SINGLE: TALL SHAVES – WAKING ME UP

The North East-based folk duo Tall Shaves began writing their forthcoming single, ‘Waking Me Up’ whilst living the life of working musicians. Their upbeat folk-pop encapsulates the ambling thoughts that accompany the rootless 9-5 and subsequently the rest of the creative day. ‘Waking Me Up’ takes those concerns to a higher place, examining a current […]
-GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER- Tonight Gulliver’s has been taken over by Lancastrian label, Bingo Records for their first year anniversary, a birthday bash! The record label consists of a menagerie of interwoven bands, with label mates performing under a number of different guises and playing multiple instruments. The room is filled with affiliates, friends, family (a lovely […]

LIVE: MR. BEN & THE BENS – 14/09/2018

LIVE: KIRAN LEONARD/CULT PARTY – 08/09/2018

– Partisan, Manchester – When I arrive, Partisan offers us a quarter circle of sofas for viewing. Behind that, more chairs of plush and non-plush kinds. Though there’s a sizeable free space on the floor, with people clustering around the edges. I’m admittedly entering with some bias and expectation. I saw Cult Party (the collective […]
– Gulliver’s, Manchester – Debuting the UK and Europe in a manner that can only be described as storming are Perth’s Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. Selling out almost every show on a tour that is witnessing the band for the first time is a fantastic achievement but one that is worth every penny. Gulliver’s is a […]

LIVE: PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS – 13/09/2018

ALBUM: SPIRITUALIZED – AND NOTHING HURT

Apparently this was going to be the last album Jason Pierce (J Spaceman) was ever going to make as Spiritualized, such was the sheer effort involved, both mentally and physically. Six long years in the making, ‘And Nothing Hurt’ is the sound of the spaceman coming to terms with life as a middle aged family […]
– Gorilla, Manchester – Let’s get this out of the way upfront: I have the biggest man crush on Iceage front man Elias Bender Rønnenfelt. He’s possibly the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen in real life, and his brooding, pouting, strong silent type stage persona (and off stage persona if his interviews are anything […]

LIVE: ICEAGE – 09/09/2018

LIVE: SOCCER MOMMY – 05/09/2018

– The Deaf Institute, Manchester – Entry number 48 in the series ‘How Much Are Young Women With Guitars Kicking Ass Right Now?’ featuring Sophie Allison aka Soccer Mommy. You may have read number 47 in this series a couple of weeks back after I went to see the brilliant Phoebe Bridgers, and I’ll probably […]
Riddled with angst, Sauna Youth express their feelings in a quite British 70’s fashion, spitting South East accent vocals over a ‘The Jam’ like setup. This, a follow-up to their 2015 debut album ‘Distractions’ strikes a similar chord, but they’re still pushing the envelope. The album explores the theme of death in a very literal […]

ALBUM: SAUNA YOUTH – DEATHS

LIVE: TITUS ANDRONICUS – 03/09/2018

– Soup Kitchen, Manchester – This is, hands down, one of the odder shows I’ve been to in recent times. Billed as ‘Titus Andronicus Acoustic’, ‘the band’ are playing much smaller venues than they have done on previous tours in support of their new album A Productive Cough, and the reason is immediately clear: this […]
-SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER- Last night I went to see Spike Lee’s new film Blackkklansman, and it’s pretty brilliant. It’s very funny, and, as you might expect, it packs a hell of a social conscious punch in it. I also felt extremely uncomfortable as a white man, in a cinema full of middle class white people, […]

LIVE: CAMP COPE – 31/08/2018