The Skinny Northwest October 2014 by The Skinny

BOOK NOW: 0161 832 1111 manchesteracademy.net

CRUCIFIED BARBARA

MILES & ERICA

WHEATUS

THURSDAY 9TH OCTOBER

SATURDAY 11TH OCTOBER

WEDNESDAY 15TH OCTOBER

ANTI NOWHERE LEAGUE

THE ORB

+ FINI TRIBE

THE HERBALISER

LIVING COLOUR

BIG COUNTRY

COCKNEY REJECTS

STEELTOWN 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

35TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

FRIDAY 31ST OCTOBER

THURSDAY 6TH NOVEMBER

TURIN BRAKES

TROUBLE

SATURDAY 8TH NOVEMBER

SUNDAY 9TH NOVEMBER

THE QUIREBOYS

DAN BAIRD & HOMEMADE SIN

{FROM THE WONDER STUFF}

+ MC FRONTALOT

OCTOBER Chali 2na of Jurassic 5 Wednesday 1st Hopsin Friday 3rd Atmosphere Friday 3rd Hawktoberfest – Hawkwind + Senser + Pink Fairies + Poisoned Electrick Head + The Crazy DJ World of Arthur Brown Saturday 4th Dry The River Saturday 4th Bednarek Sunday 5th The 8123 Tour feat. The Maine Monday 6th The Dirty Youth Wednesday 8th Crucified Barbara Thursday 9th Kids In Glass Houses Saturday 11th Miles & Erica Saturday 11th Wheatus Wednesday 15th Skinny Molly Wednesday 15th Opeth Wednesday 15th Anti-Nowhere League Thursday 16th Patent Pending + The Hype Theory Thursday 16th Sanchez + Sandra Cross + Don Campbell Saturday 18th The Orb + Dr Alex Paterson presents ‘orb in dub’ + Fini Tribe (live) + DJ Doctor D Saturday 18th TOAST- A Tribute To Oasis Saturday 18th The Hold Steady Sunday 19th We Are The Ocean Sunday 19th Bury Tomorrow Monday 20th Wolf Alice Wednesday 22nd Heather Peace Friday 24th Katy B + Becky Hill Saturday 25th Twin Atlantic Tuesday 28th

NOVEMBER The Knife Wednesday 5th Chvrches Thursday 6th John Waters – This Filthy World, Volume 2 Wednesday 12th Miranda Sings with special guest Colleen Ballinger Thursday 13th Jamie T Monday 17th The Pretty Reckless Wednesday 19th Pop Punk’s Not Dead – New Found Glory + The Story So Far + State Champs + Candy Hearts + Only Rivals Friday 21st Levellers Saturday 22nd SOS Band + Gwen Dickey (Rose Royce) + Loose Ends Sunday 23rd Mastodon Monday 24th

THURSDAY 16TH OCTOBER

30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

SUNDAY 16TH NOVEMBER

SATURDAY 18TH OCTOBER

FRIDAY 21ST NOVEMBER

FRIDAY 24TH OCTOBER

JOHN WATERS

WEDNESDAY 12TH NOVEMBER

RUTS DC PLUS STEVE IGNORANT FRIDAY 28TH NOVEMBER

JOHN GARCIA

A CERTAIN RATIO

THURSDAY 4TH DECEMBER

SATURDAY 13TH DECEMBER

ARCH ENEMY / KREATOR

CHAMELEONS VOX

CAST

FRIDAY 19TH DECEMBER SATURDAY 20TH DECEMBER

SUNDAY 21ST DECEMBER

+ GRAMME + DIRTY NORTH

URBAN VOODOO MACHINE SUNDAY 14TH DECEMBER

DECEMBER Hollywood Undead Monday 1st Professor Green Friday 5th Behemoth Saturday 13th Parkway Drive + THeaven Shall Burn + Northlane + Carnifex Wednesday 17th Arch Enemy + Kreator + Shining & Marty Friedman Friday 19th UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey + Radio Riddler Sunday 21st

For full listings visit manchesteracademy.net

FRIDAY 19TH DECEMBER

+ JOHN McCULLAGH

OCT 2014 CLUB

COMEDY

LIVE

WEDNESDAY 1ST OCTOBER

THE BOXER REBELLION 7.30PM : £13.00 THURSDAY 2ND OCTOBER

GRIMMFEST FRINGE: ‘WOMEN IN HORROR’ 10PM : £5.00 18+ FRIDAY 3RD OCTOBER

THE MENZINGERS 6.30PM : £12.00 SATURDAY 4TH OCTOBER

THE TRAVELLING BAND 7PM : £10.00 SUNDAY 5TH OCTOBER

GRIMMFEST FRINGE: OPEN GRAVE 10PM : £5.00 18+ WEDNESDAY 8TH OCTOBER

TOM VEK 7.30PM : £11.00

SATURDAY 11TH OCTOBER

MDNGHT 7PM : £8.00

THURSDAY 16TH OCTOBER

SAGE FRANCIS 7.30PM : £13.00 FRIDAY 17TH OCTOBER

HOLLIE MCNISH 7PM : SOLD OUT SUNDAY 19TH OCTOBER

DAN CROLL 7.30PM : £10.00

MONDAY 20TH OCTOBER

TELEMAN 7.30PM : £9.00

TUESDAY 21ST OCTOBER

DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 7PM : SOLD OUT WEDNESDAY 22ND OCTOBER

THE POP GROUP 7PM : £17.50 THURSDAY 23RD OCTOBER

BLACK RIVERS 7.30PM : £12.00

SATURDAY 25TH OCTOBER

GROUP THERAPY COMEDY CLUB 7PM : £10.00 TUESDAY 28TH OCTOBER

RALEIGH RITCHIE 7PM : £8.00 THURSDAY 30TH OCTOBER

DAPPER LAUGHS 7PM : £9.50 FILM — FRIDAY 31ST OCTOBER — HALLOWEEN HORROR

BEETLEJUICE & HOCUS POCUS 6PM : £8.00 (14+) FRIDAY 3RD OCTOBER

SLACKER : PHIL TAGGART & GUESTS TBA 11PM – 4AM : £10.00 / £12.00 / £15.00 SATURDAY 4TH OCTOBER

THEE COOL CATS / TOM SHORTERZ & MARCUS NASTY / NIGHT SHIFT 11PM: £TBA FRI 10TH OCTOBER

JUICY BOW DOWN : A BEYONCE SPECIAL 11PM : £3.00 SATURDAY 11TH OCTOBER

SUPERJOSH FUNDRAISER 11PM : EVENT DETAILS TBC FRIDAY 17TH OCTOBER — CODED RYTHMN 2ND BIRTHDAY

NIGHTMARES ON WAX / ONRA 11PM : £10.00 / £12.00 / £15.00 SATURDAY 18TH OCTOBER

MONKI / MAK & PASTEMAN / WOZ AND MELE 11PM - 4AM : £TBA FRIDAY 24TH OCTOBER

GORILLA CLUB RESIDENTS FREE PARTY 11PM : FREE SATURDAY 25TH OCTOBER

BONDAX / OLSEN + RELAY 11PM : £10.00 FRIDAY 31ST OCTOBER — COVERT HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

INFINITY INK LIVE / PIRATE COPY / JUST JORGE 11PM : £15.00 / £18.00 / £20.00 THISISGORILLA.COM

FILM

october listings live OCTOBER — 01 LONELY THE BRAVE + MARMOZETS £9/7PM 02 ANDREW JACKSON JIHAD £8/7:30PM 03 AVI BUFFALO £10/7:30PM 04 CHILDHOOD £8/7:30PM 05 STRAND OF OAKS £8/7:30PM 07 JAMES YORKSTON £12.50/7PM 09 NELL BRYDEN £14/7PM 10 GRANT-LEE PHILIPS & HOWE GELB £18.50/7:30PM 11 CHUCK PROPHET £16/7:30PM 12 MARK MORRISS £12.50/7:30PM 13 LAURA VEIRS £16.50/7PM

15 KISHI BASHI £8/7:30PM 16 HUNDRED WATERS £8/7:30PM 17 ANNIE EVE £12.50/7PM 18 THE RUBYS £6/7PM 20 THE STAVES SOLD OUT/7PM 22 GHETTS £12/7PM 24 JON ALLEN £13.50/7.30PM 25 THE SADIES £16/7:30PM 27 RHODES £7/7PM 28 JOHN WIZARDS £9/7:30PM 29 UPLOAD LIVE: DAVE GILES £8/7PM 30 BILLY LOCKETT £9/7:30PM

club listings OCTOBER — 03 SUBSTANCE BEZ’S ACID HOUSE £8/11PM 04 GIRLS ON FILM ’80S ELECTRONIC DANCE POP OF THE HIGHEST ORDER

£4.50/11PM 10 HIGHER GROUND

COME AND PARTY TO THE SOUNDS OF THE 60’S

£3/£5/11PM 11 GOO

INDIE, BRITPOP, GRUNGE

£4.50/11PM 17 ELECTRIC JUG

O C T — M A R 09.OCT IN CONVERSATION

1 4 / 1 5

– JOHN LYDON

SOLD OUT

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

10.OCT JONNY GREENWOOD & THE LCO 11.OCT SOLD OUT HAPPY MONDAYS 22.OCT ST. VINCENT 23.OCT SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS 24.OCT DJ HARVEY & FRIENDS 29.OCT SOLD OUT SAM SMITH 30.OCT SOLD OUT SAM SMITH 01.NOV LAMB 11.NOV COMMON 15.NOV LYKKE LI 22.NOV LITTLE DRAGON 29.NOV IMELDA MAY 06.DEC METRONOMY 07.DEC BOYZ II MEN 13.DEC ANGUS & JULIA STONE 14.DEC MANCHESTER CAMERATA 08.FEB SOLD OUT INTERPOL 26.FEB JUNGLE 23.MAR NICK MULVEY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

24 UPTOWN

MODERN INDIE, ELECTRO, & ROCK N’ ROLL

£3/11PM 25 POP KATE BUSH SPECIAL

POP CLASSICS, BOOTY SHAKING SMASHERS

£4.50/11PM 31 HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA £4.50/11PM WEEKLY — TUESDAYS GOLD TEETH

HIP HOP, GARAGE, HOUSE, DISCO, FUNK, ROCK & ROLL, FRUITY

£4.50/11PM

ROCK N’ROLL, 60s, BRIT POP, PSYCHEDELIA

£3/11PM 18 BARE BONES

MODERN INDIE, ELECTRO, & ROCK N’ ROLL

£4.50/11PM

THREE FLOORS OF BEER, MUSIC & GOOD TIMES MANCHESTERS FINEST INDEPENDENT MUSIC VENUE OPEN 4PM — LATE FRIDAY + SATURDAYS & GIG DAYS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE 35 GROSVENOR STREET. MANCHESTER. M1 7HE TICKETS — WWW.SKIDDLE.CO.UK WWW.THEDEAFISTITUTE.CO.UK

ALBERTHALLMANCHESTER.COM INFO@ALBERTHALLMANCHESTER.COM f: /ALBERTHALLMANCHESTER t: /ALBERTHALLMCR

Photo: Andrew Ellis

P.11 Bill Ryder-Jones

P.21 Life After Beth

P.49 Hsiao-Chi Tsai & Kimiya Yoshikawa - Bury Sculpture Centre

P.32 Inga Lineviciute

October 2014

I N D E P E N D E N T

C U LT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

Issue 19, October 2014 © Radge Media Ltd. Get in touch: E: hiya@theskinny.co.uk T: 0161 833 3124 P: The Skinny, Second Floor, Swan Buildings, 20 Swan Street, Manchester, M4 5JW The Skinny is distributing 24,680 copies across Liverpool and Manchester, a wide range of advertising packages and affordable ways to promote your business are available. Get in touch to find out more.

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Printed on 100% recycled paper

Contents

THE SKINNY

Contents Up Front

Chat & Opinion: you got yer last-minute

06 heads ups in Stop the Presses; a nice

piccy in Shot of the Month; a chance to Spot the Difference and WIN STUFF; plus BALLS glorious BALLS. Heads Up: Here’s yer events calendar for

08 October. Use it diligently. 10

Two of the bright young things challenging literary definitions at this year’s Manchester Literature Festival are rapper, poet and playwright Kate Tempest, presenting works from her new collection, Hold Your Own, and musician Bill Ryder-Jones, whose interpretation of Italo Calvino’s iconic If on a winter’s night a traveler receives the Manchester Camerata treatment.

From goodtime frontman of ‘grebo’ hucksters Pop Will Eat Itself to Darren Aronofsky’s go-to guy, film composer Clint Mansell takes stock of his career. As Liverpool Music Week turns ten, organiser Mike Deane talks us through the stupidly good programme. What would a John Carpenter film set in 70s Belfast look like? Speaking to director Yann Demange, we reckon it wouldn’t be too dissimilar to his blistering debut film ’71. As Frankenstein and his monster prepare to tread the boards of Liverpool’s Bombed Out Church, the legacy of horror theatre comes under the spotlight.

Parks and Recreation’s star Aubrey Plaza tells us how she loved breaking shit on zom-rom-com Life After Beth and Peaches Christ prepares us for the glittering extravaganza that will be drag sci-fi opera Bearbarella.

With the Asia Triennial taking over pretty much every major art venue and museum in the region for eight weeks, artistic director Alnoor Mitha and Harmonious Society curator Jiang Jiehong select their highlights.

Society – aka Richard Swan and Johnny Sorrow – on pulling old-school comedy into the 21st century.

Lifestyle 28

Party maestro Seven Davis Jr. explains why LA is 'like Purple Rain in real time.'

26 The Bob Blackman Appreciation

Travel: Our man in Hamburg reports back from the city’s most raucous neighbourhood and the ninth Reeperbahn Festival – think of it as a German SXSW.

October 2014

Clubs: A key player in the fuzzy jazz hubbub coming out of Berlin, Glenn Astro picks nine of his favourite records. Books: What with his biographer, Adam Begley, coming to the Literature Festival this month, we thought it was time to consider American novelist John Updike's posthumous reputation – which is less rosy by the day. But why? Art: A little concrete monster and a beekeeper in bubbling rapids can be found at at Bloomberg New Contemporaries, while the first report from Asia Triennial Manchester brings us ReMix at Bury Sculpture Centre. Film: Gia Coppola’s debut film Palo Alto lights up the big screen (we wonder how she got her big break?) and The Babadook scares the bejesus out of us. DVD: It’s the ideal month for lovers of goofy horror movies as Blacula, WolfCop and Zombeaver come to DVD. Northwest gorehounds should also rejoice as Grimmfest returns. Theatre: 1956 Theatre check in before they embark on a month-long residency at Salford Arts Theatre; plus the Count puts on his dancing shoes for a new adaptation of Dracula, and It’s Play Time offers up six plays from new playwrights. Comedy: Meet Danny Sutcliffe, gorilla impersonator and master of the 140-character gag. Competitions: We've tickets to Wild Beasts at Liverpool Music Week to give away, plus there's Dr Martens booty to be won. Tech: Indie game developers in the Northwest are a diverse lot. They let us in on why it’s such a thriving, welcoming scene.

Listings: Bored? Don’t be ridiculous.

Deviance: One new mother debunks the

Fashion: London Fashion Week suggests we’ll all be dressing like recently bereaved sailors next spring/summer.

Music: Ryan Kennedy discusses the diametric sound of Horsebeach, Rick Anthony of the suitably spookily named Phantom Band selects some soundtracks to fright night, and our reviewers bring you recent gigs from First Aid Kit, Owls and Holly Herndon. Plus, new records from The Twilight Sad, EX HEX and Flying Lotus.

29 myth of the supposed radiance of child bearing.

Food and Drink: Our Food editor speaks to some of those involved in the Animal Worlds strand of MMU’s Humanities in Public festival, considering animal welfare and representation. At the total opposite end of the spectrum, we’ve a menu of horrifying meals for you to tuck into on All Hallows’ Eve.

Review

Baltimore noise rock foursome Dope Body return with new album Lifer – we catch up with vocalist Andrew Laumann and drummer David Jacober.

Showcase: University of Central Lancashire graduate Inga Lineviciute uses drawing as a tool of social observation. Catch her at Bloomberg New Contemporaries at Liverpool’s World Museum until end Oct.

OCTOBER 02 STURGILL SIMPSON

NOVEMBER

08 TAMIKREST

LEAF

THE KAZIMIER

W/ AFRICA OYÉ

07 THE PHANTOM BAND THE KAZIMIER W/ EVOL

14 KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD

EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB (LOFT)

10 COLLEGE

LEAF W/ BAM!BAM!BAM!

15 CHRISTOPHER OWENS

LIVERPOOL GUILD OF STUDENTS STANLEY THEATRE

11 THE WYTCHES THE KAZIMIER

18 THE VOYEURS

SHIPPING FORECAST

16 TIMBER TIMBRE LEAF

26 MERCHANDISE THE KAZIMIER

21 REAL ESTATE THE KAZIMIER

29 BY THE SEA

EPSTEIN THEATRE

27 HOOKWORMS THE KAZIMIER

W/ LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK 2014

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER 13 BILL RYDER-JONES & SAINT SAVIOR THE KAZIMIER

04 THE WAR ON DRUGS O2 ACADEMY

W/ LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK 2014

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE: SEETICKETS / EVENTIM / TICKETLINE IN PERSON: PROBE RECORDS (SCHOOL LN) & THE BRINK (PARR ST) The Skinny September_2014_Layout 1 24/09/2014 13:58 @LPOOLPSYCHFEST Page 1 FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @HARVEST_SUN

NEW GIGS ANNOUNCED PACO PEÑA

Requiem for the Earth featuring Sense of Sound Singers Thursday 9 October 7.30pm The Metropolitan Cathedral – Liverpool Irish Festival 2014

MOXIE

plus support: Anam Thursday 23 October 7.30pm St George’s Hall Concert Room – Liverpool Irish Festival 2014

WE BANJO 3

plus support: Maz O’Connor Thursday 30 October 7.30pm St George’s Hall Concert Room – Liverpool Irish Festival 2014

THE GLOAMING

Sunday 2 November 7.30pm St George’s Hall Concert Room –

BELLOWHEAD

Monday 10 November 7.30pm St George’s Hall Concert Room –

DAVE GORMAN

Gets straight to the Point* (*the Powerpoint) Tuesday 11 November 8pm Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

GRAHAM NORTON LIVE The Life and Loves of a He Devil Saturday 15 November 8pm Liverpool Philharmonic Hall –

JOHN GRANT

with the Royal Northern Sinfonia Saturday 22 November 7.30pm Liverpool Philharmonic Hall – St Andrew’s Night Celebration with

Capercaillie

Sunday 30 November 7.30pm St George’s Hall Concert Room –

DAVID GRAY

Monday 1 December 7.30pm Liverpool Philharmonic Hall –

IMELDA MAY

Friday 5 December 7.30pm Liverpool Philharmonic Hall – DaDaFest International 2014

STAFF BENDA BILILI plus support Saturday 6 December 7.30pm Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Box Office 0151 709 3789 liverpoolphil.com

Image Imelda May

Contents

irst things first: if you’re reading this on the day of publication, we’re gonna blag yers to come to our own lovely, brilliant, wicked event that you’d be a fewl to miss – yes, that’s right, on Tuesday 30 September it is finally time for The Skinny Spotlight, a showcase of some of our favourite young comics on the Northwest circuit being reight funny an’ stuff, all on the same stage, for just five of your good pounds. That stage is The Kazimier in Liverpool; and it’s a part of Liverpool Comedy Festival, so you can find out more either at liverpoolcomedyfestival.com or by searching for ‘The Skinny Spotlight’ on Facebook. The acts’ll be on from 8pm, so make sure you get down around 7.30 to grab a drink, have a natter and settle into your seats. Next up, it’s Halloween, and besides bringing us a headline interview with Yann Demange about his Jack O’Connell-staring ‘71, our Film editor has been possessed by the undead spirit of, er, someone who’s like, proper into Halloween, and brings us a host of ghoulish features from an interview with Parks and Rec darling Aubrey Plaza about zom-com Life after Beth to a preview of the North’s premier horror festival Grimmfest – and even a special horror edition of the DVD section. Music, Food and Drink and Theatre dig their pointy hats and motheaten cloaks out of the cupboard under the stairs, too, as Rick Anthony of The Phantom Band selects his scary desert island (haunted house?) discs, Food serves up a questionable menu for All Hallows’ Eve (it’s smelly. Oh, it’s smelly), and Theatre meets the director of a new production of Frankenstein in Liverpool. All those shenanigans aside, we’ve – *serious face* – interviews with two of Manchester Literature Festival’s young voices leading the issue this month: southeast London rapper and poet Kate Tempest has been making waves for

a few years but now, it seems, is truly her time, with her first full-length collection for Picador, Hold Your Own, on the way, and she’s selling out gigs right, left and centre; musician Bill RyderJones, meanwhile, presents his debut album If… – inspired by Italo Calvino’s cult novel If on a winter’s night a traveler – with the Manchester Camerata in one of the festival’s more unexpected bits of progamming. Other festivals to command centre stage this month are Liverpool Music Week, the director of which we catch up with on page 16 as well as get a bit hot under the collar about the lineup; and Asia Triennial, the only Asian art triennial outside the Asia Pacific region and taking over a huge array of galleries, museums and spaces for eight weeks. Music also brings us up-close-and-personals with film composer Clint Mansell, noisy Baltimore lot Dope Body, and Mancunian newcomers Horsebeach; the charming, stylish Seven Davis Jr. woos us wobbly in Clubs; Fashion goes on one of its biannual jollies to London Fashion Week that we’re totally not really jealous of at all; Comedy meets the eccentric Bob Blackman Appreciation Society and laments the loss of the true variety show; Deviance catches up with last month’s writer to debunk more myths surrounding femininity and motherhood; Travel takes in a trip to Hamburg for Reeperbahn Festival, and our newly burgeoning Tech section has a report on just why it’s so much fun to get stuck in to game development in the Northwest. We go to print in 16 minutes. There is no novelty sign-off. ON THE COVER: Kate Tempest. Photo: Julia Maloof Verderosa

Online Only Eyes to the website

The Twilight Sad

In our sister paper, Charlaine Harris, author of the Southern Vampire Mysteries series (which became TV’s True Blood), looks past crazed fans and forward to her ongoing Midnight Texas trilogy. www.theskinny.co.uk/books

DJ Chris Clark sits down with Clubs to discuss his upcoming album on Warp, his evolving approach to technology, and live performance as a vital form of feedback. www.theskinny.co.uk/clubs

Music catches up with self-confessed “depressing, moany bastards” James Graham and Andy MacFarlane of The Twilight Sad, who discuss staying the course throughout a particularly harsh decade for indie rock music; and erstwhile Wild Flag guitarist Mary Timony returns this month with Rips, the excellent debut from her ‘party band’ Ex Hex. www.theskinny.co.uk/music

The Film crew head down to London Film Festival this month to try and track down the best new voices in cinema. They’ll also be reporting back from the gory carnage of Grimmfest. www.theskinny.co.uk/film Berlin-based painter Jonathan Meese speaks to Art about his upcoming exhibition, art as instinct and the polarising responses to his work. www.theskinny.co.uk/art

Spot the Difference

Shot of the Month First Ait Kit at Albert Hall, Sat 20 Sep, by Alexander Bell

Chat

Can you spot the difference between these two Ewoks? If you think you can see it, head along to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and let us know.* You might just be in with the chance of winning a lovely book, Weak Messages Create Bad Situations by David Shrigley, courtesy our pals at Canongate.

*Hint: It’s not that one checking his e(wok)-mails. Competition closes midnight Sun 2 Nov. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Full Ts&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

THE SKINNY

Photo: Euan Robertson

Editorial

Running 23 Octâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;2 Nov, Liverpool Irish Festival mixes traditional Irish roots music with contemporary artists in a multi-venue extravaganza across the city. Sefton Park Palm Houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SAMHAIN is perhaps the highlight, featuring DFA Recordsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Shit Robot and dubstep artist Boxcutter. For the full programme visit: liverpoolirishfestival.com. The fourth Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival (3 Octâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;1 Nov) is focusing on time. Highlights include In A Flux â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a series of events by collective Manchester Salon exploring critical discourse and arts practice; meanwhile Esther Ainsworth will be using sampled field recordings to explore the spirit of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;placeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and capturing the way the town moves and lives. Full details at culturewarrington.org. Just before Liverpool Music Week, Open Circuit Festival (18â&#x20AC;&#x201C;24 Oct) in Liverpool are hosting their own run of free events at the Leggate Theatre and Cafe. Featuring a host of forward-thinking composers and producers, the likes of Oval, Jonny Greenwood collaborator Oliver Coates and Tri-Angle Records' Vessel will be playing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the latter with local ensemble Immix. Head to opencircuitfestival.co.uk for more.

Coinciding with Leeds LightNight, NOISE Festival takes place 3-5 Oct at The Tetley, Leeds. Curated by the likes of Tim Marlow, Elaine Constantine, Andy Bird, Tricia Jones and Clive Barker, NOISE aims to showcase the next generation of visual arts superstars. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll also be a range of Q&As, special film screenings, and music and art workshops. More details at noisefestival.com. If we were giving out awards for the best exhibition title of 2014, the bookies money would be on Men Who Like Women Who Smell of Their Jobs, a cross platform collaboration between celebrated short story author David Gaffney, visual artist Alison Erika Forde and electronic duo O>L>A. Commissioned by Manchester Literature Festival, the resulting exhibition is described as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;a threedimensional experience, combining text, paintings and musical compositionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Runs 1 Octâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;31 Jan at The John Rylands Library on Deansgate, with a launch event on Thu 9 Oct. To celebrate turning ten, Sale Waterside Arts Centre are opening a Pop Up Gallery Shop over the festive period. The Pop Up Gallery Shop will take place for 12 days in Saleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Square Shopping Centre from 26 Nov, and will feature contemporary art, craft and design from talented artists from across Greater Manchester.

Shit Robot

Email popupshop@trafford.gov.uk to sell your work there. The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, one of the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest festivals of new and experimental music, has announced its 2014 lineup. Taking place 21-30 Nov, this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s iteration boasts performances by Carlos Casas, BIT20 Ensemble, the Arditti Quartet, AgustĂ FernĂĄndez and Peter Evans, Evan Parker, and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, among others. The full programme is at hcmf.co.uk. FACT in Liverpool are hosting Big Data 1.0 + 2.0 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Big Data, citizenship, ethics & rights in a security context, an all-day free event on 9 Oct featuring five influential speakers from different fields talking about issues brought by the huge amount of data weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re constantly generating

Photo: Marcus Fischer

Manchester art collective OWT are splitting between the Northwest and San Francisco, but not before one final exhibition at Twenty Twenty Two. Everything Must Go on 16 Oct is an open show featuring prints and designs by some of the artists OWT have worked with over the past few years, with work from himHallows, DR.ME and Alec Dudson among the submissions.

through our online activities. Among the speakers is respected technology commentator Richard Thieme. Full details at fact.co.uk. Architecture Competition: Manchester Craft and Design Centre, in collaboration with RIBA North West, is looking to fill its exhibition space with a temporary, structural installation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and needs you! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a structural project, but artists of all stripes are welcome to send in a proposal: architectural knowledge, or consultation with an architect is advised, but the winning design could be by anyone and made of anything, from plastic to wood to cardboard. A blank canvas awaits. The competition closes 31 Oct. For the full brief, go to www.craftanddesign.com/events/ architecture-competition.

BALLS. with Mystic Mark

TAURUS At the centre of the stampede to get the latest fashions, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re proud to follow the herd, although you like to express your individuality within it by accessorising your enormous body with a nose ring or some stylish ear tags.

GEMINI Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been doing some pretty haunting farts on the bus.

CANCER Always a fan of triple penetration, in October Scots begin to see the fruits of their No vote in the indy referendum as all three Westminster party leaders shuffle into position to force their unlubed cocks into Scotland's taut voting hole. LEO You treat STDs like PokĂŠmon: not only have you collected them all, but you have an insatiable itch to watch them battle each other for supremacy of the no manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land that is your crotch.

VIRGO In October, for almost no reason at all, a colourful Google deathbot explodes through the front door of your home and gores you to death with its graphene tusks.

October 2014

LIBRA You miss the bus to football practice and have to drag your ball bag all the way to training all on your own. As an added irritation, the ball bag catches on a nail and splits in the middle of the road, with everything spilling out only to be kicked by kids or run over by passing cars.

SCORPIO You develop an exoskeleton and water helmet for your pet goldfish so it can boldly go where no goldfish has gone before: for a walk in the park.

DR.ME at Everything Must Go

SAGITTARIUS After a military coup, Krarlak has been deposed and you begin rooting through the rubble of your shattered personality for anything salvageable.

CAPRICORN Your primary goal in life involves ensuring that no one else achieves any of their own goals.

AQUARIUS occurs to you that, from Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Itpoint of view at least, the world is a post-apocalyptic nightmare with much of the planet infested by cannibalistic zombies desperate to eat his flesh and drink his blood. No wonder he never came back. PISCES This month you discover evidence that it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t your mother who groined you out into this world, it was in fact The Queen. Her Majestyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gigantic and noble pulsating egg sac hatched each and every single one of us. Thanks maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;am.

www.jockmooney.com

ARIES a sense of inevitable resigna With tion you realise youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been using your flatmateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bumhole toothbrush for the past week. Still, if you will insist on all the toothbrushes being stored in the same jar, this was bound to happen sooner or later.

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Excuse us for blowing our own trumpet, but we reckon we've picked some of the region's funniest comics to showcase in tonight's The Skinny Spotlight, part of Liverpool Comedy Festival. A host of talents jump out of our pages and on to the stage, including Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Award nominees Gein's Family Giftshop. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 7pm, £5

Written in response to Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park deals with issues of societal flux in suburbia. When Russ and Bev try to sell their house, their prospective buyers are blocked by the white, middle-class Neighbourhood Association. Fifty years later, history repeats itself... Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 1-11 Oct, £14

A season of film horror descends on Manchester as Grimmfest cloaks several venues in the shocking and the spine-tingling. Claudio Simonetti's Goblin play The Dancehouse on the 3rd, while the venue's opening night gala features the UK premiere of Richard Bates Jr's Suburban Gothic. Various venues, Manchester, 2-5 Oct, prices vary

Clybourne Park

Grimmfest - Suburban Gothic

The Skinny Spotllight

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Kicking off MMU's Humanities in Public programme, which runs until June 2015 and opens up debate around cultural, societal and sociolinguistic issues, the Animal Witness event sees animal rights author Kim Stallwood reiterating the importance of endangered species' continued survival. Geoffrey Manton Building, Manchester Metropolitan University, 5.30pm, Free

Glasgow School of Art-founded leftfield rockers The Phantom Band downed side-project tools and regathered to great effect with their comparatively direct, hook-laden third LP Strange Friend earlier this year. The six-piece continue to tour in support of it, with Welsh psych-pop troupe Gulp in tow. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £9

Set in 80s Glasgow, Tamasha: My Name Is... is a weighty cross-cultural, family-focused play that presents the fallout Suzy and her Pakistani husband Farhan face after their daughter runs away from them and turns her back on the West. Contact, Manchester, 8-11 Oct, £9 (£5)

More than just beards and booze (OK, a fair bit of that), Indy Man Beer Con looks to build on last year's success with four days of craft beers, independent street food and a live music programme curated by the muchrespected Hey! Manchester and Aficionado. Victoria Baths, Manchester, 9-12 Oct, prices vary

Photo: Ade Hunter

Mon 6 Oct

Humanities in Public

Thu 16 Oct

The latest in the International Anthony Burgess Foundation's series of In Conversation talks sees former Books Editor for the New York Observer and Guggenheim Fellow Adam Begley discuss his biography of John Updike, the first to be issued since the author's death in 2009. International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester, 6.30pm, £6 (£4)

With their confrontational, guttural brand of aggressive garage rock, Domino Records' The Amazing Snakeheads are doing an even more convincing job of playing the role of deranged hoodlums than their southern contemporaries Fat White Family. See for yourself tonight. Sound Control, Manchester, 7pm, £9

24 Kitchen Street has taken full advantage of its newly confirmed full-time license with a blistering run of progressively minded electronic events. London producer Roska is an undoubted highlight in their autumn schedule, bringing his darkly playful house and pounding subbass to the newly loved venue. 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool, time and price TBC

Photo: Beth Chalmers

Wed 15 Oct

Illustration: Emer Tumilty

Tue 14 Oct

The Amazing Snakeheads

Indy Man Beer Con

Tamasha: My Name Is...

The Phantom Band

Roska

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Supported by Manchester School of Art and the Design Council, Design Manchester has become a hub for discussion among those in the worlds of art, design, illustration, animation and photography. The nine-day long event's highlights include a talk by Rejane Dal Bello, who cut her teeth in Rio de Janeiro. Various venues, Manchester, 21-30 Oct, prices vary

Music Theatre Wales perform Philip Glass' operatic interpretation of Kafka's The Trial fresh from its debut at London's Royal Opera House. Kafka's story of Jozef K, who confronts systematic oppression after a wrongful accusal, meets a worthy collaborator in the always inventive veteran composer. Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, 7.30pm, £15

A stunning venue-to-venue lineup for the 10th Liverpool Music Week is kicked off by Dan Snaith aka Caribou, just weeks after the release of his new record Our Love. Not only that, there's a much-anticipated Liverpool debut live set from hometown producer Evian Christ in support. Camp and Furnace, Liverpool, 6.30pm, £20

Playwright Willy Russell, best known for Educating Rita and the West End musical Blood Brothers, is the headline speaker at this year's Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival, joining a broad cross-section of writers, poets and spoken word artists for the weekend. Various venues, Rochdale, 24-26 Oct, prices vary

Design Manchester - Rejane Dal Bello

Caribou

Philip Glass

Photo: Thomas Neukum

Tue 21 Oct

Willy Russell

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One of the highlights of our jaunt to Beacons festival was the afrobeat tropicalia of Planet Mu signings the John Wizards. The Cape Town group return to play Liverpool Music Week, but before that they're dropping into Manchester, on probably the last tour for 2013's self-titled LP. The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 7.30pm, £9

65daysofstatic's 2004 debut LP The Fall of Math was a gateway into harsher, experimental strands of electronica and rock music, but it was also an outstanding piece of work in its own right. The Sheffield four-piece revisit, in full, a record that still holds its own against their subsequent material. Manchester Cathedral, 7pm, £16

Without taking themselves too seriously, independent zine Queen of the Track have built a reputation in Liverpool for tackling gender politics and pitching content that doesn't patronise. They celebrate Halloween with WITCH BITCH, a night of debauchery and DJs playing the best of female, queer, and trans music. 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool, 8pm, £5

After Psychmare Before Christmas and A Midsummer Psych's Dream, it was only a matter of time before Soup Kitchen turned their third eye towards Halloween. Psychmare on Spear Street once again goes heavy on the trippy repeato-rock, with Sonic Jesus, The Fauns and bag-mask wearers Horrid bringing the wigouts. Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 9pm, £7

John Wizards

65daysofstatic

Queen of the Track

Horrid

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THE SKINNY

Photo: James Maloney

October brings classical wizardry from Jonny Greenwood and Philip Glass, several goosebumpraising Halloween parties, and some greats of the written and spoken word at Manchester Literature Festival. Before that, get on down to The Skinny Spotlight.

Thu 2 Oct

Photo: Tom Connolly

Compiled by: Simon Jay Catling

Wed 1 Oct

Illustration: Louise Lockhart

Heads Up

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A few months after a well-received undergraduate degree show, Manchester Met's MA Show sees their latest batch of postgraduates present their final work. An always eagerly-anticipated group show, it draws together practitioners from all departments within the University's creative schools. Holden Gallery, Manchester, 3-12 Oct, Free

They've remixed everyone from Factory Floor to Hot Chip, but Optimo duo JD Twitch and JG Wilkes still operate best in the sweaty confines of a basement nightclub. The Glaswegian pair make a trip south of the border to bring their forward-thinking record selections to Manchester. The Roadhouse, Manchester, 11pm, £10

In keeping with the TED Talks' mantra of 'ideas worth spreading,' TEDxSalford enlists another 16 inspirational speakers to impart their wisdom. Highlights include Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman, and chief editor of the world standard for privacy on the Web, Massimo Marchiori. The Lowry, Salford, 10am, from £19

MA Show - Bridget Hines

Optimo

Tawakkol Karman

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As his 'day job' with Radiohead becomes less frequent, Jonny Greenwood's slow-burning success as a film composer has been reaching ever dizzier heights. Tonight sees him joined by the London Contemporary Orchestra for score extracts from the likes of There Will Be Blood, The Master and Norwegian Wood. Albert Hall, Manchester, 7.30pm, £25 (£15)

Organised by the righteous Laughing Cows comedy crew, the second Women in Comedy Festival draws on local and national talent to bring the rib-ticklers. The opening night sees Jo Caulfield and Zoe Lyons among the headliners, ahead of a programme that stretches out a full two weeks. Various venues, Manchester, 11-26 Oct, prices vary

Martin Amis's three-year run as professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester wasn't easygoing, with fellow lecturers protesting at the author's comparatively high wages. Amis will be hoping the dust has settled since leaving his post as he talks about his new novel, The Zone of Interest. Martin Harris Centre, Manchester, 6.30pm, £8 (£6)

A re-working of Henrik Ibsen's inspired piece, A Doll's House tell the story of a 'perfect' marriage that unravels through a gradual exposition of lies. The 1879 original caused outrage due to both its style and content; times have changed, but this is still a racy affair. The Capstone, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £12.50 (£9.50)

Jonny Greenwood

Zoe Lyons

A Doll's Greg House Wilson

Martin Amis

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Some of the most respected names in comic illustration are in Kendal, Cumbria for the Comic Art Festival. A diverse range of guests includes From Hell collaborator Eddie Campbell, DC comics illustrator Mark Buckingham, and New Statesman political cartoonist Nick Hayes. Various venues, Kendal, 17-19 Oct, prices vary

Life could be about to get crazy for Kate Tempest, as her Big Dada-released LP Everybody Down awaits its Mercury Prize fate. However, her new poetry collection, Hold Your Own, is what's under the spotlight here as she reads on the closing night of Manchester Literature Festival. Contact, Manchester, 8pm, £10 (£8)

Ambient house pioneers The Orb revisit their two genre-defining albums, playing The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld and their 1992 number-one charting U.F.Orb LP in full. If that's not enough Orbness for you, main man Alec Paterson plays a 90-minute Orb in Dub DJ set in support. Academy 2, Manchester, 10pm, £17

Jerusalem in My Heart has never been performed the same way twice. With Lebanon-via-Canada producer and musician Radwan Ghazi at its core, each set draws on Arabian folk and psychedelia, but is improvised and dependent on the surroundings and atmosphere – Ghazi appearing only a couple of times a year. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £6.50

Kate Tempest

The Orb

Jerusalem in My Heart

Mark Buckingham

Sun 26 Oct

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Playing one of a host of free shows at The Kazimier as part of Liverpool Music Week, Domino duo Peaking Lights make an eagerly-awaited live return to the UK, following their latest collection of spaced-out dubby mini-odysseys, Cosmic Logic. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 7pm, Free (£10 golden ticket)

It's been an incredible three and a half months, but finally the Liverpool Biennial comes to a close, making today your last chance to catch the varied, mixed-discourse group exhibition, A Needle Walks Into a Haystack, at the Old Blind School. Various venues, Liverpool, times and prices vary

New Zealand noise-rockers Die! Die! Die! hit Manchester for one of only a couple of UK dates. The DIY trio can boast a past including releases on legendary NZ label Flying Nun, and return to our shores in support of their frenetic new album Swim. Kraak, Manchester, 7.30pm, £8

Peaking Lights

Photo: David Black

Sat 25 Oct

Judith Hopf - Flock of Sheep (2014)

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One half of Lee & Herring in the 90s with Stewart Lee, Richard Herring returns with his 11th consecutive stand-up tour. Lord of the Dance Settee sees him ponder whether the term “cool comedian” is an oxymoron, as well as admitting that he's never beaten a piece of slapstick he came up with aged 16. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool, 8pm, £15

The Carbooty Arts Fair continue their run of events with the special Halloween-themed Spooky Carbooty. Drawing local practitioners together to promote their wares, the organisers couldn't have picked a more apt spot for their latest do than the community-driven Islington Mill. Islington Mill, Salford, 1pm, £Donations

Charlie Barber live scores Jean Epstein's take on Edgar Allen Poe's renowned short story in The Fall of the House of Usher. Barber's piece has been composed for a 16-strong chamber orchestra, adding a suitably harrowing soundtrack to the story of the forever-cursed house. The Capstone, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £10 (£8)

Richard Herring

October 2014

Spooky Carbooty

Die! Die! Die!

The Fall of the House of Usher

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Roaring the Gospel This year, Manchester Literature Festival brings us a programme of bright young things. From the Ted Hughes award to a Mercury nod, Kate Tempest’s star is in ascendance, but the young poet, rapper and playwright remembers what got her into this in the first place – the thrill of performance Interview: Lauren Strain

“I

’m learning so much from the things that terrify me,” says Kate Tempest, taking a call in the middle of a rammed few weeks. (She’s a new book of poems published this month, tours of both that and her debut album, Everybody Down, coming up, and a Mercury Prize nomination in the bag for the latter). She’s referring to going out on stage with new works, to new – and newly expectant – crowds, but knows, by now, to “trust” the feeling. She’s right to: over the years, it’s led her to scoop the Ted Hughes Award, write two plays for Paines Plough, and get in the studio to consummate a decade’s-worth of rapping at open mics and poetry slams. The Mercury nod is only the latest accolade for the 28-yearold from Brockley. We’re here to focus on that new anthology, though. Divided into chapters traversing Childhood, Womanhood and Manhood, and explicitly, then loosely, imagining the (eventually blind) prophet Tiresias as he navigates a 21st-century landscape, Hold Your Own is, in her words, “a massive departure”. Sure, there are lines of comparison to be drawn with the work that brought her her big break (and the Hughes Award), 2013’s Brand New Ancients; celebrating the ‘every day gods’ of our streets and bookies and run-down bars, that book finds echoes in Hold Your Own’s transposition of Greek myth to the present-day. But where Brand New Ancients was one controlled exercise, an epic poem that went on to be presented live as a theatrical work, Hold Your Own is a collection of discrete, sometimes startlingly intimate moments by turns tender, funny, and angry. “Some of these poems are gonna be quite challenging to speak publicly,” she says. “Some of this stuff is quite raw and personal.” It is also the result of her first time working with an editor – the Scottish poet Don Paterson, poetry editor at Picador books and twice winner of the TS Eliot Prize. “It’s been a really exciting, collaborative relationship,” she enthuses, adding with a winning chuckle: “and I’ve been working out what it feels like to show your work to somebody and for them to underline a word and be like, ‘that’s no good,’ or, ‘what do you mean by that?’, or, like, ‘the title poem’s crap.’” Of Tiresias, she says she doesn’t know why she’s attracted to these fabled characters – he’s simply stuck with her since adolescence, when in the tragedies she read he would be “carted on at the end to tell everybody this desperate truth that they didn’t wanna hear. I was always a bit haunted by him.” In Hold Your Own, she seems to use Tiresias’ literal, physical transformations as he changes body and gender as allegory: to how we all, as we get older and are shaped by others who impact upon our lives, become different people. “That’s what’s in my brain at the minute,” Tempest concedes; “how as we grow up, we carry all the people that we’ve been with us, but we have to be who we’ve become. “Also the idea of how we engage with people in quite simplistic terms – you think somebody is all one thing, [or we] make these kind of snap judgments based on how they appear to us in that moment. But people are made up of every day of their history and all of their loves and losses and sadness and joys. And the fact that I live in

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a city full of people” – her chat is at its punchiest when talking about London – “and in order to be able to survive without going mad you have to kind of limit yourself to how much of a person that you see, but I’m really excited by the idea of people being all the things that they are.” Tempest’s own history surely informs many of the pieces in Childhood, a series of wincingly real vignettes in which you can almost taste the tang of lived experience. But though she had “a very difficult time at school,” she emphasises that she “also had a really great time outside of school, working myself out outside of that institution. And if I hadn’t had such a difficult time at school maybe I never would’ve found hip-hop, and I never would’ve found the mates that got me into rapping.” Indeed, among the warmest moments in the collection are those that celebrate this particular, catalytic thrill – of the instant when words are not just lived, but delivered. For her, that feeling is everything – “This all started, and will continue to be, about performance,” she insists.

“Every single time you speak these words, they mean something different” Kate Tempest

“Every time you’re in a room full of people, the meaning changes. Every single time you speak these words, they mean something different, because you’re speaking to different people, you’ve had a different day, the air is different, y’know – it sounds a little bit pretentious but it’s true.” There’s a sense, too, that this is what will keep her grounded as all around her begins to pick up pace. “I feel intimidated by the poetry world,” she confesses, “and I feel intimidated by the other poets on the list at Picador! And I think it’s maybe interesting for people to realise that making work, even if you’re doing quite well, is one of the weirdest processes. ’Cause you make the work, and that’s one thing, and you put your heart and soul into doing it – and then suddenly it comes out and you realise it’s about to exist in the third person. And as much as it shouldn’t be about somebody else’s perception of your work, for me it’s all about the audience, it is. “My work only lives a minute after its completion because it meant something to somebody,” she urges. “It is about an audience, it is about the readers... it’s for them. If they want it.” Hold Your Own is published by Picador, 9 Oct. Kate Tempest presents the new collection at Contact, 18 Oct, 8pm, as part of Manchester Literature Festival She also performs with her band at The Deaf Institute, 9 Nov, and Gorilla, 12 Feb 2015 www.katetempest.co.uk

THE SKINNY

Only If... Elsewhere, singer-songwriter Bill Ryder-Jones gives us a live rendition of his landmark solo debut, If..., with the Manchester Camerata. He discusses interpretation, scores, and Italo Calvino’s cult text

ill Ryder-Jones’s album If... was the inaugural release under his own lovely name (postfamous-band life) and what a way to arrive. Not only was this a debut album but an interpretation of a cult (Italian postmodernist) novel; it involved musical backing from the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (grand orchestral movements juxtaposing naked vocals); and was recorded in as diverse a range of places as grand Scandinavian churches and his old ma’s loft. Up until this point Bill was, of course, best known as lead guitarist in Liverpool psychedelic rockers The Coral – with Noel Gallagher and Graham Coxon among his fervent fans (and friends). As a founding member of the band he rode that ship all over the world from 1996 to 2008, through five studio albums (signing off with Roots & Echoes). As Bill moves towards the arrival of his third solo album with Domino Records, why is it only now that his 2011 release is seeing a live outing (Manchester Literature Festival proudly at the helm)?

The Skinny: Italo Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler is the source of inspiration behind the album. Tell us about first discovering the book and why it chimed a bell with you? Bill Ryder-Jones: The book was given to me by an ex-girlfriend. I think at first it was the scope of it, the joy and frustration of finding all these amazing first chapters of books that never were. It wasn’t until later that it really blew me away properly. Calvino is exploring a thing that I’d always half known but never fully understood or even been able to put into any kind of thought or sentence. The idea that it’s the first few pages or first listens of a piece of music that get you, how all your own thoughts and desires and all the possibilities of what could be are wrapped

October 2014

up in those pages. Also how dealing in a medium that has to have an end makes holding on to that promise impossible. Was the idea to compose music around the text forming in your head as you read it or did that arrive sometime later? No, that was a much later idea. I definitely have always made pictures in my mind when reading. I have an awful attention span even for things I love, so I’ve always found picturing the pages a way of retaining the information and staying with it. Writing music for me is much the same – I think once you’ve defined your terms or palette then it becomes an obvious thing that seemed to have already been in existence. The album came out in 2011 yet has in fact never been performed live – why do you feel like now is the right time and what influenced that decision? Allied to that, how will it work on the night? Well I never thought it a possibility really. The album didn’t exactly set the world alight and I never thought there would be the interest. Thankfully Sarah-Jane Roberts at Manchester Lit Fest asked if she could put it on, she contacted the great people at the Manchester Camerata, which was incredible to me. We’re going to play it top to bottom – no changes or owt fancy. There’ll be a few little surprises but I’m not messing with any of the music or the order of the tracks. Quite a wild transition from being one-sixth of an internationally renowned psychedelic rock band to arriving as a solo artist/composer with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra behind you. Were you making a conscious effort to

Bill Ryder-Jones

ensure the first mark made under your own name was a far fling from what you’d done before? I guess I probably was on a certain level, although I think I had moved on from psych guitar stuff before I left the band. At the end of my time with The Coral I’d got bored of guitar/song things and was listening to a lot of classical and film score things. I don’t remember wanting to be seen in a different light but that does sound like something I’d go and do to be spiteful, ha.

scores sewn around them? No, I don’t think so. If... was always meant to be an interpretation and not a soundtrack to an imaginary film. I think I’ll wait until someone asks me to write something for them specifically.

[Note to readers: pre-If... Bill orchestrated the soundtrack to the short film A Leave Taking (2009) which makes up the bulk of his solo EP; post-If... he composed the score to his first feature film, the psychological thriller Piggy. There’s more in the pipeline naturally, with Bill boasting a real admiration for the works of composer Clint Mansell (who scored The Fountain, The Wrestler, and Black Swan, among others). That’s alongside his penchant for lauded songwriters such as Euros Childs, Syd Barrett and Nick Drake – a delicious feast of flavours there.] Of the forthcoming bash, Bill remarks, “I think this will be the only time this happens. Perhaps in the future if the album grows into something bigger in terms of popularity then maybe I can see it, but there’s certainly no plan Bill Ryder-Jones for that.” For those who know his work, the MLF What of other great ‘If’-based works? You’re in performance of If... will have been long anticigood company I’d say: Rudyard Kipling’s infapated and much lusted-after (as it seemed more mous poem and then the 1968 British drama chimerical than probable at one stage); for those film directed by Lindsay Anderson starring who don’t, what a fantastic introduction to the Malcolm McDowell. Dig ’em? Came across maestro. It’s enough to implore me doon from others? I do, and enjoy both of those examples very much. Scotland – that’s fur sure. As a wee extra, it’s well known that Bill makes the ladies (and the men) I have a lovely picture with Kipling’s If written on swoon – just so we’re clear. it, very moving – and no I think there’s only so much I can drain from one ambiguous word!

