The Tapestry / Novustory - Manchester Soup Kitchen - 28th April 2016

The Tapestry headlined The People's Assembly Beat Back anti-Tory gig at Soup Kitchen in Manchester last night. We were also impressed by Novustory who played before them, a band we hadn't heard of before.

The Glass Child - Under Northern Skies

Under Northern Skies is the third album by The Glass Child, the nom de plume of Swedish songwriter Charlotte Eriksson. It's an intimately personal album of songs that she describes as "my guiding lights in the sky the last two years" and it takes just one listen of the album to be immersed in what feels like an immensely powerful one-to-one late night outpouring of the heart and soul.

Track Of The Day : The Tapestry - Catacombs

Catacombs is the second track on The Tapestry's recent Connectives single and they've just released a video for it that mostly recorded at their triumphant recent live sold-out show at The Deaf Institute in Manchester.

Tim Booth / James - Interview

Back in January, Even The Stars spoke to Tim Booth of James for Louder Than War magazine, published in the March edition. This is a more complete version of that interview than the one published due to space constraints in the magazine and sees Tim talking about the making of their recent album Girl At The End Of The World.

Track Of The Day : Urban Theory - Knickers

Urban Theory are a new four piece band from the suburbs of Manchester. Still in their formative phase they've just released a demo track called Knickers that made our ears twitch. Full of the frenetic energy of youth, nodding to but not stealing from their heroes and with a biting edge of social commentary.

Lusaint / Feral Love / Alana Bondi - Manchester Castle Hotel - 25th April 2016

Tonight's Red Balloon triple-header is an intriguing mix of bands and artists. It's headliner Lusaint's second show, whilst the hotly-tipped Feral Love are making their debut live performance on the back of substantial coverage of their debut reveal Like The Wind. Add to that the Welsh singer-songwriter Alana Bondi to complete the line up and it's one of the best Monday night line-ups we've witnessed in Manchester.

Track Of The Day : Lost Woods - Vodka Ocean

Vodka Ocean is the lead track from the forthcoming debut EP by Adelaide's Lost Woods.  With two singles under their belt already - and the fabulously titled Ancient Psychic Tandem War Elephant - they've already established themselves as a regular fixture on the local Adelaide scene, but on the basis of Vodka Ocean, we wouldn't be surprised to see them spreading their wings outside Australia in the not too distant future.

Purple Heart Parade - Chorlton St Clement's Church - 23rd April 2016

It's six long months since we last saw Purple Heart Parade which feels like a lifetime. They're still on the outside looking in at the Manchester music scene, often more loved away from their home town than they are here, other than by a band of hardcore disciples. We caught their headline set at Chorlton's Big Green Happening at St Clement's Church on Saturday night.

Hannah Lou Clark - Salford Eagle Inn - 22nd April 2016

Hannah Lou Clark's tour in support of her new It's Your Love EP brought her to Salford's Eagle Inn where she mixed a solo set and accompaniment from friend Ellie to the delight of a small but enthusiastic crowd.

Track Of The Day : Feral Love - Like The Wind

Like The Wind is the debut track from Feral Love. You might recognise the lead female vocal on the track and you'd be right as the band is the new project of former Bird front woman Adele Emmas who has teamed up with Christian Sandford in this exciting new project that's just about to enter the live scene.

Matter Of Mind - A State Of Mind EP

The A State Of Mind EP is the debut release from Stockport four-piece Matter Of Mind. Its three tracks - A State Of Mind, Coffee Stains And Migraines and Silence make up one of the most promising opening set from a band that we can recall. They manage to channel both the freshness of a band starting out with the confidence and assurance of a far more established band.

She Drew The Gun - Memories Of The Future

Memories Of The Future is the debut album from She Drew The Gun, one of our top tips for 2016. We're pleased to report that the album delivers on and exceeds all the hopes we had for it and the promise displayed by their early singles.

Section 25 - Alfresco

One of the highlights of Record Store Day for us at Even The Stars was the release of a new live album by Factory legends Section 25. Alfresco was released in two formats each limited to 250 copies - one on clear vinyl, the other on black.

