BLIND ATLAS "4th Street"

In past months these ‘Mancunian Americana’ rock ‘n’ rollers have added another impressive set of support scalps to their trophy cabinet: Blitzen Trapper, The Bees and Duke Garwood. They’ve also been finding time to fit in late night and weekend studio sessions with Christian Madden of The Earlies to work on their debut album.

And whilst we’re awaiting that album release here is the second single from Blind Atlas released digitally today on their own Fallen Swine label and available via iTunes. Now where the first single, last November’s ‘Take A While’, was pared down and wistful, lead track '4th Street' is a different proposition altogether. Three and a half minutes of churning guitar riffs and Hammond organ give it a 70s dirty blues feel, Canned Heat by way of Fat Possum Records. It’s both righteous and sleazy in just the right proportions.



B-side 'For Carol' starts off a quieter affair – referencing the early 70s again, laid back mid-tempo country rock with rich, rolling steel guitar and mournful pleading vocals. But the song’s plaintive lyrical plea for more time eventually yields to a much heftier brand of country-rock: strong, deep harmonies, jagged rhythms and chunky guitar soloing. From mournful reminiscence to full-blooded stomp in just four songs is an impressive range for a band releasing its first recordings. Less confident newcomers would seek to emphasise how consistent they were – but who wants samey?

Blind Atlas - For Carol

When I talked with Blind Atlas around the release of that first single they revealed the different musical influences each band member had, a list that covered several decades and included Led Zeppelin, Beefheart, Calexico, Fairport Convention and Ride amongst others. Such plural influences aside, in these two singles Blind Atlas ably demonstrate how adept and broad their song-writing is. Another classy release that just whets the appetite for the debut album later this year.

Blind Atlas support Buffalo Tom at Sound Control on 11 March, play Fuel in Withington on 1 April and then play The Local at The Kings Head in London on 15 April.

THE LOUCHE FC, EMPEROR ZERO + IRK THE RIVER @ THE CASTLE 26 February 2011

Irk The River’s ambition for tonight’s gig at the Sways Records Launch Night is a simple one “if we remember the words and if we play in time, we’ll be happy”. The three piece in matching alphabet T-shirts (“we’re auditioning for Sesame Street”) play a shouty post-punk that recalls early Fall, PiL or Gang of Four especially on their single ‘Valette’/’Mind That Child’ which finished the eight song set.

But as well as gritty anger at Manchester ills and very loud wiry/Wire-y guitars, there’s also an occasional slinky swagger behind the waves of noise. And if my music references make Irk The River sound a bit dated, far from it: their set felt very ear-ringingly immediate in the heat and squeeze of the tiny back-room at The Castle.



The precarious lack of stage space at The Castle was further revealed early on in Emperor Zero’s set when the singer leapt off the two small wooden steps only to go crashing into the monitor and its beer crate stand. Since I saw them last November, Emperor Zero have acquired a new drummer (Kyle) and seemingly an added level of energetic vigour. It could be that the flailing guitars, maniacal drums and chaotic abandon was their response to the confined playing area.

Opening not closing their set with the two sides to the current single, the four-piece ably continued with the theme of noise - but their songs are more dense, concentrated even proggy at times (post-punk-prog?). The band suffered several delays – broken bass drum pedal, snare drum needing replacing – but this didn’t detract from the intensity of the songs once they were up and running, performing against a backdrop of Wim Wenders “Wings of Desire” which apparently inspired last song ‘Infernal Desire Machines’. Infernal stage malfunctions aside, an impressively frenzied show of strength, anguished and angry in equal measure.



Closing the evening, The Louche FC were here rounded out to a four-piece with a drummer (as opposed to a drum machine). Not sure if it was this factor, but tonight they were much more confident and assertive than when I’ve seen them play before.

Where shoegaze can denote drift and introspection, here it became about more oomph, more vitality and more noise. But without the needle-in-the-red intensity of the previous two bands, it meant the dream-pop melodies shone out, with a gorgeous debonair fuzziness. They may only be promoting their first single but tonight’s six song set was the moment when I suddenly thought “I want to hear the album”. Surely we won’t have long to wait for a Louche FC long-player?



So three singles launched – and you can buy a triple pack with extras here if you’re quick. The sets were short but fiery – a total of twenty two songs across the three bands – but for a free entry night it would be plain rude to begrudge Sways or any of the bands this. Or the fact the piled-high merch table took up such a huge chunk of precious floor space. Indie labels often have used slogans as their calling card: “The Sound of Young Scotland”; “Pure Pop For Now People”. And Sways Records are no exception, labelling themselves as an “Independent Record Label and Cultural Regenerator, Salford, England”. It suggests attitude, ambition, and a gritty pride with just the right amount of impertinence. I look forward to more cultural regeneration very soon.

FREE SWIM "Yolanda The Panda" EP

You may not realise it but there is a gap in your music collection that is crying out for a four track concept EP about mountaineering and giant pandas. And fortuitously Free Swim is on hand to fill it.

Free Swim is “the imaginary cinematic play of Paul Coltofeanu”. His singular one-man project tells tall tales with utter conviction; the first Free Swim EP “Two Hands is OK” was based on the premise 'a man is so busy he decides to have two extra hands grafted onto his chest'. The new EP “Yolanda The Panda” takes us from a cage at San Diego Zoo to sailing across oceans, from escaping incarceration by the Chinese government to tackling the ascent of Everest in a fleet-of-foot 14 minutes. These sundry four songs reminded me at various points of a neat stitching together of English eccentrics and Peel favourites: Martin Newell, Felt, I Ludicrous, Bearsuit.

