The Skinny Northwest November 2014 by The Skinny

BOOK NOW: 0161 832 1111 manchesteracademy.net

COCKNEY REJECTS 35TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

THURSDAY 6TH NOVEMBER

TURIN BRAKES

TROUBLE

THE QUIREBOYS

TYKETTO

SUNDAY 16TH NOVEMBER

WEDNESDAY 19TH NOVEMBER

SATURDAY 8TH NOVEMBER

SUNDAY 9TH NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER The Knife Wednesday 5th Orphaned Land Wednesday 5th Turin Breaks Saturday 8th Trouble + Serpent Venom + Witchsorrow Sunday 9th Adventure Club Tuesday 11th John Waters – This Filthy World, Volume 2 Wednesday 12th Miranda Sings with special guest Colleen Ballinger Thursday 13th Rich Robinson + Federal Charm Friday 14th The Quireboys Sunday 16th The Pretty Reckless Wednesday 19th Kiesza Wednesday 19th Tyketto Wednesday 19th Pop Punk’s Not Dead – New Found Glory + The Story So Far + State Champs + Candy Hearts + Only Rivals Friday 21st Joey Bada$$ + Waldo Friday 21st Levellers Saturday 22nd SOS Band + Gwen Dickey (Rose Royce) + Loose Ends Sunday 23rd Mastodon + Big Business + Krokodil Monday 24th The Orwells Monday 24th Mad Caddies Monday 24th Horse Meat Disco & Hunee (All Night Long) – Saturday 29th

DECEMBER Hollywood Undead Monday 1st The Defiled + Avatar Monday 1st John Garcia Thursday 4th Professor Green Friday 5th Mostly Autumn Friday 5th TWE1V3 + The Rubys + George Borowski & Lewy Bodies + Cautious Retreat Saturday 6th Black Spiders + Turbogeist + Rival State Sunday 7th The Beards Monday 8th Reckless Love – The First Tuesday 9th Gramatik Thursday 11th UK Foo Fighters Saturday 13th Behemoth Saturday 13th The Urban Voodoo Machine Sunday 14th Heffron Drive Tuesday 16th Parkway Drive + Heaven Shall Burn + Northlane + Carnifex Wednesday 17th Arch Enemy + Kreator + Shining & Marty Friedman Friday 19th Cast + John McCullagh & The Escorts Sunday 21st

JOHN WATERS

WEDNESDAY 12TH NOVEMBER

30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

JOHN GARCIA

DAN BAIRD & HOMEMADE SIN

RUTS DC PLUS STEVE IGNORANT FRIDAY 28TH NOVEMBER

THURSDAY 4TH DECEMBER

A CERTAIN RATIO

URBAN VOODOO MACHINE

ARCH ENEMY / KREATOR

CHAMELEONS VOX

CAST

FRIDAY 19TH DECEMBER SATURDAY 20TH DECEMBER

SUNDAY 21ST DECEMBER

KING CREOSOTE

FRIDAY 21ST NOVEMBER

+ GRAMME + DIRTY NORTH SATURDAY 13TH DECEMBER

SUNDAY 14TH DECEMBER

+ JOHN McCULLAGH

FRIDAY 19TH DECEMBER

TUESDAY 27TH JANUARY

NAZARETH

TRAGEDY

GUN TAKING ON THE WORLD

FRIDAY 30TH JANUARY

SUNDAY 15TH MARCH

FRIDAY 27TH MARCH

EVIL BLIZZARD

SLEAFORD MODS

BAD MANNERS

FRIDAY 15TH MAY

SATURDAY 13TH JUNE

25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

JANUARY Aaron Carter Wednesday 14th Alex Goot Saturday 17th Amon Amarth Sunday 25th King Creosote Tuesday 27th Nazareth Friday 30th Kosheen Saturday 31st

For full listings visit manchesteracademy.net

SATURDAY 18TH APRIL

CLUB

COMEDY

LIVE

NOV 2014 FILM

SATURDAY 1ST NOVEMBER

THE JAM FROM 7PM : £22.50 ADV 18+

SUNDAY 2ND NOVEMBER

BAKERMAT 7PM : £13 ADV 14+

WEDNESDAY 5TH NOVEMBER

PALACES SHABAZZ 7.30PM : £10 ADV 14+

THURSDAY 6TH NOVEMBER

& BEAR BOY 7:30PM : £10 ADV 18+

FRIDAY 7TH NOVEMBER

WAVES CIRCA 7PM : SOLD OUT 14+

SATURDAY 8TH NOVEMBER

ORCHESTRA SUBMOTION 7PM : £12.50 18+

SUNDAY 9TH NOVEMBER

MOORE THURSTON 7:30PM : £15 ADV 18+

MONDAY 10TH NOVEMBER

SEGALL TY 7PM : £12 ADV 14+

TUESDAY 11TH NOVEMBER

SOUND MACHINE IBIBIO 7:30PM : £12 ADV 14+

THURSDAY 13TH NOVEMBER

ROGUES LOVEABLE 7PM : £12.50 ADV 14+

FRIDAY 14TH NOVEMBER

FROST BEN 7PM : £12.50 ADV 18+

SUNDAY 16TH NOVEMBER

GRANNIS KINA 7.30PM : £12.50 ADV 14+

MONDAY 17TH NOVEMBER

BY TURTLES TRAMPLED 7PM : £12.50 18+

WEDNESDAY 19TH NOVEMBER

DRUMS THE 7.30PM : SOLD OUT 14+

november listings live NOVEMBER — SAT 01 BLOSSOMS £7/7PM 14+ SUN 02 INDIANA £8/7:30PM 14+ WED 05 TIM WHEELER £12.50/7PM 18+ THU 06 NME NEW BREED £9/7PM 14+ FRI 07 THE DELINES £13/7PM 18+ SUN 09 KATE TEMPEST SOLD OUT/7.30PM 18+ WED 12 ADULT JAZZ £7.50/7:30PM 18+ THU 12 GHETTS £12/7PM 14+ FRI 14 BIGELF £12.50/7PM 16+ SAT 15 CITY REIGN £6/7PM 14+ SUN 16 BAHAMAS £8.50/7:30PM 18+

MON 17 CHRISTOPHER OWENS £12.50/7:30PM 18+ WED 19 SINKANE £8/7PM 16+ THU 20 ALLO DARLIN’ £9/7:30PM 18+ FRI 21 CHATHAM COUNTY LINE £14/7:30PM 18+ SAT 22 FROM CARBON £7/7PM 18+ MON 24 LUCY SPRAGGAN SOLD OUT/7:30PM 14+ WED 26 BERNHOFT SOLD OUT : 7:30PM 14+ THU 27 VAULTS £5/7PM 14+ FRI 28 THE WYTCHES SOLD OUT/7PM 14+ SAT 29 THE TING TINGS £15/7PM 18+

SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER

IS SUPERMARIONATION THIS DOORS 12PM : £15 : 14+

TUESDAY 25TH NOVEMBER

– FROM TANGO TO GAGA UPCLOSE 7.30PM : £10 ADV, £6 STUDENTS 14+

WEDNESDAY 26TH NOVEMBER

SIX ELECTRIC 7PM : £12.50 ADV 18+

THURSDAY 27TH NOVEMBER

TIME IS ILLMATIC NAS: DOORS 7PM FILM 8PM : £7.50 ADV (18+)

FRIDAY 28TH NOVEMBER

P LIVE CRAZY 7PM : £12.50 ADV 18+

SATURDAY 29TH NOVEMBER

THERAPY COMEDY CLUB GROUP 7PM : £10 ADV, £8 CONC 18+

SUNDAY 30TH NOVEMBER

AMITY AFFLICTION THE 7PM : £10 ADV (14+)

SATURDAY 1ST NOVEMBER

DEPARTURE LOUNGE — RESIDENTS FREE PARTY 11PM: FREE

FRIDAY 7TH NOVEMBER — PARTY LIKE ITS PAY DAY

PETE GRAHAM. RESET SAFARI HOSTAGE. 11PM : £10/£12 ADV

SATURDAY 8TH NOVEMBER — STEVIE WONDERLAND

LUMBERJACKS IN HELL. RAHAAN. JAMIE 3:26

11PM : £10 / £12

FRIDAY 14TH NOVEMBER

JUICY 11PM : £3

FRIDAY 15TH NOVEMBER — VINTAGE CULTURE

DRU. N.A.N.C.Y. MURR. DR 11PM : £10/£12

SATURDAY 22TH NOVEMBER — TIME BANDITS : IBIZA REUNION

KNAPP. SION. THOMAS PEPPE KEVIN 11PM: £10/£12

FRIDAY 28TH NOVEMBER — 4 YOU

SANDERS. NIK DENTON HARLEY 11PM: £10 / £12

SATURDAY 29TH NOVEMBER

PIRATE COPY. SAM GRAHAM. KELE. 11PM: £12 /£15

01.NOV LAMB 11.NOV COMMON 15.NOV LYKKE LI 22.NOV LITTLE DRAGON 29.NOV IMELDA MAY 04.DEC WARPAINT 05.DEC COCOON 06.DEC METRONOMY 07.DEC BOYZ II MEN 10.DEC MANIC STREET PREACHERS 13.DEC ANGUS & JULIA STONE 14.DEC MANCHESTER CAMERATA 08.FEB INTERPOL 12.FEB THE WAR ON DRUGS 26.FEB JUNGLE 05.MAR THE CHARLATANS 13.MAR UNDERWORLD 23.MAR NICK MULVEY 24.MAR SLEATER-KINNEY 18.APR FLYING LOTUS

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

SOLD OUT

FRIDAY 21ST NOVEMBER

APART BY HORSES PULLED 7PM : £12 ADV 18+

N O V — A P R 1 4 / 1 5

SOLD OUT

club listings

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

NOVEMBER — SAT 01 GIRLS ON FILM

’80S ELECTRONIC DANCE POP OF THE HIGHEST ORDER

£4.50/11PM FRI 07 SUBSTANCE: BEZ + PIRATE COPY £5/11PM SAT 08 GOO INDIE, BRITPOP, GRUNGE

£4.50/11PM FRI 14 HIGHER GROUND

SOLD OUT

SAT 22 MOVEMBER FREE PARTY FREE/11PM FRI 28 UPTOWN

DISCO, BOOGIE & WEDDING JAMS

£3/11PM SAT 29 POP

POP CLASSICS, BOOTY SHAKING SMASHERS

£4.50/11PM

COME AND PARTY TO THE SOUNDS OF THE 60’S

£3/11PM SAT 15 BARE BONES

MODERN INDIE, ELECTRO, & ROCK N’ ROLL

£4.50/11PM FRI 21 ELECTRIC JUG

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

£3/11PM

THREE FLOORS OF BEER, MUSIC & GOOD TIMES MANCHESTERS FINEST INDEPENDENT MUSIC VENUE OPENING HOURS MON — SUN : 4PM — LATE BURGERS, CRAFT BEER & COCKTAILS HAPPY HOUR 4PM — 6PM

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

SOLD OUT

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

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

Photo: Trent McMinn

P.26 Deerhoof

P.52 Othello

P.32 Madeline Hall

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

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Printed by Mortons Print Limited, Horncastle ABC verified Jul – Dec 2013: 24,680

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

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

Production Production Manager Designer Sub Editor

Amy Minto Thom Isom Kristian Doyle

Sales Commercial Director Northwest Sales & Marketing Manager Sales Executive

Nicola Taylor Caroline Harleaux Issy Patience

Lead Designer

Maeve Redmond

Company PA

Kyla Hall

Editor-in-Chief Chief Operating Officer Publisher

Rosamund West Lara Moloney Sophie Kyle

Printed on 100% recycled paper

Contents

THE SKINNY

Photo: Manuel Harlan

P.15 Thurston Moore

Contents Up Front 06 Chat & Opinion: Stop the Presses brings last-second bits; Spot the Difference reveals the UK’s great wits; Online Only tells yer what’s on theskinny.co.uk, and BALLS. unveils your glorious future. Plus Shot of the Month and news from Liverpool’s awesome Syndrome series.

Heads Up: Remember, remember, all the other dates in November: ffs, the 5th, it’s not all about you. As Hookworms follow up their storming debut Pearl Mystic with The Hum, frontman MJ tells us why he’ll probably never listen to it again (aw c’mon guys, it’s pretty mint). What does it mean to be a socially conscious pop band in the 21st century? Before they pack it all in for good, Swedish siblings The Knife consider their position.

Kohl-eyed mischief-maker Noel Fielding is as surprised as we are that it’s been ten years since The Mighty Boosh. So what’s he been doing in the meantime? A million bazillion things!

Art: What did our critic make of Men Who Like Women Who Smell of Their Jobs? (Phewph.) Plus: loads of mega sculpture at The Hepworth.

Film: The Best Film winners from Cannes (Winter Sleep) and London Film Festival (Leviathan) come to cinemas.

DVD/Books: Silent film icon Louise Brooks is luminous in the classic DVD reissue of Diary of a Lost Girl, while Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are hilarious in 22 Jump Street. In Books, we’ve Michael Faber’s The Book of Strange New Things in review, plus tales of diaspora and aliens.

14 KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD

EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB (LOFT)

15 CHRISTOPHER OWENS (GIRLS)

LIVERPOOL GUILD OF STUDENTS STANLEY THEATRE

SHIPPING FORECAST

26 MERCHANDISE

W/ MANCHESTER CAMERATA STRING QUARTET

THE KAZIMIER

FEBRUARY

16 THE WAR ON DRUGS 02 ACADEMY

W/ LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK 2014 RECSHEDULED FROM 4 NOVEMBER ALL ORIGINAL TICKETS REMAIN VALID

MARCH

06 TUNEYARDS LIVERPOOL ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL

THE KAZIMIER

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE: SEETICKETS / EVENTIM / TICKETLINE IN PERSON: PROBE RECORDS (SCHOOL LN) & THE BRINK (PARR ST) The Skinny November 2014_Layout 1 29/10/2014 14:37 Page 1 FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @HARVEST_SUN @LPOOLPSYCHFEST

55 63

Theatre: Liverpool’s Paddy Hughes introduces spoken word night A Lovely Word; plus, excitement for wintry productions of Barnum and Othello. Comedy: Hey, David Stanier – Jamali Maddix just became the second Spotlighter to reckon he could take on a gorilla in a fight. Best get training. Competitions: Win gifts and a spot of lunch to help you get through all that festive shopping at Manchester Craft and Design Centre; plus, win a box full of goodies from the Home Is in the North craft fair. There’s literally no excuse for picking up some tat from the station on your way home for Christmas. Listings: Shit’s happening.

John Grant

with the Royal Northern Symphonia Saturday 22 November 7.30pm

David Gray Monday 1 December 7.30pm

Imelda May Friday 5 December 7.30pm DadaFest International 2014

Staff Benda Bilili

Saturday 6 December 7.30pm

Christmas with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra White Christmas: The Greatest Holiday Hits Saturday 13 December 7.30pm

The Spirit of Christmas Thursday 18 / Saturday 20 Tuesday 23 December 7.30pm

Your NEW Liverpool Philharmonic Hall opens in November

November 2014

13 BILL RYDER-JONES & SAINT SAVIOR

BLAK HAND RECORDS THE MAGNET

SNL alumni Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader show off their dramatic chops in bittersweet drama The Skeleton Twins – director Craig Johnson gives us the lowdown. Plus, Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement on his new vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows, and why the undead need to invest better.

Clubs: Danilo Plessow aka Motor City Drum Ensemble brings us some favourite albums in a Guest Selector – answers on a postcard for the asking price of the rarest on Discogs – and Krystal Klear warms up for his Labour of Love party.

discuss his avant-garde pop band Deerhoof’s homage to Madonna (okay – not quite), La Isla Bonita.

Music: Ballet School are our New Blood; plus, all yr don't-miss gigs for the month (hey, Ben Frost!) and albums in review.

DECEMBER

13 THE WANDS:

18 THE VOYEURS

EPSTEIN THEATRE

is hr

26 Greg Saunier is in a jovial mood to

Review

W/ AFRICA OYÉ

29 BY THE SEA

Making club-ready productions with a live band feel, young Dane Uffe contributes some lovely grooves to Tartelet’s latest EP. He chats about the scenes in Copenhagen and Amsterdam, and sacking off piano lessons.

Food and Drink: Our Food and Drink ed puts his anorak to the test in a sodden field, foraging for bog myrtle – the things he does for us, eh? Hey, at least he’ll be able to go home and infuse gin with it.

THE KAZIMIER

NOVEMBER

After a quarter-century of bringing fine contemporary art and arthouse cinema to Manchester, the Cornerhouse leaves its iconic building early next year to move to the new HOME development. On the eve of its final exhibition, Playtime, artistic director Sarah Perks looks to the future.

Showcase: Former director at the Royal Standard Madeline Hall explores space and materiality through her texturally rich sculptural assemblages: we defy you not to want to reach out and touch.

08 TAMIKREST (MALI)

Liverpool gives itself to the strange power of one-on-one performance for a new festival, Control 25 – offering participants a myriad of paths through the city.

Fashion: Menswear designer Ellie Rousseau shows us how her unlikely combinations of materials pass commentary on gang culture and ideas of brotherhood.

NOVEMBER

Deviance: From periods to fetishes, this month’s Deviance is on a myth-bunking mish.

Under the Skin author Michel Faber gives a frank interview at the time of publication of his affecting new novel, The Book of Strange New Things – and explains why it may be his last.

Edwyn Collins documentary The Possibilities Are Endless is a poetic portrait of the singer’s post-stroke recovery – we find out more about the film from those in front and behind the camera.

“I can’t believe the rich still exist, let alone run the country”: an angry, passionate Jason Williamson of Nottingham duo Sleaford Mods calls it like it is.

Lifestyle

On fine form, Thurston Moore meets us in his adopted hometown of London to speak with brio of his new band and unfailing zeal for new sounds.

Family Concert

Rudolph on Hope Street Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 December 11.30am & 2.30pm Monday 22 December 2.30pm

Swinging in the New Year with Jacqui Dankworth

Wednesday 31 December 7.30pm

Disney Fantasia Live in Concert Saturday 3 January 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Box Office liverpoolphil.com 0151 709 3789

Out back: Brann Dailor of Mastodon doffs his cap to ten landmark releases from some of his band’s most memorable alliances.

Contents

Editorial

Liverpool’s Syndrome programme experiments with the relationship of performance and technology. As they launch the third phase – exploring ‘Post-Humanities and Techno-Genesis’ – director Nathan Jones discusses his own conceptions of the ‘post-human’

or many of our featured artists this issue, it’s a time of change, of entering a new chapter not just in their careers but also in their lives. For Edwyn Collins and his wife, Grace Maxwell, the stroke Collins suffered ten years ago has led to a long period of recovery, including the relearning of speech – now, he has written the score for Ed Lovelace and James Hall’s portrait of the artist, The Possibilities Are Endless, a sensitive film documenting Collins’ recuperation and return to music. For author Michel Faber, the loss of his partner has removed the meaning and purpose of continuing to work; he has said that The Book of Strange New Things, a tale of space travel and marriage, will be his last novel. And with his new solo LP and band around him, Thurston Moore, emerging from his own well-documented personal turmoil, has taken a step in a new direction, charged with a never-lessening vim and vigour: “I want to take it away from more standard ground,” he says of where he’d like to go after The Best Day; “I want to jump off the map.” We can think of artists as unfailingly driven, of their creative energy as a constant force; perhaps this issue is a reminder of the turbulent relationship between art and life, of the capacity of each to give each other energy, but just as easily take it away. One band who’d probably rubbish the idea of ‘chapters’ or ‘eras’, mind you, is Hookworms, who this month follow up their almost universally respected debut Pearl Mystic with second album, The Hum. (Their second humming, if you will. You won’t? OK.) To singer, guitarist, keyboardist and spokesman MJ, it’s merely another instalment in what he hopes will be a good long stretch of records; “the best album we could have made at the time,” he concedes, “but as soon as it was finished that was it for me.” To him, perhaps, making work is like a purging, and once put out there, it can only ever live in the past; it’s been, it’s gone, move on. Elsewhere, The Knife are calling it a day altogether – the Swedish duo are in deep, deep interview with us on page 12 – while for Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods, things seem to be taking off, him having just quit his job to focus on the band full-time (not that their engagement with the day-to-day will dim: “It’s just state fucking murder, really,” he says of the government’s Universal Credit initiative). Finally in Music, we catch up with a boisterously sunny Greg Saunier of Deerhoof on the eve of the release of their thirteenth album, the Madonna-inspired (not quite) La Isla Bonita; and a candid Rosie Blair of

Berlin-based Bella Union young ’uns Ballet School relates the “Herculean” task of making a debut. Film sees some fine comic actors switch their chops to the silver screen, with Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader in The Skeleton Twins, and Jemaine Clement’s vampire-flatshare LOLfest What We Do in the Shadows. More Comedy comes Noel Fielding-shaped (so: bouffy and lithe); Clubs’ conveyor belt of smart young Europeans continues to roll, this issue bringing us Uffe and Motor City Drum Ensemble, and Manchester’s Krystal Klear regaling us with adventures that’ll find him on @DJsComplaining one day. There’s tons more, but – because there needs to be at least one uncomfortable segue from the relatively serious to the utterly frivolous somewhere in this column – I’ll end on a call to action: to exercise your democratic right to vote in a local culinary survey, namely, The Skinny Food & Drink Survey 2015! No it’s not 2015 yet, but it will be soon, and that’s when the results are out, which means your long-agonised-over responses need to come in before we slam the ballot/responsibly sourced veg boxes shut on your dithering little fingers at the end of November. It genuinely took me eight days to fill out the form, but it could take you as little as 46 seconds, especially if you make use of the TINY URL WE CREATED! Go to: bit.ly/skinnyfoodsurvey And if you need further convincing of why you should offer up tidbits of your local wisdom for your friendly local Food and Drink Editor to then craft lists and little pie charts out of – beyond giving your favourite local eateries and drinking holes some love, of course – it’s because he stood in a wet meadow hunting bog myrtle for you (see p. 35). Pets safe inside and sparklers at arm’s length, folks, The Skinny x ON THE COVER: Hookworms Photo: Richard Manning Richard Manning is a Cambridge born photographer working in Manchester for www.WEARECOW.com. His work specialises in fashion, portraiture, band imagery and videography.

Goat at Liverpool Psych Fest, Sat 27 Sep, by Stuart Moulding

Chat

iverpool has a very rich tradition of live music, poetry and the arts coming together, right from Adrian Henri’s art happenings in the 1960s, to collectives/acts like The Kazimier, a.P.a.T.t. and Deep Hedonia, who’ve all fed into the existing Syndrome programme. How Syndrome has differed from these initiatives is that it has been regular, and we’ve explicitly made the programme a learning experience, where techniques, ideas and aesthetics can cascade through the project – and inform where we go next. For example, some of the ideas that came up during the Holly Herndon residency informed our choice of T C F as headline act for the launch of Phase 3, but this event will also feature some projection mapping techniques we developed while working on the a.P.a.T.t. show. We set out to produce a series of events that were all about affecting audiences using new technology – so using advances in media to punch into the consciousness of the audience – but it’s proven that Syndrome has been just as interesting in terms of the ways we shape the media we use. For the time being, my conception of the ‘post-human’ is a state whereby we understand our languages, organs, limbs, even souls, as kind of ‘augmentations’ or ‘plug-ins,’ and therefore

that there is no barrier to understanding further augmentations – brain scanners, data processors, MIDI interfaces, even flashing screens – as an intrinsic part of a system in which we live and operate. For example, in relation to Syndrome in Phase 3, T C F makes music that we intuitively understand as feeding from and putting back into a flux of data and processing – so having a computational aesthetic. Event 3.1 explicitly addresses augmentation with a residency from a neuroscience and code collective working with deaf musicians’ brains. It’s timely, because people more intuitively understand what’s proposed by the ‘post-human’ as a result of the intimacy with which they integrate ‘devices’ into their lives, the kind of vernacular of ‘virtual worlds’ that comes with the internet, and the sense that we’re engaged in some kind of collective cognitive task on behalf of an algorithm. Importantly, what artists can do in relation to the ‘post-human’ is not just represent it and push it forward, as with the brain-scanner performance works, but also critique it and complicate the assumptions that go with a kind of aggressive anti-humanist growth-obsessed political culture. The important thing is that these works provoke critical thinking around the role of technology in our lives – whether that’s around the intrinsic goodness and opportunity offered by computation, or the horror implicit in a world without the frictive, unreliable human and its bricks and mortar home. Syndrome 3.0: The Post-Human Gospel with T C F, Lawrence Lek and Sion Parkinson, and Outfit, 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool, 8 Nov, 8pm, £5 adv Syndrome 3.1: Brain/Music Experiments, The Bluecoat, Liverpool, 28 Nov, 8pm, £6 (£4) Nathan Jones was in interview with Lauren Strain syn-dro.me

Spot the Difference

@richardmanning richardmanning.tumblr.com

Shot of the Month 6

First Person: Twisting the System

Would you like to win a pair of John Lennon books? Then tell us the difference between these two pairs of cats. Our pals at Canongate are offering one lucky reader the chance to win copies of A Spaniard in the Works and In His Own Write, which could just possibly make the perfect gift to palm off on a loved one in the run up to Christmas. To be in with a chance of nabbing

them, head along to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and tell us what sets these two pairs of cats apart. Competition closes midnight Sun 30 Nov. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Full Ts&Cs can be found at www. theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

THE SKINNY

Drop in between 11am and 5pm for free to enjoy yoga, tai-chi, food, philosophical discussions, talks and music. Independent craft and interiors fair Home Is in the North returns to HallĂŠ St Peters on 15 Nov. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theme is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Make a house a home,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and with all work from the exhibitors on sale, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a chance to buy unique collectable objects and meet the craftspeople who made them. 11am-4pm, tickets available via via Eventbrite, ÂŁ3.50 (ÂŁ1.50).

As The Bluecoatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Philosopher in Residence marks a year in the post, the arts venue celebrates with a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Day of Philosophyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; on 15 Nov.

Fine art exhibitions rub shoulders with music, dance and drama for this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cornerstone Arts Festival, running 21-29 Nov at Liverpool Hope Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Creative Campus and taking in everything from a musical retelling of Veniceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultural heritage, to a lecture on the representation of women in the media from The Vagenda magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Holly Baxter. More info at www.hope. ac.uk/cornerstonefestival Open Eye Gallery presents the first UK exhibition dedicated to the artist Robert Heinecken (19312006), one of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most influential post-War photographers and a pioneer of 20th-century photographic experimentation. From 7 Nov, TueSun, 10.30am-5.30pm, www.openeye.org.uk Looking for a bargain? Small Business Saturday launches on 21 Nov, with a bus parked on Oak

Jayne Edwards

BALLS.

Online Only

with Mystic Mark

Eyes to the website

ARIES November you are accepted as In an astronaut on Mars One, a privatelyunderfunded one-way suicide mission to slam the first three ghosts into the surface of Mars.

TAURUS It is said that goldfish only have a three second memory, which in fact is precisely the amount of your life actually worth remembering.

LIBRA People who say that humans only use 10% of their brain are usually correct about themselves. SCORPIO You have a big heart. Seriously, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actually far too big, you have cardiogiganticism and should see a professional cardiologist immediately.

GEMINI With the benefit of hindsight you can now see how shitting out the sunroof was never going to work out the way youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d planned.

CANCER Children are humanityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most valuable resource. We should mine them.

SAGITTARIUS Life is a party, one that you were never invited to in the first place and wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take the hint to leave.

CAPRICORN Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not the third eye, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the second bumhole.

LEO You never thought you believed in goats, but sitting around the campfire as your friends tell chilling goat stories, you start to wonder, what if goats are real? As the tales go on, you hear about the grandad who came back as a goat because goats arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allowed into heaven. Others insist itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible goats become trapped in our realm because they have unfinished business, like Patrick Swayze in that movie, Goat. Still, the whole time your sceptical friend scoffs that despite all this thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still no scientific evidence for the existence of goats.

Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love right up to the hilt, rammed so far up inside you you can feel him tickling your rib cage.

VIRGO You want Jesus to be inside you so much. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re actually gagging to accept

November 2014

Photos: Debs Marsden

Calling all artists! Metal bring Kelvin Okafor to speak at their Edge Hill Station base for the next of their Future Stations events, on 12 Nov. To hear him talk about â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;goal setting for artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, head along at 6pm; or you can just turn up at 7pm for the usual â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;three-minute wonderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; presentations, with bulletins from other fine folk about their projects and opportunities. As ever, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s free and friendly.

Islington Mill opens its doors on 27 Nov for the seventh annual Christmas at the Mill, where resident artists show off their wares, the Northern Quarter Boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Choir do their thing, and the BBC Philharmonic will provide a lovely ambience as you browse. 5-9pm, www.islingtonmill.com

THANKYOU to everyone who attend The Skinny Spotlight, a showcase of some of the finest young talent on the Northwest comedy scene. Held in conjunction with the Liverpool Comedy Festival at The Kazimier on 30 Sep, it inspired rivers,

nay, river rapids of tears to cascade down aching faces, with a special shout going out to Jayne Edwards for an invisible-dog routine unparalleled in the sphere of invisible-dog routines. Thanks to the comedians â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Edwards, Rachel Fairburn, Liam Bolton, David Stanier, Geinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Family Giftshop, Adam Rowe, Peter Brush, Liam Pickford and MC Freddy Quinne â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and to The Kazimier and Liverpool Comedy Festival; to the lovely Debs Marsden for these proper smart photos, and to Skinny Comedy editor John Stansfield for organising the whole shebang with nary a droplet of perspiration shed. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s do it again!

Liam Bolton

Books gets pulpy this month: James Ellroy discusses new novel Perfidia, and we have a coffee with best-selling novelist Lawrence Block. theskinny.co.uk/books

Exploding compilation. theskinny.co.uk/clubs

Hard-working Brighton trio The Wytches speak to Music about their growing reputation for raucous live shows. theskinny.co.uk/music

Seminal space trading video game Elite gets a reboot in the form of Elite: Dangerous â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Tech chats to its producer Adam Woods. Plus a review of construction game Space Engineers. theskinny.co.uk/tech

Fashion catches up with Samantha McEwen, designer and founder of Isolated Heroes. theskinny.co.uk/fashion Perc talks to Clubs about his labelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard-edged sound and looks to the future with its Slowly

Comedian Chris Brooker tells us why wrestlers are so funny. theskinny.co.uk/comedy

Manchester-based audiovisual night Video Jam take to the road with three shows across the UK â&#x20AC;&#x201C; we get the lowdown. theskinny.co.uk/film

AQUARIUS one of the four Water Signs, you As have a remarkable affinity for water. For instance, if someone were to push your car into a lake, you will immediately be presumed dead, only to emerge several minutes later floating on the surface completely dead. PISCES To celebrate your birthday you invite all your friends for the party of a lifetime back where it all started, in your motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s uterus. Excited, you squeeze in a few bottles of vodka, disco ball, cake, party hats, balloons and about half a shoe before the party is cancelled by the indignant venue.

www.jockmooney.com

After last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collection sold out, the Curious Tales writers have gotten back together for a second volume of wintry ghost stories. Authors Emma Jane Unsworth, Jenn Ashworth, Alison Moore, Tom Fletcher and Richard Hirst welcome guest writers M John Harrison and Johnny Mains to Poor Soulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Light: Seven Curious Tales, published â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in celebration of unsung British horror writer Robert Aickman â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in a beautiful limited edition print-only format, illustrated by Beth Ward. The launch is on 18 Dec at John Rylands Library â&#x20AC;&#x201C; watch curious-tales.com for more news.

Street 11am-3pm giving away ten Northern Quarter discount cards as prizes. Small Business Saturday itself takes place 6 Dec, when local businesses will all be doing something a little special to celebrate and encourage people to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;shop localâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Watch the hashtag #SmallBizSatMCR on Twitter to see what activities/offers the shops are going to be offering.

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Compiled by: Simon Jay Catling

It’s emotional times at Cornerhouse this month as they kick off their final exhibition before moving to HOME in 2015. Elsewhere, shows from Tim Hecker and Ibibio Sound Machine keep us from thinking about Christmas just yet; plus, an abundance of comedians hit the road.

Wed 5 Nov

Bringing contemporary classical music into Manchester's pubs and bars, ddmmyy offer a refreshing new route into the genre. Their first seasonal event takes place at Sandbar, with music by Steve Reich, Iannis Xenakis and Larry Goves interpreted by three of the city's brightest young talents, including guitarist Dave Bainbridge. Sandbar, Manchester, 7.30pm, Free

The final exhibition to launch as part of this year's Asia Triennial, The Fire and the Rose invites 12 students from the Manchester School of Art to share their experiences of conflict and compassion, witnessed when they each travelled through Asia. The Vertical Gallery (in the New Art School building), Manchester, 5-28 Nov, Free Paul Scott - Bombs Over Baghdad

ddmmyy

Tue 11 Nov

With his noisiest album in years, former Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore tours The Best Day around the UK. Moore lives in East London now, and The Best Day came with the help of My Bloody Valentine's Deb Googe; but it still bristles with the unmistakeable scuzz of its maker. Gorilla, Manchester, 7.30pm, £15

The first night of Everything Everything's Chaos to Order residency sees a part-performance, part-installation from UK jazz explorers Matthew Bourne and Christophe de Bezenac, with the prodigious Kiran Leonard, folk singer Josephine and Everything Everything themselves all set to appear during the week. Central Library, Manchester, 10-15 Nov, Free

The Soundway label has built its reputation digging out rare records from West Africa, but one of its most successful exports comes from Blighty. Ibibio Sound Machine provide an irresistible update on African highlife, Afro-beat and gospel, their self-titled debut LP one of the cult breakouts of the year. Gorilla, Manchester, 7.30pm, £12

Thurston Moore

Everything Everything

Photo: Ashley R. Good

Mon 10 Nov

Photo: Trent McMinn

Sun 9 Nov

Ibibio Sound Machine

Sun 16 Nov

Mon 17 Nov

As part of Homotopia Festival, which runs until the end of November, acclaimed queer performer Mojisola Adebayo presents excerpts from her past work. Highlights include I Stand Corrected, a response to the equal marriage debate and recent hate crimes against lesbians and trans men in South Africa. Unity Theatre, Liverpool, 7pm, £8 (£6)

It's nine albums in for Texan art rockers ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, and the aptly titled IX shows that they haven't run out of steam just yet, striking as it does their familiar balance of post-hardcore aggression and more expansive rock tendencies. The Ruby Lounge, Manchester, 7.30pm, £13

If the thought of Sub Pop scuzz pop merchant King Tuff touring his new record Black Moon Spell isn't enough tonight, then the appearance of local noise addicts Sex Hands and some previous New Blood favourites of ours, MiSTOA POLTSA, makes this one bill not to be missed. Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 6.30pm, £7

... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

Mojisola Adebayo Greg Wilson

Photo: Pete Dunlop

Sat 15 Nov

King Tuff

Fri 21 Nov

Sat 22 Nov

Sun 23 Nov

Celebrating and promoting deaf and disabled art, DaDaFest runs from 8 Nov until Jan. Among the highlights of its diverse programme is Al Noor – Fragile Vision, a mix of canvas pieces and digital films by Rachel Gadsden that explores themes of fragility and resilience. The Bluecoat, Liverpool, 21 Nov-6 Dec, Free

The Cornerhouse has been challenging and entertaining film and art enthusiasts since 1985 and, before the big move to new hub HOME in 2015, the gallery hosts one final exhibition. For Playtime, nine artists present work inspired by director Jacques Tati’s 1967 comedy masterpiece of the same name. Cornerhouse, Manchester, 22 Nov-15 Mar, Free

England Roller Derby have put a rib-ticklingly good lineup together for The Grin Bin, a comedy night to raise funds for the team to complete their final fixture. Undoubted headliner is stalwart funnyman Phill Jupitus, with The Skinny favourite Will Setchell providing further laughs. The King's Arms, Salford, 8pm, £10

Rachel Gadsden - Al Noor - Fragile Vision

Phill Jupitus

Still From Niklas Goldbach's HABITAT C3B (2008)

Sat 29 Nov

The Tony Award-nominated [Title of Show] in effect provides a show within a show, as two New York-based writers battle their deadline to write a new smash hit musical – the pair managing to come up with a script that unfolds before your very eyes. Lantern Theatre, Liverpool, 27-29 Nov, £10.50 (£8.50)

One of the finest cultural commentators of the past 20 years, The Quietus' editor John Doran has been applying his brutal wit and impassioned musings to his debut book, released next year. Tonight's unique collaboration with sonic explorers Gnod showcases several extracts from the forthcoming tome. The Eagle Inn, Salford, 8pm, £5

Five months after we gave their darkly cinematic debut album Contour Lines the full five stars, dark pop duo Shield Patterns play their largest home show to date. Expect some choice cuts from the record; the pair also promise new material as they continue to build on their summer momentum. Islington Mill, Salford, 8pm, £5

[Title of Show]

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John Doran

Photo: Al Overdrive

Fri 28 Nov

Photo: Tom Lox.

