Day: 6 October 2017
Review: Husky Loops – EP2
Husky Loops are a band set on breaking the rules, bending genre boundaries, and stepping boldly into the unknown. Their new EP strikes a perfect balance between the unhinged nature of their live shows and the meticulous detail that goes into every one of their studio recordings.
It’s messy but precise, fierce but mellow, open but intriguing. Far-out apocalyptic arrangements collide with oddball pop structures as the group continues to define and accomplish their incredible musical vision. Their new record ‘EP2’ will be available digitally and on 12″ vinyl on the 6th of October.
The band are also set to tour with Placebo this month, as well as playing shows with Superfood & Tigerclub, which will then be followed by a full headline tour across the UK in November.
The release kicks off with ‘Girl that wants to Travel the World’. The repetitive but effective lyrics are both wistful and sombre. This beautifully contrasts with the jingly guitar tunes and wholesome bass lines. This first track lulls you into a false sense of security, the calm before the storm if you will.
From nostalgic to unnerving, the next track leaps into what feels like an audio horror movie. ‘Re-collect’ throws together a whirlwind of distortion, overlaid with echoing spoken words with shivering interjections entwined within. ‘Re-collect’ seems to just reverberate the whole way through, in a way that is twistingly satisfying. The track flows smoothly into the band’s latest single ‘Fading Out’.
This track is infectious from the very start. The throbbing melody in the song and sinister vocals are slightly resembling that of SLAVES. ‘Where ya going boy? What’s floating in the water’ The album concludes with ‘Secret Matilda’ which stays consistent with the creepy undertones but strong rhythms and cleverly moving sound — listen to it with headphones and see what I mean. Has a hypnotic enchantment.
Trying to summarise Husky Loops is both perplexing and an ambitious task. The 3-piece don’t fall easily into one clear-cut genre. This album will take you on an eerily enchanting journey, which isn’t for the faint-hearted, but one I highly recommend that you take anyway.
8/10
Review: WHP – Floating Points
On Saturday 30th September, the former air raid shelter underneath Piccadilly station opened for its second weekend of action this calendar year. Crowds jostled along Store Street to enter with urgency; excited by what was waiting inside, but also in fear of the 10pm last entry cut off. The infamous — and now 11 years old — Warehouse project proved to be its usual mixed bag of music, which was so outstanding it took your attention away from how overcrowded it was, as per usual.
Once inside, those able to keep hold of their friends could travel straight down to an eclectic selection of dance music on offer across three rooms. Sophie Wilson aka Willow met those upon arrival with a high energy set in room one. The Manchester-born DJ and producer identified vinyl collecting in the Northern Quarter, only 200 metres down the road, and long nights at now closed down Sankeys are key sources of inspiration. She delivered an onslaught of distinctly raw and stripped back broken beats. Although perhaps this would have been best appreciated at a deeper and darker time, later in the night.
Elsewhere, behind a large doorway of heavy soundproof flaps, Madlib delivered a more lyrical and rhythmic performance of old-school hip-hop, reggae and jazz to room 2. Dancers sang along and socialised with one another. The highly-rated American producer proved a great antidote, for those perhaps not yet ready, to give way to the intense metronome of harsher electronic music.
Once settled in, Jon Hopkins’ performance between the towering brick walls of the main room caught the attention of many. The former classical pianist showed no evidence of gentle symphonies with a raucous display. Head bopping bongos that broke into thunderous drums caused a ripple of fist pumps and roars through the audience. “Jon Hopkins did bits” one audience member declared, having reflected through the arduous winding queue to the smoking area. They were right. He did.
Floating Points followed at just the right time. Once Neuroscientist Sam Shepard deployed a sublime blend of music that blurred the distinction between genres. Tinkering between the realms of melodic techno, afrobeat and 90s house with scientific accuracy, accompanied by a visual backdrop of revolving yellow striped lights and twinkling blue dots. This was a performance full of surprises. Most notably when his set ripped into screeching disco with 20 minutes to go. This tore grins across the faces of all, bringing genuine atmosphere to a stage that can feel disjointed at times.
As the night progressed, and as some left the venue, pockets of space opened. Dancer’s were able to stretch their limbs, relieved from a penguin-like stance. This served as a reward for those who had stayed on into the final stages. Perhaps epitomised by Jeremy Underground’s closing selection of hip shifting house and groove classics to a small united crowd underneath the warm orange glow of room 2.
Some will rightly question this event as one which could deliver a far better visitor experience. As well as ordering their artists with more care, to achieve trajectory of mood that builds the audience up throughout the evening. Having said that the quality and variety of music available, as always, is undeniably brilliant.
Manchester Food and Drink Festival 2017
Possible unbeknown to most students, what with the common fear of travelling too far from Fallowfield, the Manchester Food and Drink Festival is taking place this weekend in Albert Square. Attracting Manchester’s finest stalls, it was an event not to be missed.