‘I Want to be a Mountaineer!’ introduces us to our heroine (“I want to do something spectacular, that has a high-risk of death”) with the headlong rush of a pop-punk Arcade Fire driven by machine-gun piano and fizzying guitars. In ‘Harmlessly English’ the rippling guitar chords, pattering drums and glockenspiel recalls the sixties psychedelic whimsy of “SF Sorrow” as Yolanda and her feathered companion voyage across the seas and meet Michael and his “expensive navigation tools”. ‘Swooping Swoopingly Like a Swooping Swooper’ is a gloriously bonkers spoken word gallop powered by driving, chunky guitar riffs and narrated by Quirrence (“yes it’s me again - if you downloaded the first Free Swim EP you might recognise me”) who is studying for a PhD in Cartography. The EP concludes with the soothing waltz-like homecoming of ‘Scoring Bamboo Shoots’ (“like they’re pills”). For all its pace, sudden twists and peculiarity, the EP never forgets to pack great tunes for this surreal odyssey.

This is the kind of oddball, arty indie record that in the mid Eighties would find its unlikely way into the upper reaches of the Festive Fifty. Now in 2011 of course it is released free via Bandcamp. With a price-tag attached this would get a strong recommendation from me. Given “Yolanda the Panda” is free...well what are you waiting for you?

TELEKINESIS! "12 Desperate Straight Lines"

The current prevailing trend for one-man outfits hiding behind colourful band names is either to bathe their sweet pop nuggets in gauzy guitars and celestial drift (hello Toro Y Moi) or scald them with frazzled lo-fi fuzz (ahoy Cloud Nothings). Michael Benjamin Lerner scrubs up a different way.

On his second album as Telekinesis! most songs mix early noughties indie-rock clout with the tautness and punch of power-pop. Recorded (by Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie) straight to analog tape gives the trebly guitars, fuzzy bass and heavy drums a crisp pop-crunch – it sounds far ‘bigger’ than a mere one-man project. The twelve songs are mostly two-and-a-half minute smash-and-grab raids, all armed with killer hooks, buoyantly uplifting and seemingly straight-forward on first listen. The majority are built on simple, direct phrases, almost slogans, delivered with a refreshing lack of allusion or metaphor: ‘Palm of The Hand’ or ‘Car Crash’ (“you were wrong but you were never right / now I feel so lonely but I also feel so right”) are perfect examples of this. And ‘I Cannot Love You’ or ‘Please Ask For Help’ really don’t need much unpacking beyond their titles.

As this last pair suggests Lerner is hurt and hurting. Behind the sunny college-pop you hear this from the get-go in opener ‘You Turn Clear In The Sun’: “I never loved you / I never loved anyone” is the opening premise which becomes “was it you or was it me?”. Recrimination and lovelessness rarely sounded so luminous and cheery.



Elsewhere the dark clouds casting shadows over the surging, summery pop are more obvious. The Paul Simon referencing ‘50 ways’ is heavier in all senses: quiet/loud passages of dense and thunderous anger. ‘Fever Chill’ moves from a strummed, quiet opening to jagged guitar riffs and lip-curling bitterness: “you’re going to cry when you see me”. The dark resentment is immediately contrasted with the pastoral escape dream of ‘Country Lane’ – as though Lerner cannot stay spiteful for too long. A late deviation to the power-pop template is the penultimate track ‘Patterns’ which sonically is a sun-dappled soundscape of rippling piano but lyrically a post-mortem into who told the biggest lie. The album mood-swings back for final track ‘Gotta Get It Right’, a mammoth (three-and-a-half minute!) stomp of optimistic self-assertion and liberty (“all my friends are so locked down / I’m twenty three I should be screwing around / I gotta get it right now”).

Merge Records is the perfect home for Telekinesis! nestled alongside Superchunk, Spoon and Robert Pollard. Lerner may not be on trend but full marks to him for delivering maximum tuneage with apparent ease – and all the while keeping the vibe upbeat despite the emotional turbulence.



Telekinesis 12 Desperate Straight Lines [BUY]

JAMES YORKSTON @ THE DEAF INSTITUTE 16 February 2011

I’ve seen James Yorkston turn the dingiest of basement dives into a snug, little oasis of beauty and wonder through playing his deeply personal and quietly intimate songs. So I imagined that the lush Victoriana and cosy intimacy of The Deaf Institute would be a perfect setting for the Manchester leg of this short tour to accompany the release of his first book “It’s Lovely To Be Here: The Touring Diaries of a Scottish gent”.

Tonight the stage contained only a single mic stand and a wooden chair behind the long row of monitors – it looked painfully barren. And it turned out the chair was simply a stand for paperback book and glass of red wine, the latter untouched until the end of the evening. Singing the opening song ‘Queen of Spain’, Yorkston stood himself close up to the mic, eyes shut tight, lit up by a strong single spotlight. Of course he needed that brightness for the readings from his book but the barrenness of the stage and unforgiving glare left him exposed on this normally most welcoming of stages.