Tom Hingley - Manchester Vinyl Revival - 16th April 2016

As part of Manchester’s Vinyl Revival’s Record Store Day celebrations, Tom Hingley, former front man of Inspiral Carpets and head of the eponymous Tom Hingley Band, played an intimate instore set amongst the racks of new and used vinyl in one of Manchester’s hidden treasures.

Track Of The Day : The Strawberries - Laburnum House

Laburnum House is the latest single from Leeds-based five-piece The Strawberries. After building a sizable reputation around the North for their incendiary psychedelic-tinged live shows, they've finally committed Laburnum House to record and are launching it with a show at Oporto in Leeds tomorrow, Tuesday 19th.

Cavan Moran - Forever On The Road / Forever At Home

Forever On The Road / Forever At Home is the long-awaited debut album from Cavan Moran. It's an album that talks, as the title suggests, about life on the road. It remains true to its folk roots, but keeps everything sounding fresh and real without over-complicating it so that on reflection it's one of the best singer-songwriter albums to come out of Manchester, or indeed anywhere, in a long time.

When In Manchester Festival - Cupids, Trampolene, Girl Friend, Louie Louie, Bang Bang Romeo, Lunar, Foxe - 16th April 2016

 

Urban festivals are becoming all the rage these days, but When In Manchester is one with a difference. It has a true DIY ethos to it that's different to the increasingly corporate ones where major labels see them as a showcase and a testing ground for their potential next big things. When In Manchester was conceived by four young women on a night out and then became reality through lots of ground level hard work and planning to create something that's both intimate, diverse in its line-up and a true testament to being able to do what you want in music if you put your hearts and minds into it.

James - The Greenpeace Palace Concert

Back in 1992, James had the world at their feet. They sold out 30,000 tickets for their own headline show at Alton Towers broadcast live on Radio One and were starting to break into America. So, like the awkward sods they've always been, they decided to go back to their roots and do an acoustic tour. One night of that tour at the Palace in Los Angeles was recorded by Greenpeace using solar power for a compilation album. Ring The Bells appeared on that album, but the rest of the concert remained unreleased until now, where it's been rediscovered in the Universal archives and released on glorious double clear vinyl for Record Store Day.

EXCLUSIVE REVEAL : Matter Of Mind - Silence

Silence is the first track from Stockport four-piece Matter Of Mind's forthcoming debut EP A State Of Mind and we're delighted to be able to exclusively reveal it here. The whole EP is a massive statement of intent and one of the most impressive debut releases we've ever heard. It's coming out digitally and on limited edition CD very soon.

Track Of The Day : PINS - Trouble

PINS continue their tradition of Record Store Day releases with a 10" single of an exclusive new track Trouble backed with a Bernard and Edith remix of the title track and a second unreleased track called I'll Get Mine. Whilst the band are off touring the US, the song was conceived much closer to home at Strangeway Studio in Salford four years on from recording their debut single there.

Basia Bulat - Manchester Soup Kitchen - 14th April 2016

It's two years and two months since Basia Bulat's last Manchester show, an intimate affair on Valentine's Day in Gullivers, but this time she's back with a band and a spangly gold cape to promote her sparkling new album Good Advice. Manchester, as last time, left enchanted by both the music and the personality of one of the most underrated singer-songwriters out there.

Track Of The Day : The Tom Hingley Band - Beggar's Hand

Record Store Day sees the debut single release from the Tom Hingley Band - Beggar's Hand. The band are donating all proceeds to help the homeless in Manchester and Liverpool.

Misty Miller - The Whole Family Is Worried

The Whole Family Is Worried is Misty Miller's second album although in reality it is effectively her debut as she's changed unrecognisably in the intervening four years since the first. It's an album about growing up, finding yourself, being proud of who you are, standing up for yourself against society and its prejudices and preconceptions that a young woman has to face and being comfortable in and out of your own skin.