“Calvino is exploring a thing that I’d always half known but never fully understood”

Any additional literary texts on your radar as fit for the purposes of having imaginary film

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Manchester Camerata & Bill Ryder-Jones, If..., Manchester Cathedral, 9 Oct, 8pm www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk

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Photo: Andrew Ellis

Manchester Camerata

Photo: Paula Wilson

Interview: Michael Pedersen

Struggling to Breathe Dope Body’s Andrew Laumann and David Jacober say the Baltimore noise rock four-piece are fighting for air on their riotous latest album, Lifer

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eah, I’m looking forward to it,” reflects David Jacober on his band’s forthcoming tour. “Good to get some fresh air, y’know?” Dope Body haven’t had much of that lately. Confining themselves to their rehearsal space in the middle of Baltimore – Jacober’s blunt description of it as “a rundown piece of shit” bringing to mind flickering bulbs, forlornly peeling paint and sweat-saturated carpets – they’ve spent the last nine months playing, playing, then playing some more; coming in early, finishing late; dodging the junkies hanging round their rehearsal block as they leave; stepping over them as they return the next day to agonisingly skim another layer of fat off a song’s already flayed, taut physique. Baltimore has given a lot to the popular music canon in the last few years; currently that’s taking the form of a histrionic quasi-motivational speaker and his deadpan synth-pop chums. However, although Dope Body singer Andrew Laumann actually lives with Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring, his own band are drawn more towards the grittiness and the shadows of the city that can keep someone there, as opposed to the sort of bright glittering pop that helps them get out. “It’s a great city and as an artist it’s affordable,” says Jacober. “But things change even from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. A couple of months ago someone was doing a drive-by shooting, and they missed the person they were aiming for and killed a little three-year-old girl on her porch. And that was a five minute walk from my house where it feels totally safe. So it’s definitely fucking crazy.” It’s these kinds of experiences that partly inform the Drag City Records’ four-piece’s sound which, until forthcoming record Lifer at least, had best been encapsulated over their six years together on the remorseless head punches of 2012’s Natural History, veering with gappedteeth between noise rock and post-hardcore, the two ultimately coming together in brutal conflict on eighth track Weird Mirror. “I think part of what we do is just about people who are rough around the edges and fucked up,” comments Jacober. “We grew up in suburbs outside Baltimore around some pretty trashy people and we don’t deny that.” The claustrophobia on that record has been replicated on Lifer, easily linked to the real-life suffocation of their rehearsal space self-imprisonment, but whereas previous releases revelled in the cloying atmosphere, their new album pushes back, attempting to open up some breathing space among its battling elements. “I think we’re getting more mature as songwriters,” Jacober says. “The first couple of records are balls to the wall, which is cool; but our tastes are changing a little bit. We’ve been listening to more electronic music, and our own tastes our changing constantly too – listening to our solo records you could never guess we were in the same band.” The title Lifer suggests a slightly more introspective, considered look at where the group are at this point in their time together. It was, after all, a record that Jacober admits could’ve been their last, one made by people stuck at that point in their 20s where their own identity is becoming clearer. “I think after we’d given it that name it took on more meaning for me,” Jacober admits. “It felt like ‘this is what we’re doing. It could be for the rest of our lives or this could be it, but we’re in it together.’ A bit like realising where you are in life, I guess. We’re not old but we’re starting to feel like ‘OK, this is us.’ We might just be in rock bands the rest of our lives, and we might not be

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Interview: Simon Jay Catling

famous but we like doing it. I know Andrew will hate that answer and think of something completely different.” Andrew Laumann’s words, as on a laptop screen as when hollered down a mic, strike out at you. The vocalist’s email missive is candid, unafraid to take aim at a gentrifying Baltimore and the next group of kids who “simply don’t care anymore” about keeping its music scene alive; but there’s plenty of self-admission too. “The word ‘lifer’ kept coming back to me,” he reflects. “As our last tour waned on and we aged from boys to slightly older boys, I wondered what the hell I was doing with my life. I was surrounded by strong personalities of people who were either very young and making decisions that would limit the scope of what they would be able to do, or older influences who’d long ago chosen a path and are forced to live with its consequences.”

“It feels like this could fall apart at any moment” Andrew Laumann

Laumann admits he’d never seen himself as sticking to one path – “a master of none,” he claims; but if you include early cassette Twenty Pound Brick and a split LP with Brooklyn duo Orphan, alongside 2011’s more time-signaturerestless Nupping, Dope Body are now on their

fifth album. “I’ve realised I am a ‘lifer’ in my own sort of way,” he writes. “I’m not going to go back to school, I’m not going to get a straight job and I’m in too deep in this lifestyle. I owe too much to my bandmates or the slew of people who have supported us to stop now. For better or worse I’m an all or nothing kind of guy, so I decided to keep going.” So it was that the group wound up at Serious Business Studios in Manhattan, recording Lifer in four 13-hour blasts with producer Travis Harrison, who’s built a small cult following for his label with releases for veteran Goldsmith’s College-formed punk group The Homosexuals. The necessity to record there came out of a desire to put the band in a situation that felt different from the norm, to focus their minds on what they were in the studio to do. “I would like to never record in the city we live in again,” says Laumann. “Which is no offence to Baltimore or its producers, but we cannot let our daily lives interfere with the recording process when we’re in an unnatural place with a job to do.” In keeping their method of writing the record, however, the group continued to keep playing it live over and over again, before picking out the best cuts at the end – recorded to analogue tape. “The best performance we can give is when we are exhausted and really feeling it, so usually the best sessions were late at night after being in the studio all day,” Laumann says. “It was bitter cold out and snowing the whole time and we were in this tiny little studio in SoHo. It didn’t feel limiting though, we work best when we’re up in each other’s shit.” Like Jacober, Laumann admits that Dope Body are changing as an outfit. Building their

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reputation live, having toured Natural History for 19 months straight, the group have always sought to insert the intensity borne out of their beginnings playing in warehouses and basements in Baltimore. “Playing how we did wasn’t the complete scope of our abilities and we’ve realised it was necessary to really try to play quieter to make when it was loud more important,” he opines. This is reflected most clearly on Echo, which dies right down to its embers in its poised verse, before roaring back into engulfing life. It is, to put a sweeping analogy to it, an apt summation of Dope Body themselves, recently feeling like they were fading away after tour-on-tour of little more than petrol money and backseat sleeping; only to re-gather and, with Lifer, hopefully reach further than ever before. “The very idea of being in band in the year 2014 is pretty stupid,” Laumann writes. “I feel like we’re holding on to some sort of dead art like analogue photography or something. None of it adds up.” But Dope Body aren’t going anywhere soon. “It feels like it could fall apart at any moment, but that gives us an obligation to each other to make it work or self-destruct,” he adds. “We’ve been apart a while and are itching to get on the road. We are still inspired to prove to the world what we’re worth. I don’t know what a healthy band looks like and I wouldn’t want to know because our friction is what makes us work, a sum of multiple egos fighting against each other, gears in the machine, but we find fuel in the fodder.” And just maybe a chance of some breathing space before they go at it all over again. Lifer is released on 20 Oct via Drag City www.dopebody.tumblr.com

THE SKINNY

Friday 31 October, 7.30pm The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester John Adams | The Chairman Dances Rachmaninov | Symphonic Dances Rachmaninov | Piano Concerto No. 3

Nobuyuki Tsujii performs Rachmaninov

THURS 2 OCT 7PM £5 ADV

ETCHES

FRI 3 OCT 7PM £5 ADV

WEIGHTSTOCK III

SAT 4 OCT 11PM 18+

CHIBUKU

FT. DUKE DUMONT, PYSCHEMAGIK, KIWI, ONEMAN SAT 4 OCT 7PM £8 ADV

ELIZA & THE BEAR

MON 6 OCT 7PM £8 ADV

BLITZ KIDS

WEDS 8 OCT 7PM £14 ADV

NELL BRYDEN

THURS 9 OCT 9PM 18+ £13.50 ADV (LIVE AV SHOW)

DJ YODA

FRI 10 OCT 6.30PM £7 ADV

ANDREW METCALFE

SAT 11 OCT 10PM 18+

CHIBUKU

SUN 12 OCT 7PM £10 ADV

THE TREATMENT

TUES 14 OCT 7PM £12 ADV

WHEATUS

THURS 16 OCT 7PM £10 ADV

LUCY ROSE

FRI 17 OCT 7PM £9 ADV

WOMAN’S HOUR

Tickets:

SAT 18 OCT 10PM 18+

CHIBUKU

bridgewater-hall.co.uk 0161 907 9000

FT. DUSKY (4 HOUR SET), DANIEL AVERY, LEON VYNEHALL, LORCA, HOLLY LESTER TUES 21 OCT 7PM £10 ADV

SMOOVE & TURRELL

WEDS 22 OCT 7PM £9 ADV

BILLY LOCKETT

THURS 23 OCT 7PM £13 ADV

THE MEN THEY COULDN’T HANG

CHETHAM’S SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

FRI 24 OCT 7PM £22.50 ADV

HEAVEN 17

FRI 24 OCT 7PM £6 ADV

THE STRUTS

SAT 25 OCT 10PM 18+ £10 ADV

MR SCRUFF

SAT 25 OCT 7PM £10 ADV

WAKEY! WAKEY!

FRI 31ST OCT 7PM £6 ADV

AS ELEPHANTS ARE & PIXEL FIX

BERNSTEIN/PROKOFIEV/TCHAIKOVSKY

SAT 1ST NOV 10PM 18+

CIRCUS

HALLOWEEN PARTY

FT. YOUSEF, JOSEPH CAPRIATI, OLIVER DOLLAR, KINK - LIVE, HEID WEDS 5 NOV 7PM £8 ADV

DEXTERS

THURS 6 NOV 7PM £8 ADV

THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER, 7.30PM

MARIKA HACKMAN

BERNSTEIN

FRI 7 NOV 7PM £10 ADV

LORDS OF THE RIFF 2

On the Waterfront – Symphonic Suite

PROKOFIEV

SAT 8 NOV 7PM £8 ADV

ROYAL NORTHERN Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63 COLLEGE OF MUSIC, MANCHESTER TCHAIKOVSKY 0161 907 5555 www.rncm.ac.uk

THE HEARTBREAKS

TUES 11 NOV 7PM £7 ADV

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 ‘Pathétique’ CONDUCTOR: PAUL MANN VIOLIN: ELIZAVETA SAUL

“You get an eagerness when you listen to Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra that you don’t get when you hear a professional orchestra playing”

AMBER RUN

FRI 14 NOV 7:30PM £7 ADV

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD SAT 15 NOV 7PM £10 ADV

COLDPLACE

Roger Wright, Former Controller of BBC Radio 3 and Former Director of BBC Proms

MAJOR SERIES SPONSOR

@Chethams ChethamsSchoolofMusic www.chethams.com Reg. Charity No: 526702

335011_Chets Symphony Orc_126x155.indd 1

October 2014

23/09/2014 11:13

≥ AT THE BRIDGEWATER HALL In 2014/15, the Hallé, one of Britain’s finest symphony orchestras, will perform all of Shostakovich’s concertos with world-class soloists. Students can hear these concerts from £3/concert* in the stunning surroundings of The Bridgewater Hall. Thursday 9 October, 7.30pm

Thursday 19 March, 7.30pm

Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1 Ravel Daphnis et Chloé – complete ballet

PRE-CONCERT EVENT AT 6.30PM

Sir Mark Elder conductor | Viktoria Mullova violin Hallé Choir

Thursday 15 January, 7.30pm PRE-CONCERT EVENT AT 6.30PM

Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.2 Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6, ‘Pathétique’ Sir Mark Elder conductor | Henning Kraggerud violin

Thursday 12 February, 7.30pm

Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.2 Mahler Symphony No.5 Sir Mark Elder conductor | Alisa Weilerstein cello

Thursday 21 May, 7.30pm PRE-CONCERT EVENT AT 6.30PM

Janáˇcek arr. Mackerras The Cunning Little Vixen: Suite Shostakovich Concerto No.1 for piano, trumpet and strings Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.2 Britten The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Sir Mark Elder conductor Benjamin Grosvenor piano | Gareth Small trumpet Actors from MMU School of Theatre

PRE-CONCERT EVENT AT 6.30PM

Grieg Peer Gynt: selection Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1 Nielsen Symphony No.3, ‘Sinfonia espansiva’

www.halle.co.uk | 0161 907 9000

* The Bridgewater Hall applies a booking fee of £2 per ticket to telephone and online transactions. Tickets bought in person at the Box Office using a debit card or credit card are subject to a 2% booking fee. No fee applies to tickets bought in person and paid for by cash or cheque or purchased as part of a subscription.

Deutsche Fotothek

Nikolaj Znaider conductor | Jian Wang cello Katherine Watson soprano | Gary Griffiths baritone

THE SKINNY

Silver Screen Dream Ahead of a short tour that takes in the RNCM this month, film composer Clint Mansell takes stock of his career so far and explains why he’s still coming to grips with his current job title

f the notion of a job for life is rather antiquated in the everyday world of humdrum menial work, then it’s a modern dilemma multiplied by a factor of about ten in the music industry. Exacerbated by dwindling record sales, today’s pop hopefuls tend to have a shelf-life only marginally longer than that of a Ginsters party. Combined with a creative urge to forge pastures new, the average muso can often be found idly dreaming about that elusive project that will restore their own personal equilibrium. Or, sometimes, you’re just the right mopey guy, kicking your heels in the right place at the right time. So it was for Clint Mansell, at least the way he puts his transformation from goodtime frontman of ‘grebo’ hucksters Pop Will Eat Itself into celebrated soundtrack composer of films such as Black Swan, The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream. “I moved to New York after leaving PWEI,” he says of the unlikely overhaul. “I had intended to write a solo electronic record but I couldn’t finish anything. I was uninspired, I had a very negative frame of mind – still do really.” With that view, it’s perhaps a little less surprising that Mansell found himself working on the soundtrack to Pi, a surreal, psychological and mathematical mindfuck written and directed by a then unknown Darren Aronofsky. “I met Darren through a mutual friend,” he continues. “He was looking for funding for Pi but he had no industry involvement and no real connections to the musical world. We talked about music that we liked and disliked and connected over our mutual appreciation of John Carpenter, hip-hop, anime and electronic music. I read the script and Darren asked me to write a piece of music based on that... we went from there.” However, due to being an outsider to the industry, Aronofsky was unable to secure the rights to many of the existing electronic compositions

October 2014

Interview: Darren Carle

he had hoped to use, and furthermore didn’t have the money to pay for them all in the first place. In lieu of this, Mansell ended up composing the bulk of Pi’s soundtrack with further tracks from the likes of Autechre, Orbital and Aphex Twin sprinkled throughout. “It was a huge learning curve for me but it was a great experience,” he says. “As we had no industry interference we just did what we wanted and responded to one another. I think it gave us a good shot at creating our own vibe.”

“I thought film score composition was a job that other people did, it seemed impossible to break into” Clint Mansell

Though well received, it was Aronofsky’s follow-up feature, Requiem for a Dream, in 2000 that put the director firmly on the radar, culminating with an Academy Award nomination for Ellen Burstyn’s incredible performance. Having gelled together so well on Pi, Mansell was back on board for Requiem, and the results didn’t disappoint. “Darren is always looking for more, and one of the things that we originally connected over was how we felt that modern film music was just so much wallpaper,” says Mansell on the continuation of

their alliance. “Creative relationships are never easy, and maybe they’re not supposed to be, but if you keep challenging one another and the results come then it’s worth the journey.” As for ‘wallpaper music,’ Requiem's score could never be called such a thing and we’d wager that anyone who watched the film originally will have had its central motif, Lux Aeterna, on internal rotation for some time afterwards. As a change from Pi’s electronic score, Mansell wrote many parts of Requiem to be performed by the Kronos Quartet, a loose and hugely celebrated ensemble from San Francisco. The enormity of the step-up was, however, lost on Mansell. “I was an electronic punk rocker at that time – I’d never heard of them,” he admits. “I soon learnt though. I remember listening to them when we were recording and Darren saying to me, ‘We just haven’t earned this yet.’” A large portion of the world also found itself infected with this particular earworm when the main composition was re-recorded for a Lord of the Rings trailer and subsequently used and abused by other film promos, TV advertisements, countless YouTube videos and, er, Top Gear. “It’s like having children, I imagine,” says Mansell of the song’s ubiquity at the time. “You produce them and then they go off and live their own lives. You can’t make the choices for them.” Mansell’s style of creating pieces with central themes that seem to have their own personality fared well with the pair’s third collaboration, 2006’s The Fountain. Though receiving mixed reactions, mainly due to its triple time narrative, the film has found a steady cult following, with Mansell’s work going some way to helm the disparate story lines. “Originally, we thought about a different style of music and themes for each time sequence but it felt schizophrenic with that approach,” he explains. “Then we realised

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that it’s actually one man’s story and the music should be the connective tissue. This allowed me to re-use and develop the themes to the support the journey.” Since then, Mansell has continued to work on all of Aronofsky’s films right up to this year’s biblical epic, Noah. However, this relationship is certainly not a monogamous one and Mansell has shacked up with others, notably director Jon S. Baird on last year’s black-hearted comedy Filth and Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie, for 2009’s sci-fi drama, Moon. “I look for things that speak to me, something that allows me to channel my feelings, my experience and my view into the film in a positive way,” he says of his composing choices so far. In terms of influences, he rattles off a rich list of visionaries to whom he can doff his cap: the aforementioned Carpenter; Michael Small, the man behind the sounds of The Parallax View and Marathon Man, and David Lynch’s partner in odd, Angelo Badalamenti. However, it’s a figure much closer to home who really stoked the fire. “Growing up watching films with my dad,” he states, was a huge influence. “I was a teenager in the 70s and there was great film and TV music everywhere; Klute, Assault on Precinct 13, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Thunderbirds, Joe 90, Stingray, Star Trek, Dr Who. It was an unbeknown influence at that time.” Of his tenure with Pop Will Eat Itself, Mansell is pretty straight-talking on what it taught him as he entered the film world. “Work harder,” he says. “Writing anything, in any style, needs to work as an overall cohesive unit. If it doesn’t feel right, you keep working on it until it does. Ultimately, it’s the director’s overall vision, but the important thing is to work on the right project with the right collaborators so that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Hopefully then you have free rein to bring your ideas to the project.” He remains tight-lipped on his future recording plans for fear of a jinx, but his upcoming five-date tour will be brief respite from the studio, and an overdue celebration of his scores to date. “It’s a nine-piece band; string quartet, piano, guitars, bass, drums, keyboards... neo-classical, modern classical, I guess,” he says of the setup. “We play a cross-section of my film music from Pi to Moon to The Fountain and Requiem for a Dream. It just depends on how much I like each score, how we can perform it and if it will work in a live setting.” It’s certainly a far cry from Mansell’s old touring days with The Poppies (as they were affectionately known): “I get to sit down when I play now and less leather pants,” he jokes. More seriously though, he is able to take stock of his position and how fortunate he feels he has been. “I thought film score composition was a job that other people did, it seemed impossible to break into,” he admits. “Darren said to me after we finished Pi that he thought I could have a career at it, if I wanted. I still don’t consider myself a jobbing film composer but I’ve been doing it longer than I was in a band so it goes to show what I know.” Having already performed an impressive and unlikely volte-face in becoming one of Hollywood’s foremost film composers, we’d never second guess Clint Mansell’s next career move. But should he want one, it seems he may have found a job for life. Clint Mansell plays the Royal Northern College of Music, 10 Oct www.clintmansell.com

Feature

All About Town Organiser Mike Deane tells us why the tenth edition of Liverpool Music Week is an anniversary to celebrate – and we select five don’t-miss shows Deane and his team – in direct symbiosis with the city’s impressive musical climate. “I’ve not known a more exciting time for Liverpool,” he admits. “The art and music community here is buzzing right now. Hugely ambitious and exceptionally talented, hard-working, risk-taking individuals and collectives are gaining national and international recognition for themselves, and the city as a whole.” As if to illustrate his point, Music Week also plays host to a specially commissioned collaboration between self-described ‘home-listening gabba’ artist Vessel and classical-electronic negotiators Immix Ensemble. Deane is understandably keen: “The piece will have its first outing at Tate Britain earlier in the month. It’s great to be working on events that have a similar clout to some of the big names in the arts world as well as the music world.” It’s certainly an action-packed affair, and bearing in mind Liverpool’s ongoing fascination with festivals (see also: Psych Fest and Sound City, among others), Deane is always determined to ensure he books the right bands, with fairly self-explanatory criteria: “Who will play a good live show? That’s the most important thing, first and foremost. Who will bring the house down and be talked about by our audience. Also, we look to bring a mixture of artists to the city that either haven’t been here before, haven’t been here for a long time, or quite simply have a great fanbase here.” And what three things can we expect from Liverpool Music Week? “Quality. Fun. Chaos,” he surmises. Sounds good to us.

Låpsley

“I’ve not known a more exciting time for Liverpool”

Mogwai

monoliths such as Mogwai Fear Satan and Like Herod (long-term staples of their live sets) to mesh effortlessly with the lush, melodic expanses of their more mature work, as well as the krautrock pulses of this year’s critically adored Rave Tapes LP. To witness this band in the flesh is to be enveloped in sound in the most all-consuming manner possible – when those low rumbles of crunching bass eventually kick in, you’ll feel like you’ve been socked in the gut by 100kg of pure sugar. If you’ve seen the Young Team before, you’ll already know why this is unmissable, and if you haven’t… well, best to bring your earplugs.

Mike Deane

Our tips: Mogwai Masters of the densely textured slow build, Mogwai’s (albeit excellent) records have always been outshone by the ferocious intensity of their live shows. Expect archetypal post-rock

Ex-Easter Island Head

Feature

Photo: David Howarth

The Black Lips Piss. Puke. Punch-ups. Penises. Yessir, Black Lips’ shows have got the lot, and if you’re lucky they’ll even throw in some of the sassiest garage-punk chops Atlanta’s got to offer. Their last trip to this fair city saw the Georgian quartet’s wild temperament piqued by some rather heavy-handed crowd control, as they downed instruments to dive into the melee – a huge brawl involving bouncers, punters and the entire band ensued, before their subsequent return to the stage prompted an exhilaratingly furious rendition of I Saw A Ghost (Lean). If they’re even half as good as that, this is gonna be killer. The infectious rush of latest album Underneath the Rainbow suggests that’s the least we can hope for. Forest Swords The local boy done good: the Wirral peninsula’s Matthew Barnes has been making considerable waves with his esoteric grooves for several years now, becoming something of a low-key media darling in the process. Having reduced US audiences to quivering wrecks within the last 12 months, it’s safe to say this has been yet another successful year, and you owe it to yourself to check out this murkily captivating haze

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of punctured hip-hop breaks, dubbed-out bass gloom and washes of head-scrambling electronica. There’s really no excuse for missing out. Låpsley Eighteen-year-old Holly Lapsley Fletcher took the GIT Awards’ inaugural One to Watch gong after posting a minimalist electronic track entitled Station on her Soundcloud page, and swiftly becoming a favourite among Radio One DJs and music press alike. Characterised by pitch-shifted vocal manipulations (to give the unsettling illusion of duets with herself), subtly soulful vocal performances and a certain haunting sparseness, these are songs that demand to be heard, and it’s exciting to think that we’ve only seen the vaguest hints of Låpsley’s capabilities thus far. Want our advice? Take this chance to see her now, while you can still afford to do so: her days in small venues are deservedly numbered. Ex-Easter Island Head Liverpool experimentalists of no small import. Although the Ex-Easter Island Head collective may fluctuate in terms of size, members and instrumentation, it’s always based around the fizzing brain of one Benjamin D Duvall – the vast soundscapes conjured by his ‘mallet guitars’ compositions are redolent of Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca, as well as echoing the spirit of minimalist composers such as Terry Riley. Most importantly, they’re utterly absorbing and often stunningly beautiful, with a near-tangible energy generated by the incremental tension of the music; bleeding from the stage and into the audience. Sometimes cerebral, frequently visceral and always intoxicating, this lot offer far more than cheap, easy-on-the-ear thrills. Liverpool Music Week, various venues, 23 Oct-1 Nov www.liverpoolmusicweek.com

THE SKINNY

Photo: Adam Johns

atch it rise, phoenix-like from the flames. Yes, it’s the long-awaited rebirth of Liverpool Music Week, the largest festival in the UK in terms of indoor winter events, after two fallow years on the trot. Previous years have seen mouthwatering free shows filling the city’s finest venues to the brim, alongside ticketed gigs starring some of the biggest and best acts on the cutting edge of the zeitgeist. With its most impressive array yet of artists strewn between the O2 Academy, the much-beloved Kazimier and the vast Camp & Furnace complex, the 2014 edition promises to be no exception. “I think the lineup is the tastiest we’ve ever booked,” enthuses organiser Mike Deane. “We’ve certainly booked a lineup for the city to be proud of.” Headliners include Glaswegian post-rock titans Mogwai, now 19 years and eight studio albums into an astounding career, and the glistening electronic pop of their city-mates CHVRCHES. “Another national promoter suggested to me that our headliner lineup was bigger than 95% of UK summer festivals,” says Deane enthusiastically. “An ambitious compliment, but he’s not far wrong.” There’s truth in that – Kendalian sophisticates Wild Beasts, Canada’s deliciously psychedelic Caribou and the ever-evolving Liars also stop by for our personal pleasure. Meanwhile, to complete the headlining set, The War on Drugs’ fugged-out wooze-rock serves as a neat counterpoint to the must-see garage schlock of Black Lips. Not too shabby, all told. The festival’s usual lineup of free shows is also in rude health – those with longer memories might fondly recall performances from the likes of lo-fi legend Daniel Johnston and the sadly departed Jay Reatard, and this year continues that proud tradition. Post-punk noiseniks Eagulls, nupsych revolutionaries Hookworms and graceful New Yorkers The Antlers are among those set to grace the aforementioned Kazimier stage, before a multi-stage party brings proceedings to a glorious close across the Baltic Triangle’s various venues. Local acts set to perform also include the darkly atmospheric Forest Swords, an ethereally harmonising Bird, and hotly tipped newcomer Låpsley, all of whom lend considerable weight to the argument that the Mersey sound is presently worlds away from chirpy boys with guitars. If this all sounds rather grand, it’s perfectly in keeping with the bold ambition set forth by

Photo: Ross Gilmore

Interview: Will Fitzpatrick

Autechre . Clark Nightmares On Wax Actress . The Haxan Cloak . Dean Blunt LuckyMe . Lone ft. Konx-om - Pax . LUMA Seven Davis Jr . Hookworms . Vitamins Mermaids . General Ludd . Atom Tree . Machines in Heaven Slow Revolt . Kogumaza . Joe Howe . Sad City . Handpicked + many more Tickets - £20 / £25 ticketweb.co.uk / tickets-scotland.com Saturday 1 November, Glasgow O2 ABC / The Art School / Broadcast

Troubles Brewing ’71 is a heart-stopping tale of a greenhorn soldier (Jack O’Connell) who gets separated from his unit in 1971 Belfast. Director Yann Demange and writer Gregory Burke explain why this sinewy thriller is much more than a history lesson

Interview: Sam Lewis

ann Demange looks ever so slightly jetlagged. He’s just got back from the Toronto Film Festival, where his directorial debut, ’71, was screened to rapturous praise. It’s a blisteringly powerful portrayal of a young British squaddie’s attempt to make it back to his Belfast barracks after being stranded behind enemy lines at the height of the Troubles. “Some directors go in and out of a festival,” says the 37-yearold director. “I’m like, ‘Forget that! I might never make another film that goes to a festival!’ So I’m there for the duration, I watch films, I go to the parties, I try to help promote the film. This is my first experience of this.” Demange speaks, in turn, with studied eloquence about the weight of history that lies behind ’71 – both politically and cinematically – and with boyishly infectious enthusiasm about the reception it has received. Demange was born in Paris to an Algerian father and a French mother, but moved to London when he was two or three (“depending who you ask”). “I was obsessive about films,” he says. “We used to bunk off school and go to the cinema. I’ve never confessed to that!” Graduating through the world of music videos and TV (he helmed the acclaimed series Top Boy), Demange had been looking for a project for a first feature. He never expected it to be about the Troubles. “I had no burning desire to make a film about Northern Ireland,” he confesses. “But, as soon as I read it I thought it could transcend the specificity of the Troubles – and have a universality. It reminded me of The Battle of Algiers; it reminded me of Iraq, Afghanistan. What’s sad to say is that I read it and thought, ‘this is so pertinent.’ Yes it’s in the context of the Troubles, and you have to be truthful and honest about that, but I don’t want to give a history lesson. It could be about humanity, and the shades of grey.” ’71 is also the first foray into cinema for screenwriter Gregory Burke, best known for the searing, acclaimed play Black Watch (similarly about young soldiers stranded in Afghanistan). Like Demange, he believes the success of ’71 lies in the way it resonates with contemporary events. “People are saying, ‘this is exactly like in our country.’ Young guys want adventure and to make a living, and the next thing you know, you’re in a situation where all bets are off. Everybody’s pursuing their own agenda. I think that’s why the film’s hit a nerve – these situations are relevant.

Although we just set out to make an action movie – an art-house action movie!” Indeed, it’s ’71’s blending of politics and aesthetics that allows it to rise above the level of ‘mere’ historical drama. Demange and Burke both quote John Carpenter’s Escape from New York and Walter Hill’s The Warriors as reference points – decidedly apolitical, straight-up action movies with a focus firmly on a hero’s journey to get out alive, rather than on the nuances of geopolitics. That emphasis on one man’s struggle to survive the night was partially inspired, Burke says, by Mel Gibson, of all people. “I had just seen Apocalypto at the time, and I said ‘we could do something like that, where a guy has to get back.’ So the idea was Apocalypto set in Belfast.” At the centre of ’71 is Jack O’Connell’s (Skins, Starred Up) soldier, stumbling bewildered from horror to horror, with no idea where to go or whom to trust. The film pulls no punches in depicting the British military’s collusion with paramilitary forces, playing one side off the other. For Burke, this was about pulling genre

strings as much as depicting hard truths: “It was about jeopardy – you need a reason he can’t just flag down a jeep that’s driving past, or see a guy who he thinks is a soldier and just go up to him... The tactics were quite crude in those days – the MRF [Military Reaction Force – a covert British intelligence unit] were almost operating as another gang. But some of that is a device. It’s about finding a way to make everybody potentially hostile to him. He’s on his own.” For Demange, the film had to rise above the war movie genre: “It couldn’t just be a genre movie for the sake of it, it had to have a reason to exist, and something to say. And to have a soulfulness, a lyricism to it.”

“Why are our kids joining the army? For what? As a filmmaker, that’s what made me passionate about it” Yann Demange

Both Demange and Burke are effusive about O’Connell’s central performance, at once brusquely masculine and visibly fragile. In an ambiguous, amoral world it becomes harder to do the right thing, especially for a character like O’Connell’s Gary Hook, a young man from Derbyshire in the early 1970s, left with little choice other than to join the army. “This film is about a boy trying to define what sort of man he’ll be,” Demange explains. “What sort of choices he’s going to make. Belonging against being your own man.” ’71 depicts a generation of young men cut adrift from society, young British soldiers hung out to dry by their superiors, as well as Irish

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boys – like Barry Keoghan’s reluctant gunman Sean, caught up in the emergent Provisional IRA – having to make desperate decisions about what side to take in a society on the verge of collapse (1972 would go on to be the bloodiest year of the Troubles). “Gary and Sean,” Burke explains, “are just two young boys that have been drawn into different gangs.” Demange allows that his status as an outsider allowed him a unique perspective on the conflict. “When we moved to London, the Troubles were going on; it was like the white noise in the background,” he explains. “No one in my household could understand what was going on – we spoke French at home! It’s not until I decided to take this film on that I got to grips with the sectarian divide. I’ve always had that outsider’s gaze.” Burke was keen to ensure that that sense of feeling alien in a familiar environment carried over into O’Connell’s portrayal of Gary Hook. “What struck me about Belfast was how physically it resembles a northern English mill town. A young soldier from the north of England would think it was very familiar. We didn’t want to make it about a Scottish soldier because Scottish people have more of a grasp of sectarianism. We wanted it to be a guy who didn’t know one side from the other; he didn’t know where he was going or what he was doing. The 70s in Belfast were chaotic enough for something like that to have happened. We were told a true story about two young soldiers who got caught in a riot and shot by the IRA. We just made it that one of them gets shot, and one of them runs.” ’71 depicts the Belfast of the time as a gateway to hell, full of shadowy figures murkily lit by Molotov cocktails and burning cars. Demange talks about the influence of Sam Peckinpah’s dark body of work, and some of that ferocity certainly carries over into ’71, full of twisted morality and visceral violence. “It was messy,” says Demange. “There’s a cynicism that kicks in. Those Peckinpah films caught that vibe, the vibe that’s in the air now – that the game is rigged. Why are our kids joining the army? For what? As a filmmaker, that’s what made me passionate about it. Because it’s worth telling. And it makes you angry.” ’71 is released 10 Oct by StudioCanal

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Theatre of Horrors From the Théâtre du Grand-Guignol to Frankenstein at Liverpool’s Bombed-Out Church: has the grisly spirit of horror theatre been revived? Director Ian Carroll introduces his monster

n the shadows of a quiet, cobbled alleyway in Pigalle – a Parisian district notorious for its unashamed decadence and sleaze – sits an unassuming theatre; a former chapel, complete with neo-Gothic wood panelling and iron-railed boxes. The spectators take up their seats in the auditorium, eager for the show to begin. It is an unusual space, eerie and claustrophobic, quite unlike the bourgeois theatres of Paris. The curtain rises. A prostitute is trapped in a bedroom with a psychopathic killer; a man embraces his daughter before shooting her in the head; a woman’s face smokes and melts as it is doused in vitriol; a young nanny strangles the children in her care. Members of the audience begin to lose consciousness while a desperate house doctor attempts to revive them; gallant young men blanch and cover their eyes, and tightly corseted women (we are in the 19th century, by the way) gasp for breath and hold their hands to their mouths. For this is no ordinary theatre – this is the Théâtre du Grand-Guignol. Or, to be specific, was the Théâtre du Grand-Guignol: the most successful theatre of horror Europe has had the displeasure to host. Opened in 1897 by French playwright Oscar Méténier, Théâtre du Grand-Guignol measured its success by the number of faints it induced – a rather organic alternative to the conventional review – and my, were there a few. Specialising in eye-gouging, throat-slashing, acid-throwing, or some other equally grisly climax, the GrandGuignol theatre became one of the most popular tourist attractions in Paris, enticing audience members with productions that threatened to ignore the boundaries of what should be explored upon a stage. The thing is (was), the public craved it. If nothing else, it was an experience like no

October 2014

other – there were not many places you could watch mutilation on a Tuesday evening. At least, none that had a distinct marketing campaign. Although the early 1960s saw a disenchantment with the theatre, the Grand-Guignol has made a lasting impression on the art of horror performance and special effects that has yet to be rivalled or, indeed, attempted.

“Mine is not a nuts-and-bolts monster of the flesh. Mine is a monster of the mind” Ian Carroll

So what’s the deal with contemporary horror theatre? The answer: there is not a lot of it around. The Woman in Black continues to haunt the stalls of the West End and Les Enfants Terribles’ Ernest and the Pale Moon caused me to reflexively propel my fingers into my ears on a number of occasions, but on the whole it is a genre little explored and difficult to nail. An interactive evening of Zombie Scare: Apocalypse Is Nigh is hardly a fulfilling theatrical experience. Thus, it was intriguing to discover the approach of a new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein. Danny Boyle’s intelligent 2011 production (notable for Benedict

Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller’s alternating roles as Frankenstein and Creature) roused critical acclaim at the National, and now Liverpoolbased company Adenuf Productions has revived the classic text once again, but with the brave intention to unsettle its audience. Although the text alone holds the power to scare, full of pathetic fallacy – ‘It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils’ – the programming is enviably perfect: the production takes place on Halloween at Liverpool’s Bombed-Out Church. Headed by writer, producer and director Ian Carroll, Adenuf has earned a formidable reputation for sharp storytelling. “For me, the driving force of any project is the story,” stresses Carroll. “It has to be a story that you want to share with the world, a story that your audience want to hear. If you fail to engage your audience you will fail to provoke a reaction as strong as fear.” Written by Carroll himself, the script remains faithful to Shelley’s narrative and dialogue while highlighting the very darkest aspects of the text: “I decided to exclude a lot of Creature’s personal explorations: how he came to speak, his naïve awe of the world,” he explains. “My intention was never to evoke compassion from my audience – I wanted the monster to remain eerily in the background. The fright that he provokes by lurking in the shadows, the audience unfamiliar and uncertain – that’s what I wanted.” Although discarding almost half of the original text to achieve a succinct running time of 90 minutes, Carroll is adamant that Shelley’s words will remain the driving force of the production. “For me the real horror lies in the narrative and its ability to get under your skin. It has a psychological power that I was keen to emanate. Even

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Interview: Alecia Marshall Illustration: Kim Thompson

after numerous re-readings there are certain vivid scenes that make the hairs on my arms stand up. When the monster presents himself to Frankenstein, leaping across the glaciers, there is a real sense of menace there and I have tried not to lose that in the script.” Recognised globally by his olive-green hue and bolted neck, Frankenstein’s monster is a recurring image in horror culture, but Carroll is determined to provide a more sophisticated fright: “Mine is not a nuts-and-bolts monster of the flesh,” he protests. “Mine is a monster of the mind. It is not a gore fest; there will be no cheap gimmicks, and yet there are several points in the production that will force the audience to peek through their fingers while squirming in their seats. We intend to infiltrate the conscience of the audience through three key ingredients: the script, the acting and the venue.” And what a venue it is. The atmospheric husk of a Blitz-ravished church, exposed to the mercy and unpredictability of the elements, much like the Théâtre du Grand-Guignol the space itself is vital in capturing the tone of the performance. The church’s imposing brick walls and veiled corners have provided Carroll with a ready-made set. “Site-specific work obviously presents a host of challenges and it is fair to say I am a little out of my comfort zone,” he admits, “but I can live with that: I have essentially acquired a set that cannot be bettered.” A little horror on Halloween? Shelley would be pleased. Let’s hope for lightning, eh? Frankenstein, St Luke’s Church, Liverpool, 31 Oct-1 Nov, 8pm (£10.50), and one matinee performance on 1 Nov at 3pm (£7.50) Tickets are available from lanterntheatreliverpool.co.uk Please dress appropriately for the venue!

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Life and Beth Best known for US sitcom Parks and Recreation, Aubrey Plaza goes from deadpan slacker to braindead zombie with her new film, Life After Beth. Here she and writer-director Jeff Baena discuss bloody break-ups, cult indie hero Hal Hartley, and... stoves Interview: Josh Slater-Williams

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es, breaking shit was very interesting to me; I really wanted to break some shit.” Aubrey Plaza has just been asked whether the physical aspects of her role in horror-comedy Life After Beth were of particular interest. Her response also reflects the go-for-broke nature of director Jeff Baena’s messy but fun feature debut. It’s the story of Zach (Dane DeHaan), a young man whose recently deceased girlfriend (the eponymous Beth, played by Plaza) mysteriously returns from the dead. Her parents (played by John C Reilly and Molly Shannon) think it’s a miracle resurrection. Zach seems onboard with the idea for a while too, but he slowly realises that her situation is more zombie than JC. Mayhem steadily escalates to the point where a bloodied, super-strength Beth is lurching around with a stove strapped to her back. When The Skinny meets Plaza and Baena in an Edinburgh hotel on the day of Life After Beth’s UK premiere at the city’s film festival, the latter is keen to point out that the stove gag was a key visual he had in mind from his screenplay’s inception ten years ago. “For me it was starting off the movie with some dramatic elements and being more rooted in the emotionality of what [Zach] is going through, and then slowly letting that

progress to the point where you have [Beth] on top of a cliff [wearing] a stove.” What’s most interesting about Baena’s approach is how a lot of the overt zombie elements stay on the fringes until the film’s final act, and how, were you not aware of the narrative’s direction from promotional materials, one might plausibly believe Beth’s parents’ biblical interpretation of their daughter’s resurrection. “That was my intention,” Baena says of filtering the film through Zach’s point of view. “I always wanted it to be more contingent. It’s not like you’re watching a Michael Bay movie and you’re following the lead actors and they’re a military general and a scientist and all the people who know the answers. If it really happened, you’d have no idea what’s going on. Everything would be peripheral.” Unlike most zombie movies, Life After Beth doesn’t explore any social commentary. Instead it hinges on an emotional undercurrent. “It’s definitely something that attracted me to the screenplay,” Plaza says. “I’d never really read anything like that before, and I thought it was really unique how the movie felt really emotional – it felt like a metaphor for a break-up, and those are the things that stuck with me. And I thought it would be fun to play a more physical character. I’ve never really done that before, and I liked

Life After Beth

the challenge of trying to figure out the different stages of turning into a zombie and how that manifests physically in your body.” Having already featured in Whit Stillman’s Damsels in Distress, Plaza has recently worked with another 90s indie darling director in Hal Hartley (Trust, Simple Men), who cast her in his Kickstarter-funded film Ned Rifle, the final part of a deadpan comedy-thriller trilogy that also includes 1997’s Henry Fool and 2006’s Fay Grim. As enthusiastic as she’s been during the interview, Plaza’s demeanour noticeably increases in perkiness when Ned Rifle is brought up: “Working with Hal was really, really awesome. I really like some of his movies too, and so it was really surreal,

especially to do the third movie in a trilogy of movies that I had seen. It was really like a weird time to just be thrown into this weird world, and he really creates this universe when you’re shooting with him.” Baena interjects with some admiration of his own for Hartley’s methods. “He’s kind of badass. He doesn’t really care about making successful... anything... He just does exactly what he wants to do, so I hope it turns out good.” With Ned Rifle in the works, Plaza’s life after Beth certainly sounds promising. Life After Beth is on general release 3 Oct, and screens at The Dancehouse Theatre, Manchester on 5 Oct as part of Grimmfest

Queen Kitsch A wicked knife-wielding villain called The Great Tireda plans to take over the Queerniverse – only Bearbarella can stop her. Welcome to the world of Peaches Christ and her cult movie extravaganza, Midnight Mass Interview: Jamie Dunn

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hink of it as if a Disney movie were set in an X-rated environment.” San Franciscobased filmmaker and performer Joshua Grannell is describing the undergraduate film he made at Pennsylvania State University in 1995, colourfully titled Jizzmopper. It’s your typical porn store caretaker (the eponymous Jizzmopper) meets stripper love story. Grannell plays Peaches Christ, the busty owner of the porn emporium where the couple work and the cupid who brings them together. “Penn State didn’t really seem very proud of the movie,” recalls Grannell. “At the time, the film school there was predominately made up of straight white male students who wanted to be Martin Scorsese” – adding, in a neat reverse of classic Seinfeld episode The Outing, “not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Jizzmopper, as you might have guessed, didn’t really set the world on fire, but in the character of Peaches Christ, Grannell had created a force of nature. When The Skinny speaks to him 19 years after the character’s creation, he’s at Austin’s Stargayzer, a three-day celebration of queer music, where Peaches is one of the star attractions. For nearly 15 years she’s also acted as MC for Grannell’s midnight movie extravaganza Midnight Mass, which pairs cult movies with outrageous drag theatrics. Grannell’s fascination with drag goes back

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much further than Peaches: like many, his introduction to the world was through the movies of John Waters and his leading lady of choice, Divine. “Growing up in Maryland as a weird queer kid who went to Catholic school, I felt completely alone, in the most clichéd sense,” he reflects. “So when I realised that this thing was happening down the road [in Baltimore] from where I was growing up, that these people were making these movies, and that there was a Mink Stole and a Divine and a John Waters in the world, it really changed everything.” By the time Grannell made it to the city by the bay with a kernel of an idea to start a midnight movie series, the rep cinema boom was long dead, killed off by VHS and cable TV. But Midnight Mass had a trump up its sleeve in the form of Peaches. “I think the reason it did work is because we created an authentic experience,” Grannell suggests. “I think if we had only focused on the exhibition we’d have struggled. That was enough in the 70s and 80s, but we added this experience that you couldn’t get anywhere else and created an environment that encouraged the audience to dress up and participate.” One of the aspects of Midnight Mass that’s surprised and delighted Grannell most is the diversity of its audience. Like Waters and Divine where for him, Peaches has acted as a gateway into drag for

Peaches Christ

many attendees. “We ended getting a lot of people who were like, ‘I’ve never come to see a drag queen before, but you guys are showing Evil Dead II and doing some sort of weird opera before it, so I’ve got to see it!’” he reveals with pride. “Even in San Francisco, people still exist in their own groups, have their own events. But I think with cult movies – a shared love for something – as cheesy as it sounds, those walls kind of get torn down.” Local film-nuts will get a chance to worship at the altar of Midnight Mass and Peaches Christ for themselves when they arrive at Cornerhouse in the form of Bearbarella, an ‘out-of-this-world’ event celebrating 1967 sci-fi Barbarella. With its kitsch production design, Jane Fonda’s countless costume changes and its insane plot machinations involving vampiric doll children, a sexy blind angel and an evil Sapphic overlord, a show around Roger Vadim’s kitsch classic was a nobrainer. “It’s so dated in that sort of beautiful way because it’s just so bizarre. The drag connection is for me is so obvious to see. It’s not even just that the costumes look like drag, it’s that the

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entire movie looks like drag! The props, the sets, everything!” This won’t be Peaches’ first visit to Cornerhouse. She last performed there in 2010 at a reportedly riotous screening of All About Evil, Granell’s horror-comedy, for Abandon Normal Devices. Some grainy camera footage suggests stage invasions are welcomed and lap dances are obligatory. Or, to put it another way, at Peaches’ screenings, all bets are off: “There’s no fourth wall,” says Grannell. “I don’t want to give too much away, but the show will be taking place in the audience. You’re coming to celebrate a cult movie, so it’s silly and ridiculous and meant to be fun. You’re not coming for a night at the theatre.” Peaches Christ’s Bearbarella takes place at Cornerhouse, Manchester, 11 Oct, 8.30pm, and is followed by a screening of Barberella. This event is part of the nationwide BFI Sci-Fi season Days of Fear and Wonder Ms Christ would like to strongly encourage audience members to dress up in their best Barbarella-inspired couture and begin practising for the Orgasmatron Challenge, in which Peaches will invite the best-dressed attendees onstage for the chance to be publicly pleasured

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Nothing under the Heavens Asia Triennial Manchester opens across the city and beyond this month. We guide you through it, and catch up with artistic director Alnoor Mitha and Harmonious Society curator Jiang Jiehong, who share their ATM14 highlights

Interview: Sacha Waldron presents approximately 30 artists at six venues around the city. This exhibition remixes ATM’s theme “apparently,” says Jiang of the work on display, “presenting ‘no conflict’ but rather, almost poetically, a ‘harmonious society’ (literally, hexie shehui). This is reinterpreted as ‘tianxia wushi,’ which means ‘nothing (has happened) under the heavens.’ ‘Harmonious Society’ is derived from the current socio-economic vision and the political proposition of China’s regime since 2005, while its reinterpreted Chinese version alternatively extends its cultural and philosophical connotations to be perceived in the global context (tianxia).”