This actually suited the exposing, heart-laid-bare nature of the evening as he mixed songs old and new with three short readings from the tour diaries. These took us from an overnight sleeper train from Glasgow to a pre-gig meal in Belfast and onto a post-gig encounter with bikers in Canada. All were delivered with character voices, comic asides and the witty, self-deprecating humour and keen eye for detail you get from his stage banter and song-writing. There was something comforting in the familiarity of older songs, even when given little twists: ‘Steady As She Goes’ segued straight into an acapella version of ‘Tortoise Regrets Hare’. But there were also moments of potent, concentrated emotion – I have never heard the Deaf Institute as quiet as it was for a hushed version of ‘Heron’.





The rawness of this performance was matched by the pained intensity of the new songs, particularly one sung about ‘The Fire and The Flame’ which left the singer spent and doubled over when it finished. Yorkston said at one point he was “having a shit year”. He instantly admonished himself for sharing this but the bitterness was out and it only added to the emotional roller-coaster of the evening: great humour and compassion contrasting with heartfelt songs and emotion stripped bare. I may be overstating the darkness here – it could be the genteel surroundings and that merciless light exposed and distorted the morbidity in ways I hadn’t heard before. But when he took that glug of wine at the end of the set, boy, did I think he – and we – had earned it.

James Yorkston strikes me as the perfect fireside pub companion for laidback tales over a large whisky - and this is probably what the rest of the touring diaries are like. But his song-writing is engrossing in a very different way. And tonight was a stark reminder that no matter how amiable and casually attired, these songs are journals of devasting honesty. Reading from that book Yorkston referred to himself as an “un-pop singer”. Ten years into writing and playing, his powers as a performer and song-writer are only getting stronger. Long live the un-pop.

The Set List:

Queen of Spain
Lowlands Away
New Song (‘Way We Were’)
[reading #1]
Steady As She Goes
Tortoise Regrets Hare (acapella)
Temptation
Heron
New Song (‘Receiving Love’)
New Song (‘The Fire and The Flame’)
[reading #2]
Shipwreckers
?
Banjo #1
I Awoke
[reading #3]
Tender To The Blues

DEAN WAREHAM PLAYS GALAXIE 500 @ RUBY LOUNGE 14 February 2011

Reunion tours or gigs configured around a particular chunk of back catalogue frequently smack of either desperation or commercial cash-in. But there always have to be exceptions. And not having seen Galaxie 500 during their four year life-span, tonight’s gig was absolutely one of those exceptions.

I missed Rae Morris opening the bill and instead was welcomed into the newly refurbished Ruby Lounge by a punch to the guts delivered by Ringo Deathstarr. Now if Yuck are getting some flak for mining the grunge years what about Ringo Deathstarr? If their name jointly references the 60s And 70s, their music is a power trio bludgeoning of 1991. With added reverb. And reverb so dense it was like a blow to the solar plexus. Once you got past the sonic assault, there was (I think) more to the three piece than just extreme, over-driven shoegaze noise. There was pace, grace and even some Lemonheads style melody to be had. A great reminder of the good things from 1991 but never feeling dated.

Ringo Deathstarr finished their set saying “If you like the music of Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips then you're in for a treat”. A dig at the retrospective nature of tonight’s gig? Because this wasn’t the last three Dean and Britta records or the seven studio albums Dean Wareham made with Luna. Instead it was dedicated to his first band Galaxie 500 that imploded in 1991 (that year again).


The shiver-inducing thrill of recognition upon hearing ‘Flowers’ and ‘Pictures’ dismissed any such negativity: those chugging rhythms, the other worldly vocals and that sublime guitar playing! This euphoria was mixed with a pang of realisation and disappointment: the trio (Dean, Britta plus Jason Lawrence on drums) beautifully and indeed faithfully reproduced the magic of Galaxie 500 but I was hit by the hand-me-down nature of the experience; this was recreation, not reinterpretation or refreshing a decades old sound. For the most part it was easy to dispel this feeling, helped by Wareham’s amusing acid-trip recollections and the rapture-inducing sounds – the sequence of ‘Strange’ followed by ‘Summertime’ which ran straight into ‘Don’t Let Our Youth Go To Waste’ was joyous.





But I could never quite shake this undertow of sorrow during the set. If I sound a curmudgeon or I am slighting the band I am giving the wrong impression. This was truly transcendental at times and even though only an hour and twenty minutes in duration but it felt a much richer and much longer experience. If you get a chance to see this tour you should sieze it.

But at the same time as I was captivated, I remembered why the ‘no reunions’ rule exists. If you saw a band the first time around, a reunion will never top that initial, original experience (would those tonight who greeted Dean’s recollections of the International gig with warm cheers agree?). But more importantly if you weren’t there, these gigs can never recreate an experience that was never had in the first place. I would have hated myself if I missed tonight - and it could even turn out to be a top ten gig of the year in retrospect. But at this precise moment I feel not how close it came to a unique and special band but how far.

The Set List:
The first encore was ‘I’ll Keep It With Mine’ from the "13 Most Beautiful" album. And the final encore not listed below was ‘Ceremony’.

TONIGHT IN MANCHESTER: Jonny

“A collaboration between Euros Childs and Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub” says pretty much all you need to know about Jonny.

A free EP before Christmas and now this month the pair’s debut thirteen track album and a tour. The record does favour fans of Euros Childs but as The Line Of Best Fit review put it: “the collaboration is a harmonious one, and one that highlights both musicians’ distinct styles to create an altogether different, yet timeless debut.... With their dream-like and often enigmatic lyrics, Jonny evoke slices of sunshine pop effortlessly and the pair’s simple, yet wonderfully melodic harmonies are a platform from which Jonny can accentuate their light-hearted lyrics.”



