LIVE: GHXST – 21/06/2012

– KRAAK, MANCHESTER – One of my favourite scene’s in cinema history: Fight Club – Tyler and Co. walk through the bar down to the hidden, dark and dingy basement where grown men choose to punch each other for fun… Tom Waits ‘Goin’ Out West’ is on the jukebox. Entering Kraak when a rock band […]
THE HMZ RITZ, MANCHESTER Now Wave gigs regularly promise plenty of bands and no fillers, as with tonight’s quadruple bill. The thankfully renovated Ritz is starting to get a little sticky underfoot again, due to spilt beer. At £4.35 for a pint of Guinness, I’m not wasting a drop. Psychedelic dark punk pop rock band […]

LIVE: BEST COAST – 17/06/2012

LIVE: FEAR OF MEN – 17/06/2012

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – I had the pleasure of catching Brighton based outfit Fear of Men as part of the wonderful Sounds From The Other City Festival which took place in Salford last month, and it was their simplistic indie pop melodies that won over my heart and have refused to leave my head […]
There’s no stopping Ty; releasing singles and EPs under various names, playing in numerous bands, and hopping from record label to record label as if they were bars on a pub crawl – He started in 2005 with Epsilons, then joined Party Fowl as well as The Traditional Fools, The Perverts and Sic Alps as a […]

ALBUM: TY SEGALL BAND ‘SLAUGHTERHOUSE’

Album Review: Levellers – Static on the Airwaves

Grab your fiddles and dust off your digeridoos, folk-rock veterans Levellers are back with their tenth studio album Static on the Airwaves – their most polished but traditional album to date. Opening with white noise reminiscent of our very own Silent Radio, and an electro sequence Gary Numan would envy, you could be forgiven for […]
What’s not to like about the crazy kids* at Fruits de Mer records? They are a small, independent UK label; they only release on limited edition vinyl; they have a sister label called ‘Regal Crabomophone’ (whatever that’s supposed to mean); they even send their press releases on shiny silver 200gsm paper… Fruits de Mer are […]

Single Review: The Lucid Dream – Hits Me Like I’m Stoned

NEWS: BLOOD DIAMONDS – HEAR NEW SINGLE ‘PHONE SEX’ FEATURING GRIMES

Blood Diamonds, aka Michael Tucker, is a Los Angeles-based pop artist best known for his luxurious dreamscapes and infectious, sun-dipped production. What will be his debut 4AD record, the much-talked about ‘Phone Sex’ track is finally getting released on July 16th. Featuring close friend Grimes (Claire Boucher), ‘Phone Sex’ is a track they made together […]
Jennifer Left has a story to tell you. This young songbird originally from Newcastle but now the seaside town of Brighton is inspired by the songs that raised her, she sings about the stories she writes. Delivering a two-song single of smoky vocals and pitch-dark lyrical subject matter, opening song, Black Dog is an English […]

NEWS: JENNIFER LEFT – HEAR THE NEW EP ‘BLACK DOG’ IN FULL

Album Review: Smoke Fairies – Blood Speaks

The signs of Smoke Fairies’ newfound maturity are there from the very start of second album, Blood Speaks. As muscular drum crackles join moody guitar, the trademark dual vocals of Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies announce their presence with a heavy confidence: “You got the power to bring me down, but I’ve got some sense, […]
– VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER – Back for its third year in Manchester, Dot to Dot has come along tremendously since it started in Nottingham in 2005. Ever since then they have continuously created compelling line-ups, bringing some of the best new and upcoming talent to an exciting inner-city environment. This year’s line-up is certainly no […]

LIVE: DOT TO DOT FESTIVAL – 04/06/2012