“The Triennial is like a prism, it confronts challenging issues through the means of art”

ts ia

Nalini Malani

sia Triennial Manchester opens with a bang this month, taking over pretty much every major art venue and museum in the city for eight weeks. Now in its third iteration, ATM is the only Asian art triennial outside the Asia Pacific region and, within its core programming, brings together 40 artists showcasing and celebrating contemporary work that challenges current political perspectives and cultural mindsets about Asia. The sheer scale and number of project partners involved in ATM can be overwhelming, so we have charged ourselves with the task of guiding you through the layers, choosing the highlights and catching up with curator and artistic director Alnoor Mitha and guest curator Jiang Jiehong for their thoughts and personal recommendations for this unique and exciting festival. So let’s start at the beginning: why Manchester? Well, it’s important to understand that ATM is not a festival tokenistically crashlanded in the Northwest. This is an initiative born of the Manchester Institute for Research and Innovation in Art and Design (MIRIAD), and steered by MIRIAD’s senior research fellow, Mitha. “It’s important and very relevant to host the Triennial in Manchester,” he told us. “Firstly, the city is an important cultural destination and has historically strong links with Asia.” The diversity of Manchester’s population is also a key factor, with an Asian or British Asian population much higher than the national average. “Over 150 languages are spoken in the city,” Mitha tells us, “and the rapid economic growth taking place across much of Asia (India and China in particular) in recent decades has also played a major part.” Mitha usually selects a broad theme for ATM. 2008’s festival theme was Protest, and 2011’s was Time and Generation, through which the festival addressed the way artists were working with time-based media and also with communities who are living longer. This year the artists have the theme of Conflict and Compassion to work with. “It’s grown organically,” says Mitha. “The idea for this year’s theme was very timely. In my view the 21st century is about coping with global conflicts. I mean we are literally at war!” Mitha’s central exhibition on this theme

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takes place, fittingly, at the Imperial War Museum North, bringing together mostly newly commissioned work from artists such as Imran Qureshi, former Turner Prize nominee Zarina Bhimji, Sophie Ernst and 2013 Venice Biennaler Bashir Makhoul. “Our younger generation are challenged by what they see in the media,” says Mitha, “the conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, issues around climate change and so on. We as human beings are capable of killing each other and at the same time are deeply compassionate. The Triennial is like a prism, it confronts challenging issues through the means of art. Artists are incredible storytellers. They are the ones that lead you on a particular journey.” Of course it’s difficult for Mitha to pick out favourites, but who or what in the programme is he most excited about? “I am particularly delighted to have Nalini Malani from India and Bashir Makhoul from Palestine (but based in the UK),” says Mitha. “Malani’s work is multi-layered, incorporating poetry, music, sound, video, print. It challenges the viewer to keep on looking. The video In Search of Vanished Blood was made for Documenta 2012 and was inspired by literature concerned with the status of women in Indian society. Makhoul’s project raises questions about the kinds of spectral spaces that emerge in sites of conflict. He examines the interactions and confusions between the virtual and the real, such as the mock cities built for training in urban warfare, the parallel world of surveillance, or CAD-inspired urban developments. His installation, made with artist Ray Yang and called The Genie, occupies IWM’s spectacular Air Shard and highlights a village constructed out of ordinary cardboard boxes, the material embodying the temporary nature of settlements, dwelling, and encampments – the life of the refugee on the move, living in temporary accommodations but perhaps permanently so.” Mitha is also proud of the achievements of Harmonious Society, the group exhibition that lies, along with the IWM North show, at the heart of this year’s ATM. “We really collaborated with the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA) for that exhibition in an ambitious way,” he says. Curated by Jiang, Harmonious Society

Alnoor Mitha

Everything, then, that is happening now has happened before and we see this proverb played out through work including Chen ChiehJen’s melancholic video installation Realm of Reverberations (2014), Luxury Logico’s streetlight sun at the Museum of Science and Industry, Wang Yuyang’s Breathing Books (2014) at the John Ryland Gallery, and Yang Zhenzhong’s Long Live the Great Union (2013) at the National Football Museum, to name just a few. “One of our challenges,” says Jiang, “has been working with such a wide range of venues, institutional and non-institutional. The work has to respond to the theme of the show, and at the same time to the physical spaces and its cultural, political and religious connotations.” Of course ATM, as a whole, extends way beyond these two major exhibitions and there are some real gems to be found around the

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city and beyond. An off-site exhibition, Pop-Up Republics, from curatorial collective Dark Border Developments is sited in IWM North’s car park with ten or so artists producing portable ‘micronations’ that exist within shipping containers. Make sure not to miss this if visiting the museum proper. A Metro ride away you will find ReMix at Bury Sculpture Centre, which brings together six artists who have participated in Platform China and invites them to remix their original work in conversation with one another. Touchstones in Rochdale presents a new commission from London-based Rosa Nguyen and, back in town, Manchester’s Craft and Design Centre have mounted a solo exhibition from Kashif Nadim Chaudry exploring the artist’s tailoring talent and identity as a gay British Muslim. Cornerhouse’s official ATM film programme is definitely worth keeping an eye on, too, as are its two shows Qasim Riza Shaheen: Autoportraits in love-like conditions, and Sophia Al-Maria: Virgin with a Memory. The Skinny’s ATM14 favourite from the wider programme, however, is Castlefield’s solo exhibition of last year’s New Contemporaries exhibitor and Glasgow graduate Hardeep Pandhal who mounts his first solo exhibition, A Joyous Thing with Maggots at the Centre. His fictional characters, knitted vests and illustrated CVs add an energetic and fresh voice to the ATM mix. “An Asia Triennial in Manchester,” concludes Jiang, “may sound confusing, but at the same time it opens all the cultural exchange possibilities beyond the geographical boundaries. The Triennial should not only introduce art from Asia, or from any particular countries, it should, more importantly, discuss Asia from a different perspective, one that’s outside Asia.” And what of the future at ATM? “If we see this Triennial as a platform for discussions about Asia,” says Jiang, “then I would certainly have more Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese at ATM, and why not extend it to invite non-Asian, say American, French or British? We, as artists and curators in the East and the West, learn and develop through artistic exchange between the two sides of the world, through understanding and misunderstanding.” Asia Triennial Manchester is open across multiple venues in the city until 23 Nov www.asiatriennialmanchester.com

Bashir Makhoul - Oil Painting (2014)

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Life in Deep Space Party maestro, poet, and to some ‘the new Prince’: Seven Davis Jr. talks about feeling lost in space, leaving past darknesses behind, and why Los Angeles is ‘like Purple Rain in real time’

Interview: Daniel Jones life. While all that was going on I was writing these poems, and I somehow managed to save quite a few of them over the years. I’m glad I did, to be honest. The collection is called Life in Deep Space. What does that title mean to you? Sometimes my existence felt like being out in outer space, alone. At the time, I needed to change my life and change the people I was with. For a while, it felt like I was in space, just floating around. I love the concept of deep space in general because it’s got that mystery to it that fascinates me. Space is so unexplored, like there’s so much more to learn that we have no idea about – real trippy. Tell us how the One EP came about. Jay [Simon] hit me up about two years ago. We both knew Funkineven and Kyle Hall, and he’d heard Thanks on the Brownswood compilation curated by Kutmah. He found me and that’s when we started chatting about the EP. There was more of a straight soulful vibe to that record. Jay’s cool though, I know there’s other artists he’s looking into releasing that I might do some production for. Must Have Records definitely has its own pocket too, but at the same time I like to put myself in many, many different kinds of pockets. You’re playing at The Warehouse Project this month, will it be your first time in Manchester? Yeah, man, I’m excited about it. I’ve been to London at least once a month for the past year or so, but that was mainly hanging around Dalston. I’m actually really looking forward to coming to Manchester, Kutmah will be there, Peanut Butter Wolf, it’ll be fun. I watch Shameless quite a lot so it’ll be interesting to see how the city measures up to that!

here’s something oddly attractive about the fourth prime number. Think days in a week, colours of the rainbow, notes in a musical scale, chakras in a spiritual body, or, of course, the sum total of Snow White’s posse of pint-sized minions. More than that, it’s a compass for one blooming eccentric to carve his name into the bark of this decade’s vocal house music. Don’t think that Seven – né Sam – Davis Jr. doesn’t know all this. Born in Houston, TX, but currently based in Los Angeles, Seven has morphed into a devoted explorer of positive vibrations over recent years, dishing out beats that seem to have materialised somewhere above 40,000 feet on a nice sunny day. Last year’s One EP on Jay Simon’s Must Have Records remains out of this world, but we’ve learned a lot more about Seven this year with his tour of nu-age jazz-funk territory on P.A.R.T.Y. and the immediate fidgety charm of recent single Friends. Details of a 2015 LP are sparse, aside from the fact that it’s already been signed off to one very lucky label. Below, we catch up with the man himself on Skype to find out more about the new record and, in the process, get to know several different versions of Seven Davis Jr: the singer, the poet, the ghostwriter and the astral specimen. The Skinny: Hey Seven, how has LA been treating you? Seven Davis Jr.: It’s 10am here and I’ve just woke

October 2014

up. I just got in from playing a gig in San Francisco yesterday, and this crazy pansexual electronic party in LA the night before at A Club Called Rhonda. Right now I’m just hanging out with my cat, Tiger. I actually moved to LA about seven years ago, but lived in the Bay Area beforehand. It’s a lot of love in the city, a lot of artists, musicians and creative people, a lot of ideas – like Purple Rain in real time. Your earlier productions seem pretty far removed from the stuff you’re putting out recently, even the track names. When did you start making music? I’ve always been singing and messing around on the piano, but I started putting tracks out there around 1999 under the name Sam Seven. I’ve always liked the number seven, and my birthday is 3 April, so 3 + 4 = 7. That period was mainly an outlet for my hip-hop stuff, though. I was a very angry guy back then, too, for a number of reasons. These days I’ve evolved to become more peaceful and Zen-like, so I guess I’ve matured as a person; for sure, actually, not ‘I guess.’ I know that I’m a different guy now. It took time to live and learn and sort my life out, but I’ve been working on myself for a while now. How did you get into ghostwriting for other artists and who were you working for? A lot of it was secret work so I like to keep the names private, but I learned a lot in that period

I know you’ve got to stay tight-lipped about the new album, but how is the sound shaping up? I’m naturally dipping into new things, y’know? I call it evolution, and if you want to evolve you have to adapt. It’s not like I’m forcing myself to be through working in the studio and developing other people’s ideas. It gave me the chance to get different, it just feels that I have to keep experimenting, otherwise what’s the point. I’ll always be inside other people’s heads, but it got to a point open to new styles because I want to contribute where I was helping too many people, when I really needed to help myself. A lot of the time it felt something different, something new. The few EPs like the work wasn’t being appreciated, or used to I’ve put out in recent years are just the beginning. There’s a film to accompany the album, its full potential. No disrespect, but it was time so it’ll be kinda like a movie too. There’s a solid for me to do my own thing. playlist done, the mixes are done, and there’ll be a preview soon. But yeah, I’m incorporating film, poetry and music into something very theatrical.

“There’s a few different versions of me out there; actually, there’s an entire universe” Seven Davis Jr.

You’ve also had a collection of poems published, have you been writing creatively for a while? I’ve been writing poetry for a long time now, ever since grade school. That collection I wrote when I was detoxing – I had a drug problem, and a pretty dark, dark, dark past. I was coming out of that, sobering up, recovering and taking charge of my

CLUBS

That theatrical nature seems like it’s born out of the persona you’ve created for your music, kind of like Ziggy Stardust, or Andre 3000. Is it a conscious persona? Is the persona conscious? I don’t know. It’s like a person I become, organically. When it comes to dressing and visuals, that’s me pushing the character – yeah, like an Andre 3000, Prince the Kid type of thing. It’s still me, though. It’s like my future self in the present. I could call it my superpower. The character is born from the music, not the other way around. I’m not making music to facilitate the character, but it’s a very different guy to the person who writes the poems. There’s a few different versions of me out there; actually, there’s an entire universe. Seven Davis Jr. plays Simple Things festival (Bristol, 25 Oct, and Glasgow, 1 Nov), and Banana Hill 3rd Birthday with Andrés and Al Dobson Jr. at Hope Works, Sheffield, 29 Nov. He also plays The Warehouse Project, Manchester, 25 Oct www.soundcloud.com/seven-davis-jr

Feature

Don’t Talk to Me About... To be found infrequently in the back rooms of pubs, The Bob Blackman Appreciation Society’s boundary-pushing variety act pays homage to a time gone by – but updates it with an indefinable weirdness

other Mac’s of Back Piccadilly is an inauspicious location for live comedy. Situated opposite a derelict site and backing on to a brothel, it sits 100ft from physically, and a million miles away from it culturally. Rewind to a February evening in 2012; I’m sat in the tiny upstairs room watching the Bob Blackman Appreciation Society perform a 50-minute set bathed in the uncomfortable fluorescent glow of a strip light, and I’m falling in love. Two years later, and we’re meeting five minutes down the road in Thomas Street’s Bar21, ahead of their appearance at Dead Cat Comedy Club. The bar, a cosy temple to Cold War-era science fiction, sits oddly out of place against the Northern Quarter’s knife-edge-of-cool drinkeries, but then the two men I’ve come to interview are similarly stuck in a time warp. The Bob Blackman Appreciation Society is the creation of comics Johnny Sorrow and Sir Richard Swan. Their act is hard to categorise: It’s not a carbon copy of club variety acts, but a faithful homage underlaid with a queasy desperation and an indefinable weirdness – equal measures end of the pier and end of the world. Their act consists of a series of vignettes, some oldschool compering, some wordplay, some visual gags, some weird stuff – like when a balaclava’d Richard Swan pretends to stuff paper into his mouth in tribute to real-life vaudevillian paper eater and silent movie star Chaz Chase. All their

Feature

Interview: Jon Whiteley Illustration: Camille Smithwick

performances end with a salute to the titular Bob Blackman, a man who used to hammer himself over the head with a tea tray while singing postwar cowboy song ‘Mule Train.’ Sorrow tells me, “We’re more variety than standup. At the end of the day, you’re telling jokes to the audience.” “We’re talking to the audience. We’re not doing sketches. We’re not detached,” adds Swan.

“Bizarre acts. You don’t get so many of them these days” Johnny Sorrow

Meeting them, it’s clear that variety is their first love. “It’s not really a send-up or a spoof of comedy from then,” Swan says. “It’s an attempt to drag it back!” The time period they capture is vast, starting in the music halls of Victorian England and ending in the social clubs of the waning Industrial North, but the picture they paint is consistent. “It’s acts like Bob that we absolutely love. More kind of bizarre acts. You don’t get so many of them these days,” laments Sorrow – and

you can see that written out in their performance. From Sorrow’s frantic repetition of his “Don’t talk to me about...” catchphrase strained through a rictus grin to Swan’s funereal deadpan parade of non-sequitur gags, it’s the madness that shines through with sequinned brutality. The illusion is so complete that past audience members have approached them with false memories of seeing them perform in the 1970s. Such an act should not be popular, and, judging by the modest turnout at Bar21, it isn’t. But the Bob Blackman Appreciation Society still carry with them a peculiar critical allure. Less than a year after forming, they took their first show up to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2011, where they scooped the prestigious/cult-y Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality – an award named after a comedian and promoter principally famous for getting his dick out at Glastonbury. Past winners, like Rubberbandits, have gone on to find mainstream acceptance, or a solid foothold on the national comedy circuit, like Edward Aczel; the Bob Blackman Appreciation Society have found neither. It’s not difficult to see why. For one, they don’t look like modern comedians. Middle-aged, unfashionably dressed and burdened with thick regional accents, they sit awkwardly in an industry dominated by young, middle-class men with tight jeans and tighter jokes. But they’re happy to be distanced from mainstream comedy, which

COMEDY

Sorrow dubs – with no hint of the malice that the printed word might imply – “karaoke comedy.” Neither of them have ever been interested in pursuing the mainstream, saying that “the market’s become so saturated with standup, so every channel has some kind of standup programme. If you saturate a market, people start moving away.” Prior to reforming as a duo, both had a hand in the Northwest standup circuit – mutually bonding over consistently being the weirdest acts on the bill. The Vauxhall Conference comedy circuit couldn’t contain their wider ambitions, though. Arguably, nothing can. Variety, as they see it, died with the working men’s clubs. These clubs, frequently demonised by alternative comedy acolytes as nicotine-yellowed dens of warm-lager racism, were the last great bastion of variety and sideshow lunacy; a place where the Sorrows and Swans of yesterday could cut their teeth. There’s a sense that when they closed, the variety baby was thrown out with the far-right bathwater, an unfortunate casualty of the progressive change of modern comedy stylings. This inability of the wider comedy culture to accommodate the Bob Blackman Appreciation Society sits strangely at odds with the way they are received at nights. They are that rarest of beasts – a niche act with broad appeal. The audience at Bar21 and the crowd from Mother Mac’s all those years ago couldn’t be any more different, but the reaction was the same. Sorrow and Swan admit there are few traits shared between their fans, as theirs is an act that cuts across the usual boundaries. Of the makeup of their admirers, Swan says, “very varied age range. Equally, a very varied age range don’t like it.” One place they’ve consistently won fans is from the stable of Northern comics, always attracted to the weird stuff. Their continuing presence on comedy bills in supportive, smaller clubs like Dead Cat or A Laugh in Stockport is a testament to this. After failing to win over the backroom gigs of the North and Midlands, they’ve finally found a home in the hearts of independent enthusiast promoters – but it’s hard to gauge their impact over the past few years on the local scene. There’s been a recent boom of sketch groups – most notably, dark crowd-pleasers Gein’s Family Giftshop – as well as a groundswell of acts turning away from traditional standup to explore new territories. Over the past year, Mancunian comic David Stanier has started running his ‘Silly Party’ shows – mixing standup with ridiculous parlour games – which have more than a hint of the music hall about them. Sorrow and Swan are reluctant to take any credit for these changes, though, citing instead the same forces of saturation that push them to hit themselves over the head with trays night after night. Ultimately, what’s crucial to their act is an unwillingness to compromise. They make shows for themselves, not for the big crowds, not even for their fans. As Sorrow remarks, “We do our show because that’s the show we want, and that’s just it. We don’t pander.” Like Bob ‘The Tray’ Blackman before them, they’ve found virtue in pursuing their own warped vision, wherever it takes them. The Bob Blackman Appreciation Society can be found infrequently in venues around the Northwest, though incidentally they are actually playing a gig soon! Catch them at SOS @ 3MT (Three Minute Theatre), Oldham Street, Manchester, 8 Nov www.facebook.com/tbbaspage

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Don’t Fear the Reeper(bahn) Don’t let Hamburg’s reputation for rock’n’roll hedonism shy you away; who better to organise a punter-friendy music conference than the Germans? Vic Galloway takes in the Reeperbahn Festival

n the swirling, heady maelstrom of glowing neon signs, sex shops, strip shows and swaying drunken crowds, the infamous ‘Rope Walk’ or Reeperbahn in Hamburg comes alive every night of the year as locals, tourists, stag parties and thrill-seekers search for good times and fast, furious fun. With bars and clubs open until at least 6am, music booming from every piss-splattered doorway, 24 hour kebab houses, and women of the night selling their wares, it’s an outright and overwhelming assault on the senses. One must enter this debauched, Babylonian world and immerse yourself. So, where better to host a music festival? Last year, I travelled across Germany on a music journalist convoy that took in the four major music cities of Cologne, Dusseldorf, Berlin and Hamburg. I discovered huge amounts about a country not necessarily renowned for its creative output, and quite frankly was mightily impressed. Learning more about its krautrock, post-punk, electronica and indie scenes was an eye-opener; but meeting those involved and watching a blossoming, artistic culture close-up left a huge impression on me. As with most things, the Germans run a tight ship with meticulous attention to detail. When it comes to live music, they deliver high-spec PA systems, well-managed venues and a booking policy that takes in the avant-garde, the downright commercial and everything in between. My 2013 music tour finished at the astonishing Dockville Festival in Hamburg in August, but I felt I needed another fix so returned to the Reeperbahn Festival in September. This year saw me pay the event a second visit to find out more. The Reeperbahn is situated in the St. Pauli district of the city. The football team may be more notorious for its jolly-roger, skull and crossbones merchandise than its actual skills on the pitch, but the area’s anti-fascist, anti-racist, open-minded aesthetic is also extremely attractive. The Beatles’ story is very much celebrated here, and the St. Pauli attitude salutes the libertine life and rock’n’roll’s ongoing mythology. The streets are filled with resident punks, metallers and rockabillies supping beers on the steps of the former squats and communal buildings that line the harbour. Away from the main drag, you’ll find a

Lifestyle

honeycomb of unending cafes, bars, restaurants, shops and boutiques as well as a young, hip crowd and visible, political counter-culture. As always in any city however, hipster areas can be somewhat co-opted by the mainstream. Branded hotels, high street stores and fast food chains are all evident, and yet somehow don’t really encroach on the anti-authoritarian atmosphere. It’s still untamed, seedy, scuzzy and exciting. It brims with low-life and wild energy.

“It feels like you’re experiencing an authentic melting pot, rather than an array of homogenised acts that a few London tastemakers have decided are cool” Aside from this specific stretch, Hamburg is a hyper-modern, urban sprawl with environmental sustainability close to its heart. Home to what must be the largest port in Europe, it prides itself on being a successful, expanding, international hub with excellent transport links and an overtly high standard of living. The juxtaposition between St. Pauli and other leafier neighbourhoods is clear, and yet they definitely seem to complement each other. This year the Reeperbahn festival celebrated its ninth birthday. Originally, organiser and founder Alex Schulz visited the South by South West (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas ten years ago, and, feeling inspired, decided to try something similar along this raucous strip in his home city. Conveniently, the district hosts a sweep of bars, venues, clubs and halls of all sizes that

already promote music, and other less salubrious types of entertainment; plus a range of spaces that are transformed solely for the festival’s purpose. All in all, it has the perfect location and a hand-built infrastructure. As a 13 year long veteran of SXSW, I’ve watched that particular festival grow larger and become gradually more corporate and bloated. Reeperbahn, on the other hand, seems to be hitting its stride. During its short lifespan it has expanded, in terms of spread of venues across the town and number of acts in attendance, but is still totally manageable. There are no queues to get in to see buzz bands, and most venues are within an easy walk of each other. Ultimately it’s a music showcase festival, but now also has an arts programme and a separate conference specialising in visual, multimedia and digital innovation. Large swathes of the European and Scandinavian music business set up their own specialist parties, but thankfully it’s not solely an industry event. The public can attend and do so in their droves. Much like Glasgow’s Stag and Dagger, but over the course of four nights, you pay for a wristband and run from show to show. As the creative industries morph, mutate and change, you find punters, bloggers and fans sidling up next to A&R, agents, radio jocks and journalists. The main difference between Reeperbahn and a similar UK event is the opportunity to discover music that often remains largely unknown at home. The UK tends to be fairly trend-orientated, whereas on the continent there’s often a more unprejudiced, broad-minded approach. English may be the international language, but respect for different cultures is certainly apparent. Listening to artists singing in their own indigenous languages, using different tempos, rhythms and influences; it feels like you’re experiencing an authentic melting pot, rather than an array of homogenised acts that a few London tastemakers have decided are cool. Unsurprisingly, Young Fathers delivered one of the festival’s stand-out performances with their dark, brooding, post-dub, tribal hiphop. Other highlights included a rapid-fire set from new Domino guitar-slingers The Bohicas, Canadian syncopated popsters We Are The City, unlikely Norwegian R’n’B hero Truls and

TRAVEL

astonishing performances from dark-soul diva Cold Specks and reggae-pop temptress Hollie Cook. I was also lucky enough to catch South African singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou, Slinky French outfit The Do and a seriously groove-laden work-out from Brooklyn’s phenomenal Sinkane. Germany’s own stoner-rockers Kadavar, piano-abusing composer Hauschka and Shellac-loving noise-rock duo D.Y.S.E also wowed crowds and sent me running to the merch stand. Unfortunately, anticipated shows from Blonde Redhead and Fat White Family were cancelled due to ill health. When not marvelling at the music and art on offer, the venues themselves also impress at every turn. Take for example the monumental Uebel Und Gefärlich – once an indestructible, World War 2, Nazi-built bunker and fortress; it is now a 1000 capacity club with various additional floors and rooms and concrete walls that are reportedly 10 feet thick. No need to worry about noise complaints then! Other notable spots include the ever-dependable Knust, the peaceful St. Pauli Kirche and the world-renowned Kaiserkeller where The Fab Four cut their teeth in the 1960s. This year’s statistics are staggering. There were around 600 events within 70 venues, 30,000 attendees and roughly 3,400 trade and media representatives from 39 different nations. During the days, over 100 panels, talks, workshops and networking events took place; at night-time the streets turned feral, the alcohol flowed and the air exploded with live music. It takes a huge amount of clinical organisation but of course, this being Germany, everything went like clockwork. Only an hour and a half from Manchester airport, with a direct rail link to the Reeperbahn itself; artists can attend for a tenth of the price of a trip Stateside. And without sounding overtly political or partisan, I have also come to realise the European Project is definitely working. At 5am I found myself sat around a table geeking-out about music, drinking, sharing and laughing with people from Iceland, Slovakia, Romania, Ireland, Estonia and Germany. Put simply… Reeperbahn Festival, du bist der beste! Follow Vic on Twitter: @vicgalloway www.reeperbahnfestival.com

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My Pregnancy Experience: Part Two Words: Jessica Walsh Illustration: Alessandra Genualdo

The experiences during and following birth may not be what we’re encouraged to believe

“L

ove your pregnant body,” they would tell me. The books, the magazines, online forums and health professionals are quick to assure you that your changing shape is something to love and enjoy. As a long-term sufferer of body dysmorphia and eating disorders, the body that I had spent so many years aiming to manage and be in control of was now at the mercy of a growing parasite. The weight gain and swelling was no surprise to me, but where in all of the text books was the ‘pregnancy beard’? As I stroked my tuft of developing goatie, I quickly realised ‘they’ would feed me a pregnancy experience based on a patriarchal ideology of femininity. And my hormone-induced chin hair was too ‘manly’ for this pregnancy ideal. It took nine months for me to accept the lack of control and place trust in the growing foetus that required my intravenous support and nurturing. And now, postnatally, I have the arduous task of regaining control or learning to accept I may never have control again. I have, as yet, not learned which it is. I have lost friends who could not understand I did not identify with their own experience of pregnant motherhood. They felt it inappropriate that, after my failed attempts at previous pregnancies, this time around I did not coo at the quickenings or feel a warm connection to the potential life form growing inside of me. It was perhaps a safeguard I had employed to ensure should the worst happen (again) I would not be completely devastated by loss (again) but I simply did not feel the sense of divine femininity I expected to feel. Because of my loss of control,

October 2014

I felt I had lost my connection to my own sense of femininity and womanhood and my pregnancy was, ashamedly, a nine-month inconvenience – a necessary vessel to my ultimate goal of motherhood. Nobody told me my experience of motherhood would be as unique as my pregnancy. It was assumed as a woman I would naturally adapt to my ‘calling.’ I was told my hatred for my new body would simply disappear at the first sight of my child. Eight weeks later I’m still waiting. The expectant ‘maternal’ instinct was definitely apparent when my baby was hauled out of the gaping hole in my stomach and quickly whisked away to be weighed, screaming the room down with her mighty lungs. In my paralysed state I could do nothing but cry for her swift return to my chest and begged my husband to not take an eye off her for a second. Yes, I would gladly rip limbs off those who presented a risk to her, but even now, eight weeks after her birth, I have a distinct detached approach to my parenting. Trying not to become dangerously in love with someone in case they are taken from me. It’s a feeling most people around me cannot relate to and incorrectly call ‘baby blues.’ It seems, in my experience, that if you can’t push a baby out of your vagina you are less of a woman. My pregnancy and birth was a juxtaposition of empowerment and disempowerment. Through circumstances beyond my control, I had been robbed of the opportunity to have a vaginal birth, which was in the interests and wellbeing of my daughter, but however made me feel somewhat less of a woman. My vagina, uterus and

cervix, all designed for the one thing that I would not be able to do. In my own mind I would feel satisfied to know that it didn’t matter to me how my baby would be delivered as long as they were healthy, so it confused me when professionals would sigh in a sympathetic tone how sorry they were for my C-section. In the back of my mind, I did sigh in relief that my baby would not have to pass through the vagina that was ritualistically raped for so many years. It perturbed me that such a thing of beauty’s first encounter would be with something so horrific.

“It was assumed as a woman I would naturally adapt to my ‘calling’” The focus on breastfeeding by maternity professionals is incomprehensible. After being encouraged to watch their breastfeeding propaganda videos in both antenatal classes and in the hospital waiting rooms, it becomes an unethical and dire decision to consider formula feeding your child. It was two major infections in my C-section wound that rendered me unable to breastfeed my baby; passing the infection on to her through my breast milk and consequently ‘drying up’ before I was recovered.

DEVIANCE

Even the many years of struggling with my body dysmorphia, and the body shame that comes with it, could never prepare me for the sense of guilt I would feel towards my now useless breasts. Perhaps after all these years of me believing otherwise, the time had come to resign myself to the fact my breasts were merely ‘fun bags’; further compounding the lesson I learned in sexually abusive childhood that my body is indeed a sexual object. When I recount my experience to those involved in my postnatal care, they agree it has not been a straightforward time for me. “There’s always next time,” they reassure me. When I explain I only intend to have one child, they look aghast. Their reply: “Oh that’s what they all say.” It is fair to say that before I committed to the vocation of motherhood, I was viewed in many circles as a barren landscape of wasted femininity. There was an air of judgement surrounding my decision to not procreate. Some, questioning the stability of my marriage, wondering about my sexuality; others feeling pity at the affects of my abusive childhood. Similarly, through the process of becoming a mother I have now, somehow, consigned myself and my body to making baby humans. Either way, opinionated folk who are keen to tell me what I should be doing with my body have been plentiful. My journey is one I will never repeat again – not based on this pregnancy experience, but because, after all my experiences of not having a choice, I choose not to.

Lifestyle

London Fashion Week SS15: Trend Report We look into the crystal ball that is Fashion Week and predict the trends you’ll be wearing in Spring/Summer 2015

Photo: Christopher Dadey

Words: Alexandra Fiddes and Emma Segal

Topshop Unique Traditional Patterns – Gingham & Stripes Gingham was a trend seen in volume at New York Fashion Week, with the fabric shown at Altuzarra, Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta and others. In London, however, the classic fabric was given a twist. At Ashish it was reworked in either lime green, yellow or burnt orange with white all in sequin form. Richard Nicholl used it for his jumpsuits, loose fitting shirts, shorts and blazers, which all looked surprisingly fresh and new alongside holographic, shimmering metallic and pastel pieces. We loved the gingham waistcoat paired with white sports dress and holographic mini-backpack. Stripes are a trend that just won’t quit. Topshop Unique drew inspiration from the faded, retro grandeur of British seaside towns, with V-necks, zip up polo tops, bowler bags and cropped jackets with flippy skirts and highwaisted slim line trousers – all stripy. Ryan Lo’s stripes were knitted into sugary pink and blue dresses complete with sequinned octopuses

Lifestyle

and sparkly starfish headpieces, in a collection that also felt seaside but this time more Ariel the mermaid than retro Brighton. The nautical theme continued at J.W.Anderson, where there was a mix of ‘brave’ and ‘safe’ pieces. For example, conservatively cut short sleeved coat dresses were paired with wide, waist cinching belts and oversized, floppy fisherman hats or gloves in leather (that all looked like waterproofs). Pieces of rope were strung through buttonholes on waistcoats and blue and white skirt suits had cropped jackets and midriffs exposed. Strange but good. Preen by Thornton Bregazzi mixed nautical and tribal stripes. There were asymmetrical hemlines, heavily banded sports luxe wear in primary colours (we loved the cricket jumper), striped long-sleeved polos, and bright primary colour zip details on minimal scuba-style jackets. More beaded and tasselled bodycon dresses created a tribal feeling towards the end but skillfully continued the style of the Bretonstriped garments seen earlier in the show.

Eudon Choi Black for Summer A trend close to our (black, black) hearts was the use of black for Spring/Summer seasons. Eudon Choi produced a collection that could be easily introduced into an everyday wardrobe. Not deviating too far from his usual statement minimalism but with a hint of little house on the prairie (that’s right, stay with us people), he took inspiration from fine artist Georgia O’Keeffe – heavily referencing his menswear beginnings, with double breasted boxy jackets and suits in black. Feminine touches were in the form of pastel hued ditzy florals, made into three piece suits with contrasting black details (arms, buttons, etc). Black was seen in wide leg shorts, full length dresses, waistcoats and trench coats. Jean-Pierre Braganza’s collection Architectonic was filled with black – there were monochrome highlights, a sprinkling of crystal embellishments

FASHION

and a contrast between fitted pieces and those with fluid lines and draping. The use of black silk, on all kinds of pieces from shorts to jumpsuits, helped soften quite a masculine feeling created by the cuts and colour palette. Key pieces included a panelled black jumpsuit, a black halterneck dress and a black boxy shaped mini dress with flowing train and crystal copper jewel embellishments. Queen of clean, perfect minimalism and luxe tailoring, J JS Lee, showcased black on black stripes and square details (matt and gloss) on her trademark boxy shirts and drop-waist midi length dresses. Among many others going over to the dark side, Tom Ford used black in a very 70s glam rock collection – think sheers, mini skirts with thigh high splits, sequin nipple covers... and Tata Naka went for clear lines and conceptual silhouettes, based on the simplicity of modern architecture.

THE SKINNY

Suit Up

Growing Up

The suit was given a new lease of life this season – welcome news for any office fashionista. J JS Lee had something for everyone, from white and navy combo looks to subdued neon separates and (the crowning moment) a navy suit and shirt combo with neon panelling. Fans of skirt suits could opt for Bora Aksu’s crochet structured jacket and skirt combo. For a truly modern look, Teatum Jones’ entire collection would sit well in the boardroom, though their structured culotte/ jacket look would arguably turn the most heads. Finally, Mary Katrantzou showcased a variety of fashion forward but office friendly looks. Wear any of the first three looks and you are guaranteed to ace that presentation.

The spirit of fun is alive and well in London. It just feels a little... well, different. The urbanyouthful looks of key designers took on a distinctly adult approach in execution. H by Hakaan Yildirim translated his playful bee theme into infinitely wearable jumpers, skirts and outerwear. The emphasis was on geometry and structure – with everything from cylindrical shapes to hexagonal motif skirts & outerwear that, while playful, had a serious undertone to it. Faustine Steinmetz made us rethink the beauty of denim. Richard Nicoll showed us how to incorporate new technology into garments in a way which makes them sophisticated, not tokenistic. Ashish, who is showing maturity with each passing season, presented a more subdued look with some highly wearable sequin jean and snakeskin separates that felt distinctly sports-luxe while still being fun. It’s encouraging to know that we can still have fun and head to the bank (that’s what ‘grown ups’ do, right?)

J JS Lee

Ashish

Denim

Classic rave tunes. Not normally something you would connect with a fashion writeup, but this season they proved crucial as inspiration for a whole host of designers as ‘I once loved Nu Rave’ hues of neon engulfed the catwalks. Nowhere was this more apparent than at Fyodor Golan (where neon hues were artfully paired with iridescent and textured fabrics). We at The Skinny are particularly obsessed with pastel pink ‘Rave Fontana’ dress, complete with highlighter stripes and an ostrich feather back. Yes, you read that correctly. Elsewhere, highlighter hues and brights were seen at Fashion East (including very cool highlighter eyeshadow looks), Christopher Raeburn, and Ashish. Special mention to Sophia Webster, whose accessories and presentation location screamed ‘it’s 3am in a warehouse right now.’ If you think it can’t be sophisticated think again – Lucas Nascimento artfully juxtaposed bright orange knitwear with burnt orange bottoms for a modern, subdued take on the look. Get your glowsticks out.

The Central Saint Martins graduate and NEWGEN sponsored designer Faustine Steinmetz’s collection was a definite stand out. Using a presentation format for her debut LFW showcase, models stood on revolving podiums and lounged on plinths; this meant we could get an up-close-and-personal look at Steinmetz’s exquisite collection. On display were jean and jacket combos constructed from recycled denim yarns: hand-dyed, hand-spun and hand-woven with unravelling threads, traditional pleating and stitching techniques – creating an almost couture-like level of craftsmanship and look (as well as the stunningly intricate garments, we have to note the collaboration with jewellery label Niomo, who produced witty pieces in silver cast from security tags). For those not quite as daring with their denim, Joseph showed 90s grunge inspired, oversized dresses in blue and indigo, with jackets sewn around the waist as an unexpected detail. What we weren’t expecting to see was Burberry Prorsum getting in on the act! As well as their signature trench made out of the humble material, they also showed tight fitting, bias cut dark denim jackets – some with peplum details, other with shearling trim and patchwork details. These were paired with delicate skirts and trainers. This trend was also seen at Toga, Marques’ Almeida and E Tautz.

Photo: Catwalking

Neon & Brights

Fyodor Golan

October 2014

Burberry Prorsum

FASHION

Lifestyle

Clockwise from top left: Still from ‘1’; Still from ‘2’; Still from ‘3’ (all 2014)

Inga Lineviciute I

nga Lineviciute graduated from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in 2014 with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art.

“I always wanted to become an artist. I dreamt about being a painter, but I cannot remember the last time I touched a canvas. When I moved to England I started exploring my surroundings and people. It was definitely a great experience which has changed my understanding about art. “My art is focused on social and cultural issues that I try to express through drawing. I find drawing to be the perfect tool to investigate things that happen around me. I always carry my little sketchbook that I use for sketches and notes because something unexpected can always

happen. I am inspired by many things, but I am mainly interested in human behaviour in public. I analyse the incidents I witness in my surreal hand-drawn animated films. I only collect absurd stories and my recent work was concentrated on social etiquette in public. In my opinion, art has to have a story and meaning behind it before it is expressed in a material way. “I draw a lot. It helps me explore situations and tell a story. I use mythological motives and creatures in order to express the situations and the ambience of the setting. The simplistic style of the pencil drawings is inspired by old caricature drawings that were used to illustrate tales and myths in books and other media. “My animations are based on real events captured while sketching in public spaces, such

as cafes and pubs. Every animation is based on the initial sketch. The scale of the drawings is small (about the size of a postcard) as I want them to be projected to create the illusion of a moving drawing. The animations are sketchy, unfinished stories from my sketchbook. “My most recent work was done while working on my art degree. It consists of three animations titled 1, 2, 3. Each episode investigates a different problem at a different time and place and although they might seem absurd they all have a didactic meaning. 1 is about an inner conflict and lack of communication. 2 is about the lack of self-control. 3 is about a third-party interference and anger. The latter is my interpretation of the situation expressed through the use of symbols such as the horns. The animation

SHOWCASE

is about a man who gets annoyed at a couple making out in public. The horns symbolise his anger and grow larger as the man loses control of himself. The situation raises the question of who is responsible for the conflict: the man who gets angry and rude or the couple who are expressing their feelings. Animation titled 2 shows two girls slowly losing their self-control and consciousness. Animation 1 shows a total misunderstanding, a hidden conflict. The three animations are in contrast with each other and can be analysed in relation to each other or separately.” Inga Lineviciute is currently showing as part of Bloomberg New Contemporaries at the World Museum, Liverpool, until 26 Oct Find her on Vimeo at www.vimeo.com/user27587726 @ingalineviciute

THE SKINNY

The Hair (2013), installed at Bloomberg New Contemporaries

The Hair (2013)

October 2014

SHOWCASE

Do Unto Others MMU’s Humanities in Public festival returns with its 2014/2015 calendar, and this time around they want to tackle the emotive issue of animal rights

Food News

Interview: Jamie Faulkner

October brings with it great news for beer drinkers, something ponderous for meat eaters and oh so dainty French cakes Words: Jamie Faulkner Illustration: Kim Thompson

Animal Worlds

umanities in Public, Manchester Metropolitan University’s year-long festival dedicated to the humanities, returns this October (and runs until June 2015) with a calendar of events that addresses topics as diverse as new Manchester dialects, concepts of disability and what steampunk really means. What caught our eye here in the Food and Drink section, was the Animal Worlds strand. With stands from the likes of League Against Cruel Sports and The Black Fish and a screening of Earthlings – a documentary about the ways animals are abused in modern society – as well as thought-provoking talks, the overarching theme could well be described as ‘our continuing exploitation of other species and what to do about it.’ In the past we’ve given you a Primer for the Ethical Foodie and talked about the realities of veal farming in the UK, so the fate of animals, especially where consumption and industrialisation is concerned, is a matter that’s close – but probably not close enough – to our hearts. (NOTE: Scrap blog post idea about 17 most bacony things ever.) So, we talked to some of the speakers and contributors to Animal Worlds to find out more about what they’re bringing to the table. Clue: it’s all vegetarian or vegan. That’s mainly down to the fact that the Vegetarian Society will be there with stalls and cooking demos. Lance Bell, the society’s head of campaigns and engagement, told us the plan: “We’ll have two stalls in the main concourse, with information about going vegetarian, some easy meat-free recipe cards to give away, and staff will be on hand to answer any questions. There’ll be pop-up cookery demos from our cookery school, Cordon Vert, throughout the day, showing how quick and simple veggie food can

October 2014

be with minimal equipment. We’ve also invited Dr Dan Lyons, the chief executive officer of the Centre for Animals and Social Justice, to speak; he specialises in the study of animal research, the philosophy of animal rights, and the political representation of animals’ interests.” For something equally nourishing, es-

“Watching Franju’s Blood of the Beasts gave me nightmares for days” Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes

teemed animal rights advocate Kim Stallwood will be there to talk about his book Growl, which explores what it means to care deeply about animals. And what does Stallwood hope this work will achieve? “Growl is the book I wish I could have read when I first became involved with animal rights. It’s not so much a letter to my younger self but more a crash course of what I’ve learned over the years and what I wish I could have read all those years ago. In this sense, my hope for Growl is that it inspires people to act for animals and deepens their understanding on animal rights and why a concern for animals sits in the progressive context of social justice — without making all the mistakes I did!” Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes, a lecturer in English at MMU, will be talking about literary examples

of the slaughterhouse and exploring how animal death and consumption are represented: “For example, it seems to be OK to show images of an animal dying on screen so long as it served a utilitarian end (i.e. it was then eaten), but not if it was purely for recreational purposes. Why do we make these decisions and how are they driven by the way we think about animals in a way that de-individualises them?” But has he actually been to a slaughterhouse? “I have never been to a slaughterhouse. Quite frankly, I don’t think I could stomach it. Watching Franju’s Blood of the Beasts gave me nightmares for days.” And Dr Wahida Khandker, senior lecturer in philosophy, will be looking at the wolf’s role in various cultures, as part of her wider interest in critical animal studies, which brings up key questions about the relationship between human and non-human life: “What are the interests, social structures and tendencies that govern the lives of different animal species? How do the conditions in which we keep them (e.g. farms, zoos, circuses, laboratories) impinge on their own tendencies? It is also interesting to consider the effects of our changing understanding of other animal species on policies of ‘wildlife management’ – from culling to breeding programmes.” On the email signature of the Vegetarian Society there is a fact: ‘an 8oz chicken breast might look small but it takes over 542 litres of water to produce. That could fill up your bathtub 6.5 times.’ We’re certain Animal Worlds will be challenging our ideas about food production with facts like these and much more. Animal Worlds: Companions, Captives, Commodities, 6-20 Oct, various venues. Part of Manchester Metropolitan University’s Humanities in Public festival

Photo: Ade Hunter

fter the event-heavy September, what with the double whammy of Food and Drink festivals, we’re diverting your attention back to things of a more permanent nature this month. The best news of late (well, if you like beer and hanging around near train stations) is the proposed Manchester Tap. Every time we pop down to London we’ve wished, not so silently, that someone would recreate the Euston Tap, only up here. Unsurprisingly, someone did have the very same thought: namely, the guys who own the Euston Tap. Now they can supply beery goodness to commuters at both ends of the line. @tapmanchester Mowgli Street Food in Liverpool are another of a growing number of businesses using the street food epithet and applying it willy-nilly to bricks and mortar establishments. This time it’s curry evangelist Nisha Katona. She’s chosen her 20 favourite dishes for the menu and says that the lentils are rated ‘very highly indeed’, so we’re betting that daal will be a prominent feature. Opening 23 Oct. @Mowglistfood We don’t know how we missed it but the people behind Neon Jamon – a star in Liverpool’s galaxy of tapas joints – opened an Italian restaurant in the former function room of Tribeca fairly recently. It’s called Little Italy and true to its name the offerings are small plates including beef shin pappardelle – the current social media darling – baccalà and langoustine ravioli and swordfish carpaccio. @LittleItaly336 East Didsbury’s high street has seen a slight decrease in low-brow chains with the demise of Cafe Rouge and The Sanctuary (part of The Varsity brand); French bakery Bisous Bisous have stepped up. The guys behind 63 Degrees are catering for well-heeled suburbanites’ penchant for elegant patisserie, macarons and baguettes. As blogger DidsburyDad put it: ‘If they are selling bacon sarnies and coffee by October it hasn’t worked.’ @_bisousbisous

A short walk around the M20 postcode and you’ll come to Wine & Wallop from the folks behind Folk and Chorlton’s Lead Station. Essentially, another watering hole for the well-catered-for locals but with wine to take away, 300-year-old Canadian pine walling, and Iberico ham. @wineandwallop Cowherds Cafe in Salford has popped up on our radar this month (late to the party, we know): it’s a community-centred pop-up veggie and vegan cafe, founded by juice therapist (yeah, we didn’t know that was a thing either!) Paula Maguire. They’ll be at Levenshulme market on 13 Oct and running a pop-up cafe in Kersal Dale’s Garden Needs garden centre every Thursday to Saturday until 18 Oct. @CowherdsVegCafe

www.hssr.mmu.ac.uk/hip

FOOD AND DRINK

Lifestyle

The Horror, the Horror Halloween is upon us, and we can’t have you scaring on an empty stomach. We put on a brave face to draw up a horrific, but filling, menu for the big evening. Please, don’t try the fish

Words: Peter Simpson own and a desire to kill. Basically, a huge underground pool of suspicious ice cream-like material is found in the ground. Rather than stop to consider whether eating this mystery food is really such a good idea, everyone just shrugs and starts chowing down before complaining when dead bodies start turning up everywhere. It’s schlocky nonsense of the highest order and there are plot holes you could drive a bus through, but it’s just the thing to take the edge off a gruelling evening of Halloween horror.

“Surströmming is a traditional Swedish delicacy whose ingredients are simple – herring, a can, and time”

Durian

h October, you spooky beast. A time of shedding trees, darkening evenings, and the ironic terrorising of children and the overly emotional. Halloween’s an odd ‘day,’ as it doesn’t really stand for anything other than to perpetuate a kind of fancy dress arms race. Go to a gig, head to your local arthouse cinema or slump in your favourite boutique, slightly-crafty bar on 31 October and you won’t be able to move for grown men and women dressed as animals or zombie nurses. That said, we wouldn’t be doing our duty if we didn’t give you some foodie ammunition to get you through. Here’s our three-course Halloween menu, featuring three of the most horrific foods we’ve experienced, coupled with three of the creepiest food-related films we could find. You’ll scream, you’ll cry, and you won’t even have to wear a costume. Might need a bib, though... STARTER Shirako, paired with Theatre of Blood The ideal starter should be a short, sharp shock – nothing too heavy, but a way to get your tastebuds ready for the rest of the meal. You don’t want to spoil your appetite, after all. Well, shirako certainly isn’t too heavy. It will certainly give your tastebuds a workout, but the appetite thing might be slightly more problematic. You see, shirako is a Japanese delicacy – cod sperm. Our tipster reliably informs us that shirako is a short, floppy shock that no-one really recovers from. Accidentally ordered from a Japaneselanguage menu in a Kyoto restaurant, it sways around in the dish like a half-set jelly, and smells like, well, fish sperm. As for the taste, you don’t want to know. ‘Not good’ is the jist, and that was delivered through the frantic waving of arms and attempts to repress newly-rediscovered memories. As for accompanying film Theatre of Blood (1973), its foodie moment comes in the midst of some slightly campy 70s horror. The scene in

Lifestyle

question sees Vincent Price and his hilarious moustache take revenge on a critic by feeding him a pie. The critic’s pet dogs are in the pie, which is where the horror comes in. It’s the ideal starter for a foodie-terror marathon, with enough material to get you ready for the rest of the evening without spoiling your appetite. That’s us condoned dog-eating on the grounds that it doesn’t take up too much of your time and dismissed a Japanese delicacy, so let’s move things along. MAIN COURSE Surströmming, paired with Delicatessen For a main course you need something substantial, with real bite. Delicatessen (1991) scores on both counts, and it has a legit food angle as well as it’s largely about a man who eats people. It’s… perfect? Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet of Amélie fame, it centres on a French tower block owned by a corrupt landlord who also dabbles in the odd spot of murder and for-profit cannibalism. His tenants rise up in a variety of convoluted ways to nip his bizarre eating habits in the bud, thus providing a victory to downtrodden renters everywhere. It’s a comedy-horror-drama in which a dodgy landlord gets his comeuppance, and it features a foodie subplot, and it’s in French. Substantial, we’re sure you’ll agree. Of course, size and heft isn’t everything, and sometimes a relatively slight dish can pack a serious punch. That’s certainly the case with Surströmming, although when we say ‘punch’ we mean ‘Oh no, it’s a chemical weapons attack disguised as dinner, send help.’ Surströmming is a traditional Swedish delicacy whose ingredients are simple – herring, a can, and time. Essentially, the fish goes in the can with just enough space to let it ferment, and then instead of getting rid of that space and putting the lid on, Surströmming makers just shrug and stick the thing in a cupboard for a few months. Over time those three initial ingredients are later joined by a few others – noxious gas, a

horrendous smell, and the potential for a massive explosion. It’s banned by a host of major airlines in case it takes down a plane, it smells so bad that most people only eat it outside, and of the top ten Google results for the dish one was a story about a lost tin that had raised the roof of a building by two centimetres, and another told of a huge Swedish warehouse fire fuelled by exploding tins of this stuff. Those two incidents both took place in the past eight months – how’s that for ‘substantial’? DESSERT Durian, paired with The Stuff The end of a meal is a chance for an indulgence, something that’s a little bit interesting and probably not that good for you. The Stuff (1985) is certainly indulgent – it’s a comedy-horror about a dessert with a mind of its

FOOD AND DRINK

That said, dessert is also a time when things are starting to wind down, and you might just want everyone to leave. Well, break out the Durian and get ready for the quickest round of goodbyes you’ve ever heard. If you’ve been to Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore etc and found yourself sauntering through a market before catching a whiff of the new perfume ‘Eau de Death’ and suddenly needing to make a violent escape, you’ve smelled the Durian. If you ever feel your nostrils burning in a greengrocer, it’s the Durian. It looks like a giant spiky kidney, or a real-life version of one of those shells from Mario Kart. The interior looks a lot like a cottage cheese model of a foetus. It’s banned from the Singapore subway – seriously, it gets its own mention on the signage on the MRT. ‘No chewing gum, no food, no feet on the seats, and no durians.’ It isn’t even classed as food! It’s horrifying, bizarre, and yet strangely endearing. It’s a lot like Halloween itself – it makes no sense and you really wish it didn’t exist, but it’s here now so you may as well hold your nose and get used to it. Phagomania is on paternity leave

Surströmming

THE SKINNY

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THE SKINNY

Gig Highlights From the hypnotic Lone to soundtrack maestro Clint Mansell, and the New Jersey jangle of Real Estate to a virtuoso St. Vincent, it’s an eclectic and excellent month

FKA twigs

eptember has always been that dreaded transition month in which the Madonna records are shelved, the beige shorts retired and the casual afternoon alcoholism suddenly becomes frowned upon. If the end of summer has you reaching for the Prozac, fear not, as October has got our backs, holding back the gloom and tiding us over ’til we all start wondering just how much Noddy Holder has in the bank. It’s been a couple of months since FKA twigs dropped LP1, a release that left many of us fumbling around in an attempt to gather our intellectual and well-rounded thoughts on the singer’s mystical masterpiece and sharp rise to fame. Following her July performance at the Dancehouse, she’s advancing along Oxford Road to the RNCM on 4 Oct – as far as intimate experiences go this one is going to be difficult to top. Keeping things hypnotic, Lone brings his brand of what some have labelled ‘dream-hop’ to The Kazimier on 9 Oct, blending ambient sounds with his Madlib-influenced hip-hop beats – here’s hoping he’s got some ideas from MadGibbs’ Piñata. It’s back to the RNCM on 10 Oct for the former Pop Will Eat Itself frontman turned composer Clint Mansell, who’ll be treating fans (not necessarily Def. Con. One fans) to some of his most acclaimed soundtracks from the last 20 years. If this all sounds a bit too subdued for you firestarters out there, you can up the tempo, very slightly, on 16 Oct with Canadian folkies Timber Timbre at Leaf. Their latest album, Hot Dreams, is a mesmerising and epic listen that stands out as one of the records of the year so far. The Kazimier finds itself feeling ambient again on 21 Oct courtesy of New Jersey jangle merchants Real Estate. It’s hard to believe these guys are related to Titus Andronicus (via Martin Courtney), but for a school night you can’t ask for anything more raucous – or can you? If you find yourself in Manchester on the same night, get down to Gorilla for Death from Above 1979’s return to the UK club circuit. Wherever you stand on the Toronto duo’s long-incubating sophomore LP The Physical World, you can nevertheless bet that this is going to be one of the most heavy, groove-laden gigs of the year.

