The Lucid Dream - Carlisle Brickyard - 24th November 2018

The Lucid Dream end the first leg of their Actualisation tour on a high. Stuart Ralston popped down to see a band continuing their ascendancy and, at the height of their powers, wowing their home town crowd.

Little Sparrow - Manchester Bridgewater Hall - 25th November 2018

The refined surroundings of the Bartorelli Room at the Bridgewater Hall were a fitting location for Little Sparrow's long-awaited return to the Manchester live scene. Armed with a set containing a number of new songs and performing three tracks with pianist Robin Dewhurst from her recent Just 3 collaboration, she received a well-deserved standing ovation at the end of the hour-long set.

Blossoms - Manchester Yes - 26th November 2018

"This is a better Monday than you thought you'd have" laughs Tom Ogden half way through Blossoms' intimate warm up show for their UK tour at Manchester's newest venue Yes to two hundred or so lucky people who'd either been in the proximity of the venue at 3pm when tickets went on sale or had pleaded their way on to the guestlist. Their most intimate show in Manchester since the days of Sound Control and Night And Day at the tail-end of 2014 saw them run through the set for their sold-out upcoming UK tour.

Rory Wynne / Puppet Theory / Provocateurs - Manchester Jimmy's - 22nd November 2018

Rory Wynne headlined the fourth Head In The Clouds event on Thursday night supported by Puppet Theory and Provocateurs. Three very different sets got a warm reception from the Jimmy's crowd.

Juanita Stein - Salford Eagle Inn - 21st November 2018

For someone who's spent the summer supporting The Killers in stadiums, the Eagle Inn in Salford is an intimate venue to witness Juanita Stein bring her second album Until The Lights Fade to a rapt audience.

TRACKS OF THE DAY : Blanketman - Sick & Tired / Flip It Over

Sick & Tired and Flip It Over is the new double A-side release from Blanketman following on from their debut release The Long Arm Of Entrapment earlier in the year. Two very contrasting songs show very different sides to their sound.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Factory Acts - Are You The Singer?

 "We're so proud of this transnational feminist music collaboration. It really was a labour of love made possible by the generous & thoughtful vocal contributions of the talented women & trans folk making music & smashing gender stereotypes" tweeted Factory Acts about their new single Are You The Singer? It's a song with a message, an exploration of the way women performing in the industry are dismissed as the singer and only turning up to look pretty and have no input into the band's music as told through the experiences of the artists themselves.

EP TRACK BY TRACK : One-Way Song - Passionate Leave

One-Way Song release their Passionate Leave EP on November 27th. Ahead of that, they shared with us the story of the five songs that will make up the release, accompanying YouTube videos for some of the tracks and an exclusive demo of Dr Spraza Lies

Pip Blom / Chappaqua Wrestling - Manchester Night And Day - 17th November 2018

However cold it is outside, a sold out gig at the Night And Day in Manchester is always an intense sweltering affair and Pip Blom's triumphant return to a city that has taken the Dutch teenager to their heart was no exception. Before her twelve song set had the crowd bouncing, Chappaqua Wrestling impressed us on the first time we've seen them play.

TRACK OF THE DAY 2 : Hey Bulldog - No Future (Part II)

No Future (Part II) is the new single from Manchester's Hey Bulldog. Clocking in at close to seven and a half minutes, it's the band's most ambitious release yet, a song that's become a live favourite for the way they stretch the boundaries of their sound and seek to take themselves and their audience down new paths and succeed

TRACK OF THE DAY : Ist Ist - Exist

Exist is the lead track from Ist Ist's forthcoming second EP due early next year to coincide with their Everything Is Different Now tour that kicks off with a show at Hebden Bridge Trades Club for Independent Venue Week in January and sees them revisit the scene of their biggest headline show today at Gorilla in Manchester in March.

TRACK OF THE DAY : The Slow Readers Club - On The TV

Ahead of their sold out UK tour next month, The Slow Readers Club have released one of the stand out tracks from their top 20 album Build A Tower as a single. On The TV has quickly become a live favourite, audiences taking Kurtis Starkie's riff and singing it back to the band, both during and at the end of the song as well as in the encore break.

Rews - Manchester Castle Hotel - 10th November 2018

Rews made a triumphant return to Manchester for a sold-out show at the intimate Castle Hotel on the opening night of their UK tour. With a set featuring tracks from last year's album Pyro as well as a number of new ones, they won the hearts and minds of the packed crowd in sauna-like conditions.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Urban Theory - Mandy

Mandy is the latest single from Bury's Urban Theory. Already a live favourite, Mandy sees them take the foot off the accelerator from their previous singles, like the comedown from the excesses of the night before of Weekend Offender and Fishbowls And Headf**kers.

Kashmere / Pinnacles / Fears - Sheffield Record Junkee - 2nd November 2018

Kashmere's UK tour called in at Record Junkee in Sheffield on Friday night. Julia Grantham made the short trip down from Leeds to catch one of her favourite bands in action.

Darling Club Interview - "Everybody's talkin' round me, could they hear a note we're saying?"

Walking into The Cheshire Tap in Altrincham this Saturday just gone, I was filled with a nervous kind of anticipation and excitement. My good friends Lisa, Allan and I were walking into this venue, a semi regular of theirs and a permanent slot for one of our friends Jake Fletcher, of Darling Club, formerly of Cupids who started out as Gramotones. I was wearing a t-shirt of the latterly named band which another of our group, Rob, had given me just eighteen months' prior.

Matter Of Mind - Manchester Night And Day Cafe - 2nd November 2018

Matter Of Mind’s first nationwide tour headed home on Friday night with a packed show for This Feeling at the Night And Day in Manchester. A seven-song set including new single Just A Stranger went down a storm in a hot and sweaty room.

The Blinders / White Room / Sweet Deals On Surgery - Preston The Ferret - 1st November 2018

The Blinders’ tour rolled into Preston on Thursday night with White Room and Sweet Deals In Surgery in tow. In possibly the most intimate venue they’ll play in for a long time, they took us on a journey through the dark demonic landscape of Columbia.

TRACK OF THE DAY 2 : The Bambi Kills - Lust

Lust is the second single from Australian sister duo The Bambi Kills. The follow-up to their debut Headlights is a full-on affair with by a dark menacing self-produced video that's a perfect visual accompaniment to the track.

TRACK OF THE DAY 1 : Matter Of Mind - Just A Stranger

Matter Of Mind release a new single Just A Stranger to coincide with their first nationwide tour in conjunction with This Feeling including a Manchester show at Night And Day Cafe tomorrow night. The song is something of a departure for the band, showing a more mellow widescreen element to the work as opposed to their usual head rush.