James : Justhipper - The Complete Sire & Blanco Y Negro Recordings 1986-1988

Justhipper is a collection from Cherry Red of the first two James album, Stutter and Strip-Mine, released in 1986 and 1988 respectively after signing from Factory Records. By the release of Strip-Mine, the band were on their uppers, having to do medical experiments to pay for rehearsal time and borrowing £10k to release their own live album One Man Clapping and escaping Sire / Blanco Y Negro's clutches on a legal technicality that the contract had to be renewed in writing six months after the final masters of Strip-Mine were delivered. Justhipper documents the two albums and the associated b-sides from the singles.

Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott - Manchester HMV - 24th July 2017

To celebrate the launch of their third album Crooked Calypso last Friday, currently sitting at number one in the midweek charts, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott performed a six-song set, split equally between new songs and favourites from The Beautiful South, to a crowd crammed between the CD shelves at Manchester's HMV store.

Control Of The Going - Interview

Control Of The Going are a band that we've covered since their very earliest days as they've grown from a fledgling band into one of Manchester's most powerful live outfits. We spoke to Liam, Ste and Ash as they put the finishing touches to their debut album, due out later this year, and curate their own stage at this year's Blackthorn Festival following the release of their debut 7" single She / Wildflower earlier in the year.

James - London Kew Gardens - 15th July 2017

James joined Passenger, Razorlight, All Saints and Mary J Blige as headliners of this year’s Kew The Music festival week in the picturesque surroundings of Kew Gardens in London. Despite a sound level that would struggle to fill our living room and an audience that in the most part were more interested in their hampers and protecting their picnic blanket than they were about a rock concert, James refused to compromise and deliver the greatest hits set that the evening’s compere promised.

Mercury Rev / Hazel Wilde (Lanterns On The Lake) - Gateshead Sage - 12th July 2017

As part of the celebration of the 20th birthday of iconic independent label Bella Union, Mercury Rev announced three special dates with the celebrated Royal Northern Sinfonia. We caught their show at Gateshead Sage, home of the Sinfonia, a mix of tracks from across their career with a bit of Disney and Dusty Springfield for good measure. Support came from Hazel Wilde of Lanterns On The Lake playing her first ever solo show and revealing four new songs.

Ride / Spectres - Manchester Ritz - 11th July 2017

Ride released their first album in twenty one years last month in Weather Diaries and announced this one-off Manchester International Festival show at The Ritz. An expectant audience were treated to a set that got the balance between new and old spot on and revealed them to be one of the few bands that have reformed to match, and at points exceed, former glories. Support came from Spectres.

Blossoms / The Coral / Rory Wynne / Touts - Manchester Castlefield Bowl - 8th July 2017

There has always been a sense of inevitability in the last three years that Blossoms' path would this summer lead them to Castlefield Bowl. Having supported both James and The Charlatans here in previous years and a year on from their number one debut album, it's a fitting way to bring to a close the first phase of their journey to be mentioned in the same breath as those aforementioned legends of the local music scene.

James / The Slow Readers Club - Manchester Castlefield Bowl - 7th July 2017

James made a triumphant return to their hometown of Manchester last night in front of an 8,000 crowd that braved the rain as some of the city's favourite sons ran through a career spanning set full of surprises, reinventions and curveballs as well as some of their best known and best loved songs towards the end of a two-hour set. Support came from Manchester's newest local heroes The Slow Readers Club who won over even more admirers with a forty-five minute set full of the kind of anthems that made the headliners name for them.

James - Leicester O2 Academy - 5th July 2017

James played Leicester O2 Academy for the first time ever as a warm-up for their summer of festival headlines and, true to form, gave us a set of the weird and wonderful, the new and the old with the odd curveball and some, but not all, of their biggest hits as well as debuting two new songs Busted and Overdose.

Track Of The Day : Carousel Clouds - Invisible Lines

Invisible Lines is the debut single by Carousel Clouds that is released on Friday with a launch gig at Salford's Eagle Inn. It's a beautifully haunting tense song that builds slowly, simmering and then shimmering into glorious life with layered vocals and intricate instrumentation.