Thu 27 Nov

Shield Patterns

THE SKINNY

Photo: Jeffrey Sauger

Heads Up

Tue 4 Nov

Sat 8 Nov

Few knew the man behind Frank Sidebottom better than journalist Mick Middles. Friends with the papier-mâché head-wearing Chris Sievey for three decades, here he takes part in a Q&A for the launch of his biography on the late cult comic, Frank Sidebottom: Out of His Head. The Portico Library, Manchester, 6.30pm, £8 (£5)

Transmitting Andy Warhol, the first exhibition of the renowned pop artist's work to be shown in the North of England, includes his famous Marilyn Diptych, Dance Diagram and Do It Yourself paintings, as well as an interpretation of his 'total art environment,' the Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Tate Liverpool, 7 Nov-8 Feb, £8 (£6)

In a unique one-to-one performance experience, Control 25 invites audience members to individually take one of several plotted routes through the streets of Liverpool. They'll encounter several performed solo pieces along the way, in an attempt to re-connect us with our neighbour. Various locations, Liverpool, noon, £5

FACT

Thu 13 Nov

Fri 14 Nov

Master re-interpreters the Perri and Neil Quartet present their take on the timeless Joni Mitchell classic Blue in The Blue Project. Featuring Guitars & Other Machines' Neil Campbell and Sense of Sound vocalist Perri Alleyne-Hughes, the ensemble will also be playing new compositions. New Brighton Floral Pavilion, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £13 (£11)

An exhibition featuring over 200 examples of text and typography being used alongside the moving image, Type Motion has been co-produced by ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe and seeks to re-assert the importance of writing, and of expanding its capabilities through movement. FACT, Liverpool, 13 Nov-8 Feb, Free

Manchester collective Video Jam team up with experimental label Slip Discs for SPACES, a new series of commissions marrying musicians with filmmakers. The recently Bella Union-signed Bernard + Edith are among the special guests, while Slip Discs' artists, including the haunting Chaines, are among those teaming up with local video makers. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 8pm, £5

Still from Logorama (2009)

Neil Campbell

Image: H5

Wed 12 Nov

Kodek

Wed 19 Nov

Thu 20 Nov

Frantic Assembly’s take on Shakespeare classic Othello is set amid the 2001 Yorkshire race riots, taking the play’s well-worn themes of paranoia, jealousy, sex and murder and using them to expose prejudice and its potential for chaos in modern day Britain. The Lowry, Salford, 18-29 Nov, from £20

A fascinating conflict between venue and artist here as the naturally reverby Camp & Furnace attempts to house the cavernous sound of drone virtuoso Tim Hecker. The electronic composer has seen his stock gradually rise over 15 years, 2013's Virgins longlisted for Canada's prestigious Polaris Prize. Camp & Furnace, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £10

Mental health-focused Nous Magazine launch minifestival As We Are Away across eight venues to coincide with the debut of their new issue at Soup Kitchen. Then follows 11 days of workshops, performance art walks, film art and live music, with improv noise group Locean among the pick of the live bill. Various venues, Manchester, 20-30 Nov, £Donations

Othello

Photo: Manuel Harlan

Tue 18 Nov

Tim Hecker

Second Sheperds

Wed 26 Nov

Sarah Street, author of Colour Films in Britain: The Negotiation of Innovation, 1900-55 – which won the 2014 Best Book Prize at the BAFTSS Awards – hones in on the 1920s in a special Liverpool Film Seminar titled Synthetic Dreams: Colour-Film-Music in the 1920s. Redmonds Building, LJMU, Liverpool, 5.30pm, Free

Both Debs Gattenby and her mum have suffered breakdowns during their life, which admittedly is one of the more sober standup comedy subjects to tackle. However, proving that laughter's the best medicine, the local comedian takes a sensitive but honest look at how mental illness has affected her life. Contact, Manchester, 25-27 Nov, £9 (£5)

The Cornerstone Arts Festival celebrates its 14th year this autumn and one of the highlights of the nine-day event is Ascension, which sees choreography and digital arts come together in synchronicity, with a host of new work being presented by regional and national dancers and artists. Capstone Theatre, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £10 (£7)

Redmonds Building, LJMU

Debs Gattenby

Sun 30 Nov

Mon 1 Dec

Able to switch from goofy day-to-day observations to worldly philosophical musings at the turn of a phrase, Sara Pascoe's latest show ...vs. History sees the ascendent comic explore her own past, throwing in a bit of existential theory and cultural commentary for good value. The Lowry Studio, Salford, 8pm, £12

London Metropolitan University Professor of Media Bill Osgerby leads The Usual Suspects, part of MMU's Humanities in Public festival. The talk relates to the 2011 London Riots, with Osgerby citing the events as an example of a historical tendency to pin the wider hopes and fears of society on the actions of the country's youth. Geoffrey Manton Theatre, Manchester Metropolitan University, 5.30pm, Free

Sara Pascoe

November 2014

Photo: Lee Baxter

Tue 25 Nov

Photo: Matt Thomas

Mon 24 Nov

Photo: Sam Huddleston

Andy Warhol - Marilyn Diptych (1962)

Ascension

The Usual Suspects

Chat

Photo: Ade Hunter

Frank Sidebottom

Photo: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Fri 7 Nov

Illustration: Ben Kither (OWT creative)

Thu 6 Nov

Gut Feelings With second album The Hum on the horizon, Hookworms’ MJ explains why he’ll never listen to it again Interview: Chris Buckle Photography: Richard Manning

hen the first pressing of Pearl Mystic sold out and a second, much larger run was ordered, Hookworms had one important request. “One of the only things we asked [thenlabel Gringo Records] was ‘Can we not put them together ourselves this time?’” says singer, producer and keyboardist MJ, speaking over the phone from his home in Leeds. The weeks leading up to their debut’s release, he reminisces, had involved “evening after evening, just sitting here putting the LPs into their little cases, and then putting stickers on, and then putting download codes in them,” and the band were more than ready to leave this particular aspect of DIY music culture behind. A little over 18 months later, Hookworms are readying the release of album number two; a tensely strung, densely textured creation entitled The Hum. This time, the band have Domino taking care of the stickers-assembly line, having signed to the label’s Weird World imprint in July last year. “It’s been interesting, definitely, doing it through Domino,” says MJ, when invited to compare then and now. “It’s been quite a positive experience but definitely very different – mainly because, for me personally, I’ve never made a record before where I’ve known that there’s a small amount of people who actually wanted to hear it. That’s been kind of strange and, you know…” He takes a quick breath. “It’s made me very anxious, I guess. Before I’ve only ever made a record because I wanted to make a record, whereas this was the first time I’d ever started making an album and thought ‘there’s going to be something at the end of this that some people are going to want to hear.’” Considering the plaudits pinged Pearl Mystic’s way, this feels like an understatement. A genuine slow-burn success, interest in that album’s hypnotic, lysergic jams grew steadily across the last calendar year, stoked by rhapsodic reviews and capped by prominent placement in a swathe of end-of-year lists (including a top-ten placing in these pages). The Hum looks set to follow suit: from The Impasse’s furious palpitations and feedback squalls right through to the metronomic pulse of closing track Retreat, it sharpens the traits that made Pearl Mystic so intoxicating. “I think we have more confidence in ourselves in the way that we play music,” says MJ of their approach this time round. “We understand our roles in the band better. On Pearl Mystic we

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were still kind of feeling it out and trying to work out what people do, and everyone kind of plays a bit of everything, whereas this time it’s very specific: there’s a guitar down the left, a guitar down the right, an organ, vocals, bass and drums, and everyone is playing their instrument on the record as it is when we play it live. But we’re very self-deprecating people and I don’t think we can ever be entirely happy with something, so it was definitely a weird strain knowing that people were interested in hearing it – especially since we were finishing [The Hum] around Christmas, when there were a lot of those ‘albums of the year’ things. People were very kind about Pearl Mystic which we didn’t really expect, and that added to the pressure.” The list of acts that have gone from dazzling debuts to sophomore slumps is long, and Hookworms were adamant they wouldn’t join its ranks. “I’m really intent that this new album is, you know, the second album of seven or eight or whatever, rather than just being the album that followed Pearl Mystic that people didn’t like as much. That’s really important to me – that it’s just another album.”

“I still find it hard to discuss what these songs are about” MJ

By this point in our conversation, it’s not a surprise to hear MJ anticipating future albums rather than reflecting on the present one. He repeatedly expresses an inherent urge to keep moving Hookworms forward (as a tweet back in September indicated, the band have already returned to MJ’s Suburban Home studio to start work on album number three), and he finds revisiting past work an uncomfortable experience. “When we signed to Domino and they re-released Pearl Mystic worldwide, I had to listen to a test press and I found it excruciating,” he winces, stating a wish to never have to listen to it ever again. Same goes for its successor. “I was obsessed with The Hum when we were doing it,” he

caveats, “but as soon as it was finished that was it for me. I haven’t really thought about it since… I’m just really not that interested in looking back. I’d rather just say that something’s finished and then move on, and try and do something better. I think The Hum was the best record we could have done at the time, right now, and I’m definitely proud of it. I’ll just never listen to it again, I don’t think.” An exception to this unofficial policy of finish up, move on and never look back is Radio Tokyo, first released as part of a Too Pure 7” last year and re-recorded for inclusion on The Hum. “I think it was important to us that that song was on the album because it was the first time we’d ever consciously tried to write a pop song,” he explains. “I’d just read David Byrne’s book How Music Works, where he talks about the way context informs an aesthetic, and I was quite interested in the idea of purposefully writing for a 7”. I think that was quite a successful piece of work for us, and it kind of informed how we went on to work on the rest of the album.” The Hum also contains a call back to Radio Tokyo B-side On Returning, in the form of the correlatively titled On Leaving. “They’re very personal, both of those songs,” says MJ when asked how the two relate: the former is “literally about depression, and coming out the other side and finding a way to deal with relationships with people who you might have grown apart from, unintentionally,” while the latter “is really about being on the other side of that, where the other person has somehow grown apart from you.” Such acutely serious and emotionally thorny themes are typical of MJ’s lyrics, which confront and purge first-hand experiences of loss, depression and a cluster of related tumults. The precise words are only intermittently and foggily discernible under trademark Space Echo distortion, but the stricken delivery speaks volumes of their cathartic origins. “I always find it quite difficult,” says MJ, when asked about baring all on tape. “It was harder with Pearl Mystic, when people started asking about depression and mental health problems a lot… because I hadn’t quite come to terms with it myself. But I think I’m a lot better at dealing with that now. I still find it hard to discuss what the songs are about, but at least now I know what happens so I can kind of prepare myself for it.” Being frank about mental health has also had unforeseen but welcome side effects, in the form of fans thanking him for opening up about

MUSIC

an often invisible issue. Towards the end of our interview, talk turns to another under-examined subject that’s close to his heart. “Only something like 5% of audio professionals are non-male and I find that very difficult,” he says, highlighting acute inequalities within his metier as a producer and sound engineer. “It’s strange because I think a lot of people that are audio professionals aren’t particularly masculine or macho alpha male characters, yet there is a really horrible train of thought through that industry.” He focuses his ire on a recent issue of trade magazine Sound on Sound, “where there was a naked woman being used to sell a microphone.” At the time, the band used their Facebook page to urge fans to write to the magazine’s editor and protest the presence of such retrograde imagery, and MJ’s own displeasure is still apparent. “It kind of blows my mind that half of the population aren’t engaging with this field because it’s so uncomfortable for them, and I felt like the way Sound on Sound reacted to having a sexist advertisement in their magazine was, basically, fear – that if they upset the people who put adverts in their magazine then they’re going to lose funding. I understand that, but I also think it’s about time someone said something – if you actually want any women, or non-males, to engage in the recording industry. Because there’s so much scope for people to do amazing stuff but people are too scared because it’s such a horrible masculine environment.” While MJ also stresses that Hookworms have “never tried to set ourselves out as a political band,” neither will they downplay or suppress their convictions. “I guess we realise that we’ve got a little bit of a soapbox for a short amount of time,” he says, “so if it gives us a chance to talk about things that matter, then I think that’s an important thing to do. So when people ask me for my opinion on something, I’m not going to shut up about it – because even if it only affects one person and the way they’re thinking about something, then that’s cool. I can at least be proud that I didn’t keep quiet.” If albums three through eight can maintain the quality of the first two, Hookworms should be able to hold on to that soapbox for some time yet. Hookworms play Leeds Brudenell Social Club, 19 Nov (album launch show). The Hum is released on 10 Nov via Weird World www.parasiticnematode.blogspot.co.uk

THE SKINNY

June 2014

MUSIC

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Love Among the Ruins Ahead of The Knife’s latest and perhaps last ever tour, the Swedish siblings talk to us about their roots, Shaking the Habitual live, and what it means to be a socially conscious pop band in the 21st century ontemporary music culture is riddled with strange contradictions. Piracy is outlawed, but Spotify – from which almost all artists receive effectively nothing – thrives. The ‘top ten’ is peppered with four-to-the-floor identikit EDM, yet the underbelly of music culture has never been more diverse – the internet ushering in a world in which every taste can be catered to, where niches and genres are birthed and assassinated as quickly as you can restart your router. It’s as if the musical ecosystem is being starved of one crucial nutrient from above – investment, money – while being force-fed another from below – mass digital information, musical heterogeneity. It’s why bands seem to explode and die out instantly, why music at the low end has never burned more brightly or variously. Meanwhile, high-end pop – increasingly designed to appeal to all ‘world’ markets at once – has been lulled into a kind of Eurodance death-trance, pseudodubstep competing with occasional auteurs (Beyoncé, Kanye) for increasingly meagre spoils. In fact, 2014 might be the first year in modern history where no one artist shifts a million album copies. Beyond this, it’s easy to see how the turmoil in the industry reflects that of wider society. Technology has outstripped the capacities of popular culture under capitalism – the internet has given us a glimpse of a world where all culture is available for free all the time, yet the profit-motive shackles the possibilities of this digital future to a subservience to sales. Just as the bailout of the banks introduced ‘socialism for the rich,’ so the higher echelons of artists – U2, Radiohead – are able (albeit for different reasons) to give away their music for free, while everyone else scrambles for the crumbs at the foot of the table. In a world where music performance is increasingly bankrolled by corporate endeavour how does a socially conscious artist tackle and reflect upon this new world? The Knife’s 2013 album Shaking the Habitual was just such an attempt. Each track quivered with an army of information behind it, African rhythms juxtaposed alongside Western pop, fractured lyrics that dealt with both commonplace love (see Without You My Life Would Be Boring) and macrosocial angst (lyrics like, ‘I’ve got a story that money just can’t buy / Western standards / Poverty’s profitable’). The record was teeming with contradiction: an album from a band with a certifiably huge pop hit which featured in an advert – Heartbeats – that expressed left-wing political anger and railed against corporate culture. It was an occasionally abrasive record that placed joyous contemporary dance at the centre of its live performance. It was fronted by a woman who renounces what the image of a woman in pop music is meant to be. It was an album full of oblique references, yet its title stated an intention clearly – to challenge what we should expect from a pop record. Swedish brother and sister Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer can trace their time as The Knife back to 1999, but Karin traces her formative experiences of the industry further back. “In 1994, when I started to approach the music industry, while playing in an ‘indie-rock band,’ the only way to put out your music was either on homemade cassettes or through a record label. In Sweden there was one record label and one A&R – the person on the label deciding which artists to sign – that had the most credibility, where all bands wanted to be. This person was of course a man, the bands that he signed

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were mostly men and the very few female artists had very limited ways to act, if they wanted to be accepted.” The group’s conversion to queer theory politics has been well-documented, and has bled over into a live show that aimed to challenge – to ‘queer’ – the nature of live performance itself. For their Shaking the Habitual tour, the band have employed an array of live dancers, as well as multiple vocalists – leaving it difficult to ascertain which one Karin is. Instruments themselves are often totally absent, the show reduced to pure performance rather than a display of musical proficiency; all this from a band that only started playing live shows in 2006. Karin attributes their desire to ‘disrupt’ expectations to a deeper need to challenge the corporate commodification of what live performance means. In 1994, she explains, “recording music was very expensive in comparison to today. And the way to make your music heard was very narrow and extremely difficult to get through. On the other hand, the connection between music makers and the corporate world wasn’t the only way to go, which very few artists and listeners question today. There was still the idea that music was an art form that shouldn’t compromise or sell itself to corporate powers. There was a line between art and commercialism. Today it’s a mess, making ads seems to be status symbols for music artists.” The need to ‘shake the habitual,’ stems from the school of thought which argues that, under capitalism, culture has become an extension of mechanised work. At the end of the Second World War the German philosophers and theorists Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer wrote that, ‘Amusement under late capitalism is the prolongation of work. Pleasure hardens into boredom because, if it is to remain pleasure it must not demand any effort and therefore moves rigorously in the worn grooves of association. No independent thinking must be expected from the audience.’

“We are in desperate need of politicians talking about the redistribution of income and wealth and acting upon it” Olof Dreijer

It’s this necessity to shake off the ‘worn grooves of association’ that The Knife attempt in a live show that has left fans breathless and bewildered in turns. Olof explains that, “what we do in our show is very much a reaction to the context we are active in. We react towards the power-norms in our scene, so it’s not intended to say much about what is outside that. But you can always see things and interpret things from the show – for example, it’s a strong collective atmosphere, there are no hierarchies on stage.” In this world the ‘writer’ or ‘performer’ efface themselves; the ‘hierarchy’ of ‘artist’ and ‘consumer’ is challenged so that we can become involved in the music more directly, or at least start to think about what it means when we expect to see a

Photo: TerriLoewenthal

Interview: Sam Lewis

‘traditional’ live performance. Of course there’s always the risk that audiences will be alienated by this approach rather than challenged. No one likes to be talked down to, and no one should be ashamed to feel the thrill of old-fashioned entertainment. A postmodern approach to music can slip into the trap of punishing audiences for their ‘complacency,’ rather than bringing them on board in an attempt to do things differently. Olof accepts that the group could have been more welcoming in their earlier shows. “With the Shaking the Habitual show we wanted to be generous, inclusive and fun. For some people, we were totally that and for some people, we were not. With the new version of the show that we did for the US tour in April and May 2014, which we will now do in Europe, we were able to get a couple of weeks of rehearsals where we realised many of the ideas that we didn’t have the time for in the original version. So now it’s even more collective and collaborative – dancers are singing and playing instruments, Karin and I are dancing, it’s more colourful and less mysterious. So I think the original ideas that we wanted to include are now simply communicated better.” In a world where the traditional dichotomies of trained performance and quiet consumption are deeply ingrained, Olof embraces any art form – be it pop, dance, or rap – people without formal training can thrive in. Does economic austerity threaten the possibility of cultural diversity in popular music? For him, the answer is yes. “This is something we talk a lot about and always have in mind when making choices. I’m very happy to be active in the dance music/pop/hip-hop field – I

MUSIC

also make beats for rappers – because it’s usually self-taught people that are active in this scene and there is not that ‘gatekeeper’ of education like there is in classical music or contemporary dance or visual arts. But still we have to work a lot on having as many different kinds of people having access to making music. We do what we can in terms of having workshops and sharing knowledge. We are in desperate need of politicians talking about the redistribution of income and wealth and acting upon it.” Of course, in a world where state subsidies for the arts have dried up, corporate sponsorship is a way to gain access to funds that allow you to do great things. The Knife used the money José González’s cover of Heartbeats generated to start their own label. It’s when that corporate structure goes unchallenged – or undermines people’s ability to act critically – that problems arise. Karin sees music as “a good tool for playing, working, stretching and questioning ideas. That triggers me and can make me super excited.” What does it mean to be a ‘pop’ artist today? “I don’t really know what pop music is today, but I sense it’s something you can relate to and you can recognise, which makes ‘pop’ very meaningless to work with, since our different experiences and references, depending on background, class, gender, ethnicity, geographic places, make it impossible to agree on an overall, generalized definition of ‘pop.’ I have a passion for rhythmic music.” The Knife play Manchester Academy on 5 Nov. Shaken-Up Versions is released on 8 Dec via Brille Records www.theknife.net

THE SKINNY

SAT 1ST NOV 10PM 18+

CIRCUS HALLOWEEN PARTY

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

DEXTERS

THURS 6 NOV 7PM £8 ADV

MARIKA HACKMAN

FRI 7 NOV 6.30PM £10 ADV

LORDS OF THE RIFF 2

SAT 8 NOV 7PM £8 ADV

THE HEARTBREAKS

TUES 11 NOV 7PM £7 ADV

AMBER RUN

THURS 13 NOV 7PM £12.50 ADV

BEARDYMAN

FRI 14 NOV 6PM £10 ADV

HEAVEN’S BASEMENT

+ NOTHING MORE

FRI 14 NOV 7:30PM £7 ADV

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD

SAT 15 NOV 7PM £10 ADV

COLDPLACE

SAT 15 NOV 10PM 18+

CHIBUKU

WEDS 19 NOV 7PM £12.50 ADV

BARRENCE WHITFIELD & THE SAVAGES FRI 21ST NOV 7PM £12 ADV

THE SMITHS INDEED

FRI 21ST NOV 7PM £6 ADV

BLACK DIAMOND

MON 24 NOV 7PM £15 ADV

KATIE ARMIGER

TUES 25 NOV 8PM £8 ADV

THE CROOKES

WEDS 26 NOV 7PM £8 ADV

COASTS

FRI 28 NOV 7PM £12 ADV

3 DAFT MONKEYS SAT 29 NOV 10PM 18+

CIRCUS

THURS 4 DEC 7.30PM £10 ADV

JANET DEVLIN

SAT 6 DEC 7PM £12 ADV

IAN PROWSE & AMSTERDAM SAT 6 DEC 7PM £7 ADV

ANDREW METCALFE & THE WESTER HILLS SAT 6 DEC 11PM 18+

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FT. SIGMA (+ JUSTYCE) SHADOW CHILD, KRY WOLD, DIMENSION THURS 11 DEC 7PM £7 ADV

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FRI 12 DEC 6.30PM £7 ADV

CHRISTMAS AT THE ARTS CLUB

SAT 13 DEC 7PM £15 ADV “CHRISTMAS ROCKS”

SPACE

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FRI 16 JAN 2015 7PM £18 ADV

AARON CARTER

FRI 6 FEB 2015 6.30PM £20 ADV

MAGNUM

SAT 21 FEB 2015 12PM £15 ADV

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THURS 19 MAR 2015 7PM £16.50 ADV

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SAT 2 & SUN 3 MAY 2015 4PM £20 EARLY BIRD WEEKEND TICKET

FURY FEST

November 2014

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

Thursday 19 March, 7.30pm

PRE-CONCERT EVENT AT 6.30PM

Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.2 Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6, ‘Pathétique’

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

Sir Mark Elder conductor | Henning Kraggerud violin

Thursday 12 February, 7.30pm PRE-CONCERT EVENT AT 6.30PM

Grieg Peer Gynt: selection Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1 Nielsen Symphony No.3, ‘Sinfonia espansiva’ Nikolaj Znaider conductor | Jian Wang cello Katherine Watson soprano | Gary Griffiths baritone

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

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

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

Deutsche Fotothek

www.halle.co.uk | 0161 907 9000

JOIN THE 3D PRINTING REVOLUTION AT MOSI

TRY IT PERFECT IT PRINT IT

23 October 2014 – 19 April 2015 Open daily, free entry www.mosi.org.uk #3DMOSI

THE SKINNY

Speak to the Wild After three decades at the helm of Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore sets about finding his groove with a new band and explains why he craves more than consistency

“T

his record is fairly safe,” says Thurston Moore of his new solo album, The Best Day. “I think the record’s good… but it’s just this initial foray of songs.” Wait a minute. Safe? Good? Hardly standard talk from an artist promoting his new album. But, then again, this is Thurston Moore speaking. The man has a catalogue – nay entire discographies – of genre-defining and genre-deconstructing art rock meisterwerks. His band Sonic Youth – the current status of which we’ll come back to – had an undying belief in the redemptive power of rock music, and their long-suffering guitars performed coruscating pop-cultural autopsies on everything from Sean Penn and Madonna to bubblegum pop and Baudrillard. Sonic Youth were the ultimate metaband: a totemic symbol of rock’n’roll’s vanguard annexed to the art world. So, would Moore be disingenuous in churning out the clichés to promote The Best Day? The album certainly is that: good, safe, sometimes exciting, other times familiar. But the spectre of Sonic Youth looms large over our conversation in Moore’s adapted home town of Stoke Newington, north London. Perhaps this is to do with the band’s longevity, which is quite staggering in comparison to their contemporaries in the New York No Wave/Noise scene from whence they emerged some thirty-odd years ago. While the likes of Swans subsequently re-emerged, rejuvenated and intensified, Sonic Youth maintained their position at the head of that vanguard until the collapse of Moore and Kim Gordon’s marriage in 2012. The details of that have been well-documented elsewhere but it’s undeniably an issue, a very present issue yet one which Moore himself brings up. “Are Sonic Youth on hiatus? There’s nothing official,” he laughs. “No paperwork has been signed. It’s completely personal. We are not in a place where we can work together. So… it’s not something that weighs on me because Sonic Youth made a massive amount of music. And it could continue, but it doesn’t have to continue.” There’s a distinct sadness in witnessing such a crucial, iconoclastic band implode in such a manner. Yet, irrespective of the breakdown of Moore and Gordon’s relationship, had Sonic Youth – as a musical entity – run its course? The band’s final few albums certainly adhered to the band’s patented gush of free-associating images, atonal guitars and concussed vocals but the advanced lexicon of noise, which the band had honed and developed since their conception, appeared to have peaked or even reached a plateau. Every Sonic Youth album was just that: another Sonic Youth record, as if the band were eternally caught in a moment from which they could never escape. “Just with the last record [The Eternal], which, like all the records, I feel strongly committed to, I never felt like we were making a record just to make a record... I did feel like we were sort of a very well-known entity at that point and whatever factor of surprise or newness seemed to be dulled a bit. But how much can you change it? Do we all go out playing pianos? Go out and do a chainsaw orchestra?” At this point, The Skinny wonders whether to mention the break-up or not (we had been prior warned not to) but it proves to be immaterial as Moore brings it up himself. “Of course,” he continues, “my personal life decisions changed with the band, one thing led to another but Sonic Youth is sacred to me, I would never want to say I was through with it or tired with it. I didn’t think there could be too much more to gain from it in terms of getting more popular. I felt like we had done so much work

November 2014

Interview: Colm McAuliffe Photography: Trent McMinn

that there was nothing wrong with putting it to rest for a bit and the way it got put to rest is not exactly what I meant. It didn’t help – let’s put it that way.” Moore has effortlessly calibrated himself with living in the UK, a smoothness he attributes to his years poring over imported music papers and devouring post-punk sides of the late 1970s. “The first Scritti Politti release [Skank Bloc Bologna] was genius and that kind of aesthetic was what it was all about,” he reflects. “That’s all I wanted music to be like – as good as that Skank Bloc Bologna seven inch! “It was really interesting reading Viv Albertine’s memoir [Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys], it really gave me a sense of what that life in 1970s London was like: the night buses, how it was almost these warrior gangs that existed and I can only imagine what that was like.”

“Sonic Youth is sacred to me, I would never want to say I was through with it” Thurston Moore

Sonic Youth’s eventual ascent into the experimental jet set of the 1990s was perhaps inevitable considering their unique, open-ended record deal with Geffen and their anointment by the nascent grunge scene as trailblazers for the alternative rock world’s acceptance by the mainstream. Yet Moore always felt peripheral to this paradigm shift despite his band’s crucial role in opening the parameters. “We never had any success that brought anything, there was no hit single, there was no record that was a hit record for us,” he admits. “Our records had critical acclaim but it was never something that we had to repeat for an adoring audience. The early recordings of Pavement, Sebadoh, Royal Trux, all of that, for me, was the culture and music that I feel more inspired by and attuned to, rather than what was happening with the commodification of grunge.” One of the most invigorating aspects of Sonic Youth was the band’s ever-present zeal for new found sounds. Even now, Moore speaks with unbridled brio of this constant search for a ‘vibe,’ a search which inadvertently led him to current guitarist, James Sedwards, who subsequently brought My Bloody Valentine’s bassist Debbie Googe into Moore’s new setup. Completed by long-term Sonic Youth powerhouse drummer Steve Shelley, the band is quite startling in terms of individual talent but, as Moore assures, one not inclined towards democracy. “There’s no question about who’s calling the shots in my new band. In Sonic Youth, I might have been the forefigure of it in a way, just by dint of where the band started from, as a forum for what I wanted to do musically, but I allowed it to be a democratic concern from the outset. Certainly with Kim, then Kim and Lee and then when Steve Shelley came in – his involvement really elevated the band – he really did become like no other drummer beforehand. A real fourth voice. “I knew Debbie from My Bloody Valentine, we first played with them in Glasgow in the 1980s and they were still figuring out their vibe.

It wasn’t until a year later when I was reading reviews of them in the newspapers saying how fabulous they were, I was like ‘what are you talking about?!’ and then I heard Isn’t Anything, and that was a game changer. They came to New York just then and we hung out, they played every little rat’s nest in New York City, just killing it. “For this new band, I was talking about different ideas with an expanded situation live on stage, double percussion, keyboards, thinking it might be a cool thing to do, but the more I looked at the songs I was writing, they seemed to be more attuned to a more minimalist, traditional rock’n’roll setup of two guitars, bass and drums. Steve offered his services which was really exciting for me as he had spent a few years playing this longer, motorik sound with Michael Rother.” The Best Day was recorded in London during the past year and, despite the difficulties within Moore’s personal life, the album is unerringly

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upbeat, referencing Stoke Newington activists and poets, replete with a quite beautiful picture of Moore’s mother on the cover. The man seems galvanised by his new geography, a new career in a new town. So, has this been reflected in the new band? “Well, once Steve arrived from the US, the band recorded immediately. The first song on the record – Speak to the Wild – was the first thing we recorded. These are just the first rudimentary songs in a way. I feel like now we are somewhat established, I can now get down to preparing some material for the band, and take it to other places. This potential that exists which is super exciting for me. But I want to take it away from more standard ground. I don’t mind that it’s fairly safe… but I also want to jump off the map.” The Best Day is out now via Matador. Thurston Moore plays Manchester’s Gorilla on 9 Nov www.matadorrecords.com/thurston_moore

Feature

Fielding Questions It’s ten years since Noel Fielding’s androgynous elf Vince Noir baffled our screens in cult TV hit The Mighty Boosh. He talks to us about getting back to roots of comedy, and why he’s quite happy to become the eccentric old guy kids point at in the street

Interview: John Stansfield Illustration: Studio Monik

oh, okay, really? The people of the internet were even kind and you know what the internet’s like. They hate everything.” When asked if he’s looking to do more Luxury Comedy, he starts to wander off into the other possibilities available to him at present, like a child who hears an ice cream van while discussing his day at school. “Could possibly do another series, or just do Fantasy Man, or do a film, I’m quite excited about this live tour, I’ve not been on tour for a while, but this feels quite different.” As his mind draws him away, the elder statesman brings him back to the subject at hand – the tour – and he’s excited to be back performing to crowds in contrast to the process of making TV behind closed doors and then hoping people like it: “It’s like a sort of secret,” he says of TV. “Until we first started doing Boosh shows we just couldn’t believe how many people would come dressed as Boosh characters and we were like wow. We weren’t sure if anyone was watching this and yet they came dressed as the characters and they would give us little presents.”

“The Boosh tour was 100 dates and we partied massively. It was like being on an Aerosmith tour or something” Noel Fielding

t’s hard to think of Noel Fielding as a veteran of the UK comedy scene – the boy prince of surreal fascinations still has a youthful look and a glint in his eye that indicates mischief is about to be made. But at 41 years old (forty-one?!) he must take his place as one of the elder statesmen of British comedians. When asked about his age, he is as incredulous as anyone you might mention it to: “Forty-one. I know! How did that happen? I’m one of those Peter Pan figures.” Indeed, when you look at his career so far – spanning some 20 years – you realise he’s achieved quite a lot, ergo he’s been about for some time. “Hang on a minute,” he says, “he’s just done a series, then he did a series before that, then he’d done a tour and then he’d done a Boosh tour, then a Boosh show, then a radio show, then three Edinburgh shows. All those things take about a year, you go, ‘Yeah he’s gotta be getting near 40, unless he was a child when he started doing it.’” Fielding shows little sign of ageing, however – he still has an infectious positivity about him, meeting every sentence with an “awesome” or “amazing” as if everything is new to the man who was Vince Noir. After such a long time bringing new and baffling comedy to stages and screens it is refreshing to hear someone be genuinely excited about their next project, especially when

Feature

he’s spent the last few hours on press calls. With his new tour, An Evening with Noel Fielding, the title is the kind of name Bob Monkhouse might have chosen, or Les Dawson. Not the man who popularised the art of crimping. Though the real reason behind the title of the show is less a settling down, and more his usual anarchic self. “I had no idea what it was going to be,” he says. “It’ll be an evening with me, but I had no idea what that was. I thought it was quite old school as well. It’s not the sort of thing that I would do but I thought it just might be funny. Also, I had no ideas so thought I’d best be vague as possible.” Having now written and trialled the show he has a clearer vision of what he might be putting in front of people’s eyes and minds. “Some of it’s standup, some of it’s characters, some of it’s stories, some of it’s animation, so it’s quite complicated putting it together. It’s not just a standup show. Got a lot of elements to it, so it’s quite a bugger. Some bits can’t really be rehearsed.” An Evening with Noel Fielding reflects his career so far, taking in little bits of everything to make something new and different. He is looking forward to touring again, though the hedonistic days of The Mighty Boosh tour of 2008 may have to be toned down. “The Boosh tour was 100 dates and we partied massively. It was like being on an

The Mighty Boosh was the show that launched him into the headspace of many a fan, and gave him such a loyal base – but it is ten years since Howard Moon and Vince Noir first stepped on to our screens to become the alternative comedy duo of the day. “[Boosh] were on Gold the other day. Which blew my mind. That Aerosmith tour or something. It was great and means I am old. It’s like Last of the Summer Wine. I would never change it but it was very full on.” It happened. Deal with it.” Now, he says, he’s happy to be getting back to “You never really feel old in your head,” he what he loves – standup (of sorts). That buzz of a says, unworried. “I sometimes worry about, ‘How live audience that TV work can’t duplicate “feels long can he wear makeup for?’” He breaks into a bit more like returning to your roots,” he says. laughter. “You go from being slightly trendy to be“When you first start it’s always in front of an ing someone who’s eccentric. I’m happy with that. audience. You spend years doing a TV show and The one the kids point to in the street and go it’s not the same. Even panel shows, there is an ‘That guy who wears a cape, I think he used to be audience but it’s not quite the same as standup on the telly. He’s a bit weird.’” He chuckles to himeither. You end up having to remind yourself of what comedy is in its basic form, which is just you self. If anything, he feels that with comedy, the older you get, the better you get, provided you in front of a bunch of people.” keep pushing yourself – “The more you do it, the After two series of Luxury Comedy that have better you get. Rich Hall. He’s just like a master, split critics and fans alike, it’ll be refreshing to see Fielding taking to the stage for the immediacy he’s been doing it for years. God knows how old he is. He used to write for Letterman. Gigs gigs of live performance. “The first [series] was quite gigs. Joan Rivers [was] 81, still doing gigs every Marmite,” he admits. “The people who hated week. Incredible really.” it, really hated it. Or really loved it, there was Older and maybe even a little wiser, the nothing in between.” It was the first time Fielding comedy world needs more role models like had faced such criticism for his work, but rather than recoil he went about putting it right. “I knew Fielding – still excited, eager to learn, looking for the next thing that might make him, and by assothere were good elements of [the first series] ciation those around him, laugh. but just needed to house it in a way that people And after all, don’t our heroes usually wear could get into.” The second series was much betmakeup and capes? ter received thanks to the tinkering by Fielding and co – “weirdly this time we were ready for batNoel Fielding plays The Auditorium, Liverpool, 7 & 8 Nov, and tle after we’d made it and everyone went, ‘Yeah O2 Apollo, Manchester, 21 Nov that’s pretty good,’” he says. “And we were like, www.luxurycomedy.com

COMEDY

THE SKINNY

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November 2014

So Far, So Good In 2005, a stroke robbed Edwyn Collins of memories and words. One phrase that stuck was ‘the possibilities are endless’ – a maxim that now gives its name to a documentary portrait of his recovery. We find out more from those on either side of the camera

ext year marks a number of milestones in Edwyn Collins’ life: 30 years since he called time on Orange Juice from the stage of the Brixton Academy; 20 years since A Girl Like You gate-crashed the top five and gave him the biggest hit of his career; and ten years since he suffered two life-threatening cerebral haemorrhages, from which he has been in steady recovery ever since. New documentary The Possibilities are Endless, which takes its name from one of the handful of phrases Collins was able to speak after the stroke, creatively explores the trials and tribulations of that last decade. Utilising extensive interviews with the singer, it narrates an emotional but meticulously unsentimental story of restoration and readjustment, as Collins and his wife Grace Maxwell adapt to a condition that has impaired his speech but not his spirit. Structurally, the film eschews many typical hallmarks of the music documentary form, using archive footage sparingly and doing away with talking-head testimonies. Instead, the filmmakers have crafted something strikingly cinematic and formally inventive, whether conveying the isolation and disorientation of aphasia through murky underwater scenes, or pictorialising Collins’ emerging recollections with bucolic tableaux featuring his son Will, shot near the family’s new home in the Highland coastal town of Helmsdale. “It’s a beautiful film,” says Collins over the phone, speaking a few days before it’s UK premiere at the London Film Festival. Also on the line is Maxwell (the story is, after all, hers also), who proffers her own admiration for the finished work. “It’s amazing what they’ve done,” she enthuses, emphasising how well the film translates aspects of Collins’ illness and recovery to the screen. “I think the boys wanted to convey what it was like for him when communication was…” Before she can finish, Collins steps in and finishes the sentence: “Impossible!” This small exchange is typical of the touching back-and-forth rapport that recurs throughout the interview in both directions, and which speaks to the tightness of their bond. Maxwell continues: “Yes – and to my mind, they did it perfectly. They’re young guys and I don’t know how they managed it, but they really have captured it very accurately.” The “young guys” in question are directors Ed Lovelace and James Hall. Though both were fans of Collins growing up, they only considered him as a potential film subject when seventh solo album Losing Sleep was released “out of the blue”

Feature

Interview: Chris Buckle

back in 2010. “That was after a time when, well, no one was sure if he could even write songs again,” says Hall. “So that was the first inspiration, where we realised that it had hints of a guy coming to terms with who he was, or who he is today.” With the seeds of a project in mind, the duo emailed Maxwell asking to meet, and all four immediately hit it off. “We got on with them, up in the studio,” says Collins about the initial introductions. “That was the main thing.” As a result, Maxwell says, “Edwyn decided to put a kind of implicit trust in their ability to make an interesting film.” At no point did either side suggest that Collins and Maxwell might want any degree of editorial oversight. Instead, there was an unspoken agreement that all directorial decisions would come from Hall and Lovelace alone. “My opinion was ‘get on with it lads,’” says Collins. “No interfering, just get on with it.”

“The ravaged landscape seemed like a great metaphor for Edwyn’s brain” James Hall

From the very start, the filmmakers wanted to enable Collins to “tell his own story.” Ensuring he had the necessary opportunities to express himself fully was therefore paramount. “Near the start, I was, let’s say, hesitating a lot because of my stroke,” Collins recalls. “But I relaxed and it started to flow. I remember, back in the studio, it coming back clearer and clearer – ‘Oh aye, I forgot that,’ and ‘Oh yes!’ and so on.” To pre-empt any temptation to assist or paraphrase her husband, Maxwell was ejected from the room during these early audio interviews, and Collins was encouraged to take the conversation in whatever direction his memories returned. “They had a very clear idea of how they would go about the process of recording Edwyn,” says Maxwell (who, Collins laughs, resorted to listening in from the corridor), “and it was really miraculous, because they were so quiet, so still. They never hurried

him and they never prompted him.” “He was getting better all the time, and there came a point where he was actually able to tell us everything that was important to him,” says Lovelace. “But we were never like, ‘Right, we need to tell a certain story point, so let’s really try and make Edwyn say something about it.’ For instance, Edwyn didn’t really talk about his six months in hospital at length, because I think it was just a really intense period for him and something that he doesn’t want to dwell on. Therefore the film doesn’t either.” At this stage the directors wrote a script of sorts, drawn exclusively from their interview transcripts, and began conceiving of ways to visualise Collins’ tale. The results are awash with natural imagery and themes, from the drowning symbolism that opens the film to the painterly shots of Highland wildlife. “Everything really was led by Edwyn, [and] we just kind of intuited things from what he was telling us,” says Hall. “[For instance], that kind of ravaged landscape seemed like a great metaphor for his brain, and the way memories would flow, almost like from one field to the next with a blow of the wind.” While Hall and Lovelace worked on the structural and visual aspects, Collins (along with collaborators Seb Lewsley and Carwyn Ellis) was left to contrive an original score – something he did without the benefit of viewing rough cuts or rushes, let alone the finished film. “We told Edwyn what we were shooting and tried to explain the style and atmosphere that we wanted to create,” says Lovelace, “but we hadn’t really discussed specific references.” A rigid brief was deliberately avoided because, as Hall notes, “how do you tell someone like Edwyn Collins what direction to take musically? It’s Edwyn Collins, so we just wanted him to do his own thing… Obviously we were quite apprehensive when we went in to listen to the score, because it was going to be so important [to the film]. But when we heard it, it was totally amazing. It didn’t really sound like anything else we’d ever heard him record.” Collins and Maxwell first saw the film just a few weeks before its international premiere at South by Southwest. “James and Ed were very

FILM

nervous, weren’t they?” says Maxwell, sharing an anecdote that still tickles both her and Collins. “We hadn’t seen a foot of it, nothing, not a bit. So the film starts and of course it’s very quiet and quite emotional at the beginning. You can feel the nerves in the room, and about five minutes into it Edwyn pipes up and shouts ‘So far, so good, lads!’” His vote of confidence proved to be just the first of many glowing reviews: among other praise, the Guardian called it ‘remarkable,’ while The Hollywood Reporter went with ‘inspirational.’ How does that latter epithet feel, we ask Collins; to be considered an inspiration? “It’s up to the audience I guess,” he replies, “but I’m not an inspiration at all. I worked on my speech and language, and Grace helped me… but I’m not inspirational at all. It’s kind of the audience to say so, but come on!” “Edwyn does all this entirely for his own ends, if you get my drift,” says Maxwell. “He’s not looking to be a figurehead – it’s purely to get back to work. That’s what matters to you, isn’t it – getting back to work? Because without your work…” Edwyn interrupts with a final burst of dry wit, laughingly declaring “You’re nothing!” Currently, Collins, Maxwell, Hall and Lovelace are touring the UK, hosting post-film Q&As and acoustic performances. Beyond that, we ask where the directors plan to turn their cameras next. They’re not ready to offer specific details quite yet, says Lovelace, “but we definitely want to make sure our next project has the same kind of… Er… ” He hesitates, as if searching for the right wording before alighting on the obvious. “Well, the same kind of unlimited possibility to it.” In cinema, as in life, the possibilities are endless after all. The Possibilities are Endless is released across the UK 7 Nov by Pulse Films As well as the general release, The Possibilities are Endless will tour across the country. On the road will be Collins, along with his wife Grace Maxwell, and musical collaborator Carwyn Ellis. The film’s directors Edward Lovelace and James Hall will also be making appearances and each tour stop will include a screening of the film followed by Q&As and acoustic performances Included in the tour is Manchester Dancehouse (14 Nov) For full details go to www.thepossibilities.co.uk

THE SKINNY

Unto the End Michel Faber’s The Book of Strange New Things is with us. A haunting imagining of love divided by an endless void, completed in the most unbearable personal circumstances and significantly inscribed: I am with you always, even unto the end of the world

Interview: Peter Wild Illustration: Luke Brookes

ithin minutes of meeting Michel Faber – at the tram stop outside MediaCityUK in Manchester, where he has spent the morning recording his part on Radio 4 show The Verb – he tells me that his wife, Eva, died only two months previous. It stops me in my tracks. “What are you doing?” I say. “Doing this?” – meaning the interview. “Eva would have wanted it,” he answers. “She helped me to connect with people and I want to honour the influence she had on me.” We take a seat in the Lowry, the vast, bizarre temple to all things art and entertainment, and I ask him about his tremendous new novel, The Book of Strange New Things, an intricate, involved piece of science fiction that follows a minister called Peter as he travels to a new world on the other side of the galaxy. At the behest of a shadowy organisation he provides teaching to a race of alien creatures known as the Oasans, leaving his wife Beatrice behind on Earth.