Words: Thomas Ingham St. Vincent, aka guitar virtuoso Annie Clark, is back on 22 Oct playing the mega lush Albert Hall. Her last visit to Manchester, playing the city’s cathedral, suffered slightly from architecture-induced sound issues. Thankfully Clark’s meaty guitar sounds compensated for the acoustic misgivings, which we’re not expecting this time around in the lush – did we already say lush? – Albert Hall. Not that this column encourages competition, but Liverpool really outdoes itself from 23 Oct onwards by playing host to the likes of Caribou, Mogwai, Eagulls, Wild Beasts, The War on Drugs and 200-odd other acts for the brilliant Liverpool Music Week 2014. The calibre of the headliners really does pay testament to how far this festival has come in recent times, and with roughly 50,000 people expected this is going to be ten days of winning if you’re quick-sharp about tickets. An act not featured in the festival lineup, but nevertheless making a Liverpool debut at The Kazimier on 23 Oct are hip-hop veterans Dead Prez. Hard to guess the demographic for this one: it suits the older, less braggadocio fan who can get down with the duo’s anti-establishment, social justice stance while also catering for students who’ve spent their weeknights at hip-hop nights for three years. Finally, we venture into Northern Quarter territory for Strange Days Presents: Nightmare on Oldham Street. This Halloween extravaganza (happening 31 Oct if you hadn’t guessed) will be taking place across the Castle and Gulliver’s, showcasing artists such as Theo Verney, Black Market Karma, Menace Beach and Velvet Morning, to name a few. It’s a perfectly valid excuse for a fancy dress bash at just £11 at ticket, and if the Castle are stocking their Plum Porter then you really are in for an incredible night – props to the Titanic Brewery for that dangerously rad beverage. If you’re more into the idea of a sombre rather than spooky Halloween, then head down to The Ritz on the same night to hear cuts from The Antlers’ new record, Familiars. This latest drop is a solid slab of soulful goodness and the perfect antithesis to middle-aged men doing the Thriller routine.

Do Not Miss Syndrome 2.3: TRANSITION Leggate Theatre, Victoria Building, University of Liverpool, 22 Oct

ver the past few months, Liverpool’s Syndrome Sessions have brought us Holly Herndon, an ‘industrial dystopia’ from the a.P.A.t.T orchestra, and a room turned into an instrument through the use of Xbox Kinect. Now, as part of Liverpool Music Week – which to be fair is packed with unmissables, from Evian Christ in support of Caribou to Liars on Halloween – they present a new work, TRANSITION, from Tri Angle Records’ Vessel in collaboration with Immix Ensemble. In it, the Bristol producer and forward-thinking Liverpool collective set out to examine the relationship between acoustic and electronic sound and music technology – and with their credentials, we’d reckon they’re well-placed to do so (Immix, founded by Daniel Thorne and including members of the Liverpool Philharmonic and other electronic and chamber ensembles, was borne out of a desire to further a dialogue between the city’s traditional orchestral scene and its more leftfield composers and

October 2014

Vessel & Immix Ensemble

producers, while Vessel is one of the muchvaunted Brooklyn label’s more punishing acts, all bastardised instruments – many of which were made bespoke for his most recent record – and ritualistic dread). Visuals come from Psych Fest designer Sam Wiehl. For most other promoters, that amount

of stimulation would probably do the job – but no. The Hive Collective will install their third ‘Engineering Joy’ experiment – number two saw those present subjected to a spell of euphoriainducing sensory experimentation for just six people at a time – while The Aleph (Jon Hering of Ex-Easter Island Head plus Benjamin Fair) will

MUSIC

perform The Good Eater, a meeting of music and film featuring imagery by director Craig Sinclair and photographer Simon Gabriel. Things kick off at 8pm, and unbelievably, it’s free. For more information check out www.syn-dro.me. [Laura Swift]

Preview

Album of the Month The Twilight Sad

Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave [FatCat, 27 Oct]

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When The Twilight Sad stormed into our hearts with their haunted, haunting debut EP, few could’ve detected their nascent crossover impulse. While their output since has hardly dived into the mainstream, it’s at least true that the Kilsyth trio's sound, with each release, newly evolved and streamlined, propelled by a synthdriven switch-up that’s perhaps alienated a small element of their fanbase – one they needn’t miss. On album four the band limber up and shoot for the sky, albeit on a cloudy day. There are concessions to the anthemic (Drown So

A Winged Victory for the Sullen

Caribou

Die! Die! Die!

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Atomos [Erased Tapes, 6 Oct]

A Winged Victory for the Sullen’s self-titled debut predetermined its melancholic mood via evocative track titles (Requiem for the Static King, Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears, All Farewells Are Sudden). Its august successor Atomos, by contrast, gives no such extratextual cues, with all eleven pieces christened equally and numbered I to XII (IV is passed over for reasons unknown). Across 63 sublime minutes, Atomos sustains an atmosphere that’s calm and clear enough to reflect varied emotions: elegiac, yes, but also suggesting warmth, positivity and countless sentiments too ephemeral to pin names on. Composed and recorded in a fraction of the time it took to complete their debut, the album sees Adam Wiltzie and Dustin O’Halloran evolve their neoclassical sound in subtle ways, retaining a palette of piano, strings and electronic drones but unlocking new potential: for instance, the garbled chatter that haunts both IX and X, the latter’s grandeur yielding to the encroaching distortion. With luck, AWVFTS will take the title’s Greek meaning (‘indivisible’) to heart, allowing this superlative partnership to flourish indefinitely. [Chris Buckle]

Carnivores

Let’s Get Metaphysical [Small Town America, 27 Oct]

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“When was the last time you did something for the first time?” asks Kenny Leckie, raising an interesting point. Can you recall hearing a new guitar band who genuinely sounded like nothing before? Paisley trio Carnivores opt for a different approach, filching ideas from all and sundry. In mashing up the last 20 years of six-string-slingers, they also suggest that the distinctions between subgenres ain’t so cut-and-dried. Let’s Get Metaphysical is chock-full of tunes. The title track jangles pacily through a minefield of Devo jerks, hinting at the stop-start complexities to follow, before the band’s influences leap most noticeably to the fore: check the harmony-laden Crooked Teeth (Weezer) and Lion Tamer’s tidal wave of riffs (Converge). Other sterling efforts imply a plethora of seeminglydisparate influences (often within the same song) whilst managing to stay neatly cohesive. With the promising groundwork laid in this mastery of everyone else’s special moves, it’s exciting to imagine how their own hyperkinetic ideas might evolve. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Previous Caribou albums have borne out the view that Dan Snaith’s output tends to be on the ‘grower’ end of the spectrum. Our Love, Snaith’s fourth official album under the moniker doesn’t buck this trend, though it never quite reaches the peaks of its predecessors. Part of the problem is how uneven a journey it feels overall; Snaith is vocally absent for a large stretch of the ten tracks, while fullyrealised, alt-dance cuts rub shoulders with half-formed song ideas which, at times, struggle to take off. Of the former category, lead single Can’t Do Without You and second half highlight Back Home are like old friends within a few spins; of the latter, the title track is left meandering while a track named after late sound engineer Julia Brightly promises much though escapes us with the feel of a tune too busy to stay for a dance. Even so, with more pluses than minuses Our Love stacks up to an often compelling offering, yet it leaves the unmistakable aftertaste of a missed opportunity. [Darren Carle]

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead IX [Richter Scale Records, 20 Oct]

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Funny thing, perspective. Sometimes a band’s most spectacular achievements come so early that memory renders them frozen in the moment, as with ...Trail Of Dead’s spectacular Source Tags and Codes in 2002. The roar, the songs, the incandescent rough’n’tumble of imagination that spewed forth from every track… so imposing is the shadow cast by that record that it’s difficult to identify those monolithic feats of imagination with the sturdier rock band they’ve grown into. It’s a shame too, because these noisy Austinites still have plenty to offer. Conrad Keely’s youthful rage may have subsided as the years roll by, but he’s rarely written choruses as stridently magnificent as Life Without a Liar’s effortless refrain, while the understated Bus Lines pushes this knack for simple hooks into unexpectedly sedate pastures. Solid rather than molten, storming rather than stunning, their ninth album offers a refinement of their youthful flights of fancy, proving that ageing gracefully is no bad thing. [Will Fitzpatrick]

SWIM [Small Town America, 6 Oct] It’s not all lackadaisical jangles in New Zealand indie rock, y’know. OK, anyone familiar with the proto-slackerisms of the Dunedin Sound might be forgiven for expecting a nation under Lou Reed’s off-kilter groove; ditto those with their ears pointed towards the city’s legendary Flying Nun Records. Still, they might want to bring their earplugs for Die! Die! Die!’s fifth album. In handily contrarian fashion, this noisy trio are here to showcase bigger weapons in the Kiwi arsenal. Did we mention it just happens to involve Goliathan sheets of eardrum-lacerating distortion? Probably should: the phenomenal tones’n’drones that reverberate throughout Best’s shoegazing squall lend teeth to the solid muscle of garage rockers Out of Mind and Get Hit, with the pace scarcely letting up across SWIM’s 12 thrilling tracks. Andrew Wilson’s voice fights against the melee, hopping effortlessly from caustic snarl to ethereal croon, but there’s no doubt that the guitars are the stars here. A fuzzy, scuzzy delight. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Insect Heroes

Apocalypso [Lost Map, 13 Oct]

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Technically, releasing music these days is a bit of a doddle: fire it online and job’s a good ’un. But getting people to seek out and actually listen to your creativity, never mind part with cash for the pleasure of doing so, remains an uphill struggle that leaves plenty of promise underexposed. Case in point: Glasgow-based oddballs Insect Heroes, who self-released their intriguing, intoxicating debut Apocalypso via Bandcamp back in 2012, followed by a limited physical release last year. Neither won the album the attention it deserved, but the band’s subsequent acceptance into Lost Map’s musical menagerie should belatedly rectify that. Lo-fi sci-fi artwork pre-empts the charmingly rough-edged, otherworldly treats within, ranging from the delightfully kitsch Beautiful World to the lurching melody of Spacesuit. “I sold my soul for another shot at pop music” goes one chipper chorus; don’t let Apocalypso’s second shot in the spotlight pass you by. [Chris Buckle]

Dope Body

We Were Promised Jetpacks

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Kiasmos is all about the slow build. The venture has been more or less resigned to the backburner for the last several years, as collaborators Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen busied themselves with more principal projects (piano-led solo work and synth-pop act Bloodgroup respectively). But, finally, the two musicians have carved out enough time in their schedules to indulge their mutual passion for low-key electronica – and the resulting album unfolds in a suitably unrushed fashion. Lit opens Kiasmos with atmospheric synths, metronomic percussion and a two-note piano refrain; the elements added and subtracted steadily to subtle but compelling effect. It’s characteristic of the album’s blend of minimal techno and neo-classical, a combination that interlaces digital components (programmed beats, loops) with acoustic (piano, finger clicks); the pristine with the comfortingly imperfect. With echoes of the gentle, pastoral quality of Four Tet’s early albums, Kiasmos is understated almost to a fault but nevertheless immersive. [Chris Buckle]

Review

Our Love [Merge, 7 Oct]

Kiasmos

Kiasmos [Erased Tapes, 27 Oct]

I Can Watch) and pounding minor-key thrillers (I Could Give You All That You Don’t Want) but rumours of a new accessibility have been exaggerated, largely because the Sad remain pathological gloomsters with nary a silver-lining to hang a chorus on. This should trouble nobody, give or take their psychologists. Like predecessor No One Can Ever Know, the album buries dark treasures in bleak haze, a sequence of gentle revelations that emerge with shyness but linger indefinitely. And while songs like Last January are determinedly direct, Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave is mostly concerned with consolidating the band’s under-appreciated riches. A miserable success. [Jazz Monroe]

Lifer [Drag City, 20 Oct]

Dope Body’s Lifer wears the fug of the band’s rehearsal room – the Baltimore four-piece barely left it while thrashing this record into shape. They took a similar approach to 2012’s Natural History, but where that album revelled in a tightly hewn tautness, Lifer is more interested in dynamics. Intro promises of the kind of opening salvo that live would have tops off and torsos colliding; but follow-up Repo-Man initially toys with the idea, withdrawing before eventually coming through with a suitably full-throttled chorus. It sets the stage for an album that veers further away from the group’s noise rock paradigm than ever before, Rare Air being particularly notable for its almost post-punk-sounding spindly guitar lines. Even In the End’s more typical, but in its thunderously hammered-out repetition it too suggests another direction; but then it’s that constant questioning of their sound even as they hurtle purposefully forward that makes Dope Body so exciting. [Simon Jay Catling]

RECORDS

Unravelling [Fat Cat, 6 Oct]

The effervescence of youth can work wonders on a debut album but how often does such vim dissipate on subsequent works? Edinburgh’s We Were Promised Jetpacks are, perhaps, this formula in reverse. Their keenness to barrel out an uptempo number on 2009’s These Four Walls was exuberant but at times unfocused, whilst 2011 follow-up In the Pit of the Stomach cut a similar path but showed much more promise. With Unravelling, WWPJ have delivered on that promise with a tact that trades in their over-zealousness for a more restrained but, crucially, more satisfying sound. Better production certainly helps, improved musicianship and song writing are no bad backups either, but a keener sense on when to hold back means the subsequent sonic peaks on Unravelling are all the more satisfying. From the fist-clenching howl of Keep It Composed to the brooding burr of an Aidan Moffat-led Moral Compass, Unravelling is pure sinew where once there was fat. [Darren Carle]

THE SKINNY

North Atlantic Oscillation

Ex Hex

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The Third Day [Kscope, 6 Oct]

Hardly original but big on heart and soul, this is sophisticated and intelligent dream pop. With the genre tropes of the late 80s shoegaze scene increasingly up for grabs, North Atlantic Oscillation borrow smartly (pulsing bass, shimmering guitars), though singer Sam Healey’s uncommonly high pitch makes them more Lush than Ride. This third album from the Edinburgh trio proffers crisp, clean arrangements and a refreshingly un-cynical worldview. Sure, at times, it’s too shiny and could do with a bit of scuzz, perhaps the odd wig-out. Hard-asses might balk at the tone: all wide-eyed wonder and spaced-out reverie. But still, much of The Third Day does what it does exceptionally well. August is sleek electro-guitar pop and the instrumental Penrose is beautiful. It runs out of steam towards the end (the first half contains the tunes, while the second focuses on atmosphere) but on its own limited terms, it’s a winner. [Gary Kaill]

“I got no regrets,” Mary Timony proclaims, midway through Ex Hex’s debut album. As with many of the tracks here, it’s a worldly-wise dismissal of some creepy ne’er-do-well, glistening with spine-tingling pop nous and punchy rifferama – but it’s hard not to hear that one line and not think of the tantalising promise of her recently-departed supergroup Wild Flag. If only they’d stuck around, they might have come up with something nearly as sublime as Rips. OK, it’s dumb, but knowingly, self-embracingly so. You could call it powerpop if you wanted, with the spectre of Cheap Trick haunting the bouncy likes of How You Got That Girl, though the bubblegum rock of Radio On and War Paint call The Runaways to mind just as easily, with Timony’s luminescent guitar-playing as much a hypnotic treat as ever. “There was nothing left to find,” goes the album’s final line, “and nothing left to know.” Sounds like she’s got it all figured out. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Peaking Lights

Wampire

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Cosmic Logic [Domino Records, 6 Oct] Ooh, a boy-girl electro duo! You’d think, with the market as flooded as it is, these analogue kids would have the savvy to perhaps get a foothold by testing the format a little. Sure, a trio’s just another mouth to feed but still, it worked well enough for CHVRCHES. Actually, scrub that, because Peaking Lights are distinct enough (and odd enough) to demand smarter comparisons. For a start, they’re not particularly pop. There’s a taut, reedy quality to Aaron Coyes’ and Indra Dunis’s compositions that favours arrangement over melody: words flesh out the soundboard rather than carry narrative. Cosmic Logic demonstrates its craft via studio smarts rather than deep song craft. And Dunis is no Lauren Mayberry. Her reserved vocal style suits the psychedelic meandering of Tell Me Your Song, and the overall 8-bit aesthetic, but not perhaps anything more outwardly melodic. Cosmic Logic, ultimately, is cool to the touch. Admirable? For sure. Likeable? That’s your call. [Gary Kaill]

The first sound heard on Bazaar is cackling laughter – the kind that might punctuate dastardly villainy of one shade or another. It serves as a droll reminder (as if their moniker alone weren’t enough of a clue) that Wampire don’t take themselves overly seriously, with the Portlanders’ second album sharing debut Curiosity ’s goofy tendencies as well as its off-the-cuff catchiness. The track that follows this preliminary mirth (driving, synthled micro-anthem The Amazing Heart Attack) presents Wampire at their most upbeat and appealing, driven by pacey kick drum, crunchy guitar riffs and the redolent fumes of 80s nostalgia. The energy is conserved on Bad Attitude, which coasts on knowing sneers and boisterous fretwork, before Fly on the Wall and Wizard Sleeve establish a smoother groove (and simultaneously confirm the band’s fluctuating musical interests). Dabbling so widely arguably leaves some flavours under-developed, but it’s a compromise we can happily live with. [Chris Buckle]

Melvins

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You spend most of a certain fellow Warp producer’s exile gaining a rep as one of the most forward-thinking producers around, nipping off for a quick side project after several critically renowned releases; Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar guest on your grand return as proof of how far you’ve come, only for one listless blimp over London to divert attention back to the other guy. Richard D James, you shitter. However, if the build-up to Flying Lotus’ fifth LP has been put in the shade, musically he’s still burning brightly. You’re Dead’s first quarter is among the producer’s most linear work to date, frequent volleys of woodwind and the guesting Herbie Hancock’s scuttling keys tumbling together in strained coherence. It’s when Lamar and Snoop arrive on Never Catch Me and Dead Man’s Tetris that things get weird, double speed turning to half, free-form jazz segments appearing and dissipating. It’s fragmented and yet, as ever, seems to make total sense. [Simon Jay Catling]

Ah, the ever-reliable Melvins, forever ploughing their enduring furrow. Still, even when your old tricks are among the greatest, it doesn’t hurt to rope in some folks with a few new ‘uns: Hold It In duly sees the veteran sludgesters joined by Paul Leary and Jeff Pinkus of the Butthole Surfers, blowing tripped-out fairy dust across the familiar metallic crunch. It’s there in the galvanised chug of Brass Cupcake – a newly acquired sense that things could unravel at any minute, emphasising the gleeful rage of Buzz’n’Dale’s long-honed riffage. Eyes On You goes one step further; a demented, jittering boogie that resembles a shellshocked ZZ Top being flung into oncoming traffic. Naturally, their muscular creepy-crawl remains intact, but You Can Make Me Wait sees them experimenting with vocoder-soaked space rock, as unearthly sounds zip past a disconcertingly catchy pop tune. Fuck the old dogs/new tricks narrative: this is exhilarating – Butthole Melvins forever! [Will Fitzpatrick]

Johnny Marr

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This collaboration between Scott Walker and Sunn O))), two absolute titans of cranium melting, sonic frequencies was greeted with fearsome trepidation. But how different could Walker possibly sound with Stephen O’Malley’s men as his backing? Not very different at all. ‘A beating would do me the world of good,’ bellows Scott on Brando, the opening track. But there are no real beatings on offer here; instead Soused is the most straight-ahead album the typically esoteric Walker has offered in years, largely stripped of the playful experimentation and surreal extemporisation of the masterful Bish Bosch. The real standout here is Fetish, with strangled saxophones and dark intonations about a ‘choo choo Mama’, but the other four tracks fail to scale such peaks and instead sit between sporadic crooning and extended drones. Nevertheless, Soused does sound incredible, O’Malley’s guitars are utterly colossal, the feedback alone towers with portent while Walker’s voice is still wracked with perfectly pitched anguish and torment. [Colm McAuliffe]

October 2014

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“My faith is for real and my mind is free,” breathes Katrin Hahner, aka Miss Kenichi, on Who Are You. Like much of The Trail, Hahner’s third album as Kenichi, it seems to walk a fine line between amdram outpouring and committed confessional. Hahner’s delivery, at times, inches into the theatrical as she declaims rather than sings. And musically, the detailing often feels a bit off: the everpresent organ swell and the sparse arrangements create a muted effect that’s difficult to penetrate. And yet… There’s a shining light somewhere within this unyielding record’s dark heart. Part way through, as The Night shifts gear via exquisitely assembled flute and guitar, or as surprise horns carve Dreams into a mini noir symphony, it all starts to gain definition and shape. A bewitching torch song transformation of Robert Plant’s Big Log seals the deal, and repeat plays trample those initial doubts. The Trail is a graceful, gloom-pop triumph. [Gary Kaill]

Bell Gardens

Slow Dawns for Lost Conclusions [Rocket Girl, 28 Oct]

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Following 2007’s minimalist monument And Their Refinement of the Decline, ambient-drone duo Stars of the Lid parted company and formed new musical pairings – Adam Wiltzie with A Winged Victory for the Sullen and Brian McBride with Bell Gardens. Now, by curious calendrical coincidence, both projects return with second albums within weeks of each other, making October a windfall month for fans of elegantly sedate soundscapes. Unfortunately for McBride, the scheduling quirk does Slow Dawns… few favours, with his second collaboration with Kenneth James Gibson coming off badly in any head-to-head comparison with Wiltzie's Atomos: less inspired, less enriching, just less. But contemplated per se, the album’s qualities become clearer: opener Darker Side of Sunshine conveys a rich, hymnal beauty built from layers of pedal steel, piano and softly sighed vocals, while the slowburn simplicity of Sail is subtly impactful. Too safe to truly enthral, Slow Dawns… nevertheless finds moments of enlightenment. [Chris Buckle]

RM Hubbert

Hold It In [Ipecac, 13 Oct]

Scott Walker + Sunn O))) Soused [4AD, 20 Oct]

The Trail [Sinbus/Rough Trade, 20 Oct]

Bazaar [Polyvinyl, 6 Oct]

Flying Lotus

You’re Dead [Warp Records, 6 Oct]

Miss Kenichi

Rips [Merge, 6 Oct]

Playland [Warner, 7 Oct] There’s a freewheeling vitality to Marr’s second solo venture that not only lifts the weight of history but makes a mockery of the musical bed-hopping that’s defined his recent output. He had these up his sleeve and was happy to be knobbing around with Modest fucking Mouse? Playland, true to its name, is exhilarating. After last year’s likeable enough The Messenger, this is richer by far: the tunes are plentiful, the production old school and beefy (fat bass, cool synth), the guitar playing, you know, not bad. After an unexpectedly forceful opening brace, Dynamo flicks off one of those riffs and Playland catches fire. The “again and again and again” hook on the crunching title track slyly references another seminal 80s act but this is Marr’s vision alone. “All I need is out there… all I need is myself,” he sings on 25 Hours: a delicious contradiction; one that pitches maturing worldview against deepening self-awareness. Exceptional. [Gary Kaill]

RECORDS

Ampersand Extras [Chemikal Underground, 13 Oct]

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Oh, this is too much. After three albums of beautiful, lilting guitar instrumentals (to which you could fairly attach genre descriptors like ‘flamenco,’ ‘folk’ and ‘post-rock’ without really nailing what’s going on), RM Hubbert returns with another spectacular offering. Only this time, he hasn’t even brought us anything new – Ampersand Extras is merely a collection of outtakes from the aforementioned trio of records. That even his rejects are so fucking good speaks volumes. Hubby’s sporadic collaborators offer enjoyable detours, especially in the case of Alan Bissett’s warm narration on Song for Jenny; ditto Elliot’s murky atmospherics, courtesy of author and occasional Mogwai collaborator Luke Sutherland. It’s his own fleet-fingered compositions that truly stop the heart, however: PB and the poignant Hanging Pointers braid themselves subtly around simple patterns, creating something extraordinarily complex and resonant in the process. Entire conurbations of sumptuous melody and fascinating texture – and yet so very nearly thrown away? Bloody hell, imagine that. [Will Fitzpatrick]

The Top Five 1

2 3 4 5

The Twilight Sad

Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave

A Winged Victory for the Sullen

Atomos

RM Hubbert

Ampersand Extras

Dope Body

Lifer

Scott Walker + Sunn O)))

Soused

Review

In June Arriving seemingly from nowhere, then selling out the first pressing of his LP, Horsebeach is the project of Ryan Kennedy, combining a sunny stateside lilt with a moodier Mancunian worldview to attractive effect. He tells the story of his debut record

way from the constant chatter and search for Manchester’s most exciting new band, Ryan Kennedy has been slowly but surely crafting the sound of Horsebeach, originally an unambitious – albeit fulfilling – one-man project whose debut self-titled album has quickly blossomed into one of the sleeper hits of the year. Heavily indebted to the breezy US contemporary rock of Real Estate and Ducktails – indeed, Kennedy references both projects, fronted by Matt Mondanile, as the real arrival point for his music – it nonetheless possesses, from its drizzly cover art to its more dour moments, a rainy-day quality that might only have emerged from Manchester. “A lot of people have said that is has that sunny, Brooklyn style with the damp of Manchester,” Kennedy admits. “And a lot of people have also asked me what influenced me growing up.” (It’s just over a month since the album debuted, selling out a limited run of copies, and the 23-year-old has already fielded a plethora of interview questions on an international scale.) “The first Ducktails record, I heard that and thought, ‘it’s just some guy with a cassette in his room,’” he says. “And Real Estate, the way their guitars intertwine. Our instrumental is called June in reference to Real Estate’s April’s Song. It’s a way of paying subtle homage to it.” The homage itself may not be so subtle, but Kennedy captures a similar wistfulness with at least equal sincerity and, as a DIY album (“I just did it for myself, really,” he shrugs), Horsebeach is imbued with a level of real, warm detail. What’s more, it doesn’t chime with the current, noisier end of Manchester’s local band scene. “As I was recording I was watching that scene, or at least I noted it as I was developing it. There was this lo-fi, fuzzy DIY stuff around

Preview

Manchester. And this is so clean, so I never really felt a part of that stuff.” Far from a deliberate contrarian, Kennedy instead lives a life absorbed in music. Locking himself away for a two-week stretch, the recording of the LP was a personal and fairly intense process – and when not expanding his vision for Horsebeach, he can be found behind the counter at Piccadilly Records, sifting, selling and recommending. Perceived as a dream job by many musicians, does the literal and audible volume of music casually observed on shift ever interrupt his own creative process?

“The initial recordings are me trying to sing without anyone hearing me” Ryan Kennedy

“If I’m deep in the process of writing a song I’ll try to keep listening to new music at a minimum, otherwise I start to lose direction slightly,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll abandon songs halfway through because I’ll hear something that completely changes the way I feel about my writing process. It’s quite fragile.” Taking his annual leave from the shop to focus exclusively on the project proved to be the answer for Kennedy, free for a short time from

the dub techno, jangly indie reissues and anything else from the store’s eclectic soundtrack. “I bought a tape-to-tape machine and just recorded”, he explains. “I just wrote it all down and went for it. I decided to ditch computers, but the rest of it is all just going into my tape deck. I locked myself in a room, to focus; I get pretty intensely passionate about it.” If Horsebeach has proved a pleasant surprise for newfound fans, the process of making the LP proved similarly enlightening for Kennedy himself, especially in regards to his distinctive, unmannered vocal delivery. Although, as with much of the record, his vocals are often skilfully drenched in reverb and other effects, the biggest change is in octaves. “Horsebeach wasn’t set up for me to be the vocalist,” he says. “The first material was recorded while I was at university in Salford, so the walls were paper thin. The initial recordings are me trying to sing without anyone hearing me.” Now armed with extra decibels, Horsebeach has expanded to fulfil the demands of a live setup; the band were personally invited to play at Primavera’s winter festival, Club Primavera, in Barcelona this November. Their drummer, Matt Booth, has a relationship with Kennedy stretching back a number of years and into a real grab bag of musical endeavours, some far removed from the easy going nature of Horsebeach. “We did a thing called LEDC, which was really sleazy electro. That was probably the worst of them,” Kennedy recalls. “I do like playing with a full band. I did look at looping it all, but it’s just nice to be onstage with other people, much as I also like being alone,” he muses. That aloneness is a trait that’s arguably audible in the record’s relatively intimate feel.

MUSIC

Interview: John Thorp

However, only the lyrics of two of the album’s ten tracks directly reflect any aspect of Kennedy’s own life. A heartfelt song about his girlfriend, at first glance ill-advisedly titled Dull, is a memorable, personal paean telling of ‘bodies intertwined hopelessly,’ and he cites poet W.B. Yeats as an influence. “I always struggle with lyrics,” he admits. “I can write melodies for days, but I really have to go to town on lyrics.” Kennedy feels “lucky to be from Manchester,” but there’s mercifully little to no posturing northern grit or Morrissey-lite misery on record. Just as he notes that his musical idols are never less than delighted to be playing in his postcode, is there an air of escapism to Horsebeach that has ensured its emptying from the shelves of his workplace at such a pace? Is it a loved-up record? “No, I’d say it wasn’t,” reckons Kennedy. “It’s funny that you mention escapism, because escapism is a great way to escape morbid reality, but the problem is, my fantasies themselves are a morbid reality. It’s difficult to conjure up anything particularly fantastical in Manchester.” With a manager now in tow, the recent second pressing of the record finally meeting demand, more dates in the works and label interest beyond the berms of Manchester, you’d imagine many would disagree with this claim – still, Kennedy is keen not to contrive anything. “I’m currently recording new stuff,” he reveals. “It’s not coming easy at the minute, because I have much more to do now the band is going more seriously, whereas previously there was no expectation.” As his heroes might say: take it Easy. Playing Victoria Baths, Manchester on 12 Oct www.horsebeach.bandcamp.com

THE SKINNY

Fri 3rd Oct • £9 adv

The Big Cheese Tour ft. Lonely The Brave + Marmozets + Allusondrugs

Sat 4th Oct • £18 adv

Goodgreef Xtra Hard - 10 Year Celebration

ft. Darren Styles + Re-Style + Alex Kidd + Andy Whitby + Mark EG

Fri 10th Oct • £14 adv

Kids In Glass Houses Sat 11th Oct • £15 adv

ICW (Insane Championship Wrestling): I Am The Walrus Fri 17th Oct • £16 adv

Maverick Sabre Fri 17th Oct • £16 adv

Hawklords + The Crucified Twins Sat 18th Oct • £15 adv

The Carpet Crawlers

performing ‘Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ 40th Anniversary

Thurs 23rd Oct • £25 adv

Boomtown Rats Ratlife UK Tour Sat 25th Oct • £15 adv 9pm - 3am • over 21s only

Drome ft. Dream Frequency Live PA + Trix vs X-Ray + MC Cyanide + DJ Rob + MC Cutter + DJ Nibbs

Tues 28th Oct • £11 adv

Little Comets

Thurs 30th Oct • £16.50 adv

Wild Beasts

+ Money + Nimmo and the Gauntletts

Tues 4th Nov • £16.50 adv

The War On Drugs + Steve Gunn

Weds 5th Nov • £17.50 adv

Band Of Skulls + Bo Ningen Fri 14th Nov • £13 adv

Mallory Knox

+ Frnkiero andthe Cellabration + Fort Hope + Moose Blood

Sat 15th Nov • £12 adv 8pm - 1am • over 18s only

Quadrophenia Night + Danny Mahon

Sun 16th Nov • £20 adv

Alabama 3

Sat 29th Nov • £10 adv

The Hummingbirds Thurs 4th Dec • £12 adv

Electric Six

+ The Usual Crowd + Andy D

Fri 5th Dec • £12 adv

The Anfield Wrap

ft. The The Tea Street Band + Sugarmen + 35 Summers

Sat 6th Dec • £20 adv

The Enemy & The Twang Sat 6th Dec • £15 adv

Dreadzone + DJ Buddah Tues 9th Dec • £19.50 adv

Gogol Bordello + Mariachi El Bronx Thurs 18th Dec • £10 adv

The Jagermeister Music Tour 2014

ft. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes + The Skints

Sat 20th Dec • £18 adv

Cast

+ John McCullagh & The Escorts + The Cheap Thrills

October 2014

The Horrific Eerie Compelled by Satan as the witching season approaches, The Phantom Band’s Rick Anthony presents a Halloween compendium of recommended listening to keep the trick-or-treaters off yer porch 1. Slayer – Seasons in the Abyss (1990) My sister and I got this tape out of Kemnay library when I was about 12 years old. Listening to it on my personal stereo on the way home in the car was a transformative experience; a realisation that music, just like film, had the power to unnerve and scare. The main riff from Dead Skin Mask remains as potent to me to this day. 2. Fever Ray – Fever Ray (2009) From the creepy black and white cover to the brilliant pitch bending vocals, this record conjures up stark, eerie weirdness and reframes it in a near pop setting. Tracks like When I Grow Up could actually be construed as quite sweet when you listen to the lyrics, but the overall package remains a fantastic lesson in the aesthetics of the eerie. 3. The Louvin Brothers – Satan Is Real (1959) As well as having one of the greatest covers in music history, this record also contains some of the greatest harmonies. These guys had their personal demons and this record lays them out in stark relief. The soothing country lullabies set a trap for you and before you know it you are blissfully singing along to some of the most rightwing Christian lyrics you’ve ever heard. Satan’s Jewelled Crown being a perfect example.

Photo: Stewart Fullerton

“Just about every Tom Waits record contains a track or two of eerie splendour” Rick Anthony

4. Fantômas – Delìrium Còrdia (2004) One track clocking in at 74 minutes that is written as a concept album about surgery without anaesthesia is a fairly terrifying prospect before you even get round to listening to it. Once you do you are transported to a truly eerie landscape of incidental noises and abrupt shifts in dynamics and textures that all help create a truly singular musical experience. 5. Michael Hurley – Armchair Boogie (1971) I was introduced to this record by Duncan [Marquiss, Phantom Band guitarist] and instantly fell in love with it. The opening track Werewolf is a wonderfully creepy ballad that uses the aesthetics of horror to express feelings of alienation to heart-breaking effect.

Preview

6. Julee Cruise – Floating into the Night (1989) Everyone loves Twin Peaks, right? This is the album (written by David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti) that came out around the time of the TV show and it contains some of its most enduring musical moments. The theme tune Falling is the obvious hit but there are plenty more dark gems where that came from. Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart, for one, is simply extraordinary. 7. Tom Waits – Bone Machine (1992) Never a stranger to darkness, just about every Tom Waits record contains a track or two of eerie splendour, but Bone Machine, with tracks like Dirt in the Ground, Murder in the Red Barn and Black Wings (to name but three), probably edges it in the creepy stakes. A tour de force from start to

finish with plenty moments of light amid the dark, it’s a perfect primer for anyone coming fresh to Tom Waits' considerable back catalogue. 8. Alasdair Roberts – No Earthly Man (2005) This record contains many wonderful moments of creepy beauty as Roberts gives his take on traditional folk songs amid fantastic production by Will Oldham. My favourite track is the stunning seven plus minute Lyke Wake Dirge. I used to listen to it over and over again on walks home in the dark just to give myself the heebies… extraordinary.

MUSIC

9. Various Artists – Which Way Does the Blood Red River Flow? (2013) I bought this record a couple of weeks ago almost entirely because of the brilliant cover (the

main reason it’s on this list, if I’m being honest) and when I got it home I was not disappointed by the music. A selection of tracks recorded for the Testament label between 1961 and 67, and featuring some of the most intense blues of the period. I’m still getting to know it, but Peg Leg Howell’s take on Blood Red River, Jimmie Tarlton’s Banks of the Ohio and Fred McDowell’s Get Right Church are all particularly satisfying on early listens. 10. John Carpenter – Anything… (1974-) Yeah, yeah – it’s a cop-out and it’s obvious and blah blah blah… But come on; shut up, turn off the lights, put the Halloween score on in a darkened room and let them shivers creep. The Phantom Band play The Kazimier, Liverpool, 7 Oct, and alongside Remember Remember and Birdhead at the Pleasance Sessions, Edinburgh, 18 Oct, as curated by The Skinny www.phantomband.co.uk

THE SKINNY

First Aid Kit / Jo Rose Albert Hall, 20 Sep

Holly Herndon

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When a largely calm, composed Holly Herndon becomes distracted by her malfunctioning gear, she needn’t worry; those present are in a state to go with whatever flow they’re given, having been guided in and out of The Hive Collective’s multi-sensory ‘experience’, Engineering Joy #3 – a cylindrical, blackout-curtained space in which a miasma of light, smoke and celestial sound approximates ecstatic elevation. Apparently, it works: upon leaving the soft, dark enclosure, we realise our cheeks are aching from smiling too hard. In a twist, much-anticipated visuals by collaborator Mat Dryhurst manifest behind Herndon to show… Facebook. Yes, Facebook: as he navigates to the event page for this evening’s gig, pulls up the list of those who’ve clicked ‘Going’, and scrolls, he opens certain names in tabs to

look at later. Full laughs from the crowd swiftly pitchshift into nervous titters as spectators hope that they won’t be chosen, and try to divine a reason behind the selections he’s making; why return, three times, to that person? What’s so compelling about this swatch of fabric on another’s family photo? And when can we zoom all the way back out of that familiar, cold white space; it’s making us uncomfortable? The disquiet derives from realising that there is no method; it’s just an illustration of lost time, directionless introspection, potential obsession. He soon gives up the trick in favour of a tessellating maze of padding and packaging – empty online-order boxes like immortal debris in a cyberspace of nothing – but, for its short time, it provides an unexpectedly fitting backdrop to Herndon’s paranoid, planetary techno, her disassociated vox orbiting the refuse of dropped signals, broken links, and the sputtering out of stars. A truly oneoff happening. [Laura Swift]

Owls

The Deaf Institute, 17 Sep

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“Sorry for the mind games!” Tim Kinsella blinks. In the customary fashion, Owls have just returned to the stage following the climax of their main set, and their irreverent frontman is keen to de-mythologise the process. Laughing scornfully at convention’s dictum that a band will play more songs ‘if you clap,’ Tim’s apology seems less about remorse than the perky deconstructivism that’s pervaded his work since his early years fronting Chicago punkas Cap’n Jazz. Owls’ songs – a curious diptych of abstract accessibility and foreboding complexity – have always pulled the rug out from under themselves, whether via the shape-shifting rumbles that just about comprise rhythmic patterns, or even Victor Villarreal’s preternatural guitar textures, and tonight we get to witness this breakdown in full effect. There’s a tangible hope among the crowd that tonight’s itinerary will mainly involve highlights from the band’s self-titled 2001 debut,

October 2014

but playing to their own sense of cheery perversity, Owls largely mine this year’s spectacular comeback, Two. With six months for superfans to fully absorb the new LP, you might imagine there’d be more than mere gracious applause for the Lungfish lurch of Four Works Of Art... Or the forcefully unsophisticated rocker A Drop Of Blood... Predictably, however, it’s old favourites like What Whorse You Wrote Id On that draw the biggest whoops’n’hollers, as Tim spouts elliptically graceful poetry through his worn-ragged throat, and a room full of thirtysomething emo survivors mouth along ecstatically. Even when dipping their toes into pop’s warm waters, Owls are no one’s idea of a party band, and their cerebral tendencies will almost certainly see them consigned to the ‘cult heroes’ section forever. Still, give ‘em another decade or so, and the serrated majesty of these new songs should gain their rightful place alongside that debut as a treasure trove of confounding, off-kilter wonders – the inevitability of this drawn-out volte-face is perhaps the greatest mind game Owls have pulled off thus far. [Will Fitzpatrick]

First Aid Kit

The Acid / Samaris

The Deaf Institute, 8 Sep

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London label One Little Indian has always had an ear for Icelandic talent. From Björk and Sigur Rós to Ásgeir, there’s been a consistent wistfulness, and tonight’s support, Samaris, are no exception. Still in their teens, the humble troupe command the Deaf Institute platform; Jófríður Ákadóttir with her breathy Scandinavian vocal (think The Knife’s Karin Andersson, with a dash of Daughter’s Elena Tonra), cocooned in (bear with us) Þórður Steinþórsson’s textural beats. It’s the addition of Áslaug Magnúsdóttir’s haunting clarinet that really puts Samaris into a league of their own, however, making their set uniquely entrancing. The mood is then set for headliners The Acid. Otherwise a three-piece, this tour welcomes scruffy, lost-boy frontman Ry X’s dextrous

MUSIC

drummer Jens Kuross to the fore. Together the four are refreshingly analogue, the live drums a conscious departure from the safety of computerised rhythms, and even those who have heard LP Liminal’s produced gloss would be floored by the gritty organics on display tonight. Opener Tumbling Lights rises from a choking buzz, ghostly xylophone twinkling, and from the concussive percussion’s eventual thumps, the night is won. Writhing front and centre, flanked by seismic bass and nocturnal synths, is Ry’s softly growled vox, occasionally modulated but always wounded. Ableton maestro Steve Nalepa stands behind, elevating the buoyant scales of Fame or the thud of Ghost; DJ Adam Freeland unites the elements and provides deft backing beats and vocals. The two encore tracks (Red and Ra) are devastating, and the crowd is left in breathless raptures. [George Sully]

Review

Photo: Alexander Bell

24 Kitchen St, 5 Sep

Tonight’s opener, Jo Rose, has thankfully recovered from his on-stage collapse at the start of this tour, although his guitar hasn’t. Having borrowed a friend’s for the evening, the Manchester native shyly thanks the locals for their support before playing acoustic strums from his subtle debut album Spurs. Rose’s set shows an intriguing willingness to let the quiet ring out, with Terrible Liar hinting at Elliott Smith-style sadness – he even chucks in a Leonard Cohen cover to prove his storytelling prowess. First Aid Kit seem to be taking the title of their new album, Stay Gold, seriously. Stepping out in glittery jacket-pants and dress combos to a luxurious gold-leaf backdrop at the Albert Hall, Stockholm folk sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg aren’t afraid to evoke the classic in their music or their outfits. While they aren’t aiming for ABBA circa 1974, their soulful harmonies and swooning country shuffles make for a

Photo: Priti Shikotra

Syndrome Sessions 2.2: Holly Herndon

Photo: Bob Wass

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similarly dazzling spectacle. Starting with Stay Gold’s striking title track and pimped out with a full band, the duo show off their power as a four-piece. The expansion works wonders on Waitress Song’s restless pedal steel and the Lykke Li pop punch of Shattered & Hollow. When a rapturously received My Silver Lining proves surprisingly sparse, the weathered words behind the sisters’ miraculous voices feel as yet unlived in as a new IKEA kitchen. The second half rollicks along though, with a rocky take on Jack White’s Love Interruption and a honky tonk Heaven Knows. As a moody interlude turns into haunting waltz The Lion’s Roar, Klara’s leadership imbues the night with unusual sharpness as a searing sun spotlight beams down from overhead. The night ends of course with Emmylou, a triumphant singalong that sets people dancing on the balconies. Personal insight will come in time; for now, so long as we’re singing with them, the Söderbergs are happy. [Chris Ogden]

THE SKINNY

Guest Selector: Glenn Astro A key player in the fuzzy jazz hubbub coming out of Berlin, the young German is joining forces with IMYRMIND again to spawn the ninth instalment of Box Aus Holz. Here are nine of his favourite LPs in celebration Dabrye – Two/Three [Ghostly International] I remember buying this album just by looking at the feature list. I wasn’t really familiar with Ghostly International or Dabrye at that time. But after seeing Wildchild, Beans – being a big Anti-Pop Consortium fan – Doom, Waajeed and Dilla featured on the same record I just went for it without listening to it in the store. Turned out to be one of the wisest record purchases I ever made! I was completely blown away on first listen. I think this record, along with Flying Lotus’s 1983 was really the blueprint for the whole beat/instrumental scene that was evolving from then on. Cassius – 1999 [Virgin] Another record where I had very little idea what I was buying into! I think it was around 2000, so I was about 13 years old, but for some reason I had some money and blindly bought the record. The only thing I knew was the video to Feeling for You, and I kinda liked the song. I wasn’t really blown away by the album at that time, I guess I was a bit too young… but I kept coming back to that record throughout the years and gradually fell in love with it. I realised what a piece of art it was in terms of sampling, and that French house sound in general. King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath the Moon [True Panther Sounds] This is definitely what I’d consider a future classic! The overall sound on this album is just amazing, and music-wise there’s nothing I really can compare this to. You can hear a big hip-hop influence paired with jazz, rock, psychedelic and blues. Incredible songwriting and arrangements. This dude is a genius, really. Pharoah Sanders – Pharoah [India Navigation] It’s all about Harvest Time for me on this record. The whole thing is amazing, of course, but in my opinion Harvest Time is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever made. Playing for little more than 20 minutes, it’s not exactly a short affair, but definitely puts you in a different mind-state. Very beautifully simple and tender playing by Sanders, and when that harmonium comes in... goosebump alert! Alex Malheiros & Banda Utopia – The Wave [Far Out] Alex Malheiros is the bass player in a legendary Brazil samba/jazz/ funk band called Azymuth, which also happens to be one of my absolute favourite bands. I guess if it wasn’t for Madlib I would’ve never found out about this incredible trio, but that’s a whole other story! Very underrated artist, I myself only found out about this a couple of years after it actually came out. Top notch samba with extremely funky basslines – really recommended! The Cure – Standing on a Beach – The Singles [Fiction] Die-hard Cure fans will probably laugh at me for picking a best of album as my favourite Cure record, haha. But this is just a perfect compilation of all the Cure tracks I like!

October 2014

Max Graef

Jaylib – Champion Sound [Stones Throw] I could have chosen any other record by Dilla or Madlib, but this, unfortunately, is the only record combining those absolute legends on one full length album. I remember when at that time my best friend and I heard there was going to be a collaboration album, we almost freaked out. Even more incredible was that everything we were expecting from this album was fulfilled! I just recently watched the Stones Throw anniversary documentary where it was said that this record was a commercial flop compared to the Madvillain album, which is kind of weird because this particular album had the power of an epiphany.

Air – Moon Safari [Source/Virgin] This will always be one of my alltime favourites. I think I bought the CD around the year 2001, quite a few years after it actually came out. I’m not really into the stuff that came after Moon Safari, it kinda felt like they never really reached that level they had on this one again! It’s just a magical album throughout, stunning arrangements and absolutely beautiful, warm sound. Samples and own sounds fit perfectly together, I love the fact that you almost can’t tell if something is sampled or played on.

