LIVE: Laura Marling – 24/10/2011

– MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, MANCHESTER – The video openings to latest (and extraordinary) single ‘Sophia’ and debut EP opener ‘New Romantic’ are identical: Laura Marling, sitting on a chair, singing about her love life with an eloquence and directness that act like a direct channel between you and her. The differences are more interesting than the similarities. […]
This latest release from the splendid Fruits de Mer record label is a six track EP that is a kitsch retro fest. Six theme tunes, three each from the halcyon days of the BBC and ITV when summer holidays meant badly dubbed and almost impossible to follow TV shows from the colonies, and SUPERMARIONATION meant […]

EP: Fruits de Mer Records – Do Not Adjust Your Set

LIVE: EXILE PARADE – 22/10/2011 (WITH FREE DOWNLOAD)

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Tales of Owen Morris’s eccentric behaviour during the recording of Exile Parade’s debut album are fuelling my anticipation as I make my way to see them perform at the Night and Day Cafe. Apparently, things took a confrontational turn during the sessions at Monnow Valley Studios, when the […]
‘Det Haster!’, roughly translated (by google translator of course) to ‘Urgency’, is particularly apt. Norway’s Casiokids are absolutely amazing live. Fact! They are a blistering, amphetamine ball of electro energy, vibrance and fun. This spectacle has not yet successfully translated onto vinyl. On record the keytarists are a vapid, 2D disappointment. It’s a bit like […]

SINGLE: Casiokids – Det Haster!

ALBUM REVIEW: Magazine – No Thyself

To reform or not to reform? For many grey-haired rockers, post-punks and Manchester indie sorts (hello Stone Roses!) the answer has of late been in the affirmative. The results of these reformations have been mixed. The Go-Betweens and Gang Of Four both picked up like they never stopped, successfully pushing their original sounds to new […]
– THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – With less than three weeks to go to Halloween, tonight’s event seems like a completely suitable way to start the gothic season, right down to the names of the headliners – The Horrors and The Kills, playing in an old air raid shelter in the dead of night. Spooky. […]

LIVE: THE HORRORS/THE KILLS – 15/10/2011

Album Review: Jeffrey Lewis – A Turn In The Dream Songs

The way Jeffrey Lewis churns out near identical album one after the other leaves little room for innovative description. Musically, A Turn In The Dream Songs is pretty much the same as ‘Ere Are I. But then, in a Dylan-esque way, the music is incidental to Lewis’ appeal. It is merely a vehicle for Lewis’ […]
– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – I’m not sure what to expect tonight as I follow the flow of thirty or forty-somethings down into the basement of the university. I’ve seen Brett Anderson peacock strutting across most of the stages on this university campus, but this is perhaps one of its more cramped gig spaces. The […]

LIVE: BRETT ANDERSON – 11/10/2011

LIVE: TUSK FESTIVAL – 7-9/10/2011

– THE CLUNY/THE STAR & SHADOW CINEMA, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE – This is my first review since June so forgive me if it is even worse than my previous efforts. Having missed some great gigs this summer / autumn (in particular Moon Wiring Club at the Dog and Partridge in Bolton) I have launched myself back in […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Receiving a Mercury Music Prize nomination is one of the biggest and ultimate accolades a UK act can receive. Coventry-born Ghostpoet bestowed the respected roll of honour this year, for his debut album Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam. Even before the nominees were announced, GP was named as […]

LIVE: GHOSTPOET – 09/10/2011