“I would love readers to come to the book without knowing anything about it, to just start reading” Michel Faber

“I wanted to do something different,” Faber tells me. “I wanted to challenge myself.” With The Crimson Petal and the White, the large, bestselling historical novel he wrote over a 20-year period (published in 2002), “I had it planned out so that I knew what I would write each day. With The Book of Strange New Things I didn’t do that – I wanted to go on the same adventure as Peter, and discover things as he discovered things.” I tell him that when I first received the proof of the book, it was entirely white without any clue as to what the story was about. At that time there was nothing on Amazon by way of a synopsis. So I read blind, read the book in much the same way as he wrote it, knowing only that this was a book by Michel Faber. He seems extremely pleased by this. “I would love readers to come to the book without knowing anything about it, to just start reading because they knew it was a book by me and they trusted me to take them on a journey.” We talk about the way in which the book is as much about a marriage and the strain of separation as it is about life on an alien world. I ask if it helped him at all, to work through his feelings about Eva’s illness as he wrote. “Writing a novel requires intense concentration and the freedom to vanish into an imaginative space. I found that almost impossible because I was caring for Eva. By 2013 I was reconciling myself to the fact that this book would never be finished. Then Eva pleaded with me to write just six lines a day. Six lines, you can do that, she said. For a long time that’s all I managed, but then it gained

November 2014

momentum. Eva got to see me finish the book, helped me edit it, knew that it would come out.” I say to Faber that it’s possible, given the success afforded by Jonathan Glazer’s recent adaptation of his 2000 novel, Under the Skin, that there will be readers who come to The Book of Strange New Things and think he is only a science fiction writer. “For a long time,” he answers, “with the success of The Crimson Petal and the White, lots of readers thought I was a historical novelist. Publishers would send piles of terrible historical novels looking for cover quotes from me.” The implicit suggestion is that being thought of as a science fiction writer wouldn’t be such a bad thing. We talk some more about Under the Skin, a film that was developed over a long period, and was at one point a double header between Scarlett Johansson and Brad Pitt, both of whom were deeply committed to the project. After various ups and downs and financial setbacks, the script was finally reframed to focus only on Scarlett Johansson’s character – and was all the better for it, according to Faber. “Obviously it’s very different from my book but when I saw it – I got Eva out of hospital for one night to attend the screening at the BFI, and we looked at each other at one point in the film, as it sank in what an amazing thing we were watching.” I tell Faber that when I saw it people walked out of the cinema.

“At what point?” he asks, seemingly pleased and enthusiastic for my answer. “All the way through,” I reply, and he laughs gently. I ask him where he feels he is in terms of his career and he looks at the copy of The Book of Strange New Things on the table between us. “This will be my last novel,” he says. Again, I’m shocked. “What? No!” He explains that he had a certain number of novels in him, and those are now done. In any case, losing Eva – the person he most wanted to share his work with – has made him feel that an era is over. Which isn’t to say that he doesn’t have plans. “I’ll no doubt write the odd short story now and then. Also, Eva was a tremendous artist in her own right,” he enthuses, showing me photographs and artworks she produced during her illness. “She wrote a lot of fiction too, some of which is pretty much final draft and some of which is more sketchy. I’d like to collaborate with her on those stories. I’m also writing poetry.” I interject to say that Hardy stopped writing novels and concentrated on poetry, after the terrible critical reception afforded Jude the Obscure. Faber admits that he doesn’t know how The Book of Strange New Things will be taken. “It’s been a long time since my last book,” he says. “I’ve had a number of very kind early readers and reviewers but I don’t know if it will be a success

BOOKS

or not.” I try to reassure him, I think the book is tremendously good, easily as good as anything he has written before, and he asks me if I think the book is “even” – I say that I think it is. Of course it is. He reads me a selection of the poetry, which is profoundly moving, focusing as it does on Eva’s illness and Eva’s death and the misplaced kindnesses people offer in the circumstances. He tells me about a 12” he worked on with Andrew Liles, of Nurse with Wound, showing me a story of a pope walking among a field of newborn babies that has been read aloud by a small child. He also digs out a copy of Ohrwurm, a collaboration he worked on with Andrew and Eva. He shows me many photographs he has taken recently in San Francisco, of a pair of Eva’s red shoes in a variety of backdrops. He is, then, keeping himself busy at an incredibly difficult time. For his readers, there is a substantial new book that repays repeated readings, just as The Crimson Petal and the White did, just as Under the Skin did, just as Some Rain Must Fall and The Courage Consort and, indeed, all of his books did – nine other books as different from one another as can be, as distinctive and rewarding as a reader could want. “I think that’s enough,” he says. The Book of Strange New Things is available now, published by Canongate, RRP £18.99

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Image © Anish Kapoor. Untitled, 2001. Gouache on paper. 50x67 cm

PERFORMER

ONE SIDE

CURATOR

TO THE

OTHER

A powerful exhibition of artworks and unique live performance.

SAT 15 NOV – SUN 1 FEB

FREE ENTRY (Donations welcome) thelowry.com/exhibitions

Don’t miss Akram Khan’s DESH Thu 13 & Fri 14 Nov thelowry.com/dance

Exhibitions AT THE LOWRY

THE SKINNY

Controlling the Future Liverpool’s first one-on-one performance festival, Control 25 plans to infiltrate the city by directing audience members along a series of mysterious trajectories. Participants Sharron Devine and Ant Hampton tell us more

ontrol: the power to influence or direct people’s behaviour or course of events. We all want to be in control: of our careers, our appearance, our ridiculous weakness for chocolate digestives… The desire to take charge is a fundamental part of human nature, or so preach thousands of self-help gurus from the shelves of Waterstones. Dull, yes – but can they all be wrong? Probably not. True to its name, control is the subject of Liverpool’s first large-scale one-on-one performance event, Control 25. A festival that smudges the line between performer and spectator, Control 25 invites participants to surrender, share and seize control as they embark on an unknown journey through the streets of Liverpool. The brainchild of All Things Considered (dynamic duo Sarah Hogarth and Emma Bramley), Control 25 throws itself into the centre of the increasingly trendy whirlpool of interactive theatre – and in doing so poses some interesting questions about the future of theatre making and the traditional passivity of the audience member. If a spectator’s actions, dialogue or memories contribute to the direction of a performance, do they not become co-creator, assuming the role of performer, writer or director? Or can an audience member never assume control of an artist’s pre-planned concept? It may be difficult to believe, but among Liverpool’s vast cultural and artistic boasts, oneon-one performance has been widely neglected.

November 2014

It is a genre Manchester has embraced for some time – Contact Theatre in particular providing a platform for such work to be explored – and it is with some relief that Control 25 brings Liverpool up to date. The premise is simple enough: guided by a set of instructions delivered via an earpiece, audience members will participate in a series of carefully curated intimate encounters. There are 25 routes in all, divided into four amusingly titled categories: Remote Control, Birth Control, Pest Control and Passport Control. Segmented by the level of risk the participant is willing to take, the routes of Remote Control provide a somewhat safer alternative to the adventurous trajectories of Passport Control, while the others pick up the pieces in between. Although a veil of secrecy surrounds the majority of the routes there is talk of intimate taxi rides, phone boxes turned karaoke booths and a questionable encounter with a Superlambanana. Created in collaboration with the recent graduates of Hope Street’s Emerging Artists Programme, Control 25 not only demonstrates its commitment to fostering young talent, but culminates in a critical debate led by established one-on-one practitioners Ant Hampton, Seth Honnor (artistic director of live performance pioneer Kaleider) and Sharron Devine. “When I heard about Control 25 and the involvement of emerging artists who wanted to create one-on-one work, I fell in love with the

idea,” begins Edinburgh-based Devine during a Friday evening telephone call. “I find it enriching to work with young people who are finding their feet; their vitality is probably just as useful to me as my experience is to them!”

“As human beings our most basic need is to connect. Audience members are always looking for a unique connection” Sharron Devine

With a bank of knowledge as extensive as hers you cannot help but note the generosity of such a comment. With a CV that includes practice within the National Theatre of Scotland, the Traverse and Conflux, Devine is also a regular collaborator with Danish company Cantabile 2,

THEATRE

Interview: Alecia Marshall Illustration: Alex T. Frazer ensuring her work is accessible on an international scale. When asked to define the allure of one-onone performance, Devine is refreshingly honest: “This may sound crazy,” she begins, “but I find a lot of theatre boring! From the middle of a stage you don’t know who you are hitting in the stalls – so you exit as an actor or a performer who has no idea of the effect they have had. I want to know what the audience think. The power of one-onone work is seeing the effect you are having on your audience at any given moment and once you experience that it is very difficult to strive for anything less. Every audience is different; every performance has a different effect.” Devine is clearly motivated by the social merits of one-on-one performance in an increasingly technology-driven age, banishing the malignant whispers of those who devalue such work as ‘art for art’s sake’: “We live in a virtual world controlled by Twitter, Facebook and iPhones, emails, texts and Snapchats, and yet I feel as human beings our most basic need is to connect. Audience members are always looking for a unique connection – often on a deeper level – and I think one-on-one work is a great way for people to find that.” And yet despite the obvious social benefits, there remain – of course – those who find the idea of one-on-one performance worse than a swift kick to the face; the idea of sharing a moment of intimacy with a stranger can be too appalling a concept for our cold British sensibility to digest. Devine’s fellow Control 25 contributor Ant Hampton eradicates this fear by eradicating the artist: “My approach to one-on-one performance isn’t to situate one audience member opposite an artist, or an actor – it is to remove them,” explains Hampton. “For years I have been in love with the strange quality of performance that comes from an ‘unrehearsed’ actor: an everyday person who agrees to be watched, investing and risking themselves in a performative situation.” Much like the routes of Control 25, Hampton’s work relies upon headphones to communicate instructions to the participant – his first piece, Etiquette, controls the interaction of two people in a cafeteria. “We figured that when couples get together in a cafe, there is always someone speaking and the other listening – actor and audience – under the implicit contract that those roles are regularly swapped. Sitting opposite a fellow audience member puts you in a shared state of curious vulnerability: the power balance is equal. If you take away the visibility of the artist then the vexed notion of audience participation that so often produces anxiety in people is escaped.” Risk chosen and headphones secured, Control 25 is sure to attract a new audience of attendees, of whom many may have no previous theatrical experience. “I like the idea of a new audience who demonstrate bravery through their curiosity and mental involvement,” concludes Hampton. “Sometimes it is useful to introduce this kind of theatre in a way that doesn’t present itself as theatre at all, attracting interest from people who thought they didn’t like theatre. It proves that it is possible for people to discover performance from a different angle when you present it correctly.” A voice in your ear telling you to climb atop a Superlambanana? That sounds like a different angle to me. Control 25 takes place on 8 Nov in Liverpool city centre. Journeys begin at FACT and run 12pm-4pm at ten-minute intervals. Each journey will last approximately one hour. Tickets are £5 (plus booking fee) and can be found at www.control25.eventbrite.co.uk

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Niklas Goldbach, HABITAT C3B (2008)

Not So Tatty Playtime marks the end of Cornerhouse and the beginning of HOME. The Skinny caught up with Cornerhouse’s curator – and new professor at Manchester School of Art – Sarah Perks, to find out what’s planned for the exhibition and her thoughts on the future...

anchester’s cultural scene witnesses the end of an era this month with the opening of Playtime, the last exhibition to be held at Cornerhouse before it shuts its doors and is reborn as HOME in 2015. Curator Sarah Perks has invited nine international artists to pay homage to Cornerhouse’s legacy through work inspired by the triangular building with all its particularities, and also through Jacques Tati’s 1967 Playtime. In Tati’s film, a series of linked sequences depict two main characters, Monsieur Hulot (a role reprised from previous films, and one which Tati plays himself) and Barbara, lost in the modernity of a new Paris, navigating environments such as airports, exhibitions and apartments. The set for this film was nicknamed ‘Tativille’ due to its epic and complex construction, and Tati uses it to stage sophisticated visual and auditory experiments that play with the viewer’s perception. “I’ve always been very conscious about saying goodbye,” says Perks. “It will inevitably be painful as people are very passionate about Cornerhouse. However much we love the building, it’s certainly flawed, and actually most people’s memories are about the artwork, the film, the experience or the people they have met there. I feel it’s very easy to slip into nostalgia about the past, when we should be celebrating Cornerhouse and looking to the future. To avoid a nostalgia trap I thought it better to have a theme that resonated, and one that the artists could work with without falling into the past. Playtime arose in discussions with all three of Cornerhouse’s visiting curators, Michael Connor, Henriette Huldisch, and Omar Kholeif. We decided the film’s themes were perfect to create an exhibition that explored architectural space and sound, while also being fun!” Artists will take these themes as points of departure to explore architecture, physical comedy, space and sound, with live performances central to the exhibition. The opening weekend (from Friday 21 November) will be a key moment to catch three of these performances, with works from Naomi Kashiwagi, Andy Graydon and Lawrence Abu Hamdan. “They are three amazingly talented yet very different artists,” says Perks. “Lawrence is the focus of next year’s Armory Show in New York and is presenting a

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Interview: Sacha Waldron

special version of his Contra-Diction: Speech Against Itself in Cinema 1 to officially open the show on Friday.” In his live audio essay, Abu Hamdan questions the ways we speak, listen and are heard today. “I am departing from the voiceless protagonist of Playtime,” says the artist, “exploring the ways in which our right to silence can be preserved in today’s All-Hearing and AllSpeaking society.”

“I’m committed to alternative and independent artist voices, making work you won’t see elsewhere in the city” Sarah Perks

On the Saturday (22 November) Naomi Kashiwagi, who is also exhibiting a new interactive work, Swingtime, in Gallery 3, takes the audience outside the Cornerhouse building and on to the crossroads for Puffin Crossing Carousel. This work transforms the junction into a playful merry-go-round with passers-by inadvertently performing choreographed movements to Francis Lemarque’s song L’opéra des jours heureux. Playtime will also culminate in an epic celebratory performance, The Storming, from Humberto Vélez. The work is planned as a mass parade descending on Cornerhouse, made up of Manchester’s diverse cultural and artistic communities. Storming the entrance, this parade will fill every corner of the building in a final spectacular party. “This is the finale to the exhibition and to Cornerhouse itself,” says Perks. “The two-part event is both a performance and party, a spectacle that literally takes over the whole

building. Keep Saturday 4 April 2015 free!” Several new commissions will also be major components of the exhibition. Gabriel Lester will present Bouncer, consisting of a maze-like succession of swing doors snaking through Gallery 1. “The banging doors really make great use of the unusual and awkward shape of the building,” says Perks; “then we have Jan St Werner who has worked with Mancunian legend Mark E Smith to create Molecular Hypnotics, a sound installation that will be a hit whether you’re a fan of The Fall or not!” Existing work from Niklas Goldbach, Shannon Plumb and Rosa Barba will add to the participatory, chaotic mix through video, performance and installation. So Playtime is set to play Cornerhouse out on a high note, but what, looking back over her time at the current centre, have been Perks’ particular highlights? “So many to choose from!” she says. “I’m so proud of the diversity and cuttingedge commissions and exhibitions that myself and the team have produced over the years. Some of my personal highlights have been the Subversion exhibition (April-June 2012) which took a refreshing and powerful look at Arabic identity. Another would be making a complete feature film – Rough Cut for Jamie Shovlin’s Hiker Meat exhibition (January-April 2014) – that went on to be selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam. It was also an absolute pleasure to work with Manchester-based artist Qasim Riza Shaheen on his recent solo with all new work made in Asia. The same with Rosa Barba’s Subconscious Society, a 35mm installation, performance and long-form film that has been in Performa and will be in the latest Berlin Biennial. Another highlight was the group exhibition Anguish and Enthusiasm (April-August 2013), curated with artist Declan Clarke, about postrevolutionary society and with a truly inspirational set of international artists.” And what’s in store for the future and for the visual art programme at HOME? And what does Perks see as the new space’s particularities or challenges? (So many questions.) “The new purpose-built gallery means we can be more technically professional and truly world class in standards, matched by our increasingly ambitious and cross-art-form programme,” she says.

ART

“I’m committed to alternative and independent artist voices, making work you won’t see elsewhere in the city, and building upon our outstanding reputation in the areas of artist film, performance and participation. I feel the new space offers many more possibilities for artists too – instead of working with the quirky but limited shapes of Cornerhouse, artists can really create exciting new installations specifically for HOME. I’m also excited about recently becoming a professor of visual art at Manchester School of Art and how collaborations and projects will develop with academia. It’s exciting to think that the possibilities are only at the tip of the iceberg with HOME and the next few years will be super exciting! It goes without saying I want to take audiences on a journey and make them feel very special at HOME.” HOME has already launched part of its programme with site-specific performances off-site, including Romeo & Juliet at Manchester's Victoria Baths. Theatre and performance will take a greater role in the new venue, which is of course a merger between Cornerhouse and Manchester’s Library Theatre Company, and will include a 500seat theatre and 150-seat flexible studio space alongside its exhibition spaces, bookshop, cinemas and restaurant. So goodbye to the odd, triangular, familiar and cosy Cornerhouse, and hello to the all-singing, all-dancing HOME. There are things about you I will always remember fondly. The convenience of your toilets as a last stop before boarding the train at Oxford Road. Watching the plight of The Watchtower sellers and trying to swerve their earnestness. Glasses of wine in the afternoon after visiting an exhibition, and people-watching out on to Whitworth Street. The time I have spent circling the one plug socket in the cafe-bar, waiting for whoever has pounced with their laptop or phone to leave, however, is time I can never get back. This I will not miss. Not one bit. Playtime opens at Cornerhouse on 22 Nov and runs until 15 Mar 2015 The booking process for The Storming will be revealed in January www.cornerhouse.org/art/art-exhibitions/playtime

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Rejigged With a prime slot on this month’s Tartelet #30 EP, young Dane Uffe has come a long way from early arrangements on eJay

Interview: Daniel Jones course I spontaneously moved to Berlin with a friend and that truly turned me on to the scene. After a year there, I got accepted on a conceptual art course in Amsterdam, which is where I’m studying now. Do you play any instruments? Not really. I have a limited knowledge of the piano because my mum forced me to take lessons when I was younger, which I hated. I didn’t want to practise because I could already make a complete track on the computer using samples so it was a bit off-putting to go from that to practising fucking scales and chords, y’know? I was a pretty horrible kid, to be honest. Eventually my mum stopped paying for lessons because I never showed up and I didn’t practise – she got the message. What’s your studio looking like at the moment? It’s changing all the time. Right now, I literally have a laptop and speakers so I’m making more use of records. When I made the first couple of tracks under Uffe, I had the idea to make club music that sounded like a band jamming. It’s weird because when I was young I was listening to these leftfield electronic albums early on, like Kraftwerk’s The Man-Machine, but I wanted to take a different route by involving more acoustic sounds. At a certain point the whole conceptual idea went away and I don’t really think of it anymore. Some things sound more electronic, some things sound more dusty and sample-based. It’s better not to think about it too much.

ffe (pronounced oofa) is a fun word to say. More than that it’s the eponymous moniker of Uffe Christensen, a quirky Danish producer from Odense who conducts experiments in a range of tones and tempos. In truth, Odense has had little to shout about since the early 19th century, when beloved fairytale writer – and the real brains behind Frozen – Hans Christian Andersen came kicking and screaming into the world. Two hundred years later, it’s about time the good people of Denmark’s third largest city had another creative talent to hang their hat on. With only a handful of select releases so far, there aren’t many young producers who can boast the same range of moods that Uffe has delved into in his formative years. These days, he deals primarily in house-tempo grooves that contain flecks of funk, soft electro stabs and the occasional melancholy pad. Think club-ready productions with a live band feel. It’s a freaky collage of styles, yes, but underneath it all there’s an easy pop sensibility that affords his music just the right dose of catchiness. Now studying conceptual art in Amsterdam, Uffe has recently prepped a track for Tartelet #30 titled Lemon Nights, which sees a recurring riff set against a pulsing synth line and mumbling bass to hypnotic effect. Arguably his best effort

November 2014

“Eventually my mum stopped paying for piano lessons because I never showed up and I didn’t practise” to date, the track will also appear on the young Dane’s imminent debut LP, due on Tartelet at the start of next year and recorded with help from good friend and one-man music-making machine Jeppe Lauritsen, aka Rewolmer. Here, we rummage further into the mind of Mr Christensen to hash out some factual detail regarding the tale of his past, present and future. The Skinny: When did you first start making music? Uffe Christensen: I’ve been producing since I was ten years old, pretty much whenever I could hijack my dad’s PC. Back then I was messing around on shitty toy-like programs like eJay, which you could load your own samples into, before I moved on to Reason and eventually Logic. I’ve always sampled from records and CDs, even in the early days. What were your major musical influences growing up? My parents didn’t really listen to music, to be honest. To give you an idea, my mum owns three CDs: Bob Marley’s Greatest Hits, Roy Orbison’s Greatest Hits and Elton John’s Greatest Hits. Good times in the kitchen. There was a really good music library in Odense though, so I’d

spend a lot of time there going through the CD bins and discovering new music that way. When did it become fairly serious? I’d say I’ve been making music full-time since I was about 17, on and off. I initially applied for funding from the local arts council, before moving to Copenhagen to study graphic design. There’s traditionally been a kind of nerdy electronica scene going on in Copenhagen, more IDM-inspired stuff. I integrated with the tail end of that kind of scene when I moved there and even released a record of bassier tracks with an experimental hip-hop feel under the name Nabo. That was around the time when the whole post-dubstep phase was in full swing but, as a record, it felt really impersonal to me. I was trying to fit in with what was already out there rather than pouring my personality into it. There was a period when I got fed up with music shortly after that release. Tell us about the transition from Nabo to Uffe. I didn’t make anything for a while after the Nabo record, but then I remember listening to Four Tet when he was bringing out more four-to-thefloor stuff and that really turned me on to the idea. I didn’t really listen to house or techno before that. Once I finished the graphic design

CLUBS

Uffe Christensen

You manage to achieve a very organic sound, is that through choice sampling or live instrumentation? It’s a combination of things, I think. This summer in Copenhagen I recorded a lot of stuff with my multi-instrumentalist friend Jeppe (Rewolmer). I’ll often send him stuff, or an idea, he’ll record something and send it back to me. The bassline on Something Wrong is a good example of that. He sent over the file and I basically chopped it up and rearranged it into something else. What can you tell us about the forthcoming album? It’ll be out soon on Tartelet! A lot of samples were recorded with live instruments to lift it away from the formulaic electronic sounds and dusty sample aesthetic. It’s coming out at the beginning of next year, my deadline is actually in a few days but it’s basically finished. I think it’s going to be called Radiodays but that’s still a working title. When the record comes out we’ll be planning a few dates around that so keep your eyes peeled – it’s just the beginning. Listen to Tartelet #30 at: www.soundcloud.com/tartelet-records

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The Possibility of an Island With the imminent release of thirteenth album La Isla Bonita, Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier explains why they’ve found latter-day inspiration in 80s pop queens

Photo: Chad Kamenshine

Interview: Will Fitzpatrick

wenty years. That’s how long Deerhoof have been around – a helluva landmark. Even drummer Greg Saunier seems surprised, as he casually shrugs, “I don’t imagine we’ll be around for year twenty-one.” He leaves the remark hanging mysteriously in the air, as though teasing us with the threat of his band’s imminent demise, before cheerfully laughing it off. “Every show feels like one more show that logically should never have happened. Same with the records. There was no reason to imagine this was meant to be long-lived – how can we stand the sight of each other any more? And yet we’re really more closeknit than we’ve ever been.” That’s certainly borne out by their thirteenth album, La Isla Bonita, a typically messy coagulation of wracked rock’n’roll and screwy semblances of RnB. As ever, they sound like an avant-garde band who found pop but lost the plot – despite the risky mixture, it all fits together perfectly. As with the record’s predecessor, Breakup Song, the sense of cohesion is somewhat remarkable given the band’s current living situation, with the four members stretched out across different cities. Having formed Deerhoof in San Francisco, and lived there for the majority of the band’s existence, it was something of a surprise for Saunier that he should find himself moving out to the East Coast: “I’ve been living in Brooklyn for four years,” he explains. “I never really liked New York, but we’d come to play shows, and we had so many friends there who I never got enough chance to chat to, so I realised it was the only place to move. It can be kind of intimidating, but it was so easy for me. The second I arrived, everyone was already like, ‘let’s get together and play sometime!’ And then I was playing improv shows all the time.” A compulsive musician of multiple disciplines, Saunier continues to involve himself in the DIY venues that dominate Brooklyn’s busy scene – the sort of art spaces that nurture the outré sensibilities of bands like Deerhoof – and laments the continued march of progress that has doomed some of these places in recent times: “A place called 285 Kent closed earlier this year, and now Death By Audio – which I’m a big fan of. I was

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there all the time, playing shows, seeing shows… They’re getting kicked out of the building after ten years because a magazine wants to move in. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the DIY scene won’t exist, it’ll just move into other places. Williamsburg has become too expensive and too populated by people who are not so interested in DIY spaces.”

“As far as I’m concerned, girls are much smarter than boys; they’re always sizing up the world in a very clever way” Greg Saunier

Is gentrification to blame for this process? “I guess gentrification’s not a problem if you’re in real estate, or the field of boutique-y shops that sell olive oil or something. Amazing, truly amazing prices. It really feels surreal. New York is at a level where prices are so insane that it feels like its own bubble.” This, it turns out, is one of the major themes of La Isla Bonita: “It’s about the clash between this inflated idea of what paradise is, and its ability to wield power over everywhere else. The reality of the decline – that’s what we were trying to talk about with this record.” So how does that tie in with the Madonnareferencing album title?: “That song [Madonna’s 1987 hit La Isla Bonita] seems particularly ludicrous – the words, the romanticism of it… we picked a title very late in the game, but we’d already hired an artist who was making the cover; this erupting volcano island… we just thought

they worked really well together. It could be Manhattan, or it could be the United States, or it could be the entire globe – we meant it sarcastically, you know? It advertises itself as being a beautiful island, but what is it really?” Unlikely as it may seem to long-term fans of Deerhoof’s gleeful skronk, ol’ Madge was actually one of several reference points that the band drew from 80s pop. The Skinny brings up the press release’s assertion that La Isla Bonita germinated amid an argument “over whether to try and sound like Joan Jett or Janet Jackson,” and Greg laughs uproariously. “It’s like RnB gone wrong – well, it’s not like we set out to make RnB gone wrong; we set out to make RnB, and it went wrong! But that’s exciting – losing whatever your plan was when you started out. That’s how it often works; we aren’t very successful at talking about music with each other, so the reference points are really a starting point.” “My idea, which I was absolutely sure was gonna take Deerhoof to the top of the charts, was to do a cover of What Have You Done for Me Lately by Janet Jackson. Eventually I realised that everybody thought it was a really stupid idea, but I’d made a demo and there was something about it that I liked, so I made a new song out of that. That’s how [album opener] Paradise Girls started – my second draft of trying to make a Janet Jackson song, that failed.” Not that Saunier had been a particular fan of Madonna or Janet Jackson beforehand, of course. “I didn’t listen to them in the 80s. I heard the hits off Madonna’s first record, and then at that point I started tuning out, so everything she did after that was completely lost on me.” “A few months ago, before we recorded anything, I was just casting about in the dark, thinking of things that I wanted to write songs about. I knew Satomi [Matsuzaki, Deerhoof singer/guitarist] had been a fan of Madonna and Janet Jackson when she was a teenager, so I was like, ‘OK, well let me see what this is about.’ It was so inspiring to me to hear all these songs, and it really struck me that – particularly with Janet Jackson – they were capturing what was to become the zeitgeist. It was before the time when cynicism took over culture – in 2014, it’s not just

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some sort of teenage misfits listening to Nirvana that are cynical about culture; culture is cynical about culture; it’s extremely bleak. Like just before the fall of the Habsburg Empire; the upper classes are more concerned than ever with their own pleasure, because they knew that world was about to end. An entirely new modern world was about to take place with all kinds of innovations, but also all kinds of incredible evil… something about Janet Jackson just hit me that way. It somehow predicted civilisation’s demise.” Intense. So how does Joan Jett fit into this equation? “Oh, I had also watched the Runaways movie before we recorded anything. I really was crazy over the Kim Fowley character played by Michael Shannon, because his advice seems so apropos and genius. I completely bought into the manifesto, you know? That the bad girl and the bubblegum girl might be the same thing – it cuts across the usual definitions and completely makes sense. Because bubblegum is bad. Too much candy is bad. If you look at it in a metaphorical way, the idea of someone who has an evil streak or an irresponsible side, and then someone who’s addicted to sugar or pleasure… it’s not a contradiction at all.” This brings us back to the aforementioned Paradise Girls, an ode to “girls… who are smart… who play the bass guitar.” Was it inspired by anyone else, beyond the three we’ve already mentioned? “Well, honestly, I made up those lyrics, and one big inspiration for me was Satomi. I thought it would be fun for Satomi to sing a song written by me about her. As far as I’m concerned, girls are much smarter than boys; they’re always sizing up the world in a very clever way. I guess I was wanting to pay tribute to that whole half of the human race, and merely a certain clever and somewhat sassy spirit that really could apply to anyone, whether they’re a girl or not.” Our time runs short, and with that in mind, we ask Saunier if he has any anniversary celebrations planned. A hearty guffaw follows. “No, the publicist had to tell me that it was twenty years. I had no idea!” Fair enough. Seems like Deerhoof have plenty on their minds already. La Isla Bonita is released on 3 Nov via Polyvinyl www.deerhoof.net

THE SKINNY

ddmmyy is a new music series exploring a variety of mediums and performance practices through new instrumental and electronic music, ranging from solo and chamber recitals to large scale ensemble programmes. soundandmusic.org/ddmmyy 16 November 14 09 February 15 27 April 15 at the Royal Northern College of Music

/hubfoot wear

November 2014

Available at Soletrader.

Supported by Sound and Music Discover new music at thesampler.org

From SNL to Sibling Hell During their stints on SNL, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig proved themselves expert comic performers. In The Skeleton Twins they reveal substantial dramatic chops too. The film’s writerdirector, Craig Johnson, discusses channelling their dark sides Interview: Jamie Dunn

amilial relationships have proved a rich source of inspiration for filmmakers over the years; Oedipal tensions, Electra complexes and sibling rivalries are cinema staples. Movies dealing with a brother-sister dynamic, however, are about as common as a Béla Tarr rom-com. This is just one of the reasons to cherish Craig Johnson’s The Skeleton Twins (another is that it’s very good), which sees a pair of maladjusted siblings, Milo and Maggie (played by SNL pals Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig), thrown back together after a decade estranged. We put this question to Johnson when he was in Edinburgh for The Skeleton Twins’ UK premiere at the city’s film festival: why has the brother-sister bond been so rarely explored on film? “I think people take it for granted,” he suggests. “It doesn’t feel like a flashy premise for a movie.” It is, however, a universal one. “I still experience it when I go back for the holidays” – he has a sister two years his junior – “if you’re with your sibling you just revert to that childlike relationship and find yourself getting bitchier and whinier and less mature. And then you catch yourself and you go, ‘Wait, I’m 38 years old, why am I acting like a 12-year-old?’” The reason for the twins’ reunion is not a happy one: the film opens with Milo, a gay

wannabe actor, slitting his wrists in the bathtub. Maggie, a dental hygienist bored with her conventional life, persuades her brother to move back with her to the upstate New York town where they grew up ’til he finds his feet. The pair do regress to childhood behaviours, but there are benefits too. “I feel like often one can be oneself around your sibling,” points our Johnson, “like your truly goofy self. You just strip away all the masks you wear in everyday life.” The masks this pair wear are many. When Milo returns he surreptitiously rekindles a sexual relationship he had with a teacher while at high school. Maggie has secrets of her own: chiefly she habitually cheats on her square husband (charmingly played by Luke Wilson). So as well as suicide and depression, that’s infidelity and child abuse in the mix. The joy of Johnson’s film, though, is that these heavy themes are worn lightly. If you were to be waiting in the wings of the theatre in which The Skeleton Twins is playing, listening to the audience reaction, you’d never have guessed it wasn’t a straight-up comedy, given its abundance of LOLs. “I love set pieces in movies – I love me a good car chase,” reveals Johnson. “All movies need big blasts of entertainment, no matter what kind of movie it is.” The Skeleton Twins is full of

these ebullient moments: a visit to Maggie’s dental surgery plays like an inspired improv session; a section set during Halloween showcases the film’s lyrical, autumnal beauty; and, best of all, there’s a scene where Milo drags Maggie out of a funk by lip-syncing to Starship’s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now that swells into a dance routine worthy of Astaire and Rogers. Crucially, Johnson explains, these moments are more than just nuggets of revelry. “I think people want movie moments to remember, but they can’t just exist outside the story: they have to be implemented, integrated, in a way that’s all part of it.” This kind of nuanced, character-driven storytelling is relatively new to Wiig and Hader, who’ve spent most of their careers playing outrageous comic creations on SNL or in Judd Apatow comedies. They’re more than up to the task, however, equally credible in dramatic moments as in funny ones. They’re part of a long lineage of comedians – Bill Murray, Jim Carrey, the late Robin Williams, to name a few – who’ve proved

impressive in dramatic roles. “Comedic actors tend to be really smart,” suggests Johnson, when we bring up this tradition of comic actors channelling their darker sides. “And when you’re intelligent you’re a good observer of all aspects of life, the funny, the dark, all of it. And often you find humour in laughing in the face of darkness, which is really what this movie is about.” Even acknowledging this tradition of comics seamlessly moving into drama, audiences are still likely to be bowled over by these two performances, Hader’s in particular, who up until this point hadn’t played the lead in a comic vehicle, never mind one as emotionally wrought as The Skeleton Twins. Johnson, unsurprisingly, is full of praise: “Bill was a revelation to me. He’s like Peter Sellers, or maybe even someone like Gary Oldman. He could go off and play a James Bond villain, or play a scary cockney hitman if he had to. And he could play a nice guy who lives next door. He is that kind of actor.”

Perhaps the most tragic of the four bloodsuckers is Clement’s own character, Vladislav, aged 862, whose glory years are long behind him. “The idea was that [Vladislav] was going to be very mysterious and cool, but a guy who’s going a little bit senile because he’s been alive so long,” he explains. But part way through filming – the script was semi-improvised as they went along – Clement realised he needed to take a different approach. “Maybe he used to be cool and powerful, but he’s gradually lost all that. I mean come on: now he’s sharing a crappy flat with three other vampires.” In the world of fictional monsters, vamps have always been the sexiest, the most glamorous, the most bourgeois. Not so this quartet. “These guys have not invested well,” deadpans Clement. “They just get by basically: if you live for eternity you’ve got to budget.” The humour comes from the disconnect between vampire mythology we’ve learned from movies and books, and realities of the modern world that make life as a vampire emasculating. Clement pulled a similar trick with Flight of

the Conchords, where the chief joke is they’re a rock’n’roll band with only one fan and a lifestyle that makes Cliff Richard look hedonistic. Is this self-deprecating style of comedy a mode that’s central to the New Zealand sense of humour? “I’m told that there is [a particular New Zealand sense of humour], but I’m not sure what it is,” he says. “I’ve often heard that New Zealanders aren’t reputed to have one at all, actually.” Where have you heard that? “I’ve heard it from different people all over the world. It could be that sometimes New Zealanders are joking and people don’t realise it. That’s what I get a lot: I joke to people and they just keep on talking as if I’m totally serious. Sometimes it takes a microphone for people to realise.” Judging by the reaction of the audience we watch What We Do in the Shadows with, he should have no fear on that score.

The Skeleton Twins is released 7 Nov by Sony Pictures

The Old Ones Jemaine Clement’s preoccupation with vampires reaches its zenith with undead houseshare comedy What We Do in the Shadows. The Flight of the Conchords star explains where this fascination started and why being immortal would have its disadvantages Interview: Jamie Dunn

“I

was in the university library and I saw this guy across from me – he was chatting up this girl and pointing to the pictures in a book.” Jemaine Clement is recalling the first time he set eyes on Taika Waititi, fellow Kiwi comic and director of Boy, the highest grossing New Zealand film at the local box office. “He looked like one of those overly confident guys – you know, one of those guys in their early 20s who has more confidence than they deserve. He had a crochet hat on, and I instantly disliked him.” Luckily for all of us Clement warmed to Waititi when he saw him auditioning for a uni sketch show he was also taking part in – “I remember reluctantly finding the stuff he was doing funny” – and they became fast friends. If they hadn’t, the world wouldn’t have What We Do in the Shadows, the pair’s inspired comedy, in which they both star in and direct, and which centres on a vampire house-share. The Flight of the Conchords star is speaking to us down the phone from New York, where he’s holed up between wrapping his latest film and travelling to Europe to promote What We Do in the Shadows (“I do still live in New Zealand,” he says, “but it’s not very handy”). It transpires these creatures of the night have interested Clement from an early age. “I used to be preoccupied with

Feature

vampires: I would dream about them a lot.” These nightmares, brought on by watching movies like Salem’s Lot and Hammer’s Scars of Dracula, were far less traumatising than what followed, however. “When I was nine or ten I started a gang at school called The Vampires,” he says. “We would all wear those cheap, plastic hinged vampire teeth and we’d go around talking in Transylvanian accents trying to scare smaller kids.” Did it impress the girls at school? “Not so much.” What We Do in the Shadows also follows a vampire gang of sorts, and they’re similarly pathetic. The premise is that a TV crew are making a documentary following four vampires who share a dilapidated house in the suburbs of Wellington. “Any drama that a vampire has can go over a long period of time – it’s all amplified,” says Clement. “We were just imagining what it would be like if you’d been flat-sharing for hundreds of years. What would the relationships be like after the strain of all that time living together?” To give you a picture, house meetings mostly involve domestic discussions around oldest housemate Petyr’s (aged 8000 years) habit of leaving his victims’ rotting corpses strewn about the place and arguments about whose turn it is on the five-yearlong washing-up rota.

