Oh Leeds, you charmer you. A city that weaves and unwinds like an immense tapestry, revealing a thousand hidden gems, a thousand nooks and crannies, a minefield of cultural brilliance waiting to explode from under you at any given moment. And there is no better day to exemplify those most tantalising of features better than […]
The afternoon sun is being replaced with a chilly early evening as I meet with Julien Baker at York’s gorgeous Grand Opera House, where she is supporting the folk-rock favourites Belle and Sebastian on their UK tour. Julien is relaxed and in high spirits. Before I hit the record button, she talks about feeling spoiled […]
Returning with a fresh and invigorating events programme, Liverpool’s three-day extravaganza of live performance and music industry panels continues over this coming May bank holiday weekend (4th/ 5th/ 6th May). Opening the weekend will be a day of insight and discussion as the Sound City+ conference brings a host of industry professionals to Liverpool’s historic […]
Fenne Lily’s work is subtle but impactful. Her words rise and fall with a weight of emotional sincerity. Her voice exchanges gritty, hushed, supple caresses with pitch-perfect feathery highs. Delivering lyrics of articulate observation and lived understanding, Lily is one of those artists that once witnessed can’t be forgotten or unheard.
On a night which offers little to the imagination, Manchester’s gig calendar kindly bestows a pearl of contrast. The inspired alliance of Dream Wife and the Vaccines is one of those must-see moments that arrive oh so rarely – and in this case, ever so timely. Taking residence in the city’s largest Academy building, the […]
With the impending return of one of the region’s finest metropolitan festivals, we decided to throw out a few names for you to narrow down your journey through a frankly baffling array of artists. So with that in mind, here’s your super fast, low-calorie, one stop revision-cram-session-cheat-sheet to give you the lowdown, the hidden gems, […]
Ohio natives Walk the Moon have always possessed an uncanny proficiency for styling off-kilter but inescapable sonic vibrancy. Each studio installment provides its own developments, but there’s always a guarantee somewhere on the record that you’ll find some sort of uplift, or greater affinity which will travel with you ever-after. With the 2014 release of […]
Camden lies at the heart of any music lovers quest for melodious enlightenment, chocked full of venues and bars in which to see great live bands any day of the week, it truly is a sanctuary. Personally, the Lock Tavern is most certainly at the top of the list of venues/bars/places to lose your inhibitions, […]
With as yet no music released online from recently formed Talkboy, going to their debut gig – supporting Public Access T.V. at Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club, I didn’t really know what to expect.
A band from Ireland bringing a sound like you’ve never heard before.
Indoor Pets are great. Indoor Pets are conveniently familiar. Indoor Pets are super friendly, if you ignore the spiky guitar lines. Oh sorry, did we lose you there? Yes, in fact the indoor pets we speak of are a musical band, not house-dwelling animals. Welcoming in a new chapter for 2018, the Sittingbourne band sped […]
Confirming the release of her long-anticipated debut album, Bryde welcomes in the news with simmering precision on lead single, ‘To Be Brave.’
As part of a short UK tour, London-based Folk-Rock five-piece To Kill A King retraced Leeds links to promote their third album ‘The Spiritual Dark Age,’ which has garnered mixed reviews from national press with some interpreting its eclectic nature as sign of insecurity of style.
After a long plane journey from Spain, I was lucky enough to grab a few moments with one half of Ireland’s finest pop/folk duo, Alfie of Hudson Taylor. To ask him a few questions about their return to music and what’s coming next, ahead of what proved to be a truly phenomenal night at Manchester’s […]
The word “weird” was thrown around a fair bit the night that ambient pop collective Cigarettes After Sex cast their spell of incredible stillness over Leeds University. “Surely they have a support band – it’d be weird not to,” said the barmaid, only to be proved wrong. Maybe this was because a support band would […]
“I just want it touch people. I don’t care about money, I don’t care about fame, I just want my music to touch people” – GEORGIE
PEAKES are a Leeds-based trio made up of Molly Puckering (vocals), Maxwell Shirley (keyboards & backing vocals) and Peter Redshaw (percussion). Bringing together a wide range of musical influences, their alternative electronic sound is well thought out and incredibly self-assured even in its most vulnerable moments.
As the home of an ever-growing crowd of misfits, art school dropouts and hip millennial urbanites, Hackney cries out to the youth as a safe haven for the now conventional nuances of ‘abnormality’. The area is the cultural equivalent of a toddler throwing their toys out of a pram, rallying against London norms in true […]
The day dawned to a sprinkling of snow on Friday 17th November, as if providing a blank canvas before the array of events ahead at M for Montreal.
Off The Record is the result of a collaboration between independent festivals Sound City, Kendal Calling, Bluedot and music blog Louder Than War. After a sellout first year, expectations were high with ticket holders travelling from all across the UK for the Manchester music conference and festival, but luckily it did not disappoint.