CLUBS

The Streets – Original Pirate Material [679] Mike Skinner’s first and, in my opinion, best record he ever made. Very simple but also timeless productions! Definitely one of my favourite albums. And come one, seriously, who didn’t buzz when Has It Come to This? came out?! It could come out today and still be as fresh, and probably more relevant, than most other stuff coming out nowadays. Weak Become Heroes also remains one of the truest love letters to club culture. Glenn Astro & IMYRMIND’s new EP for Box Aus Holz/OYE Records is out now. Visit oye-records.com to listen and purchase www.soundcloud.com/glenn-astro

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Cast Aside As John Updike biographer Adam Begley appears at Manchester Literature Festival this month, we consider the posthumous reputation of one of America’s best-known writers. It’s arguably never been at a lower ebb, but should this be so? Words: Jim Troeltsch Illustration: Emer Tumilty

ohn Updike, speaking in 2005, four years before his death: “Reputations do subside, is one of the conclusions I’ve drawn. Your life as a famous writer, like your life as a human being, is limited, and now that we all live so long, a lot of us live to see ourselves become faded reputations. I don’t know if that’s true of me or not – I try not to think about it too much.” The subtext’s pretty transparent; even then Updike knew his reputation, at least as a novelist, was waning. “Updike is not, I think, a great writer” – this is the falsely hesitant verdict of James Wood, a critic whose judgments are for the most part the kind you can take to the bank. Updike’s “a prose writer of great beauty,” wrote Wood, “but that prose confronts one with the question of whether beauty is enough, and whether beauty always conveys all that a novelist must convey.” Which isn’t really all that different from the two quotes always thrown around in assessments of Updike: he’s “a minor novelist with a major style” (Harold Bloom), and he “describes to no purpose” (Gore Vidal). With varying degrees of severity, all are saying pretty much the same thing: the man can turn out a sentence, but we’re going to need a lot more than that if he wants to go down in literary history. A lot depends on how much value one places

on sentence-by-sentence beauty. For Updike, beauty’s the blood by which his corpus is animated; his stated aim after all was “to give the mundane its beautiful due.” We’re not talking the odd bit of puffy lyricism here, though; we’re talking sentences and paragraphs and pages of sublime fidelity to the actual. Without the room to quote at length, it’s impossible to do his style justice, but surely any writer who’s able to write lines like “Her neck and shoulders are given a faint, shifting lambency by their coat of fine white hairs, invisible except where the grain lies with the light,” or, “Pop is asleep in his chair, his breathing a distant sad sea, touching shore and retreating, touching shore and retreating,” or “in the dark shelter of trees a sandstone farmhouse glistens like a sugar cube soaked in tea” – and to write like this with page-after-page consistency – is surely on his way to greatness. When Wood asks whether such beauty is ‘enough,’ though, he’s not saying that Updike is nothing but some sort of unthinking automaton dispensing finely wrought sentences, but that everything beside his style is finally lacking. This, it’s fair to say, is no fringe theory. See for example David Foster Wallace’s voice-of-a-generation review of Toward the End of Time, in which Updike, after receiving the usual nod to the “sheer

BOOK OF THE MONTH

Rogues

IDP: 2043

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By Denise Mina, Pat Mills, Hannah Berry, and more

gorgeousness of his descriptive prose,” is savaged for what many contemporary readers see as his two defining characteristics: narcissism and misogyny. The misogyny’s undeniable; the sad truth is that, if it alone were to merit Updike’s oblivion, we’d have to disregard many if not most great male writers. The narcissism, though, is another matter altogether. What’s usually meant is that Updike (in DFW’s words) “has for decades now been constructing protagonists who are all basically the same guy… and who are all clearly standins for Updike himself… They always live in either Pennsylvania or New England… [are] unhappily married or divorced… roughly Updike’s age… [and] think and speak in the same effortlessly lush, synesthetic way Updike does.” Which may seem all well and good, but where does that leave us with, say, Proust, or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, or The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, or The Book of Disquiet, or Journey to the End of the Night? And when it comes to Updike’s peers, what would we do with, e.g., practically every word

Furies: A Poetry Anthology of Women Warriors

By George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois

By Eve Lacey

written by Roth, James Salter, or Bellow (incidentally, Wood’s favourite writer)? To label Updike a misogynistic narcissist and leave it at is surely to miss the point. Was Proust a longwinded snob? Joyce a drunken lech? Céline a crazed anti-Semite? Yes; but do such things really matter when it comes to judging their work on its own terms (even when such odious traits are shared by their characters)? The novel’s a container of consciousness – the author’s. And when the consciousness, as in Updike’s case, is so great as to allow us to apprehend the world anew, to actually augment our reality – to really do this; to make us see the tea-soaked sugar cube in the shaded sandstone farmhouse – then perhaps we should put the faults to one side and say: yes, maybe this really is enough. Adam Begley appears in conversation with Ian McGuire at The International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester, 14 Oct, 6pm, £6 (£4) www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk

The Surfacing

By Cormac James

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Commemorating the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s 30th Birthday, IDP: 2043 harnesses the talents of ten acclaimed writers and artists to tell the story of what Scotland might look like 30 years from now. It’s not a pretty picture: climate change has devastated Britain to the point where only the Highlands remain above water, forcing scores of newly made refugees – Internally Displaced Persons – to seek shelter in sprawling slums built from old shipping containers. Up above them those with the funds to weather the storm sit comfortably in luxurious apartments. Vertical farms have been built to feed the poor and keep the rich in business, spawning a reality show named Sky Farm which offers a glimpse of the world above to those trapped down below. With each chapter handled by a separate set of artists and writers, the book dances vibrantly between completely different styles, re-inventing itself with each new segment and culminating in a poignant environmental warning told as a quick-witted, high voltage thriller. Expertly matching authors with the perfect artists to paint their words, each chapter of IDP: 2043 re-creates the sense of beginning something completely new and newly fascinating, without ever wandering too far from the story that makes it so compelling or the themes that make it so unnerving. [Ross McIndoe]

Thanks to Game of Thrones, George RR Martin has leapt from fantasy ghetto to mainstream. The same can’t be said of Gardner Dozois, although the multi-award winning former editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine is arguably just as influential a figure in SF/Fantasy. So, what to expect of Rogues, the seventh themed anthology that Martin and Dozois have put together in just five years? An opportunity to read the best new writing, hooked with the bait of a new Game of Thrones story? Sadly, though the pair deliberately ‘mix-up’ genres from one story to the next, this remains an all-too-repetitive collection; while some stories are entertaining enough, the result’s hardly ground-breaking. While one assumes Dozois does the heavy editorial lifting (Martin still has some eagerly awaited books to write, after all), the big man remains a commanding presence with invited writers as diverse as Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, and Connie Willis echoing his choice of strongly narrated stories featuring characters or situations steeped in their own work. The result is that this 800+ page anthology is best approached if you already have some previous experience of the respective authors’ imaginary worlds. [Paul Cockburn] Out now, published by Titan Books, RRP £30

The Furies are infernal goddesses of justice and vengeance, daughters of Gaia and punishers of wrongs. In For Books’ Sake’s first anthology – in aid of Rape Crisis England & Wales – women writers rewrite the world with empathy, passion and fury. ‘It is hard to talk about rape,’ writes Bridget Minamore – but poets in this book do so fearlessly, gracefully and with honesty. ‘These secrets that we hold / Are hunted snakes on silver leashes / Venom restrained only by memory.’ Their words celebrate women, survivors and warriors, in a collection which gives voice to the unheard. Sometimes painful, sometimes empowering, the anthology explores a wealth of women’s experience, creating herstories that subvert and interweave with male-dominated histories. ‘I stand like marble under the cross, but you see when I left / there, I ripped up my dress and let go pure snot and eye-water,’ reveals Malika Booker’s Mary Magdalene, while Diana Brodie’s A Daughter Sings From the Earth quietly asks: ‘Why does Icarus, my brother, need wings?’ Furies brings together a collection of writers from around the world, uniting their voices in a powerful chorus that challenges and changes the status quo. Furies is an exquisite, compelling read. [Ceris Aston]

We start with the colour of mud and mustard – streams running through the white-out of the icy universe in which we encounter The Impetus for the first time. The Admiralty ship is on a voyage of discovery, searching for Franklin’s lost 1895 expedition. With a plan to navigate the last uncharted Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic, Franklin’s expedition was beset with death and difficulty before becoming ice-bound. He and his crew of more than 100 men were never heard from again. Cormac James’ The Surfacing fictionalises the real-life search for Franklin’s missing expedition. Influenced by a hefty finder’s reward, many people took on the challenge and in James’ novel, we find Morgan, second-in-command, dealing with a wayward captain and impossible task. On board we discover that stowed away is Morgan’s pregnant lover, about to give birth to their son. Too late to return to port and civilisation, the baby will be born in a world of men and of extreme peril; from this arena James’ novel charts the pressure bearing down on Morgan. The ice, the weather, a mother and baby are closing in on the crew and the atmosphere is one of both claustrophobia and, in the end, of hope. ‘The sun’ says Morgan ‘every day gets closer.’ [Sacha Waldron]

Out now, published by For Books’ Sake, RRP £9.99

Out now, published by Sandstone Press, RRP £8.99

Out now, published by Freight Books, RRP £14.99

Review

BOOKS

THE SKINNY

ATM14: ReMix

Bloomberg New Contemporaries

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Qiu Xiaofei - Mountain Behind Wood Behind Mountain

A plane hangs defiantly upward at the heart of Bury Sculpture Centre’s lofty exhibition space. Nearby televisions gurgle an asylum song that echoes the minstrel tunes heard from further within the galleries. Part of this year’s Asia Triennial Manchester, ReMix brings together three artists from China and three from the UK. The six have, we’re told, remixed their work from previous Platform China exhibitions, however, bafflingly, we’re given no indication of what the originals looked like. Despite this, the new work is strong enough in its own right. Several works reconfigure their own artistic concerns across established cultural and national boundaries. This is most apparent in David Blandy’s Fortress of Solitude and Jin Shan’s One Man Island which both deal with vastly different ideas of self-projection. Shan’s bank of ten televisions all play a series of short clips depicting a moment in Shan’s life over the past year and a half. The repetition of turning pages, the murderous clatter of knives, the fragments of song and maddening lullaby are disturbing and affecting. With such a range of action across the screens, odd flickers of logic between the frantic visions become compelling. Blandy presents a more measured intrusion into the personal, with the artist’s childhood man-cave entirely recreated within the Sculpture Centre. Vinyls, books, video games and

October 2014

Liverpool’s World Museum is a funny place to hold Bloomberg New Contemporaries. You other formative memorabilia are all on loan for are greeted by a waving man in a cuddly globe us to explore. This kind of casually confessional costume. Googly-eyed jellyfish swim around his approach represents, perhaps, a more western shoulders. A guide next to him invites us to an idea of openness than Shan’s, but one that is exhibition about bacteria. It seems pretty buzzy, equally intriguing. filled with children. We pass a Japanese spider Introspection is another key theme, with crab and a nice bit of Easter Island head before Pei Li’s Ms Lonely, a small cardboard sanctuary arriving into BNC proper. It’s packed in this year, covered with disturbing messages of isolation, perhaps less sophisticatedly hung than previous offering a rare moment of quiet in the room. AK editions but cosy nonetheless. Dolven, too, in between the morning and the Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Enrico David and handbag, follows a similar path, presenting a con- Goshka Macuga have selected for 2014 and they tainer painted entirely white on the inside save induct visitors into the show with a statement, for the projection of a woman nude but for her ‘We’re All Very Disappointed,’ a large wall of handbag. The invitation to walk barefoot into the monoprints from the RCA’s Alice Hartley. sculpture works well, with the wood underfoot Video dominates this year. Goldsmith’s echoing the blend of skin and stone within. Racheal Crowther films a snake exploring her These are all artificial recreations of experi- degree show space before installation. The snake ence, something Qiu Xiaofei expertly plays with is intercut with scratchy footage of what looks in his cunning Mountain Behind Wood Behind like a fish factory and is overlaid with slogans for Mountain. Here a small painting of a small paintDIY and hair-styling products that sometimes ing surrounded by wooden plinths is showcased, flash neon and wiggle about the screen. This the wooden plinths themselves existing both in is Trecartin on an ambient Valium comedown. the artwork and as physical towers around us as Further into the exhibition, however, the video we admire the work and its structural alchemy. offering becomes really interesting. Ting & Tang: anachronisms by Falmouth’s Frances Williams is Xiaofei pulls at the seams of conception and the most intriguing. Two men sit side-by-side as if questions the stability of reality – especially on stage preparing for a performance, before risinteresting considering the wide spread of work ing into a ritualistic dance with each other. Twisty the show offers. [Tom Kwei] lines of disturbance sporadically distort the ReMix runs at Bury Sculpture Centre until 30 May 2015 image. With a rather disturbing found-footage

ART

Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2014

quality, the work is refreshingly hard to pin down. Elsewhere, promising works (video again) come from Manchester’s Joseph Whitmore, whose repetitive abstract lines show a touch of Len Lye, and Wimbledon’s Victoria Grenier dances in a starry desk-top universe wearing Beetlejuice-like crocodile slippers. It’s strange that the decision has been made to show 99% of these works on black flatscreens mounted on plinths; with video-fatigue kicking in, some seating or viewing comfort would have been welcome. Sculpture is definitely in the minority but a covetable inclusion is Artefact, Artifact from Glasgow’s Tess Vaughan, a little concrete monster that’s a cross between the Easter Island head from downstairs and the cutest teacup puppy. Another stand-out, painting this time, comes from Falmouth’s Ed Hill. His trio shows a man standing on a mountain rock, in a bee suit at night and lying in bubbling rapids. The viewer is transported to a 1970s hike in Yosemite to the soundtrack of Simon and Garfunkel. It’s the most carefree summer in this moustachioed young man’s life, and I want to be in those paintings with him, wrapped in an unknown landscape of muddy greens, glowing whites and dusky pink skies. [Sacha Waldron] Bloomberg New Contemporaries is at the World Museum, Liverpool, until 26 Oct, before travelling to the ICA, London, 26 Nov-25 Jan www.newcontemporaries.org.uk

Review

Photo: Steve Judson

World Museum, Liverpool

Photo: Yang Chao

Bury Sculpture Centre

October Film Events Unsurprisingly, horror dominates this month’s film happenings: The Exorcist, Beetlejuice and Hocus Pocus liven up Halloween, the Ghostbusters are back on the big screen after three decades, and gorehounds make their annual pilgrimage to Grimmfest The Babadook

Palo Alto

Director: Gia Coppola Starring: Jack Kilmer, Emma Roberts, Nat Wolff Released: 17 Oct Certificate: 15

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Life After Beth

Director: Jeff Baena Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C Reilly Released: 3 Oct Certificate: 15

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Ever wondered why Renaissance dreamboat James Franco was taking all those Ivy League writing courses? Turns out he was penning short story collection Palo Alto, which follows a handful of dazed and confused teens in the Californian town of the title. Director Gia Coppola (granddaughter of Francis, niece of Sofia) deftly shapes those stories into dreamy vignettes centred around Teddy (Jack Kilmer, son of Val), a sweet, listless stoner, and April (Emma Roberts, niece of Julia), the girl he fancies from afar. Like her aunt Sofia, Coppola has an uncanny knack for mood. The film’s atmosphere is balmy, ripe for teenage antics and anguish. We drift from the lazy after school hangout hours to the high-sexed hothouses that are teenage house parties. Coppola’s style is swoony and elegant: her camera (under the control of Autumn Durald) effortlessly glides as we follow Teddy on his skateboard or April on the soccer field. She’s a dream with actors too: Kilmer and Robert’s tender, heartfelt performances give real depth to familiar coming-of-age pangs and pinings. [Jamie Dunn]

Life After Beth is a romantic zombie comedy drama. Or, as anyone fond of cinematic abbreviations might say, a rom-zom-com-dram. Dane DeHaan plays Zach, a grief-stricken teenager who is struggling to cope with the recent death of his beloved girlfriend, Beth (Aubrey Plaza). Not long after the funeral, however, Beth turns up at her parents’ house as if nothing has happened, and it soon becomes clear that something isn’t quite right. Beth’s zombification is a gradual process – an interesting change to the norm – and Plaza’s committed performance sells the various transitions her character goes through. Unfortunately, though, the film itself is tonally uneven and thinly stretched – even at a relatively brisk 85 minutes – while certain members of the cast seem to be on a different page from everyone else. There are pleasures to be found, including Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s ominous electric-guitar score, but Life After Beth is one or two re-writes away from where it needs to be. [Stephen Carty]

The Babadook

Northern Soul

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Director: Jennifer Kent Starring: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall Released: 24 Oct Certificate: 15

Director: Elaine Constantine Starring: Steve Coogan, John Thomson, Ricky Tomlinson Released: 17 Oct Certificate: 15

Mining terrifying themes of maternal instincts, debut writer-director Kent’s cerebral spook story marks her as a talent to watch. Essie Davis is extraordinary as recently widowed Amelia, who’s struggling to juggle the responsibility of young son Samuel’s behavioural issues while maintaining her job and their home. But when Samuel starts interacting with seemingly imaginary creature the Babadook, things get much more sinister than simply making ends meet. Refreshing for several reasons – not least for having the balls to offer a child protagonist who is a genuine little shit – Kent’s picture has all the requisite creepy atmosphere of your standard possessed-home flick, but its trump card is an almost unbearable dread born of its smartly handled ambiguity. Is there an evil spectre in here? Could Amelia actually be doing this all herself? Is it a bit of both? A mother harming her child is a thought so appalling it doesn’t require additional theatricality, so that Kent makes it all work and actually manages to instil some humour too is testament to her skill. [Chris Fyvie]

Back in the 60s and 70s, a generation of music fans fell in love with an underground dance movement known as northern soul. Flourishing in the north of England, it was embraced by disenfranchised youths who sought out venues – such as Wigan Casino – where they could spend all night dancing to obscure tracks that had been imported from America. In Northern Soul, we’re invited into this world via John (newcomer Elliot James Langridge), a reclusive Lancashire schoolboy who, when we first meet him, hasn’t quite found his place in life. This changes, however, when he befriends Matt (fellow newcomer Joshua Whitehouse), a would-be DJ passionate about the soul music scene. The story that follows contains a fair amount of sweaty, amphetaminefuelled dancing, which director Elaine Constantine complements with a selection of toe-tapping soundtrack choices. You get a sense that she is more interested in the music scene than the characters themselves, but the authenticity on display is impressive throughout. A Northern Saturday Night Fever? Oh, go on then. [Stephen Carty]

Tony Benn: Will and Testament

’71

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Director: Skip Kite Starring: Tony Benn Released: 3 Oct Certificate: 12A

“Life is like a pebble dropped in a pool.” So muses Tony Benn near the start of this heartfelt look back on his life. If this is true, the late MP was more like a boulder. Skip Kite’s film shows, through interviews with Benn and archive clips from his career, how he made his political splash in the 60s as part of Harold Wilson’s Labour government, and how he continued to make waves long after he was pushed to the party’s fringes. As great company as the man himself is, this hymn to Benn is ultimately disappointing. Despite seemingly unlimited access to this passionate firebrand, Kite fails to get under his skin. Part of the problem is the film’s strange framing structure. Continually we come back to a black box stage where Benn is shown pottering among the flotsam and jetsam of his life – above him, his most damming newspaper headlines float ominously, like Damocles waiting for a nasty paper cut. It’s an abstract, chilly device that doesn’t sit well with the straight talking, warm subject. [Jamie Dunn]

Review

Words: Simon Bland

Director: Yann Demange Starring: Jack O’Connell, Sean Harris, Killian Scott Released: 10 Oct Certificate: 15 Yann Demange’s debut feature is a blistering, disturbing portrayal of one British soldier’s attempt to get back to his Belfast barracks after being stranded behind enemy lines during the Troubles. Jack O’Connell gives a muscular performance as Gary Hook, a young recruit injured in a riot and lost among rows of red brick houses. Initially his concern is to avoid the IRA gang chasing him through the city. As the film progresses, however, it becomes less and less clear whom he can trust. Although the story is rooted in reality – Demange’s up-close, visceral style owes a debt to Paul Greengrass – the film succeeds as much as an action movie as a political thriller. O’Connell takes a similar place to Kurt Russell in a John Carpenter film: he’s thrown into a bewildering, nightmarish world, and his challenge is to survive against the odds. Scripted by Gregory Burke (behind acclaimed play Black Watch), ’71 is authentic and powerful, and deals with the shady politics of the era without ever being bogged down by them. [Sam Lewis]

FILM

ctober is here and 2014 is almost at an end. Scary, isn’t it? Speaking of scary, this month’s torrent of cinematic terrors is enough to keep you firmly in Halloween mode. Manchester’s highly popular horror shindig Grimmfest (2-5 Oct) takes centre stage, with a weekend full of film nasties in what has to be its biggest year yet. There’s lots to see (there’s a full run down opposite), but Friday’s Argento cut of Dawn of the Dead and Saturday’s screenings of Vampy kiwi-comedy What We Do in the Shadows and Zombeavers are sure to be highlights. Meanwhile, Manchester’s Cornerhouse has a dragstravaganza up its sleeve when legendary filmmaker, cult movie icon and drag queen superstar Peaches Christ arrives for an evening of film fun and debauchery on 11 Oct. Direct from San Francisco, Peaches will be in town to introduce a screening of Roger Vadim’s campyclassic Barbarella in her own larger-than-life way. Expect a fully immersive and interactive pre-film show, complete with a ‘Bearbarella’ parody event and a fancy dress Orgasmatron Challenge. We know what you’re thinking: we had you at ‘Orgasmatron,’ right? (Read our interview with Peaches on page 21.)

Ghostbusters

Dust off those proton packs because there’s something strange returning to your neighbourhood this month as Ghostbusters’ anniversary run haunts a number of Liverpool and Manchester cinemas for one day only (28 Oct). Ivan Reitman’s ectoplasmic comedy is celebrating its 30th birthday and it doesn’t take a remastered print to see that it hasn’t aged a day. Prefer to see something new? Don’t miss paternal creeper The Babadook when it arrives at select AMC and Vue cinemas (24 Oct). Aussie director Jennifer Kent’s chilling bedtime story of a troubled child with a bogeyman that just won’t disappear is sure to be the perfect Halloween treat. Talking of everyone’s favourite night of sweets and mischief, head to Liverpool’s FACT on 31 Oct to see director William Friedkin’s cut of The Exorcist resurrected, offering up an extra ten minutes of unseen and unsettling bonus footage guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Manchester’s RAD (Retro and Dangerous) team have a dark double bill for All Hallows’ Eve too, featuring cinema’s number one bio-exorcist and three Salem sisters who just won’t stay dead. So ring in the scariest night of the year with Michael Keaton’s powerhouse turn in Beetlejuice and autumnal 90s fave Hocus Pocus back-to-back at Gorilla, complete with the promise of ghoulish cocktails and undead burgers. Scarily good.

THE SKINNY

Zombeavers

Ghost in the Shell

WolfCop

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Director: Jordan Rubin Starring: Chad Anderson, Lexi Atkins Released: 20 Oct Certificate: 15 The concept of ferocious undead beavers gorged on college kids’ flesh is chucklesome enough to hide a multitude of sins, and Jordan Rubin’s picture certainly stretches that goodwill for a pretty tiresome first half. A standard setup of partying teens in an idyllic lakeside retreat may have been better played straight given the arch, zero-budget tone; some good stuff could have emanated from the cast spouting hokey dialogue in the face of an infestation of fluffy, toothy doom. Instead, Rubin and screenwriting partners Al and Jon Kaplan wait too long to unleash their beasties and lay on some very broad, eye-winking gags, all ranging from ropey to risible with delivery to match. That said, once the critters do attack the frantic pace and inventive gore is loads of fun, and the characters are brought to life by having something more to do than simply act as conduit for pontificating on genre cliché. [Chris Fyvie]

Director: Mamoru Oshii Starring: Atsuko Tanaka, Iemasa Kayumi Released: Out now Certificate: 15

It’s no exaggeration to say that Ghost in the Shell is one of the most influential sci-fi films of the last two decades. Set in a futuristic cyberpunk world, Mamoru Oshii’s anime classic has inspired numerous live action pictures over the years – including, most notably, The Matrix. Adapted from Masamune Shirow’s manga series, it follows an elite public security agency as they attempt to track down an elusive hacker known as the Puppet Master. The film is occasionally guilty of clumsy exposition, and the intricacies of the plot can be difficult to follow on first viewing, but there are more than enough positives to compensate, as Oshii fuses stylish action sequences with arresting visuals and thoughtprovoking questions about what it means to be human. Ghost in the Shell isn’t perfect, but it has an appealing dream-like quality, and the animation is incredibly striking. [Stephen Carty]

Director: Lowell Dean Starring: Leo Fafard, Amy Matysio Released: 13 Oct Certificate: 15 Yet another 80s horror pastiche, WolfCop remembers the rule that some of its predecessors (notably Hobo with a Shotgun) forgot: never let the nastiness outweigh the laughs. And while this tale of an alcoholic Deputy gaining newfound respect for the law when he gets in touch with his inner beast is pretty nasty, some great one-liners, snappy montages and the most hilariously awkward sex scene outwith a Stallone picture keep things the right side of grotesque. Leo Fafard, decidedly lupine even without prosthetics, does well with his dual role and enjoys good chemistry with tinfoilhat-sporting chum Willie and improbably proportioned barmaid/ femme fatale Jessica as they tackle even more improbable organised crime and witchcraft in a sleepy Hicksville town. It’s a bit A-Team, a bit Steven Seagal and a whole lot of fun. [Chris Fyvie]

Moebius

Animal Farm

Blacula – The Complete Collection

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Director: Kim Ki-duk Starring: Cho Jae-hyun, Seo Young-ju Released: 13 Oct Certificate: Kim Ki-duk’s recent films have been as ugly in form as they have been in content. Moebius, his latest psychosexual drama, is no different. Shot hand-held by the director himself, it has the look of a poorly lit home-movie. We open with a wildhaired matriarch taking skewed revenge on her cheating husband by lopping off their teenage son’s penis. This mutilation sets off a series of twisted acts – including two further castrations! – which are framed, preposterously so, as a kind of Buddhist cause-andeffect cycle. What makes Moebius more palatable than, say, Kim’s similarly themed Pieta is that the South Korean bad boy peppers his film’s nastiness with baroque humour. Like in earlier work 3-Iron, dialogue is eschewed, leaving this Oedipal soap-opera to play out like a Greek tragedy crossed with a slapstick body horror. It should be risible but Ki-duk’s committed cast’s laser-like intensity gives his insane vision a warped grace. [Jamie Dunn]

Director: John Halas, Joy Batchelor Starring: Maurice Denham Released: 27 Oct Certificate: U A classroom favourite, Halas and Batchelor’s animated adaptation of Orwell’s classic political fable arrives on Blu-ray with a crisp high-definition transfer. Sixty years on, it still holds up and, for many, remains the definitive adaptation. Bankrolled by the CIA, who insisted on changing Orwell’s original ending, the evils of communism were never less subtle but that doesn’t mean there’s not a lot to enjoy. Indeed, the animation, while crude by today’s standards, lends itself particularly well to the story’s darker moments, most memorably the fate of Boxer, the beloved farm horse, and some grisly executions. The inconsistent tone and lack of subtlety will mean it’s not for everyone, but it’s important to view it in context and, helpfully, extras include commentary from film historian Brian Sibley and a making-of featurette. A great opportunity to check out what is both a worthy adaptation and a genuine piece of anti-communist propaganda. [Scott McKellar]

Director: William Crain, Bob Kelljan Starring: William Marshall, Vonetta McGee Released: 27 Oct Certificate: 15 Today, a torturous pun in the title usually indicates a horror with tongue lodged tightly in cheek (see Zombeaver). So it’s a surprise to discover the kitschy qualities of iconic Blaxploitation horror Blacula don’t eclipse some unexpectedly serious undertones, with a plot that sees African prince Mamuwalde (Marshall) petition Count Dracula for an end to the slave trade, only to wind up shackled and damned. Awakening two centuries later in superfly 70s LA, Mamuwalde spies the double of his deceased wife, and sets about re-claiming his reincarnated bride. Despite pedestrian direction, Blacula remains eminently watchable thanks to classically trained thespian Marshall, whose natural gravitas shines through shoddy makeup. Sequel Scream, Blacula, Scream (also included), is a slicker outing, offering a more innovative, voodoo-laced take on vampire lore, and while neither film is particularly scary, they’re much more enjoyable than the gimmicky premise implies. [Chris Buckle]

Silver Scream Are you looking forward to the sixth Grimmfest? Horror fans can expect a long weekend of werewolves, vampires, killers and, er, beavers

ack for its sixth year, Grimmfest returns with a ferocious lineup spanning bloody belly-ticklers, Euro terrors, mainstream classics and intriguing indies. Between 2-5 October, ticket holders will be treated to exclusive Q&As, surprise screenings and after-show parties galore for some pre-Halloween fun. There’s no denying it: Grimmfest is every northern horror fan’s dream come true (or should that be nightmare?) but with such a chock-a-block schedule, how should you prioritise your time? Here are our picks… Kick off Grimmfest 2014 at the Printworks with something old and something new at the festival’s preview night on 30 Sep. Here you’ll find one of the horror genre’s most enduring baddies celebrating his 30th birthday, as Wes Craven’s 1984 classic A Nightmare on Elm Street brings Freddy back to the big screen. As the movie that redefined the teen slasher for the pop-culture age, Craven’s film has been loved, hated and psychoanalysed during its three-decade lifespan. Attend this special event and you’ll be in with the chance of winning a Blu-ray boxset signed by Krueger himself, actor Robert Englund. Next up, Aussie director Jennifer Kent sends chills with her motherhood monster chiller The Babadook. This hotly tipped horror follows a single mother struggling with the violent death of her husband and an unruly son who’s convinced his bogeyman

October 2014

is lurking somewhere in the house. As things escalate, the line between bedtime story and reality is dangerously blurred. Venezuelan fave The House at the End of Time brings its supernatural presence to Gorilla on 2 Oct, alongside neo-noir revenge thriller Julia, but it’s the following evening of Dario Argento that really excites. Head down to The Dancehouse to catch suspense classic Suspiria scored live in front of your eyes (and ears) by Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin. Stick around and you’ll also catch them doing the same to Argento’s cut of George A Romero’s iconic Zombie masterclass Dawn of the Dead. Things lighten up on 4 Oct with undead Kiwi-comedy What We Do in the Shadows by Flight of the Conchords’ star Jemaine Clement and his long-time collaborator Taika Waititi. This faux-documentary follows the mundane and accidentally hilarious lives of a group of vampire flatmates as they struggle with sunlight issues, immortality and how to keep up with fashion trends without a reflection. Meanwhile, director Jordan Rubin keeps the chuckles coming with his mishmash horror comedy Zombeavers. You may recognize this ‘WTF’ film from a few months ago when its title made the entire internet raise a collective eyebrow. The story? You guessed it: teens + beavers + zombies. Was it worth the wait?

What We Do in the Shadows

Time to find out. And finally, Sunday has a couple of aces up its sleeve in the form of a bite-happy girlfriend and a furry cop. Dane DeHaan gets the shock of his life when his recently deceased ex returns from the dead, proving once and for all that there really is no getting rid of some people. Life After Beth stars Parks and Rec’s Aubrey Plaza and is sure to be one of the day’s most popular screenings. Cut to Sunday evening and the Grimm team call in the fuzz with OTT horror WolfCop. Deep in

DVD / FILM

smalltown America, it takes a drunken encounter with a sinister cult to transform a lazy lawman into a non-stop justice machine. The catch? Fur, sharp teeth and a fear of the full moon. Lowell Dean’s trashy monster comedy may start slow but it leaves a lasting impression, wrapping up Grimmfest 2014 in a whirlwind of blood, gore and DIY filmmaking. Claw-fully good. Grimmfest 2014 runs 2-5 Oct See www.grimmfest.com for the full lineup

Review

Photo: Kane Skennar

Words: Simon Bland

In Good Company: 1956 Theatre Photo: Drew Forsyth Photography

Staging both new writing and new takes on long-established texts, this collective are about to embark on a month-long residency Interview: Martin Poile

It's Play Time

It’s Play Time

Lantern Theatre, 23 Oct Why go to see one play when you can see six in an hour? Young new writing collective Writers on the Brink present their debut show It’s Play Time at Liverpool’s Lantern Theatre in the form of six ten-minute, script-in-hand performances of original new plays. From Aless Castagni’s black comedy about a disillusioned funeral director to Geoff Woodbridge’s tale of idyllic love turned upside down, the plays range in topic from the absurd and the sinister to the romantic and melancholy. Unusual cafe patrons, devious doctors and extrahot, gut-busting chilli sandwiches all make an appearance in this eclectic set of new writing. The idea to found the Writers on the Brink collective belonged to scriptwriter Julian Perkins and agent Diane Culverhouse. Together they coached the six writers with the aim of giving

Preview

valuable professional advice and experience to budding playwrights. “Basically what we tried to do was to take these new writers through a professional scenario: beginning with an idea, pitching it, developing it and eventually creating a script. We’ve taken them through the whole process,” explains Perkins. “We advertised for writers to come on board who hadn’t had anything produced before but had an idea that they were desperate to explore,” he continues. The collective both challenges writers and gives them experience working collaboratively, all with the intention of seeing their idea come to life. Not only is It’s Play Time a great chance to catch some fresh writing and scope out some upand-coming talent, but it’s also an opportunity to support and discover the best of the city’s hidden writers, and share in the stories they have to tell. [Conori Bell-Bhuiyan] 7.30pm, check lanterntheatreliverpool.co.uk for tickets

the focus thrown on the acting and the text. By moving the story from 19th-century America to Britain during the Second World War, they hope to prove that such a classic, well known story can translate effectively to the new setting. The opportunity to work alongside such a strong female ensemble is also an exciting prospect for Ollies, who explains cheerily that it was “lovely to have a piece centred on women!” The company clearly enjoy taking risks and making ambitious decisions with their work, proven by the inclusion of two original pieces of new writing in their upcoming season. Wolf, written by Ollies, is set in Salford during the 1990s and tells the story of raw and intimate

relationships taut with insecurity. Inspired by the writing of playwright Simon Stephens, 1956 Theatre aim to mirror his ambitious and reactive style within their production, while the ‘gritty, northern satire’ of Wolf is something that the company hopes will connect with the people of Manchester. It is thrilling to see this young company emerge as champions of new writing while simultaneously exploring new ways of telling old stories. For more information on 1956 Theatre’s upcoming season visit the company’s website, follow them on Twitter @1956Theatre or check out their Facebook page www.1956theatre.co.uk

Dracula

Photo: Farrows Creative

of the classic novel Great Expectations, and the 1950s noir thriller Dead on Arrival. In the wake of this success, they have secured a month-long residency at Salford Arts Theatre, performing four shows in rep. Ollies, artistic director, describes the leap from a 40- to a 124-seat venue as a “very exciting prospect” and one that will doubtless allow the company to send their theatrical message to a wider audience. The company’s ethos is focused on writing, directing and performing theatre with a heavy emphasis on storytelling, so it comes as little surprise that their first play, Little Women, is being performed in a minimalistic, stylised way with

Photo: Geoff Woodbridge

956 Theatre – a new company established in 2013 – are so named after the year that sparked a wave of change in British theatre, inspired by the bold and unapologetic style found in John Osborne’s groundbreaking play Look Back in Anger. Founded by Amy-Jane Ollies and Lee Lomas (two recent graduates of the University of Salford), they are dedicated to creating bold, ambitious and innovative work for audiences throughout Manchester and the Northwest, with a focus on energetic and exciting stories. They’ve built an impressive network of actors and creatives and boast a company of 12, all of whom share the same ethos: ‘there are no new stories, just new ways of telling them.’ Previously based in The King’s Arms, 1956 Theatre have already garnered critical acclaim for two of their past productions: an adaptation

the vampire in all of us.” Indeed, Dracula has become one of fiction’s most enduring characters. It is not just that Turning a book into a dance piece is never easy; he drinks blood and is undead – though that is with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, it is doubly difficult. frightening enough. It is that he has terrifying reA long, twisting tale told through newspaper serves of superhuman strength and intellect that fragments and detailed diary entries, it is not im- allow him to maim and/or manipulate anyone who mediately obvious how the narrative would trans- stands in his way. Jonathan Goddard as Dracula late from page to stage – and yet the Mark Bruce successfully shows all sides of this complex charCompany have found a way to make it work, with acter, smooth and slippery one moment, jerky a sharp, sepulchral production of Dracula that and ethereal the next. While the production visits Manchester’s Contact Theatre this month. does a great job of, as Bruce puts it, “capturing While sticking with the basic structure, the magic” of Dracula, we would still recommend reading up on the plot beforehand – it can be a Bruce and his team have refined and revised touch tricky to follow otherwise. the story. There is no dialogue, so the producAccessible, and without the total abstraction uses atmospheric Eastern European music tion that often alienates people from dance and complex sets to convey changes of time and performances, this is a piece for those unfamiliar place, while the dancers emote and evoke with their bodies alone. However, says Bruce, the core with dance as well as those looking to see the art at its best. [Andrew Anderson] of what makes the book so good has remained: “Dracula gets under people’s skin. I think people 7.30pm, £15 (£10) identify with him... perhaps there’s something of Contact, 10-11 Oct

THEATRE

THE SKINNY

Spotlight: Danny Sutcliffe Follow the yellow brick road with this Twitter-quipping, elephant-fighting comic Interview: John Stansfield

eing funny in 140 characters is a tough ask, which is why a lot of comedians shy away from the clipped style afforded to them by Twitter and its short attention span. But for those who have embraced the format, it’s provided them with another avenue to find new fans via abstract musings. One such tweeting hero is this month’s Spotlighter Danny Sutcliffe, who, with pithy wonders such as “If you drink Evian backwards, they let you go home from work early” and “If you don’t make a parping noise after Patrick Swayze sings ‘She’s like the wind’ then you probably weren’t asked to leave the wake” has marked himself as one of the best Mancunians to follow. He recently cemented this reputation by taking over uber-cool bar Gorilla’s Twitter feed to promote Group Therapy, going on a fictitious – and hilarious – rampage across the city dressed as a gorilla, obviously. Hailing from the mean streets of Droylsden, he has won a host of comedy competitions, and dazzles with his mix of surreal and observational gags. A manic, unruly energy belies a great writing talent, managing to jump the gap between tweet and routine with ease. First gig: “At the Comedy Store Manchester after

completing a comedy course run by Ashley Boroda and Seymour Mace. It was lovely.” Best gig: “Not my gig, but French electro DJs Justice at Madison Square Garden in 2009. Amazing night. After the gig they glassed a lad in the car park.” Worst gig: “Getting glassed in Madison Square Garden car park at a Justice concert in 2009.” Circuit favourites in the Northwest: “Colin at The Frog and Bucket. Sound guy.” Favourite venue: “Alton Towers. It’s mint. They’ve got a KFC now.” Best heckle: “My dad (to a cyclist that pulled out on us in the street when he was driving): ‘YELLOW BRICK ROAD, KNOBHEAD.’ He meant to shout ‘Green Cross Code… KNOBHEAD.’” What would you be doing if you weren’t doing standup? “Crying in a call centre and getting pissed at lunchtime.”

If you were on death row, what would your last meal be? And why are you on death row? “Sunday dinner made by me mam. Class. That gravy. Phwoar. I’m on death row for killing an entire stag party dressed up as bananas. They wouldn’t get chance to execute me though. Steven Seagal would break me out. He owes me. Wait ’til I’ve had my Sunday dinner first though, eh Steve, OK? LOL! What’s the largest animal you think you could beat in a fight? No weapons. “Elephant. Piece of piss. Actually, what has everyone else put? Bring them ‘n’ all. Join the queue pal. I’ll fuck theirs up as well. #doublehard.”

If you lived in medieval times what would you do for a living? “I’d be a jack of all trades. King of the spiders. Systems analyst for Fujitsu. Father Christmas.” Question from past Spotlighter Rachel Fairburn: What do you think is on my mantelpiece? “A broken flask. MY broken flask. And I want it back.” Danny plays Comedy Store, Manchester, 23 Oct, and Manchester Rugby Club, 24 Oct @dannysutcliffes www.dannysutcliffe.co.uk

‘A beautiful, eloquent, dazzlingly inventive show about the wonders of life.’ Evening Standard

BASED ON THE NOVEL BY

MARK HADDON ADAPTED BY

SIMON STEPHENS

Thanks to the City of Liverpool for its financial support

THE SMASH HIT WEST END SHOW IS COMING TO THE LOWRY

0843 208 6010 | www.thelowry.com THU 18 DEC 2014 – SAT 10 JAN 2015

Box Office 0151 709 4776 everymanplayhouse.com

October 2014

COMEDY

Preview

Win £250 to spend at Win tickets to Wild a Dr. Martens store Beasts at Liverpool Music Week

To celebrate its new Spirit of ’69 collection Dr. Martens has teamed up with The Skinny to offer readers a chance to win £250 to spend in one of its UK stores.

The Spirit of ’69 collection remembers first-generation skinheads and their passion for style and detail, materials and practical durability with its Dr. Martens footwear, shirts from Brutus, Edwin Jeans, MA-1 flight jackets from Alpha Industries and a special edition Trojan Records box. The Spirit of ’69 campaign features two modernday skinheads, Michael and Anita, and was shot by renowned subcultural observer and fashion photographer Gavin Watson. #STANDFORSOMETHING For your chance to win, head to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and correctly answer the following question: Which photographer shot the Spirit of ‘69 campaign for Dr. Martens? A) Gavin White B) Gavin Watson C) Gavin Black Competition closes midnight Sunday 2 November. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our Ts&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

Kendal quartet Wild Beasts have had an eventful 2014. Their fourth album was rapturously received by the public and critics on its release back in February, and that was followed by a lively UK tour and a busy summer delighting festivalgoers. They top off a great year by curating a special show for Liverpool Music Week on Thursday 30 October, performing with specially chosen acts including Bella Union's Money and Nimmo and the Gauntletts. To be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets to the show, head to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and correctly answer the following question:

What is the name of Wild Beasts’ fourth album? A) Past Tense B) Present Tense C) Future Tense Competition closes midnight Monday 20 October. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 24 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our Ts&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

CIDE

R MO

NTH

BAR FRINGE’S HALLOWEEN BBQ Friday 31st October. Fancy dress 5 gallons of cider for best costume Bring your own wheelbarrow!

CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE

SWAN ST, MANCHESTER, 0161 835 3815

COMPETITIONS

THE SKINNY

Eye on Community The people who make up the Northwest indie game development scenes are a diverse lot, but the uniting factor is their love of videogames and technology. Our tech reporter offers an introduction to a thriving, welcoming space

he Northwest is a vibrant region for independent developers of apps and games, with people gathering to share their ideas socially over a beer or in shared workspaces across the major cities. Much of the indie scene has centred itself in Manchester as a historical technological powerhouse, and locals agree that the scene is resurgent after many smaller development houses were bought out in the 1990s. Social events offer opportunities to network and collaborate, to talk shop about processes, and to make new friends. Because of networking at regular meetups such as North West Playtesters or Indie Drinks, Thumbfood CEO Simon Smith was able to find the people he needed to complete his series of web-based games for Manchester City FC – including freelance coder Tom Fletcher. Friendly ‘jam’ events, such as Ludum Dare or Game Jam, are held regularly and are a good opportunity to try new skills or show off in friendly competition. Phi Dinh, creator of TinyKeep (a 3D dungeon crawler game for Windows and Mac), says that Manchester is “better than London in terms of the community stuff.”

“I love the process of seeing ideas that I’ve written in a notebook become something that is actually playable” Tom Fletcher

The people who make up the indie development scenes across the Northwest are a diverse lot, but the uniting factor is their love of videogames and technology. It’s not all freshfaced Millennials either – but the age difference between members does show off the rapidity of technological development. For the older among them, tinkering with games started in the late 1980s/early 1990s. They wanted to see the capabilities of their computers, and back in those days manufacturers provided a manual with how to create programs on the computer you had just bought. Tinkering and “rolling your own [game] was normal in those days,” says hobbyist gamedesigner and career coder Tom Cooper. The next step from reading the instruction manual was playing with the games and software bundled with popular magazines, and later advertised on user forums. Software like The Games Factory let users manipulate objects in the game directly and modified code for them. This became popular when Valve and Blizzard Entertainment released level editors for their franchises Half-Life and Warcraft respectively. Tinkering built confidence, and many of these indie developers started to look under the hood to see what changes were being made to the code itself. A simple introduction in formative years led to university studies, or to self-study of programming languages and coding fundamentals. The journeys people take to reach their aspirations vary widely, with the backgrounds of community members surprising in their diversity. The expectation could be to encounter mainly

October 2014

Interview: Natasha Bissett Illustration: Roel van Eekelen

undergraduate or graduate students of computer sciences or video game degrees, but this isn’t the case. Philip Norton, who runs the North West Drupal User Group, originally studied microbiology and worked on making sterile implants out of pig skin collagen. It was his exposure to the software controlling the implants that sparked the idea to pursue an MSc in computing. Adrian Nichols, who runs What Gap Limited in Chester, did complete an IT degree but afterwards joined the Royal Corps of Signals. The skills and discipline he learned in the army empowered him to develop his skills in application development through workplace roles. After leaving the army, Nichols completed a postgraduate diploma in business intelligence to try to unify development and delivery by managing freelancers in eCommerce, web development and application development. Luke Thompson recently completed his PhD in physics, but decided to leave academia behind to apply his skills to a life-long passion for gaming and game development. No doubt he, like Alex Rose of Vorpal Games, found a strong background in maths and physics a boon when programming and using trigonometry. Perhaps this is the secret to making high-level maths seem relevant to school children: tell them they can make video games with it. For many, the decision to pursue game and app development accompanies a financial decision to try to make money. Like every commercial decision, development has its financial risks, and some developers rely on the support of their families; others take on contract work developing and managing applications or websites, and some have a day job that provides them the financial stability they need to pursue their development dreams. For many, the goal is to make development a financially sound career, though it isn’t always clear how to significantly break into a saturated international industry. Fortunately, events like Drink Up! offer the opportunity to mix developers and investors in a social setting. But money isn’t everything (though it is pretty important), and playtesting events are a great way to get first-hand feedback and reactions. Alex Rose, creator of the addictive Super Meat Boy-esque Rude Bear series, said, “I love the beginning of development, prototyping, playing my own games, and then most of all I love watching people play, or hearing people tell me they got addicted [to my game].” Mark Frimston, who makes games as a hobby, sees creating a product people will enjoy as the “holy grail” of development and the real driving force for his creativity. Some developers are process-driven, like Tom Fletcher, who says, “I enjoy solving the problems you encounter when coding a game. I also love the process of seeing ideas that I’ve written in a notebook become something that is actually playable.” For others, the thrill is in the final product, like for Phi Dinh who enjoys seeing his ideas come to perfect fruition: “I’m a perfectionist. I love arts and crafts and spending ridiculous amount of time polishing meticulous detail.” Even if you aren’t a developer, the indie community is friendly and welcoming to anyone interested in video games, technology and apps. It’s a great chance to network for future projects and meet interesting people from all over while enjoying a drink, playing, and giving feedback on next-generation indie creations. These community groups, small or large, are at the heart of the social vibrancy and technological future of the Northwest. For more coverage, visit theskinny.co.uk/tech

TECH

Preview

Manchester Music Tue 30 Sep THE BESNARD LAKES

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £12

Psychedelic and progressive pop offerings from the charming Montreal foursome, formed in 2003 by the husband and wife team of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas. SBTRKT

ALBERT HALL, 19:30–23:00, £17.50

Aaron James’ alter-ego returns face-mask presumably still intact - as he readies new album Wonder Where We Land. NANA MOUSKOURI

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £40

Most people have cake and a party, Nana Mouskouri has a whole tour. The singer is joined by four musicians plus daughter Lénou on stage. GUNNAROLLA

FALLOW CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £5

The Canadian Youtube musicians play their greatest viral hits on tour.

Wed 01 Oct

MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA (BAD BOOKS)

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £14

The Atlanta-based lot (aye, get over it, they’re not from Manchester) play a set of heavy rock, predominantly cherrypicked from their new LP, Cope. COLD SPECKS

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £8 EARLYBIRD (£10 THEREAFTER)

Young Toronto singer/songwriter (aka Al Spx), spreading the doom soul vibe as only she knows how. THIS WILD LIFE

SOUND CONTROL, 18:00–22:00, £10

Acoustic duo hailing from Long Beach, California, bringing the punk pop sound. THE BOXER REBELLION

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £13

The London-based DIY rock lot take their arena-sized tunes on the road, playing tracks offa their latest album and generally bringing venues to a standstill. MARMOZETS (LONELY THE BRAVE)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £9

Cheeky young alternative math rock lot Marmozets take to the road alongside self described ‘epic rock’ foursome Lonely the Brave. THE VAMPS

O2 APOLLO, 18:30–22:30, £29.50

Acoustic-driven British pop unit led by singer Brad Simpson. MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £25

Rare show from the multi-award winning American singer/songwriter, performing some of her greatest hits alongside new album Songs From The Movie, with the Manchester Camerata. CHALI 2NA

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £17.50

Part of the legendary Jurassic 5, Chali 2NA strikes out on his own. THOMAS NICHOLAS BAND

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £5

One of the actors from American Pie playing acoustic music!? Count us in!

Thu 02 Oct

SYD ARTHUR (I SEE ANGELS)

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £6 EARLYBIRD (£8 THEREAFTER)

Young psychedelic pin-up hailing from Canterbury. GOD DAMN (KAGOULE)

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:30, £6

Bluesy grunge trio hailing from The Black Country, citing the likes of The Melvins and Pixies as their influences THE VAMPS

O2 APOLLO, 18:30–22:30, £29.50

Acoustic-driven British pop unit led by singer Brad Simpson. MADBALL

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £12

The New York City hardcore fourpiece hit the road again. APES

FALLOW CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £6

The Australian rockers make their UK debut with a string of four dates.

Fri 03 Oct TERRI SHALTIEL

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Terri Shaltiel returns to Manchester with her powerful and soulful voice, offering original 60s and 70s inspired sounds in the realm of Etta James and Roberta Flack. THE MENZINGERS

GORILLA, 18:30–22:00, £12

Live set from the American punk unit. GULP

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £7

The project of Lindsey Leven and Super Furry Animals’ Guto Pryce tour their warped and wonderful Welsh psych pop, with acclaim ringing out for their debut album Season Sun, out on Sonic Cathedral. XFM FIRST FRIDAY (THE GRAMOTONES + NEON WALTZ)

BAND ON THE WALL, 21:00–02:00, £6 EARLYBIRD (£8 THEREAFTER)

The return of the monthly live XFM showcase with Tim Cocker as Master of Ceremonies. BLACK MOTH

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £8

The Leeds based heavy garage rockers take to the UK in support of their second record Condemned To Hope. HOPSIN

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £13.50

LA-based hip-hop rapper, producer, director and actor, aka Marcus Jamal Hopson to his mammy. ATMOSPHERE

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £14

Hip-hop duo hailing from Minneapolis, consisting of rapper Slug and DJ/producer Ant. BUZZCOCKS (THE DOLLYROTS)

THE RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £20

The original punk rockers take to the road, a little balder but still in possession of all the hits. GOBLIN SCORE SUSPIRIA

THE DANCEHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £25

Italian 70 progressive rock legends Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin perform a live score to Dario Argento horror cult classic Suspiria. AVI BUFFALO

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £10

Alternative-styled Long Beach ensemble founded by singer/ songwriter and guitarist, Avi Zahner-Isenberg. NINE BELOW ZERO

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £15

Punk veterans from the late 70s still bringing plenty of energy in 2014. U.V (WOLF SOLENT)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £3

EP launch for the bewitching dream-pop duo, with support from their York brethren Wolf Solent.

Sat 04 Oct

THE TRAVELLING BAND

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £10

Manchester alternative folkies, all shimmering and harmonic in their understated psychedelia kind of way. DRY THE RIVER

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

London-based quintet of the ‘stealth rock’ variety, out and celebrating the release of their sophomore LP. CHILDHOOD

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £8

The London-based four-piece, formed at Nottingham University in 2011, bring their indie pop sound to an intimate setting. OXJAM MANCHESTER TAKEOVER

VARIOUS VENUES, 12:00–23:00, PRICES VARY

Oxfam take over the Northern Quarter (Gullivers, The Castle and Kraak to name a few venues) with their eclectic mix of music spanning hip-hop, folk, disco and motown. BLITZ KIDS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £8

Alternative rock foursome formed by a band of school chums from Nantwich.

FKA TWIGS ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:30, £12

The Artist Formerly Known As Twigs, before anyone knew she’d ever been called Twigs, plays a live set off the back of some major hype. PART CHIMP (HEY COLOSSUS + ELOHYMN)

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £8.50

A treble dose of tinnitus-inducing noise, headed up by the gnarliest of London noise rockers, Part Chimp. BUDKA SUFLERA

THE RITZ, 18:00–22:00, £30

Veteran Polish rockers best known for their ballads Jolka Jolka and Za ostatni grosz. Of course. JAKE ISAAC

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:15, £7

First UK headline tour from the ascendant South London singer songwriter. THE HALLÉ CLASSICAL EXTRAVANGANZA

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £19

Featuring Sibelius, Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, among others.

