LIVE: ANDREW JACKSON JIHAD – 11/06/2015

–  THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – In case any of us had forgotten, Andrew Jackson Jihad (AJJ) reminds us that guitars can actually sweat. And bleed. Clean and raucous, friendly furious, the punk-folk band from Arizona turs up as an effective catalyst for teenagers’ rage, as most of the audience tonight is pretty young and […]
– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – This is, hands down, the oddest gig I’ve been to. And I saw the first iteration of The Knife’s Shake The Habitual tour. Jenny Hval, the Norwegian art-pop-composer-sometime—metal-vocalist has brought her show to Manchester’s intimate Gullivers, and it’s full on mental. Hval has just released her best album, Apocalypse, girl, and […]

LIVE: JENNY HVAL – 11/06/2015

LIVE: BRITISH SEA POWER – 12/06/2015

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – British Sea Power are somewhat of a cult these days, a reputation for doing a lot for their fans, most of which are quite mad. Their online merchandise shop is, without doubt, one of the best in the world. They harbour the biggest range of band t-shirts known to man […]
– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Tonight’s entertainment comes in the form of New York’s finest surf rockers gracing this historic venue with their presence. Signed to Captured Tracks, DIIV started as a solo project for lead singer Zachary Smith Cole, which interestingly was originally called Dive after the Nirvana track. Cole put together a […]

LIVE: DIIV – 10/06/2015

Album Review: Nozinja – Nozinja Lodge

There is as much to treasure about Nozinja Lodge as a statement of where the music industry finds itself in 2015 as there is with the addictive music itself. Nozinja – aka Richard Mthethwa – hails from the poverty-stricken South African province of Limpopo, and has become the talisman for the burgeoning genre hybrid known […]
– EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS – And so it’s Day Two and despite a few sore heads and blurry eyes as I enter the venue, the overall mood is buoyant and the alcohol is already flowing. Bonnacons of Doom open proceedings in the Main Lab. The five piece have a fill-in bassist in the form of James […]

LIVE: EINDHOVEN PSYCH LAB DAY 2 – 06/06/2015

LIVE: EINDHOVEN PSYCH LAB DAY 1 – 05/06/2015

– EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS – The time is now: the most anticipated overseas psych event is here, from the creators of Liverpool Psych Fest…Eindhoven Psych Lab. Its Day One and Tubelight take the stage in the Main Lab. The Belgian four piece offer up channelled My Bloody Valentine shoegaze vibes and although being relatively unknowns offer […]
This experimental London garage punk band emit a studious vibe – Dreamlands’ album cover is simply a photo of their instruments sat player-less in front of a typical looking shared house. If there were to be a new version of The Young Ones on our tellies, I’d like to think it would sound like this. Band members […]

ALBUM REVIEW: SAUNA YOUTH – DISTRACTIONS

LIVE: THE COURTEENERS – 05/06/2015

– HEATON PARK, MANCHESTER – To date, this is by far The Courteeners’ biggest gig and where better to have it in than their own backyard? Over 25,000 people have crammed into Heaton Park to see the biggest band in Manchester at the moment, perform. The crowd is a sea of Fila bucket hats and wannabe hooligans. […]
– RNCM, MANCHESTER –  Theoretically, this is supposed to be one of the UK dates for the presentation of Amanda Palmer’s book ‘The Art of Asking’. The book is autobiographical and addresses the topic of crowdfunding but also the more general issue of asking for things and why people find it so difficult. In practice, […]

LIVE: AMANDA PALMER – 03/06/2015