Music
Up to Now, Snow Patrol
March 14th, 20103 Stars Dani Middleton As far as greatest hits albums go Up To Now is good. Snow Patrol have gathered up not only their best tracks from their numerous albums, but versions and covers that bring a more interesting dynamic to the overall affair. On the downside, this is still [Full Article]
Keep Calm and Carry On, Stereophonics
March 14th, 20104 Stars Rebecca Cocking Keep Calm and Carry On, the seventh studio album from the Stereophonics, is not “just another album”. Virtually every track continues to highlight Kelly Jones’ illustrious songwriting skills and instantly recognisable gravelly vocals, proving that the Welsh frontman has still got that heart-warming power he used [Full Article]
Vivarium, Twin Atlantic
March 14th, 20103 Stars Calum Darroch After two years of riding the Scottish underground, the hairy Glaswegians are taking a shot at the mainstream with their first album. The result is a mixed bag. It’s tempting to be immediately drawn to apathy at the band’s sound, due mainly to their apparent desire [Full Article]
Lily Allen @ Manchester Apollo, 18/11/2009
March 14th, 20103.5 Stars Becca Luck IT IS easy to forget that Lily Allen is a singer. That’s not meant to be a backhanded dig at her singing abilities but a reference to the Lily Allen that appears in the media. Usually making the headlines for aggressive drunken behaviour or for making [Full Article]
Motörhead @ Manchester Apollo, 21/11/2009
March 14th, 20105 Stars Alex Hall MOTÖRHEAD ARE like a reliable piece of well-oiled machinery, delivering a hard hitting hour and a half leaving you dazed and battered at the shear intensity of their performance. After a disappointing performance by support The Damned, who came across as an aged pub band, Motörhead [Full Article]
Live:The Duke & The King @ The Ruby Lounge, 21/11/2009
March 14th, 20104 Stars Michael Connolly ‘This is a fucking hot audience,’ declares bassist Bobbie Bird Burke (the King) just minutes into the group’s own fucking hot set, which fuses Hank Williams with Prince and Cat Stevens. The peculiar throng of mostly middle-aged admirers was treated to a faithful rendering of The [Full Article]
Fabric 50: Martyn, Various Artists
March 14th, 20104 Stars Cassie Quarless Bikes, clogs and ‘herbs’ are all things that you would associate with Holland, sombre, bass heavy shuffle music on the other hand is not one of them. Delivering beats that sound like they’ve been procured from the deepest, darkest alcoves of the London underground is exactly [Full Article]
Graphic as a Star, Josephine Foster
March 14th, 20101 Star Simon Jay Catling The tail end of the noughties is starting resemble a curtain call. All those niche genres, the ones you’d see mentioned in Pitchfork and Plan B before they burrowed back underground, seem to have re-emerged; muddy-nosed and eyes tightly-scrunched as they attempt a last jostle [Full Article]
Live: Cocoon @ Warehouse Project, 20/11/2009
March 14th, 20103 Stars Robert Cranshaw FOR MANY, Cocoon exists as a posy, showy label, defined by well constructed techno with an edge of eye-liner and top hats. For any member of the public walking along Store Street on Saturday night fashion, not music, seemed the order of the day. Beautiful, scantily [Full Article]
Them Crooked Vultures, Them Crooked Vultures
March 14th, 20102.5 Stars Tom Geddes Dave Grohl. Josh Homme and John Paul Jones. Those three names should have grabbed your attention if you have even an ounce of rock in your soul. That’s all well and good, but the music probably won’t. The problem is that there’s not a lot really [Full Article]
Big Ripper, Todd
March 14th, 20104 Stars Jack White Do not be fooled by the chirpy giant cartoon lumberjack that casually strides across the artwork of Todd’s third album Big Ripper. Do not be fooled, because he is going to fetch his axe, grip it by the blade until it cuts deep into his leviathan [Full Article]
Singles Roundup - 30/11/2009
March 14th, 2010Paddy Gunn With the hideous representation of the Christmas charts lurking just round the corner, ready to leap on us any moment and turn our musical minds to musical mush, let us pray to Lennon that some decent listening is in store for us this week. Jamie T gives us [Full Article]
Interview: The Flaming Lips
