LIVE: GROOVE ARMADA – 02/03/2010

– THE RITZ BALLROOM, MANCHESTER – When it was rumoured that Groove Armada’s latest album, Black Light, was a homage to the 80s, I feared the worst. As one of Thatcher’s children, born in 1975, I hated the 80s and I’m finding it pretty hard to stomach all this nostalgia, especially from bands that I […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – 2009 was a good year for California based act, Girls. The tragic story of main man Christopher Owens’ upbringing in a cult, and his subsequent change of fortune when he was taken under the wing of a rich benefactor and moved to San Francisco where he formed Girls in […]

LIVE: GIRLS – 02/03/2010

LIVE: NOISETTES – 02/03/2010

– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – “If you like yoghurt then you might know this one”, announces Shingai Shoniwa before the second song of the evening, ‘Wild Young Hearts’, and judging by the reaction of the crowd, a lot of people like yoghurt. Two of the Noisettes songs have been used in adverts, most notably the […]
Philadelphian producer and general musical wizard Starkey, brings us a 4 track EP, giving us another team up with vocalist Anneka, two solo ventures, and a remix from Slugabed. After catching his recent appearance on Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental Show where he teamed up with Anneka and Reso to build a track from scratch over […]

EP: Starkey – Stars EP Ft. Anneka

ALBUM: Kris Drever – Mark The Hard Earth

In the inlay, Kris Drever thanks, ‘All the people I play with in my day job’. And it’s true – despite the critical acclaim heaped on Kris Drever’s first album, Black Water – mainstream audiences will know Kris as the quieter one who plays with Idlewild’s frontman in their acoustic project, Drever McCusker Woomble, and the folkies will be more acquainted with Lau, […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – My friend warned me that last time he saw Kong, they were almost criminally loud. That in mind, I’ve brought some earplugs just in case. When I arrive, Trojan Horses are ignoring the audience and playing whatever it is that they play. The band looks like a weird face-off […]

LIVE: KONG – 28/02/2010

LIVE: FIELD MUSIC – 26/02/2010

– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – It’s another dark and rainy night in the back streets of Salford. Islington Mill is packed, Marc Riley (#saveBBC6music) is here and there’s a buzzing atmosphere. The filler CD fades down and is replaced by what sounds like a secret sample recording from an empty concert hall. A note is […]
– The Ruby Lounge, Manchester – David Thomas Broughton quietly takes the stage at the Ruby Lounge aided only by an acoustic guitar and gently begins strumming. The majority of the Wednesday night Ruby Lounge crowd are initially not even aware that the PA has stopped and the performance has begun. Making use of some […]

LIVE: David Thomas Broughton – 24/02/2010

LIVE: SHEARWATER – 24/02/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Shearwater arrive on a cold February night in Manchester off the back of their latest release, ‘The Golden Archipelago’. The five band members take up their designated positions on stage and the show begins – lead singer Jonathan Meiburg stands centre stage with a fixed and purposeful intensity and […]
To begin I’d like to resort to basic national stereotypes. Australians are not renowned for their subtlety. They produce bands like AC/DC and Men at Work. Their national monument is a giant rock. Their drink of choice is the delicately brewed XXXX lager, and their film stars spend their time displaying their larger-than-yours knives. So […]

SINGLE: Angus and Julia Stone – And The Boys