The Skinny Northwest August 2014 by The Skinny

65P

P.24 Roman Flügel

P.33 Fiona Beveridge

P.38 Albion

August 2014

I N D E P E N D E N T

C U LT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

Issue 17, August 2014 © Radge Media Ltd. Get in touch: E: hiya@theskinny.co.uk T: 0161 833 3124 P: The Skinny, Second Floor, Swan Buildings, 20 Swan Street, Manchester, M4 5JW The Skinny is distributing 24,680 copies across Liverpool and Manchester, a wide range of advertising packages and affordable ways to promote your business are available. Get in touch to find out more.

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Contents

Editorial Northwest Editor Film & Deputy Editor Events Editor Music Editor Art Editor Books Editor Clubs Editor Deviance Editor Fashion Editor Food Editor Theatre Editor Travel Editor

Lauren Strain Jamie Dunn Simon Jay Catling Dave Kerr Sacha Waldron Alan Bett Daniel Jones Tasha Lee Alexandra Fiddes Jamie Faulkner Alecia Marshall Paul Mitchell

Production Production Manager Designer Sub Editor

Amy Minto Thom Isom Kristian Doyle

Sales Commercial Director Northwest Sales & Marketing Manager Sales Executives

Nicola Taylor Caroline Harleaux Issy Patience John Stansfield

Lead Designer

Maeve Redmond

Company PA

Kyla Hall

Editor-in-Chief Sales Director Publisher

Rosamund West Lara Moloney Sophie Kyle

THE SKINNY

Photo: Nadine Fraczkowski

P.15 Homebaked

Contents Up Front 06 Chat & Opinion, Stop the Presses,

developer and an art researcher share their stories; plus, a look at free courses you can do on your sofa in your pants.

Skinny on Tour, an’ all o’ that...

08 Heads Up: What all the cool kidz are going to this August.

Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, takes a break from her world tour to talk collaborating with David Byrne and Swans, why she finds travelling so inspiring, and the particular alchemy of making music.

Forget all this talk of switching career – you might be the kind of maverick that likes to do your own thing. Have a brief swatch at some support available in the Northwest if you’re looking to turn a hobby into a business.

Learning doesn’t have to be done at a computer, you know. (Do you know?) We meet some folk who are like, doing things with their hands in the outside world in all the fresh air and stuff. Imagine!

The Bug, aka Kevin Martin, on leaving the despair of London behind for Berlin, and the “zonal” nature of new record Angels & Devils. It started life as a public realm commission for the 2012 Liverpool Biennial; two years on, Homebaked is much more than an art project. Artist Jeanne van Heeswijk and participant Sue Humphreys discuss what’s made it such a unique initiative. With his feature film debut, God Help the Girl, Stuart Murdoch applies the free-spirited charm and self-conscious wit of his songwriting to the big screen. As POUTfest brings a brace of his movies to Manchester, we learn what made gay icon Divine so, well, divine, from documentarian Jeffrey Schwarz; plus, a look at the films screening in this year’s Liverpool Pride at the Pictures. Two decades and ten albums in for Trans Am and there’s still no let-up. Sebastian Thomson reflects on his career as one third of the post-rock polymaths.

Lifestyle 32

Deviance: We hear from a woman flouting Facebook’s nudity rules, and consider if life’s too short to shave. (It probably is.)

Fashion: Meet the multi-talented Makers Dozen collective.

Travel: This month’s travel story is a journey no one wants to take: a holiday from health.

20 Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys sets the

story straight on 18th-century Welsh explorer and political radical John Evans, and discusses his own adventures with multimedia project American Interior.

Comedian Juliette Burton has traipsed the yellow brick road, and emerged from Oz with a show brimming with a sense of self and purpose.

Northwest theatre companies Big Wow and Black Toffee prepare for their annual trip to the Fringe.

Storytelling collective The Moth take oratory traditions from the dinner table, bar and porch, and put them on the stage. We find out more from these New York night owls as their first compendium is about to be published.

Man of many monikers Roman Flügel discusses his ever evolving career ahead of a new release on Hamburg’s top notch Dial label.

Do long evenings and all the optimism of summer make you feel you’d like to learn something new? Riffle through the pages of our first Education Supplement, a lil’ guide to opportunities for personal development locally and further afield. First up: a travelling friend checks in from Tokyo to relate the adventures of a teacher abroad. What does ‘working in the arts’ look like these days? A writer, a creative game

August 2014

OCTOBER 07 THE PHANTOM BAND THE KAZIMIER W/ EVOL

THE KAZIMIER

16 TIMBER TIMBRE LEAF

28 ST. VINCENT 02 ACADEMY

21 REAL ESTATE

W/ DHP

SEPTEMBER 26 - L’POOL INTERNATIONAL - 27 FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA

THE KAZIMIER

NOVEMBER 04 THE WAR ON DRUGS

CAMP AND FURNACE

O2 ACADEMY

OCTOBER 02 STURGILL SIMPSON

08 TAMIKREST

W/ LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK 2014

THE KAZIMIER

LEAF

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE: SEETICKETS / EVENTIM / TICKETLINE IN PERSON: PROBE RECORDS (SCHOOL LN) & THE BRINK (PARR ST) FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @HARVEST_SUN @LPOOLPSYCHFEST

Food & Drink: Can you stop eating those choc ices? A trainee nutritionist explains why you’re finding it difficult. Plus food news and reviews of Albion and Cane & Grain.

Review 40

Competitions: Win tickets to Liverpool Psych Fest and a night out to see SOHN at Gorilla.

Music: Yer previews for the month include various Liverpool fests and a new hip-hop night at the Roadhouse; new albums from J Mascis and FaltyDL are in review; and we meet Owl John.

Education Supplement 25

Showcase: Our Scotland edition this month showcase four of their degree show favourites IN REAL LIFE at a gallery in Edinburgh! Amazing. Meet the graduates showing at Creative Exchange as part of Edinburgh Art Festival; and if you’re in the Scottish capital this month for any of the various shenanigans, do pay us a visit.

AUGUST 18 FAT WHITE FAMILY + THE GROWLERS + THE WYTCHES

Clubs: We hear from Erol Alkan, a man who inadvertently diverted a generation of indie kids to a whole world of dance, and Juju & Jordash pit their respective tastes against each other in Under the Influence; plus all yer Highlights. Art/Books: Claude Parent gives us vertigo at Tate Liverpool, and Rob Chavasse’s Ghostie! spooks at The Royal Standard. Books checks out new work by Catherine Burns and Andrew Ladd, and a collection of short stories about Gaza. Film: New films from Kelly Reichardt (Night Moves) and Abel Ferrara (Welcome to New York ), plus the unclassifiable live action-animation hybrid The Congress. Theatre/Comedy: Humunco Theatre makes its first outing at the Playhouse; and Comedy rounds up the Northwest comics who are deserting us this month – yeah thanks guys. Listings: Stop watching Utopia and go out.

LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAl FESTIVAL 26 + 27 SEPTEMBER 2014

goat. SUUNS .

PSYCHEDELIA

Camp & Furnace / blade factory liverpool

W O O D S . A L L A H -L A S . TH E BE S N A RD L A K E S .

WHIT E HILLS. SLEEPY SUN. Z OMBIE Z OMBIE. WOL F PE OPLE. CHRISTIAN BLAND & THE REVELATORS. AME N DUNES. HILLS. GRUMBLING FUR. AL

LOVER 'S S AC RE D D RU G S . A N T HRO P RO P HH. ASTEROID #4. CAMERA. THE EARLY YEARS. GNOD. HOLY WAVE. I S L E T . T HE J A N I T O RS . LAY LLAM AS . T HE L U C I D D RE A M. K L A U S J O HA N N G RO BE . MA Z E S . m oodoid. NU E V A C O S T A . P O W ! . Q UI L T . O RV A L C A RL O S S I BE L I U S . S EP T EM B E R G I RL S . T RA A MS . S U D D E N D E A T H O F S T A RS . T EET H O F T HE S E A . T HO UG HT F O RMS . S a t e l l i t i . T HE V A C A N T L O T S . Y O UN G HU S BA N D .

b ar b er o s . BL A C K BO MBA I M. BE D RU G S . BL A C K ME K O N . B ONNACO N S O F D O O M. CANTALOUPE. CHEVAL SOMBRE. DARK BELLS. FORMES. G L A S S MO T HS . HA L F L O O N . J I BO I A . HE L L S HO V E L . IN Z AIR E. LES B I G BY RD . O N E U N I Q U E S I G N A L . PURPLE HEART PARADE. PETE BASSMAN (Spacemen 3). PLANK. S P E C T RE S . S P I N D RI F T . s t ra n g e c ollect ive. SUDAKISTAN. TEMPLE SONGS. THEO VERNEY. WHISTLEJACKET. ZE N T RA L HE I Z U N G O F D E A T H D E S T O D E S (Z HO D ).

T R A N S M I S S I O N S F R O M T H E O U T E R R E A L M S PRESENTED R O C K E T R E C O R D I N G S FT. N O T H I N G I S D J s (C h e r r y St o n e s ,

C a g e

A v i a r y ,

L i t t l e

D i r t y ,

C h r is

R e e d e r )

THE CHIMES OF BIG BEN : richard norris. Justin Robertson. Bernie Connor. Richard Hector-Jones.

P N K S L M

R E C OR DI N G S

S H OW C A S E .

SONIC CATHEDRAL 'PSYCH FOR SORE EYES 2' LAUNCH HAPPENING. ADVENTURES AT THE OUTER REACHES: FILM PROGRAMME + SYMPOSIUM TRAVERSING GLOBAL PSYCHEDELIC OUTPOSTS. PICCADILLY RECORDS WORLD OF PSYCHEDELIC WAX WONDERS. PZYK SKREEN PRINT WRKSHP. Plus...a myriad of cosmic audio voyages, installations and visual sensations.

Full details and tickets at LIVERPOOLPSYCHFEST.COM Tickets also available in person from Probe Records (Liverpool), Piccadilly Records (Manchester) & Jumbo Records (Leeds)

Contents

Editorial

In the Mix Introducing Skinned, our new DJ mix series

O I

t’s too hot to think. It’s too hot to eat. It’s too hot to sleep. It’s too hot to sit on a hot leather sofa with a hot fanless laptop. It’s too hot to write an editorial. Isn’t it? Ah balls. I am also duty bound to say it’s not too hot to learn something new – in fact, it is the perfect temperature in which to learn something new, wouldn’t you agree? Good, because we’ve given over a few pages at the centre of the mag to an exploration of courses, pursuits and other aspects of personal development to inspire you to develop yer skills or, who knows, even steer your career: one globetrotting correspondent writes from Tokyo on the subject of teaching abroad, another hears how a course in foraging can be both fun and improve your survival skills. Eclectic. Though a vast percentage of the comedy and theatre scenes have decamped to Scotland for the Edinburgh festivals, it hasn’t left us with nothing to talk about: comedian Juliette Burton expounds the importance of writing material that challenges stigma around mental health, religion, feminism and, well, everything really. Meanwhile, our Theatre editor asks companies from Liverpool and Manchester about the enduring allure of the Scottish capital and just why the gargantuan undertaking is worth it. Besides, there’s still plenty of festival action going on here. Film carries previews of Cornerhouse’s POUTfest and Liverpool Pride’s film strand, Pride at the Pictures; and, as the Biennial enters its second month, Art catches up with Jeanne van Heeswijk, whose 2012 Biennial commission/social project 2Up 2Down, which developed into the community-run Homebaked bakery, has risen – sorry – in profile to become a cornerstone of the local community. You could even say it’s bloomered!!!!!1 God it’s hot. Meanwhile, it seems like blimmin’ everyone

is off to Beacons festival – Clubs has interviews with both Erol Alkan and Roman Flügel, the former on his reluctance to make too much of himself despite being one of the biggest DJs in the world, the latter on the many guises he’s assumed over the years on the run-up to his new record for Hamburg’s Dial label, Happiness is Happening. Hotness is happening, more like. Music on the other hand enjoys a bit of respite from the punishing festival calendar, opting to take stock of the careers of St. Vincent, The Bug, and Trans Am – all at this point in time with a certain history behind them, but all beginning new chapters. In Books, Gruff Rhys discusses the mythology of his multi-media project American Interior, and US storytelling collective The Moth explain the nuances of the artform and why audiences are drawn to this form of oratory like a moth to a flame, though quite why anyone is lighting candles in this weather I don’t know JESUSSTOPIT. What else? Fashion introduces the Makers Dozen collective; Deviance asks why we’re spending so much of our time shaving our pits; and Food & Drink subsists on an inadvisable diet of ribs and chocolate. Last but not least, and casting eyes back North, our Showcase this month profiles the graduates our sister paper have selected to present IN REAL LIFE at Creative Exchange, Edinburgh, as part of Edinburgh Art Festival – if you’re in the city for any festival/ Fringe-related activity, do drop in, it opens 1 Aug and runs until the end of the month. Yours sweatily, The Skinny [Lauren Strain] ON THE COVER: St. Vincent. Photography on the front and inside by Renata Raksha.

h, did we not say? We do mixes now. The first one in the series we’re calling Skinned came from Tabernacle co-founder Andrew Ingram. Manchester’s Garth Be was good enough to serve up the second course. Be’s recent The Seven Movements LP is one of the most perfectly sculpted collections to come out of Manchester in recent memory. We're talking high calibre emotion here, people; it's a record that more than deserves a place in the soul-soothing section of your collection, probably filed next to Glenn Underground or

Theo Parrish. In fact, you can hear Garth channel the vibrations of Chicago and Detroit in almost everything he touches, from the feelgood hop of Moodymann-style house, through squelchy quasi-acid adventures, to the darker arts practiced by Jeff Mills and the like. Skinned #2 sums up his style to a tee, so head over to Clubs on our website and take an hour to feast on his fine selection of twinkling keys, warm pads and murkier moments designed for the witching hour and beyond. Pure heat. www.theskinny.co.uk/clubs

The Skinny on Tour

This month’s jet-setting Skinny reader headed east, to a city whose architecture feels ancient but is in fact relatively new – it’s known as the ‘phoenix city’, given that it’s survived so many wars throughout its history, including the second world war, where 85% of its buildings were destroyed.

Shot of the Month

Words: Daniel Jones

Our reader may have walked the cobbled streets of Stare Miasto while they were there, or hung out at Plan B (known locally as 'hipster square’), but one things for certain, they’ll have tucked into some pierogi, the city and its nation’s favourite dish.

For your chance to win one of Charles M Schulz’s The Peanuts Guide to Life books (we’ve The Philosophy of Snoopy, The Genius of Charlie Brown, The Wisdom of Woodstock and Life Lessons from Lucy to give away), courtesy of our friends at Canongate Books, just head over to the theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and tell us where you think our reader went on holiday. Competition closes midnight Sun 31 Aug. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Full Ts&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

Conor Oberst at Manchester Cathedral, Tue 8 Jul, by Leah Henson

Chat

THE SKINNY

Online Only

BALLS.

Eyes to the website

with Mystic Mark

In Music, pathological brainboxes Adult Jazz reveal their genre-busting, metanarrative-laden debut; with solo album Tied To A Star ready to drop, J Mascis maintains the irrepressible form that's marked his career since reforming Dinosaur Jr ten years ago, and Scott Hutchison tells us why he came close to calling it a day with Frightened Rabbit and how solo record Owl John may just have kept the band in business. theskinny.co.uk/music

ARIES In a bid to convince your new neighbours that they neednâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry about you, you invite the whole street round for tea, biscuits and a three hour Powerpoint presentation detailing all the times in which you could have murdered a child, but didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. As they leave, evidently reassured, you warmly hand them each a laminated dossier about all the dogs you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t skinned.

Rustie returns with his towering new album Green Language and discusses his quest for vocalists; while FaltyDL speaks ahead of new record In The Wild, all shimmering synths, lush samples and his trademark tricky beats. theskinny.co.uk/clubs

Ahead of the Edinburgh Fringe, our sister paperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Comedy team speak to â&#x20AC;&#x201C; deap breath â&#x20AC;&#x201C; single white slut Tim Key, professional antagonist Kim Noble, comedy loudmouth Abigoliah Schamaun and love god Marcel Lucont; plus Trevor Lock defends the noble art of heckling and one half of Ellis & Rose laments the death of the once charismatic Fringe. theskinny.co.uk/comedy

CANCER As a proud supporter of David Icke, you believe the only way to end the global reptilian conspiracy is to force the shapeshifters to wear yellow badges while out in public.

Can you make a working, innovative videogame prototype in just eight weeks? Dare to be Digital asks just that ahead of Augustâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual Dare ProtoPlay indie games festival. Tech speaks to some of its competitors, past and present, about the experience. theskinny.co.uk/tech

Photo: Nuria Rius

Rustie

Manchesterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Exhibition Centre for the Life and Use of Books presents a series of exhibitions from 15 Aug to 8 Sep exploring the life and work of writer and publisher Michael Butterworth. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be access to his controversial archives, as well as the showcasing of responses to his work by various artists and collectives. See lifeanduseofbooks.org for more info.

August 2014

LEO I would tell you the results of your AIDS test but I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to spoil the surprise.

VIRGO to move house but lacking Wanting funds you cram each room with enormous quantities of rotting meat and maggots before welding the doors and windows shut. At the helm in your sealed off control room you await the hatching and before long your home is alive with the cacophonous buzz of forty million bluebottles. The immense lift generated causes the foundations to crack and you whoop with delight as the writhing black engine pops your house from its crater, floating like a brick balloon in the grey city sky. But no sooner have you left the ground, the pressure gauge alarm sounds and the shuddering door bursts off its hinges unleashing a solid swarm of fizzing hell into the room, instantly smothering you in a crunchy ocean of thick horror. With your skeleton still at the controls the insatiable, sentient death house flies off into the sunset in search of fresh victims.

And finally, one hundred thousand reviews in Theatre, Comedy and more over the coming weeks of Edinburgh Festival and Fringe madness. theskinny.co.uk/theatre

LIBRA They say you have to learn to love yourself before anyone else can love you. Sadly, this month you snap your hard-on while trying to bend it up your bumhole. Nobody will ever love you now.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re starting to get excited for the mighty Liverpool Psych Fest (26-27 Sep, Camp & Furnace) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; among the recent additions to the lineup are Allah-Las and The Besnard Lakes, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re topping the bill alongside GOAT, Woods, and Suuns. liverpoolpsychfest.com

CHVRCHES

The lineup for the Liverpool Music Week Closing Partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been announced, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something special. CHVRCHES, The Black Lips, Nguzunguzu, EMA, Evian Christ, and LĂĽpsley, among others, will play various venues in Liverpoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Baltic Triangle on 1 Nov. See liverpoolmusicweek.com for the full lineup. A heads-up about the Urban Moves International Dance Festival, which takes place

on 6 Sep in Manchesterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Piccadilly and Cathedral Gardens. More info to come â&#x20AC;&#x201C; urbanmovesfestival.org.uk. And finally, our ears pricked to the announcement of C O L U M N S, a new one-day festival to take place at Manchester Cathedral on 1 Nov, with Future Islands topping the bill and Zola Jesus, East India Youth and more bringing up the not untidy rear. See facebook.com/columnsfestival for more details.

Photo: Eoin Carey

Apparently we spend more than 100,000 hours of our lives at workâ&#x20AC;Ś With this in mind, Capital Properties are asking employees and business leaders in the Northwest to nominate places that excite and stimulate creativity, in a search to identify the best business district and locations in the UK. One nominator will win a luxury weekend in the winning town or city for their colleagues â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more details at capitalpropertiesltd.com/coolplaces

GEMINI In a bid to escape the crushing heat, you prepare a tray of refreshing ice dildos in the freezer.

As Japan's greatest living author Haruki Murakami travels west to Edinburgh International Book Festival, Books look back on the career of this reticent genius. theskinny.co.uk/books In Art, sculptor Jessica Harrison talks about the genesis of her twisted ceramic ladies, feminism, and going viral; we hear from the ubiquitous Graham Fagen, who has no fewer than seven projects on display this summer; and look ahead to Icaro Menippus [x2], an exhibition of the late sculptor Paul Carter. theskinny.co.uk/art

TAURUS You insist that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not a premature ejaculator, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just incredibly efficient.

SCORPIO Your shed is a hive of activity this month as you complete a working prototype of your goat fucking machine.

SAGITTARIUS God doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe in you either.

CAPRICORN The only disability in life is a bad attitude. That and not having any legs.

AQUARIUS See last month.

PISCES For a Buddhist you really can be quite an inconsiderate prick.

twitter.com/themysticmark facebook.com/themysticmark

Chat

Adept at juxtaposing a drawn-out story with a short, sharp punchline, Alun Cochrane's reputation has risen steadily since his first Edinburgh Fringe in 2004. Despite a series of TV and radio appearances, he's at his best on the stage, and tonight he offers a special preview of the show he'll be taking to Edinburgh with him this year. XS Malarkey at Pub/Zoo, Manchester, 7.30pm, £5

Stock up on crackers and hold your nose; the International Cheese Awards has received a whopping 4,443 entrants from 26 countries this year and takes place at the stately Dorfold Hall in Cheshire. Claxstone's Smooth Blue won last year, joining an illustrious list of winners in a competition that's been running since 1897. Dorfold Hall, Nantwich, 8am, £14

The Pride at the Pictures season arrives just ahead of Liverpool's Pride Weekend, kicking off with the Megan Mullally and Natasha Lyonne-starring comedy G.B.F. – in which the latest must-have accessory in an American High School is a gay best friend. Also watch out for an advance screening of Hong Khaou’s emotive Lilting. FACT + The Light, Liverpool, 31 Jul onwards

Alun Cochrane

International Cheese Awards

Wed 6 Aug

Thu 7 Aug

As part of urban gardening event Dig the City, Manchester Friends of the Earth present Join the Bee Cause! to highlight the seriousness of the world's dwindling bee population. The talk comes with a twist, in the form of a private tour of The Printworks’ rooftop beehives – hidden away from the bustle of the city below. St. Ann's Square, Manchester, 1pm, Free

After 25 years at Seel Street, the Liverpool Academy of Arts sadly have to vacate. While their future's uncertain, they're going out with a bang with their final Open Exhibition, which leaves the theme of the show entirely down to the contributing artists. Academy of Arts, Liverpool, 6-28 Aug, Free

Consistently one of the most carefully curated festival lineups in the country, the fourth Beacons festival descends on Skipton with post-punk veterans The Fall, techno wizard Jon Hopkins and the bewitching Daughter in tow – alongside dozens of other acts and DJs. Heslaker Farm, Skipton, 7-10 Aug, prices vary

Liverpool Academy of Arts

Join the Bee Cause!

Photo: David Corni

Tue 5 Aug

GBF

Beacons Festival

Thu 14 Aug

Promising the latest in hip-hop, house and electronic music, new promoters Purplesky launch tonight with help from the Sad Boys Collective. Hailing from Sweden, the Collective are headed by prodigious 18-yearold rapper Yung Lean – who's already drawn acclaim from Fact and XXL mags. The Roadhouse, Manchester, 7pm, £10

Dysfunctional family musical They've Just Nipped Out for Fags sees a husband having to get used to single parenthood, after his wife and her friend don't return from popping out for ciggies. MaD Theatre Company have reworked the script from 2007's She's Nipped Out for Fags, following its success. Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, 13-15 Aug, 7.30pm, £12 (£10)

Two of garage rock's most vital bands on one brilliant bill tonight: Pennsylvania's Pissed Jeans keep it short and sharp, while recent Weird World signings Hookworms stretch out over bludgeoning rhythmic reptition – and both leave ears ringing and bodies sweating. Gorilla, Manchester, 7pm, £13

Yung Lean & Sad Boys

They've Just Nipped Out for Fags

Photo: Becca Luck

Wed 13 Aug

Photo: Fredrik Andersson Andersson

Tue 12 Aug

Pissed Jeans

Wed 20 Aug

Thu 21 Aug

Known for blending fuzzy surf with sexy psychedelia and throwing in some hypnotic melodies and tripped-out lyrics, The Growlers are joined by the brilliantly grotty Fat White Family and the surfer-psych of The Wytches on this wicked triple bill. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £11

Stoner-rock formed in the wake of Kyuss' success, the former Roadrunner Records-signed Karma to Burn's new album Arch Stanton is a riff-tastic return to their almost entirely instrumental sound of the late 90s and early 00s. Helmed by William Mecum still, they call into Manchester for the first time in two years. The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 7.30pm, £10

Raucous Leeds rockers Pulled Apart by Horses are back with new album Blood in September and, before they hit the promo campaign hard, they're treating fans to a handful of select dates in more intimate confines – just as well, given they're at their best up close and personal. East Village Arts Club, Liverpool, 7pm, £7

The latest in Syndrome's 24 Kitchen Street sessions sees AV artist Jamie Gledhill and sound engineer Stefan Kassozoglou create CHOROS – an interactive room that visually reacts to the noise being made by those within it, via X-box Kinect. Demonstrating this on launch night is martial artist SJ Fowler. 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool, 21-24 Aug, 5.30pm, Free

Karma to Burn

Pulled Apart by Horses

Photo: Euan Robertson

Tue 19 Aug

Photo: Taylor Bonin

Mon 18 Aug

The Growlers

CHOROS

Wed 27 Aug

Thu 28 Aug

The final day of Liverpool International Music Festival's (LIMF) massive free outdoor gig Summer Jam is arguably its strongest. Danish pop star MØ is among those on the main stage, but her thunder may be stolen by Evian Christ and local freakout merchants Clinic, among others. Sefton Park, Liverpool, 23-25 Aug, noon, Free

If you're going to do West Side Story, you need to do it with all the trimmings – and there's no doubt that the audience can expect the full treatment from Katie Hall and Louis Maskell as the star-crossed lovers, Maria and Tony, in this timeless musical about love arising amidst gang conflict. Empire Theatre, Liverpool, 26-30 Aug, times vary, from £10

Following last year's knock-out Shangaan Electro night at the Kazimier, one of the pioneers of the strand-fusing dance genre drops into the venue's lovely yard having not long signed for Warp Records. South African Nozinja's mix of African folk, Tsonga disco and Kwaito house is perfectly suited for a (hopefully) hazy summer night. Kazimier Garden, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £3

Touring her stunning self-titled LP, St. Vincent has become one of the most captivating live artists around. She's fond of between-song soliloquys, intentionally choreographed movements and – most importantly – a set of warped pop songs that have the capacity to rock harder than a whole region of casbahs. O2 Academy, Liverpool, 7pm, £16.50

Chat

West Side Story

Photo: Alistair Muir

Tue 26 Aug

Photo: Andrew Ellis

Mon 25 Aug

Evian Christ

Nozinja

Photo: Nick Bojdo

We’re casting our net wide to fit in cycling and even a century-old cheese competition this month. There’s also both Liverpool and Manchester Pride, while the music calendar looks strong with Nozinja, St. Vincent, and Beacons festival.

Thu 31 Jul

St. Vincent

THE SKINNY

Photo: Daniel Harris

Compiled by: Simon Jay Catling

Wed 30 Jul

Photo: Alessandro Simonetti

Heads Up

Tue 29 Jul

Sun 3 Aug

Mon 4 Aug

Flux Festival finishes this weekend, but not before the 20 Stories High theatre group present Tales from the MP3 – a fascinating piece in which they relay their lines as they hear them through their MP3 players. The young actors discuss themes of race, sex, friendship and family. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £10 (£5)

Across two days of music, DJs and talks, Eclectica Project celebrates and evaluates issues facing women in a music industry that remains heavily male-dominated. Jesca Hoop, Esper Scout and NYPC's Tabitha Bulmer are among the headliners, while Sky Larkin's Katie Harkin is one of the discussion panellists. Kraak, Manchester, 2-3 Aug, 3pm, from £5 (£12 weekend)

Having collided on a split 12" for Rocket Recordings two years ago, Shit and Shine and Gnod come together live on a double-bill of industrial malevolence. Expect a beat-driven assault from the former, while the everchanging Gnod could give us anything from psych licks to electronic abrasion or world-influenced meditation. The Roadhouse, Manchester, 7.30pm, £7

Former head of the Walker Art Gallery, Julian Treuherz begins a series of tours around Rossetti's Obsession, an exhibition of work by the Pre-Raphaelite painter. The collection brings together numerous depictions of Jane Burden Morris – the wife of poet and designer William Morris, and Rossetti's favoured model. Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool, 4 Aug-17 Sep, Free

Shit and Shine

John R Parsons - Jane Morris (1865)

Sat 9 Aug

Sun 10 Aug

Mon 11 Aug

Consistently home to some of the messiest basement parties known to Manchester, Soup Kitchen's 4th Birthday is being celebrated in style, with sometime Ninja Tune and Planet Mu man Floating Points headlining this free bash. He's joined by Mood Hut's Pender Street Steppers and Hashman Deejay. Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 11pm, Free (£5 after midnight)

If you've not been lucky enough to lose your mind at Islington Mill until the small hours, then this Cowbell Radio-hosted 12-hour party really is the time to do it. A marathon session, it's headlined by Phantasy producer and DJ Daniel Avery, with Craig Bratley and A Love From Outer Space also dropping by. Islington Mill, Salford, 5pm, £22

There can't be many better hangover cures than hunkering down to a back-to-back helping of Bill & Ted – so why not share the experience with added popcorn, nachos and cocktails? Watch Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure followed straight after by Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. AWESOME! Gorilla, Manchester, 4pm, £8

An exhibition paying tribute to literary heroines through the ages in a series of photographs, mirrors and etchings. The statements included in Echo and Narcissus invite us to consider how their meanings in association with their characters have changed over time. John Rylands Library, Manchester, 11 Aug-9 Jan, Free

Floating Points

Daniel Avery

Photo: Steve Gullick

Fri 8 Aug

Bill & Ted

Sun 17 Aug

Not everyone's disappeared up North for the Edinburgh Fringe; former Time Out Comedian of the Year and brief Big Breakfast host Paul Tonkinson drops in for a warmup slot at Liverpool's Comedy Central. The blunt observational comic is preparing material for a full national tour, beginning the following month. Comedy Central, Liverpool, 15-16 Aug, 6pm, from £15

Local promoters Hey! Manchester bring some of the region's finest folk songwriters to a pair of Ancoats churches for Undressed – a two-day, two-stage acoustic showcase. Names to look out for include Jo Rose and Elle Mary, while The Travelling Band are among the headliners. St Peter's and St Michael's, Manchester, 16-17 Aug, 5pm, day tickets from £12.50 (wknd from £22)

Constantly evolving big band Sun Ra Arkestra are celebrating what would be the 100th year of their late band leader Sun Ra's existence. Arkestra members have come and gone since its foundation in the 1950s, but a commitment to progressive and open-minded jazz hasn't wavered – neither has their love of an infectious groove. Band on the Wall, Manchester, 7.30pm, £20

Paul Tonkinson

Undressed

Photo: Joanna Dudderidge

Sat 16 Aug

Photo: Craig Sugden

Fri 15 Aug

Carol Sommer - For Lily

Sun Ra Arkestra

Fri 22 Aug

Sat 23 Aug

Sun 24 Aug

The second exhibition in The Royal Standard's three-show Biennial programme, Frames of Reference sees artist Sam Smith use an array of old and new moving image formats to explore how they can alter the perception of animate and inanimate objects. The Royal Standard, Liverpool, 22 Aug-26 Sep, Free

Bringing the city to a standstill each year, the Manchester Pride Parade is one of the largest in the country, uniting the crowds in an inclusive carnival atmosphere. Running from Liverpool Road to Whitworth Street, this year the parade celebrates equal marriage and the love of love itself – d'awww. City centre, Manchester, 1pm, Free

Kawabata Makoto and his band of sonic outlaws Acid Mothers Temple return for another no-doubt facemelting evening. Mixing traditional melody with hyperaggressive playing techniques and plenty of improvisation, you never quite know what you're going to get from this ever-shifting collective – but it's frequently mesmerising. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £9

Manchester Pride Parade

Sam Smith - Frames of Reference

Acid Mothers Temple

Sat 30 Aug

Sun 31 Aug

Mon 1 Sep

The LIMF-associated Minor Characters project saw artists including Forest Swords and East India Youth record specifically around themes of bit-part characters in film and theatre. Celebrating the launch of the compilation's release will be Border Community's Luke Abbott, who'll bring his own tailor-made composition into a live setting. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 8pm, Free

Having gotten all that Pavement reunion business out of his system some years ago, Stephen Malkmus continues to go from strength to strength with current fulltime band The Jicks. They tour in support of Malkmus's most accessible record to-date, Wig Out at Jagbags. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 8pm, £16

One for the fit or the foolish, the Manchester 100 Mile Bike Ride raises money for the Christie Cancer Centre. Starting and finishing in Wythenshawe Park, cyclists head into Cheshire as far as south of Nantwich on this hefty loop. A smaller, err, 100km course is also an option. Wythenshawe Park, Manchester, 6.45am, entry from £19.50 (free to watch)

The Adventures of Flameboy is the name of a series of abstract paintings from Guildford-born artist Barrie West that explore how events and incidents in our past influence our behaviour in the present. Well-known in the Northeast, this marks West's first exhibition in Liverpool. Liverpool Cathedral, h1-24 Sep, Free

Luke Abbott

August 2014

Stephen Malkmus

Photo: Elinor Jones

Fri 29 Aug

Manchester 100 Mile Bike Ride

Barrie West - Adventures of Flameboy

Chat

Photo: Bud Fulginiti

Jesca Hoop

Tales from the MP3

Photo: Birmingham Museums Trust

Sat 2 Aug

Photo: Laura Guy

Fri 1 Aug

Love Is the Drug After touring the world, joining the Nirvana reunion and releasing a stunning self-titled album, Annie Clark aka St. Vincent tells us how music became like a drug, why touring is like a hurricane, and how an artist’s life becomes a reverent construct Interview: Bram E. Gieben

“T

ouring is like being in the eye of a tornado – all of a sudden you get dropped down, and you’re in the most mundane kind of circumstances, and you’re trying to find your way again.” Speaking from her home in New York’s East Village, Annie Clark, better known to the world as St. Vincent, is talking about the making of her new, self-titled album, on a brief rest stop between legs of a series of dates across the USA and Europe. It’s the same situation she finds herself in when we speak, having just toured in her home country, and poised to play some European festivals including the gigantic Primavera Sound in Barcelona, and some select dates in the UK. In the meantime, she’s hardly been idle, taking part in the Nirvana anniversary reunion show at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York this April, playing alongside Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, with Lorde, Joan Jett, Kim Gordon and herself taking the place of Kurt Cobain on vocals. If there’s one thing Clark finds difficult, it seems, it’s taking time off to relax. In 2012, after coming home from touring with David Byrne (playing their collaborative album Love This Giant, about which we spoke with the pair last year), Clark had originally intended to rest. But her creative, driven alter ego St. Vincent had other plans, and within 36 hours or less, she was sketching out ideas for the songs that would become St. Vincent. “I didn’t want that comedown, I wanted to keep going,” she says, subtly confirming that for her, music is the perfect drug. “I had so many things to say, I was just so inspired. So I just kept writing, and this record came out pretty quickly.” Musicians often say that touring is death to creativity. What was it about the process of touring that inspired her to write? “I wanted to make an audio scrapbook of where I’d been, just so that it felt even more real. I had a year’s worth of nights out, and people I’d met, and places I’d been, which I wanted to... synthesise.” She laughs at having to reach for the word, but it’s an appropriate one to apply to St. Vincent, a record on which angular synth riffs and electronic drum beats are deployed with devastating effect. “I pretty much write music in the same way I always did. The whole thing is just trusting your instincts, and letting songs be what they want to be,” she says when asked if playing with Byrne

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on tour affected her approach this time around. But the experience of working with Michael Gira on his imminent new LP To Be Kind was another matter. “I wouldn’t call it a collaboration – I sang back-up vocals on the Swans record,” she says. “Collaboration gives me too much credit. I collaborated with David, I sang back-up vocals with the Swans. But it was so exciting, I’m a massive Swans fan, and even singing on that record, honestly changed my whole relationship to music. It was a dream come true.” How so? “I was asked to sing the same note for about thirty minutes straight... That’s basically transcendental meditation, or a mantra. Your whole being changes when you do something like that.” It is this transformative power, this complete and utter devotion of the self to art and the creative process, that she finds somewhat lacking in modern music, or art and culture in general. On one track from her new album, the undeniably funky Digital Witness, she examines themes of internet-era creativity, identity, empowerment and exploitation. ‘People turn the TV on,’ she sings in the chorus, ‘looks just like a window.’ For Clark, it’s a song about how we elevate the mundane in internet-era culture, without adding real meaning and value in an artistic sense. Or as Clark puts it, “I think sometimes we’re just all bowing to the god of ‘content.’” She’s careful not to come across as either a Luddite or an elitist, however. “I don’t think it’s all bad, at all. There are some positive, awesome aspects to it. Like the democratisation of technology – that’s very empowering, people have a voice now. They can form online communities, in a way that they certainly couldn’t have done 30 years ago. But then there is this other side to it, which can be a black hole.” For her, elevating the mundane is an artistic ambition with merit, and a pedigree: “That has roots in art – you can look at Dada, and that’s basically the premise.” But now, she believes, “I don’t necessarily know if we’re taking the mundane and making it feel sexy and new and enervated. I wonder if we’re all getting a little technologically fatigued, not just from the constant barrage of information... not just that, but being asked to place value, make value judgements on every bit of information that comes at us.” She makes a decent point – who has the time to like every Facebook status, and favourite every

tweet? “I don’t have the capacity to do that, by any means,” says Clark. “I just get overwhelmed, then feel depressed.” Going back to the album, we discuss the songs and their preoccupation with love, death, faith and belief, not to mention a delicious and intoxicating physicality. “All of that stuff you mention – it’s just the stuff of life,” says Clark. “In so many ways, I just write my life. Until we all figure out what it is we’re supposed to be doing on the planet, and construct some new mythology to live by, I’ll be writing about the grit and gristle of humanity. Because that’s infinitely interesting, and infinitely explorable.” She pauses, before exclaiming: “And unknowable! Love and death are not opposed. Love is the thing that gives your life meaning. Love is the point of it.”

“I didn’t want that post-tour comedown, I wanted to keep going” Annie Clark

As to why she named this album after herself, she gives a simple explanation. “I was reading Miles Davis’s autobiography, where he talks about how the hardest thing for a musician to do is to sound like yourself. On this album, I felt like I did, so I named it after myself.” Scratching beneath the surface, there is another reason Clark’s fourth album is her first self-titled work – a growing sense of confidence, but also of how blessed she is to be doing what she loves, has become a guiding principle for her. “If there’s anything fit to worship, it’s music,” she says. “With music, I give it energy, and it gives me more energy back. That’s a bizarre system. If that was a capitalist system, people would treat it like the goose that laid the golden egg.” It seems like Clark has achieved with music what physicists have tried to achieve for decades

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with cold fusion. “Exactly!” she exclaims. “That, to me is magic. That’s alchemy. I’m lucky that is where I get to spend most of my days. It’s a crazy, unlikely thing, in today’s world, to get to quoteunquote ‘live one’s dream.’ So few people get the opportunity to do that. I feel this sense of... responsibility, maybe. I mean, it’s not that sexy to talk about. I grew up with people, I have family members, who don’t get to live their dream. Who don’t get to do anything even close to that, who barely even got the chance to dream whatever their dream was. So I feel this sense of responsibility to give it everything I have, because I’m one of the lucky ones who gets to do it.” In some ways, this connects back to her role as a Cobain standin – Kurt was a musician who, rather than feeling blessed to be in the public eye, living his dream, became overwhelmed. If Grohl and Novoselic are ever looking for a more permanent replacement, Clark is one singer who can definitely hack the pace, and feels blessed to do so. The sense of self that comes with that kind of validation is hard-won, for Clark. “I think that somehow gets a little bit lost, in this day and age, where the technology has democratised the process to the point where anybody can be a photographer, or a writer, or a musician – all you have is this very minimal buy-in and then you can make art.” You can sense her recoiling at the implication that not all art necessarily has value; that a half-written, three-chord pseudo-ballad or an auto-tuned, ProTooled beat have less validity than something created through some sort of artistic struggle. She’s also quick to enthuse about the level playing field that this super-connected world has to offer: “That’s awesome, in some ways, it’s so cool, but in other ways... there’s this whole other realm to it which is like... the task of being an artist.” One can almost visualise her pondering this conundrum, one curl of silver hair wrapped around a finger. “It takes dedication and devotion. It’s a very reverent construct, and that’s what it takes to make something of value... something that has depth and dimension, and kaleidoscopic colour.” Something like St. Vincent. St. Vincent plays Liverpool O2 Academy on 28 Aug and Manchester Albert Hall on 22 Oct www.ilovestvincent.com

THE SKINNY

June 2014

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Zonal Pressure The Bug, aka Kevin Martin, on the making of dualistic masterpiece Angels & Devils, his long-awaited follow-up to London Zoo

Interview: Bram E. Gieben

’d been living in the studio for about seven years – it had no kitchen, no shower. It was a very overcrowded, over-machined room in a dire area of London.” Speaking from his home in Berlin – he moved there a year ago – Kevin Martin, better known as The Bug, is reflecting on the genesis of London Zoo. Released by Ninja Tune at the height of dubstep’s ascendancy, it was always going to be a hard act to follow. The righteous anger of that album might have been transfigured into industry gold, but Martin was still living in the nightmarish dystopia it described. “It was a very oppressive atmosphere,” he continues. “I’d had my fill of the city at that time. With music, most people buy into either a fantasy, or into a harsh reality. London Zoo was a harsh reality for me, at that time. I think I’d lived in London for about 23 years, and always in the poorest areas, so London was always a struggle. It just became even more so, until the point I left.” Leaving for the arguably more civilised culture of Berlin, with a clutch of tracks written but not mastered for the long-awaited follow-up to London Zoo, he found a new perspective on life, not least because he was about to become a father for the first time. Even though the rarefied creative atmosphere of Berlin acted as a palliative, he still had struggles to contend with. A snapped Achilles tendon meant that “during the mixdown sessions for this record, my girlfriend was literally having to push me in a wheelchair to the studio every day... I was actually in a great deal of pain.” Although he describes his first year as “an epic adventure,” it is still, he says, “far too early, really, for me to have an absolute perspective on Berlin.” The two very different halves of his masterful, measured new album as The Bug, Angels & Devils, are therefore still at least partially rooted in the despair and decay which characterised his London period, while also describing “the move away, and the transformation in my life.” The record’s first half – which sees Martin working with female vocalists including Inga Copeland (ex-Hype Williams), Liz Harris of Grouper, and ragga siren Miss Red – is a meditative, narcotic experience, which Martin repeatedly describes as “zonal.” “I almost see the last three albums as a trilogy,” he says. “The first one [Pressure] is an exploration. The second one [London Zoo] is incarceration. The third one is escapism, really. For me, this record points to an outwardness. It’s not so insular. It’s rooted in my past, but with a direction very much into the future; aesthetically, philosophically and musically.” The most significant thing about the new album is its dualism; the sharp contrast and division between its two sides. “This seems to reflect my present view of life, which is pretty extreme,” says Martin. “I am torn between feelings of complete disdain for the human condition one day, and absolute positivity because I’ve brought a child into this fucked-up world, you know? So I’m actually torn in half right now in terms of how I feel about this planet, and humanity generally.” The bliss comes first – the album’s opening six tracks will be a surprise for anyone expecting a direct sequel to London Zoo, channelling instead the deep dub of Basic Channel, with dreamlike ambient textures and elaborate sonic sculpture replete with washed-out static and stately, exquisite melodies in the vocals. It is a bold move, and one he had to consider for a long time. “That was a long, long, drawn-out process of discussion between myself and Ninja,” says Martin. “I’d been quite disappointed by the reaction to Dirty, and the Filthy EPs. People were just

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Photo: Fabrice Bourgelle

“I

saying, ‘It’s more of the same.’ For me, it wasn’t... So many people, and so much of the media, is just caught up in this idea that it has to be ‘next’ – it has to be fresh. I think a lot of novelty gets put across that way. In time I realised that if I came with something again that people were expecting, I’d be making life very difficult for myself.” Martin is intensely critical of his own work. “When London Zoo blew up, it was as much a surprise to me as it was to anyone else,” he says. “I remember the day I finished the mastering, I came home and shed a tear or two because I thought I’d fucked it all up. It was just a flat, boring, dull record – I thought it wouldn’t translate for anyone.” He’s mellowed since then. “I don’t think it was a perfect album, but I like what it set out to do. I decided that for this record, rather than just burn my past, I would try and improve upon it.”

