LIVE: WIRE – 26/09/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Wire are one of those bands that you discover through reading reviews of other bands. For me it happened in the earlier 2000’s, when ‘art-rock’ was making big waves through bands such as Franz Ferdinand and The Futureheads, and every review seemed to reference these bands from days of yore called […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – I’m a little dubious about tonight’s gig at Gorilla, the main reason being that Jon Hopkins’ recent Mercury Prize nominated album ‘Immunity’ has been played to death since I got hold of it a few months ago and I’ve never listened to it with anyone else around. For me the whole […]

LIVE: JON HOPKINS – 24/09/2013

LIVE: THE BLACK ANGELS – 17/09/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Considered by many these days to be among the top tier of neo-psychedelic bands, there are some who look no higher than The Black Angels. Well worthy of this type of lofty praise, their style of late night psychedelia is good enough to impress on first listen – or to put […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Tonight Gorilla is darkly intense and chaotic, a quasi-bestial atmosphere collecting in anticipation of the sound explosion that Fuck Buttons promise to hurl. Touring their latest album Slow Focus after a near four-year hiatus, the Bristol duo recently headlined Glastonbury’s Park Stage and are on the brink of a world tour […]

LIVE: FUCK BUTTONS – 09/09/2013

LIVE: FLUME – 18/07/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER –  My expectations for Flume were pretty high. The Australian producer’s debut eponymous debut album is full of Gold Panda-esque chopped up vocals and snazzy beats, and makes for an engrossing, exciting listen. I walked into Gorilla, one of the best venues in Manchester, with my head full of thoughts about this […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Trevor Powers, aka Youth Lagoon, is a mystery unto himself. With Tim Burton-esque hair and a slight hunchback at age 23, this is the kind of guy who wanders down the street with a glass of wine in hand, dreaming up existential lyrics (kudos from a fellow wino). It’s not just […]

LIVE: YOUTH LAGOON – 16/07/2013

LIVE: GHOSTPOET – 28/05/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Things are really moving fast for Obaro Ejimiwe, a.k.a Ghostpoet. His bedroom produced debut album ‘Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam’ was nominated for the Mercury Prize, which thrust him into the limelight with a little help from Gilles Peterson’s label Brownswood. Two years on, he has released his 2nd album (through […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER –   Laura Mvula steps onto Gorilla’s stage, its backdrop a strange assemblage of archaic audio equipment, apparently salvaged from the recently deconstructed BBC building on Oxford Road.  The equipment looks almost steam-powered; incongruous perhaps, when set against the gorgeous, rounded voice that proceeds to part drift, part erupt, from the soul of […]

LIVE: LAURA MVULA – 07/05/2013

LIVE: THE STAVES – 03/05/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER –  Not knowing too much about The Staveley-Taylor sisters before tonight, I must admit that I was expecting some delicate folky characters with wispy hair and long floral dresses to take to the stage. But happily, that was not to be the case with this Watford trio. After a timid start, Emily […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER –  Kate Nash is back, but not how we know her! This is my first visit to Gorilla and as a long time Manchester resident I become excited when new venues open, being the sister of the Deaf Institute my hopes are high. After a few false starts getting lost, I am […]

LIVE: KATE NASH – 20/04/2013