Richard Hawley / Juanita Stein - Hebden Bridge Trades Club - 28th January 2017

As part of Independent Venue Week, Richard Hawley played the first of two special acoustic nights accompanied only by his trusty guitarist Shez Sheridan and harmonica player Clive Mellor at Hebden Bridge Trades Club with support by Juanita Stein who is embarking on her debut album in the next few months.

Cabbage / The Goa Express / Avalanche Party - Hebden Bridge Trades Club - 26th January 2017

As part of Independent Venue Week, Cabbage headlined the latest of a series of gigs at our favourite independent venue, The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge in one of the last chances we're likely to get to see the most important new band in Britain in such intimate surroundings.  Support came from Avalanche Party and The Goa Express.

Dream Wife / Move - Manchester Night And Day - 24th January 2017

One of the most touted new bands around Dream Wife returned to Manchester to headline DIY's Hello 2017.  They more than lived up to the excited hysteria that's building around their live shows with a twelve song set from their debut EP and forthcoming album that took no prisoners yet was a whole load of fun with it. Support came from Manchester's Move.

Carnival Club / Kashmere / Crimsons - Manchester Soup Kitchen - 21st January 2017

Saturday afternoon and night saw the first Lucoo all-dayer in Soup Kitchen with eight bands on the bill. Due to other commitments we were only able to catch three in the early evening, but with Carnival Club, Kashmere and Crimsons, we struck lucky.

Track Of The Day : Ist Ist - Silence

Ist Ist are a band on an unstoppable rise. Already famed locally for their incendiary and often controversial live shows, the three-piece have just released the video to their new single Silence ahead of their now sold out show at Salford's Sacred Trinity Church on February 3rd. We exclusively tipped the song on Shell Zenner's Amazing Radio show a couple of weeks back, but now it's online in all its doom-laden glory.

The Strawberries / The Assist / Jordan Allen / April / Dantevilles / White Room - Manchester Night And Day (This Feeling Big In 2017) - 21st January 2017

This Feeling club nights have become a thing of urban legend in music circles, the night that all bands want to get on as a stepping stone to bigger things. To see in 2017, they've set up Big In nights to showcase new talent that they believe will make an impact this year and we caught up with six of the eight bands on the Manchester bill on Saturday night at the Night And Day.

Peaness / Cowtown - Manchester Soup Kitchen - 20th January 2017

A packed Friday night Soup Kitchen crowd were treated to two sets of contrasting brilliance from Chester three-piece Peaness and Leeds' Cowtown.

The Vryll Society / Francobollo / Purple Heart Parade - Manchester Deaf Institute - 19th January 2017

The Vryll Society made a triumphant return to Manchester on Thursday night following last year's dual headliner with Hidden Charms at Gorilla. Throwing off front man Mike's throat infection that could have pulled the gig, they deliver a spellbinding set supported ably by Sweden-via-London's Francobollo and Manchester's own Purple Heart Parade.

Track Of The Day : Rhine Valley - Tell The Truth

Tell The Truth is the debut song from the mysterious two piece Rhine Valley.  They describe themselves as "Melody & Riddims. Explosive heavyweights" and reveal nothing else other than their names on their Facebook page. But one listen to Tell The Truth and the two dark mysterious playful one and three quarter minute snippets on their Soundcloud page and it's very quickly clear that they're going to be a force to be reckoned with.

October Drift - Manchester Night And Day Cafe - 15th January 2017

It's one of life's mysteries why October Drift are not much bigger than they are. One of the most visually thrilling live bands around, never standing still for a minute, either lost in the music or seeking to engage with and in the crowd, they brought their ever increasingly powerful live show to Manchester's Night And Day on a cold January night and swept away the cobwebs of the post-Christmas gig slowdown.

Track Of The Day : Blaylock - Lighthouse

We don't know much about Blaylock other than Lighthouse is the debut single from the Manchester based artist. A piano based track, simple, plain and emotional, it lets the words and his voice do the bidding for it. It feels dramatic, heartfelt and genuine and hopefully the first work of a real talent.  It precedes an EP that's due out soon.

Puppet Rebellion - The Pact EP

Rounding a successful year off with their most radio friendly EP yet, Puppet Rebellion demonstrate again that they deserve their place in the “next big thing” category.

EVEN THE STARS TIPS FOR 2017

As the year draws to an end, we reveal our top tips for 2017. Not necessarily bands that will make it to the top of the charts, but the bands that excite us for what they could achieve in the year.

The Tapestry - Ashton-Under-Lyne Witchwood - 26th December 2016

The final moments of The Tapestry's existence as a band are chaotic, shambolic, drunken and magnificent, with a full on stage invasion, equipment being knocked over and out and everyone singing along to Rode Your Luck, one of their finest tracks and a fitting epitaph to a foursome that were at their best in their riotous live shows that should have catapulted them to bigger and better things.

