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Month: January 2018

Jodrell Bank Observatory nominated to be World Heritage Site

On Monday the 29th of February it was confirmed that Jodrell Bank Observatory has been chosen as the UK’s nomination for UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2019. If granted World Heritage Site status, the observatory would join the likes of the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal.

In order to be inscribed as a World Heritage Site, nominations must show that they possess Outstanding Universal Value which transcends borders. Michael Ellis, Minister for Arts, Heritage, and Tourism, says: “Jodrell Bank played a central role in transforming our understanding of the Universe and is, therefore, a site of global importance.”

Founded in 1945, the University of Manchester owned site is home to the Grade I Listed Lovell Telescope. It is the first radio astronomy observatory in the world and has pioneered the exploration of the universe using radio waves. Jodrell Bank is the only site in the world that includes evidence of every stage of the post-1945 development of radio astronomy.

Among its missions, the Lovell Telescope was used to track both Soviet and American probes aimed at the Moon in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Other key historical sites at the Observatory also includes the Grade I Listed Mark II Telescope and the Park Royal building, which was the control room for the Transit Telescope, where the detection of radio waves from the Andromeda Galaxy confirmed that the Universe extends beyond our own galaxy.

“The Jodrell Bank Observatory, and Lovell Telescope, in particular, have become icons of science and engineering around the world and we’re delighted to reach this milestone. We have been preparing the case for nomination for [the] inclusion of Jodrell Bank on the World Heritage list for several years now and we look forward to showcasing its rich scientific heritage on the international stage” says Professor Teresa Anderson, Director of Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre.

Professor Tim O’Brien, Associate Director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics and Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Manchester, went on to explain: “Jodrell Bank really is an iconic site and institution, not just here in the North West of England, but to people around the world. It is the one remaining site, worldwide, which has been a working observatory from the very first days of radio astronomy to the present day. It’s important that we protect its rich heritage as we celebrate its current and future work.”

The nomination will be formally assessed by the International Council of Sites and Monuments before the World Heritage Committee decides whether it will join the 1,073 designated World Heritage Sites around the globe.

The UK currently has 31 World Heritage Sites, with The Lake District having been inscribed in 2017. Other UK sites on the World Heritage List include the Tower of London, Blenheim Palace, Giant’s Causeway and Stonehenge.

Obituary: Mark E. Smith

Mark E Smith was the stuff of legend. His infamous band, The Fall, had over 60 members in its time, with him as the only constant: a front man who wouldn’t give up, admitting once “if it’s me and your granny on the bongos — it’s The Fall.” They released over 30 albums and spent the 70’s and 80’s in and out of the pop charts.

The Fall was well known for having an ever evolving sound, which changed with the stream of ever changing band members. This is what allowed the band to continue up until the premature and tragic demise of Mark E Smith.

A true Post-Punk band, Mark E Smith’s Mancunian drawl and cryptic lyrics can be heard through the powerful guitars, an underlying rockabilly riff mixed with an abrasive punk sound.  His tense music lives on to teach anyone who will listen about reputation, life and drugs.

Mark E Smith is a true legend of musical history, influencing bands including The Arctic Monkeys, LCD Soundsystem and Sonic Youth. Since his death on Tuesday 23rd January, artists including Billy Bragg have been paying tribute to him calling him a “cultural icon”.  Another tribute, came from Smith’s former Fall band mate Marc Riley, who was dj-ing on BBC Radio 6 when the news broke. He recalled to his listeners live how Smith had “taught me a lot about life and he taught me a lot about music”.

Mark E Smith died aged 60 after suffering from respiratory problems for the past year. His declining health meant that shows in America had to be cancelled and for his last shows in England, he sang in a wheelchair.

He was the personification of what people expected from punk music, single handedly releasing more albums than there have been punk bands. He was erratic, sporadic, and enigmatic: his reputation became iconic but Smith never gave up on the music and had an admirable and fierce passion for his art.

Interview: Manchester’s most influential woman – Qaisra Shahraz

Qaisra Shahraz was 2017’s most influential woman in Manchester according to lovinmanchester.com. Though the author admits she is ”bemused” at the prospect, she undeniably has influenced many through the power of her stories, and is taking the recognition as a “humbling experience.”

With her published short stories and novels gaining international recognition, I wanted to talk to Qaisra and see where it all began, and what the most influential Manchester woman of 2017 has planned for 2018.

Qaisra has lived in Manchester since the age of nine, and her Pakistani roots and dual nationality became a source of inspiration for the stories she began to write. Through her school years right up to her becoming a student at the University of Manchester,  “writing has remained my soulmate” Qaisra smiles.

It was here, at our very own University, that Qaisra was published for the first time. She remembered cheerfully her glee at the sight of seeing her name in print.

“I had joined Michael Schmidt’s creative writing workshops and enrolled on a writing course resulting in my debut full two page feature piece in She magazine about Greek Vases. I bought nearly half a dozen of the magazines, for my family and friends! Seeing your name in print for the first time is magic. The excitement wears off over the years!”

Qaisra’s novels The Holy Woman, Typhoon, Revolt  and collections of stories are studied at a multitude of other universities, as well as A Pair of Jeans being studied in German and English schools. Qaisra’s appeared in literary festivals and book fairs around the world, including Jaipur and Beijing and her drama serial has appeared on Pakistan Television. Despite all this undeniable global success, Qaisra never forgets about the love she has for her home city, with her connections to the University of Manchester remaining strong.

“In recent years I have organised two multi-faith university events celebrating diversity. Our aim was to bring students and community members of various faiths and those of none together in order to celebrate our shared values, promote peace and cohesion” Qaisra tells me.

Photo: Qaisra Shahraz
Photo: Qaisra Shahraz

After leaving university Qaisra’s creativity projects began to blossom. She was published numerous times as an author, then eventually found her way into screenwriting.

“Writing for television came much later and was much more challenging. Creatively, I have found writing of film and TV scripts in its use of imagination the most demanding. In order to learn the craft of script and screenwriting I ended up doing a Master’s degree course in scriptwriting for TV and Radio and adapted my novel The Holy Woman into a 90 minutes film screenplay.”

When I asked Qasira what her writing process was like, she admitted that she has “no standard writing ritual or process as such” but that for scriptwriting “the jig sawing and stitching of separate scenes to create exciting episodes and embedding as much conflict and drama as possible is quite a task. I was taught on my degree course in scriptwriting to ‘milk’ each scene for drama — otherwise it is redundant.”

