San Cisco perform a fun set but their performance lacks edge.

A fantastic listen for those who wish for a return to lost musical sincerity.

Shady’s back, tell a friend…

iTCH performs a confident set on his first solo tour

Sam Woodgate speaks to iTCH about political activism, touring and The King Blues

Crystal Fighters put on a perfect show

Books Editor Annie Muir reveals her favourite second-hand bookshops in Manchester

Harriet Leitch talks to New Yorkers Lizzy Plapinger (MS) and Max Hershenow (MR) about touring, festivals and humble beginnings

A tale of passion, perseverance and faith, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is a gem of American literature, says Shanda Moorghen

Jack Winstanley looks back at why Slint were such an important band

Elizabeth Linsley heads to Deansgate to explore one of Manchester’s most treasured buildings

Nathan Pigott outlines why Jazz might be the genre for you

Zadie Smith’s The Embassy of Cambodia is a unique, thought-provoking novel, which shows how the small things in life can raise big questions, says Books Editor Esmé Clifford Astbury

Songs to soundtrack a catwalk

Gold Panda successfully brings live electronic music into an evening show context

Wilson delivers a near flawless second album

Jamie Bulman picks Pokey Lafarge’s brain as he picks at Southern fried chicken in the green room of Manchester’s Gorilla.

Queens of the Stone Age excellently fill an arena with their glam, scuzzy, melodious and trippy songs

As cliché as it sounds, all the songs sound the same

Jasper Llewellyn attends live art festival Domestic…