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What We Do in the Shadows is released 21 Nov by Metrodome

THE SKINNY

Untying the Notts Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods is not afraid to call things as he sees them. In an agreeably frank interview, the lyricist calls out the lunacy of UKIP voters, the lack of political opposition and “embarrassing” 60s throwbacks like Jake Bugg

Interview: Chris McCall

t has been a hectic week for Jason Williamson. He’s days away from leaving his role as a benefits adviser in Nottingham to concentrate fulltime on Sleaford Mods, the visceral project he has poured his creative energies into for the past eight years. When finished at the office, he heads straight to the studio to work on the duo’s latest album, which must be completed before heading off on an extensive tour, beginning this month. Then there’s the small matter of his daughter’s third birthday party to think of. The latter is not a chore, he explains to The Skinny over the phone while en route to the studio. He always takes weekends off to spend time with his family – gig commitments allowing. What’s more dispiriting is his current workplace, where he sees first-hand the harsh realities of life on benefits in an era of government austerity. We are speaking days after another round of cutbacks were announced at the Conservative Party conference, and Williamson is predicting things are going to get a whole lot worse for some of the country’s most vulnerable. “It is tough for people. If you’re going to depend on benefits, then it’s going to be a really hard time for you,” he explains, matter-of-factly. “You’ve got the Universal Credit coming in. I probably won’t be here when it arrives, but it’s really, really going to fuck things up. There’s going to be more people getting mugged on the streets; people are going to be desperate. It’s just fucking state murder, really. These fucking cunts at the conference, raffling on like they’re helping humanity. I’m surprised none of them have been shot, d’you know what I mean?” Sleaford Mods are an unlikely success story. Their music is shaped by producer Andrew Fearn, whose minimalist beats, basic bass guitar riffs and spartan synths are the canvas on which Williamson spits his lyrics; caustic observations of working life, dismissals of posing musicians, blackly humorous vignettes of his friends and enemies, red-eyed reflections on half-remembered nights out, frank descriptions of his bodily functions, raw disgust at the powers that be. “I can’t believe the rich still exist, let alone run the country,” he vents on Divide and Exit, their most recent album, released in April to great acclaim. It’s led to a “year’s worth” of live bookings and a support slot with The Specials. Intriguingly, The Prodigy have also announced the completion of a collaboration with the duo entitled Ibiza, which will feature on the dance legends’ new album, due out next year. There are no stylistic tics or hidden agendas here. Sleaford Mods pile their world on a plate and shove your face in it. You’ll either pull back and grin or retch and run away. There’s no air of fakery, or suggestions of the middle class going slumming. This is music that people can relate to in a straightforward manner, a product of a time when around a third of workers in the UK earn less than £15k a year and employment rights are evaporating. Even if you’re fortunate enough to be on firmer financial footing, there’s much to savour. Sleaford Mods recall such English belligerents as John Cooper Clarke or Ian Dury, or plain-talking Mike Skinner at his Original Pirate Material peak, but with a much tougher edge – you could never imagine Williamson singing about pulling on holiday, for example. That’s partly because, at 44, as a father with a young family, his priorities are different to when he was a raver in the early 90s or a face in the Mod revival scene. But that doesn’t mean he can’t still enjoy the prospect of leaving behind the 9-5. “I did agency work, factory work, lots of that stuff,” he

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explains. “Then I worked in slightly better jobs, like clothes shops, stuff like that. But I always fell back to menial work, because it’s easy. If you’re doing music, the last thing you want is a job you have to fucking think about. “I’ve worked hard for this, so I don’t feel so bad about getting out. It’s got its claws in all of us, whether you are claiming benefits or not, you know? The belt’s tightening around everybody. It’s just so oppressive; the hatred you feel for the people running the country, and the hatred you feel for the opposition, who are just absolutely nothing. At least there used to be an opposition, at least you felt like you could trust somebody before. Now, there’s no trust at all.” Sleaford Mods have not arrived out of nowhere. While Williamson was still switching jobs at regular intervals, he released four albums which received little attention outwith Nottingham. Things “began to get interesting” when Fearn got involved. “I met him in a club, at a gig I was doing one night, and he was DJing,” he recalls. “I was outside having a cigarette, listening to this music coming from upstairs, and I just went up and approached him and asked him who it was, and he said it was him. So I just propositioned getting together some time. He was a bit hesitant about it, but eventually we met up and that’s how it started. He liked my stuff, he didn’t have a problem with it. I think he was a fan of it before, to be honest. It was more of a problem getting a sound together, and coaching him in the sense of what I wanted, the ideas I had, and then he came round to it.” Sleaford is 15 miles from Williamson’s hometown of Grantham in Lincolnshire, and Mods is a reference to the culture he first fell in love with as a teenager. He retains some affinity towards it, but stresses that he has no time for retrograde

guitar music or 60s haircuts. “I like it for what it should be, and not for this Brighton Beach image that it’s got.” What does Mod mean to him? “Forward thinking. Unassuming. Something you can identify with. You should be able to take bits from it, but not come out looking fucking laughable. Like people like The Strypes – fuck off, it’s shit. I might really like it, but it’s useless because it’s been done to death. It’s just a shit plateau. Fuck off, and try again. It’s really hard to find someone with a 60s haircut, posing with a guitar, doing some kind of blues lick, inspiring. People have just grown so bored with that image. People like Jake Bugg – he’s just laughable. He’s not even 25 and he’s embarrassing. These people are wheeled out and they act up to the stereotype. People have a go at us, but at least we’re doing something different.”

“Anything to get away from the Conservatives. Anything” Jason Williamson

A day later and The Skinny calls back to complete our interview. Williamson sounds relaxed after a productive evening in the studio, but is also vexed at the big news story of the day – UKIP’s triumph in the Clacton by-election. “I was listening to the radio just now and people were talking about how they normally voted

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Labour but had switched to UKIP, and the reason was ‘immigrants, immigrants, immigrants.’ It’s all you hear. It’s a fucking joke. It makes you want to spit in people’s faces.” The rise of right-wing media in times of financial hardship is one of the themes explored on the Mods’ new EP, Tiswas. While some dismiss the power of the press in an increasingly digitised world, Williamson isn’t so sure. “You would be surprised at how many people take it in. People really do think there is a problem with immigrants. It’s unbelievable, they’re just people. We have to face up to the fact that the world will become more and more intermingled as it goes on. It’s not going to become this country, or that country, it’s just going to be fucking places where people are. I think Sleaford Mods is more humanist than political. I find it really offensive when people think that the ills of the world are brought on by a certain group of people coming over from a certain country just to work in a certain country.” Williamson had hoped Scotland would back independence in an act of defiance against Westminster. “At a Manchester gig, half-way through I said: ‘It’s a fucking Yes vote up here!’ and half the crowd went mental and the other half booed. People have their own ideas about it, but anything to get away from the Conservatives. Anything. We played up in Glasgow and we were talking to people there, and they were like: ‘We don’t really care about independence, we just want to get away from the Coalition.’ And you nearly did it! It’s a real shame.” He gives a short laugh. “We’ll all go down the swanny together, eh?” Tiswas EP is out on 24 Nov. Playing 02 Apollo, Manchester, 11 Nov, and The Kazimier, Liverpool, 3 Mar 2015 www.sleafordmods.com

Feature

Busting Some Period Myths There’s a whole bunch of misconceptions about menstruation out there. Here’s how to tackle a few

Words: Rachel Munford Illustration: Jayde Perkin

Confessions of a Foot Fetishist Where do our fetishes come from? Words: A. H. Chamberlain Illustration: Jayde Perkin

’ve known people who claimed that their individual sexual tastes were the result of specific significant experiences, often in childhood or puberty, which caused them to associate certain behaviours or body parts with arousal. I’ve known others who claim no such explanation, and that even their first exploration of such behaviours was foregrounded by an innate fascination or fixation that they could not reasonably trace to any previous state of affairs; it just sort of happened. I remember being 14 and going to a cool kids’ party, in a big house, in a small village, just outside the small town where I grew up. We had Kerrang! TV and a bottle of sherry lifted from the host’s parents’ liquor cabinet. We mixed it with coke. There was a girl there who had recently broken up with her boyfriend and asked me if I wanted to make out with her, which I did. So we did, and afterwards, while she regaled me with details of how awful her ex was, I gave her a foot massage.

e don’t talk about periods, or rather menstruation, in many circles I’m part of. However, when we do, I hear the most inaccurate myths about the female reproduction cycle as well as the actual workings of the female vagina. I can do nothing but laugh. The first myth I encountered was that somehow my period would be like scenes in Carrie or another horror film. Once a month, every woman’s period is just a sea of blood mixed in with horrific mood swings like that of a werewolf. Men and women should beware: stay away from your girlfriends, wives, sisters, mothers and friends! Blood will spew out of their pants without the proper precautions. Right. My period is not a horror film. Nor do I go crazy and want to maul anyone who looks at me when I’m menstruating. The second myth is that I can’t have sex on my period. There’s such a thing as period sex, just many people don’t want to talk about it, probably due to the connotations that the very natural process of menstruation is seen as disgusting – apparently period sex is icky and

Lifestyle

disgusting, therefore, due to the blood. Bet you didn’t know that having an orgasm on your period can actually decrease cramps and other pains.

“I hear the most inaccurate myths about the female reproduction cycle” Then, of course, there’s the infamous ‘I can’t swim or bathe on my period’; the idea that I can’t do any sort of exercise on my period seemingly because women are too fragile to bleed and soldier on. The reason is, supposedly, cold water can increase your cramps – but at the same time there’s the tip that you should exercise throughout your period to ease general aches and pains. Fourth, suddenly the male cisgender

population think it’s okay to give me advice about my period or think it’s okay to use my ability to have periods as an insult or joke. Right, okay, whenever giving advice, what should everyone remember, irrespective of the situation? Two questions: ‘Am I a doctor or academic expert on this situation?’ ‘Have I experienced this myself?’ If your answer is ‘no’ to both, then do not give me tips on how to deal with my period. No, jogging it off won’t help (sometimes). No, I’m not lazy (sort of). No, I’m not addicted to pain killers – I am actually in pain. Therefore shut up! Lastly: I’m a hormonal bitch on my period. I could be and I may well be. Yet it really shouldn’t be assumed that when I’m an emotional wreck it’s because I’m a woman. Seemingly my period is the only reason I would be upset or stressed at any point of time because why would I, as a woman, have any stress? It’s not like I work, attend university, write for publications, socialise or have arguments. No, not at all. When I’m not on my period, I am a saint. I have no qualms with anyone, I always say please and thank you, and I never, ever lose my temper. Right.

DEVIANCE

This was, in fact, my first kiss and the foot massage that followed it, thinking about it now, was no more than an awkward attempt to maintain a level of intimate physical contact without having to admit to myself or anyone else that I wanted to get my rocks off. I had no idea what I was doing. Porn did not help with this. Masturbation is a right, but good porn is a rarity. And while almost all porn is in some sense caricatured, fetish porn, more often than not, is basically MTV in the 80s. I’ve watched a wide variety of fetish porn, but none have extended beyond that simulated sexual experience to any of my actual sexual experiences. Except feet. And I honestly can’t explain why. But then again I don’t feel like an explanation is necessary either.

THE SKINNY

PhotoS: Bethany Partington

Underdog Having interned with J.W. Anderson, Ellie Rousseau is making a name for herself with her fun and fluffy menswear. She talks us through her graduate collection, which explores perceptions of street wear and gang culture

llie Rousseau is a menswear designer whose collection presents a modern perception of street wear. Designing for the young modern male, Rousseau combines knitwear with luxe sportswear in creating a unique and individualistic look. She explores the depths of street wear and highlights social issues and perceptions relating to the conceived ideas of ‘street.’ Having graduated from Manchester School of Art with a BA (Hons) in Fashion earlier this year, Rousseau interned with Northern Irish designer J.W. Anderson throughout two collections in 2013, where she worked on the menswear SS14 and the womenswear Resort SS14 collections from beginning to end. Currently based in Antwerp, she is working with designer Devon Halfnight Leflufy on his AW15 menswear collection. The creation of identity through clothing is what drew Rousseau to the industry. “People use fashion to express and represent who they are,” she comments. “The fashion industry is such a captivating place to be, always evolving within itself and I think that’s great for a work environment.” Throughout her collection, she creates an aesthetic where her clothes illustrate a narrative. And being a conceptual designer, research plays an important role in her design process. “I start by collecting imagery to explore themes and concepts within a narrative,” she says. “I will also examine garment types to inform silhouettes and details [which are] then mixed with fabrications and trims.” Rousseau’s unusual combination of materials adds another dimension to her work; she is

November 2014

noted for combining “knitwear with premium sportswear fabrics to really push the boundaries of the athletic aesthetics within contemporary menswear.” She creates her own genre of street with her paradoxical designs of pastel colours on oversized boyish silhouettes, commenting that her use of “odd combinations of materials and graphics that typicality aren’t seen in menswear – pastel coloured fluffy sheep curls and a cute knitted Boston terrier, for example” creates “a level of humour” within her work, “while also staying true to typical sportswear fabrics.”

“People use fashion to express and represent who they are” Ellie Rousseau

Rousseau is very much open to technology to achieve the high level of detail within her work, and the facilities at Manchester School of Art have allowed her to hone her skills in garment making. “I mainly use programs to aid my design such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and DesignaKnit,” she says. “I use both domestic and industrial knitwear machines to produce my knit, while multi-head embroidery and laser cutting machines also play a part. I’m always open to

Interview: Morgan McTiernan learning new technology to develop fashion.” She says that she likes her workspace to be “a clean space so I can think straight to begin with; then I disperse elements of the collection I’m working on around my workspace to remind me of the initial conceptual themes and silhouettes.” Describing her influences, Rousseau is drawn to designers such as Astrid Andersen, Bobby Abley and Nasir Mazhar, who innovate in menswear by not being restricted to the traditional norms of menswear design. “Fun. Fresh. Fluffy” are the three words Rousseau chooses to describe her work, her aesthetic – as with that of the designers she mentions – redefining the boundaries of male clothing. For her graduate collection, ‘Underdog,’ Rousseau was drawn to the “strengths and sensitivities found in the male youths and the street.” The narrative of her clothing is identifiable in her exploration of the strengths and emotional tension within gangs. “Ideologies of unity within gangs, street sports, dogs and the levels of aggression/sensitiveness were displayed via typical street wear silhouettes,” she explains, “with graphic visuals of pentagrams (symbol for cult unity) and a humorous Boston terrier among an application of pastel tones against harsher industrial hues.” The pastel tones and fluffy fabrics advocate the sensitivity within gangs, where her collection questions the hardship and fearful notions of being in a gang. The pentagram symbol, a repeated motif, is derived from the idea that a gang acts as a brotherhood and unifies its members; the symbol later develops into a patchwork seam construction throughout the collection.

FASHION

The materials used in her collection were all adapted from traditional sportswear – materials such as Airtex, silks, mesh, perforated leather and nylons. Undoubtably, a standout piece is the Boston terrier dog-emblazoned oversized sweater – the dog, a symbol of aggressive gangs, paired with the softness of the materials and the colour palette used, gives it almost a ‘cuteness,’ a surprise in the context of gang culture. The graphic print of the Boston terrier was applied to the knitwear using the Intarsia technique and adds an almost sensitive note to the collection, which is further enhanced by the hand dyed pastel sheep curls seen throughout Rousseau’s garments. Rousseau’s designs have gained much publicity – she has been featured in Urban Outfitters SHEET ’zine in print and online and, due to being featured, the imagery of the Underdog collection was seen in Urban Outfitters stores across Europe. Her work has also been published in Hunger TV and As You Are magazine, where her individual approach to street wear and sportswear is being recognised. Devon Halfnight Leflufy’s AW15 collection will be showing at men’s fashion week in Paris in January, and Rousseau hopes to go back to university to study a Masters in menswear, specialising in knitwear. Having just begun her career in fashion, Rousseau has already made an impact on creating a new genre of street wear – and her designs showcase a vision to create a line that resembles a modern idea of sportswear and street wear. Instagram: ellierousseau www.wowowrousseau.com

Lifestyle

Fall (2014)

Madeline Hall M

adeline Hall is an artist and former director of The Royal Standard, based in Liverpool. Alongside her practice Hall is working on several curatorial projects, with specific interest in the reciprocal nature of audio and visual practices and artist-led activity. Exploring the phenomenology of space and materiality through the creation of contemporary collage, drawing and sculptural assemblages, she creates works that are both evocative and fragile, conveying a poetic fragility that is often inherent in the built environment around us. “My practice is grounded in ideas surrounding space, perception and constructed environments. Fragments of discarded materials, colour, texture and appropriated imagery are utilised as mechanisms to examine the temporary and the transient. Through deconstructing landscapes and dismantling objects, I explore my interest in the delicate and sometimes problematic nature of our surroundings and lived experiences. Precarious forms and relationships

are commonplace in my work – venturing into ambiguity, a murky and equivocal zone of indistinction. Whilst material investigation is an essential part of my practice, research is vital in the cultivation and realisation of the works. This intense interaction with materials forces the exploration of their boundaries, allowing me to intuitively develop an archive of material, experiential and conceptual influence.” Since graduating from Liverpool John Moores in 2009 where she studied Fine Art, Hall was a director at The Royal Standard from 2011 to 2013. She has exhibited widely including Combines #1 (Model, Liverpool, 2014); Here Be Monsters, following a residency at The Florence Trust (London, 2013); Sluice Art Fair (London, 2013); CAVE Art Fair (Liverpool Biennial, 2012); Two of Us (Quartier am Hafen, Cologne, 2012); No Soul for Sale (Tate Modern, London, 2010) and Global Studio (The Bluecoat, Liverpool, 2010). www.madelinehall.co.uk

Cycles (2014)

SHOWCASE

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Intervallum (2013)

Slippage (2014)

Rocking Equipoise (2014) Display device â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Kirstie Gould Collage #1

November 2014

SHOWCASE

Photo: Amina Bihi

Something Null (2014)

A Gin Thing In which our Food and Drink editor goes foraging for botanicals in Rochdale – and learns that fig trees grow in Manchester

Words: Jamie Faulkner Illustration: Beth Walrond

Food News November brings with it a warning that traversing the city centre is going to get difficult very soon – plus new beers, beer shops, a coffee festival and a whisky festival to keep you entertained Words: Jamie Faulkner

hen I was little, my mum would send me off to the corner shop to buy penny sweets. I’d come back with a small paper bag full of mini Refreshers, Black Jacks, flying saucers and those cigarette-style sweets, which in hindsight were prime examples of the tobacco industry’s underhand marketing practices. When David Winnard was little, his grandma used to send him out to pick mushrooms. He’d get a penny for common varieties, two pennies for uncommon varieties and five pence for the rare finds. It instilled in him a love of both the outdoors and wild ingredients, most notably fungi. No doubt he had brushes with the evocatively named turkey tail, the sheathed wood and the deadly galerina. Not your usual boyhood activities, it’d be fair to say – and again in hindsight, I know which experience I would have preferred. Winnard has channeled this childhood passion into Discover the Wild, a foraging and wildlife photography school, that encourages safe and responsible foraging through events and species identification workshops. And he seems in his element, at ease in the downpour, as he escorts a group of us around the countryside somewhere in Rochdale on a, frankly, dismal day. He’s done stints on BBC Radio and appeared on Autumnwatch, and affably conveys his knowledge to people who, let’s assume, rarely stop to inspect nature. We huddle together to listen as he tells us there are 272 varieties of dandelion and over 500 species of bramble, or blackberry bushes, in the UK. Why am I standing in a field, getting piss wet through, and staring more intently than ever at foliage and the sodden ground? It’s all to do with Caorunn Gin. No, I haven’t misplaced a bottle on some drunken jaunt into the woods. Today we’re actually on a mission – with expert help, mind – to find the five botanicals that contribute to the

November 2014

unique flavour profile of this Scottish spirit. And, yes, this is a PR exercise – but I just want to learn about the wildlife, maaaaan. So, specifically, we’re looking for rowan berries, heather, bog myrtle, dandelion and apple (the Coul Blush type, if we’re getting pedantic). Dandelion is easy. I’ve got that in my backyard. Rowan berries, the fruit of the mountain ash, are a distinctive orangey-red and are easy to spot against the washed-out surroundings. We find an apple tree not long into our hike and Winnard reveals that “apple seeds can revert to any tree in their ancestry.” Meaning, if you take the seed from a Granny Smith and plant it you might not get a Granny Smith tree! Mind ever so slightly blown. (Forgive the inaccurate example, true foragers). Heather, while emblematic of Scotland, turns out to be fairly common in these parts.

“Why am I standing in a field, getting piss wet through, and staring intently at foliage and the sodden ground?” Bog myrtle is the truly elusive ingredient. In an undisclosed location, Winnard leads us to a patch, explaining that it’s prized by brewers and was widely used for flavouring beer before hops came on the scene. In line with the rules of

foraging, you’re not supposed to pick too much of anything so he gives us a couple of leaves to pass around. We pinch them to release the oils; they give off a pungent, resinous scent that recalls a blend of rosemary, pine and insect repellent. If you can find bog myrtle, Winnard recommends making a syrup with the leaves. And theoretically, you can beef up a standard bottle of gin by putting judicious amounts of all these foraged ingredients in and letting them infuse. If you fancy the challenge, that is. All the botanicals found, Winnard dangles a parting secret in front of us: he tells us that there’s a fig tree somewhere in Manchester, but he won’t say where. His reluctance is part of an understandable fear that unscrupulous foragers would just decimate the supply. I divulge that my neighbour has a plum tree: nice in theory, less so in reality when the alleyway is a pool of festering mulch. Eager to take shelter from the rain, we are to head back to the urban sprawl and try some Carounn cocktails. Sadly, I miss this part but, hand on heart, I’d already tried some Caorunn concoctions in Barcelona, where Gin Tonic (the Spanish omit the ‘and’) has just gone a bit bonkers. We’re talking dedicated G&T bars where they have tiny cabinets full of botanicals for quick infusions. And while gin is often seen as an English spirit, the likes of Caorunn, Brecon from Wales, Death’s Door from the States and Gin Mare from Spain are showing that it’s not the case. Not to sound trite but what I learned, besides apple genetics and how to recognise a hawthorn, is that there’s a wealth of natural ingredients – some of them dangerous, some of them, like fig trees, completely unexpected – all around us. Why not go looking? www.discoverthewild.co.uk

FOOD AND DRINK

e’re so close to the-holiday-that-shallnot-be-named; November is pretty much your last chance to go out and indulge before the influx of out-of-towners and office parties turns city centres into large-scale social experiments emulating Withnail & I. Oh, wait, scrap that! The Christmas markets start this month. They hit the Northwest in all their wooden-shacked glory from midto-late November (the capitalist’s first day of Christmas?) and make navigating the streets even more irksome. If we come across as misanthropic it’s because we don’t really encourage you to eat average hot dogs and paella – there are more interesting things afoot, for example at Trove cafe in Levenshulme. Having played host to several of the Season’s Eatings supperclubs in the past, they have now announced that, starting in November, every Friday night the kitchen will be manned by local foodies. Did we say it’s BYOB too? Keep an eye on @trovefoods for details. In Liverpool, the Secret Diners Club returns on 29 Nov to explode preconceptions about fine dining with a surprising five-course menu devised by chefs Michael Harrison and Daniel Heffy. Tickets £50 at Eventbrite / @SDC_LPOOL. A week earlier, The Whisky Sessions (21 & 22 Nov) intends to combine music and whisky in a novel way at Victoria Warehouse. So, no drinking a bottle of Bell’s to yourself and having a cry to Radiohead then. Instead you get British Sea Power, Tim Burgess, I Am Kloot, The Travelling Band and a whole load of whisk(e)y and whisk(e) y-based cocktails. Maybe they’ll even have David Beckham’s Haig Club whisky (yeah, what is that all about anyway?). thewhiskysessions.com @WhiskySessions

Trove cafe

We also reckon, dear reader, that you’ll be consuming enough beer in the coming months to keep a hipster microbrewery afloat, so you might as well do it right. We haven’t ventured Oxton-way before but a new bottle shop, Home Brew (@HomeBrewEst2013), has opened there for those of you living in Merseyside, and it looks mighty good. Expect local brews from the likes of Mad Hatter and Liverpool Craft Beer Co. and stuff from further afield including Hackney-based Pressure Drop and Purple Moose in Wales. Salford-based First Chop Brewing Arm have also released three new beers: the cold-brewed coffee IPA made with Ethiopian Dumerso coffee and the Figs & Syrup (yes, it’s brewed with figs) sound like the kind of libations that could get us through winter. They were debuted at last month’s Indy Man Beer Con and will be available in places that sell beer.

Lifestyle

Bisous Bisous

rrrrr

We visit something of a novelty in Manchester: a proper French patisserie. Expect baguettes, croissants and plenty of macarons Whenever I go into a French bakery I always, without fail, think about two things. The first is a memory, one that I have embellished over the years until it has taken on the sort of resonance and clarity that it probably doesn’t deserve. It is of a croissant I ate as a kid. On a French campsite, straight from a sort of repurposed ice cream van that did the rounds every morning. It was rich, still warm, and sweet from the layers of butter. For all I knew, it could have been from the local Carrefour. Hey ho. The second is Richard Bertinet. Who annoys me a bit. I can picture him, the cause célèbre of French breadmaking, laminating his croissant dough with a self-satisfied grin. I know, I know,

Slim’s Pork Chop Express

rrrrr

Does the meat-centric sibling of Salt Dog Slim's live up to its 'XXX, BBQ & SMOKES' tagline? Slim’s Pork Chop Express, or the lovingly abbreviated ‘Porkchop,’ opened in August of this year atop Seel Street, next door (and kid cousin) to Salt Dog Slim’s. Following on from the meaty theme of the world beer emporium next door, Porkchop specialise in smoked meats, bespoke cocktails and all-round good vibes. They have a Josper grill and everything (no, I’m not sure what that is either but it sounds formidable).

Lifestyle

the man’s an inspiration. But if you watch the DVD that accompanies his award-winning book Dough, it’s hard not to balk at the parochial, francocentric overtones – mocking the “English” way of making (and probably eating) bread, as if the French had constitutionally outlawed the processed stuff and your average Parisian could rustle up a fougasse with ease. These two images sum up my attitude towards French baking. On one hand, adoration and envy; on the other, the feeling that a sneering, “we can do it so much better than you” attitude follows very closely behind the “isn’t this a joli éclair” showmanship. The façade might give way as easily as the shell of a macaron. Which brings me to Bisous Bisous, the new French patisserie on East Didsbury’s main drag. I was – as you can tell – in two minds about it. I felt that owners Alex Moreau – also owner/director of French restaurant 63 Degrees – and Kirsty McAlpine were providing Manchester with something it was missing; only the city centre’s

The restaurant is themed around 1986 cult classic/box office flop Big Trouble in Little China, so film fans will enjoy the little nods to Kurt Russell’s disaster of an action movie in the decor (see their really cool mural on the wall as you enter) and in the menu. Oh, and the music is eclectic, so your unavoidable food coma will at least be accompanied by sufficient crooning, anywhere from Queen to Interpol. But enough about aesthetics because the proof is in the pork. On your first trip I’d recommend taking along a few friends and building a tray of different bits to get a feel for the menu. It really comes down to your taste in meat but the smoked sausage and beef brisket are must-trys. (I’m yet to attempt

Patisserie Valerie springs to mind as an alternative, and not a genuine one at that, if we’re honest. And I was hopeful about their offerings but on the lookout for snobbery. I’ve paid several visits so far and I’ve not detected too much. There’s the odd sideways conversation with the kitchen; the rest is all smiles and picture-perfect sweet things. I say several visits – partly to try their range, partly because I kept getting there too late to bag a baguette. I finally managed it on a Saturday morning just after opening, when, like my symbolic croissant, it was still warm. It must be close to, if not the best in the city: a not-too-thick crisp crust, an airy, flavourful crumb, and ever so slightly salty. That’s a good indicator. Baguettes are a labour of love; I remember Liverpool’s Baltic Bakehouse stopped making them when they weren’t happy with their results. The cakes show the same level of care: the chocolate gateau is simply one of the best desserts I’ve put in my mouth. I mean no offence when I say it’s like an IKEA Daim cake got a makeover from Patisserie Hoffmann. The éclairs, especially the lemon meringue version, are exquisite.

the T-bone with bone marrow butter, mainly because at £50 I’ll have to wait until my ma’s catching the bill for that one.) But I will tell you to get the Coach Bombay Fries on your first visit… and on every subsequent visit thereafter. This is a twist on egg and chips and hands down the best thing on the menu. Imagine your egg and chips but with confit of duck, duck gravy, a fried duck egg thrown on top, a garnish of raw spring onion and grated cheese. If that doesn’t give you an itchy Insta-finger I don’t know what will. Another irresistible creation is the Philly cheesesteak spring roll. Having eaten the sandwich version in its US birthplace, I was

FOOD AND DRINK

However, Bisous Bisous aren’t quite in sitback-and-gloat territory yet. Some of their staple pastries need work. Both a croissant and a pain au chocolat were sub-par, dried out as though not enough fat had lubricated the layers of dough. Their madeleines were far removed from the rich, moist, buttery treat they should be, instead crumbling apart. The macarons were good but not much more. In Bisous Bisous’s defence, pastry is a capricious bloody foodstuff. The changeability of September’s weather could have played havoc with a kitchen’s routine. So, we’ll say there’s room for improvement and leave it at that. [Jamie Faulkner] If you liked Bisous Bisous, try: Baltic Bakehouse, Liverpool Trove, Manchester Flour Water Salt, Macclesfield Bisous Bisous, 663 Wilmslow Rd, Didsbury, M20 6RA @_bisousbisous www.bisousbisous.co.uk

apprehensive when ordering. The rolls are part of the Low Pan banquet (smoked belly pork char siu bun, Philly cheesesteak spring rolls, homemade siu mai, salt and pepper ribs all for £12) and they manage to live up to their bready counterpart. As for the rest of the banquet, the ribs are on the skinny side and the texture of the char siu bun isn’t a patch on the Chinatown fare. Drinks-wise, there’s no shortage of options. The ones that manage to hold their own within this menagerie of meat are the rhubarb-infused gin and tonic, the Jack Burton Julep (in super trendy Woodford Reserve tin) and the rhubarb and Aperol spritz. Those with a younger palate will enjoy their specially mixed Gasoline Sweet Teas. And if you have little ones (or if you just want one) then their milkshakes are immense. But what I like most about Porkchop – food, cocktails, music and décor aside – is something ethereal and intrinsic. When you ask the staff what they think about a dish, or if they could recommend you one, their eyes glaze over as if they’ve slipped into a Homer-Simpson-thinkingabout-donuuuuuts-esque daydream. You get a genuine, well-reasoned and serious answer. You can’t teach that – that comes from the soul/ stomach. It also smacks of the kind of staff who love what they do; and there’s no better endorsement for a customer. Every member of the Porkchop team seems dedicated to the same vision: to know and serve great eats, beats and booze. So apologies in advance if you develop some sort of smoked meat/ rhubarb gin-induced addiction like poor, poor me. [Mary Kate Menear] If you liked Slim’s Pork Chop Express, try: Snoop Hoggy Hogs (Hogroast kiosks), Liverpool NoLIta Cantina, Liverpool Luck Lust Liquor & Burn, Manchester Slim’s Pork Chop Express, 85 Seel St, Liverpool, L1 4BB @SlimsPorkChopEx www.slimsporkchop.com

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November 2014

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Illustration: Sophie Freeman

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Gig Highlights Brainfood is plentiful in a month that takes in Philip Glass, John Grant with the Northern Sinfonia, and merchants of darkness Vessel, Tim Hecker and Ben Frost – while Ballet School and HAJAmadagascar bring the pop nous

Words: Simon Jay Catling and Laura Swift

t’s a month for expanding your tiny little mind, with two explorations of the relationship between sight and sound coming to Liverpool. First up on 8 Nov at 24 Kitchen Street is the launch of the third phase of Syndrome, a research and performance programme conceived of by, among others, language and new media arts curators Mercy and electronic promoters The Hive Collective. For this next stretch of their series, they’re thinking about ‘post-humanities and techno-genesis’ – and kicking off with Norwegian AV artist T C F, virtual reality imagineer Lawrence Lek (with Sion Parkinson), and clever local pop band Outfit, who promise to take us to a ‘sparkly technoutopia.’ (Yes please.) If you fancy getting deeper into the subject, the next step of Phase 3, ‘Brain/Music Experiments,’ takes place 28 Nov as part of DaDaFest at the Bluecoat, where coders and neuroscientists from the Frozen Music Collective will present new work that uses real-time brainwave scanning to generate a live improvised score. If your own brainwaves aren’t quite at their strongest, fortunately for you there’ll be a Q&A session afterwards. Secondly, on 14 Nov at The Kazimier is SPACES – the first major tour from Manchester audiovisual collective Video Jam, who pair local musicians with local filmmakers and ask them to prepare or improvise a live score. For just a fiver, you can witness three new moving image and live sound commissions, as well as join a host of special guests including Sex Hands and WANDA GROUP. The Deep Hedonia crew will be on hand for an AV party afterwards, numbering AKASA, Kepla, and Onika, the latter fresh from a recent mix for DIS mag. With his second LP Punish, Honey, Tri-Angle records’ Vessel became more than a brightly burning producer with a creative route around a beat. A truly compositional triumph, it held a considered tension over his non-linear techno structures that endured as a whole, rather than over individual moments. He’ll be attempting to maintain that same sense of atmosphere at Soup Kitchen in Manchester on 15 Nov. Those who enjoy their electronically stitched music a little more cerebral are in for a good few days in fact, with Iceland-based innovator Ben Frost in action the night before at Gorilla (more on that below); in Liverpool, meanwhile, the imperious Tim Hecker plays Camp & Furnace on 19 Nov. The Vancouver-born artist’s slow blossoming from soft-focus ambient to drones of the heaviest clout has been startling, his latest shows touring last year’s Polaris Prize-longlisted LP Virgins among his most intense yet. If you need a bit of a

HAJAmadagascar & The Groovy People

kick up the arse after all that brooding, get moving to the Malagasy sound of HAJAmadagascar & The Groovy People – following up a joyous turn at Africa Oyé this summer with their own date at District, Liverpool, on 20 Nov. In Manchester, the Ruby Lounge provides two notable nights of magnificent noise courtesy of cult American indie heavyweights Trans Am on 10 Nov, with ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead dropping by on the 16th. The two acts have 19 studio LPs between them, though both have taken markedly different routes to ensure survival in an increasingly ADD musical landscape; Trans Am, on their tenth album, X, balanced the rock tropes they’d been battling with for a decade beforehand with a re-investment in the electronic aspects of their catalogue. ’Trail of Dead, meanwhile, continue to rock with the same heart-on-sleeve vigour they’ve always had. New album IX again mixes post-hardcore aggression

with more expansive tendencies to great effect, and with Source Tags & Codes being performed in full in London this same tour, you can expect more than a smattering from that 2002 classic as well. Also this month, our latest New Bloods Ballet School call into Liverpool to play The Shipping Forecast on 13 Nov. As they explain on p42, the Berlin-based avant-pop trio sit right at home on Bella Union, their spatial debut album The Dew Lasts an Hour sharing much of the same astral presence as their label boss Simon Raymonde’s old band Cocteau Twins – albeit with more tightly-packed pop foundations. Finally, to truly space out this November – and if you can get hold of a ticket – luxuriate in the exquisite sound of John Grant backed by an actual orchestra (the Northern Sinfonia) at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on 22 Nov. We were lucky enough to witness his recording with the

BBC Philharmonic at their studio in MediaCity a few weeks back, and if the likes of TC & Honeybear and It Doesn’t Matter to Him pushed you close to the edge as it was, you’re gonna wanna stash a whole multipack of tissues in your bag for this one. Alternatively, you can go full-classical on 10 Nov, as Philip Glass comes to the Bridgewater Hall with the Philip Glass Ensemble. Glass’s oeuvre towers over the modern-classical landscape, his influence felt far and wide but ultimately never matched – a commanding yet modest stage presence, we last saw him in 2009 at the RNCM in a recital of works for solo piano, and can’t wait to experience him with his seven most trusted musicians behind him – performing work from Koyaanisqatsi, Music in Twelve Parts, and Music in Similar Motion (programme subject to change).

