Music

Deerhoof have lingered in the left field of pop idiosyncrasy for more than a decade, loved by critics and existing as a name that is ever-present in the music blogosphere. While their influence is cited by many of the most innovative artists in the alternative world, they have yet to pierce the skin of the mainstream in the way bands such as Grizzly Bear have in the past couple of years. With Deerhoof vs. Evil, their critical adoration will continue, although whether they can gain the level of visibility that has so far eluded them remains to be seen.

Before listening to this album, my only previous encounter with Iron & Wine was via the overly twee ballad ‘Such Great Heights’, courtesy of the Garden State soundtrack. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised by the overall content of Kiss Each Other Clean.

Most grime novices will know the name Skepta as being that of the man partly to blame for an embarrassing dance craze, known as the ‘Rolex Sweep,’ (a kind of, ghetto Macarena). But he may also have reached your radar lately in the form of the recent chart tracks ‘Bad Boy’ and ‘Rescue Me,’ from his third studio album Doin’ it Again.

The greatest genre in the entire world is one which many have little experience with; Stoner rock. It’s a style of music which has very few definite articles; at one edge you have psychedelic, technical acts like Monster Magnet or my personal band of 2010 Sungrazer and on the other you have deep, sludgy behemoths such as Electric Wizard and legends of the genre Sleep. Even within stoner rock there are tonnes of sub-genre’s, fuzz, psychedelic, desert and sludge to name but a few, and as spring approaches, some of the finest examples of these bands are rolling through Manchester. So here’s a preview of the four gigs to look out for if the words stoner and rock sound good to you.

Music Editor Eoghan Bennett chats to front man Jonathan Higgs ahead of two very special gigs. There’s a rumour that you’re back in the studio? Yea we just got a load of new equipment that we’re trying out, so there’s a few new songs we’re working on. We haven’t got to the recording stage yet, […]

Alex Trimble, Kevin Baird and Sam Halliday, otherwise known as Two Door Cinema Club, are sitting backstage at the Academy 2, admiring the glorious view of the building site in front of the John Rylands library. They may have just driven through the night from Glasgow, but as lead singer Alex starts talking, you can instantly tell they wouldn’t change it for the world.

In the run up to this year’s festival, music editor Eoghan Bennett chats to the festival’s organisers to see what all the fuss is about. The Mancunion: To anybody who’s not familiar with the festival, sum up what it’s all about. In The City: In The City is a three-day music conference held in the […]

4 Stars Without seeming too unsympathetic towards the millions of people across the globe who are fighting tooth and nail to ‘make it’ as musicians in the world of showbiz, the brand of ‘music’ that is espoused by men like Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh is simply the worst thing that has ever happened to […]

About to embark on the well trodden path to Mancunion music fame are local 5 piece Dutch Uncles. Coming up in a complete new wave of Manchester electronic/dance sound, Dutch Uncles are not mere replicas of current successes, but act as a complement to this ever growing landscape. The Night & Day Café served as […]

What separates a drunkard eating a kebab and Lady Gaga? I ask this question on the basis that both will eventually arrive at a party covered in meat.

4 Stars Its 7:30pm, and outside the union a group of teenage girls are shelling out £40 each for a ticket. Bearing in mind the normal price was £9.50, it’s not surprising the touts are laughing their heads off. It’s also no surprise to find that at least of half of the crowd is underage, […]

Whether this is an organic evolution, or just an attempt to distinguish themselves from the hoards of skinny-jeaned indie bands dominating the music scene, is uncertain, but it certainly makes for interesting listening.

4 Stars It’s always heartening to see a musician enjoying a gig as much as the audience, and Josh Ritter, playing to an almost full Royal Northern College of Music last Wednesday, looked positively ecstatic. At several points he literally jumped for joy, and the rest of the time contented himself with grinning wildly, resembling […]

Stevie Wonder, Muse, The Gorillaz, Snoop Dogg, Flaming Lips, The Pet Shop Boys, Fatboy Slim, Willie Nelson, LCD Soundsystem and Faithless all graced the two main stages at Glastonbury this year. Not bad work for a festival ruin by a bushy bearded farmer. So who stole the show? Well Wayne Coyne of Flaming Lips rolled […]

Having been twice voted No. 1 DJ in the world, and with a Grammy Award and over five million album sales under his belt, Paul van Dyk is something of a legend in the electronic music world. Music Editor Eoghan Bennett sits down with the trance DJ to discuss playing at The Warehouse Project, his […]

4 Stars     Given their previous associations with so-called ‘garage rock’, this new offering from Deerhunter comes as a bit of surprise. Gone are the discordant soundscapes and experimental noise sessions that denote their previous albums. Their fourth offering has an ambient, dreamy quality to it that make it softer and possibly somewhat more […]

My friends and I are waiting in Paddington Station but one of the group looks disgruntled. Finally he utters, “why exactly are we going to a World Music festival?” The correct answer was that we had failed to get tickets to Glastonbury, or any other festival for that matter, but this is still a touchy subject so […]

Twitter is, at times, a beautiful thing. In its short history it has been used to document the horrendous events of the Iranian election, bypass the censorship of several oppressive countries and, perhaps most importantly, keep Stephen Fry entertained whilst he was trapped in a lift. Despite this, there is also a dark side to […]

3.5 Stars During the eleven months that it has taken to record his debut, Tinie Tempah’s jocular, no-frills lyrical style has taken him from relative obscurity to being one of the most talked about and promising artists in the charts, and initially, Disc-Overy seems to uphold the momentum of his previous success.   The piercing […]

Manchester band Doves are the second live band to headline the Warehouse Project this year.  The band, who recently released their greatest hits album, have been a favourite in the city since they were formed here in the early ‘90s. Doves said in a recent interview for The Daily Record that they plan to take […]