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CLUB

COMEDY

MAR 2014

LIVE

Presents

FILM

SATURDAY 01 MARCH

CLARK [LIVE AV) / SHED (LIVE AV) / CLOUDS 10PM : £10.00 SUNDAY 02 MARCH

THE HEAD & THE HEART 7PM : £11.00 THURSDAY 06 MARCH

REAL LIFE WITH BEN KEWIN 7PM : £8.50 FRIDAY 07 MARCH

ANGEL HAZE + RALEIGH RITCHIE 6.30PM : £11.00 FRIDAY 07 MARCH

AVATISM (LIVE) & CLOCKWORK + MORE 11PM : £10.00 SATURDAY 08 MARCH

RICHY AHMED & WAFF 11PM : £12.00 THURSDAY 13 MARCH

YOUR DEMISE 7PM : (SOLD OUT) FRIDAY 14 MARCH

CLUB LISTINGS SATURDAY 1st MARCH

Girls on Film

{BLONDIE SPECIAL} ’80s Electronic dance pop of the highest order 10PM / £3.00 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------friday 7th march

Revolver

60s Pop, Motown, Rock & Roll — 10PM / £3.00 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SATURDAY 8th MARCH GOO & NOW WAVE PRESENT

HAIM DJ SET Indie, BritPop, Shoegaze — 10PM / £10.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FRIDAY 14th MARCH

EXmAPLE

THE ULTIMATE WEEKENDER TOUR — 10PM / SOLD OuT -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SATURDAY 15th MARCH

Revolver

60s Pop, Motown, Rock & Roll — 10PM / £3.00 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------friday 21st MARCH

UPTOWN Disco, Boogie, Funk, Wedding Bangers — 10PM / £3.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SAturday 22ND MARCH

El Diablo’s Social Club WITH Justin Vandervolgen — 10pm / £7.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FRIDAY 28th MARCH

REBEL muSIC ROCK ‘N’ ROLL & HIP HOP — 10PM / £3.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------saturday 29TH MARCH

POP POP CLASSICS, BOOTY SHAKING SMASHERS — 10PM / £3.00 WEEKLY CLUBS TUESDAYS

GOLD TEETH Hip Hop, Garage, House, Disco, Funk, Rock & Roll, Fruity — 10PM / £4.00

JUICY [ A TRIBUTE TO THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G ] 10PM : £3.00

LIVE & EVENT LISTINGS : MUSIC HALL

SATURDAY 15 MARCH

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TUESDAY 4TH MARch

TEN WALLS (LIVE) & ALEX NIGGEMANN 10PM : £10.00 FRIDAY 21 MARCH

SUNDAY 2ND MARch

ANAIS MITCHELL + NED ROBERTS £14.00 : 7.30PM SKATERS + DROWNERS £8.50 : 7PM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SATURDAY 8TH MARch

DELAMERE + GLASS TIDES + THE HYMEK MANOUVERE

ELLA EYRE 6.30PM : SOLD OUT

£7.00 : 7PM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SUNDAY 9TH MARch

FRIDAY 21 MARCH

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------MONDAY 10TH MARch

MØ £8.50 : 7.30PM

BREACH + ROUTE94 11PM : (SOLD OUT)

KRISTYNA MYLES + SAM GRAY + BIRD TO BEAST + MISS 600

SATURDAY 22 MARCH

THE NOTWIST + JEL (ANTICON) £12.00 : 7PM

DANNY HOWARD + TOYBOY & ROBIN + GOTSOME 11PM : £10.00 THURSDAY 27 MARCH

DARKSIDE DJ SET NICHOLAS JAAR & DAVE HARRINGTON 11PM : £10.00 FRIDAY 28 MARCH : GRIMM UP NORTH PRESENTS

ROBOCOP 7PM : £6.00

FRIDAY 28 MARCH

HANNAH WANTS 10PM : £8.00 SATURDAY 29 MARCH : GROUP THERAPY COMEDY CLUB WITH...

GARY DELANEY 7PM : £10.00 / £8.00 SATURDAY 29 MARCH

FINNEBASSEN + THE MEKANISM 10PM : £8.00 THISISGORILLA.COM

M A R C H — M A Y 2 0 1 4

£4.50 : 7.30PM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SATURDAY 15TH MARch ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TUESDAY 18TH MARch

TWIN FORKS + IVAN & ALYOSHA £8.00 : 7PM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WEDESDAY 19TH MARch

UGLY DUCKLING + SPECIAL GUESTS £15.00 : 7PM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SATURDAY 22ND MARch

JUNGLE + BEATY HEART SOLD OUT : 7.30PM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WEDNESDAY 26TH MARch

NATIVES £7.00 : 7PM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FRIDAY 28TH MARch

LOUIS BARABBAS & THE BEDLAM SIX + GUESTS £8.00 : 7PM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SATURDAY 29TH MARch

CITY OF LIGHTS

+ SULU BABYLON + NUDE + PATRICK GREEN

£7.00 : 7PM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SUNDAY 30TH MARch

• LIVE • CLUB • CLASSICAL

01.MAR ANNIE MAC / DAVID RODIGAN REDLIGHT / MELE 20.MAR SOLD OUT BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB 21.MAR SOLD OUT BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB 26.MAR WILD BEASTS 05.APR METROPOLIS: CHASE & STATUS / PENDULUM 20.APR SASHA & SPECIAL GUESTS 27.APR MANCHESTER CAMERATA 10.MAY GARETH EMERY PRESENTS DRIVE 16.MAY MARCO CAROLA 17.MAY SOLD OUT NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 18.MAY SOLD OUT NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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HOWLER

+ SPECIAL GUESTS £10.00 : 7PM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------MONDAY 31ST MARch

THE IRREPRESSIBLES + OPAL ONYX £12.50 : 7.30PM

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Wednesday 23 April

SCOTT MATTHEWS GORILLA

Saturday 05 April

MØ THE DEAF INSTITUTE Wednesday 19 March

MATT NATHANSON NIGHT & DAY

Wednesday 19 March

ONLY REAL SOUP KITCHEN

EMMA STEVENS SOUND CONTROL

Thursday 24 April

WILDFLOWERS SOUND CONTROL

Sunday 06 April

EMILY & THE WOODS SOUND CONTROL

Friday 25 April

LUCERO THE DEAF INSTITUTE

Sunday 6th April

SIMONE FELICE THE DEAF INSTITUTE

Sunday 27 April

EVERLAST GORILLA

Tuesday 8 April

Friday 21 March

AS ELEPHANTS ARE* THE CASTLE Saturday 22 March

THIS IS THE KIT GULLIVERS

CHRYSTA BELL SACRED TRINITY CHURCH

Thursday 01 May

Saturday 12 April

PAUL THOMAS SAUNDERS SOUP KITCHEN Saturday 12 April

Sunday 23 March

SAINT RAYMOND THE RUBY LOUNGE Tuesday 25 March

STU LARSEN SOUND CONTROL

UB40 MANCHESTER ACADEMY

DENAI MOORE THE CASTLE WILD BEASTS ALBERT HALL

FATHERSON GULLIVERS

RHODES THE CASTLE

AUGUSTINES ACADEMY 2

JAMES BLUNT O2 APOLLO MANCHESTER A PLASTIC ROSE THE CASTLE

VIGO THIEVES SOUP KITCHEN

P.31 London Fashion AW14: Trend Report, Ashish

March 2014

*FREE ENTRY SHOW FACEBOOK.COM/MUSICINBETA

Sunday 20 April

Thursday 03 April

P.22 BNCMCR Alex Trochut

THE TWILIGHT SAD THE DEAF INSTITUTE

ALSO COMING UP: THE RIFLES THE FALL BELINDA CARLISLE CLOUD NOTHINGS THE FLAMING LIPS THE WAR ON DRUGS SON LUX THE AFGAN WHIGS PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES ED SHEERAN THE HUMAN LEAGUE

Friday 18 April

Sunday 30 March

Friday 02 May

SAN FERMIN THE DEAF INSTITUTE

Sunday 13 April

Thursday 17 April

Wednesday 26 March

P.19 Ninetails

Sunday 04 May

Wednesday 16 April

Tuesday 25 March

P.16 The Golden Dream

HIGHASAKITE THE CASTLE

PAINTED PALMS SOUP KITCHEN alt-t

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fb.com/dottodotfestival • #d2dfest • dottodotfestival.co.uk • alt-tickets.co.uk THE SKINNY_126X314_March.indd 1

Contents

26/02/2014 17:01

THE SKINNY

Photo: Andrew Ellis

Sunday 09 March

Contents Up Front 06

Opinion: Queen of the Track ‘zinemakers on their new mag, and Joe Cottrell-Boyce on Andrea Arnold in Hero Worship, plus: Skinny on Tour, Shot of the Month, BALLS, Stop the Presses, Online Only, and this month’s comic, courtesy of Glasgow League of Writers.

All the world’s a festival, the people merely party animals. We kick off the next three issues’ worth of festival previews with a look at the international circuit, with insights from Primavera, Warpaint, St Vincent and more.

Fashion: Reports from London Fashion Week, where we pick out key trends for Autumn/Winter 2014. You’ll be wearing shaggy oxblood denim combinations before you know it. They do sound pretty warm to be fair.

Four albums in, and Baltimore’s Future Islands have finessed their emotional pop to perfection; so much so that our subeditors can even forgive them for calling their album Singles. Threshold Festival of Music and Arts returns to Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle at the end of this month, bringing with it tons of live acts and a visual arts programme that responds to ideas of retrofuturism – the latter is explored here. It’s the 20th birthday of Cornerhouse’s yearly ¡Viva! Spanish and LatinAmerican Film Festival; we speak to director of The Golden Dream, and preview the programme. Who else knew they’d seen a future star in Skins’ Jack O’Connell? He leads in David Mackenzie’s powerful new prison drama, Starred Up – here, Mackenzie tells us about working with the young actor, and the story behind the script.

About to release a stunning new EP, Liverpool's bright young hopes Ninetails host The Skinny at their flat.

Liverpudlian institution the Everyman theatre reopens its doors this month. Artistic director Gemma Bodinetz lets us in on her vision for the new programme.

BCNMCR brings Barcelona and Manchester’s design scenes closer together in the form of an exhibition and series of talks. Event director Dave Sedgwick explains his ideas of cultural exchange.

Deviance: Our section editor decided a year ago she wanted to donate her eggs. She tells a personal story of the process.

Heads Up: Feel bad about how little you’re doing with your life.

Features 10

Phillip Sollmann aka Efdemin describes working in Japan, and how its many inspirations have fed into his new album, Decay.

almost two years since Sidebottom’s creator Chris Sievey’s passing and on the eve of the release of two films inspired by his alter-ego.

The War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel on his influences and drive to keep making music.

Lifestyle 29 Travel: Glasgow International draws inspiration from local sources while truly living up to its ‘international’ brief; better still, you can win tickets to go.

March 2014

Food and Drink: Three made-up holidays to rival how shambolically and actually quite offensively everywhere but Ireland celebrates St Patrick’s Day. Stick a pin in that inflatable shamrock hat.

Review 39

Music: Highlights is full of belters this month: there’s Threshold’s music programme, and Dean Blunt, Evian Christ, Tim Hecker and more at FutureEverything. Plus, Doves’ Jimi Goodwin gives us a short crash course in dub, and Pharoahe Monch and Warpaint steal the show in live reviews.

Clubs: Hustle chat technics and tradition as their night at Liverpool’s Shipping Forecast goes from strength to strength; Leon Vynehall gizzus a DJ Chart; and Willie Burns claims paranormal powers. Plus Highlights, o’ course.

Art: Reviews of Letizia Battaglia’s unflinching photojournalism at Open Eye Gallery, and Tipping Point at the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art.

Film: Jonathan Glazer’s ScarlettJohansson-as-alien-starring Under the Skin, Ted Kotcheff’s restored Wake in Fright, and Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel are all reviewed; plus the events for the month.

DVD/Books: Our critics on François Ozon’s Jeune & Jolie, Destin Cretton’s Short Term 12, and more; in Books, Christopher Brookmyre, and a collection of vibrant new writing from Scotland.

Theatre: The acclaimed How to Occupy an Oil Rig comes to Unity Theatre; plus Hidden, For Their Own Good, and Orlando.

Jon Ronson pays homage to well-loved

26 outsider comedian Frank Sidebottom,

Showcase: Lesley Guy’s colourful appropriations and defacements of found materials are smart and witty. She’s also ensured we’ve now become totally obsessed with the artistic use of pizza. Thanks Lesley.

Comedy: Tom Wrigglesworth is Utterly at Odds with the Universe.

Competitions: Win tickets to Liverpool Sound City, and Accidental Death of an Anarchist at Oldham Coliseum.

Listings: More things to shake your stick at. We know you love doing that.

Out Back: This month’s New Bloods are BDY_PRTS, in which Sparrow and the Workshop’s Jill O’Sullivan joins Reindeer Section/Idlewild/Malcolm Middletoncollaborator Jenny Reeve to make textured alt-pop.

MARCH

APRIL

13 THE WARLOCKS & MUGSTAR

09 ÀSGEIR

east village arts club w/ evol

the kazimier w/ bam!bam!bam!

11 PEGGY SUE leaf

14 THE WARLOCKS

the wardrobe, leeds w/ bam!bam!bam!

20 TRANS

the shipping forecast

12 LORELLE MEETS THE OBSOLETE

williamson tunnels w/ liverpool psych fest

JUNE

28 THE MEN

east village arts club

28 FRANCOIS & THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS leaf

APRIL

09 LUMERIANS & BOOGARINS the shipping forecast

06 - EINDHOVEN PSYCH LAB - 07 effenaar, eindhoven the netherlands SEPTEMBER

26 - L’POOL INTERNATIONAL - 27 FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA camp and furnace

tickets available online: ticketweb / seetickets / ticketline in person: probe records (school ln) & the brink (parr st) follow on twitter: @harvest_sun @lpoolpsychfest The Skinny February 2014_Layout 1 25/02/2014 10:25 Page 1

Friday 4 April 7.30pm £27.50-£40

THE MUSIC OF IAN BROUDIE The Lightning Seeds & the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Broudie has worked with artists including Echo and the Bunnymen, Miles Kane, Terry Hall, The Zutons, The Fall and The Coral. This gig will include songs from his career as a producer, as well as songs by The Lightning Seeds all performed, as never previously heard, with the orchestra and very special guests.

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Box Office 0151 709 3789 liverpoolphil.com

VERY T WITH L GUES S IA CE SPECORMAN PERF ay tuned tobroudie St om/ ts hil.c n poolp ounceme r e v li nn for a

Booking fees Online/Phone Orders £1.50 per ticket administrative fee applies + 75p per order postage fee (if required). In Person No fees for payment by cash or debit card. Credit card orders incur a 2% transaction fee. Cheque orders are subject to a 70p per order charge.

Principal Funders

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Thanks to the City of Liverpool for its financial support

Contents

Editorial

Hero Worship: Andrea Arnold Filmmaker Joe Cottrell-Boyce sings the praises of Andrea Arnold and the empathy she shows to her heartbreakingly real characters

efore we get on to the business of this month, let’s talk about the next one: in April we’ll be one year old, and we’re throwing a first birthday party, because we wanna get you all in a room to say thanks and, like, dance and stuff. It’s at The Kazimier, Liverpool, on Saturday 12 April, and it will be free and open to everyone, and you should come, because there will be loud noises and good people and crazy things to look at. For now, save the date, and keep an eye on our Facebook (facebook.com/TheSkinnyMag) and Twitter (@TheSkinnyNW) for more details. As it’s supposed to, spring brings with it a sense of flowering, as February – typically changeover season in the art world – gives way to, er, March, and leads to a clutch of openings and festivals. With Liverpool Art Prize 2012 winner Robyn Woolston at the helm, Threshold Festival of Music and Art’s visual arts programme this year takes as its theme ‘retro-futurism,’ explored on page 15; the second year of exhibition-cum-exchange-programme BCNMCR opens our eyes to the work of 11 Barcelona-based design studios on p22; and Travel looks ahead to Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art in April (p29). But it’s not just a fertile season in Art. Theatre, too, looks at the inaugural programme – under the artistic direction of Gemma Bodinetz – at the newly reopened Everyman in Liverpool; while Film marks the 20th anniversary of Cornerhouse’s annual ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin-American Film Festival, which as ever offers debut films from first-time directors but goes the extra mile this year. You might have noticed we’ve gone a bit festival mad – to explain, our next three issues will plan your summer so you don’t have to. We kick off this issue with a look at the international circuit, with insights from Warpaint, St. Vincent, Daniel Avery and the top booker at Primavera, and will follow suit next issue with a survey of the UK’s best fests; in May, we’ll move on to our pick of the local fixtures. We’re not gonna do your

ar too often, social realism in British cinema serves up a nauseating cocktail of Daily Mail clichés supposedly offset by a dose of patronising Guardian sympathy. One dimensional characters shout about whatever issue it is the filmclashfinders for you, though. Soz. For those of you maker has decided to address. The bleakness is unable to throw everything into a backpack and so total it becomes hammy. Everyone is horrible. sack off work for the next six months, Music also There is no humour. No nuance. No humanity. takes in convos with Future Islands, The War on Maybe it’s a symptom of how hideously Drugs, and Liverpool boys-doing-good Ninetails. divided a society we live in but sometimes the Watch out for their EP Quiet Confidence landing genre feels like domestic orientalism; voyeuristic this month – it’s a many splendoured thing. middle class audiences firmly demarcated from Frank Sidebottom fans will be pleased to the working class natives parading across the know – well, you’ll probably already know, to be screen. So I stumbled across Andrea Arnold’s honest – that there are two films slated for reWasp with low expectations and was delivered a lease soon; the first, Jon Ronson’s Frank, is more dizzying revelation. of a fictional interpretation of Frank’s story that If another filmmaker had made the Oscar looks at life where a dedication to your art renwinning short film it would have been easy ders you something of an outsider; the second, to categorise as ‘a film about a single mother’. pieced together by Steve Sullivan from archive But Arnold instead makes it a film about love. footage and interviews with those who knew the The hot, furious love of a mother for her chilman in the big fake head best, is more a straight- dren, battling with the giddy weightlessness of up documentary honouring the life and work of a teenage love affair that’s come too late. I was Frank’s creator, Chris Sievey. In advance of both, a 19-year-old care worker when I first watched our Comedy editor speaks to Ronson and assem- Wasp and before the title credits had finished bled friends of Frank on p26; it’s both funny and rolling I was itching to get out and make films of moving. Other folks committed to their art in this my own. issue include Clubs’ interviewees Efdemin and It doesn’t feel like Arnold is thinking that Willie Burns; Film’s David Mackenzie, who recalls much about her audience, or about making shooting his unflinching prison drama, Starred a point. Instead her films seem to be driven Up – starring Skins’ peerless Jack O’Connell (“I’m by an empathy with her heartbreakingly real, Cook. I’M COOK!”) – in gruelling but organic sebreathing, pulsing characters. She takes the quence; and Showcase artist Lesley Guy, who’s also very committed to pizza. What a bunch of interesting folk, eh? See you in the Kaz. [Lauren Strain] Ahead of the reissue of Wake in Fright, a blistering study of Outback machismo from 1971, we ON THE COVER: Coachella Festival, speak to its director Ted Kotcheff about the by Frankie Frodsham film's shoot in Broken Hill, New South Wales. This month's cover shot was taken at Coachella by Frankie Frodsham. Frankie is the owner of The Head to www.theskinny.co.uk/film Native State, an online fashion and jewellery bouThirteen years after their debut, Chicago experitique. The store is a carefully curated collection mentalists Owls return to the fray with longof bohemian labels, mixing established names awaited follow-up. Tim Kinsella dissects along with up and coming labels. the weight of expectation at www.thenativestate.com www.theskinny.co.uk/music

Online Only

complexities and contradictions of human beings as a starting point for stories that are truly cinematic. Her intense Glaswegian film noir Red Road is a masterful exploration of obsession, but it’s the stark human pain at its core that drives it to its unexpected conclusion. Similarly the tense finale of Fish Tank is fueled by pure, visceral emotion. I could feel every sinew of Mia’s rage at the disappointment and betrayal that accompany her brutal initiation into adulthood. Just as she draws out drama from the lives of ordinary people, Arnold (together with her brilliant cinematographer Robbie Ryan) has a Terrence Malick like ability to draw out beauty from everyday settings; epic vistas of Essex marshes in Fish Tank and monolithic tower blocks in Red Road. At the most basic level, the subject of all film is life. Arnold deals with life with a brutal honesty; it’s harsh and unfair and treacherous and painful and confusing and scary but it’s beautiful. Her bravery and honesty are a challenge and an inspiration to me as filmmaker. Joe Cottrell-Boyce’s Treasure screens 8 Mar at Frederiks, Liverpool, as part of Liverpool Lift-Off Film Festival 2014, which takes place at The Kazimier and Frederiks and is free Lift-Off hopes to support local filmmakers through a ‘transatlantic exchange’ whereby the audience-selected winning films are screened at its sister festivals in London, Los Angeles and Las Vegas See website for full details: www.lift-off-festival.com/liverpool-2014 Joe Cottrell-Boyce: www.lonelyimpulse.co.uk

Eyes to the website This month’s Comedy Spotlight falls on Peter Brush, ‘a very serious man’; and the second instalment of Ask Fred looks at Scottish Independence as only Fred Fletch can. Visit www.theskinny.co.uk/comedy DJ Charts come from Takeshi Kouzuki and Killer Kitsch at www.theskinny.co.uk/clubs

The Skinny on Tour

Shot of the Month

Of Montreal at Gorilla, Manchester, Wed 19 Feb, by Sam Huddleston

Chat

This month The Skinny took a trip across the pond to hang out with some graffiti artists in LA. You can find out more about its adventures in a future issue of the magazine. For now, you could win a copy of My Biggest Lie by Luke Brown, courtesy of our lovely pals at Canongate, by heading along to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and answering this simple question*:

What is the national dance of Argentina? A) Fandango B) Tango C) Mambo *There is no relation between the question and the location of the shot. Just go with it, OK? Competition closes midnight Sun 30 Mar. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within one week or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Full T&Cs can be found at www. theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

THE SKINNY

First Person: Queen of the Track

Welcome back to MANCHESTER CENTRAL LIBRARY, which is set to re-open on 22 Mar. The Grade II-listed building has been lovingly restored and jazzed up with some 21stcentury technology. www.manchester.gov.uk/ centrallibrary

Flis Mitchell on the inspiration behind a bold alternative to womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gossip magazines, which launches on International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day

ueen of the Track is our â&#x20AC;&#x2122;zine, and after 18 months of hard work, we have our launch night on 8 March at Mary Mary cafe, Liverpool. If you pop down, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be the three super excited ladies, brandishing â&#x20AC;&#x2122;zines and prosecco, whooping and yelling. Queen of the Track is a â&#x20AC;&#x2122;zine and blog run by me, Flis Mitchell; Hannah Bitowski, and Amy LeStrange. We started this project simply because we wanted to create the sort of magazine we wanted to read. I wanted to read about politics, culture, finance and tech, but all I could find was body shaming articles, patronising features about relationships and celebrity gossip. So we simply decided to create what we wanted: a magazine that combined the fizzy energy and amazing content of the underground press and the beauty of a luxury womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magazine. We wanted to recapture that moment when you first got â&#x20AC;&#x2122;zines as a kid, all crazy excitement, new viewpoints and a sense of solidarity and love. We want to facilitate social change, we are feminists, and we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see why serious politics canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be combined with gorgeous print and awesome writing. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know why the majority of womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magazines are writing like itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the 1950s. On the launch date, which of course is International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been invited to do a DIY zine making workshop at the Bluecoat Gallery, and later weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be at MaryMary cafe for

BALLS. with Mystic Mark ARIES Peering over the railings on a day out at Sellafield, your safety goggles slip off into a vat of highly radioactive fission waste. Not wishing to break health and safety regulations you jump in after them, to the concerned yelps of your fellow tourists. Resurfacing with the smoking, misshapen goggles you manage to gurgle: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry, got them,â&#x20AC;? just before your face melts off and floats away. While driving home you start to experience superpower symptoms, such as migraines, nausea and projectile vomiting. From that day forth you become known as Radiation Man, using your new abilities of fatigue, loss of consciousness and malignant tumours to catch criminal masterminds no matter where in the hospice they may lurk.

March 2014

WE ARE HAVING A PARTY AND YOU ARE INVITED! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Skinny Northwestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first birthday in April, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re having a big free bash at The Kazimier, Liverpool, on Saturday 12 April. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be music and visuals and fab folk and PARTYING: save the date, and keep an eye on our Facebook (facebook. com/TheSkinnyMag) and Twitter (@TheSkinnyNW) for more details.

While listening to women talking about their intimate parts might not be everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cup of tea, THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES has gained a solid reputation over the years. The format is uniquely able to provide both an evening of entertainment and a safe space for the discussion of topics such as sexual assault, sex work, sexuality and childbirth. Produced by Lesbian & Gay Federation volunteers as part of various events happening in Manchester around International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day, it comes to Eden Bar, Manchester, on 7 Mar, 9.30pm and 9 Mar, 7.30pm. ÂŁ8/ÂŁ6, Over-18s only.

WE ARE HIRING: The Skinny is looking for a Ruby on Rails developer and a new Sales Executive in Scotland. Visit theskinny.co.uk/about/ get_involved

Hannah Bitowski - Laser Tits

our launch. We hope to meet loads of new people throughout the day and night, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;cause as everyone knows, a â&#x20AC;&#x2122;zine is only as good as the family it creates. Queen of the Track launches on 8 Mar at Mary Mary Cafe, Liverpool, 8pm â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;til midnight. Earlier in the afternoon, Flis, Hannah and Amy will be running a DIY zine making workshop at the Bluecoat, from 11am-4pm www.queenofthetrackzine.tumblr.com

TAURUS This month after finding out youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re pregnant, you begin inexorably mutating into a two-headed, eight-limbed monster which craves flesh. GEMINI If thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one thing that makes hurtling through a senseless void easier, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the love and understanding of a fellow mammalian hominid. CANCER Cancer thrives in Uranus. LEO This month you get dumped by fax, sacked via a signpost left on your Farmville plot and learn of your motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death on Gumtree. VIRGO I spy with my little eye something beginning with you putting a gun in your mouth.

The MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY hosts the Wellcome Image Award from 12 Mar, showing 18 images created by medical professionals, scientists and others image makers. Who doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to see a zebrafish embryo as close as you LIVERPOOL LIFT-OFF FILM FESTIVAL has revealed can possibly get? www.mosi.org.uk its official selections, with entries from around the world. Takes place 8-10 Mar in Frederiks and Liverpoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inaugural OVERLOAD FESTIVAL sees The Kazimier, Liverpool. www.lift-off-festival. 20 performances of eight shows taking place over com/liverpool-2014 four venues, making it the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest student theatre festival this year â&#x20AC;&#x201C; kudos! 18 Marâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;11 Apr, Five recent graduates assemble at The Royal www.facebook.com/OverloadFest2014 Standard, Liverpool, for VERNISSAGE, featuring work by Skinny Showcase artist Mikey Cook, and Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve a COMPETITION to win tickets to the Rachel Levine, The Skinny Award-winner at this launch of GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL, and an year's RSA New Contemporaries. www.the-royalovernight stay for two on 3 April at Citizen M. standard.com Turn to page 29 to find out how to enter.

LIBRA You need not be frightened. The headlights approaching you are Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. He merely wants to drive over you with his love.

SCORPIO Taking your PVC-encased gimp for walks becomes a bit of a chore when you realise that you legally have to bag his shit up and dispose of it in the special gimp waste bin.

SAGITTARIUS This month you find your catâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diary and discover to your surprise he is quite the little racist.

CAPRICORN You put an advert on the internet about your desire to be eaten as part of a sex fetish. When your potential dinner guest turns up though, after having a quick look around, he decides that your terrible diet and

cramped living conditions mean it wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just be unhealthy to eat you but also unethical. AQUARIUS This month you create an app to calculate and track the approximate number/weight of bowel movements the Queen has done since she was coronated. Users can toggle between live graphs and historical 3D charts while receiving push notifications upon each new deposit. When the app goes live Her Majesty is at 56,575lbs, or 25.6692 tonnes. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trailing Queen Victoria by less than a tonne.

PISCES You believe itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible to alter human DNA through chanting and meditation. Maybe you could alter your DNA to give yourself a brain.

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Beginning on a high note (that’d be pancake day, boom!), this month has so much more going for it than just casual hints of spring, as the Bugged Out Weekender offers a legit excuse to go to Pontins and our February cover studs, Wild Beasts enjoy a live outing. Do All The Things!

United Artists present For Their Own Good, which combines documentary material from veterinary surgeries, farms and abattoirs with new writing to explore the dark and detached work of two knackermen, as they tirelessly go about their business of euthanising horse after horse after horse – represented by a life-size equine puppet. Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 8pm, £12 (£10)

The annual Northern Exposure photography exhibition returns to The Portico, bringing together seven local 'togs covering a range of subjects from fashion and architecture to portraiture and travel. Fiona Heron, Karen McBride, Adrian McGarry, Jon Parker Lee, Angela Niman, John Brierley and Robin Haslam show off their work. The Portico, Manchester, until 29 Mar, Free

For Their Own Good

Sun 9 Mar

Mon 10 Mar

Tue 11 Mar

Returning for its second outing, the international film festival Liverpool Lift-Off pitches up in the city with the aim of putting talent before technology, and offering a platform for indie filmmakers to gain recognition and see their work screened at sister festivals in London, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. And it's free to boot. The Kazimier + Frederiks, Liverpool, 8-10 Mar, Free

Drawing Liverpool's poets out of the woodwork, A Lovely Word launches this month with the intention of offering poetry-doers the chance to get up on a stage and share their craft. Poetry-lovers, meanwhile, can sit at a table and enjoy said craft over a beer. Free verse, spoken word and slam are all welcome. MelloMello, Liverpool, 8pm, Free

Israel goes under the spotlight for daring political drama Ballad of the Burning Star, as told by Theatre Ad Infinitum. Taking the audience on a journey through the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in cabaret style, it features scantily-clad lady-folk and high heeled men-folk beneath a Star of David mirrorball. Naturally. Unity Theatre, Liverpool, until 12 Mar, 8pm, £14 (£12)

Treasure

A Lovely Word

Sat 15 Mar

Sun 16 Mar

Long-running clubnight Chibuku Shake Shake celebrate their birthday, marking 14 years since they set up shop amid the super-clubbing scene of the late 90s. They've since gone on to host some epic nights, with raving antics firmly on the cards for this bash as they invite Andy C, Wilkinson, Route 94 and more to help blow out the candles. East Village Arts Club, Liverpool, 10pm, £16 (£14)

Pitching up with their biggest print fair yet, Liverpool's Inprint – the brainchild of artists Holly Gleave and Emily Briselden Waters – takes to the expansive Haus Warehouse with a hefty number of arty folk signed up to show off their wares, alongside a specially commissioned open call exhibition exploring pattern in print. Haus Warehouse, Liverpool, 12-6pm, Free

Angela Niman Photographed, Liverpool

Ballad of the Burning Star

Andy C

Inprint

Sat 22 Mar

Taking a stand for independent film in the UK, Flatpack Festival is set to take over venues across Birmingham to showcase its innovatively curated programme of audio and visual treats – including a screening of Miwa Matreyek’s This World Made Itself, also showing at FutureEverything – alongside an events programme encouraging collaborative thinking. Various venues, Birmingham, until 30 Mar

The inaugural Liverpool Acoustic Festival pops up with a packed-out programme of live music, workshops, seminars, stalls, record fairs and more, making for a scaled-down sort of SXSW unplugged experience. The plucky folk lined up to play include Ian McNabb, Robert Vincent, Anna Corcoran and Thomas J Speight. Unity Theatre, Liverpool, until 22 Mar, £30 weekend

It's not quite Croatia in July, but the club kids at El Diablo's Social Club are going to try their darnedest to replicate the Garden Festival vibes with a get-together taking over all three floors of the Deaf. Plenty of Adriatic boogie comes courtesy of Justin V, Tristan Da Cunha, James Holroyd and Full Beam! The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 10pm, £7

Matreyek – This World Made Itself

Robert Vincent

Photo: Alex Hurst

Fri 21 Mar

Photo: Miwa Matreyek

Thu 20 Mar

El Diablo's Social Club

Thu 27 Mar

Fri 28 Mar

Keeping it in the Skinny family, our February cover stars Wild Beasts are joined by January cover star East India Youth (following a European tour with July '13 cover stars MONEY) for a live outing against the majestic backdrop of the Albert Hall. They'll be serving up tracks from their elegant fourth album, Present Tense. Albert Hall, Manchester, 7pm, £16.50

Bringing us aesthetically and culturally – but sadly not geograpically – closer to Barcelona, BCNMCR pitches up with a free exhibition showcasing the varied work of the 11 Barcelona-based design studios involved. A series of inspiring talks runs parallel on 28 Mar. TwentyTwentyTwo (exhibition) + Hallé St Peter's (talks), Manchester, until 23 Apr (talks on 28 Mar)

Threshold festival arrives for its fourth outing, taking over Liverpool's Baltic Triangle with a programme of art and music, covered in more depth in this very magazine (see pages 15 and 39). Lucky for us, it's a musical smorgasbord, with Bolshy, DJ Jacques, Galaxians and Fire Beneath the Sea slated to perform. Various Venues, Baltic Triangle, Liverpool, until 30 Mar, £25 weekend

Wild Beasts

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Photo: Nuria Rius

Wed 26 Mar

Clase BCN

Bolshy

THE SKINNY

Photo: Alex Brenner

Compiled by: Laura Howarth

Wed 5 Mar

Photo: Paul Blakemore

Heads Up

Tue 4 Mar

Fri 7 Mar

Sat 8 Mar

Embarking on a romp through the spectrum of human emotions, Generic Greeting Collective member KIDMILK presents his light-hearted illustrations in SAD, untangling the myriad feelings associated with sadness in an attempt to defuse their power and poke fun at them. With added DJs, booze and fun times for the launch party. Joshua Brooks, Manchester, 8pm, Free

¡Vámonos muchachos! The ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival returns for its 20th outing, showcasing films of all genres from indie comedies to hardhitting documentaries. The opening gala screening is Argentinian director Gabriel Nesci's Días de Vinilo, following a group of 30-something vinyl enthusiasts in a tale all too familiar to some. Cornerhouse, Manchester, until 23 Mar

The Bugged Out Weekender crew mark their 20th anniversary with a little help from the likes of Abandon Silence, Andrew Weatherall, Daniel Avery and Julio Bashmore. Plus! There are pool parties and a pub quiz (hosted by us – yes, The Skinny), while rave karaoke puts the cherry on the cake. Pontins, Southport, 7-9 Mar, from £159 inc. accomodation, day tickets available

Días de Vinilo

Thu 13 Mar

Fri 14 Mar

The Flying Solo Festival takes hold of Contact this month, spotlighting those brave enough to take the stage all by their lonesome. Among the programme, Kaleider's You With Me offers an out-of-theatre experience that will play out as a 45 minute phonecall set to challenge your ideas of audience and performer. Contact, Manchester, see listings for full details

While Burberry model wouldn't be the most obvious precursor to crafting dark and brooding folk music, 21-year-old singer/songwriter Marika Hackman deftly navigates both. Catch her in a live setting as she tours the UK before heading into the studio to record her debut album with producer Charlie Andrew. Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 7.30pm, £7

GrimmFest host a screening of Grindhouse, the double-feature collab between Rodriguez and Tarantino comprising zombie horror Planet Terror and B-movie homage Death Proof. If you can suspend doubt (because a machine gun could totally be a leg), this cinematic experience – complete with trailers! – will leave you giddy. Dancehouse Theatre, Manchester, 7pm, £8 (£6.50)

You With Me

Photo: Contact Theatre

Wed 12 Mar

Marika Hackman

Daniel Avery

Death Proof

Tue 18 Mar

Wed 19 Mar

Young novelist Evie Wyld – winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for her novel After the Fire, a Still Small Voice – will be in conversation with fellow wordsmith Gregory Martin, sharing some snippets from her published works and offering a hint at further things to come. International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester, 6.30pm, Free

West Coast hip-hop trio – who we will forever love for their witty ditty, Meatshake ('Meat to the shizzake', etc) – Ugly Duckling take to the road some 11 years after they formed in Long Beach, still going strong with their original line-up comprising Dizzy Dustin, Young Einstein and Andy Cat. The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool, 8pm, £10

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts grad Dan Croll – best known for crafting folktronica and indie earworms – tours in support of his much-anticipated debut release, Sweet Disarray. Appearing alongside Racing Glaciers and Laurel, he'll likely be sharing tracks from said release, his trademark specs all well and in place. The Ruby Lounge, Manchester, 7.30pm, £8

Evie Wyld

Photo: Roeloff Bakker

Mon 17 Mar

Ugly Duckling

Dan Croll

Mon 24 Mar

Tue 25 Mar

Following the release of her latest album, Burn Your Fire For No Witness – which finds the Chicago-based folk singer/songwriter settling in nicely to her spot on the Jagjaguwar roster – Angel Olsen takes her dainty self out on the road, playing one of her two UK dates in the Northwest. Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 7.30pm, £returns only

While we can't speak from experience, we have it on good authority that climbing up things is bleedin' hilarious; hence Andy Kirkpatrick's latest standup show, in which the bulk of the action is focused on the time he climbed El Cap with his 13-yearold daughter. The Lowry Quays Theatre, Salford, 8pm, £18

Tour mates to the likes of The Twang and Courteeners, East London based indie rock outfit Dexters take their recently released debut album, Shimmer Gold, to a live setting, serving up as many anthems as one sweatbox venue can comfortably handle. Korova Bar, Liverpool, 7pm, £7

Angel Olson

Photo: Zia Anger

Sun 23 Mar

Andy Kirkpatrick

Sat 29 Mar

Sun 30 Mar

Mon 31 Mar

As life continues to imitate art, our technology of today looks remarkably similar to the science fiction of yesteryear. The topic is dissected in this open call exhibition, Science Fiction: Myths of the Present Future, an exploration of the blurred lines between real life and science fiction, as FACT set their phasers to stun (urgh, sozbomb). FACT, Liverpool, until 22 Jun, Free

Ticking all the hipster credential boxes, Brooklyn-born, Berlin-based electronic producer KRTS, aka Kurtis Hairston, makes his Manchester debut for the PROJECT: Mooncircle label showcase, a collaboration between local label Mind on Fire and FutureEverything. Rain Dog, submerse, and Gordon Gieseking also show face on the night. Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 9pm, £6 adv. (£8 door)

We end the month on a spaced-out note, whiling away the last few hours of March in the company of The Space Lady. The cult Casio-toned musician takes to the unparalleled surrounds of Manchester Art Gallery for her debut European performance – lucky us! – performing as part of the FutureEverything festival. Manchester Art Gallery, 8pm, £9

Larissa Sansour, Nation Estate (2012)

March 2014

KRTS

Dexters

The Space Lady

Chat

Photo: Richard Manning

SAD

Photo: Steve Gullick

Thu 6 Mar

A Summer Waiting Warpaint, Daniel Avery and St. Vincent look forward to festival season; we preview the best international events, and speak to the top booker at Primavera Sound about legacy bands, rising stars, and the future of the festival in Europe

kind of album cycle, kind of follow each other. Realising that you’re billed on the same stage as somebody like Robert Plant, you’re gonna see them backstage warming up, after you play – maybe they’ve watched you play... it’s just pretty insane,” she says. Asked if Warpaint have any theatrics or tricks up their sleeves for their appearances this summer, Wayman stays true to the band’s understated allure: “We don’t wear costumes... maybe we should! But we just got this backdrop, which is our album cover – it’s really great, I love it so much, it just changes the feel of the stage. The cover kind of looks like shadows, because of the overlay of the images, so when it is big and blown up it looks more subtle, surprisingly. It’s pretty cool.” She reveals that album track Disco//Very is an emerging live highlight, although “these songs still have some catching up to do with songs that we’ve been playing for years, like Elephant. That one still makes everyone go nuts. Undertow does, too. People seemingly love our new stuff... it just takes a minute to really get inside [the songs] and play them really well.” By the time Warpaint hit the likes of Californian enormo-festival Coachella, and the Primavera festivals in Spain and Portugal, the new material will be sounding pretty polished.

“We party until 6am no matter what” Abel González

As for the sunshine she will no doubt encounter in the US and Europe, Wayman’s nonplussed: “We get sunshine as soon as we go home – we live in Los Angeles, where it never rains and the sun always shines, and I find it really annoying,” she confesses. “Maybe I just wish I was living in London or something.” She’ll get the chance for some proper English weather when Warpaint play Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds later in the

St. Vincent

year, but she says she’s not a fan of mud either: “I’m not that person really, that made a point of camping out and trod through the mud, or whatever the elements are. I did go to Coachella a few times, and I thought that was fun. You can’t go wrong with a festival like that, really.” One of the most interesting talents in British electronic music of recent times, Phantasysigned DJ and producer Daniel Avery, will be taking a compact show on the road – but that means he’s free to hit more festivals than nearly any other artist, by our count. “I am really enjoying DJing, more than I ever have done in ten years of doing it, and I really feel like right now, it’s quite fertile ground for DJs,” he says. “Crowds are really receptive to things. I’m still a massive fan of being able to change the mood of a room really quickly, as you can do with DJing – that’s the unique thing about it, for me.” He’s looking forward to playing back to back with Andrew Weatherall, who has offered support

Mogwai

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and ringing endorsements of his acid-tinged techno. They feature together at Villette Sonique in Paris, and the Bugged Out Weekender back in the UK. “It’s always a pleasure to share the decks with one of my favourite DJs,” says Avery. “He has a million stories, and each one is better than the last. It’s always great to hang out with him.” The rise of festivals in Poland, Croatia and throughout Eastern Europe is one of the success stories of the circuit in recent years, and Avery is very much looking forward to his appearance at Unknown Croatia, where he and Phantasy label boss Erol Alkan will host an exclusive boat party. “Records sound different in the sunshine,” says Avery. “Dance music, in particular, just really comes to life in the sun. As much as I love playing in dark basements in the middle of winter, in the sunshine it can really lend a whole different atmosphere.” Another of Avery’s anticipated highlights is French experimental electronic music festival Nuits Sonores, his favourite of last year’s summer shows. “I played on an outdoor stage right at the end of the night, and it had just started to rain, so I didn’t have high hopes for it,” he says, but “it turned into this crazed mass of people, all getting really into what I was doing. Sometimes you just feel this warmth between you and the crowd, and that was definitely one of them. There’s something really special about that place.” Wayman, meanwhile, is looking forward to bringing Warpaint back to Poland for the Open’er Festival: “We’ve played in Poland before, which was great,” she says. “Stella, our drummer, is Polish – she’s from Australia, but she’s also Polish, and she has family there.” She is also psyched for their appearance at the grand dame of the European festival circuit, Denmark’s Roskilde: “I’m excited to go there, I think the people are really down to earth,” she says. “It’s cosy.” Primavera and its sister-festival Optimus Primavera offer one of the best-value tickets this summer, with a gigantic and staggeringly diverse bill. In terms of scale, it rivals UK behemoth Glastonbury and huge US festivals like Coachella, and has become a firm favourite with both music fans and bands. So what has Primavera got that Coachella doesn’t? For the festival’s chief booker Abel González, it’s the fact that “the festival is built on the Spanish way... we party until 6am no matter what.”

THE SKINNY

Photo: Daniel Harris

lanning your summer festival intinerary is not such an easy task these days – with new festivals springing up each year, and the list of established festivals happening across Europe and the USA now approaching the hundreds, many specialise, catering to a specific subsection of musical fandom, or sell themselves on the strength of the experience, location, and added entertainment on offer. To help you pick the right festival for you, The Skinny spoke to St. Vincent, Warpaint and Daniel Avery – three diverse artists sitting astride some of the most esteemed and exciting bills this summer. We also had a chat with Abel González, top booker at Primavera Sound – he gives us a fascinating insight into which bands get booked, and why. “The energy of a festival is just totally different,” says Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent, on the eve of the release of her new, selftitled album. She will be playing at several of the big festivals in Europe and the US this year, including Denmark’s venerable Roskilde event, and mammoth American industry showcase South By Southwest. Festival sets differ from more intimate gigs, because “there’s the collective consciousness of 80,000 people roaming around in the sunshine, so you have to change things a little bit – you have to paint in bolder strokes,” she says. “Nuances can be lost, but that’s okay. I can create a set for a festival that can be blocky, with bold colour, and big.” Clark is looking forward to playing SXSW, not least because she grew up in Texas, a place she still feels she has an “intimate relationship” with: “If you showed me a picture of the sky, I could tell you what month it is. If you bottled the scent of a particular season, I could tell you ‘Oh yeah... that’s Summer in Texas.’ That kind of stuff is just home with a capital ‘H.’” Theresa Wayman of art-rockers Warpaint is an old hand at festivals now – but she remembers their early appearances fondly: “I was shocked when we arrived... there was a backstage area full of all of these bands that I had heard of, and that we were all going to be hanging out together. That surprised me, not just at the first festival, but on the whole circuit. Bands, if you’re on the same

Photo: Jassy Earl

Interview: Bram E. Gieben

March 2014

so, will be the sole remaining festival from All Tomorrow’s Parties – ATP Iceland (10-12 Jul, Keflavik, Iceland) has a daydream of a line-up, with appearances from Kurt Vile, Swans and Fuck Buttons, and the claustrophobic electronic visions of Tri-Angle producers The Haxan Cloak and Forest Swords. Over in Poland, there are two fantastic festivals on offer – the first on the calendar being Open’er (2-5 Jul, Gdynia, Poland), on the go since 2002, and offering a pretty stellar bill, with the mighty Warpaint, Foals, Interpol, MGMT, Phoenix, and perhaps most excitingly, grunge titans Pearl Jam. Later in the year, the OFF Festival (1-3 Aug, Katowice, Poland) offers Jeff Mangum’s Neutral Milk Hotel, Fuck Buttons, Perfume Genius, and our highlight, Border Community techno maverick James Holden.

“There’s the collective consciousness of 80,000 people roaming around in the sunshine” Annie Clark

MELT! Festival (18-20 Jul, Ferropolis, Germany) is definitely worth a visit, if only to experience Ferropolis, a giant industrial park outside Berlin populated by abandoned industrial machinery transformed into outlandish sculptures. It’s a dramatic setting in which to catch Portishead, in one of just a few festival appearances this year, along with Haim, Jagwar Ma, Metronomy, and a wealth of electronic artists including Moderat, Fuck Buttons (they get everywhere!), Baauer and more. Sun-drenched Croatia has a booming festival season. Firstly, there’s Soundwave (17-21 Jul, Zadar, Croatia), who welcome Stones Throw supremo Madlib, along with UK bass monsters The Bug, epic genre-blender Mr. Scruff, and electronic experimentalist Gold Panda. Later, there are two big festivals running almost back to back in September. The temptation to do the double is pretty strong, starting with Outlook (3-7 Sep, Pula, Croatia), taking place in the 150 year-old Fort Punta Christo, attracting some big names from the world of hip-hop, headed up by Busta Rhymes, DJ Premier and Lauryn Hill. There’s also a healthy dose of both dub and bass music, with Jah Shaka, Barrington Levy, Goldie, Digital Mystikz and others confirmed. Literally the day after, Unknown (8-12 Sep, Rovinj, Croatia) begins, with more than a few Skinny favourites on the more indie-focused line-up, with Wild Beasts, Mount Kimbie and CHVRCHES the big draws. You’ll also catch yer man Avery again, and Numbers main-man Jackmaster. Two of the big daddies on the circuit are Primavera (28-31 May, Barcelona, Spain) and it’s counterpart Optimus Primavera (5-7 Jun, Porto, Portugal). At the Barcelona shindig, the smart money’s on re-formed shoegazers Slowdive, not to mention a triumphant Arcade Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, Deafheaven, St. Vincent, Jamie XX and Earl Sweatshirt – and believe it or not, that’s just scratching the surface. In Porto, they’ve got some of the biggest names in alt.rock, including Steve Albini’s post-hardcore heroes Shellac, a god-like post-rock trinity in the form of Slint, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and

The National

Mogwai, not to mention the Pixies. Also in Barcelona is the dance music-focused Sónar (12-14 Jun), which this year sees the live return of Massive Attack, not to mention a no doubt blistering live set from techno legend Richie Hawtin, and more leftfield electronic voyagers such as Planet Mu’s Laurel Halo and Ninja Tune’s Machinedrum. Plus, it plays host to an annual vinyl fair which is a must-see for anyone with an addiction to the black stuff. Not to be outdone, another of Spain’s biggest cities, Bilbao, hosts the BBK Bilbao festival (10-12 Jul), and while they might not have quite the who’s who offered by Sónar and Primavera, they still have an impressive bill, with appearances from The Black Keys, Franz Ferdinand, Phoenix, MGMT, Foster The People, Poliça and Future of the Left, among others. For lovers of leftfield electronic music who want to party in Europe, a slightly more intimate affair than Sónar is on offer at Nuits Sonores (28 May–1 Jun) in Lyon, France, with over 250 locations within the city transformed into bespoke gig venues, from galleries and swimming pools to rooftops and stretches of industrial wasteland. They welcome Daniel Avery, Andy Votel and Kode9, as well as some of Glasgow’s finest including Optimo, Dam Mantle, Ubre Blanca, and Golden Teacher. It’s only fair to mention just a few of the big American music festivals, for those of you who have the readies to consider a transatlantic jaunt – if you can afford it, our summer festivals’ Yankee cousins tend to offer impressive, international bills and are of course invariably situated in some impressive scenery. First on the calendar is SXSW (11-16 Mar). With a gigantic

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Photo: Sol Nicol

González says his team are all “die-hard music fans; a bunch of freaks” who will always try to book the kind of “experimental and unique music which will please our most discerning customer.” For him, “booking experimental acts will also allow people to discover weird new music.” Talking about emerging and successful niche and alternative artists, he says: “We know people will pay attention to them because of their inclusion in the line-up.” This year’s bill features the likes of Andy Stott, Demdike Stare and Vatican Shadow alongside big headliners like Nine Inch Nails and Queens of the Stone Age. “Our experimental booking is one of the things we’re most proud of;” says González. “Festivals can be pretty similar in terms of headliners and can show their personality by the way they book the smaller slots.” This year’s Primavera line-ups feature re-formed shoegaze titans Slowdive, as well as Television playing their album Marquee Moon, and of course bands such as the Pixies – González believes that the booking of so-called ‘legacy’ bands is a matter of quality, not opportunity, and doesn’t worry that young bands will struggle to fill the shoes of returning giants in subsequent years. Asked who he believes will top the bills in years to come, González tips The National and Wolf Eyes. “We don’t particularly aim to book reunions per se but obviously we love having bands that no longer exist, who want to exist again at Primavera. I bet we had some influence on the Slowdive reunion this year – we’ve been asking for ages and they finally said yes just so they wouldn’t have to hear us ask them again next year! It’s hard to say how much, but our persistence feels like it’s played some part in Slowdive reforming.” Warpaint’s Wayman is full of praise for Primavera’s back-stage atmosphere, too: “It’s one of those situations where the bands are all staying in the same hotel, so everyone’s there and it’s like you’re in this big band camp,” she says. “You get to talk shop with everybody and hang out; have a drink and enjoy life. It’s fun.” Warpaint are near the top of the bill at the Primavera outings this year, a progression from their last round of festival appearances. In terms of the potential for hedonism backstage (and indeed onstage), Wayman takes a pragmatic approach: “What you have to do is just pick your moment. If you know you have a bunch of shows coming up, it’s most likely wise not to stay up all night drinking,” she says. “But if you have a couple of days off, why not indulge a little and hang out, see some people, and have a good time?” Avery meanwhile claims to be the consummate professional: “It’s important to treat it as something of a job, because when you realise you have a lot of people in front of you, there’s a responsiblity there,” he says. “I never want to be known as that guy who just passes out on stage. Not that I’ve ever come close to that! I know some people who totally embrace it and really get stuck in, but I like the idea of having some kind of responsibility to a large group of people... I never want to mess it up.” With our highlights of the international festival calendar picked out for you below, it should be easy to pick the right place, the right bands, and the right time for your own hedonistic shenanigans – let’s take a look at 2014’s cream of the crop. Combining snowboarding and skiing with a gigantic bill that reads like a who’s-who of stadium electronic acts, including headline sets from The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, Snowbombing (7-12 Apr, Maryhofen, Austria) is expensive, but great value for money, and a completely alternative take on the traditional tents-and-warm-beer approach. Trade canvas for chalet, and be sure to catch a rare live set from Four Tet, as well as a set from the ubiquitous Mr Avery. Less chilly, but possibly only marginally

bill featuring 2,500 bands or more, this industry showcase can offer the gig to make or break a band, with up-and-coming artists playing throughout Austin, Texas alongside big-name headliners such as Damon Albarn, Gary Numan, and The Black Lips. Perhaps the king of the US festivals is Coachella (11-13 & 18-20 Apr, Coachella Valley, California) – it’s sold out, but those of you lucky enough to have grabbed some tickets will be able to witness the reunion of Atlanta rap legends Outkast, The Knife, Arcade Fire, Pharrell Williams, Nas, Beck, Chance The Rapper, and a host of other bands, so many in fact that, as with Primavera, you need a microscope to read the full line-up. You can also catch a couple of topclass UK bands making their US festival debuts there this year, as CHVRCHES and Factory Floor join the bill. One of Coachella’s big competitors is the rock-focused Sasquatch! (23-25 May & 4-6 Jul, George, Washington), who have an impressive bill headed up by Queens of the Stone Age, Tyler the Creator, The National, and the welcome return of indie legends Violent Femmes, as well as Liars, Deafheaven, Washed Out and Mogwai in May, while the July weekend sees Soundgarden, New Order, The Horrors, and Kraftwerk’s live 3D show heading up a bill that also includes Broken Bells, Frank Ocean, Deltron 3030, Kurt Vile, Jon Hopkins and Metz. American dance music fans can get a dose of the bleep-y stuff at Movement (25-27 May, Detroit, Michigan), with appearances from Baauer, Green Velvet, Just Blaze, Tiga, Bicep, Bonobo, and Daniel Avery. Of course.