And as for writer’s block, the sickness that every author fears suffering from, Qaisra won’t even entertain the idea.

“I have no time to have a writer’s’ block!” She laughs. “However, there is a new distraction on the scene which often lures me away  from my creativity quite significantly — online social media!”

Qasira’s latest work is a publication of short stories named The Concubine & The Slave Catcher. The ten shorts are set on four different continents at various different times in history. Qaisra was generous enough to send me a copy, and the stories, completely different to the next were all interwoven with humour, sadness and a sense of real life suffering and emotion.

“I have focussed on the drama of human relationships, played out against various scenarios: the daily struggles for survival of Jews in a Polish concentration camp [one operated by Nazis during World War II in occupied Poland]; the selling of slaves in 18th-century Boston; the tragedies of the partition of India and Pakistan; modern-day friendships in Abu Dhabi, and the fatal jealousy of an Incan concubine and a Spanish wife in 16th -century Peru.”

“The Journey” one of the ten short stories in the book, “resulted from me learning about the bitter realities of Partition from an aunt, telling me about how she wept for days after parting from her Hindu best friend Gopi, whose family had to flee south to India. Imagine a line being drawn on a map of India, thereby making millions of people refugees overnight. Gripped by the scale of the human tragedy I had to write this story.”

Even the shortest of encounters, such as a ride in a taxi, can be a source of information when you are asking the right questions, and really listening to the stories people have to tell. “Our Angel was based on a conversation I had with an Afghan taxi driver on my way to the Abu Dhabi Book Fair. The man’s life as a migrant workers separated from his family for long periods of time dismayed me and taught me the realities of modern day economic migration.”

Photo: Qaisra Shahraz
Photo: Qaisra Shahraz

But it is Qaisra’s own personal identity that has caused her to write about the stories she has, in hopes that they will bring about more awareness about different social, cultural issues and gender issues.

“With the rise in Islamophobia I have now actively begun to use my writer’s platform and my fiction to build intercultural bridges.” Qaisra affirms. “I find it so frustrating, having to constantly defend my faith, and Muslim women’s rights to dress as they please including wearing of the veil, the hijab. I am dismayed as to why Muslim women are consistently targeted and stereotyped in the media as well as harassed on the street for their clothing.

“In one special project I have documented 32 hours of taped recorded interviews  of over hundred Muslim women from several countries. My aim was; to debunk myths about Muslim women, and learn about the realities of their lives and to celebrate their diversity. I discovered that every single woman I interviewed from the humble tea picker in Indonesia and a business woman in India was unique, a product of her class, culture, education  family and social background. I found 99 per cent of those women were not oppressed as is often assumed in the west.”

Qaisra is currently setting up a Muslim Arts and Culture Festival at the University of Manchester. She strongly welcomes Muslim and non-Muslim students to get involved in this exciting new festival, by offering their skills as volunteers, as well as taking part in a special MACFEST Day to be hosted in the University to promote Muslim heritage. Leave your details with The Mancunion or Diversity officers in the Student Union and Qaisra will be in touch.

You can find Qaisra’s website here.

Review: V-REV vegan diner

As a meat eater I am generally quite sceptical about vegan restaurants that aim to serve convincing replicas of fast-food meat products. Nonetheless, since it is ‘Veganuary’, myself and a vegan friend decided to give this popular Manchester joint a try to see if the dishes could really compete with the real deal.

On arrival it was very evident that V-REV is a popular diner, and although it was  14:30 on a Thursday we had to wait a few minutes to be seated. The menu consists of seitan burgers which are either deep fried to replicate and taste like fried chicken or mixed with soy and moulded into patties to replicate beef burgers. In addition to burgers, V-REV also offers a range of vegan sides from ‘mozzarella’ sticks to loaded ‘cheesy’ fries, all at a very reasonable price.

I decided to order the Kenan and Kale burger which was spicy fried ‘chicken’ with avocado, vegan mozzarella and Siracha. For two pounds extra I also added some poutine fries which were topped with vegan gravy, cheese and fried onions. My companion ordered the Whopper Flocka Flame burger and buffalo ranch fries. Her burger consisted of ‘beef’ patties topped with vegan cheese and bacon and her fries were also drenched in vegan cheese, bacon and ranch dressing. Both meals were less than ten pounds and the portions were very generous.

Photo Credit: Daisy Tolcher
Photo Credit: Daisy Tolcher

However, after trying both dishes we both felt that the ‘beef’ burger was a bit of a disappointment. The patty was thin, did not have a convincing texture and did not taste of much. Most of the flavour derived from the sauce and the vegan cheese, which was  generously lathered on top. On the other hand, the Kenan and Kale burger was delicious and could have passed for a real, albeit less greasy, chicken burger. The fries were also tasty and a steal at only two pounds for such a large portion.

Photo Credit: Daisy Tolcher
Photo Credit: Daisy Tolcher

Although V-REV has made a good effort at providing vegan diners with an alternative to beef and chicken burgers, the food I tried has not convinced me too give up the meat. That said, the diner is a good place to meet with friends and is reasonably priced, so I will be visiting again.

Review: Manchester Smokehouse

At first glance, Manchester Smokehouse — located on Lloyd Street, just off Albert Square — has all the ingredients of a great night out, with an exciting food and cocktail menu, and a very busy restaurant. Unfortunately, that’s where the compliments end.
We booked a table for a Saturday night — essential, as it was really quite busy. By the time we had arrived 5 minutes late, they had already given our table to someone else.

We shrugged this off and went over to their cocktail bar to wait until one became available. The vodka and prosecco cocktail I had was 95% apple juice, which is always upsetting when they suggest they consider their drinks as important as their food.

After sitting down, we ordered starters; Smoked garlic king prawns, and the honey jerk BBQ wings. The food arrived promptly, which was great — by this point, we were pretty hungry. The prawns came with their shells still on – and it has to be said, that must have been where all the flavour was, as there certainly wasn’t any on the meat. The wings were slightly better, but not much superior to those found in a local Wetherspoons.

We moved on and ordered ‘The big smoke; all the best bits for two to share’. If these were the best bits, I certainly don’t want to try the rest. Comprising of a hefty platter of brisket and ribs, pulled pork, and a variety of sides, the only thing that didn’t disappoint was the fancy chopping board it was all served on.

I know this sounds harsh – but the vast majority of the food was inedible – the chicken was so dry you had to gulp several mouthfuls of your pure apple juice cocktail just to get through it. The brisket was tough and flavourless, and the ‘hot links’ sausages were overcooked and unexciting. Don’t get me started on the ribs. The beans and the pulled pork were bang average, and they were the highlight.