“There’s not enough anger in music right now, there’s not enough challenge, not enough friction” Kevin Martin

The second half of Angels & Devils, while still exploring new sonic realms, will be much more familiar territory for those who admired the potent mix of anger and extreme sonics on London Zoo. That fire is never far from Martin’s

fingertips. When asked what he thinks of the current musical climate, he unloads both barrels. “Most music is being relegated to being just an accessory to life, whereas for me, music literally changed my life. There’s not enough anger in music right now, there’s not enough challenge, not enough friction.” He’s quick to castigate the current crop of dubstep cash-in EDM wankers and pop sellouts who dominate the industry with their slavering lyrical idiocy and the pandering, chart-baiting blandness of their beats. “There was a point where I started working on this record, I phoned Ninja and I said, ‘Who are the new John Lydons, or Ian Curtises, or Nick Caves? Who are the people who are really anti right now, who will really just grate your face and your brain?’ And there are none... The best grime, the best dancehall, the best hip-hop, has that antisocial edge. Your mum’s not gonna like that shit.” What qualities did the female voices on Angels & Devils bring to the table? “I wanted a sensuality, as well as violence. I wanted some feeling of intimacy, as well as destructiveness. My own listening habits are torn between zoning out at home, or being in a club and wanting to have the top of my head taken off.” He describes his chosen collaborators as “misfits” in some ways. “Someone like Gonjasufi, or Inga Copeland, or Liz Grouper, they don’t quite fit into any one area. They’re freaks, in the best possible sense – and I guess that’s how I feel I am.” One collaboration that makes Angels & Devils a must-listen album in 2014 is the appearance of Death Grips, now sadly defunct as a unit. “I had met them once before, at their first ever London show,” Martin explains. “I was blown away by the energy, by the intensity, and by the sheer fuckyou attitude at work. When I mailed them, or in fact anyone who appeared on this record, my first thought – out of self-doubt – was ‘I’m probably not going to receive a response.’” The Death

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Grips camp’s response was to send him a verse of them doing the lyrics from Skeng. “All they said apart from that was ‘Fuck yeah,’” he says with a hint of pride. “I sent them the track, but when the parts came back, it just said ‘Death Grips’ – there was no reference to MC Ride. So I don’t know what part the others played in what I received – I guess it’s the editing of the vocals? I’m not quite sure. But they always mailed me without names, just as Death Grips. I like the fact that half the people who listen to Death Grips fucking hate it, and the other half love it.” Once again, we’re discussing duality, division, opposites. “I swing between optimism and completely nihilistic depression. I think that bipolar approach is what shaped the record. I feel like there is an essential duality to life and death, love and hate. These are classical confrontations and classic conflicts within people on a day to day level, which have existed since humanity first began. It’s not meant to be grandiose, it’s just meant to be a very fucking honest record.” Reinvention, and the pushing of boundaries, are all still key to his process. “I know I could very easily knock out extended noise jams, or singular sonic assaults, and I know how much more difficult it is to work on a song I’ll finally be happy with. That’s not to say it’s any more valid than a sustained frequency attack. Anyone who comes to a Bug show is well aware that this is what I am trying to balance. I want both. I still want that avalanche of sound, I still want to give people that experience where they walk away with their head shaking, like ‘What the fuck?’” You can almost picture him, a devilish grin on his face, but suffused with a calm, angelic confidence, as he says: “That’s a victory.” Angels & Devils is released 25 Aug via Ninja Tune www.ninjatune.net/us/artist/the-bug

THE SKINNY

The UK Biennial of Contemporary Art 5 July – 26 October www.biennial.com #biennial2014 liverpoolbiennial @biennial

A RT FI LM TALKS M US IC TOU R S DEBATE EVENTS DRINKS PARTIES LECTURES PA I N TI N G S YM PHONY WORKSHOPS E X H I B ITI O N S DISCUSSIONS PU B LICS PACE S A R C H ITE C T U R E PE R FOR M A NCE S

Funded and supported by

Founding Supporter James Moores

August 2014

THE SKINNY

I Knead You Tonight... ‘M

urder Alley,’ as some used to call it (officially known as Tunnage Square Passage), connects Wolstenholme Square to Duke Street in Liverpool. The underpass is slightly dodgy, a place of deals and after-club altercations. Graffiti lines the walls and the floor is covered by patches of fire damage. Something, however, glitters. Tiny flecks of glass are set in a sparkling white carpet throughout the underpass. The glass comes from Mexico and was collected by Teresa Margolles from city crime scenes where drug-war victims had been shot in their cars. This public realm work was commissioned for Liverpool Biennial in 2006 and now goes largely unnoticed by the city’s population, becoming part of the fabric of the city. Liverpool Biennial has always been known for the quality of its public realm commissions like Margolles’, but often these artworks are temporary, disappearing after the festival. Some public realm commissions, however, have a rather different trajectory. In 2012, Jeanne van Heeswijk – known for her socially engaged work that address issues like town planning, cities, environment and community – was commissioned by the Biennial to initiate a project in north Liverpool. She began a conversation with residents, asking them to reimagine the future of their neighbourhoods. Anfield, Everton and Breckfield were at the time, and still are, subject to housing clearance and renewal schemes that were initiated by the Labour government in the late 90s. Once properties were empty they were boarded up, left to await their rubbly fate. Meanwhile, the government ran out of Housing Market Renewal money, leaving neighbourhoods half empty, whole streets boarded up like a ghost town. Those that could, got out; those that were left behind were stuck. Heeswijk’s project, 2Up 2Down, invited groups of local residents to work on how they could take back control of the situation. Inviting architects, urbanists and artists, she ran a series of workshops in thinking about how residents could play an active part in the decision-making processes being imposed on them. Their base was Mitchell’s Bakery, which had been forced to close in 2010 but had been an Anfield institution since it had opened 100 years previously. Over the course of the 2Up 2Down sessions, participating groups found that locals would keep coming into the old bakery asking if it was going to re-open. Heeswijk and the 2Up 2Down participants decided to run with the idea. They created designs and models about how the bakery should look and function. Alongside their projects around housing, the bakery became just as important. At this point, Heeswijk’s commission began to snowball, turning into a project so much bigger than anyone intended or could have imagined. 2Up 2Down morphed into Homebaked, as it is now known, and is split into two key areas – the development of a community cooperative bakery and the formation of a Community Land Trust (CLT), a legal entity that allows a community to acquire and co-own land. Today, there is a core group of local residents and stakeholders in the two strands of Homebaked, including those who were originally part of 2Up 2Down as well as those from the Biennial and Heeswijk herself. “Over time, the group of people involved became much bigger,” says Heeswijk. “Although we have some people who were involved from the beginning, there is almost a completely new set of people steering the project. That’s a good thing. It took a while

August 2014

for people to believe that the project was really happening and was going to continue to happen. So now as we grow and expand, more people come on board.” Some residents got on board rather unintentionally. Sue Humphreys had been retired for three years when a flyer came through her door asking if she was interested in DIY or baking. ‘If so,’ it said, ‘come to the old Mitchell’s Bakery on Tuesday morning for coffee.’ “I thought, Great!” says Humphreys. “I love baking. I turned up and saw the state of the Mitchell’s building, it needed a lot of work, and realised I wasn’t going to be baking any time soon.” Humphreys returned to the next meeting (with a cake) and became a regular. Along with fellow residents, several artistresidents like Jessica Doyle (now working as a baker at Homebaked) and Britt Jurgensen, who has taken over a lot of Homebaked’s online presence, the group decided, with the support of Heeswijk and Liverpool Biennial, to rent the building from the Mitchell family and see if they could run it as a cooperative. They wrote a business plan and started to refurbish. The space was opened up to create a light and airy café with the kitchens in full view. “The feeling was that you should be able to see the bakers at work,” says Humphreys, “like it was theatre, you could see everything that was going on.” Thanks to a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a bread oven, The Homebaked Bakery opened in Autumn 2013 selling breads, sandwiches and coffee alongside an array of pies to both locals and the regular match-going punters. The bakery, however, was not just a commercial enterprise: the emphasis was on economic sustainability but also on providing a space for ideas and conversation. “It’s important that the bakery fulfils something other than just being a shop and a bakery,” says Humphreys. “There’s much more to it in the way of community conversation.” This intention has a relationship to the project’s

origins as a contemporary art commission and its engagement with those creative discussions. “The whole project speaks about the relationship between ethics and aesthetics,” says Heeswijk, “and comes from a discourse about that, from a position of art in thinking about civic space in a different way, about space and spatial relationships and what that means.”

“You should be able to see the bakers at work, like theatre” Sue Humphreys

Just when things were going so well, Homebaked faced a major setback. The oven was in, the bakery up and running, then the council announced that after all that, the building would be demolished. “That was a big shock,” says Heeswijk, “but it led to some interesting conversations and, in the end, turned out to be a positive thing because some people then really picked up the struggle.” “At that moment,” says Humphreys, “we just had to decide that, ‘Yes, we would go for it.’ We realised that if we didn’t make a stand we just have to walk away. Nobody wanted to do that. The council offered us another unit in the new build that was coming but it was clear to us that we didn’t want that. That wasn’t the point. Homebaked is as much part of preserving a little part of the history of the area, it’s also about the actual building. We felt preserving a history of the struggle was important and that by saving Mitchell’s we had saved at least one thing from

Interview: Sacha Waldron

the community from being destroyed.” It’s a good thing they stuck it out as now the demolition order has been lifted again: “hopefully we’re here to stay,” says Humphreys. The bakery has just gone through renovation and has now expanded to almost double its size, allowing for a training kitchen and community space. They have just received funding to renovate the space above the bakery as accommodation and are hoping the council will gift them land adjacent to the bakery so they can start with some bigger building plans through the CLT. One major move forward has also been the appointment of a dedicated (and funded) project manager who can push the land side of Homebaked forward. Jeanne van Heeswijk is still on the board and involved in planning but for her, the success of Homebaked as an artwork, as a commission, is that it now functions completely autonomously without her. “I always hope that the names of my projects are more known than me, I would love that and I think with Homebaked that’s true.” For Sue Humphreys the project was never just about the politics, the bakery or the CLT, it was about the opportunity it represented and finding hope in the future of the area. Of course, the social aspect is a very important factor too. “For me,” she says, “although I’ve lived in this area all my life, I think I’ve got more friends now through working with the bakery, the CLT and the Biennial than I’ve ever had before”. The icing on the cake (sorry) is that, recently, she eventually got to bake in the Homebaked Bakery. “Finally!” she says. “It only took about two and a half years!” What kind of cake was it? “I can’t even remember,” she laughs. And why should she? There have been a lot of other things to focus her attention on and, as Homebaked continues onward and upward, there will be many cakes to come. Homebaked Bakery is open six days a week. Monday to Friday 8am-4.30pm, Saturday 10am-5pm www.homebaked.org.uk

Jeanne van Heeswijk

ART

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Photo: Mark McNulty

Homebaked, the community-run bakery and land trust in north Liverpool and a legacy of Liverpool Biennial’s 2012 public realm commissioning programme, seems to be going strong. We talk to Sue Humphreys and Jeanne van Heeswijk to find out what’s what

Girl Trouble Stuart Murdoch’s debut film God Help the Girl has been a long time in the making, but this month UK film fans get to see the efforts of his labour. The Belle & Sebastian frontman recalls how his lead character came to him fully formed

Interview: Jamie Dunn

God Help the Girl

working men’s club in Govan, Glasgow, July 2012. The decor is 70s wood-panelling chic and threadbare carpet. It’s late afternoon and a dozen or so greying couples are swaying happily to the house band. Around the dancefloor, a dozen more sip on pale ales and G&Ts. It’s a familiar scene. At least, it is until a young, petite woman called Eve, with a cherubic face framed in a dark bob, takes to the stage and blasts out a cheery little ditty called I’ll Have to Dance with Cassie. As she sings, the dancefloor’s two-stepping sexagenarians are replaced by twisting teens who look like they’ve just stepped off the set of American Graffiti. Their dancing is freestyle at first, but soon they’re forming ranks, and dancing in step around the elfin singer on stage. There’s not been a tear in the space-time continuum: this is the movie set for God Help the Girl, the debut film from Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch. It’s a musical – hence the singing, dancing and magic realism – and Eve, played by Australian actor Emily Browning, is the girl of the title. As the dancers twirl and the handheld camera operator roams the floor to record the action, Murdoch, dressed in black t-shirt and jeans, cuts a calm figure at the back of the hall as he observes the choreography and ushers another take. Considering this is his first feature, he looks surprisingly comfortable. “I’m too comfortable,” says the then 43-year-old Murdoch when we sit down to speak while the cast and crew break for dinner. “I sometimes feel that if I did slip away at this stage, no one would really notice,” he laughs. While it might seem distant from his day job, Murdoch suggests directing isn’t too far removed from being a bandleader. “When our group is up on stage at a festival,” he explains, “we have us onstage, we have the background crew – it’s very similar to this. It feels like my [director of photography], Giles [Nuttgens], he’s like Stevie Jackson on guitar, he’s like my main guy on the left. And Neil [Wallace], the first AD, he’s like Bob Kildea [B&S’s bass player], he’s the guy who runs around and shouts a lot.” It’s nine days into the film’s shoot, but Murdoch is looking fresh and energetic. As he holds court with a gathered group of journalists, he happily bats away questions about budget and casting. “I thought this was going to be the hard

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bit?” he says of the shooting process. “I’ve been kind of dreading this, you know. I’m a guy in a band – we don’t work very hard. These guys in the crew work crazy hours, so I was worried about my stamina, and having an answer to everyone’s questions. But if I can keep it up, this is the fun part.” Cut to two years later. God Help the Girl has screened at Sundance (where it won the Special Jury Prize) and Berlin film festivals, and it’s soon to make its premiere on UK soil with a live satellite launch screening from Edinburgh followed by a Belle & Sebastian concert. Speaking on the phone from his home in Glasgow, Murdoch is recalling the moment, over a decade ago, when he first had the idea for the film.

“For every song we do for Belle & Sebastian now I’m thinking, ‘Where’s the film to go with that?’” Stuart Murdoch

“It was 2003 and I was on tour with Belle & Sebastian. We were playing Sheffield, but I was out running before the gig, and while I was running up some canal I heard the title track, God Help the Girl, in my head like a complete song, and Eve was singing it, and I thought, ‘This isn’t something I would sing in the band, this is a separate thing.’ It took two or three songs, which came in quick succession, and then I kind of thought, ‘Well, she’s a character, I’m going to try and write a script.’” God Help the Girl may be a musical, but its premise is far from fluffy. As the film begins, Eve is in a mental institution suffering from an eating disorder and depression. We follow her as she breaks free from her closed-off world of therapy

and attempts to heal herself through living. She meets James (Olly Alexander), an upbeat guitarist who takes her under his wing. Together they form a pop trio with piano player Cassie (Hannah Murray) and the film plays out as a paean to the healing power of music and to a glorious summer spent in Glasgow. You read that right: a glorious summer in Glasgow. “I think perhaps the summer they spend is somewhat idealised,” Murdoch admits, “but that’s films for you.” As well as the beautifying power of cinema, the romanticisation of the city may also be due to some unconscious nostalgia Murdoch was channelling into the script. “That was pointed out to me after Stevie Jackson saw the first rough cut – he was talking about the obvious parallels between those three guys in the film and our band. It never occurred to me that that was partly what I was writing about, that great romance period when we first came together as a band.” That’s not where the autobiographical details end. While Murdoch admits to sharing characteristics with the gawky James and the kooky Cassie, it’s Eve’s story, and her relationship to music, that’s closest to his own. “Her downfall in youth that’s unspoken about, what happened to her before the film that was so bad that brought her to Scotland in a mental institution, I had that kind of downfall.” Murdoch is referring to the long period in his early 20s where he suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome. “I got very ill, but shortly afterwards I started writing songs and I sort of clung on to that because I’d given up everything else at that point.” But, he says, these things happened so long ago that “Eve, when she came along, did feel like a real, breathing character separate from me. I could empathise with her, and that’s why I could write her character so easily.” The songs may have been written in a flood, but the film came at a trickle; ten years from idea to screen is a long time, even for a first-time filmmaker. Murdoch has been no slouch in this period – God Help the Girl’s songs started life as a concept album of the same name in 2009, and he released and toured two albums with Belle & Sebastian (The Life Pursuit and Write About Love) in the intervening years – but the question remains: what took so long? “When you say

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it took me ten years, it sounds like, ‘Oh my God, what was that guy doing?’” he laughs. “The thing is I had to learn how to be a director in that time. I learned how to write a script. It took a while – it was like going to college.” How did you go about learning? “You learn by doing it, having a go. First off, I said, ‘OK, I’m going to make a record.’ We did that, then I was like, ‘Right, we’ve got to turn this into a film,’ and that ended up taking six years. I was definitely meant to do it. I woke up every day thinking, ‘I’m in the right place.’” While it’s rough around the edges (some scenes feel rushed, while others feel like they’re missing altogether), Murdoch has certainly succeeded in creating a film of charm, wit and energy, and he’s teased out three sparky performances from his leads. A large part of the picture’s appeal can be attributed to its visual style, which calls to mind the fizz and inventiveness of Jacques Demy and Richard Lester films. Anyone familiar with Glasgow’s music and art scene, meanwhile, is sure to have fun picking out the film’s wealth of cameos. As well as members of Belle & Sebastian (Bob Kildea and Chris Geddes join Eve’s band as session musicians; Sarah Martin plays a nurse), there are small appearances from the likes of Marco Rea (The Wellgreen), Sarah Hayes (Admiral Fallow) and Matt Brennan (Zoey Van Goey), as well as a hilarious turn by comedian Josie Long as an intense football captain. “I love that stuff in movies where it manages to conjure up a sense of community,” Murdoch says. “It’s a little bit like The Simpsons, where the whole town shows up at the end of the episode.” What now for Murdoch? When asked on the set visit if this is the end of Belle & Sebastian he fires back a resounding “absolutely not.” What, then, for filmmaking? Can he see himself getting back behind a camera? “I think as long as I live and breathe I’ll definitely make another film,” he says emphatically. “I love the possibilities of the medium so much. For every song we do for Belle & Sebastian now I’m thinking, ‘Where’s the film to go with that?’ It’s hard for me to go back.” God Help the Girl is screening live across UK cinemas from the Edinburgh Corn Exchange on 16 Aug (where it will be followed by a performance from Belle & Sebastian), and goes on general release 22 Aug

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Fresh Perspectives

Divine Inspiration No queer film festival is complete without a sprinkling of Divine. He shows up on cue at this month’s POUTfest in John Waters’ Hairspray and in Jeffrey Schwarz’s documentary I Am Divine. We speak to Schwarz about this larger-than-life icon

Films at Liverpool Pride

Interview: Jamie Dunn

Words: Jamie Dunn

Divine

o-created with his long-term friend and collaborator John Waters, Glenn Milstead’s character Divine was the ultimate midnightmovie grotesque. I Am Divine, Jeffrey Schwarz’s love letter to Milstead, shows how this shy, chubby kid from Baltimore found his voice as the foul-mouthed, dog shit-eating diva, and was starting to find mainstream success, both as his alter ego and in his own right, when he died of a heart attack in 1988, aged just 42. We spoke to Schwarz, who explains that “just by being so outrageous and unique, just by being himself, Divine empowered everyone who saw him and told them it was OK to be who they were. He ate shit so we don’t have to.” The Skinny: When did you first hear about Divine and see him perform? Jeffrey Schwarz: Since I was a teenager I’ve worshipped at the altar of Divine and of John Waters. Anyone who has felt like an outsider can certainly relate to Divine’s story and his journey. I had read about Pink Flamingos [Waters’ 1972 film, in which the notorious god shit-eating scene takes place] years before actually seeing it, in Danny Peary’s Cult Movies and John Waters’ book Shock Values. At the time I had no tangible connections to gay culture, so John and Divine’s sensibility certainly helped lead me down a creative path and was an inspiration. And then finally getting to see Divine in those movies was just mind-blowing. I’d never seen anything like it: watching him on screen was thrilling. He was so fully committed to the characters he played. I saw Hairspray first, and worked backwards from there. What surprised you most while researching Divine? I was most surprised to find out more about his relationship with his high school sweetheart,

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whom we interviewed. They dated all through junior high and high school. Divine, who was Glenn then, took her to the prom and treated her so well. He even did her hair and makeup and told her how to dress. She was really smitten with him, in a very sweet high school puppy-love kind of way. When he started dressing in drag she was completely unfazed and supportive. They even went to a high school party together with Glenn dressed as Elizabeth Taylor. When he started hanging out with John, David Lochary and all the cool Baltimore beatniks, she really felt left behind. I only knew him from the movies; I didn’t realise he was a hit on stage and that he toured the world as a performer and singer. Was that one of your aims: to show Divine was more than “that guy in a dress who ate the dog shit”? Absolutely. It was very important to go beyond the layers of eyeliner and wigs and hairspray to find the very real man inside. Divine never considered himself a drag queen. He was a character actor who played female parts. He was a fantastic and brave performer, a fine actor, and a warm, generous person. I wanted people to get to know the man behind the mask of the Divine character. He couldn’t have been more different than the characters he played in the John Waters films, but people just assumed he was that way. It was actually a great frustration for him. It was great to see in I Am Divine all the archive clips of those very early 8mm films by John Waters and Divine – what do you think made their collaboration so special? Growing up, Divine was picked on, teased and abused. When he met John Waters and his crew he found a group that accepted him, loved him, and encouraged him. He was able to take all

“He ate shit so we don’t have to” Jeffery Schwarz

his teenage rage and channel it into the Divine character. He threw everything that people made fun of him for back in their faces and empowered himself. And they both got famous in the process, which is what they wanted. How do you imagine Divine’s career would have panned out if he was still with us? We’ll never know what would have happened to him after his first taste of mainstream acceptance in Hairspray. My feeling is that had he lived, today he’d be show-business royalty. I hope this film gives him what he wanted in life, to be appreciated and respected and not dismissed as a novelty act. I’m convinced he would have gone on to have a successful career as a character actor, which is what he always wanted. I think he would have played more male roles, and taken the wig out of the box every once in a while for a special appearance. I would have loved to see him play Alfred Hitchcock. POUTfest takes place at Cornerhouse, Manchester. It opened 26 Jul with I Am Divine, and runs until 25 Aug. Hairspray screens 16 Aug See Cornerhouse’s website for full screening details www.cornerhouse.org I Am Divine is released on DVD 25 Aug and is On-Demand now

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Photo: Andrew Curtis

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ou don’t even sound like the ones on Bravo,” says a blonde prom queen to a recently outed gay student, whom she’s grooming to be her ‘gay best friend.’ It’s a line from G.B.F. (31 Jul, FACT), a candy-coloured high-school movie that smartly sends up gay stereotypes from movies and magazines that still hold water. G.B.F. kicks off Pride at the Pictures, Liverpool Pride’s annual celebration of queer film, and, like this slyly subversive teen comedy, this year’s programme doesn’t simply deliver clichés of LGBTQ cinema. Its films’ stories and themes look outward; their focus isn’t the shopworn tropes of tortured repression or comingout struggles. Take, for example, festival hit Lilting (5 Aug; The Light, New Brighton). It concerns the rarely explored dynamics between a gay man and his long-term boyfriend’s mother, whose relationship forms once the man who connects them dies. What makes this relationship all the more precarious is that the mother was unaware her son was gay, and the dead man’s lover and mother share neither a language nor a culture – he (Ben Whishaw) is English, she (Cheng Pei-pei) is Cambodian. It’s a quiet, chamber drama of mood and atmosphere, and a fine-grained examination of complex human interactions. You could probably guess from its title, but Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf? (7 Aug, FACT) doesn’t quite have the same restraint. It follows a once successful filmmaker who now finds herself making a living by performing while dressed as a life-sized vagina in a girl group called the Vaginettes. She finds filmmaking inspiration, however, in the form of a beautiful young fan whom she casts in a post-feminist, all-female remake of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? As with any filmmaking endeavour so pretentious, the resulting film-within-a-film is a riot. The laughs continue in Gerontophilia (21 Aug, FACT), a surprisingly sweet rom-com from Bruce LaBruce. While it doesn’t contain the kinky sex and gross-out violence of his previous films, LaBruce arguably tackles his most controversial subject yet: an inter-generational sexual relationship. In our youth-obsessed culture, it might be the ultimate taboo.

G.B.F

The subtitle given to this year’s Pride at the Pictures is ‘A Fairytale Feast of Films,’ and this moniker is most applicable to two movies in the programme with their protagonists’ names in the title: Jack and Diane (28 Aug, FACT) and Bruno & Earlene Go to Vegas (2 Sep; The Light, New Brighton). The former is a lesbian teen romance that takes on elements of horror in the form of a werewolf allegory and some gooey stop-motion imagery courtesy of the Quay Brothers. The latter is a dreamy road movie, in which a pair of misfits travel across Nevada and meet a quixotic array of desert dwellers, including a sexually confused carjacker, a pair of Scottish ex-strippers and a tap-dancing drag queen, along the way. Pride at the Pictures runs 31 Jul-2 Sep. See website for full details www.liverpoolpride.co.uk

THE SKINNY

Pump Up the Volume As Trans Am notch their tenth studio album, Sebastian Thomson has an awful lot to reminisce about. He chats to The Skinny about longevity, irony and obscene strategies

Photo: Mike Seely

Interview: Will Fitzpatrick

“T

wenty years,” muses Sebastian Thomson, reflecting on his career as one third of post-rock polymaths Trans Am. In that time, the band have reinvented themselves time and time again, flitting from Dischord-inspired guitar experiments to krautrock hypnotics; from hardcore-infused electro soundclashes to arch pop freakouts. Always too far ahead of the game to be tidily pigeonholed, they’ve carved out a uniquely accessible niche for themselves amid a scene more widely associated with chin-stroking repetition and furrowed-brow textural exploration. He laughs. “It’s fucking crazy when you think about it.” Volume X, unsurprisingly, is Trans Am’s tenth album. It’s the sound of a band determined to remain at odds with its own sense of identity – despite drummer/programmer Thomson’s modest assertion that the trio (completed by multiinstrumentalist cohorts Phil Manley and Nathan Means) have “figured out the four or five things we do well,” the record brims with ideas that have as yet remained untouched by their hyperactive imaginations. In accordance with the standard narrative, we’re used to watching participants in the rock’n’roll myth as they gradually run out of ideas, their vision diluted by a nagging sense of audience expectation, or soured by touring’s knack for the erosion of enthusiasm. Not so here: opener Anthropocene finds the group toying with stoner rock’s more outré tendencies, while the metallic drive of Backlash sees them inventing a genre they call “kraut-thrash.” Their familiar motorik pulses remain; a repetitive mindfuck that anchors these spiralling ripples of invention. It’s almost enough to make you wonder why they plumped for such an uncharacteristically literal title. “It’s volume ten, as in ‘Turn it up to ten!’” goes the chuckled explanation. “And if you move ‘x’ over and make it one word, it sounds like a pharmaceutical company: Volumex! In all honesty, the main reasoning behind it is that it’s the tenth album. And I know that sounds kind of boring, but how many bands can do that? Ten fucking studio albums! That’s pretty impressive, I think.” “In the early days we lived in the same house,

August 2014

for four years or something, and we were on the road together, in the van together... We’d go into the studio every day of the week, to rehearse and to jam and to record. And then we’d go back to the same house! You can’t keep that up. But y’know, we still like hanging out together. We’ve just discovered how to do it, which is to not live in the same city. When we do see each other, it’s more of an event, as opposed to just… ‘Oh, you again?’” Formed in the mid-90s, Trans Am initially took root in the post-hardcore mecca that is Washington DC, famously home to Dischord Records and its attendant crowd of excitable minds. Thomson is aware, however, that his band were far from major players in that particular scene. “We were always a little bit left out,” he recalls. “When you’re younger, those sort of tribal differences seem more important than they really are, you know? We were very much influenced by Fugazi, Bad Brains and Soulside, and we did start out playing the typical shows of the time – at a church basement as a benefit for a homeless shelter, for example. But we very quickly veered away from that, and I think a lot of people in Washington thought that we were musically traitorous. Like we weren’t keeping true to the aesthetic or the ethos, because… well, we did like to party.” Gradually, the three young musicians began to drift away from their peers, before stumbling across the sounds that would come to define their most popular records. “Around ’93, we were living in North Carolina for a summer, and we were just kinda bored of what we were doing. We were always fans of electronic music, which to us at the time was things like Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin and Autechre, so we thought ‘Why don’t we just incorporate some of this into the band?’ So I went to the music store and bought a drum module with some pads and triggers – it was a really cool way for us to still have the excitement of a rock band, but make this new fantastical sound with a drum machine. Which now seems totally obvious, but back then it was like ‘What the fuck are you guys doing?’” Over the course of four albums, Trans Am

did as much as anyone to blur the lines between punk’s sweat-drenched rush and the pulsating rhythms of electronica, especially on 1999’s landmark Futureworld. Alongside forward-thinkers like Tortoise and Don Caballero, they came to define early understandings of the nascent ‘postrock’ concept – a term with which our hero still takes issue. “Post-rock is a strange one for me. It originally meant experimental, underground, instrumental rock music, and it made sense. And then Tortoise became the most popular of those bands, and they were much more dubby and jazzy, so post-rock came to mean that. ‘Soundtrack dub.’ Which is totally not what we do. There’s almost two post-rocks; it’s changed over time.”

“When we do see each other, it’s more of an event, as opposed to just… ‘Oh, you again?’” Sebastian Thomson

With 2002’s T.A., they began to revolt against the general concept of what the band was supposed to be. This resulted in a gleeful collection of upbeat, synthetic pop songs – a deliberate shot at the mainstream, just for the hell of it, which was tragically misinterpreted as an ironic parody of electroclash’s brighter excesses. Again, Thomson laughs. “It was a parody of post-rock! No, I take that back. It was a reaction to post-rock. The whole post-rock thing is very po-faced – very few pictures of musicians, all very serious, very intellectualised… and we were reacting against that really. We were like, Why can’t you make interesting,

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innovative music and still have a bit of fun? Why does it have to be one or the other? Obviously, because we’re a bunch of weirdos, our idea of a pop album is totally fucking bizarre. But I think people misinterpret that – there’s nothing in our music that is a joke to us. I think some critics sort of can’t believe that we wear these influences on our sleeves, so they’re like ‘this has to be a joke.’ We do like to entertain people, for sure, but it’s not a joke band.” Where does the band’s Eno-lampooning ‘obscene strategies’ songwriting technique fit into this then? “That’s a perfect example of our sense of humour – cracks me up to this day. But we never actually used them; we would just write them up. The ones I remember… ‘Leave the studio unlocked overnight.’ ‘Hose down the mixing desk’. And then there’s one that just said ‘PILLOW FIGHT!’ I mean, whatever. Life is hard, life is full of fucking bullshit. You’ve gotta fucking laugh at things, right?” Since T.A., the band’s output has slowed down, with its constituent members relocating to different parts of the globe and indulging in their own projects (notably, New York-based Sebastian’s bewitching solo outlet The Publicist took off during the five years he lived in London). The time apart, we’re told, provides the trio with time and space to refresh – not that their enthusiasm ever really seems in question: “Personally I feel like it’s a project that’s pretty unique. Maybe no-one does what we do, and so therefore we should maybe keep on doing it? It’s hard to explain without sounding like an asshole. It’s not nostalgic music. Even though our image of the future in Trans Am is a little unfashionable at this point, it is in some fantastical way meant to be the future.” So there you go. The best possible summary of Trans Am in 2014: unique. Fantastical. The future. We’ll gladly take another two decades of it. Volume X is released on 11 Aug via Thrill Jockey. Trans Am play The Ruby Lounge, Manchester, 10 Nov www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/Trans-Am

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Shattering the Myth Gruff Rhys talks about setting the story straight on John Evans, a legendary 18th-century Welsh explorer and political radical, in his new multimedia project American Interior Interview: Chris McCall

here’s an episode of The Sopranos in which a gang of Italian-American street toughs clash violently with Native American protesters. The root cause is not a Mafia shakedown gone wrong, or a bent construction project come unstuck, but their polarised views on Christopher Columbus and his legacy. The mafiosos view him as an Italian folk hero, and anyone who fails to celebrate Columbus Day as unpatriotic at best and a traitor at worst. The Native Americans’ take is rather different. Creation myths are potent; perhaps none more so than how the Americas first came to the attention of Europeans. The story of Columbus’s adventure across the Atlantic is taught in schools the world over, but rather less well-known is the legend of Prince Madoc, a medieval Welsh nobleman said to have reached America in 1170, more than 300 years before Columbus. According to folklore, Madoc married a native woman and a mythical tribe of Welshspeaking Indians was born. What Madoc’s story lacks in hard facts it makes up for in timeless allure, prompting future Cymru generations to make their own voyages of discovery across the Atlantic. Just ask Gruff Rhys. The musician, searching for suitable subject matter for his fourth solo album, began to research the story of a distant 18th-century relative called

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John Evans, a farmhand from Snowdonia who set off to find Madoc’s lost tribe himself. It’s an unlikely yet entirely captivating story that Rhys tells via his American Interior project, which comprises an album, a documentary film and book. Evans, unlike Madoc, was a very real character born in 1770. Despite not reaching his 30th birthday, and large tracts of his adventures going unrecorded, what is known is gripping stuff, and provides Rhys with the perfect platform to question the nature of myth-making and vain pursuits of glory “I was familiar with a very exaggerated version of Evans’ story, but with the book I had to verify the facts,” he explains. “It was fascinating getting to grips with it. A lot of the basic facts are set in stone, but in Wales he has been written about in the context of Prince Madoc, who I don’t think existed, and in America he was kind of a footnote to the explorers Lewis and Clark, who used an early map of the Missouri that he produced. So I was taking him out of the footnote and into his own volume. I had to go to Seville, as most of his correspondence is kept in the colonial archive, from when he worked for the Spanish in Louisiana and became Don Juan Evans. It was very strange looking at Welsh language correspondence in Spain.”

In a time before telephones, when international travel was the preserve of the wealthy, Evans worked his way across the Atlantic, arriving in Baltimore in October 1792. He then travelled on to St Louis, then in Spanish-controlled Louisiana, and after being briefly imprisoned under suspicion of being a spy, was eventually paid to explore the Missouri River. Fast forward 200 years to the summer of 2012 and Rhys retraced the explorer’s route through the Great Plains of America by means of what he dubbed an ‘Investigative Concert Tour’ – a series of solo gigs. The results are chronicled in the American Interior book, which is part psychedelic travelogue and part examination of modern America and the nature of our individual desire for glory. Rhys will talk about his first book when he visits Edinburgh for the International Book Festival later this month, and maybe a few other topics of interest. Like anyone with a public profile, questions on the fast-approaching independence

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referendum are certain. “It’s quite relevant to John. He was part of a community of Welsh radicals, who were very literate, largely educated through the chapels. They were openly against the monarchy, and very excited by the American and French revolutions. Maybe, unfortunately for us, a lot of those radicals chose to go to America. It was a class struggle; at that time, you couldn’t own a piece of land. It was very much in the hands of the elite. Sounds very much like today! I can’t speak for him, but I think John would have been very excited by the independence referendum. It’s something that’s causing a lot of interest here in Wales, something that’s being viewed favourably.” Gruff Rhys will be reading selected passages from his book and answering questions at an Edinburgh International Book Festival event, sponsored by The Skinny, on Fri 22 Aug He plays Summercamp Festival, Camp + Furnace, Liverpool, 15 Aug; Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, 10 Sep www.american-interior.com

THE SKINNY

Look at Me Returning with a new one-hour show featuring prosthetics, hijabs and nudity, Juliette Burton explains why it’s crucial comedy starts discussions

t’s a rare find on the Fringe. A show with a heart. And not just that – this one’s got soul too. Comic, actress and journalist Juliette Burton has traipsed the yellow brick road, and has emerged from Oz with a show brimming with a sense of self and purpose, creating an original piece of docucomedy like no other. Last year’s When I Grow Up took audiences on a harrowing autobiographical trip through her darkest times, exposing her life as both a recovering anorexic and mental illness sufferer, yet without robbing from the laughter or scrimping on the seriousness of the message. Burton seems to have an innate knowledge of the golden ratio that leaves crowds both wowed and feeling better about life. This year sees the birth of Look at Me, Burton’s second ambitious solo-hour on the Fringe; a show that considers perceptions and appearances in a way that comedy has so far failed to address. There will be music, prosthetics, hijabs, octogenarianism and nudity in an hour that will tickle you while questioning how we see others and ourselves. In the spirit of such frankness, I took the opportunity to ask Burton about her relationship with body image, entrenched cultural stereotypes and comedy’s role in challenging an audience. “I was a very overweight child with goofy teeth and B.O. problems – just charming for a pre-pubescent. Then when puberty hit, ‘it’ hit the fan. I learned to hate my body and distance myself from it. I struggled badly with anorexia and compulsive overeating which led to me going from four stone to nineteen stone in the space of a few months. I was sectioned and in and out of hospital many times in my teens and early 20s. “I started getting tired of being judged on my appearance – whether I was fat, thin or healthy-looking. ‘How can you be struggling – you look like you’re coping so well.’ And the more I spoke to friends with physical disabilities or illnesses or mental health problems the more I realised that none of us are what we seem. “Like any performer or Edinburgh Fringe show – it’s all about perception. How we’re perceived by other people is rarely how we perceive ourselves. We’re all putting a certain image out there – a façade. How true that image is or not is down to how brave we want to be. I’d like to try and play with that; tear it down a bit and get people thinking.” At this point the interview reaches under my skin, in a way that no conversation with a comic ever has. Sure, it’s no great secret that comics often unwillingly sup from the murkiest pools of the human psyche, but the earnestness of Burton’s confessional probes at something I’ve done my best to lock away: an almost lifelong relationship with an eating disorder and all the unpleasant mental trimmings that go with it. This resonates; and it won’t just be with me. I ask her about harmful stereotypes and how that’s shaped her life so far. “When I was first diagnosed with mental health problems I encountered a lot of prejudice and people pandered to stereotypes – for example in the workplace. I felt as though people assumed I couldn’t do a good job if I had these ‘episodes’ of depression. Or when my eating disorders were first diagnosed some people thought it was ‘just attention-seeking.’ The worst thing is that kind of attitude means you end up feeling more isolated, more alone, less likely to reach out and more uncertain that those attitudes are wrong.” “It was only when I worked for the BBC that I was actively asked how they could help me

August 2014

Interview: Vonny Moyes

best manage my issues; when I started being offered support even when I wasn’t aware I needed it; that was when I started to really fulfil my potential. “And as a woman I get a lot of people treating me in a stereotyped – everyday sexism, casual misogyny – way, but I’ve got more fellow feminists who also, like me, have fun in subverting expectations people have of ‘girls.’ I’ve held Miss Piggy up as a great role model – feminine and feminist at the same time. I’m keen to use that same moxie to challenge people’s views of those with mental health problems, physical difference… and my own self-stigma too.” In a show that wears the shoes of so many often stereotyped identities, I’m keen to know if the investigative process unearthed any prejudices of her own. “Actually, yes. It surprised me. I was extremely careful on Sexy Day (when I dressed revealingly) and Hijab Day (when I wore the hijab) and Fat Day (when I returned to my obese self) to avoid any prejudices or cheap gags. I also researched heavily into the Everday Sexism campaign and the #YesAllWomen campaign to be as informed as possible about the experiences I encountered. And on Hijab Day I wanted to be as informed as possible before dressing that way so I spoke with a Muslim women’s association.

“I’ve seen how vital it is to challenge people’s assumptions, break down stigma and seek real equality” Juliette Burton

But when it came to Old Day I realised I was more than happy to pretend I was confused or make jokes about having Alzheimer’s. When I realised how I was behaving I was shocked at myself. Why did I stoop to that level of assuming all older people get like that? It was probably because I’m scared of ageing, scared of becoming like that or those I love becoming like that. So joking about it, like with all scary things, kind of lessened the fear.” Knowing the extraordinary lengths gone to to prepare the show, after extensively touring her previous one, it’s incredible to think Burton has managed to create not only a cracking comedy hour, but one with sensitivity and genuine insight. It’s clear her journalistic bent is the backbone of what she does, and I’m keen to know what surprised her most during her research. “The way people treated me on some of the days truly shocked me. And it was surprising to observe the powerful effect the way people treated me had on the way I felt inside. “I was also surprised that at the end of each day I couldn’t wait to get back to being ‘me.’ My own body was the one I was so relieved to come home to.” Research for the show involved extensively working with the facial disfigurement charity

Changing Faces, body dysmorphic disorder charity B.O.D.Y., the eating disorder charity B-Eat and the Muslim Women’s Association of Edinburgh; organisations that do incredible work, yet which the average Jane Doe might be oblivious to. I wonder how important she feels it is to publicly discuss prejudice, and if comedy might help? “To be able to start a dialogue about all kinds of difficult subjects is so important; for all of us to hear different points of view and become more informed. Understanding leads to acceptance. “I’ve seen how vital it is to challenge people’s assumptions, break down stigma and seek real equality – not just for people like me with mental health problems, but those with very different, non-regulation physical appearances, those with hidden illnesses, people of different races, backgrounds, ages. “Comedy is the ideal tool to discuss anything difficult to deal with. If I can be entertained at

COMEDY

the same time as being made to think then my mind can be opened to new perspectives and my perceptions can be completely changed.” How many other shows feature thalidomide, the physically disabled, cystic fibrosis sufferers, cancer patients, obese people, girls who self-harm, models, 70-year-old women, a range of ages, races and genders – but for all the right reasons, instead of piggybacking life’s dice-rolling for the sake of an easy gag? This show will speak to people far outside the sometimes parochial comedy demographic. I finish up by asking Burton what she hopes people will take from her hour. “I hope people think twice about first impressions. But more than anything I hope, whether they like the show or not, they leave feeling more positive and more alive – ready to face the Fringe knowing how amazing they and their bodies are.” www.julietteburton.co.uk

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Where Has All the Theatre Gone? As the Fringe approaches, Northwest companies Big Wow and Black Toffee Theatre discuss the enduring allure of Edinburgh, theatre’s largest magnet Interview: Alecia Marshall Illustration: Alex T. Frazer

aking a show to Edinburgh is akin to climbing a mountain. It takes preparation, determination and, dare we say, a hint of madness. The rewards can be bountiful, but there are also those productions that stubbornly refuse to leave the ground. It is a risky business – does somebody have to do it? The initial allure of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe needs little explanation: it is, after all, the largest arts festival in the world. From big names in entertainment to unknown artists looking to build their careers, last year’s Fringe saw 45,464 performances, the figure rising this year to a record-breaking 49,487. Not bad considering the whole charade began with eight uninvited theatre companies staging makeshift performances at Edinburgh International Festival. “It is an amazing testament to our creativity as a country,” says playwright and director Robert Farquhar, one-third of Liverpool-based company Big Wow. “It truly is an astonishing thing.” Farquhar ought to know. Big Wow (Farquhar, and actors Matt Rutter and Tim Lynskey) have visited Edinburgh on numerous occasions – both collectively and separately – amassing a combined experience of 30 years as Fringe participants. Their trademark: fast-paced, wilfully anarchic comic theatre. This year’s show: The Art of Falling Apart.