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Howling at the Moon Navigating breakups, breakdowns and bruising tour schedules, Baltimore’s Future Islands return with Singles, an improbable synthpop masterpiece to revive a spiritless generation

Interview: Jazz Monroe Photography: Gemma Burke

Future Islands

t’s mid-afternoon when Samuel T. Herring, roundly stuffed with bangers and mash, calls off group naptime to Skype in from the 4AD band flat in Wandsworth. The label, much to the Baltimore trio’s delight, will release Future Islands’ fourth LP this March, and it’s a cracker. Indeed, after 11 years together the band is cusping a breakthrough that has every fan, label-bod and bandmember in heady, cloud-punching spirits. All, that is, but one. “Man,” sighs Herring, a muscular fellow who sings like a depressed werewolf. “I’m 29. What happened? What happened to me as a 24-yearold?” He makes a strange noise that’s presumably a chuckle but sounds like sobbing. “Where did those years go, man?” Herring, whose sombre patois suggests Jeff Bridges’ Dude being directed by Terrence Malick, navigated troubled waters to get here. It started six years ago, when Future Islands hit the road so hard they barely got up again; since then, the group’s proclivity for touring like an illegal circus has, quite gradually, dismantled Herring’s personal life. Early in 2013 they paused for breath, but that half-decade struck hard. “I sometimes feel like I lost life,” he admits. “I mean, you step away and create an alternate reality, because everything continues on at home. Your friends are there, they’re drinking at your bar. Your girlfriend is at home wondering where you are...” Herring talks longingly of relationships – love, home, friendship – but seems somehow uncommitted: ”Sometimes after three months on the road, you see a good buddy and they don’t even realise you’ve been gone. You’re like, ‘Yeah, I was just all over the place.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, really? Crazy. You wanna get a beer?’” The implication is that keeping contact was the friend’s job. “You’re an update service,” adds Gerrit Welmers, a sort of deadpan band oracle who plays synth and beat-programmes. “You give

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updates to your girlfriend, or to your parents. You’re just like: ‘I’m here today. I’ve arrived.’” He half-smiles, looking ambivalent; the band chuckle or sob in agreement. By now, Future Islands have released enough breakup albums to qualify as a breakup band. The tag suits them: Herring, it transpires, is very much a breakup sort of guy. When asked to elaborate on an enigmatic comment made at a recent gig, he relays an unrepeatably sad saga involving long-distance love, dangling hope and a six-hour drive to an empty house. It’s a tale so crushingly maudlin you want to pack its bags and fly it to Ibiza. Let’s jump instead to the months immediately after. It’s 2008, as Herring and bassist William Cashion (also of Peals) bite the bullet and up sticks from North Carolina for Baltimore. Their arrival coincides with the unravelling of Wham City, a weirdo-art community Dan Deacon co-founded, known for goofy hijinks and hipster in-jokes such as Jurassic Park stage plays and Dan Deacon’s music career. But they harness scene disarray and relationship woe to grow anew, and, with a work rate that’d make Thatcher grimace, set the Future Islands sails to billowing. Now, after three albums of snowballing charm and wit, Future Islands are approaching perfection. Like all their records, Singles was mostly self-funded, but the band’s aversion to a pressure-making label advance was, in this case, unwarranted. Its stunning hit ratio is thanks partly to Chris Coady’s production (a stipulation of 4AD’s involvement), which planes edges without blunting the spirit, but put simply, Singles’ greatest asset is Herring and co’s songwriting, some of the mightiest around. The lyrics kick and frolic like lovers’ legs dangling over the pier, and despite the sound palette’s corporate gloss, the music’s cool is fuelled not by irony or effortlessness but something far more interesting. Essentially, Future Islands’ appeal has always

orbited a hyperawareness of time’s passage. As 80s-style synths establish a nostalgic undercurrent, lyrics about loss, romance, turning tides and changing seasons celebrate the romantic inevitability of renewal. Meanwhile, outdated and potentially ironic pop signifiers – fast programmed beats, major-key synths, booming kick drums – confront a brute vocal sincerity that explodes the endorphin dam while tying your bullshit-sensor in knots.

“Let’s be open to each other again. Let’s care about our fellow man, instead of living in this world of computer screens” Samuel T. Herring

The point is, this glossy synthpop is a Trojan horse for real emotion and soul. Instead of flattering our cleverness, the elements combine to snatch massive heart from the jaws of ambivalence. Modern indie-pop has learned to exploit our cynicism towards sentimentality, but Future Islands are way ahead: they capitalise on our cynicism towards cynicism. “The difficulty is to write something that has that sentimentality without becoming completely cliché,” Herring explains. “But Spirit is a preachy song, not sentimental. It’s about not letting

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people carve out a role for you in your life. You don’t have to live the way everybody else lives if that’s not how you feel in your heart or soul: ‘Be more than words / Be more than strength and kind / Be love and blind / To those who come to you.’ It’s like saying, ‘Let’s be open to each other again. Let’s care about our fellow man, instead of living in this world of computer screens.’ We can say ‘I love you’ on the phone but we can’t say it to each other’s faces.” Lines like Spirit’s ‘Sing something new,’ Herring continues, address a spiritually moribund generation of songwriters: “If you have the platform to say something, say something. If you wanna believe in something, believe in something. And the follow-up line to that is, ‘Belief is wet and ghost.’ Which is like, belief is something you can’t see. It’s heavy and wet, but you can’t see it. But it believes in the most of you. It isn’t there, it’s not something you can see, but it’s in our heart. Our belief is everything – it’s who we are.” Earnest, heartfelt, direct – Herring’s outlook is hardly the bread and butter of blog-oriented indie, but it’s a neat antidote. At a time when, more than ever, schmaltzy ads and sitcoms dilute our appetite for sentiment and sincerity, we crave a hype-free, spiritual sugar-rush like Singles. This especially applies in indie-rock, the genre thirstiest to overcompensate with vagueness and irony for the inauthenticity of pop. Asked about his relationship with the modern taboo of spirituality and the soul, Herring instinctively discusses his vocal style, apparently a point of contention for skeptics of Future Islands’ sincerity. “It’s funny to me, because it’s as if people forgot how to sing,” he says. “There’s all this great music, rock and soul of the 50s, 60s and even into the 70s. But somewhere in the 80s and 90s, pop took over and things got more industrial and clean-sounding. And then all of a sudden it’s 2008 and people can’t understand a singer who sings deeply or strong.” “With emotion,” adds Cashion. “Yeah, with emotion. It never made sense to me. I mean, I grew up listening to Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke and James Brown and The Supremes, in the car with my mum. That’s what I love: people singing from their soul. I feel like Singles is kind of an exploration of those different voices. Finding an old voice that I had many years ago.” Though it’s barely conceivable that a sub-30, North Carolinian white guy might be his generation’s great soul singer, witness Herring onstage, howling with funky distress and performing his weird brand of cathartic karate, and you might find you’re hard-pressed to argue. At risk of sounding slightly crass, there’s a parallel with blues historian John Szwed on Lead Belly: “He was a great performer, but in another way, you felt this guy was beyond performance.” Herring’s vocal affectations are so poignant, so rawly emotional, that matters of authenticity are moot. For Herring, it’s reward enough to be taken seriously. “We’ve always been a very lyrically deep and emotional band. I’ve never taken anything we’ve done lightly – I don’t think any of us have. Early on, people thought it was a joke because of the emotional qualities; there’s an honesty that they took as being tongue in cheek. But as we’ve continued to do what we do, people have realised, ‘Oh, these people are being serious. This is powerful music.’” He pauses, not sobbing but chuckling. “I’m like, ‘Thanks for realising that.’” Singles is released on 24 Mar via 4AD. Future Islands play Manchester’s Sound Control on 8 May www.future-islands.com

THE SKINNY

The Bay Horse 35-37 Thomas Street Every Week Northern Quarter Live Performances & DJ Sets:

thebayhorsepub.co.uk twitter@TheBayHorsePub facebook.com/thebayhorseMCR

Any bands wanting to play at Free Gig Friday contact Yvonne on bayhorsegigs@gmail.com

Free Gig Friday 28-34 HIGH ST, NORTHERN QUARTER, MANCHESTER, M4 1QB THERUBYLOUNGE.COM ★ @THERUBYLOUNGE @CLASSICSLUM ★ CLASSICSLUM.COM

MARCH 1 - CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN + guests GENGAHR + SABELLA - SOLD OUT MARCH 2 - COMMUNION present NEW FACES FEATURING LUKE SITAL-SINGH + ELIZA & THE BEAR + FAREWELL J.R + ANNIE EVE

MARCH 7 - BROTHER AND BONES + guests HUGO KENSDALE AND BAND

MARCH 8 - FOXES + guests MAUSI - SOLD OUT MARCH 8 - CLASSIC SLUM present DAVE ARCARI + guest MOG STANLEY @ FALLOW

MARCH 9 - MARK MORRIS (FULL BAND SHOW) MARCH 12 - CLASSIC SLUM present DAR WILLIAMS + guest MALOJIAN

MARCH 13 - A NORTHERN CONTRIBUTION featuring JOE SYMES & THE LOVING KIND + THE JONNY WALKER BAND + ROGER THE MASCOT + LEON FENDER WALKER MARCH 15 - LOVE FOR ZERO RELEASE PARTY + guests THE YOUNG + CLINT BOON (XFM / INSPIRAL CARPETS) DJ SET MARCH 19 - DAN CROLL + guest RAGING GLACIERS + LAUREL MARCH 20 - COMMUNION present THOMAS DYBDAHL + COMMUNION AFTER PARTY DJS MARCH 21 - TRANS (FEATURING BERNARD BUTLER + JACKIE MCKEOWN) + guests RISE + THE WAX COLLECTION

MARCH 23 - SAINT RAYMOND MARCH 28 - CLASSIC SLUM present CURTIS ELLER’S AMERICAN CIRCUS + guests BONE-BOX + LISA MARIE GLOVER MARCH 29 - HIGHER ON MAIDEN MARCH 30 - CLASSIC SLUM present TOKYO POLICE CLUB + guests MENACE BEACH APRIL 2 - THE GOLDHEART ASSEMBLY APRIL 3 - KLAXONS APRIL 4 - TURRENTINE JONES APRIL 5 - MATT BERRY & THE MAYPOLES APRIL 10 - GAP DREAM + guests WILD BIRDS + FRANCIS LUNG APRIL 12 - CLASSIC SLUM present THE WOODENTOPS APRIL 13 - CLASSIC SLUM & 1970 COMPANY present MIKE WATT & THE MISSING MEN (MINUTEMEN / FIREHOSE /

At The Bay Horse from 9pm

FRIDAY 7TH MARCH: THE LAST CALL & THE NORTHERN JAZZ QUINTET FRIDAY 14TH MARCH: THOSE ROTTEN THIEVES & FEDERAL CHARM FRIDAY 21ST MARCH: FUTUREJACK & PORTERS FORCES FRIDAY 28TH MARCH:

BANNERMEN, BARE JOHN & MATT THOMAS THOMPSON

T HE B AY H ORSE

35-37 Thomas Street, Northern Quarter, M4 1NA PHONE : 0161 661 1041

WHAT’S ON IN MARCH HAPPY MONDAYS

Every Monday enjoy any food from our menu for HALF PRICE! MONDAY 3RD MARCH GIG

Hannah Aldridge £5 Entry 8pm start TUESDAY HORSE PARTY QUIZ

£1 entry per person 7.30pm start Our weekly quiz featuring cash prizes and our rollover question with big money to be won! WEDNESDAY OPEN MIC

Every Wednesday with Matt & Edwin. if you want to play Contact them on FacebookOpenMicNights@ TheBayHorse–Manchester, or just pop down on the night THURSDAY BASEMENT GIGS

27th From Another Place presents Beard of Wolves SATURDAY D.J’S TOP OF THE POPS 1ST TRANARCHY 8TH / 28TH MARK HOGG 15TH NICKS PICKS 22ND

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Peter Jay and guest DJs playing VINYL ONLY from 4pm SUNDAY 16TH MARCH

twitter@TheBayHorsePub facebook.com/thebayhorseMCR Any bands wanting to play at The Bay Horse contact Yvonne on bayhorsegigs@gmail.com

Basement Exhibition featuring work from Emma Reay and Jordon Coverley 4pm start Free Entry

DOS / STOOGES) + guests SUPERFAST GIRLIE SHOW

APRIL 17 - RED KITE + guests THE WILD EYES + HAPI APRIL 18 - THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN + guests TROJAN HORSE

APRIL 19 - A FACTORY NIGHT ON RECORD STORE DAY featuring SECTION 25 + CRISPY AMBULANCE + MINNY POPS + DJ FAC COL APRIL 22 - SICK PUPPIES + guests THE FEUD APRIL 24 - CLASSIC SLUM present BOB LOG III + guests HOPPER PROPELLED ELECTRIC + BEES OF BURDEN APRIL 26 - SOUTH OF HEAVEN + PANTERA UK

APRIL 28 - MICAH P HINSON APRIL 30 - SHONEN KNIFE ‘OVERDRIVE TOUR’ MAY 1 - MOULETTES + guests KATE YOUNG MAY 6 - CLASSIC SLUM present COURTNEY BARNETT @ THE CLUNY, NEWCASTLE

MAY 7 - ASHER ROTH MAY 8 - BEAR’S DEN MAY 9 - DELAYS MAY 10 - PHANTOGRAM MAY 13 - CLASSIC SLUM present HANK WANGFORD MAY 19 - ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT MAY 23 - CLASSIC SLUM present CROCODILES MAY 24 - DAVID R BLACK MAY 25 - CLASSIC SLUM present THE RIPTIDE MOVEMENT MAY 29 - A NORTHERN CONTRIBUTION featuring SLYDIGS +

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JULY 31 - A NORTHERN CONTRIBUTION featuring PUSHER + CLAY GARDEN + THE BLACK DELTA MOVEMENT

EVERY 1ST FRIDAY - GIRL POWER - CELEBRATING 90s GIRL BANDS + SOLO ARTISTS + FEMALE FRONTED POP

EVERY 1ST SATURDAY - REMAKE REMODEL - THE NATION’S SAVING GRACE OF ALTERNATIVE ROCK’N’ROLL

EVERY 2ND FRIDAY - THIS FEELING - THE UK’S MOST ROCK’N’ROLL NIGHT OUT

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Utopian Dreams This year, the visual arts programme of Liverpool’s grassroots Threshold festival invites artists to respond to visions of the future as imagined in the 50s and 60s. We quiz director Chris Carney and exhibiting artists on their ideas of retro-futurism

Interview: Jon Davies

That Girl: Creatures of the Deep

aybe it’s because we’re presented with countless retrospectives, reunion tours, ‘it wasn’t as good as the old days’ narratives and vintage culture that we perhaps don’t have much time to really think about the future. Maybe it’s because we’re still very much entrenched in crisis that fixing the present is much more urgent. Instead of investment, we’re faced with cuts, reductions, and regression, while culture is still too concerned with revivals of revivals, ironic takes on formerly revered forms. But sometime not too long ago the future was ours, bright and amorphous. It was where science made leaps and bounds and asked questions, as did art and social reform; and governments put money and faith into programs that were specifically designed for the betterment of society. When did it all change? It has been argued that the fall of the Berlin Wall, and communism as

March 2014

a very real threat to Western capitalism, meant that history was finished – ‘history’ meaning the struggle to arrive at the complete, good society – and we thought we had found the answer in liberal democracy and free, libidinous markets. The consequent decade was a victory lap for globalisation, and there was no rival to compete with the West ideologically, culturally or scientifically. The complacency of capitalism meant progressivism in science and arts did not matter, and government support waned accordingly. Dreams of flying cars, perfectly designed metropolises, food pills and subservient robots are now filed into the ‘failed future’ drawer. Like most trends and styles from the 20th century, futurism has had its fair share of being turned inside out and reflected on by the postmodern eye. Retro-futurism, however, has an added meta-displacement of sorts; it was out of

step with its timing already, so its ‘revival’ gives it an extra contextual frame – and it’s retrofuturism that this year’s Threshold festival of Music and Arts takes as the point of departure for its arts programme, titled ‘FUTURE VISIONS’. Chris Carney, a third of Threshold’s directorial team, credits the initial kernel of inspiration to fellow director Kaya Herstad Carney’s “fascination by the picture-perfect yet ironic image of the nuclear household in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in the US. It was such an optimistic time, yet there was so much darkness too in the form of apartheid, McCarthyism, the Cold War and the Korean and Vietnam Wars.” Despite the country’s domestic and foreign conflicts at the time, the optimism of the 50s and 60s meant the future was still at stake. Torchbearing artists, scientists, architects and theorists were encouraged to address the accelerated social change by devising future-proof concepts – and although enough of these ideas ran out of steam, what remains of these dreams still provides a huge source of inspiration for artists today. Computer graphics team Sparkle* VFX is teaming up with designer Adam Irwin of Splinter to look back at large-scale urban renovation and the endless possibilities presented by burgeoning technological advances. “We’re going to produce a series of photo-real posters as if you were looking at 2014 from the view of 1950… lots of flying cars, neon, overhead railways,” details Sparkle*’s Glenn Maguire. They’ll be taking inspiration in particular from Liverpool’s postwar regeneration: “I would have really liked to have seen the overhead walkways [a project initiated in the 60s, with its last tunnel demolished in 2007] completed; there are still bits of them lurking about by the Liver Building. Admittedly some of them were eyesores, but along with the overhead railways we seemed to have lost something that could have been great.” There are plenty of visions of the future, however, that have thankfully passed. All the technological and social optimism manifested in urban planning and transport could have easily been levelled had the Cold War stalemate resulted in mutually assured destruction. “Back then, you had two groups of people who may as well have been called ‘Team A’ and ‘Team B,’ pointing nukes at each other jibing ‘I bloody dare ya.’ Absurd? Definitely. Terrifying? Absolutely,” says Liverpool-based illustrator Tommy Graham, who will be exhibiting at District, when asked to reflect on the paranoid nature of the 20th century. For years, there was a very real threat of nuclear war, nearly coming to a head during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and the Able Archer scare in 1983. However, Graham continues: “Compare that to today, when any mad bastard with a cack-handed approach to international politics can get hold of a WMD and fire it off like a pissed uncle on bonfire night. Give me the Cold War any day,” suggesting that Cold War politics are still present, just under a different guise of tyrannical states. Graham specialises in comicbook inspired portrayals of the human condition, subverted by humorous and irreverent gestures. Alongside an ongoing theme of mushroom clouds and roving automatons backgrounded by crumbling cities, a large part of Graham’s work is transfixed by sci-fi dystopianism. It makes for arguably dark subject matter, but, compared to what technology has to offer us today for inspiration, he’d prefer to work with the madness of years gone by. “There’s nothing aesthetic about

ART

modern day attack drones,” he says. “Ugly, boring looking things. I suspect this was done on purpose, so that they’re harder to parody.” But if it’s not a vision of the near-destruction of civilisation at the hands of decades of fighting, what will the future look like? Longtime Threshold collaborator and artist Robyn Woolston’s practice is very much concerned with the reality of human production and waste. In the four years since she and the festival first worked together, Woolston’s reputation has come on leaps and bounds; she won the Liverpool Art Prize in 2012, and has had her work exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery. Her installations are bold, unfussy statements on the amount society disposes of non-renewable sources. So although not strictly in line with either the optimism or paranoia of retro-futurism, Woolston’s work, according to Chris Carney, “raises the very essence of the future we are facing as a result of the future the previous and present generations tried to forge.”

“We are trying to be ethical, support local, organic... This is in essence the pursuit of some sort of ‘retro-future’” Chris Carney

Other Liverpool-based artists showing include upcoming illustrator That Girl, known for a series of colourful gig posters, and installation artist Leon Jakeman, of Red Dot Exhibitions, who contemplates a retro-futurism stripped of technological ornamentation. Joining from further afield are art collective Pack of Wolves, planning a series of utopian/dystopian works inspired by jet punk, fine artist Adam Collier, and sculptor Sarah Nicholson, who proposes to create a curiously described ‘biomorphic organic work.’ “We are trying to be ethical, support local, organic and try to leave as little impact as we can,” Carney says of what Threshold hopes to achieve with its FUTURE VISIONS programme. “This is in essence the pursuit of some sort of ‘retro-future.’” Half a century’s worth of scientific experimentation and naïve optimism, and realising that perhaps we went too far, too quickly, is fertile ground for exploration. In contrast to our current situation of dulled stagnation, looking back at futures past seems a sure-fire way to get us dreaming again. Threshold Festival of Music and Arts, Fri-Sun 28-30 Mar, various venues, Liverpool, weekend wristbands £25 (£20 NUS), day tickets are available: Fri £8, Sat £12, Sun £5 See page 39 for our look at Threshold’s music programme The arts programme spans venues including Unit 51, 24 Kitchen Street, Baltic Bakehouse, The Baltic Social, District, Mad Hatter Brewery and 90 Squared. A companion exhibition will run at Arena Gallery and a collection of work will be displayed in The Hatch at Hopskotch Liverpool www.thresholdfestival.co.uk

Feature

The Golden Dream

¡Viva! at 20

To mark the 20th edition of ¡Viva!, the UK’s largest celebration of Spanish and Spanish-speaking Latin American cinema, we speak to Diego Quemada-Díez, a filmmaker whose debut film is one of the standout titles in this year’s programme

Interview: Jamie Dunn As the festival celebrates its 20th year, a look at some of the film highlights Words: Natalie Bradbury

ith its swinging 60s soundtrack and laidback vibes, Days of Vinyl (7, 9 & 19 Mar) is a gentle opener for Cornerhouse’s 20th celebration of Spanish and Latin American film. Director Gabriel Nesci will appear in person at the opening gala (7 Mar) to introduce a comedy in which records, women and guitars feature prominently, and where there are more retro feel-good vibes than cha-cha-cha.

Días de vinilo (Days of Vinyl)

La Jaula de Oro (The Golden Dream), 2013 Dir Diego Quemada-Díez, Film still

t’s a couple of days after the Goyas, Spain’s national film awards, and Mexican director Diego Quemada-Díez is in a downbeat mood. His first feature film, The Golden Dream, nominated at this year’s ceremony, walked away empty handed. “It’s disappointing a little bit,” he says down the line from Barcelona. “We were nominated for best Latin American film, and we didn’t do any promotion. It’s like the Oscars: you need to campaign with the people from the academy and send them DVDs and call them and send them letters, and blah blah blah...” Maybe it’s for the best. His mantelpiece must be groaning under the weight of the silverware that’s garlanded The Golden Dream so far: at the last count it had won 42 festival prizes, including the A Certain Talent honour at Cannes, which was shared between the director and his film’s young ensemble cast. Quemada-Díez and his brilliant debut are certainly deserving of the accolades. The film follows a group of Guatemalan teens travelling north, chasing the American dream. It’s a fiction, based on reality and filmed with the veracity of documentary. Quemada-Díez calls The Golden Dream a “collective testimony,” with its narrative formed from interviews with over 600 migrants who have made their way to the States in search of a better life. “My idea was to talk about migration, and to talk about the issue of migration through the conflict of two kids,” Quemada-Díez explains. The two kids in question are Juan (Brandon López) and Chauk (Rodolfo Domínguez), and the clash between these two characters represents the territorial and ideological tensions at play in the

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Central American nations between the indigenous and Western cultures. “[Juan] believes in the Western values and believes in the American Dream – he’s very selfish and individualistic.” On Juan’s journey north with his girlfriend Sara (Karen Martínez), he meets Chaulk, who’s indigenous. “[Chalk] believes in a different cosmogony and has a different set of values: he can share, has a morally grounded relationship to the earth, and has more feeling for things.” Like all good road movies, the journey the group takes isn’t just literal. “I provoke a transformation of the selfish individual, this Westernised kid – by the end he arrives and he’s another person.” If this description suggests a warm and fuzzy slush-fest about personal growth you’d be mistaken. The Golden Dream’s heart-stopping power comes from its complete lack of sentimentality. This is demonstrated in the way in which Quemada-Díez refuses to reach for melodrama during the life-or-death situations that the characters encounter on the road. “What I have found myself in life is that when somebody passes away there is no arguing,” he says. “There’s nothing to say or do, it just happens, and when it does happen you just have to face it and move on.” This attitude was also shared by the migrants Quemada-Díez interviewed. “They help each other during the journey, but they have some kind of unspoken agreement where if something happens they will continue,” he explains. “The objective is to arrive in the United States – it is more important than what happens to their companions.” The 45-year-old has worked his way up in the film business, learning the ropes as part of

the camera team of films by such luminaries as Alejandro González Iñárritu (on 21 Grams), Tony Scott (on Man on Fire) and Oliver Stone (on Any Given Sunday). When asked which filmmaker has most influenced him as a director, however, Quemada-Díez doesn’t hesitate for a second: Ken Loach. “I worked in three movies with him [Land and Freedom, Carla’s Song, Bread and Roses],” he says, “and the most important thing I learned, and a method I applied in the movie, was his of shooting in chronological order, the actors not knowing the story, and actors discovering what was going to happen next as we were filming.” Other techniques he borrows from Loach include using non-professional actors (“there is a power that non-actors have that an actor will never be able to match”) and working from a deeply human point-of-view. This is not to say Quemada-Díez is slavishly aping his mentor. The Golden Dream diverges from our great social-realist director’s style in one respect: it tells as much of its story though its painterly visuals as it does though its authentic performances and dialogue. This is most acutely evident in Quemada-Díez’s poetic use of the landscape of Central America. “There are a lot of ruins in the film,” he says. “I like to talk about this society in ruins, not only in Mexico now that it’s in war, but also I wanted to talk about this industrial, consumerist society that so destructive to the earth. It’s a model that is condemned to collapse.” The Golden Dream screens as part of the 20th ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival at Cornerhouse on 15 Mar, 8.40pm www.cornerhouse.org/viva2014

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The opening film may show the lighter side of Spanish and Latin American cinema, but over the last two decades ¡Viva! has never shied away from presenting the challenging issues facing the Spanish-speaking world. Bad Hair (8 Mar), for example, is a poignant portrait of the relationship between a young Venezuelan boy and his single mother, which succeeds not just in sensitively portraying a difficult situation, but also in offering a thoughtful take on big issues like race, identity and sexuality. Another Latin American highlight is The Golden Dream (15 Mar), where tension builds as the bonds forged between a group of teenagers in adverse circumstances are tested not only by a treacherous journey from Guatemala into Mexico towards the promised land of the USA, but also a charged racial subtext (look left for our interview with the film’s director, Diego Quemada-Díez). The Passion of Michelangelo (21 & 22 Mar) tells another tale of vulnerable youth, travelling back in time to visit a country looking for a miracle, Pinochet’s Chile in 1973. The language is Spanish and the weather is sunnier, but the mundane realities of workplace life and the daily struggle to survive, find meaning and come out smiling are all too familiar in Temporary (12 & 20 Mar), a black comedy in which the everyday existence of the unhappy workers of a Madrid temping agency is brought to life amid a backdrop of economic decline. Intelligent documentary Bertsolari (13 & 16 Mar), meanwhile, introduces bertsolari, improvisers of Basque verse who find a mass audience in the Basque Country with a unique musical culture that is little-known in the UK. At the other end of the scale, if it’s surreal comedy you’re after, Witching and Bitching (15 & 21 Mar) is likely to be the zaniest film of the festival, pitting women against men in a Basque witches’ coven. For those who develop a taste for Latin culture throughout the festival, there are plenty of opportunities to find out more, aimed at Spanish speakers and newcomers alike, including talks, discussions and even a Spanish language walking tour around Manchester (9 Mar). ¡Viva! runs 7-23 Mar at Cornerhouse, Manchester. See Cornerhouse’s website for full listings www.cornerhouse.org/viva2014

THE SKINNY

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March 2014

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F 17

Mackenzie’s Crooks Director David Mackenzie tells us about working with up-and-coming star Jack O’Connell and the search for authenticity in his powerful prison drama Starred Up

Interview: Tom Seymour

Starred Up

hen Jack O’Connell is a world-conquering star, they will talk of this film. In Glasgowbased David Mackenzie’s Starred Up, the 23-yearold from Derby plays Eric Love, a lethally violent, deeply traumatised aggressor-victim who is starring up – that is, moving from a juvenile facility to a maximum security penitentiary, where society’s most dangerous men live shoulder to shoulder. In the film’s opening scene, Eric is processed. His belongings are screened, he’s stripped down and searched, and then gruffly shown to a single cell. Once alone, he sets straight to work. In a practiced routine, he places two bottles of baby oil and some knitting needles in easy reach. Then he burns the end of a toothbrush with a cigarette lighter and secures the blade of a disposable razor in the melted plastic. Then he hides his lo-fi weapon in the casing of the strip light. Each tool, we deduce, has a very specific purpose. When the guards descend on Eric in riot gear, he covers himself with the oil, slips from their grasp as they pinion him against the cell wall, and holds the needles against a guard’s neck, threatening to stick him like a pig. Later, when a feared inmate wrongs him, he waits for the man to call home, approaches him from behind and slices his cheek in two. Then he prepares to sever the man’s lower lip while asking him for information. In a cinematic culture that promotes sensationalism, it’s unerringly believable. Starred Up never leaves the confines of the Belfast prison where the film was shot in sequence. O’Connell’s Eric, Ben Mendelsohn’s Nev, Rupert Friend’s well-spoken therapist Oliver, or indeed any of the prison’s inmates, barely talk of life beyond the prison walls. They communicate plenty, but in the primal, half-decipherable patois that men tend to descend into when shorn of the opposite sex. Yet we’re told, in the most skilfully cinematic way, who these men are, where

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they’ve come from, how they ended up here, and why they must be so comfortable with violence. “Big expositional scenes tend to stink of big expositional scenes,” a surprisingly nervous Mackenzie says when we meet in London. “So I don’t like scenes that are purely there to provide back story. I prefer the process of accumulating information. It feels more real – that’s how you get to know people. So it was important for me to try and make something that was authentic, or felt authentic at least.” Or felt authentic at least – a key phrase there. Starred Up is a prison drama in the socially-minded tradition of British cinema. It was written by Jonathan Asser, a first time screenwriter who used to work as a therapist in Wandsworth prison – “who basically is the Rupert Friend character,” according to Mackenzie. It was filmed in sequence, and is shot with rigorous clarity and purpose – long-held tracking and sequence shots with barely a spare edit. If any film can be called realist, it is Starred Up. Yet Mackenzie declares himself suspicious of realism: “Because it’s not real. It is as bogus as everything else. This is a fiction.” Mackenzie, 37, admits to struggling through a day of doing press. He seems a deeply intelligent man driven by a sense of uncertainty. He often takes a few tries at composing an answer, tripping over his words or pausing to stare at the floor before a response comes rushing out. It’s pretty clear he hates being interviewed. Yet, for all the divas in this industry, he’s an honest, open host, insightful in the details he gives. That attitude, you get the impression, works well on set. While he’s a veteran of nine feature films, he’s hardly a household name. But just look at the Scottish talent he has championed: Young Adam was a breakthrough role for Tilda Swinton; Hallam Foe was the emergence of an adult Jamie Bell. He’s directed Ewan McGregor in two of his most underrated roles

for Starred Up to be subtitled. This is a deeply violent, deeply troubling film, but it’s hopeful. It shows Eric learning that trust might be possible, that everyone isn’t out to get you all of the time, that some people are willing to watch out for you without asking for anything in return. The revelation takes root after Eric joins a group-therapy session led by an intense, conflicted outsider (brilliantly played by Friend), in which long-termers are encouraged to talk about how they feel. The story, to all intents and purposes, is taken from Asser’s own experiences. “Asser was a bit of a pioneer in Wandsworth prison, because the control-problem prisoners weren’t given any sort of treatment for their violence,” Mackenzie says. “You had to prove you weren’t violent to get any sort of therapy. But Asser went in there and sat down with the men considered the most dangerous. He was told there was going to be blood on the walls, David Mackenzie but there never was. He was able to do that, essentially, because he identified with these guys in some way.” “Jack auditioned for the part, along with When they started rehearsals, Friend was all the bright young things of the British acting caught up in the United States, so Asser played scene,” Mackenzie says. “But he was so far and his part. “And he brought some of the men whom away the strongest; his demeanour, the way he he had treated in prison, and we played those seemed to understand the material. He made it clear to me that he connected with the character, scenes with them in the room. They were taking part – reliving it almost,” Mackenzie says. “A lot of that he seemed to know who Eric Love is. When we first met, he said that if a couple of things had the scenes that ended up in the film were direct gone differently for him, he could have ended up copies of how Asser dealt with these therapy sessions when they kicked off. He knows what it is to in not dissimilar circumstances.” The script came to Mackenzie through a for- be angry, and he knows what to do with it.” Asser should count himself lucky. Jack tuitous route – his friend taught Jonathan Asser O’Connell will take the plaudits for this film, as on a creative writing course. “We had the raw bones of what we ended up with,” he says of read- he should; it could truly be the birth of a great ing Asser’s first draft, “but the dialogue was quite screen actor. Yet Asser also found, through his script, a retiring, nervous guy who prefers to stay a lot more extreme. We had to soften a lot of it behind the camera – but is maybe growing into to make it half-comprehensible. But there was something great himself. a lot of anger there, and a lot of honesty.” Irony abounds here, as the American press are calling

– as a malcontent, deviant writer in Young Adam and as the rakish, caring everyman in Perfect Sense, Mackenzie’s sci-fi parable set in presentday Glasgow. Now he has handed a first leading role to O’Connell, the Skins actor who, later this year, will play the lead in survival story Unbroken, directed by someone called Angelina Jolie. Maybe she got hold of an advance copy.

“It was important for me to try and make something that was authentic”

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Starred up is released 21 Mar via Fox Searchlight

THE SKINNY

Hex Education Half-Hour While engaged in the fruitless pursuit of refinding the euphoria of the first hit, Liverpool trio Ninetails have concocted something truly special

“I

t’s straightforward in the sense of how sentimental it is...” Ninetails’ Jordan Balaber is explaining how their new EP, Quiet Confidence – an astoundingly complex tapestry of pulled apart guitar motifs, discombobulated hooks, pitchshifted vocals and samples featuring everything from Vietnamese chanting, to cathedral bells ringing and cards being dropped – is actually just a pop record. “There are so many melodies within it, ones that just go round my head until I have to use them – sometimes from other songs!” he adds later. “Take An Aria: there’s a bit there which has the same hook as the ‘before I put on my makeup’ bit from Aretha Franklin’s Say a Little Prayer – and that’s a great thing! Taking this really classic, powerful pop melody and re-contextualising it completely differently.” Balaber and his bandmates, Phil Morris and Jake King, are sitting around in their flat situated in Liverpool’s Georgian Quarter. King and Morris lounge languidly, drinking beer, smoking; but Balaber is rapt and upright in his chair, his polite American accent belying the fierce conviction that blazes from the words tumbling at pace from his mouth. When we walk into the flat he’s actually playing Quiet Confidence’s opening track Radiant Hex on his laptop, standing up sheepishly to insist, “I was just deciding whether to show you the video for it or not.” Later he’ll enthusiastically get up to find a dumb bell in order to re-enact that same song’s clanking introduction, only to lose patience when it doesn’t sound exactly as it does on record. Balaber’s manner isn’t one of braggadocio – in fact, all three members quickly refute any suggestion that the EP’s title relates to their own perception of the band. It’s more the wide-eyed excitement of an artist who knows inside himself that what they’ve created is something they’ve been striving for ever since meeting as students at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts – “and the sort of music I’ve personally wanted to make for 15 years.” In Quiet Confidence, Ninetails are about to drop a stunning work of art. Balaber’s right, it is a pop record; at its heart, Radiant Hex is a sultry R’n’B jam resplendent with a plethora of brain hooks; it’s stretched out beyond proportion though, allowing its warped elongations to give rise to contorted forms and tones. An Aria contrasts the rich, cushion-soft layers of its twinkling surroundings with unashamedly bright sounding guitars and trumpets. It’s only when it reaches Hopelessly Devoted that all orthodox song structures dissolve away, the band fully offpiste, percussive boundaries lifted and textures coalescing. Put next to their debut EP, 2011’s jangling math-rock Ghost Ride the Whip, it becomes like a Kid A compared to a Pablo Honey, or a Field of Reeds to a Beat Pyramid, to use an influence they themselves cite. “The first EP was pretty much written to satisfy our course criteria to be honest,” Morris says. “It wasn’t even a true reflection of our tastes,” adds Balaber. The group had been a four-piece then, but have since parted ways with former lead vocalist Ed Black, leaving Virginia-born Balaber to step up to main vocal duties and causing the group to turn fully towards the more heavily layered, sample-embellished sound first evidenced on 2012’s follow-up Slept and Did Not Sleep. Its concept of western society’s technological dependence, in which forever left-on mobiles, laptops and other devices interrupt our slumber, was acutely represented in its starts and fits of songs that would

March 2014

Interview: Simon Jay Catling Photography: Andrew Ellis

falter and disappear, before a new element would re-emerge from the ether, disrupting the silence all over again. “Slept and Did Not Sleep came together very sloppily, in three weeks,” admits Balaber; “I recorded my vocal parts six hours before getting a flight back to America for summer, chugging a bottle of Buckfast as I went – I still cringe listening back to that vocal performance!”

“I was imagining being stuck in the eye of a tornado, with all these chunky bits of debris swirling around me” Jordan Balaber

In contrast, Quiet Confidence took 18 months, and as such sounds meticulously collaged. “A lot of the record is samples, many of which come from me and Jake working with field recordings,” Balaber says. “Jake (who also records as solo producer LinG) mixes beats out of found sounds; I record a lot of conversations I have with friends. It seemed really important to have these sounds from the outside world within the studio recordings. It’s supposed to feel like you’re just walking down a normal street or something, but with all the thoughts inside your head visualised around you. Taking things like conversation snippets and placing them in the EP’s grander

musical context is kind of its thesis; taking the mundane and trying to make something extraordinary out of it.” The EP’s structure is bound up intrinsically with the themes of its content. “It’s about a character’s deep devotion to something, and the things they sacrifice or put aside, just so that they can access the rare moments of euphoria it gives them,” Balabar explains; “that could mean anything; a relationship where you spend all this time with someone for just those few transcendental moments of making love; spiritual enlightenment; or any moment or goal someone has in their head that causes them to spend every day forging these paths to reach them. It’s about the desperation of chasing these moments, and trying to find them again once they’ve passed.” That narrative of addiction is what causes Quiet Confidence to shift from Radiant Hex and An Aria’s more defined passages and more overt lyrical signposts (‘I put it all on the line for the comfort of the rarely known,’) to the far looser, sprawling flurries of composition that, through Hopelessly Devoted’s heavenly calls and shimmering keys, reaches climax with Sinn Djinn’s colossal slab of guitar-led crescendo. After hinting at such ultimate ejaculation throughout the record, with several structural collapses and rebuilds, this final release is the most intense orgasm, the white light of religious enlightenment, the chemical rush, the final, greatest euphoria of the narrator’s quest. “I was imagining being stuck in the eye of a tornado, with all these chunky bits of debris swirling around me,” Balaber elaborates. “The way the record plays out in terms of being more structured is because it starts out focusing about the character’s pursuit; but then the lyrics stop after a certain point, things disintegrate when they start to completely lose themselves to this devotion.” For Balaber, there is a cathartic element to it all, stemming from a childhood memory of finding himself swept up at a huge Evangelical

gathering in his native Virginia. “It was a stadium and there were thousands of people there lifting their hands in worship, chanting for four hours until people were crying, on their knees in submission,” he recalls. “It felt super profound at the time, all these people united in sacrificing themselves for this same belief in something greater. Any union of so many humans sticks with you, never mind something like that.” Given he also talks of visualising songs in his mind before they’ve even left it, Ninetails have taken on an increasingly cinematic quality to their music. “I’ve always written like that,” he shrugs. “As a little kid I wrote a 60 page-long book that was a total rip-off on Lord of the Rings; but every night I’d get into bed I’d be able to watch it scene by scene in my head. It’s also how I see music, and so a lot of the sounds that are on this record were pursued after I’d envisaged them in my head.” Recorded in pristine hi-fi by their friend and fellow LIPA graduate, Chris Pawlusek, Quiet Confidence is consequently lifted up to a comparatively alien place, a sonic environment more accustomed to big choruses and crisp pop hooks. “Hi-fi was the buzz word,” agrees Balaber, “Scott Walker’s Bish Bosch was a huge influence; we wanted things emerging out of empty spaces, super vivid events that were kind of terrifying.” Such clarity allows the focus to be on the tumble and fall of the clattered percussive sounds, the murmurs and whispers that surround the main body of each track and, of course, the breathtaking thrust of each dizzying crescendo. “A lot of people talk about tension and release in music,” says Jordan, “but our aim was just to create something that was all ‘release, release, release.’” Quiet Confidence is released on Pond Life on 10 Mar. Ninetails play their first Liverpool gig in a year, supporting Jon Hopkins at Liverpool Sound City on 1 May www.ninetailsband.co.uk

Ninetails

MUSIC

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Curtains Up As Liverpool’s Everyman theatre reopens its doors after a two-year revamp, artistic director Gemma Bodinetz shares her vision for a democratic but daring space

here’s a bit of a joke running around Liverpool’s Everyman at the minute. It riffs on that immortal line from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (which the theatre will stage this month): ‘If music be the food of love, play on.’ It’s the tagline of the play, but also – at last – the Everyman has a play on. The theatre is reopening this month, a reincarnation of its former self. What was once a hot, stuffy space with grimy dressing rooms and a stage trap door that usually got stuck has been reborn as a brand new venue, revamped, rebooted and ready for action – with a trap door as smooth as they come. It’s a major undertaking that has involved ten years of planning and two years of construction, and which began with the Everyman team asking Liverpudlians what they wanted from their theatre. What did they love about the old building? “It came back to us very strongly that people loved the thrust stage, having the audience on three sides,” says artistic director Gemma Bodinetz. “People also loved the neon sign reading Everyman, and they liked the basement bistro. So they’re all part of the new building.” But there were other things that people loved about the old Everyman, things that were harder to quantify. “For example, you don’t have to dress up, but if you want to come in a ball gown you won’t feel out of place,” Bodinetz says. “The theatre space is rough but magical. The democracy of the Everyman, its idiosyncrasies – these are feelings people had about the building. We’ve tried to include them all and bring them into the new venue. If we’ve got it right, it’s a space that will be both radical and familiar.” How does affection for a place – that sense of the familiar – come across in bricks and mortar? Firstly, well, it’s in the bricks themselves. The construction and design team managed to save almost all of the bricks from Liverpool’s old Hope

March 2014

Interview: Clare Wiley Illustration: Kim Thompson

Chapel, and have recycled them into the theatre. “So when you walk into the 400-seat auditorium, it feels warm and humane,” explains Bodinetz. “It doesn’t felt like a cold black box, or a swanky allsinging, all-dancing theatre. It still has that feel of a real theatre, a working theatre.” But crucially, while it might not feel all-singing, all-dancing, it is. The Everyman can now do a whole range of things it couldn’t before: “The stage is modular now, which in effect means that any bit of the stage, or all of the stage, can be a trap – or even a swimming pool, if we wanted.” And while audiences seem to enjoy being on three sides of the stage, that’s adaptable depending on the performance – so stand-up comedians, for instance, could have all their spectators in one easy-to-target place.

“The Everyman has always been about individualism and free thinking, and a sort of antipuritanism” Gemma Bodinetz

It’s a space that should invite you to play, says Bodinetz (another nod to that Bard tagline). All too often, this kind of language – inviting the local community, offering something that’s modern but familiar – is just empty press release rhetoric. But it looks as though the Everyman is really set to make good on its promises: as

well as possessing a special studio dedicated to youth and community groups, there will be meeting rooms for local businesses, and there will be a ‘Writers’ Room’ – not just for playwrights, but for anyone who wants a quiet spot to write. There’s also a clever rehearsal room attached to a recording studio, so composers and sound engineers can create soundtracks while they watch the actors. The front of the theatre, meanwhile, features 105 portraits of people from across Merseyside whose images have been etched into metal shutters: truly public art. Of the upcoming season, Bodinetz says that “all the work has tried to be forward-thinking, but reflect that renegade, democratic, naughty kind of spirit of the Everyman. “I very much wanted an ensemble piece for the opener,” she continues – that opener being Twelfth Night, starring Nick Woodeson as Malvolio and Matthew Kelly as Sir Toby Belch. “I didn’t think it was right to have one famous name on the poster. It felt to me that this opening show had to be not a star vehicle but an offering to the city, and an opportunity for a lot of great actors to take their first step on that stage.” (The cast also includes Neil Caple, Pauline Daniels, Paul Duckworth, Adam Keast, Adam Levy, Jodie McNee and Alan Stocks.) Twelfth Night is also a great fit for the opener because of the story it tells. “It’s a tale that’s imbued with anarchy,” Bodinetz says. “Malvolio is a puritan trying to crush love and naughtiness, and free spirit and individualism. The Everyman has always been about individualism and free thinking, and a sort of anti-puritanism, so it felt right. The play sees this world breathe and flower and come alive in the way the Everyman has. “But I knew that it had to be a brave production,” she adds. “We couldn’t do a reverential, very lovely sort of period piece. Because the Everyman has always been courageous and

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forward-thinking. It has a history of game-changing, exciting ways of looking at Shakespeare.” The opening season also includes Hope Place (9-31 May), a brand new play from Birkenhead-born Michael Wynne. Set around the eponymous area in Liverpool, it’s a play about the myths and stories that exist within families, and the defined roles that we’re often given in families that we perhaps don’t want to play. “I wanted to write something that was Liverpool-based, that would have a slightly celebratory feel about it,” explains Wynne, saying he wanted to create a play that’s big and ambitious – much like the plays he saw at the Everyman as a teenager. “The Everyman was so inclusive and populist, and alive,” he says. “It was only much later in my life when I went to other theatres, like in London, that I realised theatre could be really exclusive and snobby and poncy and elitist. “I do think the Everyman has a particular feel,” he adds, “and it can be quite reflective of some of the positives of Liverpool. It’s welcoming and funny and a bit wacky, and hopefully quite surprising. I wanted to write something that sort of fitted into the spirit of what I feel the Everyman is.” Wynne’s play will set a precedent; Bodinetz underlines that new writing will certainly be central to the theatre’s ethos going forwards. “The whole building has been predicated on future thinking,” she says. “I’m just a custodian of the Everyman. So I’m thinking, what will designers, artists, writers, be doing in the future? Theatre is evolving; there’s a lot more use of video, with huge multimedia experiences now, and we really wanted a theatre that could play like that for writers, artists and actors and designers.” The Everyman’s opening season: Twelfth Night , 8 Mar-5 Apr; The Events by David Grieg, 8-12 Apr; Hope Place, 9-31 May; Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs), 21 Jun-12 Jul www.everymanplayhouse.com

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Cross-Pollination Bringing 11 Barcelona-based design studios to the Northwest, exhibition and talk series BCNMCR aims to introduce us to work emerging from the Spanish city and forge links in the European design community. Event instigator David Sedgwick explains

month-long exhibition and day of talks organised by designer Dave Sedgwick, BCNMCR brings a section of the Barcelona design community to Manchester to display their work and to communicate and network with the creative community in the Northwest. First held in spring of last year, the event was the result of a spontaneous proposal made during a trip to Barcelona, when Sedgwick decided that instead of sightseeing he would take some of his own work and go to visit a few local design agencies. “I was meeting a few people and found myself running out of things to say, so I just came up with this idea on the day – to have an exhibition of [the Barcelona designers’] work but back in Manchester. I’ve been to Barcelona around 12 times over the years, so I feel like it’s a good way of bringing two cities together that I have a passion for.” Sedgwick also sees similarities between the cities that make collaboration between the pair an engaging prospect: “We’re always in the shadow of London, and have to

Interview: Lauren Velvick

show we can compete on that level – and I think that Barcelona has a similar relationship with Madrid, where it has to compete and to do things a little differently.” Sedgwick discovered the original five participating BCNMCR studios fortuitously, finding a web of linkages between them, and from there has used existing networks to approach twice the number for this year’s event. The studios selected present a range of approaches, with bright, bold and clean styles alongside a more hand-made aesthetic. “Brosmind are illustrators, Laura Meseguer is a typographer, and then some are more corporate, so there’s a real range,” Sedgwick says. The others taking part are Solo, Toormix, Atipus, Clase BCN, Two Points, Folch Studio, Forma & Co, Alex Trochut, and Berto Martinez. The first BCNMCR exhibition came to fruition in only six months, and, regardless of the event’s spontaneity, it was clearly a beneficial experience for the Barcelona studios, as

Forma & Co

Rocío Martinavarro from Mayúscula explains: “Preparing the material for the exhibition was a great opportunity to analyse everything we had produced in the studio, but more importantly, a chance to reflect on our two year trajectory.” He cites the exhibition as a way to focus on and take stock of work so far, with a view to planning for the future. Veronica Fuerte from Hey adds that “Taking part in BCNMCR was very positive because it was a cities exchange,” and emphasises the benefit of finding out more about designers in Manchester. However, reflecting on last year’s event, Sedgwick hopes to improve the format. “I liken it to a difficult second album. With the first one I had no expectations and it was the first of its kind. With the second one I want to try and do better, to learn from my mistakes. I knew I had to secure some funding, which means I can be a bit more relaxed about the number of studios involved and the amount of work on show. Also, this time the exhibition is open for four weeks, instead of two, and with regular opening times.”

