LIVE: JOSE GONZALEZ / OLOF ARNALDS – 14/03/2015

– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – It could be that I’m biased in favour of anything Nordic, but it seems to me that Northern Europe always walks proudly on an independent path, away from mainstream styles, genres and attitudes. Tonight at the Academy 2 (justifiably sold out) I am blessed with the experience of Swedish-Argentinian singer […]
– ANTWERP MANSION, MANCHESTER – The website insists that this venue didn’t used to be a squat… to be honest, it looks as though it still is a squat. Graffiti covers  any area that’s reachable, inside and out – electric extension leads twist through holes in the walls and ceiling like overgrown vines – the […]

LIVE: COSMOSIS – 14/03/2015

LIVE: CLINIC – 13/03/2015

– THE NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – As I make the trip to Manchester tonight to finally see Clinic perform, it occurs to me that the Liverpool band of electro-psyche obscurists have always been on the periphery of my musical ‘default setting’. What I mean is, I listen to quite a lot of music […]
– ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – I’m not sure how I feel about full album shows. On one hand, if you love the album it’s great – you know what’s coming and you know the band will play your favourite song from it because, er, they have to. On the other hand, there’s no surprise, there’s […]

LIVE: UNDERWORLD – 13/03/2015

LIVE: RADKEY – 06/03/2015

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Home-schooled and raised on a diet of the Ramones, Misfits and Zeppelin by their manager father, Missouri based three-piece Radkey have earned many plaudits for their live shows.  They’re in town for a one-off UK appearance to celebrate the conclusion of the recording of their debut album in […]
Following last summer’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘Contour Lines’, Manchester’s electro dark-pop duo Claire Brentnall and Richard Knox look to maintain the momentum with 4 new tracks. They’re like a collaboration between Kate Bush at her most melancholy, singing over a minimal version of Massive Attack’s Mezzanine, or Forest Swords. Much like Lamb’s work, Richard provides an unpredictable […]

EP REVIEW: SHIELD PATTERNS ‘VIOLET’

Album Review: Fawn Spots – From Safer Place

From Safer Place, the début album from York-based punk trio Fawn Spots, rests on a tipping point: written, recorded and self-produced at the bands own rehearsal space, it captures them in ferocious form, a band at the threshold of the familiar and about to slash and burn their way into unknown territory. Having built a fearsome […]
– ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – I don’t know if they’ve put something in the water down there, but there seems to have recently been a big influx of exciting new indie bands coming out of Birmingham and smashing it. From big tours to big record deals, big riffs to big hooks, it’s all been going […]

LIVE: JAWS – 06/03/2015

LIVE: VIKESH KAPOOR – 03/03/2015

– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – “I dream away my morning”, Vikesh Kapoor sings on ‘I Dreamt Blues’ conjuring up an image of Alan Sillitoe’s protagonist from Saturday Night & Sunday Morning, Arthur Seaton slaving over his lathe at a bicycle factory dreaming of plotting an escape from his small town drudgery. In fact, this is what […]
–  ST. PHILIP’S CHURCH, SALFORD – St. Philip’s church in Salford, through vicar Andy Salmon, has been the location of various performances in the past few years. A 2011 M.E.N. interview with the vicar reveals that the programming has also included, interestingly, a regular ‘Goth, Metal, 80s and Punk club night’. Despite the conventional religious […]

LIVE: JOHN SMITH 27/02/2015