“There is something in the air at Edinburgh that makes me return” Robert Farquhar

“Whenever we put a show together the intention to take it to Edinburgh is always present,” says Rutter. “We will, of course, preview it in Liverpool, but Edinburgh is often our focus.” “Companies want to be noticed and that is still happening at Edinburgh,” continues Farquhar. “Important people turn up.” Laura Lindsay, founder of Manchesterbased company Black Toffee Theatre, agrees. Infiltrating Edinburgh’s Underbelly last year with a three-week sell-out run of multi-role production Hidden (a play she also co-wrote and coperformed), Lindsay – who likens Edinburgh to having a baby (“You always say ‘never again’”) – is keen to stress that Edinburgh is an advantageous trip, despite the financial strain: “Exposure is the primary motivation.” With Hidden now published and a sellout Northwest tour under her belt, Lindsay’s post-Edinburgh benefits have been substantial: “Our entire tour was planned on the back of Edinburgh – having a three-week run that was sold out encourages venues to take you afterwards. You have momentum behind you.” You cannot fill a venue without a reputation, and Lindsay believes Edinburgh can provide that: “Manchester can be a bit of a bubble. If you take your show to Edinburgh you are leaving that

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THEATRE

microcosm behind. Companies must not undervalue the benefit of reaching a broad range of audience. It is not just about industry people. Audience is key.” Despite her encouragement to others, Lindsay will not be returning to the Fringe this year. “It is a ridiculous amount of work and a huge financial stress. I’d never say never – but it won’t be this year!” Conversely, Big Wow seem energised and optimistic regarding their approaching trip – seasoned veterans that they are. “I am fucking ancient now,” laughs Farquhar, “but there is something in the air at Edinburgh that makes me return. We are going with the expectation that we are not going to change the world; we are not going to change ourselves – we just want people to watch our show!” But can that not happen right here in the good ol’ Northwest? With venues such as Liverpool’s Lantern Theatre and Salford’s Kings Arms – not to mention the Manchester Fringe Festival, 24:7 and Shiny New – does the ultimate success of fringe theatre lie 220 miles north? “I think if you programmed a large-scale fringe festival in Liverpool that was cheaper than Edinburgh, people around the North of England would come,” muses Rutter. “But would it really work?” interrupts Farquhar. “Edinburgh is beautiful, the city is right for it, they have the infrastructure to support such a festival. It cannot be surpassed.” Big Wow admit to the August lull of regional theatres as Edinburgh claims the country’s plays. “There is always a huge cross-section of potential audience that are not in the city any more and theatres are aware of that,” Lynskey says. “Students go home, people go on holiday, and the weather becomes too hot for sitting indoors.” But is a trip to the Scottish capital as desirable for the spectator as the performer, forced to navigate their way through a city that sees hotel prices rocket and a piece of theatre from their local community am-dram group leaving little change of a tenner? For the first time in Edinburgh Fringe history, there is another alternative. Hibrow – a digital arts company who strive to increase access to the arts by uploading original performance and art online – has announced a deal in which selected Fringe performances will be shown in cinemas across Britain, including Odeon Cinemas in Warrington, Liverpool One and Manchester Printworks. Beginning on 4 Aug with The Dispute (a new version of the 18thcentury Marivaux comedy, which tells the story of four babies raised in isolation for 18 years before being released into the world), subsequent shows include a set by the satirical rockers Jonny & the Baptists, a one-man show called Berkoff the Inimitable, and a comedy from the sketch quartet Four Screws Loose. With plans to stream only eight shows, some may feel it is a scanty offering – but for those who can neither afford nor stomach the idea of incessant theatre, a trip to the cinema to sample the best of Edinburgh’s Fringe may have to do. The Art of Falling Apart runs at Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 30-31 Jul, 1-11 & 13-25 Aug Hibrow Hour will transmit to Odeon Cinemas at Liverpool One, Manchester Printworks and Warrington Westbrook Centre at 6.30pm on dates between 4-21 Aug

THE SKINNY

Drawn to the Flame As storytelling phenomenon The Moth spread their wings, The Skinny speaks to founder George Dawes Green and director Catherine Burns to hear tell of the origin, not only of their event, but of storytelling itself

Interview: Alan Bett

Photo: Denise Ofelia Mangen

thing, when storytelling is great it’s about a really personal expression of emotion.” Burns and Green both readily admit that The Moth did not invent storytelling, even in this particular form. What they have done is move it from the dinner table, the bar and porch and put it on stage – replacing the velvet sky above with a velvet curtain behind. But it has now developed as an independent art form, which means that those famous experts of writing or performance are not necessarily accomplished storytellers. “It’s completely shocking to them when they can’t do it,” Green tells me. “One of the reasons that people can’t is that they don’t grab the very simple principle to storytelling, which is that a great raconteur admits to some fault or human foible or frailty, and the admission is very difficult to some of our fancy literary minds.” He mentions an extremely famous French philosopher (not by name) who refused to admit such failings, unable to view himself in that light. “On the other hand there have been many literary minds who have been incredibly good Moth storytellers,” he continues, his voice warming. “One of them was Christopher Hitchens. He was inebriated, he hadn’t rehearsed enough, we thought he was going to fall on his face but he just told such a brilliant complex tale, and it seemed to wander a bit and then as the timekeeper played him out he managed to pull in all of these threads and just nailed his ending.” Neil The Moth Gaiman is another, now an accepted member of The Moth family. When I spoke with Gaiman police mug shot takes pride of place among more recently on separate matters, he enthused about The Moth as an excited fan might. “Getting out traditional family photographs. It’s taken time for The Moth to become what there and doing live storytelling about oneself I think is so huge and incredibly exciting. I’ve loved it has, in terms of success, but also in what ocdoing Moth things.” The principal pleasure for a curs on stage. So I arrange to talk to its founder fertile mind such as his is being able to transport George Dawes Green, to hear his own story. into disparate lives and experiences. “One of the “You’ll love George,” Burns tells me. things that fascinates me about The Moth, it puts Well, it isn’t easy to love somebody who you inside people’s heads. I don’t know what it’s forces you up at 6am – Green is a poet, author and New York night owl, which means an early rise like to be born without legs, but The Moth stories put me right inside. I don’t know what it’s like to to catch him – but that aside, I like everything be on a small boat and suddenly discover that about him. He recounts The Moth’s early days in you’re being shipwrecked and have to survive, but a Southern drawl designed for storytelling. The I’ve read the Moth story, I was there. It’s definiteoriginal performers were so very earnest and ly a way to share humanity.” their slots without time limit (stories are all now Another pleasure sits as opposite; not to ten minutes max), because there was a misguided sense that great artists needed as much time view these lives as distant and exotic but to as it took. “They all wanted to be artistic and use map the many connections between them and heightened language as poets did, and they want- our own. Burns recounts the storyteller Bliss Broyard: “On her father’s deathbed he admitted ed to be literary and put up a barrier between to her and her brother and sister that he was the artist and the audience in which the artist actually African American and had been passis a superior person who has ventured to the ing for white his whole life, and they had no idea extreme country and returned with news,” says Green. It was a pretension that needed cut, as he – she told that story at The Moth having never really talked about it before, and like, 15 people explains with refreshing candour. “That was all baloney… the artist who is the raconteur needs to came up to her afterwards, and nobody had a father who had passed for white but people were speak in the most elemental human language.” like, I never knew I was Jewish, or my father hid He takes us on a cultural history tour; a from me that he and my grandmother were both timeline of storytelling originating at the dawn gay. Crazy family secrets that made the story of man. “Our gift for storytelling and listening to very relatable.” stories is probably what makes us human… it’s We can all transport and connect when this development in the cerebral cortex of epiThe Moth arrive at Edinburgh International sodic memory which really seems to distinguish humankind. A long, long time ago people started Book Festival this August. For those unable to attend, these true voices are captured in paper to share these episodic memories with the peoand ink – yet with character intact – in Burns’ ple they were travelling with. It feels intense and book of 50 stories, and also set free on The Moth ancient.” We jump many centuries to the demopodcast; the most recent stories of a phenomcratic language of early English drama, devoid of religious piety, then on to Galileo’s father and the enon that began with Green ‘on a porch on a Georgia island, while a troupe of moths stagvirtues of the aria. “The aria was this very simple democratic song about personal feelings… it was gered around the light.’ something that everybody could really respond The Moth: This Is a True Story is out 7 Aug, published to in a personal way.” And now of course we have by Serpent’s Tail, RRP £15 The Moth. “I feel that storytelling is the same www.themoth.org

et me tell you a story. Now aren’t those six simple words just so comforting and intriguing? So, if you’re ready then let me tell you a story of storytellers. They call themselves The Moth, as homage to those days before electronic intrusions, when ‘storytellers held court with the moths’ on porches and under the stars. Those seeking these stories, originally in Brooklyn and more recently all across the US, could perhaps themselves be seen as moths, the tellers that alluring light they are drawn to. If you think of a solitary figure on a backlit stage surrounded by darkness, then this simile is not too shabby. Their tag is quite simple: ‘True stories told live’. “There’s an intimacy of listening to one person talk about their life in a meaningful way for ten minutes, which you don’t always get from a Facebook update, TV or Twitter,” Moth Director Catherine Burns tells me on the line from New York, shedding light on their phenomenal success which sees lines of people snake around the block seeking entry to their live shows. “I think as human beings we really crave that, it’s something in our fundamental DNA that we need, so The Moth if anything is scratching that itch.” She continues, “We may walk around with these bleeping devices and we’re so connected and in two seconds can send a message to Tokyo, but I think in the end, in our hearts, we’re still sitting around that campfire.” Burns is also editor of a newly published book of 50 of these stories, selected, transcribed and lightly edited from over 10,000 live performances. It’s a wonderful collection of true life tales, sliced thin and raw and sometimes still bleeding. What is beautiful is that among their big-name contributors – Malcolm Gladwell, Richard Price, Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels – sit those we might view as everyday people. The power of the story has no correlation with reputation or literary prowess. “It definitely is a different skill,” admits Burns, “some of our greatest storytellers are people who barely write emails and who maybe never thought of themselves as storytellers

August 2014

but in many cases have been telling stories all their lives, to their friends, to their kids, to their families.”

“Christopher Hitchens. He was inebriated, he hadn’t rehearsed enough, we thought he was going to fall on his face but he just told such a brilliant complex tale” George Dawes Green

In many ways it’s an egalitarian form, a way to prise open the often closed circle of literary communities. “We certainly are trying to open up that world which can sometimes feel quite exclusive to people who think they might not belong in it.” Burns provides an example. “Steve Osborne, he’s a New York City Detective, Steve had never been on stage but turned out to be one of the greatest raconteurs The Moth has ever known because he’s been telling stories to a very, very tough audience for years, which is other cops in bars, and he had really honed his skills so when we stumbled upon him he was an instant sensation.” In the book he recounts the heartbreaking tale of a Hispanic mother, whose dead son’s

BOOKS

Feature

By Any Other Name Long a man of many monikers, Roman Flügel seems increasingly content in one guise as he prepares to release a second album through Hamburg’s Dial

Photo: Nadine Fraczkowski

Interview: Ronan Martin

“I

just try, not to be different, but to open the next door and take a look at other things I haven’t focused on before.” In discussing the transition from his last album to this year’s follow-up, Happiness is Happening, Roman Flügel could just as easily be describing his entire journey in electronic music. Over the past two decades, the Frankfurt-based producer has waltzed confidently through many a musical doorway, during a career primarily defined by his ability to continually evolve and remain varied in his output. His extensive back catalogue, comprising releases from a plethora of production monikers and collaborations, has seen Flügel dabble in early 90s acid (Warp 69), deep and sensuous house music (Roman IV/Soylent Green), upfront techno (Tracks on Delivery) and just about every other electronic variant you care to think of. Of course, many will have first encountered the prolific German through his two massive hits of 2004. His tech house screecher Geht’s Noch? was played to death that year, and for many a year after – as was Rocker, the rasping dancefloorwrecker he released as Alter Ego in partnership with long-time collaborator Jörn Elling Wuttke. As enjoyable as these triumphs were for Flügel, they were “also a kind of a burden sometimes,” he admits. “I mean success, or a big tune, is great. I would never complain about it. But, on the other hand, people are waiting on the same thing to happen all over again, which I can totally understand, but I’ve never worked like that. “Sometimes it’s a lot easier to have different monikers – you put out certain styles with different monikers. Some people will buy this project,

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but they don’t buy another because they don’t like it. But nowadays I try to focus on [releasing] everything I do under my own name. I say ‘that’s it. That’s part of me; part of my work’ and I try to present it that way. It’s a question of artistic freedom, finally. I try to keep that, somehow.” True enough, in recent years Flügel has carved out more of a solid identity, though his output is still pleasingly varied, if a little more narrowly focused than in his formative days. The dawn of the millennium saw him strike up what has now become a particularly fruitful relationship with Hamburg-based label Dial, founded amongst others by Carsten Jost and Peter Kersten, aka Lawrence. Having released an early remix for the label, Flügel put out his first EP for the outlet in 2010, the sombre but beautiful How to Spread Lies – a record that typifies the kind of depth and emotion Dial has in abundance. Often described as postminimal in style, the outfit has always managed to steer a steady and distinct course, avoiding the voguish carbon copy formulas which destroyed the antecedent minimal movement. “I was looking for a new platform,” says Flügel of his decision to commit more material to the label. “Since I’ve known the Dial guys for a long time, and I really like what they do, it was easy for me to ask them to continue the work. I also like that they are taking care of the sleeves, the artwork and all of that. It’s quite a classic way to run a label I think – it’s all about vinyl and [presenting] a nice product at the end. It’s not only about putting out some files on Beatport.” The relationship with Dial was firmly enshrined in 2011 when Flügel released Fatty

Folders – his first album under his own name – garnering much critical support. Reviewers noted his ability to both work to the label’s established style but also to subvert it and broaden the scope where necessary, bringing some elements of his trademark robust sound to an outlet very much known for subtlety and introspection.

“When you learn an instrument, you learn how to listen” Roman Flügel

There is a similar range in intensity in Happiness is Happening, set for release on Dial next month. Flügel again displays his ability to produce lush, atmospheric compositions – signalling his intent with hazy opening track Connecting the Ghost and providing similar moments of serenity with the likes of Occult Levitation and All That Matters. Yet, as befits a producer with such a wide-ranging pedigree, there are also flashes of unrestrained panache as in Friendship Song (which Gerd Janson rightly identifies as an almost Depeche Mode-style machine pop instrumental). Then there’s the punchy old-school vibe of Parade, in which ascending bleeps plot a course through swirling synths and melodic phrases that recall the crispest electro

CLUBS

of Afrika Bambaataa. The ease with which Roman shifts perspective on the album displays a long-standing fascination with electronic music of all kinds. “Even as a child, listening to early Kraftwerk tracks on the radio, I was totally interested from the first experience,” he explains. “So I got into this kind of music – I got into a little bit of disco here and there in the early 80s, even though I was not able to go to discos because I was too young. Then there was new wave and things like the Belgian EBM stuff and I really enjoyed that – all these electronic sounds. This, combined with the more funky stuff I was playing as a drummer, shaped my style of work.” Having learned classical piano from an early age, Flügel values patience and the importance of a trained ear in approaching his work. “It was quite important to learn how to be focused on something; to stay with something and to work on things because it usually takes quite some time to learn classical music. For me it was good training for everything I would do afterwards. It’s not about harmonies or anything, or the ability to play super-perfect solos when it comes to electronic music, but when you learn an instrument, you learn how to listen and I think that’s very important and always helpful.” Flügel is as much a product of his surroundings as of his musical background, though, and he emphasises the impact of growing up around the electronic scene in his native Frankfurt – which he is quick to point out was at the cutting edge some time before Berlin became the “magnet” it is today. He has long been associated with the famous Robert Johnson club in his hometown and favours the spirit of experimentation and freedom that is afforded to performers there. “I think we have a vital scene in almost every bigger city in Germany,” he adds, pointing to the Smallville label and Dial in Hamburg as well as Kompakt in Cologne as evidence of Germany’s rich heritage. His optimism about the contemporary electronic scene extends beyond geographical boundaries though. When asked how he views the artistic playing field he finds himself on, over twenty years after he started out, Flügel’s enthusiasm is clear. “There are lots of young people working on things that are new and unique,” he affirms. “There are certain styles and trends I would never have thought of. When you think of footwork or something – it’s suddenly there and you think ‘that’s actually quite interesting’; I would never have thought of a style like this.” Yet, he is rightly wary of the often fleeting hype that is cast upon so many emerging forms of music – “some of them are there for a couple of months and then they are off again; no one is interested in them anymore.” It is perhaps for this reason that Flügel’s own output in recent years has mostly retained a remarkably personal feel and seems largely untroubled by passing trends. As with his current label, Dial, Flügel seems happy making his own sense of a multitude of electronic influences and, on the evidence of both Fatty Folders and this year’s follow-up, his approach often yields outstanding results. “I’m trying to slow down; just take a step back and not try to jump on certain trends, but do my own stuff,” he concludes. “If I look 20 years back to when techno and house started, I would never have thought of something being so global and so strong for such a long time. It’s great for me to still be into the game and to be able to produce and release music. I’m really happy about that.” Roman Flügel’s Happiness is Happening will be released through Dial on 1 Sep

THE SKINNY

On the Road Fed up of the office? Over the next few pages, we explore opportunities to learn new things, change your line of work and head out on new adventures – beginning with the travels of an English teacher abroad

write this as Typhoon Neoguri sweeps into the Kanto plain, hoovering up stray umbrellas as it rips among the giant pinball machine of Tokyo’s towers. Thunder booms. The Japanese call it kaminari – ‘god’s sound.’ I learnt it off a cleaner who I smoke with. She would use the word as we huddled on top of the skyscraper watching the rain slash the concrete black. Teaching English as a Foreign Language – ‘TEFL’ for short – has become a multibillion pound industry worldwide. The economics of the world’s insatiable desire for English gives the newly embossed neophytes of the ‘real world’ a tempting out card: if you have a degree and grew up in the UK, you can get a job as a teacher abroad. Casually flick over websites such as tefl. com and eslcafe.com and you will find a frothing sea of opportunities in every distant corner of the globe. First rules: always look a gift horse in the mouth; seek references from their previous employees; and never, ever pay to get a job. Many positions will ask for a CELTA, which we’ll discuss later, but it’s possible to get a job in Asia without one. That’s how I started. It was a matter of panic rather than enterprise. I had a week to go before my student tenancy expired. I’d already gotten myself embroiled in a few grim telephone interviews with call centres. The choice between a recruiter offering me the ‘breadbasket’ of China and the Longbenton Industrial Park seemed clear. So, two weeks and some unnecessary rabies vaccinations later, I shook off the surreptitious neo-colonialism and was on the plane. On arriving in China, I found I’d pitched up in the equivalent ten thousand industrial parks stitched around rice paddies. Highway by highway, my dream of timber houses, incense reveries and Zen was crushed under the roars of endless trucks ferrying consumer goods to nearby Hong Kong. The driver of the minibus kept gobbing phlegm from the window at every second junction as though he was leaving a trail of saliva crumbs to help him navigate back to the airport should I not be deemed fit for purpose. I arrived, and was taken to my kitchen-less apartment; I

August 2014

shrugged it off in exhaustion and tried to sleep. Six hours later, a knock on the door. I was to be presented to the school; a microphone bundled into my hand, “Speak about yourself.” I was escorted to the front gates where three thousand yellow-shirted preteens had assembled. They bellowed “HELLO” as one. My jet-lagged brain crumpled. “Um... Hello... I’m Sebastian. I like... swimming.” I hate swimming. I’d been a teacher for all of 30 seconds and I’d already lied to them. I was whisked away to cheers, and told I had two weeks off before my first class. I blinked at that, and was left alone to explore the urbanwild and meet the locals. In China, they will approach you with a breathtaking gumption – everyone seeking their English friend. The problem with this instant friendship is that hacking through the vegetation of low-level synonym creation and navigating semantic pitfalls can be exhausting after having already spent your day doing just that. However, embrace it – and the hospitality will go on and on. One evening, a brief cafe conversation got me a four star hotel for the equivalent of one five pound note. Another stray yes got me bundled into a Ford Mondeo, where I was greeted by two wide-eyed children who looked like they wanted to devour me and slurp the English speaking blood from my corpse. Fourteen sing-alongs to Thriller later, our expedition was chugging through the dusky foothills and I spent the evening in a bamboo shack sampling snake soup and binging on rice wine. As for work, the novelty of your presence will get you through – the fact that the pupils enjoy it is enough. In state schools in Asia, you are mostly a government-enforced spare wheel, the product of a policy that mandated native-speaker presence in the hope it would rub off on the young. You will be treated with respect, but you will not be looked upon to achieve much beyond being happy and present (and the latter is not always a requirement – I had a lot of spare time). Yet you may want to actually have control over the direction of the class – and looking for new jobs in dedicated language schools confirmed that if

I wanted any real freedom, either travelling or in the classroom, I’d have to get qualified. Type in TEFL and you will be stampeded by a bewildering array of acronyms that make the US Federal Government look positively verbose: TEFL, TESOL, ESL, CELTA, DELTA, TOIEC, TOEFL. The most intensive are the CELTA, by Cambridge, and the Trinity Cert TESOL. They are equivalent, but the CELTA has a slightly better name-cachet around the world. They both cost around a thousand pounds, last four weeks, and give an astonishingly thorough grounding in how to teach for a living for so short a course. Most of all, they’re great fun. I’ve not met a single teacher who hasn’t said theirs wasn’t one of the most enjoyable things they’ve ever done, as well as one of the most difficult. Getting the top grade of the CELTA is hard (a tiny percentage achieve it) but if you do the work you should pass the course.

“I’d been a teacher for all of 30 seconds and I’d already lied” Unfortunately, the majority of language schools spend more on glossy leaflets than teachers’ pay, but they are the engines that drive the nomadic life. The teacher is the disposable peon – they should be thankful for the Italian sunshine as they take the creaking train to a town the Renaissance obviously missed on its way through. Language schools are businesses, focused on trying to grind out the bottom line. Some are stellar, some are not. You are required to keep students happy and entertained as well as helping their English. A classroom of boisterous, middle-aged Italian students, however, is quite a system shock

EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

Words: Sebastian Fisher Illustration: Ben Kither (OWT creative) compared to young Asian children – suddenly piping up such questions as “What’s the third conditional?” apropos of nothing. Keen to please my new charges, I started chalking the words, “If I had have been...”, realising as I approached the verb something was wrong before hearing an “Are you sure?” at my back. No, I’m not sure, and you’re going to sit there while I desperately mutter my own language under my breath until I am, aware the whole time that you paid thirty euros an hour for this experience. ‘Blackboard-blindness’ is a real thing. Spelling words such as ‘accommodation’ transcends from awkward to a Sisyphean hurdle of consonant rearrangement, your hands dusty with chalk as you hastily swipe away your last attempt. Halfway through the tangent, one of the students demanded that we skip the whole question altogether because, actually, gerunds were on the upcoming test (which I hadn’t been informed about). Cue ten minutes of frenzied, breathless arguing in Italian among the students. Not exactly the holistic English environment I was striving to create. Your qualification gives you the weapons – but the classroom time sharpens them. After class, though, that same pugnacious student ushered me onto her scooter and we rode along the coast, the midday sun sparkling off the Adriatic. At the fish market, she helped me select a fresh octopus for lunch, shouting the cooking instructions over her shoulder as she took me back to my apartment, then left me with “Ciao! See you tomorrow!” and a kiss. Students, who will often be your age or older, will become friends. You will learn as much from them as they learn from you. Typhoon Neoguri has now abated. I watch the evening sun slide down the skyscrapers and join the crowd migrating homeward. Teaching abroad gives you a sense of place not found in two-week monument-dashes. I play ping pong in the park at dusk, join friends for sushi and sake, and slip into the arcade at nightfall – knowing that tomorrow I will wake, again, as a resident of the city.

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THE SKINNY

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Real Dreaming In a climate of cuts, routes into the arts are varied. A writer, a creative game developer and an art researcher share their stories

Interview: Lara Williams Illustration: Louise Lockhart

Free for All Did you know you can study a course set by Harvard while sitting on your couch in your pants? No, neither did we Words: Laura Swift

‘A

career in the arts’ is the sort of played-out phrase you lob about having completed your entirely useful BA in Philosophy with Modern Languages, though the reality often seems abstracted. Finding work in a creative field or working as an artist feels largely inaccessible if you haven’t done your 100 hours practice, if you can’t afford to take that requisite unpaid internship. While funding for the arts continues to dwindle, and with less of a formalised foot-inthe-door, routes into the creative industries have become a little more flexible simply because they’ve had to. Independents and not-for-profits offer short courses, the sort of thing you can do on your night off; distance learning is increasingly more affordable and even postgraduate qualifications have caught on to a little of the old pragmatism – most people gotta make a living. So what are the ways to pursue your heart’s true want while juggling the grind that pays the bills? Manchester Digital Laboratory, or MadLab, is a self-funded enterprise located in a former shop in the city’s Northern Quarter, offering everything from short courses on developing to mouse taxidermy. The courses are relatively low cost and provide sensible schooling to low number groups in the evenings and weekends, using interactive and workshop formats. Now a senior games developer at CBBC, Dan Hett took two of MadLab’s weekend-long courses “mostly out of curiosity;” one in Arduino, a creative electronic application, and another in projection mapping, learning how to project artwork on to buildings. Hett worked in programming for an agency at the time, but while he had the technical nous, he was apprehensive about the creative aspect of the course; nervous to “make art as opposed to sitting in the corner coding.” He found the intensive weekend format the ideal way to learn and the hands-on workshop approach a great way of figuring things out: “It was an entry point to teaching myself.” Hett now oversees the development of games for the CBBC website, and works on projecting visuals and artwork in clubs on the side. Indeed, he has come full circle, and will be delivering a gaming workshop at MadLab in the coming months that will follow the accessible structure of which he was such a fan (and has a working title of the none-too-scary ‘Games Development 101’).

August 2014

Kin2Kin in Liverpool is a ‘creative community’ that offers more informal, broad Continuing Professional Development, with a concentration on marketing yourself and getting to know the industry. Creative Entrepreneur David Parish delivers many of the workshops, with a focus on the efficient – he trains creatives to apply their imaginations to business. Though the combination of art and business might make you bristle, product designer and course attendee Ilsa Parry believes otherwise, saying, “business is an opportunity to be grasped by creatives and not to be feared;” and there is certainly something to be said for the de-romanticising and re-professionalising of creative roles, particularly if you’d like to be, you know, paid.

“I had a great idea for a second novel, having already written an unpublished one…” Greg Thorpe

Continuing Professional Development that errs more towards the collegial comprises a host of vocationally minded postgraduate qualifications, with an eye on the prize – the prize being an actual job. Having studied a BA in Linguistics, arts executive and development manager Clare O’Mahoney had ambitions to be an artist but felt pressured to go down the academic route. Volunteering at the Whitworth Art Gallery while studying a BTEC in Art and Design led to an MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies, and she has since worked as director’s assistant at the Whitworth and managed the Manchester International Festival’s members’ scheme. “The MA gave me an exceptional grounding in understanding the role of public funding for art galleries, of the importance of finding new and interesting ways to raise money,” she says. “We can’t just continue in the same way.” Fellow

alumnus Jenny Oakenfull noted the expectations of institutions in having studied at this level. “Most museums want you to have an MA before considering hiring you,” she says. Oakenfull took a career development loan to support her studies, working around lectures, eventually securing a role with art researchers Morris Hargreaves McIntyre. “It took me a year and a half of applications, two jobs in two cafes, and one in a bar, but I got there. Eventually.” Much has recently been made of creative writing courses, whether it is Hanif Kureishi getting shirty over whether you can teach writing (while receiving a salary to do just that) or Junot Díaz noting the “unbearable whiteness” of the courses, which is probably fair. Freelance writer/ copyeditor Greg Thorpe studied an MA in Novel Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Writing School. “I had a great idea for a second novel, having already written an unpublished one… I’m good with deadlines so I knew the MA would force me to finish something.” The course blended critiquing contemporary fiction with writing workshops, though was angled towards being a publishing qualification also, which was particularly relevant to Thorpe, who worked fulltime in academic publishing. Despite lectures taking place outside of office hours, balancing work with studying was hard. “I received little support to compensate and eventually the stress and guilt were overwhelming,” he says, advising those considering a CPD to be prepared to get into debt, be organised, and explain to everyone around them the importance of the commitment, and to seriously work out some stress-management solutions. “In the end the indifference and lack of support from work sealed my determination to leave.” Thorpe eventually quit his job and made good on dreams of going freelance, the MA supplying the requisite editing skills and confidence to make the leap. He now copyedits academic books, works on artists’ installations, and writes for a host of arts organisations and exhibition catalogues. “The main thing I want is to be admired as a writer,” he says. “That’s the most important thing in the world to me.” www.madlab.org.uk www.kin2kin.co.uk

f you’ve looked into distance learning, perhaps you have come across the pleasingly bovine acronym MOOC – or, Massive Open Online Course. The principle of MOOCs is to make available the raw materials you’d need to study, say, game theory, or Scandinavian film and television, or y’know, equine nutrition, free to access by anyone, anywhere, via the internet. Hype intensified a couple of years ago, as bigger numbers of highprofile educational institutions began signing up. Some of the providers are initiatives of or at least closely connected to those big hitters themselves – the founding partners of edX.org are MIT and Harvard, while Coursera was set up by two science professors from Stanford. Others, such as P2PU (Peer to Peer University), are driven not by traditional collegiate bodies but function as a network of experts/practitioners creating courses of their own. If this sounds too good to be true, maybe it is. Interaction with professors or your fellow students is limited; you don’t have access to the physical facilities of an institution. Completion of the course doesn’t usually accrue university credits – although in most cases you will receive a ‘statement of accomplishment’ – and if you want a properly authenticating certificate, providers may require a fee. Don’t let any of this put you off, though – the important thing is that there is a totally nuts amount of stuff out there to discover. If you’re anything like most humans you’ll probably sign up to 21 different programmes and drop all of them after the first webinar – but for those with some determination, here are just five things you could do:

1. Plot a space mission and invent your own planetary system in Imagining Other Earths (Princeton University via coursera.org, starts September). Consider also, ‘Dino 101’, which is ABOUT DINOSAURS (from the University of Alberta). 2. Understand the city as a human-made ‘organism’ to be able to plan a better life for our rapidly growing urban populations, in Future Cities – delivered by tutors affiliated with ETH Zurich through edX.org (starts September). Or, y’know, receive an Introduction to Philosophy from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That’s MIT for short. 3. Examine the power of lovely Mario Götze – sorry, football – and its influences on everything in Football: More Than a Game (the University of Edinburgh via FutureLearn.com, starts 20 Oct). Other important offerings from FutureLearn include How to Read Your Boss and uh, Looking After Your Liver. 4. Make your own version of the bane of everyone’s life, (mobile app game) 2048 – or learn how to track and, indeed, capture a runaway robot – through udacity.com, which boasts relationships with various Silicon Valley types including Google and Facebook. 5. Work on your mandolin technique at worldmentoringacademy.com.

www.manchesterwritingschool.co.uk

EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

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Design for Life

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Looking for a leg-up into the world of graphic design? Our writer experiences a day in the life of a student at Shillington College, and finds fast-track delivery that doesn’t cut corners group then gather around the table to share their initial ideas. (The classroom is more like a studio, with none of the vast anonymousness of a lot of college set-ups, and groups never number more than 22.) The students are encouraged to bring their own backgrounds and experience to their design ideas, and discussion ranges from globally networked AV festivals to contemporary typography, the music videos of Aphex Twin and the soundshapes in the scientific field of Cymatics. The tutors let the students do the talking, gently nudging them in certain directions or suggesting areas they might not have heard of – and obviously enjoying being occasionally stumped by some of the new ideas brought to the table. Everyone, including The Skinny, comes away from the session with a full notebook of fresh ideas and things to look up later. Throughout, the tutors keep a clear focus on the practical outcome: how would this work for the company, the audience, the city or client? The end goal for everyone is, after all, establishing a career in design and getting that job.

track records of alumni had been very much part of the decision to commit. “A friend of mine from Australia did the course in Sydney,” says Kate Walker. “Since then she has worked all over the world for various design agencies and fashion designers.” O’Brien, too, knew someone who had done the course previously; “hearing about that experience was like an epiphany for me,” she says. Indeed, Manchester alumni have a high success rate in getting work quickly. “All of the hard work paid off,” says designer Becky Evison, who graduated in 2013. “I found work within two months at [creative agency] Fuzzy Duck in Stockport.” Jimmy Lee, who completed the Shillington course part-time and graduated in 2013, is currently at the BBC in Salford working as a trainee UX Designer in Sport. “For me, the course provided a great introduction to designing for digital platforms and across different devices/screen sizes (desktop/mobile),” he says. Others have gone on to work at Manchester agencies Retrofuzz and MC2.

“At University you can be given up to half a year to complete a body of work. That’s not realistic in the commercial world”

The key to this success is the development of a strong portfolio – one of the course’s main focuses. The portfolio is, in effect, a graphic designer’s calling card. All of the projects completed over the three months at Shillington lead up to the portfolio period, and the students in this cohort are determined to use this tool to get their foot in the design-studio door. So what are their plans for the future? “I want to get a year or two of UK studio experience and then the plan is to move back to Ghana where I grew up and just try and see what I can do there,” says Leroy Wadie. “It’s a creative country and the perfect time to put my skills to work.” Others are quietly confident that the course at Shillington has made it possible for them to apply for the kind of jobs they have always wanted. “I’d love to make a living out of the skills I’ve learned here,” says O’Brien. “I’m not sure yet of the exact direction I’ll go in, but I’m keeping as open as possible. There shouldn’t be a limit and learning more only makes you more capable.” “The course has really been a release for me to express myself creatively which, before, I struggled with,” says Georgia Vincent, who had been working in branding in London, and took the course at Shillington to find her niche within the creative industries. For her, it’s all about this final intensive portfolio push – and then afterwards? “Sleeping! I can’t wait to do a bit of that.” After all their hard work, they probably deserve it.

Ross MacKay

Understanding the industry

“R

ight, let’s talk about ideas,” says John Palowski, Graphic Design lecturer at Manchester’s Shillington College. This morning, the latest cohort of design students are working on their final project together before they disperse to complete their portfolios. The mood is energetic, the atmosphere relaxed – the students have, after all, been working intensively together for three months now, and know each other well. Shillington College has campuses all over the world; in New York, London, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and on Portland Street, right in the centre of Manchester. They offer two courses: Graphic Design, which is taught intensively over three months or part-time over a year, and a shorter web course with the focus on coding. No experience in graphic design or coding is necessary, which is part of the attraction for many students, who come from a wide range of backgrounds and skill levels. Some students have already completed a design-based degree, but feel they didn’t learn the very basic fundamental principles; for others, the course is a complete shift towards a creative career. “I did my degree in Spain but I felt that by the end I still didn’t know what graphic design really was,” says Felipe Lozada. “I learned how to use the technical tools but I felt we didn’t learn the basics of designing or how to best develop our ideas. That’s what we’ve been learning here.”

Interview: Sacha Waldron Photography: Simon Bray

Three months may not seem like a long time but it is this very intensity that keeps the fast-paced course at Shillington firmly rooted in the industry reality. “At University you can be given up to half Kate O’Brien, on the other hand, was working as a year to complete a body of work,” says Ross an account manager in London, “where I got exMacKay, who graduated in 2012 and now works as posure to creativity but wasn’t ultimately doing an Interactive Creative at fashion and style brand it myself. I wanted to get more hands-on.” boohoo.com. “That’s not realistic in the commercial world. At Shillington you learn to work Brainstorms and mood boards on ‘live’ briefs at speed while also managing your The focus at Shillington is on process of workflow, which is invaluable.” design, not just on technical delivery – although With education becoming an increasingly of course training is given in the three key luxurious commodity, the speed of the course is programs, Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. also highly attractive to those who cannot afford Again, students’ previous experience of these to take a long career break or do not want to jugpackages is mixed, with some coming at them gle work and study. The students in this group for the first time and others, who are already had not taken the decision to take that break established in the industry, brushing up their and go back into intensive study lightly, and had skills. The course does not have any one technical clearly done their homework. Experiences and agenda, however, and students are given a variety of different types of projects including craftier briefs, where students get the opportunity to create work by hand. For today’s project, students are asked to develop a concept or brand for an event. Given an array of options such as sound art, architecture or product design, everyone has been brainstorming and creating mood boards. The first part of the morning is spent on an informal presentation given by Palowski, who is, like all the Shillington tutors, a practising designer himself. He looks at a range of examples from the cutting edge of Scandinavian cool to brand packages for the Sydney Biennale. Half of the

Building a body of work

Head along to Shillington’s next info session on 9 Aug, 10.45am, to find out more The next full-time and part-time courses start 22 Sep 2014 www.shillingtoncollege.co.uk

THE SKINNY

Going It Alone We’ve explored some new career paths – but you’re keen on being your own boss. Here’s a look at where you can earn the entrepreneurial know-how to turn a hobby into something more Interview: Jacky Hall Ilustration: Caroline Dowsett

rom financial forecasting to marketing strategies, starting a business can be daunting, especially for those with creative skills. It’s a world full of baffling business-speak like ‘scalability’ or ‘drilling down’, and where years are divided into quarters. But as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and the cooperative movement, the Northwest has a long heritage of industry, innovation and generally making things happen – and though the mills have become boutique hotels, the work ethic and self-determination still exists. Nationally, self-employment is at its highest since 1992, with 4.5 million people in the UK registered as their own boss – and across Liverpool, Manchester and everywhere in between, people are developing their passions and hobbies into viable businesses. The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), based in Liverpool’s Hope Street quarter, supports those aiming to start a business that not only turns a profit but also does some social good. The Brink, a nonalcoholic bar on Parr Street, began as an SSE supported project. Lisa Mairah, SSE’s Learning Manager, is keen to emphasis that entrepreneurship doesn’t require qualifications. Anybody with passion, commitment and an idea can do it. “SSE is a peoplepowered learning programme for individuals who want to transform communities through social

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enterprise,” she explains. “We work with a diverse range of people, from those who have just had an idea up to those who want to grow their existing social enterprise.” During a period of unemployment, Chorltonbased Sally Thirkettle began crocheting to “stay sane while job hunting.” After selling her handmade accessories and homewares at craft markets, she found business support through Blue Orchid. Training in social media management and bookkeeping helped her business, SallyStrawberry Creations, to grow. Thirkettle found the financial training especially helpful: “I had had a stab at this myself,” she says, “but my advisor assisted me in changing my system so that it would stand up to inspection should the Inland Revenue pay me a visit.” Un- or underemployment can make anyone feel a bit, well, rubbish, but Thirkettle refers to crafting as “a lifesaver” – for her, the satisfaction of developing a business and the positive impact on emotional wellbeing is obvious. She relates a time spent, out of necessity, without internet, just the radio and crocheting: “It gave me focus, a sense of achievement.” After travelling around Australia and New Zealand, computer programmer Ian Moss decided to turn his love of adventure into a business by setting up 196 Destinations, a website for

finding cheap air travel. For Moss, support from Business Growth Hub, who offer a range of support from their central Manchester office, has been crucial. “It’s reassuring to be able schedule in an appointment with a qualified professional,” Moss says of the mentoring he’s received, “and to receive constructive critique from someone on your side.” Defining his own working patterns outside of the traditional nine-to-five slog has been the clincher. “Who hasn’t thought on a sunny midweek day, ‘I wish I could go for a walk or cycle.’ As long as you’ve not got a client deadline, you can do this.” The dream, for many of us, is to quit our day jobs, tell The Man to stuff it, and be your own boss. The reality is that, despite support available, starting a business doesn’t immediately lead to drinking artisan coffees in your tastefully

EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

decorated home office – many of those starting out as entrepreneurs fit the demands of running a business around other work. Thirkettle works part-time in a cafe, while Moss still takes on freelance work. However, both believe the hard work is worthwhile. Thirkettle has expanded into tutoring others, and emphasises that what she learned from Blue Orchid “gave my business direction, and the motivation to push it forward.” Moss, meanwhile, now runs Founders’ Assembly, a networking event for digital business startups to collaborate and constructively criticise – demonstrating that skills, once learned, are to be shared. www.the-sse.org www.blueorchid.co.uk www.businessgrowthhub.com

THE SKINNY

Back to the Land

All this talk of reading and writing – what if you want to learn skills that involve getting your hands dirty? We check out some local opportunities to develop knowledge that allows us to become more self-sufficient, from foraging to brewing Interview: Jacky Hall Ilustration: Caroline Dowsett

ork. It’s a word that implies toiling in the fields or labouring under the sun. But for many of us, work involves sitting behind a computer screen, dealing with mental rather than physical challenges. We tap data into spreadsheets, scroll and scroll and press F5 on inboxes. Humans didn’t spend millions of years evolving for the comparatively sedentary lifestyles of graphic design, administration or PR. Nay, we humans evolved to survive in the great outdoors – though it’s safe to say most of us would feel we don’t have many skills in that area. So what if you’re looking to brush up? Learning to grow your own food is a good starting point. Watching and nurturing a seed grow from a tiny brown speck into a frilled and fiery rocket leaf is a small experience, but one to make you feel proud of your green fingers. From their beginnings as a community project on a disused car park in 1999, Hulme Community Garden Centre in south Manchester have always put education at the heart of their (not-forprofit) business. As well as sessions for schoolchildren, the centre runs regular horticulture courses and workshops for all (they also sell a range of organic plants seven days a week, so the learning process can continue at home; and big city living is no excuse, as even the smallest of spaces will have a windowsill suitable for growing something). Squash Nutrition also run horticulture and cookery courses from their community garden in Toxteth, Liverpool. Once you’re on your way to a greater degree of self-sufficiency foodwise, you’ll want to move on to drink. Recent months have seen an increase of interest in homebrewing – and for those with similar aspirations, Love Brewing run introductory courses in beer, wine and spirit making at their Liverpool showroom. Alan Wall, a barman living in Manchester, has combined his love of beer with completing a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Salford to set out on a unique path: he explains, “I have built my own kit, and I treat it all as a big

science experiment, so it’s all about recording details and taking measurements.” Wall grew up in Burton-on-Trent, a brewing town, to parents who brewed their own wine, and says that “my background working with brewing system design probably had something to do with my decision to start brewing later in life.” It’s a decision that has led to business planning: he’s increased his homebrewing capacity, with a view to selling his real ale commercially. By now, you’re probably getting really into this dietary self-sufficiency thing. Foraging is the next logical step. Who wouldn’t want to have the skills to jump into a hedgerow, then emerge with a basketful of produce ready for a feast? Lee Craggs works with food every day at Manchesterh wholefoods cooperative Unicorn. Concerns about how our food is produced (he talks passionately about the way supermarkets have homogenised the way we think about fruit and veg: “just because it’s in a bag labelled ‘baking potatoes’ doesn’t mean you have to bake it”) led him to a foraging course at Sale Water Park with medical herbalist Jesper Launder (via Cracking Good Food, who lead wild food forages, helping you to identify an edible mushroom from a potentially fatal piece of fungi). “It was dead good,” he enthuses. “We learned how to safely identify food like wild garlic and elderflowers, then cooked it up over an outdoor stove. Sitting outdoors on a nice evening, having a drink and a chat with some other people is the most natural thing. We live in a city but, really, we’re still surrounded by nature.” With his new skills, Craggs now scans the hedgerows and parks for foraging opportunities on his cycle to work, and is planning to attend more lessons in the autumn to learn about mushrooms. www.hulmecommunitygardencentre.org www.squashnutrition.org www.lovebrewing.co.uk/courses www.crackinggoodfood.org

cambridgeenglish.org/celtauk

August 2014

EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

Feature

The Skinny Showcase at Creative Exchange

ince 2008, the Scotland edition of The Skinny has been selecting an artist from each of the degree shows in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee to display their work in the Showcase section of the magazine in print and online (and readers will know we’ve been following suit in the Northwest). Over the years we’ve featured dozens of artists, many of whom have gone on to become familiar names on the art scene. Artists like Kevin Harman, Rachel Maclean, Fraser Gray and, just last year, Dennis Reinmueller have all had first coverage in The Skinny’s pages and gone on to shows in prominent galleries and festivals at home and abroad. This year we’ve been offered the opportunity to take this selection into the real world with an exhibition as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. We of course jumped at the chance – being able to give graduates from Scotland’s art schools a platform in an international festival of visual art is an incomparable opportunity, and almost definitely worth all the headaches we’ve encountered putting it together. We’ve expanded the selection to include Gray’s in Aberdeen, so there are four artists in the exhibition, namely Fiona Beveridge (ECA), Edward Humphrey (DJCAD), Caitlin Hynes (Gray’s) and Melanie Letore (GSA). The show runs in the Creative Exchange down in Leith, the venue kindly offered to us by

Edinburgh College with backing from Edinburgh City Council. We’ve also been given fantastic support from some of the colleges, namely ECA, GSA and Gray’s, as well as our pals at Pilot Beer, who’re providing some casks for the opening, and Old School Fabrications, who’re helping us out with building a screening room for Edward Humphrey’s video work. The Skinny Showcase opens on Friday 1 August and runs until the end of the month – if you’re up in Edinburgh for the Fringe or otherwise, do pay a visit. Here’s a bit more about each of the artists involved. Caitlin Hynes Caitlin Hynes graduated from Printmaking at Gray’s School of Art in 2014. Her work has previously been exhibited has been at Peacock Visual Arts and AKI ArtEz in the Netherlands, and has been selected for RSA New Contemporaries 2015. She received a Highly Commended in the BP Fine Art Award and a SMART Gallery New Art Look to the North Award for her degree show. She is inspired by the concept of ‘pilgrimage’ – a journey which leads us. www.caitlinhynes.tumblr.com Caitlin Hynes – The Nameless Women

Edward Humphrey Edward Humphrey is a video and sound artist who graduated from DJCAD in Dundee in 2014. His degree show was selected for the RSA New Contemporaries exhibition in March, and he has previously featured in group shows at Generator Projects and Dundee Contemporary Arts. He is primarily interested in the distance between abstract thought, language, and physical reality, and he has investigated these areas with film, sound installation, and text-based work.