Do Not Miss Ben Frost Gorilla, 14 Nov

Ben Frost

November 2014

Photo: Börkur Sigthorsso

s autumn finally draws in after weeks of teasing, it seems timely that Australianborn, Iceland-dwelling electronic composer Ben Frost should arrive in the UK – he’s an artist whose music shares a close affinity with the cloaked black skies and natural decay of the season. Frost holds a high level of respect from critics and peers alike; the aforementioned Mr Hecker counts himself as a fan, among others, while he’s also received praise from a more unexpected source in former Jane’s Addiction

MUSIC

guitarist Eric Avery. That these two very different characters ‘get’ Frost’s work is testament to the way he shifts his sound around, even amid its perennially overcast skies. A U R O R A, his latest and arguably most high-profile album yet, given its release on Mute, is a case in point. It harries his previously more muddied textures into rigid channels, thunderous metallic beats surging forward behind them. Its abrasive elements are arguably more defined than previously, yet they still possess a wonderfully widescreen quality that allows for any number of stylistic rabbit holes to be explored. His live show promises to replicate that same bone-jangling intensity. [Simon Jay Catling]

Preview

Photo: Michael Sheerin

Album of the Month Hookworms

The Hum [Weird World, 10 Nov]

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Surely an ironic title – for all the persistent drones of Hookworms’ second album, there’s nothing as soft or dull as an actual hum. For all their adeptness at textured subtlety, the Leeds quintet operate best at fever pitch. Storming opener The Impasse plunges wildly into choppy waters, rattling manically like The Fall gnawing off their own limbs, before collapsing into the dubby kosmische of On Leaving. Undaunted, they get back up to deliver hypnotic psych antilullabies (Off Screen) and giddy scuzz (Retreat): a welcome flex of their impressive muscle. But whether resembling The Modern Lovers trapping Lou Reed in a headlock, or see-sawing between

bloodshot pop and hazy soundscapes, there’s a sneaking sense of foreboding that reverberates strongest throughout The Hum; the sort of thing that shreds nerves and accelerates heartbeats. Creepy, but impressive. If their debut showcased a tendancy to shroud vocalist MJ’s deranged squeals in obfuscating reverb, this time he’s foregrounded, giving proceedings a cleaner focus – indeed, songs take precedence this time, rather than exercises in slowly-mounting tension and delirious release. Those qualities haven’t been abandoned, of course; just further absorbed into Hookworms’ still-evolving concoction of intelligent noise and glorious psychosis. Get excited: one of the UK’s best bands just got better. [Will Fitzpatrick] parasiticnematode.blogspot.com

Ariel Pink

Deerhoof

TV Smith

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pom pom [4AD, 17 Nov] This double album magnum opus from the onetime king of lo-fi haunted graffiti is essentially an Ariel Pink best-of, albeit with an entirely new batch of songs. And the whole affair is as tremendously enjoyable as you might expect from an album with song titles such as Nude Beach A G-Go, Exile on Frog Street and Goth Bomb. Ariel Pink manages to be both highly reverent and irreverent towards his 70s and 80s FM radio touchstones, straddling the line between outright pastiche and retro-futurist mystique, crashing together in a Technicolor alchemy of pervy pop brilliance. Pom pom is a minefield of hooks and delightful detours, awash in an admittedly modest but thoroughly effective production; these songs are aiming for an ultra-slick sheen but don’t need it. It’s this sense of the uncanny that elevates Ariel Pink into a different league and pom pom is teeming with the eerie echoes of musical ghosts past and future. Crucially, the album is also jubilant, exuberant and a hell of a lot of fun. [Colm McAuliffe] 4ad.com/artists/arielpinkshauntedgraffiti

La Isla Bonita [Upset the Rhythm, 3 Nov]

I Delete [TVS Records, 17 Nov]

Fifteen seconds into the scuffed R‘n’B of Paradise Girls, you might be forgiven for assuming you’ve got the gist of Deerhoof’s 13th album. After all, this sort of lunatic glitch-pop formed the backbone of previous effort Breakup Song, and the funk underpinning Satomi Matsuzaki’s ever-delirious vocals seems to suggest more of the same. Guess again though; it won’t prepare you for the gently evocative Mirror Monster, with its guitars that shimmer and crash like waterfalls, nor the grazed-knuckle wonk-punk of Exit Only. Primarily, La Isla Bonita is a record of contrast. Bloody-minded as ever, they run the listener ragged over ten tracks of imperfectly-formed noise fragments, pushed spectacularly into shapes that feel curiously familiar yet deeply out of whack. Last Fad, for instance, conjures The Shangri-Las backed by Bogshed – a fusion of ideas guaranteed to mess with your mind while forcing unspeakably wonderful gyrations from the rest of your body. Business as usual for avant-pop’s finest, then. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Album number 16 from the former Adverts frontman, this time pushing his well-worn pen through themes of techno-skepticism, social fragmentation and the mindless repetition of existence. “How come everything I say / Is on replay?” he ponders, delving through the folk-tinged waters of acoustic punk rock with an elder statesmanlike sense of worldweariness. Musically, it’s all rather meat-and-potatoes, albeit with a dramatic flair that’s at times reminiscent of Springsteenindebted punks like Brian Fallon or Chuck Ragan. In any case, the lyrics are the real reason to tune in, with London Hum providing an agreeable (if not particularly subtle) metaphor for unrest amid a drab urban backdrop. Special attention goes to bonus track The Rock’n’Roll, where Smith mourns his lack of faith in his chosen art form. Tempting though it is to sniff disappointedly at this attitude, it’s no dismissal of rock’s transformative potential, just the inappropriateness of demanding societal betterment from such hedonistic, inward-looking pursuits – a higher state of conscience. [Will Fitzpatrick]

deerhoof.net

tvsmith.com

Dean Blunt

Axes

The Wharves

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Black Metal [Rough Trade, 3 Nov] Preparing yourself for the unexpected from Dean Blunt is almost a given, and Black Metal is yet again another fascinating sidestep. Despite previous intimations of swerving ‘sexless’ record buyers, Blunt’s first LP for Rough Trade at times sounds exactly that; a first half of heartfelt Britpop meets slowcore (LUSH, 100) drifting into minimal dub and experimental soul (X) courtesy of the unnerving FOREVER acting as the album’s pivot. However, due to the lack of thematic arc compared to The Redeemer, Black Metal falls short of the complete picture that Blunt’s indescribable genius can typically paint. Perhaps it’s best to compare this album, if you must, to Blunt’s previous work under Hype Williams; many of these tracks don’t sound like they really care what you think, and all for the better. Black Metal is the most raw Blunt has been in years, yet again reinforcing his reputation for consistently intriguing listeners both familiar and new. [Jon Davies] roughtrade.com

Glory [Big Scary Monsters, 3 Nov] After years of wallowing in textured slow-builds and delicate sparseness, when exactly did postrock gain muscles and shed its attention span? London-dwellers Axes may not be pioneers of its current tropes – mountain-high riffs, stop-start rhythms, a tendency to ponder ‘in which direction shall we take this song?’ and decide ‘ALL OF THEM’ – but they’re certainly amongst its most thrilling proponents. Second album Glory takes its cues from similar sources to contemporaries Brontide and Alpha Male Tea Party, resulting in a Technicolor melee that’s as thrilling as it is exhausting. The hi-octane headrush of Junior seems to compress the entirety of pop-punk into one blurry mosh, before Plan Américain tumbles headfirst from the idea factory into a tangled mess of countrified maths. Other highlights feature luscious twinklecore explorations amidst cavernous power chords, but most beautiful is the soothing subtlety of Your Two: like goodnight kisses from the stars themselves. Glory then? Yep, just about covers it. [Will Fitzpatrick]

At Bay [Gringo Records, 3 Nov] Despite their London postcode, there’s an aching for space in The Wharves’ neatly put together vocal harmonies and muddy guitar chug. At Bay takes a largely minimalist route to attaining its encompassing sound; the pressing drumming of Marion Andrau is clutter-free, with guitar and vocal happy to chase each other around the same melodic paths on The Grip and Scarlet for Ya. It’s maybe a coincidence that a mention of the city (“city has a faultline” in Faultline) yields their densest-sounding moment, the fleeting escape of earlier tracks pulled out like stuffing. Elsewhere, Ode à Jimmy has a touch of the pastoral, akin to Broadcast and The Focus Group’s investigations into 70s progressive folk, as The Wharves seek to coax the maximum from their basic elements. Unfortunately they don’t quite explore enough to warrant the record’s length of 13 tracks, although a rousing Mother Damnable towards its end does reward the extended journey of a debut with much to enjoy. [Simon Jay Catling] thewharves.bandcamp.com

facebook.com/weareaxes

Landlady

Upright Behavior [Home Tapes, 24 Nov]

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Blueneck

King Nine [Denovali Records, 10 Nov]

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Given that Landlady’s Adam Schatz’ other collaborations include Philadelphia chamber-pop outfit Man Man, fidgety Brooklyn jazz heads Father Figures and Vampire Weekend, it’s little surprise that the New York-based musician finds himself similarly restless when left to his own devices on Upright Behavior’s smart-aleck pop. Schatz spent three years surrounding himself with a five-piece line-up drawn from some of America’s more critically-feted cult concerns, including Sinkane live guitarist Mikey Freedom Hart and Ian Chang, touring drummer for Matthew Dear and Son Lux; their addition to his already hyper-fertile mind nearly tips the scales here into the overwhelming. However, with an oddly reassuring vocal reminiscent of Randy Newman’s, Schatz guides us through the likes of Dying Day’s discordant staccato pop, the title track’s string-laden swells, and Maria’s blustering afro-beat with aplomb. This isn’t entirely a party though, with themes of mortality and isolation explored throughout, finishing up with X-Ray Machine, a fittingly bombastic track to bring home a satisfyingly maximalist record. [Simon Jay Catling]

The fifth album from this Somerset post-rock outfit is a predictably expansive but surprisingly accessible set. That particular label, however, is starting to look like more of a misnomer than helpful journalistic shorthand, for King Nine displays notable enterprise and ambition. The muffled vocals and unwavering grind of the title track reference the classic slowcore of Codeine, and the percussive battery of opener Counting Out has a hint of Mono. And yet, as King Nine unwinds and stretches, the quartet embrace a broadening methodology. Throughout, Duncan Attwood’s quivering voice and layers of deftly deployed instrumentation (pulsing keys, plaintive strings, vast guitars) give King Nine definition and shape. Broken Fingers is classic, broken-hearted balladry. The jackhammer, industrial beats of Father, Sister would ensnare any passing NIN fan. Look beyond the wrong-footing packaging (unsettling, chromatic shots of Deep South detritus – abandoned diners, crumbling motels) and explore what might well be a career best. [Gary Kaill]

landlady.bandcamp.com

blueneckuk.bandcamp.com

Review

RECORDS

Piss Vortex

Piss Vortex [Indisciplinarian, 3 Nov]

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Rock journo problems: sometimes the adjectives you planned to use to review a metal band are already laid out perfectly neatly in the press release. Brutal? Abrasive? Uncompromising? C’mon, this stuff is all par for the course, especially when writing about a subgenre as emblematic of all those terms as grindcore. What’s a poor hack to do? Luckily, Piss Vortex’s eardrum-shattering debut amounts to much more than stylistic typicalities, with strips torn violently from different yet similarly wild beasts – the stuttering sludge of Beaten Womb, for instance, owes much to The Jesus Lizard’s teeth-clenched mania. Blizzard-like blastbeats cut right through the core of Simon Stenbæk’s guttural roar, with nods to black metal and even the spasming rush of Lightning Bolt audible amid these juddering thrills. But most impressive is the way album closer Our Maker’s Invisible Hand regurgitates the album’s opening riff, making Piss Vortex seem so cyclical as to imply the inevitability of repeat plays. [Will Fitzpatrick] pissvortex.bandcamp.com

THE SKINNY

Adrian Crowley

Some Blue Morning [Chemikal Underground, 10 Nov]

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The world through the eyes of Adrian Crowley is a wonderful, textural place. His deep, sonorous voice seems at first almost portentous, but carries a quiet and patient sense of wonder, one that meditates on everything it describes. From the leaves on a railway track, to the tusks of a hog and the guile of a magpie, Some Blue Morning repaints the everyday hues of nature in marvellous splendour. The record’s heart is The Wild Boar, a spoken word masterpiece; a short story, really, told over a soundtrack of minimalist post-rock, that will stop you dead in your tracks. There are more ornate and orchestral moments here – lush and earthy strings, like the seasons they evoke, return naturally throughout. But at its very core, this is a simple album; one which toasts the small things on this planet in lovely style. It’s a fine record from a talented songwriter. [Finbarr Bermingham] chemikal.co.uk/artists/adrian-crowley

Deptford Goth

The Wands

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Songs [Bella Union, 3 Nov] There’s life after Life After Defo: Deptford Goth returns with sophomore album Songs and it’s a much more, er, lively affair. Behind the moniker is Daniel Woolhouse, a London-based musician and producer whose ethereal, soulful electronica isn’t usually a sunny-side-up kinda situation. However, while Songs is just as polished and spacious as first album ...Defo, it’s hesitantly, tentatively optimistic and far less abstract. Woolhouse’s glitch and shiver creates a typically glittering landscape, but there’s an uncharacteristically danceable rattle and shake, and a recurring almost-up-tempo beat that adds a welcome touch of warmth. Lyrically it’s less opaque, too. Vocals have taken on a leading role, guiding the listener through otherwise arctic seas. Understated but not to be underestimated, here’s an album that can’t be rushed. It’s a slippery, elusive listen – in the best sense. “The rhythm of life is an irregular beat,” croons Woolhouse, “listen to it slow.” [Katie Hawthorne]

The Dawn [Fuzz Club Records, 3 Nov] Danish wise guys who know the difference between drone and droning on. While the rest of this psych generation seem content to thrash away at single chords for all eternity, The Wands have clearly (mis-)spent their youth absorbing the wide-eyed jangles and fauxeastern tinges of 60s acid rock – luckily they’ve got a good ear for melody too. The wheezing organ that underpins most of The Dawn is the true psychedelic element here, adding a disorienting edge to Sound of the Machine and the near-jaunty War, but it’s the tremulous solemnity of Christian Skibdal’s vocals that truly sells ‘em. It’s enough to divert attention from some iffy lyrics – if you find a more clumsy sexual metaphor this year than “my totem pole is aching,” please keep it to yourself – and keep the focus on what these kids do best: tweaking the noses of the Stones and Roger McGuinn at their most fried. [Will Fitzpatrick] thewands.eu

deptfordgoth.com

The Flaming Lips

Ormonde

Bloodbath

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With a Little Help from My Fwends [Bella Union, 3 Nov]

Cartographer/Explorer [Gizeh Records, 3 Nov]

Grand Morbid Funeral [Peaceville Records, 17 Nov]

Here’s one you genuinely couldn’t make up: The Flaming Lips bash out their own bonkers take on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with a little help from a starry, decidedly eclectic supporting cast that includes Moby, J Mascis, Tegan and Sara, Maynard James Keenan and Miley Cyrus. With all proceeds going to The Bella Foundation (a non-profit organisation in the band’s hometown of Oklahoma City that assists low-income, elderly, or terminally ill pet owners with the cost of veterinary care), the motivation is unquestionable. If only the same could be said for the music. At times, the rampant sonic buffoonery makes the original sound positively humdrum. A tender reading of She’s Leaving Home, featuring Julianna Barwick and Phantogram, is as restrained as it gets. Replay value? Minimal, sad to say. Big of heart but, ultimately, low on art, these fwends deserve support, nevertheless. But hey, fuck it, because caring is cool, take an extra star. [Gary Kaill]

Defiantly minimalist and daringly under-dramatised, Cartographer/Explorer is the second album from the magnetic pairing of Anna-Lynne Williams and Robert Gomez, and it deploys little to make oh so much. Their 2012 debut, Machine, left traces of their separate histories. Williams, best known for her work with Trespassers William, and Gomez, a journeyman with a weighty CV that includes a stint with John Grant, are savvy collaborators. But it’s Ormonde that gives voice to a singular vision and they reconvene with an altogether darker outlook. Cartographer/Explorer is a difficult work, of that have no doubt, with little support for the duo’s hushed vocals beyond muted guitar and percussion. But it is, at times, almost unbearably beautiful. Imagine Slint covering Cowboy Junkies’ The Caution Horses, but with fewer laughs. Test your mettle and listen to it alone, late at night. For full effect, do it while heartbroken: call it method listening. [Gary Kaill]

It starts with the longest scream in history. That’s your man, Nick Holmes. By name alone he might sound like an estate agent who once spammed you on LinkedIn. But no, this is one Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost, death metal titans and a key influence on Bloodbath, the Swedish act which he fronts here on their fourth album. Death metal, eh? The musical genre delivered with face straight and, you suspect – hope – tongue firmly in cheek. The titles alone are as compelling as the songs: Let the Stillborn Come to Me; Mental Abortion; Beyond Cremation; Unite in Pain; His Infernal Necropsy. An “organic collection of filthridden tracks straight from the grave” is the greatest slice of PR blurb in history. Lovers of earnest reflection or social commentary should probably look elsewhere. Grand Morbid Funeral is undoubtedly grand, unremittingly morbid but anything but funereal: with a fair wind, it could wake the fucking dead. [Gary Kaill]

flaminglips.com

facebook.com/OrmondeMusic

bloodbath.biz

Golden Fable

Slice of Life

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Ancient Blue [Full of Joy Records, 10 Nov]

Love and a Lamp-Post [Overground Records, 17 Nov]

Wildbirds & Peacedrums

Rhythm [The Leaf Label, 3 Nov]

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Life in Tim and Sam’s Tim and the Sam Band with Tim and Sam must have been difficult for Rebecca Palin. As well as the carpal strain of filling out that protracted moniker on forms and such, it was presumably stifling not being able to utilise her classical vocal training in what was predominantly an instrumental act; a situation that offshoot Golden Fable rectifies to a fault. Formed in 2011 with Tim and Sam bandleader Tim McIver, they quietly impressed with debut Star Map, on which Palin’s pristine pipes floated above and around a charming combination of placid electronica and dreamy indie-pop. Unfortunately, second album Ancient Blue leans too heavily on the former chorister’s crystalline soprano, which this time barely strays from the highest registers. The angelic tone is initially striking but pales with overexposure, distracting from variety elsewhere in the mix – though taken in discrete doses, songs like Lifeline remain capable of raising goosebumps. [Chris Buckle]

A change of pace from the turbulent mind of Steve Ignorant. 2011 saw him resurrecting Crass material under the moniker The Last Supper, which largely served to draw a line under his former outfit’s anarcho-punk legacy. It also provided the jumping-off point for new project Slice of Life, and as such, pals were gathered to display the veteran’s softer side. Ignorant claims that Love and a Lamp-Post is an attempt to channel the atmosphere evoked by Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock, and the spoken-word rumination of You and the Home Coming certainly echo that novel’s mournful sentiments: moral decay amid the homely shabbiness of English towns. Unfortunately, the majority of the album feels tastefully bland; piano and acoustic guitars backing uncomplicated sing-songs like Killing Time, which fails to ignite despite the righteous heart burning among the lyrical embers. A well-intentioned deviation, then, but crucially not a particularly diverting one. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Founded on a primal combination of vocals and percussion yet full of imaginative arrangements and production twists, Swedish duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums’ fourth LP pulls both forward and back, sounding simultaneously ancient and thrillingly modern. It follows four years spent separately pursuing other projects, and makes an explicit recommitment to the restricted (but, in their hands, never restricting) drums and voice framework that made earlier works like The Snake so beguiling. Opener Ghosts and Pains instantly exhibits both partners’ strengths: as Andreas Werliin builds rhythms from soft shakers and hollow echoes, Mariam Wallentin delivers a soulful vocal that glides up and down octaves, augmented by loops and layering. Other tracks take more time to reveal themselves, and this furtiveness occasionally threatens to douse Rhythm’s fireworks in a low dose of monotony. But excellence elsewhere counteracts the odd slump, with highlights ranging from Mind Blues’ curious clangs to Soft Wind, Soft Death’s jittery gospel. [Chris Buckle]

goldenfable.tumblr.com

steveignorant.co.uk

wildbirdsandpeacedrums.com

Arca

Dan Bodan

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Xen [Mute, 3 Nov] Having spent two years as hip-hop’s secret weapon, Arca’s leap into the spotlight showcases the auteur at his most sensual. Xen, named after Arca’s female alter ego, reflects a schizophrenia of influences, from booty-shaking soca to Aphex Twin-esque balladry that bewilder and enrapture equally. The album is a slow starter, however once immersed there’s no point of return, with the title track exploding before your ears, while the world of Slit Thru carves a scene where drowning and dancing are one and the same. What shines through most are his more introspective moments: take the detuned forlorn of Held Apart, the beautifully paced Sisters and the weary Failed for examples. Certain moments of Xen fail to live up to Arca’s ethereal creations; Family Violence’s fake strings feel laboured, whereas Tongue misses a vocal line to grasp to. However the only expectations Arca lives up to are the ones he sets himself; Xen is often beyond the imaginations of his contemporaries. [Jon Davies] arca1000000.com

Soft [DFA, 17 Nov] Before a breathily sighed note’s been uttered, Berlin-based Canadian Dan Bodan has set the tone for his debut full-length by titling it Soft, drawing inspiration from Joni Mitchell’s Blue in actively encouraging pre-conception. Where Mitchell sought melancholy, Bodan’s emotional intentions are of a more gooey, loved-up nature, with Soft a series of caramel-sweet mediations on matters of the heart portrayed through a prism of digitally-mutated R’n’B cuts. If last year’s subdued, shuffling single Anonymous placed the producer awkwardly among the rest of DFA’s typically brash roster, then the sickly balladry of For Heaven’s Sake – more Sinatra than Shit Robot – and the over-sugared crescendo of saxophonesmothered Jaws of Life only isolates him further. However, there’s an admiration to be found in the conviction of such wilfully gaudy moments, and at his best – amid Romeo’s spectral trip-hop groove and the gradually welling creak and moan of Rusty – he proves to have an affecting gift for the genuinely evocative. [Simon Jay Catling]

The Top Five 1 2 3 4 5

Hookworms

The Hum

Deerhoof

La Isla Bonita

Ariel Pink

pom pom

Ormonde

Cartographer/Explorer

Adrian Crowley

Some Blue Morning

danbodan.tumblr.com

November 2014

RECORDS

Review

Dreamweavers Ballet School’s Rosie Blair discusses the group’s roots as Berliners, their relationship with Bella Union and why the ambient trio has found there to be no pain in pop osie Blair, the vocalist and general mastermind behind Berlin’s avant-pop trio Ballet School, is relentless. Over the phone, her strong Northern Irish accent only emphasises the fact that she’s quick to swear and even quicker to laugh. Although she’s by all admittance completely exhausted, her steely determination is an intimidating, impressive tour de force. The three-piece, completed by guitarist Michel Collet and drummer Louis McGuire, released their first full-length album, The Dew Lasts an Hour, this September as a result of signing with famed indie label Bella Union. It follows last year’s Boys Again EP, which brought Ballet School onto the international stage, introducing their 80sinfused, leftfield pop that’s dressed up in pastel but delivered with bite. Bella Union, co-founded by Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie, although now run solely by Raymonde, is the definitive spiritual home of any band that conjures otherworldly, abstract music. However, Blair is quick to resist any suggestion that this matching of minds is anything other than the culmination of a long, hard slog. “It’s been such a journey, man. I don’t know how it is for other bands, but this has been a colossal effort, a Herculean effort.” Moving from her native Northern Ireland to Berlin in a determined bid to make music more than a ‘hobby,’ she met Collet in a U-Bahn station – fittingly, they bonded over a shared love of the Cocteaus – and then tried out several local drummers before finding the perfect match in McGuire. “If you really want it, you’ve got to have laser precision,” she sighs. “You’ve got to be so fucking driven. Your life comes to a halt, it comes to a fucking halt, and everything else is just nonexistent. You’re just your band. I’ve been living like that for so long.” So if Ballet School come across as glossy, that’s the product of a whole lot of elbow grease. When she talks about the vision the band have for their future, Blair’s language shifts between perfectionism and pragmatism. For the rest of the week, Ballet School will be working day and night in a new studio hired in Berlin’s trendy, converted Spittelmarkt, which she describes as an “ex-commercial, really expensive office building that’s become completely derelict. It feels a bit like being in a museum.” Ahead of an extensive US and European tour which kicks off a few days after we speak, the trio are reworking their set to include material from Dew and “just the shit that makes it a full show.” This is no small task in itself, but Ballet School are constantly, obsessively preoccupied with smoothing the edges: “The songs can always be better, the writing can be better, the singing can be better, the set can be better…” Thanks to Blair’s intricate, sky-high vocal gymnastics, there’s been no shortage of comparisons to a certain Elizabeth Fraser, and she gushes that working with Raymonde “is still just not normal to me. I get almost… embarrassed? I can’t handle it, I’m just such a fan.” But Bella Union is proving to be a haven: far from feeling intimidated by the label’s incredible heritage and current roster, which includes the likes of John Grant, MONEY and The Flaming Lips among many, many more, Blair gratefully enthuses that their support network is “extremely nurturing.” “It’s just wonderful to be in that environment,” she says. “You feel safe, and there’s so few times in this business when you can really feel safe. To be on a label where you really feel that, no matter what happens, ‘Simon [Raymonde] will know what to do!’… I really, really, really need that in my life, that… pastoral care.”

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It turns out that Raymonde even took on the track listing for The Dew Lasts an Hour; the trio, feeling far too close to their project, asked for his “completely objective opinion.” Blair managed to set aside her ‘fan’ attack to overrule the label mogul just the once, though, describing that “he wanted to put a single up front, but I insisted. When we wrote [Slowdream] we were like, ‘we’ll open our album with this, set a vibe.’” And it’s true, the track sets the scene for an album that builds in pace, strength and self-assertion.

“I don’t know how it is for other bands, but this has been a Herculean effort” Rosie Blair

Biographies on Facebook, Twitter and Bella Union’s website situate the band as selfidentified pop, with Blair resolutely declaring “I never thought pop was a lower form of art.” Noisily passionate about her love for artists like Whitney, Mariah and “an artist we all know is about to cross over,” Grimes, she elaborates on her “own personal theory” of contemporary pop: “I just feel like it’s a free-for-all: you really can recreate pop in your own image right now. It is whatever you say it is.” Talk then turns to Miley Cyrus collaborating with The Flaming Lips, and the pin-point precision of artists like Kanye West who “cherry-pick” the talent of underground

musicians, “making quite obscure references, being influenced by quite credible things.” Ballet School are supremely conscious of their own place within the industry: far more underground than mainstream, for now at least. Blair questions, “If I’m not going to be the arbiter of, um, obscure but wordsy music, then what role do I have to play?” It’s unsurprising, then, that when trying to ask if Ballet School would be keen on collaborating with “pop princesses,” the question’s barely finished before she leaps in: “Yes! Yes, definitely. That would definitely be completely a number one objective. Without a fucking shadow of a doubt, number one.” She puts on a sugary, high-pitched voice, “You want songs? You can have songs. I got songs!” Their adopted hometown of Berlin has a long-established reputation as a melting pot, an artistic haven. Cheap rent, cheaper beer and an overwhelming number of DIY venues render it the perfect place to experiment with the weird and wonderful – as Blair puts it, “No one bats an eyelid at anything.” Ballet School have enjoyed a rapidly growing local fan base for several years already, assisted in part by their interaction with the underground scene. They’re a fixture in lineups for festivals in the capital, like the recent Berlin Music Week, and regularly bounce off the work of other similarly avant-garde local artists. Blair name-drops the spectral electronica of Better Person as a particular favourite, and then excitedly remembers that a recent Ballet School remix of another adopted Berliner, DENA, has just become available on SoundCloud. “Being in Berlin just means I can really retreat into my imagination,” she concludes. But it’s not only the music scene that she finds inspiring: the band’s aesthetic is a constant work in progress that’s ever open to adaptation. She half-shyly explains her current obsession with YouTube beauty vloggers – “There’s a whole subculture going on, it has its

own lexicon, its own observances and rules. I’m very outside of it, but I’m fascinated by it.” As Blair tells it, both their album title and Ballet School as a band name itself operate as metaphors for the loss of innocence. Connotations of freshness and grace overlay the realisation that age is accompanied by a necessary trading in of naïvety. Whether conjuring the heart-fluttering anxiety of a crush in Heartbeat Overdrive, or knowing exactly when to get down with Lux, the trio are writing from a place of sharp intent and acute self-awareness. “The thing that art should do is extract meaning from experience,” posits Blair. Over the last few years she’s endured family heartbreak, having lost her mother to cancer: “It really changed me as a person. Watching someone I love go through something so horrible, and yet remain so full of love…” she says, steadily. “It was so humbling. When you’re in your early twenties, what do you know about life? Not very much, really. I just felt that I’d got given one of life’s secrets… something that you’re going to need to know. I just wanted to make music from that point, using that information, using that pearl I’d been gifted with. This is what it’s all about, so… let’s go.” Ballet School may sound – and look – delicate, but that pastel-shaded façade belies an iron core. They see their recent success as a challenge, a reminder to work harder, to experiment further. Blair summarises, “It’s actually quite confrontational to be soft, and to be gentle. I don’t want to have to smash someone’s face into the wall to get respect: I’d rather just ask you.” Ballet School play Liverpool’s Shipping Forecast on 13 Nov The Dew Lasts an Hour is out now on Bella Union www.facebook.com/balletschoolband

Photo: Tonje Thilesen

Interview: Katie Hawthorne

MUSIC

THE SKINNY

RNCM Skinny quarter NOV 14 AW.pdf

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+ Frnkiero andthe Cellabration

Sun 16th Nov • £20 adv

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Mon 17th Nov • £17.50 adv

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Mon 17th Nov • £17 adv

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Thurs 20th Nov • £18.50 adv 6pm

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Hip Hop History Tour: Afrika Bambaataa + Grandmaster Flash

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Fri 5th Dec • £12 adv

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THE NEW ALBUM ‘THREE HEARTS’ OUT NOW ALEXCLARE.COM A METROPOLIS MUSIC PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH 13 ARTISTS

November 2014

Alvvays

The Kazimier, 21 Oct

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Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat. See? It’s easy, this respiration lark – if only everything were so simple. Still, every now and again you come across a band who make the noble art of pop music seem as free, natural and essential as those respiratory instincts. Just in case you hadn’t guessed where we were going with this, Toronto quintet Alvvays are one such delight. On record, deceptively light numbers like Ones Who Love You float by on a rollicking sea of guitar fuzz, but tonight there’s a greater sense of space that breaks the surf; an openness that lifts the shoegazey fog and allows the gentle lilt of Molly Rankin’s voice to shine through. In its infinite wisdom, the sound desk seems to have applied a subtle electronic treatment to her

endearing coos, jarring certain notes and feeling somewhat extraneous – part of this band’s appeal is the glaring noise of the band versus Rankin’s melodious vulnerability – but it’s a minor complaint. Besides, it’s difficult to do very much more than swoon as Alec O’Hanley’s plaintive jangle slices cleanly and beautifully through Adult Diversion’s sugary langour, ditto Kerri MacLellan’s breezy harmonies on the hopeful waltz of Dives. You can pinpoint their influences at fifty paces: they’re indebted to the same Spectorian charm and Mary Chain roar as, say, Dum Dum Girls, albeit with a healthy injection of John Hughes movie soundtracks. What sets Alvvays apart is their way with a killer tune, as proven by standout closer Archie, Marry Me. When hooks are this effortless, there’s nothing to do but exhale in awe. [Will Fitzpatrick]

The Antlers

The Kazimier, 28 Oct

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“I lost my voice yesterday,” apologises Peter Silberman, trying to make us all understand that his shots at the high notes may fall somewhat flat. It’s all nonsense, of course. Regardless of how ragged his vocal chords may be feeling, they’re still capable of piloting a one-stop trip to the heavens, with opener Palace a case in point. Piano chords frame mournful trumpet motifs, as the affable frontman builds deftly from delicate croons to immaculate existential warbles – if there’s trouble afoot, he masks it superbly. Ah yes, and at this point it’s probably worth explaining that The Antlers are completely, utterly captivating. Songs rise and swell with the effortless, ethereal grace of prime Mercury Rev; doused in doom-laden psychedelia and bound by instant melodic simplicity. The wracked crescendos of

Nils Frahm

RNCM, 28 Oct

Alvvays

Review

Photo: Photo: Ellie Gillard

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In the dappled dark, Nils Frahm takes one sockfooted step towards the brink of the stage; picks up a microphone, and speaks. His intake of breath could be the first we’ve heard; at least since he began pulling the thick, wet electric coils of Says from his stacked synth setup. Angled between an upright and a grand piano, and contrasting their rubbed-wood gloss with its implacable matte fascia, his dashboard seems to square up to him – its presence on stage is an almost sentient thing, as tongues of forked red light sweep an unreadable black. He jokes; says he’s going to play something “boring,” a piece that began as a challenge to himself – after breaking his thumb – to compose for nine digits. It is Said and Done – beginning with the cracked-eggshell timbre of one harried

MUSIC

Photo: Michael Sheerin

Doppelgänger stand out in particular, as dual trumpets crack and weave around each other amid a maelstrom of portentous echo. The moment when Kettering’s beautiful fragility explodes into elegiac cacophony illustrates the stunning complexity – both sonic and emotional – of the band’s vastly impressive oeuvre, but the warmest cheers are reserved for fan favourite I Don’t Want Love. The audience cheers wildly upon hearing the crashing chords that introduce the song – dramatic without bombast, powerful without overpowering. Indeed, The Antlers’ greatest trick is to build their graceful simplicity into tidal waves of textured chaos without ever truly engulfing the softness at its core. And in the eye of the storm, there’s Silberman: keening his troubles away and subsuming our woes with his own. Lost voice or no, it’s no challenge to lose oneself to The Antlers’ wonderful, celestial beauty. [Will Fitzpatrick]

note, it builds, making use of the strings’ natural rattle, to an unhappy clamour. Elsewhere, the almost 20-minute, four-chapter sequence of For – Peter – Toilet Brushes – More is sheer bravura concert pianism, artistry as endurance test; the audience takes itself by surprise as it lets out a laugh at the reprieve of the final stretch, its playful, peanut-brittle staccato admonishing the too-serious organ of before. Those expecting either a conventional recital or the undemonstrative minimalism of Frahm’s more laptop-heavy contemporaries are stunned: this is a physical, illustrative performance. What with the recent acclaim for A Winged Victory for the Sullen and Ólafur Arnalds’ Kiasmos side project, Robert Raths’ Erased Tapes imprint seems to be finally enjoying its day in the sun – Frahm having surely emerged as its headline act. [Lauren Strain]

THE SKINNY

Photo: Nick Bojdo

Alvvays

Photo: Ellie Gillard

The Antlers Owls

How to Dress Well

beliefs (he has none) and in doing so referring to the lectern as a “Nazi Falcon,” which as far as rrrrr a faux pas goes, takes some beating. Sincerity is With the synthesised white noise of opener A restored, however, for the more downbeat songs Power mirrored in the TV static behind them, with sparser arrangements, most notably Suicide Tom Krell aka How to Dress Well’s band begin by Dream 1, where Krell’s voice is more exposed, drawing heavily on the sounds of minimal techno reverberating around the church – and the and experimental electronic music – acting, of highly personal subject matter is more apparcourse, as the foundation for his remarkable ent. Though occasionally extremely earnest, Krell singing voice. Based, melodically, in classic R’n’B, shows just enough self-awareness to stop him and with plenty of Michael Jackson-esque inflecfrom becoming too mawkish, singing in Very Best tions, Krell’s voice is also reminiscent of Antony Friend, “I know I can be extra sentimental, yeah Hegarty in its timbre and emotional vulnerability. it’s dumb but sometimes it’s just right.” It’s on the newer material from latest album What During the poppier Precious Love, many of Is This Heart? however, such as the brooding Face the assembled audience feel they can stay sat Again and more optimistic Childhood Faith In down no longer, and they crowd around the altar Love, that Krell is able to demonstrate a greater for the cathartic finale of Set It Right and 2 Years range beyond his signature falsetto, moving into On. Religion and music could both be seen as a lower and more powerful lead. coping mechanisms for life’s struggles – and it Between songs, Krell’s stage patter is pretty would appear that Krell has found something that awkward, early on clarifying his own religious works for him. [Edward Bottomley]

Johnny Marr

Manchester O2 Apollo, 25 Oct

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“So, look where I find myself on a Saturday night!” Johnny Marr can barely contain himself. After spending his post-Smiths years as the ultimate journeyman musician, he finally found his voice on solo album number two, Playland. He returns home to a bustling Apollo with enough kudos intact to justify the tour shirts and a lighting rig that bear the legend ‘Johnny Fuckin’ Marr’. But, crucially, for the first time he’s wielding enough home-grown material to limit the inclusion of songs by His Old Band. To the crowd’s credit, they go for the new stuff. New Town Velocity, 25 Hours and surprise crossover hit Easy Money all hit home, Marr’s Fender jag ringing out high in the mix, across the vast Apollo. But they raise the roof for a clutch of Smiths biggies (Panic, Bigmouth Strikes Again, How Soon Is Now) and some smartly-chosen detours (Still Ill, The Headmaster Ritual.) At times,

65daysofstatic perform The Fall of Math Manchester Cathedral, 29 Oct

John Grant and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

indie bands of the last few years have done the orchestra ‘thing’, but most attempts either unMediaCityUK, 3 Oct derserve or overplay the ensemble, obfuscating rrrrr or fetishising it. However, Brice’s experience and A live studio recording of one of America’s finest Grant’s talent for statuesque melodies combine modern songwriters with a world-class orchestra to result in a rare score that both makes full use in their own purpose-built facility isn’t really a gig of the orchestra’s range, and keeps the source for critique; it is a privilege. On a Friday lunchwork at its centre. time nested inside BBC Studios, John Grant gives Thrillingly, the Phil comes most into its own a three-hour performance – almost a full retroon the songs from Grant’s catalogue that you’d spective – within slow-burgeoning, then oceanic perhaps least consider showstoppers – the arrangements prepared for the BBC Philharmonic delicate, chrysalid strings of Fireflies wrap what by composer Fiona Brice (who also assumes can sometimes be a passed-over song at the end those vocal parts on Pale Green Ghosts written of Queen of Denmark in translucent light, and for Sinéad O’Connor). the scissoring violins of Caramel disappear into This is a project Grant has, he says, been quixotic silence. But while you are constantly dreaming of for a long time, and up close you can conscious of the supreme talent of the orchesread the meaning of it in his look – he takes time tra, it is the satellite-sad slowdance of Grant’s to engage with everyone, sharing hugs with the piano that ultimately steals the show – that, and principal musicians and waving to friends in the the descent into Pale Green Ghosts through the crowd (there are clearly supporters from his days roiling, subterranean grumble of Rachmaninoff’s with The Czars here). Prelude in C-sharp Minor. [Lauren Strain] Of course, a great many pop artists and

November 2014

Photo: Alexander Bell

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Joe Shrewsbury stalks the stage, gripping his guitar in combative fashion, a stance chiming with the defensive ruminations he adopts when discussing tonight’s performance of 65daysofstatic’s debut LP, The Fall of Math, a decade after its release. “We weren’t in a place where we were looking to the past when this ten year stuff snuck up,” he admits at one point. Before Hole, the ninth track, he seems bored, muttering “we’re going to bash through the rest of this then show you what we’ve been doing in the ten years since”, before doing just that, the final three songs zipping by in an impatient flurry of warring guitars and disintegrative electronic mutations. Shrewsbury’s discomfort is understandable, even if it is his own band doing the retro-romancing. However, from the suffocating scattershot electronica of Another Code Against the Gone,

MUSIC

as Adidas-clad fellas lob empty pint pots and activate Ian Brown mode, a column of wobbling, arms aloft affirmation, you sense the heritage getting trampled. The odd rebel in the rear circle lights up and a pair of middle-aged bad lads openly get the party started with a little, um, Peruvian encouragement. But it would take the flintiest heart to not be touched by the way Manchester lifts the chorus of There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, Marr and band suddenly inaudible. He’s a likeable presence, no doubt, playing it for laughs in between songs. “The Apollo, eh? The bands I’ve seen here – The Ramones, Blondie, Joy Division…er, Uriah Heep, Barclay James Harvest… well, you can’t win ‘em all,” he deadpans. But, for the moment, 30-odd years after he gave the British indie scene a near-impossible mountain to climb, his credentials (perhaps best exemplified by the youngsters wearing ‘Johnny Flippin’ Legend’ shirts) remain solid rather than spectacular. [Gary Kaill] to Retreat! Retreat!’s irrepressible dam-bursting surge and the title track’s ever-tightening matrix of drilled beats, these songs remain thrillingly full-blooded rather than spectral remnants of the past. 65daysofstatic don’t ever settle; from their formative impetuous thrashy glitch, to the thoughtfully methodic (and melodic) Silent Running re-scoring and latter day re-immersion into binary 1s and 0s, the Sheffield group have always used each record as a chance to close the door on one avenue and open up a portal to another. Where they currently reside is demonstrated with graceful power in tonight’s second of two sets; seven eighths of last year’s Wild Light rumbles round the Cathedral nave, Prisms’ bass tremors flicked on and off at will, clenching and releasing its pincer hold on the audience. It’s the artist’s prerogative to keep advancing of course, but those gathered here tonight are vocally thankful for this brief glance backwards. [Simon Jay Catling]

65daysofstatic

Review

Photo: Marie Hazelwood

Johnny Marr

How to Dress Well

Photo: Haydn Rydings

St Philip’s Church, 23 Oct

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Guest Selector: Motor City Drum Ensemble Ahead of anticipated dates in both Liverpool and Manchester, Danilo Plessow – aka MCDE – steps up with ten LPs that he considers to be “absolute must-haves”

Pharoah Sanders – Pharoah [India Navigation] This has got to be one of my all-time favourite jazz records, I’m a huge Pharoah Sanders nut. I have all of his albums and this one had been on my want list forever, but you just don’t see it. The whole album is an epic journey but Harvest Time remains the standout song. Deep and spiritual music that transcends time. Lou Bond – Lou Bond [We Produce] Hugely underrated soul LP that features one of the songs that changed my life forever, To the Establishment. The only other soul song that is somewhat close to this in terms of pure emotion would be Terry Callier’s Dancing Girl, another all-time fave. Just listen to this, close your eyes and let the music take you to places you didn’t know existed. Bobby Paunetto – Paunetto’s Point [Pathfinder] I used to buy tons and tons of jazz fusion back when I was younger, and I’m sad to say that a lot of it doesn’t sound as good to me as it once did. This record however remains an absolute

standout – Latin Nuyorican fusion with a great vibe throughout and not a single weak track. I could probably listen to this on repeat forever. James Mason – Rhythm of Life [Chiaroscuro] This is a well-known classic rare groove piece but it’s just so damn good that I have no shame in repping this in 2014. So many good tracks... Sweet Power, Free, Funny Girl. It’s basically an end-to-end burner. Raphael Green – Mystery Love [Private Press] Super obscure modern gospel LP that I just recently acquired. Amazing vocals on this one and with a cover screaming ‘lo-fi private press,’ you just can’t pass on stuff like this. Well recommended if you ever see it. Faith – Faith [Vista] Another bizarre and stupidly rare gospel record, this time out of Holland though. It’s pretty wacky but there is the amazing Psalm 23 that is just completely all over the place and sounds like nothing else I’ve ever heard. Huge DJ

Shadow-esque breakbeats, psych guitars, vibes, LinnDrum toms and sweet soul vocals, but recorded in the late 70s? Damn. James Tatum – Contemporary Jazz Mass [Private - JTTP] My all-time favourite spiritual jazz LP. It really doesn’t get better than this if you are into the post-Coltrane Afro-centric stuff on labels like Strata-East, Tribe, etc. A deeply sad, emotional record that is pure perfection in my book. Thesda – Spaced Out [Private - Integrated Performance Systems International Inc.] First of all, yes, that is the label name. Integrated Performance Systems International Incorporated. Very ambitious name for a label that released only this one record. Secondly, they actually recorded themselves smoking bong hits on the main track. Oh, and the record is called Spaced Out. Need more info? Probably not.