“We’re always in the shadow of London, and have to show we can compete on that level” David Sedgwick

Laura Meseguer

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The talks on 28 March also demonstrate this expansion: last year they sold out quickly, and so this time around the event will be held at Hallé St Peter’s in Ancoats, which has a larger capacity – though “I like the idea that it’s still a bit underground and cosy,” Sedgwick says. “It’ll be an introduction of their studio, a chance to meet them face to face, raising awareness of the studios. I hope they’ll be focusing on the idea of what BCNMCR is, which is about collaboration

ART

and cultural exchange, as well as giving a realistic idea of what it’s like to work in Barcelona: is it a romantic ideal of going to the beach every day, or are there other, more interesting differences? Do they have the same frustrations as we do here in the UK?” Another difference this year is that much of the studios’ work will be unique and some will be for sale, having been created specifically with the BCNMCR exhibition in mind (while last year only a small portion of the exhibition had been new work), and Sedgwick himself has been working on one collaborative series for the exhibition with a participating designer, as he elaborates: “Laura Meseguer has done a piece of typography based on type in the city; I went around and took photographs in Manchester and she did the same in Barcelona.” Sedgwick is also designing a 16-page paper that will be available at the launch, featuring interviews with all the studios. While BCNMCR could grow and continue in a number of ways, the next logical step would seem to be staging a matching exhibition of Manchester design studios in Barcelona; however, on top of the relative difficulty of organising an event remotely, Sedgwick explains that “it’s important to promote Manchester as a cultural destination. There are a lot of educational institutions that have a focus on design, and a lot of talks, events and exhibitions go on here. People have asked why I’m focusing on Barcelona and not promoting Manchester instead, but indirectly we’re promoting Manchester. It’s setting up Manchester as a hub.” Sedgwick’s ultimate hope is that others will be inspired by BCNMCR to make their own international connections – “just to have the possibility of collaborating internationally is really exciting to me,” he says. It’s a sentiment shared by Rocío from Mayúscula: “Not just because of the event, but also because of it, we are more focused on the international market, where the diversity is extremely challenging and exciting,” he says. “BCNMCR can promote that idea that these studios are accessible,” Sedgwick says, “and show people that you can organise an event like this if you put your mind to it. It’s about looking at the bigger picture of a European design community.” BCNMCR, Twenty Twenty Two, Manchester, 27 Mar–23 Apr Talks held at Hallé St Peter’s, Ancoats, 28 Mar www.bcnmcr.co.uk

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Kyoto Calling Affected heavily by a residency in Japan, Efdemin describes how new album Decay is influenced by ideas of transience and deterioration, and the peace that can be found within them

Interview: Daniel Jones “Hendrik was playing bass in another band called Stella at the same time. We still hang out, and we’re both on Dial, but we gradually disconnected from playing together. Everybody has to follow their own path. We do go way back though... bro-style!” Further discussion of his musical youth reveals Sollmann’s passion for the cello, which he played up until the age of 17. “I still have one here in Berlin,” he adds, “but I would never say that I can play. If my music teacher didn’t leave school at the time, I would’ve carried on having lessons. Cello is one of those instruments where if you don’t devote time to practice every day, you really notice. You end up sounding like a crying wolf.”

“Japan is completely overwhelming”

Efdemin

abi-sabi is a Japanese phrase that, like most Japanese phrases, is pretty tricky to translate. It stands for a ubiquitous worldview that recognises beauty in natural deterioration and decay. Think withered trees, creaky floorboards, or, in Phillip Sollmann’s case, subterranean echoes. Last autumn, Sollmann – aka Efdemin – got on a plane headed for Japan with his partner, a visual artist, and a hard drive full of live jams. They had been selected by the Goethe Institute to complete a three month residency in Kyoto, living and working out of an old German-language school that lies in the shadow of Mount Hiei and the surrounding Higashiyama Mountains. Sollmann’s aim was to immerse himself in Japanese culture, using it as inspiration in the mixing and mastering process for his forthcoming third LP, Decay, due on Dial at the end of this month. “Japan is completely overwhelming,” Sollmann says, calling on return to his newly-established workspace in Berlin. “I’ve been there six times in total, but never for that long. We were constantly studying art and literature. We could just about manage to tell the difference between fish and pork on a restaurant menu – most of the time, anyway. The language is crazily complex: they have three alphabets for a start! It’s a system which is impossible to fully understand unless you’re born there.”

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Residing in Japan also allowed Sollmann to get a better grasp of Buddhist culture, where deterioration is seen as a vital component of life. “It’s so different to Christian culture, where we almost avoid talking about death,” he considers. “There, we’d wake up to the sound of monks chanting sutra in a nearby temple and go walking along the Kamo River or wandering around the scatter of Shinto shrines.” The album draws energy from that unchecked tranquillity and, even though 95% of recording took place in Germany, the Kyoto ‘state of mind’ shines through. “It was liberating to know that I didn’t have to add anything as such,” he admits. “I tend to get lost in possibilities. Nothing was near finished before I moved out to Kyoto; all I had was a collected mess of basslines and percussive loops from my beloved Pearl Syncussion.” Part of the finishing process was also to define the concept of Decay. “We actually arrived in Japan just as the leaves were starting to change colour,” Sollmann remembers. “It was like no season I’ve ever seen. It showed why people shouldn’t be afraid of change. “Decay in music is also fascinating for me,” he continues. “How does a sound change from the moment it is triggered? How does a bell decay? How does a piano key decay? You can completely alter the perception of a sound by increasing or decreasing that single parameter.

Aside from that, there’s also the fact that I’m getting older! Of course, decay is what we all must face, but I still have to deal with it personally. Maybe I’m already thinking about the next 30, 40 years and how I can sustain a nice level of being. Some ideas that used to burn brightly don’t seem as important now. Ideas decay, and other thoughts take their place.” There’s a lot in this title, then. The mood harks back to the darker, abstract techno that first seduced Sollmann in the late 90s – a nod, he says, to the gloomy soundscapes of “M-Plant, Axis and Cologne minimalism.” He pinpoints his fondness for the first track, Some Kind Of Up and Down Yes. Then, there’s a track called The Meadow, which is named after a tiny garden behind his Berlin studio: “It’s basically a patch of grass and a few plants, so we started calling it The Meadow for obvious reasons. There isn’t much light back there, but we’ve even considered getting lights in to get the grass to grow faster,” he laughs. “Also, Track 93 is the first time I’ve recorded myself singing. That was an experience. I mean, I used to sing a lot more going back a few years, but don’t expect any more than improvised nonsense.” That said, let’s go back a few years. Sollmann’s journey into electronic began in the early 90s, when he was mucking about in punk-y garage bands with Hendrik Weber, now known as Pantha du Prince. “Nothing serious,” he checks;

CLUBS

Photo: Kristin Loschert

Phillip Sollmann

Ditching the resin for needles, his foray into electronic music proper began under the alias Tobin, putting out a track – Reis 1 – on Kompakt’s legendary Total 1 sampler back in 1999. He also became the first producer out of Hamburg to release an independent techno record. It was around this time that he met Peter Kersten, who would go on to set up Dial Records in the same year. The pair first bumped into each other in Hamburg’s notorious Golden Pudel club. “In the day it’s a very liberal, left-wing art space and bar,” says Sollmann. “But on the weekend it morphs into a club. Carsten (Jost) started playing there and, soon after, we all discovered that we had the same cloud of friends, as well as shared common interests in art, film and techno. It feels natural with Dial; friendship counts over commercial success. There’s nothing stopping me from doing whatever I want in whatever way I want...” he pauses. “Providing, of course, that I don’t ruin everything.” He goes on to define the artwork for Decay as his “favourite cover yet.” The image is a minimalistic photo collage of a mountain range, fading from dark indigo in the foreground to pale blue in the back. “The pictures were taken early in the morning from the bridge in front of our house in Kyoto. The mountains have an omnipresence there, cradling the city. They contain so many different shades of blue, a different blue for each day. Blue is a very important colour in Japan; it symbolises the vast ocean surrounding the islands.” Sollmann is clearly captivated by the culture, to the point where he nearly extended his respectful bow to include Kyoto as the album title. Indeed, he would’ve done “if the last one wasn’t called Chicago.” Instead, Decay sums up the album’s meditative outlook, sitting atop a collection that does a fine job of transposing the abstracts of transience and change into soft rhythmical patterns. If anything, it challenges us to remember that sound is a flux, and that the river of yesterday is not quite the same river as today. Decay is released 31 Mar via Dial www.soundcloud.com/efdemin

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Can We Be Frank? As Jon Ronson heads out on the road this month paying tribute to Frank Sidebottom, he and friends of Sidebottom’s creator Chris Sievey reflect on the life and times of a performer whose alter-ego took on a life of his own

Interview: John Stansfield Illustration: Ben Kither (OWT creative)

cross the United Kingdom there are a few monuments dedicated to the dearly departed comedy heroes who hailed from where their bronzed feet now stand. In the very centre of Caerphilly a colossal Tommy Cooper stares down at you with crazy eyes and mouth agape, and with a hat full of mystery. On the rocky shores of Morecambe, the Eric who shares his surname with his birthplace dances with a fixed grin and a pair of binoculars, unnerving those who visit the seaside town. And though he is not yet passed, try getting off the train at Liverpool Lime Street and not being utterly terrified by the twisted mask that a Ken Dodd statue bears, as he holds what is meant to be a feather duster but more accurately resembles a doner kebab. It’s hard to capture the human face of comedy in statue form without making it look unhinged, seedy or downright evil – though this wasn’t a problem in the recent unveiling of a monument dedicated to Timperley’s comedic superstar, Frank Sidebottom. That fixed wax-lip smile, those big blue eyes and that Dapper Dan haircut never really did move when he was with us – but for those who knew him, the design of the iconic head seemed to take on movements, like a portrait in a Scooby Doo episode. It’s a fitting memorial for a beloved comic and creative invention. Frank is, of course, just that: an invention, an artistic, musical and comedic outlet for the man who dwelled underneath the hardened paper and paste. Chris Sievey was the unnamed narrator to Frank Sidebottom’s Tyler Durden, a man who slept very little to achieve more, who cared not for money but for what he could make, and whom he could make happy. Mostly himself. Though sharing one body, Frank and Chris were always seen as two completely different people, even by those who knew them best. Frank’s former manager, bandmate and roadie, Dave Arnold, played bass in Frank’s band for some time before his first meeting with Chris: “Frank made you suspend all belief,” he says. “Even after I saw the transformation, it was still Frank.” Another bandmate from an earlier incarnation of Frank’s band, Jon Ronson remembers being told before he met Frank that his real name was Chris. When he attempted to greet the giant head by its supposed true moniker he was ignored, only to try ‘Frank’ and be greeted warmly by the man from Timperley. There are currently two films about Frank Sidebottom in production, one meticulously searching out the world of Frank (Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story) and the other exploring the idea of what it was to be a man in a fake head (Frank, for which Ronson was screenwriter). Filmmaker of the former, Steve Sullivan, tells a similar tale of the transformation that occurred when Chris was Frank. When documenting one of Frank’s tourbus journeys around his beloved hometown, Sullivan explained to Chris that he needed to place a radio mic underneath his head. Chris didn’t understand what this meant, until the penny dropped and he said, ‘Oh, you mean Frank!’ He went away to change, came back in full suit and head, entertained the crowd waiting to gain access to the bus, boarded, and laid down in front of Sullivan for him to apply the mic. When they removed the head, “Chris’s eyes were completely glazed over. There was no recognition. He was Frank,” recalls Sullivan. Sievey was an immersive performer so committed to his act that it took on a life of its own – he made all his props and artwork by hand, and even worked on animated shows such as Pingu

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and Bob the Builder during his times away from Frank’s head to keep his creative juices flowing in any way he could. But he was at his happiest when reaching for that showbusiness star in his ill-fitting suit and disproportional mask, and his output was matched by his disregard for it. Arnold describes him as the “ultimate punk” in that he gave most things away for free or destroyed them (knowing he himself would have to remake everything). In his column in the anarchic comic Oink!, Sidebottom would publish his home phone number for people to ring him whenever they wanted; a free chat with a man who just loved to perform. Even at the height of his popularity during the late 80s, Frank would hire out his services to come to your house to entertain and in turn be entertained by whoever hired (£35 Manchester area only, an extra £2.11 if you wanted Little Frank as well). “He would stay for an hour or so, but if the conversation was good, i.e. space, then he would stay for longer,” discovered Sullivan after finding one of the old newsletters Sidebottom would hand-write and send to fans. Ronson maintains that Frank, meanwhile, is “so fictional,” looking more at “what it is to be a marginalised outsider in a world that is increasingly dismissive of those people.” Ronson saw firsthand what it was to be caught up in the manic imagination of Frank, and has fond memories of touring the UK as part of his band: “Nothing makes a young man feel as alive as going down the M6 with a guy in a big fake head.” To redress the balance of fact and fiction, Ronson will be touring once more with Frank, only this time in a metaphysical sense, as he regales the crowds with his true tales of life in Frank’s band – “not so much to correct people’s misconceptions from the film – I just thought it would make a really good show.” Accompanied by an e-book, these

misadventures of the young journalist are full of musings on the nature of art and performance, and show how much of a catalyst Sidebottom was for the career trajectory Ronson would take, seeking out people on the fringes who do what they do with honesty and love.

“Nothing makes a young man feel as alive as going down the M6 with a guy in a big fake head” Jon Ronson

Ronson was also instrumental in helping Sievey avoid a ‘pauper’s funeral’ by sending out a tweet to ask for monetary help. “Within an hour 554 people had donated £6,950.03,” Ronson remembers. After a day, that figure was £21,631.55. As in the final scene of It’s a Wonderful Life, Chris and Frank’s goodwill and selflessness throughout their existence together was appreciated by those who followed them. Crowdsourcing was also instrumental in constructing the statue that now stands on Stockport Road in Timperley village, as well as in putting together Sullivan’s documentary, which further explores Frank’s legacy with unseen clips, artwork, creations and testimonials from fans, friends, family and fellow

COMEDY

performers. It’s a paean to the painstaking work behind what seemed to be haphazard shows that Sidebottom put on across the country. The beauty of Sidebottom performances was that no two would ever be the same; they were completely unpredictable and utterly brilliant live revues in which anything could happen. Sullivan remembers a night when Sidebottom just brought a Subbuteo pitch and challenged all comers to a game: “Of course Frank’s team didn’t have Subbuteo men, there was a Skeletor in there and he literally parked a bus in front of his goal.” Of all of Sidebottom’s famous fans, it is perhaps most telling that the master of the unexpected himself, Johnny Vegas, has remarked that he had a lot of respect for Frank, because ‘you never knew what he was going to do’. It was this spontaneity and creativity that kept people coming back, and the influence Frank has had on those who surrounded him – Chris Evans was his driver, Mark Radcliffe a former band member, and Caroline Ahern’s classic character Mrs Merton was invented with Frank for his radio show – is his legacy. That and these two movies – and, of course, a statue. And, as Dave Arnold underlines, there is no better legend for an artist, whatever field he’s in: “All those people that worked with him, they wanted to be famous, but Frank’s got a fucking statue. The same level of fame as someone like Picasso or Mozart. That’s the kind of thing that could be around for another 200 years. People asking about Frank. What’s better than that?” Jon Ronson takes the Frank Story on tour this month, calling at Northwest venues The Met, Bury, on 28 Mar, and The Dancehouse, Manchester, on 30 Mar Frank opens in cinemas in May Pre-order Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story on DVD from www.beingfrankmovie.com

THE SKINNY

A Classic Obsession As The War on Drugs prepare to unleash album number three, frontman Adam Granduciel talks of his time-honoured admirations and the forces that compel him to make music

here was a lovely documentary that aired on BBC Four a few years back telling the story of the music that soundtracked Southern California during the late 60s and early 70s. In one scene, Glenn Frey of the Eagles remembers how he’d be wakened every morning to the sound of Jackson Browne sat at the piano downstairs. “He would play one verse, then play it again, and again, and again. Twenty times in a row, ’til he had it exactly the way he wanted. Then he’d move on to the next verse. Again, 20 times. It went on for hours... I don’t know how many days we listened to this same process before it suddenly hit us!” It’s unsurprising to hear that Adam Granduciel, the lead man of Philadelphia band The War on Drugs, has seen this same documentary. Nor is it a shock when he calls back the final line of Frey’s story: “‘Ah, so that’s how you write a song!’ That documentary is hilarious!” Granduciel is a disciple of the classics: a musician and a songwriter who has been irrevocably shaped by the golden sounds of that era, right through those of the 1970s and 80s. Barely a review goes by without some mention of Dylan or Springsteen or Young; not a spin of one of The War on Drugs’ three superb records passes without the listener recalling one of the three. But it’s also hard to escape the suspicion that Granduciel himself would like nothing more than to sit at his piano all day playing music, albeit to a different end than Browne. “I love sitting down at the piano in the morning writing songs and picking up melodies,” he tells The Skinny from the Philadelphia house that has been his home for more than a decade. “For a while there, I would get up in the morning, make coffee and sit there for hours and play piano, sometimes pressing record, sometimes not.” Rarely, though, would he leave his piano with a finished piece. Unlike Jackson Browne’s portable and hummable classics, Granduciel composes collages of sound: songs within songs, melodies upon melodies; pieces so sprawling that it’s often

impossible to pinpoint an epicentre (tip: it’s more fun not to try). From debut Wagonwheel Blues, through the Future Weather EP and Slave Ambient, up to new album Lost in the Dream, the band’s sound has been growing more textural, the layers denser and the edges a little more blurry. But, paradoxically, The War on Drugs’ sound has become more and more refined. Lost in the Dream is marvellous. A product of Granduciel’s vision and obsessions, and of his Faustian pursuit of the right sound. “I was always such a fan of the classic artist: the obsessed, modernist painter or the guy who couldn’t leave his work alone,” he says. “Music was the one thing that as I kept getting older, I was getting more obsessed with... with recording, with getting better. That’s the one thing I do have that unbridled passion for. It’s fun for me to go on these journeys with the songs. People joke that I’m a perfectionist, but when you work at something for a year and start to see the songs take shape, then you start making drastic changes... ok, like mute all the drums, then the song reveals itself a whole new way, that’s really fun for me. All of a sudden you can turn it on its head, make last minute decisions. It’s obsessive for me in that I don’t wanna put it to bed... it’s not that I can’t. I wanna see how far this can go, what else you can do to make it that much more special.” For the new record, Granduciel recorded demos of each of the tracks on tape in his home studio, a place which he speaks of in a reverent tone. The song, Suffering, he wrote on a Fender Rhodes piano and drum machine, before taking it to the band and working on it for a few weeks. Eventually, he realised that he preferred the demo and took it in its primitive form. “I can do things in the comfort of my own home the way I want to do it and get the mood right for these songs, find the mood or work on a song ’til really late,” he explains. It would be logical to paint a Spector-esque image of Granduciel the perfectionist. Indeed,

it’s easy to imagine the man hunched over a mixing desk, listening to the same snare drum beat all night long while everyone else around him sleeps, such is his boyish love for the studio and for sonic doodling. But he says that he’s learnt to draw a line. He no longer records religiously. “I used to,” he says. “I used to smoke a lot more pot, I used to have all my stuff in my bedroom.” But over the past 18 months, the rising profile of the band, the demands of touring and the desire to produce another record have all helped him acquire some level of professionalism. Even if it is by default.

“I was always such a fan of the classic artist: the obsessed, modernist painter or the guy who couldn’t leave his work alone” Adam Granduciel

“I used to do everything in my house,” he says. “But now we have a rehearsal space. At this stage in the game we can’t be preparing for a big tour and rehearsing in my house... every time I touch the microphone I get shocked.” The house with a big yard holds happy memories for Granduciel. He moved from Oakland, California to Philadelphia in 2003 but, being “not

The War on Drugs

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MUSIC

Photo: Dusdin Condren

Interview: Finbarr Bermingham

overly social,” he doesn’t credit the city at large with having major influence over his music. It was more a case of the music scene beginning to gravitate around his home. He thinks it was in his house that he met Kurt Vile, one-time War on Drugs member and still one of Granduciel’s best friends, and most of his other collaborators. “When me and Kurt met, this is where we would play and record all the time back in the day, where our bands would rehearse. It’s this weird institution among my circle of musical friends. They’re like: ‘let’s go to Adam’s because all the gear’s there.’ There’s a sense of home... it’s affordable and there’s a freedom to really not be anything but yourself. Music can be your number one thing, I don’t need four jobs just to pay for my apartment. That’s been a big influence. I guess being in the same house in this neighbourhood which is always changing, being a part of my little weird city community, rather than the music community, is a little strange. I always joke that I’m my block captain. My neighbour takes in my trash can and I take in his, I give him a ride...” There’s no clock-watching during a chat with Adam Granduciel. He gives the impression that he’d happily chew the fat all day, particularly if it happens to involve music. We talk Townes Van Zandt, who, unlike Granduciel, had something approaching a phobia of recording studios. “Townes probably got so much enjoyment out of playing his songs in a room, on a porch or in bars,” he offers. “He didn’t need to put it... in a capsule. Being a little bit of an introvert, the recorded material is where I get to sit on my couch with my best friends and play them my songs.” We discuss his favourite producers. “Really all the greats: Bob Johnstone of Columbia, Tom Wilson (Dylan, the Velvets)... who produced the Roxy Music records? Eno?” It’s hard to reconcile the enthusiastic voice on the phone with his own admissions of depression, loneliness and paranoia. Equally, while The War on Drugs’ records are moody, they’re never maudlin. Some of the themes are dark, but they’re delivered in a way that suggests light at the end of whatever tunnel their creator may have been facing into, be it in the form of a joyous whoop, the crack of a snare or the exhilarating key change on a synth. Bill Callahan once sung, in his inimitable deadpan drawl: “Dress sexy at my funeral.” The same sentiment exists on Lost in the Dream. It would be impossible to avoid the dark clouds, but why not skewer them with rainbows? “I really enjoy pop music and darker records that are rock and roll rather than sombre,” Granduciel says. “Tonight’s the Night, which is so dark, has classic rock and roll elements to it. When I’m writing songs I’m never thinking about the mood... it’s always there. I don’t really write sad musical things, brooding things. But I like the landscape of these large songs and feel that I can step out a little more and express whatever I’m feeling, hoping that it’s not too personal, that it’s still relatable, and that I’m not the only person that can feel that way. That helps the songs be a little more uplifting. I always love a good keyboard hook. I’m playing along with a song – say Red Eyes – and, oh! there it is! I knew it was there somewhere! This is exactly what I wanted that song to be, that’s what makes me happy, this is a great rock and roll number, not over-thinking it, just going for it. As long as I still get joy out of making albums, I’ll feel like I’m moving forward.” Lost in the Dream is released on 17 Mar via Secretly Canadian. The War on Drugs play Manchester Academy 2 on 28 May www.thewarondrugs.net

THE SKINNY

Art and the City The sixth instalment of Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art lands in April, bringing with it a host of artists from around the globe to show with the host city’s renowned creatives. New director Sarah McCrory tells us what we should expect histories that make up this one relatively small city that has this huge artistic community, is very interesting. I’m particularly seduced by all these old buildings, some of which are available, some of which we’re trying to get access to instead of make available. That’s exciting as a prospect because it feels like a sort of blank canvas of potential spaces that you can produce exciting projects in.”

“The starting point for me for Glasgow International is the city itself” Sarah McCrory

Aleksandra Domanovic, 'Monument to Revolution' (2012)

ince 2005, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art has been carving out a reputation as one of the leading art festivals in the UK. In fact, according to no less an authority than the Guardian’s Adrian Searle, it is the leading UK festival – “Forget Edinburgh, forget Liverpool: this is the one,” he wrote, and GI smartly put it on their branding. This places the festival in the upper echelons of the international art world which, given the miraculous success of Glasgow-based and educated artists in the last two decades, is exactly where it should be. 2014 marks its sixth outing, its second in its biennial format, and its first under the leadership of new director Sarah McCrory, who is inheriting the role from the Common Guild’s Katrina Brown, and will have a two-festival tenure, curating this and the 2016 edition. A 19-day extravaganza featuring 52 exhibitions, 90 events, 155 artists and 24 different nationalities, GI has an expanse and range that belies its relatively tight budget. The 2012 edition brought with it Jeremy Deller’s Sacrilege, aka the Stonehenge bouncy castle that popped up on Glasgow Green and brought new meaning to the term audience engagement. It inflated (ahahaha) the visitor numbers for the festival to record breaking levels in what McCrory describes as “The Deller Effect,” magically mixing

March 2014

the cerebral and the joyful to convert a slew of new art lovers wherever he may appear. The statistics may well be intimidating, but McCrory remains unfazed. Having previously steered the programming of Frieze Projects, the not-for-profit creative arm of the Frieze Art Fair, and London’s Studio Voltaire, she has experience across the artistic board, from time-based exhibitions, through art fairs, education, all the way to the more commercial arm of visual arts. She was inspired to keep on the festival programming treadmill after Frieze by an affection and respect for Glasgow International. “People love GI,” she explains. “[The visiting audience] comes to see new exhibitions, new and established Scotlandbased and international artists, but you can’t really deny that it’s also a really good fun city. People come for GI and have a really good time.” In terms of the evolution of the festival programme itself, McCrory has been careful to draw inspiration from local sources while ensuring that it lives up to its titular brief, representing both the city and the international art world, drawing in global influences and exposing the native creative spaces. “The starting point for me for Glasgow International is the city itself. Every city’s got an incredible history but I think Glasgow specifically, with all the different

It’s no easy task to get these spaces open, however. “It’s about trying to change the outlook of people who hold the keys and try and work with them to show that there are benefits.” An example of a venue that has done just that is the Govanhill Baths, home to a diverse programme of events and exhibitions, opening again this GI with a show by Anthea Hamilton and Nick Byrne, previously installed at Poplar Baths in London, that will feature inflatable sculptures specifically made to be shown in a swimming pool. McCrory sees the old pool as an examplor of a grassroots success. “Govanhill Baths is currently used by the local community as a theatre venue and a community centre; it just goes to show that if a community are given back a space and allowed to run it, that it can become a really interesting thing. Across the whole of the country there’s this situation where community centres and spaces where people would usually meet and hang out, like libraries, are being closed by the dozen. And actually, if people are given the space back and given a little bit of funding or support where they need it they can – they shouldn’t have to, but they can – reopen and revitalise an area through someone having a bit of faith in them.” Another building being prised open for the festival is the McLellan Galleries, the vast Sauchiehall St exhibition space that has been languishing disused for years. “The building is incredible. We have four solo exhibitions in there; not only are we delivering what I hope are really interesting exhibitions but we’re also allowing people who live in the city to come into a building that they don’t often have access to.” Showing in the McLellan will be a mini survey of

TRAVEL

Interview: Rosamund West Jordan Wolfson’s video work (accompanied by screenings of his inspirations in the Glasgow Film Theatre); painter Avery Singer; a posthumous retrospective of São Paolo’s Hudinilson Jr, exploring queer issues and sexuality; and Glasgow’s Charlotte Prodger, who displayed in CCA during the last instalment of GI and returns with a show marking the next phase of her practice and a neat line of communication with the festival’s heritage. The programme continues in all the more orthodox exhibiting spaces. In Tramway, Bedwyr Williams occupies the vast hanger space with one of his weird, immersive installations featuring a new film depicting a dystopian vision of a consumption-obsessed future. CCA present a retrospective of Palestinian artist Khaled Hourani, with painting, installation and conceptual work. In the Gallery of Modern Art, a first UK institutional solo show for Aleksandra Domanovic who examines gender and science fiction, exploring the intersection of (wo)man and machine. In the Modern Institute, New York-based photographer Anne Collier displays the fruits of her continued investigation into perception and representation. In the collateral events, a partnership with the BBC offers up a strand of arts films and documentaries, expanding the explanatory offering and broadening the potential audiences outwith the already engaged art world. A variety of tours will run, led by curators, GI staff and even art students, given the chance to tell their own stories and offer their interpretations of the city’s exhibitions. And across the city, in multiple locations, established and early career Glasgow artists will show their wares in solo and group shows, performances, events, talks and screenings. It’s clear that 2014 is just step one of the process of opening up the city to host art in forgotten places. Looking ahead to the next instalment, the festival have recruited a crack team to map the spaces that could allow the 2016 programme to be even more expansive. McCrory elaborates, “We’ve been working with Tom Emerson from 6A architects. He’s bringing over about 50 student architects from Zurich to work on a project which is going to map Glasgow. They’re going to map the redundant spaces and pick up threads of different kinds of geographies and topographies of the city. In the future we’ll sit down and try and work out what can be done with those spaces – can we access them, can we use them, what is a good way of using them. There’s loads of potential in Glasgow.” Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, 4-21 Apr For your chance to win a trip to the launch event, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions www.glasgowinternational.org

Jordan Wolfson, Con Leche, (2019, Video Still)

Lifestyle

Egg Donation: A Personal Story About a year ago I wrote a piece on how I was thinking about donating some of my eggs. I subsequently did. This is that story

everal months ago I donated some of my eggs. It’s changed me in a way I didn’t expect. It’s like a marker – a fixed point in my life. I’ve done something irreversible. Given someone life (in the most ‘hands-off’ way possible, of course). Last January I visited my GP and said I was considering donating some of my eggs. As a back specialist she was surprised, but enthusiastic. There were blood tests, ‘implications,’ counselling, and genetic tests – which were good for peace of mind on their own. As I passed each medical my perception of my body started to change. For the first time I saw it as something capable. I started going to the gym. I felt… purposeful. I was allowed to write a letter to the child (or children) that might result from the donation. After a number of drafts I settled on something casual and idealistic. I know it makes me sound naïve, but I imagine we’ll all have a good laugh about it in 18 years’ time when the child (or children) are legally able to request my contact details. The ultrasound where I first saw the matured eggs was surreal. I had a certain expectation of what I was going to see when the fluid was wiped across my stomach and the scan came up on the little black and white screen. But inside me was a honeycomb. Nearly 40 eggs. Too many. Each one with the potential to become someone else’s baby. While usually your ovaries release one egg a month (if you’re a fertile cisgendered female), to increase the IVF success rate donors are given a series of hormone modifiers. First there’s a nasal spray that shuts down your personal reproductive system, in the short term, and then

Lifestyle

Words: Ana Hine

a fortnight’s worth of injections to stimulate the ovaries artificially. Those have to be done yourself. The first time I missed a whole TV show because I was sitting on the side of my bath trying to muster up the courage to inject. But, it’s true – you do get used to it.

“Inside me was a honeycomb. Nearly 40 eggs. Too many. Each one with the potential to become someone else’s baby” Finally there’s a single injection to mature the eggs the night before they are extracted. Going to the hospital for the surgery itself was odd. I’d never broken any bones and I still have my appendix. I was so unprepared I was surprised when the nurse gave me a hospital robe to change into. It hadn’t occurred to me I’d be wearing one. A cannula went into my hand followed by some liquid that would apparently give me ‘nice dreams.’ Then I was being wheeled into surgery

with a bunch of PhD students around me. That was a lot of fun – watching all these health professionals leaning over me, pushing me through the hospital corridors. The surgery itself is a bit of a blur. The nurses said afterwards I’d asked a bunch of questions about the procedure, but I have no memory of that. I ate some toast while waiting on a couple of my friends to come and pick me up. It wasn’t until later that day, once I got home, that I started to get sick. The nurses had said I was likely to suffer a mild case of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS), which is basically where your ovaries are too stimulated… like when you have around 40 eggs hanging out in your uterus instead of one. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloating and – in severe cases – thrombosis, liver and kidney dysfunction and respiratory distress. But my big mistake was taking ibuprofen after the extraction to dull the period-pain-like ache. The ibuprofen reacted badly with the drugs already in my system. I woke up in the middle of the night with my chest incredibly tight and waves rushing through me. Crawling to the toilet I dry-heaved for a while; I wanted to vomit but had lost the strength to do so. It was incredibly frightening. ‘Respiratory distress’ seems like an accurate term for it in retrospect. I felt like I was going to choke to death. It took a couple phone calls for the hospital to take me back in, but when they saw me it was clear something was wrong. After they put me on a drip and gave me alternative painkillers my body righted itself. I stayed overnight, but by the next morning I was more or less fine, though the pain took a few weeks to clear completely.

DEVIANCE

After they’re collected, the eggs are fertilised in a lab, then watched for a few days to see if any abnormalities occur. If everything’s looking good then the embryos are implanted into the womb of the woman who’s going to carry the baby to term. Due to the monthly nature of the female reproduction cycle, if you and your recipient are out of sync by too many days the whole process gets delayed. Even when they are being chemically manipulated hormones take their own time to get things done and at one point I was checking my emails every day waiting to hear if my main recipient had ‘bled.’ I don’t even know her name, but until her period came my whole life was on pause. The waiting around can be… inconvenient. For the three months prior to the donation you also need to watch what toxins you’re putting into your body. I irritated my friends a little during that time; it was definitely a strange place to be in psychologically. They were able to harvest so many eggs from me that two different women may at this moment be carrying a child biologically related to me, as a second recipient was also chosen to receive some. On the NHS’s general IVF advice page it states, as of 2010, the success rate of the treatment – the percentage that result in a live birth – was 32.2% for women under 35. Now, I don’t know the ages of my recipients so that’s the most optimistic figure. Even so, since one family were given enough of my eggs to have two attempts, I could have at least one biological child by the end of this year. Worth one night in hospital I think (and the standard NHS cheque for £750 I got the month after was nice, too).

THE SKINNY

London Fashion Week AW14: Trend Report It’s that time again! As London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2014 comes to an end, we discover the trends that you’ll be wearing next season

Ashish

uring the biannual fashion weeks of the ‘big four’ (New York, Milan, Paris and London) trends for the coming seasons are determined. Although the collections shown at London Fashion Week in particular tend to be unique and individual visions from each designer, we can see that definite trends are emerging for the coming season. Take a look at what you’ll be wearing in Autumn/Winter 2014... Geometry This trend was seen in various ways throughout LFW; in print, fabric cut and in texture. One of the main elements in Roksanda Ilincic’s collection was the way she experimented with the cut of each garment, using large panels of material, creating beautiful misaligned geometric shapes. Stripes, both vertical and horizontal, in contrasting colours added to the look. Uneven hemlines and asymmetric lengths were also evident in the ‘great Scots’ shows, Christopher Kane and Jonathan Saunders. Kane wowed the audience with dresses made from masses of origami-like, triangular folds (edged in white). Saunders showed eye-catching geometric prints; checkerboard squares were seen throughout the collection along with bold contrasting horizontal and diagonal bands of colour. Saunders also appliqued square pieces of almost raw-edged fabric to garments, which gave these pieces a softer, more folky look (more on this later!). Matching Sets Also seen at New York Fashion Week, LFW was full of matching tuxedos and trouser suits, with Christopher Kane, Emilia Wickstead, Erdem, Giles and Felder Felder all showing their variations of a modern suit (in a variety of fabrics and styles). However, another (far) more exciting

March 2014

Words: Alexandra Fiddes

Burberry

Marques' Almeida

Ashish

trend was spotted: outfits created by multiple items or layers in a matching print. This was seen at most of the big brands such as Burberry, Temperley London, Giles and Peter Pilotto. The most frequently notable version of this was a matching dress and scarf combination – seen at Burberry, belted at the waist, and at Temperley London, wrapped around the neck. This is sure to be a trend that will be replicated on the high street, as it has an impact without being too overpowering.

garments were made from a mix of fabrics and colours that were highly embellished or decorated. An unlikely champion of the trend was Mary Katrantzou. Usually famed for intricate and complex digital prints, Katrantzou completely changed direction this season, leaving digital prints behind. Drawing inspiration from Greek symbolism (as well as road-signs!) the designer used heavy brocade, ornate detailing and heavy embroidery reminiscent of chain-mail and lace. Temperley showed whimsical, ‘pretty,’ floorsweeping black and cream dresses embellished with Russian style blue, pink and orange floral embroidery. Lace, fur and quilted fabrics all added to this luxe folklore look. Peter Pilotto took the opposite approach, embracing the idea of folk but to the max, with multiple textures of fabric, complex layering and vivid bold prints. John Rocha and Sibling both used crochet in their collections, giving them a hand-done take on the trend. When even Burberry, famed for its military style coats, was doing it (by showcasing a collection of floaty fabric, with blanket-like capes in earthy tones that were monogrammed with the models’ initials), we knew that a major new trend was being confirmed!

with oversized mohair hoodies, metallic highshine jackets and gathered waist trousers in bright pink, petrol green and turquoise. Caps and round sunglasses were an obvious nod to the era. Another 90s devotee was Ashish. Models strutted down the catwalk in multi-colour lightup platform Buffalos (the 90s footwear choice), sequin tracksuits, tiaras and rainbow coloured hair (keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming Ashish x Topshop collaboration – we’re excited). If you’re after a specific item that says 90s, the bomber jacket trend just keeps going. They were cropping up all over LFW – with hoods and silver embellishment at KTZ, patterned and floral at Tata Naka and fur collared at Richard Nicoll.

Blue with Oxblood Red All shades of blue had a very strong presence at LFW this season; navy at Topshop Unique, cobalt at Mark Fast, electric at J JS Lee and (stunning) powder blue at Holly Fulton. However, when bright royal blue was paired with rich oxblood red it made the biggest impact on the catwalk. Roksanda Ilincic championed this new colour combo, which featured in numerous outfits – blue oversized coats with mid-length loose fitting red skirts, blue outfits with red hairbands or as a contrasting under-layer. Marques’ Almeida’s take on the colour combination was to use oxblood red fur (again, more on this later) with dark blue denim – an oversized fur stole or stitched on to a long sleeved top at both the front and back. This palette was also seen at Peter Pilotto, Emilio de la Morena, Napsugar von Bittera and Lucas Nascimento. Although, while most shades of blue are extremely flattering, oxblood red isn’t particularly, so if you’re keen on trying out this trend, stick to red accessories with your blue ensemble. Folklore-Inspired We also noticed the emergence of a folkloreinspired trend at Bora Aksu, Burberry, Mary Katrantzou, Temperley and Peter Pilotto, where

90s After winning the British Fashion Council’s Fashion Forward prize for this season, Nasir Mazhar produced a collection that was made from a mash-up of many 90s themes: TLC, cyber goth and chola. Think sporty silhouettes, crop tops, metallic pink and silver mini skirts, elasticated slogans, lip liner, articulated curls, gold gas-masks and so much more! Fyodor Golan also embraced the 90s look

FASHION

Fur From soft and downy to teddy bear, fur (or faux fur) was definitely the hottest trend of LFW A/ W14 – it was seen in almost every collection and made a huge impact. Our favourite was Christopher Kane’s use of soft and wispy pastel pink fur on the collar and cuffs of a black PVC jacket, creating a stunning contrast. Topshop Unique put ‘teddy bear fur’ jumpers with leather pencil skirts, incorporated luxurious-looking dark green fur into navy coats and went all-out with a mid-length patchwork fur coat in red, pink, beige and black. Multi-coloured patchwork fur was also shown at Roksanda Ilincic, this time in the form of an oversized sweater top in an eye-melting palette of blue, orange, white and oxblood. Antipodium used a burst of mossy green fur, and Emilio de la Morena used shades of pink. On the (slightly) more subtle end of the spectrum, Eudon Choi used grey and beige in his coats and stoles. So there you have it, our pick of the trends. www.londonfashionweek.co.uk

Lifestyle

Lesley Guy L

esley Guy is an artist, writer and curator based in Sheffield, UK. She is a content curator for Axisweb and co-director of Bloc Projects, an artist-led contemporary art space. She graduated with an MA in Contemporary Fine Art from Sheffield Hallam University in 2010 and has exhibited widely across Europe, Asia and the UK. Group shows include Portmanteau, curated by g39 for Halle 14 in Leipzig; Jeune Création at Centquatre, Paris; Appropriate Response, Vulpes Vulpes, London; and Possession (1) at BACC, Bangkok. Forthcoming exhibitions include Pizza Fest! as part of the collaboration Totaller – First King of the

Astrogoths, and Deadpan Exchange VIII at Casa Maauad in Mexico City. “I use the appropriation and defacement of found materials to construct scenarios or images that manipulate the ‘real’ or recognisable. For a while I was drawing over the top of obituaries, then I was collecting pizza fliers, now I’m turning waste paper into papier-mâché ‘ritualistic’ objects. “Most of the time the work I do is compulsive but there is a rationale somewhere deep down; this might be exploring surface or form or whatever, so that within this process there

is a struggle between contingency and control. Making things is a tool for thinking and exploring; I enjoy solving artistic problems and can spend hours just looking and trying to figure out where to go next, like in a game of chess. “The found materials set the boundaries within which to play, but in a perverse way these rules help me to create space for reverie or fantasy. I think I’m challenging the authority of existing imagery to some extent. Images (and objects) have ‘magical’ power, even ubiquitous and mundane pictures of things like pizza or pop stars are powerful enough to make us act and feel things differently. By using pictures of David

SHOWCASE

Bowie for instance I’m tapping into that, harnessing the thing that makes him so special. It seems silly but it’s also quite serious. Art is all about manipulating materials into new meanings: I want to turn the tables on Pizza Hut or Domino’s who are pushing adverts through my door every day and harvest the power of pizza to make the sort of things I want to see!” www.lesleyguy.com www.axisweb.org/p/lesleyguy @LJGuy

THE SKINNY

Photo: Dominic Mason

Grotto (2013)

The Golden Legend (2012)

The View From the Wasp Cave (2014)

Matthews (2012) Double Bowie (Ritual Divining Mace) (2013-14)

March 2014

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Seizing the Day Fancy a food and drink-based knees-up in March, but can’t hack the corporate gubbins of St Patrick’s Day? We’ve helpfully planned out some foodie holidays for you all, from pan-American tomfoolery to an idea stolen from The Simpsons by the UN

f there’s one thing we can’t handle, it’s forced jollity. Yes, we are great fun at parties, thanks very much. This St Patricks Day, those who dare to brave the pubs of Liverpool and Manchester will encounter events and actions that bear the hallmarks of the terror that is ‘organised fun’. There will be laughter, and actually-fairlyracist-when-you-think-about-it impressions and costumes, and lots of TASTY TASTY GUINNESS. So what to do? Play along? Stage a protest? Stay in the house on a Monday night? No chance. After all, anyone can set up their own ‘INSERT ISSUE HERE Day,’ and we’ve found a few alternatives that we can hitch our food and drink wagon to. Or, in the words of Kool and the Gang, we’re going to celebrate and party with you, come on now.

MARDI GRAS An easy sell to start with. One of the more extreme blowouts on the global social calendar, it’s most commonly associated with the carnivals of Brazil and the debauched revelry of the southern states of the USA. Luckily, Liverpool and Manchester have a surprisingly well-developed food infrastructure in terms of those areas, with the likes of Lucha Libre, Fazenda and Alma de Cuba bringing the

March 2014

Words: Peter Simpson Illustration: Maisie Shearring

Latin and South American vibes, while Southern Eleven, Red’s True BBQ, and Fire & Salt BBQ cover the Deep South; making the dream of a Northwest Mardi Gras totally achievable. Two problems – Mardi Gras is in March this year, but it’s usually in February, which scuppers the calendar a little. The other issue is the dress code – you will have to provide your own crazy mask and costume. We’ll call that one problem, and one craft assignment. PI(E) DAY It’s Pi Day, Pi Day; gotta get down on Pi Day. The discovery of everyone’s favourite mathematical constant is already marked by science types and numerologists each year on 14 March, or 3.14 if you prefer to read and write dates in some kind of strange and wrong way. What we propose is making it more about the Pies than the Pi, and celebrating the contribution that suspicious meat encased in pastry has made to our society. Imagine the scenes – queues outside every bakery in the land, pilgrimages to Morecambe to have the best pie in the country, and gravy, gravy everywhere. Admittedly, the idea needs a bit of work, but then we can’t imagine that April Fool’s took off straight away either. If we start by eating pies,

and wing it from there, we should all be fine.

celebration of a basic human emotion. Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to WORLD WATER DAY you The United Nations International Day of If you like your fun mid-season holidays to be a Happiness. This is not a joke – it’s a genuine, bit more pious and down-the-line, a food takeobona fide thing that the UN launched last ver of World Water Day might be just your thing. year. 20 March is the date, and being generally The UN marks World Water Day every 22 March, chipper is the aim. Admittedly, this isn’t without but they ‘celebrate’ with charts, graphs, and its problems – for one thing, hijacking a UN ‘riveting’ reports on hydrodynamics. peace initiative to get back at a multinational We propose taking a slightly different drinks company’s wholesale takeover of a tack, and celebrating the many forms in which country’s national holiday won’t be an easy sell. water can be consumed. We’re thinking enormous Also, this Day of Happiness sounds suspiice lollies, steamed dumplings and puddings, ciously like the ‘Do What You Feel’ festival from an and all the different kinds of water you can think episode of The Simpsons from about 15 years ago, of. Sparkling, non-sparkling, the list is endless. and that ended with the event’s inspiration nearly And, as we all know, the one thing that can getting his head kicked in by an unruly mob. convince slightly drunk people to come around These points aside, this sounds like our kind of to your way of thinking is a cool, clear glass of thing, because it’s incredibly ambiguous. water. Hang on a minute, there’s a chance that Does cake make you happy? Get down your this idea might be total rubbish. Let us check, local cafe and tell them that it’s a Happiness Day we’ll get back to you in a second. treat. Fancy a pint? On you go; it is, after all, the United Nations International Day of Happiness, INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HAPPINESS a real thing which you can look up yourself if you OK, that water idea is a bit rubbish. All we don’t believe us. really need to take on the stout-fuelled tyranny We can do this, people. Grab your forks, put of St Patrick’s Day is a chance to eat and drink on your best drinking glasses, and go out and be and be merry, with a very vague theme to tie happy. That, ironically, is an order. it all together. Something obvious, like a

FOOD AND DRINK

Lifestyle

Food News This month: finally, oh finally, food and clubbing collide (no seal gags!), Liverpool gains more restaurants, and for Mother’s Day there are options involving crypts, chocolate and Sunday roasts Words: Jamie Faulkner Illustration: Sophie Freeman

n the month that sees the start of spring (20 Mar if you’re interested in these things), Food News wouldn’t really be complete without a spot of rebirth. Liverpool’s Everyman Bistro has been closed for just less than three years, while its home, the Everyman Theatre, was razed to make way for a bigger, badder incarnation. The bistro earned a fantastic reputation, thanks in part to chef Tom Gill, who went on to work at the wellrespected Brink, and many of the original team are on board for its relaunch. In addition, there will be a new street cafe overlooking Hope Street. www.everymanplayhouse.com Another addition to Liverpool’s fine-dining scene this spring comes in the shape of Paul Askew’s The Art School. With his new restaurant, the chef director of London Carriage Works and the Hope Street Hotel has expressed an intent to fill the Michelin-star void. Sugnall Street, @ArtSchoolLpool Writer Steven Poole knocked them, the Independent discussed their emergence way back in 2011, and now Manchester will at last have its very own ‘food rave’. Unlike actual raves, however,

it’s not an endless cycle of hypnotic monotony, fuelled by drugs. Unless you class hot dogs and pizzas as drugs, in which case... Friday Food Fight by B.Eat Street aims to unite eating, drinking and clubbing (what’s not to like?). They’re mashing it up, slickly fading restaurants (Ning, SoLIta, Yang Sing...) into street-food heroes/ startups (Honest Crust, Hip Hop Chip Shop, Arepa!Arepa!Arepa!...) to a backdrop of the city’s best club stalwarts, including The Warehouse Project’s Krysko and Jonny Dub. (You might even see your one-and-only Food and Drink ed there, getting stuck in). Every Friday from 7 Mar at Upper Campfield Market, @beatstreetmcr To many, Indian food and fine dining are mutually exclusive. Curry and all its accompaniments should be a hands-on affair, unsuited to ostentatious presentation and all the better for the rusticity and pooling oil. But it’s an opinion worth challenging. Mughli, who are no strangers to these pages, have got together with chef Ernst van Zyl of Macclesfield’s The Lord Clyde, who is well known for being a dedicated food porn provider on Twitter, to form... Mughli&Clyde. We

know: it sounds like a long-lost, ill thought-out Robert Louis Stevenson novel, but it’s actually a modernist take on Mughlai cuisine, seven-course tasting menu and all. While the tickets may very well have sold out by the time you read this, it’s an important culinary and collaborative milestone in the city. @mughli @the_lordclyde Before we forget: while Valentine’s Day – with its fuzzy, lovey-dovey outside, and scary, capitalist machine inside – was vetoed, Mother’s Day actually seems an appropriate holiday to include in this here Food News. If you’re great at thinking up gifts and activities, congrats and look away! If not, here are precisely three ideas:

Liverpool’s Camp & Furnace are doing a special version of their Roast events on 10 Mar (for that “It’s just so nice when someone else cooks it” feeling); there’s a Cider Festival in a bleedin’ crypt at Liverpool’s Saint Anthony’s between 28-29 Mar (the alcohol will, we hope, stave off thoughts of the grave, though it could do the opposite), and for mums addicted to chocohol, there’s a Chocolate Heaven course at Cheshire Cookery School with chocolatier Oliver Dunn (www.thecheshirecookeryschool. com). In essence, make sure your mam has a nice day, capiche?