Sun 05 Oct FUTURE OF THE LEFT

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £11

The Welsh alternative rockers tour their current re-jigged, beefed-up line-up. STRAND OF OAKS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £8

Stage moniker of Timothy Showalter, a singer/songwriter hailing from Philadelphia, weaving true stories into his indie folk sounds. OXJAM MANCHESTER TAKEOVER

VARIOUS VENUES, 12:00–23:00, PRICES VARY

Oxfam take over the Northern Quarter (Gullivers, The Castle and Kraak to name a few venues) with their eclectic mix of music spanning hip-hop, folk, disco and motown. THE TWILIGHT SAD (ERRORS)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £11.50

The Twilight Sad get back on the road fresh from celebrating the anniversary of debut LP Fourteen Winters and Fifteen Nights, and with a new record in tow. Support from Errors too you say!? Colour us excited. NATALIE HOLMES

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–23:00, £6

Over the past four years Natalie Holmes has gained now with over a million hits on YouTube, added 16,000 subscribers, 4,000 Facebook likes and released three EP&rsquo;s on iTunes. What do you mean ‘what does her music sound like?’ Isn’t it obvious? BEDNAREK

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–22:30, £23

The latest in what we’d imagine is quite a short line of Polish reggae sensations. CIGDEM ASLAN

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:30, £14

Rising star in the revival of the rebetiko working class folk of Athens, Greece.

Mon 06 Oct ELIZA AND THE BEAR

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8

Tue 07 Oct JAMES YORKSTON

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £12.50

The Fife dweller and sometime Fence Collective dabbler performs tracks from his newest album, The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society, as well as some cherry-picked old faves. MUGENKYO TAIKO DRUMMERS

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 20:00–22:30, £20

Legendary taiko drumming group, built on thunderous drum rhythms layered with percussive soundscapes and precise choreography. OUTFIT

GULLIVERS, 20:00–23:00, £7.50

Liverpudlian guitar-pop ensemble playing a selection of new stuff off their forthcoming LP. CROCODILES

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £9

San Diego garage rock duo made up of Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell, touring their 2013 LP, Crimes of Passion. ELLA EYRE

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £13

Young Brit School graduate built on feisty songwriting, a bountiful crop of curly hair and powerhouse vocals that belie her years. POLAR STATES

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £5

New band straight outta Toxteth who’ve already worked with Grammy Award-winning producers n’ the like. JEX THROTH (BISMUTH + WILDERNESS HYMNAL)

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £9.50

Wisconsin psychedelic doom band named after their front woman.

Wed 08 Oct TOM VEK

GORILLA, 19:30–22:30, £11

More dreamy, lo-fi rock from the self-taught multi-instrumentalist musician, known to his mammy as Thomas Timothy Vernon-Kell. THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £13.50

Still partying like nu-rave never went away, the Shrewsbury-viaLeeds group hit the road again. SARA LOWES

KRAAK, 19:30–22:30, £6

Manchester-via-the-North East musician and writer, with a skill for fusing classic influences through thoroughly modern composition. TALL SHIPS (TROJAN HORSE)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:15, £10

The Falmouth-born and Brightonbased math-rockers are built on honed indie-art-rock compositions with explorative arrangements and understated production. MAX JURY

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £8

Young Iowa singer/songwriter built on a love of great American songwriting from the likes of Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons and Paul Simon.

Thu 09 Oct NELL BRYDEN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £14

The young New York-based singer/ songwriter plays a solo set. THE HALLÉ

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £13

The Hallé’s Autumn season continues with some special guests and a run through the classical canon.

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £6.50

Up and coming Liverpool troupe who’ve been described as like 808 State having a meeting mid-Channel to hear some French electronic by Space Disco You.

MODDI

The Norwegian musician from the island of Senja off the coast of Norway embarks on his own Viking invasion of delectable melodies and careful interplay. THE ALTERED HOURS

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £5

Irish psych types, crossing the sea for their UK tour. LETHAL BIZZLE

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £12.50

Hard-working London rapper whose recently enjoyed a return to the UK top 20 with singles The Drop and Rari WorkOut. JOHN LEGEND

The nine-time Grammy Award winner brings his velvet soft R&B to the UK.

Listings

Amelia Meath’s supposed-to-be solo project, which turned into a duo when she met electronic producer Nick Sanborn.

Five piece euphoric indie pop/ rock lot hailing from London and featuring neither Eliza, nor indeed a bear.

O2 APOLLO, 18:30–22:30, FROM £32.50

SYLVAN ESSO SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £6.50

THE TEA STREET BAND

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:30, £6

WOODWARD

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £7

The Brighton pop rock four-piece get in the van and haul themselves round the UK. SHAKKA

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:15, £9

Notting Hill singer songwriter influenced by everything from Bob Marley and Andre 3000 to Coldplay and The Police. Hmmm.

MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL: IF... WITH BILL RYDER-JONES MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, 20:00–22:30, £15

The former Coral man revisits his debut solo LP, as part of Manchester Literature Festival. PATCHWORK (NUDE + KIERA LAWLOR + LITTLE RACH + LIZZIE JANE)

THE CINNAMON CLUB, 19:30–23:00, £5

Several local artists come together to raise money for for the PatchWork Service, a Mobile Artistic Mental Health and Wellbeing Service for Trafford and South Manchester.

Fri 10 Oct HONEYFEET

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

MDNGHT

LEFT LANE CRUISER

HUNDRED WATERS

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £8

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £8

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £8

Mancunian live house four-piece, responsible for dream pop anthem, I Will Lead You On.

Whisky-fuelled three-man frenzy of blues-driven rock ‘n’ roll.

ALBERT HALL, 21:00–04:00, FROM £25

Having played in Miles Davis’ 1980s band, Mike Stern carries the jazz/ blues/rock fusion concept into the 21st century.

FAC51 THE HACIENDA: HAPPY MONDAYS

The old boys won’t move on so neither should we. The Happy Monday headline a line-up plucked straight from the late 80’s. PSYCHOTIC REACTION

THE CASTLE HOTEL + GULLIVERS, 15:00–00:00, £8

Double-venue psych mayhem as Interstellar Overdrive and Abattoir Blues take over Oldham Street for this all-dayer. DENNIS BOVELL DUB BAND WITH CARROLL THOMPSON (DJ MIKEY DON)

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £13 EARLYBIRD (£15 THEREAFTER)

The Manchester-based six-piece, making raucous and rowdy folkhop, led by the distinct vocals of Rioghnach Connolly.

British reggae double bill as Carroll Thompson joins Dennis Bovell and his renowned Dub Band.

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:00-22:00, £25

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £12

CLINT MANSELL

BBC PHILHARMONIC

English musician, composer and former lead singer of Pop Will Eat Itself, performing a special set alongside his band, pianist Carly Paradis and the Sonus Quartet.

The BBC Philharmonic’s season continues with a journey through an array of compositional masterpieces.

ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, 19:00–22:30, £10

BLACK VEIL BRIDES (ATILLA + FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS + DRAMA CLUB)

JOSH RECORD

The Londoner tours in support of his debut LP, Pillars. TIJUANA BIBLES

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £6

Glasgow rock’n’rollers built on a diet of gritty guitars, driving bass lines, baritone vocals and rocksteady drums.

THIS FEELING 8TH BIRTHDAY (EUGENE MCGUINNESS)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 20:00–23:00, £5

Some-time Domino Records artist Eugene McGuinness helps This Feeling celebrate their eighth birthday. JONNY GREENWOOD

ALBERT HALL, 19:30–23:00, £25

The Radiohead guitarist and composer is joined by the London Contemporary Orchestra for some choice cuts from his soundtrack back catalogue, which includes scoring There Will Be Blood, The Master and Norwegian Wood. IYANYA

THE RITZ, 20:00–03:00, £25

Nigerian born artist Iyanaya, exploded onto the African music scene in 2012 and now setting his sights on the rest of the world. DAN WILSON

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £16

Sun 12 Oct

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £20

Glam metal-styled Hollywood rock quintet back-combed, leather-clad and eyelinered to the max, as per the Black Veil Brides law. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–22:30, £13.50

The Brooklyn quartet return to the UK in support of their forthcoming fourth album Only Run. MARK MORRISS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:30, £12.50

The Bluetones frontman takes to the road lonesome, now firmly a solo entity following the band’s split (and farewell tour) at the end of 2011. CLOUD BOAT

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:00, £7

London-based duo ditching their electronically embellished brossinging-around-a-woodlandcampfire schtick for a more full-band sounding aesthetic on new LP, Model of You. MAMA’S GUN

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10

The Godmother of freak folk hits the road again, with new album Heartlap out on Fat Cat Records.

GRANT-LEE PHILIPS & HOWE GLEB

Twisted Americana meeting of minds, as angsty country chap Grant-Lee Phillips co-headlines with alternative country godfather (and Giant Sands frontman) Howe Gelb. GHOULS

FALLOW CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £5

Energetic five-piece punk from London.

Sat 11 Oct

THE MANCHESTER CUNNING FOLK FESTIVAL (TOMORROWS TULIPS + BRACE/CHOIR + POLITBURO + VELVET MORNING + MORE) KRAAK, 15:00–23:00, £9

Leonard Skully, spoken word night Paradox and the Strange Days promoters team up for a weird and wonderful all-dayer. KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 18:30–22:00, £14

Cardiff hailing rock styled five-piece. MILES & ERICA

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £10

Made up of front man Miles Hunt and violinist Erica Nockalls of The Wonder Stuff. GLASS ANIMALS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £10

Baroque folk trio with distinct pop(ish) influences, still riding the wave of their debut LP, ZABA.

Wed 15 Oct

Fri 17 Oct

WHEATUS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £13

New York indie-popsters led by Brendan B. Brown and his heartfelt nasally drawl, forever defined by hit single Teenage Dirtbag. OPETH

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £21.50

The Swedish progressive metal kings return to the UK. THE AMAZING SNAKEHEADS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £9

Glasgow-based rock’n’rollers gently imbuing their sound with a bit o’ garage blues. KISHI BASHI

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £8

The singer, violinist and composer continues his solo orchestral project – known for playing around with a dazzling array of vocal and violin loops. THE HALLÉ

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 14:15–17:15, FROM £13

The Hallé’s Autumn season continues with some special guests and a run through the classical canon. LOSERS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–23:00, £8

VASHTI BUNYAN

ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, 20:00–22:30, £18.50

Mon 13 Oct LAURA VEIRS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £16.50

The Colorado singer/songwriter does her lush acoustic thing, showcased no sweeter than on new album Tumble Bee – a selection of children’s songs drawn from US folk tradition. ATTILA

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–22:30, £9

Atlanta party metal behemoths hit the road again. STATES AND EMPIRES

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, FREE

Welsh rock band formed from members of Attack! Attack! last year.

Tue 14 Oct LEVEL 42

O2 APOLLO, 18:30–22:30, £27

The 80s and 90s-straddling English rockers play the hits. ERLAND & THE CARNIVAL

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £8

The nine-time Grammy Award winner brings his velvet soft R&B to the UK. ÁDÁM GYÖRGY

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:30, £22.50

Liszt and Chopin are included in tonight’s programme, as well as some of György’s own work. DANNY AND THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD

Genuinely affecting country-folk from the Australian-born, south London living, Danny George Wilson and his merry band. Roald Dahl similarities left at the title. JAY BRANNAN

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £10.50

The NYC singer/songwriter does his lo-fi indie folk thing, which he self describes as like ‘the little mermaid on crack’, which is nice. KID INK

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £15

The young LA-based rapper, producer and songwriter brings his much-tattooed self to Manchester for the evening. PATENT PENDING

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £10

Infectious and energetic punk-rock outfit hailing from Long Island, New York chock with fist pumps and pop hooks, as standard. THE HALLÉ

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £13

The Hallé’s Autumn season continues with some special guests and a run through the classical canon. IN FLAMES

THE RITZ, 19:00–22:30, £18.50

Gothenburg noisy metal unit on the go since 1990.

SAGE FRANCIS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, FREE

Five-piece formed by members of The Whip and The Earlies with Liam Frost.

KALOPSIA (GIRL BAND)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £7

The monthly psych club night returns with a headlining set from Dublin noise enthusiasts Girl Band. JESS GLYNNE

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–22:30, £8

Wild-haired British singer/ songwriter who featured on Clean Bandit’s 2014 single, Rather Be. ANNIE EVE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £8

London singer/songwriter built on a diet of hushed and intense acoustica, out and touring her debut LP. TERRY CHRISTIAN’S MAD MANC CABARET

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £13 EARLYBIRD (£15 THEREAFTER)

FALLOW CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £5

JOHN LEGEND

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £15

TOKOLOSH

Eccentric young pups from London, building their sound on the instrumental core of bass, drums and strings, bolstered by a variety of budding vocalists.

O2 APOLLO, 18:30–22:30, FROM £32.50

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

Chicago punk rock outfit formed at the tail-end of the 90s.

CLEAN BANDIT (YEARS & YEARS)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £15

Terry Christian translates his 80’s music show The Word onto the stage.

Former Verve drummer bloke Simon Tonge takes his band back on the road in support of their third LP, Closing Time. THE LAWRENCE ARMS

DUB PISTOLS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £12

London-based dub ensemble chewing up hip-hop, dub, techno and ska-punk and spitting it out in a renegade futuristic skank.

Members of Cooper Temple Clause, Yourcodenameis:Milo AND Eddy Temple-Morris!? This is the finest band 2004 never knew.

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8

DESTRUCTION

TIM GARLAND’S LIGHTHOUSE

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £13 EARLYBIRD (£15 THEREAFTER)

Tim Garland tours in support of latest album Songs to the North Sky after years in Chick Corea’s band.

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–23:00, £15

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £20 (£22.50 THEREAFTER)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:30, £18.50

FALLOW CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £5

SIVU

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £8

The Cambridge-born, Finnishnamed chappie does his singer/ songwriter thing.

Super Smash Hit Records present a triple-whammy, headlined by a new project risen from the ashes of Crash of Rhinos.

Thu 16 Oct

The veteran metallers bringing the noise since 1983.

Nearly 40 years after splitting, British funk pioneers Cymande are back! All the original members reunite for this special show.

EPHEMETRY

Soul and funk-infused pop from London.

Singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional cartoonist, perhaps better known as the Semisonic frontman. CYMANDE

MIKE STERN BAND

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £18 EARLYBIRD (£20 THEREAFTER)

LA-based indie lovelies out and touring their new LP, The Moon Rang Like a Bell.

ANTI NOWHERE LEAGUE

Long-standing punk rockers, on the go since 1980. GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £13

The hip-hop icon returns after four-year hiatus, touring his new LP, Copper Gone – featuring beat production from such long-time collaborators as Buck 65, Alias, and Cecil Otter.

CORTES

A four piece rock band from London, formed through a shared love of classic blues/rock guitar music.

Sat 18 Oct

JUSTIN FURSTENFELD

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–22:00, £18

The Blue October frontman goes it alone. KYLA BROX

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

UK-based blues and soul singer/ songwriter, redefining her sound as a duo performance, joined by Danny Blomeley on guitar. TARANG

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, £12 (£10)

The long-running ensemble of emerging musicians aiming to make Indian music accessible and relevant to everyone, celebrate their tenth anniversary. VIRGIL AND THE ACCELERATORS

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:30, £10

Energetic young blues scamps, still riding high on the release of their debut LP, The Radium. THE RUBYS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £6

Manchester-based indie rockers play a headline set awash with rock’n’roll vibes.

A CAREFULLY PLANNED FESTIVAL (THAT FUCKING TANK + JO ROSE + POST WAR GLAMOUR GIRLS + DIGNAN PORCH + MORE) VARIOUS VENUES, 12:15–03:00, £10 (£15 WEEKEND TICKET)

Multi-venue two-dayer taking place across the Northern Quarter, including Soup Kitchen, Night Day, KRAAK, The Castle, Gullivers and 2022NQ. MUTINEERS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 20:00–23:00, £8.50

Shards of The Cardinals Haven, Marion and Johnny Marr’s Healers make up the five-piece Manc indie-pop lot. NORTHSIDE

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 19:30–22:30, £15

The 1989-formed Manc lot take to the road as part of their reunion tour.

THE SKINNY

PETER BRODERICK (LOCH LOMOND)

JOHN NEWMAN

THE BARR BROTHERS

BONDAX (OLSEN + RELAY)

RIVAL STATE

FRAMING HANLEY

THE FULL ENGLISH

KING AYISOBA

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £12

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £19.50

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £10

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £6

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £12

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:30, £21 (£18.90)

THE KAZIMIER GARDEN, 20:00–23:00, £3

With releases on the likes of Erased Tapes, Bella Union and Type, as well as collaborations with Efterklang and M.Ward, Mr Broderick’s reputation truly does precede him.

Sun 19 Oct WE ARE THE OCEAN

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–22:30, £10

Essex-based rock quartet led by Liam Cromby and his catchy choruses. OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £22.50

Americana string band from Nashville, fusing all-acoustic old-time instruments with original songwriting. SETH LAKEMAN

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 19:00–22:30, £22.50

The Devon folk singer/songwriter and virtuoso fiddler does his damned impressive live thing, shredding strings as he goes. DAN CROLL

GORILLA, 19:30–22:30, £10

Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts graduate and winner of the Musicians Benevolent Fund’s National Songwriter of the Year Award continues his ascent.

A CAREFULLY PLANNED FESTIVAL (KIRAN LEONARD + DEAFKID + HER NAME IS CALLA + THOUGHT FORMS + MORE) VARIOUS VENUES, 12:15–03:00, £10 (£15 WEEKEND TICKET)

Multi-venue two-dayer taking place across the Northern Quarter, including Soup Kitchen, Night Day, KRAAK, The Castle, Gullivers and 2022NQ. THE HALLÉ

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £13

The Hallé’s Autumn season continues with some special guests and a run through the classical canon. THE STRUTS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–23:00, £6

Indie rock four-piece hailing from Derby, casually strutting on to the scene much as their name would suggest. THE HOLD STEADY

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £16

Brooklyn-based indie rock outfit, frequently addressing themes of drug addition and religion in one fell swoop. NASHVILLE PUSSY

ROADHOUSE, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

Atlanta outfit still trying to extract every last drop of longevity from the tattered cliche sex, drugs and rock’n’roll.

FREEDOM FROM TORTURE (HONEYFEET + RAPID PIG + BEEF + 2 KOI CARP + PADDY STEER + MORE) ISLINGTON MILL, 15:30–23:30, £5

A charity event in support of the human rights organisation Freedom From Torture, which works with those who’ve survived torture in captive conditions. Headlining the bill are local hip-hop stalwarts Honeyfeet, an array of Salford’s finest also involved. YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS

THE DANCEHOUSE, 19:45–23:00, £20 (£16)

Longstanding Welsh post-rock unit formed back in 1978, composed of Alison Statton’s vocals along with the minimalist instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham.

Mon 20 Oct THE STAVES

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £12

Headline set from Communion Records all-female folk harmony trio. TELEMAN

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £9

London-based indie three-piece – formed from breakaway members of Pete and the Pirates – making nerdy chic indie music, not completely unlike Alt-J. YOUNGBLOOD BRASS BAND

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £15

Globe-trotting, ten-piece ensemble, making highly progressive, energetic and riotous jazz. BURY TOMORROW

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £11

The Portsmouth/Southampton hailing five-piece bring the rallying metalcore sounds, as per.

October 2014

The young singer/songwriter and producer does his thing, responsible for a slew of UK dance hits in recent years. FEED THE RHINO

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £8

Kent-based hardcore rock’n’rollers led by Lee Tobin, and selfproclaimed ‘loud as fuck’, which is nice.

Tue 21 Oct HONEY RYDER

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £10

London-based pop, rock and folkstraddling trio, touring on the back of their second album recorded in a five star recording studio in Thailand, no less. JOHN NEWMAN

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £19.50

The young singer/songwriter and producer does his thing, responsible for a slew of UK dance hits in recent years. LADY GAGA

PHONES 4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, FROM £41

The American songstress (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta when she’s not on stage) takes in the European leg of her ARTPOP tour. PRIDES

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–22:30, £7

Experimental folk ensemble formed by brothers Brad and Andrew Barr, who taught themselves how to play – at first on cardboard boxes and home-strung imitation guitars, then on actual, zebrastriped electric guitars and drums.

The boundary crossing teenage duo play their inimitable house-meetsgarage-meets-pop selections.

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £13

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £7

THE HALLÉ

The Hallé’s Autumn season continues with some special guests and a run through the classical canon. PAUL HEATON + JACQUI ABBOTT

THE KING’S ARMS, 12:00–14:00, £10

Open rehearsal as the duo practice for their forthcoming tour. HOLLYWOOD ENDING

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:30, £10

Young pop-rock scamps out and touring their new LP. AFTER THE BURIAL

SOUND CONTROL, 18:00–22:00, £10

Progressive hardcore metal hellraisers hailing from Twin Cities. BLACK RIVERS

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £12

MAVERICK SABRE

COASST

New murky dark wave project from Manchester showing much promise indeed.

SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £25

London born, Irish-raised, soulful hip-hop singer/songwriter discovered by Plan B. THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £16.50

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £15

The American roots musican performs with his live band, with recent work marking a return to his rock upbringing. THE CORONAS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £8

Irish indie-rockers led by Danny O’Reilly, who started penning tunes at the tender age of 13. SKINNY LISTER

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £10

London-based folk group, fronted by Dan Heptinstall and Lorna Thomas, delivering a reliably foot stomping show. THE WORD ALIVE

ELECTRIC WIZARD

Early 90’s formed doom metal band whose sound has swollen over the years to incorporate everything from black metal to garage and acid rock. SHE KOYOKH

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £10 EARLYBIRD (£12.50 THEREAFTER)

Rich folk from Jewish Eastern Europe, the group working their way up from busking in East London to touring concert halls.

Fri 24 Oct JON ALLEN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:30, £13.50

Heavy metal five-piece hailing from Arizona.

Acoustic singer/songwriter armed with his kit-bag of soulful, gravely tunes.

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10

SOUND CONTROL, 18:00–22:00, £11

ST. VINCENT

Annie Clark returns to the UK in support of her brilliant self-titled new album, her live band conjuring intense layers of sound as Clark herself knocks hell out of her guitar. THE POP GROUP

GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £17.50

Hard to believe, but this is the first ever UK tour for the 1978-formed avant-garde punk band from Bristol. KIKAGAKU MOYO (DEAD SEA APES)

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £8

NICK HARPER

The English singer/songwriter and guitarist does his acoustic folk-rock thing, complete with trademark acerbic lyrics. HEATHER PEACE

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 20:00–23:00, £22

The Lip Service actress does that other thing wot she does: setting soaring vocals to jazz-soaked piano and pop guitar riffs, touring on the back of her second LP, The Thin Line. THE CULT OF DOM KELLER

Face-melting psych heads fond of late-night jams and off-kilter tangents.

Nottingham-based psychedelic four-piece

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £12

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £TBC

GHETTS

East London MC, known as Justin Clarke to his closest pals.

Thu 23 Oct

NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £8

The Edinburgh-based postprogressive rock and electronica troupe tour the wares of their new LP, melding almost perfectly subtle electronic beats with a spaced-out guitar sound. CARO EMERALD

PHONES 4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, FROM £27.40

Dutch singer/songwriter specialising in lyrical tales of romance set over a blend of Samba, jazz, bossa nova, mambo and crackling vinyl. HOW TO DRESS WELL

ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, 20:00–22:30, £12.50

Moniker of experimental pop producer Tom Krell, the man who shot to fame in 2010 with his debut album, Love Remains, and continued this upward trajectory with his next release, Total Loss.

The burgeoning label celebrate their second birthday. THE SADIES

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:30, £16

The Canadian country and western band continue to dine out live on 2013’s Internal Sounds. BBC PHILHARMONIC

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £12

Sun 26 Oct

Brooklyn ensemble intent on replicating the exact character of vintage soul, all authentic and heartfelt.

DAVE ALVIN AND THE GUILTY ONES

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £7

CHETHAM’S SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £5

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £16

MUK RECORDS 2ND BIRTHDAY (BIRD TO BEAST + RED SKY NOISE + BERLIN BERLIN + YOU + ANIMAL MUSIC + MORE)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:30, £18 (£14)

THE RITZ, 19:00–22:30, £25

Wed 22 Oct

London-based six-piece, taking their name from a 1967 Spaghetti Western.

The brothers behind Manc outfit Doves (aka Jez and Andy Williams) regroup as a new duo.

Chetham's Symphony Orchestra returns to the RNCMwith a performance of chaikovsky final symphony, one of the defining works of the romantic period.

An evening of live Afro-beat courtesy of Mavin concerts.

LOLA COLT

The BBC Philharmonic’s season continues with a journey through an array of compositional masterpieces.

Glaswegian synth pop trio who recently had the honour of performing at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony. DON JAZZY (D’PRNCE + DR SID + DI’JA + REEKADO BANKS + MORE)

DUB SEX

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £8

Following a reunion show last year, the Manc continue their comeback.

ROADHOUSE, 21:00–03:00, £7

RIOT JAZZ

A riotous, 11-piece jazz band hailing from Manchester, fronted by MC Chunky. DAWN LANDES

ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, 19:30–22:30, £10

Kentucky-born singer/songwriter currently residing in Brooklyn doing a mixed up folk meets rock meets pop thing. THE HERBALISER

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £15

The Herbaliser continue to mix hip hop, funk, soul and jazz in their own inimitable style 18 years after forming.

Sat 25 Oct KATY B

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16

Pop’s goldengirl continues her quest for world domination. JOHNNY MARR (CHILDHOOD)

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £25

The celebrated Smiths guitarist plays a selection of tracks from his second solo LP, The Messenger.

WAKEY! WAKEY!

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £10

Occasional One Tree Hill cameo musician Michael Grubbs brings his alternative indie-rock band over from the States. RHODES

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £7

Singer/songwriter hailing from Hitchin, touring with his debut album, Raise Your Love. RIXTON

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £13.50

The New Zealand rockers recently relocated to the UK and are undertaking their first jaunt around their adopted shores in support of new EP Youth Tax.

Tue 28 Oct KYLA LA GRANGE

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £8

Watford singer/songwriter in possession of a heartstopper of a pop vocal. ED SHEERAN

PHONES 4U ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £35.45

The Grammy-nominated soul chappie returns to the stage with some new tunes in tow. TWIN ATLANTIC

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £15

The Glasgow alternative rock fourpiece do their Brit-rock thing, built on stabbing guitars and vocalist Sam McTrusty’s distinctive style. JOHN WIZARDS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £9

The charity concert tour features Maher Zain, Mesut Kurits and Raef. WATERSIDE SINFONIA

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 19:30–22:30, £10

A special concert to mark the Waterside Arts Centre’s 10th Anniversary.

Mon 27 Oct ED SHEERAN

PHONES 4U ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £35.75

The Grammy-nominated soul chappie returns to the stage with some new tunes in tow. HYDE & BEAST

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £7

Collaborative project between two drummers, who be Futureheads’ Dan Hyde and Golden Virgin’s Neil Bassett. ANDY BURROWS

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10

The former Razorlight drummer (and sometime guest drummer for We Are Scientists) plays solo. DIE! DIE! DIE! (BAD GRAMMAR + MISTOA POLTSA)

KRAAK, 19:30–22:30, £8

Righteous New Zealand noise rockers hit the UK in support of new album Swim. RHODES

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £7

Singer/songwriter hailing from Hitchin, touring with his debut album, Raise Your Love. EMC (DIDJIT)

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £12 EARLYBIRD (£14 THEREAFTER)

Hip-hop crew composed of rappers Masta Ace, Wordsworth, Punchline and Stricklin. HARRY MANX

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £10

The blues, folk and Hindustani blending musician hits the road. PALE SEAS

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £6

Southampton-based grungey lo-fi four-piece get back on the road.

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £11

The prototype London psychedelic nu-ravers continue to tour hell out of their new LP, Love Frequency. BEN WATT TRIO

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £15

The Everything But The Girl joint singer/songwriter is joined by producer and former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler and ex-Talk Talk drummer Martin Ditchman in a rather high profile trio. RALEIGH RITCHIE

GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £8

HAFDIS HULD

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £8

Wed 29 Oct

CRAFT SPELLS (CLAW THE THIN ICE + RACE TO THE SEA) THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £8

Four Seattle lads playing some fine indie-pop tunes for your general delectation. DANIIL TRIFONOV

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £19

One of the ascendant pianists of his generation plays Bach, Beethoven and Liszt. BLOODSHOT DAWN

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £7

Melodic thrash metal bunch from Portsmouth, led by the chaotic vocals of frontman, Josh McMorran. 65DAYSOFSTATIC PERFORM THE FALL OF MATH MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, 19:00–23:00, £16

Quietly established as one of Britain’s finest ever instrumental bands, Sheffield’s finest bring the rock-cum-glitch techno crossover of their debut LP The Fall of Math to the live stage in its entirety for the first time in a decade. THE ALGORITHM

SATAN’S HOLLOW, 18:30–21:30, £7

The Perpignan-based percussion trio tour their new album Octopus4.

CHEAP WINE + PRISM CIRCUS (THE YOSSARIANS)

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £4

Psychedelic flavors aged in oak barrels, blemished heavy blues from the community of peyote.

Thu 30 Oct BILLY LOCKETT

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £9

Northampton singer/songwriter skilled on the ol’ piano, which he taught himself to play in a basement, aged eight, as you do. HELMET

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £15

The much-respected metal group tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of seminal release Betty. FRANCIS DUNNERY

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £20

English singer/songwriter, record producer and record label owner, best known for fronting the original line-up of It Bites.

Featuring Seth Lakeman, Martin Simpson and Bellowshead’s Sam Sweeney, the group perform songs from their eponymous album.

Playing traditional Kologo music from the upper east region of Ghana, King Ayisoba mixes it with the energy and flavour of the modern Ghanaian dance scene.

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £22.50

Sat 04 Oct

LAMB

The Mancunian duo who, along with Massive Attack, were among the forebearers of the trip-hop scene. BLOSSOMS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £7

Incomprehensibly popular psych bandwagoneers call in with their second LP.

Manc mosaic-like five piece mixing pop nous with psychedelic blurriness..

THE RITZ, 18:00–22:00, £35

Sun 02 Nov

SHERYL CROW (RED SKY JULY)

Multi-million selling songwriter puts recent battles with breast cancer behind her to continue touring the world.

THE DRIFTERS

PALACE THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, FROM £28.90

Fri 31 Oct

American doo-wop vocal group, currently in their 60th year of making music.

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:00–22:00, £10

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £15

JOSH PYKE

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £20

KLAXONS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–22:30, £13

SOUNDS OF LIGHT

FOXYGEN

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £15

Icelandic singer and actress who first made her name as part of electronic group GusGus.

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £10

Replacement guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne following the tragic death of Randy Rhoads, the Irish axe-wielder goes it alone.

Young Australian singer/songwriter of the indie-pop variety.

The Plan B-collaborating Columbia artist hits the road.

The melodic rockers return, still wearing influences from Clutch to Nine inch Nails on their collective sleeve.

BERNIE TORME (AZIZ)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

Hailing from Cape Town, and formed by chance after John Withers and Emmanuel Nzaramba shared their love of music and pieced together an ensemble to help translate their travels and influences into songs.

Manchester four-piece navigating the pop rock meets r’n’b genre, drawing comparisons to the likes of Maroon 5. Also Shane Richie’s son features. CHEVELLE

The Nashville four-piece tour in support of latest LP, The Sum Of Who We Are.

THE ANTLERS

THE RITZ, 19:00–22:00, £13

NYC-based indie-rockers fronted by vocalist, guitarist and founder, Peter Silberman. BIG COUNTRY

Dunfermline-born 80s rockers formed when Stuart Adamson left The Skids in 1981 and recruited guitar partner Bruce Watson, now back and touring under their new line-up. BLACK STONE CHERRY

PHONES 4U ARENA, 19:00–23:00, £29.90

Kentucky rockers riding along on their anthemic tunes and longflowing locks. IAN MCNABB

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:30, £12.50

Rock’n’roll from the Liverpoolbased singer/songwriter and former frontman of The Icicle Works. HAKEN (LEPROUS + MASCHINE)

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £16

London progressive metal types bringing the heavy to their expansive song structures.

NIGHTMARE ON OLDHAM STREET (THEO VERNEY + MENACE BEACH + BLACK MARKET KARMA + VELVET MORNING + THE WATCHMAKERS + MORE) GULLIVERS + THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–02:00, £10

Ghoulishly good bill from Strange Days to celebrate Halloween, with Brighton lo-fi pop artist Theo Verney joined by Leeds-based fuzz merchants Menace Beach among others. PSYCHMARE ON SPEAR ST. (SONIC JESUS + THE FAUNS + HORRID)

SOUP KITCHEN, 22:00–03:00, £7

Triple-header of psych malevolence to celebrate the witching season! BBC PHILHARMONIC (NOBUYUKI TSUJII )

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £12

The BBC Philharmonic’s season continues with a journey through an array of compositional masterpieces. THE HOT BOTZ BRASS BAND HALLOWEEN PARTY

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

AMP FIDDLER

Detroit’s Amp Fiddler – known for his role as the Keyboardist for George Clinton’s P Funk – returns to Manchester for the first time in seven years. INDIANA

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:30, £8

Nottingham singer/songwriter Laura Henson, better known as her stage name, Indiana.

Mon 03 Nov

DEATHSTARS (THE DEAD AND LIVING)

THE SOIL

CONTACT, 20:00–23:00, £11 (£6)

THE HALLÉ

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £19

The Hallé’s Autumn season continues with some special guests and a run through the classical canon. EAGULLS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £8

Anarchic Leeds-based five-piece still hard on the touring schedule in 2014.

ANDREW ROACHFORD

ERIC’S LIVE, 19:30–23:00, £10

Contemporary soul and R’n’B.

BEN JOHNSON & JAMES BAILLIEU

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £25

The duo perform with the Liverpool Philharmonic, including Arthur Sullivan’s The Lost Chord May Brahe’s Bless this House and Vaughan Williams’ Linden Lea and Silent Noon.

Sun 05 Oct

THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £13.50

Still partying like nu-rave never went away, the Shrewsbury-viaLeeds group hit the road again.

FUTURE

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

The US rapper tours in support of his second album Honest, which made the top ten of the US Billboard Charts.

Liverpool Music Wed 01 Oct HEYMOONSHAKER

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £5

Dave Crowe’s blues project all big riffs, loud rhythms and howlin’ vocals which began life in 2009 with the addition of guitarist and vocalist Andy Balcon. WAYNE HUSSEY

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £15

The lead singer of The Missions and Sisters of Mercy guitarist goes it alone.

Thu 02 Oct JUNGLE BROTHERS

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £15

Veteran hip-hop group best known for the ground-breaking Straight Out The Jungle, released in 1988. STURGILL SIMPSON

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £7

SUPERSUCKERS (THE TREWS + MATCHSTICKMEN)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £15

Acetate Records-signed Seattle rockers.

Mon 06 Oct

BLITZ KIDS (NATIVES + SCHOLARS)

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £8

Alternative rock foursome formed by a band of school chums from Nantwich. BLACK SUBMARINE

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £18

Experimental rock lot formerly trading as The Black Ships.

Tue 07 Oct

THE PHANTOM BAND (GULP)

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £9

Putting various side projects on the back-burner, the group reunite to continue their unholy fusing of indie, folk and krautrock styles.

Wed 08 Oct THE TRAVELLING BAND

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £8

Manchester alternative folkies, all shimmering and harmonic in their understated psychedelia kind of way. KING CREOSOTE

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £15

LEAF, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

The Fife-based singer/songwriter otherwise known as Kenny Anderson plays a showcase of songs from his latest album, From Scotland With Love, the soundtrack to the film of the same name.

ETCHES (CAVALRY)

The young New York-based singer/ songwriter plays a solo set.

Nashville singer/songwriter on the road in support of second album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, coming from the tradition of outlaw country that includes legends Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard. ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £5

Fri 03 Oct

The platinum-selling three member a cappella vocal group combine a mix of musical styles including township jazz, hip hop, Afro-Pop and Afro-Soul.

Original member of Snarky Puppy and Grammy Award winning pianist Bill Laurance tours in support of iTunes Jazz chart-topping album Flint.

Seasoned folk singer/songwriter who’s been slowly evolving since his days as a young chorister.

The Swedish industrial rockers return to the UK with more hardhitting sounds.

Sat 01 Nov THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:30, £12.50

BILL LAURANCE PROJECT

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:30, £15

SAM BROOKES (THOM MORECROFT & THE FULL MOON BAND + CLEVER LITTLE TRAMPS + AURORA)

Winsome electronic indie-pop group from Liverpool.

Longstanding Leeds-based indie-rockers on the go since their formation in 1986.

Five piece euphoric indie pop/ rock lot hailing from London and featuring neither Eliza, nor indeed a bear.

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £13.50

Halloween special by the sonically and visually striking brass band. CUD

ELIZA AND THE BEAR

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £8

OLOF ARNALDS

LEAF, 19:30–23:00, £8

NELL BRYDEN (BLAIR DUNLOP)

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £14

CATRIN FINCH & SECKOU KEITA

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £16

BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominee and harpist Catrin Finch teams up with kora player Seckou Keita.

Icelandic singer and multi-instrumentalist, classically educated on the violin, viola and self-taught on guitar and charango (aka one talented lass).

Thu 09 Oct

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £9

Fri 10 Oct

LONELY THE BRAVE (MARMOZETS + ALLUSONDRUGS)

Self-described epic-rock fourpiece from Cambridge. THE BURNING HELL

VIEW TWO GALLERY, 20:00–23:00, £6

Canadian folk artist Mathias Kom returns to the UK with a full band in tow for this latest round of Burning Hell shows. DYLAN HOWE’S SUBTERRANEANS

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:30, £15

British drummer known for working with Steve Howe and Ian Drury among others brings his band out on tour, Howe still resolutely behind the kit.

CHANTEL MCGREGOR

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £14

Yorkshire singer/songwriter working her virtuoso guitar magic on the blues genre. KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £14

Cardiff hailing rock styled five-piece. COLLEGE

LEAF, 20:00–23:00, £9

Nostalgia-driven electro pop stylings of Nantes-based producer David Grellier, aka College, famous for starting blog and label, Valerie, collaborations with The Zonders and snagging a spot on Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive soundtrack.

Listings

Liverpool Music IAN MCNABB

TIMBER TIMBRE

THE BRINDLEY, 20:00–23:00, £10

LEAF, 19:30–23:00, £10

Rock’n’roll from the Liverpoolbased singer/songwriter and former frontman of The Icicle Works. THE OXJAM PROJECT: ANDREW METCALFE

ARTS CLUB, 18:30–22:00, £7

Ex-Sound of Guns singer performs for the charity.

VANDETTES (DIRTY ROTTEN SOULS + WHITE ELEPHANT) THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £4

Northern Irish-cum-Liverpudlian basing rock troupes on hip-hop breakbeats.

Sat 11 Oct NICK HOWARD

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £6

The Brighton-born singer/songwriter is currently on the road promoting his forthcoming album, Living In Stereo. THE WYTCHES

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £9

Brighton band making dark and flowery psychedelia, with surf riffs straight outta 1950. SODIUM FROGS

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £6

Classic heavy rock four-piece hailing from Liverpool.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (BOWKER + SAMUEL KIRK + PATH UNKNOWN + TOP BUZZER)

LOMAX, 19:30–23:30, £5

Canadian folk trio made up of Mika Posen, Simon Trottier and Taylor Kirk, taking their name from the timber-framed cabin in which they put down their earlier recordings. GLASS CAVES (VITAMIN + GIRLFRIEND)

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £4

A blend of alternative rock and indie rock. Rock seems to be the theme there.

Fri 17 Oct MAVERICK SABRE

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16

London born, Irish-raised, soulful hip-hop singer/songwriter discovered by Plan B. WOMAN’S HOUR

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £9

The Secretly Canadian-signed four-piece from London continue their steady ascent. HAWKLORDS (THE CRUCIFIED TWINS)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16

Born from the disbanded Hawkwind, Harvey Bainbridge and Steve Swindells et al join forces for a live re-group. DELTA SAXOPHONE QUARTET

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:30, £12.50 (£10)

The widely-regarded jazz quartet on tour again. PRIDES

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £7

Bowker perform their new album in its entirety, with support from Samuel Kirk (Injured Birds), Path Unknown and London-based punk trio Top Buzzer.

Glaswegian synth pop trio who recently had the honour of performing at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.

Sun 12 Oct

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–22:30, £8.50

TOM VEK

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £11

More dreamy, lo-fi rock from the self-taught multi-instrumentalist musician, known to his mammy as Thomas Timothy Vernon-Kell.

THE TREATMENT (BUFFALO SUMMER + MASSIVE) ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £10

Classic rock sounds from the Cambridge quintet of young chaps. CLOUD BOAT

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £4

London-based duo ditching their electronically embellished brossinging-around-a-woodlandcampfire schtick for a more full-band sounding aesthetic on new LP, Model of You.

Mon 13 Oct

THE LAWRENCE ARMS (SAM RUSSO + BANGERS) O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £14

EUGENE MCGUINNESS

Experimental Domino records singer/songwriter with a primal and playful approach to musicmaking.

Sat 18 Oct JOHN ETHERIDGE

THE CAPSTONE, 20:00–21:00, £16.50

Having performed with everyone from Soft Machine to Pat Metheny and Nigel Kennedy, John Etheridge goes it alone on tour.

Mon 20 Oct JERSUALEM IN MY HEART

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £6.50

A unique performance combining arabic and electronic music with 16mm film projections and light projections aimed to alter the space; no two JIMH performances have ever been the same.

Chicago punk rock outfit formed at the tail-end of the 90s.

Tue 21 Oct

Tue 14 Oct

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £10

WHEATUS

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £12

New York indie-popsters led by Brendan B. Brown and his heartfelt nasally drawl, forever defined by hit single Teenage Dirtbag. JAMES YORKSTON

LEAF, 20:00–23:00, £12.50

The Fife dweller and sometime Fence Collective dabbler performs tracks from his newest album, The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society, as well as some cherry-picked old faves. BLOSSOMS

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £5

Manc mosaic-like five piece mixing pop nous with psychedelic blurriness.

Wed 15 Oct TOM BAXTER

THE BRINDLEY, 20:00–23:00, £14

Suffolk-born, London-based singer/songwriter building his sound on his masterful guitar-playing and raw, confessional lyrics.

Thu 16 Oct

LUCY ROSE (ALEX HULME + BEN PAVELEY AND THE TIDES)

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

The singer/songwriter who has contributed vocals to Bombay Bicycle Club tracks strikes out on her lonesome. YOUNGBLOOD BRASS BAND

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £10

Globe-trotting, ten-piece ensemble, making highly progressive, energetic and riotous jazz.

Listings

SMOOVE AND TURRELL

Geordie duo of vocalist John Turrell and DJ/producer Jonathan Watson, deftly putting their seductive spin on all genres of soul. REAL ESTATE (ALVVAYS)

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £14.50

Psych-pop styled indie offerings from the New Jersey foursome, all jangly guitars and catchy melodies.

Wed 22 Oct BILLY LOCKETT

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £9

Northampton singer/songwriter skilled on the ol’ piano, which he taught himself to play in a basement, aged eight, as you do. ROLLER TRIO

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £8

Leeds-based young jazz tinkerers of the menacing and bass-heavy variety.

Thu 23 Oct HONEY RYDER

STUDIO 2, 20:00–23:00, £7

London-based pop, rock and folk-straddling trio, touring on the back of their second album &ndash; recorded in a five star recording studio in Thailand, no less. THE BOOMTOWN RATS

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £25

London born, Irish-raised, soulful hip-hop singer/songwriter discovered by Plan B.

THE MEN THEY COULDN’T HANG ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £13

Longstanding London-based folkrock crew in a re-jigged guise, but still featuring founding members Phil Odgers and Stefan Crush on lead vocals and guitar. DEAD PREZ

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £13.50

The politically-charged hip-hop duo, formed in New York City in 1996, bring their confrontational stance to the fore as they embark on a Europe-wide tour.

LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: CARIBOU (EVIAN CHRIST + PATTEN + JESSY LANZA) CAMP AND FURNACE, 18:30–23:00, £20

Massive opening night to Liverpool Music Week featuring not just a headlining Caribou performance but also Evian Christ’s first ever live show in his hometown!

Fri 24 Oct THE STRUTS

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £6

Indie rock four-piece hailing from Derby, casually strutting on to the scene much as their name would suggest. LUCIUS

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £9.50

The NYC indie-pop ensemble drop a set of their luscious lullabies. HOLLY JOHNSON

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £24.50

Liverpool-born pop songwriter tours in support of his new album Europa. LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: MOGWAI (FOREST SWORDS + MUGSTAR + CLINIC (DJ) + EX-EASTER ISLAND HEAD)

CAMP AND FURNACE, 18:30–23:00, £25

The Scottish masters are joined by a stunning supporting cast for this special Liverpool Music Week show. THOUGHT FORMS

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £4

Visceral Bristol three-piece mixing noise rock grunge and slowcore to great effect.

Sat 25 Oct WAKEY! WAKEY!

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £10

Occasional One Tree Hill cameo musician Michael Grubbs brings his alternative indie-rock band over from the States. NICK HARPER

LEAF, 19:30–22:30, £10

The English singer/songwriter and guitarist does his acoustic folk-rock thing, complete with trademark acerbic lyrics. WE ARE THE OCEAN

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:00–22:00, £5

Essex-based rock quartet led by Liam Cromby and his catchy choruses. LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: PEAKING LIGHTS

THE KAZIMIER, 19:00–23:00, FREE

Married psych-pop duo made up of Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis, out and touring their latest LP, Cosmic Logic. SERENADE TO MUSIC

LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL, 19:30–21:30, £25

Conductor Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic Choir travel through the ages of classical music, from the canon of Strauss to the contemporary work of Nico Muhly.

Sun 26 Oct

LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: EAGULLS

THE KAZIMIER, 19:00–23:00, FREE

Anarchic Leeds-based five-piece still hard on the touring schedule in 2014.

Mon 27 Oct

LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: HOOKWORMS

THE KAZIMIER, 19:00–23:00, FREE

The Leeds-based five-piece are set to clamber up another few rungs with their brilliant second record The Hum.

Tue 28 Oct LITTLE COMETS

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £11

Kitchen sink-styled indie-rock quartet led by the dynamic Robert Coles.

LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: THE ANTLERS THE KAZIMIER, 19:00–23:00, FREE

NYC-based indie-rockers fronted by vocalist, guitarist and founder, Peter Silberman.

Wed 29 Oct

LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: JOHN WIZARDS

THE KAZIMIER, 19:00–23:00, FREE

Thu 30 Oct NERINA PALLOT

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £20

London-born soulful songstress who’s also written songs for for a certain Miss Kylie Minogue. HAKEN (LEPROUS + MASCHINE)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

London progressive metal types bringing the heavy to their expansive song structures. LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: WILD BEASTS (MONEY)

O2 ACADEMY, 18:30–22:30, £16.50

The velvet smooth indie pop fourpiece continue to bring their fourth album Present Tense to the masses.

Fri 31 Oct

AS ELEPHANTS ARE (PIXEL FIX)

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £6

Indie pop four-piece hailing from High Wycombe, still riding high on the release of their recent release single, Crystal. MOULETTES

THE BRINDLEY, 20:00–23:00, £12 (£10)

Alt-folk outfit hailing from the South East, making music together since their teenage years. LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: LIARS

THE KAZIMIER, 19:00–23:00, FREE

Angus Andrew et al bring their new album, Mess, to a live setting.

Sat 01 Nov CONNOR HARRIS

O2 ACADEMY, 18:00–22:00, £7.50

Birmingham-based hip-hop artist, who’s supported everyone from Chipmunk to Professor Green.

LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: CLOSING PARTY (CHVRCHES + THE BLACK LIPS + NICK MULVEY + EMA + SOPHIE + MORE) VARIOUS VENUES, 14:00–04:00, £15

Big closing party to mark the end of Liverpool Music Week. SIGNALS

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £4

Southampton-based math pop.

Sun 02 Nov THE GLOAMING

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £25

Connecting the Irish folk tradition with New York’s contemporary music scene.

Mon 03 Nov

SIKTH (DOWNLOAD FREEZES OVER + HEART OF A COWARD + IDIOM)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £14

The six-piece metal group hit the road again.

Manchester Clubs Tue 30 Sep GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4.50

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours. DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 22:00–04:00, £5

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

Wed 01 Oct ENERGY WEDNESDAYS

SOUTH, 22:00–04:00, £4 BEFORE 11PM

House, electro and bass every fortnight. I LOVE NYC

FACTORY 251, 22:00–04:00, FROM £2

Everything from NYC from punk to to funk, soul and classic house.

Manchester Clubs Thu 02 Oct MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM (£5 AFTER)

Student Thursday-nighter, with resident DJs Steve Davies, Bill Murray’s Rock n Soul club, and Nicola Bear serving up anything from retro classics to electro mash ups across three rooms. BLACKOUT THURSDAYS

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £3

Blackout Thursdays brings the infamous sounds and atmosphere of the legendary Balearic island of Ibiza to Manchester, with resident DJs filling three floors with anything from Balearic Beat, Tribal, Progressive and Tech to Deep House. MUSHY (CHUNKY + RADIAN)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, FROM £3

Swamp81 favourites Mushy and Chunky team their night Let The Freqs Out with everybodys favourite bass heavy Youtube channel Library UK for a monthly night of musical madness.

Fri 03 Oct BEZ’S ACID HOUSE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £8

Night of acid house courtesy of the Happy Mondays maraca shaker. WHOSAIDWHAT?