Dazzle – Dazzle [De-Lite] Leroy Burgess might be my favourite disco producer/songwriter and this record is full of his signature boogie sound. I play Reaching on a regular basis and it never fails to send smiles all over the dancefloor. Essential stuff. Stevie Wonder – Innervisions [Motown] In my world, what Coltrane is to jazz, Stevie is to soul. I had the opportunity to see him perform live and it is just unbearable how bizarrely talented this guy is – to this day, I still remember that feeling as I stood watching him. If you ever get the chance, go see him. It will be unbelievably worth your while. Motor City Drum Ensemble plays The Kazimier, Liverpool, 7 Nov, 10pm and The Roadhouse, Manchester, 22 Nov, 10.30pm www.motorcitydrumensemble.com

Clubbing Highlights Bonfire season is upon us! Here’s a smorgasbord of nights that you’ll probably struggle to remember, remember Words: E. Jon Lanside Illustration: Sophie Freeman

bandon Silence hosts its second party of the year on 7 Nov, and it’s a biggie. Motor City Drum Ensemble and Jeremy Underground grace the Kazimier decks, bringing with them a cumulative slew of quality house and boogie cuts (£15). Definitely not one to miss, although MCDE also plays Roadhouse on 22 Nov. Same night in Manny sees Love Dose welcome a very special guest from gay Paris – Marcelus (£8). His newest release is just about to drop on the world-renowned Tresor label and he has decided to come over and party at Kraak in celebration. Elsewhere, Project 13 – Acre and Om Unit included – takeover Josh Brooks (£7), whereas Zutekh bring in ItaloJohnson for a four-hour set at Soup Kitchen (£12.50). On 8 Nov, Stevie Wonderland keep their guest quota ticking over with a Lumberjacks in Hell showcase featuring boss Marcel Vogel, Rahaan and Jamie 3:26 (£8). Same night, Selective Hearing bring in Untold and Anthony Parasole for some hard-hitting catharsis at Josh Brooks (£6 earlybirds); if that’s not your ting then head over to Soup for a highly anticipated appearance from NY’s finest, Mister Saturday Night, who join resident Krystal Klear for a disco-centric showdown (£8).

November 2014

Fast forward a week (14 Nov) and the Soup basement heats up again with one of the hottest bears on the circuit, belonging to Achim Brandenburg and his Prosumer alias – nothing else to say really apart from: go (£7). Hustle are back on 15 Nov, bringing in a true originator in the totemic form of Todd Terry. Expect that real deal shit from Todd when he steps up for Hustle in the Magnet basement (£15). Paws out for Dog Eat Dog on 15 Nov as well, as they welcome Sex Tags boss and curveball aficionado DJ Sotofett to Q Cavern. Never prosaic or predictable, Sotofett’s collection starts at classic house, then stretches endlessly in all directions. £8 O.T.D. Tom Boogizm returns to take control of the Soup basement on 21 Nov, this time bringing friends. The Duke St Workshop, a dark electronic duo formed in Wigan, 2012, soundtrack cold cases from the 60s to the present day and will darken the stage at 11pm. Expect boogie, rap, hip-hop and everything in between from the Boog (£3 after midnight; free before). The day after sees meandyou. commandeer Rozafa, a Greek restaurant on Princess St., with SVN in tow. SVN has been operating in the shadows of the German underground electronic music

scene for more than a decade, and is friends with the aforementioned Sex Tags clan (£5 earlybirds). End your month right on 29 Nov with Hunee and Horse Meat Disco going b2b at Manchester Academy (£6 super earlybird). The former is a dab hand in all things light-hearted, while the

CLUBS

latter have frequented clubs around the UK for a good few years now. Their combined forces will undoubtedly throw up a few dusty gems that few ears have had the pleasure of hearing. All prices are advance unless otherwise specified; some events may be more on the door

Preview

Is That Door Alarmed? Manchester-based, Dublin-born producer Krystal Klear talks about his upcoming Labour of Love party at Soup Kitchen, and “hitting the bollocks out of it” the night before visiting Nile Rodgers’ home studio

Interview: John Thorp

active, and if I want to push the boat, who the fuck is going to think of Michael McDonald?” It’s a good point, and testimony to Lennon’s one-sizefits-all musical approach. “The track could sound two ways with the mix down,” he explains. “It could sound raw, it could sound pop. If it sounds very commercially pop, then we might make it big, if not let’s just do it right.” Doing it right is important above all to Lennon; as one of the core residents of Manchester’s acclaimed Hoya:Hoya night, he strengthened his reputation with breathless sets that seamlessly blend disco, boogie, house, rap, pop and more, paying tribute to underground sounds of now and then. While staying true to the vision of fellow residents Jon K, Illum Sphere, Jonny Dub and Eclair Fifi, he nonetheless quickly embarked on his own distinctive solo career, releasing tracks through Rinse, as well as helming his own radio show on the London station. His single with Manchester vocalist Jenna G, Addiction, received huge support from the likes of Annie Mac, and in an alternative universe, or perhaps in New Jersey circa 1991, would have rightfully soared to the top of the charts.

“I’m not a party snob, but I want to be able to play every record I want to play” Krystal Klear

“I

had to get the train to Connecticut the next day, 11am, standard DJ protocol,” explains Dec Lennon, otherwise known as Krystal Klear. “But I’m in New York! I’m not going to not have the night in. So I went out, hit the absolute bollocks out of it. Gave the apartment keys to some chick, literally couldn’t lock the door. Got out to the studio, and it was basically 24 hours of mild panic attacks, fear of fainting and holding in farts. Talking utter piss. Apart from that, the best fucking experience of my life.” That experience might sound stressful at the best of times, but consider that Lennon was travelling to Connecticut in order to visit the home studio of none other than Mr Nile Rodgers. On this occasion, Lennon, 25, was joined by one Michael McDonald, formerly of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers. McDonald had arrived at Rodgers’ request, in order to lay down the vocal

Preview

hooks on a track that Lennon had been working on with the disco and pop legend for nearly a year. Before complications arose, the task was originally intended for the UK’s Jessie Ware, and the involvement of McDonald was Lennon’s lastminute, Fantasy Dinner Party choice. “Any other fucker would have picked someone dead obvious, but it’s Nile Rodgers, you know?” exclaims Lennon, ceaselessly enthusiastic but, by his own admittance, not so fresh following an evening (and morning) out boozing with techno supremo Paul Woolford. “Is that door alarmed?” he enquires, anticipating but ultimately avoiding a potential sharp exit from the bar we’re. Still, recalling his recent transatlantic exploits, Lennon exudes the grateful air of a man recounting an actual living dream. “I originally wanted to go for Beyoncé, because she’s my dream. But Niles has been quite

“I am pretty ambitious,” Lennon admits, and quite happily too. “There’s a competitive streak in me, but I’m most competitive with myself. I beat myself up. But I think, if you’re doing something, it’s worth going for something unachievable from anyone’s perception, because if you get the middle ground, you’re going to be delighted. If you’re an artist of any description, you need a level of ambition and confidence. You’re in the public sphere, and people can rip you apart.” For all his innate confidence, Lennon is also refreshingly honest, both in his perception of the music business as a whole, and of his own career. His Cold Tonic label, run with friend and fellow DJ Maurice Alexander, began life as a stylish photo blog capturing the rather buoyant-looking life of Krystal Klear and his pals in the rave and beyond, and now extends to a record label that offers a distinct diversion from Lennon’s hymns to pop. “Truth be told, it started off as a photo blog, then a brand idea,” adds Lennon. “Not a brand like Coca-Cola, but we like the name, and the aesthetic. Now we want to push the boundaries of it, and see where we can take it.” His own music has occupied the first three releases, consisting of bumping but painstakingly detailed club tracks that wouldn’t, and don’t, sound out of place in the record boxes of pals like Joy Orbison, Jackmaster and Skream. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Michael McDonald doesn’t show up on the valve-release funk of his own Tun Valve, which sounds so ecstatic you can practically feel the sweat pouring from the roof. Further dancefloor-focused material is set to follow, from Lennon as well as others. “It’s a very conscious decision,” he explains. “I had a backlog of music that wasn’t necessarily

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what people had heard. And I went through a bit of a dark patch in my career where I released a couple of records that I wasn’t in fact entirely proud of. I just didn’t stand behind them, because I made the tunes a long time before they came out. And by that time, the sound was all over the place… That 90s house sound had been rinsed. So my best move was to do quite evidently pop stuff, and then, Cold Tonic. The pop stuff is the right side of my head and Cold Tonic is the left.” Dismissing the slightly dodgy ‘nu-disco’ tag he was first mistakenly filed under, Lennon, through his time in the studio and on the road, has developed a more encompassing approach to music that’s to be expected from a man who spent his more formative years involved in rock and metal. “Underground guys, or whatever way you want to look at it, what’s fashionable plays a massive role in their attitude. At the end of the day, it’s all music, so I don’t give a fuck,” Lennon says. “You can criticise quality, always jump on the quality-slagging bandwagon, 100%. But if I’m playing a Shed tune out, then going home and listening to Bell Biv DeVoe on my iPod, to me they’re the exact same thing, as I get an emotion that makes me feel good about what I’m doing. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true.” Nonetheless, for all his own openness, Lennon notes that the split between the worlds of pop, disco, house and techno has left him with a DJ schedule that’s “the definition of a mixed bag.” “I just like being in the rave,” Lennon acknowledges. “But after a while, I made a more conscious decision about the parties I played. I’m not a party snob, but I want to be able to play every record I want to play, I don’t want to feel awkward, which can happen both in the UK and Europe.” Returning this month to Manchester’s Soup Kitchen, Labour of Love, as the name suggests, is a party done the Krystal Klear way, allowing himself and friends that very freedom. “It started with wanting to bring over Slow to Speak [of legendary East Coast record shop Dope Jams] to Glasgow and London, and they were the best DJs I’ve ever seen,” Lennon recalls. “I thought it would be good to put on a party, and you think, “we’ll serve this type of beer, use this type of sound system,” and it never happens. But with Hoya:Hoya’s approval, we did one at Soup Kitchen back in June. And it was the best party I played all year, it was up there with Panorama Bar for me.” Lennon’s personally-invited guests for the second edition of Labour of Love at Soup Kitchen are another set of New York party starters, Mister Saturday Night, aka Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin, one of the few DJ duos who have managed to serve the beer they want and install the sound system they want at their own renowned parties. But with his increasingly busy production schedule alongside his hectic DJ commitments, surely Lennon isn’t getting involved in the promoter game? “It’s not a Manchester party, it’s more of a worldwide party,” he explains. “I know that sounds a bit stupid, but it’s just doing it when we’ve got the right guys, and the vibe is right. And I want it to feel like a real rotation policy in terms of ‘just bring your shit, how long do you want to play?’” Krystal Klear brings Labour of Love to Soup Kitchen, Manchester, on 8 Nov

THE SKINNY

Men Who Like Women Who Smell of Their Jobs

Conflict and Collisions: New Contemporary Sculpture

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The Hepworth, Wakefield

Spread across two corners of the John Rylands Library, and as abbreviated as the micro fiction that it celebrates, Men Who Like Women Who Smell of Their Jobs is a new collaboration between writer David Gaffney and artist Alison Erika Forde. Gaffney’s arresting yet accessible series of short stories Sawn-off Tales seems to operate much as Surrealist paintings do: able to strike with depth through peculiar arrangements of thoughts and ideas – ‘there were human eyes, fish eyes, reptile eyes and bird eyes, beady eyes for toy bears and giant eyes for dinosaurs.’ These stories always value the laconic over the florid. Forde’s response, a series of paintings that transform Gaffney’s words into cartoonish gothic visuals on wood, plates and canvas, are individually engaging, yet never seem willing to leap fully into the irrational world of the madly imaginative Gaffney. Amid the brief exhibition spots the artists do battle and meld, with Gaffney’s wild vignettes contorted and realised through the mind of Forde. It is the format in which the images are displayed, rather than the works themselves, however, that forms Forde’s most interesting contribution. As collaborator, especially for tales that are always close to the absurd, I feel her role should be to take small unexplored aspects of the story and differentiate them, making them her own. Instead she acts too much as responsive illustrator, making the too obvious visual, drawing what we ourselves have imagined while reading. Forde’s work is engaging and warm, no

November 2014

Alison Erika Forde - Until you are happy

doubt, but ultimately lacks the laconic wit of the narratives they’re pursuing. There is also, it has to be said, an underwhelming amount of stories on display – a shame, considering the evident abundance of Gaffney’s creativity. To conclude, though sadly less perplexing and forceful than its title, the exhibition is still worth a visit. The individual quality of both artist and writer is clear, even if their collective interaction feels somewhat stilted and unnecessary when placed together. I wanted the writer to smell of the illustrator and vice versa, but ultimately they have only a whiff of the other’s job. [Tom Kwei] Runs until 31 Jan 2015. Sun-Mon 12pm-5pm, Tue-Sat 10am5pm www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/exhibitions/ menwholikewomenwhosmelloftheirjobs

Image: The International 3

Alexandra Bircken - Fellow (2014)

A large leather phallic torpedo-like object hangs in the centre of the Hepworth Gallery. The allconsuming matte black colour is both dead and alive. I don’t want to be in the room with it. Alexandra Bircken’s work is unnerving. This work, along with suspended spheres and other protrusions refer to the B-52 bombers used by the US Air Force in the 1950s. In another room ‘leather skins’ are draped across a series of ladders. They suggest burned and headless firefighters; these costumes are shells of humans without souls intact. Bircken is one of three artists currently presenting solo exhibitions at The Hepworth this autumn under the umbrella title Conflict and Collisions: New Contemporary Sculpture. These exhibitions, from Bircken, Folkert de Jong and Toby Ziegler, comprise new and existing work with the themes of historical and contemporary combat, man versus machine and the handmade in relation to technological production. The first you encounter is Charles Sargeant Jagger from Toby Ziegler. A three-metre-high aluminium dismembered human foot occupies the centre of the space. Next to it a 3D printer produces a Newell teapot every eight hours. This little machine seems to be the main attraction for visitors; we are in the midst of an important technological moment where the still fairly exotic method of production is on the cusp of becoming commonplace. Ziegler’s other work takes a WWI plaster memorial frieze, No Man’s Land (1919-20) by war

ART

artist Charles Sargeant Jagger (1885-1934), as its starting point. The work, held in the Hepworth’s collection, is on display here and Ziegler mirrors it with his own frieze which does not show any discernible imagery, only textured marks where the surface has been polished. A comment on the access we have to horrific war imagery today. If you can never unsee these images maybe it is better to be blind. The highlight of the three exhibitions is the last, Folkert de Jong’s The Holy Land. A central diorama or set consisting of a sand pit or makeshift desert landscape has been populated with bronze casts of suits of armour, old cameras and telephones. The armour has been created by 3D scanning suits worn by Henry VIII and is a result of an extended period of research and collaboration with the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. They have an intriguing pop sci-fi feel to them; some figures are covered with a subtle rainbow spray, a kind of nostalgic 1990s grunge t-shirt stencil. De Jong’s work could be from the ancient past, the present or the distant spacey future and this allows the visitor to imagine multiple narratives. Like much of the work on display from the three artists, De Jong’s presentation is weighty and disorientating, pleasingly unsettling. [Sacha Waldron] Runs until 25 Jan 2015. Toby Ziegler’s temporary commission in The Calder (the Hepworth’s new exhibition space) runs until 16 Nov www.hepworthwakefield.org/whatson/conflict-andcollisions

Review

Photo: Stuart Whipps

John Rylands Library

November Film Events Extraterrestrials, flying saucers, mysterious clones and malevolent robots from the future invade the Northwest this month Words: Simon Bland Winter Sleep

The Skeleton Twins

Leviathan

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Director: Craig Roberts Starring: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell Released: 7 Nov Certificate: 15

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev Starring: Aleksey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova Released: 7 Nov Certificate: 15

“Maybe we were doomed from the beginning,” says bored dental hygienist Maggie (Wiig) in voiceover at the opening of The Skeleton Twins, before her gay, wannabe actor brother, Milo (Hader), from whom she’s been estranged for a decade, slits his wrists on screen. Don’t worry, he doesn’t cut too deep – but the siblings’ salty exchanges do. Maggie drags Milo back East to live with her and her square husband (Wilson). “I’m a tragic gay cliché,” he quips, mortified at his new situation. He would have been, in other hands, but the script is so smart and Hader’s performance so honest that his myriad issues take a backseat to his delightfully cynical character. Wiig is no acting slouch either: for evidence, check the scene where she seamlessly transitions from fart gags to a confession about her habitual infidelities. This brother-sister bond, so rarely explored on screen, is what makes The Skeleton Twins sing. We all knew the SNL pair had a finely calibrated comic chemistry – it clearly extends to an emotional one too. [Jamie Dunn]

Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan is a film hunting big game. His fourth feature presents modern Russia as a country rotten to its core – corrupt, hypocritical and godless – and uses the story of one man fighting the establishment to highlight the human cost of such a system. Aleksey Serebryakov is the humble mechanic trying to stop his family’s land from falling into the hands of the crooked mayor (Roman Madyanov), and while we suspect this won’t end well – the imposing use of a Philip Glass piece introduces an instant note of foreboding – the full tragedy of Leviathan doesn’t hit us until it has swallowed its characters whole. The film possesses this capacity to catch us by surprise because Zvyagintsev keeps wrong-footing the audience with his storytelling choices, which shift according to his characters’ often impulsive decisions. It’s little wonder Leviathan’s screenplay earned Zvyagintsev a prize in Cannes, but his direction matches it every step of the way, creating arresting images and establishing an unsettling mood that’s hard to shake. [Philip Concannon]

Set Fire to the Stars

Stations of the Cross

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Director: Andy Goddard Starring: Elijah Wood, Celyn Jones, Kelly Reilly Released: 7 Nov Certificate: 15

Director: Dietrich Brüggemann Starring: Lea van Acken, Franziska Weisz, Lucie Aron Released: 28 Nov Certificate: 15

In the centenary year of his birth, there’ll be no shortage of screen depictions of Dylan Thomas. Already in 2014, he’s been surveyed by BBC drama A Poet in New York, while Rhys Ifans will soon play the part in Dominion – which places Set Fire to the Stars in a crowded field. Nonetheless, with strong lead performances and resourceful direction from TV veteran Andy Goddard, distinction seems within its grasp. Unfortunately, despite valiant efforts from all involved, the results struggle to convey the brilliance or tragedy of the life at hand. Set in 1950, during Thomas’ first tour of the United States, the drama is premised on his volatile relationship with John Malcolm Brinnin (played by Elijah Wood) – the admiring academic tasked with keeping the harddrinking bard on course. As Thomas, Celyn Jones is suitably rambunctious and oratorical, while Wood impresses as his buttoned-up guardian, swallowing betrayals with mounting desperation. But the tone is curiously flat and the script light on genuine insight: we see the torment fuelling Thomas, but too rarely share or understand it. [Chris Buckle]

Stations of the Cross is made up of 14 segments, each filmed in a single long and often static take, where meticulous compositions and dry performances drive a biting look at fundamentalist Catholicism and domineering parenting, as well as the surrounding secular society that fails to properly intervene when one young girl takes the notion of sacrifice for following God’s will too far. It opens with a priest instructing Maria (Van Acken) and other 14 year-olds on the meaning of sacrifice, and then follows the girl’s progress through a stubborn, initially vague journey as the already withdrawn and wilting child becomes even more isolated and dangerously weak. Each segment is named after one of the Stations of the Cross, a series of artistic representations of Jesus’ crucifixion. The exact tragic reasoning behind her intended sacrifice is best left unspoiled, though what lingers most from the film is its darkly comic register. Notably, Brüggemann achieves this without mocking his film’s subjects. The serious handling of each character’s rationalisations is what both amuses and unsettles. [Josh Slater-Williams]

Winter Sleep

Life Itself

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Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan Starring: Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sözen, Demet Akbağ, Nejat İşler Released: 21 Nov Certificate: Tbc Arriving with a Palme d’Or win and an ample 196-minute running time, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s latest contemplative drama from the Anatolian steppes sounds like a rarefied prospect. In fact, Winter Sleep is seductively mounted, with universally relatable resonance about age, class, community and our relationships to our families and ourselves. It follows Aydin, played with sententious dignity by Haluk Bilginer, a landlord and former thespian running a small resort in a Cappadocia mountain village. “My kingdom is small,” he says, “but at least I’m the king.” Journeying through discussions with his beautiful twentysomething wife (Sözen), who wants to raise charitable funds for local schoolchildren, and his divorced sister (Akbag), who is withering away in the hinterland, as well as Aydin’s business manager and his tenants, Winter Sleep chips away at Aydin’s perceived supremacy, revealing the passive-aggression beneath his good intentions. Unfolding as a deep, empathetic series of conversations, it’s an absorbing interplay of coldness and warmth both in its morality and in the stunning snowy landscapes and log-fire interiors of its settings. [Ian Mantgani]

Review

ith Halloween behind us and Christmas not quite here yet, there’s plenty of time to escape the crappy weather in the warmth of a cinema auditorium. We start our film fun by looking to the stars with Duncan Jones’ ace claustrophobic sci-fi Moon (28 Nov). Hosted by immersive cinema team Spectacle, Spectacle, this screening takes place directly under the observatory tower at Manchester’s Godlee Observatory, bringing you closer than ever to space miner Sam Bell and his intergalactic identity crisis. Attendees will also get free guided tours of this century-old building, promising an evening that you (or your double) wouldn’t want to miss. If you’re a fan of Jones’ old man, David Bowie, don’t miss Hamish Hamilton’s documentary David Bowie Is at Liverpool’s FACT (6 Nov). Talking of out-of-this world experiences, Manchester’s audiovisual curators Video Jam take to the road this month, bringing their innovative image and sound events to three UK cities. The tour, named SPACES, sees Video Jam join forces with record label Slip Discs to take specially commissioned experimental film and live music to Leeds (1 Nov), London (8 Nov) and Liverpool (14 Nov). We’re particularly looking forward to their final show at the Kazimier, which promises music from Bernard & Edith, Sex Hands and Wanda Group, with Deep Hedonia providing an audiovisual afterparty. Full details at videojam.co.uk. Back in Manchester the sci-fi fun continues at Cornerhouse with film season Days of Fear and Wonder. Cataclysmic 1951 thriller When Worlds Collide sets the pace (4 Nov), following a group of scientists who must escape a doomed Earth before a rogue planet hits. Meanwhile, Kubrick classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (28 Nov) offers a glimpse of where we’re going and where we’ve been. If all that wasn’t enough, the venue also has Insomniac Invasion (15 Nov), a 12hour back-to-back sci-fi allnighter. Expect The Terminator, Godzilla (1954), Fantastic Voyage, Flash Gordon, the rarely screened Late August and the Hotel Ozone and more dystopia than you can shake a spaceship at.

Director: Steve James Starring: Robert Ebert, Chaz Ebert, Gene Siskel Released: 14 Nov Certificate: 15 2001: A Space Odyssey

Life Itself is both an unflinching document of the last days of film critic Roger Ebert’s life and a densely packed celebration of his career. The former is told through interviews with Ebert while in hospital. Unable to speak, his face ravaged by cancer, Ebert jokes around using a speaking computer. His good humour is exaggerated by a limp lower lip (his jaw bone was removed during a previous operation) that creates a wide smile that remains constant, even when he’s in obvious pain – the cognitive dissonance is bracing. Director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) intercepts these often hardto-watch scenes with a fast-paced collage of archive clips and revealing stories from Ebert’s foul-mouthed newspaper buddies and the filmmakers he championed (including Errol Morris and Werner Herzog). Refreshingly, this is no hagiography. Fellow Chicago critic Jonathan Rosenbaum pops up to lambast Ebert’s shallow, consumer guide-style TV reviews and we hear plenty of stories of his pomposity (he loved bringing up his Pulitzer Prize to win arguments). The result is rich, moving and often hilarious. [Jamie Dunn]

FILM

Missing Halloween by a hair, Kevin Smith finally brings his twisted body-shock horror Tusk to our neck of the woods with a debut at Leeds International Film Festival (8 Nov). Devised during a hilariously leftfield episode of his weekly SModcast podcast with producer Scott Mosier, Smith’s dark tale is part comedy, part beast. It follows a podcaster who gets much more than he bargained for when interviewing an elderly recluse with a penchant for walruses. Special guest and French Canadian Guy LaPointe may raise eyebrows but it’s screen vet Michael Parks who owns here. Smith will even pop by after the screening for a Skype Q&A. #WalrusYes.

THE SKINNY

22 Jump Street

I Clowns

Youth of the Beast

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Director: Phil Lord and Chris Miller Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum Released: 17 Nov Certificate: 15 The key joke in 22 Jump Street is how disappointing these type of films (i.e. quick cash-in sequels) turn out to be. Its reliance on this meta-gag might have quickly begun to grate – at a certain point self-deprecation starts to feel like an awkward stand-in for a lack of anything new to say – but every line is delivered with such wideeyed excitement that the half-manic energy proves irresistible. What’s even more pleasing is that Lord and Miller’s film bubbles with an endearing earnestness, a proud refusal to succumb to the all-out irony of the post-Family Guy age of comedy, and always seems more interested in having fun than taking pot shots. Though it definitely lags in places, and there’s no doubt that the returns this time around are significantly diminished, 22 Jump Street succeeds at being endlessly likeable, just like its leads, Hill and Tatum, who have rarely been better. [Ross McIndoe]

Director: Federico Fellini Starring: Federico Fellini, Riccardo Billi Released: Out now Certificate: U A minor project made in a breather between films that would elevate him to the highest level of the cinematic pantheon, Fellini’s I Clowns is often noted as the original mockumentary, with the director appearing as himself at the head of a small film crew documenting the history of the Italian clown. At one moment, an interviewer begins to ask Fellini whether this film will serve as an analogy for his own career – a ringleader of clowns, taking the silliest things seriously and finding poignancy behind painted smiles – before an errant custard pie cuts off his question. If this is the prototype for the mockumentary, it’s definitely an early model: Fellini never commits to the form, filming the action from his own invisible lens rather than the POV of the moviemakers within the movie. Apparently it just wasn’t in him to make something less than beautiful. [Ross McIndoe]

Director: Seijun Suzuki Starring: Jô Shishido, Misako Watanabe Released: Out now Certificate: 15 In 1968, Japanese director Seijun Suzuki's contract with the Nikkatsu studio terminated for repeatedly turning the routine scripts into increasingly surreal gangster movies, such as avantgarde masterworks Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter. 1963’s Youth of the Beast rarely reaches the same hallucinatory heights but within it the seeds of Suzuki’s later, greater madness were sown. Like a yakuza riff on Yojimbo, the plot sees one thug (the chipmunk-cheeked Jô Shishido) play two crime bosses off against each another. Suzuki and cinematographer Kazue Nagatsuka turn the clashes into a vivid feast akin to the work of Nicholas Ray or Vincente Minnelli. Crime conventions are dismantled, colour takes precedence over coherence, and madcap tangents intrude on a narrative the director palpably doesn’t care that much about but still makes really entertaining. [Josh Slater-Williams]

Hide Your Smiling Faces

Naked City

Diary of a Lost Girl

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Director: Daniel Patrick Carbone Starring: Ryan Jones, Nathan Varnson Released: Out now Certificate: 15 Death is introduced early in this US indie, with an opening shot that features a snake ingesting its prey. Its presence then lingers through every frame that follows, as two young brothers spend a long, lazy summer staring down their own mortality after a friend takes a fatal plunge from a woodland viaduct. Superficially, Hide’s adolescent protagonists, coming-of-age grace notes and rural setting invite comparisons with the likes of Mud and Joe, though the film to which it bears the strongest thematic resemblance is Stand by Me – albeit with the humour and bittersweet nostalgia of the earlier film replaced by a pervading solemnity. Despite its languid pacing, there’s an underlying unease that never entirely relaxes its grip – a credit to the composure of first-time writer/director Daniel Patrick Carbone. Together with cinematographer Nick Bentgen, Carbone creates a palpable sense of atmosphere, resulting in a debut as beautiful as it is troubling. [Chris Buckle]

BOOK OF THE MONTH The Book of Strange New Things

Director: Jules Dassin Starring: Dorothy Hart, House Jameson Released: Out now Certificate: PG Jules Dassin’s absorbing 1948 potboiler is sometimes billed as film noir. It’s actually much more concerned with the nitty-gritty procedural details of a group of upstanding detectives – in this case, those investigating a salacious murder of a young model in New York – than it is with establishing any kind of shadowy tone or antihero allegiance. Inspired by the work of infamous crime scene photographer Weegee, it also features the pioneering use of real locations as opposed to sets – virtually unheard of in Hollywood at the time. But any semblance of reality is outdone by the film’s delightfully weird, nearly omnipresent voice-over and its expressionistic recreations of the internal monologues of everyday schlubs in the street. Dassin, who would go on to make the classic proto-heist film Rififi, seems as much interested in Hitchcockian flair as he is in naturalism, anyway – no surprise, considering he got his start as Hitch’s assistant. [Michelle Devereaux]

Lagoon

Director: GW Pabst Starring: Louise Brooks, Fritz Rasp Released: 24 Nov Certificate: PG While critical plaudits are more often reserved for Pandora’s Box, the first collaboration between director GW Pabst and star Louise Brooks, the pair’s lurid and frequently baffling follow-up from the same year remains one of Weimar cinema’s most notorious offerings. The story of a wealthy pharmacist’s daughter consigned to reform school after her rape yields an illegitimate child, Diary of a Lost Girl displays all the hallmarks of portentous melodrama as its protagonist strives toward hard-won social redemption. What rescues the movie from quaint anonymity is the nausea-inducing darkness that permeates its every frame. Iconic, bob-haired Brooks is at once vulnerable and vital, adrift in a world of exploitative sexual predators. There’s frequently comic value to be found in the grotesques our heroine encounters, but Pabst expertly lingers over their leering faces and guides the audience into a harrowing nightmare world. [Lewis Porteous]

By Night the Mountain Burns

By Nnedi Okorafor

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By Juan Tomas Ávila Laurel

The Land Agent

By J. David Simons

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By Michel Faber

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Michel Faber’s latest and, according to the author, last novel – following Under the Skin, which was recently adapted into a celebrated film starring Scarlett Johansson, and The Crimson Petal and the White – is in some ways as different from his previous books as can be imagined. Like Under the Skin, you would say that this is science fiction, in that it concerns a man, Peter, travelling to a planet a huge distance from Earth to minister to the alien population there. At the same time, it is as much about a marriage – and the strain that separation can place upon two people who love each other – as it is about the discovery of a strange alien world and the mastering of an alien tongue. Juggling the challenge of bringing the word of God to a new species, known as the Oasans, with the responsibility of being there for his wife, even though she is many millions of miles away, makes for a haunting and unsettling read that can be both savage and heartwarming. Faber has already said that this is to be his final novel. If that is the case, while that would be a great shame, it would mean that he has quit writing novels on an absolute high. Undoubtedly one of the standout books of 2014. [Peter Wild] Out now, published by Canongate, RRP £18.99

Nnedi Okorafor has previously suggested that Nigerian storytelling requires no separation of the mystical and the mundane, perhaps explaining the potent blend of sci-fi, fable and social commentary here. In the troubled lagoon that is Lagos, aliens arrive with a sonic boom and the waters inexplicably rise, at one point reaching out to snatch a chosen three – Adaora, Agu, Anthony – for purposes unknown. Either way, Lagos burns. Okorafor is fearless in tackling taboos – corruption and sexuality two of many – but while these issues would exist deep within subtext for the sadly silent genre greats Bradbury and Matheson (RIP), Okorafor brings them into sharp focus. Their forefront position imposes such function on characters that it detracts from their fluidity. The book’s flaws exist as side effects of the author’s great strength – a hugely fertile imagination – which overloads the narrative with more theme and technique than it can hold. Changes in format and tense overlap at times in an unruly Rashomon effect, and while designed to add texture and insight they eventually disjoint. This still leaves a vibrant, magical tale, never less than enjoyable and not once dull, its targets neither weak nor easy – government and religion take heavy body blows. Lagoon is a love letter to a city and a society still bearing the scars of colonialism and civil war, here confronting the very relevant fears of alien otherness and the beast within themselves. [Alan Bett]

This reads a bit like a short story cycle. An episode swells and lapses, another swells in turn. By Night the Mountain Burns is told orally, through some literate intermediary, from Annobón, a tiny and remote Equatoguinean island. The speaker’s family history stands as surrogate for a people’s history, for a culture cloistered by the Atlantic Ocean. His is a boyhood populated by a grandmother, a silent grandfather and several mothers. Many of the island’s men, his father included, have disappeared across the water. As a brutal mob assault lapses, a cholera epidemic swells. Island traditions and local lore – canoe building and ‘she-devil’ women – blend with the banality and scarcity of the day-to-day. All are related in the same clear, sparse voice. Ávila Laurel laces Burns with repetitions and deferrals, presumably in an attempt to create a more authentic oral style. These can become frustrating, though. A promise to reveal the contents of the grandfather’s room is spun out interminably. The book’s blurb compares Ávila Laurel to Achebe and Garcia Márquez, which is unfair. There are tinges of magic realism, yes, and the spectre of colonialism whispers throughout, but Ávila Laurel’s prose doesn’t stand up to that sort of hype. Whose could? Burns is more intriguing than fascinating. It’s more likely to draw an interested ‘hmm’ than an astonished gasp. It draws plenty of the former, though. [Angus Sutherland]

The Land Agent is a story of diaspora. In 1919, a young Polish Jew named Lev flees persecution while an idealistic Scottish woman looks to begin again. Like ‘new branches on to old vines,’ they have both chosen the Holy Land of Palestine. There they find a parcel of land that exists on no map. A strip of desert by a river, home to a Bedouin tribe, it is the essential connection to water that the new kibbutz needs to survive. Yet this land is coveted by aggressive developers. The third novel in J. David Simons’ loose trilogy Glasgow to Galilee focuses on ideas of how the land and its people shape each other. Woven throughout is the story of Celia, the young Glaswegian Jewish woman and a founder of the kibbutz. Her letters home tell of the precarious life of the commune, and the gradual disillusionment of her socialist dream. Their crops wilt for lack of water as these young pioneers thirst for freedom. As tensions between Jews and Arabs rise, and riots are imminent, a terrifying earthquake highlights the fragility of this new-old state. The reader is told of a beautiful country, but one short of resources, riven with divisions and laden with the weight of history. Lev’s words have lost none of their resonance: ‘Land is an emotional issue in Palestine.’ [Christopher Lynch] Out now, published by Saraband, RRP £16.99

Out 6 Nov, published by And Other Stories, RRP £10

Out now, published by Hodder Paperbacks, RRP £8.99

November 2014

DVD / BOOKS

Review

On the Night: A Lovely Word This month, we have a cuppa with Paddy Hughes, the man behind one of Liverpool’s newest poetry nights – where ‘lovely’ proves a watchword for the event’s ethos of positivity, inclusivity and accessibility Interview: Martin Poile Illustration: Dom Kelly government conspiracy to the closure of the local pub. Unpredictable perhaps, but variety is part of the event’s charm. Hughes himself is noticeably excited by the concept: “You’re never quite sure what you’ll get on the evening… and that’s great. It could be a complete amateur scribbling notes in their lunch break or a published poet with bags of experience!” he says. Talking to Hughes, it is clear that this diversity is central to his vision for the future. In a nutshell, A Lovely Word aims to break down the traditional barriers to poetry. Hughes readily admits that poetry can often be viewed as boring, studied in the classroom from set texts and explored in laborious detail in syllabi

Frantic Assembly's Othello

across the country, yet A Lovely Word presents spoken word as an expressive art form, allowing the participants to explore fundamental elements of themselves: their poems manifesting from their personal experiences or political persuasion. Those who attend the evening do not have to partake in the reading itself, but are invited to soak up the atmosphere and familiarise themselves with the format – though Hughes hopes that the relaxed setting of the location will encourage spectators to eventually take to the mic themselves. The evolution of the event has prompted the need for a bigger venue that allows greater opportunity for networking, and while the Everyman Bistro caters to this, it also continues the crucial

level of intimacy established in its previous venue. Hughes describes the leap to the Bistro as the “natural thing to do,” as the association to the theatre can only serve to increase the reach of the collective, pulling more people through the door – plus, the Everyman’s inclusive philosophy reflects the idea that poetry belongs to all. Following in the footsteps of esteemed Liverpool writers such as Jeff Young, Lizzie Nunnery and Mark Davies Markham, A Lovely Word can only serve to strengthen this legacy. A Lovely Word, Liverpool Everyman Bistro Watch facebook.com/everymanplayhouse and @ liveveryplay on Twitter

Othello

machines and the ladies’ loos all act as an extension of these themes and motifs. The setting also serves to suggest accesFrantic Assembly reprise their highly acclaimed sibility: Frantic Assembly are ever careful to deadaptation of Othello this month at The Lowry. construct the notion that Shakespeare producThe company has long been established as a tions should create inferiority complexes among vehicle for thrilling, energetic theatre, attracting their audiences. fresh audiences by offering classic work with a The attention to detail is second to none. contemporary twist – and as the saying goes, if it Choreographed by Scott Graham and Steven ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Hoggett, the cast moves from naturalism to Formed in 1994, the company has developed expressionism – all the while exuding the tension a unique style that combines movement, design, of male magnetism competing for dominance. music and text to create vivid and dynamic proHowever, the fluidity and gracefulness of the ductions. It is therefore perhaps an intelligent choreography manages to retain the threat that move to attempt Shakespeare’s Othello, a tragic so characterises the play, stand-out moments thriller of paranoia, jealousy, sex and murder. occurring as actors are hurled across the stage Assembly have fused the classic with snooker cues and flounder among broken Shakespearian text with the company’s tradeglass. mark choreography, bringing the Jacobean drama This imaginative reinvention offers someto the forefront of the 21st century by placing the thing for both the Shakespeare virgins and the action in a derelict northern pub. The decision to purists, and with Frantic Assembly at the helm, it set the production here compliments the play’s is sure to be a good ’un. [Kate Morris] motifs of danger and male dominance, and the 18-29 Nov, various times, £22-£26 standard pub features of snooker tables, fruit

Barnum

The Lowry

Preview

Barnum

Palace Theatre Serving stints as a politician, writer and businessman, it is fair to say that P.T. Barnum led a busy and colourful life – but among his many ventures he is perhaps most remembered and celebrated as one of America’s greatest showmen. As well as establishing a circus (which he named ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’), his sharp mind and entrepreneurial flair inspired him to exploit public desire for all things bizarre and outrageous for his own financial gain; his many profitable exhibitions ranging from a (supposedly) 161-year-old woman to Jumbo the Elephant. Cameron Mackintosh and Michael Harrison seek to encapsulate the colour and vivacity of this superstar lifestyle in the musical Barnum, a show in which Barnum’s own life takes centre stage. The play looks at the disparity between the protagonist’s exuberant and larger-than-life

THEATRE

character and that of his wife, Charity, his altogether more grounded and level-headed counterpart. In order to find true happiness the two must learn to appreciate and discover value in the traits of the other. This is as much a piece that examines opposing outlooks on the world as it is a piece about a marriage. While the 1981 original version of the show focused more upon the circus-style spectacles that Barnum was accredited with, Mackintosh’s production aims to look at the heart and driving force behind the bravado. And although it may attract the disdain of those who prefer their theatre a little more highbrow, Barnum’s extravaganza of singing, dancing and circus promises its audience an experience ram-packed with the kind of fun and imagination that P.T. Barnum himself would be proud of. [Lauren O’Hara] 4-15 Nov, 7.30pm (matinees 2.30pm), £12.50-£62.50

THE SKINNY

Photo: Johan Persson

addy Hughes, mastermind and wordsmith behind the spoken word and poetry night A Lovely Word, provides a lively reminder over midafternoon coffee that Liverpool’s poetry scene is flourishing under his watchful eye and busy pen. For a night that began life in the late MelloMello (RIP), the event has gone from strength to strength, finding its new home in the enveloping arms of the Everyman Theatre’s famous bistro. A Lovely Word is a free event and acts as an opportunity for anyone – irrespective of their background – to engage with poetry and spoken word, whether it’s spectating or performing. Each poet is given a two-poem slot (though this is admittedly flexible), with participants’ ages ranging from 16 to 70 and topics from

Photo: Manuel Harlan

Spotlight: Jamali Maddix Photo: Rotterdam International Comedy Festival

Just because you’ve been booed off stage at a gig with your mum in the audience doesn’t mean you can’t win this year’s Student Comedy Award Interview: John Stansfield

or a long time Salford University used to cling on to Peter Kay for grim death. Rarely people would mention the University’s drama and performance programme without dropping in the obligatory “You know Peter Kay went here, don’t you?” It was a big claim to fame, as he was very famous. Though it had begun to get a little tired. Thankfully, their more recent alumni have been winning awards and gaining notoriety about the comedy scene. At the recent Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards they could boast both winners and nominees – in Tom Short for his part in Phil Ellis’s Panel Prize-winning Funz and Gamez, and in Best Newcomer nominees Gein’s Family Giftshop (also former Spotlighters, which is definitely a bigger accolade). Luisa Omielan also got her start through Salford Uni’s arts department, and has been lately touring the country with her show What Would Beyonce Do? Step forward, then, Jamali Maddix, the most recent offspring of Salford’s Adelphi Building to take the comedy world by storm. The 22-yearold Londoner recently won Chortle’s Student Comedian of the Year in Edinburgh, and has stunned audiences with his frank yet ironic take on everyday racism. He cites influences that range from Bill Hicks to Gandhi to his Uncle Mark. Dealing with issues people would rather not speak of, Maddix has endured a tough start

but has now found a way to present his material. Though his answers here may be clipped, his standup delivery is sharp and erudite – keep an eye out for Jamali Maddix. First gig: “A basement in London, and got booed off stage.” Best gig: “A gig where the crowd were rowdy and were talking as I walked on stage and this big guy – crazy looking dude – in back said, ‘Shut up he looks funny,’ and everyone just went quiet.” Worst gig: “I got gonged off at a show and my mum was in the crowd. That was a long ride home.” Circuit favourites in the Northwest: “I like Danny Mclonan*. I think that’s how you spell it, I dunno, he’s dope.” Favourite venue: “The Comedy Store in Manchester. The seating is great.” Best heckle: “I saw a guy leave the audience talking to himself saying ‘This is just ridiculous’ and then just keep

walking through talking to himself. It sounds rubbish as I’m saying this, but at the time it was funny. Best putdown is a comedian going into the crowd and staring at a heckler repeatedly saying ‘Why are you the way you are.’” Aspirations: “To carrying on doing standup and be able to rent a half decent flat.” What would you be doing if you weren’t doing standup? “I’d be bored.” If you could be haunted by anyone, who would it be and why? “Albert Einstein because why not.” If you were on death row, what would your last meal be? And why are you on death row? “I’d go for a quiche. I’d be there for being one bad muda.”