Phagomania: You’d Batter Believe It With Pancake Day (as our preferred Phago-friendly title ‘Fat Tuesday’) this month, we caught up with the “epic battermancing master of breakfast” himself, Dr Dan The Pancake Man

n this month’s dispatch from the darkened backstreets of the foodie district of the internet, we bring you Dr. Dan the Pancake Man. A renaissance man who could not be held down to just flipping pancakes at his diner workplace, Dan became a local sensation when he started drawing with pancake batter. An appearance on Reddit sparked viral fame and then quicker than you can say ‘Maple syrup with bacon? Whaa?’ Dan found himself on US TV behemoth The Today Show. “I guess that’s how virality works?” reflects Dan. “Sometimes you just wake up famous.” Dan’s creations grew in notoriety when he became a cultural reference pancake factory, banging out any request that came his way. Video games? Check. Film stars? Check. Your favourite team’s logo? Check. A partysaurus Rex riding a skateboard smoking a bong? Check! As you can see from this page, and this is only the top of a mightily high stack, there is nothing Dan won’t take on. “It also helps with tips,” he professes, “giving out goofy smiley face pancake surprises, so there was plenty of motivation to start getting good at this stuff.” With all the success, Dan has branched out on his own, bringing mad pancake skills to private events and parties and hopes to fund a ‘Dancake Van’ to really take things to the next level. In between all things pancake, he is working on a graphic novel, and on his band that reminded us of early Mr. Bungle (in the context, it makes perfect sense). As is our wont, we mused over the impact of the drawing on the eating, keen to see how Dan philosophised over the impact of his work. So does the Doctor think the way that food looks changes how we enjoy it and feel about it? “Oh,

Lifestyle

absolutely! I mean, everything about taste and preference is in your head; it’s all psychological phenomena, it’s all arbitrary emotional connections to what foods you’re used to, how they make you feel, what you remember about them. And pancakes seem to be just this really cherished foodstuff, like something so many people tie with fond memories. “So to have a food that there’s already all this cultural information loaded into, and then to have some lanky, goofy guy like me make it look like one of your favourite cartoon characters, or actors, or a caricature of your own damn face... it’s like the chemical formula for an awesome, memorable experience. And then it tastes great to boot!” Not that some of his customers are too worried. “They wanna freeze dry them and hang them on the kitchen wall,” says Dan. “That’s actually a pretty wild idea, and probably something we’ll look into down the road.” So now that we’ve whet your appetite for construction of pancakes, we couldn’t let Dan away without giving us a few tips. Once you get past the fear of doing a bad job, Dan has a simple credo: “I cook with my griddle at 400 degrees, I don’t use any oil or butter, my batter is at a relatively normal consistency (not too thick, not too fluid) and I use condiment bottles as a sort of pancake pen so I can get fine details in the image.” So keep it simple, reference things people find entertaining, and tie your art to a muchloved institution. That’s how you become a viral sensation, people, take note – with your giant condiment pens.

Photos: Dr Dan The Pancake Man

Interview: Lewis MacDonald

See Dr Dan in action at: http://bit.ly/1mHvHfd

FOOD AND DRINK

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Gig Highlights

Festival Watch

After the ordeal of January and February, were you planning on putting away dollar for that summer trip you planned? With Dean Blunt landing in Manchester and François & the Atlas Mountains dropping into Liverpool for a visit, you might wanna think twice

Words: Edwina Chan As we keep an eye on the Northwest’s homegrown fests, two programmes steal the limelight this month – Liverpool’s Threshold, and FutureEverything in Manchester

Words: Laura Swift

as a busy mid-month in Liverpool, as three-piece Ugly Duckling arrive with their amalgamation of funk, soul, jazz and high spirits – and they can scratch with the enthusiasm for an unreachable itch. Brace yourself for their hard-hitting, grooving basslines at The Shipping Forecast on 18 Mar (they also play Manchester the night after, 19 Mar). Fans of political punk can rejoice as veterans Stiff Little Fingers bring three decades’ worth of explosive energy to Liverpool O2 Academy (18 Mar, then The Ritz, Manchester, 22 Mar); but for indie-folk delights there’s one real don’t-miss this month, and that’s LIPA grad Dan Croll taking in The Ruby Lounge (19 Mar) and The Kazimier (29 Mar). Croll was previously a member of a math-rock band, Dire Wolfe – but, to his increasing success, ditched the digits for a simpler folk way of life. Now then, who had a Marmite moment with Hayden Thorpe’s falsetto top notes? If no concerns were raised and fandom ensued, then you’ll be glad to know that last month’s cover stars Wild Beasts bring their experimental dream-pop to the Albert Hall on 26 Mar. After 2011’s lustful Smother, new release Present Tense has assistance from Björk collaborator Lexxx – expect delicate synths and a strutting performance from a band at the top of their game. Elsewhere,

Do Not Miss Dean Blunt Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 28 Mar

reviously half of elusive experimental pop duo Hype Williams, Dean Blunt has a track record of churning out fictitious tales in interviews – but his solo releases don’t carry the jaunty tones of a prankster. Self-released 2011 album The Narcissist is obscure in its melancholic lust and heavy-handed samples – it’s the type of time-independent psychedelia that leaves you squinting at the world when you emerge from its grasp – while last year’s The Redeemer, having little more than loose ties to any genre, is a record spanning a world of elements. Employing strings, harps and voice samples, it has a cinematic ambience, down-tempo beats being the backdrop of love lost.

ntering its fourth year, Liverpool’s grassroots Threshold Festival of Music and Arts (2830 Mar) commandeers a clutch of venues in the Baltic Triangle to offer a programme that’s strong on local acts but also nods further afield, all for the price of one big gig. Likely to jump out are names like Natalie McCool – whose alternately razor-cut and smoke-grey vocals have lately been turning heads at BBC 6 Music – and Leeds’ smart synth-bots Galaxians, but we’d like to ensure you don’t miss instrumental solo guitarist John McGrath, whose fingerstyle string work is calm, considered, and rose-red with quiet revelation. Elsewhere, there’s a party to be had with Upitup Records head honcho DJ Jacques, and if you’d like to feel concerned about where you are in your life and what you’ve done with it, make sure Angel Olsen you catch the upsettingly young Tyler Mensah, who sings with a refreshing lack of forced warble St Louis girl Angel Olsen delivers down-tempo in comparison to many aspiring pop stars his age, eccentric folk-pop via Leonard Cohen-peppered and who might even drop a Frank Ocean cover. vocals at Soup Kitchen on 23 Mar. For something different, there are live electronOne of Manchester’s, if not the UK’s, most ics from Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts notable festivals, FutureEverything’s annual students Adronite, percussive use of the cello event opens its doors 27-31 Mar. A hub that from Abi Wade, and modern-pastoral waltzes nurtures innovative projects through conferfrom Stems (violin, viola and electric guitar). ences and live experiences, FutureEverything Finally, Threshold has never shied away from assembles developers, artists and musicians a sense of carnival, and true to form this year’s to showcase their vision of a digital future – programme is full of many-membered megaamong them, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington’s DARKSIDE, who bring their collaborative ambient troupes, with physical theatrics coming from magic to The Ritz (27 Mar). In another celebration Harlequin Dynamite Marching Band, Science of the Lamps, and first-night headliners The of the arts, Liverpool’s Threshold Festival takes Destroyers. Getting into the festival spirit has place in the Baltic Triangle 28-30 Mar, exhibiting never been easier. community-based works in the realms of music, By contrast, FutureEverything (27 Mar-1 theatre and visual arts – with a music proApr) offers perhaps its most pensive, cerebral gramme full of local talent. (Read more on both programme yet. Away from the big-hitters FutureEverything and Threshold to the right.) (Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington’s DARKSIDE, To end the month on a somewhat continental affair, take in French/British group François & and Tim Hecker) lies a series of events that share more in common with the likes of Faster the Atlas Mountains’ melodic indie-folk vibes at Leaf, Liverpool (28 Mar; they also play Manchester than Sound or even Huddersfield Contemporary Roadhouse on the 30th). Expect to be serenaded than the festival’s headliners, and which are, appropriately, presented largely in the RNCM’s with pop-piano riffs and a dulcet voice. It might be pasta and sauce for the rest of the month, but spaces: they include a world premiere of a new piece, Projectors, by musique concrète manipuat least your diary’s full. lator Martin Messier (30 Mar, RNCM Theatre), and Evian Christ performing within an installation in the Studio Theatre by lighting designer/ visual artist Emmanuel Biard and engineer David Leonard, which uses mirrors, mechanics, lasers, optics and structures to seemingly etch structures made of light on to the air (30 Mar). Meanwhile, on 28 Mar Soup Kitchen plays host to Dean Blunt, whose electrifying performance at Liverpool’s Blade Factory late last year bodes well for a return to the Northwest, and, on 30 Mar, a showcase of obscure, fogged hip-hop and electronics at the hands of Berlin label PROJECT: Mooncircle. The locus of much of last year’s programme, Islington Mill, plays host to just one show this year, but sees Faktion going all out for Dean Blunt the occasion on 28 Mar: Mika Vainio’s bloodied landscapes join Source Direct, Ninos Du Brasil and his realistic approach that lends Blunt his (Nico Vascellari) and EVOL for a complete and boldly sombre charm. Ever an enigma, to predict total sensorial assault. the contents of Blunt’s live show would be hopeThreshold Festival of Music and Arts, various venues, lessly foolish. The anticipation for his appearLiverpool, 28-30 Mar ance at Soup Kitchen on 28 Mar – presented by www.thresholdfestival.co.uk FutureEverything – is untouchable. [Edwina Chan] Photo: Zia Anger

hat a liberating feeling it is, having that email drop into your inbox (or through the letterbox, if your HR department has yet to, for lack of a better phrase, get with the digital times). That email beautifully titled ‘Pay Slip.’ But don’t order that luxurious pizza just yet. Get out your diary and pen, and sit tight. Surely the only way to start the month is with generous measures of glitch, with dubstep undertones and heartfelt vocals courtesy of Dutch artist MØ, coming to The Deaf Institute on 9 Mar. Dubbed by some as the new Grimes, MØ carries a more sultry note to her voice, while the influence of Santigold can be sensed like a lingering ghost. Alternatively, a couple of days earlier (7 Mar) Manchester-grown and recent New Bloods Patterns present debut album Waking Lines at St Philip’s Church with accompaniment from Manchester Community Choir, no less. Their haze of dreamy shoegaze pop and magnificent vocals should guarantee that this anticipated performance sparkles in the building’s aged surrounds. Meanwhile, for a showcase of even grander proportions stringing together ten acts hailing from Lyon to Leeds, you’re warmly invited to a collab between promoters Bad Uncle and Grey Lantern: their Box Social, an all-day kraut-discoindie-punk-electronic-party at Klondyke Club, Levenshulme, on 8 Mar, featuring Cowtown, Plank!, Barberos, and precisely seven further acts. In Liverpool, why not engage with some funkshaking sax? Mutant Vinyl have received praise from the likes of Grammy Award-winning Simon Gogerly, and these LIPA musicians are also expected to bring experimental trip-hop and bassheavy grooves – they’re at The Shipping Forecast on 12 Mar, and their alma mater, Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, on the 28th. Or, if you’re after a spot of satisfying, roaring guitar, find Hatch Records’ six-piece Then Thickens at Night & Day on 13 Mar; or, if you’re aching for instrumental, psychedelic rock, then don’t miss Portland-hailing Grails bringing their emotive performance to Soup Kitchen on 14 Mar. With 2008’s Nights Out, we saw Metronomy become purveyors of synth, bringing headaches to those weekend heroes among us who want to be drip-fed addictive bleeps; new album Love Letters introduces a more languid sound, recorded to tape at Toe Rag Studios. They bring their Devon charm to Liverpool’s O2 Academy (13 Mar) and Manchester’s Ritz (14 Mar). It continues

Blunt’s views on society are brutally upfront, and he points to a current trend where information is mindlessly consumed by youth, carrying fears of becoming obsolete. To paraphrase a quote from an interview with the Guardian: “Man filled with too much information is suggestive of the end of the world.” It is perhaps this cynicism

FutureEverything, various venues, Manchester, 27 Mar–1 Apr www.futureeverything.org

March 2014

MUSIC

Preview

Album of the Month

Trust

Joyland [Arts & Crafts, 3 Mar]

rrrrr

The sophomore offering from Trust is a solo endeavour for lynchpin Robert Alfons, with Maya Postepski having left the Toronto project shortly after their debut. Vocally, Alfons possesses a remarkable range, allowing him to channel a deep and sonorous moan on anthemic cuts like Geryon and superb first single Rescue, Mister, alongside a more plaintive falsetto on the record’s title track and Are We Arc? Incorporating dark strains of house, techno, early rave and trance, and coupling them with his impressive, stripped vocal melodies, Alfons is less a synth-pop revivalist, more an avant

garde songwriter in the mode of Baths or Sun Lux, but inspired by a different wave of electronica more contemporaneous with the dancefloor. There is a hollow sheen to Alfons’ beats and synths, a studied emptiness – teetering on Eurodance, but with a refined, gothic sensibility. With considerably more polished and widescreen production than on 2012’s TRST, tracks like Capitol come alive with a darkly glittering studio sheen and strident, echoing pianos, beginning like a souped-up Laibach, but climaxing in a rising and falling chorus that worms into the brain; while Icabod and Four Gut are instant EBM classics with a bright pop gloss. A rich, rewarding return. [Bram E. Gieben] www.ttrustt.com

Jimi Goodwin

Free Nelson Mandoomjazz

Carla Bozulich

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Odludek [Heavenly, 24 Mar]

The Shape of Doomjazz to Come [RareNoise, 14 Mar]

Boy [Constellation, 3 Mar]

Despite spending the best part of his career fronting a band named Doves, Jimi Goodwin isn’t a fan of inhabiting pigeonholes. He’s been talking up “mad mixtape” Odludek pretty much since Doves first went on hiatus, pledging a solo debut defined by stylistic heterogeneity; something to give his creative impulses a workout, chopping and changing from one song to the next. While there’s plenty here that’s emphatically Doves-like (Didsbury Girl, Oh! Whiskey), the results largely fulfil that promise, with Terracotta Warrior’s opening blast of tuneless noise blowing dust and preconceptions out the listener’s lugholes. But the real shake-up is saved for the old-school dance vibe of Live Like A River – a reminder that ‘Jimi from Doves’ is also ‘Jimi formerly of Sub Sub.’ The circus canter of Man Vs Dingo is a less appealing stab at diversification, but a few spills are more than acceptable given the quality exuded elsewhere. [Chris Buckle]

Those who investigate the bleak and heavy terrain of Edinburgh jazz/metal fusionists Free Nelson Mandoomjazz will find a lot to enjoy. The guitarist’s powerful riffage obviously derives from a love of classic heavy metal in the Sabbath vein, but its when all three – drums, piano, and caterwauling saxophone – let loose that the real alchemy happens, the nails-down-a-blackboard intensity of the sax underpinned with feral guitar noise and clattering drums. It’s like John Zorn’s wildest excesses pared down with a tight, hook-driven rock sensibility. Most of the tunes clock in at about 7 minutes, but don’t overstay their welcome, as long as your brain can continue to accomodate the sheer intensity and pitch of the saxophone’s unearthly wail. Hints of post-rock’s expansionist vision creep in on No-one Fucking Posts to the UAE, and fast bebop trades licks with hardcore on K54. Deeply experimental, the raw power of Free Nelson Mandoomjazz is hard to deny. [Bram E. Gieben]

A veteran of the LA alternative and avant garde music scene, Carla Bozulich uses Boy to align herself with other practitioners of skewed, angular takes on highconcept pop without descending to the use of saccharine studio sheen, glossy promo shoots, or dumbed-down lyrics. Like EMA, St. Vincent or Emika, Bozulich is keyed in to the true meaning of the Gaga-devalued phrase ‘art pop.’ Her lyrics are claustrophobic confessionals, her songs immaculate dirges and murder ballads. Bozulich’s voice, at times redolent of Kristin Hersh and Patti Smith, is the perfect vehicle for the deconstructed beat poetry of opener and title track Boy. The mournful, funereal Drowned To The Light and Gonna Stop Killing are both bleak but exquisite, rounded out with esoteric instrumentation; while the album’s closing section – the crepuscular shoegaze of What Is It Baby and the minimalist post-rock of Number X – offers a balm to the preceding darkness. [Bram E. Gieben]

www.heavenlyrecordings.com/artists/jimi-goodwin

www.soundcloud.com/freenelsonmandoomjazz

www.carlabozulich.com

Liars

Real Estate

François and the Atlas Mountains

rrrrr

Mess [Mute, 24 Mar] Liars’ seventh album is undeniably, blatantly a Mute Records album, not just in practical terms but also in spiritual terms; the album plays like a homage to the glory days of the label, coursing through D.A.F. affectations, highly-strung synths right out of Nitzer Ebb’s armoury and wonky excursions through Depeche Mode’s more outré dalliances, or, more recently, their VCMG offshoot. By and large, it’s a beast of a record and free from overtly pofaced earnestness – the album begins with an approximation of Giorgio Moroder’s massive synth bass from I Feel Love and a robot voice exhorting the listener to ‘take my pants off… smell my socks.’ It gets better, Angus Andrew’s vocals – often falsetto – become interchangeable with the über-restless electronics, peaking on I’m No Gold, the most obviously danceable track on show. Crucially, the trio don’t sound like a rock band experimenting with synths; Mess sounds like synths are experimenting with the band. Maybe drums are dead, after all. [Colm McAuliffe]

Atlas [Domino, 3 Mar] Last album Days seemed to unexpectedly catapult Ridgewood, New Jersey natives Real Estate to the top table of American indie. Atlas largely follows a similar path, regenerating mellow Big Star jangling and harmonies, and sure, it’s cute enough, but it’s not much of a thrill ride. Lead-off single Walking Backwards and the likes of Horizon and Navigator are certainly pretty, but when you’re looking for tracks such as Crime or The Bend to truly soar, they simply sigh, with Martin Courtney’s wistful vocals and inoffensive guitar mooching along at the same pace. Atlas will find its place, undoubtedly in the collections of Teenage Fanclub aficionados, but for all the joy that sunny indie pop can bring to our hearts, others have been here before and just done it a little better than Real Estate. One of life’s greatest frustrations can be a pleasant record that you know, deep down, ought to be offering you more. [Stu Lewis]

Piano Ombre [Domino, 17 Mar]

A band picking up where a previous album left off can often be a point of frustration and the sound of a band stagnating, but in the case of François and the Atlas Mountains, 2012’s E Volo Love was such a joy that this misdemeanour can easily be forgiven. Piano Ombre is stacked with the same euphoric tropicalia and multi-lingual harmonies that François Marry and his Bristolbased collective made their own well before their curious association with Fife’s former Fence Collective first came about. And there’s enough here to suggest a band developing too; the woozy beats of Bois and The Way to the Forest are more Balearic than Gallic, and carried off with such swagger that it doesn’t even matter that most lyrics are in French. But their lifeblood is cute, knowing pop like La Verité – the crowning moment on a consistently brilliant record, exectuted with real panache. [Stu Lewis] www.francoisandtheatlasmountains.com

www.realestatetheband.com

www.liarsliarsliars.com

Owls

BONG

Vertical Scratchers

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Two [Polyvinyl, 24 Mar]

Stoner Rock [Ritual Productions, 10 Mar]

Daughter of Everything [Merge, 3 Mar]

If the Pixies’ 2003 reunion prompted a tidal wave of excitement, it’s fair to suggest the response to Owls’ return is more akin to a slight ripple. Make no mistake though, for drooling fans of cerebrally whacked-out indie rock, new material from these four gentlemen represents the holy fucking grail. From the lurching rumble that opens Two, it’s noticeable that the proto-‘twinklecore’ guitars of yesteryear feature less prominently this time round; instead Victor Villareal fires off sheets of noxiously addictive noise, especially on the Lungfish-flavoured mantra of Four Works Of Art. There’s still plenty to make fans all doe-eyed though – I’ll Never Be sees Tim Kinsella mithering melodiously over a vertiginous math-inflected groove, while I’m Surprised applies their template to a newfound proclivity towards pop. “We’ve never had nice stuff,” Tim complains, but of course, it ain’t what you got, it’s what you do with it. In that respect, Owls are a genuine force for good. [Will Fitzpatrick]

BONG have always considered themselves a separate entity from the so-called “stoner rock” scene; their sonic manifesto is less aggressive and direct than most bands gathering together with down-tuned guitars and copious amounts of weed. Comprising of two 35-minute pieces, their fourth full-length seeks to drive that point home. Polaris piles on thick, transcendental guitar tones. Pulsating riffs and bass drones ring out endlessly. It’s twelve minutes before any hint of percussion appears. Shamanistic spoken word parts occasionally rise from the pit of deafening sludge, but, as with BONG’s other work, the name of the game is euphoric repetition, and they’re masters of the art. Out Of The Aeons is more heavily textured than what came before; a shahi baaja can be heard floating around the mix, giving the sounds a tribal edge. The drums are also more active, resulting in a satisfying, slow-paced groove for those who prefer to bang their heads. Slow, ponderous and majestic, this is soul-engulfing stuff. [Ross Watson]

Few garage/indie records employ the lessis-more principle with quite as much commitment and effectiveness as the debut from this LA duo. John Schmersal (guitar and vocals) and Christian Beaulieu (drums) may both have a background in more technically ambitious outfits (Brainiac and Triclops!, respectively), but that has evidently made them perfectly-placed to deploy simplicity and brevity with maximum effectiveness. The fifteen songs that comprise Daughter of Everything have a runtime of 31 minutes, and never deviate from their caustically melodic template. Sonically, Schmersal’s percussive, metallic thrashings evoke Thee Oh Sees’ gleefully overdriven noise, and there’s a similar deceptive complexity in the song structures here: simultaneously familiar and skewed, and twisting the clichés of the genre just enough to make them fresh. With its frenzied mangling of Pavement-style solos together with deft, Kinks-esque twisting chord progressions, Daughter somehow crams more ideas into a half hour than most peers manage over a career. [Sam Wiseman]

www.owlschicago.com

www.bong.bandcamp.com

www.verticalscratchers.com

Review

RECORDS

THE SKINNY

Kevin Drew

Metronomy

Joan as Police Woman

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Darlings [City Slang, 24 Mar] While Darlings is the second solo release from Kevin Drew, it suggests a more focused, determined effort to escape the orbit of that band than was evident on 2007’s Spirit If…. Drew’s debut release was, in fact, more or less a BSS record in all but name, both in terms of personnel and sound; Darlings, conversely, has a weary, frazzled quality, lacking the emotive bombast that colours much of his collaborative work. The tempo does pick up on songs like Bullshit Ballad, on which e-bowed guitar lines shine through a fug of distortion, and on the nostalgic new wave synths and pulsing drum loops of You Gotta Feel It. This is Drew at his most meditative; no bad thing, since beneath the driving rhythms and walls of echoing guitar, he possesses a songwriting ability sometimes drowned out on BSS releases. [Sam Wiseman] www.kevindrewmusic.com

Love Letters [Because Music/Elektra Records, 10 Mar]

Where The English Riviera was a love letter to British seasides, Love Letters is, well, you can guess. The titular track, with a female chorus cooing ‘lo-oove letters’ like The Supremes, has Joe Mount – the hopeless romantic – admitting defeat His penchant for wonky, dated sounds holds true; if the movie Drive was on the Sega Saturn it’d sound like Boy Racers; Monstrous has that jangly toybox harpsichord, and Reservoir hums with the same bittersweet boardwalk vibe heard in TER’s The Look. Is the novelty thinning? Love Letters will be Marmite for many. There’s always an eccentricity to Mount’s compositions; not enough to alienate, but you have to really dig that falsetto (and those catchy/infruriating shoop-doop-doop-ahs on I’m Aquarius) to get into Metronomy. A heartfelt package but it lags behind their last two LPs by a Devonshire mile. [George Sully]

The Classic [PIAS, 10 Mar]

There are times, as on the Motown-fuelled Holy City, a breathless, ribald devotional (“Yeah, I’m ready to get up on your wailing wall!”), when this fourth album from Joan Wasser feels like the natural successor to Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black. When the initial pace shifts from bustling soul-pop to twilight balladry, its distinct tone helps differentiate the pair. The Classic is defined by an intriguingly self-aware optimism. For Wasser, unlike many of Winehouse’s defining moments, love, for now at least, is largely a winning game. Her lyrics remain storied, soulful and true. “And the song that we’re singing seems like it’s always been sung,” she purrs on the slow-burn title track. Here’s an artist we thought we knew, emerging reborn and opening a window on a life that feels deeply, properly lived. She shares it in ever more remarkable fashion. [Gary Kaill]

Jon Porras

The War on Drugs

Polar Bear

rrrrr

Light Divide [Thrill Jockey, 24 Mar] This second offering on Thrill Jockey from Jon Porras (formerly of drone duo Barn Owl) represents something of a departure. Where previous work has used guitar as the fundamental sonic source, Light Divide sees Porras eschew the guitar entirely in favour of electronics. It’s a bold move, and across the five richly-textured soundscapes here, it reveals new depths to his compositional abilities. The shift in Porras’ approach is clear not just in terms of the record’s sonic makeup, but also in the pieces’ loose, abstract structures, and the near-total refusal to adhere to melodic or rhythmic convention. Light Divide consequently places Porras in the company of acts like Tim Hecker and Oneohtrix Point Never, and while it never quite reaches the hallucinatory heights of such peers, it suggests some tantalising connections between this dark, ambient electronica and his guitar-based work. [Sam Wiseman] www.jonporras.com

Lost in the Dream [Secretly Canadian, 17 Mar]

Lost in the Dream may eventually turn out to be the point where The War on Drugs escape references to former member and slacker poster-boy Kurt Vile. While hazy, spaced out Americana remains the link, Adam Granduciel’s band have placed classic seventies tendencies ahead of stoner chic. Building rather nicely on the stomp of 2011 breakthrough Slave Ambient, confident Springsteen-esque rallying calls are added to the likes of Red Eyes, nestling comfortably alongside the feeling that New Jersey’s most famous son would rather enjoy this. Under the Pressure and Disappearing echo some of Lindsay Buckingham’s finest guitar work and at times you could close your eyes and hear Granduciel’s voice become Paul Simon’s. Despite such references, the listener is constantly reminded that this is an expansive modern rock record, stuffed with hooks and a crisp production. Improbably, in 2014 the Philadelphians are carving a niche of their own. [Stu Lewis]

Stanley Brinks and the Wave Pictures

Gin [Fika Recordings, 3 Mar]

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Named after the drink that fuelled its recording, Stanley Brinks’ third collaboration with The Wave Pictures is a somewhat untidy collection that in its best stretches offers up raw bursts of inspiration, but with the odd off-moment elsewhere to suggest time at the bar might have been better spent at the drawing board. Admittedly, the threshold between messy brilliance and just plain messy is a difficult one to pinpoint with regards an artist like Brinks, who since departing Herman Dune has generated scores of albums with near absolute autonomy, any frayed edges contributing to his appeal. Nonetheless, when a song falls as flat as Spinola Bay does here, it’s difficult not to yearn for a more discerning and incisive approach. Luckily, the rest of Gin exercises its creator’s idiosyncrasies more successfully, and, as on their previous two secondments, The Wave Pictures prove nicely suited to the record’s loose, improvisational style. [Chris Buckle]

www.polarbearmusic.com

Future Islands

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The Take Off and Landing of Everything [Fiction, 10 Mar] “Was the universe in rehearsal?” wonders Guy Garvey on opener The World is Blue. Clocking at nearly eight minutes and ghosting to a string-driven coda, it sets the tone for much of Elbow’s sixth album. There is scant departure from the sparse palette of predecessor Build a Rocket Boys!, Garvey’s romantic wanderings, those sidelong observations of life in unfaltering close-up, supported by pulsing, minimal percussion and a wash of strings and keyboards. The skiffle jaunt of Fly Boy Blue is the only shift away from that default mode, the arms-aloft reach of New York Morning the only properly robust anthem. A chill, reserved work that cries out for more melody, more drama, The Take Off and Landing of Everything makes good on only a portion of its title. Resolutely sticking to the template, it rarely ascends. It's frustratingly earth-bound, and while you suspect that Elbow’s arena-filling fan-base will lap up more of the same, coasting of this type is as odd as it is unbecoming. [Gary Kaill] www.elbow.co.uk

Singles [4AD, 24 Mar]

This Baltimore-based new wave/synthpop trio are now on their fourth full-length, and have been through nearly as many record labels: this, their 4AD debut, follows releases on Thrill Jockey and Upset The Rhythm. That rootlessness should not, however, be taken to reflect a band unsure of their identity; Singles is an impressively assured record, particularly in terms of its robust, coherent sonic palette, which layers ebbing synth chords and delicate guitar lines over an infectious, driving rhythm section. They’re at their alluring, reflective best on songs like Light House, which manages to be both melancholy and hopelessly catchy. While the taut bass and occasionally cutesy synth lines might bring to mind peers like Metronomy, there’s a Bowie-esque power to Samuel T. Herring’s vocals, which raises Future Islands above most new wave revivalists of recent times. It suggests, too, that this previously transient outfit have found a comfortable home on 4AD. [Sam Wiseman] www.future-islands.com

Withered Hand

Sudden Death of Stars

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With a title that near-anagrams its 2009 precursor Good News, New Gods sees Withered Hand (aka Edinburgh-based songwriter Dan Willson) gently shuffle aspects of his sound around, producing an album that’s distinct from yet recognisably connected to what came before. Production choices inspire the most noticeable alterations, with markedly more polish and a plethora of radio-friendly touches imparted by time in a “proper studio” with producer Tony Doogan. It’s a shift that provokes mixed feelings. On opener Horseshoe, amongst others, it helps the material soar, urging you to sing along with the lyrical sucker punches. But elsewhere the shininess risks diminishing Willson’s individualism, threatening to draw attention away from the subtlety, intimacy and endearing awkwardness that typically flavours his songwriting. But that’s a minor complaint: throughout, New Gods affirms Willson’s superlative abilities, with highlights ranging from the airport insecurities of Love Over Desire to the communal courage expressed in closer Not Alone. [Chris Buckle]

While Peepers was hardly an uncomplicated affair, Polar Bear’s fifth album sees Seb Roachford and company pushing their envelope further. Their iconoclastic sound remains rooted in jazz, but with musical stolons creeping their way into all sorts of testing territories. The range of contrasting dynamics is staggering: on amorphous opener Open See, a bubbling ambience intermittently gives way to alien whale song; on Be Free, fluttering sax tickles the synapses while erratic electronics mischievously throws things cock-a-hoop; on Life and Life, cymbals shatter and hiss till they build to an almighty racket; and on Maliana, primal polyrhythms fade in and out, restoring the metre when the rest of the components threaten to get too abstract. If that sounds a little exhausting then that’s because, consumed uninterrupted, it kind of is. But it’s also strikingly adventurous and sharp-minded, and therefore fully worth the commitment. [Chris Buckle]

Elbow

www.stanleybrinks.bandcamp.com

New Gods [Fortuna POP!, 10 Mar]

In Each and Every One [The Leaf Label, 24 Mar]

All Unrevealed Parts of the Unknown [Ample Play, 10 Mar] Everything the Sudden Death of Stars do is not so much tinged but teeming with a sepia tone. The Rennes sextet exist in that increasingly inclusive realm of psych-pop but All Unrevealed Parts of the Unknown, their debut for the achingly hip Ample Play Records, sounds more of a homage to the bands influenced by psychedelia and garage rather than the source itself. Accordingly, standout track Over The Top boasts guitar arpeggios and duelling solos like Television on fast forward; Why Won’t You Try features murmured vocals hidden beneath the shimmering guitars à la the Feelies and the whole thing is punctuated by organ trills and stabs, sitar detours and – when you do get to hear him – a curiously mannered, English-accented lead vocalist, rather like how Eno half sang, half spoke on his early solo albums. The album is hypnotic and often glorious; the melodies do blend into each other after a while but this is no bad thing, All Unrevealed Parts of the Unknown is a warm and joyous evocation of an ersatz era. [Colm McAuliffe]

The Top Five 1 2 3 4 5

Trust

Joyland

The War on Drugs

Lost in the Dream

Liars

Mess

Carla Bozulich

Boy

Vertical Scratchers

Daughter of Everything

www.facebook.com/suddendeathofstars

March 2014

RECORDS

Review

Forest Swords + Gnod

audience (“So…who likes zombies?”) helps turn 90 minutes of extended instrumentals into a rrrrr potent, boisterous event. The set includes key “And on keyboards… Claudio Simonetti!” Not works from their non-film output as well as the many musicians would finish their band introclassic horror themes this partisan crowd exductions by then introducing themselves, but pects. Dawn of the Dead, Zombi (Zombie Flesh then, Claudio Simonetti is no ordinary musiEaters), Tenebrae and Suspiria are all played out cian. After all, for this rare UK tour, the band against a backdrop of scenes from those films. in-fighting that has plagued him for decades has For once, it helps to get up close, where the blur forced Simonetti to rebrand accordingly, with of Simonetti’s fingers and the musicianship of the Goblin name currently claimed by fellow drummer Titta Tani, guitarist Bruno Previtali and, founder member Massimo Morante. The hardcore in particular, bassist Federico Amorosi, is somevote with their feet regardless, turning out in thing to behold. Simonetti’s 62 now, but he carnumbers for a chance to hear the music that saw ries himself with an infectiously youthful swagger. the Italian troupe, largely through their work for “You are a great, great audience, Manchester!” he Giallo master Dario Argento in the 70s and 80s, says as the band return for an encore of perhaps become the cineaste’s prog rock act of choice. their finest moment, the theme from Profondo To Simonetti’s credit, it’s a self-deprecating Rosso. In every sense of the word, bloody brilbonhomie, rather than ego, that fires his onstage liant. [Gary Kaill] persona, and his interplay with both band and Gorilla, Manchester, 26 Feb

The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 8 Feb

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Wirralite producer and occasional graphic designer Forest Swords – Matthew Barnes to his mum – hasn’t fitted in a home city gig for this tour, what with supporting Mogwai in Europe and an upcoming appearance at ATP Iceland in July. Instead, Liverpudlian friends and fans have had to travel to Manchester. The Deaf Institute fills with Scouse accents wondering why he can’t just play at The Kazimier. Fingers are scrolling through the National Rail app to check the last train back to Liverpool. Gnod support, attempting to wrench open the universe using a psych-rock saxophone. The Salford collective have a shifting line-up, but their constant is intriguing space jams. Across 30 minutes they grind through one riff, repeating and expanding and exploring, leaving the room vibrating like your internal organs after a dubious fairground ride. But Swords is tonight’s main attraction. The downtempo dub of 2010’s debut album

Dagger Paths was beloved by Pitchfork, and caused tears to be spilled by Vice – more recently, Barnes has snuggled into the stable of Tri Angle Records, alongside acts such as Manchester-based producer Holy Other. Second LP Engravings appeared last summer, as fragile and beautiful as a fledging preparing to fly. Onstage, Barnes stoops over samplers and synths, while James Binary adds some bass (and an impressive beard). As with the dry synth-claps and (over)processed vocals of Purity Ring, Forest Swords takes inspiration from R&B and hip-hop – but this is also intensely personal. From the looped, breathy flute of Thor’s Stone to the gauzy guitars of Miarches, Forest Swords sounds like a lonely walk through the Wirral mist. Out of the bedroom, such inward-looking sounds often fail to translate to a live setting. But Forest Swords succeeds, as his music for introverts also brings the introverts together. Tonight, they have congregated here – and, with cans of warming cider, stood together, enthralled. [Jacky Hall]

Pharoahe Monch

The Kazimier, Liverpool, 19 Feb

Warpaint

O2 Academy, Liverpool, 20 Feb

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“Ok, this next song is a cover,” says Warpaint’s Theresa Wayman with the artifice of a giddy high school prankster. “Yeah, just to be clear, this is definitely not one of our songs,” adds Emily Kokal matter-of-factly, before demurely rolling her eyes and strumming the first lolloping chords of the Californian four-piece’s hymn to Nirvana’s Polly, Undertow. More esoteric in-joke than icy wit, the all-girl group will have to do better than spout misleading bons mots to throw off the salivating, heaving crowd sardined into Liverpool’s O2 Academy. “I love you, Stellarrr,” shouts one beer-swilling admirer of drummer Stella Mozgawa. “I love you too, dad,” she replies, tongue firmly planted in one cheek. The tone of this exchange soon dissipates, though, as it makes way for the opening percussive coda of Keep It Healthy, proving tonight’s show is more than just an uncensored forum for inappropriate banter and creepy amorous advances.

Review

Make no mistake, however: this is a love-in for Warpaint’s syrupy melodies and slow-core revisionism, and at no point during a set that’s smattered with cuts from their self-titled second LP is the misogyny proportionate to the merits of the music. More often than not, they hit the solemn sweet spot, as on the brooding Moog swag of Biggy, or the quasi-hip-hop canter of Hi, where the tropes of production bedfellows Nigel Godrich and Flood can be found seared across their surface. Half the room already know all the words, but a good mix of older stuff, including Composure, Bees and Motown re-work Billie Holiday, does enough to placate fans of The Fool. “Like cyanide, we’re poison, we’ll eat you alive,” they sing collectively on Disco/Very, warding off potential suitors with sharp-tongued abandon atop a slinky R&B beat. This could – neigh, should – be the apex, but it isn’t, for what follows is the brilliant Elephant: a ballsdeep Sonic Youth freak-out as sung by a Rachel Goswell. Everyone leaves feeling like they’ve had a sugar rush after waking from a quick nap. [Joshua Nevett]

Photo: Marie Hazelwood

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Swaggering onstage, bottle of whisky in hand, Pharoahe Monch embraces a room of party revellers and launches into Damage, the lead from his upcoming PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) album, before unleashing Organized Konfusion material, banging out verses from Stress. (Support comes from Boogie Blind, one of the new-school representatives of the X-Ecutioners, and the chemistry between the two onstage is palpable, Boogie successfully raising the energy levels before Monch’s entrance with a stream of classics – and, midway through Monch’s show, he takes centre stage, showcasing his own impressive turntable skills.) Monch intersperses his performance with

Tera Melos

The Kazimier, Liverpool, 3 Feb

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11.30pm: we are exhausted. And it’s not just due to the lateness of the hour – Tera Melos’ synapse-tangling assault is both brutal and complex, pulverising all thoughts with serrated rhythms and gut-trembling volume. Nick Reinhart’s guitar loops and distorted effects fracture our understanding of what’s going on even as drummer John Clardy pounds our eardrums into mulch. It’s only now, immediately after the nerve-fraying waves of noise have finally subsided, that we begin to make sense of what just happened. See, underneath all those stop-start intricacies and swathes of virtuosic brilliance, this Sacramento trio have a secret: they really like pop songs. OK, there are no X Factor-friendly floorfillers here, but the angelic sighs of Bite owe much to My Bloody Valentine’s fog-headed

MUSIC

opinions on the current state of hip-hop commercialisation, and the inequality suffered at the hands of the police. “There is injustice in New York, Liverpool and all over the world,” he preaches to captivated fans, before delivering an anti-authority mashup of NWA and KRS-One. He marches enthusiastically through tracks, performing older songs, and the Jill Scott-backed Still Standing (written about his struggle with asthma), as if he’d just released them yesterday. Homage is also paid to the late Nate Dogg as he drops his verse from their collaboration Oh No. New single Bad MF is met with chants of approval from the crowd – Monch is without a doubt one of the old school MCs, whose artistic energy, lyrical prowess and dexterity shines through in his live performance. [Natasha Linford] melodies, while Tropic Lame furiously boots a Dinosaur Jr-esque riff towards a logically breezy conclusion: mosh-friendly noisepop with an addictive crunch. Slowly, it begins to dawn on us: this is no dense post-rock enigma! It’s a party! Albeit one that very occasionally sounds like 20 chainsaws being raked across metal railings. Or it does, at least, until the second half, which dwells more on the band’s earlier, mathier work, sending jaws hurtling towards floors and leaving us utterly defeated by the thrilling cacophony. “Tell us a story!” shouts one wag during a tuning break. “We don’t know any fucking stories,” Reinhart replies, before affecting a mock-bro-dude slouch and grinning. “Our music is our story, maaan!” The late finish means that the room is half-empty before the tale reaches a shuddering climax – but the survivors head home with ears ringing and hearts swollen. Tera Melos will break you, and you’ll love it. [Will Fitzpatrick]

THE SKINNY

Photo: Stuart Moulding

Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin

RNCM Skinny quarter March 14 AW.pdf

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Maximo Park Saturday 15th Sex Pistols Experience Saturday 15th Space & Republica Thursday 20th NME Awards Tour 2014 with Austin, Texas: Interpol + Temples + Royal Blood + Circa Waves Thursday 20th Quadrophenia Night Friday 21st Ian Prowse & Amsterdam Friday 21st Heaven’s Basement Saturday 22nd

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manchesteracademy.net

19/4/2014 - £16

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Transmission – The Sounds Of Joy Division Saturday 22nd Bonafide Wednesday 26th Azealia Banks Wednesday 26th Jack Savoretti Thursday 27th Loveable Rogues Friday 28th Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank (TGT) Friday 28th

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The Stranglers Saturday 29th

APRIL Hopsin Tuesday 1st Emblem3 Thursday 3rd Therapy? Thursday 3rd Deaf Havana Saturday 5th Bipolar Sunshine Saturday 5th Mentallica vs Megadeth UK Saturday 5th Riverside Sunday 6th Devildriver Wednesday 9th The Wildhearts Thursday 10th Hue & Cry Thursday 10th Memphis May Fire Friday 11th UB40 Saturday 12th Penetration Saturday 12th Gallon Drunk Tuesday 15th

CMY

Augustines Wednesday 16th Kvelertak Monday 21st

Brody Dalle Tuesday 22nd The Temperance Movement Wednesday 23rd Clutch Thursday 24th Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats Thursday 24th Jace Everett with band Friday 25th Patent Pending + People On Vacation Friday 25th The Smiths Ltd – The UK’s No.1 Smiths Tribute Saturday 26th John Butler Trio Sunday 27th Blood Red Shoes Monday 28th

MAY De La Soul Friday 2nd Northside Saturday 3rd Janelle Monae Wednesday 7th Martin Stephenson & The Daintees Thursday 8th Jagwar Ma Saturday 10th The Clone Roses Saturday 10th Action Bronson Monday 12th Pentatonix Tuesday 13th Lit Wednesday 14th Capone-N-Noreaga & Onyx Saturday 17th Goldfinger/Zebrahead Thursday 22nd Swans Thursday 22nd The War On Drugs Wednesday 28th AWOLNATION Thursday 29th Francis Dunnery Band Friday 30th May

JUNE Schoolboy Q Sunday 1st The Polyphonic Spree Saturday 7th Jurassic 5 Thursday 19th

For full listings visit manchesteracademy.net

March 2014

43 SKINNY.61x314.Master.indd 1

25/02/2014 15:20

25/02/2014

Under the Influence: Jimi Goodwin

East India Youth

Photo: Adam Edwards

As Doves frontman Jimi Goodwin prepares to finally strike out on his own with Odludek this month, the noted dub disciple preaches on ten treasured riddims

East India Youth

But despite Doyle’s gawkishness, opener Dripping Down demands stadium revelry from rrrrr the onset, gravitating the bleary-eyed front row When East India Youth’s William Doyle leans non- with a crackle of energy and flashes of melodic chalantly against a stack of speakers at Korova, nuance. A lot of retro-modernistic software the indifference with which he endures wave hermits have this fuck-awful habit of relieving a after wave of support act Jupiter-C’s skull-crum- live performance of its potency. Doyle does no bling feedback could be mistaken for apathy. It such thing, writhing around on a stamp’s worth isn’t, of course. And it’s not just the multi-instru- of space like a hostile Hendry Spencer in a violent mentalist’s songs of – to steal his album title – confrontation with a belligerent synthesiser. ‘total strife forever’ moulded on to a Baroque-era If Looking for Someone and Heaven, How Brian Eno that give this impression, either. It’s Long are to be Doyle’s breakthrough mainstream the passivity with which he faces tonight’s near moments, then Song for a Granular Piano and full-capacity and massively expectant crowd. Hinterland are his most esoteric. This final backThis isn’t the heady fanfare of Factory Floor’s UK to-back assault sees a crack-addled Philip Glass tour, on which he cut his teeth. It isn’t even the meet Aphex Twin in a Panorama Bar lock-in for Kazimier, the venue in which Doyle last wrung the a last-gasp round of tequilas. Both versions are neck of his bass guitar on Merseyside as the sup- loud, effortlessly cool and totally original. When porting act on said tour. It’s a peepshow view into the wig-outs are this good, who needs charisma? the world of 2014’s most venerated miserablist – A wall of noise will do just fine. [Joshua Nevett] and Korova is his polluted goldfish bowl. Korova, Liverpool, 1 Feb

Jimi Goodwin

1. Jackie Mittoo – A Big Car (1970) Jackie Mittoo was the keyboard player in The Skatalites and was also the musical director of Clement Coxone Dodd’s legendary Studio One Records in Jamaica. I first heard this on a Stones throw Records live podcast by Beat Junkie DJ J Rocc. He played Give Me a Little Sign by Owen Gray – another classic – and then mixed into this. It worked so well, genius mixing! This is a beautiful swirling Hammond number. It’s so spiritual!

Ezra Furman

Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 11 Feb

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With a line-up like tonight’s you could have wagered the house on a packed basement early doors and come out on top. Local enfant terrible Kiran Leonard, still riding high on the success of his acclaimed record, Bowler Hat Soup, is on pre9pm. and that’s merely the amuse-bouche. Nevertheless, America’s Ezra Furman is the real talking point following the success of 2013’s LP, Day of the Dog. With his and his band’s transition from relative unknowns in Britain to rock’n’roll mainstays of the 6 Music playlist complete, this, as one of their first ever UK shows, is a testing ground. Based on that album, the experience should be like watching the bastard offspring of Jim Jones in a booze-fuelled,

Review

ivory-bashing, six-string-thrashing frenzy – but can they match those somewhat ludicrous expectations? In three words: yes, sort of. Familiar opener I Wanna Destroy Myself – first track on said LP – is the perfect statement of intent, a huge amalgamation of distorted riffs, drum crescendos and propellant rhythms; Furman de-robing to reveal a bizarre leopard-print vest gives the midweek date an early-hours-Saturday-morning ambience. I Killed Myself But I Didn’t Die, one of the troupe’s older tunes, invokes euphoria and melancholy with its needle-in-the-eye take on balladry, and bears the mark of an anthem performed with blood and sweat. To put it more succinctly, the four-piece are welcome back any time. [Martin Guttridge-Hewitt]

Photo: Leah Henson

2. The Slickers – Johnny Too Bad (1972) ‘Walking down the road with a pistol at your waist, Johnny you’re too bad.’ You have to mess up bad to spoil an opening line like that. I first heard this on the soundtrack to the film The Harder They Come. One of the great outlaw songs. 3. Lynton Kwesi Johnson – Sonny’s Lettah [Anti Sus Poem] (1979) Recited in the form of a letter from a son to his mother, explaining how while defending his little brother from the bullying of racist police they’ve ended up in prison. A brilliant plot device and way to tell a story in song. Lynton Kwesi Johnson is a fantastic, gifted poet. 4. Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari – Four Hundred Years (1973) ‘Four hundred years of colonial rape...’ Another heavy opening line. This is a powerful, stark lesson in colonialism. Heavy Rasta Niyabinghi drumming and elements of jazz in the bass, trombones and saxophone. This is folk music, Jamaican style. 5. The Dubwood Allstars – Under Dubwood (2012) Straight out o’ Northenden, South Manchester – back a’ yard! This is inspired Garageband dub. King Tubby meets Dylan Thomas and Richard Burton under the Dubwood tree. Only me and a handful of people know who the Dubwood Allstars actually are, and I ain’t tellin!

MUSIC

6. Michigan and Smiley – Diseases (1982) Based on the classic Alton Ellis mad mad mad rhythm used on so many great records. I love the way reggae reinvents and appropriates grooves for new times. This is classic dancehall from the early 1980s. The lyrics are hilarious – a confusion of bible quotes and rampant sexism. It’s all just playful wordplay though and mostly tongue-incheek, I think?! 7. Dillinger – Cocaine in My Brain (1978) I heard this when I was about 12 and it blew me away. It sounds dangerous. All of the songs I’ve picked here seem to have powerful, brilliant lyrics. ‘Hey Jim! Jim! Just a minute y’all! No matter how I treat my guests, they always like my kitchen best.’ Yes! 8. John Holt – Ali Baba (1973) Oh boy – this groove spawned so many crazy versions, including the Dubwood Allstars above. The Ali Baba riddim! The King Tubby meets Augustus Pablo dub that spawned ‘em all, including Dr. Alimentado and Jah Stitch’s I Killed the Barber – a mythical joke war against Kingston Barbers who were after rastas’ hair. It’s so joyous and playful and free. 9. Prince Far I – Bedward the Flying Preacher (2003) Adrian Sherwood’s On U Sound Label put out this fantastic cut on dub supergroup Singers & Players’ album Staggering Heights. Deep dark dub based on the the true story of a Jamaican preacher called Alexander Bedward. This sounds so mystical and otherworldly to me. 10. Beres Hammond – I Could Beat Myself [Real Rock Riddim] (1994) From the opening ‘Ooh lord, I’m hurting,’ this is aching, soulful stuff. Beres Hammond with this dancehall classic playing over the real rock riddim. Odludek is released on 24 Mar via Heavenly Records. www.jimigoodwin.com

THE SKINNY

Behind the Scenes: Hustle Interview: Jake Hulyer Illustration: Verbals Picks

A healthy respect for tradition rather than trendiness keeps Liverpool’s Hustle in quality DJs

ou need only glance at the slew of Jerseyinspired releases and re-issues over recent years to realise that 90s-style house is experiencing something of a revival. One of the beneficiaries of this renewed popularity is Liverpool’s blossoming clubnight Hustle, who have been quietly gaining a loyal following from their now-established abode in the Shipping Forecast basement. That’s mainly thanks to the consistent quality of disco and house acts spinning at their nights, many of whom would have undoubtedly bypassed Merseyside otherwise. Founded in 2006, at the helm of Hustle is James Morgan, who is eager to explain how a desire to provide something different forced him to set up the night: “A lot of the stuff at that time was quite tech-y and lacked any kind of soul,” he recalls. “There may have been a few people putting on nights here and there with that sort of slant, but nothing regular. We haven’t really changed what we’ve been doing in that time, we’ve just grown from a humble party to a slightly bigger event, with that Jersey sound becoming increasingly popular in parallel.” There’s a keen sense that Morgan – along with fellow residents RoBaSca and Jimmy Allen – derives success from a commitment to playing what comes naturally. “It’s not that we’ve suddenly started playing loads of 90s-style house;

it’s always been an element of what we do. I DJ myself and have always played upfront stuff, but with the classics sprinkled through just because, for me, you have to have that mix.” Allied with this simple approach is an attention to detail and respect for tradition – they make good use of a rotary mixer, as well as an isolator, something usually only found when cats like Theo Parrish request it as part of their rider. “They are only little details, but important to our aesthetic. And they’re also principles guided by the type of DJs I look up to – people in New York like Danny Krivit, Joe Claussell, ‘Lil’ Louie Vega and the like. We aim to keep a bit of tradition, rather than committing to whatever’s trendy at the time.” Morgan believes that this desire to get the basics right is what has allowed the night to grow organically, providing Hustle with a steadily growing core of regular punters. “What makes us stand out is the quality of the product, I think. It’s not about booking a big name who’s known to be a decent producer but who turns out to be a shit DJ. We make absolutely sure that the acts we book deliver on the decks.” Indeed, he cites his own unfortunate past experiences in putting on sizeable events as one of the reasons for how they do things now: “Having lost large sums of money here and there,

I’ve tried not to make that mistake of getting too ahead of myself.” Their steady progression is clear when you look how the night has grown from the 80-strong capacity at 40 Seel St, to their current base at The Shipping Forecast. Quizzed about the possibility of starting a label, Morgan reinforces his belief in the overarching importance of quality. “Starting a label is something we’ve discussed but I don’t want to try and do it myself when I don’t have the background in that area. I’d like to do it right, and make sure I do it with the correct

people on board, at a time when I’m ready.” With an ethos of meticulously realised quality, Morgan and co are moving at their own pace, always nodding to tradition in both the mix and in the finer details of their setup. The fact is that they pay unerring respect to the clubbing heritage that informs their sound, and – among the throngs of ego-centric, haphazard nights popping up every month – that’s more than enough. Hustle presents Gerd aka NY Stomp, 15 Mar, Delano Smith, 28 Mar, and Tony Lionni, 12 Apr, The Shipping Forecast, Liverpool

DJ Chart: Leon Vynehall Returning this month with an unreal seven track collection on Martyn’s 3024 imprint, the Brightonbased beatsmith is firing on all cylinders right now Interview: Daniel Jones

itle-wise, Leon Vynehall’s upcoming Music for the Uninvited is a nod to disco culture, Harlem ballroom and other provocative subcultures. The content is something else, though. For a start, Inside the Deku Tree is easily the most hair-raising opener of the year – a wash of strings rise and fall, leading into the deeper fathoms of Be Brave Clench Fists and Pier Children. The whole thing oozes lo-fi majesty, underpinned by impeccable sampling. It takes less than five minutes to label this as a serious must-have. Here, though, he donates 11 situational tracks from across the board, providing an insight into the various musical systems – past and present – at play in that talented head of his.

song. It was the central point of my musical education growing up. It genuinely means a lot to me. Pure bliss. I was always fascinated by the ending. ‘How is he talking so fast?’ I’d think. Now I just imagine DJ Shadow furiously hitting his MPC.