Radiohead - Old Trafford Cricket Ground - 4th July 2017

Radiohead's two Manchester Arena shows had been combined into one after the tragic events of May 22nd and moved to Old Trafford Cricket Ground, a very different setting as most of the show was performed before dark and with noise restrictions imposed to protect local residents. Despite this and a set that provided a stern challenge to the attention span of the casual fan, the quality of the musicianship and their unflinching desire to not play by the standard rules of the stadium gig.

Hazel Wilde (Lanterns On The Lake) - Interview

Anyone familiar with the blog will know of our love of Lanterns On The Lake. Their Live With Royal Northern Sinfonia walked away with our album of the year in 2016 and whilst the band are taking a year out to write and record new material, we were excited to discover that their front woman Hazel Wilde is playing a solo set supporting Mercury Rev at Gateshead Sage next Wednesday (12th July). We had a chat with her about that show, new Lanterns material and a possible solo album.

Track Of The Day : Trip To Dover - Fade Into Gold

"A pianist fell in love with a punk girl" reads the intro to the PR. That type of description often disappoints when you listen to the music, but when you listen to Trip To Dover's Fade Into Gold, the title track of their album, you get something much more than you'd expect.

Cabbage / The Blinders - Manchester Ritz - 1st July 2017

Cabbage's biggest headline show to date came on Saturday at a sold-out Ritz in Manchester in front of a hometown crowd.

LIINES / Scarlet / Katie O'Malley - Manchester Gullivers - 2nd July 2017

Sonder Fest took place last weekend over three nights in Manchester's Northern Quarter. We headed to Gulliver's on Sunday night to catch three very contrasting but excellent performances by Katie O'Malley, LIINES and Scarlet.

Track Of The Day : Purple Merlin - East Is West

East Is West is the debut track from the mysterious Purple Merlin. All we have to go on this video for the song and the promise of some forthcoming live dates.

New Order - Manchester Granada Studios - 29th June 2017

The undoubted highlight of the opening night of Manchester International Festival, if not the festival itself, was New Order's collaboration with composer and conductor Joe Duddell, students from the Royal Northern College Of Music and graphic artist Liam Gillick in a reinvention and reimagination of some of the more obscure and lesser-known parts of their substantial back catalogue.

Track Of The Day : Chevron Shawl - Piece Of The Pie

Piece Of The Pie is the debut single from a Manchester super-group of sorts Chevron Shawl as they prepare to launch it with a gig at the Night And Day Cafe next week.

JP Ruggieri / David Ford - Manchester Castle Hotel - 25th June 2017

Following his tour supporting David Ford and performing as part of his live band, JP Ruggieri stayed on in the UK for a few headline dates of his own, supported by no other than David Ford. His intimate Sunday night gig at The Castle saw him perform a full set of songs he's written over the past twenty years including some from his gig-only debut album and charm a crowd with his humour and the stories he told between songs.

Track Of The Day : Berries - Wild Vow

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know we think Berries are one of the best new bands in the country. Their These Funny Things EP was one of our highlights of last year and their debut Manchester performance at the When In Manchester festival stole the show for us. They're back with their first new material since the EP, a song called Wild Vow

Track Of The Day : Saytr Play - Mother's Love

Mother's Love is the debut single from Saytr Play, one of the most hotly-tipped on the Manchester live scene on the basis of some exciting live shows around the city centre's venues over the past few months.

Control Of The Going / The Valkarys / The Goa Express - Todmorden Golden Lion - 23rd June 2017

We took the train up to Todmorden on Friday night to catch one of Control Of The Going's final shows before they gear up for the release of their album later this year. Support came from The Valkarys and locals The Goa Express.

The Stone Roses - Glasgow Hampden Park - 24th June 2017

"Don't be sad it's over. Be happy that it happened" said Ian Brown half way through the most triumphant, uplifting Roses gig ever. Earlier in the week, it was rumoured the sold out Glasgow stadium show was to be the final show. On stage, in front of a capacity crowd, Brown confirms it.

The Stone Roses - Leeds First Direct Arena - 21st June 2017

It's five years since The Stone Roses came back in a fanfare promising a glorious resurrection. What's come in between has been mixed, some stunning performances, some less so in huge outdoor bowls suited more to making money than to confirming their legacy. Tonight though in Leeds' intimate yet cavernous First Direct Arena, they rolled back the years with the best set we've seen them play since they got back together.

