SINGLE: Officer Kicks – Automatic

I’ve developed a knack for telling how good a release is by the style of the cover artwork. The most obvious thing about the Officer Kicks single, other than the band’s stupid name, is the Libertines typeface. My guess, therefore, is that this band is a rocky Libertines rip off, all effort put into the attitude […]
– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – South West London trio, The XX, formed a few years back while at the prestigious Elliott School, and with wrap sheet including Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet, I know where I wish I’d spent my teenage years. After getting signed to Young Turks Records, they dropped the self-titled début […]

LIVE: THE XX – 06/03/2010

LIVE: Paper Spaceman – 06/03/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – It’s fairly safe to say that Alan McGee knows a thing or two about music. Love him or loathe him, he has been the British Indie Music Scene’s leading impresario for some time now, despite disappearing off the radar slightly in recent years. His new club night at The […]
– FUEL CAFE, MANCHESTER – Tonight is a night for celebration; this, after all, is not just the anniversary of the popular, delightfully unpretentious Cloud Sounds Presents, it is also the launch party of The Loungs new album, a chance to see what the Onions have been hiding away for, and début performance of The […]

LIVE: THE LOUNGS / ONIONS – 06/03/2010

LIVE: CYRIL SNEAR AND GALLOPS – 05/03/2010

– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – It’s a shame to see a long-standing music store close in Manchester, but what better to replace it with than a music venue? And what’s more, it has kept the original name. Sound Control is perfectly placed in a lively part of South Manchester between the trendy Northern Quarter and […]
– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – It was a normal weekday evening back in November of last year. I’d returned home from work and was listening to Marc Riley’s show on BBC 6 Music. As always there were some great tunes played as is expected, but on this particular night I was stood at the kitchen […]

LIVE: THE HORNBLOWER BROTHERS – 05/03/2010

SINGLE: Sound of Guns – Alcatraz

Sound of Guns have been touring with Adam Green prior to the release of their new single, Alcatraz.  Though they were talented musicians when they visited Club Academy in Manchester last month, they never got the crowd going in the way Green did. This was because, unlike Green, they couldn’t help but take themselves too seriously, and […]
Boe Weaver is the physical manifestation of one of Stuart Maconie’s wet dreams. It’s as if they make sounds specifically for the Freak Zone (and let me take this opportunity to say save BBC 6 Music). This stuff is so far left of leftfield; it’s off the field, outside the stadium, and taking tea in […]

ALBUM: Boe Weaver – Boe Weaver

ALBUM: Dag For Dag – Boo

Dag for Dag, who have just released their debut album ‘BOO’, are a Swedish-American brother and sister combination. Over the years, Swedish and American genes have combined to produce such visual delights as Kim Bassinger, Uma Thurman and Scarlet Johansson; such high-fliers as Charles Lindeburg and Buzz Aldrin; and every politician in Minnesota. In addition to […]
I’m going to stick my neck out here and say that opening track ‘Scissor’ from Liars latest release ‘Sisterworld’ is nothing short of genius. In fact I could probably write a review of this track alone but I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible, this is an album review after all. The track […]

ALBUM: Liars – Sisterworld