What’s the largest animal you think you could beat in a fight? No weapons. “I’m going for gorilla. I’ve got the game plan already.” If you lived in medieval times what would you be doing for a living? “Making bread.” Question from past Spotlighter Danny Sutcliffe: How do you operate a fire extinguisher? Please hurry. “Mate I’ve already left the building, there’s a fire.” *we’re almost certain he meant Danny McLoughlin. You can catch Jamali at Zom-Com at Zombie Shack on Oxford Road, Manchester, 20 Nov @bearded_wisdom9

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November 2014

COMEDY

Preview

Win a Christmas Design Box worth over £350!

Win gift vouchers and a meal for two at Manchester Craft and Design Centre! throughout the year, and frequent workshops to satisfy your cultural appetite. We’re offering you the chance to win a Christmas shopping experience at Manchester Craft and Design Centre, which includes £30 in gift vouchers and a meal for two (includes food and drinks up to the value of £30) in the Oak Street Café. For your chance to win, head to theskinny.co.uk/ about/competitions and correctly answer the following question: Nestled in the heart of the Northern Quarter is Manchester’s original independent shopping destination, Manchester Craft and Design Centre. Eighteen studio shops featuring beautiful handmade jewellery, art, gifts and homewares sit snugly alongside the Oak Street Café, a haven for lovers of good food and drink. Indulge in arguably the city’s finest cakes after sampling the tastiest and healthiest salads, tarts and stews for lunch. A refreshing alternative to high street shopping this Christmas, all of this is waiting for you under the glass roof of a historic converted Victorian fish market, where you’ll also find regular free exhibitions from leading artists and designers

Manchester Craft and Design Centre is located in one of Manchester city centre’s last surviving Victorian market halls – but what was originally sold there? A) Fruit and veg B) Fish C) Textiles Competition closes midnight Sunday 30 November. 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 For more information on Manchester Craft and Design Centre, go to www.craftanddesign.com

Contemporary craft and interiors event Home Is in the North, which returns to Manchester on 15 November, is giving one lucky Skinny reader the chance to win an exclusive Christmas Design Box worth over £350. The ultimate gift box, packed full of handmade designs and original crafts from local and emerging artists, could be yours just in time for Christmas. For the full selection of products – ranging from bone china mugs to candlesticks and handcrafted papercut baubles – go to the competition page on The Skinny website.) For your chance to win the selection of unique items from Home Is in the North exhibitors, head

COMPETITIONS

to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and answer the following question: Which single by The Smiths credits a fictional backing vocalist called Ann Coates? A) How Soon Is Now? B) Bigmouth Strikes Again C) This Charming Man Competition closes midnight Sunday 30 November. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Prize is only redeemable in person at the event – Hallé St. Peters, 15 November 2014, 11am-4pm. Products cannot be refunded or swapped. Prizes are subject to availability. Our Ts&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

THE SKINNY

Manchester Music Tue 04 Nov Y&T

THE KNIFE MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £25

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £16.50

The Swedish experimental pop group embark on their final run of shows.

JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £8

Rock’n’roll long-timers, continuing to melt faces some 30 years on.

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

The British blues rock guitarist tours in support of new album The Dirty Truth, having been initially discovered as a 16 year-old by the Eurythmics Dave Stewart. THE BLACKOUT

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £13

The Welsh post-hardcore unit bring the high energy rock soundscapes, well-kent for their party-hard attitude. NOTHING BUT THIEVES

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

The Southend on Sea ensemble take their new EP out on the road. AREA 11

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £11

Electronic-tinged hard rockers from Bristol, known for their energised and varied live sets.

MOTÖRHEAD (THE DAMNED + THE BOSSHOSS)

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £36.50

Lemmy et al let rip with the usual growl of incomprehensible lyrics and battering of thrash metal. LACUNA COIL + MOTIONLESS IN WHITE (DEVILMENT)

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £15

Double headline tour, with the Scranton mob (aka Motionless In White) touring their new LP, Reincarnate, joined by Italian metallers, Lacuna Coil.

WHITE LUNG

The Vancouver-based punk noisemakers hit town. J-BEAR AND THE GIANTS

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

Three blues rock tale-telling songs of swamp and swagger apparently! Expect some strutting?

Thu 06 Nov

KILL IT KID (GALLERY CIRCUS)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10

More groove-infused blues from the experimental foursome, with Chris Turpin on dust-bowl howlin’ duties. GOLDEN DONNA

KRAAK, 20:00–01:00, £6

The Wisconsian producer takes techno and house influences, mixing them into new soft-edged forms. He’s joined by his 100% Silk and local producer James Booth. BOY & BEAR

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £10

Sydney-based indie quintet deftly mixing driving indie-folk sounds with dainty choral harmonies. PALOMA FAITH (BRETT DENNEN)

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, FROM £27.50

The British singer/songwritercum-actress does her glossy, retro-referencing soul-meetspop thing s’more. CHVRCHES

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16

Leticia Moreno takes first chair on violin as the Russian-based orchestra play Liadov, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.

Just over a year since the release of their debut LP – and fresh from touring the hell outta the US-of-A – the Scottish electro-pop buzz band briefly return to home soil, before hitting far flung shores again later in the month.

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

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

ST. PETERSBURG PHILHARMONIC

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £15

TAMIKREST

COCKNEY REJECTS

The Mali desert blues troupe make their Merseyside debut, mixing sounds from their native land with Western rock classicism.

English punk rock band behind the song Oi Oi Oi – you could say they named an entire generation of music.

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

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £19.50

EYESHUTIGHT

The trio return with original tunes in the form of their latest album Resonance. REDRACER

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £6

Rock trio living in London but desiring the desert.

041114 (DAVE BAINBRIDGE + HARRY FAUSING SMITH + OTTO WILLBERG) SANDBAR, 19:30–22:00, FREE

The 2014-15 ddmmyy concert series begins with a free event in Manchester’s Sandbar. Three of the city’s contemporary acoustic and electronic musicians each curate unique solo sets, featuring music by Steve Reich, Iannis Xenakis and Larry Goves.

Wed 05 Nov SHABAZZ PALACES

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £10

Mysterious Seattle duo fusing Ishmael ‘Butterfly’ Butler’s laconic rasp against percussionist Tendai Maraire’s down-tempo bongo and hi-hat combo. PALOMA FAITH (BRETT DENNEN)

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, FROM £27.50

The British singer/songwritercum-actress does her glossy, retro-referencing soul-meetspop thing s’more.

TESSERACT (ANIMALS AS LEADERS)

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £12

British prog rock group credited with pioneering the ‘djent’ movement in progressive metal. ORPHANED LAND

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £11.50

Israeli breakthrough band, pioneering the Oriental metal genre. TIM WHEELER

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

The Ash mainman tours his debut solo LP, Lost Domain. GERARD WAY

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

My Chemical Romance bloke going it alone with no doubt histrionic results.

November 2014

THE WAILERS

The legendary Jamaican reggae crew take to the UK to perform their classic album, Legend, live and in its entirety.

THE HALLÉ (BUTTERWORTH + ELGAR + BAX + SIBELIUS) BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £11

Fri 07 Nov THE WAR ON DRUGS

THE RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £SOLD OUT

Sans Kurt Vile, fellow War founder Adam Granduciel continues to combine rock’n’roll classicism in the seventies AOR mould, all psychedelic and lushly-layed. COUNTING CROWS

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £34.50

The San Francisco rock unit return to UK soil as part of their worldwide tour.

XFM FIRST FRIDAY (DELTA SPIRIT + DAVE ROWNTREE DJ)

BAND ON THE WALL, 21:00–02:00, £8 EARLYBIRD (£10 THEREAFTER)

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

Alternative rock four-piece hailing from Morecambe, formed around a love for Motown and gritty Northern literature. PAOLO NUTINI

PHONES 4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, £41

The Paisley-born singer/songwriter continues to ride the wave of 2014 LP, Caustic Love.

NME NEW BREED TOUR (SUPERFOOD + HONEYBLOOD) THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £9

The NME tour rocks into Manchester featuring the excellent Honeyblood and the not-so-excellent Superfood. KATE BOY

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £7.50

Stockholm-based electro-pop merrymakers led by Kate Akhurst. SIR THOMAS ALLEN

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £18

British baritone helps the RNCM celebrate the opening of their newly-refurbished Concert Hall. SOAK

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £6

Young Irish songwriter recently signed by Rough Trade records. STEVE ROTHERY BAND

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £15

Founding member of UK prog giants Marillion goes it alone (well, with his own band in tow.)

London-based experimental metal duo made up of AJ Cookson and Matthew Rozeik. SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Formed after the Arts Council commissioned Dom Howard, aka Ruckspin, and Ranking Records to write and perform a live dubstep piece in Yorkminster – now out and touring their third LP, Alium. TIGERSIDE (THE HERO COMPLEX + THE WARDENS + F.I.G.M.O)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:30, £5

CIRCA WAVES

GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £8

Liverpool garage-pop quartet taking their cue from the early-00s indie scene. THE JADE ASSEMBLY

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £6

Indie rock lot from Bolton, launching their latest single on the night. THE DELINES

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £13

New-country/soul outfit lead by Willy Vlautin of Richmond Fontaine, out on tour armed with their new LP. WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE? (THE TRANSMITTERS + THE SPEED OF SOUND)

THE KING’S ARMS, 21:00–23:00, £7 (£4)

All-day festival of alternative music. JAMIE T

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

The consonant-dropping songwriter returns armed with an array of new tunes primed for a future busker’s performance on a street near you.

BBC PHILHARMONIC (BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST)

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £10

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

LINDSEY STIRLING + MIKE TOMPKINS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £SOLD OUT

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £32.50

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £10

ISLINGTON MILL, 20:00–23:00, £5

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

Canadian singer/songwriter and former Crash Test Dummies guitarist, otherwise known as Benjamin Darvill.

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

THE HEARTBREAKS

NECRO DEATHMORT (GHOLD + SKULLDOZER )

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–22:30, £10

SON OF DAVE

Hip-hop violinist who came to the public’s attention via America’s Got Talent is joined by Youtube sensation Mike Tompkins.

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

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £21.50

More fine adreneline-charged tunesmithery from the Chicagoan foursome, tearing into action like a punk-rock clusterbomb.

Mancunian five-piece formed at Glastonbury in 2007, crafting indie electro as they go.

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

RISE AGAINST (EMILY’S ARMY + PENNYWISE)

AN EVENING WITH ROGER MCGUINN

The legendary former Byrds frontman and founding member, Roger McGuinn returns for a string of UK dates this Autumn. DREAD SUPREME

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

Returning after a storming Manchester Jazz Festival 2014 set, the Dread Supreme continue to push against genre boundaries. HEY BULLDOG (STRANGE COLLECTIVE + PSYENCE)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £TBC

Founded by Rob Manton, Hey Bulldog are a three-piece fond of psychedelic blues rock. Well aren’t we all. DAM AND KATIBEH 5

KRAAK, 19:00–22:00, £10

Three hip-hop acts from the Middle East tour the UK, with DAM headlining, supported by Palestinian hip-hop stalwarts Le Monde and Beirut troupe Katibeh 5.

Sat 08 Nov THE KOOKS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £19.50

Tousled-haired Brighton scamps with a kit-bag of guitar-based pop offerings. TURIN BRAKES (T.E YATES + HUGO KENSDALE)

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

The London folk rock ensemble hit the road again with their sleepy laidback sound.

GLASS CAVES

KRAAK, 19:30–22:30, £TBC

SIKTH

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £14

The six-piece metal group hit the road again. JAH WOBBLE’S INVADERS OF THE HEART

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £14

The PiL man is joined by some-time Stone Roses guitarist Aziz Ibrahim to celebrate his illustrious career as a musician. HAMILTON LEITHAUSER

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £14

Former lead singer of American rock units The Recoys and The Walkmen, out and touring his solo material. DONA OXFORD

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

Soulful singer songwriter drawing on the old school of soul singing. NEW FACES (AMBER RUN + FYFE + KIMBERLY ANNE + PIXEL FIX)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £8

Communion bring you the names on their collective lips for next year. APRIL WAS A PASSENGER (CREEK + E NUMBERS)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–00:00, £4

Parisian troupe recalling everything from Queen to Kraftwerk. Which sounds crazy, but could work? NIGHTMARES ON WAX

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

A full live show from Warp’s longest-serving artist, with a set that spans 25 years of George ‘E.A.S.E’s distinguished career.

Sun 09 Nov THURSTON MOORE

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £15

The former Sonic Youth singer, songwriter and guitarist goes on tour to support his latest LP, The Best Day.

ED SCHRADER’S MUSIC BEAT (RATTLE) KRAAK, 18:00–22:00, £5

Baltimore’s Ed Schrader’s Music Beat return to the UK for the first time since supporting good buddies Future Islands this spring just gone. ACOUSTIC BHUNA (GLASS ANKLE + LUCIANO GERBER)

BAND ON THE WALL, 17:00–20:00, FREE

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

Tickets have become rarer than hen’s teeth for the recent Mercury Prize nominee latest UK tour.

NEW RICH (RANDOLPH SWAIN + MOON & THE BEAMS + OLLY TAYLOR)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £4

Local bunch of indie chaps.

KOKOSCHA STRING QUARTET

BILLY IDOL

The White Wedding singer returns for a go around some of his finest hits. PHILIP GLASS & THE PHILIP GLASS ENSEMBLE

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 20:00–22:30, FROM £23

The legendary composer plays excerpts from his canon of work, as part of an eight-piece ensemble. THE LOST BROTHERS

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £TBC

The Irish duo celebrate the launch of their fourth album New Songs Of Dawn and Dust, produced by former Coral man Bill Ryder-Jones. TY SEGALL

GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £12

JOHN MCLEOD 80TH BIRTHDAY CONCERT

Murray McLachlan performs John McLeod’s newly composed Piano Sonata No 5 in celebration of the Scottish composer’s 80th birthday. OSAKA MONOAURAIL

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

Japan’s self-proclaimed Ministers of Super Heavy Funk continue to bring the groove after more than two decades together. CHAOS TO ORDER: MATTHEW BOURNE AND CHRISTOPHE DE BEZENAC

CENTRAL LIBRARY, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

The opening of Everything Everything’s Chaos to Order residency sees two jazz explorers tackle the influence of Alan Turing in a specially commissioned piece.

Tue 11 Nov

THE SPECIALS (SLEAFORD MODS)

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £40

The legendary ska group take to the road for their 11-date autumn UK tour, some 30-odd years since they first called it a day. OZRIC TENTACLES (MANTISMASH)

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

The psychedelic space rockers take to the UK armed with a 28-strong back catalogue of albums, celebrating 30 years of music-making. MAGNUM

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, £3

Eclectic sound tracks in the form of girl groups-synthpop-disco-funkmotown-booty shake. Inspired by cult movies and video games. TRUCKFIGHTERS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £11

PHOX

Flat-cap wearing singer-songwriter on the road in support of his new album Three Hearts.

A bunch of friends from the Midwestern circus hamlet making happy-go-lucky folky indie-pop.

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £16

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

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

The 1979-formed pioneering doom metal band continue to tread the boards. ELECTRIC MARY (GOLD JACKS)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10

MusicOz Award finalist, Melbourne rockers Electric Mary bring their Guns N’ Roses reminiscent sounds to the UK.

KING GIZZARD + THE LIZARD WIZARD

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £7

Melbourne-formed psych rockers whose influences reach back to the sounds of the 60’s, evoking the rock experimentation of Frank Zappa.

Wed 12 Nov

THE BOOGIE WILLIAMS TRIO GRANDE

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

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

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £8

TROUBLE

Stockholm death metal troupe return to the UK.

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £12

ADVENTURE CLUB

EDM types from Montreal. IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £12

The Soundway Records-signed group bring their colourful mix of West African highlife, disco, post-punk and psychedelia to Manchester.

GIOVANNI SOLLIMA AND KATHRYN STOTT

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £17

The duo perform Beethoven, Monteverdi, Piatti and more.

EAGLES FOR HANDS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £7.50

ENTOMBED A.D

The Copenhagen-based psych and garage duo, aka Christian Skibdal and Mads Bredtoft Gräs.

The cult krautrock-indebted trio return with their tenth studio fulllength, the aptly titled Volume X.

Burgeoning rock group from Manchester.

Indie rock five-piece hailing from East London, a dab hand at penning catchy wee guitar anthems.

The prolific garage rocker returns to the UK with his latest and arguably most hi-fi record yet in Manipulator. TRANS AM (PLANK)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £6

Brighton-based electronic chappie with a colourful production and musicality genuinely his own.

JOSHUA CAVANAGH + SPLIT MILK

ROADHOUSE, 19:00–22:30, £13

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £37.50

AERO TWISTED & THE ARCANE LISTED (JAMES WYATT + THE VISITORS + ROCKETSHIP FOREST)

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

Mon 10 Nov

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

The veteran Polish hip-hop crew tour the UK more than a dozen releases into their career.

An Israeli-Polish collaboration headed up by UK-resident drummer Asaf Sirkis and Polish vocalist and composer Sylwia Bialas.

Cavanagh brings two of his bands to Matt & Phred’s in the form of trio Spilt Milk and his own ninepiece band.

The Swedish noise rockers tour off the back of their new LP, Universe.

GRUBSON

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £15

The quartet perform Death and the Maiden by Schubert.

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 19:30–22:00, £14

Genius pairing of live music with home-made curry, making for a relaxed sorta Sunday. ALEX CARE

THE SIRKIS/BIALIS INTERNATIONAL QUARTET

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £7

FEROCIOUS DOG (MAELOR HUGHES)

The Mansfield-based band, mixing up traditional instruments – think fiddles and whistles – with buzz saw rock’n’roll vibes. THE HALLÉ (BERLIOZ + BIZET + SHOSTAKOVICH)

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 14:15–17:15, FROM £11

The Hallé’s Autumn season continues with some special guests and a run through the classical canon. HOZIER (RICHIE & THE REMEDY)

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £14

Irish soul-meets-blues one-manband, aka Andrew Hozier-Byrne, who joined his first band at the tender age of 15. SHAKKA

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £9

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

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £7.50

Experimental Leeds newcomers out and touring their debut LP, Gist Is. BLUES PILLS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–23:00, £8

Swedish blues rock troupe who’ll also be supporting Rival Sons this Autumn. KATHRYN ROBERTS AND SEAN LAKEMAN

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:30, £14

The folk rock couple return with a new album, Hidden People. ELUVEITIE

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £16

The Chrigel Glanzmann-fronted group fond of fusing Gothenburg death metal and traditional folk heritage together.

Thu 13 Nov KEVIN FIGES QUARTET

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

Bristol-based quartet fusing a variety of influences to produce highly personal music in a fearless and evolving way. THE HALLÉ (BERLIOZ + BIZET + SHOSTAKOVICH)

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £11

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

GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £12.50

Young urban folk trio on vocals, guitar and trusty ukulele. GHETTS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £12

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

XFM X-POSURE PRESENTS (SAINT MOTEL)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8

The radio tastemakers return with another bill of up and coming talent.

DEXTERS + IC1S

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £8

THE SHIRES + WARD THOMAS

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £11

Double-headlining show featuring two of the forerunners of the resurgent UK Country scene. CHAOS TO ORDER: JOSEPHINE PRESENTS CELLULOID HISTORY SONGS

CENTRAL LIBRARY, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

A specially-commissioned set from the singer songwriter, taking inspiration from the sights and sounds of the North.

Fri 14 Nov

RICH ROBINSON (FEDERAL CHARM)

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

The founding member of rock’n’rollers The Black Crowes plays a full-band solo set. DIGNAN PORCH

KRAAK, 19:45-22:30, £5

Tooting-based project of Joseph Walsh playing hazy indie-pop jams. THIS FEELING (DELAMERE + THE JACQUES + MEDICINE MEN + TURRENTINE JONES)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 20:00–23:00, £5

The London rock’n’roll night takes a trip north with a selection of live bands taking to the stage. THE LUCID DREAM (PURPLE HEART PARADE)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Four-piece psychedelic rock from that mecca of all things third-eye revealing, Carlisle. THE SIXTEEN

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £15

A concert of choral favourites as part of the International Concert Series, featuring the work of Frank Martin and J.S Bach. RUARRI JOSEPH (LILY & MEG + LOIS WARRINGTON)

EAGLE INN, 19:30–23:00, £10

Edinburgh-born, New Zealandraised acoustic folk singer/ songwriter. JAMES BAY

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £10

Long-haired singer/songwriter currently residing in Brighton, having his way with the pop/rock template at the tender age of 20. WE WERE EVERGREEN

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £8

Parisian indie-pop trio whose eclectic arrangements marry the organic, electric and electronic with ukuleles, xylophones and disco beats. OMNIA

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Unique ‘pagan folk’ outfit, which is a mix of religious pagan, Celtic and world music in which nature and freedom of expression are the main themes. WILD CHILD

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:00–22:30, £12

BASS DRUM OF DEATH (BROWN BROGUES + THE SLOVAKS) ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £10

The brainchild of John Barrett but now with a full-time band line-up, Bass Drum of Death bring their Nuggets-inspired rock back to the UK.

KINDRED THE FAMILY SOUL (QUENTIN MOORE + DJ GILES THORPE)

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £16.50 EARLYBIRD (£18.50 THEREAFTER)

The Philadelphia duo bring the feel-good vibes with their lovedup soul. CHAOS TO ORDER: KIRAN LEONARD PRESENTS DEREVAUN SERAUN

CENTRAL LIBRARY, 20:30–22:00, £SOLD OUT

The prodigious Oldham multiinstrumentalist performs an original composition of five movements based on the title of the Everything Everything residency.

Sat 15 Nov MALLORY KNOX

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Pop-meets-rock quintet named after Juliette Lewis’ psychopathic character in Natural Born Killers, in case you were wondering. CITY REIGN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £6

The Manc alternative indie quartet play their biggest hometown headlining show to-date. PERE UBU (MICHAEL CRADDOCK DJ)

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £14 (£16 THEREAFTER)

The Ohio rockers hit the Ukwith 18th LP, Carnival of Souls – inspired by their live soundtracking of Herk Harvey’s classic 1962 B-movie of the same name. VESSEL (MATTHEW AND DAVID)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £5 EARLYBIRD (£7 THEREAFTER)

The Tri-Angle Records producer brings his dark techno ruminations to Manchester. CARA DILLON

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £20

Singer-songwriter from Ireland. CHINESE MARBLES

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

Nine-piece jazz line-up, playing a free blend of jazz, funk, soul and ska. LUKE DANIELS

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

Singer and multi-instrumentalist coming from a background of folk and traditional music.

FEED THE KID (THE HIGH NINES + LUCKY T. JACKSON + SECOND HAND GUNS)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 20:00–23:00, £8

Apparently formed to “give their mate’s gingerbread kid a future”, the local rockers can count Terry Christian among their fans. BBC PHILHARMONIC (CHOPIN + ELGAR)

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £10

The BBC Philharmonic’s season continues with a journey through an array of compositional masterpieces. KERBDOG (AMPLIFIER + NINE BLACK ALPS + HAWK EYES + HEY YOU GUYS!)

THE RITZ, 16:00–22:00, £16

The Irish alt. metal veterans are joined by an array of righteous rock talent. JONNY BROWN

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £8

Folk-meets-pop Texans with Alexander Beggins and Kelsey Wilson sharing lead vocal duties.

The Twisted Wheel front man goes it alone.

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

ROADHOUSE, 18:30–22:00, £11

BEN FROST (DENIS JONES + DRUSS)

The experimental Australian composer and producer brings his new album A U R O R A to the UK, his first for Mute Records. BIGELF

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

Inspired by the bombast of 70’s rockers Queen and ELO, Bigelf marry such extravagance with a more modern heavy sound. PASCUALAL ILABACA & FAUNA

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £14

The Chilean accordion player and songwriter is joined by her band as they play a new take on the South American country’s native music. RNCM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £14

SPUNGE 20TH ANNIVERSARY

The ska punk veterans celebrate a scarcely believable 20 years of throwing a load of brass and woodwind on everything.

CHAOS TO ORDER: FINALE (EVERYTHING EVERYTHING + JESCA HOOP + MELODICO ENSEMBLE) CENTRAL LIBRARY, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

The finale of Everything Everything’s library residency featuring new music from the four-piece themselves.

Sun 16 Nov KINA GRANNIS

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

Los Angeles-based acoustic folkmeets-pop singer/songwriter who recently won an MTV award for best web-born artist.

The resident Symphony Orchestra tackle Berlioz and Prokofiev.

Listings

Manchester Music THE GROWLERS (PINS) ROADHOUSE, 18:00–21:00, £11

American ensemble known for blending fuzzy surf with sexy psychedelia, throwing in some hypnotic melodies and tripped out lyrics for good measure. VOLBEAT

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

The Danish metal heavyweights continue to tour hell outta their newest LP, Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies. THE QUIREBOYS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

Hard rock group formed in 1984 in London – on-and-off until 2001, when they reformed with their current line-up. THE HALLÉ (BERLIOZ + BIZET + SHOSTAKOVICH)

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £11

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

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £19.50

Synthpop duo made up of singer Elly Jackson and record producer Ben Langmaid, out and touring their new LP, Trouble In Paradise.

RAGA JYOTI PRESENTS BHARATIYA VRUND GAAN

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 18:00–20:00, £12

The Sub Pop Records chap and his flowing locks make their way to the UK, acting the furioso frontman/artist/acoustic guitar legend that he is – or, in his own words ‘me like to rock’. JAMIE T (SLAVES)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

The consonant-dropping songwriter returns armed with an array of new tunes primed for a future busker’s performance on a street near you. JOHN WILSON & THE JOHN WILSON ORCHESTRA

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £27.50

The Gateshead-born conductor brings his Orchestra to town to celebrate the works of Cole Porter. SUICIDE SILENCE

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £12

American deathcore band formed in California touring their latest album You Can’t Stop Me. CLOSE YOUR EYES (EVERY MAN IS AN ISLAND)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £18

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:45–23:00, £5

PALACE THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £23.40

THE COMPUTERS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £8

Visceral and hardcore bluesy punk from the Exeter four-piece. THE DRUMS

GORILLA, 19:30–22:30, £15

The former surfing enthusiasts return with their third album Encyclopedia as they try to make good on their early hype. PASSENGER

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £20

Brighton born singer/songwriter Mike Rosenberg’s pared back new guise (i.e. five piece band becomes one).

NIGHT & DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (SECOIA SOUL + MOLLY WARBURTON + LUKE SAXTON + ZOE STIRLING) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £5

Four local artists get their chance to impress on the Night and Day stage. 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.

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, FROM £25

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £25

South African alternative metal outfit formed in 1999, who went under the name Saron Gas until ditching it in 2002.

HORISONT

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

CHRIS DIFFORD & GLEN TILBROOK

The Squeeze duo tour together for the first time in 20 years. BARRENCE WHITFIELD & THE SAVAGES

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–23:00, £14

American soul-meets-r’n’b outfit led by vocalist Barrence Whitfield, recently taken under the wing of Bloodshot Records. ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD (YOUR FAVOURITE ENEMIES + MIDNIGHT MASSES) THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £13

The alternative rock veterans return, defined as ever by the push and pull of Conrad Keely’s epic mysticism and Jason Reece’s primal punk surge, are back – and touring their latest album, IX. BAHAMAS

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

The entire nation of the Bahamas!? Situated entirely within the Deaf Institute!? Nah, just the solo project Toronto-based guitarist Afie Jurvanen. WINTER MOUNTAIN

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £8

Hailing from the shores of Cornwall and Donegal, Winter Mountain take their two-piece harmonies and folk wistfulness on the road. 161114

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–20:30, £6 (£2)

ddmmyy concert series continues with music including a world premiere by Laurie Tompkins, Larry Goves A Glimpse Of The Sea In A Fold Of The Hills and culminates with Laurence Crane’s Octet.

Mon 17 Nov

ALEX CORNISH (PAUL GILBODY)

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £12

The Edinburgh singer/songwriter and his effortlessly laid-back DIY folk-pop songs, sewn together with some live musical trickery. THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £24.50

The New Jersey quartet play a reliably anthemic mix of pop-rock melodies retooled for a punkinformed audience. TRAMPLED BY TURTLES

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

The chaotic Minnesota countryrockers play one of their signature energetic sets. THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £13

Alternative, blues-drenched rock’n’rollers formed between London and Glasgow in the summer of 2011.

The Quartet play Mozart, Bartok and Dvorak. ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £12

Thin Lizzy gone psych’ so howls the press release for this Swedish quintet. BRONCHO + PURPLE (FANS)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–22:30, £7

Double headlining show with Texan punk rockers Purple and Oklahoman trio Broncho.

Tue 18 Nov

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £24.50

The New Jersey quartet play a reliably anthemic mix of pop-rock melodies retooled for a punkinformed audience.

NIGHT & DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (SERVICE OF A VILLAIN + KELLY’S HEROES + ONE KLICK NORTH) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £5

Four local artists get their chance to impress on the Night and Day stage. COVES

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, FREE

Spacey Leamington Spa-hailing duo made up of John Ridgard and Beck Wood. THE ORDINARY BOYS

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10

Preston et al take to a live setting in a slightly rejigged line-up, with the addition of ex-Spectrals guitarist Louis Jones. AN EVENING WITH JACKSON BROWNE

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £37.50

The singer/songwriter returns to the live arena in support of his 14th studio LP, Standing In The Breach. OUGHT

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–22:30, £12

Montreal post-punk lot who flickered to life in 2011 holed up in a shared apartment that doubled as their rehearsal space. AGAINST ME!

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £14

91’s punk rockers from Florida touring latest record Transgender Dysphoria Blues.

SET IT OFF (SLOW MAGIC + ODESZA + CRAFT SPELLS + BLUE HAWAII + MORE)

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–01:00, £15

Package tour featuring a delightful selection of soulful electronic styles. EMILY WEST & THE RYAN TAYLOR TRIO

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

An eclectic blend of jazz, blues, soul and Latin music.

Listings

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £6.50

Wed 19 Nov

Melodic hardcore from the Texan four-piece. VERTAVO QUARTET WITH PAUL LEWIS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, FREE

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

The Rum Committee vocalist goes solo with his first release Best Laid Plans.

Popular group songs of India, classical raga-based compositions and chants from the Vedic tradition make up this 50-strong choir’s repertoire.

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8

Raggle taggle folk ensemble blending a unique mixture of rock, pop, gypsy jazz and bluegrass into their mix.

The BBC and Xfm supported songwriting duo headline the latest of Fly53’s free sessions.

HARVEY MASON CHAMELEON BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–22:00, £15 EARLYBIRD (£17.50 THEREAFTER)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £7

The American singer/songwriter plays a solo set, best known to many as the lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish.

JOHN GRANT + ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

The multi-Grammy nominated session, drummer, composer and artist bring his latest solo project Chameleon to the live stage.

CHRISTOPHER OWENS

KING TUFF (SEX HANDS + MISTOA POLTSA)

MAD DOG MCREA + MOLLY BLOOM ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £12

The American singer/songwriter and onetime frontman of 90s act The Czars takes to the road for a special seven-date tour with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, reworking his back catalogue within a sumptuous orchestral setting.

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

The singer/songwriter of the nowdisbanded San Franciscan outfit, Girls, goes it alone again with his second solo LP, A New Testament.

DARIUS RUCKER THE RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £20

SEETHER

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

THE PRETTY RECKLESS

NYC rockers led by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Taylor Momsen. AMERICAN AUTHORS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £12

NYC alternative rockers led by vocalist Zac Barnett. TYKETTO

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

Hard rock veterans formed in 1987 by Waysted vocalist Danny Vaughn. KIESZA

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

Canadian singer-songwriter best known for her single Hideaway. KRIP-HOP NATION

CONTACT, 20:00–22:30, £6 (£3)

MCs, rappers, DJ’s and musicians from theUSA, Germany, Uganda and the UK. CARL BARAT & THE JACKALS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

The Libertines front man no doubt hoping that his old band’s summer success will rub off on his latest indie troupe. SINKANE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £8

The Yesayer and Caribou collaborator comes to the Deaf Institute to showcase his Sudanese brand of motorik and funk. ATTAQUE

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £6

Techno from Colchester, Attaque has found support from the likes of Fake Blood and Erol Alkan.

Thu 20 Nov ALLO DARLIN’

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:30, £9

Musical-magpies borrowing from a variety of classic indie-pop acts. JOHNNY HUNTER QUARTET

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

Blind Monk Trio drummer, Johnny Hunter, branching out with a new project, offering up fresh, contemporary jazz.

THE HALLÉ (DVORÁK + BEETHOVEN + BARTÓK) BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £11

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

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

The riotous, adrenalin-soaked Scottish alternative rock unit celebrate the forthcoming 30th anniversary of their 1985 debut LP, Psychocandy, by playing it live and in its gloriously scuzzy entirety.

FLY 53: WE THE WILD

THE KING’S SINGERS

RAG’N’BONE MAN

MOSCOW (KAZO + PARTISAN + JERONIMO)

The renowned vocal ensemble go through songs from the Great American Songbook, as well as Morley, Weekles and Brahms, among others.

Don’t let the name fool you, these rockers are as Lancastrian as they come.

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £5 EARLYBIRD (£7 THEREAFTER)

THE RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £15

TORN HAWK + STEVE HAUSCHILDT

A potentially mesmerising double bill as AV artist Luke Wyatt tours his Torn Hawk alias, alongside former Emeralds founder Steve Hauschildt. SEUN KUTI & EGYPT 80

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

The youngest son of the legendary Fela Kuti brings his father's 16-piece funk fuelled orchestra Egypt 80 to BOTW. AS WE ARE AWAY LAUNCH

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–00:00, £DONATIONS

Nous Magazine launch their second As We Are Away mini-festival with a night of music.

Fri 21 Nov

PULLED APART BY HORSES

GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £12

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. THE FEVERS

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £7

The Brazilian rock bunch, formerly known as The Fenders, play a typical set of electro funk rock you can dance to. CHET FAKER

THE RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £10

The Australian electronica muso showcases tracks from his debut LP, Built on Glass. GARETH GATES

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £18

Only the pop star Will Young could’ve been!

BBC PHILHARMONIC (NIELSEN + TCHAIKOVSKY)

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £10

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

POP PUNK’S NOT DEAD: NEW FOUND GLORY (THE STORY SO FAR + STATE CHAMPS + CANDY HEARTS + ONLY RIVALS)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 18:00–23:00, £18.50

The American group bring a cabal of noughties pop-punk fodder on the road with them, all in the spirit of rocking not quite hard enough to disappear off the airwaves.

THE WHISKY SESSIONS (I AM KLOOT)

VICTORIA WAREHOUSE, 19:00–23:00, £35

Sat 22 Nov CHRISTINA PERRI

Young Philidelphia singer/ songwriter who got her break on Fox talent show So You Think You Can Dance, singing a self-penned break-up anthem, obvs. 2:54

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £10

London sister duo made up of lead vocalist Colette Thurlow and sister Hannah, fueled on riot girl punk with bursts of heavy riffing and the odd psychedelic meander. CYRIL SNEAR

GULLIVERS, 19:30-23:00, £3

The genre-bending Mancunian math-rock chameleons break cover for a rare headlining show. LEVELLERS (THE SELECTOR)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £22.50

The longstanding Brighton rock ensemble celebrate the release of their greatest hits LP with, presumably, a set cherrypicked from their finest. MERCHANDISE

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £9

Florida-based band of rockers, riding along on interestingly experimental punk and hardcore soundscapes.

GABBY YOUNG AND OTHER ANIMALS

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–22:00, £10

Crafting a new genre of entertainment, Gabby Young et al bring their circus swing/burlesque folk show to the UK.

THE WHISKY SESSIONS (GOMEZ)

VICTORIA WAREHOUSE, 19:00–23:00, £35

Two-day headlining event featuring those grizzled veterans of Manchester indie, Gomez and I Am Kloot as headliners. THE LAST CRY (JORDAN REYNE + CHASING DRAGONS)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:30, £10

Three-piece darkwave band – nope, us neither – from the south coast of the UK. CALAITA FLAMENCO SON

Brooklyn teen prodigy gearing up for the release of his muchanticipated debut LP B4.DA.$$. DYING FETUS

SOUND CONTROL, 18:00–22:00, £13

One of the more influential death metal bands of recent times hit the road again. CHATHAM COUNTY LINE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:30, £14

The bluegrass four-piece come to the UK with a glut of awards on their mantelpiece. HANSU-TORI

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

Cinematic jazz from Birmingham.