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE

Regular Friday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. BPM (SPOOKY)

ROADHOUSE, 23:00–04:00, £3

A night of grime, garage and experimental bass from the club night turned record label, BPM. XFM FIRST FRIDAY (THE GRAMOTONES + NEON WALTZ)

BAND ON THE WALL, 21:00–02:00, £6 EARLYBIRD (£8 THEREAFTER)

The return of the monthly live XFM showcase with Tim Cocker as Master of Ceremonies. TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:00–04:00, £3

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. RAPTURE (DJ ZOE MCVEIGH + DJ HAZEL + RACHEL WHATEVER + CURLY AND JAE POLLO)

BANGKOK BAR, 20:00–06:00, £4

Featuring all of your guilty pleasures, including Motown, 70’s disco and 80’s pop, riot grrl, indie and rock and 90s dance anthems. NEIGHBOURHOODS (FATIMA + ALEXANDER NUT + OLSEN + JOSHN LOVELESS + GUY RICHARDS)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, FROM £8

Finally a night in Manchester chancing it with live acts playing at club hours, with new residents including John Loveless on the ones and twos. SLACKER: PHIL TAGGART

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

The Radio One DJ drops in at Gorilla for the beginning of his regular clubnight, opening with a stellar line-up including Jakwob, Mella Dee and Dutch Uncles (DJ). CHERRY: THE SECOND COMING

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–03:30, £4

Celebrating all things naughty from the noughties, with a music policy that spans 2000’s pop and houseparty anthems.

TRIBAL SESSIONS: 14TH BIRTHDAY WEEKENDER (PART 1) (GREG VICKERS B2B JUST BE + DJ SNEAK + DARIUS SYROSSIAN + HECTOR COUTO + MORE) SANKEYS, 22:30–07:00, £10

The iconic Tribal Sessions celebrates its 14th birthday over the whole weekend at Sankeys.

MOGADISCO III SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £3 (£5 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

After supporting Awesome Tapes From Africa at the same venue in August, Mogadisco III return with their own take on African music, from Afrobeat to Highlife and Soukous.

Sat 04 Oct GIRLS ON FILM

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

Pink lady cocktails, disco balls, glitz and glamour a monthly club night where you’re free to let your inner 80s child loose. FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5

Mancunian nightclub institution delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. CLINT BOON

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £5

Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon. MR SCRUFF KEEP IT UNREAL

BAND ON THE WALL, 22:00–03:00, £12

DJ set from the musical mastermind, known for mixing a junkshop bag of sounds and bringing his beats to life with squiggly, scribbled animations.

Tue 07 Oct

DROP THE MUSTARD (BOOKA SHADE + FINNEBASSEN + BODHI + CARL BEE + MORE)

GOLD TEETH

Drop The Mustard rolls on, mixing it up with some of the finest DJs worldwide and their everknowledgeable roster of residents.

ITCHY FEET

DJs Tall Paul and Sam the Sham Jose celebrate old school rock’n’roll, vintage tunes and wild dancing. THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4.50

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours. DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 22:00–04:00, £5

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

Wed 08 Oct FLIPTRIX

MINT LOUNGE, 22:00–03:00, FROM £6

High Focus takeover 24 Kitchen Street with Fliptrix headlining in support of new record Polyhymnia. I LOVE NYC

FACTORY 251, 22:00–04:00, FROM £2

Everything from NYC from punk to to funk, soul and classic house.

Thu 09 Oct

KRAAK, 23:00–04:00, £5

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents.

FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, £2 BEFORE 12PM

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. HAIRBRAIN PRESENTS OPTIMO

ROADHOUSE, 23:00–04:00, £10

The Glaswegian-based DJ legends Optimo head south of the border to play a genre-blowing 4-hour set of techno and house, weaving in krautrock, exotica, pop, disco, no wave and more. KOOKY (THEE COOL CATS + TOM SHORTERZ + MARCUS NASTY)

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

Deep, tech, bass and G house sounds with Cuff’s Thee Cool Cats as well as Tom Shorterz and Marcus Nasty from Rinse fm dropping in. LOWDOWN & ILLUMINAUGHTY

Mancunian nightclub institution delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective.

MINT LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

WITCH*UNT (MØRK + ROBB ROCKS + LEO MENACE, KOOL THING COLLECTIVE)

Old school, hip hop and electro are the focus of this female-fronted club night.

FUNKADEMIA MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5

MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM (£5 AFTER)

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £3

Fri 10 Oct TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:00–04:00, £3

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, £10

CLINT BOON

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £5

Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon. FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, £2 BEFORE 12PM

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. SUPER JOSH FUNDRAISER

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £TBC

Special fundraiser club night for the Joshua Wilson Brain Tumour Charity. RELAPSE: BONG-RA

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £14

The Planet Mu and Ruff producer gets in the thick of the usual Relapse madness. HOT MILK 9TH B’DAY (MR MARVELLOUS)

ROADHOUSE, 23:00–04:00, £4

Mr Marvellous plays live to help celebrate the ninth birthday of Hot Milk.

ANDRAS FOX (JAMES HOLROYD + JASON BOARDMAN + MOONBOOTS)

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £10

Aficionado team up with Soup Kitchen to present Melbourne producer and artist Andras Fox, who’ll be dropping in to play some records. JROCC (JON K B2B JONNY DUB + MLM B2B TY FITZ)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

Stones Throw legend and djing royalty Jrocc plays a two hour set.

Tue 14 Oct GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4.50

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours. DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 22:00–04:00, £5

Bass enthusiasts Lowdown and Illuminaughty team up for a hardhitting night of lo-end carnage.

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs.

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 21:00–02:00, £3

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM

House, electro and bass every fortnight.

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £12

NORTHERN QUARTER WORKING MEN’S CLUB

New regular night promising plenty of guilty pleasures, some Northern Soul classics and dominoes.

TRIBAL SESSIONS: 14TH BIRTHDAY WEEKENDER (PART 2) (APOLLONIA + DAN GHENACIA + DYED SOUNDOROM + SHONKY + MORE) SANKEYS, 22:30–07:00, £10

The iconic Tribal Sessions celebrates its 14th birthday over the whole weekend at Sankeys. PARTY FOR THE PEOPLE (DEEP SPACE ORCHESTRA + ASOK + SQUAREHEAD + HIKU)

FRI251

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. HIGHER GROUND

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

The sounds of the 60’s from Motown to rock ‘n’ roll.

TRIBAL SESSIONS (MIGUEL CAMPBELL + DARIUS SYROSSIAN + MAXXI SOUNDSYSTEM + EJECA + MORE) SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, £10

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £3

The legendary Tribal Sessions are back, featuring the usual selection of world-renowned spinners across all genres.

ELECTRIC MINDS (REDSHAPE + CHRISTIAN LOFFLER + DOLAN BERGIN)

The hip-hop party collective dedicate a night to pop showstopper.

Party For The People return with another night of revelry all in the name of charity.

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

The minds behind The Hydra and Broken & Even in London bring their label and party, Electric Minds up North for their first ever party in Manchester. THE ASBO DISCO (ED SOLO + DUB SMUGGLERS’ SOUND SYSTEM + RED EYE HIFI + MORE)

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £5

The ASBO Disco returns indoors following a big summer at the festivals.

Mon 06 Oct GENTLEMAN’S DUB CLUB

ANTWERP MANSION, 21:00–03:00, £5

Suited and booted dub collective who also take in elements of ska and roots reggae.

JUICY: A BEYONCE SPECIAL

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £5 (£3)

METRIC

SOUND CONTROL, 22:00–04:00, £5

New house and techno night by the team behind Majefa. JOSHUA BROOKS BELATED 20TH BIRTHDAY (STEFFI)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, £12

Berghain and Panorama Bar resident Steffi plays an all-night set to help celebrate the venue’s 20th birthday.

Sat 11 Oct GOO

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

Monthly club night tribute to 90s indie &ndash; expect Pulp, Nirvana, Suede, Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies and more.

Wed 15 Oct ENERGY WEDNESDAYS

SOUTH, 22:00–04:00, £4 BEFORE 11PM

I LOVE NYC

FACTORY 251, 22:00–04:00, FROM £2

Everything from NYC from punk to to funk, soul and classic house.

Thu 16 Oct MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM (£5 AFTER)

Crossing the Pennines from Leeds, Something Everything throws in a bit of everything, bolstered by some special guests. BLACKOUT THURSDAYS

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £3

THE SKINNY

Fri 17 Oct

COVERT (LOW STEPPA + JUST JORGE + AUDIO REHAB TAKEOVER)

MINT LOUNGE, 22:00–04:00, £3

Low Steppa headlines the latest Covert party.

TOP OF THE POPS

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs. ELECTRIC JUG

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £3

Serving up the best of the 60s, ranging from psych and ska to britpop and funk. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three.

TRIBAL SESSIONS (LEVON VINCENT + DARIUS SYROSSIAN + ANSWER CODE REQUEST + ADRIANA LOPEZ + MORE) SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, £10

The legendary Tribal Sessions are back, featuring the usual selection of world-renowned spinners across all genres.

CODED RYTHMN 2ND BIRTHDAY (NIGHTMARES ON WAX + ONRA) GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

Nightmares On Wax help the hip hop, disco and house night celebrate its second birthday. CHERRY: 2ND BIRTHDAY

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–03:30, £4

Celebrating all things naughty from the noughties, with a music policy that spans 2000’s pop and houseparty anthems.

TERRY CHRISTIAN’S NORTHERNERS WITH ATTITUDE

BAND ON THE WALL, 23:00–03:00, £6 EARLYBIRD (£8 THEREAFTER)

Terry Christian plays a set of all the late 80’s Manchester-based stuff you’d expect him to really. SUB:MERGED: RUSS YALLOP + JEY KURMIS

SOUTH, 23:00–05:00, £10

Another massive line-up from the sub:Merged crew following their sell out party in the summer.

HYPERCOLOUR (MATTHEW HERBERT + TOM DEMAC + CEDRIC MAISON B2B STE ROBERTS) JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, FROM £6

Hypercolour Records bring their label to the basement for an intimate party, with the imitable and legend like Matthew Herbert playing an exclusive DJ set.

D TACHED VS. AMEN BROTHER (PEDESTRIAN + BLU MAR TEN + ANUSHKA)

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £TBC

The house, techno and future bass of Hit&Run team up with Amen Brother for a big ole party.

Sat 18 Oct FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5

Mancunian nightclub institution delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. CLINT BOON

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £5

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, £10

Tue 21 Oct GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4.50

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours. DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 22:00–04:00, £5

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage. BEKUZ (TRIKK)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, FROM £3

Northern Irish outfit, Bekuz are back with their second party in the rainy city, bringing Portuguese house connoisseur Trikk to headline.

Wed 22 Oct I LOVE NYC

FACTORY 251, 22:00–04:00, FROM £2

Everything from NYC from punk to to funk, soul and classic house. SOULJAM

MINT LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

The best in soul, funk and boogie.

Thu 23 Oct MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM (£5 AFTER)

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £3

MIND VORTEX (EMPEROR + DJ GUV)

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £7

45 Filters bring another night of drum ‘n’ bass carnage to the mansion.

Fri 24 Oct DEPARTURE LOUNGE

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FREE

Free Gorilla residents party. UPTOWN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £3

A new night landing at Deaf, offering up the best in disco, funk, boogie and party classics. TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:00–04:00, £3

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, FROM £6

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs.

FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM

Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon.

SELECTIVE HEARING (RON MORELLI + OLSEN + BAM)

Selective Hearing continue their hard-hitting Autumn schedule. FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, £2 BEFORE 12PM

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. BARE BONES

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

Three floor club night touting indie/electro, classic rock’n’roll and punk/rock. SOUL GARDEN (GILES THORPE + OWEN D + RUSS RUSSELL)

BAND ON THE WALL, 23:00–03:00, £10

New skool soul night playing modern soul and contemporary RnB with a splash of reggae and some soul classics too.

THE ORB PRESENT ADVENTURES BEYOND THE ULTRAWORLD & UFORB (DR ALEX PATERSON PRESENTS ORB IN DUB + FINI TRIBE + DJ DOCTOR D) MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 22:00–03:00, £17

A back-to-back live performance of The Orb’s two seminal ambient house LPs. MONKI

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £TBA

The Radio One tastemaker drops in for a set of box-fresh bass music.

October 2014

FRI251

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. RIOT JAZZ

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £TBC

A riotous, 11-piece jazz band hailing from Manchester, fronted by MC Chunky. TRIBAL SESSIONS (DUBFIRE + DARIUS SYROSSIAN + HECTOR COUTO + ADAM CHAPPELL)

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, £10

The legendary Tribal Sessions are back, featuring the usual selection of world-renowned spinners across all genres. VANGUARD (MONTE + JASPER JAMES)

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £8

Deep disco fun including Jeudi Records Monte and the one-time teen prodigy Jasper James. THE CHAMPIONS OF LOVERS ROCK

THE RITZ, 22:30–03:30, £22.50

A reggae showcase for lovers rock fans.

DIG DEEP MCR: SALLIE AXL + ORIGINS SOUND SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £10

Inkdolls UK and Lost Recrds heads come to South for the latest Dig Deep shenanigans.

Sat 25 Oct

2MANYDJS (JUSTIN ROBERTSON + OLDBOY + WILL TRAMP! + JAMIE BULL ) SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, £10

Still keeping up a prolific touring schedule, the Belgian mash-up artists continue to splice records together like t’were 2002. FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5

Mancunian nightclub institution delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. BONDAX (OLSEN + RELAY)

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

The boundary crossing teenage duo play their inimitable house-meetsgarage-meets-pop selections. CLINT BOON

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £5

Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon. FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, £2 BEFORE 12PM

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. REACH OUT: MICHAEL JACKSON SPECIAL

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–03:00, £3

All hail the King of Pop.

CRAIG CHARLES FUNK ‘N’ SOUL CLUB (THE FILTHY SIX) BAND ON THE WALL, 21:00–02:00, £14 EARLYBIRD (£16 THEREAFTER)

Craig Charles returns with his monthly staple, this time with the The Filthy Six on hand to provide the live jams.

BLACKOUT THURSDAYS SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £3

JOSHUA BROOKS, 21:00–02:00, £10

For the first time in the UK, modular synth maverick Keith Fullerton Whitman performs in collaboration with Mark Fell of SND, support coming from a host of far-flung electronic innovators - just the sort of line-up you’d expect from the excellent Faktion.

Fri 31 Oct TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:00–04:00, £3

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. INFINITY INK

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £15

Halloween special featuring the Crosstown Rebels duo. ULTIMATE POWER: BAT OUT OF HELLOWEEN

THE RITZ, 22:30–03:30, £8

A Halloween special of the epic power ballad night.

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

TRIBAL SESSIONS: HALLOWEEN SPECIAL (PAUL JOHNSON + PARRIS MITCHELL + DARIUS SYROSSIAN + JOZEF K + MORE )

JUNGLE AFTER PARTY (JUNGLE + NOW WAVE)

The legendary Tribal Sessions are back, featuring the usual selection of world-renowned spinners across all genres.

POP: A KATE BUSH SPECIAL

Celebrating the acclaimed pop star’s return to the live stage, Pop hosts a Kate Bush-only night! JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, £5

A Jungle DJ set for those who weren’t satiated by their live show earlier this evening.

Sun 26 Oct HOT WUK

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–03:30, £TBC

The Heatwave arrives in Manchester, just in time for, er, winter. Expect to sweat.

Tue 28 Oct GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4.50

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours. DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 22:00–04:00, £5

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, £10

31 RECORDS LP LAUNCH (DOC SCOTT + MARCUS INTALEX + BANE & MC DRS) BAND ON THE WALL, 23:00–03:00, £10

Liquid drum ‘n’ bass night Soul:ution return to host the launch of Doc Scott’s 31 Records new EP. HALLOWEEN WIG-OUT!

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

The Deaf Institute invite a host of regular club nights and residents to help them celebrate the spooky season!

MEAT FREE: HALLOWEEN SPECIAL (LEGOWELT) JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, FROM £8

The Meat Free crew celebrate Halloween with a live show from Legowelt.

HALLOWEEN HIT&RUN (DAKTYL + SALUTE + MORE)

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £TBC

Special Halloween edition of the Hit&Run clubnight.

Liverpool Clubs Tue 30 Sep DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes. PAUSE (DAN HILLS)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, £3

Garage, grime, funky and house.

BUMPER, 22:30–05:00, £2

Mon 06 Oct

KILL YOUR TV

An anything-goes affair think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more. TRAUMA

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12PM)

Rock, metal and alternative. PURPLE RAVE

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Nothing but Prince all night long.

Thu 02 Oct JUICY

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £4

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk. TIME SQUARE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese). GOSSIP!

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests. WOOKIE (CHANNEL ONE + ILLAMAN)

24 KITCHEN STREET, 20:00–04:00, £5

Hot Plate launch their new regular clubnight at 24 Kitchen Street with the help of UK garage veteran Wookie.

Fri 03 Oct PROPAGANDA

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic alternative indie music. COBRA COMMANDER

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

100 % dance floor bangers. TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house.

DJ CHRIS “SHOWBIZ” CONNOR & FRANCIS VOLANTE

CHAMELEON BAR, 19:00–04:00, £TBC

Everything from chart and commercial tracks to RnB.

CLINT BOON

FACTORY 251, 22:00–04:00, FROM £2

Everything from NYC from punk to to funk, soul and classic house.

Thu 30 Oct MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. HEAVY RAIN (MARTELO)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, £6

House from the Heavy Rain bunch, bringing the best in house, garage, future music and bump’n’grind. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM (£5 AFTER)

Student Thursday-nighter, with resident DJs Steve Davies, Bill Murray’s Rock n Soul club, and Nicola Bear serving up anything from retro classics to electro mash ups across three rooms.

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £5

Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon. MR SCRUFF KEEP IT UNREAL

BAND ON THE WALL, 22:00–03:00, £12

DJ set from the musical mastermind, known for mixing a junkshop bag of sounds and bringing his beats to life with squiggly, scribbled animations.

LOWDOWN (PHILL HARTNOLL (ORBITAL))

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £12

More Lowdown fun, this time with one half of the legendary Orbital manning the decks. FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, £2 BEFORE 12PM

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound.

Sun 02 Nov BAKERMAT

GORILLA, 19:00–23:00, £13

The up-and-coming Dutch producer (aka Lodewijk Fluttert) calls in to Manchester.

Tue 07 Oct DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 08 Oct KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 22:30–05:00, £2

An anything-goes affair &ndash; think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more. TRAUMA

THE KAZIMIER, 22:00–04:00, £13 (£10)

Sat 04 Oct RAGE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes. CHIBUKU (DUKE DUMONT + T WILLIAMS + ONEMAN + PSYCHMAGIK + MORE)

ARTS CLUB, 22:00–04:00, £18 (£16)

A marathon Dusky set and an appearance from Phantasy man Daniel Avery highlight the latest Chibuku carnage. BEDLAM SATURDAY

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5 AFTER 2AM)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie. PURE SATURDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £TBC

Smoonth RnB and urban floor fillers.

Sat 11 Oct RAGE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes. BEDLAM SATURDAY

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5 AFTER 2AM)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie. PURE SATURDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £TBC

Smoonth RnB and urban floor fillers. CREAM 22ND BIRTHDAY

NATION, 22:00–06:00, £30

The influential club night founded in the 90’s celebrates its 22nd birthday with a heavyweight lineup that includes Paul Oakenfold, Paul van Dyk, Chuckie and Oliver Heldens playing across three spaces at Nation. ORIGINS SOUND

24 KITCHEN STREET, 22:00–04:00, £12 (£10)

Bath-based DJ duo playing deep house, garage and new age disco. FRIEND WITHIN

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £10

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12PM)

Chibuku present an all-night long set from the Disclosure collaborator.

CLUB MONACO

Mon 13 Oct

Rock, metal and alternative.

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–02:00, £2

Thu 09 Oct

SUPER RAD

Abandon Silence return after their summer hiatus ready to go hard with a new series of visual art and dancefloor-ready beats.

I LOVE NYC

Urban student night every Monday with floor fillers from the past till now with DJ Tizzle.

BUMPER, 20:00–05:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Wed 29 Oct SOUTH, 22:00–04:00, £4 BEFORE 11PM

REWIND

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £3 (£4 AFTER 12PM)

80s galore from club funk and balearic gems to punk and disco bangers.

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5

House, electro and bass every fortnight.

The Less Effect crew turn one!

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights.

ABANDON SILENCE 5.1 (MARQUIS HAWKES + ANDREW HILL + HARRY SHEEHAN + RICH FURNESS + MORE)

Mancunian nightclub institution delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective.

LESS EFFECT 1ST BIRTHDAY (OM UNIT + ALEX COULTON)

Wed 01 Oct

Sat 01 Nov

ENERGY WEDNESDAYS

O2 ACADEMY, 21:00–05:00, £18

The epic club night celebrates being a decade old with a marathon party. 24 KITCHEN STREET, 22:00–04:00, £10

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

FUNKADEMIA

10 YEARS OF GOODGREEF XTRA HARD – PART 2 (DARREN STYLES + RE-STYLE + ALEX KIDD + ANDY WHITBY + MORE)

DJ YODA

REWIND

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £3 (£4 AFTER 12PM)

Urban student night every Monday with floor fillers from the past till now with DJ Tizzle.

ARTS CLUB, 21:00–02:00, £14

Tue 14 Oct

JUICY

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

The cut and paste DJ drops in for a special AV show. THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £4

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk. TIME SQUARE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese). GOSSIP!

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

DIRTY ANTICS

FATIMA 24 KITCHEN STREET, 20:00–03:00, £10 (£8)

The Ego artist who can boast Floating Points on production duties, calls in to support new record Yellow Memories.

Sat 18 Oct RAGE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes. CHIBUKU (DUSKY 4 HOUR SET + DANIEL AVERY + LEON VYNEHALL + LORCA + HOLLY LESTER)

ARTS CLUB, 22:00–04:00, £18 (£16)

A marathon Dusky set and an appearance from Phantasy man Daniel Avery highlight the latest Chibuku carnage. BEDLAM SATURDAY

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5 AFTER 2AM)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie. CLARKS

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, £3

Crazy Caribbean Carnival throws down the latest and greatest Dancehall, Bashment & Soca music from across the islands and beyond. PURE SATURDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £TBC

Smoonth RnB and urban floor fillers.

Mon 20 Oct REWIND

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £3 (£4 AFTER 12PM)

Urban student night every Monday with floor fillers from the past till now with DJ Tizzle.

Tue 21 Oct DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 22 Oct

Wed 15 Oct

BUMPER, 22:30–05:00, £2

KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 22:30–05:00, £2

An anything-goes affair think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more. TRAUMA

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12PM)

KILL YOUR TV

An anything-goes affair &ndash; think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more. TRAUMA

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12PM)

Rock, metal and alternative. CLUB MONACO

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–02:00, £2

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights.

Rock, metal and alternative.

Thu 16 Oct

80s galore from club funk and balearic gems to punk and disco bangers.

BUMPER, 20:00–05:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £4

Thu 23 Oct

TIME SQUARE

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

SUPER RAD

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests. LONE

THE KAZIMIER, 21:58–02:00, £10

R S Records special as the label celebrate 30 years in the business with three of its freshest new talents, including an extended headline set from Lone. FLIPTRIX

24 KITCHEN STREET, 21:00–03:00, £10 (£8)

High Focus takeover 24 Kitchen Street with Fliptrix headlining in support of new record Polyhymnia.

Fri 10 Oct PROPAGANDA

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic alternative indie music. GENTLEMAN’S DUB CLUB

24 KITCHEN STREET, 20:00–03:00, £12 (£10)

Suited and booted dub collective who also take in elements of ska and roots reggae. TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house. DJ CHRIS “SHOWBIZ” CONNOR & FRANCIS VOLANTE

CHAMELEON BAR, 19:00–04:00, £TBC

Everything from chart and commercial tracks to RnB. SHANGRI-LA

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Shangri-La drops into party in the Hold after three years enthralling crowds in Cardiff.

JUICY

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk. THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese). GOSSIP!

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights. SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 20:00–05:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests. ROSKA (BRACKLES B2B MURLO )

24 KITCHEN STREET, 22:00–04:00, £%

The London producer known for his playful house and reverberating sub-bass.

Fri 17 Oct PROPAGANDA

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic alternative indie music. CAPTAIN FLASH

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

JUICY

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £4

TIME SQUARE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese). GOSSIP!

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights. SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 20:00–05:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests.

Fri 24 Oct PROPAGANDA

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic alternative indie music. TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house.

A kaleidoscope of musical treats.

DJ CHRIS “SHOWBIZ” CONNOR & FRANCIS VOLANTE

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from chart and commercial tracks to RnB.

TREND FRIDAYS

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house. DJ CHRIS “SHOWBIZ” CONNOR & FRANCIS VOLANTE

CHAMELEON BAR, 19:00–04:00, £TBC

Everything from chart and commercial tracks to RnB.

CHAMELEON BAR, 19:00–04:00, £TBC

Sat 25 Oct MR SCRUFF

ARTS CLUB, 22:00–03:00, £10

DJ set from the musical mastermind, known for mixing a junkshop bag of sounds and bringing his beats to life with squiggly, scribbled animations.

Listings

Liverpool Clubs RAGE THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

TREND FRIDAYS CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house. DJ CHRIS “SHOWBIZ” CONNOR & FRANCIS VOLANTE

Everything from chart and commercial tracks to RnB.

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5 AFTER 2AM)

RAGE

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie. NO FAKIN

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Selector set from the No Fakin DJs, spanning hip hop, funk, soul and reggae.

GET DOWN (TIRKK + TOM DAVIES + ORLA)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £6

Hotflush spinner Tirkk drops in for the latest Get Down. PURE SATURDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £TBC

Smoonth RnB and urban floor fillers.

DROME (DREAM FREQUENCY + DJ TRIX + X-RAY + MC CYANIDE + MORE) O2 ACADEMY, 21:00–03:00, £15

Dream Frequency heads up six hours of DROME reunion fun.

Mon 27 Oct REWIND

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £3 (£4 AFTER 12PM)

Urban student night every Monday with floor fillers from the past till now with DJ Tizzle.

Tue 28 Oct DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Manchester

CHAMELEON BAR, 19:00–04:00, £TBC

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes. BEDLAM SATURDAY

Theatre

Sat 01 Nov THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes. BEDLAM SATURDAY

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5 AFTER 2AM)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie. EROL ALKAN

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £10

The Trash founder, Bugged Out resident and all-round DJ extraordinaire takes control for the evening, best known for his tight productions and damn good remixes.

ACTION HERO: HOKE’S BLUFF 25–26 OCT, 8:00PM – 11:00PM, £11 (£6)

Hoke’s Bluff uses the cheap sentimentality of inspiring locker room speeches to find out what it really means to be a winner (on the inside). Produed by China Plate and Warwick Arts Centre. MAMELA

28–29 OCT, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £9 (£5)

Mamela shares moving, personal testimony from young women who were born towards the end of the Apartheid era. RAINBOW SCARS

28–29 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Set in the world of white, middleclass Ellen Robinson and her family which includes Lindiwe, a black child they adopted aged three, Rainbow Scars explores identity, family and what makes us who we are.

ERIC AND LITTLE ERN 30 SEO 7:30PM–10:30PM PRICES VARY

Homage to the legendary comedy duo Morecambe and Wise. HA HA HOOD

14 OCT, 7:30 –10:00PM TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Humourous parody of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, performed by The Ha Ha! team. RIVERDANCE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 7 OCT AND 2 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

You know the score, Irish dudes dancing with no little amount of ability who burst onto the scene at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. This tour marks their 20th anniversary. STONE IN HIS POCKETS

9 OCT, 7.30PM - 10.00PM, PRICES VARY

A rural community in County Kerry is turned upside down by the arrival of an American film crew on location to capture the 'real' Ireland.

PURE SATURDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £TBC

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, £3

Smoonth RnB and urban floor fillers.

THE VOODOO BALL – DIA DE LOS MUERTOS (FAMILY ATLANTICA + THE FONTANAS + WE, THE UNDERSIGNED + SON DE AMERICA + MORE)

Wed 29 Oct KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 22:30–05:00, £2

Rock, metal and alternative.

Thu 30 Oct JUICY

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £4

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk. TIME SQUARE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese). GOSSIP!

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights. SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 20:00–05:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests.

LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK: HYPERDUB 10TH ANNIVERSARY (KODE9 + COOLY G) THE KAZIMIER, 21:00–03:00, FREE

Two of Hyperdub’s greatest appear as part of Liverpool Music Week to help the respected electronic label continue their 10th anniversary celebrations.

Fri 31 Oct PROPAGANDA

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic alternative indie music.

PACO PEÑA: REQUIEM FOR THE EARTH

Considered one of the world’s greatest Flamenco artists, Paco Peña brings his company to The Bridgewater Hall.

Capitol Theatre BREZHNEV’S CHILDREN

15–18 OCT, TIMES VARY, £8 (£5)

Adapted from the novel ‘The Women’s Decameron’ by Julia Voznesenskaya, the play is set in a rundown maternity hospital in Moscow during the mid 1980s, where a group of women bond while being held in an isolation ward against their will.

Contact DRACULA

10-11 OCT, 7:30–10:30PM, PRICES VARY

Choreographer Marc Bruce presents a dance reworking of Bram Stoker’s Dracula – performed by a troupe of ten dancers exploring classical and contemporary dance styles, with the Count himself played by award winning Rambert graduate Jonathan Goddard. TAMASHA: MY NAME IS...

8–11 OCT, TIMES VARY, £9 (£5)

Tamasha’s new verbatim play about love, family and ever-shifting identities tells the cross-cultural love story of a family divided by the complexities of culture and religion. AMSTERDAM

3–4 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £9 (£5)

Fusing spoken word, physicality and music, Amsterdam is a 21st century play of love and lust.

A SERIES OF INCREASINGLY IMPOSSIBLE ACTS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 21 OCT AND 1 NOV, TIMES VARY, £12 (£10)

Improvised comedy as the Secret Theatre Company to to complete a series of increasingly impossible acts, the audience deciding who performs each night. HAMLET

11 SEP – 18 OCT, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FROM £15

28–29 OCT, TIMES VARY, £12 (£10)

A tale of power, corruption and revenge inspired by John Webster’s The White Devil.

Urban student night every Monday with floor fillers from the past till now with DJ Tizzle.

14 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £24.50

TRAUMA

James Dacre returns to direct Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, with life and death crashing in all around it.

GLITTERLAND

REWIND

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £3 (£4 AFTER 12PM)

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12PM)

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

30 OCT – 29 NOV, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, £15

A pitch-black comedy from Caroline Bird about a Governor with 24 hours to prove a prisoner’s sanity after his execution goes horribly wrong and he regains consciousness.

Mon 03 Nov

Bridgewater Hall

Royal Exchange Theatre

23–25 OCT, TIMES VARY, £12 (£10)

Ancient Aztec and Catholic beliefs combine in a special day of the dead festival for Halloween.

An anything-goes affair &ndash; think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more.

Directed by Ng Choon Ping, Crocodiles won the inaugural Royal Exchange Hodgkiss Award, which celebrates the unique collaboration between a writer and director.

CHAMBER PIECE

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–02:00, £8

Manchester Theatre

CROCODILES

30 SEP – 18 OCT, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, £12 (£10)

Maxine Peake takes on the title role of this Shakespeare classic, with Claire Benedict, Gillian Bevan and Jodie McNee also among those starring.

ARE YOU WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

30 OCT – 1 NOV, TIMES VARY, £12 (£10)

PAUSE

Garage, grime, funky and house.

Royal Exchange Studio

New thriller from award-winning playwright Mark Ravenhill. MANA + DARK CELL 30 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Double-act dance bill featuring the contemporary, afro-fusion and martial arts of Mana, and Dark Cell’s choreographed exploration of South Africa’s Robben Island. SKIERLIK

30 OCT – 1 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

This award-winning play brings to light the racially-motivated shooting spree that devastated a remote settlement in 2008, told through the eyes of a man who lost everything there.

Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama ONE HAND CLAPPING

30 OCT, 31 OCT, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, £6 (£4)

Thanks to a stage adaptation by Lucia Cox, Anthony Burgess’ tale of global corruption is explored from the perspective of a clairvoyant and his supermarket worker wife.

O2 Apollo DEAR FATHER

19 OCT, 6:00PM – 10:00PM, FROM £25

A comical play by Indian film actor Paresh Rawal, making fun of marriage, technology, paying bills, devious lawyers, corrupt politicians and other aspects of daily urban life.

LOTTY’S WAR 2–4 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

A story of passion, courage and sacrifice, set in WWII enemy occupied Channel Islands. Based on unpublished diaries found in Guernsey.

Palace Theatre OVER THE RAINBOW

18 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £16.60

Award-winning musical charting the life story of songbird Eva Cassidy. SWAN LAKE

8–11 OCT, TIMES VARY, FROM £6.90

The English National Ballet’s retelling of the classic love story. JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

14–25 OCT, NOT 19, 20, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Bill Kenwright’s production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph, his eleven brothers and the coat of many colours. HALFWAY TO PARADISE: THE BILLY FURY STORY

30 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £23.90

Now in its 16th year of touring, Bill Fury’s own band re-live his timeless hits backed by personal movie footage. JERSEY BOYS

24 SEP–4 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

The classic Italian opera returns, as lavishly-costumed as ever.

True life story of multiplebucketload selling group The Four Seasons, from their beginnings to their extended run along the hit parade. Matinee performances also available (Thu & Sat, 2.30pm).

31 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £17.90

17 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £24.40

Opera House MADAMA BUTTERFLY

1 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £17.90

LA TRAVIATA

Opera & Ballet Internationl present Verdi’s interpretation of one of the most popular love stories of the 19th century, La Dame aux Camelias.

ALOHA FROM HAWAII

Royal Northern College of Music LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

13–18 OCT, TIMES VARY, £13

Comedy rock musical written by Alan Menkin and Howard Ashman, telling the tale of a hapless florist as he raises a plant that feeds on human flesh. THE TRIAL

11 FEB, 22 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £15 (£13.50)

Philip Glass’ striking opera, based on the nightmarish tale of Josef K.

Salford Arts Theatre 9–11 OCT, 7:00PM – 9:30PM, £8 (£6.50)

A contemporary re-telling of Louisa May Alcott’s classic tale of adolescence sees the March sisters struggling to find their place in an England at war. JUKE BOX BABY

16–18 OCT, 7:00PM – 9:30PM, £8 (£6.50)

A story of brotherhood and self-discovery as Jimmie helps his brother Bobby as the latter’s hope of a baseball scholarship fades. THE LODGER

23–25 OCT, 7:00PM – 9:30PM, £8 (£6.50)

An adaptation of the Hitchcock classic in which a lodger occupying the Bunting’s spare room bares an uncanny resemblance to a known serial-killer. WOLF

30 OCT – 1 NOV, 7:00PM – 9:30PM, £8 (£6.50)

Drama based in Manchester 1998 looking at insecurity and families ripped up and torn apart.

ASPIRE-25

26–27 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £16.90

THE RISE AND FALL OF A NORTHERN STAR

24 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £10 (£8)

Tracey Star wanted it all - the cautionary tale of a rock and roll wannabe. Seeking to escape the drudgery of her day-to-day life in 1980s Manchester, she sought to make something of herself in the burgeoning male dominated Madcester music scene.

The King’s Arms A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

16 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £5.50

The Shakespeare classic performed by just one man – Tony Howes. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: VANITY BITES BACK

20–21 OCT, TIMES VARY, £4

A play about anorexia and attention seeking from a (recovered) anorexic (unabashed) attention seeker. COLDER THAN HERE

30 SEP – 4 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£8)

A family face up to the future with the impending death of their daughter Myra.

I HATE THIS 15 OCT, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12

In this autobiographical solo performance, David Hansen tells the story of learning that his still unborn child has died.

The Lowry: Lyric Theatre RAMBERT FEATURING ROOSTER

1–3 OCT, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

A stunning dance performance featuring four contrasting dance works performed by 22 dancers accompanied by the Rambert orchestra. GRUPO CORPO

17–18 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £18

Brazil’s internationally acclaimed dance company make a welcome return to the UK following their enormously successful tour in 2005. HENRY IV (PARTS I AND II)

Three Minute Theatre

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 SERVICES USERS

13 OCT, TIMES VARY, £5

A satirical twist on the classic fairytale with Snow White as a bi-sexual feminist. IRIS

9–11 OCT, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £7

Iris and Sarah are as thick as thieves, and with quirky landlords, Sarah’s husband Tod and the home football team, there’s lots to talk about at The Hare and Hound. Every good story starts at the local.

Waterside Arts Centre A DOLL’S HOUSE

15 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, PRICES VARY

Direct from Shakespeare’s hometown in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Royal Shakespeare Company brings two of Shakespeare’s greatest plays Henry IV Parts I and II to The Lowry.

Henrik Ibsen’s inspired piece – which caused outrage both in its style and content when first staged in 1879 – is given a reworking, telling the story of a ‘perfect’ marriage that unravels as a series of lies are exposed.

The Lowry: Quays Theatre

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 2 AUG AND 22 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £10 (£8)

21–25 OCT, TIMES VARY, FROM £21

WARNINGS TO THE CURIOUS: THE GHOST STORIES OF M.R. JAMES

4 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10

One-man stage show based on some of the Edwardian era’s greatest ghost stories. HOW LOVE IS SPELT

7–10 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £8 (£5)

Chloe Moss’ play on growing up and finding yourself in the city. THE ANGINA MONOLOGUE

28 OCT, 29 OCT, 31 OCT, 8:30PM – 11:00PM, £7 (£5)

A tale of booze, bacon and the BBC Breakfast sofa.

PHONES, KEYS, WALLET: THE STORY OF THE NIGHT BEFORE AND THE MORNING AFTER

1 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FREE

Two-act multimedia comedy play by PKW Productions. MAKING OTHER PLANS

2 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £3

Chris ends up with a job, a house and a child, without planning for any of it in this new play.

The Lowry Studio

PHOENIX DANCE THEATRE

2 OCT, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, FROM £13

FERAL

4 OCT, 29 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Innovative piece of visual theatre that combines puppetry, film and live sound to create and destroy a miniature world in front of the audience’s eyes. THREADS

Two world premieres and a company classic feature on this triple bill. NOT ABOUT HEROES

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 5 OCT AND 18 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

The classic Stephen MacDonald play performed to mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War. BEAUTY OF THE BEAST

5 OCT, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £7.50

LITTLE WOMEN

A reworking of the original Aloha From Hawaii classic piece of dance theatre.

The Edge Theatre & Arts Centre

We are all, without exception, like threads, delicately hanging onto hope, to dreams, to happiness, to ambition, to freedom, to family, to friendship, to love, to life. SOLFATARA

14 OCT, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12

A masked figure causes havoc at a couples dinner party, causing them to reveal their true thoughts and feelings. THE HOUSE THAT STANK OF DEATH

30 OCT, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12

Manchester-based writer David Isaac presents his comedy/horror multi-media experience, featuring five short plays and short films. CASTING THE RUNES

31 OCT – 1 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12

This one-man show introduces a magic lanternist and occult historian in Casting the Runes, while in The Residence at Whitminster, a dark shadow looms over a peaceful English church. MANCHESTER SCIENCE FESTIVAL: TRANSMISSIONS 23–24 OCT, 8:00PM – 9:00PM, £12 (£10)

The directorial debut of Dr Tuheen Huda sees two addicts explore their own neuropsychiatry as they recount their experiences with the aid of various digital technologies.

22–23 OCT, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £15

An exploration of masculinity and male group behaviour through the medium of dance.

The Plaza Stockport 42ND STREET

28 OCT – 1 NOV 7:15PM – 10:15PM, PRICES VARY

Retelling of the timeless tale of small town Peggy Sawyer’s rise from chorine to Broadway star. THE SIMON & GARFUNKEL STORY

5 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £18.70

Musical retelling of the songwriting partnership’s stellar career. MUSICALITY

25 OCT, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, FROM £12.25

Kennedys School & College of Performing Arts presents Musicality, an all singing, all dancing musical showcase spectacular. STONE IN HIS POCKETS

9 OCT, 7.30PM - 10.00PM, PRICES VARY

A rural community in County Kerry is turned upside down by the arrival of an American film crew on location to capture the 'real' Ireland.

OUR FRIENDS, THE ENEMY

World War I-based play told through the eyes of Private James Boyce. GATECRASH

2 OCT, TIMES VARY, £8 (£6)

Interactive play in which you control the conversations Sam has with his guests at a house party. THE BEAUTIFUL WARMTH

30 OCT – 1 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £8 (£6)

The Wyllie Longmore-directed play in which he explores consumerism, humanity and the desire for success. ANGEL

17 OCT, 7.00PM - 9.00PM, £8 (£6)

The story of a girl who returns an old woman’s shopping bag and her life is never the same again. A play about childhood and ageing, dealing with dementia and memory loss.

Z Arts

MANCHESTER SCIENCE FESTIVAL: PRELUDE TO A NUMBER

27 OCT, 8:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£5)

A mixture of live-looped music, spoken word and storytelling informs this story about three characters making sense of life’s chaos. Part of Manchester Science Festival. ANGEL

16 OCT, 1.30 - 3.30PM, £8 (£6)

The story of a girl who returns an old woman’s shopping bag and her life is never the same again. A play about childhood and ageing, dealing with dementia and memory loss.

The latest production by the Janice Hughes School of Dance.

A Dyer’s Journey Through Art and Fashion 60

Listings

on show until 29 November @harrispreston

HarrisMuseumandArtGallery

THE SKINNY

Liverpool Theatre Epstein Theatre ERIC AND LITTLE ERN

10–11 OCT, 7:30PM–10:00PM PRICES VARY

Homage to the legendary comedy duo Morecambe and Wise. PINOCCHIO

25 OCT, £9.50 (£8.50)

The children’s classic about the puppet who turns into a real boy but finds himself unable to lie.

Everyman Theatre

JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK

1–18 OCT, TIMES VARY, FROM £12

Sean O’Casey’s classic Irish drama set in 1922, where Juno and her peacock of a husband find themselves in the grip of change, a daughter growing up, a civil war going on and a son wounded and hiding from conflict. BRIGHT PHOENIX

3–25 OCT, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

Lucas returns to Liverpool years after escaping the city and personal tragedy. The city’s changed beyond recognition since he left, and his old pals are there too, although they don’t rush to welcome him back...

Liverpool Empire JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

14–25 OCT, NOT 19, 20, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Bill Kenwright’s production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph, his eleven brothers and the coat of many colours. THE FULL MONTY

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 12 SEP AND 25 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

New stage adaptation of the BAFTA award-winning film about six steelworkers with nothing to lose, well, except their clothes. RIVERDANCE

28 OCT–2 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

You know the score, Irish dudes dancing with no little amount of ability who burst onto the scene at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. This tour marks their 20th anniversary.

St Helens Theatre Royal

THE LADY BOYS OF BANGKOK: RED HOT KISSES

7 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £22 (£20.50)

The usual colour and glamour from the Lady Boys as they return with another sizzling show. DIRTY DUSTING

10 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £20

Three cleaning ladies set up a telephone sex line. Innuendos ensue.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY – THE MUSICAL

15–17 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £12.50

Everyone’s favourite undead family hit the stage in this musical adaptation. WIZARD OF OZ

25 OCT – 2 NOV, NOT 27 OCT, 28 OCT, TIMES VARY, £8

Stage adaptation of the long-loved fantastical tale about Dorothy and her dog who end up in a magical land.

St Luke’s Church FRANKENSTEIN

31 OCT – 1 NOV, TIMES VARY, £10.50 (£7.50)

A handy Halloween production of Frankenstein from Adenuf Productions, who’ll be praying the rain stays off at the open-air Bombed Out Church.

St Peter’s Church Hall VILOMAH

9 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £6

Former Brookside Dean Sullivan pops up to tell the story of the great war poet Wilfred Owen and the influence of his mother Susan on his work.

The Black-E MANA + DARK CELL

30 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Double-act dance bill featuring the contemporary, afro-fusion and martial arts of Mana, and Dark Cell’s choreographed exploration of South Africa’s Robben Island.

October 2014

BIKO’S QUEST

RAINBOW SCARS

29–30 OCT, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £8 (£6)

28–29 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

The life and legacy of Biko explored through dance.

The Brindley

ROZENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD

21 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £7 (£5)

The modern dramatic masterpiece based on two minor Shakespeare characters is presented by the As We Like It Theatre. PIGEON

22 OCT, TIMES VARY, £10

The story of carrier pigeons in the First World War. For families and children.

The Capstone THE TAMING OF THE SHREW

22 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £12.50 (£9.50)

Immersion Theatre’s take on the Shakespeare classic. A DOLL’S HOUSE

15 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, PRICES VARY

6 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £12.50 (£9.50)

Nobel-Prize winning playwright Dario Fo’s minimalist play eschews props and scenery, with Mario Pirovano performing four episodes from St. Francis’ life.

TURNING WORLDS DANCE COMPANY: QUANTUM

30 OCT – 1 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

This award-winning play brings to light the racially-motivated shooting spree that devastated a remote settlement in 2008, told through the eyes of a man who lost everything there. CLYBOURNE PARK

1–11 OCT, TIMES VARY, £14

Comedy dealing with the issues of the constant flux of urban neighbourhoods. Russ and Bev try to sell their house but the buyers are blocked by the white, middleclass Neighbourhood Association. Fifty years later and the same thing happens again... MY PERFECT MIND

21–25 OCT, TIMES VARY, £14

Moving comedy about the life of actor Edward Petherbridge, who was due to play King Lear before being struck down by a major stroke which left him barely able to move.

Manchester Comedy

20 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £12.50 (£9.50)

Evolved from a team of collaborators, Quantum uses body tracking technologies where dancers’ movements trigger musical notation and thus instantaneous live music.

The Lantern Theatre

THE RISE AND FALL OF A NORTHERN STAR

31 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £10.50 (£8.50)

24 SEP – 11 OCT, NOT SUNDAYS, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £12.50 (£10.50)

Townsend Productions adaptation of a real life story set around the industrial strikes of the 1970’s in the UK, and the subsequent trial of 24 workers from North Wales by the government in 1973. VISIONS MUSICALE

15 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £10.50 (£8.50)

A live music and video spectacle performed by International keyboardist and composer Tor Underseth. PLAY WITH MYSELF: THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF DRAMA PRACTITIONER GREGORY BIKE

16 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £7.50 (£5.50)

Character comedy focusing on a pretentious drama practitioner. The show parodies the world of theatre and features dead dogs, gypsy curses and an enormous buzz-saw. IT’S PLAY TIME

23 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £5.50

Six short plays from talented, new writers exploring love, loss, loneliness, sex-booth vouchers and gargantuan sandwiches. ARISE MYSTIC DIVAI

30 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £12.50 (£10.50)

A feminine show, of music and dance that takes inspiration from Eastern dance.

Unity Theatre FERAL

29 OCT, 8:00PM–10:30PM, £12 (£10)

Innovative piece of visual theatre that combines puppetry, film and live sound to create and destroy a miniature world in front of the audience’s eyes. PENDULUM'S BARGAIN EMPORIUM

30 OCT, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £10 (£8)

Maison Foo bring their latest tale for grown ups to the stage.

Tue 30 Sep TIM KEY

THE DANCEHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15 (£12.50)

Time Out comedy Performer of the Year Tim Key returns with another show of hilarious poetically-delivered comedy.

BIG VALUE THURSDAY (CAIMH MCDONNELL + JAMES ALDERSON + GEORGE ZACH + SMUG ROBERTS + MC PHIL ELLIS)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £9 (£6)

A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value. XS MALARKEY’S SUPER SPECIAL BIRTHDAY GIG (GARY DELANEY + ALUN COCHRANE + ROB ROUSE + JOHN-LUKE ROBERTS)

PUB/ZOO, 20:30–23:00, £5 (£3)

The ace comedy night celebrates it’s birthday with a corking line-up featuring some of the gang’s favourite past headliners.

Comedy Manchester

BARREL OF LAUGHS (JOHN RYAN + HARRIET DYER + JONNY AWSUM + MC MARTIN MOR) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. DOC BROWN

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £15

Doc Brown continue to mine hip-hop for his stitch-inducing one-liners.

Sat 04 Oct

BARREL OF LAUGHS (HOWARD READ + HARRIET DYER + JONNY AWSUM + MC MARTIN MOR) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–22:00, £3

Improv from the members of CszUK – using audience suggestions a comedian will tell a story based on this, followed by improvised sketches from a troupe of actors. CARDINAL BURNS

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £16

The BAFTA-nominated comedy duo bring their array of off-kilter characters to the stage. ALAN DAVIES

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 20:00–22:15, £25

The English comic, writer and actor – best known for Jonathan Creek and his regular slot on QI – makes his long-awaited return to stand-up, marked with his usual deft silliness and whip-smart observation. BEST OF BUZZ COMEDY (MICKEY D)

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 20:00–22:30, £12 (£10)

KEV EADIE)

Manchester’s oldest underground comedy club returns with a bang, continuing their quest to put fresh comedic talent in the spotlight. TIM KEY

THE DANCEHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15 (£12.50)

Time Out comedy Performer of the Year Tim Key returns with another show of hilarious poetically-delivered comedy.

Thu 02 Oct

COMEDY BALLOON (JACK EVANS + SIMON BUTTERWORTH + LIAM TUFFY + DANIEL SWAGADORE + TARYN RODGERS + MORE) APE AND APPLE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Manchester’s oldest underground comedy club returns with a bang, continuing their quest to put fresh comedic talent in the spotlight. SOS TV LIVE

THREE MINUTE THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

The Superstars on Saturday bunch present an evening of silly character sketches.

Thu 09 Oct

BIG VALUE THURSDAY (MICK FERRY + NICK PARRY + LEE BENNETT + JOJO SMITH + MC DANNY MCLOUGHLIN) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £9 (£6)

A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value. LEE EVANS

PHONES 4U ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £35.45

The fidgity, sweaty funnyman tours his new show, Roadrunner. QUIPPOPOTAMUS

FUEL, 19:30–22:30, FREE

The Fuel-originated free stand up night returns for another night of &ndash; let’s face it &ndash; slightly bizarre comedy.

Fri 10 Oct

BARREL OF LAUGHS (MICK FERRY + SCOTT BENNETT + JOJO SMITH + MC DANNY MCLOUGHLIN)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. LEE EVANS

PHONES 4U ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £35.45

The fidgity, sweaty funnyman tours his new show, Roadrunner.

