ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 7 JULY 2023

July begins with a hefty batch of releases. It is an especially busy week for bands with Pigeon in their name, although no sign of a Lieutenant Pigeon reissue. Anohni and the Johnsons My Back Was A Bridge To Cross For You Inspired by Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ tackling global and environmental concerns, the […]
Manchester International Festival has made a welcome return to the city, running from 29th June to 16th July, across various venues with music, theatre, art, and many free events taking place at Festival Square, the hub of the MIF. This year Festival Square is located in Aviva Studios, a new purpose built home for the festival […]

PREVIEW: MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL RETURNS

ALBUM REVIEW: GRIAN CHATTEN – CHAOS FOR THE FLY

The emotional rollercoaster ‘Chaos For The Fly’ is lead singer of huge rock band Fontaines DC, Grian Chatten’s first solo album. Chatten decided to create an album of raw, earnest songs that he wrote alone with his guitar. Certainly, this album incorporates poetic lyricism and powerful guitar to shape a masterpiece.  A moment of airy […]
While big names are clamouring for attention at Glastonbury, this week sees a range of interesting, smaller-scale releases. Cory Hanson – Western Cum A high-stepping, hard-dancing, first love/heartbreak, tonight’s-the-night, future nostalgia kind of good time with a heavier sound than previous releases. Skating Polly – Chaos Country Line Songs journey from art-punk to noise-rock to […]

ALBUM RELEASES ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 23 JUNE 2023

ALBUM REVIEW – CORY HANSON: WESTERN CUM

Three albums into his solo career, Wand’s Cory Hanson has conjured distinct and magical flavours each time. Debut release, 2016’s ‘The Unborn Capitalist from Limbo’, dealt out an unimpeachably lush psychedelia while its follow up, ‘Pale Horse Rider’, developed a country rock tinge. With his latest release, Hanson leaps into rock territory. To these ears, […]
Manchester’s dance innovators Crazy P, have been shaking dancefloors all across the globe for two decades, so it’s some surprise to find out that Crazy P’s Jim Baron has released an album of delicate acoustic guitar tunes, ‘Love Makes Magic’, recalling Crosby, Still, Nash and Young, and fusing a hazy summer folk sound with subtle […]

FEATURE: JIM – LUSH HARMONIES, FOLK, AND SUBTLE ELECTRONICA COMBINE FOR NEW ALBUM ‘LOVE MAKES MAGIC’ FROM JIM BARON, MEMBER OF MANCHESTER’S CRAZY P

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 9 JUNE 2023

This week sees another selection of releases to excite and intrigue. Here is a precis: Youth Lagoon – Heaven is a Junkyard An understated and enticing record of mutant Americana in a world of love, drugs, storytelling and miracles, held together by Trevor Powers’ voice and an upright piano. This is the Kit – Careful […]
Keaton Henson’s latest release, ‘House Party’, is, if not a concept album, one with a strong narrative and lyrical thread. It is written from the perspective of a successful performer who has hollowed himself out in pursuit of fame. This alternate universe version of Henson, portrayed in the pink suit modelled on the album’s sleeve, […]

ALBUM REVIEW – KEATON HENSON: HOUSE PARTY

ALBUM REVIEW – BAR ITALIA: TRACEY DENIM

There is a contrariness to Bar Italia. Choosing a name that is difficult to google, more likely to lead to mid-price high street eateries than music, has a wilfulness to it. Calling their debut album ‘Tracey Denim’ shows a similar awkward streak in selecting a common name (unfairly synonymous with being naff) and denim, one […]
“Whenever people ask where are you from? I say Manchester”, says Brian ‘BC Camplight’ Christinzio, as we sit in a bar in Chorlton in the late afternoon sunshine discussing his love of his adopted hometown, and the upheavals which have led to his astounding new album ‘The Last Rotation Of Earth’. It’s been a long […]

INTERVIEW: BC CAMPLIGHT – WE CHAT ABOUT THE STUNNING NEW ALBUM ‘LAST ROTATION OF EARTH’, AND HOW HIS MUSIC SPRINGS FROM SO MUCH MORE THAN THE PREDICTABLE TRIUMPH OVER ADVERSITY TAG.