LIVE: THREE TRAPPED TIGERS – 24/11/2016

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Many of my nearest and dearest would tell you that, when it comes to music I like to throw around the word ‘favourite’ a lot. But I can honestly say, hand on heart, that the latest LP from Three Trapped Tigers is my favourite release of the year. These London […]
– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – How To Dress Well, aka Tom Krell, has come a long way. From the ‘mysterious’ bedroom R&B genius of his thrilling, lo-fi debut Love Remains six years ago, to his almost bombastic, shiny, pop-indebted album from earlier this year Care, he’s evolved and changed into something resembling a […]

LIVE: HOW TO DRESS WELL – 24/11/2016

LIVE: FALSE ADVERTISING / HORESEBEACH – 18/11/2016

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – I’m all about that DIY aesthetic. I really care about the bands that work hard and go about things with little outside help. Horsebeach and False Advertising that I musically admire for different reasons but with a similar attitude have become two of Manchester’s finest exports and therefore I am […]
– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Walking from the centre of town Sound Control feels like an expedition tonight. It’s that time of year when pretty much the whole of Manchester feel that getting wrecked on a school night is acceptable ‘cos its Christmas’. I dodge several drunken parties this evening, swigging lager and chanting latter […]

LIVE: FUTURE OF THE LEFT / POST WAR GLAMOUR GIRLS – 23/11/2016

LIVE: MUTUAL BENEFIT – 22/11/2016

– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – The last time I saw Jordan Lee, aka Mutual Benefit, was a couple of years back at the Deaf Institute, where he was coming off the back of his much lauded and much loved debut Love’s Crushing Diamond, and it was wonderful. Lee was timid and shy, but his gloriously understated […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Brian Christinzio has one hand on the neck of his guitar and the other up a puppet’s ass.  Although BC himself provides the high pitched voice of the puppet, he is even then undermined by his cloth nemesis, who calls him on his insecurities about his age, teases him […]

LIVE: BC CAMPLIGHT – 18/11/2016

LIVE: JULIA HOLTER – 15/11/2016

– MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL – On a particularly memorable trip into town on the 216 bus, and before losing me briefly in Kendals, my grandfather took me during junior-school holidays for my first exploratory visit of Manchester Cathedral and other local historical sites. Since then, and though largely unchanged physically, of course, this imposing building, now […]
– RNCM, MANCHESTER – The impressive Royal Northern College Of Music plays host tonight, to John Bramwell who has taken time out from recording a new album to road test his new songs and play a number of songs from his back catalogue. It’s a bigger venue than on his recent string of solo dates […]

LIVE: JOHN BRAMWELL – 10/11/2016

LIVE: GOGO PENGUIN – 09/11/2016

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – It was emphatically recommended that I see this electro-jazz band live. I like their recent album Man Made Object but was a bit meh about seeing them perform. How wrong I was. And how glad I am that I allowed this enthusiasm to lead me to The Ritz on a […]
– THE BURROW, ISLINGTON MILL – Islington Mill’s Burrow has a surprisingly intimate quality in spite of its unmistakable industrial look. The lighting is considered, creating a warm tone on the stage, essentially only a small step up from the audience floor. I enter the room to a steady building kick drum, followed by some […]

GIG REVIEW: YUSSEF KAMAAL – 10/11/2016