LIVE: CARAVAN PALACE – 31/01/2020

-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- While waiting in line for a drink, I overhear several conversations about the dramatic turn that Caravan Palace have made with their most recent album Chronologic. These conversations were not ecstatic at the departure from the electro swing of old. I have to say, I share their apprehension as to whether the […]
-DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER- The post-punk revival is raging, fuelled by the B word and the government and the utter bollocks we wake up to on the news every day. John (or John (timestwo) for internet purposes) are a duo of John’s from Crystal Palace – ‘I’m John, he’s John, we’re John’ they announce, one John […]

LIVE: JOHN – 29/01/2020

ALBUM REVIEW: BLOSSOMS – FOOLISH LOVING SPACES

Blossoms are back! The five piece band from Stockport who made it big with their self-titled debut in 2016 with an unashamedly pop driven and anthemic album that captured people’s attention. 2018’s follow up ‘Cool Like You’ delivered much of the same with added synths. Now comes this, their third album titled ‘Foolish Loving Spaces’. […]
-YES, MANCHESTER- John Myrtle opens the show tonight with songs about, in his own words, “sadness and paranoia”. The tunes themselves are a much more cheerful affair than this may make them sound and the moments of lyrical levity in songs like ‘Cyril the Slug’ merge easily with the more sombre themes of ‘Get Her […]

LIVE: H. HAWKLINE – 31/01/2020

LIVE: FAMOUS / POSA – 30/01/2020

-WILDERNESS RECORD STORE, MANCHESTER- POSA The formats of convention such as verse-chorus-verse appear to be marked absent today as the presumed acronym-named support act display a structure in a form one would deem free. Essentially, the sonic pentagon Tago Mago their way through a man-made steppe involving a clarinet, inaudible vocals (techniques vary), synthesisers (both […]
-NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER- The Night and Day Café is full tonight, and the crowd is full of love for the Chicago based smooth electro pop duo Drama. Drama is a collaboration between vocalist Viva Rosa and producer Na’el Shelade. They blend soulful R&B vocals over tightly crafted electro beats. Straight away their sound […]

LIVE: DRAMA – 29/01/2020

LIVE: THE EARLY MORNINGS / ROXY GIRLS / ALL GIRL ARSON CLUB – 24/01/2020

-THE PEER HAT, MANCHESTER- Vat-Egg Imposition I suppose the obvious thing to comment on would be the leading vocalist’s decision to wear a costume resembling that of a poultry staple known to most as an egg (colour inaccuracy), tying in with one word in their name in a thematic fashion, presumably. Salted snacks, authoritarianism in […]
-YES, MANCHESTER- Last night was a first for me; I saw the same band twice in two separate parts of the same venue, Manchester’s imperious Yes. That band, dear readers, are the best new band, scratch that, the best band operating in the world right now, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to consume […]

LIVE: BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD – 22/01/2020

LIVE: WHYTE HORSES / FRANCIS LUNG – 18/01/2020

-ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, MANCHESTER- Francis Lung Discomforted by the balcony’s design flaws, I watch the support wither through a set I can only describe as somewhat square. Lacking any discernible rhythm as they dispense with mundane topics about ‘being too real’ and feeling invisible (eyes remained open), the opener’s minimalist tone hinders rather […]
Easy listening music is often mocked by some music snobs who only accept the highest echelon of music enter their eardrums and nothing less than challenging is considered ‘good music’. Pinegrove is very much an easy listening band, as the term goes. Their formula of indie, country and folk with stripped down instrumentation is very […]

ALBUM REVIEW: PINEGROVE – MARIGOLD