Aim – Journey to the End of the Night [Grand Central] I could pick any track from Aim’s Cold Water Music as a great influence on me. Many songs from this album were on my mum’s mix tapes. It’s still one of her favourite records and it resonates with me more than any other record will. I’ve chosen this song in particular for its wonderful melodies. They’re almost ethereal, haunting. So haunting, in fact, that it made me quite comfortable to listen to when i was younger. Now, it brings me to near ecstasy.

Lowell Fulsom – Tramp [Kent] Another memorable fixture of my journeys to and from school. A cool, effortless track with some serious guitar licks. I love the attitude to the lyrics. The ultimate ‘up yours’ to people trying to put you down.

DJ Shadow – Midnight in a Perfect World [Mo Wax] I have trouble explaining how I feel about this

March 2014

Man Parrish – Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don’t Stop) [Polydor] I guess this (and Afrika Bambaataa’s Planet Rock) was the first piece of dance music I was introduced to. It sounded like music for the future, a groove from a distant galaxy. It still does. I’ve been trying to recreate those synth sounds for a long time. I’ve even sampled the ‘Hey!’ vocal from it.

Mr Scruff – Jazz Potato [Ninja Tune] Because all these songs were on a mix cassette, I didn’t actually know the name of this track until years after when I discovered Mr Scruff properly in my teens. There were a few other Scruff cuts on the cassettes and I cherish every single one. Infectious grooves and melodies is something he does superbly and has undeniably bled into my musical DNA.

Leon Vynehall

Steve Kuhn – The Meaning Of Love [Buddah] Quite often, I’ll put this song on while I’m making coffee and breakfast in the morning. Even though its lyrical content is very sad, it still has an ability to feel joyous and cleansing. His voice is so emotive, and I love the way the strings copy his vocal melody in the chorus. I wanted this sound for the strings in Inside The Deku Tree.

friend Matt drove to a drive-thru for lunch. I parked up, wound the windows down, put a King Tubby compilation on and we ate our food. After that we fell asleep in the sun and woke up an hour later, missing the afternoon lecture. This happened quite a lot.

King Tubby – Roots of Dub [Blue Moon Productions] One summer afternoon at college, me and my

Leon Vynehall’s Music for the Uninvited is out 17 Mar on 3024

The Streets – Weak Become Heroes [Locked On] When I first heard The Streets, I had no idea Pépé Bradock – Un Pépé Dans La Dentelle [Kif] I came across Mark Farina’s Mushroom Jazz mixes what to make of it. ‘What is it? Is it garage? Is this in my late teens while at college, around the same house? Grime?’ I soon realised I didn’t give a shit what it was, I just knew that I loved it. This song time I began to look into hip hop a lot more. It was through this that I discovered Pépé Bradock. in particular. I had just started going clubbing His incredible talent for flipping samples is some- when I first heard this and the lyrics still ring so true – “Where you from, what’s your name and thing I greatly admire and look up to. what you on?” Big L – All Black [Columbia] Liquid Liquid – Optimo [99 Records] At 17, I passed my driving test. This meant I was the taxi for my friends at college. Big L’s Lifestylez As a young teen I was in a lot of bands. I think Liquid Liquid sort of sum up what kind of bands ov da Poor & Dangerous was always in my car I was in over those years. That post-punk/dance and whenever All Black came on, we’d all rap the hybrid. I was a drummer and this song is so much verses. We must have looked like idiots... no one fun to play. can match Big L’s flow. No one.

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www.soundcloud.com/vynehall

Preview

Restless Soul

Chameleonic crate-digger Willie Burns on the paranormal powers that help him keep his second-hand store stocked, and the idea that there really are only two types of music – good, and bad

Interview: John Thorp

Willie Burns

ou probably know William T. Burnett best as Willie Burns. Or perhaps DJ Speculator, or Grackle, or even Black Deer. It all depends on which slice of his expansive one-man universe you’re tuned into. While many producers and DJs trumpet their supposedly eclectic tastes and listening habits with an enthusiasm not necessarily reflected in substance, Burns digs crates like his life depends on it. In a way, as a full-time resident of relentless New York City and a fulltime employee of Brooklyn’s second-hand store The Thing, it does. Although Burns is an adept club DJ, his label – WT Records – regularly veers away to the edge of the dancefloor before pulling you back in again. With Ex Vivian, Burnett assisted in producing a lo-fi folk record that recalls Mazzy Star, while the likes of the DJ Muscle series deliver charges of African rhythm and acid in equal measure. “I think it goes back to one principle. There is good music and bad music. Or maybe I should say music I like or don’t like. I just try to put out stuff I like. Simple as that,” says Burns, acknowledging that WT Records is very much a personal endeavour. “I grew up listening to all types of music. Punk, gangster rap, new wave and even country. Music is music, and my work at The Thing is just an extension of that. I just listen to what I don’t know. I think any label should have a sound and vision. If there is one person in charge then it’s pretty easy to stay on course... even if you don’t know what that course is.” As well as maintaining his own label as both a vinyl and digital endeavour, Burnett has always been keen to ensure that WT Records remains a showcase for emerging and undiscovered talent rather than his own productions. In the past few years alone, Willie Burns material

March 2014

has instead landed in original or remix form on labels as diverse as The Trilogy Tapes, Crème Organization and Phantasy; a go-to for those seeking offbeat work that can still slay a dance floor. Using the taste of other label bosses may be a good indicator of quality, but for a man regularly consuming the amount of music Burnett does, the question of quality control always looms large. At what point is a Willie Burns production ready for pressing?

“I think if you do something long enough and you care about it, it’s supposed to work itself out” Willie Burns

“I’m really not sure. I think I’m even starting to doubt my process, or at least overthink it,” admits Burnett, with typical honesty. “I try to first find something I like, then I kind of check the surroundings and, if it feels good, then I just do it. I’m going slower lately to make sure I don’t put out anything I don’t like. There are so many labels and new records that shouldn’t even be pressed these days. I don’t want to add more to the pile.”

An inspiring internet clip recently saw Burnett jamming away on a relatively ancient SP-12, producing a potentially certified house anthem in just a few moments, while utilising a variety of recently unearthed samples from his days digging. But despite his individual production prowess, Burnett is also a keen collaborator, simply because working together “is just more fun.” He is an occasional but longstanding collaborator with Legowelt, the Dutch producer and DJ perhaps most known for far reaching, alternative house of a rawer nature. He, incidentally, is one of the few people with more aliases than Burnett himself. “He did everything. I just sat on the couch,” Burnett earnestly reveals when pressed for an insight into their shared creative process. Burnett first met Legowelt, aka Danny Wolfers, around the turn of the millennium, when he assisted in booking tours throughout the US for Wolfers and his gang of squat punks. It’s perhaps his years on the fringes of alternative culture that contribute to his easy demeanour and attitude. He’ll be joined at his upcoming date at Soup Kitchen by Crème Organization’s DJ TLR, who is responsible for some of Burnett’s first releases, as Galaxy Toobin’. Musically, the pair make strong bedfellows, together fitting within the well-documented and perhaps somewhat fabricated world of ‘outsider house’; uneasily described as personality driven and comparatively lo-fi dance music that exists a world away from the stabbing, relentless sheen of current mainstream club music. It’s a position achieved admirably, without radically altering anything in terms of approach or vision. “I’ve known Jeroen (TLR) through the highs and lows, and yeah, since it’s a bit of a high now,

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may as well go to where the market demands and make a few bucks,” Burnett muses. “I think if you do something long enough and you care about it, it’s supposed to work itself out. And that seems to be happening for my homeboy too.” Burnett might be refreshingly unambitious in the traditional sense of a modern DJ, but his own work is regularly thrilling in its individualism. As Black Deer, for LIES and Emotional Response, he has blended a surprisingly raw folk influence with jackin’ Chicago vibes and melancholy-tinged soundscapes with enviable ease. His latest EP as Willie Burns, Tab of Acid, is already a sell out on London’s much feted Trilogy Tapes imprint. And his weekly show on Brooklyn’s Newtown Radio offers a unique glimpse into his ever-expanding record collection, as well as a good regular gig for a reluctant traveller in his ultra laid-back style. It’s a rampant schedule, and Burnett has even forfeited his long-time job as a swimming instructor to keep up, focusing on a new studio and new gear. But it’s within the borderline-mythical environment of The Thing in which Burnett seems most at ease; as well as records, the store takes second-hand everything. He has said in the past it’s possible to envision an item and for a good citizen to bring it in at his demand. How has he tapped into the quasi-mystic powers of this unassuming local store? “Are you asking me if I have special powers? If so, the answer is yes. And I’m not elaborating,” jokes Burnett. “But the truth is, it’s a record graveyard. It’s where records go to die. Sometimes they come back to life.” Willie Burns plays Soup Kitchen, Manchester, alongside TLR, Sat 22 Mar

Preview

Clubbing Highlights March brings another smattering of quality acts including Mathias Kaden for mUmU in Liverpool, and a fifth birthday bash for Zutekh! in Manchester with Midland and Trevino. And then, of course, there's Bugged Out... Words: Martin Guttridge-Hewitt Illustration: Rachel Davey

ritain’s first significant dance festival of the year now looms large in the shape of Bugged Out! at Pontins, Southport – and there are enough options elsewhere to make compiling this month’s Highlights akin to a maths test. If 15 nights stand out during the next four weeks, how many can you reference in under 1000 words? Thankfully, liquor, perseverance and a deadline helped these difficult decisions – so without further ado we commence with a midweek bash in Manchester. On 6 Mar, Bank & Mekka have Fantastic Mr. Fox down for the night at Odder (£3-£7). The wunderkind, originally from Wolverhampton, will hopefully bring a repertoire of well-produced records along for the ride, showcasing his penchant for modern, samplefuelled, floor-focused beats as previously betrayed via releases on labels such as Black Acre and while on tour with The xx. Bugged Out’s now infamous Weekender then takes over Pontins in Southport, Merseyside, running 7-9 Mar. Prices vary, tickets are still available, and we recommend getting involved if you’re not already, not least as it’s within spitting distance. Needless to say, much holiday park tomfoolery will be on display, alongside sets from Carl Craig, Andrew Weatherall, Daniel Avery, Dusky, Éclair Fifi, George Fitzgerald, Green Velvet, Paul Woolford, Kölsch and some bloke called Sasha, to name but a few. Given that this year marks Bugged Out!’s 20th anniversary, and in light of Britain’s ice cream at the seaside obligations, it’s likely to get messy. If chalets and go-karts aren’t for you then fear not. Chibuku is putting faith in Bondax, Bicep, Paul Woolford, Ben Damage and Ejeca on 7 Mar for new-school noises at East Village Arts Club in Liverpool (£15). Meanwhile, having resumed monthly Friday activity not so long ago after a hiatus involving Sunday soirees in summer and Croatian boat parties, Manchester crew Zutekh! celebrate five years in the game, also on 7 Mar, at Sound Control (£15). All stops evidently pulled out, Kristian Beyer – one half of esteemed immersive house duo Ame – and Aus Music star Midland represent the major selling points, although local D’n’B hero Marcus Intalex shouldn’t be overlooked in his increasingly impressive techno-house guise, Trevino. The wise will save some energy for the next day, when one of the most consistent nights in northern England opens for business. mUmU has always been about quality sounds presented properly, not to mention a great atmosphere, and European tech type Mathias Kaden isn’t likely to let the side down. He’ll play a four-hour set on 8

Preview

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Mar for 300 people at Liverpool’s Kitchen Street, so in addition to this selling out, expect sweaty blokes clamouring for the booth, because the man in question possesses unarguably awesome technical skills (£13.50). Continuing a string of decent line-ups since it reopened, post-’indefinite closure’ upheaval, on 14 Mar Music Is Love welcomes Moodymann to Sankeys in Manchester. The purveyor of fine hair and jazz-toned house doesn’t crop up every day, and will be joined by Wbeeza, who makes for a logical addition to the bill (£15). Toughening things up with en vogue solid deepness, Levon Vincent and Delano Smith are also booked – all the makings for a night of ticked boxes. There’s stiff competition again in town that night, with a visit from Tama Sumo at Joshua Brooks. The esteemed heroine and Panorama Bar dame descends on Meat Free’s First Birthday (14 Mar, £7-£9), for a session that will probably include more than a few heads-down Berlin grooves. In contrast, Alexander Nut, of Rinse notoriety, should sound a world away when So Flute takes over the Roadhouse on 15 Mar. Known for using everything from African rhythms to sleazy broken-beat dirt, the guys are building a steady relationship with Soundwave, appearing again at this year’s festival. In these hectic times certainly worthy of significant investment in vitamins, the masochistic among you will be delighted to know we’re not done yet. Sticking with 15 Mar, but moving to The Shipping Forecast in Liverpool, multifaceted Dutchman Gerd appears as NY Stomp, the moniker responsible for revivalist house fare such as The NY House Trak and Can You Feel It? (£10). Then, finally, that annual synth and drum machine geek-out, FutureEverything, closes the month, running for six days to finish on April Fool’s Day. Using various spaces in Manchester, the 19th instalment calls upon speakers and thought leaders from across the digital world, but we’re more eager to hit the festival. After all, much as we concede it’s not technically a clubnight, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington’s DARKSIDE project will perform at The Ritz on 27 Mar (£13.75), and faces such as Koreless, Evian Christ, Tim Hecker, Patricia and Dean Blunt are involved elsewhere. For full details of individual events and prices our best advice is to check the website, futureeverything.org, and we’ll hopefully see you somewhere at something sometime soon. Ticket prices are advance unless otherwise specified; some events may be more on the door

THE SKINNY

Letizia Battaglia: Breaking the Code of Silence Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, until 4 May

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Letizia Battaglia’s photography, though journalistic in origin (taken mainly for Sicilian left-wing daily L’Ora during a particularly bloody period of Mafia in-fighting), is, at its best, truly great art; and, like all great art, it transcends its context. It matters little, then, that this, her first major UK exhibition, is decades overdue, or that she’s concerned mainly with the ostensibly narrow subject of the Sicilian Mafia and its effect on Palermo between the 70s and early 90s. Her photographs of murder victims hunched and soaking in their own blood, widows collapsing mid-scream in grief, and thin fatherless boys posing with pistols, all powerfully express timeless human truths, and in doing so drift free from their socio-political moorings. In a recent interview, Battaglia, surprisingly, listed Diane Arbus as one of two key influences. But whereas Arbus often began with types – circus performers, drag queens, dwarfs, etc. – and

ended with types (levelling her subjects with her everything-is-freakish gaze), Battaglia begins with types but manages to end with individuals: almost all of her subjects bloom into their own being. Perhaps it’s got something to do with what the great Parisian photographer Nadar referred to as ‘moral intelligence... the swift tact that puts you in communion with your [subject]’ – because Battaglia certainly has this sense of deep moral engagement: her work is not touristic voyeurism, but a committed reflection on her own troubled culture, her own daily reality. It may seem odd to be struck by the beauty of work so harrowing, but perhaps its beauty and morbidity are bound together: in an era when death is increasingly abstract – something that occurs quietly, often unseen, in care-homes and hospitals – there’s an uncanny aesthetic power in images that confront death and its impact head-on truthfully. Battaglia is not some sort of clinical and impassive crime-scene photographer, though: every photograph in this exhibition is clearly the work of a deeply compassionate artist. [Kristian Doyle] Tue-Sun, 10.30am-5.30pm, free www.openeye.org.uk

Tipping Point

CFCCA, Manchester, until 16 Mar

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Bringing together three artists with ongoing relationships both with the CFCCA and each other, Tipping Point nudges us to consider the moments at which the slightest touch can alter the course of things. Of the trio, Jamie Lau does this perhaps most straightforwardly. In his simple mechanical structure, comprising an asymmetric A-frame supporting the lowering of a lamp by its cord into a shallow well, life visually hangs in the balance: the piece is based on the story of Jeffrey Bush, a young man who was swallowed by a sinkhole that opened up beneath his bed in Florida last year. Andrew Lim’s hypnotic kinetic work – in which four electric fans are pointed strategically at the wall to keep a length of fluttering ribbon levitating along the length of the room – is also an explicit demonstration of the idea of limbo, of a delicate equilibrium that could be disrupted at any point. But it is Cindie Cheung’s assembly of five televisions, screening silenced photoshoots of women responding to the directions of a cameraman we cannot hear – dampening their

FUTURE CITY

01.03.2014: 9.30PM CLUB—

16.03.2014: 6PM LIVE — ACOUSTIC BHUNA FT. ROBERT JOHN ——————————————————— ——————————————————— 02.03.2014: 6PM LIVE — 17.03.2014: 7PM LIVE — GREATER MANCHESTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA ACOUSTIC BHUNA FT. LUCIANO GERBER + BO WEAVIL + BAXTER RHODES WIGAN YOUTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA ——————————————————— & ——————————————————— 04.03.2014: 7.30PM LIVE — 18.03.2014: 7.30PM LIVE — SUDDEN DEATH OF STARS & THE HYPNOTIC EYE THE AMC TRIO ——————————————————— ——————————————————— 06.03.2014: 7.30PM LIVE — 20.03.2014: 7.30PM LIVE —

MR SCRUFF

21 - 28 MARCH

BEAR ——————————————————— POLAR ——————————————————— 06.03.2014: 8PM LIVE — 21.03.2014: 7.30PM LIVE —

RAINBAND ——————————————————— THE ——————————————————— 07.03.2014: 9PM LIVE — XFM FIRST FRIDAY FT. 22.03.2014: 8PM LIVE — THE FRATELLIS + KILL VAN KULLS ——————————————————— THE EXCITEMENTS

CHORUS

BY CRAIG MORRISON

BY RAY LEE

27.03.2014: 7.30PM LIVE —

18 - 29 APRIL

DECORATIVE NEWSFEEDS

VANISHING BOUNDARIES

BY THOMSON AND

BY LIZ WEST

CRAIGHEAD

———————————————————

3 - 5 APRIL

THANK YOU 14 - 20 APRIL

THE LONE BELLOW (AT DULCIMER)

DILLINGER & YELLOWMAN

JEFF LORBER FUSION

——————————————————— WITH THE SAGITTARIUS BAND ——————————————————— 28.03.2014: 7PM LIVE — 11.03.2014: 7.30PM LIVE — GEORGE PORTER JR (OF THE METERS)

21 - 27 APRIL

0°00 NAVIGATION BY SIMON FAITHFULL FREE talks by the artists, [V Ä UK V\[ TVYL JOLJR quaysculture.com FREE family friendly author talk from Paul Morris 22 March - call 0843 208 0500

BASSEKOU KOUYATE & NGONI BA

THE RUNNIN’ PARDNERS ——————————————————— & ——————————————————— 13.03.2014: 7.30PM LIVE — THE WATCH PLAYS GENESIS ‘THE LAMB LIES

www.cfcca.org.uk

Take a trip outside of space and time with astonishing artworks that reach beyond the borders of the location through light, sound, the web and mapping.

March Listings 2014 www.bandonthewall.org / 0845 2500 500

08.03.2014: 8.30PM LIVE —

Tue-Sun 10am-5pm, free

PRESENTED BY QUAYS CULTURE AND UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD

Band on the Wall

APOLLO BROWN & UGLY HEROES

lips, blinking sleepily and nipping at the nubs of cigarettes – that is most provocative. Partnered with a series of wall-mounted panels that collage together swatches of the kind of cheap materials associated with hobbycraft and dress-up – holographic sticky paper, diamanté, and scratchy, fake lace – the ‘tipping point’ here is the one that takes the young female out of the realm of naïve, adolescent play, and into participation in her own sexualisation. Items that, in the context of an accessories store – pink, metallic, heart-shaped stickers with bevelled golden rims; glossy, oversized charms – take on a sinister insouciance when stickered gauchely to these flat, shiny boards. To one, a fabric badge of the kind sewn on rucksacks or swimming costumes is pinioned cruelly with drawing pins. Cheung’s soundtracks for each video sharpen the schism, as the women featured within them flirt forcedly to the sound of gracelessly played recorders – the signature sound of school. It’s an affecting environment, a charged display of individually unremarkable items that, brought together, tell a quiet, concerning story. [Laura Swift]

28.03.2014: 11PM CLUB — SOUL:UTION FT.

DOWN ON BROADWAY’. 40TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL SPECTRASOUL. COMMIX. ——————————————————— MARCUS INTALEX. BANE + FOX 14.03.2014: 7.30PM LIVE — ——————————————————— 29.03.2014: 9PM CLUB — OYSTERBAND (AT THE LOWRY, SALFORD QUAYS)

——————————————————— CRAIG CHARLES FUNK & SOUL CLUB 14.03.2014: 8PM LIVE — FT. CALIBRO 35 LIVE —————————————————— THE DUALERS + SKA FACE AND DJ CHRIS SMYTH — ——————————————————— 30.03.2014: 7PM LIVE — BTS PRESENTS. 15.03.2014: 8.30PM LIVE —

LEE SCRATCH PERRY

March 2014

quaysculture.com

JIGGS WHIGHAM FT: SOUL TUBES

thequays.org.uk

ART

@QuaysCulture #futurecityquays

QUAYSCULTURE

Review

Photo: Constantin Brosteanu

Tipping Point

Palermo, 1985, New Years Eve party at Villa Airoldi

March Film Events We celebrate Spanish-language cinema with Cornerhouse, revel in Wes Anderson’s fastidiously framed comedy at FACT and get down and dirty with a night of Grindhouse at The Dancehouse

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Starred Up

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Director: Wes Anderson Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Tilda Swinton, Jude Law Released: 7 Mar Certificate: 15

Director: David Mackenzie Starring: Jack O’Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend Released: 21 Mar Certificate: 18

Wes Anderson’s films often dwell on worlds within worlds: grand houses, fox dens, submarines. So it seems appropriate that he should turn his delicate gaze to a hotel: the ultimate embodiment of secret worlds in public spaces. Inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig, the story unfolds like a Russian doll, told in the first instance by an author (Law), interviewing Zero Mustafa, a one-time lobby boy and now proprietor of the crumbling titular establishment. Ralph Fiennes’ Gustave H was the previous owner, whose inheritance of a priceless painting sets the shaggy dog story in motion. More surprising is the subject matter: behind the predictably whimsical yarn of a hotel concierge on the run lies a darker tale of pre-war Europe, a land of intrigue, disease, love and bubbling violence. Tilda Swinton makes a brief appearance as wealthy dowager Madame D., the name perhaps a nod to Max Ophüls’ The Earrings of Madame de..., a similarly stately and moving story of a world of finery on the edge of extinction. [Sam Lewis]

A star is born in Starred Up. From the minute Jack O’Connell swaggers onscreen he electrifies the picture with the kind of fearless and commanding performance that recalls Ray Winstone’s breakthrough in Scum. O’Connell plays Eric, a violent young offender who has been ‘starred up’ to an adult jail and finds himself incarcerated alongside his estranged dad (a typically intimidating Ben Mendelsohn). The story that plays out might have seemed over-familiar and too obviously symbolic if it wasn’t for the uncommon sense of authenticity that comes through in the script by former prison therapist Jonathan Asser, and the manner in which he and director David Mackenzie immerse us in this environment. Mackenzie skilfully sketches the sense of community and hierarchy that prison life is built upon, and makes us keenly aware of the simmering aggression that threatens to boil over at any time. Only towards the end does the film settle for something sensationalistic and conventional; until then, this is a bruising, hugely impressive drama with a tender core under its abrasive surface. [Philip Concannon]

Wake in Fright

The Past

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Director: Ted Kotcheff Starring: Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence, Chips Rafferty Released: 7 Mar Certificate: 18

Director: Asghar Farhadi Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa Released: 28 Mar Certificate: 12A

Ted Kotcheff would go on to chalk up major hits with the likes of First Blood and Weekend at Bernie’s, but it’s this rarely seen gem from 1971 that stands as the director’s most enduring critical success, as well as being an undisputed benchmark of Australian cinema. Equal parts psychological thriller and searing cultural critique, Wake in Fright depicts a world of aggressive camaraderie, treeless plains and brutal kangaroo hunts. It’s into this environment that Gary Bond’s refined school teacher finds himself trapped when he stops over in the remote mining town of Bundanyabba en route to a Christmas break in Sydney. The protagonist is almost immediately overcome by a hallucinatory fugue of violent alcoholic binges, Donald Pleasence and Chips Rafferty excelling as colourful local characters whose good natured eccentricity masks a volatile impulse toward homoerotic bullying. “What’s the matter with him? He’d rather talk to a woman than drink?” The kindness of strangers has never seemed more terrifying than in this dusty, sun-bleached masterpiece, now stunningly restored. [Lewis Porteous]

After experiencing the near-perfect construction of Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning A Separation and his belatedly released About Elly, one might be inclined to complain that the director’s narrative string-pulling is a little too evident in The Past. Certainly, there is a little clunkiness about the climactic twists, but such concerns only arise after the credits have finished rolling and the film has released us from its grip, and they quickly seem irrelevant against the bigger picture of what Farhadi is striving for here. He has created another wholly absorbing examination of secrets and lies, littering his screenplay with revelations that explode like depth charges, and deftly shifting our sympathies and our perception of each character as each new piece of information comes to light. There is no judgement in Farhadi’s approach, just boundless compassion and curiosity as he observes these decent, flawed people trying to negotiate morally complex and emotionally fraught situations. The Past is clearly the work of a master dramatist, and precious few filmmakers in world cinema are currently operating at Farhadi’s level. [Philip Concannon]

Salvo

Under the Skin

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Director: Fabio Grassadonio, Antonio Piazza Starring: Saleh Bakri, Luigi Lo Cascio, Sara Serraiocco Released: 21 Mar Certificate: tbc

Cutting a scene a little long can render it dull; somehow, elongating it further leads to intrigue. So what of Salvo, a Sicilian hitman tale, which stretches acts out like dough, testing but never quite breaking? From a standard opening of bullets and bloodshed it morphs in pace and format in unexpected directions. Mafioso Salvo (Saleh Bakri), while pursuing a target, encounters the man’s blind sister and an existential crisis is sparked from a miracle. There are underlying notes of The Killer, with a saviour blind to inner ugliness, but with the added harsh realism of Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah. Problems lie in the characters themselves, infused with such meaning it detracts from their truth. These sparsely scripted abstracts refuse to allow us in. Visually confident with a notably bare sound design of introspective silences, ticking clocks, a solitary barking dog, it’s a film sure of its movement, strolling like a lion. But it may prove divisive: audiences are often uninterested in pure grace and beauty. Occasionally we want to see tricks. [Alan Bett]

Review

Director: Jonathan Glazer Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Antonia Campbell-Hughes Released: 14 Mar Certificate: 15

Under the Skin, the long awaited cinematic return of Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast, Birth), opens with a hallucinatory dance of light and sound, which in turn morphs into a human eye. Things only get stranger from there. We follow an alien disguised in luminous human skin (Scarlett Johansson’s), who roams the streets of Glasgow in search of men. Like a siren, her sex appeal drags these horny young neds to a watery doom. Glazer chooses No Mean City’s most humble boroughs as the alien’s hunting ground. Shot through the ET’s point-of-view, it couldn’t look more otherworldly: its puce-faced residents, loud and lairy, forever on their mobiles (many of them being filmed surreptitiously), make for an apocalyptic vision of humanity. What begins as an eerie psychosexual horror movie slowly morphs into a haunting study of loneliness and female subjugation. What is her mission on Earth? That’s never clear, but it’s largely irrelevant: like the alien’s reaction to our strange little planet, our confusion is more than matched by our awe. [Jamie Dunn]

FILM

Words: Simon Bland

t’s March and in Manchester that can mean only one thing: time to return to Cornerhouse for its annual celebration of new filmmaking from across Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America, ¡Viva! film festival (7-23 Mar). Comedy is big at this year’s event, with newcomer director Gabriel Nesci’s chirpy Días de vinilo (Days of Vinyl) kicking things off with a laugh. This Argentinian feel-gooder follows four music-obsessed 30-somethings forced to face that most terrifying of realities: growing up. Nesci will fly in on opening night to present his movie, and host a post-screening chat at a second screening on 9 Mar. There is lots to see at this Spanish cinema celebration but if you can only catch a few ¡Viva! gems we recommend post-apocalyptic thriller Los últimos dias (The Last Days) (15, 16 & 20 Mar), Peruvian Oscar hopeful El limpiador (8 & 13 Mar), insane horror comedy Las brujas de Zugarramurdi (Witching and Bitching ) (15 & 21 Mar) and sexuality doc Born Naked (11 & 15 Mar). Viva España! Meanwhile, the Liverpool FACT folks are gearing up for the release of Wes Anderson’s new one, The Grand Budapest Hotel. The latest niche comedy offering from the twee movie king stars Ralph Fiennes alongside Anderson’s regular set of players and follows the escapades of a young concierge at a popular European hotel. It’s officially released on 7 Mar but you can catch it five days early at FACT (2 Mar), with a selection of Anderson back catalogue faves peppered throughout the remainder of the month. The Darjeeling Limited rides again on the 3 Mar; Fantastic Mr. Fox makes an appearance on 10 Mar, and scout camp calls on 17 Mar with Moonrise Kingdom. OCD filmmaking at its finest.

Planet Terror

Those Grimm Up North guys have a backto-back dose of sleazy gore scheduled for 14 Mar. They’ll take over Manchester’s Dancehouse Theatre for a special Grindhouse screening of Robert Rodriguez’s Mexploitation horror Planet Terror and Quentin Tarantino’s high-octane stunt car thriller Death Proof. This cinematic doublepunch is a rare chance to catch these movies in their original intended format, complete with hilariously OTT fake trailers in between screenings. Simply unmissable. And finally, the Flashback Film Series at Manchester’s Printworks continues to resurrect a selection of classics to the big screen each Monday evening. David Fincher’s modern-day noir Se7en kicks things off 3 Mar, followed by Brian de Palma’s crime epic The Untouchables (10 Mar), teen horror prototype A Nightmare on Elm Street (17 Mar), campy cosmic adventure Masters of the Universe (25 Mar), and sentimental classic Forrest Gump on 30 Mar. Happy viewing!

THE SKINNY

Drinking Buddies

Short Term 12

White Dog

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Director: Joe Swanberg Starring: Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson Released: 10 Mar Certificate: 15 Joe Swanberg chooses to mash his gently balanced mumble-com Drinking Buddies in a Chicago microbrewery, where marketing manager Kate, rendered in baggy vests and some elegant improv by Olivia Wilde, seems an obvious mate for co-worker Luke. They enjoy a playful friendship characterised by warm chats over lunch, gentle after-hour boozing, and their shared affection for a great pint. Were it not for Chris, Kate’s malt-supping older squeeze, and Luke’s vaguely insipid, low-ABV sweetheart Jill, they’d be dating. A lesser-visited on-screen habitat, a craft brewery is a fine contemporary setting in which to savour a character-led cinematic sip. While at times it feels like Drinking Buddies can stare a little too hard into the depths of its own Pilsner-clear premise, it finds its groove with sincere, nuanced performances and a realistic attitude to romance as refreshing as a fistful of Citra hops. [Kirsty Leckie-Palmer]

Director: Destin Cretton Starring: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr. Released: 10 Mar Certificate: 15 Director Destin Cretton based Short Term 12 on his own experiences working in a foster care facility for at-risk teenagers, and it shows. His drama documents the trials of social worker Grace (Brie Larson) as she cares for vulnerable children while fending off her own demons. Short is all nuanced performances bathed in sumptuous Californian sunlight: its realism is reflected in its lo-fi aesthetic and naturalistic cinematography. Films about sexual abuse are often didactic, about bringing what is hidden to light, and exposing audiences to its horrors. Short Term 12 is that rare thing: a film about life after abuse. The cathartic, cinematic ending comes off a little overwrought and contrived for a film so anchored in its authentic, real-life roots, but an ecstatic truth is still a truth, and it’s a minor quibble in this outstanding, important work. [Rachel Bowles]

Director: Sam Fuller Starring: Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield Released: 24 Mar Certificate: 15 The latest film to be given the Eureka Masters of Cinema love and care is Sam Fuller’s misunderstood and primitive parable White Dog. Scripted by Curtis Hanson (originally for Roman Polanski to direct) from the Romain Gary autobiographical novel, it deals with an abandoned white German Shepherd dog trained to attack black people. The racist mutt is taken in and shown love and affection by a young actress (Kristy McNichol), who seeks the help of a black dog-trainer, Keys (Paul Winfield), to cure the Klueless Korrupt Kanine. In everything he ever did Fuller existed within a Socratic paradigm, and with White Dog it’s no different. Coming across like a late 40s/50s B movie, it sneaks issues under the cover of darkness through the means of metaphor. Near impossible to see in the US for a long time, it caused Fuller to relocate to Paris. He never again made another American film. [D W Mault]

Serpico

Jeune & Jolie

We Are What We Are

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Director: Sidney Lumet Starring: Al Pacino, John Randolph Released: Out now Certificate: 18 As seemingly the only straight-arrow cop in a corrupt-to-the-core NYPD, an increasingly hirsute Al Pacino gives one of his most iconic performances in Serpico. His committed and detailed portrayal of whistleblower Frank Serpico is the anchor that holds Sidney Lumet’s loosely structured character study together. The film opens with him bleeding from a gunshot wound and desperately clinging to life, before we flash back to see how this ambitious young officer found himself in such dire straits. Lumet and his brilliant editor Dede Allen eschew a straightforward narrative thrust, opting instead to create more of a mosaic that’s heavy on atmosphere and inference, presenting a portrait of a system in which the criminality that Serpico fought against was endemic and accepted from top to bottom in the force. Serpico is very much a product of its era, the time when major stars and studios habitually took risks; its daring qualities ensure it still feels bracingly fresh. [Philip Concannon]

Director: François Ozon Starring: Marine Vacth, Géraldine Pailhas Released: 24 Mar Certificate: 18 The latest from François Ozon (following 2012’s excellent In the House), is a carefully non-judgemental coming-of-age drama divided into four seasons, each accompanied by a Françoise Hardy song. Beginning in summer, it follows Isabelle (Vacth) as she goes from virgin to prostitute; Ozon offers a number of possible explanations for this extreme transition, none of which really wash, and it is this fact that raises the film’s somewhat problematic representation of (teenage) female sexuality. Most obviously comparable to Buñuel’s Belle de Jour, Ozon’s deliberately ambiguous narrative provides little hint as to the potential psychological or physical harm such activity could cause this young girl. However, it is typically stylish, with a superb performance from newcomer Vacth, while a late appearance of Charlotte Rampling sends us in unexpected an directions. Addressing a controversial, deliberately provocative issue, Ozon’s greatest success (and, potentially, the film’s most contentious aspect) is his impressively objective approach. [Becky Bartlett]

BOOK OF THE MONTH

Trying Not to Try

New Writing: From Scottish Book Trust’s Writer Development Programme

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Director: Jim Mickle Starring: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers Released: 21 Mar Certificate: 15 Jim Mickle’s loose remake of the 2010 Mexican original is wonderfully atmospheric with some nice performances, but suffers from terminally slow pacing and a predictable script. After the death of their mother, a deeply private religious family struggle to continue a grisly tradition. To say exactly what that is here would be unfair, as the film slowly reveals what’s going on while the town doctor starts to put the pieces together and threatens to expose them. Ambyr Childers and Julia Garner, as the family’s conflicted daughters, are both terrific, but Bill Sage’s patriarch feels underdeveloped in comparison and lacks the scenery-chewing lunacy of other religiously inclined villains of cinema. Piper Laurie he isn’t. Despite looking great, there’s also a lack of any real surprises and the script rarely deviates from expectations. If you can handle the bum-numbing pacing, it is worth sticking with, but one for the more dedicated horror fans. [Scott McKellar]

Mrs Hemingway

By Edward Slingerland

By Naomi Wood

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Bedlam

By Christopher Brookmyre

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If vibrant, diverse and eclectic new writing is what you’re after, then this latest collection from the Scottish Book Trust makes for essential reading. This slim volume is brimming with as yet little known talent, and features everything from novel extracts written in Scots vernacular so faithfully transcribed you can almost hear it, to lines of poetry that stop you in your tracks. Many featured writers make their print debut between these pages and there is a particular sort of thrill to be found in reading a promising extract from a novel that is currently unfinished. Samuel Tongue’s poem Why I Was So Bad at Clay-Pigeon Shooting stands out in its poignancy and vividness: ‘the shotgun was an extension / of my ability to crush the world / in gunpowder and brass, and the recoil / went deeper than the soft socket of my shoulder.’ The Scottish Book Trust works to promote a love of reading and literature in Scotland, and to support the country’s fledgling authors. The featured writers hail from the Highlands and the Islands, the country and the city, offering a heterogeneous set of voices we are sure to hear more of in the coming years. [Rosie Hopegood] Available for free from: www.scottishbooktrust.com/writing/scottish-book-trusttraining-awards/new-writers-awards

Though marketed as broad Gladwell-ish pop psychology – with some self-help thrown in – Trying Not to Try is actually a lot narrower and deeper than that. It’s largely an introduction to two intertwined concepts of Chinese philosophy – wu wei and de – and how they (Slingerland argues) provide neuroscientifically sound answers to the perennial problem of how to live. Wu wei resists simple definition: it’s effortless action, cultivated thoughtlessness, unselfconscious spontaneity; it’s ‘going with the flow,’ ‘being in the zone’; it’s also close to Freud’s id and dual process theory’s System 1. And de, a by-product of wu wei, is a kind of ‘moral charisma,’ a virtuousness that’s also profoundly attractive to others. Admittedly, such a summary does these concepts a disservice. They’re tricky and protean, and for an adequate explanation of them, Slingerland deems it necessary to examine the views of four different schools of Chinese philosophy: those of Confucius, Laozi, Mencius and Zhuangzi. As the basis for a workable philosophy of life, I’m not quite sold on wu wei and de. Nevertheless, Slingerland’s book is valuable and refreshing; it illuminates traditions unfairly overlooked in the West, and does so in a way that’s clear-eyed, amenable to science, and largely free of the facile relativism that often mars Western accounts of Eastern philosophy. [Kristian Doyle]

Ernest Hemingway was a great man: a writer, a lover, a fighter. But this novel is about the women who normally comprise his subplot - the wives. One after the other, each Mrs Hemingway recalls the chapters of Ernest’s life. Just as we grow into the skin of one woman, their marriage is fractured by the entry of another. Our dislike for this intruder is turned on its head when her own recollection unfolds and we fall for her, too. The fractured sense of time – each account weaves in and out of the beginning and end of the marriages – creates an inevitability. Their stories could not have unfolded any other way. All that is happening has already happened. Hemingway may be the sun these women orbit, but he is not the focal point of the novel. The gaps left in his story are unimportant; we follow Hadley, Fife, Martha and Mary. The women that Hemingway married were as remarkable as he was, and Wood skilfully unravels the love these luminous, wonderful women had for such a difficult man. We understand why they fall for him, and sympathise, if not agree, with why they stay. [Alice Sinclair] Out now, published by Picador, RRP £12.99

Brookmyre’s no slouch when it comes to fastpaced plots, pithy Scottish humour and ribald banter, and indeed the creation of compelling, put-upon, no-hoper anti-heroes, but none of these skills can save him in this terminally dire science fiction outing, which is pitched as a kind of Wreck-It-Ralph for grownups, but hits closer to a charmless rip-off of Tron. Whereas, in his crime novels, the proliferation of up to date pop culture references lends the prose a hip, current feel, in Bedlam they only serve to date the novel, and underline the paucity of research. Bedded firmly in the world of 80s video games at the start of the plot, replete with in-jokes that only gamers over 30 will glom, by the time Brookmyre’s charmless übergeek reaches the worlds of Grand Theft Auto and Assassin’s Creed, it’s clear the author is paying lip service. A joyless exposition-fest where Brookmyre’s strongest qualities as a writer merely serve to hamstring him, this is conceptually weak, often baffling, and riddled with obvious turns of phrase and plot twists – making the ringing endorsements on the cover from Charles Stross and Iain M. Banks all the more perplexing. A rare miss from one of Scotland’s best, this should be avoided by all but die-hard console nostalgics. [Bram E. Gieben] Out now, published by Orbit. RRP £8.99

Out 3 Apr, published by Canongate, RRP £14.99

March 2014

DVD / BOOKS

Review

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For Their Own Good follows two knackermen (people who euthanise horses) as they make death their living in a society where humans sit at the top of the pile and can dictate the fates of animals because, as the title says, it’s for their own good. The horse, a life-sized equine puppet made from old ragged fabrics, is a creation that fills the stage, and is imbued with such spark and emotion from the simplest of movements. It becomes genuinely emotional to watch the euthanising process over and over as the knackermen

casually go about their business. Humanity’s relationship with animals – from pets to family members to symbols of something bigger – plays a key role in the proceedings. In between the central story, they share scenes from the lives (and deaths) of others around the world in the lit up paper houses surrounding them, turning off their lights with a shared nod. Ironically, in a world where a pet’s suffering can be ended humanely, the same cannot be done for the humans who dole out such decisions. Both darkly creative and genuinely humbling, For Their Own Good is a compassionate and accessible exploration of death’s role in our lives. [Kayleigh Donaldson]

Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, until 22 Mar

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‘My body was flooded with rapture and my brain with ideas. I wrote rapidly till 12...’ So wrote Virginia Woolf to her lover Vita Sackville-West in 1927, describing her exhilaration at drafting Orlando. It’s a semi-autobiographical novel; an extended love letter to the aristocratic Vita; but ‘semi’ is the crucial word here. At the beginning, Orlando is a 16-year-old aspiring poet in the Elizabethan court. After a seven-day slumber during a debauched trip to Constantinople, he wakes as she. Returning to Britain, she eventually becomes an inter-war woman, silk scarf flapping in the breeze as she drives her motor car. This stage adaptation by American playwright Sarah Ruhl – first performed in New York in 2010 – is as nimble as Sasha, the Russian princess who enchants Orlando when skating across the frozen River Thames. Though the novel traverses centuries, continents and genders, Ruhl condenses the action into two hours. Oldham Theatre Workshop alumnus and former Coronation Street star Suranne Jones inhabits the title role with charm and grace. She’s gamine as the young Orlando, eager to secure the queen’s favour. Later, she’s comedic and clumsy, struggling with Lady Orlando’s stiff skirts. Jones is joined by Thomas Arnold, Richard

Review

How to Occupy an Oil Rig

Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 19 Mar

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When six Greenpeace members scaled The Shard last year, it wasn’t because of a lack of climbing centres in London; their aim was to bring the subject of Arctic drilling into the public sphere. Daniel Bye’s How to Occupy an Oil Rig is a show, (part theatre, part lecture) which instructs even novice protesters in how to campaign for their passionately held convictions. The loose narrative sees two characters meeting while cleaning oil off birds and follows them as they scale up their movements, leading to their ascent of an offshore platform. The three multi-roling performers break down each depicted action in a manual-esque ‘how to’ approach.

8pm, £12 (£10) at Unity Theatre; 7.30pm, £7 (£5) at The Edge

Orlando

How to Occupy an Oil Rig

Hope and Tunji Kasim as the chorus, both narrating the action and playing the characters who pass through Orlando’s life. Hope is especially delightful as Queen Elizabeth I, simultaneously regal in a hooped dress, and bawdy, beckoning the adolescent Orlando on to her damask bedspread. As Sasha, recent RADA graduate Molly Gromadzki is mesmerising. She’s enchanting yet duplicitous, and in one acrobatic sequence twists and twirls above the stage like a swallow on a summer evening. Orlando is beautifully visual, its imagery crafted by director Max Webster, Nicola Meredith’s sumptuous costumes, and Charles Balfour’s lighting design. It’s difficult to choose a highlight: perhaps the illuminated skeleton, doffing his top hat to audience members and providing a Jack Skellington-esque reminder that lust and love are followed by death and decay. Or maybe the dead Queen Elizabeth, her skirts fluttering with fairy lights. The play ends as the hero(ine) finally completes writing the poem The Oak Tree after centuries of redrafting. She asks a simple question of the creeping darkness: “Orlando, who am I?” It’s the central question, interrogating what it means to be male, female or otherwise – all without the clunk of an undergraduate gender studies essay. It’s a magical and moving two hours. [Jacky Hall] Evenings and matinees, times vary, £7.25-£14.50

The informal structure, taking information from audience members to shape their protagonists’ journey from concerned members of the public to hardened activists, enforces the normality of the people who actually execute these deeds. It also keeps the tone light and jovial, with good-natured mockery balancing out the severity of the issues being discussed. The colourful, over-sized Lego set, allowing for numerous locations to be easily created, suits the deconstructed format of direct addresses intersected with short scenes. For people with an environmentalism streak, and even for those without, this is a comic and educative piece of theatre that explores the boundaries of conventional performance. [Callum Madge] 8pm, £12 (£10)

Hidden

some issues are more serious than others, they are not treated as trivial moments alongside melodrama. Everything is presented on the same level, just as happens in real life. rrrrr Although the play examines six different From the very second that Hidden begins, it characters, there are only two actors and the has the audience laughing. It grabs hold of way they work together to create these environyour attention from the start and refuses to ments, while only appearing on stage together a let go, slowly stringing together the narratives select number of times, is impressive. They are of six different characters as their lives occasion- entirely in sync and it makes for a slick perforally brush by each other – mostly joined by mance where you can entirely accept the same their patronage of Asda or by a certain shared faces as each different character. The use of train journey – and sometimes, though their accents helps, and the subtle changes in set and lives are completely joined, the narrative they costume as each scene changes, but ultimately have spun shows just how disconnected people this is all facade and none of it would matter if can really be. the performances weren’t up to scratch. Hidden was a gem of last year's Fringe, perfectly combinThe humour that runs throughout Hidden doesn’t let up, although it does let the darker ing the serious with the humorous to provide a and more serious undercurrents rise through glimpse into the hidden moments of daily life. in a way that manages to perfectly encapsulate [Emma Ainley-Walker] human emotion. It is a natural reaction to try to 7.30pm, £10 (£8) at The King’s Arms; 7.30pm, £10.50 (£8.50) find the humour and the pathos in the day to day, at The Lantern Theatre and the things that frighten or worry us. While The King’s Arms, Salford, 3-8 Mar, and The Lantern Theatre, Liverpool, 28 Mar

THEATRE

THE SKINNY

Photo: Sam Atkins

Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 4 Mar, and The Edge, Chorlton, 7 Mar

Photo: Jonathan Keenan

For Their Own Good

Photo: Paul Blakemore

For Their Own Good

Kate Tempest

Utterly at Odds with the Universe Tom Wrigglesworth tells us about about his granddad and his experience of doing a personal comedy show Interview: Vonny Moyes

n the back of another stellar sell-out Fringe run, Yorkshire comedian-cum-raconteur Tom Wrigglesworth is elbowing his way into the impermeable storytelling nook once reserved exclusively for the likes of Kitson. The multiple award-winner and star of Radio 4 and BBC 2 is currently touring with his latest show Utterly At Odds With The Universe. The show, born from the rediscovery of a trove of interview tapes of him and his grandfather, triggered an exploration of their relationship, and a heartfelt quest to make one final tape. It’s suddenly gotten rather dusty in here... This show is about your granddad; what can you tell us about him? “Well, he was like a wizard. Gandalf-like really. Pipe and everything. He was constantly fixing things – if there was nothing left to fix, he would maintain his tools, waiting for the next opportunity...” What made your relationship so special? “He taught me so much – kind of Mr Miyagi (Karate Kid) style. I didn’t know how good I was at using tools or fixing house niggles until I lived in a student house, and I suddenly realised I could do everything. Very much wax on.”

March 2014

Do you have an enduring memory of him? “Lighting up his pipe, disappearing for a few seconds then reappearing from the cloud with a joke or philosophical statement.” Why did you start doing interviews? Did you ever foresee yourself using them one day? “In the mid-80s, these new-fangled portable tape players were just getting popular. My granddad would record everything. The interviews seemed like a normal thing to do at the time. No, I had no idea how awesome it would be listening back.” What did you learn from revisiting the tapes? “Mainly how much of an effect he had on me, and now when I speak to young relatives of mine, I’ve already turned into him.” This is a more personal show than your previous ones; what made you decide to bring it to the stage? “It is personal, but there’s a good deal of it which is pure fantasy. I like telling stories, and I was so moved by the whole tape discovery part that it felt like the right thing to do. It turns out that most people loved their granddad too – which is always nice to hear.”

Tom Wrigglesworth

Because of that, did you feel more nervous about doing this show? “Yes – well, not more nervous, more emotionally exhausted I think. Writing it took ages, a lot of that time spent staring at my laptop welling up. But now I’ve kind of gotten work-hardened to it. I’m more excited to tell people the story and hear their reactions.” How has the show gone, compared to previous ones? “It’s more emotionally hard-hitting. The first few times, I had people in such a teary state, that I changed a few things; I never wanted to mug anyone with grief so I’m a bit gentler with the sad parts now. My other shows were just funny – with a bit of peril – but it’s gone better than the others really. I think people

COMEDY

enjoy the light and shade.” What’s next for you? “This tour keeps me busy for ages – then I’m doing another series of Tom Wrigglesworth’s Hang Ups, which will mean following my dad around with a note pad for a few weeks. Chaos reigns when he’s about... This show is a personal journey, far removed from the cloying laddishness of over-exposed commercial comedy. If you’re hankering to see something intimate, funny and with a side order of northern integrity, you’d be daft to miss it.” See Tom perform his sell-out hit Utterly at Odds with the Universe at Blackburn’s Darwen Library Theatre on 8 Mar, Chorley’s Little Theatre on 15 Mar, Bolton’s Albert Halls on 16 Mar, and Warrington’s Pyramid Arts on 23 Mar

Preview

Win a Pair of Tickets to Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Win a Pair of Three-Day Wristbands to Liverpool Sound City

We have three pairs of tickets to give away to see Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo, in an adaptation by Deborah McAndrew, at Oldham Coliseum. Winners may select a performance of their choice between 17-22 March inclusive. Accidental Death of an Anarchist is a bizarre, raucous and hilarious insight into the suspicious death of a suspected anarchist while in police custody. Inspired by true events, the fast moving action occurs in a police station where an absurd reenactment of events takes place to determine if the anarchist’s plummet to the street was accident or foul-play. This highly-acclaimed classic is performed with bravado, ludicrousness and swagger. Absurd, angst-ridden and driven by a conscience of uncovering corruption, Accidental Death of an Anarchist will make you think a little and laugh a lot. Accidental Death of an Anarchist is the most famous play by Dario Fo, recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. To be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets, simply head over to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and correctly answer the following question:

Lifestyle

What nationality is Dario Fo? A) English B) Italian C) Vietnamese Competition closes midnight Mon 10 Mar. 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 T&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms Winners will be contacted with full details of how to book their free tickets, and can collect them from the box office on the night of the performance they are attending.