JONGLEURS COMEDY ON THE ROAD

THE PLAZA STOCKPORT, 20:00–22:30, FROM £11/25

Mickey D is the latest comedian to call in to the regular comedy night.

The monthly Scottish comedy night spreads to the rest of the UK.

Sun 05 Oct

Sat 11 Oct

THE HEATON COMEDY EVENING (GAVIN WEBSTER + DUNCAN OAKLEY + TOM LITTLE + MC JUSTIN MOORHOUSE) THE HEATON SPORTS CLUB, 19:45–22:30, £7.50

Julian Moorhouse guides you Wed 01 Oct COMEDY BALLOON (KIERAN LAWLESS through some of the finest comics currently trawling the regional + BENJI PEARCE + CARL JONES + circuit. JACK DEIGHTON + CHRIS GILES + MC APE AND APPLE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Wed 08 Oct

THE DIDSBURY COMEDY CLUB (DUNCAN OAKLEY + GAVIN WEBSTER + CHRIS PURCHASE + MC ANDREW RYAN)

DIDSBURY CRICKET CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £7

A trio of local rib-ticklers drop into the leafy suburbs of Didsbury, ably assisted by MC Andrew Ryan.

Mon 06 Oct BEAT THE FROG (MC DAN NIGHTINGALE)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3

BARREL OF LAUGHS (MICK FERRY + SCOTT BENNETT + JOJO SMITH + MC DANNY MCLOUGHLIN)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. LEE EVANS

PHONES 4U ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £35.45

The fidgity, sweaty funnyman tours his new show, Roadrunner.

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL LAUNCH (ZOE LYONS + KATE SMURTHWAITE + LESLEY KERSHAW + AMY VREEKE + MORE) BANGKOK BAR, 20:00–22:30, £10

Launch night of the Women In Comedy Festival, featuring a host of stars performing over the two weeks. RAY PEACOCK

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:00, £12

BIG VALUE THURSDAY (HOWARD READ + CHRISTIAN SCHULTE LOH + KATY TURELOVE + JONNY AWSUM + MC PETE OTWAY)

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal!

One half of the Chortle Peacock and Gamble podcast dream team, doing his stand up thing.

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £9 (£6)

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:30–23:00, FREE

THE OLD MONKEY, 19:30–22:30, £5

A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value.

SHAM BODIE (FRUIT TONES + DAVID STANIER + IMMODIUM NITRATE)

KRAAK, 19:30–23:00, £5

Sham Bodie returns with another rib-tickling evening of music and sketch show comedy.

Fri 03 Oct

LAUGH LOCAL (NICK DOODY + ROB ROUSE + LOST VOICE GUY + MC JUSTIN MOORHOUSE)

CHORLTON IRISH CLUB, 18:30–23:00, £10

Comedy comes to the suburbs as the folk behind Bop Local present an evening of comedy, with Justin Moorhouse leading the flock.

GEIN’S FAMILY GIFTSHOP

New sketches and material drawing inspiration from misery and human suffering.

Tue 07 Oct QUIPPOPOTAMUS

ODD BAR, 20:00–22:30, FREE

The Fuel-originated free stand up night returns for another night of &ndash; let’s face it &ndash; slightly bizarre comedy. XS MALARKEY (CARL DONNELLY + MICHAEL LEGGE + ALLYSON JUNE SMITH)

PUB/ZOO, 20:30–23:00, £5 (£3)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans.

Sun 12 Oct

ANDREW O’NEILL (JIM SMALLMAN)

Another offering from Trapdoor Comedy Club this time sees sometime Never Mind The Buzzcocks panelist Andrew O’Neill drop in for a headlining slot, with support coming from Hollywood Fringe award winner Jim Smallman. LEE EVANS

PHONES 4U ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £35.45

The fidgity, sweaty funnyman tours his new show, Roadrunner. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: ZOE LYONS

THE KING’S ARMS, 17:30–18:30, £10

One of the brightest talents on the circuit, as seen on Mock The Week and Comedy Roadshow. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: JO CAULFIELD

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–21:15, £10

The seasoned comic, writer and Radio 4 presenter delves into the depths of her anger about, well, everything.

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: KIRI PRITCHARD MCLEAN THE KING’S ARMS, 21:45–22:45, £4 (£2)

Up and coming comedian performs as part of the festival. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: THE DUTCH-ESESS

THE KING’S ARMS, 21:30–22:30, £5

Comedy from Holland! Simone and Ama bring the laughs from Amsterdam. KOJO

THE DANCEHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

The up and coming comic talent ruminates on being on the cusp of success, in Almost Famous. BRIDGET CHRISTIE: A BIC FOR HER

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:00, £14

Mon 13 Oct ANDREW O’NEILL

THE RAILWAY INN, 19:30–22:30, £5

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal!

SJB - COURTING COMEDY CONTACT, 20:00–23:00, £20

Three well-known legal personalities are given some training by some experienced touring comedians and then thrown to the lions in the form of a live stand-up routine in front of an audience. Good luck with that one. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: SOPHIE WILIAN

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £5

The true story of how Wilian and her slightly-psychic Gran found her lost father.

Sat 18 Oct

BARREL OF LAUGHS (TOM WRIGGLESWORTH + KEVIN DEWSBURY + ALEX BOARDMAN + MC DAVE WILLIAMS)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. DAPPER LAUGHS

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £9.50

Comedian and vine star, Dapper Laughs takes his Proper #Moist show on the road, confirming every stereotypical ‘lad’ image as he goes. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: HANNAH BRACKENBURY

THE KING’S ARMS, 17:00–18:00, £4

Tue 14 Oct

Described as Victoria Wood and Tim Minchin’s lesbian lovechild. Make of that what you will.

PUB/ZOO, 20:30–23:00, £5 (£3)

THE KING’S ARMS, 18:30–19:30, £4

XS MALARKEY (CLEVER PETER + MATT GREEN + JAMES MEEHAN + BEEJAL PATEL)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans. THE WORST COMEDY NIGHT IN SALFORD

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Keeping expectations low with this night of open mic stand up, opening up the stage to anyone willing to give it go.

Wed 15 Oct

COMEDY BALLOON (ANDY MANNION + EL PURNELL + CARL CROSSE + MEREDITH EVANS + MORE) APE AND APPLE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Manchester’s oldest underground comedy club returns with a bang, continuing their quest to put fresh comedic talent in the spotlight.

SARAH BENNETTO’S STORYTELLERS CLUB

PUB/ZOO, 20:30–23:00, £5 (£3)

Bennetto’s much-loved cult storytelling comedy club sees some of the region’s comedy stars drop in with their own tales of hilarity. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: WENDY WASON

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–21:00, £5

Wason centres her comedy in the grim future of the NHS, going on a tour of an Angelean hospital and talking about the characters and problems encountered.

Thu 16 Oct

BIG VALUE THURSDAY (TOM WRIGGLESWORTH + JO D’ARCY + MIKE OSBORNE + ALEX BOARDMAN + MC DAVE WILLIAMS)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £9 (£6)

A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: SOPHIE WILIAN

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £5

The true story of how Wilian and her slightly-psychic Gran found her lost father.

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: CAZ N BRITNEY

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: LARA A KING

Sharp humour, uplifting melodies and lyrical wordsmithery from this sharp comedian. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: SHORT AND GIRLIE SHOW

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans.

Wed 22 Oct

COMEDY BALLOON (DIANE STEWART + NORM BAKER + MIKE OATES + PAUL HENRY + MORE) APE AND APPLE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Manchester’s oldest underground comedy club returns with a bang, continuing their quest to put fresh comedic talent in the spotlight. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: ZOE CHARLES

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–21:15, £7

Laugh-out-loud funny show following Charles’ search for her biological father. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: MIRANDA KANE

THE KING’S ARMS, 21:30–22:30, £8

In this tell-all, multimedia comedy, Kane exposes the truth about sex workers, their clients, and all the hilarious, heart-warming and often bizarre moments in a unique career. OTIZ CANNELONI’S HISTORY OF MAGIC – ABRIDGED!

THE DANCEHOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

Family magic show with Otiz explaining his own career in trickery.

Thu 23 Oct

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £9 (£6)

Up to ten businesswomen who’ve never performed comedy before try their luck on stage. GREEN EGGS & GLAM BURLESQUE REVUE

THE DANCEHOUSE, 19:15–23:00, £12.50 (£11)

Variety burlesque show, complete with showgirls, clowns, circus freaks and all manner of delightful debauchery. ONLY FOOLS AND BOYCIE

THE PLAZA STOCKPORT, 19:30–22:30, £16.50

The Only Fools and Horses actor John Challis shares secrets from his career, recalling tales from his days as Boycie on OFaH and his time in Dr Who, Coronation Street and other TV classics. COMEDY SPORTZ IMPROV TOURNAMENT

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 19:00–21:00, £7 (£5)

Regional improv group comedy battle royale.

Sun 19 Oct

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: BARBARA NICE

THE KING’S ARMS, 15:30–16:30, £7

The average Stockport housewife who’s recently supported Peter Kay and Johnny Vegas, suggesting she’s not so average at all. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: DAPHNA BARAM

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:30–21:30, £DONATIONS

Prepare yourself for a roller coaster of a rant on age, wars, sex, love, crime, politics, fitness, fixes and everything in-between.

Fri 17 Oct

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.

XS MALARKEY

PUB/ZOO, 20:30–23:00, £5 (£3)

BANGKOK BAR, 20:00–22:30, £12

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: LAUGHOLOGY

A love story with a difference as Leigh waxes lyrical about her brother.

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £16 (£8)

Tue 21 Oct

BIG VALUE THURSDAY (SEAN PERCIVAL + JON WAGSTAFFE + JON PEARSON + DAVID LONGLEY + MC SULLY O’SULLIVAN)

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: KERRY LEIGH

BARREL OF LAUGHS (TOM WRIGGLESWORTH + KEVIN DEWSBURY + ALEX BOARDMAN + MC DAVE WILLIAMS)

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–21:30, £3

Improv from the members of CszUK – using audience suggestions a comedian will tell a story based on this, followed by improvised sketches from a troupe of actors.

All-female comedy improv troupe.

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–22:30, £5

BANGKOK BAR, 21:00–22:30, £7

The duo present Scotty Road: The Musical.

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–21:00, £5

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: JO ENRIGHT

A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: BRITAIN’S YOUNGEST GRANDMA

BANGKOK BAR, 20:00–21:00, £3

Hayley Jayne brings her character comedy show to Manchester. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: SCUMMY MUMMIES

BANGKOK BAR, 20:00–21:00, £3

Ellie and Helen cover a wide range of parenting topics, from biscuitbased bribery to farting and fish fingers. LUISA OMIELAN

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 20:00–22:30, £12

Debut stand up tour following a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Fri 24 Oct

BARREL OF LAUGHS (TONY BURGESS + KATIE MULGREW + DAVID LONGLEY + MC SULLY O’SULLIVAN) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. DAPPER LAUGHS

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £9.50

Comedian and vine star, Dapper Laughs takes his Proper #Moist show on the road, confirming every stereotypical ‘lad’ image as he goes.

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: AMY VREEKE

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:00–20:00, £3

A stand up who admits she wouldn’t admit to her best friends on their sofas after a bottle of wine. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: HAWKEYE & WINDY

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:30–22:30, £3

THE KING’S ARMS, 21:30–22:30, £8

Classically-trained-but-notquite-good-enough-to-betaken-seriously former-musiccollege-misanthropists.

Mon 20 Oct

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 21:30–22:30, £5

The Phoenix Nights and I’m Alan Partridge actress returns to her first love of stand up. BEAT THE FROG (MC DANNY MCLOUGHLIN)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3

WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: JULIET MEYERS

A work-in-progress from Juliet Meyers as she asks what does ‘clever’ and ‘alternative’ mean.

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal!

Listings

Manchester Comedy WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: LAUGHING COWS GULLIVERS, 20:00–22:30, £5

All-female line-up of comics from the Laughing Cow bunch – a group that has helped the likes of Sarah Milllican and Jo Brand launch their careers. HENNING WEHN

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £16

Jolly stand-up German comic, who pretty much seems to have self-appointed himself German Comedy Ambassador to the UK, mores the joy.

Sat 25 Oct

BARREL OF LAUGHS (TONY BURGESS + KATIE MULGREW + DAVID LONGLEY + MC SULLY O’SULLIVAN) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: JENNY ROSS

GULLIVERS, 20:00–21:00, £5

An acerbic blend of politics and smut with Sunday Show presenter and BBC comedy award winner Jenny Ross. WOMEN IN COMEDY FESTIVAL: BIRTHDAY GIRLS

GULLIVERS, 21:30–22:30, £6

A comedy party from the BBCaired sketch trio. HENNING WEHN

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £16

Jolly stand-up German comic, who pretty much seems to have self-appointed himself German Comedy Ambassador to the UK, mores the joy. SUSAN CALMAN

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:00, £15

The favourited funnywoman takes a look at triumphs, the tribulations and the romantic meetings that made her. And cats. LAUGHING COWS (LUISA OMIELAN + ALLYSON SMITH)

THE GLOBE INN, 19:00–22:30, £7

All-female line-up of comics from the Laughing Cow bunch &ndash; a group that has helped the likes of Sarah Milllican and Jo Brand launch their careers.

Sun 26 Oct

SHITS & GIGGLES (ROB ROUSE + BOBBY MURDOCK + ADAM RUSHTON + MC ROLAND GENT) ANTWERP MANSION, 19:30–22:30, £5

Antwerp Mansion’s monthly comedy night. JIMEOIN

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 20:00–22:15, £16.50

Inspired ramblings from the standup Northern Ireland comedian and actor (aka Jimeoin McKeown). PETE JOHANSSON - UTOPIAN CRACK PIPE

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:00, £12

Former Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Johansson is back to chronicle his self addiction of trying to make the world what he thinks is a better place.

LAUGHING COWS (DJ ZOE MCVEIGH + DJ HAZEL + RACHEL WHATEVER + CURLY AND JAE POLLO) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £7

All-female line-up of comics from the Laughing Cow bunch &ndash; a group that has helped the likes of Sarah Milllican and Jo Brand launch their careers.

Mon 27 Oct

BEAT THE FROG (MC PHIL ELLIS)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal! RUBY WAX: SANE NEW WORLD

THE LOWRY, 20:00–22:30, £18.50

Comedian and mental health campaigner, Ruby Wax brings her Sane New World show to Liverpool, blending her comic wit with Oxford University learnin’.

SIDEKICK COMEDY (KATE MCCABE + NICK BANKS + LES KERSHAW + FRAN GARRITY + CARL GILLESPIE) VIA, 19:30–22:30, £2

A monthly comedy gig offering an alternative to the usual comedy nights, offering a new take on the template with a nerdy-cool vibe.

Tue 28 Oct XS MALARKEY

PUB/ZOO, 20:30–23:00, £5 (£3)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans. KNIGHTMARE LIVE – LEVEL 2

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £16

Following a sell-out run at the Brighton Comedy Festival, the immortal words of Treguard the Dungeon Master come to the Lowry, bringing home the magic of the late 80s kids TV show. DAWN FRENCH: 30 MILLION MINUTES

PALACE THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £38.90

Listings

The star of Channel 4’s Campus does her solo thing, deft at taking the things in life that make us bitter and turning them into humourous skits.

Sun 02 Nov

MANCHESTER SCIENCE FESTIVAL: COMEDY IN SPACE!

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY, 19:00–22:00, FREE

ROB NEWMAN’S NEW THEORY OF EVOLUTION

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £13.50

Writer, comedian and political activist, known for his work with fellow Cambridge classmate, David Baddiel. TIFF STEVENSON

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:00, £12

On cloud nine one minute and battling your inner critic the next? Tiff Stevenson searches for optimism in a world of Kardashians, guns and Everyday Vodka.

Thu 30 Oct

MANCHESTER SCIENCE FESTIVAL: BRIGHT CLUB (BEN CHAMPION + ALISON ATKIN + BEN AMBRIDGE + GAVIN COUPE + MORE)

MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN STUDENTS UNION, 19:30–22:15, £8

Manchester Science Festival special of the stand-up comedy night. DAPPER LAUGHS

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £9.50

Comedian and vine star, Dapper Laughs takes his Proper #Moist show on the road, confirming every stereotypical ‘lad’ image as he goes.

JAMES MULLINGER: HOW A MIDDLE CLASS FEMINIST FELL IN LOVE WITH DANNY DYER

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–22:00, £7 (£5)

Mulligan ponders why he so yearns to be a hard man just like Danny Dyer in this new comedy show. ROB NEWMAN’S NEW THEORY OF EVOLUTION

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £13.50

Writer, comedian and political activist, known for his work with fellow Cambridge classmate, David Baddiel.

Fri 31 Oct

BARREL OF LAUGHS (CAIMH MCDONNELL + TOM PRICE + SMUG ROBERTS + MC PHIL ELLIS)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.

Sat 01 Nov

LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–22:00, £3

Improv from the members of CszUK – using audience suggestions a comedian will tell a story based on this, followed by improvised sketches from a troupe of actors. DAVID STANIER’S SILLY AND SPOOKY PARTY

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:45–00:00, £4

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £10

The Slaughterhouse MC goes it alone for a headlining stint. LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: FUNNY IN THE BANK

THE PILGRIM, 19:30–22:30, £7

Comedian with the attitude that ‘shit happens’. Indeed it does.

JASON COOK: BROKEN

Award-winning comedian, writer, creator and star of BBC2&rsquo;s Hebburn and Radio Jason Cook School of Hard Knocks returns with a show about, well, being broken.

Tue 30 Sep

APE AND APPLE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

CHRIS CAIRNS

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:00, £12

Wed 29 Oct

Manchester’s oldest underground comedy club returns with a bang, continuing their quest to put fresh comedic talent in the spotlight.

Liverpool

Five British professional wrestlers try their hand at comedy. Can’t fail.

Liverpool Comedy

COMEDY BALLOON (JOHNNY MACHINE PRESENTS A VERY HAIRY BOB + NAIL P SHAWCROSS + LIAM POLLARD + MORE)

Comedy

Chella Quint hosts an evening dedicated to women in space the women who love them, as part of Manchester Science Festival.

The longstanding British comic takes to the road for her first ever solo tour, based on her life and career &ndash; a period of time that amounts to 30 million minutes.

Halloween special courtesy of party starter David Stanier.

KATHERINE RYAN THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £15

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: THE SKINNY SPOTLIGHT (GEIN’S FAMILY GIFTSHOP + ADAM ROWE + LIAM PICKFORD + JAYNE EDWARDS + MORE) THE KAZIMIER, 19:00–23:00, £5

Each month at The Skinny, we shine our Spotlight on one of our favourite up-and-coming comics in the Northwest. Now, in partnership with The Comedy Trust and as part of Liverpool Comedy Festival, we’re giving you the chance to see them in real life! Come and watch our favourite acts from the regional circuit over the last 12 months - including Gein’s Family Giftshop, fresh from being Best Newcomer-nominated at the Fringe. Tickets available from liverpoolcomedyfestival.com. LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: DAVID ALNWICK: TOTALLY NINJA NAKED

THE PILGRIM, 20:00–23:00, £7

Comedy magician appears as part of Liverpool Comedy Festival. LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: HOO-HA COMEDY

BAA BAR (HARDMAN STREET), 20:30–23:00, £TBC

Baa Bar’s regular night of standup as part of Liverpool Comedy Festival. TONY CARROLL

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £6 (£3)

Comedy rapper presents his show Just Wants To Be Loved.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: ALASTAIR CLARK: BA (HONS) / JOE MUNROW: MISINFORMATION

81 RENSHAW STREET, 20:00–23:00, £5

Hilarious riches to rags tales from Alastair Clark and intelligent quick wit from Joe Munrow as part of Liverpool Comedy Festival.

Wed 01 Oct

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: MELLOWTONE COMEDY FEST SPECIAL

LEAF, 20:00–23:00, £5

Folk and comedy combine in this festival special. THE LAUGHTER FACTOR (MC PHIL CHAPMAN)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £5

A monthly event giving comics the chance to try out new material before the weekend shows – it helps if you think of yourself as a comedic guinea pig. LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: STEVE BUGEJA + PETER OTWAY

HATTERS HOSTEL, 20:00–23:00, £5

Double headlining Liverpool Comedy Fest show.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: PETER GRANT

LITERALLY... A BOOKSHOP, 19:00–22:00, £5

Granty’s Inferno makes a special Comedy Festival appearance.

Thu 02 Oct CARDINAL BURNS

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £18.50

The BAFTA-nominated comedy duo bring their array of off-kilter characters to the stage.

HOWARD READ (MICKEY D + JONNY PELHAM + MC ALAN ANDERSON)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

ADAM ROWE

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £6 (£3)

THE PAUL ZERDIN SHOW

ST HELENS THEATRE ROYAL, 19:30–22:30, £17.50 (£16.50)

Ventriloquist comedy (strictly for grown ups mind.)

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: PROS & COMS QUE PASA SANTINA, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

A festival special mix of comedy, music and spoken word.

Fri 03 Oct

JOHN RYAN (MICKEY D + CHRIS TURNER + MC ALAN ANDERSON)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

ANDY ASKINS (CHRISTIAN SCHULTELOH + CHRIS MCCAUSLAND + MC STE PORTER)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: ROBIN INCE

ROYAL COURT THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £12

The comic and science enthusiast presents another in his line of unhinged stand-up lectures – this time turning his attention to the mind, looking at the last 100 years of psychiatry, psychology and brain dabblings. LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS (MIKE OSBOURNE + CHRIS MCILROY + BEN POWELL)

THE PILGRIM, 19:30–22:30, £5

Regional showcase as part of the festival.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: A TASTE OF THE CAKE PRODUCTIONS

HATTERS HOSTEL, 19:30–22:30, £5

Comedy sketch show starring Michael Dee and Berni Lee.

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £8 (£4)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: ADAM RUSHTON + MIKE WILKINSON

81 RENSHAW STREET, 19:30–22:30, £5

Double headlining Liverpool Comedy Fest show.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: CALLUM OAKLEY 81 RENSHAW STREET, 17:00–19:00, £5

Up and coming teen comic prone to physical and observational humour.

Sun 05 Oct

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: LAUGHAMANIA (SAM AVERY + DANA ALEXANDER)

THE PILGRIM, 19:30–22:00, £5

The final Pilgrim event at the Liverpool Comedy Festival. We’ll miss thee.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: TONY JAMESON

HATTERS HOSTEL, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

Tony Jameson recalls how the game Football Manager ruined his life. We’ve all been there. LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: SAM AVERY + DAVE TWENTYMAN

81 RENSHAW STREET, 17:00–19:00, £5

Double headlining Liverpool Comedy Fest show.

COMEDY CENTRAL, 19:45–22:00, £5

An open mic night for up and coming comics to test their wit!

Thu 09 Oct

GARY DELANEY (PAUL PIRIE + ALASTAIR CLARK + MC PETER OTWAY)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Fri 10 Oct

GARY DELANEY (PAUL PIRIE + STUART MITCHELL + MC PETER OTWAY)

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

Sat 11 Oct MICHAEL PALIN

ECHO ARENA, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

Two-part stage show from the Monty Python comedian and travel enthusiast looking back at his lengthy career.

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. CHRIS MCCAUSLAND (CHRISTIAN SCHULTE-LOH + ANDY ASKINS + MC STE PORTER)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: JAKE MILLS

HATTERS HOSTEL, 20:00–22:00, £5

He’s beaten depression and overcome a suicide attempt, now Jake Mills is dealing with the subject in the only way he knows how – poking fun at it and himself. BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£5)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

SILKY (PAUL TONKINSON + ANDREW STANLEY + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£5)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

Wed 15 Oct BEAT THE GONG

COMEDY CENTRAL, 19:45–22:00, £5

An open mic night for up and coming comics to test their wit!

Thu 16 Oct

TOM WRIGGLESWORTH (ALEX BOARDMAN + PATRICK MORRIS + MC TOBY HADOKE)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Mon 03 Nov JON RICHARDSON: NIDIOT

LIVERPOOL EMPIRE, 20:00–22:30, FROM £23.40

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£5)

THE BRINDLEY, 20:00–23:00, £14

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

KEITH CARTER AS NIGE (PAUL TONKINSON + MIKE WILKINSON + MC CHRIS CAIRNS)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £8 (£4)

TOM WRIGGLESWORTH (ALEX BOARDMAN + SAM AVERY + MC TOBY HADOKE)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

ALUN COCHRANE (MIKE WILKINSON + DUNCAN OAKLEY + MC CHRIS CAIRNS) THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£5)

Thu 23 Oct

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £8 (£4)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

A collection of comic hopefuls compete for Hot Water’s Comedian of The Year.

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

GAVIN WEBSTER (TONY HENDRIKS + MICKEY D + MC CHRIS CAIRNS)

COMEDIAN OF THE YEAR 2014

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £5

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

TOM WRIGGLESWORTH (ALEX BOARDMAN + SAM AVERY + MC TOBY HADOKE)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

PAUL TONKINSON (SILKY + ANDREW STANLEY + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Sun 02 Nov

The British Comedy Award-nominated singleton and misanthrope explores the path to being a more easygoing person.

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

DAN NIGHTINGALE (DAVID LONGLEY + CAIMH MCDONNELL + MC BARRY DODDS)

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Sat 18 Oct

BEAT THE GONG

Sat 25 Oct

Fri 17 Oct

Wed 08 Oct

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £15

HOWARD READ (MICKEY D + CHRIS TURNER + MC ALAN ANDERSON)

LEWIS SCHAFFER

THE BRINDLEY, 19:30–22:30, FREE

New York comic making the best of a bad situation after relocating to London gave him children, love, divorce and heartache.

Double headlining Liverpool Comedy Fest show.

81 RENSHAW STREET, 20:00–22:00, £5

GARY DELANEY (PAUL PIRIE + ALASTAIR CLARK + MC PETER OTWAY)

Doc Brown continue to mine hip-hop for his stitch-inducing one-liners.

Electric, arse-kicking comedy. Seen on 8 Out of 10 Cats, Buzzcocks, and Dave’s One Night Stand. (He’s the guy with sideburns and glasses.)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY FESTIVAL: TONY SIMPSON + RAY BRADSHAW

Sat 04 Oct

DOC BROWN: THE WEIRD WAY ROUND

JARRED CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£8)

TOUR OF THE UNIVERSE

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 20:30–23:00, £18.50 (£15.50)

Rocket Scientist Neil Phillipson is joined by guests for a comedy chat-show about all that space has to offer.

DAN NIGHTINGALE (DAVID LONGLEY + MASUD MIAS + MC BARRY DODDS) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. PAUL FOOT

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £12.50

Rant-heavy comedian from Bucks, with a Guild of Connoisseurs, rather than fans – as you do!

Fri 24 Oct

DAN NIGHTINGALE (DAVID LONGLEY + CAIMH MCDONNELL + MC BARRY DODDS) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. MICKEY D (TONY HENDRIKS + GAVIN WEBSTER + MC CHRIS CAIRNS)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. TOM STADE

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 20:00–22:30, £16 (£14)

The free-thinking philosopher returns to ponder timeless questions and reflect upon life’s choices and decisions, such as whether you made the right choice buying a ticket for tonight. BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £8 (£4)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way. KEN DODD HAPPINESS SHOW

ST HELENS THEATRE ROYAL, 19:00–22:00, £20.50 (£19.50)

The venerable comic goes back on tour again.

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

Sun 26 Oct HENNING WEHN

THE BRINDLEY, 19:30–22:30, £14.50

Jolly stand-up German comic, who pretty much seems to have self-appointed himself German Comedy Ambassador to the UK, mores the joy.

Mon 27 Oct AMITY FEST

O2 ACADEMY, 18:30–23:00, £TBC

Some of Youtube’s most famous self-made stars on tour together.

Thu 30 Oct LEE EVANS

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £30

The fidgity, sweaty funnyman tours his new show, Roadrunner.

KEITH CARTER PRESENTS NIGE (STEVE SHANYASKI + JACK EVANS + MC DANNY MCLOUGHLIN)

GARY DELANEY

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Manchester Art Bankley Studios & Gallery BANKLEY OPEN STUDIOS 2014

11–12 OCT, 12:00PM – 4:00PM, FREE

Bankley opens its doors to showcase three floors of artist’s studios and the work of over 30 artists, covering all artistic disciplines, from painting and drawing, sculpture and ceramics, to photography and video art-forms.

Bureau

TOWARDS MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE

15 SEP – 17 OCT, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 8:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

New exhibition by local artist Noel Clueit who utilises every day Regular triple headline show, with objects to explore authorship, three comics lined up to tickle your reproduction and the relationship between reference material and the funny bone. representation of objects. CHRIS RAMSEY COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

THE BRINDLEY, 20:00–23:00, £16.50

After being booted off the Soccer AM sofa, Chris Ramsay takes his musings on saying the wrong thing at the wrong time on the road.

Fri 31 Oct LEE EVANS

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £30

The fidgity, sweaty funnyman tours his new show, Roadrunner.

KEITH CARTER PRESENTS NIGE (STEVE SHANYASKI + ANDY WATSON + MC DANNY MCLOUGHLIN) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Bury Art Gallery and Museum ASIA TRIENNIAL: SCINTILLA FROM OUR SUN

6 SEP–29 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Taiwanese artist Hsiao-Chi Tsai teams up with Japan’s Kimiya Yoshikawa on a sculptural exhibition exploring colour, shape and form derived from post-industrial materials.

Castlefield Gallery

Regular triple headline show, with ASIA TRIENNIAL: HARDEEP PANDHAL three comics lined up to tickle your 27 SEP–23 NOV, 1:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE funny bone. Fictional characters and narratives DALISO CHAPONDA (TOM arise from Hardeep Pandhal’s multiWRIGGLESWORTH + PHIL CHAPMAN disciplinary work, which balances + DOMINIC WOODWARD) trauma with laughter. THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £15 Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your Centre For Chinese funny bone. BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £8 (£4)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

Sat 01 Nov

RICHARD HERRING: LORD OF THE DANCE SETTEE

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £15

The thoughtful comedian ponders things like whether the term “cool comedian” is an oxymoron, and whether’s he’s even beaten a piece of slapstick he came up with aged 16. LEE EVANS

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £30

The fidgity, sweaty funnyman tours his new show, Roadrunner.

Contemporary Art ASIA TRIENNIAL: BI RONGRONG

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 2 AUG AND 1 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A three month residency as part of the Asia Triennial sees artist Bi Ronrong explore Manchester’s nature with the nature that it has built up around. Primarily a drawer, Bi Rongrong will also be incorporating photography into her artistic explorations. WHAT’S LEFT UNSAID

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 26 SEP AND 17 JAN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Burgeoning artist Susie Tang is the latest graduate showcased by the Centre For Chinese Contemporary Art in their ongoing series.

Common KEITH CARTER PRESENTS NIGE (STEVE SHANYASKI + ANDY WATSON THE GRAVEHOUNDS OF BONE STREET 28 AUG – 1 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE + MC DANNY MCLOUGHLIN)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18 From artist collective Skull Paradise Regular triple headline show, with - made up of illustrators and three comics lined up to tickle your designers from Brighton, London funny bone. and Leeds - comes a cartoon world ALUN COCHRANE (TOM of leather wearing, motorbike WRIGGLESWORTH + PHIL CHAPMAN riding, bad attitude, degenerate + MC CHRIS CAIRNS) street dogs.

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

FLAGS FROM ANOTHER PLACE

25 SEP – 1 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Regular triple headline show, with Aliyah Hussain’s Flags From Another three comics lined up to tickle your Place focuses on an imagined visual funny bone. identity for a fictitious world that BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH) may or may not be like Earth, using HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£5) only the flags of each country as a New and established comics take form of expression of individualto the stage (found upstairs at ity for these potentially complex Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an nations. evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

THE SKINNY

Art

ASIA TRIENNIAL: BASHIR MAKHOUL

THE SENSORY WAR

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

11 OCT – 25 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

FUTURE FIRES: THE NEGATIVES

Installation artist Bashir Makhloul explores the kinds of spaces that emerge in sites of conflict, from mock cities built for military training purposes to temporary settlements constructed for refugees.

29 SEP – 19 DEC, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Manchester Contact

Photography exhibition courtesy of the Companions which attempts to shed light on the homeless situation in the UK. THE FUTURE: CONTEXT

29 SEP – 19 DEC, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE

A series of individually designed typographic prints by The Future’s Lisa Mattocks, featuring commissions by Marina Abramovic, Quarantine’s Richard Gregory, Forced Entertainment’s Tim Etchells and more. TYLER DOLAN

27 OCT – 1 NOV, 10:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE

The Durban-based photographer presents Africa Inspired, a group of studio shots manipulated digitally to reflect the vibrant colours and beauty of Africa.

Cornerhouse

AUTOPORTRAITS IN LOVE-LIKE CONDITIONS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 6 SEP AND 2 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

A multi-disciplinary exhibition including mixed forms of media, Riza Shaheen’s new work is the result of 12 months spent in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong and focuses on silent tales of love and the connections between people. VIRGIN WITH A MEMORY

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 6 SEP AND 2 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

The first major solo exhibition by artist, filmmaker and writer Sophia Al-Maria takes it cue from her unfinishe first feature film, Beretta - a rape-revenge thriller following mute heroine Suad who embarks on a killing spree, murdering men who harass her.

Gallery of Costume SOMETHING BLUE

1 AUG – 15 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Eighteen wedding dresses, worn by mill workers to woman serving in the air force as well as art world figures Kathleen Soriano and Maria Balshaw, are exhibited in a celebration of bridal fashion over the past 100 years.

Great Northern Warehouse HERE NOW

26 SEP – 19 OCT, 10:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE

Here Now is an exhibition curated by Martene Rourke, showcasing four documentary photography projects which deal with various social and cultural conditions within the urban built environment.

Imperial War Museum North FROM STREET TO TRENCH: A WORLD WAR THAT SHAPED A REGION

27 AUG – 1 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of over 200 objects, photographs, diaries, letters and artworks from the First World War, revealing the lives shaped by the conflict. Marking the centenary of WWI. ASIA TRIENNIAL: IMRAN QURESHI

22 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Pakistan’s 2011 Sharjah Biennial Prize winner and Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year Imran Qureshi exhibits as part of the Asia Triennial.

ASIA TRIENNIAL: SHEZAD DAWOOD

Working across film, painting and sculpture, Shezad Dawood appropriates imagery relating to ancient magical systems and feminine cults in exhibition Babalon Rising.

ASIA TRIENNIAL: ALINAH AZADEH

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A British artist of Iranian heritage, Azadeh’s exhibition Child’s Play is a sculptural installation that assesses revolution and displacement by conflict.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I this special exhibition looks at ways in which artists have interpreted and re-imagined the events of the conflict. Featuring work from Henry Lamb, CRW Nevinson and Paul Nash among others.

Manchester Craft and Design Centre ASIA TRIENNIAL: SWAGS AND TAILS

27 SEP–31 JAN, 10:00AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Textile artist Kashif Nadim Chaudry’s work draws on his journey finding an identity as a British-born, Pakistani, gay Muslim.

PAPER #16: THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THOUGHT

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 20 SEP AND 1 NOV, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The latest group exhibition from the Paper Gallery, featuring the work of Allan Bech, Jenny Core, Aly Helyer, Shinbo Hiroshi, Paraic Leahy, Sharon Leahy- Clark, Richard Meaghan, Hannah Wooll and Wen Wu. MANCHESTER SCIENCE FESTIVAL: DUST

23 OCT, 25 OCT, 1 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Daksha Patel takes inspiration from dust samples collected when cleaning wall hangings at the People’s History Museum, using microscopic images as the basis for her drawings. Part of Manchester Science Festival.

ASIA TRIENNIAL: SHAMSIA HASSANI

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Afghani street artist who’s graffiti is set to takeover the exterior of the Imperial War Museum throughout the Triennial.

ASIA TRIENNIAL: AMAN MOJADIDI

Mojadidi is American-born but now lives in Kabul in Afghanistan, where he’s been credited with the resurgence in the turbulent city’s art scene.

The Nuisance of Landscape: Grizedale - The Sequel

ASIA TRIENNIAL: DARK BORDER DEVELOPMENTS PRESENT POP-UP REPUBLICS

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Invited artists from the US, UK, Japan and Taiwan will – through their own practices – produce micro-nations capable of existing within a shipping container.

10 October - 20 December 2014 An irresistible journey through the twists and turns of Grizedale Arts’ last 15 years, taking in artists Marcus Coates and Turner Prize winners Jeremy Deller and Laure Prouvost (on display in the Museum), and many more along the way.

MMU Special Collections MATERIAL MATTERS

22 SEP – 12 DEC, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

Open Monday - Saturday 10.30am - 5pm (4pm Nov-Mar). Joint Gallery & Museum £9 (without donation £8.60), children & students free.

An exhibition of historic and contemporary objects exploring how different materials have been used in art, craft and design over the centuries, and the ongoing importance of materiality to the artist and designer.

A collection of designer dresses and suits donated by the Cotton Board, a Manchester-based organisation tasked with increasing the use of cotton in couture to bump up cotton exports.

NATURAL FORCES: ROMANTICISM & NATURE 12–12 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

A collection of early 1800s Romantic works focused on the idea of nature as a force.

MANCHESTER SCIENCE FESTIVAL: DRESS OF GLASS AND FLAME

27 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Designer and social artist Helen Storey presents remarkable life-size glass dress that retains a burning a flame inside it. Part of the Manchester Science Festival.

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Former Turner nominee Zarina Bhimji exhibits a photograph from her work Here was Uganda, as if in the vastness of India, 1999-2001.

Various venues ASIA TRIENNIAL: HARMONIOUS SOCIETY

26 SEP – 23 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

A collection of over 30 Chinese contemporary artists that responds to the Triennial’s theme of conflict and compassion.

Liverpool Art Arts Hub 47

Manchester Jewish Museum MADE IN MANCHESTER

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 24 OCT AND 29 MAY, TIMES VARY, £4.50 (£3.50)

The first retrospective on Manchester-based artist, teacher and writer Emmanuel Levy for 30 years, highlighting his Northern heritage.

Manchester Royal Eye Hospital

MANCHESTER SCIENCE FESTIVAL: LOOK200

23 OCT - 2 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

As part of Manchester Science Festival, artist Lucy Burscough presents the results of a number of pop-up painting studios within the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.

Museum of Science and Industry

MANCHESTER SCIENCE FESTIVAL: THE SOUNDS OF OTHERS

23 OCT – 2 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

As part of the Manchester Science Festival, the annual Lovelock Art Commission invites Marcus Coates to debut new work featuring the sounds of animals to unearth new connections and patterns between different species.

Rogue Artists Studios TWIN HEAT

20 SEP – 5 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

New artist label Caustic Coastal launch their first showcase with a collaborative exhibition between artists Russell Hill and Leonard Johansson.

Salford Museum and Art Gallery REINCARNATED RUBBISH

19 JUL – 2 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Touring exhibition from artist Val Hunt, who takes discarded every day objects and re-configures them to create something new and beautiful. SELECTION FROM THE COLLECTION

18 OCT – 15 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

To celebrate Chinese New Year, the gallery delve into their catalogue to present depictions of the horse (2014) and the sheep (2015).

The Holden Gallery MA SHOW 2014

3–10 OCT, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

Liverpool Art Gostins Building NOT DARK YET

5 JUL – 25 OCT, NOT SUNDAYS, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Recent paintings over a four-year period from the local artist, presented to coincide with the Liverpool Biennial.

International Slavery Museum LIBERTY BOUND

4–5 APR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of artifacts from one of the most important archaeological finds of recent years, unveiling a recently discovered burial ground fro ‘liberated’ African’s in Rupert’s Valley, St Helena.

Merseyside Maritime Museum

SAIL AWAY: LIVERPOOL SHIPPING POSTERS

16 MAY – 1 JAN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition charting the evolution and design development in shipping posters between 1888 and 1980.

Model COMBINES

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 24 SEP AND 2 NOV, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

An exercise in artistic process and intuition, the Combines series offers a Liverpool artist the chance to invite two further artists to collaborate with, picking one of their existing pieces and recontextualising it spontaneously. VIVARIUM

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 11 OCT AND 2 NOV, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

A new group show featuringt Rachel Adams, Rafal Topelowski, Samantha Donelly, Bruce Ingram, Oliver Tirre

Open Eye

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 5 JUL AND 31 OCT, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

As part of the Liverpool Biennial 2014, curator Lorenzo Fusi presLIVERPOOL BIENNIAL: TOTAL ART ents an exhibition of work docu7 JUL – 24 OCT, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM menting three key international – 5:00PM, FREE art platforms through the lens of A showcase of work by Liverpool artist Adrian Henri, shining a light a camera, asking questions if this on his work from the 60s and 70s – practice can be elevated above a highly collaborative and creative documentation to art form. period of his life.

FACT

ELLIE HARRISON: EARLY WARNING SIGNS

9 MAY – 31 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

Touring exhibition of Harrison’s four signs that utilise brash marketing techniques to draw attention to climate change. LIVERPOOL BIENNIAL: SHARON LOCKHART

A collection of 12 evening outfits spanning 1900 to 2000, charting the changing role of women in society throughout this period, and how these changes were reflected in the fashion of the time.

Tate Liverpool DLA PIPER SERIES: CONSTELLATIONS

2 JUN – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition displaying ‘trigger’ artworks surrounded by groups, or ‘constellations’, of artworks from the same period. With the first floor open you’ll be able to see five ‘trigger’ artworks from before 1960, from artists including Picasso and Pollock. NASREEN MOHAMEDI

6 JUN – 5 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £10 (£7.50)

Paintings, drawings and photographs by celebrated Indian artist Nasreen Mohademi are set to go on display for her largest solo exhibition in the UK, introducing visitors to her varied practice within the modernist tradition. MONDRIAN AND HIS STUDIOS

6 JUN – 5 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £10 (£7.50)

Marking 70 years since his death, Tate Liverpool brings together a special exhibition of work by Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian, complete with a life size reconstruction of his Paris studio.

A NEEDLE WALKS INTO A HAYSTACK: CLAUDE PARENT

5 JUL – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Parent’s radical intervention transforms the Wolfson Gallery with ramps and slanted floors, creating a new platform for viewing the existing works housed at the Tate. Part of Liverpool Biennial 2014.

TATE COLLECTION: SPECIAL DISPLAY

5 JUL – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

24 JUN – 31 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

FIRST WORLD WAR

A group exhibition of painting, Gallery drawing, photography & printmak- NOT ALL DOCUMENTS ARE RECORDS: ing as part of independents PHOTOGRAPHING EXHIBITIONS AS Liverpool Biennial. AN ART FORM

Exhibition Research Centre

10 MAY – 31 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

23 JUL – 31 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

4 JUL – 26 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

New exhibition featuring Rosie Hammersley, based around books and greetings cards.

20TH CENTURY CHIC: 100 YEARS OF WOMEN’S FASHION

Museum of Liverpool

Eggspace

2–19 OCT, NOT 6, 13, TIMES VARY, FREE

Sudley House

A new collection on display from the Tate’s collection, making links between the gallery space and the familiar interior of the home. Part of Liverpool Biennial 2014.

A special display reflecting on Liverpool’s Home Front, exploring some lesser-known stories; did everyone rush to support the war effort? And were all women empowered by the experience? Just some of the questions asked and answered.

WRITTEN WORD

SOMEWHERE ELSE

Abbot Hall Art Gallery Kirkland, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 5AL

Touchstones

Representing the discipline of Anthropology, this final year show encompasses the diverse experiences and studies gathered over the summer by employing and displaying audio-visual work, interactive participant work, and exclusive film screenings.

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

COTTON COUTURE

A collaboration between photographer Andy Gotts MBE and The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Archive, Behind The Mask seeks to ‘unmask’ the well-known faces of BAFTA nominees and winners since 1954.

SIMULACRA, A VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY EXHIBITION

Video artist inspired by writings by Christa Wolf and Rainer Maria Rilke, and concerned with the status of women in Indian society.

19–14 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

BEHIND THE MASK

20 SEP – 11 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

18–19 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

ASIA TRIENNIAL: NALINI MALANI

Manchester Art Gallery

The Lowry

Victoria Baths

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

New work by Manchester based digital artist Sumit Sarkar made in response to South Asian objects and books held in museum collections in Manchester.

Echo and Narcissus pays tribute to literary heroines through the ages in a series of photographs, mirrors and etchings.

Sanctuary draws on the fusion of artist Rosa Nguyen’s Vietnamese and French background and imbues her interest in Buddhist and Zen philosophies within her installations.

Dutch video artist concerned with political turmoil.

DEGREES OF SEPARATION

ECHO AND NARCISSUS

11 AUG – 9 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

ASIA TRIENNIAL: SANCTUARY

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

22 SEP – 23 OCT, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

The John Rylands Library

26 SEP–28 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

ASIA TRIENNIAL: SOPHIE ERNST

ASIA TRIENNIAL: ZARINA BHIMJI

October 2014

Paper Gallery

DAZZLE SHIP

Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez presents a contemporary dazzle ship – a technique used throughout WWI and WWII to camouflage ships – dazzling The Edmund Gardner, situated in the dry dock adjacent to Albert Dock. Part of Liverpool Biennial 2014.

The Bluecoat

A NEEDLE WALKS INTO A HAYSTACK: JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER

5 JUL – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A collection of paintings, prints, drawings, sound, ephemera and key correspondences by American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) exploring his varied practice and how he paved the way for abstract painting.

The Brink

LOST IS FOUND THEORY

4 JUL – 26 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

St Brides Gallery ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS

A series of old and new mixed media works from artist Leon Jakeman.

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 23 SEP AND 25 OCT, 1:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

4 JUL – 26 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

As part of the Liverpool Independents Biennial 2014 St Brides Gallery will be showing four artists that paint in very different ways. Four solo shows in one building, working together but independent.

MATCHBOX CITY

Site specific micro-city installations created by participants from the Whitechapel Centre – a service dealing with people affected by homelessness.

5 JUL – 26 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

The American artist and filmmaker presents a solo exhibition of new and existing work, including a new commission created for the Liverpool Biennial in which she explores the politics of labour and leisure.

The Old Blind School

A NEEDLE WALKS INTO A HAYSTACK: GROUP SHOW

5 JUL – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

As part of Mai Abu ElDahab and Anthony Huberman’s Liverpool Biennial-curated A Needle Walks Into a Haystack, this group show involves 16 artists presenting new work, including Berlin-based sculptor Judith Hopf and Swiss and installation artist Marc Bauer.

The Royal Standard HYDROZOAN

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 27 SEP AND 25 OCT, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Liverpool Biennial fringe event by artist Joey Holder, who sees no object or substance in any fixed state - exploring this through different uses of technology, including computer program interfaces, screen savers and measuring devices.

The World Museum

BLOOMBERG NEW CONTEMPORARIES

20 SEP – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Championing final year students, graduates and artists ony year out of study, the Bloomberg New Contemporary exhibition is a regular in the Biennial calendar and a constant champion of burgeoning artistic talent worldwide.

Victoria Gallery and Museum

NORTH WEST AND BEYOND: JAMES HAMILTON HAY

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 22 APR AND 29 AUG, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of drypoint prints by 19th century Merseyside etcher and painter, James Hamilton Hay, documenting his travels throughout the UK with his striking landscape prints. ART SHEDS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 5 JUL AND 25 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Installation artist Susan Forsyth re-creates the sheds that first housed Liverpool’ School of Architecture and Applied Art in an exhibition run to celebrate the Biennial season in Liverpool. THE AUDOBON GALLERY

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 11 OCT AND 19 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Permanent gallery of wildlife artist and naturalist John James Audubon. BRITISH ART

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 5 JAN AND 30 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Permanent collection including work by Joseph Wright of Derby.

Walker Art Gallery

JOHN BATES AT JEAN VARON

13 MAY – 31 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A collection of 12 outfits from John Bates’ Jean Varon label go on display at the Walker Art Gallery, including a red velvet mini dress worn by Twiggy in a Vogue photo shoot in 1967. JOHN MOORES PAINTING PRIZE

5 JUL – 30 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The prestigious painting prize returns for another year, with an exhibition of work by the 52 shortlisted artists working across landscapes, portraits, abstract and sculptural works. See the full list of shortlisted artists here. AZTECS IN LIVERPOOL: MICHAEL NYMAN

5 JUL – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Michael Nyman presents a two screen installation of still and moving images, including footage collected by Nyman over the past 20 years in Mexico, his newly adopted home. Part of Liverpool Biennial 2014.

The latest batch of postgraduates from Manchester Metropolitan University present their final work in this always eagerly-anticipated group show drawing together all the creative schools.

Located on the edge of the Lake District, just 80 minutes drive from Manchester. Travel by train to Kendal and the Gallery is just a one mile riverside walk from the station.

lakelandarts.org.uk for information Listings

Humanities in Public Festival 2014 – 15

The Humanities in Public Festival is year-long series of events from Manchester Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Science. Offering talks, fairs, music, food and film screenings, all events are fully open to the public and many are completely free to attend. This year’s strands are: Animal Worlds : October 2014 Looking at animal rights, welfare, veganism and vegetarianism. Including a Vegan/Vegetarian and animal rights fair with special guest speakers. Gothic Manchester II : October 2014 The return of this very popular celebration of the darker side of culture! Offering a packed four day programme of fabulous gothic events across the city. Contesting Youth : November 2014 Challenging popular preconceptions about youth and young people. Including presentations from Camila Batmanghelidjh CBE and Manchester’s own Dave Haslam.

Human Trouble : January–February 2015 Questioning notions about what the concepts ‘disability’ and ‘ability’ mean for us humans. Featuring a special night of thought provoking comedy headlined by top comedian Laurence Clark. Multi-lingual Life : March 2015 Considering the multitude of languages used in our contemporary globalised society. Including a one day multi-lingual film festival, ‘Beyond Babel’. Future Histories : May 2015 Bringing oral and local history into focus as a force for social cohesion and change. Including exhibitions from several local history groups.

To find out more visit www.hssr.mmu.ac.uk/hip or Follow us on Twitter: @mmu_hssr