Completely free to enter, this festival is a must for anyone with a love of street food, live music or good old daytime drinking. The festival plays host to various street food vans, with themes from across the world. Over 15 different food stalls can supply you with anything from churros to chicken chaat, hoi-sin duck to halloumi fries and shawarma to shakes.
Fan-favourite stalls include the hip-hop chip shop (a national fish and chip shop winner) and Tampopo; a Bangkok style street food who is also celebrating 20 years of business. From paella to, Indian street food to hotdogs; Moroccan wraps, fresh curries, hip-hop chip shops, crepes, and churros. The sensational food aromatises the city. It is impossible to not find something that you will enjoy!
Photo: Savannah GoughLive music from local acts plays all day, starting at 11am and running through to 11pm at the weekend. The music, located in a marquee selling £5 cocktails and local craft beers, becomes increasingly upbeat as festival-goers become increasingly intoxicated. The selection of craft beers is fantastic, and the prices seem fairly reasonable, starting at £3.50 and peaking at £4.50 for the stronger beers (up to 7 per cent!).
Another popular attraction is the Fever Tree gin bar which offers a range of gins (local and otherwise) and tonics with a quaint tepee and deck chairs for relaxed afternoon drinking. The gin tent offers local gins and a variety of flavoured mixers; the lemon thyme and rosemary with local Didsbury gin is a fantastic option! These are, however, somewhat steeper at £9 a double and £7 a single, an issue which provides the only slight stumbling block.
Previously, the UK’s largest food and drink festival has attracted the likes of Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey. Saturday 30th September saw Deliciously Ella bring her cult cuisine to the rainy city. After a free Q&A session and book signing, Ella prepared a lavish feast for those lucky enough to get their hands on tickets. The three-course banquet seated at eloquently decorated tables featured creamy corn chowder, an assortment of family plates such as roasted artichokes, edamame hummus, herby black rice and finally, a mango sponge cake for pudding.
If, as I would suggest, someone wants to make a day out of the festival, they might need to be prepared to spend a little more than an average student day out. The price for food varies somewhat from cart to cart, but a main tends to be in the £6-£8 bracket. This is not a bad price all things considered, however it very quickly becomes incredibly difficult to walk past any of the food stalls whilst resisting trying a little something! Not all of the food is mind-blowing, but a vast quantity of it really is done to a very high quality, using local ingredients and cooked by people who love what they’re doing. This can mean that the festival gets to be a little pricey, however while the festival may not be the cheapest thing you could do with your weekend, I can guarantee that it will be one of the most entertaining.
After 20 years of celebrating the best food and drink in Manchester; this year had our taste buds tingling with the assortment of vendors there was no opportunity to go hungry. The Food and Drink festival of 2017 brought the best food, drink, guests and musicians. The festival culminates with a prestigious food and drink awards, despite the celebrations or commiserations; here’s to celebrating 20 more years of Manchester’s finest food and drink.
PS take an umbrella, this is Manchester after all!
University staff vote ‘yes’ to strike action
Lecturers at the University of Manchester have voiced their outrage at 140 potential staff redundancies through a vote in favour industrial action later this month.
Members of University College and Union (UCU) held the vote on Wednesday the 4th of October. There was a turnout of 57.7 percent, and a total of 1049 votes were cast.
86.7 per cent of members who voted suggested they were “prepared to take industrial action consisting of a strike”, while 93.1 per cent were “prepared to take industrial action short of a strike.”
On the day of the vote, UCU members gathered in the Old Quadrangle off Oxford Road at 1.30pm to lobby the Board of Governors. Strike action has been planned for Monday the 23rd of October and Tuesday the 24th of October, and staff will then begin working to rule from Thursday the 25th of October.
UCU regional official, Martyn Moss, said: “Today’s decisive ballot result reflects the strength of feeling amongst our members who have been incensed at every aspect of these proposals to slash jobs.
“The University of Manchester has been plunged into crisis because of a management strategy that bypassed the professionals who work in the affected areas. These redundancy proposals lack a convincing rationale and staff are not confident that the process will be fairly and consistently implemented.
“Striking is always a last resort and there is still the opportunity to avoid it. The University of Manchester must take compulsory redundancies off the table.”
The proposed redundancies are in the University’s School of Arts, Languages and Cultures (35 posts), the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (65 posts) and Alliance Manchester Business School (40 posts).
As previously reported in The Mancunion, an email was sent on Wednesday the 10th of October 2016 to thousands of University staff detailing a Board of Governors’ decision about job cuts.
In a statement given at the time, a University spokesman said: “We have detailed plans for significant growth in funds from a range of activities, but we will also need to make cost savings. On the 3rd of May the Board of Governors approved proposals from the senior staff of the University to commence consultation with the Trade Unions in relation to reductions of up to 171 posts.
“The University proposes to open a voluntary severance scheme for staff at risk, to avoid the need for compulsory redundancy if at all possible.”
However, in a recent survey of staff conducted by union members, 88 per cent of respondents suggested they did not believe they have been provided with a convincing rationale for the job losses.