Liverpool Sound City is the largest international music, digital and film festival and conference in the UK, welcoming over 360 artists, in over 25 venues in Liverpool's city centre, with over 40,000 music fans and over 3000 industry professionals. Every year we take pride in bringing some of the most exciting breakthrough artists to the festival, giving the city an opportunity to see tomorrow’s major acts up close and personal, before anyone else. The Skinny have one pair of three-day wristbands to give away to a lucky reader. To be in with a chance of winning, simply head over to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and correctly answer the following question:

For more information about Oldham Coliseum: www.coliseum.org.uk

Before launching a solo career, Sound City 2014 headliner, Gruff Rhys, was the frontman of what band? A) Manic Street Preachers B) Super Furry Animals C) The Flaming Lips Competition closes midnight Sun 30 Mar. Entrants must be 18 or over. 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 T&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms The winner’s wristbands are to be collected at the ticket kiosk over the weekend of the festival. For more information about Liverpool Sound City: www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk info@liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk

COMPETITIONS

THE SKINNY

Manchester Music Tue 04 Mar SKATERS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £8.50

New York-residing plasma-punk outfit, comprised of lead singer Michael Ian Cummings and drummer Noah Rubin (both formerly of The Dead Trees), and guitarist Joshua Hubbard (who’s played in The Paddingtons and Dirty Pretty Things). STUART MCCALLUM

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

The Cinematic Orchestra guitarist trying out new material in the realm of beats, electronica, classical orchestration and jazz. MICHAEL BUBLÉ

PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–22:30, FROM £50

The Canadian crooner drops by with his latest album, To Be Loved, delivering his usual big band style of showmanship and cheese. BRETON

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £8.50

The music and film making collective from London take to a live setting, crafting a hypnotic and mesmerising audio/visual experience.

Wed 05 Mar

REVEREND AND THE MAKERS

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £13.50

Jon McClure and his band hit the road to showcase tracks from their fourth LP. MICHAEL BUBLÉ

PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–22:30, FROM £50

The Canadian crooner drops by with his latest album, To Be Loved, delivering his usual big band style of showmanship and cheese. R5

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £16

Los Angeles-based pop-meetsrock pups, made up of Ellington Ratliff, and siblings Riker, Rocky, Ross, and Rydel Lynch (yes, really). CHARLEE DREW

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £6

Leicester-based singer/songwriter, best known for his role in writing and producing Skepta’s UK top 20 album, Doing It Again. LOL GOODMAN BAND

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

60s and 70s blues rock sounds from Lol Goodman and his longstanding band mate and guitarist James Horrock, along with more recent addition, Jon Firth on drums.

SEE EMILY PLAY (JOSH BEESON + MOLLY WARBURTON + PIPA MORAN)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £5

Alternative pop-rock singer/ songwriter hailing from Sheffield, with a demanding stage presence underpinned by effortless vocals.

Thu 06 Mar

DISCLOSURE (JOEY BADA$$)

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–22:30, £18

Garage-meets-house duo made up of brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence. SMOKEY BLUE GRASS

TROF NORTHERN QUARTER, 21:00–01:00, FREE

An evening of live music and DJs spanning folk, Americana, rhythm and blues. MICHAEL BUBLÉ

PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–22:30, FROM £50

The Canadian crooner drops by with his latest album, To Be Loved, delivering his usual big band style of showmanship and cheese. THE LONE BELLOW

DULCIMER BAR, 19:30–23:00, £8

Brooklyn-based country ensemble led by singer and principal songwriter Zach Williams. BIRDPEN

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £7

Musical duo, Dave Pen and Mike Bird, touring with their second studio album, Global Lows, selfdescribed as ‘standing at the end of the world with a smile on your face.’ Lovely. UKEBOX

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

Five-piece ukulele ensemble, delivering fresh arrangements of anyone from The Beach Boys to beyonce.

March 2014

LAST BAND STANDING (THE KAPTIVATORS + BI:LINGUAL + THE GREAT RECKONING + THE FARTHINGALES) ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £5

Elimination style battle of the bands from Longevity Records.

APOLLO BROWN & UGLY HEROES

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £12

The Detroit-based hip hip producer Apollo Brown tours with his band of Ugly Heroes, made up of Verbal Kent and Red Phil, playing in Manchester for the first time. THE ASCENSION (TAMSIN + EAST OF EDEN)

EAGLE INN, 19:30–23:00, £4

Alternative post-punk outfit hailing from the Northwest, crafting a heady mix of social commentary and danceable tunes. THE NOVASONS (THE K’S + THE BLACK CIRCLES + THE USUAL)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £5

Mancunian alternative indie rock quartet, formed at Salford University and based primarily on lead singer, Sam Clewlow’s personal experiences. SPRING KING

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £6

Mancunian five-piece, built up on the solo project of Tarek Musa, moving away from piano accompaniment to anthemic drums and searing guitars.

Fri 07 Mar

ARCHITECTS (STRAY FROM THE PATH + NORTHLANE + LANDSCAPES) MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £14

Hardcore Brighton foursome, mixing a pummeling concoction of post-metalcore, metal and progressive to suitably headmangling effect. BROTHER AND BONES (HUGO KENSDALE AND BAND)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £9

Blues-meets-folk-meets-rock quintet moving from the delicate to the, well... let’s just say they’ve got two drummers. SALSA CELTICA

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 20:00–23:00, FREE

The Edinburgh-based ensemble play a trademark set of Scottish and Irish traditional music. ANGEL HAZE

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £11

American rapper and lyricist who began writing at the tender age of 11. DISCLOSURE (JOEY BADA$$)

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–22:30, £18

Garage-meets-house duo made up of brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence.

FREE GIG FRIDAY (THE LAST CALL + THE NORTHERN JAZZ QUINTET)

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Fill your Friday night with free live music – guests and DJs selected by a different band each week. MUTINEERS

KRAAK, 19:00–22:30, £SOLD OUT

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

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £8

Australian singer/songwriter taking in hues of pop, blues and rock. SAVAGE MESSIAH

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–22:00, £7

Metal four-piece hailing from London, formed in 2007 and intent on creating 100% heavy metal. THE SUMMER WAR (UNO MAS + MAYBE TOMORROW + EUTHEMIA)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £6

Poppy rock trio, drawing from their pool of influence that includes Jimmy Eat World, The Starting Line and Brand New. MATT AND PHRED’S MARDI GRAS SPECIAL

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

The Nightcreatures, a six person New Orleans Jazz ensemble lead the way for a night of Mardi gras mambos and second line grooves, with a parade around the Northern Quarter also on the cards. ROVO AND SYSTEM 7

THE RITZ, 18:30–22:30, £20

The Japanese prog rock bunch Rovo join forces with the tech-house stylings of System 7, performing their Phoenix Rising live show together.

PATTERNS + THE MANCHESTER COMMUNITY CHOIR (BEATY HEART) ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, 20:00–23:00, £6

The Manc melody makers – to the tune of a drone pop muddle of guitars, vocals and intelligent samples – take to the road with their debut LP, Waking Lines, performing alongside the Manchester Community Choir for a special home town show. GUM TAKES TOOTH (BAD GUYS + 2 KOI KARP + HELVED RUM + JOYCE D’VISION)

ISLINGTON MILL, 21:00–03:00, £6

A night of experimental sound making, with the London-based duo, Gum Takes Tooth headlining the night, along with live visual mind-fuckery from Khom. SOLOISTS FROM THE NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTER

HALLÉ ST PETER’S, 19:30–21:30, £15 (£7)

The Northern Chamber Orchestra present a selection of work, including Medelssohn, Haydn and Brahms. LOLO

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £5

The Brooklyn-based alternative soul singer/songwriter, aka Lauren Pritchard tours her latest single, Gangsters

WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £14

Pittsburgh-based singer/songwriter navigating the indie folk genre, tours his latest album, Lions.

THE CORNELIUS CRANE (FEED THE KID + JOHN MACKIE)

TIGER LOUNGE, 20:00–23:00, £5

Mancunian alt-rock outfit, navigating experimental Americana, channelling a seventies sounding vibe. SOLOISTS FROM THE NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTER

HALLÉ ST PETER’S, 19:30–21:30, £15 (£7)

The Northern Chamber Orchestra present a selection of work, including Medelssohn, Haydn and Brahms. POSTCARDS FROM JEFF

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, FREE

Alternative dream-pop meanderings of Joss Worthington, crafting a cinematic experience with his multi-layered experimentation.

Sun 09 Mar THOMAS J SPEIGHT

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

More heart-melting indie-pop from the London chap who’s collabrated with Keane, Stephen Fretwell and The Staves.

WE ARE SCIENTISTS (SUPERFOOD + THE HEARTBREAKS)

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £15

Sat 08 Mar

California-based indie-rockers with a penchant for big riffs, on the road showcasing a selection of new songs.

M19 BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £8.50

SEAN TAYLOR

The acoustic blues singer/songwriter takes his latest album, Chase The Night to a live setting. BIRD

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £6

Liverpudlian trio fusing sirenesque vocals, hypnotic drum beats and intricate guitar work into one haunting whole. STRAIGHT LINES

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £6

Welsh rock duo made up of Tom Jenkins and Dane Campbell. HAIM

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £15

MØ

Copenhagen-based electronic soul songstress (aka Karen Marie Ørsted), touring ‘pon the release of her debut LP, No Mythologies To Follow. MARK MORRIS

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 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.

Mon 10 Mar POLAR

LA-based band of sisters who build their sound on an e’er lovely whimsy of folk and r’n’b beats – engaging unashamedly with the cliches of 70s and 80s rock and pop as they go.

Surrey-hailing hardcore metallic rock lot, built on ‘big beats, strong booze, loose morals and good times’, so say they.

FALLOW CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £6

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £4.50

DAVE ARCARI (MOG STANLEY)

Talented blues rocker playing a mix of guitar-driven blues and trash country. GYPSIES OF BOHEMIA

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

Britney Spears, Beyonce and Iron Maiden get the new gypsy jazz treatment in this toe-tapping performance. BLACK LIGHTS (FOLKS + COUPE DE VILLE + JADE ANN)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £7

Manunian rock lot, touring in advance of their latest EP release. LUCID DREAM

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £5.50

Four piece psychedelic bunch from Carlisle, out on the road touring their debut LP, Songs of Lies and Deceit. FOXES (MAUSI)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £SOLD OUT

One-woman band riding along on Louisa Rose Allen’s resplendent synths, industrial percussion and by-turns-searing-and-soaring vocals.

STRANGE ROOFTOPS (MOHAWK RADIO + WE THE FALLEN + MATTER OF MIND)

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–22:30, £7

Northern alternative rock lot with grungy leanings, made up of Tom, Sean, Jay and Aidan. DILLINGER + YELLOWMAN (THE SAGITTARIUS BAND)

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:30–23:00, £16.50

The duo of Jamaica natives – one brought up in an orphanage, the other around Dennis Alcapone’s El Paso sound system – both found their sound in the finest dancehall, much to every reggae fan’s delight. DELAMERE (GLASS TIDES + THE HYMEK MANOEUVRE)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £7

Northern bunch, Delemere are joined by Glass Tides and The Hymek Manoeuvre to launch their latest single, Do You Want Me?

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £8

KRISTYNA MYLES (SAM GRAY + BIRD TO BEAST + MISS 600)

Touring in support of her debut album, Pinch Me Quick, Kristyna Myles takes her soulful, sassy self out on the road.

TREVOR MOSS & HANNAH LOU (BENJAMIN FOLKE THOMAS) TIGER LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £5.00

Wed 12 Mar DANIEL BACHMAN

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £5

The young Fredericksburg musician returns to the UK, bringing with him his mesmeric blend of psychedelic Appalachia, dutifully crafted with acoustic and slide guitar. DRAKE

PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–22:30, FROM £40

The Grammy award-winning solo artist takes his latest album, Take Care, out for a spin. GABRIELLE

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, FROM £27

Following the release of her latest album, Now and Always – 20 Years Of Dreaming, the singer/songwriter embarks on a UK tour. DAR WILLIAMS (MALOJIAN)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £12

American singer/songwriter specializing in pop folk, captivating audiences since the early 90s. GRAND MAGUS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £11

Swedish metal trio led by the ex-Spiritual Beggars frontman, Janne Christofferson, now leaning towards more bluesy and stoner/ doom influences. SOILWORK (DARKANE + SYSTEM DIVIDE)

SOUND CONTROL, 18:00–22:00, £14

Swedish exports Soilwork bring their heavy metal meets catchy choruses and melodic vibes to the Northwest, showcasing their latest release, The Living Infinite. JOE ALLISON TRIO

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

Classic soul and jazz set from the keys, drums and bass trio.

Thu 13 Mar

ALL TIME LOW (TONIGHT ALIVE + ONLY RIVALS)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £22.50

The chirpy American punkpopsters, all fast-paced and fizzy with hooks, play a duo of Glasgow dates ten days apart (11 and 21 February). MARIKA HACKMAN

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £7

Young folk singer/songwriter whose debut music video was produced by Burberry, for whom she was also official ‘eyewear model’. VOODOO SIX

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–22:30, £8

London-based hard rockers currently in the midst of their UK headline tour, ahead of some teased-at worldwide tour announcements. THE COOKIN POTS

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

The English folk husband and wife duo take their 2012 album – recorded in a caravan in the North of France – to a live setting.

Four-piece offering a fresh twist on the timeless classics of the 30s and 40s jazz and swing era.

Tue 11 Mar

Sheffield-based five-piece playing catchy and anthemic rock ‘n’ roll, no doubt they’ll play their new single, September Song.

DRAKE

PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–22:30, FROM £40

The Grammy award-winning solo artist takes his latest album, Take Care, out for a spin. RICHARD AND ADAM (CHARLOTTE JACONELLI)

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, FROM £24.50

Tenor and baritone brothers embark on their debut UK tour. THE PAUL FARR BAND

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

Manchester native, Paul Farr – known for touring with the likes of Lily Allen and Corinne Bailey-Rae – joined by bandmates John Ellis, Neil Fairclough and Luke Flowers. BASSEKOU KOUYATE & NGONI BA

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £16

The Grammy Award-nominated Malian musician Bassekou Kouyate tours with his band, Ngoni Ba, continuing with his quest to push the boundaries of his musical heritage and bridge the gap between his forefathers, and contemporary African music. THE LOST 37 (DE NOVA + ELBOWDROP + DIVINE PLANET)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £5

The punk and rock’n’roll stylings of Manchester four-piece, The Lost 37.

THE HOSTS (BIRD TO BEAST)

GULLIVERS, 20:00–23:00, £7

YOUR DEMISE

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

The hardcore punk bunch play a series of farewell shows throughout Spring, then that’s your lot. A NORTHERN CONTRIBUTION (JOE SYMES AND THE LOVING KIND + THE JOHNNY WALKER BAND + ROGER THE MASCOT + LEON FENDER WALKER)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £4

A Northern showcase headlined by the Liverpudlian acoustic rock five-piece, Joe Symes and the Loving Kind. THE WATCH

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £15

Prog rock stars The Watch return to the stage to present Genesis’ 1974 classic, The Lamb Dies Down on Broadway.

THEN THICKENS (HORSEBEACH + BETE)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £5

Alternative indie outfit, built up from the solo project of frontman, Jon-Lee Martin.

Fri 14 Mar METRONOMY

THE RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £15.50

The Joseph Mount-led electro-pop pleasurists take to the road with their new LP, Love Letters – y’know the one on which they sing the word ‘Aquarius’ 478 times, or something.

EXAMPLE MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £17.50

The electronic man of the moment (aka Elliot John Gleave) returns to play a live set as part of his fourth major headline tour. ALL TIME LOW (TONIGHT ALIVE + ONLY RIVALS)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £22.50

The chirpy American punkpopsters, all fast-paced and fizzy with hooks, play a duo of Glasgow dates ten days apart (11 and 21 February). THE ROOM (STRANGEWAYS + CHARMER + RAIN CITY + JAMES HOLT)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £6

Indie rock outfit, built up on an acoustic duo, now backed by drum beats and bass riffs. FREE GIG FRIDAY (THOSE ROTTEN THIEVES + FEDERAL CHARM)

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Fill your Friday night with free live music – guests and DJs selected by a different band each week. OYSTERBAND

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £19.50

English electric folk bunch, formed in Canterbury in 1976. THE DUALERS

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £14

Ska/reggae bunch hailing from Bromley, spreading their infectious cheer with a series of live outings.

LOVE FOR ZERO (THE YOUNG + CLINT BOON) THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £3

Manchester’s alternative indie electro pop trio celebrate the launch of their debut single, Call Me Up, in advance of their EP launch later in the year. CHELSEA GRIN (THE BROWNING + SILENT SCREAMS + MORE THAN A THOUSAND)

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £11

The Utah-based death metal outfit, armed with three guitarists and a soccer hooligan-inspired name. CONQUER RIO (LOST CASSETTES)

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–22:30, £7

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £6

Four-piece indie rock bunch from Oldham. MA POLAINE’S GREAT DECLINE

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

Broken down roots music, drawing inspiration from Billie Holiday, Howlin Wolf and Tom Waits, in a 40s jazz meets delta blues meets genre-sidestepping kinda way. GRAILS (LILACS AND CHAMPAGNE)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £8

The Portland-based side-projectturned-main-project Grails tour their latest musical offering, Black Tar Prophecies Vol’s 1,2 &, 3, released on Temporary Residence.

Sat 15 Mar

ELLEN AND THE ESCAPADES

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £6

Leeds alternative folk-pop quintet of the delicate and soul-searching variety. HEAVEN 17 (BLANCMANGE)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–22:30, £20

The Sheffield synth-pop duo stage a special The Luxury Gap album tour, their second LP and biggest commercial success. LEE SCRATCH PERRY

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:30–23:00, £24.50

Hugely influential reggae and dub producer who was behind Bob Marley’s early studio output. MAXIMO PARK

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £18.50

The British alternative rock quartet tour their fifth LP, Too Much Information, covering songs from a variety of artists including The Fall, Leonard Cohen and Mazzy Star. STANDING AND LISTENING (THE DIGITARIAT + H + ROSEANNE ROBERTSON + DANNY SAUL AND EVIL MAN)

EAGLE INN, 20:00–02:00, £4

Likely high-energy performance from the charismatic Canadian performer.

THE HOTSPUR PRESS (JOHNNY SLY + MATT HAMER + CAVE)

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £4

The Manchester-based acoustic rock quartet celebrate the launch of their album, lining up of their favourite musicians from the open mic scene to set the tone.

COSMOSIS (THE WARLOCKS + THE KVB + THE TELESCOPES + LOLA COLT + THE COSMIC DEAD) ANTWERP MANSION, 14:00–03:00, £22.50

STEEL PANTHER (MIA KLOSE)

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–22:30, £18

LA quartet churning out the tongue-in-cheek glam metal tunes to a happy bunch of dedicated followers. ACOUSTIC BHUNA (ROBERT JOHN)

BAND ON THE WALL, 18:00–22:00, FREE

A duo of Irish icons take to the stage for a double headline thing, navigating traditional and modern Irish music with charm and grace.

Dublin-based indie-rock quartet who use their music predominantly as a form of therapy (i.e. they write about being dumped).

DAN CROLL (RACING GLACIERS + LAUREL)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £8

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts graduate and winner of the Musicians Benevolent Fund’s National Songwriter of the Year Award, taking a break from touring with Imagine Dragons and Bastille to play a couple of shows closer to home turf. STUART MCCALLUM

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

The Cinematic Orchestra guitarist trying out new material in the realm of beats, electronica, classical orchestration and jazz. MATT NATHANSON (STEPHEN KELLOGG)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–00:00, £10

London-based band of hip young pups, all lovingly lackadaisical via lo-fi production with half-rapped vocals.

Reading-residing alternative rock lot fronted by Hollie Elizabeth. WHITE FANG

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £6.50

Portland-based four-piece, self-described as freebirds high on life. Should make for quite the live show.

Mon 17 Mar FALL OUT BOY.

PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £27.50

The kings of emo rock play a notso-intimate set in the gargantuan Phones4u Arena. GREGORY PORTER

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £26

Multi Grammy-nominated jazz musician, and winner of the 2014 Grammy for Best jazz vocal album embarks on a UK tour. OVERKILL

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £16

Thrash metal five-piece hailing from New Jersey, touring with their 25th anniversary album, Ironbound.

GREATER MANCHESTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA + WIGAN YOUTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–23:00, £6 (£5)

Some of the best young jazz musicians in the region come together to play a selection of jazz standards, highlighting the abundance of talent in the region.

Tue 18 Mar KYLA BROX

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £8

MARY BLACK + CLANNED

KODALINE (JAMES BAY)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £16

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–23:00, £6

WECAUGHTTHECASTLE (THE AFTERPARTY + ROAD TO HORIZON)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £12

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £30.50

Acoustic guitar soloist with a dedicated online community of followers, playing a duo of sets with no support.

American singer/songwriter of the folk-meets-rock variety, handy on both the acoustic and electric guitar.

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

The German indie-rockers make a rare trip to Glasgow to celebrate the release of their new LP, Close to the Glass.

ANDY MCKEE

A new event pitching up at Band on the Wall will see acoustic sets paired with homemade curry, making for a relaxed sorta Sunday.

The Dancing and Laughing lot take to The Castle for an evening of power electronics and experimental music. THE NOTWIST (JEL)

CONAN (CORRUPT MORAL ALTAR + BAST + BASTARD OF THE SKIES)

KRAAK, 19:00–23:00, £7

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

MICHAEL KAESHAMMER

Sun 16 Mar

THE VISITORS (THE ORDINARY + PRESIDENT RAY-GUN + YOUNG AMPHIBIANS)

UGLY DUCKLING

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £15

Classic Long Beach hip-hop ensemble whom we will forever love for their witty ditty, Meatshake (‘Meat to the shizzake’, etc).

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

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £8

Aussie folk singer/songwriter, would likely go down well with fans of Damien Rice, Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver.

Wed 19 Mar

Caveman doom warlords from Liverpool, who bring the bawdestroying riffs.

London-based singer/songwriter, navigating the indie folk scene while under the influence of the 60s folk revival scene. STU LARSON

One of the longest running Slovakian jazz groups comes to the UK to play their inspired mix of classic American jazz and recycled jazz standards.

Warrington’s pop rock five-piece tour their début EP, Why We Fall.

A one day festival of psychedelia, taking over Antwerp Mansion with a stellar line-up of live music, DJ sets, mind-bending visuals, clothing stalls, food, arts and crafts, and even a deep space observatory.

RICHARD BRADSHAW

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £5

THE AMC TRIO BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £12

TWIN FORKS

Chris Carrabba, aka Dashboard Confessional, and his new band of chums and vaguely new sound, serving up folky delights in the realm of The Avett Brothers et al. RED FANG (THE SHRINE + LORD DYING)

ONLY REAL

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–23:00, £5

Thu 20 Mar BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

ALBERT HALL, 19:30–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Expect the usual damaged affectations of indie from the north London-based four-piece, embarking on their first major UK tour in two years. JASON DERULO (CONOR MAYNARD)

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–22:30, FROM £28.50

Young Miami-based chart topper of the sexy urban dance and poppy love song variety. Deep stuff, we’re sure. CHIMAIRA

SOUND CONTROL, 18:00–22:00, £14

Cleveland-based metallic hardcore crew led by the sing-bark of Mark Hunter. COMMUNION (THOMAS DYBDAHL)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £5

Communion returns to The Ruby Lounge for an alternative disco, headed up by live acts and continuing until late.

NME AWARDS TOUR 2014 (INTERPOL + TEMPLES + ROYAL BLOOD + CIRCA WAVES) MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £21.60

NME host their annual showcase tour of the most exciting emergent talent around – in their eyes anyway – with Temples, Royal Blood and Circa Waves on’t bill, topped off by a headline set from mighty NYC lot, Interpol. SPACE + REPUBLICA

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:30–22:30, £15

90s-formed alternative rock trio Republica join forces with Liverpudlian indie-rockers Space, marking their 20th anniversary tour.

CONQUER RIO (YOUNG MOUNTAINS + DAVID LIVERIDGE + HUNTING FOR BEARS) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £5

Warrington’s pop rock five-piece tour their début EP, Why We Fall.

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £11

The Portland-based rockers mark a more thought-out and trippy approach.

Listings

Manchester Music ALEXIS CAIRNS

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

A selection of standards and original material from jazz saxophonist, Alexis Cairns’ debut album. LAST BAND STANDING (ANARCHY ALL-STARS + THE GOD COMPLEX + EMPIRE + VEDANNA)

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £5

Elimination style battle of the bands from Longevity Records. THE GRAMOTONES

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £7

Mancunian four-piece, drawing influences from the Northwest’s musical heritage to craft a Brit pop sound with a clear nod to the 60s. SPIERS & BODEN

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 20:00–23:00, £17 (£15.30)

Multi-instumentalist duo, crafting a foot-stomping blend of punky English folk. POLAR BEAR

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £15

The Mercury Prize-nomintated five-piece led by drummer, Sebastian Rochford tour their most recent release, Peepers.

Fri 21 Mar

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

ALBERT HALL, 19:30–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Expect the usual damaged affectations of indie from the north London-based four-piece, embarking on their first major UK tour in two years.

BILLY LOCKETT (TONY ANCHORMAN)

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £SOLD OUT

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

THE RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £12

Half-Swedish, half-Scottish singer/songwriter in possession of a fine technical agility and emotive style. THE BLUESWATER

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

Rockin’ Edinburgh 11-piece, resplendent with an old-school R’n’B vibe and a three-horn brass section. ONEREPUBLIC

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £23.50

Colorado Springs experimental pop ensemble fronted by Ryan Tedder, who formed the band back in 2002 with pal Zach Filkins. FREE GIG FRIDAY (FUTUREJACK + PORTERS FORCES)

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Fill your Friday night with free live music – guests and DJs selected by a different band each week. THE NEW MENDICANTS

DULCIMER BAR, 19:30–23:00, £12

Banter-heavy performance from Glasgow-born Norman Blake and the Massachusetts-hailing Joe Pernice, now neighbours in Canada and making music under their sublime pop The New Mendicants guise. QUADROPHENIA NIGHT

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 20:00–01:00, £10

A night celebrating all things Quadrophenia, with special appearances from The Specials’ DJ/ Saxophonist, a film screening and a live set from The Atlantics. AS ELEPHANTS ARE

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

Indie pop four-piece hailing from High Wycombe, still riding high on the release of their recent release single, Crystal. ELLA EYRE

GORILLA, 18:30–22:00, £8

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

TRANS (BERNARD BUTLET + JACKIE MCKEOWN + RISE + THE WAX COLLECTION)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £6

The experimental side project of Suede’s Bernard Butlet and Yummy Fur’s Jackie McKeown, touring with their debut release, The Red EP.

GORILLA RIOT (ALMASTY + THOSE ROTTEN THIEVES + LOUIE LOUIE)

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £5

Rock’n’roll four-piece Gorilla Riot headline the night, alongside the experimental sounds of desert rock bunch Almasty, more rock’n’roll from Those Rotten Thieves and new band on the scene, Louie Louie. THE RAINBAND

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £10

The Mancunian four-piece piece, founded in 2009 by lead singer Martin Finnigan and guitarist Phil Rainey, tour their latest release, Sirens. DARK BELLS (THE UNDERGROUND YOUTH + THE WATCHMAKERS)

KRAAK, 19:00–23:00, £6

Dark and moody London trio embark on a solo headline tour in between dates with Temples. KALOPSIA

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £5

A new club night pitching up at Night and Day, headed by Manchester Psych Festival.

Sat 22 Mar STIFF LITTLE FINGERS

THE RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £18.50

Original punk-pop four-piece par excellence, on the go now for over 35 years. RAY HARRIS

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

Record Kicks artist Raymond Harris and his merry band, fusing a smooth blend of dancefloor jazz, funk and soul. THE NANKEENS (THE SCANDAL + THE NINTH WATCH + SECOND HAND GUNS)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–02:00, £7

Four-piece indie outfit from Salford, led by two brothers.

FINGATHING (RED SKY NOISE + JOHNNY DUB)

SOUND CONTROL, 22:00–00:00, £8

Instrumental nu-jazz/hip hop outfit hailing from Manchester, made up of a DJ, a classically trained double bass player and distinct cartoon visuals from Chris Drury. FRANZ FERDINAND

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £22.50

Having been playing the music game for over a decade, Alex Kapranos and chums tour their late 2013 release, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action – again mixing the staccato energy of punk with highly calibrated pop ballads to suitably fine effect. HEAVEN’S BASEMENT (GLAMOUR OF THE KILL + THE DIRTY YOUTH)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £10

In advance of their European headline tour, the British hard rock quartet give their latest album, Filthy Empire an airing. TRANSMISSION: THE SOUNDS OF JOY DIVISION

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £8

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £7

JUNGLE (BEATY HEART)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Mysterious West London duo, made up of T and J, crafting tribal funk sounds. THIS IS THE KIT (THE MARINER’S CHILDREN)

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £8

Musical project of Kate Stables and pals, layering primal and hushed electric textures onto songs of unaffected beauty. DUKE AND THE DARLINGS

BLACK JACK BEERS, 19:00–23:00, £5

Sun 23 Mar SAINT RAYMOND

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £7

Indie singer/songwriter, aka Callum Burrows, out and touring his new EP, Young Blood.

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £5

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £8

Somewhat of a master tunesmith, the Manchester-based improvisational musician creates his own brand of orchestral magic using only guitar, loops pedals and his fine vocal-work. JACK SAVORETTI

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–22:30, £12

The Italian-English solo acoustic singer plays a set accompanied by his trusty guitar.

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £SOLD OUT

O2 APOLLO, 19:45–22:30, FROM £27.50

ANGEL OLSEN

Following the release of her latest album, Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Angel Olsen takes her dainty self out on the road, playing one of her two UK dates in the Northwest.

Tue 25 Mar BAND OF SKULLS

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £15

London-based alternative garage rock trio who cemented their musical bonds at college. THE MATT HOLBORN QUARTET

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

A newly formed group of musicians playing contemporary gypsy jazz, with violinist Matt Holborn at the helm. STU LARSON

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £8

Aussie folk singer/songwriter, would likely go down well with fans of Damien Rice, Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver. EARL SWEATSHIRT

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £15

The LA-based Odd Future member takes to the stage under his Earl Sweatshirt alias, touring his debut album, Doris. DENAI MOORE

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £4

RUNRIG

The Skye band of rockers return with a re-vamped show and set after an 18 month sabbatical from the touring circuit. GOLDFRAPP

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 19:00–22:30, FROM £20.50

A unique opportunity to catch Goldfrapp’s newest album performed in a live setting at The Lowry, alongside her exhibition of artistic influences, which form the first installment of the Performer as Curator series. MONSTER TRUCK + SCORPION CHILD

ROADHOUSE, 19:00–23:00, £10

Classic rock double-headline tour of rising acts Monster Truck and Scorpion Child. MARLEY CHINGUS

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

Liverpool-based jazz quartet, making waves on the Northwest jazz scene since 2008. STORY BOOKS

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £6.50

Alternative/indie five-piece hailing from Kent, headling out on a headline tour in support of their EP, Too Much A Hunter. TWISTED WHEEL: ONE FOR THE GIRLS

KRAAK, 19:30–23:00, £6

The banjo-playing, singer/songwriter from North Carolina via NYC brings his vaudevillian style show to the UK, delivering his dreamy rock’n’roll. TGT

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £32.50

Long-time friends and soul singers, Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank join forces for a European The Three Kings Tour. DREAMER

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

Eight-piece fun and soul outfit based in Manchester, playing a selection of 70s funk alongside more modern material. MELROSE QUARTET

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–23:00, £12 (£10.80)

Four-piece classical folk outfit, built up from award-winning folk duo Nancy Kerr and James Fagan. GEORGE PORTER JR + THE RUNNIN’ PARTNERS

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–23:00, £14

The legendary bassist, singer, and co-founder of The Meters tours with his new band, The Runnin’ Pardners, drawing on his four decade career which has included collaborations with the likes of Paul McCartney and Patti LaBelle. ROBERT HENKE: LUMIERE

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 20:00–23:00, £13

A live audiovisual performance by sound artist and producer, Robert Henke, utilising three white lasers to draw objects in space, and then using the laser patterns as an improvised dialogue between the artist and machine. Part of FutureEverything.

Sat 29 Mar KATY B

London-hailing singer/songwriter known for her captivating blend of folk and soul, touring with her latest EP, The Lake.

Indie-styled Manc trio led by yer man Jonny Brown on vocals and guitar duties, taking over Kraak Gallery for a laydees only night.

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £14

Wed 26 Mar

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £18.50

TINIE TEMPAH

WILD BEASTS (EAST INDIA YOUTH)

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

The Kendal quartet take to the road to give their new LP, Present Tense, an airing - oxygenated by clean synths and carried by Chris Talbot’s rich percussion. AZEALIA BANKS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £18.50

JEFF LORBER FUSION

The keyboardist, composer and producer, Jeff Lorber makes his Manchester debut, bringing with him his live band, known for complex harmonies and their use of unconventional time signatures. BEARD OF WOLVES

THE BAY HORSE, 20:00–00:00, £3 ADV (£4 DOOR)

The Harlem-based rapper plays tracks offa her debut LP, most likely in tiny hotpants.

The North Wales duo, made up of David Mitchell and Adam Hughes, making one hell of a racket with a whole load of drums, bass, vocals, synths and samples.

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £10

Fri 28 Mar

BONAFIDE (BAD TOUCH + AFTERLIFE)

Swedish hard rockers fronted by singer/guitarist and founding member Pontus Snibb. COASTS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £6

Bristol-based five-piece known for making shimmery pop sounds that go well with cold cider and a sunny day. Or, y’know, beer and dark clouds.

THE DAVE LUVIN GROUP

Daring and dynamic soul outfit hailing from Barcelona, fronted by their vibrant and charismatic lead singer, Kok-Jean Davis.

CURTIS ELLER’S AMERICAN CIRCUS (BONE BOX + LISA MARIE GLOVER)

The Sub Pop-signed, London-based songstress tours her new LP, Mirrors The Sky.

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–23:00, £10

THE EXCITEMENTS

IAN PROWSE AND AMSTERDAM

Listings

LYLA FOY

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:00–23:00, £11

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

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £20

American rockers formed and fronted by Chris Daughtry, a finalist on the fifth season of American Idol.

Electronic music producer Scanner teams up with the highly innovative Heritage Orchestra, and visual artist Matt Watkins, to deliver an electro-orchestral reworking of some of Joy Divisions greatest hits. Set to be all kinds of bloody lovely.

Manchester’s alternative pop charmers launch their latest EP in a local craft brewery.

The Cheshire singer/songwriter, who also fronts Pele and Amsterdam, does his solo thing.

DAUGHTRY (CHARMING LIARS)

DENIS JONES (WALK + THUGS ON WOLVES + TRAINGLECUTS)

BANKS

Los Angeles born’n’raised singer/ songwriter and self-taught pianist, known to her mammy as Jillian Banks.

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

The Kansas City transplant presents his reflection of living in Salford for four years, in collaboration with three Salford University music graduates. LAST LYNX

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £5

Playing one of their two UK dates in the Northwest, the Swedish indie pop outfit bring their electro pop and 60s pop sounds to Night and Day.

Thu 27 Mar DARKSIDE

THE RITZ, 20:00, £12.50

Collaborative project between electro house wunderkind Nicholas Jaar and live guitarist Dave Harrington, built on slick guitar-based funk and spaced-out disco vibes.

TINIE TEMPAH

O2 APOLLO, 19:30–22:30, £25

More pop-styled rap offerings from the South London chap.

LOUIS BARABBAS AND THE BEDLAM SIX

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £8

The (ever so slightly mental) Louis Barabbas and the Bedlam Six return to Edinburgh with their twisted dirt-swing tales of lust and loathing. FREE GIG FRIDAY (BANNERMEN + BARE JOHN + MATT THOMAS THOMPSON) THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Fill your Friday night with free live music – guests and DJs selected by a different band each week. MIKA VAINIO (SOURCE DIRECT + NINOS DU BRASIL + EVOL)

ISLINGTON MILL, 22:00–04:00, £12

FutureEverything join forces with Faktion to present a showcase of forward-thinking dance music from some cutting-edge pioneers of the genre, with Finnish sound explorer, Mika Vainio returning to headline the night after his appearance in 2010. DEAN BLUNT

SOUP KITCHEN, 21:00–04:00, £10

One half of Hype Williams takes to the UK with his most recent LP, The Redeemer. DARLIA

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £7.50

Rising Blackpool trio doing their best to spearhead the latest rock revival. LOVEABLE ROGUES

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

Young urban folk trio on vocals, guitar and ukulele.

Pop’s goldengirl continues her quest for radio domination. O2 APOLLO, 19:30–22:30, £25

More pop-styled rap offerings from the South London chap. THE STRANGLERS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £23

The long-standing punk-rockers take to the road once more, marking their 40th anniversary with dates up and down the country. TYGA

THE RITZ, 18:00–22:00, £25

AGE OF GLASS HORSE AND JOCKEY, 15:00–00:00, £TBC

The Mancunian electronic rave/ funk trio headline The Horse and Jockey’s re-launch party.

TEMPLE SONGS (YOUNG BRITISH ARTISTS + WARM WIDOW + MORE TREES PLEASE + PINS DJ SET)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–03:00, £5

Playing a home town show as part of their UK headline tour, Manchester’s Temple Songs bring the party pop sounds, with support from Young British Artists, Warm Widow, More Trees Please and a PINS DJ Set.

Sun 30 Mar YOU ME AT SIX

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–22:30, £25

Angst rock of the mosh-by-numbers emo variety, touring their LP. TOKYO POLICE CLUB

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £11

Canadian indie-pop foursome out on the road airing their fourth studio LP. FRANCOIS AND THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS (BARBAROSSA)

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £8

Saintes-born Francois Marry does his airy and understated thing under his François and the Atlas Mountains’ banner, all afro-beat sway and sweet indie-pop melodies. SPRING INTO HARMONY

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 14:00–16:00, £18

The Manchester Lesbian and Gay Chorus perform a series of musical theatre hits. RHODES

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £6

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

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £12

A night of jazz and soul courtesy of the trombone virtuoso Jiggs Whigham, joined by some of the Uks best trombonists, marking the end of National Trombone Day. THE HALL (EVIAN CHRIST)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 18:30–22:00, FREE

Evian Christ performs against the backdrop of Emmanuel Biard and David Leonard’s The Hall installation, which bends and distorts the viewer's perception of space, landing them in a new audio visual landscape. Part of FutureEverything.

Mon 31 Mar YOU ME AT SIX

Hip-hop singer/songwriter (aka Michael Stevenson), literally straight outta Compton.

Angst rock of the mosh-by-numbers emo variety, touring their LP.

KRAAK, 19:30–23:00, £SOLD OUT

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £23.50

OUR FOLD

Indie rock four-piece from Bolton. CITY OF LIGHTS (SULU BABYLON + NUDE + PATRICK GREEN)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £7

Crafty Yorkshire tunesmiths influenced by Biffy Clyro, Coldplay and the like. ABC

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, FROM £37

The 80s English new wave group from Sheffield – now essentially just Martin Fry – takes to the road once more touring his 2008 album, Traffic. ALICE ZAWADZKI + GEORGE BOOMSMA

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–02:00, £5

Violinist and singer, Alice Zawadzki is joined by her live band for a headline set of folk, classical and soul music, with support from Matt and Phred’s Singer/Songwriter competition winner, George Boomsma.

EVIAN CHRIST (KORELESS + LORENZO SENNI + VISIONIST + T C F)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

A theatrical-style performance, with Tri Angle’s Evian Christ presenting his recent work Duga 3 in a more formal setting. Part of FutureEverything. LONGPLAYER FOR VOICES AND LISTENING POST

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:00–22:00, FREE

An opportunity to hear sections of the Longplayer composition - a one thousand year-long musical piece which began playing in 1999 - as part of a discussion with composer, Jem Finer. Part of FutureEverything.

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–22:30, £25

BOY GEORGE

Wed 05 Mar

CYPHER16 (61 INCH + BAD POLLYANNA + ARTISFICTION + CHASING DRAGONS + HYDROSIS + STAND SILENT)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £7.50

A seven strong line-up headlined by a set from alt metal trio Cypher16, blending their individual electronic and metal influences into one industrialsounding whole.

Thu 06 Mar

LOUIS BARABBAS AND THE BEDLAM SIX

THE KAZIMIER, 20:00–23:00, £7 ADV (£8 DOOR)

The (ever so slightly mental) Louis Barabbas and the Bedlam Six return to Edinburgh with their twisted dirt-swing tales of lust and loathing. DEAD HEDGE TRIO

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, FREE

A trio from Liverpool, throwing jazz, psychedelic rock and Afrobeat into the melting pot and coming up with something kinda groovy with an improvised vibe. CROWBAR

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £13.50

FutureEverything presents the début European performance for the captivating cult artist, The Space Lady, who rose to fame in the 80s and 90s with her Casio keyboard and array of echo and phaser effects.

Fri 07 Mar

MUNCH MANSHIP

FREDERIKS, 20:00–23:00, £3

The celebrated jazz saxophonist returns to the Northwest to play a live show at ParrJazz.

80P (GAMMY BIRD + LEATHER COW) MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, £0.80

Postmusic’s 80p night returns with a headline set from the lo-fi pop rock trio, Gammy Bird. ALBIE DONNELLY

FREDERIKS, 20:30–23:00, £3

The Supercharge saxophonist plays a hometown solo show.

Wed 12 Mar LEE SCRATCH PERRY

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £25

THE GINGER TUNES QUARTET

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Thu 13 Mar METRONOMY

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, FREE

THE DUALERS

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Rag time jazz outfit hailing from Liverpool, making sounds on guitar, banjo, clarinet, washboard, double bass, trumpet and shed load of vocals.

FREE ROCK’N’ROLL (KILL PRETTY + NORWEB + LUCIFER SAMS)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

Fortnightly event offering up an evening of free rock’n’rollinspired music by the bucket load.

LIVERPOOL ROCKS! BATTLE OF THE BANDS SEMI FINAL

Sunny LA-residing rockers formed back in 1998 by guitarist/singer Bobby Hecksher, moving between the psychedelic and drone soundscapes of the genre.

Ska/reggae bunch hailing from Bromley, spreading their infectious cheer with a series of live outings. STUDIO 2, 19:30–23:00, £5

Battle of the bands tournament, with 48 bands from across Merseyside competing for that cash prize and headline slot at Liverpool Sound City. ONE MARK OFF (DUMBJAM + ALL JOKES ASIDE + JOHNNIEN SQUIZZECROW EXPEREMENT + REKLESS KINGS)

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £5

Sat 08 Mar ECHO ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £SOLD OUT

Hereford-born young singer/ songwriter of the moment, fusing electro-pop and indie-folk into her mix. MUTINEERS (INDIGO AURA + THE VINOS + DESPERATE FORBEN + LAST OF THE DOGS + TIGER FACTORY) THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £5

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

THE MELLOMELLO JAZZ COLLECTIVE

MELLOMELLO, 21:00–23:00, FREE

MelloMello’s jazz collective return, serving up a free evening of stomping jazz and swing fusion. THE ROBERT MATHER BAND

Tue 04 Mar

Tue 11 Mar

The Joseph Mount-led electro-pop pleasurists take to the road with their new LP, Love Letters – y’know the one on which they sing the word ‘Aquarius’ 478 times, or something.

THE PENNY ARCADIANS

STUDIO 2, 21:30–23:00, FREE

Liverpool Music

The British alternative rock quartet tour their fifth LP, Too Much Information, covering songs from a variety of artists including The Fall, Leonard Cohen and Mazzy Star.

LEAF, 19:00–23:00, £6

ACE magazine bring together a wealth of talent for this showcase event, headlined by electronic beat mastet, Lapsley, aka Holly Lapsley Fletcher.

ELLIE GOULDING

MANCHESTER ART GALLERY, 20:00–23:00, £9.00

MAXIMO PARK

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

Mike Smith’s ginger tunes quartet present their jazz fusion sounds, inspired by the likes of Courtney Pine and Joshua Redman.

LAPSLEY (NADINE CARINA + THE MONO LPS + CAVALRY)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

THE SPACE LADY

Mon 10 Mar

Hugely influential reggae and dub producer who was behind Bob Marley’s early studio output.

The six-piece rockabilly band from Southport headline the night, led by the lead singer, Lucy Brinddle.

Art pop collective founded by Jamie McDermott, navigating orchestral chamber pop sounds with hints of electronica, touring with his series of Nude Eps, Landscapes, Viscera and Forbidden.

MELLOMELLO, 15:00–23:00, FREE

A new Sunday session from MelloMello, featuring a marathon set of ambient double stepping sounds from DJ Kepla.

Sludge metal trio hailing from New Orleans, crafting a slow and brooding sorta sound interspersed with fast hardcore punk influences.

The 80s new romanticist continues to ride the live wave of his first new studio album of original material in almost two decades. THE IRREPRESSIBLES (OPAL ONYX)

Sun 09 Mar

SUNDAY SIT DOWN SESSIONS (KEPLA)

THE WARLOCKS (MUGSTAR)

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £10

STEFAN MELBOURNE (CARRIANNE HAYDEN + MICHAEL REEVE + BEATEN TRACK DJS)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:00–22:30, £4

The Mellowtone bunch present an evening of singer/songwriter folk, with Mancunian Stefan Melbourne headlining the night.

Fri 14 Mar

SEX PISTOLS EXPERIENCE (THE NO NAME JANES)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £10

Sex Pistols tribute act. THE WANTED

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–22:30, FROM £28

More over-styled boy band fare from the British and Irish fivepiece. Joys.

LIVERPOOL ROCKS! BATTLE OF THE BANDS SEMI FINAL

STUDIO 2, 19:30–23:00, £5

Battle of the bands tournament, with 48 bands from across Merseyside competing for that cash prize and headline slot at Liverpool Sound City. LOKA + PADDY STEER

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:00, £10 (£8)

A gathering of Liverpool and Manchester’s psychedelic tribes, on a quest to move feet and minds.

THE GOOD INTENTIONS (SOUTHBOUND ATTIC BAND)

VIEW TWO GALLERY, 20:00–23:00, £6

Six-piece soul and funk band from Liverpool, formed in 2012 as the resident band for Eric’s.

Americana/country trio hailing from Liverpool, encompassing guitar, autoharp, mandolin, banjo and accordion.

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16

Comedian Chris Lynam will be bringing his unique brand of unhinged hi-jinx to the Kazimier Garden for an all-dayer, including a clowning workshop, performance of Man with a Porpoise and concluding with a pyrotechnic, acrobatic show from Lynam.

THE ENGLISH BEAT (DAVE WAKELING + RODDY RADIATION + BROKEN 3 WAYS)

Dave Wakeling – the singer, songwriter and guitarist behind 80s 2-tone outfit, The Beat – tours his band line-up, performing the hits of The Beat and General Public. NO POMP! JUST CIRCUMSTANCE

UNITY THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10)

Jennifer John presents an evening of original songs and her own take on Joni Mitchell’s music in response to International Womens’ Day.

CHRIS LYNAM

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, £5

THE SKINNY

Liverpool Music Sat 15 Mar

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB (RAE MORRIS)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Expect the usual damaged affectations of indie from the north London-based four-piece, embarking on their first major UK tour in two years. THE SMYTHS

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £11

The Smiths tribute act.

THE SONGBOOK SESSIONS (CAVALRY + THE BRIGANTES + JESSICA’S GHOST + THE RESTLESS VENTURE + TWISTED TREES + CARL HARPER) THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £5

A showcase event for new and upcoming songwriters in Liverpool and the surrounding areas. NEW POWER SOUL CLUB

STUDIO 2, 21:30–23:00, FREE

London-based session band, playing anything from 70s classics to modern hits. RIOT JAZZ

THE KAZIMIER, 21:00–23:00, £TBC

A rioutous, 11-piece jazz band hailing from Manchester, fronted by MC Chunky.

Sun 16 Mar

SUNDAY SIT DOWN SESSIONS (SILENT MOVIE NIGHT) MELLOMELLO, 19:00–23:00, FREE

For this special edition of the Sunday Sit Down Sessions, Aardvark and more provide a live soundtrack to four silent films. VICTORIA SHARPE

STUDIO 2, 21:00–23:00, FREE

The Liverpool-based piano vocalist plays a set of originals and covers. STEVE MACFARLANE

STUDIO 2, 17:00–19:30, FREE

Enjoy an afternoon of music with the Liverpool-based singer/ songwriter, playing a mixture of originals and covers.

Mon 17 Mar THE BOG STANDARDS

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, £DONATION

The Bog Standards lead the way for St Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Tue 18 Mar

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS (THE GODFATHERS)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

Original punk-pop four-piece par excellence, on the go now for over 35 years. UGLY DUCKLING

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 20:00–23:00, £10

Classic Long Beach hip-hop ensemble whom we will forever love for their witty ditty, Meatshake (‘Meat to the shizzake’, etc). STUART MCCALLUM

FREDERIKS, 20:30–23:00, £3

The Cinematic Orchestra guitarist trying out new material in the realm of beats, electronica, classical orchestration and jazz. ENSEMBLE 10/10: SWEDISH SMORGASBORD

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £10

A group of composers assemble to unveil a selection of classical pieces, including two world premières; Lars Hollmer’s Eyeliner Suite and Patrick Jones’ Unfurl.

Wed 19 Mar KATHRYN WILIAMS

LEAF, 20:00–23:00, £12.50

Mercury Prize-nominated singer/ songwriter tours on the run up to the release of her 10th studio album, Crown Electric. SOUNDS OF THE ENGINE HOUSE

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:00, £10 (£8)

A project formed in 2010 dedicated to programming the work of living composers, marking final date of their early 2014 tour with a show of home turf.

Thu 20 Mar

THE ANSWER (BLACK WOLF)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £14

Geordie/Northern Ireland foursome sounding pretty much like what you get when you cross classic, hard and blues rock together. FROM THE JAM

THE CAVERN CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £20

The Jam tribute act.

Fri 21 Mar

FOUR TOPS + TEMPTATIONS

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £47.50

Classic Motown hitmakers, times two.

March 2014

SPACE + REPUBLICA

MELLOWTONE DJS

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 16:00–20:00, FREE

90s-formed alternative rock trio Republica join forces with Liverpudlian indie-rockers Space, marking their 20th anniversary tour. LIVERPOOL ACOUSTIC FESTIVAL (ROBERT VINCENT + EWAN MCLENNA + ANNA CORCORAN + SHANNEN BAMFORD + THOM MORECROFT + ANY PINK)

UNITY THEATRE, 18:00–23:00, £12 (£30 WEEKEND)

A two day festival celebrating acoustic music from Liverpool and further afield, with workshops, seminars, keynote speakers, stalls, Q&A sessions, a record fair, and of course, live music.

