LIVE: DAN LE SAC VS SCROOBIUS PIP – 22/03/2010

– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip bring together two things I fell out of love with a long time ago, hip hop and poetry. Actually half of that is a lie; I never did in fact fall in love with poetry. It would be fair to say that growing up […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – After seeing the wonderful Dennis Jones on Saturday, I’m geared up for some more eclecticism from The Album Leaf. To my ire, I have to wait outside, as (according to the bouncer) doors have been delayed half an hour because the band are ‘just dicking about with their gear […]

LIVE: THE ALBUM LEAF – 22/03/2010

LIVE: NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB – 20/03/2010

– MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – When I saw that tonight’s gig is to be a 16+ affair and that the doors were to open at 6.30pm, I had the usual momentary thought of “am I gonna be the oldest person in the room?” Fortunately this never lingers long enough for me to actually care. On […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – A sudden downpour has kicked up the potassium in the soil and put a late dampener on a real hibernation-buster of a spring day. Meanwhile, the unexpectedly drenched indie-rock denizens of Manchester are standing agape at Josiah Wolf, drummer of tonight’s headliners and solo artist in his own right, […]

LIVE: WHY? – 19/03/2010

LIVE: NINE BLACK ALPS – 19/03/2010

– THE NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Nine Black Alps have lined up two support acts to accompany them for their gig at Night and Day, Former Bullies and The Witches, both of whom have a similar grungey/rocky style to their own. Former Bullies are first up, and they don’t do a lot wrong. […]
North Atlantic Oscillation, sounds like the technical name for a cyclonic Inuit dance doesn’t it, when in fact it’s a climactic phenomenon that controls the strength and direction of westerly winds and storm tracks across the North Atlantic. In this case it’s also the name of a fascinating, experimental rock band from Scotland – not known […]

ALBUM: North Atlantic Oscillation – Grappling Hooks

ALBUM: Goldfrapp – Head First

Where Goldfrapp’s fourth album, “Seventh Tree”, marked a refreshing departure into ambient, acoustic territory, their fifth, Head First, finds the band travelling back in time to the 1980’s. This is no better exemplified than by “I Wanna Life”, forgettable synth pop cheese whose influences one could attribute to any of a number of low-rent 80s […]
Formed on the Wirral, the posh side of Merseyside, TSCCC arrive with a new cut from forthcoming album “Royal Variety”. I guess with a title like that we can expect an appearance from the Queen, the cast from a Lloyd-Webber musical, Cliff Richard and a ventriloquist/magician. It would seem none of these appear on this […]

SINGLE: THE SEAL CUB CLUBBING CLUB – MADE OF MAGIC

LIVE: FRANK TURNER/CHUCK RAGAN – 17/03/2010

– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and Manchester is full of students taking their disgusted first slurps of Guinness, while those used to all the faux-Oirishness that March 17th entails have crammed into the Academy 1 en masse, and are mostly holding drinks with an amber hue. The clean shaven Chuck Ragan, […]
Butler Williams sound like a couple of nice guys.  Their voices are soothing and mellow and their parts merge so peacefully that it is often impossible to distinguish where one starts and the other one finishes. This is their second release to date and for two guys who are known for performances which give a bit […]

ALBUM: Butler Williams – Save it for Someone Else EP