Edward Humphrey – The last page and the penultimate paragraph of Origin of Species

www.edhumphrey.tumblr.com

SHOWCASE

THE SKINNY

Melanie Letore French-Swiss photographer Melanie Letore was born in Geneva and completed her Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Central Saint Martins in 2010. She graduated from her BA (Hons) in Fine Art Photography at the Glasgow School of Art in 2014. The photographic series Places was created in 2013 and 2014 in various locations in Great Britain, France, Switzerland and Italy, where she worked as an information assistant for the Scotland + Venice exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Melanie Letore â&#x20AC;&#x201C; From the series Places

www.melanieletore.com

Fiona Beveridge Fiona Beveridge graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2014 with a BA (Hons) Sculpture. Her degree show was selected for RSA New Contemporaries 2015. Her practice is an ongoing exploration of human-object interaction, working with material that is manufactured primarily to develop perceptions through the senses. She approaches malleable toys and sensory products playfully, investigating their texture and stretchy consistency. Although in reality they are not living, their disorganised pattern and form gives them lifelike qualities. She is curious about synesthesia and how our different senses can blend together to create an idea of surrealism from simply looking at a specific colour or shape. Fiona Beveridge â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Arrow

www.fjbeveridge.tumblr.com

August 2014

SHOWCASE

Breast Censorship Daria D’Beauvoix talks about her recent breach of Facebook’s ‘nudity’ rules and what this social media policing of women’s bodies really means

Interview: Jessica Walsh Illustration: Jayde Perkin

Life Is Too Short to Shave How many minutes, hours, days of your life have you spent keeping your body hair in check? Our writer argues we could be putting that time to better use Words: Tasha Lee Illustration: Jayde Perkin

aria D’Beauvoix is an academic burlesque performer and feminist researcher. One of her acts, In My Celebrity Skin, sees her parody buxom blonde Barbie perfection by wearing what can only be described as a fake muff and nipples. The aim is to celebrate the realistic female body and discredit ideas of the ‘perfect woman’ and those notions of pressured self-improvement. Keeping this act in her repertoire through her career has been of utmost importance as she feels the message it conveys, as a feminist, is relevant and crucial. Her offending image is a projection of her act: fun, lively and a statement for femininity. However, Facebook recently removed an image of the act for breaching their ‘nudity’ rules. To be naked in public is not against the law in the UK, unless your nakedness is proven to be anti-social in that it is officially ‘disturbing the peace’. By acting in a way abnormal to what is socially acceptable, then, you are committing an offence. In the UK our legal system is built by patriarchal men and women who, misguided in their view that breasts are sexual organs, cannot find anything other than sexual arousal from the female form. Complimentary? Yes. How wonderful that female bodies can stimulate such a powerful reaction. But disempowering? Perhaps. While beguiling in its entirety, the human body, both male and female, serves biological functions. The sexual enjoyment of the body can be viewed as both a blessing and a curse to humankind. It is a fine line to tread, respecting its physiological purpose while not being overshadowed by admiration of its form. Through her research, D’Beauvoix has found there is something of a dichotomy between censorship and opinion or perspective. She says that, “While censorship is supposed to represent popular opinion, there is a constant bombardment of mediatised imagery and propaganda, which leads us to think that what we are being

Lifestyle

told to believe is a subjective opinion.” Art, both historical and modern, has placed the naked human form on a pedestal, so why did women’s bodies in particular, suddenly, seemingly become taboo? The Judeo-Christian ethics that have built around the shame of Adam and Eve’s naked encounter in the Garden of Eden are the reason that sociologically we feel it is important to cover our bodies in cloth in public, and that it is acceptable to feel embarrassed at our naked form and uncomfortable at the sight of someone else’s. Moreover, it is at the root of our disgust and guilt towards our own sexual arousal and our clandestine approach to sex.

“I want to be able to dance about in the nude and embrace my body, explore what it can do and how it can look” Daria D’Beauvoix

Sexual objectification and female disempowerment are often arguments thrown around when I ask artists why public platforms such as Facebook take issue with the sight of female breasts. They explain to me how disempowering it is to dictate to an entire female population what they can and cannot do with their breasts, and how insulting is it to assume that men and

women cannot enjoy a piece of bare-breasted art, without (shamefully) feeling aroused. D’Beauvoix has frequently fallen victim to the Facebook censorship rules, serving time for ‘nudity and pornography breaches’. Her parody fake muff and fake nips caused enough offence to the online audiences that her images were removed and her account suspended. I ask if she thinks there is a level of discrimination that exists in the policing of social media sites and if so, where she thinks that discrimination lies. She explains that, in her experience, offence is generally taken at images that are misshapen and do not fit the media-dictated beauty ideal. She says, “I often see images of models where they are showing most of their what I call ‘muff mound’ [where pubic hair once was, but has been shaven] and no-one bats an eyelid because it’s perceived as ‘sexy’. If I did the same photographic shot, my muff mound would be covered in pubic hair because I choose not to shave. This image would cause an outcry, people would be disgusted, and I would most certainly get reported and banned. It’s only hair for muff’s sake.” Daria accepts that, in reality, freedom of naked expression has its restrictions, and in order to function in society one must adopt characters and uniforms with which to conform. She says, “I want to be able to dance about in the nude and embrace my body, explore what it can do and how it can look, be beautiful, be ugly, not be restricted by clothes. “It frustrates me that I can’t do this in all realms of my life. Through photography I plan to do a few nude self-portrait projects. It’s just a shame I won’t be able to share it with anyone. Unless I do it anonymously, and of course, not on Facebook – or most social networking sites for that matter – because that would be unsocial of me.”

DEVIANCE

ncouraging women to grow their body hair is not about imposing an aesthetic to demonstrate loyalty to the sisterhood – it’s about reminding each other that life is short, and sitting on the side of the bath to shave your legs takes a long, long time. It takes time and brainpower away from truly productive action. But there’s still a lingering association with not shaving, as if being a woman who doesn’t shave means being a woman who doesn’t care about personal hygiene, the sensibilities of others, or social niceties. Even those of us who call ourselves feminists often don’t want to be associated with ‘that sort’ of woman. Yet, if we look at the assumptions underneath the sneers there’s a sense that these are women with independent minds and, worse, selfagency. And isn’t that what we, as feminists, are striving for? We need to get to a stage where women are able to have unshaven armpits while meeting a business client, defending a case, brokering a deal or interviewing a politician. Not shaving should not mean opting out of professional life, because body hair has absolutely nothing to do with competence. As more and more women enter the workforce the focus needs to turn to how well we can do our jobs, not how visually appealing we are while we do them. What if all the plucking and the tidying up of unsightly hair is directly contributing to the lingering pay gap? In the warm months of summer working women must shave or risk being unprofessional. While the men go from suits to long-sleeved shirts to short-sleeved shirts with minimum hassle, every new workday creates a new wardrobe dilemma for women. It’s distracting and it can’t help our productivity.

So what’s the solution? Solidarity. If you can’t be bothered shaving then stop. The more women who put down the razor and step away from the wax strips the better. Think what we could all achieve if we just stopped shaving. Maybe we could try it for a month, as a society, like men’s moustaches in November. We’d save so much time.

THE SKINNY

Makers Dozen Showcasing the collaborative work of the multi-talented Makers Dozen collective and others, Makers Dozen Collaborate aims to challenge the traditional conventions of making

Interview: Jessica Campbell

Makers Dozen Collaborate

he cleverly named Makers Dozen is an everchanging collective of highly talented and ambitious makers who share a common aim – ‘to make craft and design accessible and to engage the public with the varied spectrums of making.’ The six core members include Eleanor Simms, Joseph Hartley, Vinny Ratcliff, Rory Thompson, Jessica Swallow and Laura Negus, who all met while studying Three Dimensional Design at Manchester School of Art. Having worked as a close unit during their time at university, the six makers wanted to create a similar working atmosphere once they had graduated, and so formed the creative collective. With an emphasis on the made, the collective are ambitious about producing highquality products that represent contemporary makers and their aspirations. For Makers Dozen, the quality of ideas and design are subject to the overall final outcome. The group have skills ranging from jewellery design to fine art to furniture making, so each group exhibition offers an exciting and diverse showcase. Makers Dozen Collaborate is no exception, as the members change and evolve whilst striving for their individual and group goals. Makers Dozen ultimately provides a platform for both new and established designers to bounce ideas off each other, share skills and maintain exposure. With a focus on the word ‘Collaboration,’ six guest artists will join the six core Makers Dozen members for Makers Dozen Collaborate, an exciting culmination of shared ideas. With the brief set by the core, the Dozen encouraged one another to be playful, experimental and risk-taking

August 2014

to ‘achieve impossibilities.’ With a non-traditional approach towards making, the chosen guest artists are sure to cause an impact as they challenge the conventions of making with their counterparts, producing collaborative creations that can only enhance the overall Makers Dozen experience. The chosen few include April Wernham, an inventor with the motive of FUNction, and Rachael Britch and her non-conformist exploration of materials. Also joining the orignal six are Jake Campbell, Gemma May Latham, Fliss Quick and Laura Jane Atkinson.

“The collective are ambitious about producing highquality products that represent contemporary makers and their aspirations” Makers Dozen Collaborate will encapsulate the collaborative exchange between the 12 makers and their creative partners with the shared goal of promoting craft and design in

the Northwest. Taking place at the Manchester Craft and Design Centre, in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, the event will run until 13 September, with an exhilaratingly dynamic programme of tours and talks surrounding the main Collaborate exhibition. Already working in partnership prior to the Makers Dozen Collaborate exhibition, core members of the collective Thompson and Ratcliff co-direct Spunj, an innovative design studio that create products with a twist. The duo cleverly merge the borders of aesthetics and functionality to create forward-thinking yet playful products. As part of Makers Dozen they have shown their willingness to push their creative abilities and explore all elements of making. For his recent Collaborate endeavour, Ratcliff is working alongside graphic designer Kully Sidhu to create objects for different states of anxiety. The collaborative couple have also produced a series of lighthearted leaflets titled ‘Anxiety Advice,’ which includes the tongue-in-cheek ‘How to act at an exhibition opening.’ Another highlight, aside from those of the initial Dozen, is that of Negus & Negus, a fatherdaughter experiment that has proved challenging in its triumph. Their powerful constructions show the strength of family bonds. The most intriguing collaboration is that of Atkinson and German counterpart Skowasch who have collaborated via post. The pair will be showcasing their “series of sculptural installations generated through consequential cross-intervention.” Along with showcasing their own work, members of the Dozen will share their fresh ideas

FASHION

and productivity through a range of workshops that will be on offer to the public. Joseph Hartley will lead his workshop Lids and Vessels at the Manchester Craft and Design Centre on 29 July while Jessica Swallow will join him on 23 August to encourage the public to ‘collaborate’ with their obvious yet ambiguously titled offering. Elsewhere at the Rogue Artists Studios Laura Negus will lead the ‘Drawings into Clay’ workshop. The rest of the Dozen will be on-hand on various days throughout the course of the exhibition to offer personal insights into the collection of work. The word ‘collaboration’ should not be taken lightly, as will be discussed at ‘In Conversation: Two Collaborations’ led by pairings Laura-Jane Atkinson & Hildegard Skowasch, and Eleanor Simms & David Leonard. The discussion shall give an insight into the challenges of collaboration and how individual creative minds can work together to form pieces that push the boundaries of make. A final talk will take place on 11 September where the six core Makers Dozen members will share their thoughts and wisdom of what it is like to be a designer/maker. The exhibition promises to provide the most exciting and innovative work through various creative practices, blurring the ideas of genre and pushing the boundaries of ‘collaboration’ to create a strong impact. Truly it is an exhibition not to be missed. Makers Dozen Collaborate runs until 13 Sep at Manchester Craft & Design Centre @makersdozen www.makers-dozen.com

Lifestyle

The Seizure A holiday from health – the piecing together of memory, and how recollection and re-telling might be compromised, and the implications this has for our version of a journey…

Words: Scott Campbell lllustration: Kim Thompson

he sharp and jagged pain to the rear of my tongue really only emerged as I half-sat, halflay on a hospital bed-cum-trolley in the corridor adjacent to the A&E department. Affixed by an as yet unexplained fatigue to the bed, I was also gingerly resuming acquaintance with most of my autonomic responses. It’s worth mentioning that at roughly the same time that the pain climbed its own scale of discomfort, I alighted upon the collected tombstone silhouettes of the hospital trolleys’ bed heads. It was a strange and yet delicate sensation as flaps of skin flit over the surface of my teeth, as if an errant piece of food had become stuck there. Despite the general viscosity of the skin on our tongues, they are nonetheless tautly affixed to the organ itself – as with any other part of our upper dermis. Alongside this ailment, one of the fingers on my left hand had swollen slightly in direct physical counterpoint to the pain emanating from it. My calves too were stiff and sore. I was bedevilled by numerous sources and types of pain, each unique to the limb, protuberance or digit that was its source. My lips felt dry, and the skin on my face rather pinched. I could almost feel the friction of my eyelids against the surface of my eyes. My brain felt as if it had shrunk to a quarter of its size, and was now bashing around my parched skull. The resultant headache was the one ailment directly medicated during the course of my hospital visit, as the young doctor attending me dispensed a pair of clunky, chalky aspirin. I had been relatively lucid – or: recently returned to lucidity – for about an hour by this stage, and had talked at length to the paramedics who retrieved and admitted me. Had the doctor examining me not queried as to whether I had bitten my tongue, there is every chance that I would not have volunteered it. As it was, this was apparently – no pun intended – the clincher so far as my diagnosis was concerned. The pain, over a week later, was still occasionally sharp and severe depending on the temperature of the food imbibed. The confusion that I was most definitely still in recovery from could be cured only by insight, and the reflection afforded me by memory. How exactly did I end up here…? A couple of hours earlier, in the back of an ambulance, a male voice had demanded, “Do you know why you’re here?” fairly insistently. He repeated the question, primed no doubt by my vacant demeanour, for little in the way of insight from the patient. This brief interrogation gave way to a minor personal reverie as I took in the apparatus surrounding me. It is often claimed of Presidential (and Prime-Ministerial) bunkers that such is the infrastructural network contained within, whole wars can be waged and managed from one. Ambulances may be constrained by their dimensions, but the sheer variety of ailments and conditions that they are equipped to deal with – to staunch, to splint, to revive – is never far from one’s attention, no matter the state of confusion one might be in. “Do. You. Know. Why. You’re. Here?” A female voice this time, though less questioning than designed to command my errant focus – the explanation hot on its heels: “You were found running around in circles; you didn’t know where you were/what you were doing.” I continued to glance between the faces of the (three, in total) paramedics, my gaze alighting on some tube or tourniquet. I may at this point have mumblingly interjected that I did not indeed

Lifestyle

know, or that I didn’t understand. The fact was that I didn’t understand anything that was happening. One faceless soul volunteered the fact that many runners wear bands or some form of neck-wear bearing details of any prevailing health ‘issues,’ or emergency contact details. This catalysed my own sense of alarm, and momentarily sharpened my focus. “This has never happened before,” I stammered, or something to this effect. I padded around my midriff for possessions that I must presumably have left the flat with. Reassured by the percussive jangle of my house keys, I told them my name, and there was a palpable release of tension as I was addressed as ‘Scott’ where previously I was but a nameless and wholly unwilling convict of unexplained circumstance. Am I a student? Do I have a job? What do I do for a living? Am I supposed to be at work just now? The sheer variety of likely, and probable, responses to these queries returned me to massconfusion. How many were put to me by the paramedics, and which merely flitted across my mind I cannot at this stage recall with any confidence. Before long, it was deemed appropriate to take me to A&E, and I readily complied. As a regular runner, it is easy for various jaunts to simply blend into one. By dint of their number and steady accumulation there is, for each run, a stealth to their various quirks and features; they are, though, all different. Even if one deploys the same route, one is unlikely to feel the same, or to run at an identical pace and time. My run that day was notable in that I only managed to cover the first couple of kilometres of a (planned) longer run… Back in the ambulance, lunacy jockeyed with lucidity on the journey to the hospital. There were snatched conversations with the two female paramedics about running in general, and races ran and entered, interspersed with snippets of recollection and reflection as to the event which instigated my own admittance.

The paramedic who squired me from the ambulance to the entrance of the Accident and Emergency department stated that the couple who had found me claimed I was speaking “gibberish – as if a foreign language.” I assured her that I speak no other language fluently, though these comments did fleetingly raise the possibility that my episode may have afforded me a savant-like, near-perfect command of a foreign tongue.

“How exactly did I end up here…?” The clinical aroma that shrouds one’s apperception of the frailty on show lingers in the memory. One wonders if actual doctors and nurses can ever completely free themselves from this psychological anchor. Appropriately enough, it is this smell that attends my own memory of the mooted diagnosis: I had suffered a seizure roughly ten minutes after leaving home. A relatively healthy person, I had never previously battled any health issue beside the odd tweak or strain as befits/befalls the average runner. Suddenly I was on an altogether less secure footing so far as my own health and functioning were concerned. There is a hallucinogenic aspect to my recollections of the seizure itself. I can remember brief impressions and sensations that flitted across my mind’s eye (or mind’s ear; or mind’s extremity) though they are mere synaesthesic snapshots that defy any attempt at re-ordering, or channelling into some kind of storyline. There were flashes of light; the brush of a branch (or bush) as my hand mis-gropes in attempting to break a fall; voices of others eliding with mumbled replies from me. Back in A&E, now ensconced in a room of my own, I was permitted a moment of privacy to

TRAVEL

relieve myself. Having taken on a fair bit of water during the course of the day, my bladder was now full; mercifully so, I ought to add: it is not uncommon for minor bouts of incontinence to afflict the seizure patient. This aspect of my hydration levels was at odds with my other symptoms as various muscles seemed to be on the verge of cramping up. A vial of my blood was ferried away for analysis, and I occupied myself by pacing around my temporary commode in my hospital gown – a loose-fitting, backless number. Alone for a while, I attempted to re-gather the scattered jigsaw pieces of memory. When attempting to imprint a timeline on otherwise abstract sensations, the logical step is – as with frayed wool or thread – to look for a starting point. I can just about remember walking out the door at the foot of my stairwell, I think. Was I recalling That Day’s exit, or merely another identikit run? I would like to think that I can recall jogging downhill onto the walkway beside the River Kelvin. But these final, pre-seizure and ‘conscious’ steps are sufficiently embedded to preclude divorcing any one instance from the multitude. One is left instead with piecing together the story from the shards of recollection that emerged from this shattering of sanity, and attempting to weave backwards from the tendrils of impressions that occurred in the ambulance and, later on, in the hospital. Shortly before being discharged, an elderly female patient and I were afforded the luxury of a visit to the TV area where Question Time was showing. My concentration had not yet recovered to normal levels, though I would, without hesitation, question the holistic appeal of the political squabbling on show. I was eventually released with an assurance that I could expect to be referred to a seizure clinic. At home, in bed, weariness and an adrenal exhilaration were my companions as I lay awake, my psyche like a fist recently clenched, though eventually relaxed; mercifully fatigued by the effort spent.

THE SKINNY

Gimme Sugar Can’t ignore that craving? Chances are the sweet treat you’re daydreaming about has been engineered to make it as difficult to give up as possible. A trainee nutritionist explains

Words: Alicia Wooding

Food News Yet more openings – Slims Pork Chop Express and Hawksmoor – plus the return of Dig the City and further excuses to drink craft beer Words: Jamie Faulkner

or me, it’s chocolate. There’s something about chocolate that means I don’t seem to be able to get though a week without it – and the minute I decide that I’m cutting back, the cravings creep in. That overwhelming urge to devour the item of fixation. As a nutritionist (to be) with a degree in psychology, you might think I’d have a rational thought process to overcome desires for unhealthy treats. But I’m not sure there is an easy way to ignore cravings. Let me explain. Normally, our bodies are very clever at regulating food consumption. We feel hungry when our stomach is empty, or blood sugar levels are low and a hormone called ghrelin is released to tell the brain to look for food. But we don’t always eat out of necessity; sometimes it’s purely a gastronomic indulgence. Eating is enjoyable because there are areas in the brain that are stimulated by the sight, smell and taste of food, and release hormones (such as dopamine) that make us feel good. Scientists refer to these areas as ‘reward circuits’, because the hormonal release encourages us to repeat the pleasurable behaviour – forming a feel-good feedback loop. Interestingly, these brain areas have also been shown to be involved in drug addiction. Professor Paul Kenny, a neuroscientist at The Scripps Research Institute in Florida, has published several papers on how food influences the reward circuitry of the brain. He claims that overeating ‘highly palatable’ foods causes brain activation similar to what is seen during drug use – and of those highly palatable foodstuffs, the most addictive in his studies were high in both fat and sugar. His lab rats even endured electric shock to carry on eating their tasty morsels instead of moving to the danger-free zone, showing just how powerful the pleasure of food can be in overriding our sense of judgement. Cravings feed

August 2014

on these hedonistic brain mechanisms, compelling us to seek out a certain food because we can anticipate its associated pleasure.

“Endless research goes into perfecting the sensory experience of foods to make consumers desire them” Chocolate, then, ranks so highly on the craving scale as it is one of these highly palatable blends of sugar (glucose) and fat. Glucose is absorbed into the blood, quickly giving the brain a fast energy buzz, and the addition of fat creates the creamy texture that makes chocolate feel so good to eat. This combination is not present in natural foods, so the brain gets overwhelmed with excitement and encourages us to seek the experience again. Food manufacturers put a lot of effort into exploiting cravings. Endless research goes into perfecting the sensory experience of foods to make consumers desire them. Michael Moss, a journalist at the New York Times, spent years digging behind the scenes at major food corporations to find out how they capture the sensory

pleasures we seek. From the crunch of crisps to the bliss of melting chocolate, food scientists have tweaked their creations to perfection. This explains why we are far more likely to crave manufactured foods (like crisps) than their natural derivatives (potatoes); they have been designed to deliver immediate gratification with optimised texture and flavour combinations. Despite all this, there are some odd cravings that can’t be explained by palatability. For example, during pregnancy women sometimes experience ‘pica’ – an appetite for non-nutritious items such as ice, but also inedible substances like coal. In these cases, it seems that the texture or ‘mouthfeel’ of the items may be driving the craving. The condition is pretty baffling, even to doctors, but may be linked to chemical or neurological imbalances during pregnancy. The overwhelming, and sometimes confusing, nature of cravings suggests they could have stemmed from an evolutionary mechanism driving us to seek specific foods in times of need. But as our access to a variety of food has increased considerably, modern cravings are likely to be working on purely pleasure principles. Humans are pleasure seekers, and food is, for those of us in more fortunate situations, one of the easiest pleasures to access (perhaps too pleasurable and easy). Ultimately, it’s hard to ignore cravings because they feed off our most powerful drivers: the need for food, and the desire for pleasure. Of course, a little of what you fancy can be satisfying within a balanced diet – if you remember your greens in abundance and your cakes in moderation, occasionally indulging cravings is fine. Just maybe avoid that extreme end of gnawing on coal... For the referenced article, visit theskinny.co.uk/food

FOOD AND DRINK

h the paradox of choice! There are so many new openings on the near and distant horizons that the thorny question “Where shall we go to eat?” is going to become even more fraught with indecision. Still, rather that than some dystopian future where we eat the same amorphous white gloop day after day. It begins with Hawksmoor. Those who don’t pay much attention to the capital or bovinebased menus will likely never have heard of the superlative London steakhouse, whose offerings caused Giles Coren to say: ‘The best steak you’ll find anywhere.’ He’s probably 90% correct and they’re coming to Deansgate, Manchester, in 2015. For more meat-centricity, see Cane and Grain, occupying the former premises of Thomas in the Northern Quarter. Ribs are the culinary focus, but as the name implies, the USP is really rum and whisk(e)y. Liverpool isn’t lagging far behind in the race for peak restaurant. The guys behind El Bandito, Santa Chupito, 83 LTD and Salt Dog Slims are on the verge of launching Slims Pork Chop Express on Seel Street, much to the chagrin of pigs everywhere. That said, it’s a smokehouse-cum-BBQjoint with more to it than just pork. For those who want something distinctly more European, Cargo restaurant are bringing a taste of the Med to Princes Dock (minus the weather we can assume). Their Twitter bio claims they’re bringing a “brand new dining concept” to the city; we’re confused as to how a restaurant bar and deli is a new concept, but by Jove we’re intrigued.

Beermoth and Marble Arch

And, to round things off, a handful of events. Dead Crafty Beer – a pop-up craft beer bar – are coming to Liverpool in various venues (“disused shops, old warehouses”) and will even be offering themselves up for private catering (@DeadCraftyBeer). Mad Hatter and Liverpool Craft Beer Co. will be among the offerings as well as beer from other small independents. Two of Manchester’s favourite beery institutions, Beermoth and Marble Arch are joining forces, with the latter offering a unique five-course tasting menu at their pub and the former curating the beer selection (15-17 Aug). Urban gardening festival Dig the City also returns this month (2-10 Aug). We’ve heard from the horse’s mouth, aka CityCo, that the event will be a step up from last year’s – we’re looking forward to the giant garden games on King Street and ‘The Hanging Gardens of Manchester’.

Lifestyle

Albion

rrrrr Ye Olde English grub from Steven Burgess I first tasted Steven Burgess’s food at Liverpool’s Summercamp festival last year, back when the Liverpudlian chef was responsible for Camp and Furnace’s culinary output. Along with a singular performance from Ghostpoet, his No Knives or Forks banquet became one of the lasting impressions of the event. We diners tore, sucked and bit our way through tactile-friendly dishes of langoustines, giant scotch eggs, venison parfait macarons, and a whole suckling pig. It was messy, fun, exciting. Now Burgess has parted ways with Camp and Furnace to launch his own venture in a much more diminutive setting, on a quiet street in the heart of residential Crosby. Albion is, given the name, preoccupied with British food, reviving historical dishes much like Blumenthal has done but, we assume, with significantly less anal retentiveness. On the menu a column of dates run alongside the dishes harking back to the 1100s. The only creation to come from this century is the Albion’s take on a fish pie. The wall behind the bar bears the Old English words for ‘welcome’. John Tams comes over the speakers. As befits such a gamut of British cuisine, this is an almost unambiguously hearty affair: suet puddings, corned beef hash, fish and chips, jam roly-poly. Many dishes that have stood the test of time, known to generations young and old. So, to Crosby on a miserable, slanty-rained afternoon for some toothsome grub. To get things underway, some pork dustings with sticky gentleman’s relish; the title of dustings seems a little generous for what are properly crunchy, traditional scratchings. Still, in turns pleasingly salty and ever so slightly sweet, the only regret was not ordering a beer to wash them down with. (Red wine is no match.) The starter special of haggis fritters with pickled neeps is spot on: well seasoned and presented, the sour swede attenuates the rich offal. The Coronation ‘Road’ Chicken is a joy to behold: dots of coconut

mayo, red slivers of chilli, plump raisins and chicken skin are judiciously placed. The flavours are all nicely delineated but the dry, compressed cylinder of chicken would have benefited from more lubrication. Mains, however, are a resounding success. The fish special, lemon sole with wild mushrooms and crispy kale, is wonderfully simple. It’s earthy, ozone-y and, considering the whole fish is served, fantastic value at £16. The beef shin falls apart seductively to reveal silky strands of meat, well complemented by the shredded bacon and crispy potato, and finished with a frankly decadent Balmoral sauce. A holy trinity of mushrooms, whisky and cream. So good we asked our waiter to write down an approximate recipe. So good we poured it over the remains of the sole too. Portion sizes are such that most appetites will be able to stomach a pudding. Cold apple pie and the ‘Poor Knights of Windsor’ (eggy bread with jam and cinder toffee) come recommended so we acquiesce. They both hit the mark, a minor quibble being the astringency of the jam. The evening of our visit, a tweet from the Albion Twitter account – after a fully-booked evening service – reads: ‘Thanks to our diners last night, we really do appreciate everyone’s support. We’ve got lots of things to improve on and we will get better.’ The honesty is encouraging. Certainly there are some flaws, but these are sure to be ironed out in the coming months if the team remains receptive to criticism. After all, they’ve been open a matter of weeks. Which perhaps explains why the restaurant is practically empty on this particular afternoon. It ought not to be. Listing their address on their website might help. [Jamie Faulkner] If you liked Albion, try: The Rose Garden, Manchester The London Carriage Works, Liverpool The French, Manchester Albion, 55 Coronation Road, Crosby, L23 3BW @albion_kitchen / @albion_crosby www.albionrestaurants.co.uk

Cane & Grain

rrrrr

The Northern Quarter gets itself a new threestory drinking den where you can relax on Chesterfield sofas and sip classic cocktails. As for food: we hope you like ribs Cane & Grain is the latest in the procession of Northern Quarter (and further afield for that matter) bars and restaurants to take inspiration from the good old US of A. The focus happens to be ‘rum, ribs, bourbon and beer,’ which, as focuses go, isn’t a bad selection at all. The bar is the brainchild of the folks behind Black Dog Ballroom and The Liar’s Club, which reside at the apex of Manchester’s late-night bars. That is to say, these guys have plenty of experience in making places that consistently draw a crowd, and this latest offering shows their experience of tapping into what their customers want and not holding back on the delivery. The bar itself is split over three floors, each with very different themes. The top floor wasn’t open on our visit, although a quick nosy revealed that the ‘Liars Lounge’ is more than just a nod to the aforementioned Liars Club. It will presumably more than cover the rum element, considering that Liars Club boasts over 100 different rums, matched by an array of predominantly rum-based cocktails. The middle floor is easily the most appealing of the three, unashamedly going for an all-out speakeasy/smoking lounge vibe, complete with mahogany panelling and Chesterfield sofas. Its back bar also has a really impressive range of spirits and the menu doesn’t shy away from the classic cocktails, still too rare in Manchester. All the better, as the decor is crying out for Martinis

Review

and Negronis. We eat on the ground floor and therefore spend the majority of our time downstairs. It’s here that the place is weakest. The layout plays homage to legendary Northern Quarter skate shop Cast but feels a bit overdone; too many different feature walls make the whole place feel hectic. The self-referential graffiti in the toilets feels too much as well. Even try-hard perhaps. Moving on to the ribs, though. In case you were unaware, Cane & Grain specialises in ribs. Really specialises in them. As in they only do ribs. Well, ribs and sides. Unsurprisingly, we go for ribs: the ‘dino’ rib with porter beer sauce and the baby backs with orange chipotle sauce, dill pickles and truffle mac’n’cheese on the side. My dino rib is great both theatrically (think Fred

Flintstone) and in flavour. A big rib, it is texturally varied, from giving and soft to chewy and crunchy as the meat thins out further up the bone. The sauce isn’t excessively sweet either, a stumbling block for many barbecue sauces. The truffle mac’n’cheese is rich and moreish. The baby backs I am assured are “really nice,” although would be a little lacking as a meal without the sides. The beer selection is fairly standard now for the Northern Quarter – which isn’t to say it’s bad, but it’s obvious that the drink passion really extends more toward the rum and bourbons. To counteract my sticking to beer, my partner grabs the cocktail menu and picks the basil and coconut smash: vibrant from the basil and lime, the latter nicely balanced by the sweet coconut rum. Cane & Grain will inevitably be busy come

FOOD AND DRINK

the weekend – they’ve covered more than enough bases to ensure a broad appeal. However, it may benefit from a little time to find its own identity as a bar rather than trying so hard to assert itself in an area brimming with good competition. [Joseph Mountain] If you liked Cane & Grain, try: Dog Bowl, Manchester Salt Dog Slims, Liverpool The Liars Club, Manchester Cane & Grain, 49-51 Thomas Street, Manchester, M4 1NA @CaneAndGrain

THE SKINNY

EVEN MONDAYS HAVE A SILVER LINING

Beer. Ale. Wine. Food.

9 the green, chorlton, m21 9hs 0161 860 7794 | info@horseandjockeychorlton.com

www.horseandjockeychorlton.com

August 2014

Unit 1A Great Northern Tower 1 Watson Street Manchester M3 4EE 0161 819 5167 www.tapsbar.co.uk

28-34 HIGH ST, NORTHERN QUARTER, MANCHESTER, M4 1QB

THERUBYLOUNGE.COM H @THERUBYLOUNGE H @CLASSICSLUM H CLASSICSLUM.COM

HHHHHH

PUMP UP THE JAM: BACK 2 THE 90’S FROM THE HOWLING RHYTHM TEAM EVERY 1ST FRIDAY (FROM SEPTEMBER) REMAKE REMODEL: THE NATION’S SAVING GRACE OF ALTERNATIVE ROCK’N’ROLL EVERY 1ST SATURDAY THIS FEELING: THE UK’S MOST ROCK’N’ROLL NIGHT OUT EVERY 2ND FRIDAY POP CURIOUS?: IT’S POP MUSIC. PLAYED LOUD EVERY 2ND SATURDAY HOWLING RHYTHM: 60s SOUL + MOTOWN + GRITTY RHYTHM & BLUES + FUNK EVERY 3RD SATURDAY BBC MANCHESTER INTRODUCING LIVE - THE VERY FINEST BRAND NEW BANDS FROM MANCHESTER & HEREABOUTS QUARTERLY EVERY LAST FRIDAY ADV TICKETS TICKETLINE: 0161 832 1111 H TICKETLINE.CO.UK SEE TICKETS: 0870 264 3333 H SEETICKETS.COM AND OVER THE COUNTER AT THE SUPERB PICCADILLY RECORDS, OLDHAM ST, MANCHESTER

Wednesday 10 September

NOW WAVE PRESENTS

GRUFF RHYS Saturday 20 September

JAMES RHODES Sunday 21 September

WITH

CLAIRE MARTIN THE MONTPELLIER

CELLO QUARTET

Saturday 27 September

IAN HUNTER &

THE RANT BAND Tuesday 7 October

MUGENKYO TAIKO

DRUMMERS Friday 10 October

DHP AND HEY! MANCHESTER PRESENT

CLINT MANSELL Wednesday 22 October

MUSIC THEATRE WALES

PHILIP GLASS’

The rise of Christopher Taylor – born and raised pint, simply head along to theskinny.co.uk/about/ in London but now spending the majority of his competitions and correctly answer the following time perfecting his craft in Vienna – has been lit- question: tle short of astonishing. Starting 2012 as a virtual unknown, Taylor put out his debut EP, The Wheel, What day of the week is SOHN playing in the February of that year under the name Manchester? SOHN. Creating his own electronic soundscape, the release was distinctive enough to cut through A) Monday the noise and earn him a deal with seminal indie B) Wednesday label 4AD – through which he released follow-up C) Sohnday singles Bloodflow and Lessons last year, before putting out his debut LP, Tremors, in early 2014. An instant hit, Tremors has proved to be an increasingly rare album – something that has managed to be both an enormous critical and commercial success. SOHN makes his Manchester debut with his show at Gorilla on 17 Sep. For your chance to win a pair of tickets plus a meal for two consisting of burger (beef, lamb or veggie) and fries, served with a

Competition closes midnight Sun 31 Aug. 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 Ts&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/ about/terms More info: sohnmusic.com nowwave.co.uk thisisgorilla.com

THE TRIAL Win tickets to THE FALL OF THE Liverpool Psych Fest! Thursday 30 October

HOUSE OF USHER

SCREENING WITH LIVE SCORE Friday 31 October

RNCM BIG BAND JULIAN JOSEPH

WITH

JULY 31: CLASSIC SLUM present GUITAR WOLF + guests BONES SHAKE + HOPPER PROPELLED ELECTRIC AUG 1: THE MOODS ALBUM LAUNCH PARTY + guests TOM HINGLEY + THE JOINT + DIRTY NORTH + LITTLE RACH + HOSTED BY JB BARRINGTON (aka WORDS ESCAPE ME) AUG 2: ’68 (EX THE CHARIOT) + guests IN ARCHIVES + KEEPER + ONE DOWN AUG 6: FCUM RADIO SUMMER PROMS featuring HEY BULLDOG + GIDEON CONN + THROW THEM BONES + BEES OF BURDEN + MARV WILLERS + KELLI BLANCHET AUG 13: SIRENS & SAILORS + guests TO KILL ACHILLES + ARCHETYPE + BEARING LOSS AUG 13: CLASSIC SLUM present SPEEDY ORTIZ + guests HAPPYNESS @ THE CLUNY / NEWCASTLE AUG 15: THE COURTESANS + guests SEARU + HARDTAIL AUG 14: MND ASSOCIATION CHARITY SHOW featuring LIINES + THE HURTFUL TAUNTS + PEAK PRACTICE AUG 16: A NORTHERN CONTRIBUTION featuring TWISTER + WE ARE SAVIOURS + RELIGION OF TOMORROW AUG 18: CLASSIC SLUM present PROTOMARTYR + guests DÉJÀ VEGA AUG 21: ALICE GASSON ‘WE WON’T LET GO’ SINGLE LAUNCH PARTY AUG 23: THE MINX AUG 26: ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO UFO AUG 30: ARCANE FLUX + guests RELAY D’VERB + DIRTY JESUS + THE JALAPENO HOMBRES SEPT 2: LIAM FINN SEPT 6: THE LOST 37 + ZILOV GAPS + THE UNASSISTED + CREEK SEPT 8: THE GHOST OF A SABER TOOTH TIGER (featuring SEAN LENNON + CHARLOTTE KEMP MUHL) SEPT 13: XFM X-POSURE featuring BENJAMIN BOOKER + BROWN BROGUES + MAN MADE + XFM DJ JOHN KENNEDY SEPT 19: CLASSIC SLUM present RAE MORRIS @ THE DEAF INSTITUTE SEPT 20: CLASSIC SLUM present INCA BABIES + A WITNESS + THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD (ACOUSTIC SET) SEPT 23: CLASSIC SLUM present RAE MORRIS @ THE CLUNY / NEWCASTLE SEPT 24: CLASSIC SLUM present ANGEL OLSEN @ THE CLUNY / NEWCASTLE SEPT 25: SPEAR OF DESTINY ’31 (THIRTY-ONE)’ UK TOUR + guests DAVID R BLACK SEPT 26: SNUFF SEPT 27: DARLIA SEPT 30: CLASSIC SLUM present BESNARD LAKES OCT 2: THE IN CROWD featuring SLYDIGS + CLOCK TOWER + VENDETTAS OCT 3: BLACK SUBMARINE OCT 4: CLASSIC SLUM + MILK present BROKEN MEN + NATALIE MCCOOL OCT 6: ELIZA AND THE BEAR OCT 11: A NORTHERN CONTRIBUTION featuring SHAKEDOWN STOCKHOLM + VANDETTES + BLACK SONIC REVOLVER OCT 12: MAMA’S GUN OCT 16: CLASSIC SLUM present DANNY & THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD + guests TREVOR MOSS & HANNAH LOU OCT 18: VIRGIL AND THE ACCELERATORS + guests BLACK CIRCLES OCT 24: NICK HARPER OCT 28: BEN WATT TRIO OCT 31: IAN MCNABB (FULL BAND SHOW) NOV 1: CLASSIC SLUM present CUD NOV 6: KILL IT KID + guests GALLERY CIRCUS NOV 8: TIGERSIDE NOV 9: ELECTRIC MARY NOV 10: TRANS AM + guests PLANK NOV 12: FEROCIOUS DOG NOV 18: THE ORDINARY BOYS NOV 22: THE SENSIBLE GRAY CELLS (feat CAPTAIN SENSIBLE + PAUL GRAY from THE DAMNED) NOV 24: CLASSIC SLUM present BEANS ON TOAST @ THE CLUNY / NEWCASTLE NOV 27: BEANS ON TOAST

Win a night out to see SOHN at Gorilla!

THE ATOMIC MR BASIE

Saturday 1 November

THE FULL ENGLISH

Tuesday 4 November

JOANNE SHAW

TAYLOR Friday 7 November

ROGER MCGUINN /rncmlive

/rncmvoice

RNCM 124 OXFORD ROAD MANCHESTER M13 9RD

Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia is a pan-continental celebration of audio-futurists, operating at the bleeding edge of today’s psychedelic renaissance. On 26-27 Sep, the festival will welcome a congregation of 5000 to the warehouses of the Baltic Triangle in what the Guardian declared 'the psychedelic capital of Europe.' Headliners Goat, Woods and Suuns lead a truly international bill, with label showcases from Rocket, PNKSLM and Sonic Cathedral, unique art installations, spoken word and film programmes, plus a pop-up shop from Manchester's Piccadilly Records. If you're not one of our lucky winners, then weekend tickets are still available at www.liverpoolpsychfest.com/info/#section01 But to be in with a chance of winning a pair of weekend tickets, simply head along to

COMPETITIONS

theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and correctly answer the following question: Liverpool Psych Fest headliners Goat release their highly anticipated new album the week of the festival. But what was the name of their classic 2012 debut? A) Psych Music B) World Music C) Good Music Competition closes midnight Sun 31 Aug. 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 Ts&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/ about/terms More info: liverpoolpsychfest.com Tickets: liverpoolpsychfest.com/info/#section01 facebook.com/LiverpoolPsychFest @LPoolPsychFest

THE SKINNY

Festival Watch

Gig Highlights Get out of the sweaty sun and into the cool dark of our best gig venues to see the likes of Action Beat, Pissed Jeans and Lower. If it’s sun you’re after though, we’re praying for plenty at our Do Not Miss event

Field trippin'

Words: Simon Jay Catling

Melt Yourself Down

Kate Tempest

their Gorilla gig. The two acts have much in common, with both coming from DIY scenes either side of the pond. Whereas the Leeds five-piece revel in elongated repetition, though, the Sub Pop-signed Pennsylvanians’ scything punk hasn’t an ounce of fat on it. It was as recently as May that Gruff Rhys was in Liverpool, for SoundCity. However, so enjoyable was his deftly witty, PowerPoint-aided solo trawl through latest record American Interior – about the life of Welsh explorer John Evans – that a return to Merseyside at Camp and Furnace on 15 Aug is welcome news indeed. Only a couple of notable gigs within the M60 remain, before Liverpool really takes over. Known to swell to lineups that include four drummers and six guitarists, Action Beat are a nightmare for sound techs but riotous fun for everyone else. Playing Kraak on 16 Aug for their tenth-anniversary tour, the rhythm-heavy noise group are a must-see. On 17 Aug, meanwhile, the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra play Band on the Wall as they celebrate what would have been the 100th year of their late great bandleader, Sun Ra. To Liverpool. The Kazimier host a triple-whammy of rock’n’roll depravity on 18 Aug, in the form of Californian slacker-psych group Growlers, the ramshackle grot-pop of Fat White Family and

fuzzy Heavenly signings The Wytches. Good luck cleaning up the backstage after that. August 23-25 heralds Liverpool International Music Festival’s free Summer Jam event, featuring the seminal, err, Shaggy. However, away from the main stage the lineup blossoms, with local freakout merchants Clinic, Ninja Tune rapper Kate Tempest and Scottish leftfield innovator Rustie all worth your time. If none of that suits, then head to the Kazimier on 24 Aug and immerse yourself in the psychedelic reel of nomadic sonic explorers Acid Mothers Temple. The Kazimier have a busy summer programme in their Garden again too, and this month’s pick is undoubtedly Shangaan Electro forbearer Nozinja on 27 Aug. ‘World music’ is a patronising term, but the South Africanborn producer’s sound really does trawl the globe, as well taking in native Tsonga disco and Kwaito house. The peerless St. Vincent, this issue’s cover star, sees out the month, playing the O2 Academy in Liverpool on 28 Aug, arguably in the live form of her life. Continuing to promote the fantasy pop of her self-titled LP, Annie Clark’s hyperchoreographed show is mesmerising, while she’s also unafraid to add some real guitar clout to counteract her dreamier side. See? Being outside’s rubbish.