Sat 22 Mar

THE CLONE ROSES (INDIGO VIOLET + STILLIA) O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £10

The Stone Roses tribute act. SUSAN BOYLE

LIVERPOOL EMPIRE, 19:30–22:30, FROM £38.50

The Britain’s Got Talent songstress performs a set of iconic album tracks and classics, we’ll do the hiding.

NME AWARDS TOUR 2014 (INTERPOL + TEMPLES + ROYAL BLOOD + CIRCA WAVES) O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £21.60

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–22:30, FROM £44.50

The Grammy award-winning solo artist takes his latest album, Take Care, out for a spin.

LIVERPOOL ACOUSTIC FESTIVAL (THOMAS MCCONNELL + MEGAN THOMAS + JUST BY CHANCE + KATREENA BOWELL + THE FIREFLYS + EDWARD BARLOW + MICHAEL J ROACH) UNITY THEATRE, 13:00–17:00, £10 (£20, DAY, £30 WEEKEND)

A two day festival celebrating acoustic music from Liverpool and further afield, with workshops, seminars, keynote speakers, stalls, Q&A sessions, a record fair, and of course, live music.

LIVERPOOL ACOUSTIC FESTIVAL (IAN MCNABB + THOMAS J SPEIGHT + TJ & MURPHY + SOPHIA BENYOUSEF + LAURA CAMPBELL + GARY EDWARD JONES + PAUL DUNBAR) UNITY THEATRE, 18:00–23:00, £14 (£20 DAY, £30 WEEKEND)

A two day festival celebrating acoustic music from Liverpool and further afield, with workshops, seminars, keynote speakers, stalls, Q&A sessions, a record fair, and of course, live music. FLYNN AND TONICS

STUDIO 2, 21:30–23:00, FREE

Funk and soul wedding band, comprised of LIPA graduates.

ZANZIBAR BAND SHOWCASE (COW + SKY VALLEY MISTRESS + SOUND OF THE SIRENS + SEPRONA) THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £5

A showcase event for new and up-coming bands in Liverpool and the surrounding areas. LUND QUARTET

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:00, £10 (£8)

An instrumental outfit from Bristol, blending Scandinavian jazz influences with the creative opportunities offered by the subtle use of turntablism. ESP #3 (THE CHILDREN’S APOCALYPSE HOUR 1977)

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, £3

A new monthly event blending immersive surrealist performance with theatre and presentation.

Sun 23 Mar THE FEELING

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

Harmless indie-popsters led by Dan Gillespie Sells’ wishy-washy vocals. REBECCA FERGUSON

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–22:30, FROM £28

Liverpudlian singer/songwriter and X Factor almost-was.

Enjoy a laid back selection of grooves from the Mellowtone bunch, serving up the obvious alongside the obscure. MARTIN TAYLOR

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:00, £11.50 (£10)

Solo jazz guitarist and composer, carving a path for himself as an innovative fingerstyle guitarist. VIALKA’S POCKET OPERA

MELLOMELLO, 19:00–23:00, £5

The French post-genre guitar and drums duo present their pocket opera, a minimalist dinner opera in one act and twelve ordeals.

Tue 25 Mar DEXTERS

KOROVA, 19:00–23:00, £6

Indie rock five-piece hailing from East London, more than apt at penning catchy wee guitar anthems. FOREVER PAVOT (PSYENCE)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 20:00–23:00, £5

The Parisian psych garage bunch play a live set alongside support from Stoke-on-Trent’s psychedelic rock’n’roll outfit, Psyence.

Thu 27 Mar COASTS

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

Bristol-based five-piece known for making shimmery pop sounds that go well with cold cider and a sunny day. Or, y’know, beer and dark clouds. FREE ROCK’N’ROLL (PETE BETHAM AND THE DINNER LADIES + CUT + THE CROWS)

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Fortnightly event offering up an evening of free rock’n’roll-inspired music by the bucket load. LOVEABLE ROGUES

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £10

Young urban folk trio on vocals, guitar and ukulele.

Fri 28 Mar JACK SAVORETTI

EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £12

The Italian-English solo acoustic singer plays a set accompanied by his trusty guitar. THE RELEASED (RELUCTANT REPUBLIC)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £6

The Wirral-based four-piece playing alternative rock. THE SPEAKEASY BOOTLEG BAND

MELLOMELLO, 21:00–23:00, FREE

Hailing from New Orleans, this tin pan alley three piece bring the sounds of the turn of the 20thcentury to Liverpool.

PETE WYLIE (MERSEY WYLIE + TOM CARROL)

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £15

The Wah! frontman plays a solo show, singing songs and telling tales, so they say.

SHATNER’S BASSOON + SPACE F!GHT

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:00, £10 (£8)

A group young musicians from Leeds, drawing on influences as varied as John Zorn and Frank Zappa to create music that spans the beautiful to the sinister.

THRESHOLD FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ARTS (THE DESTROYERS + GIDEON CONN + BEANS ON TOAST + CHINA SHOP BULL + ALPHA MALE TEA PARTY + NATALIE MCCOOL)

VARIOUS VENUES AND TIMES, £8 (£25 WEEKEND)

Day one of Threshold Festival will see the likes of Birmingham’s megafolk bunch, The Destroyers and Liverpudlian lady of the moment, Natalie McCool take to stages around the Baltic Triangle, including District and 24 Kitchen Street.

Sat 29 Mar DAN CROLL

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £8

Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts graduate and winner for the Musicians Benevolent Fund’s National Songwriter of the Year Award, taking a break from touring with Imagine Dragons and Bastille to play a couple of shows closer to home turf.

THE ORB

DISTRKT

EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 21:00–02:00, £16.50

FACTORY 251, 22:30–03:00, £TBC

The English electronic mainstays mark 25 years of ambient house, with sets from System 7 and Joe McKechnie. NEW POWER SOUL CLUB

STUDIO 2, 21:30–23:00, FREE

London-based session band, playing anything from 70s classics to modern hits.

RADSTOCK FESTIVAL (FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND + KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES + YASHIN + FEED THE RHINO + BLEED FROM WITHIN + HEART OF A COWARD + FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS + CANTERBURY + HACKTIVIST)

O2 ACADEMY, 13:00–23:00, £26

Indoor festival taking over the Liverpool O2 Academy, with headline sets from post hardcore bunch, Funeral for a Friend and Cardiff’s rock quintet, Kids in Glass Houses. APPROACHING PLUTO (ANNE GUDRUM + KALANDRA + NORA KONSTANSE + EMILIO PINCHI)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:00–22:30, £3

A showcase of Norwegian musicians alongside some local favourites, with the fuzzy, alt-pop lot, Approaching Pluto headlining the night. RAKESH CHAURASIA + ANIL SRINIVASAN

THE CAPSTONE, 13:00–15:00, FREE

A double-bill performance from two of India’s highly acclaimed classical musicians and one of the finest Odissi dancers of recent times. Part of Milapfest.

THRESHOLD FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ARTS (DUB MAFIA + THE HARLEQUIN DYNAMITE MARCHING BAND + THE PART TIME HELIOCENTRIC COSMO AFTER SCHOOL DRAMA CLUB + THE FIRE BENEATH THE SEA + BROKEN MEN + ABI WADE)

VARIOUS VENUES AND TIMES, £12 (£25 WEEKEND)

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, £3

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

Thu 06 Mar

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £6

JUICY

FANTASTIC MR FOX

ODDER BAR, 22:00–4:00, £5

The Wolverhampton-born, Berlinbased DJ and producer headlines this Bank and Mekka night, with Odder souped-up with a Satsuma Sound System for the occasion. REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

New weekly event, with the ever-charming Duncan from Dutch Uncles taking to the decks for a vinyl only set of golden age pop and disco. MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. STOP MAKING SENSE

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE

Common’s regular club-in-a-bar night of hipster bullshit, with Mr Seb Valentine, Benatronic & Luke Warm. FOUR20 (AUDIOJACK)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 22:30–04:00, £8

The Leeds-based DJ/production outfit, Audiojack take to four20 for a three hour set of house, and techno. AUDIOJUNKIES

WALRUS, 20:30–01:00, FREE

CactusMCR DJs delve into their collections to serve up some audio yet untold, with a mish mash of genres taking over the bar area. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–03:30, £3 (99P CHEAP LIST)

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.

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Fri 07 Mar

SEAWITCHES

Sun 30 Mar WILL JAZZ

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 14:00–18:00, FREE

A lazy afternoon of jazz, selected by the Planetary Jazz founder, William S Whittle. SOUL4SOUL

STUDIO 2, 20:00–23:00, £4

Soul showcase night, offering a stage for Liverpool’s up-andcoming soul musicians.

THRESHOLD FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ARTS (ROBERT VINCENT + JOHN GORMAN + DOMINIC DUNN + JOE SYMES & THE LOVING KIND + FORTHAVEN + JOHN MCGRATH)

VARIOUS VENUES AND TIMES, (£25 WEEKEND)

Day three of Threshold Festival will see a slew of local acoustic acts taking to stages around the Baltic Triangle, including Robert Vincent, Dominic Dunn and John McGrath, alongside the folk musings of Ottersgear and the indie rock lot, Run Tiger Run.

Manchester Clubs Tue 04 Mar GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4 ADV (£5 DOOR)

Legendary bad boy, mixed-bag night that invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £2

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours. POP TART

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, £3

Student night delivering cheesy chart tunes and guilty pleasures.

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £10

Manchester club night iDiOSYNC join forces with Stem for a label showcase, inviting a selection of idiosyncratic DJs whose curious styles may have previously kept them off more mainstream radars, including Avatism and Clockwork.

Wed 05 Mar

Day two of Threshold Festival will see some of the longest band names in the biz cropping up on the line-up, as hip hop/funk lot The Fire Beneath The Sea and raggletaggle bunch, Harlequin Dynamite Marching Band take to stages around the Baltic Triangle. The Liverpool-based dirty pop trio launch their EP on the night, with support from Mind Mountain and Beach Skulls.

STEM AND IDIOSYNC (AVATISM + CLOCKWORK + ORBIS TERRARUM + GUY RICHARDS + EOIN THOMAS)

REVOLVER

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £3 ADV (£4 DOOR)

Manchester’s premier 60s party, now a bi-monthly reason to get excited. Expect 60s pop, garage, motown, rock’n’roll. PAID IN FULL

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE

DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, frunk and dubstep sounds. WELL FUTURE (TULLIS RENNIE)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE

Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future. SHAKEDOWN

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep.

XFM FIRST FRIDAY (THE FRATELLIS + KILL VAN KULLS) BAND ON THE WALL, 21:00–03:00, £17.50

The gig and club combo night continues, with a two-strong line-up including the recently reformed Fratellis, and Manchester’s Kill Van Kulls. CLUB X OVER

THE RITZ, 22:30–03:30, £4 (£5 AFTER 12)

Monthly alternative club night offering an eclectic mix of rock, grunge, metal, hip hop, industrial and more courtesy of their resident DJs. TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–03:30, £2

DJ set from Chris Massey, serving up the hits of the decade along with some guilty pleasures. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, 99P (£6 AFTER 12)

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. BOOMBOX

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 21:00–03:00, FREE

David Dunne and Andy Daniels embark on a trip through the 90s, taking in anything from hip hop to house to classic pop.

GIRL POWER

Pop Curious take a jaunt into the realm of 90s girl bands and female-fronted pop groups for their one-off club night, Girl Power. ZUTEKH (ÂME)

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £12

For part 2 of their 5th birthday celebrations, Zuketh invite Âme’s Kristian Beyer to headline the night, best known for his releases on Innervisions and Sonar Kollektiv with the other half of Âme, Frank Wiedermann. LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT

FALLOW CAFE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12)

Alternative and indie rock night, taking in much of the 80s and 90s with their blend of danceable tunes, including the Smiths, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr et al.

WITCH*UNT (ALLY SEEDY + DUECE + CHARLIE FLEIG + WITCH*UNT RESIDENTS) UNDERLAND, 22:00–04:00, £5

Old school, hip hop and electro are the focus of this female-fronted club night. CODED RHYTHM (LONE + HAPPA)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 22:00–04:00, £8

Returning for their first run of 2014 on suitably fine form, Coded Rhythm present double headline sets from Nottingham-viaManchester’s Lone, and techno wunderkind, Happa.

Sat 08 Mar FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–03:30, £5 ADV. (£6 DOOR)

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. WHOSAIDWHAT?

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, £2

Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. FRIENDS IN COMMON (SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. WOO HAH

TROF NORTHERN QUARTER, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£1 AFTER 10PM)

New Saturday-nighter spanning old school, hip-hop, soul and funk. SCARY MONSTERS

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£6 AFTER 11)

Total 80s night, serving up the likes of Bowie, Depeche Mode and Duran Duran. SOCIAL BEAT

THE RITZ, 22:30–03:30, £5

New weekly club night taking the GoGo spot, relaunched as a house party mash up. TRANARCHY

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

The Manchester-based music and DJ collective prove their worth as seasoned party-throwers. Expect glitter. STONE LOVE

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £3

New blood indie disco from Stone Love and The Loft Club, offering indie rock’n’roll, soul, funk and Motown across three rooms. BEATS, BATS & BEERS

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 21:00–03:00, FREE

Mark Webster and his chums play their take on soul, boogie, funk and alternative pop treasures, providing ample soundtrack to your beer-fuelled ping pong session. KALUKI (RICHY AHMED + WAFF)

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £12

The same folk who brought us Rebel Rave back in January return with another of their genrepushing nights, this time inviting Geordie house DJ, Richy Ahmed to take the helm.

Listings

Manchester Clubs MAGIC POTION FALLOW CAFE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

A crackling mix of northern soul, jazz, dub, ska and reggea, served up during a strictly vinyl set from resident DJ, Fush. HAIM DJ SET

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–04:00, £10

Following their show at Manchester Academy, the LA-based trio will hit Deaf for a late night DJ set. CHOW DOWN (BOK BOK + E.M.M.A.)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 22:00–04:00, £4

Chow Down mark their third birthday with a headline set from Night Slug’s Bok Bok. KOWTON

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£7 THEREAFTER)

Young producer Kowton takes to the decks, incorporating both the rhythmic energy of garage and the depth and intensity of techno into his set.

Tue 11 Mar GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4 ADV (£5 DOOR)

Legendary bad boy, mixed-bag night that invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £2

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours. POP TART

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, £3

Student night delivering cheesy chart tunes and guilty pleasures. DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 22:30–03:00, £TBC

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

Wed 12 Mar JUICY

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, £3

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

Thu 13 Mar

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

New weekly event, with the ever-charming Duncan from Dutch Uncles taking to the decks for a vinyl only set of golden age pop and disco. MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. STOP MAKING SENSE

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE

Common’s regular club-in-a-bar night of hipster bullshit, with Mr Seb Valentine, Benatronic & Luke Warm. AUDIOJUNKIES

WALRUS, 20:30–01:00, FREE

CactusMCR DJs delve into their collections to serve up some audio yet untold, with a mish mash of genres taking over the bar area. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–03:30, £3 (99P CHEAP LIST)

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.

Fri 14 Mar PUMPING IRON

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10)

Mixed-bag night of nu cosmic Italio, vintage avant garde disco and lo-fi rhythmic punk funk. PAID IN FULL

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE

DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, frunk and dubstep sounds. GET LUCKY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Staying up all night to Get Lucky, the Deaf Institute present a night of pure disco, spanning the best of the 70s and 80s. SHAKEDOWN

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep.

Listings

SAUCE (AUBREY + PETE MANGALORE + ASHER JONES + DAVE OWEN) KRAAK, 23:00–04:00, £3 ADV (£5 DOOR)

Sauce returns to Kraak with their mixed bag of records courtesy of resident DJs, Dave Owen and Asher Jones, with special guest appearances from Jane Fitz, who recently made her debut at London’s Fabric.

MUSIC IS LOVE (MOODYMANN + LEVON VINCENT + DELANO SMITH + OLI FURNESS + WBEEZA + OLI FURNESS + NEW J) SANKEYS, 22:30–6:00, £15

Part two of Music is Love’s Manchester residency takes the form of headline sets from Detroit’s Moodymann, alongside electronic dance pioneer, Wbeeza TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–03:30, £2

DJ set from Chris Massey, serving up the hits of the decade along with some guilty pleasures. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, 99P (£6 AFTER 12)

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. BOOMBOX

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 21:00–03:00, FREE

David Dunne and Andy Daniels embark on a trip through the 90s, taking in anything from hip hop to house to classic pop. MISC (HECTOR COUTO)

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £10

A new club night formed between two existing promoters – with specific details being kept hush hush, we can confirm that Hector Couto will be headlinging their inaugural night. MEAT FREE (TAMA SUMO)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, £8 EARLYBIRD (£9 THEREAFTER)

Meat Free mark their first birthday with a headline set from Berghain and Panorama Bar resident, Tama Sumo.

MARK HOGG THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 21:00–03:00, FREE

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

BEATS, BATS & BEERS

Tequila drenched night of classic sleaze and hard rock – expect Aerosmith, Motley Crue and Misfits to name a few.

GORILLA, 22:00–04:00, £10

A new night landing at Deaf, offering up the best in disco, funk, boogie and party classics.

MVSON (TEN WALLS + ALEX NIGGEMANN + OJ & MY)

The mysterious Ten Walls headlines the latest Mvson night alongside Berlin-based electronic DJ and producer Alex Niggeman. HOWLING RHYTHM

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

The 60s soul and Motown-centric night returns for another outing, serving up even more Northern soul and funk courtesy of the Howling Rhythm residents.

Sun 16 Mar HAXAN

COMMON, 16:00–00:00, FREE

Michael Holland and Boomkat’s Conor, dishing up radiophonic disco and film score techno.

Tue 18 Mar GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4 ADV (£5 DOOR)

Legendary bad boy, mixed-bag night that invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £2

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours. POP TART

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, £3

FACTORY 251, 22:30–03:00, £TBC

DISTRKT

Soup Kitchen welcome John Heckle to the decks, with the versatile young house DJs incorporating three turntables as well as live jams on his Roland 707.

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

Sat 15 Mar

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–03:30, £5 ADV. (£6 DOOR)

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. WHOSAIDWHAT?

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, £2

Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure.

Wed 19 Mar JUICY

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, £3

Thu 20 Mar

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

New weekly event, with the ever-charming Duncan from Dutch Uncles taking to the decks for a vinyl only set of golden age pop and disco. MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. AUDIOJUNKIES

WALRUS, 20:30–01:00, FREE

CactusMCR DJs delve into their collections to serve up some audio yet untold, with a mish mash of genres taking over the bar area. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–03:30, £3 (99P CHEAP LIST)

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks.

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.

TROF NORTHERN QUARTER, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£1 AFTER 10PM)

SOUP KITCHEN, 22:00–04:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£7 THEREAFTER)

FRIENDS IN COMMON (PLASTIC ELECTRIQUE)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10)

WOO HAH

New Saturday-nighter spanning old school, hip-hop, soul and funk. SOCIAL BEAT

THE RITZ, 22:30–03:30, £5

New weekly club night taking the GoGo spot, relaunched as a house party mash up. REACH OUT: MOTOWN

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £1

A night of 60s sounds, with Motown and soul on the agenda thanks to Sound Control resident, Daniel Deighan. STONE LOVE

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £3

New blood indie disco from Stone Love and The Loft Club, offering indie rock’n’roll, soul, funk and Motown across three rooms.

DUSK TILL DAWN

Mark Webster and his chums play their take on soul, boogie, funk and alternative pop treasures, providing ample soundtrack to your beer-fuelled ping pong session.

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£7 THEREAFTER)

Manchester’s premier 60s party, now a bi-monthly reason to get excited. Expect 60s pop, garage, motown, rock’n’roll.

SHAKEDOWN

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep.

Student night delivering cheesy chart tunes and guilty pleasures.

REVOLVER

Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future.

One half of The Slammin’ Boys, and Funkademia resident navigates classic disco and funk as part of his new monthly residency.

JOHN HECKLE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £3 ADV (£4 DOOR)

WELL FUTURE (GLOWING PALMS) COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10)

ADDISON GROOVE B2B DIE

Addison Grove celebrates the launch of his début album for Modeselektor’s 50 Weapons imprint with a back to back set from d’n’b legend, Die.

Fri 21 Mar TEASE

THE RITZ, 22:30–03:30, £12 EARLYBIRD (£12.50 THEREAFTER)

Party night of R’n’B, hip-hop and dancehall anthems. PAID IN FULL

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE

UPTOWN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £3 ADV (£5 DOOR)

TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–03:30, £2

DJ set from Chris Massey, serving up the hits of the decade along with some guilty pleasures. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, 99P (£6 AFTER 12)

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. BOOMBOX

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 21:00–03:00, FREE

David Dunne and Andy Daniels embark on a trip through the 90s, taking in anything from hip hop to house to classic pop. DROP THE MUSTARD (BREACH + ROUTE94)

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £SOLD OUT

Ben Westbeech heads up the latest Drop the Mustard night, taking to the decks under his more house based alias, Breach, with support from the London-based Route 94.

Sat 22 Mar FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–03:30, £5 ADV. (£6 DOOR)

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. WHOSAIDWHAT?

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, £2

Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. FRIENDS IN COMMON (WHITE PEPPER)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10)

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. WOO HAH

TROF NORTHERN QUARTER, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£1 AFTER 10PM)

New Saturday-nighter spanning old school, hip-hop, soul and funk. SOCIAL BEAT

THE RITZ, 22:30–03:30, £5

New weekly club night taking the GoGo spot, relaunched as a house party mash up. NICK’S PICKS

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

A selection of rare and private press rock, punk and psychedelia, courtesy of Nick. STONE LOVE

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £3

New blood indie disco from Stone Love and The Loft Club, offering indie rock’n’roll, soul, funk and Motown across three rooms. BEATS, BATS & BEERS

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 21:00–03:00, FREE

Mark Webster and his chums play their take on soul, boogie, funk and alternative pop treasures, providing ample soundtrack to your beer-fuelled ping pong session. POP CURIOUS? (MICHELLE VISAGE)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £15

The American pop vocalist and host of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Michelle Visage headlines the latest Pop Curious? club night. FOREPLAY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

A warm up for your Saturday night, with the house band, Foreplay playing a mixture of covers and originals.

DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, frunk and dubstep sounds.

THE SKINNY

EL DIABLO’S SOCIAL CLUB (JUSTIN V + TRISTAN DA CUNHA + JAMES HOLYROYD + FULL BEAM + EL DIABLO’S DJS) THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–04:00, £7

Warm up for The Garden Festival with a little get together hosted by the El Diablo bunch, taking over all three floors with a smattering of Adriatic boogie beats.

Tue 25 Mar GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4 ADV (£5 DOOR)

Legendary bad boy, mixed-bag night that invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £2

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours. POP TART

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, £3

Student night delivering cheesy chart tunes and guilty pleasures. DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 22:30–03:00, £TBC

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

Wed 26 Mar TOO MANY DJS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 21:00–02:00, FREE

A new club night pitching up at Deaf, taking a cue from open mic nights and inviting DJs of all standards to take over the decks for half hour slots.

Thu 27 Mar DARKSIDE

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

Collaborative project between electro house wunderkind Nicholas Jaar and live guitarist Dave Harrington, built on slick guitar-based funk and spaced-out disco vibes. REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

New weekly event, with the ever-charming Duncan from Dutch Uncles taking to the decks for a vinyl only set of golden age pop and disco. MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. STOP MAKING SENSE

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE

Common’s regular club-in-a-bar night of hipster bullshit, with Mr Seb Valentine, Benatronic & Luke Warm. AUDIOJUNKIES

WALRUS, 20:30–01:00, FREE

CactusMCR DJs delve into their collections to serve up some audio yet untold, with a mish mash of genres taking over the bar area. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–03:30, £3 (99P CHEAP LIST)

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.

Fri 28 Mar REBEL MUSIC

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £3 ADV (£4 DOOR)

HOLY CIRCUS THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Blissed out night of indie, rock, lofi garage and all in between; expect to hear The Smiths, Talking Heads and The Cure. SHAKEDOWN

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep. DEAN BLUNT

SOUP KITCHEN, 21:00–04:00, £10

One half of Hype Williams takes to the UK with his most recent LP, The Redeemer. TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–03:30, £2

DJ set from Chris Massey, serving up the hits of the decade along with some guilty pleasures. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, 99P (£6 AFTER 12)

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. BOOMBOX

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 21:00–03:00, FREE

David Dunne and Andy Daniels embark on a trip through the 90s, taking in anything from hip hop to house to classic pop. LEAN (NEW YORK TRANSIT AUTHORITY)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 22:00–04:00, £8.50

For the latest edition of Lean, NYTA and TCTS go back to back with full 90 minute sets, taking anything from the former’s 120-130bpm 80s electro, to the latter’s expansive house style.

Sat 29 Mar POP

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–04:00, £3 ADV (£5 DOOR)

Pop classics in the music hall and glitzy girly disco in the main bar – all of which is designed to keep you dancing all night. FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–03:30, £5 ADV. (£6 DOOR)

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. WHOSAIDWHAT?

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, £2

Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. CRAIG CHARLES FUNK AND SOUL CLUB

DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, frunk and dubstep sounds. MIKA VAINIO (SOURCE DIRECT + NINOS DU BRASIL + EVOL)

ISLINGTON MILL, 22:00–04:00, £12

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10)

Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future.

March 2014

MEANDYOU + FUTURE EVERYTHING

SOUP KITCHEN, 22:00–04:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£7 THEREAFTER)

The Manchester-based collective continue with their trend of hosting bang on house and techno nights, this time joining forces with FutureEverything and getting RVDS to play up in the bar while L.I.E.S records’ Florian Kupfer takes to the basement. JUST SKANK (PHAELEH + COMPA)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 22:30–04:00, £7 EARLYBIRD (£8 THEREAFTER)

Eclectic night of dubstep, drum’n’bass, garage, house and hip-hop, this time inviting Phaleleh to play a 90 minute headline set.

Sun 30 Mar

PROJECT: MOONCIRCLE (SUBMERSE + RAIN DOG) SOUP KITCHEN, 21:00–00:00, £6 (£8 DOOR)

The Brooklyn-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer KRTS headlines this Project: Mooncircle showcase, focussing on left-field electronica and abstract hip hop. Part of FutureEverything.

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10)

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. WOO HAH

TROF NORTHERN QUARTER, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£1 AFTER 10PM)

Liverpool Clubs Tue 04 Mar DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:30–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 05 Mar KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 20:30–05:00, £2

An anything-goes affair – think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more. MEDICATION

NATION, 22:30–03:00, £5

Long-running student night serving up three rooms of house, electro, chart and r’n’b – complete with visuals and occasional fancy dress. NO-WAVE SOCIAL CLUB

BROOKLYN MIXER, 21:00–02:00, FREE

CLARKS

A new monthly bashment club hitting the Liverpool scene, serving up bashment, soca and dancehall with Caribbean décor and carnival vibes.

New Saturday-nighter spanning old school, hip-hop, soul and funk.

Thu 06 Mar

THE RITZ, 22:30–03:30, £5

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

SOCIAL BEAT

TRANARCHY

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–02:00, FREE

STONE LOVE

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £3

New blood indie disco from Stone Love and The Loft Club, offering indie rock’n’roll, soul, funk and Motown across three rooms. BEATS, BATS & BEERS

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 21:00–03:00, FREE

Mark Webster and his chums play their take on soul, boogie, funk and alternative pop treasures, providing ample soundtrack to your beer-fuelled ping pong session. ROCK ASYLUM

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £5

Rock and metal club night, with residents Dan Clifford and Mikke Diablo appearing alongside guest DJs.

Liverpool Clubs SWAG! CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, FROM £2

Student night with drinks offers and resident DJs providing the urban soundtrack to your Thursday night.

Fri 07 Mar CARL COMBOVER

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

60s rock’n’roll and raw r’n’b from the Go Go resident, Carl Combover.

CHIBUKU SHAKE SHAKE (BICEP + BONDAX + PAUL WOOLFORD + EJECA + BENJAMIN DAMAGE + MAKES NO SENSE) EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 22:00–04:00, £16

The Chibuku boys return for another monthly outing in advance of their birthday party, inviting Bicep and Bondax to headline the night. THE AFTER WORK SOCIAL CLUB

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 18:00–21:00, FREE

Beaten Track DJs provide the soundtrack for the After Work Social Club. BOUTIQUE AFTER HOURS

BOUTIQUE, 00:00–06:00, £TBC

Liverpool’s only after hours night club, keeping the party going until the smaller hours.

Sat 08 Mar RAGE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

FRIENDS IN COMMON (JEFF O’TOOLE)

The Manchester-based music and DJ collective prove their worth as seasoned party-throwers. Expect glitter.

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

A warm up for your Saturday night, with the house band, Foreplay playing a mixture of covers and originals.

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)

DJ and actor Craig Charles will be manning the decks until 3am, playing his picks of funk and soul.

TROF NORTHERN QUARTER, 21:00–03:00, FREE

PAID IN FULL

FOREPLAY

BAND ON THE WALL, 21:00–03:00, £15

New weekly club night taking the GoGo spot, relaunched as a house party mash up.

Another Mof Glimmers night, serving up block party essentials with free house punch ‘til it’s gone.

SOUND CONTROL, 22:00–03:00, £8

Leftism invite the 9 piece Mancunian hip-hop act, led by MC Dr Syntax to headline the night.

Alternative indie and hip-hop night from the No-Wave bunch, expect the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Hot Chip and Pixies.

Resident DJs spin the very best of the last six decades of controversial icons, from Elvis, The Clash, Chick Berry and Snoop Dogg. BLOCK PARTY

LEFTISM (THE MOUSE OUTFIT + EXTRA LOVE)

JUICY

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £3

TIME SQUARE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes. MUMU SESSIONS #001

KITCHEN STREET POP UP, 22:00–6:00, £13.50

Electronic club night mUmU present the first in their sessions series, lining up an extended set from Mathias Kaden to kick start proceedings. BEDLAM SATURDAY

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie the hostess with the mostess. JAZZY JADE

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Back with more old school hip hop and 2 step garage grooves. DROME REUNION (DJ TRIX + MC CYANIDE + JOE INFERNO + DJ RUSTY + DJ ROB + SI EDWARDS + MC CUTTER)

O2 ACADEMY, 21:00–04:00, £15

Drome returns to Liverpool, with headline sets from DJ Trix and a Liverpool debut appearance from Joe Inferno. OUR OF THIS WORLD

CHAMELEON BAR, 20:00–02:00, FREE

Following their recent relaunch, Chameleon Bar presents an out of this world Saturday night, with guest and resident DJs taking care of the sounds. LIAM HINCKS

REVOLUTION (CAVERN QUARTER), 22:00–02:00, FREE

The Juice FM DJ takes up residency at Revolution, offering a chance for young DJs to take to the decks and show what they can do.

Sun 09 Mar BERNIE CONNOR

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 14:00–18:00, FREE

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese).

Liverpool DJ serving up musical treats to fill your Sunday afternoon and evening.

CHAMELEON BAR, 20:00–02:00, FREE

Mon 10 Mar

STOCK EXCHANGE

Ease those double-dip recession woes and dance yourself silly at Chameleon’s weekly Stock Exchange. GOSSIP!

GARLANDS, 22:00–03:00, £4

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights. SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 20:00–05:00, £TBC

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests.

UNI BAR

CAMEL CLUB, 22:00–04:00, FROM £2

Long-standing student night, serving up a night of hip hop, r’n’b, funk and dancehall courtesy of residents, the RocRite DJs.

Tue 11 Mar DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:30–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 12 Mar KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 20:30–05:00, £2

An anything-goes affair – think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more.

MEDICATION NATION, 22:30–03:00, £5

Long-running student night serving up three rooms of house, electro, chart and r’n’b – complete with visuals and occasional fancy dress.

NEW BLOOD CLUB (MUTANT VINYL + EMILIO PINCHI + SHLL DELILAH + CHARLOTTE ASHDOWN + NEW BLOOD CLUB DJS)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 20:00–02:00, £3

Indie disco showcasing some new live talent, followed by DJ sets from New Blood Club residents. NO-WAVE SOCIAL CLUB

BROOKLYN MIXER, 21:00–02:00, FREE

CHIBUKU SHAKE SHAKE BIRTHDAY EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 22:00–04:00, £16

Chibuku Shake Shake celebrate their birthday with a blow out line up, TBA. OUR OF THIS WORLD

CHAMELEON BAR, 20:00–02:00, FREE

Following their recent relaunch, Chameleon Bar presents an out of this world Saturday night, with guest and resident DJs taking care of the sounds. BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB AFTER PARTY

BUMPER, 23:00–05:00, £5

Alternative indie and hip-hop night from the No-Wave bunch, expect the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Hot Chip and Pixies.

Following their sold out show at East Village Arts Club, Bombay Bicycle Club haul ass over to Bumper for the official afterparty and DJ set.

Thu 13 Mar

BOUTIQUE, 22:00–04:00, £3

JUICY

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £3

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). STOCK EXCHANGE

CHAMELEON BAR, 20:00–02:00, FREE

Ease those double-dip recession woes and dance yourself silly at Chameleon’s weekly Stock Exchange. GOSSIP!

GARLANDS, 22:00–03:00, £4

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights. SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 20:00–05:00, £TBC

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests. SWAG!

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, FROM £2

Student night with drinks offers and resident DJs providing the urban soundtrack to your Thursday night. MIGUEL CAMPBELL (CLASSIC ORGAN)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £8

The Hot Creations signee plays a set of his trademark filtered disco sounds.

Fri 14 Mar

COBRA COMMANDER + AK47

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Back to back DJ set from Cobra Commander and AK47/247. THE AFTER WORK SOCIAL CLUB

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 18:00–21:00, FREE

GETDOWN (DJ CASPA)

The first GetDown event of 2014 sees DJ Caspa deliver a headline set of bumpy old school house. HUSTLE (GERD AKA NY STOMP + JAMES MORGAN)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £8

The Hustle bunch continue with proceedings, this time inviting Dutch left-field electronic producer Gerd aka NY Stomp and hustle resident, James Morgan to the decks.

Sun 16 Mar THE CROOKS

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 14:00–18:00, FREE

The Crooks provide a film score soundtrack to the afternoon.

Mon 17 Mar UNI BAR

CAMEL CLUB, 22:00–04:00, FROM £2

Long-standing student night, serving up a night of hip hop, r’n’b, funk and dancehall courtesy of residents, the RocRite DJs.

Tue 18 Mar DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:30–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 19 Mar KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 20:30–05:00, £2

Fri 21 Mar

THE AFTER WORK SOCIAL CLUB

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 18:00–21:00, FREE

Beaten Track DJs provide the soundtrack for the After Work Social Club. BOUTIQUE AFTER HOURS

BOUTIQUE, 00:00–06:00, £TBC

Liverpool’s only after hours night club, keeping the party going until the smaller hours. HOLLY LESTER

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Fri 28 Mar

RAGE

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)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie the hostess with the mostess. OUR OF THIS WORLD

CHAMELEON BAR, 20:00–02:00, FREE

Following their recent relaunch, Chameleon Bar presents an out of this world Saturday night, with guest and resident DJs taking care of the sounds.

CARPE DIEM (KRUSE + NUERNBERG)

BOUTIQUE, 22:00–04:00, £5

The deep house duo, Kruse and Nuernberg headline the latest installment of Carpe Diem.

THE TEMPLES (NEW BLOOD CLUB DJS)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

The New Blood Club host psychrock bunch, Temples, spinning some of their favourite tracks with support from NBC residents.

Sun 23 Mar MELLOWTONE DJS

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 16:00–20:00, FREE

Enjoy a laid back selection of grooves from the Mellowtone bunch, serving up the obvious alongside the obscure.

Mon 24 Mar UNI BAR

CAMEL CLUB, 22:00–04:00, FROM £2

HEDS-UP

MELLOMELLO, 22:00–3:00, £2 DONATION

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

DANCE YRSELF CLEAN

CAMP AND FURNACE, 21:00–04:00, £3

The official afterparty for Threshold Festival sees the No-Wave bunch adopting LCD Soundsystem as their theme.

Sat 29 Mar 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)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie the hostess with the mostess. JESS GASCOIGNE

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

House, hip hop, latin and funk from Jess Gascoigne. THE ORB

CHAMELEON BAR, 20:00–02:00, FREE

NO-WAVE SOCIAL CLUB

BROOKLYN MIXER, 21:00–02:00, FREE

JUICY

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £3

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk. TIME SQUARE

DIRTY ANTICS

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 26 Mar KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 20:30–05:00, £2

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

MEDICATION

Long-running student night serving up three rooms of house, electro, chart and r’n’b – complete with visuals and occasional fancy dress. NO-WAVE SOCIAL CLUB

BROOKLYN MIXER, 21:00–02:00, FREE

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese).

Alternative indie and hip-hop night from the No-Wave bunch, expect the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Hot Chip and Pixies.

CHAMELEON BAR, 20:00–02:00, FREE

Thu 27 Mar

GOSSIP!

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

STOCK EXCHANGE

GARLANDS, 22:00–03:00, £4

Selector set from the No Fakin DJs, spanning hip hop, funk, soul and reggae.

Liverpool’s only after hours night club, keeping the party going until the smaller hours.

BUMPER, 22:30–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11)

BEDLAM SATURDAY

NO FAKIN

BOUTIQUE AFTER HOURS

BOUTIQUE, 00:00–06:00, £TBC

Tue 25 Mar

Ease those double-dip recession woes and dance yourself silly at Chameleon’s weekly Stock Exchange.

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie the hostess with the mostess.

Beaten Track DJs provide the soundtrack for the After Work Social Club.

NATION, 22:30–03:00, £5

Long-running student night serving up three rooms of house, electro, chart and r’n’b – complete with visuals and occasional fancy dress.

Deep Hedonia and Upitup Records transform MelloMello into a ravecave of sorts, serving up a heady mix of techno, abstract techno and live visuals. GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5)

THE AFTER WORK SOCIAL CLUB

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 18:00–21:00, FREE

The English electronic mainstays mark 25 years of ambient house, with sets from System 7 and Joe McKechnie.

MEDICATION

Thu 20 Mar

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

Disco, funk and a dash of classic hip hop in the bar, courtesy of Rich Furness.

An anything-goes affair – think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more.

BOUTIQUE, 00:00–06:00, £TBC

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes.

RICH FURNESS

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Long-standing student night, serving up a night of hip hop, r’n’b, funk and dancehall courtesy of residents, the RocRite DJs.

NATION, 22:30–03:00, £5

RAGE

GO! (LOGAN SAMA)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £5

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

An anything-goes affair – think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more.

Sat 15 Mar

SWAG!

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, FROM £2

Student night with drinks offers and resident DJs providing the urban soundtrack to your Thursday night.

Sat 22 Mar

Beaten Track DJs provide the soundtrack for the After Work Social Club.

Liverpool’s only after hours night club, keeping the party going until the smaller hours.

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests.

Returning for their third showcase event, local grime merchants Go! invite Kiss FM’s Logan Sama back to the hold following his appearance at Abandon Silence back in 2011.

A selection of grimy dancefloor classics and bass party vibes.

Alternative indie and hip-hop night from the No-Wave bunch, expect the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Hot Chip and Pixies.

BOUTIQUE AFTER HOURS

SUPER RAD BUMPER, 20:00–05:00, £TBC

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights. SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 20:00–05:00, £TBC

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests. SWAG!

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, FROM £2

Student night with drinks offers and resident DJs providing the urban soundtrack to your Thursday night.

JUICY

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £3

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). STOCK EXCHANGE

CHAMELEON BAR, 20:00–02:00, FREE

Ease those double-dip recession woes and dance yourself silly at Chameleon’s weekly Stock Exchange.

EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 21:00–02:00, £16.50

OUR OF THIS WORLD

Following their recent relaunch, Chameleon Bar presents an out of this world Saturday night, with guest and resident DJs taking care of the sounds. HUSTLE (DELANO SMITH + JAMES MORGAN)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £7

For their second Hustle night in March, the Detroit deep house legend Delano Smith makes a special trip to The Hold. LIAM HINCKS

REVOLUTION (CAVERN QUARTER), 22:00–02:00, FREE

The Juice FM DJ takes up residency at Revolution, offering a chance for young DJs to take to the decks and show what they can do.

Sun 30 Mar WILL JAZZ

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 14:00–18:00, FREE

A lazy afternoon of jazz, selected by the Planetary Jazz founder, William S Whittle.

Mon 31 Mar

PAUSE END OF TERM SPECIAL

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, £3

Pause wrap up the spring term with a return to their original style, with their residents playing a mix of old school house and funky grime. What else would you be doing on a Monday?!

GOSSIP!

GARLANDS, 22:00–03:00, £4

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights.

Listings

Manchester Theatre Capitol Theatre A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

19–22 MAR, TIMES VARY, £8 (£5)

Helen Strange’s new production of Shakespeare’s classic comedy tale of unrequited and unwanted love.

Contact

VINCENT DANCE THEATRE: MOTHERLAND

4 MAR, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £14 (£8)

A daring exploration of what it is to be a woman, taking in boob jobs, botox, slut-shaming and victimblaming, as told by dance company, Vincent Dance.

JUNK ENSEMBLE: THE FALLING SONG

8 MAR, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £14 (£8)

Dublin’s award-winning dance company, Junk Ensemble present an all-male cast of dancers exploring the nature of falling and falling with the help of ladders, ropes and, er, apples, all punctuated by the angelic voices of a children’s’ choir. KALEIDER: YOU WITH ME

12–15 MAR, TIMES VARY, £9 (£5)

A moving theatre piece in which the audience member becomes the central protagonist, travelling to a place in the city assigned when booking a ticket and conducting a 45 minute phone call. Part of Flying Solo 2014. JO BANNON: EXPOSURE

12–13 MAR, TIMES VARY, £3

A daring look at the concept of an autobiography, asking if we can ever really be seen or look at ourselves. Part of Flying Solo 2014. SYLVIA RIMAT: IF YOU DECIDE TO STAY

12 MAR, 7:00PM – 8:00PM, £9 (£5)

An exploration of decision making, informed by conversations with neuroscientists, meandering down the very alleyways that make and shape our daily decisions. Part of Flying Solo 2014. KINDLE THEATRE: A JOURNEY ROUND MY SKULL

12 MAR, 9:00PM – 10:00PM, £9 (£5)

Inspired by a medical memoir written by Hungarian satirist Frigyes Karinthy, this touching play plunges the audience into a magical sound scape, exploring the world of auditory hallucinations. RACHEL MARS: THE WAY YOU TELL THEM

13 MAR, 7:00PM – 8:00PM, £9 (£5)

VICTORIA MELODY: MAJOR TOM

THE MEAT LOAF STORY

20 MAR, 8:00PM – 9:00PM, £11 (£6)

14 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £21.50

A one woman, one dog show, charting their individual paths to best in show, as Victoria becomes a beauty queen and her bassett hound, Major Tom becomes a show dog, taking a considered look at the obsessive world of competition. Part of Flying Solo 2014. JACKIE HAGAN: SOME PEOPLE HAVE TOO MANY LEGS

22 MAR, TIMES VARY, £6 (£3)

The infectiously optimistic story about a family learning to say “I Love You”, and a girl with some strong opinions about what constitutes too many legs after having hers amputated without warning or explanation. Part of Flying Solo 2014. SOPHIE WILLAN: THE NOVICE DETECTIVE

22 MAR, 8:30PM – 9:30PM, £9 (£5)

A heart-warming comedy from Sophie Willan – returning to the festival following her win at Flying Solo 2012 – this time taking on the role of detective after her father goes missing and leaves behind few clues. PALAVER 2014: OH LES BEAUX JOURS

25–26 MAR, TIMES VARY, £9 (£5)

The University of Manchester’s French Studies students perform an adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s play, exploring the limits of language, relationships and theatre. Part of Palaver Festival 2014.

PALAVER 2014: MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE

25–26 MAR, TIMES VARY, £9 (£5)

A one woman show based on the emails and diary entries of American peace activist, Rachel Corrie, who lost her life while working in Palestine in March 2003. Part of Palaver Festival 2014. PALAVER 2014: LIPS, TEETH AND TONGUES

27 MAR, 7:00PM – 8:00PM, £9 (£5)

Xavier Velastin presents an exploration of the musicality of words and how we extract meaning from the building blocks of language, with spoken word and digitally altered singing on the cards. Part of Palaver Festival 2014. PALAVER 2014: TWO DESTINATION LANGUAGE - NEAR GONE

Rachel Mars explores the uncontrollable compulsion to be funny, raising questions about how we use, and occasionally abuse, humour. Part of Flying Solo 2014.

27 MAR, 8:30PM – 9:30PM, £9 (£5)

14–15 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £6 (£3)

PALAVER 2014: ANNE FRANK

GREG WOHEAD: THE TED BUNDY PROJECT

Two performers attempt to articulate the unspeakable in a one hour show, delivered in Bulgarian and English alongside gypsy-inspired music. Part of Palaver Festival 2014.

A daring piece in which Greg Wohead explores the nature of charm and the link between attraction and repulsion after becoming fascinated with an video interview of Ted Bundy the day before he was executed. Part of Flying Solo 2014.

28–29 MAR, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £9 (£5)

14–15 MAR, 9:30PM – 10:30PM, £9 (£5)

PALAVER 2014: AN EVENING OF ARABIC POETRY AND MUSIC

HANNEKE KUIJPERS: EGO 1.04

A seductive and exploratory solo performance spanning spoken word, music and movement, as told by Dutch artist Hanneke Kuijpers, who has experienced life as seven different artists. Part of Flying Solo 2014. FLYING SOLO PITCH NIGHT

15 MAR, 6:30PM – 8:30PM, FREE

Eight solo performers pitch for the opportunity to win support from a mentor, rehearsal space, a chance to perform at Amsterdam’s MC Theatre and a spot on Flying Solo 2015. IRON OXIDE: HELA

18 MAR, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £11 (£6)

Adura Onashile presents the story of Henrietta Lacks, or HeLa – an unwitting catalyst for cancer research advancement – played out against the backdrop of scientific charts and real-life accounts. Part of Flying Solo 2014.

Listings

The University of Manchester’s German Society present a retelling of the Anne Frank story, exploring her careful wit and relentless hope that helped to endear her to millions of readers. Part of Palaver Festival 2014. 29 MAR, 7:00PM – 8:00PM, £9 (£5)

A performance in Arabic and English, presenting Arabic poetry, alongside translations synchronised with music. Part of Palaver Festival 2014.

Opera House KINDERTRANSPORT

25–29 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

A harrowing new production set against the backdrop of Nazi Germany as Jewish parents attempt to get their children out of the country. DANCE ‘TIL DAWN

18-22 MAR, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Vincent Simone and Flavia of Strictly Come Dancing fame return with their second live show. BARRY HUMPHRIES: EAT PRAY LAUGH

4–8 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £15

Probably best known as Dame Edna Everage, the character comedy specialist plays a series of shows as part of his farewell tour, going out in all-singing, all-dancing style.

Steven Steinman – famous for stepping into Meat Loaf’s shoes on an episode of Stars In Their Eyes 20 years ago – presents his full live show. TAP FACTORY

15 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £19

A tap dance spectacular, landing somewhere between Tap Dogs, Stomp and the Blue Man Group.

Palace Theatre LET IT BE

28 FEB – 8 MAR, NOT 2 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £15

West End show charting the meteoric rise of the Beatles, taking the audience on a musical journey through all the hits, from their early days at the Cavern Club to their global hits, Yesterday and Hey Jude. EVITA

17–22 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £15

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical about the former Argentinian dictator’s wife, Eva Peron. PETER PAN ON ICE

28–30 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £20

The Russian Ice Stars present an adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of never growing up, now with added ice.

Phones4u Arena THE AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD SHOW

7 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, PRICES VARY

Pink Floyd tribute act. May well be Australian. TORVILL AND DEAN’S DANCING ON ICE

28–30 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £32.50

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean mark their end of their reign on Dancing on Ice, and conclude with the last ever touring live show.

Royal Exchange Theatre ORLANDO

24 FEB – 22 MAR, NOT 2 MAR, 3 MAR, 9 MAR, 16 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £14.50

Virginia Woolf’s time-travelling, gender-swapping romp across the world is brought to the stage thanks to a careful adaptation by Sarah Ruhl, telling the tale of a nobleman who is run out of England, sleeps for seven days and wakes as a woman. BLACK ROSES: THE KILLING OF SOPHIE LANCASTER

26 FEB – 8 MAR, NOT 2 MAR, TIMES VARY, £12 (£10)

A harrowing response to the death of Sophie Lancaster, a gap year student who was beaten unconscious in 2007 and later died; originally written as a poem by Simon Armitage, and presented alongside words from her mother, Sylvia Lancaster. PESTS

12–22 MAR, NOT 16, TIMES VARY, £12 (£10)

Vivienne Franzmann returns following her critically acclaimed play, Mogadishu, this time turning her attention to two women trapped in a rotting world, as one wants out and the other needs her to stick around. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 27 MAR AND 3 MAY, TIMES VARY, FROM £14.50

Shakespeare’s greatest comedy comes to the stage under the guidance of Maria Aberg, making her Royal Exchange debut, placing the emphasis on the importance of community and celebration as a pinnacle factor in the production,

The Dancehouse NEW DAWN FADES

8 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £15 (£10)

A new play by actor/writer Brian Gorman, telling the story of how Joy Division got together and soon after became one of the most influential bands of our time.

EVOLUTION OF DANCE 27–29 MAR, TIMES VARY, £15 (£10)

The Northern Ballet School’s performance company, Jazzgalore, present a chronological history of jazz through the ages.

The King’s Arms HIDDEN

3-8 MAR, TIMES VARY, £10 (£8)

Exploring the notion that we all have something to hide, Hidden follows six individuals with seemingly ordinary lives as they head on a collision course with hilarious and dark consequences. TO SLEEP

7–8 MAR, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

VINTAGE

PULSE MCR

17 MAR, 8:00PM – 11:00PM, £5

5–6 MAR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £4 (£3)

A showcase of choreography created as part of The Lowry’s Ad Hoc contemporary dance course.

The Lowry: Lyric Theatre MACBETH

6 MAR, 8 MAR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, FROM £19

Opera North present a dark new adaptation of Verdi’s take on Shakespeare’s shortest and most brutal tragedy of superstition and vaulting ambition. THE MOUSETRAP

17–22 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £22

Agatha Christie’s play, famous for being the longest-running show of any kind in the history of British theatre, celebrating its 60th year. THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST

A new play by Matt Fox, exploring one night as experienced by two strangers facing difficult situations, employing dark humour and resounding warmth to explore the redeeming nature of relationships during hardship.

5 MAR, 7 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £19

10–14 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£8)

PAM ANN

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

A re-working of the much-loved classic, shifting the action to 1956 as Lancashire-born pip embarks on a coming-of-age journey. THE MANDATE

17–18 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£6)

The Academy of Live and Performing Arts present the tale of the Guliachkin family as they hide their bourgeois origins by pretending to be communist in 1924 Moscow. MALLORY MONOLOGUES

19–21 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £5 (£4)

Six people take to the stage to talk about Mallory – a funeral guest, a gangster, his girlfriend, a hit man, his teacher and his mum – all touching upon his extraordinary life. TUESDAYS AT TESCO’S

27–29 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £7 (£5)

Emmanuel Darley’s monologue as translated by Matthew Hurt, exploring the relationship between transgenger Pauline and her father as they take a weekly trip to the supermarket. THE BEAU DEFEATED

31 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£6)

The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts present this gripping satire, focussing on two women and their search for husbands. SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME

25–27 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £8 (£5)

A new production of Frank McGuinness’ Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, taking the action of a cell in the middle east where an Englishman, an Irishman and an American are contained, exploring their daily struggle to survive.