March 14th, 2010Alexandra Pereira meets Wayne Coyne, the uncle we’d all love to have… Naked bicycle rides, confetti and a surreal past, present and future; The Flaming Lips burst back into town hot off the summer release of their 12th studio album Embryonic. Regarded as both dynamic and controversial in his opinions [Full Article]
Interview: Alphabeat
March 14th, 2010Eve Smith talks ABCs and do-re-mi with twelve-legged Danish pop phenoms Alphabeat. Labelled by NME as ‘the best Scandinavian band since Abba’, Danish pop maestros Alphabeat are back in Manchester to promote their soon to be released new album The Spell. After the phenomenal success of their debut album This [Full Article]
Live: Arctic Monkeys @ MEN Arena, 21/11/2009
March 14th, 20103.5 Stars Gerard Brand I’M GROWING increasingly tired and weary of those who prefer to state their displeasure at Arctic Monkeys’ brand new floppy mops instead of reclining in their successful new trajectory. The lads from Sheffield still grasp the edge and verity that brought them into sight all those [Full Article]
Live: Paradise Lost/ Katatonia @ Academy 3, 2/11/2009
March 14th, 20104 Stars Opening act Engel must be wondering why they came on this tour. Retiring to meagre applause, the band generated little energy in the crowd, the majority finding a trip to the bar a more promising enterprise. That’s not say they’re a bad band, but with fans expecting an [Full Article]
Live: Tickley Feather @ Retro Bar, 15/11/2009
March 14th, 20104 Stars Daniel Brookes, Music Editor Annie Sachs, the name in which Tickley Feather receives pay cheques, is drunk. Not just your common-or-garden drunk either. Smashed on a molecular level. Hammered. Gone. The only surprise is that she doesn’t arrive on stage with a traffic cone atop her Minnie Mouse-bowed [Full Article]
Broken Side of Time, Alberta Cross
March 14th, 20102 Stars James Ubaghs These New York-dwelling Londoners are clearly desperate to strike it big, but does all that yearning translsate to something worthwhile? Sadly no, instead Alberta Cross have produced this sycophantic bland slab of ‘epicness’ and ‘beauty’. It’s these two qualities that just about bludgeon the listener to [Full Article]
I was a King, I was a King
March 14th, 20104 Stars William Garbutt I Was A King’s self-titled second album takes a refreshingly modern twist on the shoegaze and noise-rock genres popularized during the late ’80s and early ’90s by bands like Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. The album opens with the heavily layered sounds of distorted guitars, [Full Article]
Live at Reading, Nirvana (DVD)
March 14th, 20104 Stars Cherry Brearley 1992 really doesn’t seem that far back, but it was almost 20 years ago. Chances are the only people who can piece together memory of this mythic gig will be limited to odd graduate and liars. For this reason the well-shot, well-recorded and ultimately well-played footage [Full Article]
Interview: James Blackshaw
March 8th, 2010Pray silence and bow heads: Daniel Brookes meets James Blackshaw, the peerless purveyor understated 12-string melancholic ecstasy. He’s in his late twenties. He lives in Hastings, but used to live over in Levenshulme. He plays the 12-string guitar and piano. These are facts, but it’s not the facts that [Full Article]
Live:3OH!3 @ Academy 1, 7/11/2009
March 8th, 20104 Stars Bethany Cook First to open are Bamboo Shoots with a setlist of enthusiastic but generic retro-rock. With the highlight of their set being a cover of The Black Eyed Peas’ ‘I Got A Feeling’, and the joker-esque ensemble the lead singer sports, they fail to impress with a [Full Article]
Live: Biffy Clyro @ Manchester Apollo, 7/11/2009
March 8th, 2010Michael Hoyle 3 Stars It’s really quite difficult to say anything bad about Biffy Clyro’s music. The Scottish rock band are one of the most unique and varied acts in today’s mainstream: such intelligent song writing, combined with awesome guitar riffs, manic drums and passionate vocals make them a fantastic [Full Article]
Interview: The Big Pink
March 8th, 2010Claire Fraser totters down to the day centre to talk dominoes and Cheryl Cole with The Big Pink. STUDENT DIRECT: It’s the penultimate date of the Big Pink UK tour, how’s it been? Robbie: It’s been great. It’s almost been sell out shows since we started the UK. SD: [Full Article]