Frightened Rabbit - Manchester HMV - 11th April 2016

In support of their new album Painting Of A Panic Attack, Frightened Rabbit are currently on a UK tour and are stopping off at record stores for promotional sets and signings. We caught up with them at Manchester HMV to see Scott perform an intimate five-song solo set before three of them signed albums for the crowds that had gathered.

The Slow Readers Club - Glasgow Hard Rock Cafe / Ayton Hemelvaart - 8th/9th April 2016

Having built up a following north of the border with a couple of low key Glasgow shows in 2015, The Slow Readers Club returned to play their first headlining gigs in Scotland this weekend.

Track Of The Day : Jordan Allen - Helter Skelter

It's been awhile since we heard anything from Jordan Allen, but he's back having played a couple of low-key gigs in his native Bolton recently with a new single called Helter Skelter.

Bea Sanjust - Larosa

Larosa is the debut album from Italian singer Bea Sanjust. It's a record that's been a long time coming since her first releases at the turn of the decade, but it's been more than worth the wait. It radiates a disarming simplicity and reveals a voice that is so rich and redolent at every turn irrespective of the sounds around it. It's a truly beautiful album that deserves your attention.

Lunar / Lyon Road / Glue / Tourist Attractions - Manchester Academy 3 - 9th April 2016

Tonight is the biggest of Lunar's eleven gigs to date since they formed last year and is to support the release of their brilliant second single Showboater although by the end it feels like it's just a stopping off point on the way to bigger things. Sharing an impressive bill are three emerging North West talents Tourist Attractions, Glue and Lyon Road.

Stella Martyr / Her - Manchester Aatma - 7th April 2016

This is Stella Martyr's first show outside of Devon in support of their Neon Traces EP and they're accompanied, and almost upstaged, by Her who prove themselves to be one of the most exciting new bands we've heard in a while as they make their first Manchester appearance.

Lush - Blind Spot EP

It's twenty years since Lush released their final album Lovelife, but in the latest of a spate of 1990s reformations they're back and doing things the proper way with the release of new material. The Blind Spot EP feels like the listener has been transported back to the heady days when bands like Lush could break the charts and onto radio playlists.

Stella Martyr - Interview

Ahead of their first venture out of Devon to play two shows in Manchester and Scunthorpe this week, we caught up with Joe Duddell of Stella Martyr to find out a little bit more about the band.

Catfish And The Bottlemen / Black Honey - Halifax Victoria Theatre - 5th April 2016

Following up a massively successful debut album and taking new songs on the road when you've got an audience that's still growing and discovering you is one of the hardest things a band can face. The massive contrast between every word being sung back to you at a volume that drowns you out and baying for the next big hit versus the natural musicians' desire to reveal their latest work is one that all successful bands face at least once in their career. Catfish And The Bottlemen are at that point and tonight's gig in the intimate surroundings of Halifax's Victoria Theatre is one of the first tests of that for them ahead of the release of their second album The Ride in May.

Track Of The Day : The Glass Child - The Year I Disappeared

The Year I Disappeared is the first song to be taken from The Glass Child's forthcoming third album that's available to pre-order via a Pledge campaign. It's a beautifully fragile track that starts with a solitary piano before blossoming out as the vocals come out to play out a dramatic tale that's a taster for a record that she describes as being about "STILLNESS • ACCEPTANCE • DEVIATION • LIGHTNESS"

Little Sparrow - 360 Degree Video Virtual Reality Series

As she spends 2016 preparing songs for her second album, Little Sparrow has taken time out to release videos of three songs recorded using innovative 360 degree video virtual reality technology at Dock 10 Studios in Salford's Media City.

Dantevilles - Calm Before The Storm EP

Calm Before The Storm is Dantevilles' second EP and the Manchester four-piece have created a record that fuses contrasting styles into something upbeat and full of energy, quintessentially Mancunian, but spreading its wings further than the city boundaries.

Matter Of Mind - Manchester Castle - 31st March 2016

Matter Of Mind are the latest of a seemingly endless stream of bands heading down the A6 from Stockport recently. About to release their debut EP in the near future, they played The Castle in Manchester and already, just ten gigs in, have the look and sound of a band that's destined for bigger stages.