Wednesday 28 February 2018

TRACK OF THE DAY : The Lucid Dream - SX1000


The Lucid Dream return with SX1000, the lead track from their forthcoming fourth album. The track is a radical departure for the band and is released on April 6th as a limited one-sided 12" to coincide with dates in London and Manchester.

Tuesday 27 February 2018

Jack Oliver Monty - Interview


Jack Oliver Monty is a man of many talents with a solo career as well as playing guitar in up-and-coming Maddy Storm's band and Ethan And The Reformation. Julia Grantham caught up with him recently in Manchester to talk about doing his own thing as he found his way in the music business, his upcoming solo album and playing in bands. We also have an exclusive stream of a demo called Please Don't Run.

Nicole Atkins / Madam - Manchester Night People - 26th February 2018


It's one of the biggest mysteries of the music business to us why Nicole Atkins isn't celebrated as one of the finest voices of a generation. Not only that, her four albums to date, including last year's Goodnight Rhonda Lee, stand up against any artist's output in the last decade. Yet still we find ourselves in Night People for a very intimate showcase of that talent. Support came from Madam.

TRACK OF THE DAY : The Great Emu War Casualties - Hoodlum Uniform


Liverpool-based international four-piece, the magnificently titled The Great Emu War Casualties, have just released the video for their second release Hoodlum Uniform. Set to a frankly disconcerting video, which actually works brilliantly with the song, it's one of the most intriguing left-field singles we've heard so far this year.

Monday 26 February 2018

EXCLUSIVE TRACK OF THE DAY : Carnival Club - Sin City


"Carnival Club in a few words would be dirty rock n roll soaked in sci fi" were how their front man Kai Roberts described the band in a recent interview with us. Sin City, the lead single from their forthcoming Nomads And Crooks EP, is the embodiment of that philosophy in three minutes and twenty four seconds. We're delighted to be able to reveal the song exclusively on Even The Stars.

Control Of The Going / Katie O'Malley / Hey Bulldog / Vanity Box / Slack Alices - Altrincham Honey Beat / Ashton-Under-Lyne Witchwood - 23/24th February 2018


Control Of The Going launched their debut album I Love You, But It's Going To Rain with two very different shows over the weekend. On Friday they travelled the length of the Metrolink network from their home of Ashton-Under-Lyne to Altrincham to play the first-ever in-store at the town's fabulous new vinyl cafe Honeybeat, before returning home in triumph on Saturday night to the legendary Witchwood venue closer to home. Support came from Katie O'Malley in Altrincham and Slack Alices, Vanity Box and Hey Bulldog in Ashton.

Sunday 25 February 2018

TRACK OF THE DAY : The Magic Numbers - Sweet Divide


The Magic Numbers return after two and a half years away with a new single Sweet Divide taken from their fifth album Outsiders that is due out on May 11th and being released through the band's Pledge Music campaign.

Saturday 24 February 2018

Neon Waltz - Bring Me To Light EP


As they embark on their own headline tour after a spell supporting The Sherlocks, Neon Waltz have released an unannounced EP in the form of Bring Me To Light. Headed by one of the stand out tracks from last year's Strange Hymns album, the EP collects three new songs that didn't quite fit the vibe of the album, but which the band rightly felt deserved a release of their own.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Belly - Shiny One


Shiny One is the first original new material from Belly for twenty-three years and is the lead track from their comeback album Dove that is released in May. The song both effortlessly revives hazy memories of their two albums Star and King, but also packs a beautifully melodic and contemporary punch with layered harmonies and melodies running through it

Friday 23 February 2018

TRACK OF THE DAY : LIINES - Shallow


Ahead of their March 2nd Night People headline in Manchester and UK tour, LIINES have released Shallow, taken from their long-awaited debut album Stop Start due on May 4th. A two minute fifteen second blast, it remains true to the LIINES ethos that has won them an ever growing gang of admirers without losing any of the blast of adrenaline that they give people the first time they hear them.

Orphan Colours - Bury The Met - 21st February 2018


Concluding the first leg of their UK tour in support of their All On Red album, Orphan Colours delighted an appreciative crowd at Bury Met on Wednesday night with a set laden in rich harmonies and impressive musicianship culled from that album, their previous two EPs and a few new songs and delving back into the catalogue of Stephen Llewellyn and Dave Burn's ahab project and Dave's solo album.