What was most surprising was the lack of a smoky flavour. They claim their food is smoked and cooked on an open fire — but if you want a BBQ flavour, you’re better cooking it yourself on a disposable one in Platt’s Fields, or simply having a packet of smoky bacon crisps.

Unsurprisingly, I wouldn’t recommend a trip to Manchester Smokehouse — there are plenty of excellent alternatives in town, for the same price.

New society launched for postgraduates

A new society has been launched to represent postgraduate students.

Majid Ahmed began the MCR Postgrad society with the aim of supporting the personal and professional development of the postgraduate community through social and academic activities.

Along with launching the new MCR Postgrad professional networking platform to bring the postgraduate community together, this society allows postgraduate students to unwind from the stresses of university life and connect with their fellow peers.

The first event is the ‘Postgraduate pizza’ night on the 1st of February from 18:00 to 20:00 in Academy 2 of the Students’ Union. This is a chance for postgraduates to meet other students, discuss any concerns with their representatives and find out more about future events and competitions. Tickets are available online.

Majid hopes that the postgraduate community can be drivers of change in demanding better well-being and welfare services for postgraduate students. He believes this is necessary given the high prevalence of mental issues in postgraduate students, with a recent study published in Research Policy reporting that over half of PhD students suffer symptoms of psychological distress.

The postgraduate community experienced setbacks in the senate on the 7th of December, where they voted against introducing a Postgraduate Executive Officer, prioritising the existing position of Campaigns Officer.

The postgraduate society is still pushing for representation at the highest levels of university life, intending to allow the postgraduate voice to be heard. Emma Atkins, the 2017/18 Students’ Union Executive Education Officer believes that the Students’ Union “greatly overlooked postgraduate students in the past” but hopes that through the emergence of the postgraduate society, changes can be made.

Postgraduate events appear to be gaining momentum.

Plant and Hope for postgraduate students, led by Aleksandra Besevic, returns this semester, where students can discuss well-being and the environment in which they work.

Through these initiatives, it is hoped that the Students’ Union can better represent the 12,000 postgraduate students at the University of Manchester.

Carillion’s liquidation is disturbing for many reasons

Carillion, one of the government’s largest contractors and the UK’s second largest construction company, was forced to go into liquidation early last week with less than £30m in remaining cash and over £2bn in liabilities.

The fallout has been devastating, not only was Carillion a multinational behemoth but it had been responsible for hundreds of vital government services. Even though the jobs of those working in public services are protected under the government’s Insolvency Service, the estimated 8,500 individual livelihoods of people working within Carillion’s private-sector are now under threat as well as the millions of pounds Carillion owed to hundreds of subcontractors and smaller businesses now left in severe financial uncertainty.

The Carillion case clearly demonstrates that conventional models of free market regulation are grossly insufficient. The costs of failure for large corporations is at odds with fundamental socio-economic rights of people due to the integral function they play in the economy or by the nature of the services they provide. When the collapse of Carillion put thousands of jobs at risk and disrupted important public services, it rightfully prompted a much-needed revision to the UK’s Corporate Governance Code which questioned why things had gone so disastrously bad when Carillion, in many ways, was a model of good governance.

Carillion’s directors were a collection of young economic experts with vast arrays of experience in both public and private sectors. The chairman was Philip Green who served as the advisor on corporate responsibility to David Cameron, the head of the remuneration was Alison Horner, the former operations director at Tesco, and four different directors were all professional accountants. And long-standing entrenchment was not a problem either, the longest-serving director had only joined the board in 2009.

With a board of directors and chairman that were, on paper, an ideal governance model, it is a mystery as to exactly why this same board had such irrational optimism in its December 2015 financial statements which were followed by a profit warning six months later that eliminated three-quarters of Carillion’s market value. Why this same board allowed the build-up of liabilities while continuing to pay out large dividends to shareholders and absurd bonuses to top executives when the company was clearly failing on objective performance markers.

Carillion’s insolvency also spelled a government failure. On January 1st this year, Carillion requested a £150m short-term loan from taxpayers to provide a much needed capital injection to sure up debts and inspire confidence in its investors. After the request was rejected, it is uncertain whether the current situation is costing the government more to contain its fallout. With a relationship so intimately tied to the government, Carillion over-relied on temperamental state contracts with thin profit margins but yet the state had set precedence for this behaviour, increasingly outsourcing core operations in defence, healthcare, and transport, setting a tone of favourable political support.

The revisions to the Corporate Governance Code in December 2017 were a welcome respite. The driving motivations behind the revisions were principally radical. It called for companies to “generate value for shareholders and contribute to wider society” and advised companies to have chairmen that would step down only after serving on the board for nine years, and for executives to have their bonuses locked as shares for five years, ensuring their ability to seek long-term benefit. However, it is unlikely that the revisions will be sufficient to address the immensity of the situation. The issue no longer just addresses Carillion alone but the future of similar corporations like Serco and Capita which are caught in quasi-incestuous relationships with the state.

On the 24th of January, all voting MPs agreed unanimously to release the government’s risk assessments of outsourcing contracts. There is suspicion that departments failed to follow correct risk-management procedures after three profit warnings, drawing even more attention to frictions in current modes of public-private interactions. The inseparable nature of public and private interests means that the state can no longer act as solely a “customer” to public service providers, and that new forms of regulation both within the government’s economic decision-making bodies and corporations have to be innovated.

Is it still okay to like anything made by anyone anymore?

On the 14th of January, the online zine Babe published a story that would eventually result in one of the industry’s most powerful and influential comedians being labelled a sexual predator. Aziz Ansari, one of Hollywood’s only minority comedians, has joined the ranks of many media figures who have been accused of sexual misconduct in the past few months.

A string of controversy that had started with Harvey Weinstein has now proliferated in the mainstream media, affecting the likes of Louis CK, Kevin Spacey, and Casey Affleck. With a rapidly growing list of accused sexual offenders, some of whom make up history’s most profoundly impactful content creators, it’s important to examine our relationship with the culture that we consume and the people behind it.

In 1992, Woody Allen was accused of molesting his 12-year old adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow. Since then, Woody Allen has directed 26 movies and has been involved in the writing and/or production of over 40. Whether our enjoyment of his work fuels his own material gain and the system which rewards talented and abusive men, is a question that is hardly new, but just as resonant today as it was throughout the timeline of artistic canon.