The Lowry Studio HOW TO BE IMMORTAL

19–21 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, FROM £10

An original new play from Penny Dreadful productions exploring our connections to the dead through the eyes of Deborah who has to come to terms with her mother’s cells being kept alive and multiplying in a lab. STATES OF VERBAL UNDRESS

7–8 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12

Writer and performer of TamilMalaysian origins, Rani Moorthy explores the migrant voices and stories from across Britain, built up on two years of interviews and presented as a verbatim performance. LYAC AND NT CONNECTIONS DOUBLE BILL

10–11 MAR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £8

A double bill performance from The Lowry Young Actors Company and National Theatre’s Connections festival, as a group of young actors offer their interpretation of two new plays. SILENT

13–15 MAR, 8:00PM – 9:30PM, £12

The 2011 Fringe First awardwinning show comes to the Northwest, delving into the wonderful world of Homeless McGoldrig, a man who had everything and lost it all.

Opera North present Puccini’s opera, set during the California Gold Rush and following a love triangle between a bandit, the Sheriff and the girl who runs the saloon, Minnie. 24 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £25

The international comedy sensation Pam Ann shines a light on air travel and the culuture surrounding it, drawing inspiration from news stories.

The Lowry: Quays Theatre

A series of short works by female playwrights, including Jennifer Banks and Sharon Kliszcz. Part of 3MT’s International Women’s Week celebrations. WOMEN IN PERFORMANCE

8 MAR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £4 (£3)

Performance artists take to the stage to mark International Women’s Week. ABSTINENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER

13–15 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £7 (£6)

A new work by Christopher Faith, set in 1910 and following an alcoholic man struggling with writer’s block in his isolated mansion, with the arrival of a lodger threatening to topple his already unstable existence. BEFORE JULIET

17–22 MAR, TIMES VARY, £9 (£8)

The Manchester Shakespeare Company present the story of Rosaline ‘Roz’ Hope, the woman cast aside by Romeo in favour of Juliet, offering a new perspective of Shakespeare’s best-loved tragedy.

Waterside Arts Centre VIENNA

20 MAR, 8:00PM – 11:00PM, £9 (£7)

Gerundagula Productions present the tale of Barry, Ultravox fan, faced with a dilemma and asking; what would Midge Ure do?

THE SEAGULL

21 FEB – 8 MAR, NOT 23 FEB, 2 MAR, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Innovative re-imagining of Chekhov’s first major play, intimately exploring emotion, creativity and romantic conflict. THE JOHNNY CASH STORY

16 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £18.50

Roger Dean plays tribute to the country music legend. JULIE MADLY DEEPLY

31 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £16

A cabaret style evening taking in the life and career of Dame Julie Andrews, as Sarah-Louise Young presents a series of her best-loved hits. SIGNATURES 2014

9 MAR, 7:00PM – 9:30PM, £10

Dance companies from across Manchester come together to present dance works, offering up their own choreographic interpretation and flavour to the pieces, developed with 2Faced Dance Company. SALFORD DANCE EXPLOSION

10–12 MAR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £10

A three day festival of dance returning for its 6th year, inviting 500 children from schools and dance groups to present their work. 12 DEGREES NORTH: TRIPLE BILL 13 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £12

12? North Dance Company present new works by Lea Anderson and James Hilton. DANCING PARTNERS TRIPLE BILL

20–21 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £16

A triple bill of choreography work by Thomas Noone Dance Company, Company Chameleon and Norrdans. U.DANCENW2014

22–23 MAR, 7:45PM – 10:00PM, £11

A mini-dance festival celebrating young talent in the Northwest. VERVE 14

25 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12

A performance of Burkmar’s Ocean by 12 dancers trained at leading conservatoires; presenting a fastpaced piece that is both dynamic and passionate.

Three Minute Theatre

SILENCE WILL NOT PROTECT YOU

4 MAR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £5 (£4)

An evening of spoken word, music and comedy challenging the prejudices and conflicts that women around the world face on a daily basis. Part of 3MT’s International Women’s Week celebrations.

Liverpool Theatre Epstein Theatre TRANSITIONS MIXED BILL

3–4 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £15 (£12)

Stefanie Batten Bland, Ikky Maas and Dog Kennel Hill Project present a mixed bill of progressive dance choreography, including a piece structured around a Handel score.

THE CIRCUS OF HORRORS: LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT 21 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £19

Prepare thyself for a whirlwind of contortionists, flying aerialists, demon dwarfs, sword swallowers, and any other weird thing you can think of – yep, it could only be The Circus of Horrors. DANCE ‘TIL DAWN

31 MAR-2 APR, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Vincent Simone and Flavia of Strictly Come Dancing fame return with their second live show.

Liverpool Playhouse

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

27 MAR – 19 APR, NOT 30 MAR, 6 APR, 13 APR, 18 APR, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

Charlotte Gwinner brings Arthur Miller’s tale set in 50s New York in an Italian-American community of Red Hook to the stage, untangling the complex family ties and culture clashes as Marco and Rodolpho come crashing into Eddies world. DIAL M FOR MURDER

4–8 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £12

Frederick Knott’s intense and darkly gripping thriller, famously filmed by Alfred Hitchcock, takes to the stage as part of its UK-wide tour. PRIVATE PEACEFUL

5–8 MAR, TIMES VARY, £12

The Michael Morpurgo novel, adapted for the stage by Simon Reade, following the last night of Private Tommo Peaceful as he awaits the firing squad at dawn, recounting his childhood in Devon and the love of his life, Molly.

The Liverpool Actors Studio Theatre LEAVE HITLER TO ME LAD

4 MAR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£8)

Duckegg Theatre takes audiences back to 1952 where young Brian is still waiting for the return of his war hero father and building a new life for himself in the process; the arrival of a glamorous new teenager turns his world upside down. THE DEBT COLLECTORS

18–29 MAR, NOT 23, 24, TIMES VARY, £10 (£8)

A dark comedy following two out of work actors taking on the role of debt collectors in order to make ends meet, tumbling into a hilarious world of unpaid bills and boozy bailiffs.

The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts PUNK ROCK

13–15 MAR, TIMES VARY, £SOLD OUT

Do you think it’ll be alright? Pressure gets to everyone but as emotions run high and secrets are exposed, this warped group of sixth-formers are forced to confront their future. For some, this may not be an option. MOVING TIME

13–15 MAR, TIMES VARY, £6 (£3)

A genre-blending set of dance pieces, encompassing ballet, commercial, contemporary, jazz and tap, exploring our interpretation and perception of time.

The Capstone

Unity Theatre

7 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £10 (£8)

13–14 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12 (£10)

ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE + DR FAUSTUS

8 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12 (£10)

SWADESH

A new International Dance Commission presented as part of Milapfest, with three main performers exploring spirituality and emotion through dance and music. 10–11 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FREE

FINDING JOY

A daring and touching play based on the true story of a woman as she slowly loses her memory, and her rebellious grandson who takes on the role of her carer. SCOTTIE ROAD THE MUSICAL

A new musical theatre performance written by Keddy Sutton and Gillian Hardie, following the story of Caz and Britney, a Greggs scoffing pair of laydees, on their winding road from Primark to prison.

7 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £22.50

A double-bill performance of Martin Crimp’s shocking and hilarious play, Attempts on her Life, and Christopher Marlowe’s classic tale of ambition, Dr Faustus.

ONE DREAM: A BERYL MARSDEN STORY

13 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £11.50 (£9.50)

19 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12 (£10)

The Lantern Theatre

4 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12 (£10)

DREAM BOYS UK TOUR

The UK’s top male glamour show. As in, there’s more than one, and they are the best. 14–16 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, PRICES VARY

A musical play exploring the life of much-loved Liverpudlian singer, Beryl Marsden, exploring her life; from performing in Hamburg at the age of 16 to touring with The Beatles.

Everyman Theatre TWELFTH NIGHT

8 MAR – 5 APR, NOT 9 MAR, 16 MAR, 23 MAR, 30 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £12

One of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies (y’know, the one with a man playing a girl disguised as a boy) gets a reworking, marking the re-opening of Liverpool’s Everyman theatre.

Liverpool Empire SISTER ACT

28–29 MAR, TIMES VARY, £17

Theatrical re-telling of the hit movie, in full singalong glory. THRILLER

4–8 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £17.50

Touring concert celebrating the career of the undisputed King of Pop, paying homage to Michael Jackson’s legendary O.T.T. live performances. BUDDY

13–15 MAR, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

The West End show tribute to the Buddy Holly story – serving up all the classics including La Bamba and Johnny B. Goode – continues its feel-good trajectory, some 25 years and counting. MOSCOW STATE CIRCUS

11 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £26

The world’s most famous circus returns to the UK with their latest theatrical spectacular, Park Gorkogo.

ALTERED SKIN: POWER GAMES

A character-driven physical theatre piece with South Asian dance influences, following high-flying banker, Deepak into a world of gambling and heavy drinking.

HIDDEN

28 MAR, 7:30PM-10:00PM, £10.50 (£8.50)

Exploring the notion that we all have something to hide, Hidden follows six individuals with seemingly ordinary lives as they head on a collision course with hilarious and dark consequences. VILOMAH

6–7 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £8.50 (£6.50)

A spoken word, music and dance performance exploring Vilomah, meaning ‘against the natural order’, focussing on the grief of poet Wilfred Owen’s mother, who mourned his passing and long after the end of WWI and vehemently pushed to spread his work. TO SLEEP

7–8 MAR, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

15 MAR, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £8.50 (£7)

A double bill performance of My First Ten Sexual Failures and Other Short Stories About Growing Up and GameShow; two one man shows and Prague/Stockholm fringe sell-outs.

HOW TO OCCUPY AN OIL RIG

A theatre show for activists, protesters and anyone who ever fought for, or imagined change, exploring civil unrest in a playful and provocative manner. FOR THEIR OWN GOOD

The United Artists present a new theatrical experience, combining documentary material, puppetry and new writing to explore the dark and detached workmanship of two knackermen. BALLAD OF THE BURNING STAR

11–12 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £14 (£12)

The cabaret troupe Theatre Ad Infinitum take on the conflicted state of Isreal in their explosive and provocative style. I AM A VOICE

6–7 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £8 (£7)

Spoken word, storytelling and song go hand in hand for this hardhitting exploration of the issues facing women around the world as they search for their voice. ONLY FOOLS AND BOYCIE

15 MAR, 8:00PM – 11:00PM, £15

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. NORTH NORTH NORTH

18 MAR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£8)

New International Encounter tell the story of three Swedish explorers who set off towards the North Pole in a hydrogen-filled balloon in 1897, never to be seen again.

THE SKINNY

Manchester Comedy Tue 04 Mar

THE WORST COMEDY NIGHT IN SALFORD

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–23:00, FREE

Keeping expectations low with this open mic night of stand up, all are welcome to give it a bash.

Mon 10 Mar

BEAT THE FROG (BARRY DODDS)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3 (FREE WITH STUDENT ID)

Wed 05 Mar

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!

THREE MINUTE THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £5

Thu 13 Mar

SOS

The Superstars on Saturday bunch present an evening of silly character sketches. KERNOW KING

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:30, £12.50

The Cornish comic takes audiences on a meandering journey through what it means to be Cornish.

Thu 06 Mar

STAND UP THURSDAY (IAN MOORE + BEN NORRIS + MC TOBY HADOKE)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£8)

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk. BIG VALUE THURSDAYS (TONY BURGESS + TOMMY ROWSON + JOHNNY KATS + ROB ROUSE + MC PHIL ELLIS)

STAND UP THURSDAY (ALEX BOARDMAN + MARKUS BIRDMAN + MC SEAN MEO)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£8)

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk. BIG VALUE THURSDAYS (DANNY DEEGAN + JONNY PELHAM + DALIA MALIK + GARY DELANEY + MC TOBY HADOKE)

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.

SHAM BODIE (PHIL ELLIS + KEVIN DEWSBURY + THE BELL PEPPERS + BEN TONGE)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £10

A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value.

The monthly comedy night returns, with the fourth outing boasting comedy from Phil Ellis and Kevin Deswbury and live music courtesy of The Bell Peppers.

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £8.50

Fri 14 Mar

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £9 (£6)

REAL LIFE WITH BEN KEWIN

The latest comedic offerings of stand-up, Ben Kewin, taking audiences on a journey through situations they might struggle to understand without first seeing a play about them.

Fri 07 Mar

THE BEST IN STAND UP (IAN MOORE + BEN NORRIS + ANDY ROBINSON + MC TOBY HADOKE) THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £18 (£12)

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.

BARREL OF LAUGHS (TONY BURGESS +TOM TOAL + ROB ROUSE + MC PHIL ELLIS) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. COMIC FX

ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE, 18:00–19:00, FREE

An evening of free stand up comedy, with this edition bringing Andrew Ryan and Rich Wall to the stage.

Sat 08 Mar

THE BEST IN STAND UP (IAN MOORE + BEN NORRIS + STEVE GRIBBIN + ANDY ROBINSON + MC TOBY HADOKE) THE COMEDY STORE, 19:00–21:00, £20 (£14)

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.

THE BEST IN STAND UP (IAN MOORE + BEN NORRIS + STEVE GRIBBIN + ANDY ROBINSON + MC TOBY HADOKE) THE COMEDY STORE, 21:30–23:30, £20 (£14)

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.

BARREL OF LAUGHS (TONY BURGESS +TOM TOAL + ROB ROUSE + MC PHIL ELLIS) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. JACK WHITEHALL

PHONES4U ARENA, 20:00–22:30, £28.50

Posh boy Jack Whitehall – recently seen gracing our TV screens as the deplorable public school tosser JP in Fresh Meat – taking his cheeky self out on the road with his latest stand-up show.

Sun 09 Mar

NEW STUFF (MC TOBY HADOKE)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–21:30, £3

A chance for those on the circuit to test out some new, never before heard or seen material, with MC Toby Hadoke.

March 2014

RUSSELL KANE

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £20.50

What is it with us and smallness? The Brits love it - being tiny but fierce. This Jedward-haired twat is the same. Watch him ejaculate thoughts about smallness; on keeping things small when life gets big. THE BEST IN STAND UP (ALEX BOARDMAN + MARKUS BIRDMAN + STEVE HARRIS + MC SEAN MEO)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £18 (£12)

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. BARREL OF LAUGHS (DANNY DEEGAN + ROB HEENEY + GARY DELANEY + MC TOBY HADOKE)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. MIRANDA HART

PHONES4U ARENA, 20:00–22:30, £27.50

The quirky/awkward star of BBC show, Miranda takes her stand-up show on the road: expect galloping, singing and dancing.

Sat 15 Mar

THE BEST IN STAND UP (ALEX BOARDMAN + MARKUS BIRDMAN + STEVE HARRIS + MC SEAN MEO)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:00–21:00, £20 (£14)

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. THE BEST IN STAND UP (ALEX BOARDMAN + MARKUS BIRDMAN + STEVE HARRIS + MC SEAN MEO)

THE COMEDY STORE, 21:30–23:30, £20 (£14)

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. BARREL OF LAUGHS (DANNY DEEGAN + ROB HEENEY + GARY DELANEY + MC TOBY HADOKE)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. MIRANDA HART

PHONES4U ARENA, 14:30–17:00, £27.50

The quirky/awkward star of BBC show, Miranda takes her stand-up show on the road: expect galloping, singing and dancing. MIRANDA HART

PHONES4U ARENA, 20:00–22:30, £27.50

The quirky/awkward star of BBC show, Miranda takes her stand-up show on the road: expect galloping, singing and dancing.

SHAPPI KHORSANDI THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £18

BARREL OF LAUGHS (DAN NIGHTINGALE + SCOTT BENNETT + JEFF INNOCENT + MC MICK FERRY)

As a girl, Shappi dreamed impossibly romantic dreams. She still does. But a love affair with a rock star? What on earth was she doing, thinking, in heaven’s name wearing? ‘Absolute success’ (Evening Standard).

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £17 (£10)

Sun 16 Mar

BEAT THE FROG (DANNY MCLOUGHLIN)

NEW COMEDIANS (MC ALEX BOARDMAN)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–21:30, £3

A night of stand-up from some fresh-faced comics trying to break on to the circuit – be nice. CARL DONNELLY

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:00, £12

More humourous tales and unbridled silliness as Carl Donnelly returns with his fourth solo offering, musing on the state of the world and his plans on how we should be dealing with it.

Mon 17 Mar

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.

Sun 30 Mar MITCH BENN

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:00, £14

Musician-cum-comic Mith Benn sings some humourous songs, you do the laughing. LAUGHING COWS

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £7

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.

Mon 24 Mar

ANTWERP MANSION COMEDY NIGHT (PATRICK MONOHAN + LINDSEY DAVIES + RED REDMOND)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3 (FREE WITH STUDENT ID)

The Antwerp Mansion comedy night returns with the Irish-Iranian stand-up comic and Edinburgh fringe favourite, Partick Monohan.

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! ANDY KIRKPATRICK

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £18

Stand up comic and mountaineer shares his experience of climbing El Cap with his 13-year-old daughter, likely to hilarious effect.

BEAT THE FROG (ANDREW RYAN)

Wed 26 Mar

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3 (FREE WITH STUDENT ID)

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–23:00, FREE

ANTWERP MANSION, 19:30–22:30, £5

JON RONSON’S FRANK STORY

THE DANCEHOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £12

The man behind the Frank Sidebottom papier mache head reveals his side of the story, in advance of the release of a new fictionalised film he co-wrote. LEE HURST

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £18

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!

An evening of live stand up comedy and a cake raffle, what’s not to love?

The king of improv and ab lib comedy comes to the Northwest with his latest stand-up show, exploring all the things that make you go arrghhhh!

Thu 27 Mar

Mon 31 Mar

Tue 18 Mar

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £18

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3 (FREE WITH STUDENT ID)

THE WORST COMEDY NIGHT IN SALFORD

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–23:00, FREE

Keeping expectations low with this open mic night of stand up, all are welcome to give it a bash.

Wed 19 Mar

LAUGHING FOR A CHANGE (ROB DEERING + SEYMOUR MACE + ANNETTE FAGON + MC BARBARA NICE)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£8)

The comedian and multi-instrumentalist headlines this Laughing for a Change event, chock with songs and silliness.

Thu 20 Mar

STAND UP THURSDAY (TOM STADE + ADAM BLOOM + IAN COPPINGER)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£8)

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk. BIG VALUE THURSDAYS (CHRIS CAIRNS + PENELLA MELLOR + DANNY O’BRIEN + JEFF INNOCENT + MC MICK FERRY)

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.

Fri 21 Mar

THE BEST IN STAND UP (TOM STADE + ADAM BLOOM + ADDY VAN DER BORGH + PETER WHITE + IAN COPPINGER) THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £18 (£12)

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. BARREL OF LAUGHS (DAN NIGHTINGALE + SCOTT BENNETT + JEFF INNOCENT + MC MICK FERRY)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.

Sat 22 Mar

THE BEST IN STAND UP (TOM STADE + ADAM BLOOM + ADDY VAN DER BORGH + PETER WHITE + IAN COPPINGER) THE COMEDY STORE, 19:00–21:00, £20 (£14)

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.

THE BEST IN STAND UP (TOM STADE + ADAM BLOOM + ADDY VAN DER BORGH + PETER WHITE + IAN COPPINGER) THE COMEDY STORE, 21:30–23:30, £20 (£14)

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.

COMEDY AT THE KINGS

ANDREW LAWRENCE

A bit of a stand-up master, Lawrence brings his energetic comedic spewings to The Stand. STAND UP THURSDAY

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£8)

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk. BIG VALUE THURSDAYS (DALISO CHAPONDA + ALFIE BROWN + RICHARD TODD + JOHN SCOTT + MC BARRY DODDS)

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.

Fri 28 Mar

BEAT THE FROG (DAN NIGHTINGALE)

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!

SIDEKICK COMEDY (HARRIET DYER JONNY PELHAM DAVID STANIER + MC KATE MCCABE)

VIA, 20:00–23:00, £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.

Liverpool Comedy

THE BEST IN STAND UP

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £18 (£12)

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. BARREL OF LAUGHS (DALISO CHAPONDA + MIKE NEWALL + JOHN SCOTT + MC BARRY DODDS)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. RICHARD HERRING

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £18

Death is inevitable and universal. Let’s laugh in its face while our hearts still beat and our jaws are still attached.

Sat 29 Mar THE BEST IN STAND UP

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:00–21:00, £20 (£14)

Thu 06 Mar

JONNY AWSUM (MICK FERRY + ABI ROBERTS + MC RAY PEACOCK)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Fresh-faced comic bringing his own brand of feel-good musical comedy by the bucket load.

Fri 07 Mar

JONNY AWSUM (MICK FERRY + NICK DIXON + MC RAY PEACOCK)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Fresh-faced comic bringing his own brand of feel-good musical comedy by the bucket load.

BOILING POINT (STEVE GRIBBIN + ADAM ROWE + 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.

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.

Sat 08 Mar

THE COMEDY STORE, 21:30–23:30, £20 (£14)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

THE BEST IN STAND UP

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. BARREL OF LAUGHS (DALISO CHAPONDA + MIKE NEWALL + JOHN SCOTT + MC BARRY DODDS)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. SIMON EVANS

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £17

The fearsome iconoclast is back with a brand new show from which nothing is safe from the critical glint in his tiny, tiny eyes.

JONNY AWSUM (MICK FERRY + NICK DIXON + MC RAY PEACOCK)

Fresh-faced comic bringing his own brand of feel-good musical comedy by the bucket load.

BOILING POINT (STEVE GRIBBIN + ADAM ROWE + 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.

Sun 09 Mar JACK WHITEHALL

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £32

Posh boy Jack Whitehall – recently seen gracing our TV screens as the deplorable public school tosser JP in Fresh Meat – taking his cheeky self out on the road with his latest stand-up show.

Liverpool Comedy TESTING THE WATER (BARRY MEADON + JO D’ARCY + DAVE TOMLINSON + MC PAUL SMITH) HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £3 (£1.50)

Showcase night for up-and-comers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

Thu 13 Mar

DAN NIGHTINGALE (JOHN LYNN + RACHEL FAIRBURN + MC MIKE WILKINSON) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

The star of John Bishop’s Only Joking brings his slant on love, life and existence. HAL CRUTTENDEN

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £12

As seen on The Royal Variety Performance, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and The Rob Brydon Show, Hal Cruttenden brings his usual brand of simultaneously warm and catty stand-up to the Northwest.

Fri 14 Mar

DAN NIGHTINGALE (JOHN LYNN + SCOTT BENNETT + MC MIKE WILKINSON) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

The star of John Bishop’s Only Joking brings his slant on love, life and existence.

DALISO CHAPONDA (TOM WRIGGLESWORTH + CHRIS CAIRNS + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15

Malawian comic, with a career spanning Canada, South Africa and more recently, the UK. BOILING POINT (STEPHEN CARLIN + 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 15 Mar

DAN NIGHTINGALE (JOHN LYNN + SCOTT BENNETT + MC MIKE WILKINSON) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

The star of John Bishop’s Only Joking brings his slant on love, life and existence.

ALUN COCHRANE (TOM WRIGGLESWORTH + DALISO CHAPONDA + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

Alun Cochrane does his thinking aloud, chatty style of stand-up. You do the laughing.

BOILING POINT (SULLY O’SULLIVAN + STEPHEN CARLIN + 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.

Fri 21 Mar

IMRAN YUSUF (TIM CLARK + FREDDIE FARRELL + MC ED GAMBLE)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

High energy comic known for his impeccable use of lyrical street slang, ratting through the hard hitting topics with a touch of lighthearted satire. JUSTIN MOORHOUSE (GAVIN WEBSTER + DANNY O’BRIEN + MC STE PORTER)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. BOILING POINT (ADAM STAUNTON + LIAM BOLTON + DAMIAN CLARKE + 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 22 Mar

IMRAN YUSUF (TIM CLARK + FREDDIE FARRELL + MC ED GAMBLE)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

High energy comic known for his impeccable use of lyrical street slang, ratting through the hard hitting topics with a touch of lighthearted satire. GAVIN WEBSTER (JUSTIN MOORHOUSE + DANNY O’BRIEN + MC STE PORTER)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

BOILING POINT (DAVE WILLAMS + LIAM BOLTON + DAMIAN CLARKE + 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.

Sun 23 Mar

TESTING THE WATER (BEN WEARMOUTH + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £3 (£1.50)

Showcase night for up-and-comers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

Mon 24 Mar

MIRANDA HART: MY WHAT I CALL, LIVE SHOW

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £31

The quirky/awkward star of BBC show, Miranda takes her stand-up show on the road: expect galloping, singing and dancing.

Tue 25 Mar

MIRANDA HART: MY WHAT I CALL, LIVE SHOW

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £31

Sun 16 Mar

The quirky/awkward star of BBC show, Miranda takes her stand-up show on the road: expect galloping, singing and dancing.

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £3 (£1.50)

Thu 27 Mar

TESTING THE WATER (STEVE BLACKALL + TOM LITTLE + MC PAUL SMITH)

Showcase night for up-and-comers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

Thu 20 Mar

RUSSELL HOWARD: WONDERBOX

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £31

The cheeky young comic does his quick-witted thing, fusing an effective combination of storytelling and comedic mime, along with a healthy dose of self-depreciation. IMRAN YUSUF (TOM TOAL + FREDDIE FARRELL + MC ED GAMBLE)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

High energy comic known for his impeccable use of lyrical street slang, ratting through the hard hitting topics with a touch of lighthearted satire. MATT RICHARDSON

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £10

New host of The Xtra Factor takes his solo show out on the road.

DALISO CHAPONDA (GARETH RICHARDS + PETER PHILLIPSON + MC PETER OTWAY)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Malawian comic, with a career spanning Canada, South Africa and more recently, the UK. CHRIS CAIRNS

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £10

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

Fri 28 Mar

DALISO CHAPONDA (GARETH RICHARDS + CAIMH MCDONNELL + MC JIM SMALLMAN)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Malawian comic, with a career spanning Canada, South Africa and more recently, the UK. KEITH CARTER AS NIGE (SULLY O’SULLIVAN + DAVE JOHNS + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15

Keith Carter presents the lovable scouse, Nige, renowned for securing Liverpool the title of Capital of Culture, so they say.

BOILING POINT (LEWIS CALVERT + STEVE HARRIS + 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 29 Mar

DALISO CHAPONDA (GARETH RICHARDS + CAIMH MCDONNELL + MC PETER OTWAY)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Malawian comic, with a career spanning Canada, South Africa and more recently, the UK. DAVE JOHNS (SULLY O’SULLIVAN + KEITH CARTER AS NIGE + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

Not one to stretch your intellectual capacities, this Geordie comic delivers juvenile quips with a buffoonish wit. BOILING POINT (GARY DELANEY + STEVE HARRIS + 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.

Sun 30 Mar

TESTING THE WATER (KATY TRUELOVE + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £3 (£1.50)

Showcase night for up-and-comers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

Manchester Art Castlefield Gallery

RE:VIEW: IAIN ANDREWS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 7 MAR AND 13 APR, 1:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Known for his style of mixing bold, contemporary colour with the cracked varnished hues of the Old Masters, Iain Andrews presents his more famous pieces alongside new works, including a site-specific work that will turn the gallery into a stage.

Centre For Chinese Contemporary Art TIPPING POINT

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 16 JAN AND 15 MAR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A group exhibition by Jamie Lau, Cindie Gottlieb-Cheung and Andrew Lim, responding to the theme ‘tipping point’ through sculpture and presenting an on-going dialogue in which they share methods and exchange ideas. DARIUS CHANG JUI-YU: FIRST STEP

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 JAN AND 3 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Graduate Darius Chang Jui-Yu presents a showcase site-specific installation, taking over the stairwell.

ROB DUNNE + DANIEL STAINCLIFFE: UNKNOWN MONSTERS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 21 FEB AND 29 MAR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A visual arts experiment delving into the social, psychological and mythological power of a hoax, documenting the production of five hoaxes – including the Chengdu Sasquatch – in the Chengdu region of China.

Contact

PAM VAN-DAMNED: WORLD WARPAINT

6 FEB – 18 APR, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE

Photographer Pam Van-Damned presents a collection of photographs documenting bands, inspirational figures and drag queens – with the majority often captured wearing make-up, this emerged as a dominant theme in her work.

Listings

Art GAYS OF MANCHESTER: LEE BAXTER AND GEORGE HOUSE TRUST 6 FEB – 18 APR, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of Lee Baxter’s work, capturing portraits of LGBT people from Manchester, celebrating the communities ongoing support of George House Trust, a charity working people people affected by HIV.

Cornerhouse

JAMIE SHOVLIN: HIKER MEAT

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 JAN AND 20 APR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Jamie Shovlin cooked up his art movie Rough Cut – a remake of the non-existent 70s film, Hiker Meat – as a low-budget exploitation film crafted from found video clips; his process is laid bare in this accompanying exhibition. GEOFF CROSSLEY: MY FATHER’S HOUSE

6 FEB – 4 MAR, NOT 10 FEB, 17 FEB, 24 FEB, 3 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of manipulated photographs by Altrincham-based artist, Geoff Crossley, re-kindling old memories of his childhood home by placing family snapshots over photographs of the house in its current, empty state.

Gallery of Costume

OSSIE CLARK, A BRITISH FASHION GENUIS, 1967-1977

30 JAN – 29 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

A retrospective of work by renowned British fashion designer, Ossie Clark, famous for his distinct cuts and for working with bold prints designed by his wife, Celia Birtwell.

Imperial War Museum North WOMEN AND INDUSTRY IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR

27 JAN – 31 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An external photographic exhibition of work by George Parham Lewis, revealing images of women during the First World War as they took on roles in industry during the conflict.

Instituto Cervantes

UNCOVERING THE INVISIBLE: A PORTRAIT OF LATIN AMERICANS IN THE UK

20 MAR – 8 MAY, 9:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

A photographic exhibition based on the work of MacIlwaine, bringing together portraits of Latin American individuals living in the UK.

Joshua Brooks SAD

6 MAR, 8:00PM – 11:00PM, FREE

Generic Greeting Collective member KIDMILK, aka Grant Peacock, presents his light-hearted illustrations in his SAD exhibition, untangling the myriad feelings associated with sadness in an attempt to defuse their power and poke fun at them.

Kosmonaut

THE WEEPING BAKERS: A SLICE OF HEAVENLY

7 FEB – 5 MAR, 12:00PM – 11:00PM, FREE

Artistic duo, The Weeping Bakers present their latest collection, inviting pub goers into their weird and wonderful world of collage art.

MMU: Special Collections

A CHROMATIC REVOLUTION: THE SEARCH FOR AFFORDABLE COLOUR IN 19TH CENTURY BRITISH BOOK ILLUSTRATION

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 27 JAN AND 16 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exploring the world of 19th century book illustration, this exhibition looks at the techniques of the time, from half-coloured wood block printing, to the lush practice of chromolithography.

Manchester Art Gallery RADICAL FIGURES: POST-WAR BRITISH FIGURATIVE PAINTING

16–16 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

A collection of works bringing together artists such as Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud and David Hockney to explore the role they played in the reinvention of figurative and realist art in postwar Britain. HOME, LAND AND SEA: ART IN THE NETHERLANDS 1600-1800

24–23 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Bringing together over 50 paintings from the Manchester City Galleries’ 17th and 18th century Dutch and Flemish collection, including portraiture, landscapes and seascapes from Pieter de Hooch, Gerard ter Borch and Jacob van Ruisdael. A HIGHLAND ROMANCE: VICTORIAN VIEWS OF SCOTTISHNESS

20–1 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

A collection of popular 19th century paintings and works on paper by Scottish artists is displayed alongside visions of Scotland by artists from England, exploring the changing view of Scotland and Scottishness over the past two centuries.. ART FOR ALL: THOMAS HORSFALL’S GIFT TO MANCHESTER

29 NOV – 8 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of nature-themed artworks from Manchester’s Thomas Horsfall collection, cocurated by local school children.

JOANA VASCONCELOS: TIME MACHINE 15 FEB – 1 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos brings over 20 of her large scale sculptures to Manchester following her success representing Portugal at the 55th Venice Biennale – she will also be presenting a new textile work.

Manchester Jewish Museum GARY SPICER: ENCOUNTER WITH THE HOLOCAUST

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 26 JAN AND 9 MAR, TIMES VARY, £3.95 (£2.95)

Local resident and member of the Jewish community, Gary Spicer presents an exhibition of drawings, photographs and writing responding to the Holocaust.

Manchester Museum

CORAL: SOMETHING RICH AND STRANGE

29 NOV – 16 MAR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Exploring our ongoing fascination with coral, Manchester Museum present an exhibition of objects that will highlight the importance of preserving our marine environments. FRAGMENTARY ANCESTORS: FIGURINES FROM KOMA LAND, GHANA

27 JAN – 5 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The UK’s first ever officially approved exhibition of clay figurines made by the people of Koma Land in Ghana; the often fragmented figurines depict two-headed creatures, birds and animals and are thought to be representations of their ancestors.

National Football Museum

GAME CHANGERS: 125 YEARS OF THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE

10 JAN – 27 APR, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition charting the changes in the game from 1888 to the present day, with stories from all 72 current league teams and never before seen personal items from George Best, on loan from his sister and the Best Chances charity.

Paper Gallery

PAPER #12: SUSANNAH DOUGLAS AND BETHAN HAMILTON

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 8 MAR AND 19 APR, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

For their first ever joint exhibition, PAPER invite Douglas and Hamilton to display their works in graphite alongside each other to explore their individual approaches to hyperreal works.

People’s History Museum

THE PEOPLE’S BUSINESS: 150 YEARS OF THE CO-OPERATIVE

12 OCT – 11 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition exploring the vast history of The Co-operative, from their origins as the Co-operative Wholesale Society in Manchester, to their innovative branding.

Royal Northern College of Music EMMANUEL BIARD + DAVID LEONARD

29 MAR, 2:00PM – 8:00PM, FREE

A specially commissioned light and visual arts installation, utilising mirrors, lasers, optics and mechanics to bend and distort scale and distance, immersing the viewer in a new sensory landscape. Part of FutureEverything. MARTIN MESSIER: PROJECTORS

30 MAR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £12.50 (£11.25)

The world première of the latest work by composer and videographer, Martin Messier, in which he aims to reinvent function and challenge the imagination with his explorations of electro-acoustic music and everyday objects. Part of FutureEverything. MIWA MATRAYEK: THIS WORLD MADE ITSELF

30 MAR, 2:00PM – 4:00PM, £9.50

An exploration of animation in relation to the body and space, with the end result appearing both cinematic and compositely produced from multiple layers, thus juxtaposing illusion with reality. Part of FutureEverything.

Salford Museum and Art Gallery 20:20 VISION

10 JAN – 24 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Celebrating 20 years of Start in Salford’s arts and wellbeing centre, they present an exhibition of work created over the years.

The Lowry DANCE ON FILM

8 MAR – 27 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Releasing dance from the constraints of the stage, this exhibition of film work explores how visual artists, choreographers and dance companies can use moving image to capture the art form. JONATHAN YEO: PORTRAITS

15 MAR – 29 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of work by selftaught, British portrait painter, Jonathan Yeo, bringing together his most famous subjects, including Helena Bonham Carter and Grayson Perry. The final work is shown alongside preparatory materials.

The Portico Library NORTHERN EXPOSURE

5–29 MAR, NOT 9, 16, 23, TIMES VARY, FREE

The annual Northern Exposure photography exhibition returns to The Portico, bringing together seven local photographers, including Fiona Heron, Karen McBride, Adrian McGarry, Jon Parker Lee, Angela Niman, John Brierley and Robin Haslam.

Twenty Twenty Two PONG PING

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 6 FEB AND 5 MAR, 4:00PM – 11:00PM, FREE

A ping pong themed exhibition featuring six large-scales works constructed from ping pong balls, created by Liam Hopkins, aka Lazerian. MEAT COLLECTIVE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 20 FEB AND 26 MAR, 4:00PM – 11:00PM, FREE

Listings

1 FEB – 16 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of work by urban artist, LOVE Artuk, using ofttimes mischievous methods to spread a message of love.

Exhibition Research Centre PLEASE COME TO THE SHOW

13 FEB – 11 APR, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

TIME AND MOTION: REDEFINING WORKING LIFE

12 DEC – 9 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

TONY CHARLES: ABRASIVE ACTION

A group exhibition in collaboration with the Royal College of Art’s Creative Exchange, exploring the workplace through artworks and research projects and placing the subject of shifting from an industrial to a service-based economy in focus.

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 22 FEB AND 5 APR, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

27 MAR – 22 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Untitled Gallery

A solo exhibition of work by Tony Charles, exploring the relationship between sculpture and its twodimensional counterpart, painting.

Liverpool Art

SCIENCE FICTION: THE NEW DEATH

An exhibition exploring modern science fiction, inspired by J. G. Ballard’s landscapes of the future and underpinned by a narrative crafted by China Mieville, with video works, installations and a personal archive made up of open call submissions.

Haus Warehouse INPRINT

16 MAR, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

24 Kitchen Street THRESHOLD FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ARTS

28-30 MAR, £25 WEEKEND

THRESHOLD FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ARTS

28-30 MAR, £25 WEEKEND

For the visual arts strand of Threshold Festival they’ve lined up a heady mix of artists and collectives, including returning artist, Adam Collier, Liverpool Art Prize Winner Robyn Woolston and Liverpool-based photographer, Wesley Storey.

THRESHOLD FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ARTS

VALENTINE’S NOTEBOOK

FACT

Bringing us aesthetically and culturally closer to Barcelona, BCNMCR pitches up with a free exhibition showcasing the varied work of the 11 Barcelona-based design studios involved. A series of inspiring talks runs parallel on 28 Mar at Hallé St Peter's.

Baltic Bakehouse

The Kazimier Liverpool Free entry

Eggspace

BCNMCR

90 Squared

Save the date Saturday 12 April 2014

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 27 MAR AND 23 APR, FREE

8 MAR, 4:00PM – 10:00PM, £DONATION (WORKSHOPS FROM £5)

Join us to celebrate our First Birthday

28-30 MAR, £25 WEEKEND

Ephemera from the MoMA Library collection of artists’ files – containing everything from announcement cards to press clippings – are presented as an alternative way to approach and consider art.

(RE)MAKING PEACE

A series of events and workshops taking over The Penthouse in celebration of International Women’s Day, exploring the concept of peace, and using participatory events to re-imagine this.

THRESHOLD FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ARTS

The grotesque and disturbing work of Meat Collective comes to Twenty Twenty Two, with a mixed media exhibition spanning film, photography, painting, drawing and an exploration of printing methods.

The Penthouse

District

28-30 MAR, £25 WEEKEND

Domino Gallery

Pitching up with their biggest print fair yet, Liverpool’s takes to the expansive Haus Warehouse with a hefty number of arty folk signed up to show off their wares, alongside a specially commissioned open call exhibition exploring pattern in print.

International Slavery Museum BRITISH DANCE: BLACK ROUTES

13 SEP – 23 MAR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A new exhibition exploring the experiences of Black British dancers from 1946 to 2005 and shining the spotlight on their contributions to British dance, through jazz, contemporary, ballet and hip hop. LAURA FACEY: THEIR SPIRITS...

31 JAN – 7 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Jamaican artist, Laura Facey presents an exhibition exploring the cruelty of slavery and the transcendent nature of the human spirit, with her 2006 piece, Their Spirits Gone Before Them sitting at the heart of the exhibition. BRUTAL EXPOSURE: THE CONGO

24 JAN – 7 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A distressing exhibition of photographs by missionary Alice Seeley Harris, documenting her time in the Congo and exploring the brutality experienced by the Congolese people in what was probably the first photographic campaign for human rights.

Lady Lever Art Gallery TURNER

14 FEB – 1 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A chronological exploration of JWM Turner’s life and work is presented in this exhibition of some 15–29 MAR, NOT 16, 17, 23, 24, 11:00AM 30 works by the landscape painter, – 5:00PM, FREE The debut exhibition from Art Tree, pulled from across the National Museum Liverpool’s collections. showcasing the work of seven established artists alongside that of six debut artists to shine a light on the creative talent in abundance in Merseyside. THE REFLECTIONS OF A CREATIVE COMMUNITY

Mad Hatter Brewery

THRESHOLD FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ARTS

28-30 MAR, £25 WEEKEND

Museum of Liverpool

APRIL ASHLEY: PORTRAIT OF A LADY

27–21 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A exhibition exploring the life of April Ashley, the Liverpool-born Vogue model and actress and one of the first people in the world to undergo gender reassignment surgery. BY JOVE! IT’S KEN DODD!

7 JAN – 21 APR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The life of the entertainer and comic Ken Dodd is celebrated in this exhibition of photographs by fellow Liverpudlian Stephen Shakeshaft.

Open Eye Gallery

LETIZIA BATTAGLIA: BREAKING THE CODE OF SILENCE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 22 FEB AND 4 MAY, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

An exhibition of black and white photography by Sicilian photographer and photojournalist, Letizia Battaglia, made up of images from the mid 70s to late 90s, depicting a dark time in Italian history when the Corleonesi mafia held the country in its grip.

Tate Liverpool DLA PIPER SERIES: CONSTELLATIONS

23 NOV – 31 MAY, 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. RICHARD HAWKINS: HIJIKATA TWIST

28 FEB – 11 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

American artist Richard Hawkins presents his first museum exhibition in the UK, bringing together new works that demonstrate his complex style of juxtaposing images and ideas. KEYWORDS: ART, CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN 1980S BRITAIN

28 FEB – 11 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8 (£6)

Taking words from Raymond Williams’ collection of essays, Keywords, as impetus, Tate Liverpool’s new exhibition explores parallels between shifts in language and culture.

The Baltic Social THRESHOLD FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ARTS

28-30 MAR, £25 WEEKEND

The Brink NATURE’S WAY

17 DEC – 7 MAR, NOT 25 DEC, 26 DEC, 1 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

A joint exhibition of nature photography by Liverpool-based artists, Colin Serjent and Jane Groves.

The Cornerstone Gallery RACHEL SWEENEY: BODY TOPOGRAPHIES

31 JAN – 14 MAR, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 9:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of photographic works by Rachel Sweeney – a local dancer and part of performance company Orr and Sweeney – exploring the creative links between the body and its environment.

The Liverpool Academy of Arts CAT-TASTIC

25 FEB – 13 MAR, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 12:00PM – 4:00PM, FREE

An open call exhibition responding to the theme of cats, inviting artists to share what those little furballs mean to them.

The Royal Standard VERNISSAGE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 1 MAR AND 5 APR, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Five recent graduates based in the UK come together for this exhibition spanning sculpture, painting, installation and film, with the studio space acting as a showcase for existing works and springboard for new works.

Unit 51

THRESHOLD FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND ARTS

28-30 MAR, £25 WEEKEND

Unity Theatre

JANE HUGHES: IN A QUIET SPACE

4–29 MAR, NOT 9, 16, 23, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of drawings by local artist Jane Hughes, capturing the quiet sanctuary of the library as a learning space and a key part of the community, responding to the threat of closure due to government cuts.

Walker Art Gallery

DAVID HOCKNEY: EARLY REFLECTIONS

11 OCT – 16 MAR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A unique collection of work charting the early development of a British icon with almost 40 pieces on display, dating from between 1960 and 1978, allowing a unique insight into Hockney’s early years.

THE NARRATORS: WORKS FROM THE ARTS COUNCIL COLLECTION

11 OCT – 16 MAR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Visual dialogues are created between contemporary and modern works in this exhibition of work from the Arts Council’s collection of decorative and fine art, running parallel to a collection at The Royal Standard.

The Bluecoat

The Wirral-born artist James Hamilton Hay is the focus of this exhibition of landscapes and city etchings, showcasing his life’s work after leaving the Liverpool School of Art and seeking the guidance of British Impressionist Julius Olsson.

THE NEGLIGENT EYE

8 MAR – 15 JUN, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A group exhibition curated by Jo Stockham, exploring the shift in the increasingly critical approach to technology, through print, sculpture, video and mixed media work.

PORTRAIT OF THE ENGRAVER

13 DEC – 30 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

ROBIN TARBET

22 MAR – 13 APR, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Taking on the curious role of folk scientific explorer, Robin Tarbet presents a selection of work exploring the ‘material residue of technological processes’, through print, film work, sculpture and assemblage.

THE SKINNY

Turn Up the Mermaid Tail Jenny Reeve and Jill O’Sullivan are no strangers to the stage or studio in Glasgow, but it took a Perthshire snow storm to bring them together as BDY_PRTS

scaping from a remote country house in a beaten-up car before seeking refuge in a roadside cafe due to a blizzard sounds like the climactic scene in a low-budget horror film. But that’s exactly the circumstances that led to Jenny Reeve and Jill O’Sullivan sitting down to map out the musical project that would become BDY_PRTS. The alt-pop duo from Glasgow first met in rural Perthshire during the depths of a brutal winter in 2010 when they took part in a songwriters’ workshop organised by The Fruit Tree Foundation (the results of which can be heard on the album First Edition). “It was the kind of place that, when it gets snowed in, it gets snowed in for days,” Reeve recalls. “And there was a real danger of that happening, so we had to leave quickly. It was terrifying – we got caught in a blizzard, my car was ancient, and the rear suspension had collapsed. So we stopped at a Little Chef down the road, where we had a coffee and a proper chat.” “We discovered that we both genuinely enjoy writing songs and playing,” agrees O’Sullivan. “So when we got back we decided to hang out in the house with a bottle of wine and our guitars, as it had been really fun when we were in that room in Perthshire. And at some point it clicked and started working really well.” There’s no sign of snow, and – a rarity for 2014 – no sign of rain when The Skinny meets the pair in Thornwood to talk about their excellent debut single IDLU, which was produced by manof-many-talents Julian Corrie, aka Miaoux Miaoux. While BDY_PRTS can be legitimately tagged as a new band, in the sense that their first proper headlining show is on 5 March, its constituent members are no strangers to either the stage or the studio. O’Sullivan, raised in Chicago by Irish parents, is known to many as one-third of gothic rockers Sparrow and the Workshop, who have released a series of well-received albums (most recently 2013’s Murderopolis) and played shows with the likes of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and British Sea Power. She’s also contributed to songs by James Yorkston and Broken Records. Reeve, born in Glasgow to an Australian

March 2014

Interview: Chris McCall Photography: Jassy Earl

father and New Zealander mother, has been writing and recording her own music for more than a decade, first as a member of Eva, then Strike the Colours. Her unique voice and adept fiddle playing has also lit up shows and records by such Scottish mahatmas as The Reindeer Section, Idlewild and Malcolm Middleton – leading to one critic awarding her the epithet “serial Glaswegian guester.” BDY_PRTS are thus in the fairly unique situation of having two songwriters who have already proved capable of standing on their own two feet. So what makes them more than the sum of their parts? For Reeve, it was the fact they first defined their friendship by making music. “If we’d been friends before we started writing it might have been more of a daunting prospect, as it could have ruined a perfectly good friendship if we realised that there was no chemistry,” she explains. “But for us, it’s the opposite. When we first met we were put in this artificial, fairly pressured environment – not that there was pressure put on us – but when you’re put in a room full of songwriters, you don’t want to be shite, you know what I mean? So there was that sense of being chucked in at the deep end, and through that process, we realised we had similar things in common. I guess on paper it maybe shouldn’t work, because we have exactly the same skill base...” O’Sullivan quickly interjects. “Jenny has been saying this, but I’d like to put on the record that she is a much better guitarist than me. You’re like BB King, and I’m baby King.” “I’m really not,” Reeve responds, diplomatically. “We both play guitar, violin and sing, so that’s the basis of our songwriting. Those aspects all collide and it seems to work. The kind of song we come up with – I don’t think either of us would come up with on our own. It’s a real collaborative effort. It gets to the point that Jill will call me up to record an idea on my answerphone. It feels weird recording when she’s not here.” O’Sullivan warms to the theme. “When I go home to Chicago my dad will always ask me what we sound like, so I try and play him the songs – and I always say ‘but this isn’t what it sounds like, this is only half, my half. I try my best

I’m not particularly technically minded, so learning that new skill opened up a whole world to us. We could sample anything.” It’s mastering that handy device that has given BDY_PRTS a much more textured sound than anything Reeve or O’Sullivan have previously been involved in. But it’s not their style to begin a dry conversation about technical specifics, not when samples can be given more interesting names like ‘The Mermaid Tail’ or ‘The Dancing Elf.’ Then there’s the helping hand of the aforementioned Miaoux Miaoux. “What that guy doesn’t know about technology isn’t worth knowing,” enthuses Reeve. “He’s a genius at that stuff, and an amazing songwriter in his own right. The recording of the single was an experiment. We wanted to get one of our tunes complete, to see ourselves in the mirror for the first time. It could have gone either way, but he’s become a really good friend. He was round the other day actually, borrowing some speakers for a surround-sound show he was doing. But that’s kind of just how it is with Glasgow.” “We first asked to meet him to discuss using an MPC and that led to chat about other sounds,” adds O’Sullivan. “We sent him a demo of the track and he said he loved it and wanted to record it. He was really tuned in to what we were doing. He was already mapping out that we could use a certain beat instead of the cheap-ass one we had been using.” So what about an album? “All we need now is to just freeze time, freeze Jenny Reeve everything,” ponders O’Sullivan. “And if someone just put about 12 grand in our bank account, and some Maltesers, and some red wine.” “And some mystical beasts that don’t exist,” “We’ve been going for a while, but we’ve been careful to map out all of the material before put- adds Reeve. “And maybe a crystal clear Arctic lake. That’s ting anything online,” maintains Reeve. “There’s a danger if you just record the first thing you write. not too much to ask for, is it?” agrees O’Sullivan. Reeve thinks for a second. “Although I’d setWe have an overview of how the album will sound. We chose IDLU because that’s the most complete tle for a bowl and a goldish, and a five pound bottune that we have just now. Every time we record, tle of Tesco Select.” we’ve gone through the evolution of making IDLU is available to buy from 3 Mar beats, starting with me just hitting my guitar with a delay on it to create a pulse and then recording www.bdyprts.com it on a loop pedal, which is how we played IDLU for a long time. But we needed a more a rhythmic element, so we got an MPC1000 and learned that. to play him the skeleton of the song, but I can’t. We don’t make sense without each other in a musical setting.” Of course, this positive working relationship would be of little interest to the wider public if it did not result in a collection of songs worthy of releasing. But, with IDLU, they have already made a strong start, achieving playlist status on BBC radio shows north and south of the border. The duo, meanwhile, are in no mood to rush. “The single is definitely a reflection,” continues O’Sullivan. “But when we have the time and the funding to do the album, it will be in a similar vein, but it will have gone further. I feel like every month that goes by, we develop more sophisticated ideas.”

“When you’re put in a room full of songwriters, you don’t want to be shite, you know what I mean?”

MUSIC

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