Maddy Storm - Manchester Jimmy's - 17th June 2017

Maddy Storm is possibly the stand out talent on the Manchester scene at present. Whilst she's not yet attracting the audiences, as this opening slot at Jimmy's on Saturday night testifies, the jaw-dropping reaction her set gets from the fifty or so assembled crowd tells its own story.

David Ford / Michele Stodart / JP Ruggieri - Manchester Deaf Institute - 18th June 2017

To support the launch of his new EP The Union and ahead of the release of his album Animal Spirits, David Ford teamed up with Michele Stodart and JP Ruggieri for a Hotel Cafe style tour of the UK where each of the three artists performed their own set with the other two as part of their band. With three such talented musicians in rotation, the packed Sunday night Deaf Institute crowd were treated to a full evening of great music, refreshing camaraderie and witty repartee.

The Charlatans / The Slow Readers Club - Scarborough Open Air Theatre - 16th June 2017

Fresh from the top five success of their latest album Different Days, The Charlatans headlined Scarborough's Open Air Theatre on Friday night with a career spanning set that also included a liberal dash of the new album. Support came from Manchester's fastest rising unsigned stars The Slow Readers Club who delighted fans old and new with a forty-five minute set.

David Ford - The Union EP

In the middle of a UK tour, David Ford has released an EP called The Union which is currently only available at the shows he's performing with Michele Stodart and JP Ruggieri. The five-track EP is a taster for his new album Animal Spirit that's due later in the year. It's unmistakably Ford and will delight those that have followed him for close to a decade and a half, but has the potential to win him new admirers.

Ist Ist - Sheffield Rocking Chair - 10th June 2017

As part of their plan to break out of Manchester where they've developed a loyal adoring following for their exhilarating brutal assault on the aural senses, Ist Ist trekked across the Pennines on Saturday night to Sheffield's Rocking Chair armed with a batch of new songs and an uncompromising attitude that sets them apart from pretty much every other band around.

Track Of The Day : Hannah Nicholson - Oliver

Oliver is the first single from Hannah Nicholson's forthcoming debut solo EP, due out in July. A beautifully haunting track that showcases Hannah's emotional expressive voice, it's an impressive introduction to the former Bird To Beast singer's new project.

Arcade Fire - Edinburgh Corn Exchange - 8th June 2017

So often when the biggest bands in the world decide to play small intimate shows they lose the very essence of what makes them special. As Arcade Fire prepare for the release of their fifth album next month, they played a few low-key UK dates ahead of their Isle Of Wight Festival headline slot on Saturday. We made the trip up to Edinburgh to witness them deliver one of the most spectacular live sets we've had the privilege to experience.

John Bramwell / Dave Fidler - Berlin Kantine Am Berghain - 5th June 2017

We made the two hour trip to Berlin to catch up with John Bramwell and Dave Fidler in the middle of their European tour in the intimate surroundings of East Berlin's Kantine am Berghain, a wonderful small venue very much in the shadow of one of Europe's largest techno clubs. A torrential downpour and the end of a three day rave didn't deter the crowd from coming out to pay respect to two beautiful sets of the most raw and emotional songwriting the UK has to offer.

Depeche Mode - London Stadium - 3rd June 2017

Fulfilling a long term ambition, Stuart Ralston travels to London to finally see a band who were instrumental in igniting his love for music back in the mid 80s – Depeche Mode.

The Staves - Manchester Gorilla - 31st May 2017

A packed out sweltering Manchester Gorilla paid host to The Staves' first UK show in over a year. An adoring and respectful crowd watched sisters Emma, Jessica and Camilla perform a career-spanning set of songs to a rapturous response.

Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott / She Drew The Gun - Warrington Parr Hall - 1st June 2017

Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott warmed up for their massive Hull stadium show on Saturday with an intimate warm-up show at Warrington's Parr Hall and a set that straddled Paul's time with The Housemartins and his work with Jacqui in The Beautiful South and as a duo including two tracks from their as yet unreleased third album. Support came from She Drew The Gun.