Control Of The Going - The Story Of "I Love You, But It's Going To Rain"


Control Of The Going's debut album I Love You, But It's Going To Rain is released today. To celebrate the release, Liam Hart, the band's front man walks us through the recording process of the album and some of the songs that make it up.

Thursday 22 February 2018

TRACK OF THE DAY - Déjà Vega - Sleep


Sleep is the latest track to be released by Winsford's sensational Déjà Vega. A powerful three-minutes or so that captures their powerful live show and distils it into a recorded form.

Wednesday 21 February 2018

Wolf Alice - Manchester Gorilla - 20th February 2018


Wolf Alice played one of the most intimate shows they're likely to play for the rest of their careers at Manchester Gorilla on Tuesday night in aid of War Child. Despite technical problems that forced a twenty minute intermission and threatened to derail the evening before it had got going, the evening ended in triumphant with five hundred lucky ticket holders singing back every word of tracks from both their albums My Love Is Cool and its follow up Visions Of A Life.

Monday 19 February 2018

Control Of The Going - I Love You, But It's Going To Rain


I Love You, But It's Going To Rain is the majestically-titled debut album from Control Of The Going, a band that's blossomed from the slightly awkward kids that you'd see at every vaguely psychedelic gig in town to one of the leading lights in that very scene that they belonged to. They've naturally spread their wings further afield as this record demonstrates, its real power and beauty in the way they've taken their influences, span them round, put their own twist on them and made something so ambitious, widescreen yet still peculiarly (Greater) Mancunian in its impact.

Sunday 18 February 2018

Déjà Vega / Hey Bulldog - Manchester Peer Hat - 17th February 2018


Episode thirty one of the Astral Elevator psyche night brought together two local bands with a growing following to the basement of Manchester's Peer Hat to play two very contrasting sets, but ones that remained true to the underground night's ethos of trying to do things differently.

Matter Of Mind - Manchester Rebellion - 17th February 2018


Matter Of Mind's biggest headline show to date saw them take over Manchester's Rebellion on Saturday night. A set full of old favourites and new songs showed them to be a band that's very much on the rise. A bold sound, deeper into hard rock territory than most of their contemporaries, yet with enough hooks and melodies running through the songs to appeal to more mainstream tastes. With a new EP in the can, 2018 looks like it could be the year that they break to a wider audience.

Saturday 17 February 2018

Cabbage - Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut - 15th February 2018


Stuart Ralston ventures back to his old stomping ground to catch another mesmerising performance from Cabbage as they prepare for the release of their album Nihilistic Glamour Shots.

Friday 16 February 2018

Georgie - Interview


Georgie releases her three-track EP Too Much TV today. For someone who burst to our attention as far back as October 2015 (and indeed featured in our top tips for 2016), it's been a seemingly long road to this point, but as she tells us, she's been busy building a body of songs and working with some pretty impressive people along the way.

Willy Mason / Nina Violet - Manchester Deaf Institute - 15th February 2018


It's been six years since Willy Mason's third album Carry On, but he's back with an extensive UK and Irish tour which serves as both a retrospective and a reintroduction to a songwriter who was hailed as the next Dylan when he burst onto the scene in 2005 as well as the way to present some new material he's been working on. Support comes from Nina Violet, whose band also turn into Willy's backing band at a sold-out Deaf Institute in Manchester.

Wednesday 14 February 2018

Nicole Atkins - Interview


Nicole Atkins' Goodnight Rhonda Lee hit number four in our albums of the year for 2017. She's about to embark on a UK and European tour in support of the record and we managed to catch up with her before she set off to find out more about the record and plans for the next one.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Say Sue Me - Old Town


Old Town is the lead track from Say Sue Me's forthcoming second album Where We Were Together. On first listen you might mistake it for some California surf-pop band such are the uplifting melodies and harmonies than run through the song, but dig deeper and you'll find they hail from an unlikely location for such gloriously carefree tunes, Busan in South Korea.