There is perhaps a superfluous argument about how our support of their movies directly profits the sexual predators who are involved in them. But there is a larger signaling effect sent to the industry that casts them or bankrolls their next music album: that the mainstream consumer base is one that is easily exploited in its hypocrisy. As long as the vast majority of people are willing to overlook the transgressions of powerful men, there isn’t any reason to replace their entrenched role as artists.

However, the effect on us, the consumer, is probably much more interesting to examine. Whenever we walk into a movie theatre or watch a stand-up comedy, we, to some extent, agree to suspend our disbelief for our own enjoyment. That is to say when I watch House of Cards, I don’t question why Kevin Spacey is so deeply invested in a political power struggle when he’s really a Hollywood actor. I allow myself to believe the characters and their stakes in a conflict are authentic.

The point here is that media has an unprecedented power to suspend that disbelief even after we walk out of the theatre, making it immensely difficult to draw a dichotomy between an artist and their work. Unlike 20 or 30 years ago, an artist’s private life has become integral to their performance and success. Our ability to access their personalities through interviews, press junkets, and social media means that the lines between the professional and the private have become blurred, and that it has become easy for us to create an illusion of intimacy.

This is especially true when we connect with their work on a more emotional level — we often begin to conflate their artistic talent with moral goodness; their ability to convey powerful human emotions becomes a proxy for actual character. There is a dissonance that is created between the horrific acts committed by these individuals and our inclination to genuinely like them.

Even when we are aware of the allegations they face, our ability to suspend our disbelief for the sake of our own enjoyment only exacerbates the effect of this dissonance. Once we continuously engage with the professional and the personal narratives that predators have the power to control, it becomes much more tempting to side-step or forgive their moral transgressions. Our dissonance causes us to justify their actions or question the allegations against them, perpetuating the culture that lionizes powerful and talented men. And at its most fundamental, our willingness to put our moral quandaries aside makes the suffering of their victims subservient to our own pleasure, trivialising the kind of moral severity we should be treating sexual crime with.

That is not to say that you should boycott every media appearance of every alleged sexual predator ever. Not only would that be impractical (there are more predators than you think), but it would drastically harm the content creators attempting to make art with inherent worth. In the movie Frida, Salma Hayek plays the titular role of Frida Kahlo, a powerful but, until then, untold story. Though the movie was distributed by Weinstein’s company and Harvey himself had allegedly insisted on a gratuitous nude scene, boycotting the movie would punish the woman who worked tirelessly to make the movie a reality.

Unfortunately, this leads to a non-answer of whether it is okay to enjoy Toy Story or House of Cards: it depends. It depends on our ability to segregate what we know to be true and what we would like to be true. It depends on whether we continue to publicly decry the acts that these men commit. It depends on whether we hold ourselves and each other to those same standards in everyday life, or whether we choose to hide behind comfortable fictions.

Ex-MMU student to fight Turkish forces in Syria

Huang Lei, 24, is one of the estimated three Britons who left the U.K. to fight against Turkish-led forces with the Kurdish Militia (YPG) in Syria.

Lei, a Politics alumn from the Manchester Metropolitan University, had initially gone to Syria in 2015 to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

He told the BBC that it is his “duty” to fight.

However, on the 24th of January, a new video was released by the YPG militants whom Lei is travelling with. It shows an American volunteer stating they are “ready to go and fight in Afrin, against the invading force of Turkey.”

This statement comes after a recent attempt by the Turkish government to force out what it believes to be “terrorist Kurds” from Afrin, a region in north-west Syria.

After the near-total defeat of ISIS in both Iraq and Syria, many volunteers are shifting towards different goals — one of which is to defend what the Kurds claim to be Kurdish territory.

The British Foreign Office has issued multiple warnings against fighting abroad. The Government has also made it clear that Huang and others like him would be arrested if they attempted to return to the UK under the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870.

The punishment could be very severe, given international attitudes to the YPG and its possible affiliation with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), who are largely viewed as a terrorist group.

Though some news outlets have stated that Lei was a University of Manchester student, after some research the University Press Office has discovered that he was a Manchester Metropolitan student.

Bamo Nouri, Ph.D. student and international politics seminar tutor, weighed in on the matter, stating: “Hearing [about] a Manchester student [going] to fight is not something I personally condone but it speaks volumes for the failures of our foreign policy and therefore government.”

“To such an extent that people from the public feel obliged to voluntarily defend the oppressed from the oppressors. As unlike any other organisation, the Peshmerga [YPG army] do not actively recruit but seem to be getting many volunteers from all over the world! Hopefully, the western governments will intervene to stop the innocent from fighting, as diplomacy should be the way.”

 

Female creatives launch campaign to buy theatre

A group of female creatives are crowdfunding to buy the West End’s Theatre Royal Haymarket in order to encourage and support female-led work.

The collective, Bossy, was founded in 2016 by Jonna Blode Hanno and Laura Thomasina Haynes to provide a forum for women in film, theatre, and the performing arts and has over 13,000 members on its Facebook group. Recently, the group has become a supportive online space for positivity and empowerment in the wake of campaigns such as #metoo and #timesup. Now, the group is launching their own campaign: #bossybuyout.

It was announced this week that the 68-year lease for the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London’s third oldest playhouse, is to go on sale. The theatre has been owned and run by three generations of the same family since the early 1970s. The freehold of the theatre is owned by the Crown Estate with Louis I Michaels Limited’s subsidiary Theatre Royal Haymarket Limited holding the lease.  Arnold Crook, the chairman of LIM has said of the sale, “it is now time to hand over the reins to the next generation of dream-makers.”

The campaign to buy the theatre on behalf of Bossy began life as a Facebook post discussing the news of the sale. The crowdfunding page itself was started by group member Natalie Durkin, who says, “I put out a jokey question to see if anyone would be interested in crowdfunding, but the support was immense and I thought, why not?”

The aim of the GoFundMe is to raise £3M, and whilst the asking price for the theatre is currently unknown, within 22 hours the group had already raised nearly £3000. If unsuccessful in raising sufficient funds the money will go towards a female arts festival in London, with theatres already offering space for this event.

Read more about the GoFundMe campaign here.

Review: The Vaudevillians

Since 2009, RuPaul’s Drag Race has been shaping the popular face of the drag scene, moving the art form away from an underground club culture and towards mainstream television and Netflix repeats. One of the show’s most memorable winners, Jinkx Monsoon, ‘Seattle’s premier Jewish narcoleptic drag queen’ — her own words — has gone on to tour the world since her 2013 win with the old-Hollywood glamour and incredible set of pipes that made her a star.