Do Not Miss Beacons Festival Heslaker Farm, Skipton, 7-10 Aug

eing flooded out at your first attempt would probably be enough to send most new festival bookers running. However, the team behind Beacons have persevered and gradually built themselves a reputation as one of the most carefully-curated events in the summer music calendar. Unlike other festivals, where the financial demands of big headliners can leave a paucity of talent underneath, the quality of Beacons’ lineup is evenly spread. Towards the top of the bill there’s the likes of post-punk veterans The Fall, the spatial guitar pop of Daughter and Darkside’s brilliant union of techno and more textural exploration. Elsewhere there’s a strong

August 2014

Golden Teacher

punk bite to proceedings, with Sub-Pop power trio Metz, local guttural guitar group Eagulls and melodic fuzz-pop troupe Joanna Gruesome all dropping in over the weekend. Where the festival really impresses, though, is in the diversity of its electronically-minded lineup. From the live euphoria of Glasgow’s

Golden Teacher and Leeds’ Galaxians, to renowned DJs like Erol Alkan and Andrew Weatherall (here with his project A Love From Outer Space) and the evolutionary techno of Jon Hopkins, everything is geared up for a party – one no amount of rain can stop. [Simon Jay Catling]

MUSIC

Photo: Katherine Leedale

he sun’s overrated; it leaves you a sodden, sweaty mess, results in sunburn and causes endless showering following any slight activity – and then how much sun will you really get? Not much, what with all that showering you’ll be doing – best to stay inside and watch the following instead. The rise of FKA twigs has been so sudden that anyone who knew her when she was simply known as ‘Twigs’ is a downright liar. The most hyped thing to come out of Gloucestershire since their world-famous cheese-rolling competition, a pair of delicately manipulated R’n’B EPs on Young Turks suggest that we should be quite excited about her playing the Dancehouse in Manchester on 30 Jul. One band who’ll never need an ‘FKA’ in front of their name are London-based repeatoindustrialists Shit and Shine. The sort of fellows to gleefully bludgeon you with the same sledgehammer hook until you either give in or give up, they’re joined by the similarly wired Gnod at the Roadhouse on 3 Aug. Manchester dominates the first half of August’s calendar – on 6 Aug, new Matador signings Lower mix taut post-punk with Leonard Cohen-esque poetry at The Castle, in support of debut LP Seek Warmer Climes. The night after that (7 Aug) sees Joan Wasser’s Joan As Police Woman play Gorilla. Twelve years into her solo project and the former violin-specialising punk still fizzes with the energy of a fresh-faced newbie. New record The Classic is an irrepressibly colourful mix of orchestral soul and retro pop. Liverpool really gets going towards the back of the month, but stalwart promoters EVOL break cover on 9 Aug for their annual FestEvol. Headliners among an array of local talent at the Kazimier include the off-kilter dream pop of Stealing Sheep and Bird. By the Sea also play ahead of the release of debut LP Endless Days, Crystal Sky. Back in Manchester, new night PurpleSky launches in style at the Roadhouse on 12 Aug, with the help of Sweden’s Sad Boys. The Sad Boys come fronted by teen rapper Yung Lean, who stylistically sits somewhere between Odd Future and Clams Casino, and he’s fond of creating cavernous synth-led soundscapes to underpin his words. Moody. Hookworms are back on 14 Aug, but this time as support to the mighty Pissed Jeans at

f Beacons – see our rundown, left – leaves you wanting more, why not just spend five days leisurely making the short journey from Skipton to Ilkley and stay on for the debut Fieldtrip, 15-17 Aug? It’s 15 minutes in the car like, but you could just walk really really slowly. With a harder-hitting dance lineup from a coalition of local party legends including Back to Basics (Leeds), Mute! and PlayitDown (Manchester), it’s not for the fainthearted, so it’ll depend how replenished you feel – but that week in the Yorkshire Dales camping out beneath the stars should’ve done the trick. Ben UFO, Boddika and Francis Inferno Orchestra join the real Todd Terry, not that Terje bloke, for the sickest lineup you are ever going to find on Addingham Moor (baht ’at). There’s also Levon Vincent, Prosumer, and a live set from Mo Kolours for more lift-offs than LeedsBradford airport. Lancashire’s Cloudspotting festival is as pleasant as you’d imagine something with a family area named Cloud Cuckoo Land – and run by a team called Playhappy – would be. Views down the Ribble Valley, reasonably priced microbrewery beers and food from the well-loved Honest Crust Pizza and TukTuk Cafe are the order of the day (well, three days, 1-3 Aug). Happily, the lineup avoids the schmaltzier end of the folk spectrum and brings in Northwest acts who’re a bit weirder ’round the edges – Kiran Leonard, Denis Jones, Plank! – as well as favourites of our Scotland sister paper, Kid Canaveral. More of our Northern brethren head down in the form of Randolph’s Leap, Pictish Trail and the recently Josie Longsporting Tuff Love; elsewhere, Liz Green’s oaksmoked, timewarped vocals are always welcome, Cate Le Bon and Melt Yourself Down headline, and elder Mancunians will no doubt make room for the raspy verbosity of I Am Kloot’s John Bramwell. All in all, it’s an attractive option that weekend if you’re not heading to the reliably fussfree Kendal Calling, which is already sold out. Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF) spans the latter half of the month (13-31 Aug) with a lineup that tries to be something to everyone; where it succeeds is with the International Emerging Sounds Stage, which hosts Kanye collaborator Evian Christ, Ninja Tune poet Kate Tempest and prodigal producer Rustie alongside Iceland’s Hjaltalín, and the BristolTrinidad duo Jus Now, whose triumphant mixes of soca and UK bass we’ve been rinsing in the tropical heat of The Skinny office while putting this issue together. The festival starts on 13 Aug but that stage runs 23-25; the Quietus’s ‘Minor Characters’ strand of LIMF’s Commissions programme also commands a look, with Luke Abbott, Forest Swords and East India Youth all contributing new pieces to a live event and exhibition at the Kazimier on 29 Aug.

Cloudspotting, Stephen Park, Gisburn Forest, Slaidburn, Lancashire, 1-3 Aug, £80 adult weekend camping, www.cloudspotting-festival.co.uk Fieldtrip Festival, High House Farm, Addingham, Ilkley, 15-17 Aug, £85 adult weekend camping, www.fieldtripfestival.co.uk Liverpool International Music Festival, 13-31 Aug, www.limfestival.com

Preview

Photo: Cat Stevens

Words: Laura Swift

Album of the Month The Bug

Angels & Devils Ninja Tune, 25 Aug

rrrrr

This isn’t the Bug album you are expecting. By splitting the album in two, Kevin Martin addresses some big themes and shows himself to be a producer of remarkable depth and sophistication, eclipsing even the seminal London Zoo in the process. Grouper’s Liz Harris is up first, with the ethereal, shoegazing dub of Void, a track that feels like drifting in amniotic bliss, removed from reality. Fall is more recognisably Bug territory – “Tell me the story of your city,” trills Inga Copeland over a brooding bass riff and clattering, muted percussion. Instrumentals Ascension and Pandi

explore densely atmospheric realms, hinting at a placid calm beneath raging surface tension, sensed but unseen. Save Me, featuring Gonjasufi, is the crossing point, a mournful dirge, the placing of a coin in the old boatman’s hand. On the other side of the river we are plunged into inferno, as Killa P and Flowdan murder a rhythm that is half ringtone, half machine gun; a blast of ferocity. Fuck A Bitch, featuring Death Grips, matches it with a defiant attitude as exciting as it is illicit. Function, featuring Manga, is the sound of broken machines, both organic and mechanical. On Angels & Devils, Kevin Martin pushes farther and harder than ever before – and it’s his strangest ideas which beguile the most. [Bram E. Gieben] www.ninjatune.net/us/artist/the-bug

J Mascis

Owl John

Benjamin Booker

rrrrr

Tied To A Star [Sub Pop, 25 Aug]

Owl John [Atlantic UK, 4 Aug]

Is any phrase in the pop lexicon even half as soul-crushing as ‘solo album’? They’re often drab affairs, characterised less by the artist’s individual talent than the absence of their bandmates. We’re lucky that no-one told Dinosaur Jr’s own J Mascis, whose second solo collection in three years is downright lovely. Sidestepping Dino’s squalling guitar heroics, that idiosyncratic yowl has rarely sounded as heartbreakingly weary as it does here, particularly on Come Down’s delicate folksiness. The nimblefingered Wide Awake is a winner too, soothing eardrums as gently as summer rain. A sudden crash of chords leads into a quietly beautiful coda, assisted by the sonorous tones of Chan Marshall, but the closest we come to his day job is the not-quite-noise-pop of Every Morning, where hooks comfortably win out over volume. The tranquility of solitude, in fact, turns out to be a genuine boon for J’s unique muse. Who’da thunk it? [Will Fitzpatrick]

Scott Hutchison, aka Owl John, claims that this record, fun as it was to make, is more about cleansing his palate and exercising a few underworked songwriting muscles before the next Frightened Rabbit album proper. If that’s the case, we’d best start getting very excited about that record already, because the warm-up is a beauty. Recorded between Mull and Los Angeles, there are clear themes of loneliness here: Hutchison is a fish out of water. Most will already know, though, that it’s under such conditions that he produces some of his best work. The scintillating Ten Tons of Silence, the reverberating Sounds About Roses and the excellent single Hate Music are some of his most enjoyable compositions yet. There’s a welcome sense of adventure; Owl John shows that Hutchison is continuing to expand his creative arc, which is getting broader and more daring with each successive record. [Finbarr Bermingham]

www.jmascis.com

www.owljohn.com

Benjamin Booker [Rough Trade, 18 Aug] “The future is slow coming,” laments Benjamin Booker on the fourth track of his debut album and the first chance for the listener to catch breath after a barrelling, raucous opening. For a young musician so indebted to the past, there’s a hint of irony in those words. Booker’s got the blues, no doubt, but he kicks his heritage influences around, scuzzes them up, marries an indie rock energy and punk ethic to his soul man spirit. He’s a tremendous vocalist and top marks for leaving some performances here in their ‘natural’ state – hey, what’s a semitone between friends? Have You Seen My Son is prime Strokes, the scrape and twang of Booker’s guitar defining his rough-hewn methods as much as that distinctive voice. Sure, it could do with a little more song craft but what it lacks in that area, it more than makes up for in character. A blast of real promise. [Gary Kaill] www.benjaminbookermusic.com

Soft Walls

Rustie

Okkultokrati

rrrrr

No Time [Trouble in Mind, 4 Aug]

Green Language [Warp, 25 Aug]

Night Jerks [Fysisk Format, 4 Aug]

Confession time. When Cold Pumas dropped their debut in 2012, this hack was thoroughly unimpressed. I said as much via a clumsy whine on a reputable reviews site, culminating in a desperate plea for the band to make a second album so good that I’d be begging for their forgiveness. “They should sneer right back at my pitiful contrition and disdainfully boot my face off,” I added for good measure. Erm. This isn’t quite Cold Pumas, but guitarist Dan Reeves’ psych project Soft Walls has The Skinny reaching for a face guard nonetheless: No Time is a superb collection of motorik rhythms, blissed-out dreamscapes and post-Velvets shuffle. At its exhilarating best – like the shrill motifs that slice through Guided Through’s pulsing hypno-pop – it’s nu-psych par excellence, swimming gracefully through murky waters where less artful types might flounder. Meanwhile, the dizzyingly pretty Transient View provides a perfect palette-cleanser for blown-out ears. Guess we didn’t need our face for much anyway. [Will Fitzpatrick]

There’s a playfulness to the opening sections of Green Language – we are treated to three false starts, Rustie delivering riffs of staggering infectiousness before snatching them away and diving into the relentless, trance-like crescendo-frenzy of Raptor. Rustie’s rhythms have taken on some of the hypercolour polish of mainstream EDM – this is dayglo, experimental rave for a new century. The tropical feel of Paradise Stone provides a breather before the album’s centrepiece – D Double E, delivers a simple but effective grime flow on Up Down, and Danny Brown destroys Attak, easily one of the year’s best tracks in any genre. He goes so hard and smashes it so thoroughly that the rest of the album struggles to reach those heights. Tracks featuring Redinho, and an unknown R&B singer (Dream On) may be less welcome to seasoned heads, perhaps, but give the album serious pop crossover potential. Leaner, more focused than its predecessor, this is a giant leap forward. [Bram E. Gieben]

Norwegian punk-metal outfit Okkultokrati are an offshoot of the Black Hole Crew, along with Haust and Blackest Woods. They basically do for dark metal what Pissed Jeans did for hardcore and grunge – take it outside and give it a stiff beating, then bring it back inside the bar and get it blind drunk. With guitarist Pål Bredrup faced with injuries which prevented him from playing on the record, some of the guitars are here interspersed with gloomy, funereal synths. But the thing that marks Okkultokrati out are the vocals – the guttural howl of Norwegian black metal here tempered with anger, wild abandon, and what sounds like a considerable amount of alcohol. If the singer isn’t shitfaced, that makes the album even better, frankly – his rambling, lurching performance imparting a sense of dangerous brinkmanship. The alternation of claustrophobically dark, synth-driven grave music and full-throttle, punk-infused metal gives the album more dynamic range than most modern punk and electronica records can dream of. [Bram E. Gieben]

www.softwalls.tumblr.com

www.warp.net/records/rustie

www.okkultokrati.bandcamp.com

James Yorkston

The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society [Domino, 18 Aug]

rrrrr

James Yorkston’s eighth album of original material finds the erudite Fifer facing up to mortality in his most sparse and contemplative album to date. Yorkston’s gift for lush folk songs has long been underpinned by his defining feature: the man is a master storyteller, a 21st century seanchaí, crafting bruised vignettes, steeped in breathless narratives and candid reflection. Produced by Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, CRAWS is not as immediate as its predecessors but possesses a rare and subtle charm. And the man is in wonderful voice: on the masterful Feathers Are Falling, Yorkston eschews his usual half-spoken delivery in favour of swoonsome vocals while KT Tunstall is on hand throughout to provide both foil and cushion for Yorkston’s laments. Despite the often despairing subject matter, he’s never downbeat or depressing; in fact CRAWS is uniquely life-affirming. It’s also incredibly warm and inviting, as one would hope any true wassailing society to be. [Colm McAuliffe]

Review

Cold Specks

Trans Am

rrrrr

Neuroplasticity [Mute, 25 Aug]

Volume X [Thrill Jockey, 11 Aug]

Slip on the second album from Cold Specks (aka Canada-born/UK-based singer-songwriter Al Spx), and it’s the voice that hooks you first. As opener A Broken Memory awakens to voodoo organ chords and mournful Mardi Gras trumpet, smoky vocals implore a darling to ‘dance’ in a tenor that’s tantalisingly difficult to pin down – appropriate for a performer who cloaks herself in not one but two nom de plumes. The album title refers to the brain’s capacity to form new connections and learn new things – a meaning that’s reflected in an expanded musical palette that pushes Neuroplasticity beyond the ‘doom soul’ territory confidently staked out on 2012 debut I Predict a Graceful Expulsion. And speaking of new connections: following Spx’s appearance on Swans’ To Be Kind, Michael Gira returns the favour by embedding rumbling guest vocals at a couple of junctures, their infrasonic undertow most powerfully felt on closer Season of Doubt. [Chris Buckle]

There’s a mind-blowing moment halfway through Night Shift, the third track on Trans Am’s Volume X; having shuffled gloriously through two minutes of wide-eyed glam-kosmische, the drums suddenly trip over themselves chaotically, before racing towards the finish line in a fit of motorik euphoria. It makes no sense whatsoever, and is utterly fucking brilliant. But then again, we should expect no less from the D.C. bred trio, whose attention spans have veered down innumerate dark alleys for the best part of 20 years. Things get underway with Anthropocene’s tripped-out riffology, tweaking the noses of the nu-psych generation while beating them at their own game – a tidy warm-up for Backlash’s searing blowtorch thrash. In calmer territory, Nate Means takes the lead on the shimmering, vocoder-drenched I’ll Never, channelling the phase of Skynet’s self-awareness where it abandons the extermination of mankind after getting into Julee Cruise and Suicide. Ten albums in and still no let-up: treasure ‘em. [Will Fitzpatrick]

www.coldspecks.com

www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/Trans-Am

RECORDS

THE SKINNY

Adult Jazz

Maybeshewill

FKA Twigs

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Gist Is [Spare Thought, 4 Aug] There’s something reluctant about Adult Jazz’s debut LP. The four-piece, Leeds Uni alumni and students of Joanna Newsom, Van Morrison and Animal Collective, have taken their time to craft nine songs of enduring scope and warmth. While songs like Spook swell and meander, tugging the heartstrings in all the right places, they’re hobbled by lyrics that would rather deconstruct the anthemic impulse than sate it. Bizarrely, this makes for consistently thrilling listening. Am Gone, which underlays the carcass of stadium folk with eviscerated African rhythms, double-bluffs cynical listeners by applying weary vocals and elegantly sighing harmonies to a carefully crafted pop structure. Spook’s conflicted protagonist embarks on a seemingly overwrought quest for major key rapture, yet the song whisks the listener into its meta-universe with aplomb. Wild Beasts, These New Puritans – to this list of prospective national treasures, be sure to add Adult Jazz. [Jazz Monroe]

Fair Youth [Superball, 25 Aug] At some point during Fair Youth, you’re going to feel absolutely knackered. There seems little point in denying the emotive vastness of Maybeshewill’s fourth full-length, particularly when its dizzying scope is perhaps its most impressive quality. It’s just too much. There’s no let-up, no give, no subtlety. It’s an album in dire need of a breather. Go nutzoid, if you must, for the brass-swollen dramatics of In the Blind, or the soaring synthetic choirs of epic closer Volga. Gingerly sidestep any notions that these instrumental histrionics might secretly amount to little more than mood music for emovampire teen flicks. After all, this is catnip for anyone who yearns for an ear-boxing from The Big Music, as filtered through Trail of Dead, Minus the Bear and Mogwai. Do consider, however, the negatives inherent in too much of anything – grand though it is, Fair Youth has too much of everything. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Rumour Cubes

Appearances of Collections [Cognitive Dissonance, 18 Aug]

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LP1 [XL Recordings, 11 Aug] LP1. Love that. Dismissive of the po-faced, bow-down-before-me hubris displayed by most fêted progeny, Tahliah Barnett opts for low key and ego-free. As statements of intent go, here’s an album title all about the future. But it begins in the past, album opener Preface lifting directly from 16th-century poet Thomas Wyatt’s I Find No Peace (“I love another and thus I hate myself.”) From there on in, it transforms into an impeccably crafted melange of chill electro and skeletal R’n’B. “Motherfucker, get your mouth open, you know you’re mine,” breathes Twigs on Two Weeks, but LP1 is a million miles away from potty-mouthed sensationalism. Instead it emerges as a candid but tender work, playful but secure in its vision. It reads like a whispered confessional; a generous and sure-footed adventure whose studio smarts (snappy beats, exquisitely detailed backing) provide foundation for a unique and thrilling new voice. [Gary Kaill]

Kan Wakan

The New Pornographers

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Moving On [Virgin EMI, 11 Aug]

Brill Bruisers [Matador Records, 25 Aug]

Oh, this is a beauty. Don’t let it get lost in the bewildering murk of the release calendar, or side-lined by the fickle fancies of the taste-makers. Seek it out. For Appearances of Collections is a far-reaching and fearless work, a dizzying instrumental adventure whose orchestral origins are given form and flight by the addition of traditional pop/rock instrumentation and the subtlest electronica. The London-based six-piece gave notice of their vision and reach with their 2012 debut, The Narrow State; this follow-up is stronger, more cohesive, more attuned to the very particular talents of its creators. It welds the chamber pop of Ólafur Arnalds or Michael Nyman to a rhythmic nous that brings to mind the rich beats of Remember Remember. It is also, most notably on the devastating A Homecoming, in which a rich wordless narrative is revealed, a deeply emotional work; one that connects on a level far beyond mere technique. [Gary Kaill]

The free-wheeling debut from this LA-based trio is a winning concoction of dreamy atmospherics, bubbling grooves and orchestral arrangements. It’s a toss-up as to what will grab you first – the sweeping, sumptuous arrangements or Filipino vocalist Kristianne Batista’s voice, a grainy burr and the centrepiece of this likeable album. Cynics might balk at their beats-driven MO but Moving On has songs aplenty – less the beach pop of Morcheeba, more the cool playfulness of Poliça. It’s easy listening but always with a twist. Like I Need You marries keys and horns to a Stax beat. The instrumental break in Are We Saying Goodbye, an unexpected and unsettling chord sequence, is one of many passages where Kan Wakan stretch and strive. Just when you think you’ve nailed Moving On as sweet aural wallpaper, it gets properly weird on you, and all to the good; epic two part closer Midnight Moon heads off to somewhere unexpectedly out there. An intriguing start, all told. [Gary Kaill]

Perhaps it’s just the afterglow imparted by the pristine, peppy power-pop that’s been their stock in trade for the last 15 years, but life in The New Pornographers has always seemed like a pretty liberating pastime; a chance for A.C. Newman, Dan Bejar, Neko Case and company to put aside creatively taxing solo ventures and kick loose with something sweet and simple. Except, of course, sweet and simple doesn’t just fall in your lap; ‘effortless’ takes effort, and crafting melodies as perfectly proportioned and catchy as those driving Brill Bruisers is an estimable achievement (as is making it to album six without noticeable lassitude). Dopamine triggers are numerous: right at the top, the title track’s lively pace and cheerful backing ‘ba-ba-ba’s set a heady benchmark, while the infectious chorus of Fantasy Fools delivers a slick, quintessential NP vocal harmony, comparing favourably with anything from their still-vibrant debut Mass Romantic. [Chris Buckle]

www.rumourcubes.com

www.kanwakan.com

www. thenewpornographers.com

The Ramona Flowers

Celebration

Mndsgn

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Dismantle and Rebuild [Distiller, 4 Aug] There’s a particular seam within the current indie strata that’s all but been mined out. The mass hunger for sweeping, fist-pumping anthemics, however, shows little sign of abating. Kodaline. Bastille. The 1975. Chancers all; purveyors of the very slightest soft rock. The Ramona Flowers fight for a place at the table with staggering cynicism. “The stars are out tonight / They’re as wide as my eyes,” strains singer Steve Bird on the title track. The stars, they’re wide. Obvious, really. Other titles dismiss this half-baked enigma for festival field mass consumption. Lust and Lies. World Won’t Wait. Modern World. The production, all sharp beats, clean electro backing, processed guitars, is a soulless, teeth-rotting goo. Dismantle and Rebuild’s homogenised sheen is the very worst kind of formulaic, careerist rot. Desperate to be loved, it compromises at every juncture, rolling on its back like a kitten desperate for treats. Let the fucker go hungry. [Gary Kaill] www.distiller-records.com/artists/the-ramona-flowers

Albumin [Bella Union, 11 Aug] Celebration was born in 2004, when Katrina Ford, Sean Antanaitis and David Bergander dropped the name Birdland for something with more of a triumphant tone. But ten candles on the Celebration cake is only half the story, with Ford and Antanaitis’ joint musical ventures extending back another decade; a lengthy partnership for which breakthrough-level attention has never quite manifested. Albumin is the latest attempt to correct the apparent oversight, and the band put their best foot forward with opener Razor’s Edge – a brooding beauty built from throbbing synths and brawny guitars. It introduces Celebration’s most multifaceted album yet, with Tomorrow’s Here Today showcasing their brighter, sparklier side and Chariot melding phantom church organ with a disco rhythm. But tracks like Sostice Rite lack definition, and despite wearing its psych-soul skin handsomely, I Got Sol doesn’t satisfyingly elaborate on its vintage ingredients. Not a runaway success then, but worth raising a glass to. [Chris Buckle]

A slice of zen from the LA beat scene, courtesy of Mndsgn (‘mind design’), a producer with one of the strangest bios ever written, involving flight from the mysterious Aum Supreme Truth Cult, and a childhood spent without electricity or modern techology. Each composition here was created in “a state of bliss” free from worldly cares, resulting in a hazy, dreamlike feel. Drawing as much on electronic shoegaze and post-dubstep as on the meticulous beatwork of J Dilla and Madlib, it’s another convincing entry in the increasingly rich catalogue of sampledelic psychedelia emanating from the City of Angels. From the washed out lounge funk of Homewards, to the looped, pitch-bent vocal snatches and hollow drums of Frugality, to the lo-fi stoner folk of Exchanging, there is a measured fragility and sun-dappled wooziness to Mndsgn’s production. Richlytextured, minimalist but complex, it’s an excellent fit for Stones Throw, and dovetails neatly with the efforts of the Brainfeeder stable’s more esoteric, experimental artists. [Bram E. Gieben]

www.celebrationelectrictarot.com

www.mndsgn.bandcamp.com

Falty DL

Merchandise

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In The Wild [Ninja Tune, 11 Aug] Drew Lustman’s follow-up to Hardcourage finds him in much more experimental territory, composing tracks to accompany pieces of video art by Chris Shen. New Haven’s bubbling synths, delicate pianos, processed breathing and MIDI-keyed vocal snatches never quite coalesce into house music, but convey a sense of motion and growth. Do Me’s deconstructed footwork pattern dissolves into strange, fragmented techno, while the tribal rhythms of Greater Antilles Part 1 circle and loop like birds in flight before vanishing. Where vocal samples are used, and more structure is playfully broken down, as on tracks like the heavenly Frontin, Falty DL achieves something similar to the techno tone poems of London producer Actress. This is dance music divorced from dancefloor, DJ and even listener – the rhythms and vocal snatches evoking traditional structure but never aping it. It’s a searingly intellectual record, and although its purely tonal passages drift by somewhat forgettably, there are moments of white-hot brilliance. [Bram E. Gieben] www.faltydl.com/inthewild

Yawn Zen [Stones Throw, 25 Aug]

After The End [4AD, 25 Aug] So what exactly do you want from Tampa contrarians Merchandise? A return to their hardcore roots? More post-punk noise-pop? Sorry kids. After The End is their most grandiose yet conventional offering thus far, nonchalantly booting expectations into the gutter. Occasionally, wonderful things happen: Telephone’s Tindersticksplay-Blondie pep, for instance, with its glorious chorus poised on the balance beam between hope and inevitable gloom. True Monument isn’t far behind, finding room for melodic pathos amid dramatic Eastenders drum fills. Still, the record feels problematic – even deadened by the pristine clarity of the production, with some numbers coasting pleasantly but unremarkably. The ears yearn for a little spice or grit, or just anything to latch on to. On balance, it’s worth seeing this determination to avoid filth or fury as symptomatic of Merchandise’s dogged mission to put as much distance as possible between their past and present. After all, whose expectations have they really got to meet but their own? They owe you nothing. [Will Fitzpatrick]

The Top Five 1 2 3 4 5

The Bug

Angels & Devils

Cold Specks

Neuroplasticity

Rustie

Green Language

Trans Am

Volume X

FKA Twigs

LP1

www.merchandisetheband.co.uk

August 2014

RECORDS

Review

Catch Him If You Can Introducing Owl John, the solo project of Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit Interview: Finbarr Bermingham

remoteness across the lyrics sheet. Like many musicians who have made the pilgrimage, though, Hutchison has found salvation in the surrounding area. He speaks in awed tones about the “totally inspiring” communities of hippies in Northern California. He mentions Big Sur, the vast area that has inspired the literature of Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson, the film of Orson Welles and the music of Joni Mitchell and the Beach Boys. The polarity of the locations have combined to create a record that pairs coherence with variety, with more of the latter present than on any of the records he’s recorded with his full-time band. Perhaps the closest reference point for those familiar with the Frightened Rabbit canon will be the two EPs that preceded last year’s Pedestrian Verse – and over their ten tracks, the humour, wit and grit we’ve come to expect from Hutchison’s craft is there in abundance. But the record feels like a collection of rarities: songs that, while certainly strong enough to be worth forking out for, may have been too disparate to make it onto a Frightened Rabbit LP, proper. It’s this sense of freedom, the ability to let off some songwriting steam, that drew Hutchison into the project and which has been getting more common as the band has been maturing. The EPs featured collaborations with Aidan Moffat, Tracyanne Campbell and Archie Fisher, while the last album was the first occasion on which he’d shared songwriting duties with the other band

Horrid

Guardian Alien / Horrid / The Osiris Club Islington Mill, 10 Jul

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Following a well received weekender in May (headlined by Melt-Banana), Fat Out Til You Pass Out – seasoned promoters specialising in the seriously noisy – return to Islington Mill to deliver yet more transcendental ear-bashings. Promising a mix of horror movie soundtracks and progmetal, The Osiris Club open proceedings (while wearing what appear to be black polyester masonic robes and plague doctor masks) with a patchy set of King Crimson-style chugging intercut with eerie synth drones. Despite some hefty and satisfying riffs, some sections feel extraneous, while a reedy and bloodless vocal lacks impact. If Islington Mill have a house band, then Horrid are surely it, having regularly contributed their dark psychedelia to the Mill’s audio-visual Video Jam events. Going for anonymity, but sparing the theatricality of The Osiris Club, all five members sport jute sacks on their heads to avoid individual identification. With their rolling, iterative rhythm section, shifting textures of squalling wah-wah guitar and electronics – combined with a half murmured, half yelled vocals that are

Review

introduced towards the end of the set – Horrid create something genuinely nightmarish, but at the same time seductively cinematic. Having previously collaborated with the Fat Out collective at The Silent Barn in Brooklyn, the time has come for Guardian Alien to pay a return visit. Bringing death metal tropes into a musical approach developed in avant garde improvisation and free jazz, this band have an intensity and experimental drive reminiscent of Thrill Jockey labelmates Boredoms. Three desks of samplers and pedals and a ghostly female voice all serve largely as support for the drumming of bandleader Greg Fox. Consistently establishing patterns then throwing in variations to surprise the captive audience, these embellishments build up to breakneck blast-beats and Fox’s hands are a blur beneath the bespoke live projections of the Mill residents. While this may sound abstract and formless, Fox has complete control of his instrument and no beat feels out of place. Although the supporting noisemakers at the back of the stage could do more to compliment the dynamic contours of the drumming, a regular gig-goer of omnivorous taste could go a year without seeing an instrumentalist half as skilled, imaginative or captivating. [Edward Bottomley]

members. It’s this sort of variety and boundary pushing that Hutchison says has helped keep the band together. He admits to coming very close to calling it quits. “Having worked really hard on Frightened Rabbit for ten years, it’s almost like having nothing else in your life but this one band,” he says, candid as ever. “Last year everyone was drained and I don’t want to mince words: I was pretty sick of Frightened Rabbit. I wanted to do something else. I didn’t want to sit on my arse and just watch TV shows for a few months while we took a break from it. This album exists so that I, and Andy as well, could get our teeth into something else, almost refresh the palate, to become excited about going back to the band again.” The next step is a small solo tour as Owl

John, the American leg of which Hutchison says turned into “a bunch of request shows,” during which he became a “Frightened Rabbit jukebox.” But after that he expects to put the moniker to bed, for now. The experiment has worked and, after playing some band shows on the festival circuit, the plan is for Frightened Rabbit to regroup – hopefully reinvigorated – and start writing songs for the follow up to Pedestrian Verse. This will no doubt be music to the ears of the band’s ever-growing legion of fans – but enjoy this detour while it lasts. Owl John’s self-titled album is available on 4 Aug via Atlantic Plays Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 5 Aug www.owljohn.com

Conor Oberst

Manchester Cathedral, 8 Jul

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Our adolescent idols look different through the hazy lens of time. Cult indie-folk philosopher Conor Oberst has mellowed a lot in recent years, phasing out his beloved Bright Eyes moniker to develop his solo career. Oberst’s latest album, the breezy Upside Down Mountain, is a rejuvenating return to the intimate song-writing of his heyday, having lost himself in the cosmic mysticism of Bright Eyes’ farewell The People’s Key and a brief revival of his political punk project Desaparecidos. Will a more laid-back Oberst live up to our mid-2000s memories? With the stage fog machine’s emissions gathering in the Cathedral’s imposing ceiling, that question lingers in the air as Dawes open proceedings. Led by the Goldsmith brothers, their soulful style of storytelling combines country harmonies with anthemic 70s rock choruses. “We’re D-A-W-E-S, not D-O-O-R-S,” frontman Taylor Goldsmith jokes hopefully, their deference to Jim Morrison’s band being clear. Dawes’ Americana is a little glitzy for the Cathedral’s grandness, the band diving regularly into

MUSIC

schmaltzy solos, but they earn respect for aiming for the rafters. Thankfully that isn’t the last we see of Dawes as they return on stage with Oberst, acting as his backing band for the evening. Explaining his lapsed Catholic upbringing to the crowd, Oberst relishes the opportunity for contrarianism that playing in this gothic locale offers, making typical lyrical mischief in a set that features an apocalyptic No One Would Riot for Less and crosses falling from the sky in People’s Key psych-trip Firewall. As he rattles through classics from Lifted and I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning it feels oddly nostalgic – grown adults at the front shout “We love you Conor!” as if he were the same precocious ‘New Dylan’ from ten years ago. When Oberst is left alone with his acoustic guitar towards the end of the set, the wistful tap of Cape Canaveral feels more befitting of him than ever. Upside Down Mountain’s songs are calmer, clearer, uncluttered by old restless ambition. “No longer worried about getting bored,” he sings in the gentle waltz of Double Life, and that change only bodes well for this young icon’s longevity. [Chris Ogden]

THE SKINNY

Photo: Leah Henson

think I’ve got a really shit name for a solo project,” says Scott Hutchison, straining to be heard over the blare of hungry seagulls outside a recording studio in Glasgow. Glasgow, he says, smells a bit like cow shit today and may as well be a million miles from the settings and the inspirations behind the eponymous album by Owl John, the moniker he’s adopted for his solo debut in an effort to bypass his own “really shit name.” The album was recorded between the Isle of Mull and Hutchison’s home of four months and counting, Los Angeles. Both are to be found near their nation’s respective west coasts, but that’s where the similarities begin and end. The melodies were conceived on Mull, in a studio Hutchison booked himself into for a fortnight with Frightened Rabbit keys player Andy Monaghan and touring guitarist, Simon Liddell (also of Olympic Swimmers). “There was only one rule: to see if we could finish a piece of music every day, and that’s basically what we did,” Hutchison reveals. He then upped sticks and left Scotland for Los Angeles, where he wrote the lyrics. Understandably, perhaps, there are themes of desolation and alienation; he admits that the settling in process hasn’t been easy, and that it’s ongoing. He describes the city itself as “beige and aesthetically unbelievably dull,” and says that at times “it can be a right fucking hellhole.” There are fragments of this sense of

Photo: Tom Connolly

“I

The Test of Time Erol Alkan has meant a lot of things to a lot of different people, and that’s just the way he likes it

nadvertently diverting a generation of indie kids from a bleak future with dollops of Detroit techno and Germanic electro, Erol Alkan once rubbed shoulders with Armins and Armands at the top of DJ Mag’s annual public chart, while still finding the time of day to produce the Mystery Jets. A generation of dancefloors later, and Alkan counts the likes of L.I.E.S. boss Ron Morelli as an ally, and inspires reverence behind the decks at Panorama Bar. But as a man with a lifelong musical mission to push forward, what was the last thing to sound truly fresh to his ears? “Personally, I look for the ability to convey a certain emotion within a record. Rather than something just being new,” says Alkan. “I hear old records that really frighten me. But then I look back on some of the stuff I was into when I was 20 years old, some of which was a bit close to the knuckle. I think perhaps as you get older, what you want from music changes, and your taste becomes a bit more refined.” Refined is the best term for his label and sincere labour of love, Phantasy, which, reflecting Alkan himself, appears at once both easygoing and unwaveringly precise in its endeavours. A few years ago, the London DJ might have been known best for his somewhat boisterous collaborations with Berlin’s Boys Noize, who’s currently conquering America with assistance from Skrillex. Back closer to home, Erol still keeps kids dancing, he just does it on his own terms, and perhaps even with a new audience. Recent solo gigs as well as festival back-to-backs with protégé Daniel Avery see Alkan sail on somewhat calmer, slightly weirder musical waters. What’s more, he’s amused and pleased to hear that, for perhaps the first time, many of said kids there for Avery aren’t familiar with him at all. “I have to keep it exciting for myself. I can’t think of anything worse than not enjoying myself, or the crowd not enjoying itself. I still get to play to thousands of people who know their music each weekend. I don’t feel like panicking. If anything, I’ve probably spent a lot of time putting people off me slightly by not playing ball,” he admits. Indeed, while a thoughtful and measured character, Alkan almost seems motivated by what he describes as the ‘threat’ within his own world. Playing Beacons this month, sandwiched between Special Request, Jackmaster and Dusky, does he still feel like an awkward indie kid commanding dancefloors? “It’s weird because I’ve always felt like a dance music outsider, but then you meet plenty of people who make you realise you’re not. Besides, it’s not like everyone’s walked the same path,” he observes. “I’ve collected records and been into music from all over the place. But in dance, where authenticity is such a big thing, I feel I have to stand up and say I didn’t have that seismic moment seeing Underground Resistance in the mid-90s as I was immersed in guitar music.” It’s an ironic stance, given that in what can seem like a mire of superfluous bullshit, Alkan is perhaps one of the most authentic DJs you could encounter, striving not only for his own creative fulfilment, but inspired by that of those around him. He sees Phantasy, whose releases cover everything from Avery’s world-conquering LP Drone Logic to DIY psych oddball Connan Mockasin and Brazilian experimentalist Babe, Terror, as an indirect extension of his infamous club Trash, a Monday night London hotbed that inexplicably spanned a decade. Alkan reveals he recently rediscovered seven years’ worth of Minidiscs, with each Trash set recorded for study throughout the following week. They shan’t be seeing the light of day anytime soon, but it’s precisely this level

August 2014

of detail that meant the club closed with queues still a quarter of a mile long. “I like all the creative aspects of bringing things together. It’s just the way you communicate or create with people,” Alkan explains succinctly. “A club can just be somewhere people go to get drunk and listen to something they know, or it can be far more than that. And it’s the same with running a label. Anybody can put a record out, so-and-so will sign it, and they’ll see it through. Or the other way is an incredibly creative process with people thinking outside the box and trying to do it differently than it’s done before. Nobody’s gone and created the perfect club, or the perfect label, because these things reflect their audiences, or are at least reflecting something.” Family and community represent an important cornerstone to Alkan, and a quick call to his North London home suggests life in 2014, having just turned 40, is equal parts domestic and psychedelic. Nonetheless, he consumes music with the same fervour as ever, determined that Phantasy itself will transcend even his own stellar reputation. “I like the feedback of people on the label. I don’t want to place myself at the top of the tree, because that’s not why I did it,” he is keen to explain. “I don’t look down on that, or see anything negative about it, but I didn’t set up the label for my career. I want everything on there to be on an equal plateau. I feel far more comfortable that way. To me, the aspect of community is far stronger than to simply be the one in the centre of the group photograph.”

“A club can just be somewhere people go to get drunk and listen to something they know, or it can be far more than that” Erol Alkan

It’s been nearly 15 years since Alkan accidentally found himself as a club DJ for Bugged Out, and he’s since remixed an enviable catalogue of artists in eclectic fashion, from Metronomy to the Scissor Sisters. Yet it was only last year that he finally released a record under his own name, his Illumination EP, and on Phantasy too; perhaps the greatest litmus test of his personal quality control. Less than a year later, and there’s another dancefloor track on the way via his upcoming Fabriclive mix series. Though it’s for the series’ 77th edition, Alkan has been asked before by the club, but simply felt the time wasn’t right. “I think doing it at this point, where I’ve got a real focus on my sound is the right thing,” he explains. “You can go so many years looking for things or trying to create something, and I definitely think I’ve found that now.” He’s perhaps one of the few remaining UK DJs to have not appeared on Boiler Room, a format which he nonetheless thinks is “amazing,” but having been asked a few times, remains acutely aware of the importance of focus when the internet takes your every move

Photo: Todd Hart

Interview: John Thorp

down in history. “I want to be confident in the music that I’m part of, and the music we release,” Alkan adds. “But making a tit of myself on social media to be liked, that’s not me. I’m not that fussed about seeing someone’s crowd from the other night. I’d rather see their next record.” It’s difficult to imagine the UK clubbing landscape without Alkan, and with his schedule of touring and production as busy as ever, not to mention his ongoing 6 Music residency, it doesn’t look like anyone will have to any time soon. Although not one for heroes, Alkan has previously cited evergreen selectors such as Andrew Weatherall and Francois K as influences. But how does he maintain such energy, in and out of the DJ booth? “I try to be as honest as I can, and try not to be afraid of change,” Alkan considers. “I just have

CLUBS

faith, I suppose, that if I’m playing great records that people will connect to them, and I just try and stay true to that. Having the 6 Music show is great, because I can present music that I might not play out, but what happens in clubs, that’s where you can create real magic, especially when it comes to bringing people together. I find that to be the greatest thing about it as such, and view myself more as a vehicle for the music. “I want to make great records, or be part of great records. When I go out and play, I want it to be as powerful, but in a different way. I don’t want to play music I don’t believe in, and I don’t want to be someone I’m not.” Erol Alkan plays Beacons Festival, Heslaker Farm, Skipton, 7-10 Aug www.erolalkan.co.uk

Preview

Clubbing Highlights It’s National Lemon Meringue Pie Day on 15 Aug. Here are some other juicy dates to plan your month around… Words: Daniel Jones Illustration: Jamie Jones

ustle celebrate part one of their second birthday on 2 Aug by teaming up with the Southport Weekender crew to bring Karizma and Rahaan to the Shipping Forecast basement. The former is a master of tough and tight house productions – and a beast on retrigger duty according to Atjazz – while the latter is a legendary Chicago jock who is arguably one of the leading lights in the disco fraternity. Super early £7 tickets have gone already, but you’re still getting value for money at £13 adv. Over in Manchester, the awesome Awesome Tapes From Africa will be breathing life among the Soup Kitchen contingent (2 Aug, £7). It’s a Manchester debut for Brian Shimkovitz, proprietor of previously unheard gold from all over the continent, including Penny Penny’s ’94 album Shaka Bundu, which has gained quite a bit of attention over the past year or so. His is a haul not to be missed. Meanwhile, Liars Club have achieved the enviable feat of roping in DJ Maseo, of De La Soul fame, to provide an eclectic soundtrack of funk, soul, hip-hop, and old-skool faves on Aug 6 – £5 is the magic number. August 8th sees Tussle host half of heavy house duo Dungeon Meat’s Tristan da Cunha in the intimate Kraak Gallery. Dungeon Meat have been riding high since last year’s EP on My Love Is Underground, which also includes the most aptly-named single of recent times in The Fuck Off Track. Da Cunha is joined by local Love Dose resident Motif – tickets are also a measly

£5, so yeah. Back in Merseyside, the Blade Factory welcomes Dauwd, a multi-instrumental Welshman who now resides in Brighton. Dauwd’s output is akin to the percussive textures of Deadboy and Dark Sky, with a distinctly positive edge. A solid option on 16 Aug, and for only £6. Saturday 23rd sees Liverpool night Freeze bring in a few big names to the Bombed Out Church: John Digweed returns after a four-hour stint back in April and, this time, he’ll be playing a sunset cruise-style set in daylight hours. Paco Osuna is a very safe bet too, as a mainstay at Richie Hawtin’s Ibizan venture Enter, which takes the total running time to a mammoth 17 hours over two venues. Tickets are going for £30 – yikes. A day later, you can catch the mUmU residents going day and night in a TBC Liverpool venue, aided by the tunnelling sounds of PanPot. The Berlin duo have been ripping apart the darker recesses of techno for a good few years, and always come from an experimental angle. The 24th will most likely prove no different, and if you’re so inclined you can grab a ticket for £17.50. Same night in Manchester, you’ve also got the choice of Zutekh vs Tpot’s bank holiday special at South, with Ryan Elliott and Midland involved in party proceedings, which span from 3pm to 2am on Monday morning. Whatever you decide, stay safe, and go easy on the lemon meringue.