Jonny play The Deaf Institute tonight in Manchester before moving on to Birmingham, York, Middlesborough, Glasgow, Newcastle, Sunderland and then Europe. Support tonight only is from Laura J Martin who mixes eastern vibes and jazz rhythms into her acoustic folk-pop - definitely worth getting there early to catch her. Advance tickets are £7.50 or pay more on the door.

HANNAH PEEL "The Broken Wave"

“Re-Box”, Hannah Peel’s first recorded musical release, caught the imagination of listeners and critics. Covering 80s pop and new wave in incongruous styles has been done before – Nouvelle Vague for one - but Peel’s versions were entrancing rather than entertaining novelty, slowed down with just solitary voice over antique musical box accompaniment. The vinyl on Static Caravan has long sold-out but the EP is still available as a digital download.

And when it came to recording her first album, it was Static Caravan who put her in touch with Mike Lindsay of Tuung. It’s an inspired pairing which makes “The Broken Wave” an expansive and absorbing record. “Strings by Nitin Sawhney” on two tracks shows just how much more developed this record is than the earlier solo bedroom recording project .

Like the wave of the title, the album starts with rising swells and foamy peaks before gently melting away into softer, wispier streams and trickles. Throughout there’s a clever interplay between the quirky and the conventional, between ‘experimental’ folktronica and a straightforward singer-songwriter-pop with orchestral stylings. So “You Call This Your Home” billows with orchestra pomp; “The Almond Tree” skitters on jittery piano and wonky drums. And whatever the arrangement, throughout it is the percussive rhythms and Peel’s voice that are foregrounded. The former sets the tempo for each movement of the breaking wave, the latter holds the record together.

Much is made of her peripatetic early years and roots – born in Ireland, raised in Yorkshire, educated in Liverpool – but it’s rare to hear a strong unequivocal trace of any these places in her voice. In ‘Don’t Kiss the Broken One’ there is a near-spoken interlude in which she reverts to plain-spoken, earthy, flat vowels but it’s a passing moment. For the most she sings in an airy, higher register not unlike Judee Sill or Sandy Denny: light-as-air fresh and clear, almost girlish but never timid.



The tail-end of the album is formed of quieter, more reflective ballads but it doesn’t feel like a record running out of energy or ideas. ‘Cailin Deas Cruite Na Mbo’ (which translates as ‘the pretty maid who milks the cow’) reverts to the music box simplicity of her earlier single. ‘The Parting Glass’ is a haunting song of leaving over singing bowl-like synth pulses and chimes. The record is a finely textured journey in which the often maudlin themes are kept in check by the bright, breezy delivery and inventive embellishments.

Another achievement of the album is to make it feel part of the Static Caravan family of folk mavericks and experimenters but equally able to appeal to a much wider listenership. Hannah Peel is planning more music box covers (I suggested this) but whichever song she chooses, it should be this album and her own song-writing that continues to turn heads.

Hannah Peel The Broken Wave [BUY]

FROM THE VINYL RACK: The Replacements "Tim"

Including ‘Left of the Dial’ in my playlist for the Reeling In The Years project over at Sweeping The Nation sent me back to the album it came from: 1985’s “Tim”. There’s a never-to-be-settled pub debate as to which is the best Replacements album. But “Tim”, their first for Sire after moving from Twin Tone and the last one to feature the classic line-up of Paul Westerberg, Chris Mars, Bob and Tommy Stinson, is certainly up there. “Tim” may not be as punk-rock raw as some of its predecessors but it is still snotty, crude, aggressive and bitter – but also shot through with moments of poetic clarity and luminous beauty. Just like the band themselves.

The angry howl of 'Bastards of Young', part-manifesto, part prediction, has come like 'Left of the Dial' to encapsulate the band’s story: “God, what a mess, on the ladder of success / Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung / Dreams unfulfilled, graduate unskilled ...waitin' to be forgotten / We are the sons of no one, bastards of young”. As befits rowdy battlers with drug and alcohol dependencies, the band go through mood swings on the album: loud, raucous rockers in ‘Lay It Down Clown’, romantic dreamers in ‘Swingin’ Party’, immature, taunting jerks in ‘Waitress in the Sky’. However throughout the record Paul Westerberg’s heart-on-the-sleeve, brash yet polished songs match the rock-and-roll attitude. And to close it all the poignant hat-tip to the habitual drinker of ‘Here Comes A Regular’. From here on the band slowly fragmented across three more albums before finally calling it a day in 1991.

Like most of The Replacements back catalogue, “Tim” was re-issued by Rhino in 2008 in a remastered and expanded CD format.

I did upload a couple of songs to Soundcloud but Warner Music Group of which Sire is a subsidiary wouldn't allow this. So as an inferior substitute I thought I would embed the video of 'Bastards of Young' released to accompany the re-issue programme. It's not a very interesting video - just a shot of a speaker whilst the song plays - but at least you could hear the music. However WMG have even disabled the video for embedding. Not very rock 'n' roll.