The Vaudevillians, Monsoon’s queer comedy cabaret extravaganza with musician Major Scales may have been on the road for four years, but the actors’ endless energy keeps the show feeling fresh and new. We follow touring jazz-age musicians Kitty Witless (Monsoon) and Dr. Dan Von Dandy (Scales) who, having been frozen alive during an avalanche (don’t ask) in ‘nineteen-bigotry-two’ have found themselves defrosted almost a century later and ready to perform their show again.

The show plays upon the musical trend made popular by acts such as Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, with contemporary pop hits — of which The Vaudevillians were, of course, the original artists — being performed in a swing style. Where we see this mixed up, however, is through the pair’s comedic chops; Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’, for example, becomes a darkly comic ode to Marie Curie that has the audience rolling about in their seats.

The script is hilarious and expertly executed by the actors; references to Henrik Ibsen are intercut with endless cocaine jokes and add to the crazy cabaret feel of the show. As a result, The Vaudevillians can be seen to lack a little cohesion as we leap from one topic to another and there is very little in way of plot throughout the show besides a vague link used to string the scenes together.

Jokes aside, the talent exhibited by both artists is undoubtedly unparalleled. Monsoon is undeniably the star of the show and the vocal range that made her famous, from manly grunts to incredible falsetto highs is well demonstrated throughout and whilst Major Scales is understandably overshadowed by her, the show would not be the same without his excellent arrangements and jazz piano improvisations.

A warning: if audience participation sends you out in hives then The Vaudevillians is not the show for you. No-one is safe from Kitty Witless, as we see audience members sat on, licked and pulled up onto stage. The lights are brought up on the crowd to remind us that even those sinking into their chairs are only drawing more attention to themselves; you can’t help but feel sorry for those chosen to join in with the show and it is this relief at not being chosen which, when mingled with the comedy, gives the humour more impact.

Anyone entering Contact Theatre expecting a low-key, relaxed night of smooth jazz might be somewhat horrified watching The Vaudevillians. If, however, you fancy a dazzling 70 minutes where microphones are deep-throated, headstands and splits are performed simultaneously, and there’s a good chance you might have fellatio simulated on you by a drag queen, then this is the show for you.

The Vaudevillians is quirky, funny and outrageous and Jinkx Monsoon shows Drag Race fans exactly what they are expecting to see: Monsoon’s charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent.

2018 Manchester Scran Update

Another year, another mouth full. What will we sip upon this year? Where will we eat? Which food delivery service will we collectively take advantage of via loopholes in their ordering systems?

What will be, will be.

So, Odd Bar has closed all three of its sites. Say goodbye to Odd on Thomas street, Oddest in Chorlton, and the Blue Pig on High Street. Odd was opened in the Northern Quarter back in 2005 and was the brainchild of a lovely lady called Cleo Farman. MCR Confidential referred to Odd as one of the Northern Quarter’s “longest-standing bars” but that part of town is getting competitive and the tone is somewhat shifting.

Somewhere like Tib Street is still representative of what makes the NQ the NQ. It has a mixture of culture, craft, and sex shops. It’s like the Soho of Manchester.

Odd was at one time very intrinsically NQ, but are places like it becoming outdated?

In 2018, Chorlton will be getting a fantastic new restaurant and bakery called The Creameries. Having worked with both of the lovely people behind this restaurant, naturally I am very biased towards it. It will be a great success, and everyone must go and spend their student loans there when it opens.

Manchester Beer and Cider Festival returns on Thursday the 25th of January. Manchester may just be the beer capital of Britain, if not the world. Tired of your four pack of Tyskies? Try something weird with loads of sediment and mad flavour at this festival, which is held at Manchester Central Convention Complex.

Hatch is a pop up next to Manchester Metropolitan University made of old shipping containers where you can get coffee, beer, and street food.

Just in case you haven’t spotted V-Revolution, everyone’s favourite vegan diner has opened its new site. They currently hold the Mancunion Award for the best burger name in the city, the Whopper Flocka Flame. Bricksquad Monopoly!

Stockport, which is fast becoming its own food destination, has a new Korean BBQ place called Baekdu. Seriously, Stockport is killing it.

Speaking of Korean, the people behind Ban Di Bul are opening a new BBQ place with claims of “the Northwest’s biggest Korean BBQ house.”

 

‘The Devil’s Dung’: why Christianity should be progressive

Manchester is arguably one of the UK’s most left-wing cities, and yet opposite the university’s main campus is Holy Name Catholic church, dominating part of Oxford Road. It’s a beautiful building both inside and out, yet you can’t help but feel like it is the sight of two worlds crashing — the liberal world of the university and its students, and that of the church and its socially conservative views.

The modern narrative of religion in the West is that it is the antithesis of progress, especially Catholicism. With its ardent opposition to abortion, traditional attitude towards homosexuality and its numerous past issues with paedophilia, Christianity has for the past 50 years been decades behind what is widely socially accepted. Churches are now preaching beliefs that even large parts of its congregation do not even believe in anymore.

There is now a commonly held idea of religion as purely politically conservative and the rhetoric used by the right in the US and UK supports this. Republican Party slogans and campaigns have for years appealed to extreme evangelical Christians in America, combining God and capitalism in what has proved to be the most unholy of unions. In the UK it is less subtle, but no less the case; Theresa May once claimed that “her faith in God will guide us through Brexit”, but the way things are going her faith must not be very strong.

Yet Christianity should be a progressive force in politics and indeed has been. Socialism in Britain has always had a unique and close bond with Christianity, an ethical and Christian socialism being a major influence on the Labour party far more so than Marxism. It is motivated out of a belief in a universal humanity and the idea that vast inequality and unbridled capitalism goes against the core teachings of Jesus, who some like to see as the first socialist. The responsibility we have for one another and the need for an inclusive economy are much more Christian than the individualistic ideals of conservatism and our current neoliberal discourse which has merely strategically co-opted religious language, using and twisting religion since the Thatcher and Raegan days. Capitalism is rooted in greed and sin, representing the very worst of humanity and is far from “love one another as I have loved you”.

Its influence on Labour and progressive British politics in practice is not hard to see, especially in earlier years; many of the early liberal reformers and socialist thinkers were influenced by the Catholic Thomas More’s ‘Utopia’, and The Fabian Society and its members, such as R.H. Tawney along with Sydney and Beatrice Webb, helped found Labour whose very first MP and leader, Keir Hardie, was deeply motivated by his religion, his evangelical preaching in his earlier years helping him to learn the art of public speaking.

