LIVE: WHITE FENCE / ESYA / THE STARLIGHT MAGIC HOUR – 17/08/2019

-THE WHITE HOTEL, SALFORD- The idea of amassing a selection of bands a few clicks off normal appears to pay off as the White Hotel’s ‘performance room’ slowly starts to fill to capacity in time for the headliner/non-set closer White Fence. I had the suspicion that carting out a load of bands on a half […]

LIVE: RUSSIAN CIRCLES – 13/08/2019

-GORILLA, MANCHESTER- I am currently excited about two American heavy rock bands who, before this month, haven’t released a single word in over a decade. But while Tool have just brought out their first new material since 2007, Chicago three-piece Russian Circles have gone on from the departure of their original bass player in that […]

GIG GUIDE

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ALBUM REVIEW: THE MURDER CAPITAL – WHEN I HAVE FEARS

As anyone who knows me will testify, I can waffle on about my love for Sonic Youth all day long, so any band that has elements of the much missed soaring guitar sounds and otherworldly eeriness about them, is always going to grab my ears, however I wasn’t expecting this… Sometimes bands come along and […]

ALBUM REVIEW: SLEATER KINNEY – THE CENTER WON’T HOLD

Watching Sleater Kinney at the Albert Hall in 2015 on their first tour since reforming, was a reminder of how much of a gap in my musical world there had been in the intervening years since they split. I was lucky enough to see them numerous times over the years, and even managed to grab […]

ALBUM REVIEWS ROUND UP – THE REST OF THE BEST NEW RELEASES FROM THE LAST MONTH

Dead Nature: Taking My Shadow EP From the ashes of the great but underrated band Spring King comes Dead Nature. I loved Spring King, a band who should’ve been massive with their brand of fuzzed up guitar melodies, and new project Dead Nature doesn’t disappoint either. It’s the work of Tarek Musa former chief songwriter […]

REVIEW: THE BOOK OF MORMON @ PALACE THEATRE, MANCHESTER

WHO ARE YA? ARRE! ARRE!

ALBUM REVIEW: COMPILATION – OPTIMISM/REJECT (PUNK AND POST PUNK)

Whatever the history of punk, it’s impossible to deny the huge impact that this short-lived, intense burst of energy, ethos and political statement had on the music scene not just in the US and UK, but across the world. The striking substance-over-style aesthetic to the music, the boundary-pushing, taboo-breaking socially unacceptable behaviour, even the fashion […]

ALBUM REVIEW: JADE IMAGINE – BASIC LOVE

Let’s face it, if the blurb in the press release says signed to Courtney Barnett’s record label, you’re gonna take notice, well, I am anyway cos I think she’s great, and yes, I am easily swayed by this sort of thing! So, having not heard anything by these Aussies before, purely on the Courtney Barnett […]

HEAVY METAL: WHAT HAPPENED?

ALDO RELEASE NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO ‘PAPERMAZE’

AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS RELEASE NEW VIDEO FOR SOME MUTTS (CAN’T BE MUZZLED)

SPEEDY WUNDERGROUND ANNOUNCE NEW 7″ SINGLE BY SINEAD O’BRIEN

BRAND NEW TRACK FROM PLEASURE CRAFT ‘WORK IT OUT’ FEAT. MINGIJA

ALBUM REVIEW: KARINE POLWART – SCOTTISH SONGBOOK

What do you think of when you think about covers?  For me, it’s the following: bad (but enthusiastic) karaoke, buskers (and the cover is almost exclusively Wonderwall) and Michael Bublé crooning away 24 hours a day seven days a week during the Christmas period. I’m not saying I don’t like them – more that when […]

SURFBORT FEAT’ GIBBY HAYNES FROM THE BUTTHOLE SURFERS RELEASE ANIMATED VIDEO FOR ‘HI ANXIETY’

GOODSIDE RELEASE DEBUT SINGLE ‘I’VE BEEN FEELING SOMETHING LATELY’

PONYTAILS RELEASE VIDEO TO NEW SONG ‘JUST YOURS’

MAC DEMARCO RELEASES LEAD TRACK FROM UPCOMING NEW ALBUM

LIVE: BLUEDOT FESTIVAL 2019

-JODRELL BANK OBSERVATORY, CHESHIRE- Thursday Arriving at the festival late Thursday afternoon, we are just in time for Emma Gene Thackery. After finding a space in the busy camping ground to pitch, we make our first journey through the festival grounds. The festival is full, ready for the Halle Orchestra who are just as much […]

LIVE: SHONEN KNIFE / SLAP RASH – 23/07/2019

-NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER- Slap Rash You’d think having two wheels on a car would be a disadvantage in terms of road-worthy technicality; likely it would but since I’m using it as an analogy for this half-quartet, exception is granted. The labour constraints compel the duo to juggle their rhythm-but-also-lead instrumental roles with a […]

INTERVIEW: SPRINGFIELD ELEMENTARY

COURTNEY BARNETT SHARES BRAND NEW SINGLE “EVERYBODY HERE HATES YOU”

YAK? YES!

SHITKID RELEASE TITLE TRACK FROM UPCOMING ALBUM [DETENTION]

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN NEW VIDEO: ‘THE TRUCE OF TWILIGHT’ DIRECTED BY PAUL SIMONON

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ARCTIC MONKEYS – TRANQUILITY BASE HOTEL & CASINO – ONE YEAR ON