Jordan Allen / Stillia / Oddity Road / M60 - Manchester Ruby Lounge - 23rd December 2016

At the end of a successful year that leaves him on the brink of a breakthrough, Jordan Allen and his band came back to The Ruby Lounge for their Christmas party. Backed by a strong line-up of local bands queuing up behind them on the road to success, a riotous evening ensued. Alongside Jordan we also caught Stillia, Sheffield's Oddity Road and the very Mancunian M60.

Lanterns On The Lake - Interview

Live With Royal Northern Sinfonia is the winner of our Album Of 2016 listings. To celebrate we had a chat with Hazel from the band about how they came to record the album and their plans for the future.

EVEN THE STARS ALBUMS OF 2016 - FIVE TO ONE

The final five of our top twenty albums of 2016 have all been number one in the various versions of the list that have been written, crumpled up and thrown away, such is the closeness of the five. But here we present our final decision.

EVEN THE STARS ALBUMS OF 2016 - TEN TO SIX

Our list of our top twenty albums of 2016 continues with the records we've placed between ten and six.

EVEN THE STARS ALBUMS OF 2016 - FIFTEEN TO ELEVEN

We continue our countdown of our twenty favourite albums of the year with those we've placed in fifteenth to eleventh place.

EVEN THE STARS ALBUMS OF 2016 - TWENTY TO SIXTEEN

Our end of year album poll starts with a look at the records we placed at twenty to sixteen in the list. We'll continue our countdown five albums a day until Friday when we reveal our top five.

David Ford - London Bush Hall (Milk And Cookies) - 18th December 2016

Every year David Ford puts on a special event called Milk And Cookies in December to raise money for charity. It's no ordinary gig though, as the title suggests people bring milk and cookies to sell for donations, there's auctions, an interval and a selection of his own songs, some covers he's selected and others that are randomly picked from a book by members of the audience. It all sounds like it could go terribly wrong, but it never does thanks to Ford's ability to fashion covers of classic songs, guilty pleasures and some of his own favourites from his home-made looping machines and the most basic of kit.

Track Of The Day : One Way Song - Dr Spraza Lies

Back in August, we introduced One-Way Song and they're back with a new song called Dr Spraza Lies which represents a new direction for the project that morphed from a theatre project into a band. Scrapping their early work, including an almost-finished debut album, was a brave move, but if Dr Spraza Lies is anything to go by, their new approach is set to pay dividends.

Track Of The Day : The Slowdown Family - Pomona

Pomona is the first fruits of the sessions that Liam Frost embarked on with The Slowdown Family once they got together earlier this year to perform their debut album Show Me How The Spectres Dance at Manchester's Deaf Institute earlier this year.

Track Of The Day : The Sundowners - Great Beauty

Great Beauty is the first single to be released from The Sundowners' forthcoming as-yet-untitled second album. The follow up to 2015's self-titled has been eagerly anticipated for some time now as they've been slowly revealing tracks at their live shows throughout 2016.

Festival Preview - When In Manchester

We don't do previews as a rule, but we'll make an exception for When In Manchester. It's a festival that was the brain child of four young women (Abi, Miriam, Ellen and Nicole) that ran their first successful event at Gullivers and The Castle back in April. Their second festival takes place at The Ruby Lounge on Saturday and promises ten up-and-coming acts across two stages, some of whose profile has already sky-rocketed since they were booked. It could be the last chance to catch some of them in such intimate surroundings and an excellent opportunity to show your support to young promoters taking on the big boys.

James / The Charlatans / The Slow Readers Club - Liverpool Echo Arena - 10th December 2016

Perhaps the finest triple bill in recent history saw James, The Charlatans and The Slow Readers Club sell out Liverpool's Echo Arena on Saturday night. The evening saw collaborations during both sets with Tim and Andy of James helping The Charlatans cover Echo And The Bunnymen's Rescue and Tim and Mark of The Charlatans joining James on Laid. The Slow Readers Club had earlier played to a couple of thousand people on the foyer upstairs.

James / The Slow Readers Club - Sheffield O2 Academy - 9th December 2016

The third night of James's short December tour rolled into Sheffield on Friday night and continued in the same vein as the previous two, with a set that varied considerably from the previous ones, resurrection of old favourites from the depths of their back catalogue and some of their biggest songs in one triumphant event. Support came from Manchester's The Slow Readers Club who look and sound completely at home on these bigger stages.

James / The Slow Readers Club - Wolverhampton Civic - 7th December 2016

Day two of James' UK mini tour saw them return to Wolverhampton for the first time in nineteen years to the Civic. A set full of surprises and seven setlist changes from the previous night and a band at the peak of their powers in one of the best venues of this size in the country delighted a packed Black Country crowd. Support came from The Slow Readers Club.