The Replacements Tim [BUY]

DARREN HAYMAN "January Songs"

January is a drag. It’s a post-hangover half-light world of debt and drudgery in which very little happens or is achieved. Unless you’re Darren Hayman that is. Whilst most of us were clock-watching, awaiting the arrival of Spring, Hayman set out to write and record 31 songs one for each day of the month. And a video to accompany each song plus a daily video diary too, publishing all this to Tumblr and posting songs to Soundcloud.



However neither the time of the year nor the logistics and daily workload is what is impressive about this project. It’s the consistent quality of the songs – no knocked off bedroom demos by one man and an acoustic guitar here. Hayman marshalled an impressive supporting cast to help out on individual songs including Gordon McIntyre from Ballboy, Allo Darlin’, The Wave Pictures, Pete Astor, Terry Edwards, the Spanish band Litoral and old Hefner band-mates Antony Harding and Jack Hayter. Different vocalists and some slight stylistic deviations along the route add to the variety of the music but all are recognisably Hayman songs. “January Songs” is a kaleidoscopic sequence of human frailties, foibles and yearnings, all delivered with tender sympathy, that sits beautifully alongside his recent records.





It was fascinating to follow the project in all its online guises – hearing who would be guesting that day, tracking the logistical hiccups and technological failings to be overcome against the clock and watching as the beats per minute settings for ‘Bad Technology’ or character name for ‘My Bedroom’ was suggested by those following on Twitter.

The video diaries and documentary sketches are still on Tumblr but the final output of the project that will really stand the test of time is the songs. All 31 are now available via Bandcamp as a digital bundle (plus 17 hidden extra tracks of demos and voice notes) for the bargain price of £15. Most musicians attempting to write and record 31 songs could be expected to fill a whole year – rather than starting with a blank canvas on day one and ending the month with a fully-furnished gallery. And most musical projects of this volume could be a chore for the listener to plough through – “January Songs” on the other hand is a delight. And it also turned the worst month of the year into a daily adventure. Same time next January please Darren?

MANCHESTER GIGS IN MUSIC: February 2011 Pt.1

I am a great subscriber to the 'no reunions, no greatest hits tours' philosophy when it comes to gig-going. But there always has to be exceptions. And 'Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500' which visits The Ruby Lounge this month as part of a short European tour is one of those few exceptions. If you need to catch up on Galaxie 500 in words, pictures and sounds, I'd recommend the excellent A Head Full Of Wishes fan-site as a good starting point.

And either side of that Valentine's Day concert there is plenty of live music going on in Manchester. As ever a mixtape [60 mins / 69 MB] of bands playing Manchester this month to help inform your gig-going decision-making - link in the post below this one.

Manchester Gigs In Music Mixtape: February 2011

Hillary & The Democrats I Wish I’d Taken More Photographs [3.57] (12 Feb Gullivers BUY TICKETS)
Cloud Nothings Hey Cool Kids [7.08] (17 Feb Club Academy BUY TICKETS)
Grouplove Colours [11.20] (6 Feb Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
Anna Calvi Desire [15.11] (28 Feb Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
The Soundcarriers Broken Sleep [18.25] (19 Feb Academy 2 BUY TICKETS)
Glasser Apply [23.26] (18 Feb Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
Sea Of Bees Willis [26.51] (17 Feb Night & Day BUY TICKETS)
British Sea Power Mongk II [31.36] (15 Feb The Ritz BUY TICKETS)
This Many Boyfriends That’s What Diaries Are For [34.00] (12 Feb Gullivers BUY TICKETS)
Jonny Continental [36.32] (14 Feb Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
Yuck Suicide Policeman [39.44] (25 Feb Night & Day BUY TICKETS)
Lulu and the Lampshades Rose Tint [42.35] (8 Feb Night & Day BUY TICKETS)
Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo Billowing Sea [46.13] (18 Feb The Castle BUY TICKETS)
James Yorkston Tortoise Regrets Hare [50.06] (16 Feb Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
Charlie Parr Worried Blues [54.04](23 Feb Sacred Trinity Church BUY TICKETS)
Azure Ray Displaced [57.41] (3 Feb Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
Exlovers New Year’s Day [60.43] (17 Feb Trof, Fallowfield BUY TICKETS)

And not forgetting:
1 Feb Transatlantic Sessions Bridgewater Hall / 1 Feb Band of Horses Academy / 1 Feb Sick Puppies Roadhouse / 3 Feb Freelance Whales + Broken Records Deaf Institute / 3 Feb Lauren Pritchard Night & Day / 4 Feb C W Stoneking Academy / 4 Feb The Joy Formidable Academy / 4 Feb Crystal Castles Academy 1 / 4 Feb Wire The Roadhouse / 4 Feb Deaf School Band on the Wall / 4 Feb Liz Green Fuel Cafe Bar / 5 Feb The Vaselines + Schwervon Sound Control / 5 Feb Zombina and the Skeletons Gullivers / 7 Feb Penguin Cafe + Portico Quartet Bridgewater Hall / 7 Feb Sad Day For Puppets MoHo Live / 7 Feb Aaron Shanley Night & Day / 9 Feb Joan As Policewoman Sound Control / 9 Feb Japanther Islington Mill / 12 Feb The Brute Chorus Night & Day / 12 Feb The Lovely Eggs Gullivers / 13 Feb The Hold Steady The Ritz / 14 Feb Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500 Ruby Lounge / 15 Feb Anathema Academy 3 / 15 Feb Darkstar Deaf Institute / 15 Feb Harrys Gym The Roadhouse / 16 Feb Fixers Night & Day / 16 Feb Ryan Francesoni The Castle / 17 Feb Duke Garwood Academy / 17 Feb Frankie & The Heartstrings Club Academy / 17 Feb Gruff Rhys + Y Niwl St Philips Church / 17 Feb Air Cav The Castle / 18 Feb David’s Lyre Night & Day / 19 Feb Wolf People Deaf Institute / 19 Feb The Go! Team Academy 2 / 21 Feb Our Love Will Destroy The World Islington Mill / 22 Feb Suuns Deaf Institute / 23 Feb Kill It Kid Trof, Fallowfield 23 Feb Rose Elinor Dougall Deaf Institute / 24 Feb Benjamin Francis Leftwich An Outlet / 24 Feb Les Savy Fav MoHo Live / 24 Feb Morning Parade Night & Day / 24 Feb Julian Cope Band on the Wall / 24 Feb Ben Folds Apollo / 25 Feb Efterklang Academy / 25 Feb YOAV Deaf Institute / 25 Feb King Creosote & The Earlies Band on the Wall / 25 Feb Spokes Islington Mill / 26 Feb Jamie Woon Deaf Institute / 26 Feb Mogwai + The Twilight Sad Academy / 26 Feb Jaguar Skills Academy / 26 Feb The Whigs and Dead Confederate Night & Day / 26 Feb Milk Maid + Weird Era Gullivers

MANCHESTER GIGS IN MUSIC: February 2011 Pt.2

Mixtape: February 2011 [60 mins/69 MB] - download here.

ALLO DARLIN' + THE LOVES @ NIGHT & DAY 29 January 2011

Just Handshakes We’re British were at pains to remind this Manchester crowd which side of the Pennines they were from: “we’re from Leeds, West Yorkshire” they told us repeatedly “and we prefer our roses white”. This sounds much more confrontational than it actually was. The four-piece in person are as likeable as their music if a touch more retiring.

Their cutesy female-fronted Casiotone indie-pop got more muscular and complex as the rhythm section became more prominent but they never fully threw off the tentativeness of an opening act. This was not helped by how shy singer Clara appeared – fixed stares at her keyboard or occasionally at the rafters gave the impression she thought any eye contact with the crowd would cause her to forget the words. Their banter might not be about winning fans but their music certainly is - they just need to loosen up a bit more. Maybe become less British?

This is my first time seeing The Loves at what sadly turns out to be their last ever Manchester gig – the band call it a day after ten years and multiple line-up changes at their Valentine's Day gig at the Lexington. The fact this Valentine's Day gig isn’t actually on the 14th February seems to sum up the so-close-but-so-far nature of the band. The seven-piece mix Carnaby Street couture, classic 60s pop and surreal humour: "This is our Christmas single. It didn’t do too well. It’s called ‘Motherfuckers’".

It was all delivered with an unpolished irreverence and a devil-may-care attitude of a band with only weeks left to live. They were joined by a former guitarist who hadn’t played with them for six years for one number, Jamie Holman from Tompaulin sang the voice of Jesus in 'It’s...The End of the World' and singer Simon Love threw the last remaining copies of their vinyl single ‘December Boy’ into the crowd with abandon. The fact they had forgotten to bring any copies of their latest album to sell just cements their loser status-cum-wayward genius. Great heartfelt-but-shambolic fun. Is it too soon to start the campaign to get The Loves to reform?





Allo Darlin’ are frequently described as a “fan’s band”. And tonight’s capacity show was certainly full of their own fans with most of the songs of last year’s wonderful debut album being sung back to them word-perfect. The set also included a few new songs included the one dedicated to Darren Hayman (“you’re so beautiful and you don't know”) that they played in front of said singer at last September’s End of the Road Festival.

Elizabeth said she felt ‘overwhelmed’ at one point during this gig but they never looked it - from the outset the band were determined and upbeat, continually bouncing about on their toes. The sound mix at the front was not the best but that didn’t take away from the hot, sweaty, bouncy fun: despite the heartbreak in some of their lyrics Allo Darlin’ just induce happiness. And then with first encore, the heart-stopping ‘Tallulah’ performed solo by Elizabeth, they show they can also induce tears. My only complaint was that 11 songs was just not enough.







This week Allo Darlin play Bristol, Cardiff and Cambridge, then London the week after before setting off for Europe. The self-titled debut album is available now from Fortuna Pop.

EMILY BARKER & THE RED CLAY HALO "Almanac"

Earlier this month the BBC Poll declared The Sound of 2011 to be Jessie J, another photogenic white female BRIT School graduate. Just like the previous two years. It’s easy to disparage such polls as the media and mainstream music industry play safe, clone earlier successes or clutch at straws. Meanwhile the real sound of 2011, like in 2010 and 2009 and 2008, will be that found bedrooms and home studios, on micro-indies and from DIY releases: more authentic, less manufactured, from a myriad of genres and often built around a small community of fans.

Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo crowd-sourced the funds for their second album “Almanac” using Pledge Music. They exceeded target within five days. Pledgers received their albums and packages of extras last December ahead of the official release date of 7 February.

The eleven songs on "Almanac" are peppered with nautical references - billowing seas, coastal airs, fighting gulls and moored boats. But don’t be expecting coarse salt-encrusted shanties. The Red Clay Halo trio - Jo Silverston on cello, Anna Jenkins on violin and Gill Sandell on accordion, flute and piano - ground these songs with a chamber-music elegance, and occasional edge, that is luxurious but never ostentatious.

Songs move from the frail fluttering of ‘Dancers’ to the more muscular sway of ‘Openings’, from the eerie hum of ‘Pause’ to the elated jig of ‘Calendar’ but overall never diverge as hugely in tone and texture as this spectrum suggests. Despite Barker’s Western Australian upbringing, there is a breezy and English pastoral feel to the record but also a cool reserve. For all the calm external composure they project however, there are contrary emotions and tensions at play beneath the surface.



So ‘Billowing Sea’ sings of the pain of heart-break but also the liberty, even escape, it brings in. The quieter ‘Reckless’ considers how “we can love and mourn at the same time” in. Lyrics can be allusive rather than specific but given most songs, even the most obviously historical one ‘Witch of Pittenweem’, are sung in the first person there is an emotional directness to them that is captivating. The almanac of the title therefore is less about plotting tidal movements or the changing seasons but more about changing and changed human emotions.

This is a strong record of beautifully crafted song-writing that should build on the profile Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo garnered with first album "Despite The Snow" (and accompanying "Wallander" theme music tie-in) and reward the faith of those pledgers. But will it become the Sound of 2011? Sadly not. But I’d like to think this finely nuanced folk-pop will become one of the myriad Sounds of 2011. And if you’re looking for an authentic, thoughtful and engaging listen it knocks Jessie J and the like into a cocked hat.

Billowing Sea - Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo

Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo Alamanac [BUY]

TONIGHT IN MANCHESTER: Smoke Fairies

The back-story to Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies releasing their first album as Smoke Fairies reads like a fairy tale: childhood friends leave Sussex for a North American odyssey and end up recording with Jack White. However selective this re-telling of their story may be, there’s no denying the power of the spectral music they create. Debut album “Through Low Light and Trees” blends very English folk voices with a dark strain of Americana to make something brooding and quite special. If it's a fairy tale, it's quite a spooky one.



Piccadilly Records agree making the release one their albums of the year: "A stunning and enchanting collection from this folk duo. Ethereal and haunting this is on the dark side of traditional folk, think Sandy Denny or Vashti Bunyan but with a left-of-centre twist. Folk album of 2010!"

And ahead of tonight’s gig at the recently refurbished Ruby Lounge, Smoke Fairies play a free 20 minute acoustic session at the shop on Oldham Street at 5pm.

Tickets for tonight’s show are £7 in advance and support is from Sea of Bees and Pablo’s Finest Hour.

RUE ROYALE "Halfway Blind"

Rue Royale are an Anglo-American duo named after a suburban Chicago road near their previous home. The couple now reside in Nottingham - a handy midpoint for the extensive European and US touring they seem to be hooked on. Out today is “Halfway Blind”, a digital download and 7” vinyl on Need No Water Records, the first single to precede second album “Guide To Escape”.

Brookln (sic) and Ruth Dekker claim “a shared love of Fleetwood Mac, John Martyn and the northern UK soul of Doves and Elbow”. I can see where they are coming from but on this track I’m reminded of another married musical partnership. The intense Americana recalls The Handsome Family with the murder ballads and gothic quirkiness taken out. Instead Rue Royale hone in on dense melodic swirl to this darkly ambiguous song of (I think) devotion “I will travel distances until indeed everything is alright”.

The B-side ‘Say Now Would You’ (not on the forthcoming album) is a lighter, more hopeful tune. Its catchy acoustic strum and contrasting dark/light male and female vocals makes me think of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne on the more subdued moments of “The Suburbs” (but without the sense of impending apocalypse).



I might be pushing the husband-wife analogies too much but there's no getting away from the fact this is a fine, fine single. I look forward to how Rue Royale sound over a whole album come March. The recording for said album is complete but Rue Royale are looking for help to finance the manufacture and distribution of the record. If you pre-order “Guide to an Escape” direct from the band you will get an early, handmade version signed by the duo, a digital live EP and your name in the liner notes. All this for just £10 – more details on the Rue Royale website.

Rue Royale Halfway Blind [BUY]

TRWBADOR "It Snowed A Lot Last Year"

As we charge through the first month of January and into 2011, the deep snows of December fall further behind and become distant memories. So here’s a release to transport us all back to that pre-festive wonderland: “It Snowed A Lot This Year” by Trwbador. And it’s not just the wintry title that connects us to past times: the wide-eyed rapture and innocent wonder that greets snowflakes falling is not dissimilar to the spell this EP weaves.

Trwbador play a kind of gauzy faerie-folk-glitch-pop that mixes child-like cooing, chimes and acoustic guitar with electronic clicks and whirrs. Swn Festival no less has compared the Carmarthenshire duo to Broadcast, Tuung, Cornelius and Deerhoof. But these are comparisons Angharad Van Rijswijk and Owain Gwilym don’t agree with - and I can see why. None of those names convey the lightness of touch and texture in their music, how they balance the organic and electronic, keeping the songs wispy and airy and human.

So the coyly sweet loops and beats of wordless opener ‘Eira’ or the carefree sing-song of ‘Shapes(La La La)’ gently draw the listener in, not by stealth but by pure charm. Underpinned by the gentlest hint of bossa nova, ‘Off Beat’ plays the same trick even when it trips itself over into a glitchy rut.


But there’s more to Trwbador than just sweetness and light. ‘Hit The Walls’ sings of conspicuous consumption, debt, and pointless wars. The second half may switch to Welsh but there’s no mistaking the “fuck you” amidst the mother tongue. It’s a political protest song delivered by stylophone and soft-voiced naivety. ‘Daw’r Nos, Daw’r Haf’ follows with a much more steely directness. Being sung entirely in Welsh, I’m not sure who or what the song is addressed at - but that just makes it all the more intriguing as its grandfather clock beats speed up to a climactic and sudden finale. The final two songs take this trajectory even further - and as they surrender words to sampled sounds and jittery beats, the Cornelius reference makes more sense.

On these seven songs Trwbador have pulled off an impressive feat: making music that is gently playful and experimental, singing gossamer-light lullabies but with a glint of menace and edge in the corner of their young shiny eyes. A fine debut release for both the band and their label Owlet Music. I am confident we will be hearing plenty more from both.

Daw'r Nos, Daw'r Haf - Trwbador

Shapes (La La La) - Trwbador

Trwbador It Snowed A Lot This Year [BUY]

GOD'S LITTLE ESKIMO "Said The Owl To The Mouse"

“Said The Owl To The Mouse“ is the second album from God’s Little Eskimo, Manchester-based peddler of lo-fidelity freak-folkery. This solo performer is a true all-rounder: not only writing and playing all songs (plus arranging one traditional tune), but also recording and illustrating it too (as well as the cover art initial copies come with a 16 page booklet of drawings and lyrics).

“Said The Owl To The Mouse“ may not win plaudits for the top-end production values on first listen but once your ear has adjusted to the bedroom studio aesthetic there’s a beguiling beauty to this album. And God’s Little Eskimo achieves an impressive array of sounds and moods through the clever overlapping of guitars, autoharp, toy piano, bowed saw and percussive effects. It may have been borne of the bedsit but the songs and hand-drawn illustrations here celebrate both the wonder and the darker side of the natural world - it is populated with rustling leaves, groves and twilight’s remorseless creep. Several songs echo the rhythms of the nature and the seasons: ‘Rooks’ is a tinny, ragged but joyful skip at the return of Spring; ‘Limb By Limb’ is the slow, woozy unfurling of limbs coming out long winter’s hibernation; and ‘Beneath the Breaking Waves’ mimics the eddies and swirls of a submarine world.

On closer listen it appears some of these songs are sung from the perspective of animals: "moss beneath my paws", "as I swoop in aerial display". But this is less the anthropomorphic tweeness of Beatrix Potter and more the sinewy realism of Ted Hughes all convincingly delivered with a firm directness and a clear, rich vocal timbre. And some delicious use of language too - “liquideous" and “undulating" just two of the choice words in 'Breaking Waves At Night'.

Elsewhere there are very human emotions on display. ‘If I Were To Bury You’ is a sparse but haunting love song over distorted guitar notes. It is difficult to be sure that the cryptic ‘Kinski’ refers to the German actor but the claustrophobia and desire for freedeom (“He remembers when he was an astronaut but he can only go so far alone”) is deeply affecting. And just when you think you have the measure of this record, it goes on to cover myth in the choral voices and wind-chime swirls of ‘The Alder King’ and then history and ecology in ‘Good Bye Great Auk’, the latter relating the final recorded sightings of the extinct sea bird to the eerie strains of bowed saw.

The record finishes with that arrangement of a traditional tune ‘Tomorrow Will Be My Dancing Day’ – echoing vocals over harmonium-like drones with birdsong piping in the background that is both sombre and uplifting, a haunting but exquisite coda to an astonishing album. Forget what I said about production values – this is an inventive and mesmerising record from a singular talent - and one of the first of 2011 that has left me genuinely moved and excited.
Rooks - God's Little Eskimo

Breaking Waves At Night - God's Little Eskimo

God's Little Eskimo Said The Owl To The Mouse [BUY or BUY]

TONIGHT IN MANCHESTER: Franz Nicolay

Erstwhile keyboard player for The Hold Steady and proud owner of the finest moustache in rock and roll, Brooklyn-based Franz Nicolay hits Manchester tonight as part of a UK short tour.

“This should be a cool thing. I'm doing a UK tour with old buddies Dave Hause (The Loved Ones/Fat Wreck Chords) and Jack Terricloth & Sandra Malak (World/Inferno Friendship Society). Four punk rockers in a small rental car, driving on the wrong side of the road in cold and rainy January, what could possibly go wrong?”

Nicolay’s songs move from playful and poignant, from melodramatic gypsy-punk cabaret tunes to banjo-driven folk Americana – and are not without ambition. His last record, 2010’s “Luck and Courage” followed two characters Felix & Adelita (‘luck’ in Latin and ‘courage’ in Spanish): “She's a sometime bartender, he's been in the service, he's a little violent and she's a little distant”. The album tells of the “battle between the pull of domesticity and the habit of packing up and moving on. And their story, and the story of their nation of two, becomes the story of a plague-ridden, Cormac McCarthyian country as its society collapses”. But rest assured there will laughter as well as tears at tonight's gig.



No advance tickets for tonight's show at Tiger Lounge I can find and Last.fm suggests doors at 7pm. And as Franz says: “Be sure to get there early if you're coming to these shows - we'll be rotating the running order every night, playing some songs together, making it up as we go along, so you don't want to miss it”. The tour continues to Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Brighton and Southampton.

This Is Not A Pipe - Franz Nicolay