ALBUM: Don Niño – In The Backyard Of Your Mind

Don Niño (in reality a French chap called Nicolas Laureau) has a voice resembling Devendra Banhart, a drum sound evoking David Bowie’s Low, acoustic guitars reminiscent of  Love’s Forever Changes, and an album title that evokes the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band’s 1968 ditty ‘Canyons Of Your Mind’. However, to suggest that this album is as good as […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Krankenhaus Mankenhaus! British Sea Power take the fun and frivolity of their monthly Brighton residency on tour as they venture north for the first Krankenhaus to be staged outside of East Sussex. The intriguing line-up includes a DJ set from Duncan of Dutch Uncles, a ventriloquism act from locally based BBC 6 Music radio hero […]

LIVE: BRITISH SEA POWER – 03/08/2012

ALBUM: WILD NOTHING – NOCTURNE

To me, Jack Tatum’s music has always seemed contradictory. On his 2010 album, Gemini, Tatum used the stylistic devices of pop music as a stencil to aid his vision. Verses sunk into choruses perfectly, bridges obligingly followed and earworms were unearthed in their masses. As if Tatum’s song writing was akin to slotting together pieces […]
Ah, Coinstar Day. £21.47 redeemed from jean-pocket oblivion, all thanks to your charitable counting-machine friend. Know the feeling? Well, stand by: the improbable satisfaction that comes from just such little victories fills Johnno Casson’s delicate, quirky album, Window Shopping. Colchester singer-songwriter Casson, armed with previous self-releases under the name Snippet, delights a growing internet fanbase […]

ALBUM: JOHNNO CASSON – WINDOW SHOPPING

LIVE: PLANK! / HOOKWORMS – 27/07/2012

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – It’s certainly the night for a mind-altering statement. At the very same time as one great Mancunian artist is subverting all expectations in front of a global audience, another group of them are tapping into the dark recesses of our imaginations on a far smaller scale. But whereas Danny Boyle […]
There comes a time when most music lovers will claim to have heard it all before. Of course, the battle against jaded apathy is constant, and must be fought on all fronts. However, unctuous press releases try hard to extol the virtues of their offering, pitching it as the Third Coming and a cure for […]

ALBUM: MOEBIUS + TIETCHENS

LIVE: SAVAGES – 24/07/2012

– The Deaf Institute, Manchester – The blow of missing the first two local Savages gigs this year – in a cage in a bunker in Salford and at Islington Mill in June – has been eased now that I can witness ‘everyones favourite new band’, in my favourite venue. Parma Violets are the main support, I saw them at […]
The pioneers of booty shaking, reggae fuelled, dancefoor smashers; Major Lazer, rope in the talents of Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors in their latest release; “Get Free”. A much more downtempo outing than their previous material but by no means lacking in quality. The track kicks back at a dub-paced flow with light smatterings of […]

SINGLE: MAJOR LAZER – ‘GET FREE’

Single Review: Richard Hawley – Down In The Woods

It’s been 3 years since Sheffieldite, Richard Hawley, released an album. Even though he teased fans with guest vocals on an Arctic Moneys track earlier this year, Hawley returns with his punchy, rock ‘n’ roll fuelled 7th album, Standing On The Sky’s Edge. And fuelled with Rock ‘n’ Roll it certainly is. ‘Down In The Woods’, […]
As one of the showcasing artists at this year’s SXSW festival, a great deal of attention has been thrown Electric Guest’s way. In May, I saw Electric Guest perform to a sparse crowd during Liverpool Sound City and it’s their newest single, ‘Awake’, that has the potential to rouse the music aficionados and create a […]

SINGLE REVIEW: Electric Guest – Awake