I first heard of Sharon Van Etten though a press-release, back in December. It was one of those moments where it became apparent this artist was going to be a regular feature on my MP3 player for the foreseeable future. Names dropped into that news item such as The […]
San Diego’s Crocodiles have unveiled the second single to be taken from their forthcoming third album. The new single ‘Endless Flowers’, out June 11th, is taken from the album of the same name, out June 4th on Souterrain Transmissions. It sees the band, as vocalist Brandon Welchez describes himself “stepping from monochrome into full colour” […]

NEWS: CROCODILES – FREE DOWNLOAD OF ‘ENDLESS FLOWERS’ + NEW ALBUM & SINGLE

LIVE: DZ DEATHRAYS / EMBERS / FAWN SPOTS – 16/05/2012

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – When I hear word that FAWN SPOTS are coming to Manchester I cancel plans and jump at the chance to go see them.  Fawn Spots are Lee Bowden and Jonathan Meager; based in York where they are proactive in the music scene being heavily involved in truly great projects such […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I haven’t been upstairs at the Deaf Institute before and I’m struck by the glamour of the place.  For some reason it’s really unexpected and I like it!  It’s got big steps going up at the back for sitting on that creates a theatre kind of feel and a […]

LIVE: TRAILER TRASH TRACYS – 10/05/2012

Single Review: Wildeflower – Good Girl/Amazing Discovery

“Good Girl” is the debut single from Wildeflower, a six piece folk-rock band from Englefield Green. This single release offers a modern folk style with close three-part harmonies as well as coupling rich layered instrumentation with lo-fi production. Led by Max Kinghorn-Mills, the psychedelic folk group marries influences from rivals/progressives Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and […]
The Wire, widely regarded as the best TV series of all time, is particulalry celebrated for its complex story lines, slowly coiling plot, use of authentic slang (only understandable via subtitles), and the way it mercilessly dissects a self-annhilating society from the bottom, with its petty drug dealers and tenement tower blocks, all the way […]

Album Review: Beach House – Bloom