At its best, music can be a balm that sees all stresses evaporate. That is certainly the feeling generated by the opening track of ‘Les Egarés’, ‘Ta Nye’, each note a carefully placed finger on the temple, massaging away anxiety. ‘Les Egarés’ is the work of a quartet consisting of Ballaké Sissoko (kora), Vincent Segal […]
Katie Gately mines the seismic events in her life for musical inspiration. In her 2020 album, ‘Loom’, she channelled the loss of her mother through sampled sounds sourced from coffins closing, meat smacking, elephant trumpets, cantaloupe stabs and earthquakes. Her latest release, ‘Fawn / Brute’, sees her exploring the flipsides of childhood energy following the […]
– Yes Pink Room, Manchester – To describe this Anna B Savage show as eagerly awaited would be a major understatement. The searing intensity of her first album, ‘A Common Turn’, became one of my soundtracks to 2021’s winter lockdown while her more nuanced follow-up, ‘in/FLUX,’ has already established itself as a leading contender for […]
– Ritz, Manchester – I usually hate those pretentious types, those fans who believe that the unreleased stuff is better than the released stuff, but for tonight at least I’m my own worst enemy. As someone who only listens to Alex G’s unreleased music I have no idea how I will fare at an Alex […]
Released on the Drag City label, Cory Hanson’s new single ‘Twins’ is another blast of psyched up rock n roll, taken from his third album, due to be released in June, A uniquely eccentric yet melodic songwriter! Cory Hanson Video – Twins
There are certain bands whose music has the power to transport you back to a particular point in your life, all it takes is a few notes, and your mind drifts into nostalgia, the days and nights out, friends you knew back then. Listening to ‘The Complete Singles’ by Inspiral Carpets I’m instantly back in […]
Habibi Funk is a German-based record label that has been dedicated to releasing an eclectic range of high-quality unknown or neglected music from the Arab world since 2015. Their latest excellent release marks a departure for Habibi Funk as the acts they featured previously experimented with soul or funk for a couple of tracks before […]
It might be glib to suggest that anyone apart from government sponsored purveyors of dodgy PPE had a good pandemic but Ajay Saggar definitely used the time productively. Between January 2021 and June 2022, he spent most days at his Soundation Studios recording and mixing music aided by a top team of collaborators, the result […]
– Castle Hotel, Manchester – I came across Sophie Jamieson’s astonishing, raw debut album at the very start of the year. Gold Flake Paint, one of the best music blogs around, has a knack of presenting albums to me in their end of year roundup that I’ve never heard of, but because of their brilliant […]
A psychedelic twist on electronic music is what Gnoomes have been carefully crafting over their four albums, now having fled their home country of Russia, and relocated elsewhere, their latest album is awash with hypnotic electronica. Opening track ‘Ural Sun’ sounds like a dystopian dream, with deep rumbling sounds which build into a mountainous soundscape […]
GIG GUIDE
Our gig guide is handpicked and every act has been listened to before making it onto the list.
See this month's guide
ALBUM REVIEW - THE SCRATCH: PULL LIKE A DOG
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 13 MARCH 2026
ALBUM REVIEW - FOTOCRIME: SECURITY
ALBUM REVIEW - TENDERNESS: TRUE
ALBUM REVIEW - ART SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND: LEAN IN
ALBUM REVIEW - SQUEEZE: TRIXIES
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 6 MARCH 2026
ALBUM REVIEW - AGABAS: HARD ANGER
GIG GUIDE - MARCH 2026
ALBUM REVIEW - CONVERGE: LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH
