2018’s edition of Off The Record underlined the festival’s fast-growing reputation as a key catalyst for spreading the awareness of and celebrating new music, with the conference taking place throughout the day on Friday 16th November and artists performing way into the night.
It’s not often you see indie pop described as ‘interesting’ – but Kawala is a band to which it applies well. A vocal and strong acoustic core is amplified by afrobeat-infused drums, rhythmic bass and electric hooks, allowing for a beautifully layered listen.
In Britain, it’s traditional to go see fireworks on November 5th, so that’s exactly what I did. Those fireworks, though more metaphorical than literal, were set off by rising star Sam Fender, embarking on the sixth date of his current UK tour, hot off the back of singles Dead Boys and That Sound. He and his band packed out […]
Walking into the intimate venue that is Hoxton Hall, we were met with a wave of excitement and anticipation as Palace were about to take to the stage.
This year’s Neighbourhood gathering brought epic highs and communal revelry to Manchester’s city streets and venues. The third edition of the festival installs Neighbourhood as a burgeoning institution, the music day out raises the bar with each consecutive outing defining a savvy brand, strongly engineered and thoughtfully delivered.
The name Spector lives on, the band has coined many great one liners and in turn has spawned many great conversations, songs like Chevy Thunder and All the Sad Young Men are conquering anthems that reflect back the fleeting permanence of youth. Since their second album ‘Moth Boys’ in 2015, the only bit of music the […]
As the leaves start to turn and Autumn begins to roll in, Manchester is set to come alive, for Neighbourhood Festival – the multi-venue, live performance spectacular – returns to city centre promenades on Saturday 6th October. For its largest presentation yet, the one-dayer will bring together over 100 performers to take to stages across […]
Alice Merton released her breakthrough hit ‘No Roots’ in December of 2016, the debut song received a startling reaction from audiences across the globe—earning platinum sales statuses in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and Poland, and achieving the number one spot in Billboard’s US Alternative chart (just a few of the many well-deserving accolades that […]
It’s safe to say it has been a bit of a whirlwind year so far for singer-songwriter Freya Ridings. With her single ‘Lost Without You’ going viral after being featured on Love Island, touring across the UK and US, and her latest UK tour close to selling out, everything is looking up for the London […]
At the end of another summer of great festivals we headed to the little town of Bingley, more specifically Myrtle Park, for the final day of Bingley Music Live for one last hurrah by way of seeing some great bands in a field with thousands of other people before the winter takes it all away […]
For a festival dedicated by name to the confines of one sub-genre, an attendee could be forgiven without question for the anxieties provoked by a line-up lacking in eclecticism or an audience exclusive and ostracising of the outsider. Manchester Psych Fest 2018 annihilated these fears.
Once again, Bingley Music Live is back to see out the festival season with an array of great acts across three days in the beautiful setting of the Yorkshire hills. We’re heading down for the final day on Sunday, and with so many great bands to see in so little time, we thought it best to […]
Returning for its sixth year, it is once again the turn of Manchester Psych Fest to sway musical attentions in the direction of the dizzying colour-culture of the Manchester psychedelic scene.
Last time Wolf Alice played in Manchester – only a couple of months prior – they were playing to a sold out crowd, admittedly inside a 600-capacity club space in the heart of the city centre. Nevertheless, this show was a rare sighting of the London four in intimate surroundings; small shows are increasingly becoming […]
Over the past month the Etihad has seen a host of global stars build a home inside its oval dome, each ushering in a different shade of commercial and the mainstream, and showing what they can do; the one man show of Ed Sheeran, the pop masterclass of Taylor Swift and the inimitable joint billing […]
I certainly wasn’t in the mood for a gig that evening. I had been at a conference in Swansea all day, was knackered and had a monstrous hangover to boot. You can imagine the state of mind I was in when I arrived (late) at the Old Queen’s Head in Islington to see Genevieve Dawson’s […]
Australia’s Holly Rankin (better known under the nom de plume Jack River) is a warrior, her music is testament to a determination to triumph over the impossible. The songs which make up debut album Sugar Mountain are in no way frivolous pop offshoots of a young artist hungry to find relevance, but beacons of bravery: […]
The London-formed foursome are no strangers when it comes to performing live – preparatory to their biggest headline show to date, ISLAND jumped back in the tour van, taking in shows across Europe and the UK. Fortunately for us, we were able to catch them in the intimate and atmospheric venue that is, Nottingham’s Bodega.
It takes a particular power for musicians to capture the mood outside on a sensuous summer evening and bring it in with them – but Jess Kemp and Dave Gorman, co-headlining Manchester’s Deaf Institute, with guest Thea Brooks, managed just that on Friday 18th May.
This May, Liverpool’s Sound City returned for an early Bank Holiday weekend of live music and arts-based action. Experiencing a creative and cultural rebirth, the festival moved its operations to the Baltic Triangle: an area renowned for its modernist takeover of the historic part of town. Spread across two days, the event gave attendees an […]