The union also claim staff were not given any opportunity to have any say on the proposals which were drawn up by senior managers, and suggest that 87 per cent of staff surveyed reported that management had not adequately responded to concerns raised through internal university structures.
The union has also rejected the university’s claim that it needs to create “financial headroom”, instead arguing that the University “is in a strong financial position having recorded a £36m surplus last year (2015/16) and its financial statement for the same year revealed it is sitting on £1.5bn of reserves. The 140 redundancies would be followed by the creation of 100 plus new early career academic appointments so the money saved would be comparatively small in relation to the university’s total budget.”
Emma Atkins, Students’ Union Education Officer, echoed these thoughts and added: “UCU delivered an incredibly successful ballot ….It sends a powerful message to the University’s leadership that staff are extremely angry with the job cuts and the way it has been handled. Additionally, the SU Senate passed a motion to support staff that are at risk of redundancy and UCU, demonstrating students also feel very strongly about job cuts.”
Save Our Staff MCR, the University-based campaign to stop the job cuts, told The Mancunion: “With this call for strike action, the University Hierarchy will need to think again before totally disregarding the livelihoods of their employees. As the student wing of this strike, we will stand in solidarity with our staff in protest until they are assured that no job cuts will take place in the name of blind greed and profit.”
In response to the vote, a University of Manchester spokesperson said: “The University is naturally disappointed that members of the UCU have voted that they are prepared to take industrial action consisting of a strike and/or industrial action short of a strike, particularly because these staffing changes have been considered carefully through an extensive consultation process with all three of our recognised Trade Unions, including the UCU. This includes 16 collective consultation meetings that have taken place since May, plus two meetings facilitated by ACAS, which have resulted in a number of amendments to the proposals as a consequence of consultation.
“The University is committed to mitigating the need for redundancy, and in line with the Security of Employment Policy has taken a number of steps including sourcing redeployment opportunities for ‘at risk’ staff, tight vacancy management control and offering a generous Voluntary Severance Scheme.
“Whilst we hope that staff will decide to continue to work normally, every effort will be made to ensure that there will be no significant disruption to operations at the University and particularly to our students should there be any industrial action. We also remain committed to continue our dialogue with the Trade Unions and staff on these plans as they are implemented.”
Preview: Super League Grand Final XXII – Castleford Tigers v Leeds Rhinos
It’s been another thrilling season in the Betfred Super League. Castleford Tigers have claimed their first ever League Leader’s Shield, running away at the top of the table, whilst regular heavy-hitters Wigan Warriors failed to qualify for the play-offs for the first time since 2006.
The Super 8s format — still fresh from being introduced in 2015 — proved to be the downfall of Salford Red Devils.
Meanwhile, Warrington Wolves suffered a miserable season as they surprisingly failed to finish in the top 8, instead competing in (and winning) the Super 8s Qualifiers table.
It has all led up to this moment; Castleford Tigers and Leeds Rhinos will clash at Old Trafford on Saturday evening. Since the League’s birth, the stadium has hosted both fantastic and shocking moments, from Sean Long’s winning drop-kick for St Helens in 2002, to Ben Flower’s mindless punch of a floored Lance Hohaia in the opening minutes of the 2014 final.
It is poetic that Castleford have made fought their way to the final. They were by far the superior team this season, and after a mixed decade in the top flight since their promotion in 2007, they finally have their shot in the limelight.
A nerve-wracking and well-earned semi-final victory against St Helens could not have been more deserved for the Tigers. Castleford spent 70 minutes of the game in front, before a late flurry of tries from Saints appeared to have won the game for the away side. However, Luke Gale converted a penalty kick to send the game into golden-point extra time, before playing hero again with the decisive drop goal.
Gale and fullback Zak Hardaker — both Man of Steel nominees — have been the league leaders’ stand out players, and they will undoubtedly be integral to any hopes of being crowned Super League champions this weekend.
Facing Castleford will be league table runners-up Leeds Rhinos, who managed to hold off Hull FC at Headingly Stadium in an equally thrilling encounter. Leeds squandered a 12 point lead after tries from the Black and Whites either side of half-time from Gareth Ellis, Mahe Fonua and Sika Manu.
Yet they powered on to reclaim the lead and book their place at Old Trafford. Even if they do not emerge victorious on Saturday, The Rhinos have reached their tenth Grand Final, equalling Saints’ record number of appearances. The disappointment of last year’s ninth-place finish is most definitely behind them.
This weekend’s showdown will mark a farewell to Leeds veterans Rob Burrow and Danny Maguire, who will surely be looking for a fairy-tale ending to their careers with The Rhinos.
It will be an extremely closely-contested final between the two sides, yet Castleford will be confident they can overcome a Rhinos team that they have already seen off four times this year, including an early season demolition when they battered the West Yorkshire side 66-10 at The Jungle.
The 2017 Super League Grand Final takes place at Old Trafford, Saturday 7th October, at 6 pm, and is live on Sky Sports Main Event and Arena.