Stock-Aitken-Waterman. For me, this was like a cooler, less formulaic version of Sonic Youth… and made like 15 years earlier.

Jeff Mills – Live at the Liquid Room [React, 1995] Jeff Mills is one of my biggest heroes. It was hard to choose just one of his albums, so I chose this live 1996 recording of him in Tokyo. It was one of the first techno DJ sets I had available to listen to at home, and it left a huge impact on me. There are a ton of Mills records in this mix and, back then, it introduced me to a few other great producers. It’s a space shuttle to techno heaven.

Under the Influence: Juju & Jordash Photo: Carolina Georgatou

Gal Aner and Jordan Czamanski – aka Juju & Jordash – pit the finer nuances of their respective tastes against each other to form a titillating collage of jazz, techno, dub and krautrock Interview: Daniel Jones

Jordash picks: Miles Davis – Bitches Brew [Columbia, 1970] When I first heard this album, I was already into a bunch of free (or semi-free) jazz stuff, especially Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry albums; Bitches Brew sounded different, though. Productionwise it’s closer to the rock music I was into at the time: dense, dark, and it hits you straight away. You soon fall into an abyss of funky-as-hell reverb grooves. It’s the Miles Davis record that opened my mind to a new world of genre-defying possibilities, creative production and editing possibilities, as well as a big ‘fuck you’ to silly jazz conventions of the late 60s. Model 500 – Sonic Sunset [R&S, 1994] Technically a double EP and not an album but whatever… this is the deepest of the deep. Definitely one of my favourite things; I’m listening to it again right now. Funky-as-hell beats (it sometimes sounds like Tony Williams is drumming), hypnotic chords, perfect jazzy synth leads, wonderful soulful music that tears you apart and pulls you in all directions. The vocals are amazingly simple but bring the whole tune together, and make me want to be a better person

Preview

while punching somebody in the face. So amazing. Moritz von Oswald (who I believe mixed the EP) makes everything sound like you’re submerged in the best swimming pool in the world. Also, Juan Atkins complimented me on my Funkadelic T-shirt once, so I’m good. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry – Arkology [Island, 1997] Probably one of the only good reasons to own a CD player. If you like the sound of 70s dub, this is what you need, and it’s probably the best introduction ever for somebody who asks ‘What’s dub?’ Just buy it. Can – Tago Mago [United Artists, 1971] I’m not one to remember song lyrics, so the reversed vocals straight off the bat on Oh Yeah got me into Tago Mago right away. How is this weird German drummer so funky and loopy? Why do the guitars sound so dope? What’s up with the reversed cymbals? What’s up with the sharp editing and obvious cuts? LSD, that’s probably it… but for my young clear-minded head it just sounded super subversive and real. Especially since, at the time, all the cool kids were into typical distorted guitar stuff and the radio was playing only

Juju picks: Miles Davis – Sorcerer [Columbia, 1967] My favourite album by one of the best jazz groups of all time. Beautiful compositions by Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock are taken to the next level by stellar group improvisation. The five musicians really sound as one on this recording, and deliver pulsating, dynamic and deeply touching music. Tony Williams is a beast on the drums here (as per usual) whereas Miles is like the cherry on top. Grace Jones – Warm Leatherette [Island, 1980] Nightclubbing, Living My Life and Slave to the Rhythm were all masterpieces, but this album was the first of the 80s era Grace Jones records that I’m really addicted to. The vocal performance and above all an incredible production highlight the amazing rhythm section of Wally Badarou and Sly & Robbie for the ultimate groove.

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Thomas Dolby – The Flat Earth [EMI, 1984] An incredible album, which goes way beyond the synth-pop tag… Dolby’s vocals are very genuine, even heart-breaking, in some of the songs, and the writing and arrangements are elaborate and surprising. The title song, as well as Screen Kiss and Mulu the Rain Forest, are some of my favourite songs ever. The production is simply breathtaking. All the synths are so varied and there is even an occasional 808 here and there! I always go back to this. Read the extended edit at theskinny.co.uk/clubs www.jujujordash.com

THE SKINNY

Rob Chavasse: Ghostie!

Claude Parent: La colline de l’art

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BOOK OF THE MONTH The Moth

Deep & meaningful (2014)

trip from the stained-glass rainbows. The film shifts between his child-like perspective, full of enthusiasm for the colour of his environment, the sky and the textures of his improvised city race-track. Life seems pretty brilliant if you’re an RC-Car. TRS’s ‘back building’ is taken over by a group of sculptures set out in an RC racing playground (during the opening an actual race was held in the gallery). The materials are those of landscaping and industry – bitumen, metal, spray cement, scale shell and pebble dash. Most look like props but when the sculpture gets (properly) sculptural it is a great success, with a larger work, Private Dancer, made from polystyrene and spray cement rendered as a semi-abstract Aztec Henry Moore with a super-ugly but pleasingly 80s aesthetic. Between the moreish Recreationals, the brackish sculptures, the philosophical ramble about ants on the press release and the lonely romantic skating around the website, Ghostie! leaves you wanting more. Much, much more. This is definitely a Biennial highlight this year but you’ll have to be quick as TRS have three exhibitions on over the Biennial months; Chavasse closes on 10 August to make way for Australian Sam Smith, open from 22 August. Expect pointy sculptures to the sound of a jazz cymbal (perhaps). [Sacha Waldron] Runs until 10 Aug. Open Fri-Sun, 12-5pm or by appointment www.the-royal-standard.com

I have never heard anyone laugh in the Wolfson Gallery before, not even a chuckle. Until now. I’m watching three girls slide down an angled ramp, landing on a seating platform alongside a projection of choreographer Trisha Brown dancing. The gallery attendant doesn’t even raise her eyebrow because we are all in French avant-garde architect Claude Parent’s installation (or rather remodelling) of the Tate gallery entitled La colline de l’art (The Hill of Art). Here you can play. Part of Liverpool Biennial’s group exhibition A Needle Walks Into a Haystack, Claude Parent (b. 1923) has followed the rules of ‘fonction oblique’ for his Tate offering, an architectural principle he founded together with writer Paul Virilio in 1964. In ‘fonction oblique,’ the importance of the diagonal line and of the deconstruction of space are paramount. So floors become slopes, up is sometimes down, and walls, floors, seating and walkways interchangeable. ‘Space,’ say Parent and Virilio in their book, Living on the Slope, ‘should predominate over surface.’ Parent was invited to construct the French pavilion to 1970s Venice Biennale: the result was a series of artificial slope landscapes that housed the Biennale artworks. Tate and the (Liverpool) Biennial took this pavilion as their starting point and asked Parent to reconfigure the space to make it, as Biennial curator Mai Abu ElDahab says, “into the museum you think it [Tate] should be or the way in which you think people should experience art.”

The Book of Gaza

What Ends

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By Atef Abu Saif

By Andrew Ladd

By Catherine Burns

A Needle Walks into a Haystack - La colline de l’art (2014)

Parent has rendered his Hill of Art in light grey and sunshine yellow with the odd mesh-like transparent wall. The effect is rather calming and you are drawn around the space and encouraged to linger and lounge. Sixteen works are taken from the Tate collection, selected by Parent, which is important. This is a place of display: a conversation between art and architecture and not just a nostalgic architectural show-home. Two strands of Parent’s aesthetic interest can be identified: geometric abstraction (with works from Gillian Wise and even a little Carlos CruzDiez) and works that explore what architecture is or could be (Gustav Metzger, for example, or Francis Picabia). You have to explore the space; this is not one to make one round and you’re done. Climbing the hill to discover Roy Lichtenstein’s iridescent blue Moonscape (1965) on the balcony, or rounding a dark corner to find Mark Leckey’s Felix Gets Broadcasted (2007). The process is repeatable, enjoyable, the ideas complex and satisfying. Thanks, Parent, I like my art like this. [Sacha Waldron] Runs until 26 Oct. Open every day, 10am-6pm A selection of drawings by Parent can also be found on the second floor of Tate Liverpool for the Biennial's A Needle Walked Into a Haystack exhibition www.tate.org.uk

The Table of Less Valued Knights By Marie Phillips

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Taken from the US phenomenon that consists of a single person, standing on a lit stage, telling a true story from their life, these are brave and revealing moments, souls bared to a room of strangers; and now the world, as they are captured in print in this self titled book – a collection of 50 of The Moth’s finest tales, simply transcribed and lightly edited. And what tales they are – a man’s psychological journey after being practically gutted in a New York gang initiation, a young preacher telling the story of Jesus in a Texan biker bar. Some stories are of significant moments in the wider world – Massimino’s spacewalk, Clinton’s PR; others so personal and introspective – a death-bed wedding, a meaningful shared cigarette between abused women. Yet while these tales transport us into the lives of others, they also invoke recognition with our own; there are connecting wires with even the most disparate experiences and existences, the ‘I’s are turned into ‘we’s. They fulfil our fundamental human need to communicate, learn and grow through others. This is a wonderful and addictive curated batch of real-life moments, told in a natural language which wrings out every possible human emotion and holds great literary heads no higher than cops or convicts. Each may contain some sort of moral, but they are told too truthfully and skilfully for these to be crudely tacked on. [Alan Bett]

Here is the latest in Comma Press’s The Book of… series, a cycle that’s taken in cities as geographically and culturally disparate as Tokyo and Leeds. This collection of Gazan-authored short stories is certainly timely. Though, in truth, it would also have been timely in 2008-2009, or again less than two years ago, in late 2012. Curated, translated tales, dating from 1980 to the present, sourced from a region described in the introduction as ‘the largest prison on earth,’ serve as something of a rarity for Englishspeaking readers. This in itself recommends The Book of Gaza. It exists as an affecting companion piece to the sterile and familiar news reports. Indeed, that is the hope of the collection’s editor Atef Abu Saif, who touts the stories as a ‘composite reflecting the rich world of fiction in [Gaza], better known for feeding the world’s hungry media with a stream of headlines.’ The quality of the writing is inconsistent, though. Mona Abu Sharekh’s When I Cut Off Gaza’s Head certainly boasts that taut magic so particular to the short story form. And Ghareeb Asqalani’s A White Flower for David thrives amidst the bleak and violent predictability of the region. But, frankly, Yusra al Khatib’s Dead Numbers is a nonentity. This and a couple of others besides undermine an otherwise vital collection. [Angus Sutherland]

In his debut novel, Andrew Ladd explores what ends when an island community disintegrates. Set on East Fior, a fictional but no less Hebridean isle, the narrative weaves its way through the lives of the last inhabitants: the family that runs the guesthouse, with three children who grow up more or less unwilling to take on the family business. Barry, Flora, and Trevor are forced to come to terms with the island life that they’re becoming locked into, struggling to reconcile their ambitions with familial responsibility. Ladd’s prose is simple, lyrical, given free rein to explore a family saga that feels a lot fuller than might be expected from a 250-page novel. He fits in three narratives of growing up, of what it means for an island to transform from one of idyllic childhood days spent playing on the beach, in the heather, to the isolated and claustrophobic reality of running a condemned business. It’s a touching and precise examination of the family dynamic, of how things go when no one quite matches up to the expectations of other people. The question is, to what end can anyone maintain such a floundering way of life, and at what cost? [Galen O’Hanlon] Out 7 Aug, published by Oneworld Publications, RRP £11.99

Out now, published by Comma Press, RRP £9.99

Everyone’s heard of the Knights of the Round Table, but tucked away in the draughtiest corner of Camelot’s hall is the rarely-mentioned Table of Less Valued Knights, home to “the elderly, the infirm, the cowardly, the incompetent and the disgraced.” Sir Humphrey is one of these, but sees his chance to win back a place at the Round Table when Elaine, a damsel in distress, comes to the castle looking for help. The pair, joined by a rather short giant and an elephant, set off to rescue Elaine’s fiancé, but become entangled with another quest involving a magical sword, a notquite-a-boy and at least one man in an iron mask. Marie Phillips proved she has a deft comedic touch with her debut novel Gods Behaving Badly, and again she takes myths we know well and subverts them, with very funny results. From the bureaucratic difficulties of being Lady of the Lake to the inconvenience of questing in armour, it’s a real joy to read a novel that makes you snort out loud with laughter. Comedy in novels is hard to do well, and riffing off already beloved stories even harder (think of all those terrible Austen and Rebecca spin-offs), so Phillips’ seemingly light touch shouldn’t be underestimated. Whether you need cheering up or are just looking for a laugh, this book will do the trick; so gallop through it and then hope that she writes another as soon as possible. [Alice Sinclair] Out 7 Aug, published by Jonathan Cape, RRP £12.99

Out 7 Aug, published by Serpent’s Tail, RRP £15

August 2014

ART / BOOKS

Review

Photo: Tate Liverpool

The Royal Standard (TRS) have split their Biennial exhibition between two spaces this year: the regular ‘back building’ and a new space on the floor above Cactus gallery. Five weeks of carpet ripping and prettifying have turned an officeblock shell into a slick projection room with (surprisingly comfortable) hay bale chairs and a massive screen on which to view the excellent Recreationals from Peckham-based artist Rob Chavasse. Before you even trek up to TRS’s part of town, your first port of call should be the calmer, cooler TRS website which features a rather gorgeous trailer specially made for Ghostie! A man skates alone around the endless courtyard of the Salk Institute, California, to a melancholic soundtrack. This is Nathaniel Kahn, the son of famous architect Louis Kahn who died when Nathaniel was 11. At 26, Nathaniel went in search of his estranged father, travelling the world visiting his buildings and making the film My Architect. It’s a clip, sure, from a film that will be familiar to almost every art student but it’s damn good, drawing you back to the website for another look again and again. Chavasse has been spending time with RCCar enthusiasts in North Wales and the Wirral, an area which apparently has a high number of clubs and societies dedicated to their racing. In the film he has produced, a little RC-Car careers around Liverpool, demented. It’s unclear whether the car is on a journey of exploration or is completely lost, a notion which is expanded by a soundtrack either of sad mermaids or ill-willed sirens, calling or warning. As the viewer follows this little fellow past the Catholic Cathedral, we see him spinning out on a pint-sized psychedelic

Tate Liverpool

Photo: Tony Knox

The Royal Standard

August Film Events There’s something for everyone this month, from a Hollywood heavyweight to an arty party Words: Simon Bland

The Congress

Welcome to New York

Obvious Child

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Director: Abel Ferrara Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Jacqueline Bisset, Marie Moute Released: 8 Aug Certificate: 18

Director: Gillian Robespierre Starring: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann Released: 29 Aug Certificate: 15

Abel Ferrara’s blunt-force Welcome to New York is a thinly-veiled fictionalisation of the sexual assault incident that disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, one that posits its lead as indisputably guilty of the crime. As Devereaux, Depardieu gives a warts, balls and all performance as a brutish sex addict, whose standing in wealth and power have fuelled a complete removal from contemporary morality. Despite punishment for the attempted rape of a maid, and the subsequent decimation of his planned political pursuits, he is unrepentant. In one of three fourth-wall-breaking moments, Devereaux looks right at the audience and mutters, “They can all go fuck themselves.” His wife (Bisset) is understandably sick of his shit, but Ferrara’s film, compelling in bursts in its first half, proves taxing itself as it lumbers on. Heavy on pompous monologues, the second of its two hours sheds little further light on its protagonist’s monstrous behaviour, and a hollow late attempt to shape Devereaux into a typical Ferrara anti-hero (e.g. King of New York ) doesn’t gel. [Josh Slater-Williams]

Hollywood films have famously shown great reluctance to engage with the issue of abortion in an honest way, so the frankness of Gillian Robespierre’s debut feature is refreshing. When stand-up comedian Donna (Slate) finds herself pregnant after a drunken one-night stand, the film refuses to indulge in sanctimony or angst over her decision to deal with it in her own way. Obvious Child’s straightforward approach is personified by the disarming Slate, whose sharp one-liners ensure that we are never far from a laugh, but the film surrounding her occasionally seems a little threadbare. Supporting players (including David Cross and Gaby Hoffmann) are shortchanged, and while Donna’s burgeoning relationship with Max (Lacy) works hard to avoid the usual romantic comedy complications, the resulting lack of real conflict leaves the film feeling increasingly trite. But Obvious Child is a genuine attempt to drag the moribund rom-com genre into more relatable and mature territory, and while it sometimes falls short of its aims, it’s an admirable step in the right direction. [Philip Concannon]

We Gotta Get Out of This Place

The Congress

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Director: Simon Hawkins, Zeke Hawkins Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Mackenzie Davis, Logan Huffman Released: 15 Aug Certificate: 15

Director: Ari Folman Starring: Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, Jon Hamm Released: 15 Aug Certificate: 15

Love, betrayal and escape in rural Texas drive the pulpy small-town noir We Gotta Get Out of This Place, the promising feature debut of director brothers Simon and Zeke Hawkins. With best friend Bobby (White) and girlfriend Sue (Davis) heading to college in a few weeks’ time, reckless, swaggering teen BJ (Huffman) robs the safe of his boss (Mark Pellegrino) to give the pair a lavish send-off vacation. After spending the money, BJ’s sleazebag boss works out they’re responsible, and forces them to commit an additional robbery to reclaim the cash, which actually belongs to an infamous gangster. The Hawkins brothers derive captivating performances from their talented central trio, and the sense of place and complicated character interplay proves very engrossing. It is a shame, then, that the final stretch of this brisk thriller devolves into convoluted plot twistiness that doesn’t cohere with what has come before, while Pellegrino becomes a cartoonish, wisecracking ham who disrupts the film’s otherwise consistent tone. [Josh Slater-Williams]

The Congress hinges on big ideas, but falls apart under light scrutiny; your enjoyment of it will depend on how much you care about the actual mechanics of the world it creates. It starts out as a live action satire of Hollywood before becoming an animated sci-fi about a mind-altering drug that allows you to literally live your dreams. This shift in tone and genre is jarring at first, but soon a grander scheme appears, revealing The Congress as a treatise on choice and freedom. There is a very strong chance that you will hate The Congress – it is (perhaps fatally) muddled, with a reach that exceeds its grasp. Or you may be like this reviewer, for whom the reach is so dazzling and the execution so beautiful that the grasp doesn’t really matter, the flaws becoming as insignificant as the holes in Swiss cheese. It is, quite possibly, a work of genius. Either that, or it’s a load of nonsense. Fittingly for this film, that choice is up to you. [Nathanael Smith]

God Help the Girl

Night Moves

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Director: Stuart Murdoch Starring: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray Released: 22 Aug Certificate: 15 In the pop song format, Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch is a deft storyteller, with a couple of stanzas all that’s needed to sketch a compelling tale populated by characters that seem poised to step out of the lyrics and into life. On 2009’s God Help the Girl album, Murdoch initiated a larger narrative project, introducing a troubled protagonist named Eve and promising to complete her story with a feature film. Five years on, B&S fans will be relieved to discover that many of the finer qualities of Murdoch’s musical penmanship have found cinematic equivalents: Nouvelle Vague cover-sleeve style, free-spirited charm, self-conscious wit, and so on. But other aspects are compromised by Murdoch’s inexperience as a screenwriter/director: the more they’re fleshed out, the more clichéd and less interesting his characters and their predicaments become; and with disappointingly few exceptions, the musical numbers are flatly staged (or, in the case of Pretty Eve in the Tub, downright creepy). Nonetheless, it remains winsomely engaging, largely thanks to Emily Browning’s gamine lead performance. [Chris Buckle]

Review

Director: Kelly Reichardt Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard Released: 29 Aug Certificate: 15 In her follow-up to Meek’s Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt’s trademark languid, stripped-back style is maintained for her most narrative-driven film to date. The seductively shot Night Moves sees three activists (Eisenberg, Fanning and Sarsgaard) collaborate to destroy a hydro-electric dam in order to stir public consciousness, only to confront growing senses of paranoia, futility and remorse when their plan proves misconceived for multiple reasons. Reichardt, who co-wrote the film, refreshingly opts out of defined moral judgements concerning both the central trio and supporting figures peppered throughout the story. The first hour, consisting of both the grand eco-terrorist gesture and the build up to it, is the strongest section regarding its character work and almost suffocating suspense. The aftermath, however, sees a dilution of the earlier psychological depth despite the new ethical dilemmas that arise. Eisenberg, the focus of the second half, in particular struggles when he needs to rely on his face, rather than words, to convey conflict. Night Moves subsequently loses much of the gripping momentum that previously sustained it. [Josh Slater-Williams]

FILM

ot what it takes to go one-on-one with Rocky Balboa? Can you fight the good fight, draw first blood and prove you’re not expendable? You’ll get the chance to put your money where your mouth is when Hollywood hard-hitter Sylvester Stallone arrives at the Phones4U Arena for a rare evening of candid chat (1 Aug). Just ahead of hardman threequel The Expendables 3, Stallone arrives in Manchester to discuss his storied career and life on screen. Fans will also get the opportunity to quiz him during a post-interview Q&A session, win exclusive prizes and potentially meet the man himself. Better get training... Time travel to the end of the month and you’ll find a charity screening of Back to the Future Part III at Manchester’s Night & Day Cafe (23 Aug). Supporting The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, this event combines live music with the Doc and Marty’s final gunslingin’ adventure. Winter Project, Stations, The Alpha Machine and Nine Black Alps’ frontman Sam Forrest will be making music before the film is screened and there will be a DeLorean on hand for all your photo-op needs. Great Scott! This is heavy.

Sylvester Stallone

Over in Liverpool, John Hardwick’s musical comedy Svengali appears at FACT (20 Aug), complete with a post-screening Q&A with label owner, manager and musician Alan McGee. Svengali follows Dixie, a small time Welsh boy with a simple goal – to manage the best band in the world. After a chance YouTube encounter, he leaves his postal career behind for the industry highlife. McGee appears as himself, alongside the likes of Libertine Carl Barât, Oasis guitarist Bonehead and Radio One’s Huw Stephens. A musical epic. And finally, Cornerhouse Manchester hosts an arty party to mark the release of their latest Artist Film project, Art Party (21 Aug). Part road movie, part fantasy, part art doc, this thoughtprovoking film follows artist Patrick Brill as he makes his way to the 2013 Art Party Conference to champion the importance of art and its place in our educational system. There will also be two new commissions available for some handson fun at the post-screening gallery event. Dirty Protest allows you to make a mess with a message, while Squirtapalooza lets you create your own cake concoctions with the help of Home Sweet Home’s head pastry chef Charlotte O’Toole. Art, film, food – you can have your cake and eat it. Literally.

THE SKINNY

In Good Company: Humunco Theatre A new company from young playwright Lewis Bray presents its first play, Cartoonopolis, about an imaginary world Interview: Alecia Marshall Illustration: Will Berry

here are some faces you cannot forget. Frequently to be found onstage or behind it, 23-year-old Lewis Bray is one such face: he’s animated, hugely talented and utterly dedicated to his craft. A past member of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Young Actors scheme, Bray found his home on the stage at the age of six, and little has changed since. Now the founder of brand new company Humunco Theatre, Bray aims to create theatre that “motivates, entertains and inspires.” Bray meets us at the Playhouse Studio ahead of the preview performance of his first play, Cartoonopolis. With just one hour until showtime, Bray has decided to cut half of one monologue and restructure another. “It’s fine, it’s fine,” he repeats, muttering the amended version under his breath. Written, devised and performed by Bray himself, Cartoonopolis is an autobiographical piece inspired by his experiences of growing up with a severely autistic brother, Jack. A multirole production that sees Bray play each of his family members in turn, Cartoonopolis invites its audience to view an unfiltered image of the Bray family: gratifyingly comic, often relatable and intensely moving. A play centred upon Jack has been present

in Bray’s head for some years, but Cartoonopolis proved the trigger. “I was working on a different one-man show when Jack told me about Cartoonopolis: an imaginary cartoon world with a population of ten billion – most of them famous cartoon characters – presided over by the evil Mayor Sharp,” he says. Devised by Jack as a “place to escape from the madness” of daily life, Bray decided to physicalise Jack’s imaginary city, creating something altogether more tangible, palpable. “I decided that I wanted to put Cartoonopolis into a play. I wanted people to hear his story. I wanted people to understand him.” Responsible for the name ‘Humunco’ (“I asked him what I should call my theatre company and he replied, ‘Humunco. Like Humungo, but not,’” says Bray), Jack, who has long adopted a Hollywood-perfect American accent based on those of his cartoon heroes, is his brother’s most ardent fan. “He loves it,” smiles Bray. Discussing Jack’s continued involvement with the devising process of Cartoonopolis, Bray allows Jack a role not unlike that of a coproducer. “He likes to add ideas, which is great because it allows him to be creative and use his voice. That was the initial – and continued – aim of this whole project, to give Jack a voice. I wanted him to be heard as an individual, irrespective

of his disability.” Naturally, autism is a topic close to Bray’s heart. When discussing his childhood, he refuses to characterise it as ‘difficult’, instead choosing the word ‘different’. “There was, and are still, challenges, but you work with it. Jack has a sensory disorder which makes it uncomfortable for him to feel things on his skin. As a result, he is often found naked around the house – not ideal when bringing friends over! Yes, it’s hard, but you have to promote love and acceptance.” Using theatre as a platform to explore and inform, Bray is determined to educate audiences about autism in a light-hearted, comic

way. “I don’t want to ram the topic down people’s throats but I do want to raise their awareness. Autism is not something to be afraid of, it just needs to be understood.” With plans for Humunco and Cartoonopolis to stick around, Bray is optimistic about the future. “I want to reach a host of audiences. I want Jack to become part of a community that accepts him; I believe Cartoonopolis can make that happen.” An admirable and noble artist, Bray deserves every success. Cartoonopolis runs in the Liverpool Playhouse Studio in September www.twitter.com/humuncotheatre

Fringe Cut Every August our friends in the North ruthlessly steal all of our comedians for an entire month. Frankly, it’s not on. Still, we’ve rounded up some of our favourites from the Northwest circuit you should check out if you head to Edinburgh for the Fringe

f you feel a little homesick in the Scottish capital then you might want to check out Caimh McDonnell’s show called Southbound and Down, all about his disastrous relocation from Manchester to London. The white-haired Irishman’s anecdotes about his ill-fated sojourn are energetically delivered and hit on a level familiar to those who’ve had to move for work and soon realised it was a terrible, terrible mistake. Phil Ellis aims to top last year’s intentional trainwreck of a show Unplanned Orphan with his new show Funz and Gamez. A kids’ show. From Phil Ellis. Just let that sink in for a moment. It could be the best thing since Rainbow. Or it could be an unmitigated disaster. Either way it will certainly a spectacle to behold. For young and old. A couple of our past Spotlight picks will also be represented at the Fringe: Rachel Fairburn’s show All the Fun of the Fairburn sees her deliver some home truths about life in the Fairburn clan and their symbiotic relationship with misery; while also heading up are three-headed sketch beast Gein’s Family Giftshop with their show Volume 1, in what we hope is the beginning of an epic collection of shows. Fellow sketchers and Gein’s mortal enemies Staple/face are following their nemeses to the Fringe with a show called Staple/face are... Going Down Fighting, which hopefully won’t end in the

August 2014

bloody scrap between the two warring factions of skitting. Liverpool’s purveyors of free comedy nights will be selfishly taking their altruism up to PBH’s Free Fringe, as Another Comedy Night’s David Alnwick takes the wonderfully titled Totally Ninja Magic Show and his new stand-up show Totally Ninja Naked to Voodoo Rooms, and Alastair Clark’s Vote Russell Brand – another free show, at Cabaret Voltaire – takes his attention away from the Shiny New Comedy Lab. Clark examines Brand’s effect on the future of British politics via his call to apathy. The man responsible for the bulk of free comedy in Manchester through his many-faceted Dead Cat Comedy shows, Red Redmond, will also be Scotland-bound for the month of August as he debuts his show Blue. With boundless energy and razor-sharp wit, Redmond’s show has been previewed to great acclaim so far – though let’s hope he doesn’t get too successful and start charging in for his wonderful gigs. There’s a wealth of regulars on the Northwest circuits whose exploits will be missed on the stages around the area: Adam Rushton, Lou Conran, Mick Ferry (who also has an inspired cameo in Phil Ellis’ kids’ show as drunk Uncle Mick), Danny McLoughlin, Dave Williams, Hayley Ellis and many more all have shows at the Fringe.

Katie Mulgrew

Preston’s Dan Nightingale is Trying His Best Not to Be a Dick with his usual risqué and hilarious results, and Katie Mulgrew wins the prize for best poster (Cinderella eating a Pot Noodle is both delightfully endearing and quite gross) for her show Happily Ever After, about what comes next when the dream wedding is over and the lovely massive frock goes back in the cupboard. The answer may well be massive exposure at the world’s biggest arts festival for a very talented act. A quiet month for Liverpool and Manchester’s comedy scenes is anything but for those who help make it what it is. Caimh McDonnell, Southbound and Down, Cabaret Voltaire, 2-11, 13-18, 20-23 Aug, 1.20pm Phil Ellis, Funz and Gamez, The Mash House, 31 Jul, 1-11, 13-24 Aug, 2pm Rachel Fairburn, All the Fun of the Fairburn, Jekyll & Hyde, 31 Jul, 1-18, 20-24 Aug, 12.45pm

THEATRE / COMEDY

Gein’s Family Giftshop, Volume 1, Pleasance Courtyard, 30-31 Jul, 1-10, 12-24 Aug, 10.45pm

Staple/face are... Going Down Fighting, 30-31 Jul, 1-11, 13-25 Aug, Gilded Balloon, 4pm David Alnwick, Totally Ninja Magic Show, Voodoo Rooms, 3-24 Aug, 12.30pm; Totally Ninja Naked, The Globe, 3-24 Aug, 8.30pm Alastair Clark, Vote Russell Brand, Cabaret Voltaire, 2-23 Aug, 7.35pm Red Redmond, Blue, The Southsider, 2-23 Aug, 8.15pm Dan Nightingale, …is Trying His Best Not to Be a Dick, Pleasance Dome, 30-31 Jul, 1-10, 12-24 Aug, 5.30pm Katie Mulgrew, Happily Ever After, Gilded Balloon, 30-31 Jul, 1-11, 13-24 Aug, 8pm

Preview

Photo: Steve Ullathorne

Words: John Stansfield

Manchester Music Tue 29 Jul BLIND MONK TRIO

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

Three Northwest musicians putting a fresh spin on the classic, chordless jazz trio format.

Wed 30 Jul HUGO CORBIN TRIO

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

A trio of Northwest musicians, performing compositions and arrangements written by Hugo Corbin. FKA TWIGS

THE DANCEHOUSE, 20:30–23:00, SOLD OUT

The Artist Formerly Known As Twigs before anyone knew she’d ever been called Twigs makes her Manchester debut off the back of major hype for her two EPs - EP1 and EP2 - released on Young Turks last year.

Thu 31 Jul

GUITAR WOLF (BONES SHAKE + HOPPER + PROPELLED ELECTRIC)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10

The Japanese total rock’n’roll experience bring the mayhem to Mono. TAILOR BIRDS

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

Folk and blues from the London via Melbourne jazz artist Sophie Kinston.

MIKE MCGOLDRICK, JOHN MCCUSKER AND JOHN DOYLE

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £16.50

Three members of the Transatlantic Sessions embark on a European tour, touting their flutes, whistles, pipes, fiddles, and guitar-mastery. TARRUS RILEY

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £25

The New York-based reggae artist tours his latest album, Love Situation. THE BRIDGEWATER SUMMER FESTIVAL

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 11:00–15:30, FREE

Two days of music and discovery for all ages.

HALFLING’S LEAF (TRIBAL FIGHTERS + LOVE BUZZARD) THE BAY HORSE, 19:30–23:00, £4

From Another Place present a night of time-signature jumping posthardcore and math-rock. LE GALAXIE (WILL TRAMP! + THE SLOW READERS CLUB + THE FEVERS )

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £5

Industrial group combine synths and guitars for a dance frenzy.

Fri 01 Aug LOSTALONE

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £7

Derby-based rock trio headed by Steven Battelle on lead vocals and guitar duties. ATHLETE (DANIEL JAMES)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £19

Emotional indie lads who seem to have survived the backlash that the success of Travis brought upon the rest of the blubcore lot.

FREE GIG FRIDAY (THE CASTELLERS)

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Another night of musical variety from another of The Bay Horse's local guest promoters.

THE MOODS (TOM HINGLEY BAND + THE JOINT + DIRTY NORTH + JB BARRINGTON) THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £5

Powered along by two drummers, this genre-hopping five-piece launch their new LP with a plethora of local support. BURT BACHARACH

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 20:00–22:30, FROM £39.50

What the world needs now is another Burt Bacharach tour - so it’s just as well that the 86 yearold crooner is calling in for another run through the highlights of his marathon career. NINA (FACTORY ACTS + UV)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

Preview event ahead of the full Eclectica project launch at Kraak. THE VOICE COLLECTIVE

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 12:30–13:30, FREE

Vocal group who take an a cappella approach to folk, pop and soul staples.

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

Six-piece New Orleans-inspired R&B troupe drawing on a repertoire of classics from The Big Easy. ANTICS WEEKENDER (THEN THICKENS + SHINIES + MORE)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–03:00, £6 (£9 WEEKEND)

In association with Beacons Festival, a two-day event of live music and DJs, including Then Thickens, Shinies and more.

Sat 02 Aug

DAVID BROMBERG AND LARRY CAMPBELL (THEA HOPKINS) BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–22:30, £15 EARLYBIRD (£17 THEREAFTER)

American roots music legends who can boast Grammy nominations and Bob Dylan collaborations to their respective names. STORYTIME FESTIVAL

ANTWERP MANSION, 16:00–00:00, £3

Eight-hour celebration of experimental music, performance poetry, art and visuals, with live performances from Osaka Punch, Locean and many more.

THE UNDERGROUND YOUTH (BLACK MARKET KARMA + TESS PARKS)

Mon 04 Aug

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £7

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

Manchester-based amalgamation of post-punk, psych and shoegaze. BLACK LIGHTS

GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £8

BLUES JAM

Monday night blues jam, all abilities welcome. CONVERGE

Local lads delivering electrotinged indie anthems that you can all sing-along back to them – should you wish.

90s metalcore pioneers still able to put on a pretty bludgeoning live experience.

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £9

SOUND CONTROL, 18:00–22:00, £6

KEVIN DEVINE

Brooklyn songwriter best known for his melodic tunesmithery built on alternately introspective, political lyrics. FEED THE KID (FRANCO & THE DREADNOUGHT, GOLDJACKS, THE CHIEF OF SEATTLE)

THE DANCEHOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £7

Apparently formed to “give their mate’s gingerbread kid a future”, the local rockers can count Terry Christian among their fans. THE SOFT WALLS (YOUNG BRITISH ARTISTS + TEARDROP FACTORY)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:30, £5

Fans of Deerhunter and Women will find much to love in this Brighton four-piece, who release their second LP on Trouble In Mind. ECLECTICA PROJECT (TAHITA BULMER + U.V + SOPHIA HAMADI + MORE)

KRAAK, 15:00–23:30, FROM £5 (£12 WEEKEND PASS)

Weekender showcasing female-led live music, DJs and guest speakers in order to advocate equality for women and minorities in all industries. THE LAST NIGHT OF THE HALLÉ PROMS

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £17

Featuring special guest singer Madeleine Shaw, the Hallé perform a traditional rousing finale to their Summer Promenade concerts. JULIE DEXTER

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

Award-winning vocalist who crosses genres from jazz to soul and world music.

ANTICS WEEKENDER (BROMHEADS + LVLS + MORE) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–03:00, £6 (£9 WEEKEND)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £13

NEON SARCASTIC

Five-piece alternative rockers from Leicester.

Tue 05 Aug SAMUEL C LEES

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

Gypsy guitar playing, emerging as one of the leaders in the UK scene, playing a blend of originals and covers of modern classics. OWL JOHN

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–23:00, £12

Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison steps out in his solo guise. BURT BACHARACH

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 20:00–22:30, FROM £39.50

What the world needs now is another Burt Bacharach tour - so it’s just as well that the 86 yearold crooner is calling in for another run through the highlights of his marathon career.

SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS (ACOUSTIC)

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–23:00, £13

A special acoustic one-off summer show by the influential Mancunians.

Wed 06 Aug STUART MCCALLUM

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

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

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £7

Matador signings from Copenhagen who make big ambitious rock with a nod to Bryan Ferry and Leonard Cohen.

Thu 07 Aug SMOKEY BLUE GRASS

In association with Beacons Festival, a two-day event of live music and DJs, including Bromheads, LVLS and more.

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

Sun 03 Aug

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £16

ECLECTICA PROJECT (JESCA HOOP + ESPER SCOUT + ROXANNE DE BASTION + MORE)

KRAAK, 15:00–23:30, FROM £5 (£12 WEEKEND PASS)

Weekender showcasing female-led live music, DJs and guest speakers in order to advocate equality for women and minorities in all industries. BARS AND MELODY

THE PLAZA STOCKPORT, 19:00–22:00, FROM £9.75

They only ruddy went and made the Britain’s Got Talent final. SHIT AND SHINE (GNOD + ILL)

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £8

An absolutely heavy duty bill of hard-riffin’. If Shit and Shine don’t pulverise you with their relentless sonic blasts, then Gnod’s industrial-leaning repetition and Ill’s scathing punk rock surely will. ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER (THE FIERY FURNACES) THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £8

Former Fiery Furnaces vocalist makes her return to Manchester having played Night & Day last year.

TROF NQ, 21:00–01:00, FREE

JOAN AS POLICEWOMAN

Joan Wasser continues to mix sweet pop melodies with a more hard-edged guitar nous; she tours in support of properly good new record, The Classic. KINGSLAND ROAD

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £8

X Factor breakthrough act (but not winners) who’ve been co-writing with McFly’s songsmiths. ANBERLIN (NATIVES)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £12

Final tour for the Florida rockers in support of their seventh and last studio album, Lowborn. EASY STAR ALL STARS

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £16 EARLYBIRD (£18 THEREAFTER)

The go-to choice for anyone who likes their rock dubbed up a little, known for their tribute albums Dub Side Of The Moon, Radiodread and Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band. GINGER TUNES QUARTET

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

Mike Smith’s Ginger Tunes Quartet present their jazz fusion sounds, inspired by the likes of Courtney Pine and Joshua Redman.

SKINNY GIRL DIET (ESPER SCOUT)

PURPLESKY (SADBOYS COLLECTIVE)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

ROADHOUSE, 19:00–23:00, £8 EARLYBIRD (£10 THEREAFTER)

A spin-off from the Eclectica Project’s main event sees the Viv Albertine-endorsed Skinny Girl Diet call into tear up the intimate confines of The Castle.

JADE ASSEMBLY ( HUGO KENSDALE BAND + THE PRETTY HALF + DOG COFFEE)

LAMMARS BAR, 19:00–23:00, £DONATIONS

Charity blowout hosted by Louder Than War with all proceeds going to the RSPB.

Fri 08 Aug

FREE GIG FRIDAY (MOG STANLEY + BAD BAD ME)

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Another night of musical variety from another of The Bay Horse's local guest promoters. RAGING FYAH

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £8 EARLYBIRD (£10 THEREAFTER)

Jamaican reggae outfit whose songs traverse the line of roots and rock.

FLAME ON (TASTES LIKE ANIMALS + BROKEN WITT REBELS)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £3

Northwich blues rock four-piece celebrate the launch of their new EP. MARTINE CONNOR

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

Local soul singer with roots in gospel and jazz as well as hip-hop and Latin soul.

Sat 09 Aug LAUREN HOUSLEY

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

Singer Lauren Housley belts out the classics, taking in Bonnie Raitt, Dusty Springfield and tracks from her debut album, One Step Closer. LET’S HANG ON

THE PLAZA STOCKPORT, 19:30–22:30, £22

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons tribute.

SOTN RECORDS’ MIX TAPE VOL. 2 (THE HYMEK MANOEUVRE + THE MARQUETTES + THE NINTH WATCH + THE NINTH WATCH + DAVID LIVERSIDGE + SCOTT LLOYD)) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £7.00

A diverse night of music from Scruff Of The Neck Records.

ONE KLICK NORTH (GLASS TIDES + CHANTELLE ELLIOTT + SERINETTE) THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

New indie-rock four-piece from Manchester who sound like they’re fairly into Kings of Leon. DEADBOLT FESTIVAL

SOUND CONTROL, 14:00–22:30, £10

Massive two-stage bill with additional DJs across all three floors of Sound Control.

Sun 10 Aug THE SHIMMERING SUNS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–22:30, £5

Four-piece combining elements of shoegaze, grunge and rock ‘n’ roll.

Mon 11 Aug JAZZ JAM

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

Monday night jazz jam, all abilities welcome. SKELETONWITCH

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–23:00, £7

Unpigeonholeable metalheads boasting a vicious live show and blue-collar work ethic. APRIL TOWERS

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

Anthemic electronic pop duo.

STEPHEN JAMES (THE BEAR AROUND YOUR NECK + DENIM AND LEATHER)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

The local poet launches his first book with live music performances courtesy of Denim and Leather as well as The Bear Around Your Neck.

Tue 12 Aug THE GARDEN

THE CASTLE, 19:30-23:00, £5

Part-time Yves Saint Laurent models from the Orange County, California try their hand at conceptual punk. CALVIN TRAVERS TRIO

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

Inspired by Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell and E.S.T. Founed at Leeds College of Music, the Calvin Travers Trio play ahead of their debut LP’s release.

Brand new night dedicated to hiphop, house and electronic music with a mix of DJs and live music.

Wed 13 Aug DEAD KENNEDYS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £18

Caustic 70’s punk rockers now with Ron Greer on vocal duties. KEITH MCGEE TRIO WITH LUCY BARLOW

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

McGee’s trio is joined by vocalist Lucy Barlow for an evening of jazz standards. AMEN

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–23:00, £13

The hard-hitting punk band just got heavier, with Slayer’s Dave Lombardo joining the group on drums.

Listings

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £6

Passionate about “real music”, The Assist play some actual real live songs at Academy 3. NORTHERN KNIGHTS (THE THOUGHT POLICE + JADE ANN)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

Queen Lizzy must’ve been going through a Pigeon Detectives phase when she placed the sword on this four-piece’s shoulders.

S.O.P.H.I.E UNSIGNED (SINNERGOD + WE LAY WAITING + DESPAIR & DESIGN + ANGELS OF DEMISE) SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–23:00, £7

Four-act unsigned night in aid of The Sophie Lancaster Foundation. ACTION BEAT (SILENT FRONT + LOCEAN + 2 KOI KARP + GROVES)

KRAAK, 17:00–22:00, £7

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

A soul, breakbeat, blues and jazz inspired contemporary sounds.

Fri 22 Aug

FRANNY EUBANK’S THE BLUES

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

A one-man blues explosion, Franny plays harmonica and sings the original Chicago blues. BLACK SONIC REVOLVER (DIRTY NORTH + Y-KEY OPERATORS)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £5

Hometown show for the indie rockers to celebrate the launch of new album, BSR. VANCOUVER SLEEP CLINIC

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £7

Precocious teen Tim Bettinson tours in support of his debut EP.

Wed 27 Aug

THE FAIREY BAND (YOUTH BRASS BAND OF UPPER AUSTRIA)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:30, £8

Brass band spectacular at the RNCM featuring two brass bands who’ll then come together for a massed 85-musician finale.