Sunday 11 February 2018

Urban Theory / Manalishi / Provocateurs - Manchester Soup Kitchen - 10th February 2018



Urban Theory continued their rise with a sold-out show at Soup Kitchen in Manchester on Saturday night. A packed crowd witnessed a strong set from a band that's standing out from the crowd of bands on the Manchester scene at the moment with some rough and ready live sets with an anger and an edge to them. Support came from Manalishi and Provocateurs.

Scarlet - Manchester Castle Hotel - 8th February 2018


Scarlet brought their Quelle Surprise Bison Frise tour to the Castle Hotel in Manchester for an intimate hot and sweaty show in support of their new single Bones.

Wednesday 7 February 2018

Jaime Wyatt / Beth Bombara - Manchester Gullivers - 6th February 2018


Jaime Wyatt and Beth Bombara brought an Americana double-header to Gullivers on Tuesday night for both of their first visits to Manchester as part of a UK tour. An appreciative audience took in both sets with collaborations, special guests and laced with a lot of goodwill and humour on top of both their impressive collections of songs and stage presence.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Scarlet - Bones


Scarlet return with a new single Bones to coincide with a series of UK dates entitled the Quelle Surprise tour. It's the first new material since their debut album Effigy was released in Japan a couple of years ago and possesses much of the scurrying urgency of that record, but feels like a significant step-up.

Tuesday 6 February 2018

TRACK OF THE DAY : Kingpins - Don't Go


Kingpins are a Brighton-based five-piece who've already made an impression locally by selling out shows including a This Feeling night at the Hope And Ruin last weekend. Don't Go, one of only two tracks they've released to date, manages to channel their influences but crucially, in their approach and front man Henry's distinctive voice, distill them into something that makes them stand out from the crowd.

Monday 5 February 2018

Jaime Wyatt - Interview


Jaime Wyatt is in the middle of a UK tour that calls in at Gullivers in Manchester on Tuesday with Beth Bombara in support of her album Felony Blues, a record that talks of her time in jail and stories observed and built from those experiences. We spoke to Jaime ahead of the show to find out more about her, the record and her inspirations.

Anteros / Gathering Of Strangers - Manchester Jimmy's - 4th February 2018


Anteros closed Jimmy's Independent Venue Week series of events with an exhilarating sold-out show that confirmed exactly why they registered so high in so many tips for 2018. Running through tracks from their two EPs, recent singles and two as yet unreleased songs from their debut album they're in the process of recording, they held a packed room in their spell for three quarters of an hour. Support came from Manchester's own Gathering Of Strangers.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Abbie Ozard - Average Disguise


Average Disguise is the debut release from Nantwich's Abbie Ozard. It's a dark, atmospheric track that marks out the newcomer as someone to keep a very close eye on in 2018. With a voice that initially sounds like butter wouldn't melt, a closer listen to the lyrics reveals someone not to be messed about.

Sunday 4 February 2018

Richard Hawley / Liam Frost - Bury The Met - 3rd February 2018


Saturday saw Richard Hawley play the first of two sold-out nights at Bury Met as part of the centre's Independent Venue Week celebrations. Accompanied by long-term guitarist Shez Sheridan and harmonica player Clive Mellor, Richard delighted a spellbound crowd with a career-spanning set of songs supported by Bury's very own Liam Frost.

Saturday 3 February 2018

The Slow Readers Club / James Holt - Hebden Bridge Trades Club - 2nd February 2018


The second night of The Slow Readers Club two-show Independent Venue Week activities took them to our favourite independent venue in the world, The Trades Club at Hebden Bridge for a hot, emotional and sweaty night, the intimacy of which we might not see again. Support came again from a very well-received set from Bolton's James Holt.

Friday 2 February 2018

The Slow Readers Club / James Holt - Bury The Met - 1st February 2018


The Slow Readers Club opened up their pair of Independent Music Venue week shows and Bury Met's program with a sold out in minutes show in the splendidly refurbished Derby Hall on Thursday night. Supported by Bolton's talented James Holt, they surprised the audience by playing their album Cavalcade, that was recorded in the venue's studio three years ago, in full as well as a trio of old favourites and a couple of new tracks from their forthcoming third album.

Thursday 1 February 2018

Control Of The Going - Manchester Night People - 30th January 2018


As part of Independent Venue Week celebrations Control Of The Going played a six-song set of tracks from their forthcoming album I Love You But It’s Going To Rain at one of Manchester’s newest venues Night People.