Album Review: Battles – La Di Da Di

La Di Da Di is an interesting choice of name for Battles’ third album. Where Mirrored had those weird, indecipherable, pitch-shifted syllables and Gloss Drop had fairly traditional guest vocalists, La Di Da Di is wholly instrumental and all the better for it. If anything the vocals were distracting on Gloss Drop. This record feels […]
– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – In the belly of Salford tonight is one of the year’s most diverse, eclectic gig line-ups. First are Liverpool’s Ex-Easter Island Head, a trio of deviant experimenters who concoct swathes of ambient, shimmering textures and feedback primarily from four guitars laid flat atop two tables. Alongside a conventional drum-kit, they […]

LIVE: RICHARD DAWSON – 15/09/2015

LIVE: MAC DEMARCO – 12/09/2015

– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – Sporting an Everton shirt and accompanied by a girl who had a fucking jewel glued to her forehead I venture to the ever eventful city of Manchester with great anticipation of who I’m going to witness this  evening. The effortlessly cool and entertaining Mac Demarco graces the stage of […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Tonight at Manchester’s Soup Kitchen, we are in for something special. Not only is it the last gig of the year for psych favourites The Lucid Dream, but we are being treated to an amalgamation act known only as The Boris Johnson Massacre. Taking to the dimly lit stage, The […]

LIVE: THE LUCID DREAM 11/09/2015

LIVE: WAND – 10/09/2015

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Our editor told me to use the word ‘magic’ in this review, so that’s that over with. Wand are a 4-piece from LA who are about to release their 3rd album in the space of 14 months. ‘Ganglion Reef’, on Ty Segall’s God? label, showcased an impressive, unique blend of psych, prog and […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Lights dance off the audience’s head, an ear piercing twang sounds from the guitar and Cate Le Bon stands to the side of Tim Presley, the White Denim bassist, with an unnerving presence. If this band didn’t consist of musicians of such pedigree, who knows if Soup Kitchen’s basement would […]

LIVE: DRINKS – 09/09/2015

LIVE: FUTURE ISLANDS – 08/09/2015

– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – You just know the night’s going to be good when – even before you’ve stepped foot inside The Academy – someone undercharges you for a beer, Rooney beats Bobby Charlton’s goal scoring record and you bump into old, old friends, long lost, somehow having got away from you.  So I […]
– HALLE ST. PETER’S, MANCHESTER – I’m not a religious man, so I don’t know off the top of my head where the Halle St Peter’s church is. A cursory Google informs me it’s deep in the heart of Ancoats, outside the comfort blanket of the usual Northern Quarter gig stomping ground. As it happens, […]

LIVE: HAIKU SALUT – 08/09/2015

ALBUM REVIEW: BEIRUT – NO NO NO

Beirut band leader Zach Condon’s story is film-worthy – as a young jazz trumpeter, he was exposed to mariachi music while growing up in Sante Fé, New Mexico. At 17, he dropped out of school and ran away to Paris after working in an international film cinema, where Sicilian funeral brass music and Balkan folk had caught his […]
“Things can get out of a black hole, both to the outside, and possibly, to another universe. So, if you feel you are in a black hole, don’t give up. There’s a way out” (*). This is Stephen Hawking’s encouraging reflection on the everlasting human concern about what’s on the other side(s). Spanish progressive post-rock […]

Album Review: Exxasens – Back To Earth