EVERGREEN TERRACE (THE HUMAN PROJECT)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £13

Five-piece Florida metalcore group enjoying a fresh start with new label Rise Records. ZEITGEIST

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

English contemporary jazz trio influenced by artists such as Tigran, Hamasyan, Phronesis, Meshuggah, Avishai Cohen and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio.

Thu 14 Aug

Multi-drum kit bashing noise rockers all sonically malevolent in their approach.

GORILLA, 19:00–23:00, £13

Sun 17 Aug

Pissed off, Manchester émigrés with a knack for post-indie, lad-art and accoustic crowd surfing blues.

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–22:30, £18 EARLYBIRD (£20 THEREAFTER)

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

A mix of bebop, mainstream swing and New Orlean’s funk from British Jazz Award up-and-comer, Jamie Brownfield.

Sat 23 Aug

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–23:00, £13

PISSED JEANS (HOOKWORMS)

The Pennsylvania punk heroes haven’t mellowed after four albums, remaining one of the most visceral bands on the live circuit – not that they venture onto it too often. Do not miss. BEIRUT

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

Zach Condon and his band bring their effortlessly chameleonic baroque-pop songs to Manchester. THE SHED QUARTET

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

You’ll be unsurprised to know they practice in a shed. You’ll be less surprised to know that they play classical vocal jazz with a contemporary slant. ULTIMATE PAINTING

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

SUN RA CENTENNIAL ARKESTRA

A century since Sun Ra arrived on planet earth, the Arkestra pay tribute to his legend. Constantly evolving yet always with an eye for a groove, the Arkestra remain as vibrant as ever. UNDRESSED (JESCA HOOP + JOSEPHINE + JO ROSE + MORE)

VARIOUS VENUES, 17:00-23:00, DAY TICKETS FROM £12.50 (WEEKEND FROM £22)

A two-day showcase of some of the finest acoustic-based music from within the Northwest.

Mon 18 Aug NEW ORLEANS JAM

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

New project featuring Veronica Falls’ James Hoare and Jack Cooper from Mazes, dealing in slightly rough-edged but sweetly melodic indie-pop.

A new monthly jam session, celebrating the big band music of New Orleans.

Fri 15 Aug

“Stuck between the cracks” of post-punk and indie, here’s hoping the cult Detroit four-piece can free themselves before tonight’s show.

EARTH

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £14

Seattle’s drone godfather Dylan Carlson and his Earth chums make an all too rare UK visit, alighting in celebration of the release of their tenth studio LP, Primitive & Deadly. THE SOUL CIRCLE GANG

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

The fresh and ever-energetic eight-piece will be wowing audiences with a mix of original tracks and covers. FREE GIG FRIDAY (LOVECHILD + WARN THE PEOPLE)

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Another night of musical variety from another of The Bay Horse's local guest promoters. THE COURTESANS (SEARU + HARDTAIL)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £6

If you like your audio and video experiences sensual, then this London four-piece are the group for you. HELL YEAH

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £15

Heavy metal supergroup featuring members of Mudvayne, Nothingface and Pantera. Horns up!

Sat 16 Aug TERRI SHALTIEL

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

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

GORILLA, 18:30–22:00, £14

PROTOMARTYR (AUTOBAHN + DÉJÀ VEGA)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8

Tue 19 Aug MY RUIN

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–23:00, £12

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–23:00, £5

BLACKLIST ROYALS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £7

Country-tinged melodic DIY punk rock’n’rollers straight outta Nashville. NEW YORK BRASS BAND

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

North Yorkshire’s only contemporary New Orleans inspired Brass Band. THE MINX

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £5

New wave five-piece hoping the title of their new single, ‘No Friends’ doesn’t prove true at their biggest hometown show to-date. JEFFREY LEWIS & THE JRAMS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £9

The folk-tale telling punk returns with new band The Jrams for his first show in Manchester for three years.

ANGEL CALLING (JIM ADAMA + THE PIRATE BAND + Y KEY OPERATORS + MORE) THE ANGEL PUB, 14:00–02:00, FREE

BLACK LIPS

The Atlanta garage rockers return to Manchester for the first time in over five years, in support of new album Underneath The Rainbow.

TWO TRICK HORSE (SANTIAGO KINGS)

THE BAY HORSE, 20:00–23:00, £4

Leeds power trio for fans of Shellac, Fugazi and Husker Du.

Fri 29 Aug THE FRONT BOTTOMS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £8

Possessing more nous than the puerile band name might suggest, the New Jersey outfit do their acoustic-cum-indie-cum-dancecum-punk thing – packaged up with catchy choruses, an oftengalloping pace, and lyrics that mix flip humour with sincerity. FREE GIG FRIDAY (CACTUS KNIFE)

THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Another night of musical variety from another of The Bay Horse's local guest promoters.

SKY VALLEY MISTRESS (LOOR A LOS HEROES + ADJECTIVE ANIMAL)

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

Sun 24 Aug

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

BLIND MONK TRIO

Three Northwest musicians putting a fresh spin on the classic, chordless jazz trio format. KARMA TO BURN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £10

West Virginia stoner rock trio made up of guitarist William Mecum, bassist Rich Mullins and drummer Rob Oswald.

Wed 20 Aug

THE BOOGIE WILLIAMS TRIO GRANDE

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

Boogie Williams is joined by Alan ‘The Hat’ Whitham on bass and Richard young on drums, playing soul jazz, boogie and 60s groove. FLAMINGODS (THE YOSSARIANS)

KRAAK, 19:00–22:30, £5

KAL LAVELLE (FIONA BEVAN)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £6

Two singer-songwriters billed as the Song Sisters Tour, part of an effort to improve the participation of women in music.

SKA PUNK ALL DAYER (HATED TILL PROVEN + 2 SICK MONKEYS + RISING STRIKE + RIGGOTS + MORE)

KRAAK, 14:00–22:00, £TBC

Ska punk will never die! Not while nine-band all-dayers like this exist anyway.

ANGEL CALLING (JIM ADAMA + THE PIRATE BAND + Y KEY OPERATORS + MORE) THE ANGEL PUB, 14:00–02:00, FREE

Two-day bank holiday event with a host of live bands and artists, a BBQ, entertainment and the Angel’s usual fine selection of real ales.

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

7SUNS

A multi-national group of London based musicians whose music is an energizing blend of Afro, Latin, Carribean, Funk and Jazz.

Sat 30 Aug

DELAMERE (THE HOTSPUR PRESS)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £7

Anthemic Stoke four-piece launch their new single Headstrong. ARCANE FLUX (RELAY D’VERB + DIRTY JESUS + THE JALAPENO HOMBRES)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–23:00, £4

Alt. Rock three-piece and XFM Winter Wonderland alumni exist with no other hope but to play their hearts out. Metaphorically. PINK MOUNTAINTOPS

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £10

Thu 21 Aug

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

Canadian rock outfit led by Stephen McBean, sharing members with many of Canada’s finest – including the Black Mountain collective and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6.00

Tue 26 Aug

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

Rhythm-driven five-piece touring in support of their new record, Hyperborea. HOLY ESQUE (VOY EUR)

Much-hyped and reverb-drenched Glaswegian art-popsters, finally in possession of an LP’s worth of material. SMOKEY BLUE GRASS

VARIOUS VENUES, 17:00-23:00, DAY TICKETS FROM £12.50 (WEEKEND FROM £22)

A NORTHERN CONTRIBUTION (RELIGION OF TOMORROW + WE ARE SAVIOURS + TWISTER)

After party for the indie-rockers Kraak gig earlier in the evening.

JAMIE BROWNFIELD QUARTET

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

Blues rock influenced Northwest three-piece.

Singer/songwriter from Manchester navigating pop and soul vibes with piano-centric and heartfelt songs she launches her new single, We Won’t Let Go.

A two-day showcase of some of the finest acoustic-based music from within the Northwest.

ORPHAN BOY + THE DELAPLAINS AFTER PARTY

Thu 28 Aug

Tairrie B. Murphy-fronted Californian heavy rock veterans stop in on their Sacred Mood Tour.

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

UNDRESSED (THE TRAVELLING BAND + LIZ GREEN + BIRD TO BEAST + MORE)

ORPHAN BOY

KRAAK, 19:30-22:30, £5

Two-day bank holiday event with a host of live bands and artists, a BBQ, entertainment and the Angel’s usual fine selection of real ales.

Post-black metal success stories continue their unexpected ascent following a line-up change and their critically-acclaimed second LP, Sunbather.

The monthly showcase returns with a night of rock-fusion and pop punk.

THE ASSIST (SHAKEDOWN STOCKHOLM + NORTHERN SUGAR + AMPLIFIED BANDITS + THE FRAKES)

TROF NQ, 21:00–01:00, FREE

ALICE GASSON

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £3

JANE’S ADDICTION

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £37.50

Dave Navarro and co. treat us to a run through of their seminal debut studio album, Nothing’s Shocking.

Mon 25 Aug SOUL JAM

A monthly soul jam session. KYLA BROX

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

UK-based blues and soul singer/ songwriter, redefining her sound as a duo performance, joined by Danny Blomeley on guitar. ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10

Kawabata Makoto and his band of sonic outlaws, mixing traditional melody with hyper-aggressive playing techniques and plenty of improvisation.

LONDON AFROBEAT COLLECTIVE

Personally invited by Michael Eavis to open the West Holts stage at Glastonbury, the ‘Collective are festival favourites. VENA PORTAE FEAT. EMILY BARKER

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £8

The Anglo-Swedish alt-folk band are fronted by Emily Barker - the BAFTA award-winning writer and performer of the theme to BBC TV crime drama Wallander.

Sun 31 Aug

CHRONIXX (ZINC FENCE REDEMPTION)

THE RITZ, 19:30–23:00, £25

Recently ascended to reggae’s front line, the son of the legendary Chronicle drops by for a hit-filled set.

TINY RUINS (JULIE BYRNE)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £6

Delicate chamber-folk from New Zealand.

THE SKINNY

Liverpool Music Tue 29 Jul

PARRJAZZ (SUZAHN FIERING)

FREDERIKS, 20:30–23:00, £3

The weekly jazz showcase night pitches up in a new home on Hope Street.

Wed 30 Jul MORNING RAGA

THE CAPSTONE, 08:00–22:30, FREE

NESTON BRASS QUINTET MERSEYSIDE MARITIME MUSEUM, 13:00–16:00, FREE

Popular tunes from the First World War, including It’s A Long Way To Tipperary and Pack Up Your Troubles.

Fri 08 Aug TRAGEDY

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £7

An early morning concert as part of Indika. Welcome the day with an early morning concert.

A metal tribute to the Bee Gees – what could be better?

Thu 31 Jul

VIEW TWO GALLERY, 20:00–23:00, £6

ANDREW W.K.

EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £15

Mr Wilkes-Krier takes to the road for his UK and European tour, playing anthems for the quadraspazzed in a series of intimate club settings. Altogether now: “We want fun...”

Fri 01 Aug MORNING RAGA

THE CAPSTONE, 08:00–22:30, FREE

An early morning concert as part of Indika. Welcome the day with an early morning concert.

THE BLACKOUT (PAVILIONS, BUCKLE TONGUE)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £13

An exclusive northern date from the high energy rockers, known for their party-hard attitude.

Sat 02 Aug CAMMY BLACK

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £4

After years of bedroom songwriting, the 20-something brickie by day downs tools for a rock-heavy live band set. REEL BIG FISH (THE JELLY CATS, BROKEN 3 WAYS)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £14.50

Ska-pop will never die with Reel Big Fish around. Their Don’t Stop Skankin’ tour is in support of latest LP Candy Coated Fury.

HANNAH ROSE PLATT

American-fused contemporary folk from the London/Nashvillebased singer/songwriter Hannah Rose Platt. STAR SLINGER

THE KAZIMIER GARDEN, 19:30–23:00, £3

Prolific re-mixer for the likes of Jessie Ware, Drake and Gold Panda, Star Slinger crafts an eclectic combo of hip-hop, dance and soul music.

Sat 09 Aug

FESTEVOL (STEALING SHEEP + BY THE SEA + THE TEA STREET BAND + MORE)

THE KAZIMIER, 15:00–04:00, £12.50

Promoters EVOL return for the third annual FestEVOL, with headliners this year including, Stealing Sheep, Tea Street Band and By The Sea. Natalie McCool, Veyu and The Hooton Tennis Club are also among those on the bill.

THE MELLOMELLO JAZZ COLLECTIVE

MELLOMELLO, 21:00–00:00, FREE

MelloMello’s jazz collective return, serving up a free evening of stomping jazz and swing fusion. 2014 SUMMER RECITALS

LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL, 12:30–13:00, FREE

A guest organist each Saturday afternoon.

Sun 10 Aug

SUMMER SESSIONS (JON GOMM, LOVEABLE ROGUES, NICK HARPER, KESTON COBBLERS CLUB) ST LUKE’S CHURCH, 15:00–23:00, FROM £12.50 (WEEKEND £20)

Glasswerk present a weekender of guitar-led music, from the acoustic stylings of Jon Gomm all the way to Britain’s Got Talent finalists Loveable Rogues. JIMI GOODWIN

CAMP + FURNACE, 19:30-22:30, £12.50

The former Doves front man headlines day two of Camp + Furnace's annual Summercamp.

Sun 17 Aug STEVE MACFARLANE

STUDIO 2, 17:00–21:00, FREE

Enjoy an afternoon of music with the Liverpool-based singer/ songwriter, playing a mixture of originals and covers. SUMMER SESSIONS (LOVEABLE ROGUES + MORE)

ST LUKE’S CHURCH, 15:00–23:00, FROM £12.50 (WEEKEND £20)

Glasswerk present a weekender of guitar-led music, from the acoustic stylings of Jon Gomm all the way to Britain’s Got Talent finalists Loveable Rogues.

Mon 18 Aug

THE GROWLERS (FAT WHITE FAMILY + THE WYTCHES) THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £11

Known for blending fuzzy surf with sexy psychedelia and throwing in some hypnotic melodies and tripped out lyrics, The Growlers are joined by the brilliantly grotty Fat White Family and the surfer-psych of The Wytches on this triple bill.

Tue 19 Aug

OUT OF THE BEDROOM: OPEN MIC NIGHT WITH JOHNNY SANDS

LEAF, 20:30–22:30, FREE

MUSEUM OF LIVERPOOL, 13:00–14:00, FREE

2014 SUMMER RECITALS

Traditional shanty singing.

Liverpool’s reigning King of acoustic presents a weekly open mic night.

LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL, 12:30–13:00, FREE

Tue 12 Aug

Wed 20 Aug

A guest organist each Saturday afternoon. NEW SOUL POWER CLUB

STUDIO 2, 19:00–01:00, FREE

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

VARIOUS VENUES, 13:00–22:00, £8

The fifth anniversary of the Liverpool Pride should be as colourful and celebratory as ever. This year’s fancy dress theme is Glam Fairy Tales, while headliners include Katy B and the M People’s Heather Small.

Sun 03 Aug BURT BACHARACH

LIVERPOOL EMPIRE, 20:00–23:00, FROM £38.40

STUDIO 2, 19:30–23:30, £2

Stillhet Music return with their regular showcase.

Tue 05 Aug

OUT OF THE BEDROOM: OPEN MIC NIGHT WITH JOHNNY SANDS

LEAF, 20:30–22:30, FREE

Liverpool’s reigning King of acoustic presents a weekly open mic night.

Wed 06 Aug THE ART OF MUSIC

LADY LEVER ART GALLERY, 14:00–16:00, FREE

A music recital by the Celtic Roots Community Music Academy, inspired by the Rossetti’s Obsession: Images of Jane Morris exhibition.

Thu 07 Aug

DEAD HEDGE TRIO RESIDENCY

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.

August 2014

THE LIVERPOOL SHANTY KINGS

OUT OF THE BEDROOM: OPEN MIC NIGHT WITH JOHNNY SANDS

STEVE EARLE

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £33.50

Liverpool’s reigning King of acoustic presents a weekly open mic night.

The Godfather of alternative country music calls in to Liverpool for a rare solo set, featuring songs from his 30-year career.

Wed 13 Aug

EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £7

LEAF, 20:30–22:30, FREE

MTV BRAND NEW PRESENTED BY LIMF (ELLA EYRE + BECKY HILL + JESS GLYNNE)

CAMP AND FURNACE, 19:30–22:30, £3

Ella Eyre, Jess Glynne and Becky Hill are among the names to launch Liverpool International Music Festival, performing at this special MTV show. WILLIAM CONTROL

STUDIO 2, 19:00–22:30, £8

Electronic side project of Aiden’s William Francis, touring on the back of his third LP.

Thu 14 Aug

THE SEA WITCHES (THE DEBT STARS + MONIKA & THE EXPLOSION) MELLOMELLO, 21:00–00:00, FREE

A triple bill of rock n’ roll.

Fri 15 Aug GRUFF RHYS

CAMP AND FURNACE, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

The Super Furry Animals man kicks off Summercamp in style as he continues to tour in support of latest album American Interior. OTTERSGEAR

PULLED APART BY HORSES

Leeds-based band of lunatics running to a tight check list of torturous vocals, distortion, serious riffage, and hardcore clatter. All in the name of some pretty bloody awesome balls-to-the-wall rock, y’understand.

Thu 21 Aug

SYNDROME SESSIONS 2:1 (JAMIE GLEHDILL + STEFAN KAZASSOGLOU + STEVEN FOWLER) 24 KITCHEN STREET, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

Jamie Gledhill, Stefan Kazassoglou & martial artist Steven Fowler are invited to use Syndrome’s interactive space that responds visually and sonically to physical presence and movement in a similar way that a musical instrument responds to being played.

Fri 22 Aug

TJ & MURPHY (ADRIAN NATION)

VIEW TWO GALLERY, 19:45–22:45, £5ADV (£6 ON THE DOOR)

A Liverpool Acoustic-hosted night of effects-shunning artists.

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, FREE

ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC WITH SPECIAL GUEST IAN BROUDIE

Sat 16 Aug

A celebration of the music of Liverpool-born singer/songwriter Ian Broudie, with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performing classical favourites alongside music specially arranged for the occasion with the Lightning Seeds front man.

Long-standing member of Dan Haywood’s New Hawks, Mikey Kenney, stepping out on his own to pursue a solo folk/pop/art project. THE SONGBOOK SESSIONS

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £4

A showcase event for new and upcoming songwriters in Liverpool and the surrounding areas. BLIND MONK TRIO

MELLOMELLO, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Three Northwest musicians putting a fresh spin on the classic, chordless jazz trio format. 2014 SUMMER RECITALS

LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL, 12:30–13:00, FREE

A guest organist each Saturday afternoon.

SEFTON PARK, 18:30–21:30, FREE

Sat 23 Aug

LIVERPOOL ACOUSTIC GARDEN (THE BIG I AM + ADRIAN NATION + SIMON COUSINS + ROXANNE DE BASTION + MORE) THE BLUECOAT, 12:00–16:00, FREE

Liverpool Acoustic returns to the Liverpool International Music Festival with two afternoons of acoustic music in the relaxing setting of the Bluecoat garden.

2014 SUMMER RECITALS LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL, 12:30–13:00, FREE

A guest organist each Saturday afternoon. LIMF SUMMER JAM

SEFTON PARK, 12:00–18:00, FREE

Free three-day multi-stage extravaganza of musicwith tribute acts paying homage to The Who, The Beatles and more.

Sun 24 Aug

LIVERPOOL ACOUSTIC GARDEN (MARY MCCOMBS + JOHN HALL + FREDA AND THE HIGH TIDES + DEREK KING + MORE) THE BLUECOAT, 12:00–16:00, FREE

Liverpool Acoustic returns to the Liverpool International Music Festival with two afternoons of acoustic music in the relaxing setting of the Bluecoat garden. ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £9

GET CAPE. WEAR CAPE FLY (SEAN MCGOWAN) EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £10.00

Sam Duckworth hasn’t yet reached what would be the most impressive step of his three-step moniker, but until he does become airborne he continues to bring his candid tales to the stage. MIGRATION MUSIC (SENSE OF SOUND + SHLOMO)

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, FROM £10

Internationally-acclaimed a capella ensemble the Sense of Sound Singers join up with beatbox extraordinaire Shlomo for this special Liverpool International Music Festival collaboration.

Sat 30 Aug CONNOR HARRIS

O2 ACADEMY, 18:00–22:00, £7.50

Kawabata Makoto and his band of sonic outlaws, mixing traditional melody with hyper-aggressive playing techniques and plenty of improvisation.

A rescheduled date for the Birmingham-based hip-hop artist, who’s supported everyone from Chipmunk to Professor Green. Original tickets remain valid.

LEAF, 20:00–23:00, FREE

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

MAISON JOHNNY

Local-boy Johnny Sands hosting a showcase evening for the finest acoustic talent from Liverpool and beyond. THE LIVERPOOL SHANTY KINGS

MUSEUM OF LIVERPOOL, 13:00–14:00, FREE

Traditional shanty singing.

LIMF SUMMER JAM (SHAGGY + KID CREOLE + GOLDIE + MORE)

SEFTON PARK, 12:00–18:00, FREE

Free three-day multi-stage extravaganza of music featuring headliners Shaggy, Kid Creole and Goldie on the central stage, with local highlights on the other stages including Clinic, By The Sea and Baltic Fleet.

Mon 25 Aug

LIMF SUMMER JAM (THE HOOSIERS + RUSTIE + CLINIC AND MORE)

SEFTON PARK, 12:00–18:00, FREE

Free three-day multi-stage extravaganza of music featuring headliners Shaggy, Kid Creole and Goldie on the central stage, with local highlights on the other stages including Clinic and Evian Christ.

Tue 26 Aug

OUT OF THE BEDROOM: OPEN MIC NIGHT WITH JOHNNY SANDS

LEAF, 20:30–22:30, FREE

MORDRED

San Francisco-based thrash metal with added turntable action and a promise of funky basslines. ABOVE THE BEATEN TRACK (ME & DEBOE + PAUL STRAWS + NIAMH JONES + DOMINIC DUNN + MORE) THE BLUECOAT, 14:00–23:00, FREE

A showcase of the best of Liverpool’s cultural underground, with an assortment of live music, DJs, poetry and audio-visual performances expected. STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS

THE KAZIMIER, 20:00–23:00, £16

The Pavement mainman tours on the back of his fifth studio album with his band The Jicks. SHAMONA

THE LANTERN THEATRE, 19:30–23:00, £4.50

Precocious local teens celebrate the launch of their debut EP, Just Like You.

Manchester Clubs

Liverpool’s reigning King of acoustic presents a weekly open mic night.

Tue 29 Jul

Wed 27 Aug

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours.

NOZINJA

THE KAZIMIER GARDEN, 19:30–23:00, £3

Shangaan Electro pioneer from South Africa mixing local folk, Tsonga disco, Kwaito South African house to create a vibrant strain of electronic dance music.

Thu 28 Aug ST. VINCENT

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

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

MELLOMELLO, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Free night of rock music.

MIGRATION MUSIC (SENSE OF SOUND + SHLOMO) EVERYMAN THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, FROM £10

Internationally-acclaimed a capella ensemble the Sense of Sound Singers join up with beatbox extraordinaire Shlomo for this special Liverpool International Music Festival collaboration.

Fri 29 Aug

MINOR CHARACTERS (LUKE ABBOTT)

THE KAZIMIER, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Featuring a live set from Border Community’s Luke Abbott, this event is the launch of a release put together by artists, including East India Youth and Forest Swords - about minor characters in film and theatre. NICK WATERHOUSE

STUDIO 2, 19:00–23:00, £10

The 1950s influenced soul singer returns to the UK in support of his second LP, Holly.

STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 22:00–04:00, £2

DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Manchester Clubs F//CK FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:30, £3 (99P CHEAPLIST)

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. CACTUS DJS

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. STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, FREE

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar every Thursday, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

Fri 01 Aug MELTING POT

TROF NQ, 21:00–03:00, £1

A new Friday-nighter offering up smooth soul and elevating disco. REVOLVER

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Manchester’s premier 60s party, now a bi-monthly reason to get excited. Expect 60s pop, garage, motown, rock’n’roll. WHOSAIDWHAT?

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE

Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. WELL FUTURE (GLOWING PALMS)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future. SPOTIFRIDAY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 17:00–22:00, FREE

A modern day jukebox where you pick the tunes. TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £3

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, 99P (£6 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. DJ DA FUNK

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

Wed 30 Jul

An eclectic mix of genres, with DJ Da Funk bringing a seamless blend of house, hip hop and dubstep sounds until the smaller hours.

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 21:00–02:00, FREE

WALRUS, 20:30–01:00, FREE

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage. TOO MANY DJS

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. HIGHER GROUND

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

Residents Stuart Richards and Joshua Goddard guide us through the mid-week slump, navigating motown, ska and rock’n’roll as they go.

Thu 31 Jul

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. 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. 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 sounds.

DJ SI FORESTERIO

FUNKADEMIA MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5ADV (£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. FRIENDS IN COMMON (ROBERT PARKINSON)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. WOO HAH

TROF NQ, 21:00–03:00, FREE

New Saturday-nighter spanning old school, hip-hop, soul and funk.

WITCH*UNT (FUCKDUST + BLACK + DUECE) KRAAK, 23:00–04:00, £5

Old school, hip hop and electro are the focus of this female-fronted club night. FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £2

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. DJ DA FUNK

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

An eclectic mix of genres, with DJ Da Funk bringing a seamless blend of house, hip hop and dubstep sounds until the smaller hours. HIGH JINX (STUART RICHARDS)

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Underdog resident Stuart Richard serves up a healthy mix of old skool hip-hop, house, bashment and bass.

AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA (MOGADISCO DJS) SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £5

Having shared a wealth of music from Africa via his Awesome Tapes blog, Brian Shimkovitz brings his passion for the continent to a club setting – marking what will be a debut series of DJ sets.

VACATION (GRANDMASTER FLASH) (JUICY DJS) GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

Still spreading the message after nearly 40 years, pioneering DJ and emcee Grandmaster Flash drops in for a special late-night set. BEATS, BATS & BEERS

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 16:00–03:00, FREE

Saturday night ping pong at Twenty Twenty Two, with resident DJ Bucky in charge of the soundtrack of house, disco and pop obscurities.

Sun 03 Aug

ZUTEKH VS TPOT: ILLUSION RECORDINGS SPECIAL (ACID MONKEYS + ANDRADE + TOM CRAVEN + JAMES COTTERILL)

SOUTH, 15:00–00:00, £10

Unity Radio’s Si Foresterio serves up a mix of funk, soul, disco and classic hip hop.

Part four of the co-promoters’ summer parties, featuring a special Illusion Recordings showcase with Acid Mondays, Andrade & more.

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

Tue 05 Aug

VACATION (SKREAM)

Veteran Sankeys Soap promoters Kaluki present a four-hour set from dubstep forbearer Skream. PACEMAKER CLUBNIGHT

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Rock ‘n’ roll club night playing all the usual staples.

EARGASM SUMMER PARTY (SHAUN ‘BANGER’ SCOTT + ILL PHILL + BRIAN MURPHY + CRAIG TINKER + DAN WILLIAMS + ADAM CONWAY) SOUTH, 22:00–04:00, £8

A host of house DJs from nationwide join Eargasm for their first summer party of the season.

STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £2

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

GIRLS ON FILM

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–04:00, £5 (£4.50)

DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep sounds. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:30, £3 (99P CHEAPLIST)

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. CACTUS DJS

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. STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, FREE

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar every Thursday, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

Fri 08 Aug MELTING POT

TROF NQ, 21:00–03:00, £1

A new Friday-nighter offering up smooth soul and elevating disco. PUMPING IRON

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

Mixed-bag night of nu cosmic Italio, vintage avant garde disco and lo-fi rhythmic punk funk. WHOSAIDWHAT?

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE

Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. SPOTIFRIDAY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 17:00–22:00, FREE

A modern day jukebox where you pick the tunes. TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £3

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, 99P (£6 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. DJ DA FUNK

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

An eclectic mix of genres, with DJ Da Funk bringing a seamless blend of house, hip hop and dubstep sounds until the smaller hours. BARE BONES

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £5

WALRUS, 20:30–01:00, FREE

DISTRKT

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

Wed 06 Aug TOO MANY DJS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

A night of alternative rock’n’roll shenanigans.

SHAKEDOWN

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Sat 02 Aug REMAKE REMODEL

Common’s regular club-in-a-bar night of hipster bullshit, with Mr Seb Valentine, Benatronic & Luke Warm.

Three floor club night touting indie/electro, classic rock’n’roll and punk/rock.

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £2.50

A big night featuring everything from dubstep to reggae, dub and grime out in deepest Rusholme.

STOP MAKING SENSE

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE

The weekly student house and techno night returns to South, keeping you on the dancefloor till the early hours.

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.

ALIVE & STEPPIN

Thu 07 Aug

HIGHER GROUND

Residents Stuart Richards and Joshua Goddard guide us through the mid-week slump, navigating motown, ska and rock’n’roll as they go.

DJ SI FORESTERIO

Unity Radio’s Si Foresterio serves up a mix of funk, soul, disco and classic hip hop. VACATION (JUICY SUMMER JAMS)

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £5 (£3)

The Juicy residents return with more classic hip hop and old school bangers.

SOUP KITCHEN’S 4TH BIRTHDAY! (FLOATING POINTS + PENDER STREET STEPPERS + HASHMAN DEEJAY) SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, FREE (£5 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Home to many of Manchester’s finest basement parties, Soup Kitchen turns four in style with Floating Points.

Pink lady cocktails, disco balls, glitz and glamour – a monthly club night where you’re free to let your inner 80s child loose.

Listings

Manchester Clubs DOPPLEREFFEKT (RICK NICHOLLS + JOHNNY ABSTRACT + LEON MITTERNACHT) ISLINGTON MILL, 22:00–06:00, FROM £10

For the first outing of 2014 Brain Machine will be playing host to the mighty Dopplereffekt. The mysterious duo will perform an intimate live show backed up by visual performance in the perfectly suited industrial setting of Salford’s Islington Mill.

SPREAD LOVE WITH HEWAN CLARKE

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, £3

Former Hacienda resident Hewan Clarke draws from his collection of soulful jazzy, funky beats at his monthly residency.

Sat 09 Aug GOO

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–04:00, £5 (£4.50)

Monthly club night tribute to 90s indie – expect Pulp, Nirvana, Suede, Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies and more. FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5ADV (£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.

FRIENDS IN COMMON (COMFORTABLE ON A TIGHTROPE)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. WOO HAH

TROF NQ, 21:00–03:00, FREE

New Saturday-nighter spanning old school, hip-hop, soul and funk. 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. FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £2

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. DJ DA FUNK

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

An eclectic mix of genres, with DJ Da Funk bringing a seamless blend of house, hip hop and dubstep sounds until the smaller hours. HIGH JINX (STUART RICHARDS)

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Underdog resident Stuart Richard serves up a healthy mix of old skool hip-hop, house, bashment and bass. VACATION (LEE FOSS)

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

Promoters Covert bring Hot Creations honcho Lee Foss to Gorilla for a sure-to-be evocative house set. DANIEL AVERY (CRAIG BRATLEY)

ISLINGTON MILL, 17:00–05:00, £22

Phantasy Sound man Daniel Avery headlines this mammoth 12 hour long party put together by Cowbell Radio; he’s joined by in-demand remixer Craig Bratley for the sort of night that only Islington Mill could host. BEATS, BATS & BEERS

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 16:00–03:00, FREE

Saturday night ping pong at Twenty Twenty Two, with resident DJ Bucky in charge of the soundtrack of house, disco and pop obscurities.

Tue 12 Aug 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. DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

Wed 13 Aug TOO MANY DJS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 21:00–01:00, 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. HIGHER GROUND

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

Residents Stuart Richards and Joshua Goddard guide us through the mid-week slump, navigating motown, ska and rock’n’roll as they go.

Thu 14 Aug 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. 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 sounds. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:30, £3 (99P CHEAPLIST)

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. CACTUS DJS

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. STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, FREE

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar every Thursday, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

Fri 15 Aug MELTING POT

TROF NQ, 21:00–03:00, £1

A new Friday-nighter offering up smooth soul and elevating disco. ULTIMATE POWER

THE RITZ, 22:30–03:00, £8

Club night sweeping the nation, offering up nothing but power ballads. It’s like one big communal karaoke night. WHOSAIDWHAT?

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE

Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. WELL FUTURE (DAN RUSSELL)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future. SPOTIFRIDAY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 17:00–22:00, FREE

A modern day jukebox where you pick the tunes. DUSK TILL DAWN

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Tequila-fuelled night of classic sleaze and hard rock – expect Aerosmith, Motley Crue and Misfits to name a few. UPTOWN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

A new night landing at Deaf, offering up the best in disco, funk, boogie and party classics. TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £3

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, 99P (£6 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. DJ DA FUNK

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

An eclectic mix of genres, with DJ Da Funk bringing a seamless blend of house, hip hop and dubstep sounds until the smaller hours.

Listings

DJ SI FORESTERIO WALRUS, 20:30–01:00, FREE

Unity Radio’s Si Foresterio serves up a mix of funk, soul, disco and classic hip hop.

Sat 16 Aug REVOLVER

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Manchester’s premier 60s party, now a bi-monthly reason to get excited. Expect 60s pop, garage, motown, rock’n’roll. FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5ADV (£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. FRIENDS IN COMMON (TULLIS RENNIE)

Thu 21 Aug 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. 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 sounds. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:30, £3 (99P CHEAPLIST)

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. CACTUS DJS

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. STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, FREE

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks.

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar every Thursday, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

TROF NQ, 21:00–03:00, FREE

Fri 22 Aug

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

WOO HAH

New Saturday-nighter spanning old school, hip-hop, soul and funk. 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. FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £2

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. DJ DA FUNK

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

An eclectic mix of genres, with DJ Da Funk bringing a seamless blend of house, hip hop and dubstep sounds until the smaller hours. HIGH JINX (STUART RICHARDS)

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Underdog resident Stuart Richard serves up a healthy mix of old skool hip-hop, house, bashment and bass. BEATS, BATS & BEERS

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 16:00–03:00, FREE

Saturday night ping pong at Twenty Twenty Two, with resident DJ Bucky in charge of the soundtrack of house, disco and pop obscurities. ENGLISH DISCO LOVERS ( ZERO & JONNY SHIRE + HI KU + FULL STOP! RESIDENT DJS)

ROADHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5

The English Disco Lovers come to Manchester! The acronym redefining disco loving folk of the EDL are heading to The Roadhouse on August 16th to spread their “Don’t Hate! Gyrate!” message, as well as to raise money for local charities.

Sun 17 Aug HAXAN

COMMON, 16:00–00:00, FREE

Michael Holland and Boomkat’s Conor, dishing up radiophonic disco and film score techno.

Tue 19 Aug 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. DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

Wed 20 Aug TOO MANY DJS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 21:00–01:00, 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. HIGHER GROUND

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

Residents Stuart Richards and Joshua Goddard guide us through the mid-week slump, navigating motown, ska and rock’n’roll as they go.

WHOSAIDWHAT?

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE

Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. WELL FUTURE (KICKIN’ PIGEON)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

FOREPLAY

SHAKEDOWN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

A warm up for your Saturday night, with the house band, Foreplay playing a mixture of covers and originals. FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £2

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. DJ DA FUNK

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

An eclectic mix of genres, with DJ Da Funk bringing a seamless blend of house, hip hop and dubstep sounds until the smaller hours. HIGH JINX (STUART RICHARDS)

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Underdog resident Stuart Richard serves up a healthy mix of old skool hip-hop, house, bashment and bass. VACATION (CATZ N DOGZ) (A1 BASSLINE)

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

Their proper names are Greg and Voitek, but that moniker wouldn’t be nearly as fun – and fun’s what these two deep house DJs are all about in their frequently partystarting sets.

PARADISE: PF21 (HEATHER SMALL + TIM LENNOX + DAVE KENDRICK + DAVE BOOTH + HUEY GARRY) ALBERT HALL, 22:00–04:00, £20.00

This massive Pride weekend takeover party from Paradise only ruddy well features M People’s Heather Small!

CRAIG CHARLES FUNK ‘N’ SOUL CLUB FEAT. MYLES SANKO

BAND ON THE WALL, 21:00–02:00, £13 EARLYBIRD (£15 THEREAFTER)

Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future.

A special edition of the TV presenter, actor and DJs funk and soul night sees hotly-tipped soul singer Myles Sanko drop in for a live set.

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 17:00–22:00, FREE

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 16:00–03:00, FREE

SPOTIFRIDAY

A modern day jukebox where you pick the tunes. TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £3

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, 99P (£6 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. DJ DA FUNK

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

An eclectic mix of genres, with DJ Da Funk bringing a seamless blend of house, hip hop and dubstep sounds until the smaller hours. DJ SI FORESTERIO

WALRUS, 20:30–01:00, FREE

Unity Radio’s Si Foresterio serves up a mix of funk, soul, disco and classic hip hop.

SHAPE PRESENTS (JUSTIN MARTIN + DOORLY + KRY WOLF + NEUX YEUX)

THE RITZ, 22:30–04:00, FROM £10

Established house night featuring dirtybird co-founder Justin Martin MICRON RESIDENTS BANK HOLIDAY PARTY (BODIDILY + ISAACSMILE + JACK BARTON + MORE)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 20:00–04:00, £3 (£5 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

The Micron residents return home to Joshua Brooks to put the basement’s new VOID soundsystem through its paces for this big bank holiday party.

Sat 23 Aug FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5ADV (£6 DOOR)

Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. CLINT BOON

BEATS, BATS & BEERS

Saturday night ping pong at Twenty Twenty Two, with resident DJ Bucky in charge of the soundtrack of house, disco and pop obscurities.

Sun 24 Aug

FRIENDS IN COMMON (REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. VACATION (MAX CHAPMAN)

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, FROM £10

Resonance Records main man Max Chapman drops by for a set of crunching basslines and melodic house grooves. FEDERATION – THE NEXT CHAPTER

THE RITZ, 22:30–04:00, £16

Gay pride takeover by renowned club night.

ZUTEKH VS TPOT: BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL (RYAN ELLIOTT + MIDLAND)

SOUTH, 15:00–02:00, £15

The fifth of the co-promoters’ summer parties is a bank holiday special with Ryan Elliott and Midland.

Tue 26 Aug 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. DISTRKT

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Student-leaning night of house, hip hop, r’n’b and garage.

Wed 27 Aug TOO MANY DJS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 21:00–01:00, 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. HIGHER GROUND

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 23:00–04:00, FREE

Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon.

Residents Stuart Richards and Joshua Goddard guide us through the mid-week slump, navigating motown, ska and rock’n’roll as they go.

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

Thu 28 Aug

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £5

FRIENDS IN COMMON (WHITE PEPPER)

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. WOO HAH

TROF NQ, 21:00–03:00, FREE

New Saturday-nighter spanning old school, hip-hop, soul and funk.

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.

DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep sounds. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:30, £3 (99P CHEAPLIST)

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. CACTUS DJS

WALRUS, 20:30–01:00, FREE

FRIENDS IN COMMON (ANNA BUDRYS) COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. WOO HAH

TROF NQ, 21:00–03:00, FREE

New Saturday-nighter spanning old school, hip-hop, soul and funk. FOREPLAY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, £2

Keep your Pride Saturday going with DJ Jodie Harsh.

FACTORY SATURDAYS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, FREE

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

Fri 29 Aug BLOCK PARTY

TROF NQ, 21:00–03:00, £1

Another Mof Glimmers night, serving up block party essentials with free house punch ‘til it’s gone. WHOSAIDWHAT?

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE

Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. WELL FUTURE (JOHN LOVELESS)

COMMON, 21:00–02:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 10PM)

Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future.

DJ DA FUNK

An eclectic mix of genres, with DJ Da Funk bringing a seamless blend of house, hip hop and dubstep sounds until the smaller hours. HIGH JINX (STUART RICHARDS)

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 23:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Underdog resident Stuart Richard serves up a healthy mix of old skool hip-hop, house, bashment and bass. BEATS, BATS & BEERS

TWENTY TWENTY TWO, 16:00–03:00, FREE

Saturday night ping pong at Twenty Twenty Two, with resident DJ Bucky in charge of the soundtrack of house, disco and pop obscurities.

Liverpool Clubs

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 17:00–22:00, FREE

Tue 29 Jul

TOP OF THE POPS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £3

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs. ELECTRIC JUG

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

New club night on the scene, serving up the best of the 60s, ranging from psych and ska to britpop and funk. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 23:00–03:00, 99P (£6 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. DJ DA FUNK

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

An eclectic mix of genres, with DJ Da Funk bringing a seamless blend of house, hip hop and dubstep sounds until the smaller hours. DJ SI FORESTERIO

WALRUS, 20:30–01:00, FREE

Unity Radio’s Si Foresterio serves up a mix of funk, soul, disco and classic hip hop.

BURN OUT FESTIVAL END OF SUMMER PARTY (MF DOOM + PREDITAH + NEWHAM GENERALS + PALEMAN + ZED BIAS)

VICTORIA WAREHOUSE, 18:00–02:00, £25 EARLY BIRD (FROM £30 AFTER)

The Warehouse Project might have moved away but there are still plenty of good times to be had in the cavernous Victoria Warehouse; masked cult rapper MF Doom headlines this mammoth eight-hour party to see out the end of the summer. REDISCOVER: LATE NIGHT TUFF GUY

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£7 THEREAFTER)

A rare UK date by Aussie disco enthusiast Late Night Tuff Guy, hot off the plane from his residency at Glitterbox in Ibiza.

Sat 30 Aug FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5ADV (£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.

BOUTIQUE, 23:00–06:00, £TBC

Tue 05 Aug DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 06 Aug SPOTIFY WEDNESDAYS

LEAF, 20:00–00:00, FREE

Come and indulge in some of your favourite tracks every Wednesdays, old and new, via the most contemporary of all the world’s jukeboxes, Spotify. KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 20:30–05:00, £2

An anything-goes affair – think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more.

Thu 07 Aug SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 20:00–05:00, £TBC

SPOTIFRIDAY

A modern day jukebox where you pick the tunes.

BEDLAM SATURDAY

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie.

BOUTIQUE PRIDE AFTERPARTY (JODIE HARSH)

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound.

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar every Thursday, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

Following their recent relaunch, Chameleon Bar presents an out of this world Saturday night, with guest and resident DJs taking care of the sounds.

A warm up for your Saturday night, with the house band, Foreplay playing a mixture of covers and originals.

CactusMCR DJs delve into their collections to serve up some audio yet untold, with a mish mash of genres taking over the bar area. STUART RICHARDS

OUT OF THIS WORLD CHAMELEON BAR, 20:00–02:00, FREE

DIRTY ANTICS

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 30 Jul KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 20:30–05:00, £2

An anything-goes affair – think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more.

Thu 31 Jul 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. TIME SQUARE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese). GOSSIP @ BEDLAM

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

LJMU, LGOS and Liverpool Hope student night, serving up five rooms spread over two floors and the occasional themed night.

Fri 01 Aug DJ BIG EFFIGY

MELLOMELLO, 21:00–02:00, FREE

Rhythm selection from the beat whirling, techno swirling, neoelectro prog stepper. TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house.

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests. TIME SQUARE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese). GOSSIP @ BEDLAM

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

LJMU, LGOS and Liverpool Hope student night, serving up five rooms spread over two floors and the occasional themed night.

Fri 08 Aug DJ CARNIVALESQUE

MELLOMELLO, 21:00–02:00, FREE

A selection of tropical prog, avant electro and ambient soundscapology. TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house.

Sat 09 Aug 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. OUT 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. BEDLAM SATURDAY

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie.

Sun 10 Aug

Sat 02 Aug

SEEDS (DEAN ‘SUNSHINE’ SMITH + ANDY KIDD + OLE SMOKEY + NO FAKIN’ SELECTIONS + MONKEY + LEE WALTON)

EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 22:00–03:00, £10.00

A host of DJs get together to celebrate the great outdoors.

PRIDE OFFICIAL AFTERPARTY

Continue the revelry of Liverpool Pride until the small hours.