Today we can still see Christianity’s progressive core, despite the discourse going against this. In Ireland’s referendum on Gay marriage in 2015, 60 per cent of voters backed it in a nation in which 80 per cent identify as Catholic, meaning at least half of all Catholics supported it. In the last presidential election whilst evangelical Protestants voted overwhelmingly for Trump a plurality of Catholics voted Clinton while Pope Francis has stirred continued controversy about whether he is himself a socialist after making comment after comment against capitalism which he describes as “the devil’s dung”.

One of the Labour Party’s anthems is William Blake’s “And Did Those Feet”, as a result of Clement Attlee’s love and constant reference to it. Himself not religious, Attlee was obsessed with the hymn for its idea of fighting “’til we have built Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant land” and ultimately this represents what is at the heart of Christianity and Catholicism; building a better world for everyone, “a new Jerusalem”, and ridding the world of sin, and therefore capitalism. The Catholic church especially has become too focused on social views based on the old testament that a large part of even it’s own followers no longer believe in, and that society is rightly leaving behind and if it continues to refuse to change, it will die. It has become distracted from the core, progressive essence of Christ’s teachings.

Any Christian that claims their faith supports the poverty, inequality and moral backwardness of neoliberal capitalism is utterly misguided. Even more so is this the case for Catholics, who have been persecuted effectively in its name. In the words of none other than Pope Francis, “Once capital becomes an idol and guides people’s decisions, once greed for money presides over the entire socioeconomic system, it ruins society, it condemns and enslaves men and women, it destroys human fraternity, it sets people against one another and, as we can clearly see, it even puts at risk our common home.”

Manchester homes to fund Council cuts

Council tax in Greater Manchester is set to rise as of April 2018.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has faced increased austerity measures since 2010, which have seen budgets reduced by almost a third. As an attempt to cope with these cuts, households in the Greater Manchester area could face the brunt of the costs due to increases in council tax.

The overall yearly increases are dependent on council banding and range from £14 to £42 and will help fund policing and Andy Burnham’s mayoral office.

The new ‘mayoral charge’ will be in addition to police and fire taxes. Average households (Band B) will pay an additional £7 a year to “help deliver Mayoral priorities” that focus on the revised Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, tackling congestion, and eradicating rough-sleeping by 2020.

The precept would also contribute towards funding the administration and office costs for Andy Burnham himself.

The Mayor has said: “I recognise that it is a big ask for people to pay more, especially in these difficult times. But at the same time, I am facing pressure from the public to go further and faster on tackling homelessness and congestion while protecting green spaces. I have tried to get the balance right, keeping bills down but also keeping Greater Manchester leading the way.”

In addition to this, GMCA have confirmed plans to raise the police element of council tax. Band B properties will incur an additional annual fee of £9.33, while those in Band G will face an increase of £20.

Local police services receive funding from central Government. However, this grant has been cut by £250 million since 2010, resulting in a loss of 2,000 police officers and 1,000 non-police staff.

It is believed that the increased police charges will generate an additional £8 million funding, which will be used to enhance essential services, such as recruiting 50 additional police officers, improving the non-emergency 101 service and maintaining PCSO numbers.

Bev Hughes, Deputy Mayor, said: “This increase will not make up for the hundreds of millions of pounds the government has cut from our police service but will help to mitigate to some extent the worst effects of these continued cuts.”

Andy Burnham has assured that the budget for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service will be protected, remaining at £46.62 for the average Band B property.

The proposals will be discussed at Friday’s (January 26) meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, ahead of the final budget-setting meeting in February.

How to apply for mitigating circumstances

Hopefully everything is going well for you and you are able to focus on your studies. However, sometimes things happen at the worst possible time and you find yourself struggling to meet an essay deadline or unable to attend an exam.

This is where the university’s mitigating circumstances policy can help you. Whilst filling out a form might not seem to be your top priority, it really should be.

Submitting a completed form and supporting evidence in time for the deadline is the best thing you can do to protect your studies. If at a later point you are unhappy with a mark and have not submitted mitigating circumstances at the correct time, there is no guarantee that the university will consider them.

Mitigating circumstances can include a wide range of issues. You might be physically ill, struggling with mental health issues, or had a close family bereavement. Severe financial difficulty may also be considered if it is having an impact on you.

To meet the university’s criteria, the circumstances must be unforeseen, unpreventable circumstances that have had a significant adverse effect. You must also be able to submit independent evidence of the circumstances. This might be a death certificate or a letter from a doctor or support service.

How to submit mitigating circumstances will vary depending on your school. You might need to complete a paper form or submit one online. It’s best to speak to your school support office or a tutor to check what you need to do. There may also be guidance in your course handbook. The deadlines for submitting the form and evidence usually coincide with your academic deadline, so you would need to submit before your essay deadline or before the exam period starts.

For circumstances that arise during exams, a few extra days may be given, so check with your school what the deadline is.

Remember, everyone experiences difficult circumstances at some point and the university has these policies in place to help you. If you have any questions about mitigating circumstances, contact the Students’ Union Advice Service and our professional advisers will be happy to help.

Art on exchange: Copenhagen’s best exhibitions in 2017

I arrived in Copenhagen in mid-August, which I was thrilled to find landed me in the middle of Copenhagen Art Week 2017.

Not only was this a wonderful introduction to the city and a great way to socialise, but it was also a fantastic introduction to the vibrant and diverse art scene that Copenhagen has to offer.

This first week inspired me to explore all the galleries and exhibitions that Copenhagen has to offer.

Here are some of my highlights so far:

 

Tove Jansson: Art, Love and Moomins at GL Strand

I find it hard to imagine that there is anyone who doesn’t love the endearing tales and illustrations of Moomins and Moominland. Tove Jansson’s Moomins are loved universally and this exhibition was an exploration of their charming world.

It featured a vast array of Jansson’s original sketches, illustrations, posters, and more. The final room of the exhibition featured a Moomin forest drawn on the walls, which guests were invited to colour in and elaborate on — a fun touch which played on the childhood nostalgia that the Moomins invoke for so many people.

 

Marina Abramović’s ‘The Cleaner’ at Louisiana

For those who have never heard of Abramović, she is a performance artist who has shocked and delighted audiences with the powerful use of her body in performances.

