As I sit in the passenger’s seat of my editor’s car, we chat about my forthcoming work. “So, I’m doing a few album reviews, covering Rodrigo and Gabriela, we’ve got Mark Guiliana from Blackstar being interviewed for the [...Read More]
Rodrigo Y Gabriela – The Albert Hall, Manchester
The Albert Hall, Manchester 13/07/2017 In a harder, better, faster, stronger world punctuated by synthetic musical bleeps and bloops, the acoustic guitar seems to have lost its cool. Down on the Delta in the mid-1930s as legend would have it, [...Read More]
Beatherder (Preview)
14th-16th July This weekend I shall be attending my first ever Beat-Herder festival. I’ve known of this intimate rural gathering since it’s inception in 2006 but have always teetered on the edge of “maaaybe”, despite having a consistently impressive line-up [...Read More]
The Fame Machine (and how it destroyed itself)
Today is deadline day at the busy Sounds’ office. Everyone is slightly huffy and crazed by caffeine as paper mountains throw themselves off desks in an attempt to get to the finish line by the witching hour. It’s precisely at [...Read More]
No Komodo
Zombie Shack, Manchester 28/04/2017 No Komodo are a decent little high-octane four piece held together with some exceptional drumming by Andy Walsh who would give Queens of the Stoneage a good run for their money. Tonight we’re at Zombie Shack [...Read More]
The worst crime is faking it
If you were the kind of person to be interested in all things magical, mystical and occultish, you might recognise the power significance of the number 23. On April 5th (we presume) twenty-three years ago, Kurt Donald Cobain lead [...Read More]
Chuck Berry’s School Day
Last month we bid a fond farewell to Mr Charles Edward Anderson (that’s Chuck Berry to you and me) who was finally granted his one-way ticket to Valhalla at the grand old age of 90. Although rock ‘n’ roll might [...Read More]
James M Carson – Night & Day
22/03/17 When Justin Nathan Barber broke my little heart in my early twenties, I didn’t take it too well. I have foggy memories of turning up at his parents’ house at 4am, fuelled by strong continental lager, and climbing up [...Read More]
Jesca Hoop
This evening I got to witness something rather breathtakingly magical in the tiny (yet mightily impressive) form of Ms Jesca Hoop – a California born singer-songwriter residing in drizzy Manchester after being lured here by the touring manager of Elbow. [...Read More]
ELVANA
Ruby Lounge 25/02/17 This week would’ve been Kurt Cobain’s fiftieth birthday. When he voluntarily checked out of this plane back in 1994 (depending on what you read), I wasn’t vaguely interested in grunge. In fact, I was more interested in [...Read More]