LIVERPOOL PRIDE OFFICIAL AFTERPARTY ( DAVID DUNNE + JOHN COTTON + JIMMY JAY + MARK ARMSTRONG + DJ LAYDEE + ROBBIE EDWARDS)

EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 22:00–03:00, £10

THE KAZIMIER GARDEN, 14:00–00:00, FREE

Tue 12 Aug DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Liverpool Gay Pride’s Glam Fairytales Official Afterparty features Hedkandi’s David Dunne as well as John Cotton, Jimmy Jay and a whole lot more. 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.

THE SKINNY

Wed 13 Aug SPOTIFY WEDNESDAYS

LEAF, 20:00–00:00, FREE

Come and indulge in some of your favourite tracks every Wednesdays, old and new, via the most contemporary of all the world’s jukeboxes, Spotify. KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 20:30–05:00, £2

An anything-goes affair – think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more.

Thu 14 Aug 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.

Fri 22 Aug DJ JACQUES

MELLOMELLO, 21:00–02:00, FREE

Upitup head honcho DJ Jacques with an oddball selection of acid-world. TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house.

Sat 23 Aug

JOHN DIGWEED (PACO OSUNA + HENRY SAIZ + JEMMY + ROB CASSON) ST LUKE’S CHURCH, 13:00–06:00, FROM £25

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Freeze return with another mighty Summer Session at the Bombed Out Church, with a headlining daytime set from the iconic Bedrock founder.

GOSSIP @ BEDLAM

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes.

TIME SQUARE

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese). GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

LJMU, LGOS and Liverpool Hope student night, serving up five rooms spread over two floors and the occasional themed night.

Fri 15 Aug DEEP SHIT

BLADE FACTORY, 23:00–04:00, £6

Friendly Fires’ Jack Savidge and Foals’ Edwin Congreave’s label and club night comes to Liverpool, with the pair playing a special extended set. TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house.

Sat 16 Aug 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. OUT 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. BEDLAM SATURDAY

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie. DAUWD

BLADE FACTORY, 23:00-04:00, £6 (£8 ON THE DOOR)

The Benji B, Gilles Peterson and Jamie XX-championed DJ calls in for the second night of Summercamp.

Tue 19 Aug DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 20 Aug SPOTIFY WEDNESDAYS

LEAF, 20:00–00:00, FREE

Come and indulge in some of your favourite tracks every Wednesdays, old and new, via the most contemporary of all the world’s jukeboxes, Spotify. KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 20:30–05:00, £2

An anything-goes affair – think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more.

Thu 21 Aug 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. TIME SQUARE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese). GOSSIP @ BEDLAM

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

LJMU, LGOS and Liverpool Hope student night, serving up five rooms spread over two floors and the occasional themed night.

August 2014

RAGE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

OUT 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. BEDLAM SATURDAY

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie.

Tue 26 Aug DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 27 Aug SPOTIFY WEDNESDAYS

LEAF, 20:00–00:00, FREE

Come and indulge in some of your favourite tracks every Wednesdays, old and new, via the most contemporary of all the world’s jukeboxes, Spotify. KILL YOUR TV

BUMPER, 20:30–05:00, £2

An anything-goes affair – think indie, punk, ska, new wave, electro and more.

Thu 28 Aug 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. TIME SQUARE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–04:00, £2

Staple student night with a mix of music across the three floors (think: rock, indie, alternative, dance and a sprinkling of cheese). GOSSIP @ BEDLAM

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

LJMU, LGOS and Liverpool Hope student night, serving up five rooms spread over two floors and the occasional themed night.

Fri 29 Aug

DJ CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE

MELLOMELLO, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Everything from smooth soul to avant-eastern jazz grooves. TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house.

Sat 30 Aug 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. OUT 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. BEDLAM SATURDAY

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie.

Theatre Manchester

THE SOOTY SHOW 3 AUG, TIMES VARY, FROM £12.50

Palace Theatre

Family-friendly fun from the silent bear with the magic wand and all the gang.

7–9 AUG, TIMES VARY, FROM £16.90

7–9 AUG, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, FROM £12

FOOTLOOSE

Crowd-pleaser of a musical, complete with singalong pop-rock score and nifty dance moves a-plenty.

Phones 4u Arena

AN EVENING WITH SYLVESTER STALLONE

1 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £45 - £1500

THE WEDDING SINGER

Stage adaptation of the Adam Sandler-starring film about the New Jersey wedding singer, Robbie Hart who loses his love of matrimony after being left at the alter...

The Plaza THE SOOTY SHOW

29 AUG TIMES VARY, FROM £10.75

Remember when Rocky IV singlehandedly ended the Cold War? Sure you do. Hear tales of that and more of the veteran actor’s action movie career from the man himself.

Family-friendly fun from the silent bear with the magic wand and all the gang.

Royal Exchange Theatre

Radical theatre compancy Gerundagula present their take on notorious political leader Margaret Thatcher, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike.

AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 17 JUL AND 16 AUG, TIMES VARY, FROM £14.50

Jules Verne’s classic novel is brought to the stage, adapted by Laura Eason, following Phileas Fogg on his adventure around the world.

Royal Northern College of Music THEY’VE JUST NIPPED OUT FOR FAGS

13–15 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £12

Bobby didn’t bank on his wife being gone a month after telling him that she was just nipping out for fags; how will he cope with the kids? Dysfunctional family musical.

Taurus Bar UPPITY

29 JUL, 7:30PM – 11:00PM, FREE

Cabaret performance from Billie Jean, Misty Chance and Terry Gold. Part of Greater Manchester Fringe Festival. DAMAGED GOODS

7–8 AUG, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £6.50

The latest play by the Little Hub Drama Group.

The King’s Arms LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS

5 JUL, 2 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £3

Improv from the members of CszUK – using audience suggestions a comedian will tell a story based on this, followed by improvised sketches from a troupe of actors. RAILWAY CHILDREN

10 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £8 (£6)

A condensed version of the much-loved children’s book by Edith Nesbit. PUFF

29 AUG, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £7

The Swan

MEET THE REAL MAGGIE THATCHER

30 JUL, 8:00PM – 9:30PM, £7

Liverpool Theatre Echo Arena

THE OFFICIAL STORY OF LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB

28–30 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £22.75

Brookside actor Mark Moraghan helps tell this stage-adapted tale of one of the biggest football clubs in the world.

Epstein Theatre THE MORGUE TABLE

16 AUG, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10

A musical comedy ghost story set in a prison haunted by past residents of the morgue that once stood on the same spot, and all of this on Friday 13th, no less.

Everyman Theatre

TALES FROM THE MP3

1–2 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£5)

Verbatim theatre featuring the 20 Stories High theatre company. Lines are read out loud as they’re heard by the actors through their earphones, the characters discussing stories of race, sex, friendship and family. THE TIME AND SPACE PLAYS

31 JUL, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £2.00

Part of Flux Liverpool, young writers present a series of miniature plays exploring time, space and the Everyman Theatre building itself.

Liverpool Empire

STAGE EXPERIENCE: CATS

21–23 AUG, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

A new play by Jack Hart dealing New adaptation of Andrew Lloyd with sensitive issues of depression Webber’s favourite production. and self-harm. Over 100 young people from the local area join forces with The Lowry professional actors to transform FAULTY TOWERS: THE DINING T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of EXPERIENCE Practical Cats for the stage. 29–31 AUG, TIMES VARY, £45.50 WEST SIDE STORY A two hour interactive performance inviting you into the snobby 26–30 AUG, TIMES VARY, FROM £10 The Broadway musical favourite world of Basil Faulty to enjoy a – featuring lyrics by Stephen three course meal. Sondheim – returns to the stage The Lowry: Lyric 50-odd years after Jerome Robbins transposed a timeless tale of Theatre romance and rivalry to the streets WAR HORSE of New York. VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 20 NOV AND 20 SEP, TIMES VARY, FROM £18

A VISION OF ELVIS

War Horse continues to tour the UK, telling the story of Albert and his beloved horse, Joey, adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s novel. You may as well just start weeping now...

31 JUL, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £20

The Lowry: Quays Theatre

Abba tribute show.

TANGOMOTION

Touring Elvis production starring Rob Kingsley, one of the leading Elvis tribute artists. A’thankyouverymuch. ABBA MANIA

2 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £12.90

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

5–9 AUG, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

Tony award-winning version of Irving Berlin’s classic musical, A demonstration of classic 1930’s now with added Jason-bloodytango from a quartet of dancers Donovan. who’ve appeared everywhere from BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing to the West End show, Midnight Tango. 2 AUG, TIMES VARY, FROM £18

Liverpool Playhouse BETTY BLUE EYES

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 JUN AND 2 AUG, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

Toe-tappin’ new musical based on Alan Bennett’s comedy film, A Private Function, about the numerous eccentric residents of a town in Yorkshire, Shepardsford.

Royal Court Theatre BOUNCERS

25 JUL – 16 AUG, NOT 3 AUG, 10 AUG, TIMES VARY, FROM £15

Comic parody of the disco scene, with four bouncers playing 20 roles throughout the production, from giggly girls to lairy lads. MARK MCGANN’S IN MY LIFE

24 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £26

Mark McGann returns to the city with his award-winning portrayal of John Lennon.

The Black-E THE RED SHOES

29 JUL, 2:00PM – 3:00PM, FREE

Part of Flux Liverpool, The Red Shoes tightwire and acrobatics show focuses running themes of vanity and how it can overcome a person.

Comedy Manchester Tue 29 Jul SPEAKERS CORNER

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–22:00, £10

New comedy night coming to The Comedy Store.

XS MALARKEY: ALUN COCHRANE (CHRIS WASHINGTON + MIKE MILLING) PUB/ZOO, 19:00-23:00. £5 (£3)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans, this time offering up an Edinburgh preview show. AFTER THE WIPE

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Part of Greater Manchester Fringe Festival.

Thu 31 Jul

BIG VALUE THURSDAYS

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.

DOG EAT DOG

STAND UP THURSDAY (MC JOHN FOTHERGILL + ADDY VAN DER BORGH + PAUL SINHA)

1 AUG, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, FREE

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £12

The Capstone

YUVA NRITYA RATNA AWARDS

29 JUL, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £8

THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC JOHN FOTHERGILL + ADDY VAN DER BORGH + PAUL SINHA + STEVE GRIBBIN + CHARLIE BAKER)

31 JUL, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £8

A double bill evening featuring classical Indian music and dance.

PANDIT BIRJU MAHARAJ & MYTHILI PRAKASH

1 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £8

A double bill evening featuring classical Indian music and dance.

The Dome UNLOCK THE BOX

2 AUG, 1:00PM – 1:30PM, FREE

Part of Flux Liverpool, Movema Dance Company bring a young persons community group to deliver a world dance performance, mixing styles from around the world.

The Hub

JUNK? TREASURE?

30–31 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £18

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

Sat 02 Aug

BARREL OF LAUGHS (DALISO CHAPONDA + BEN SCHOFIELD + STEVE HARRIS + 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.

THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC JOHN FOTHERGILL + ADDY VAN DER BORGH + PAUL SINHA + STEVE GRIBBIN + CHARLIE BAKER) THE COMEDY STORE, 19:00–21:00, £20

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

Part of Flux Liverpool, this play sees three women plagued by reminders of their loves, consequently auctioning off reminders of their heartbreak in a game show.

THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC JOHN FOTHERGILL + ADDY VAN DER BORGH + PAUL SINHA + STEVE GRIBBIN + CHARLIE BAKER)

The Lantern Theatre

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

THE BOY WITH 1000 JOBS

28 JUL – 1 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £20.50 (£10.50)

Based on the book by Robert Mogsa, this true story comedy follows a young lad from Liverpool and his obsession with learning new skills and trying his hand at new jobs. YOUNG AND SUICIDAL

26–29 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Promising playwright James Shaw’s latest work deals with themes of suicide after a young man finds his father hanging becomes infatuated with following his footsteps.

Unity Theatre STORIES FROM THE SEA

1–2 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £8 (£6)

Unity Youth Theatre explore 1950’s family life, music and community as central character Tom makes a life-changing journey to New York.

THE COMEDY STORE, 21:30–23:30, £20

JIM JEFFERIES

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–22:00, £22

Mr Jefferies goes about challenging our beliefs and behaviour once more, all done in his own cutting edge comedic style. LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–22:00, £3

Improv from the members of CszUK – using audience suggestions a comedian will tell a story based on this, followed by improvised sketches from a troupe of actors.

Sun 03 Aug KING GONG

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–21:30, £6

A night of stand-up from some fresh-faced comics trying to break on to the circuit – be nice. RUSSELL HOWARD: WONDERBOX

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £23

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.

Stars of 90’s comedy sketch show The Real McCoy, including Richard Blackwood, Rudi Lickwood and John Simmit return for another round of quick-fire laughs.

Mon 11 Aug BEAT THE FROG

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3 (FREE WITH STUDENT ID)

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.

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!

Tue 05 Aug

Tue 12 Aug

PUB/ZOO, 19:30–23:00, £5 (£3)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans.

XS MALARKEY (TANYALEE DAVIES + RANDOLPH TEMPEST + TOBY HADOKE)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans. THE WORST COMEDY NIGHT IN SALFORD

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–22:00, FREE

Keeping expectations low with this night of open mic stand up, opening up the stage to anyone willing to give it go.

The Superstars on Saturday bunch present an evening of silly character sketches.

BARREL OF LAUGHS (DALISO CHAPONDA + BEN SCHOFIELD + STEVE HARRIS + BARRY DODDS)

ALL STARS OF COMEDY

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £19

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £23

Fri 01 Aug

30 JUL, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £8

PANDIT MADHUP MUDGAL & MADHAVI MUDGAL

RUSSELL HOWARD: WONDERBOX

Wed 06 Aug

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£9)

A double bill evening featuring classical Indian music and dance.

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!

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk.

The annual competition to find the next ‘Young Musician and Dancer of the Year’ awards for Indian classical arts. RANAJIT SENGUPTA & ADITI MANGALDAS

BEAT THE FROG

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3 (FREE WITH STUDENT ID)

The Bluecoat Part of Flux Liverpool, Dog Eat by Collective Encounters focuses on the challenges facing young people growing up in poverty and surrounded by inequality.

Mon 04 Aug

NEW STUFF (MC TOBY HADOKE) THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–21:30, £3.00

A night of stand-up from some fresh-faced comics trying to break on to the circuit – be nice.

SOS TV LIVE

THREE MINUTE THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Thu 07 Aug

BIG VALUE THURSDAYS (JOHN SCOTT + JACK TOOP + FRED FERENCZI + ALEX BOARDMAN + PHIL WALKER) 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. STAND UP THURSDAY (MC IAN MOORE + SEAN COLLINS + STEVE SHANYASKI)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £12

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk.

Fri 08 Aug

BARREL OF LAUGHS (JOHN SCOTT + GERRY K + ALEX BOARDMAN + PHIL WALKER)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£9)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC IAN MOORE + SEAN COLLINS + STEVE SHANYASKI + DALISO CHAPONDA)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £18

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

Sat 09 Aug

BARREL OF LAUGHS (DAVID LONGLEY + GERRY K + ALEX BOARDMAN + PHIL WALKER) 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. THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC IAN MOORE + SEAN COLLINS + STEVE SHANYASKI)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:00–21:00, £20

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC IAN MOORE + SEAN COLLINS + STEVE SHANYASKI)

THE COMEDY STORE, 21:30–23:30, £20

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

Sun 10 Aug QUEENS OF POP

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £10.00

Cutting pop satirists who found Youtube fame with their Atomic Kitten parody On The Coke Again.

XS MALARKEY (BARRY DODDS + TOBY HADOKE)

PUB/ZOO, 19:30–23:00, £5 (£3)

Thu 14 Aug

BIG VALUE THURSDAYS (JOHN WARBURTON + DAMIEN RYAN + JOHN TAYLOR + DAVID LONGLEY + JONATHAN MAYOR)

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. STAND UP THURSDAY (MC IAN COPPINGER + JEFF INNOCENT + JOHN WARBURTON)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £12

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk.

Fri 15 Aug

BARREL OF LAUGHS (JOHN WARBURTON + ANDY WATSON + DAVID LONGLEY + JONATHAN MAYOR)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£9)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC IAN COPPINGER + JEFF INNOCENT + JOHN WARBURTON)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £18

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

ANT & DEC’S TAKEAWAY ON TOUR

PHONES 4U ARENA, 19:30–22:00, £25 - £45

Former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts and Irish dancers Riverdance join the Geordie duo as they take their Saturday-night TV shenanigans on the road.

Sat 16 Aug

BARREL OF LAUGHS (JOHN WARBURTON + ANDY WATSON + DAVID LONGLEY + JONATHAN MAYOR)

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. THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC IAN COPPINGER + JEFF INNOCENT + JOHN WARBURTON)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:00–21:00, £20

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians. THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC IAN COPPINGER + JEFF INNOCENT + JOHN WARBURTON)

THE COMEDY STORE, 21:30–23:30, £20

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

ANT & DEC’S TAKEAWAY ON TOUR

PHONES 4U ARENA, 14:30–22:00, £25 - £45

Former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts and Irish dancers Riverdance join the Geordie duo as they take their Saturday-night TV shenanigans on the road. ANT & DEC’S TAKEAWAY ON TOUR

PHONES 4U ARENA, 19:30–22:00, £25 - £45

Former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts and Irish dancers Riverdance join the Geordie duo as they take their Saturday-night TV shenanigans on the road.

Listings

Comedy Manchester Sun 17 Aug

NEW COMEDIANS (MC ALEX BOARDMAN + NICK CLARKE + DOTTY WINTERS + TONY BASNETT)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–21:30, £3.00

Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.

Mon 18 Aug BEAT THE FROG

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3 (FREE WITH STUDENT ID)

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 (KATE MCCABE + KERRY LEIGH + THE RUSTY SHERIFFS + BETHANY BLACK) VIA, 19:30–22:00, £2 (FREE)

A monthly comedy gig offering an alternative to the usual comedy nights, offering a new take on the template with a nerdy-cool vibe.

Tue 19 Aug

XS MALARKEY (STEVE HALL + LEWIS CHARLESWORTH + JACK EVANS + GRAHAM GORING + TOBY HADOKE)

PUB/ZOO, 19:30–23:00, £5 (£3)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans. THE WORST COMEDY NIGHT IN SALFORD

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–22:00, FREE

Keeping expectations low with this night of open mic stand up, opening up the stage to anyone willing to give it go.

Thu 21 Aug

BIG VALUE THURSDAYS (GEOFF NORCOTT + LEE KYLE + MASUD MILAS + ROGER MONKHOUSE + JIM SMALLMAN)

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.

STAND UP THURSDAY (MC STEPHEN GRANT + ALISTAIR BARRIE)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £12

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk.

Fri 22 Aug

BARREL OF LAUGHS (GEOFF NORCOTT + ADAM STAUNTON + ROGER MONKHOUSE + JIM SMALLMAN) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£9)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.

THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC STEPHEN GRANT + ALISTAIR BARRIE + BRENDAN DEMPSEY) THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £18

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

Sat 23 Aug

BARREL OF LAUGHS (GEOFF NORCOTT + ADAM STAUNTON + ROGER MONKHOUSE + JIM SMALLMAN) 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.

THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC STEPHEN GRANT + ALISTAIR BARRIE + BRENDAN DEMPSEY) THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £20

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

Sun 24 Aug THE BEST IN STAND UP

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–21:30, £10

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

Listings

Mon 25 Aug BEAT THE FROG

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £3 (FREE WITH STUDENT ID)

Liverpool Comedy Thu 31 Jul

DALISO CHAPONDA (RORY O’HANLON + BOBBY MURDOCK + MC STEFFEN PEDDIE)

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!

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–21:30, £10

DALISO CHAPONDA (STEVE HARRIS + KEVIN PRECIOUS + MC STEFFEN PEDDIE)

BLACK COMEDY NIGHT (TREVOR LYNCH)

Trevor Lynch presents the latest in a series of comedy nights, aptly titled Laff ‘til Ya Fart.

GROUP THERAPY (NEIL HAMBURGER + ANDREW O’NEILL) GORILLA, 19:00–22:15, £10 (£8)

One of America’s hardest working comedy musicians, Hamburger’s toured with everyone from Tenacious D to Faith No More; his latest album was produced by Jack White.

Tue 26 Aug

XS MALARKEY (DAVID LONGLEY + REBECCA FEARNLEY + ANDY STOREY + TOBY HADOKE) PUB/ZOO, 19:30–23:00, £5 (£3)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans.

Thu 28 Aug

BIG VALUE THURSDAYS (SEYMOUR MACE +LIAM TULLEY + MIKE MILLING + JEFF INNOCENT + DAVID WARD) 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. STAND UP THURSDAY (MC ROGER MONKHOUSE + JOHN MOLONEY + ROB DEERING)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £12

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk.

Fri 29 Aug

BARREL OF LAUGHS (SEYMOUR MACE + SAM AVERY + JEFF INNOCENT + DAVID WARD) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£9)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC ROGER MONKHOUSE + JOHN MOLONEY + ROB DEERING + JJ WHITEHEAD + ADAM BLOOM)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:00, £18

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

Sat 30 Aug

BARREL OF LAUGHS (SEYMOUR MACE + SAM AVERY + JEFF INNOCENT + DAVID WARD) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–02:00, £17 (£10)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:00–21:00, £20

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

THE BEST IN STAND UP (MC ROGER MONKHOUSE + JOHN MOLONEY + ROB DEERING + JJ WHITEHEAD + ADAM BLOOM)

THE COMEDY STORE, 21:30–23:30, £20

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians. COMEDYSPORTZ

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 18:30–21:00, £7 (£5)

Comedy improv show with two teams battling it out for the biggest laughs, serving up sketches, songs and scenes with audience participation playing a key role in the development.

Sun 31 Aug

NEW STUFF (MC TOBY HADOKE)

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.

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Fri 01 Aug

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. CHRIS CAIRNS (PAUL SINHA + BRENDAN DEMPSEY)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15

MC Neil Fitzmaurice leads you through this triple-headlining night of laughs.

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £8 (£4)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

Sat 02 Aug

DALISO CHAPONDA (STEVE HARRIS + KEVIN PRECIOUS) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. PAUL SINHA (CHRIS CAIRNS + BRENDAN DEMPSEY)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £18

MC Neil Fitzmaurice leads you through this triple-headlining night of laughs.

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£5)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

Sun 03 Aug

TESTING THE WATER (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £3 (£1.50)

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH) HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£5)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

Sun 10 Aug

TESTING THE WATER (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £3 (£1.50)

Showcase night for up-andcomers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

Thu 14 Aug

JUNIOR SIMPSON (DAVID LONGLEY + NICK PARRY + MC TONY HADOKE)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Fri 15 Aug

PAUL TONKINSON (DAVID LONGLEY + PHIL WALKER + MC TONY HADOKE) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

ANDY ASKINS (ALEX BOARDMAN + CHRIS PURCHASE + MC JONATHAN MAYOR)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Fri 08 Aug

ANDY ASKINS (ALEX BOARDMAN + SCOTT BENNETT + MC JONATHAN MAYOR)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. JUNIOR SIMPSON (STEVE HARRIS + MIKE NEWELL)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £8 (£4)

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 09 Aug

ANDY ASKINS (ALEX BOARDMAN + SCOTT BENNETT + MC JONATHAN MAYOR)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. STEVE HARRIS (MIKE NEWELL + JUNIOR SIMPSON)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £18

MC Ste Porter compères a tripleheadlining night of comedy.

Sun 24 Aug

TESTING THE WATER (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £3 (£1.50)

Showcase night for up-andcomers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

Thu 28 Aug

DAN NIGHTINGALE (DANNY MCLOUGHLIN + SEAN MCLOUGHLIN + MC BARRY DODDS)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Fri 29 Aug

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £8 (£4)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

Sat 16 Aug

PAUL TONKINSON (DAVID LONGLEY + PHIL WALKER + MC TONY HADOKE) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

KEITH CARTER AS NIGE (PHIL CHAPMAN + PHIL BUTLER)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15

MC Neil Fitzmaurice compères a triple-headlining night of comedy. BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £8 (£4)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

Sat 30 Aug

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £18

DAN NIGHTINGALE (DANNY MCLOUGHLIN + JAMIE SUTHERLAND + MC BARRY DODDS)

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

GAR MURRAN (SOL BERNSTEIN + CHRIS CAIRNS)

A triple-headlining night of comedy compèred by MC Neil Fitzmaurice.

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£5)

Sun 17 Aug

Thu 07 Aug

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 triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Mon 04 Aug

THE MELLOMELLO COMEDY KNIGHT

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£5)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15

A triple-headlining night of comedy compèred by MC Neil Fitzmaurice.

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.

MELLOMELLO, 20:00–23:00, £DONATION

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £18

MC Chris Cairns compères a tripleheadlining night of comedy.

DAN NIGHTINGALE (DANNY MCLOUGHLIN + JAMIE SUTHERLAND + MC BARRY DODDS)

SOL BERNSTEIN (GAR MURRAN + CHRIS CAIRNS)

Showcase night for up-andcomers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

MelloMello’s very own alternative comedy night, dishing up original new comedy.

STEVE ROYLE (STE PORTER + DALISO CHAPONDA)

TESTING THE WATER (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £3 (£1.50)

Showcase night for up-andcomers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

Thu 21 Aug

GEOFF NORCOTT (STEVE SHANYASKI + TONY SIMPSON + MC DAVE TWENTYMAN) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Fri 22 Aug

GEOFF NORCOTT (STEVE SHANYASKI + KEVIN DEWSBURY + MC DAVE TWENTYMAN) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. DALISO CHAPONDA (STEVE ROYLE + 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 (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 23 Aug

GEOFF NORCOTT (STEVE SHANYASKI + KEVIN DEWSBURY + MC DAVE TWENTYMAN) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

PHIL BUTLER (PHIL CHAPMAN + KEITH CARTER AS NIGE)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £18

MC Neil Fitzmaurice compères a triple-headlining night of comedy. BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £10 (£5)

New and established comics take to the stage (found upstairs at Holiday Inn, Lime Street), for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

Sun 31 Aug

TESTING THE WATER (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00–22:30, £3 (£1.50)

Showcase night for up-andcomers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

Manchester Art Castlefield Gallery

I WOULD LIKE TO JOIN A CLUB AND HIT MYSELF WITH IT

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 10 JUL AND 17 AUG, 1:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Castlefield Gallery’s annual Head to Head exhibition this year explores British conceptual artist Ryan Gander’s Culturefield, the piece being exhibited in the gallery alongside work submitted by local artists.

Centre For Chinese Contemporary Art CHRIS SHEN: FIRST STEP SHOWCASE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 10 MAY AND 13 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The Manchester-based artist takes over the CFCCA stairwell with his innovative project exploring our day to day relationship with technology, encouraging the viewer to consider the impact.

Art

Manchester NIE ZHENGJIE: URBAN FARMERS VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 JUL AND 30 AUG, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Following a month-long residency, Nie Zhengjie – winner of the Liverpool John Moores Painting Prize China – presents his first UK solo exhibition, exploring the personal narratives of migrant workers through his practice. Part of Liverpool Biennial. NORMAL POOL LEVEL

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 3 JUL AND 6 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Spanish artist Jorge Manes Rubio presents an exhibition of work following a two-month residency in China, during which he explored the impact of the Yangtze River and its role in creating a disconnect between past and future.

Common

SAILING THROUGH THE TREES: CAROLINE DOWSETT + ALEX T. FRAZER

4 APR – 24 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

The latest exhibition to take over Common will see local illustrators and makers Caroline Dowsett and Alex T. Frazer tell the story of a man lost at sea and his heartbroken wife. THE GRAVEHOUNDS OF BONE STREET

28 AUG – 1 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

From artist collective Skull Paradise - made up of illustrators and designers from Brighton, London and Leeds - comes a cartoon world of leather wearing, motorbike riding, bad attitude, degenerate street dogs.

Cornerhouse

CLIFFORD OWENS: BETTER THE REBEL YOU KNOW

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 27 JUN AND 17 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

For his debut European exhibition, Clifford Owens will display existing work alongside two new commissions: a UK version of a piece he developed for New York’s MoMA PS1, and a participatory piece involving Manchester residents.

Harvey Nichols LAYLA SAILOR: KOKOSHNIK

24 JUN – 4 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Head to the second floor of Harvey Nics to catch an exhibition of work by Manchester-based artist and fashion photographer Layla Sailor, inspired by cinematography and religious iconography and presented in her usual hyperrealistic style.

Imperial War Museum North WOMEN AND INDUSTRY IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR

27 JAN – 31 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An open air 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. FROM STREET TO TRENCH: A WORLD WAR THAT SHAPED A REGION

5 APR – 1 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of over 200 objects, photographs, diaries, letters and artworks from the First World War, revealing the lives shaped by the conflict. Marking the centenary of WWI. REACTIONS14: VERTICAL ECHOES BY BILL FONTANA

16 MAY – 21 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Sound artist and composer Bill Fontana presents a specially commissioned installation, as part of the Imperial War Museum’s Reactions14 series, inviting artists to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

REACTIONS14: THE SLEEPING GREEN BETWEEN BY JENNIFER VICKERS

14 JUN – 21 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Textile artist Jennifer Vickers presents a specially commissioned quilt inspired by her connections to the past – part of the Imperial War Museum’s Reactions14 series, inviting artists to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

International Anthony Burgess Foundation

THE USE AND ABUSE OF BOOKS

15 AUG – 4 SEP, 10:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

Curated by writer and publisher Michael Butterworth and the Exhibition Centre, this exhibition spans Butterworth’s career from New Worlds, Corridor, banned publications, police raids and David Britton’s imprisonment with Savoy, to more recent work.

MMU: Special Collections

TIGERS, CATERPILLARS AND OTHER WILD THINGS: CHILDREN’S BOOKS IN THE 1960S

16 JUN – 5 SEP, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of much-loved children’s books of the 1960s, featuring well-known publishers such as Ladybird and Puffin, and authors and illustrators including Eric Carle, Roald Dahl, Alan Garner and Dr Seuss.

Manchester Art Gallery

A HIGHLAND ROMANCE: VICTORIAN VIEWS OF SCOTTISHNESS

UNTIL 1 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

A collection of 19th century paintings and works on paper by Scottish artists displayed alongside visions of Scotland by artists from England: exploring changing views of Scotland and Scottishness over the past two centuries.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS 23 MAY – 3 AUG, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A touring exhibition of work commissioned by Multistory and Magnum Photos arrives in the Northwest, with the artist assigned to the Northwest – Argentinian photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti – displaying a collection of photographs documenting contemporary British industry, from wig makers to engineering. COLLIDER

23 MAY – 28 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £7 (£5)

An immersive experience, transporting visitors to the Large Hydron Collider located at the CERN facility in Switzerland, offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the world’s leading particle physics lab.

Paper Gallery

PAPER #15: UNSTABLE GROUND

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 2 AUG AND 13 SEP, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The Simon Woolham-curated exhibition considers how drawing methods are related to experiences of autobiographical memory, with artists interpreting the subject across a range of mediums

The John Rylands Library ECHO AND NARCISSUS

AUG 11 - JAN 9, TIMES VARY. FREE

Echo and Narcissus pays tribute to literary heroines through the ages in a series of photographs, mirrors and etchings.”

13 MAR – 7 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

The International 3

BERNHARD SCHOBINGER

Solo exhibition of work by artist Hannah Dargavel-Leafe, exploring her diverse practice which often focusses on the structures of the city.

SCULPTURAL FORMS: A CENTURY OF EXPERIMENT

A three part exhibition – split into The Human Condition, Abstraction and Transformations – exploring the boundaries between sculpture, craft and design, and the ways the form has been re-invented over the years. 5 JUN – 7 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of jewellry by avantgarde contemporary designer Bernhard Schobinger, utlising precious stones alongside salvaged scraps – including poison bottles and worn erasers – cementing his reputation as something of an alchemist. COTTON COUTURE

19–14 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

A collection of designer dresses and suits donated by the Cotton Board, a Manchester-based organisation tasked with increasing the use of cotton in couture to bump up cotton exports.

Manchester Jewish Museum FOUR FOUR JEW: FOOTBALL, FANS AND FAITH

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 MAR AND 21 SEP, TIMES VARY, £3.95 (£2.95)

An exhibition exploring the ways Britain’s Jews have taken to the beautiful game, tracing football’s roots from the 19th century to the present day.

Manchester Museum

FROM THE WAR OF NATURE

11 APR – 31 AUG, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition exploring conflict and resolution in nature – from boxing hares to prowling wolves – challenging the notion that war must come from conflict.

HANNAH DARGAVEL-LEAFE : SMALL CONNECTING PART

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 28 JUN AND 1 AUG, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

ART IN THE HOME

2–3 AUG, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, £30 (£20)

The project space curates a special exhibition as part of the Contemporary Arts Society’s Art In The Home project, which showcases contemporary art within a domestic setting.

The Lowry

HERE’S ONE WE MADE EARLIER

19 JUL – 12 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition bringing together 90 years of BBC Children’s broadcasting – from Children’s Hour in 1922 to our present day state of grubby fingers on interactive tablet screens – showcasing the programmes, characters and presenters of the past and present.

The Portico Library

CONFLICT AND COMMUNITY

10 JUL – 29 AUG, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

Community project and exhibition exploring the impact of conflict on individuals and families, particularly those displaced by conflict.

Twenty Twenty Two CUT STUFF UP

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 10 JUL AND 9 AUG, 4:00PM – 11:00PM, FREE

Museum of Science and Industry

Exhibition of work by Leo Zero - a designer for many major and independent record labels such as EMI, Heavenly Records & Junior Boys Own, who can also boast countless other clients such as Time Out, Dazed & Confused and Red Bull Music Academy.

12 MAR – 7 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 10 JUL AND 9 AUG, 4:00PM – 11:00PM, FREE

COME CLOSER: WINNERS OF THE WELLCOME IMAGE AWARDS 2014

An exhibition of images from the Wellcome Image Awards 2014 – from an x-ray of a bat, to a cross section of a flower bud – showcasing the scientists, medical professionals and image makers traversing science and art.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Generic Greeting Colletive return for another pop-up collection at Twenty Twenty Two two years after the previous one.

THE SKINNY

Liverpool Art Dot Art

JEFFERSON WATERS: DEAD BOSS

7 JUL – 29 AUG, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Multi-disciplined artist Jefferson Waters presents a collection of paintings offering literal interpretations of popular scouse sayings.

THE ADVENTURES OF FLAMEBOY SEP 1 - 24, TIMES VARY. FREE

A series of abstract paintings from Guildford-born artist Barrie West that explore how events and incidents in our past influence our behaviour in the present. A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

20–27 AUG, 8:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Original wildlife art paintings and drawings by local Liverpool Artists Lisa Holmes and Ron Peterson. SOUTH LIVERPOOL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY EXHIBITION

29 AUG – 7 SEP, 8:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Exhibition Research Centre

The local photographic society return with a diverse exhibition of more than 300 prints and digital images.

7 JUL – 24 OCT, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Merseyside Maritime Museum

LIVERPOOL BIENNIAL: TOTAL ART

A showcase of work by Liverpool artist Adrian Henri, shining a light on his work from the 60s and 70s – a highly collaborative and creative period of his life.

FACT

ELLIE HARRISON: EARLY WARNING SIGNS

9 MAY – 31 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

Touring exhibition of Harrison’s four signs that utilise brash marketing techniques to draw attention to climate change. LIVERPOOL BIENNIAL: SHARON LOCKHART

5 JUL – 26 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

The American artist and filmmaker presents a solo exhibition of new and existing work, including a new commission created for the Liverpool Biennial in which she explores the politics of labour and leisure. WE BUY WHITE ALBUMS

14 AUG – 15 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

Part of Liverpool International Music Festival, this pop-up exhibition showcases New York-based artist Rutherford Chang’s obsession with buying copies of The Beatles’ White Album.

Gostins Building NOT DARK YET (PAUL MELLOR)

5 JUL – 25 OCT, NOT SUNDAYS, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Recent paintings over a four-year period from the local artist, presented to coincide with the Liverpool Biennial.

International Slavery Museum 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. LIBERTY BOUND

4–5 APR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of artifacts from one of the most important archaeological finds of recent years, unveiling a recently discovered burial ground fro ‘liberated’ African’s in Rupert’s Valley, St Helena.

Lady Lever Art Gallery ROSSETTI’S OBSESSION

20 JUN – 21 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A collection of work by PreRaphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, bringing together his numerous depictions of Jane Burden Morris – the wife of poet and designer William Morris and Rossetti’s favoured model.

Liverpool Cathedral

RETROSPECTIVE OF GEORGE LUND’S ART WORK

10–18 AUG, 8:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Water-based paintings, ink drawings and pastels focusing on the Anglican Cathedral and other locally iconic architecture.

August 2014

SAIL AWAY: LIVERPOOL SHIPPING POSTERS

16 MAY – 1 JAN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition charting the evolution and design development in shipping posters between 1888 and 1980.

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. FIRST WORLD WAR

23 JUL – 31 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A special display reflecting on Liverpool’s Home Front, exploring some lesser-known stories; did everyone rush to support the war effort? And were all women empowered by the experience? Just some of the questions asked and answered.

Open Eye Gallery

NOT ALL DOCUMENTS ARE RECORDS: PHOTOGRAPHING EXHIBITIONS AS AN ART FORM

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 5 JUL AND 31 OCT, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

As part of the Liverpool Biennial 2014, curator Lorenzo Fusi presents an exhibition of work documenting three key international art platforms through the lens of a camera, asking questions if this practice can be elevated above documentation to art form.

Sudley House

20TH CENTURY CHIC: 100 YEARS OF WOMEN’S FASHION 10 MAY – 31 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A collection of 12 evening outfits spanning 1900 to 2000, charting the changing role of women in society throughout this period, and how these changes were reflected in the fashion of the time. ENIGMA

3 JUN – 31 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of work by participants from the Merseycare NHS Trust, exploring ideas of identity and personal journeys of recovery.

Tate Liverpool DLA PIPER SERIES: CONSTELLATIONS

2 JUN – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition displaying ‘trigger’ artworks surrounded by groups, or ‘constellations’, of artworks from the same period. With the first floor open you’ll be able to see five ‘trigger’ artworks from before 1960, from artists including Picasso and Pollock. NASREEN MOHAMEDI

6 JUN – 5 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £10 (£7.50)

Paintings, drawings and photographs by celebrated Indian artist Nasreen Mohademi are set to go on display for her largest solo exhibition in the UK, introducing visitors to her varied practice within the modernist tradition. MONDRIAN AND HIS STUDIOS

A NEEDLE WALKS INTO A HAYSTACK: CLAUDE PARENT 5 JUL – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Parent’s radical intervention transforms the Wolfson Gallery with ramps and slanted floors, creating a new platform for viewing the existing works housed at the Tate. Part of Liverpool Biennial 2014.

TATE COLLECTION: SPECIAL DISPLAY

5 JUL – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A new collection on display from the Tate’s collection, making links between the gallery space and the familiar interior of the home. Part of Liverpool Biennial 2014. DAZZLE SHIP

24 JUN – 31 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez presents a contemporary dazzle ship – a technique used throughout WWI and WWII to camouflage ships – dazzling The Edmund Gardner, situated in the dry dock adjacent to Albert Dock. Part of Liverpool Biennial 2014.

The Bluecoat ON NEW GROUNDS

3 JUL – 3 AUG, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of intaglio prints produced by a range of artists exploring the potential of the traditional print method and taking inspiration from Whistler’s drypoint and etching work.

A NEEDLE WALKS INTO A HAYSTACK: JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER

5 JUL – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A collection of paintings, prints, drawings, sound, ephemera and key correspondences by American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) exploring his varied practice and how he paved the way for abstract painting. ABOVE THE BEATEN TRACK POSTER DISPLAY

8–31 AUG, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Documenting music events that have happened at the Bluecoat as part of the venue’s Above The Beaten Track festival.

The Brink

LOST IS FOUND THEORY

4 JUL – 26 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

A series of old and new mixed media works from artist Leon Jakeman. MATCHBOX CITY

4 JUL – 26 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Site specific micro-city installations created by participants from the Whitechapel Centre – a service dealing with people affected by homelessness.

The Capstone INDIKA FESTIVAL

24 JUL–1 AUG, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £8

One of the largest celebrations of Indian art in Europe, the Indika Festival returns for a series of showcases, including orchestras Samyo and Tarang.

The Old Blind School

A NEEDLE WALKS INTO A HAYSTACK: GROUP SHOW

5 JUL – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

As part of Mai Abu ElDahab and Anthony Huberman’s Liverpool Biennial-curated A Needle Walks Into a Haystack, this group show involves 16 artists presenting new work, including Berlin-based sculptor Judith Hopf and Swiss and installation artist Marc Bauer.

The Royal Standard

FRAMES OF REFERENCE

Running concurrently alongside the Liverpool Biennial, this exhibition by sculptor and visual artist Sam Smith uses a selection of current and historic moving image formats to explore how objects can change when viewed through the cinematic lens.

THE WORLD IN ONE CITY

Part of Flux Liverpool, The World In One City is an illustrated, interactive map by Rhi Moxon, which explores the city’s more unusual places and less known stories.

The Liverpool Academy of Arts FINALE

6–28 AUG, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 12:00PM – 4:00PM, FREE

After more than 25 years at Seel Street, the Liverpool Academy of Arts are on the move. This is their final open exhibition.

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I N D E P E N D E N T

C U LT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

Illustration: Verbals Picks

CREATURES OF EXTINCTION

The culmination of weeks of submissions to illustration and design collective The Critter Shed, based around ideas of extinction. The exhibition will feature the best submissions, while live drawing from the collective will be taking place on the night.

Various Venues FLUX

17 JUL – 2 AUG, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, PRICES VARY

A three-week festival of creativity, curated by young people from across Liverpool. The jam-packed programme includes: live music; art and theatre events; skills workshops; and a festival within a festival, as Blueprint takes over the Tate. For more details, check fluxliverpool.com

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Illustration: Roel van Eekelen

Victoria Gallery and Museum NORTH WEST AND BEYOND: JAMES HAMILTON HAY

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 22 APR AND 30 AUG, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of drypoint prints by 19th century Merseyside etcher and painter, James Hamilton Hay, documenting his travels throughout the UK with his striking landscape prints.

Walker Art Gallery

GRAYSON PERRY: THE VANITY OF SMALL DIFFERENCES

16 MAY – 10 AUG, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

13 MAY – 31 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

17 JUL – 2 AUG, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

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3 AUG, 6:00PM – 11:00PM, FREE

TEN

The Hub

For more info and how to apply, visit: theskinny.co.uk/about/get_involved

The Zanzibar Club

7 JUL – 10 OCT, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 9:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The Cornerstone Gallery mark their tenth year with a special exhibition, showcasing some of the 200 artists who have seen their work up on the walls over the past ten years.

We are currently looking for Venues Editors in Liverpool and Manchester, and a Comedy Editor.

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 22 AUG AND 26 SEP, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Inspired by William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress, artist Grayson Perry created six tapestries to tell the story of class mobility and the influence of social class on aesthetic taste.

The Cornerstone Gallery

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JOHN BATES AT JEAN VARON

A collection of 12 outfits from John Bates’ Jean Varon label go on display at the Walker Art Gallery, including a red velvet mini dress worn by Twiggy in a Vogue photo shoot in 1967. JOHN MOORES PAINTING PRIZE

5 JUL – 30 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The prestigious painting prize returns for another year, with an exhibition of work by the 52 shortlisted artists working across landscapes, portraits, abstract and sculptural works. See the full list of shortlisted artists here. AZTECS IN LIVERPOOL: MICHAEL NYMAN

5 JUL – 26 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Michael Nyman presents a two screen installation of still and moving images, including footage collected by Nyman over the past 20 years in Mexico, his newly adopted home. Part of Liverpool Biennial 2014.

6 JUN – 5 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £10 (£7.50)

Marking 70 years since his death, Tate Liverpool brings together a special exhibition of work by Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian, complete with a life size reconstruction of his Paris studio.

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