She is famed for her early works, such as Rhythm 0 (1974) in which she provided her spectators with a variety of objects (think — loaded gun, knife, razor blades) and allowed them to do whatever they wished to her for the six hours that the performance lasted.

More recently, Abramović was recognised for The Artist is Present (2010) in which she spent almost three months in the MoMA’s atrium, sitting silently opposite a member of the public.

Although The Cleaner did not include live performances from Abramović, I was captivated by it because it offered a vast and meticulously curated display of her life’s work, spanning over fifty years.

The exhibition was Abramović’s first major European retrospective, and it made for a challenging yet powerful viewing.

 

Rineke Dijkstra’s ‘The One and the Many’ at Louisiana

The appealing thing about Dijkstra’s photography is its deeply personal nature.

Her focus is on people in transitional periods of their life, such as bullfighters after a big fight, mothers just after childbirth, or a refugee child who has just arrived in Holland.

Most relatable to me was her beach series, in which she photographed teenagers on various holidays, awkwardly positioned for the camera. The photos are bright, bold and comically reminiscent of the awkwardness of adolescence — or mine anyway!

An unconventional gap year

Aisha Rodriguez is an environmental consultant embarking on a journey of a lifetime to Kenya. She has taken a six month sabbatical from her city job in London to volunteer with a social enterprise called Balloon Ventures via the International Citizen Service (ICS) Programme. Balloon Ventures works with micro —entrepreneurs in African communities to help bring them out of poverty through economic empowerment.

Q: What is ICS and how did you hear about it?

A: International Citizen Service (ICS) is a UK government-funded volunteer programme that brings together young people to make a difference in some of the poorest countries across the world. ICS aims to bring about three things: projects that deliver a positive impact, personal development of volunteers, and the creation of active citizens. ICS partners with organisations and charities which work across the globe. Each of these focus on different issues, ranging from education, climate change, health, and hygiene.

I found out about ICS through a friend who had been on a placement with the charity, VSO, two years ago. She said it was “the best experience of her life” and after hearing all her stories, I was sold!

Q: How does one apply to ICS?

A: I would first visit the ICS website — https://www.volunteerics.org — and have a good read through the profiles of the different partner organisations and charities. Once you have found two or three organisations who fight for a cause you’re passionate in, and once you’ve roughly figured out when you can take some time off to volunteer, fill in the application form online — a crucial question will be why you’d like to volunteer with ICS. Have a good think about this, treat it like a personal statement. The better the quality of your application, the more likely you will be invited for an interview!

Q: Tell us about the organisation you will be volunteering with.

A: Balloon Ventures (BV) stood out to me the first time I researched ICS. They work with micro-entrepreneurs in Africa to help develop their business through giving them the skills and ideas to grow. I had always wanted to learn more about how social enterprises work, so it really is a win-win situation as we get trained in the BV tried and tested entrepreneurship curriculum as well as gaining hands on experience.

As volunteers we will help train the entrepreneurs in this curriculum and test different business ideas. Balloon Ventures has helped thousands of micro-entrepreneurs in Africa over the last 6 years — it embodies the old proverb “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Q: Have you got any tips for those who are interested in volunteering with ICS?

A: Sign up ASAP! ICS is funded through the UK Government which has announced it will stop funding the programme from summer this year. This doesn’t mean the opportunities to volunteer will stop then, but it does mean that the funds will dry up soon after, so get those applications in! This is an opportunity of a lifetime you don’t want to miss! Also, you can help keep this incredible programme going — sign this petition to ask the government to continue to fund ICS: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/203939

Follow Aisha’s journey on Instagram @wheresaisha

Review: Bright

Do you remember Suicide Squad? Do you remember how bad it was? Because I do. Do you remember who directed it? His name was David Ayer and he’s the antichrist of cinema. But ruining cinema is too great a task for one man alone. Enter writer Max Landis to aid him in his quest. So while David steers the proverbial ship, Max writes the s****y shanties for their crew to sing.

What we get is Bright, a film so disjointed, fractured and incohesive that it’s no surprise no studio would take it on. Frankly it says a lot that Netflix gave Ayer $90 million despite his previous outings, go back and watch Fury, I promise it isn’t as good as you remember (oh and by the way Shia, pulling out your own tooth doesn’t make you a good actor).

So, while Bright is an incomprehensible mess, I’ll make this review as structured as possible. Let’s start with the concept. Orcs, Fairies, Elves etc have lived alongside mankind for millennia following a great war with (get this) the ‘Dark Lord.’ Sure it’s generic, but it serves its purpose of setting up the most thinly veiled metaphor for racial/class tension you’ll ever see. Orcs are depicted as gangbangers, drug traffickers, and second-class citizens while the Elves live in their fancy district with their fancy clothes and fancy faces. Humans live in the middle, all bitter and racist. Magic exists, but only through wands which can only be wielded by those known as ‘Brights’ (more on that later). So when a criminally underused Noomi Rapace comes to reinstate The Dark Lord Sauron as supreme leader, we have our plot.

Onto the acting. Will Smith stars as Will Smith in a role he’s been milking since Independence Day with no signs of stopping any time soon. As always, he’s a safe bet. It’s difficult to fault his performance because it’s just so cosy and familiar that to do so would call into question his entire career. Similarly to Suicide Squad, it’s a terrible script that Smith manages to draw some life from, though he never quite manages to break through the clichés, jarring as they are. By his side is Nick Jakoby, the Force’s first orc officer played by an unrecognisable Joel Edgerton.

The make-up is fantastic. The orcs do look good, that’s undeniable, but it’s to Edgerton’s disadvantage. Background extras with minimal impact can snarl and growl and look utterly impressive, but Edgerton is a main character: he has lines. So, while he grunts through the script, subtitles are your friend. Thank god there wasn’t a cinema release. It’s to the film’s detriment however, as Edgerton proves the most sympathetic, engaging, and watchable character on screen. Shame those tusks get in the way of every other word.

Earlier I mentioned the presence of magic and wands in this universe. Wands channel magic, and only ‘Brights’ can hold and use a wand without disintegrating. It’s a pretty neat concept, but if you had questions surrounding it, the film has no interest in answering any of them. How does someone become a Bright? How do the wands work? Can anyone be a Bright? The film doesn’t have time to explain any of this, so sit down and shut up.

