LIVE: GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR – 17/04/2015

– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – The last time I saw Godspeed You! Black Emperor (GSY!BE for now on for ease) was on their comeback from hiatus in around 2011 at the beautiful Troxy in London, and it was a thing of utter beauty and joy. For me (and many others), GSY!BE are the post […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – It’s difficult to see where Natalie Findlay’s immensely powerful voice emanates from. 3 guitarists are needed to keep her on check. The late 90’s post-punk playlist fades, and smoke fills the stage, as her band members enter this almost full venue to ‘Down In Mexico’ by The Coasters; a song recently revived by […]

LIVE: FINDLAY – 18/04/2015

LIVE: DUKE GARWOOD – 11/04/2015

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Sometimes, the choices you take by pure chance really do you well. Duke Garwood gives us an evening of seminal intimacy and peace of mind at Manchester’s Deaf Institute. In fact, this venue seems perfectly suited for him. To be honest, I end up here only because I didn’t manage […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Not a lot is known about Ben Khan. He hasn’t done a lot of interviews, he’s not big on the ol’ social media, he’s only released one EP (the stunning 1992) with another one on the way, and rarely plays live. I can’t even (shock!) find a Wikipedia page for him. What we […]

LIVE: BEN KHAN – 14/04/2015

LIVE: NADINE SHAH – 14/04/2015

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Due to the typically dismal weather, beer gardens are in short supply in Manchester. On the rare occasion like tonight where the sun still shines gloriously at gone half seven, every flimsy metal table outside a bar is keenly occupied. The smartest amongst those are supping up quickly to […]
– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – There is sometimes a chasm between lives led, and lives we would want to lead. Most of us spread ourselves an inch thin and a mile wide, diluting ourselves to satisfy the multifarious demands of life, and lose something of ourselves in that process. Credit then to those who find another […]

LIVE: THOMAS TRUAX – 09/04/2015

LIVE: I AM KLOOT – 10/04/2015

– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – It’s the first time seeing I Am Kloot live and I’m very excited it’s happening at my favourite venue, the Albert Hall. Expectations are high, and they are definitely exceeded. These gentlemen are called John Bramwell (vocals, guitar), Peter Jobson (bass) and Andy Hargreaves (drums) and they provide a […]
The Leisure Society are the Brighton band that are likely to always be remembered as the band that, against all the odds, secured two consecutive Ivor Novello Award nominations, the first of which for ‘The Last of the Melting Snow’, a modern pop masterpiece. That is a claim to fame for anybody to be proud […]

Album Review: The Leisure Society – The Fine Art of Hanging On

Album Review: Calexico – Edge of the Sun

Edge of the Sun is Calexico’s ninth studio album. For those who don’t know them, Calexico is formed by core founding members Joey Burns and John Convertino plus a varying line-up of musicians for recordings and tours. Burns and Convertino met in Los Angeles in the 1990s and started playing together in Giant Sand with […]
English rock band WIRE probably have the strongest début ever conceived. Their 1977 album, Pink Flag, is an absolute fucking classic and has garnered much praise and respect from music fans and artists alike. It’s a shame then that their latest collection of songs simply entitled, WIRE, is nowhere near the standard set so high […]

Album Review: Wire – Wire