With a sequel already green-lit perhaps these questions will be answered in the future, but it’s too little too late. All tension is ruined by the fact that literally anything can happen, because literally nothing has been established. Magic can do everything so death means nothing. When the stakes are this poorly set up, you have nothing to care about because no one has given you any good reason to root for the good guys or be afraid of the bad. The Dark Lord is returning to destroy mankind? Let him. Mankind have been nothing but racist backstabbers this entire film.

I can’t in all good consciousness recommend anyone see this film. If you want orcs, elves and a Dark Lord, watch The Lord of the Rings.

1/5

Suffrage Centenary celebrations kick off

Organised by Girl Gang Manchester and The Pankhurst organisation, the Centenary Launch Party began celebrations of 100 years since some women won the right to vote in Britain.

The night included an unveiling of a new bust of Emmeline Pankhurst by Jane Robbins, speeches, live music, and a fashion show.

The house of the well-known suffragette was full of women of all ages and backgrounds. Girl Gang Manchester told The Mancunion that their organisation aims to give all women safe, creative spaces, where they have the opportunity to “meet like-minded people,” and “establish creative partnerships.”

When asked what Universities could do to help make female students feel safe and supported, a representative of Girl Gang said that Universities should take some responsibility for the nightlife culture, wherein many circumstances it is “normal to get groped.”

But Universities should not be the only ones held responsible. “It needs to be taught in schools… that this is not the right way to act.” “It’s not right or fair.”

Julie Hesmondhalgh began the speeches, talking of the work we have to do in 2018, the “year of the woman.”

She said; “This should be a place for remembering and honouring the past but can also be a place of resistance, of refuge, of radicalism, of raging against the patriarchy. A place where women of all backgrounds can work together for lasting equality.”

The Centenary Launch Party is followed by the Wonder Woman festival, a series of events taking place across Manchester celebrating the Centenary and International Women’s day. Led by the People’s History Museum (PHM), “the festival explores Manchester’s legacy as the birthplace of the suffragette movement from a contemporary perspective.”

Helen Antrobus, 2018 Programme & Events Officer at the People’s History Museum, says, “Wonder Women 2018 is a festival that will create a space and environment in which to reflect upon and be inspired by the achievements, endeavours, strength, spirit and creativity of the women who fought for the vote and those for whom the quest for equality continues. The Representation of the People Act in 1918 was a catalyst moment in the fight for equality, but this is an ongoing story with much still to be resolved. We need to use the centenary as a way of turning up the volume on these issues.”

Among creativetourist.com’s top picks are:

Lost Voices exhibition and launch event

“Lost Voices (opening 3 March) will recapture the voices of the women during the ten year period from 1918, when legislation was passed giving some women the vote (over the age of 30 and who met certain property qualifications), to 1928 when all women were given equal voting rights.”

Contact Young Company: She Bangs The Drums at the Museum of Science and Industry

Opening March the 8th, She Bangs The Drums is a provocative piece of contemporary theatre which looks back at one of the key landmarks in British democracy.”

The Women in Media Conference

From Saturday the 3rd to Sunday the 4th March, the People’s History Museum will be hosting a ground-breaking student conference celebrating women in media and hearing their stories.

Click here for more information on Wonder Woman events.

Music in 2018

A big warm welcome back to you all, hopefully, most of you have just about survived the typical Manchester cold and all of your exams and deadlines. Now’s the time for turning a new page and going onto the next chapter, and with that, I think of finding new artists to be the new soundtrack of your year, not only this but here are just a few things that you should be (or at least I am) looking forward to in 2018.

New Artists to watch out for:

Photo: Album Cover
Khalid (Album Cover)
  1. Khalid – The singer of ‘Thunder’ and ‘Young, Dumb and Broke’ (3 things I am definitely feeling right now) is on tour from January up until July 2018. The 19-year old is performing in Manchester on the 17th February at Manchester Academy… just 6 days after his birthday, so make sure you go down and celebrate with him. I have no doubts it will be anything less than flawless.
  2. Pale Waves – The Manchester-based indie-pop band has been ‘making waves’ in the industry recently, pardon the pun. The group who met at BIMM and frequently performed at Night & Day recently toured with The 1975 and now are working on releasing their debut EP soon, and an album towards the end of the year too.

    Photo: Olivia White
    Pale Waves (Photo: Olivia White)
  3. Lewis Capaldi – The Scottish soul singer released ‘Bruises’ in 2017, and has been on repeat on my Spotify ever since. His voice is raw and powerful. He’s doing a handful of tour dates and performing in at Club Academy in Manchester on the 16th February as well as at the Neighbourhood Weekender on the 26th May. Lewis Capaldi will be one of those artists you get to brag about that you saw him in Club Academy way before anyone else.

    Photo: APB
    Lewis Capaldi (Photo: APB)
  4. Superorganism – Superorganism, is fun and wacky and twisted. The 8 piece has taken off very quickly, and it only takes listening to tracks like ‘Everybody wants to be famous’ and ‘Something For Your M.I.N.D’ to see why. I spoke to the group recently and they talked about how their shows create a whole new world and experience, something similar to a mushroom trip. The group are performing at Gorilla on the 7th March.
Superorganism (Photo:Jordan Curtis Hughes)
Superorganism (Photo:Jordan Curtis Hughes)

Big Releases for 2018:

  1. ARCTIC MONKEYS ARE COMING BACK, I REPEAT ARCTIC MONKEYS ARE COMING BACK. I’m just going to get that one out the way first, and before you roll your eyes at this i’ll just remind you that there has probably never been a time when you have not completely lost yourself to listening to ‘I bet that you look good on the dancefloor’ on a night out, considering that was one of the first hits for them, it remains to be a complete banger. Their last album AM was released back in 2013, their next album is long overdue and eagerly awaited.
  2. The 1975, Music For Cars – Whilst there hasn’t been an exact date for this, it is being predicted that the new album will fall on, or around the 1st June. The Northern pop group have been hinting at fans for a while on social media, with big things in the pipeworks. The 1975 like to reinvent themselves and experiment with their music, I’m interested to see what they do this time in 2018.
  3. George Ezra, Staying at Tamara’s – The new album is being released on March 23rd, The ‘Budapest’ singer has finally returned after 4 years gracing us with his new album, Staying at Tamara’s. He also has plans of touring during March and April too!
  4. Avril Lavigne??  Whilst this has no album name or actual real confirmation if this is actually happening, there are still many a rumour about Melissa — I mean Avril — Bouncing back into life into the music scene. I wonder if she’s gone back to her ‘Sk8r Boi’ days or has evolved into something else entirely… my inner 10-year-old rock chick is screaming with excitement.