GRUMBLING FUR (FROM THE KITES OF SAN QUENTIN)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £8

Otherworldly pastoral psych pop from the Quietus LP of The Year winners, made up of Thrill Jockey’s Alex Tucker and some-time Sunn o))) collaborator Daniel O’Sullivan.

Mon 24 Nov

MASTODON (BIG BUSINESS + KROKODIL) MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £22.50

Classic and southern-styled rock influences abound as the mighty Atlanta heavy-metallers descend. LUCY SPRAGGAN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £10

Little Lucy Spraggan, of X Factor fame, now a fully fledged touring musician making ‘flop’ – that’s folk meets hip-hop for the uninitiated. THE ORWELLS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £10

MATT SCHOFIELD (BEN POOLE)

The British bluesman does his guitar wizardry thing to suitably fine effect. EOFE

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £8

Fledgling crossover rock ensemble big on the soaring vocals and giant riffs. MAD CADDIES

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 20:00–23:00, £15

Californian ska-punk ensemble combining elements of rock and roots reggae. NORTHCOTE

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £7

FROM CARBON

Tue 25 Nov

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £7

Soprano singer Kirkby and lute player Lindberg go through a series of themed pieces including work by composer John Dowland and William Byrd.

JOEY BADA$$

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £13

Four-piece risen from the ashes of Alvheim in 1997.

Solo project by big-voiced singersongwriter Matt Goud.

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

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £15

1349

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Quirky flamenco outfit.

EMMA KIRKBY AND JAKOB LINDBERG

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £15

RED NINE (THE NANKEENS + IN THE CARDS + JEKYLL)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

Self-styled ‘grit pop’ from Manchester.

Sun 23 Nov BRYAN ADAMS

PHONES 4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, £45.80

The man who put (Everything I Do) I Do It For You at number one for 16 bloody weeks. Say no more. TUNE UP & BE HEARD (BUFFOS WAKE + LOS TRASGOS MUERTOS + SECATEURS + SUPERHAND + THE PUPPETEERS)

ANTWERP MANSION, 19:30–00:00, £3

An always surprising mix of local and touring bands.

ACOUSTIC BHUNA (SKUTCH MANOS)

BAND ON THE WALL, 17:00–20:00, FREE

Genius pairing of live music with home-made curry, making for a relaxed sorta Sunday.

The five-piece present their latest album How We Both Wondrously Perish.

THE SKATALITES

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

Spanish lo-fi rockers capturing the sound and spirit of C86 to perfection.

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

60’s Ska veterans from Jamaica featuring an ever-changing roster of musicians. ALLUSONDRUGS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £6

GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £5

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 20:00–22:30, £17

The multi-million selling numetallers tour in support of their latest album The Hunting Party.

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £TBC

DEERS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 20:00–23:00, £27.50

American R&B and electro-funk mainstays embark on a reunion tour.

BLIND MONK TRIO

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

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

THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

Los Angeles born’n’raised singer/ songwriter and self-taught pianist (aka Jillian Banks), fresh on the back of her debut LP. LILY ALLEN (FRYARS)

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £32.50

THE SCENES

Finnish group attempting to paint something psychedelic between hardcore punk and progressive rock. UPON A BURNING BODY (MARTYR DEFILED + THEY CHARM THE FURY)

ROADHOUSE, 18:00–22:00, £9

The San Antonio metallers roar back into town with new album Red. White. Green. RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £9

Canadian indie-rockers led by Nils Edenloff on vocals and guitar duties.

Wed 26 Nov ELECTRIC SIX

GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £12.50

Detroit underdogs with enough joyful hooks, mischievous wordplay and unexpected pathos to worm their way into your heart. TALIB KWELI

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

The influential New York MC deft at making minds tick and bodies move, such is his talent. PROTEST THE HERO

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £13

The Ontario progressive metal quintet do their headcaving-cumdanceable thing. FOCUS

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 19:30–22:30, £17.50

Dutch pop-rock exports fronted by founding member Thijs Van Leer best-known for their beserk 70’s hit ‘Hocus’. DALE STORR

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

Lincolnshire-hailing musician, heavily influenced by the sounds of New Orleans.

SIXTIES GOLD (GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS + THE SEARCHERS + P.J. PROBY + THE FORTUNES + MORE)

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, £29.50

Gerry And The Pacemakers head up this nostalgia-fest of a 60’s package tour. ELYAR FOX

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10

British singer-songwriter hits the road previewing tracks from his forthcoming EP. BERRNHOFT

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:30, £10

Norwegian retro soul musician self-described as making music that sounds like melted gravel with chocolate topping. Which is nice. O’HOOLEY AND TIDOW

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £12

The folk duo known for interpreting everything from Massive Attack to traditional Irish ballads return with a new album The Hum in the bag. THE MIGHTY OAKS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £8

The London songstress returns to a live setting as part of her winter UK tour.

Ango-Italian-American trio of bros writing earnest songs based around acoustic guitars and mandolin.

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Thu 27 Nov

WALKING ON CARS

Young pop-meets-rock scamps hailing from Dingle, in Ireland. GABRIELA MONTERO

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

The Venzuelan pianist explores the Romantic work of Brahms, Schumann, Schubert and Montero.

EAGLE INN, 19:00–00:00, £DONATIONS

A night of noise as part of As We Are Away Festival, with improv noise rockers Locean among the highlights.

The grungy Leeds quintet do their guitar-fuelled rock thing.

PHONES 4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, FROM £50.50

LINKIN PARK

GORILLA, 19:30–22:30, £10

POST (SECOND SHEPHERDS + LOCEAN)

The Camerata are joined by accordian player Martynas Levickis, going through classics like Vivaldi’s Winter to right up to, um, Gaga’s Telephone.

SOS BAND (GWEN DICKEY + LOOSE ENDS)

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

THE HALLÉ (CLASSICAL GREATS)

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £11

Indie rock originating from the suburbs of Manchester.

The Georgia Satellites frontman hits the road with his rockin’ and rollin’ live band, Homemade Sin.

It’s been a long time since Jane McDonald was the breakout star of BBC’s The Cruise - not long enough for everyone to stop referencing it though! The former seafaring warbler takes another turn around the UK.

Raunchy flower punk from the Illinois-residing five-piece outfit, touring with their latest EP, Other Voices, bringing the fresh-faced rock’n’roll energy by the bucket load.

Two-day headlining event featuring those grizzled veterans of Manchester indie, Gomez and I Am Kloot as headliners. DAN BAIRD & HOMEMADE SIN

JANE MCDONALD

MANCHESTER CAMERATA: FROM TANGO TO GAGA

THE CROOKES

SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–22:30, £7

Expect guitar-led pop all the way as the Sheffield quartet bring their jangly brand of joy. EXAMPLE

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £27.50

The English electronic singer/ songwriter (aka Elliot John Gleave) tours his latest LP, Live Life Living.

BEING AS AN OCEAN

ROADHOUSE, 19:00–22:30, £12

ALEXIS CAIRNS

A selection of standards and original material from jazz saxophonist, Alexis Cairns. ORGY (DEVIANT UK + THE LADDER)

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

Longstanding goth unit formed back in 1998 by vocalist Jay Gordon and guitarist Amir Derakh. THE RAF IN CONCERT 2014

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

Because playing the cello is just like flying a plane. The Bands of the Royal Air Force celebrate the Red Arrows, in musical form. JIM NOIR

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £12.50

Manc singer/songwriter (aka Alan Roberts) taking his stage name in homage to Vic Reeves (whose real name is Jim Moir), out and touring his new LP. DELAIN (WOLF)

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

Dutch symphonic metal named after the Kingdom of Delain in Stephen King’s novel The Eyes of the Dragon. VAULTS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £5

Fans of Lorde, Chvrches and Tove Lo will supposedly find much to enjoy from this mysterious three-piece. DECONTAMINATION 2

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 21:00–23:00, £8

Two of Bill Viola’s films Angel’s Gates and Anthem will be shown alongside a selection of Roger Zahab’s arrangements of the Harmonies from Apartment House 1777.

JOHN FAIRHURST (JAMIE BREWER)

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £8

The supposed true epitomy of the modern day wandering blues man, wanders right on into Band On The Wall.

Fri 28 Nov

THE BEAT (THE PLATES)

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

Popular Birmingham ska and 2-tone revival band, founded way back in 1978. THE RUTS DC (STEVE IGNORANT WITH SLICE OF LIFE)

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

Reggae-influenced punk-rockers, formed in 1981 after The Ruts demise, playing a rare Scottish outing. THE WYTCHES

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £8

Brighton band making dark and flowery psychedelia, with surf riffs straight outta 1950. ALLIGATOR GUMBO

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

Leeds-based jazz musicians playing a mix of styles inspired by early jazz/swing music in New Orleans – which has surprisingly little to do with large reptilian-based stew. RIOT JAZZ

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £4

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

ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, 19:30–22:30, £14

English folk guitarist and singer from Devon, doing his one man with a guitar thing to suitably fine effect MARTY WILDE’S ROCK ‘N’ ROLL PARTY

PALACE THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £25.40

The veteran rock ‘n’ roller from Blackheath continues to tour in his 75th year. HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT

THE RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £20

The sardonic post punk veterans known for their relentless touring schedule and surrealist humour.

THE SKINNY

CELTIC WOMAN

THE TWISTED DOLLS

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £23.50

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, FREE

The Celtic Woman presents her new show Emerald, featuring a host of Irish anthems and pop standards. CRAZY P

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

The UK disco veterans continue to mix it with the freshest sounds around nearly 20 years after forming. LAUZULI (MOON SAFARI)

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £15

French group formed in 1998 mixing a variety of styles into their progressive rock sound. CURTIS HARDING

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £8.50

Soul muso who has worked as a backup singer for Cee Lo Green, spent time in a Georgia rap group Proseed and currently plays in Black Lips.

FIVE DAYS NORTH (MADDY STORM + BLACK TOOTH + CHASING TRAITS)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

University-formed five-piece just starting to spread their wings.

Sat 29 Nov

ALABAMA 3 (CORNELIUS CRANE)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £20

The Brixton collective do their blues-rock-acid-house thing to pleasurable effect; cue teary eyes at the Sopranos opening theme song, Woke Up This Morning. SILVER APPLES (GIRL SWEAT + O>L>A)

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £11

Groundbreaking 60s electronica duo, featuring surviving founder Simeon Coxe III. SLASH (MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS)

PHONES 4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, £40.25

Former Guns ‘N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver guitar wielder and big hat enthusiast Slash tours with material old and new. TONIGHT ALIVE (CHUNK! NO, CAPTAIN CHUNK!)

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

Aussie rock ensemble led by ballsy young songstress Jenna McDougall and her inimitable soaring contralto. THE HUMAN LEAGUE

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, FROM £32.50

Don’t You Want Me’s hit the UK top 20 again for the third time, which must mean the Human League are ready for another tour of their once-pioneering new wave. CHAS & DAVE

THE RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £22.50

Cockney duo formed back in’t 1972, playing what they term ‘rockney’. REACH OUT

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–03:00, £3

A night of 60s sounds, with Motown and soul on the agenda thanks to Sound Control resident, Daniel Deighan. THE LANCASHIRE HOTPOTS

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £12

Five northern blokes in flat caps singing songs about the wonders of modern day life. CHARLIE COOPER & THE CC’S

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

The vocalist returns with her eight-piece band.

BBC PHILHARMONIC (BERLIOZ + BRAHAMS + STRAVINSKY + RAVEL)

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £10

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

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:00, £15

Manc musical duo made up of Katie White and Jules De Martino, best known for earworm of a single That’s Not My Name.

MANCHESTER PSYCH FEST II (CLINIC + WARTIME + BROWN BROGUES + THE WATCHMAKERS + MORE) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 15:00–03:00, £12.50

Veteran experimenters from Liverpool, Clinic head up the second installment of Night & Day's explorations into the psychedelic. Y.O.U

ROADHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £3

Elliott Williams plays in support of his debut release as Y.O.U, a mixture of 80s synth pop, nu disco and house.

November 2014

The Manchester blues rockers celebrate the release of their new single King of the Blues.

Sun 30 Nov ERASURE

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, FROM £35

Legendary 80s electropop duo made up of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, out and touring their 16th – yes, 16th! – LP release, The Violet Flame. KATE RUSBY AT CHRISTMAS

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £23

The vocalist delivers song from her two Christmas albums of Yorkshire-inspired carols. MAGIC VOICES

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

Featuring a live orchestra and 120 singers, Magic Voices cover more than 50 years of West End hits. JACK GARRATT

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–22:30, £5

London-based singer songwriter starting to rise up the ladder towards a meagre amount of fame.

Mon 01 Dec LOVE INKS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £5

Austin minimalist pop trio imbued with an emotive sophistication generated almost entirely by space and nuance. CHRIS REA

O2 APOLLO, 18:30–22:30, £35

The husky-voiced singer/songwriter takes it back to the 80s with a set of classics, which will undoubtedly include The Road To Hell. THE WYTCHES

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8

Brighton band making dark and flowery psychedelia, with surf riffs straight outta 1950. THE DEFILED (AVATAR)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £12

London-hailing industrial metal quintet touring the hell outta their latest LP, Daggers. HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD (ICON FOR HIRE)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £15

Rock from LA hitting the road ahead of their fourth album due early 2015. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

The Vancouver indie rock group tour in support of latest album Brill Bruisers. NEW ZEALAND STRING QUARTET WITH PETER CROPPER

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–22:00, £25

The quartet perform Psathas, Mozart, Bartok and Brahms.

Liverpool Music Tue 04 Nov PALOMA FAITH

LIVERPOOL EMPIRE, 19:00–22:30, £SOLD OUT

The British singer/songwritercum-actress does her glossy, retro-referencing soul-meetspop thing s’more. PASCAL & AMI ROGE

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £25

Pascal Roge is joined by his wife to perform the music of Mozart, Schubert, Debussy and Stravinsky. PARRJAZZ (WHITE CANVAS)

FREDERIKS, 20:30–23:00, FREE

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

Wed 05 Nov AREA 11

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:00–22:00, £11

Electronic-tinged hard rockers from Bristol, known for their energised and varied live sets. BAND OF SKULLS

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £17.50

London-based alternative garage rock trio who cemented their musical bonds at college. DAN PHELPS (MATTHEW FOX)

STUDIO 2, 19:00–23:45, £TBC

Delta blues stylings from the veteran performer.

Liverpool Music DEXTERS ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £8

Indie rock five-piece hailing from East London, a dab hand at penning catchy wee guitar anthems.

Thu 06 Nov

THE SHIRES (WARD THOMAS)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £11

Hertfordshire and Bedfordshirehailing duo riding the wave of country music’s recent success. BLACK

UNITY THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £12 (£10)

Starring cabaret legend Le Gateau Chocolat, who has performed everywhere from Sydney Opera House to La Clique. Part of Homotopia Festival. MICHAEL HEAD + SUNDOWNERS + THE GRAMMOTONES

LEAF, 19:30–23:00, £10

The first One Percent Session fundraiser features a tripleheadlining bill Michael Head, The Gramotones and The Sundowners, the night also showcasing several short films to explain more about the charity. MARIKA HACKMAN

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £8

Sweet-voiced young folk singer. songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. JOE BROWN

THE BRINDLEY, 19:30–22:00, £25

The rock’n’roll musical ledge plays accompanied by his live five-piece band, which includes his son (aka record producer Pete Brown).

Fri 07 Nov

SYNDROME 3.0: THE POST-HUMAN GOSPEL (TCF + LAWRENCE LEK AND SION PARKINSON + OUTFIT) 24 KITCHEN STREET, 20:00–23:00, £5

The latest phase of Syndrome kicks off with Norwegian contemporary artist and musician TCF. His live AV set is supported by new commissions from Lawrence Lek and Sion Parkinson as well as art pop group Outfit. REMEMBRANCE

LIVERPOOL METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL, 19:30–22:30, £25

The Liverpool Philharmonic and Cantata Choirs join up to perform Strauss and Elgar.

Sun 09 Nov

MUSIC FOR PEACE AND LOVE

THE CAPSTONE, 16:00–19:00, £15

The foremost disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt belongs to that elite body of musicians which traces its origin to the Moughal Emperor Akbar’s court musician Tansen and his Guru the Hindu mystic Swami Haridas.

Mon 10 Nov BELLOWHEAD

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £22.50

Beast of a contemporary English folk ensemble (there’s 11 of ‘em) fusing folk, funk, rock, world, jazz, music hall and classical music into their mix.

Tue 11 Nov BOY & BEAR

LEAF, 19:30–23:00, £10

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–22:30, £5

Sydney-based indie quintet deftly mixing driving indie-folk sounds with dainty choral harmonies.

THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN

Rising young Nottingham quintet of the soft folk-rock variety.

THE CHAINS (DREAMING OUT LOUD + S.P.Q.R)

Youthful four-piece only formed in March in Ormskirk. O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £15

The self-styled ‘God of Hellfire’ continues to bring his psychedelic prog to the world. BLACK

UNITY THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £12 (£10)

Starring cabaret legend Le Gateau Chocolat, who has performed everywhere from Sydney Opera House to La Clique. Part of Homotopia Festival. FLYTE

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

Melodic London foursome led by Will Taylor, known for their exuberant live performances. JUSTIN CURRIE

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £20

The Scottish singer/songwriter, famous for his role as a founding member of Del Amitri.

LORD OF THE RIFF 2 (ANTI MORTEM + KYNG + LIONIZE) ARTS CLUB, 18:30–22:00, £10

A quiet acoustic night. Don’t be silly, of course it isn’t – get those horns up for a host of gnarly axe-wielders.

Sat 08 Nov

KONG (THE ROZZ + SUPER FAST GIRLIE SHOW + BOLSHY + 69 WATTS + SEA WITCHES) THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–22:30, £4

Sadly not the Brew Records noise merchants. Instead it’s a Norwegian bunch of hard rockers. TAMIKREST

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £14.50

The Mali desert blues troupe make their Merseyside debut, mixing sounds from their native land with Western rock classicism. AN EVENING WITH ROGER MCGUINN

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:00, £32.50

The legendary former Byrds frontman and founding member, Roger McGuinn returns for a string of UK dates this Autumn. MUSIC HALL TAVERN

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 18:30–22:00, £20

Apparently it was the most successful show in the Canary Islands, and now it’s coming to Liverpool. A night of music, laughter and razzamatazz. THE HEARTBREAKS

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £8

Alternative rock four-piece hailing from Morecambe, formed around a love for Motown and gritty Northern literature.

AMBER RUN

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £7

PARRJAZZ (DAKHLA)

FREDERIKS, 20:30–23:00, FREE

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

Wed 12 Nov

SPEECH DEVELOPMENT RECORDS (B. DOLAN + WARRENPEACE + SCROOBIUS PIP) THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–00:00, £10

Scroobius Pip presents two of the finest artists signed to his Speech Development imprint. SLAVES

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

Two white guys named Slaves. Hmm. Standard two-piece rock.

ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: SEASON OPENING

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £13

The Liv Phil return for their Autumn and winter series of concerts, opening with a world premiere of James Horner’s Double Concerto. AN EVENING WITH JOHN REILLY

STUDIO 2, 19:00–23:45, £10

An intimate evening with the Canadian songwriter who’s found critical acclaim from Paul O’Grady nonetheless!

Thu 13 Nov BALLET SCHOOL

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £7.50

Berlin-based alternative popsters built on Rosie Blair’s voice, Michel Collet’s glacial guitar and Louis McGuire’s innovative drumming. ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: SEASON OPENING

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £13

The Liv Phil return for their Autumn and winter series of concerts, opening with a world premiere of James Horner’s Double Concerto. RUARRI JOSEPH

STUDIO 2, 19:00–23:45, £10

Edinburgh-born, New Zealandraised acoustic folk singer/ songwriter. BEARDYMAN

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £13

The London-based beatboxing king (known to his mammy as Darren Foreman) plays a set of his livelooping beatbox.

Fri 14 Nov

MALLORY KNOX (FRANK IERO + FORT HOPE + MOOSE BLOOD)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £13

Pop-meets-rock quintet named after Juliette Lewis’ psychopathic character in Natural Born Killers, in case you were wondering. JOHN COOPER CLARKE

CAMP AND FURNACE, 19:00–22:00, £22.50

More satirical and biting political verse, delivered in Cooper Clarke’s trademark rapid-fire performance style &ndash; taking in anecdotes of Northern life, interspersed with some of his best poems. SPACES

THE KAZIMIER, 20:00–02:00, £5

Video Jam and experimental label Slip Discs team up with a dazzling array of music and visual talent in support, including Bernard + Edith, Sex Hands, Mary Stark & Chaines and more. JAMES (STARSAILOR)

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–23:00, FROM £36

The longstanding Manc rockers return to the live scene for a ninedate UK tour. HEAVEN’S BASEMENT

ARTS CLUB, 18:00–22:00, £10

The hard rockers warm-up for their tour supporting The Pretty Reckless with an intimate show. KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD

ARTS CLUB, 19:30–23:00, £7

Melbourne psychniks evoking the eclectic rock experimentation of Frank Zappa.

Sat 15 Nov

THE SONGBOOK SESSIONS (RAINBIRD + THE JACQUES + BEXI BLUE + MAD KING LUDWIG + MORE) THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–22:30, £4

A showcase event for new and upcoming songwriters in Liverpool and the surrounding areas. ARC

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:00, £12.50

Two veterans of the UK electronic music scene, Mark Shreeve and Ian Boddy unite, their music deeply routed in the traditions of the German synthesizer music of the 1970’s. SHOWADDYWADDY

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–23:00, FROM £19.50

The Teddy Boy-dressing pop group who were into revivalism before revivalism became cool return with their mix of covers from the 50’s and 60’s. BRYAN ADAMS

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–23:00, £39.50

The man who put (Everything I Do) I Do It For You at number one for 16 bloody weeks. Say no more. GARY EDWARD JONES

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:00–22:00, £10

THE MACCABEES

CIRCA WAVES

PARRJAZZ (MARIA DUNSMORE)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £17

THE KAZIMIER, 19:00–22:30, £8

FREDERIKS, 20:30–23:00, FREE

Brighton-based indie kids touring in advance of their new album, due early 2012.

Liverpool garage-pop quartet taking their cue from the early-00s indie scene.

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £25

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £13

THE STYLISTICS

The much-loved Philadelphia soul group get on the road again. THE LOST BROTHERS

STUDIO 2, 19:00–23:45, £5

The Irish duo celebrate the launch of their fourth album New Songs Of Dawn and Dust, produced by former Coral man Bill Ryder-Jones.

Tue 18 Nov THE VOYEURS

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £7

Charlie Boyer’s still with them but his name isn’t, as this London fuzzy pop band present a united front for their autumn shows. WINTER MOUNTAIN

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:00, £15

Founding member of Herbie Hancock’s The Headhunter, Bennie Maupin is best known for his bass clarinet playing on Miles Davis&rsquo; classic Bitches Brew album, as well as other Miles Davis recordings such Big Fun, Jack Johnson and On the Corner. LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC YOUTH ORCHESTRA

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £9

The Youth Orchestra perform Sibelius, Janá?ek and Dvo?ák. BAY CITY ROLLERS

THE BRINDLEY, 19:30–22:00, £19.50 (£17.50)

Les McKeown returns to header some Rollermania.

Mon 17 Nov LIT

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £17.50

Alternative rock lot from California, known for their early 2000’s hit, My Own Worst Enemy.

Fri 21 Nov

THE GOOD FRIDAY PROJECT

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–22:30, £4

ANDREA BOCELLI

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–23:00, FROM £45

The acclaimed classical artist returns to his love of romance, performing some of the greatest songs ever composed – taken from his new album, Amore. JOHN WILSON & THE JOHN WILSON ORCHESTRA

VENICE’S JANUS FACE

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:00, £10 (£7)

THE COURTEENERS

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–23:00, £22.50

Sharp haircuts, nice trousers, ‘proper music’. You know the drill. CHARLIE LANDSBOROUGH

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £19

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £28

Singer/songwriter known for his easy listening ballads and country blues that has earned him a spot in the British Country Music Hall of Fame.

PARRJAZZ (THE JOHN ELLIS TRIO)

STUDIO 2, 20:00–23:45, £TBC

The Gateshead-born conductor brings his Orchestra to town to celebrate the works of Cole Porter. FREDERIKS, 20:30–23:00, FREE

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

LIVERPOOL GUILD OF STUDENTS, 19:00–23:00, £19.50

The consonant-dropping songwriter returns armed with an array of new tunes primed for a future busker’s performance on a street near you. STRINGFEVER

THE BRINDLEY, 19:30–22:00, £17

No ordinary string quartet, as the family group perform their own original music on an array of custom-built electric string instruments.

Wed 19 Nov TIM HECKER

CAMP AND FURNACE, 19:30–23:00, £10

The Montreal-based ambient electronic musician and sound artist returns to our shores, focused on exploring the intersection of noise, dissonance and melody &ndash; fostering a physical and emotive approach to his songcraft. JULIA FORDHAM

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £20

LIVERPOOL GUILD OF STUDENTS, 19:00–23:00, £27.50

BENNIE MAUPIN QUARTET

Charismatic multi-instrumentalist and band leader HAJA brings his band The Groovy People back to Liverpool following their triumphant performance as part of Africa Oyé; festival this summer,

A musical history of Venice, exploring long before Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Hailing from the shores of Cornwall and Donegal, Winter Mountain take their two-piece harmonies and folk wistfulness on the road.

Sun 16 Nov ALABAMA 3

HAJAMADAGASCAR & THE GROOVY PEOPLE

DISTRICT, 19:30–23:00, £10 (£7)

Gothabilly from London.

California-based, Brit-born songwriter best known as Kim Wilde’s former backing singer.

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £17.50

The Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra perform Torke, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, headed by pianist Nobuyuki Tsuji.

LEAF, 19:30–23:00, £7

The cult Merseyside acoustic artist performs a special concert in support of his new album The Cabinet Maker.

The Brixton collective do their blues-rock-acid-house thing to pleasurable effect; cue teary eyes at the Sopranos opening theme song, Woke Up This Morning.

WINTER DAYDREAMS

EXAMPLE

The English electronic singer/ songwriter (aka Elliot John Gleave) tours his latest LP, Live Life Living. ALEX CORNISH

STUDIO 2, 19:00–23:45, £5

The Edinburgh singer/songwriter and his effortlessly laid-back DIY folk-pop songs, sewn together with some live musical trickery. BARRENCE WHITFIELD & THE SAVAGES

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:30, £13

American soul-meets-r’n’b outfit led by vocalist Barrence Whitfield, recently taken under the wing of Bloodshot Records. EXAMPLE

LIVERPOOL GUILD OF STUDENTS, 19:00–23:00, £27.50

The English electronic singer/ songwriter (aka Elliot John Gleave) tours his latest LP, Live Life Living.

Thu 20 Nov

POP PUNK’S NOT DEAD: NEW FOUND GLORY (THE STORY SO FAR + STATE CHAMPS + CANDY HEARTS + ONLY RIVALS)

O2 ACADEMY, 18:00–23:00, £18.50

The American group bring a cabal of noughties pop-punk fodder on the road with them, all in the spirit of rocking not quite hard enough to disappear off the airwaves.

THE JP BAND

A mixture of self-penned rhythm & blues as well as standards from the likes of Ray Charles, Willie Dixon and Tom Waits. BLACK DIAMOND

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £6

Seattle-based rock five-piece, made up of ex-members of The Purps, Petty Enemy and more.

Sat 22 Nov THE SUMMER SET

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

Arizona-based five-piece making breezy pop rock – often seen touring with the likes of Yellowcard and Hey Monday, but heading out on their own for a UK-wide tour. KYUNG WHA CHUNG & KEVIN KENNER

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £25

The violin and piano duo play Mozart, Prokofiev, Bach and Franck. JOHN GRANT + ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £21

Sun 23 Nov

SIXTIES GOLD (GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS + THE SEARCHERS + P.J. PROBY + THE FORTUNES + MORE) LIVERPOOL EMPIRE, 19:30–22:30, FROM £33.40

Gerry And The Pacemakers head up this nostalgia-fest of a 60’s package tour. IN-SIEME

THE CAPSTONE, 13:00–14:30, FREE

A cross-cultural meeting between Indian ensemble Tarang and Western Classical ensemble Gli Archi del Cherubino from Italy. ROMANTIC RACHMANINOV

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 14:30–17:30, FROM £13

The Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra are once again joined by pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii as they visit some of Rachmaninov’s great romantic works.

Mon 24 Nov HACKTIVIST

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £9

The Milton Keynes-based fivepiece grime outfit embark on a UK headline tour. KATIE ARMIGER

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £15

The Texan country star crosses the Atlantic for a round of UK shows.

Tue 25 Nov THE CROOKES

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £8

Expect guitar-led pop all the way as the Sheffield quartet bring their jangly brand of joy.

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

Wed 26 Nov MERCHANDISE

THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £9

Florida-based band of rockers, riding along on interestingly experimental punk and hardcore soundscapes.

MELLOWTONE PRESENTS: TEN YEARS: BIRTHDAY & COMPILATION LAUNCH PARTY

LEAF, 19:30–23:00, £TBC

Mellowtone celebrate their 10th birthday woth the launch of their compilation release featuring artists from Liverpool’s unplugged underground, 2004 - 2014, with a host of special guests set to feature. JAMES BLUNT

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–23:00, £37.50

The really quite affable former army captain turned ‘You’re Beautiful’ burden carrier takes his new LP on the road. COASTS

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £8

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

Thu 27 Nov SAX IN THE CITY

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £13

A celebration of the 200th birthday of saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax, featuring US star Timothy McAllister. MARCUS BONFATI

STUDIO 2, 19:00–23:45, £8

Bonfati is just like all of us apparently, only with a penchant for listening to a lot of Tony Joe White and Led Zeppelin.

Fri 28 Nov BEANS ON TOAST

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £9

Politically-charged one man folkmachine from London, via Essex. THE SCENES

STUDIO 2, 19:00–23:45, £TBC

Finnish group attempting to paint something psychedelic between hardcore punk and progressive rock. 3 DAFT MONKEYS

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £12

The Cornwall-hailing trio making acoustic alternative folk head out on the road to show off their latest album, Of Stones & Bones.

Sat 29 Nov

CLOUDBURST (DEAFSTONE)

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–22:30, £4

Local showcase.

THE HUMMINGBIRDS

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £10

The Hummingbirds are six lads from Liverpool blending Merseybeat heritage with folky rhythms. DADAFEST: KRIP-HOP NATION

THE BLUECOAT, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

An international platform for disability hip-hop artists, KripHop Nation blends lyricism with activism and break beats. VINNIE CARUANA

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:00–22:30, £9

The I Am Avalanche and Movielife front man plays the best hits from both acts. BY THE SEA

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £10

Former backing band to Bill RyderJones, By The Sea play their debut LP Endless Days Crystal Sky in full. PACIFICA QUARTET

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £25

Illinois-hailing chamber group who also hold resident positions at the Universities of Chicago and Illinois, and at the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

Sun 30 Nov ALFIE BOE

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–23:00, FROM £25

The Blackpool-born tenor, and one-time car mechanic, does his refreshing take on the classical genre.

ST ANDREW’S NIGHT CELEBRATION WITH CAPERCAILLIE

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £22

The Karen Matheson-fronted Scottish folk ensemble continue with their modern reinvention of Gaelic music for this St. Andrew’s Night special.

Listings

Liverpool Music THE HUMAN LEAGUE LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–22:30, FROM £32.50

Don’t You Want Me’s hit the UK top 20 again for the third time, which must mean the Human League are ready for another tour of their once-pioneering new wave.

Mon 01 Dec PROFESSOR GREEN

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

Simplistic electronic beats and paint-by-numbers rapping is the order of the day, as the Prof attempts to entertain the yoof. DAVID GRAY

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, FROM £29.50

It’s 21 years since his first studio LP. None of us remember that though of course, and it’ll be the likes of ‘Sail Away’ and ‘Babylon’ that give Mr Gray his loudest cheers.

Manchester Clubs Tue 04 Nov GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

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

Wed 05 Nov JUICY

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, £1.50

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk. BLOW

XOLO, 20:00–04:00, FREE (£5 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Student event night promising to to blow your head off! With cheap drinks and not anything more violent we presume.

Thu 06 Nov MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM (£5 AFTER)

Student Thursday-nighter, with resident DJs Steve Davies, Bill Murray’s Rock n Soul club, and Nicola Bear serving up anything from retro classics to electro mash ups across three rooms. BLACKOUT THURSDAYS

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £3

Blackout Thursdays brings the infamous sounds and atmosphere of the legendary Balearic island of Ibiza to Manchester, with resident DJs filling three floors with anything from Balearic Beat, Tribal, Progressive and Tech to Deep House. JACOB COID

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

Black Dog Ballroom’s latest resident. LA LA LAND

XOLO, 20:00–04:00, £1

Student night bringing you deep house from the XOLO residents and occasional special guests.

Fri 07 Nov WELL FUTURE

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

Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future. XFM FIRST FRIDAY (DELTA SPIRIT + DAVE ROWNTREE DJ)

BAND ON THE WALL, 21:00–02:00, £8 EARLYBIRD (£10 THEREAFTER)

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

Manchester Clubs TOP OF THE POPS MINT LOUNGE, 22:00–04:00, £3

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

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM

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

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Monthly rock’n’roll club night hosted by Two Weeks Running. STUART RICHARDS

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

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

TRIBAL SESSIONS (DARIUS SYROSSIAN + DANIEL STEFANIK + JACK WICKHAM + DANIEL SANDERS + MORE) SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, FROM £10

The legendary Tribal Sessions are back, featuring the usual selection of world-renowned spinners across all genres. TWISTED SIN

THE RITZ, 22:30–03:30, £5

A dirty dosage of rock and metal tunes. VOODOO ROCK THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:30, £4 BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Alternative rock and metal night that’s been seen at Download and Sonisphere.

One of the biggest names house names in the game drops into Music Is Love. FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, £2 BEFORE 12PM

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. BURN OUT

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £8

Party in the dark in an art gallery, offering a preview of things to come at Victoria Warehouse later this year. GOO - 2ND BIRTHDAY PARTY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

The monthly club night tribute to 90s indie celebrate their second birthday – expect Pulp, Nirvana, Suede, Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies and more. TIM WRIGHT

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

New Saturday resident bringing the dancefloor classics all night long.

SWING & SHOUT 1ST BIRTHDAY! (THE AFTER HOURS QUINTET + PIES DE MIEL + DJ GALI VANTES + WOLFIE RAZZMATAZZ) BANGKOK BAR, 21:00–05:00, £6.50

First birthday party by Swing & Shout, bringing everything from gypsy, ska, punk, electro-swing and anything in between! Acoustic acts, bands, DJ’s and dance performances + classes.

ANTWERP MANSION, 20:00–00:00, £5

A head to head mixing twisting genres and contrasting stage shows with one another.

Fri 14 Nov

JUST SKANK (V.I.V.E.K + COMPA)

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £5

Just Skank presents a double headlining party with V.I.V.E.K and Compa, Just Skank residents propping up the supports. SINKHOLE OPENING CEREMONY

BANGKOK BAR, 22:00-5:00, £8

Two of Manchester’s most avid party starters, Wet Play and Bohemian Grove come together in unholy union. Bring extra socks. 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. CHERRY

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–03:30, £4

Celebrating all things naughty from the noughties, with a music policy that spans 2000’s pop and houseparty anthems. TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:00–04:00, £3

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

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM

03:59 (ARUN VERONE + IN 2 DEEP + RYAN CROFT + MIKE LAVERCOMBE + MORE)

Tue 11 Nov

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 23:00–03:00, £4

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’.

The sounds of the 60’s from Motown to rock ‘n’ roll.

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

New night Friday club night featuring all of the house, both deep and tech. ULTIMATE ANTHEMS

SOUND CONTROL, 22:00–03:00, £6

The sister of Ultimate Power with more of the same classic pop and rock ballads.

ZUTEKH PRESENTS ITALOJOHNSON

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £8 EARLYBIRD (£10 THEREAFTER)

The Berlin-based duo are let loose for four hours as they veer between cyclical techno, playful house and everything cerebral inbetween. LIVEWIRE

SOUTH, 22:00–04:00, FROM £10

GOLD TEETH

STUDENT HOUSE

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

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, £3

Eclectic sound tracks in the form of girl groups-synthpop-disco-funkmotown-booty shake. Inspired by cult movies and video games.

Wed 12 Nov JUICY

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, £1.50

LiveWire follow up their packed launch party with another huge line-up, headlined by Get Physical DJ Dale Howard.

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, £7

XOLO, 20:00–04:00, FREE (£5 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

OM UNIT (HODGE + ACRE + MORE)

Project 13 take to the Joshua Brooks basement with MetalHeadz’ Om Unit and Livity Sound man Hodge in tow. VOODOO ROCK

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:30, £4 BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Alternative rock and metal night that’s been seen at Download and Sonisphere.

Sat 08 Nov FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5

Mancunian nightclub institution &ndash; 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.

SELECTIVE HEARING (UNTOLD + ANTHONY PARASOLE + MORE)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, £6 EARLY BIRD (£8 THEREAFTER)

Selective Hearing continue their hard-hitting autumn schedule.

STEVIE WONDERLAND PRESENTS LUMBERJACKS IN HELL

GORILLA, 23:00-4:00, FROM £8

The entire Lumberjack crew descend on Gorilla, with Stevie Wonderland presenting DJ Rahaan, Jamie 3:26 and Marcel Vogel. FRIENDS IN COMMON

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks.

Listings

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, FROM £10

OSAKA PUNCH VS FJOKRA FEAT. SUZERAIN

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

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

MUSIC IS LOVE (DERRICK CARTER + DJEBALI + OLI FURNESS + WBEEZE + MORE)

BLOW

Student event night promising to to blow your head off! With cheap drinks and not anything more violent we presume.

Thu 13 Nov MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM (£5 AFTER)

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £3

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

Black Dog Ballroom’s latest resident. LA LA LAND

XOLO, 20:00–04:00, £1

Student night bringing you deep house from the XOLO residents and occasional special guests.

HIGHER GROUND

JUICY SPECIAL

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £TBC

WAX SESSIONS

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Josh from Lucky T Jackson digs into his vinyl collection playing plenty of classic rock and soul staples. STUART RICHARDS

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

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar every Thursday, offering a night of disco, funk and house. TRIBAL SESSIONS (BODDIKA + MARCEL FENGLER + CLOCKWORK + DARIUS SYROSSIAN + JOZEF K)

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, FROM £10

The legendary Tribal Sessions are back, featuring the usual selection of world-renowned spinners across all genres. 03:59 (ARUN VERONE + IN 2 DEEP + RYAN CROFT + MIKE LAVERCOMBE + MORE) MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 23:00–03:00, £4

New night Friday club night featuring all of the house, both deep and tech. PROSUMER + MACCA

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £7

The Saarland native with an impeccable taste in classic house from Chicago, Detroit and New York. MICRON 8TH BIRTHDAY PARTY (WILL SAUL) JOSHUA BROOKS, 21:00–04:00, £10

Micron show no signs of age as they hit their eighth birthday, with Simple and Aus head honcho Will Saul joining the celebrations. SCOOT ‘N’ SCOOP NORTHERN SOUL NIGHT

THE HORSE AND JOCKEY, 20:00–00:00, FREE

Northern Soul DJs Harry Nightingale, Dennis Campbell and Ken Waghorn will be your soul connoisseurs for the night.

Sat 15 Nov FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5

Mancunian nightclub institution &ndash; delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. DOG EAT DOG WITH DJ SOTOFETT

Q CAVERN, 22:00-4:00, £8

Sex Tags boss and curveball aficionado DJ Sotofett drops in for a set based around a foundation of classic house.

CLINT BOON SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £5

Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon. HEAVY RAIN (SHED)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, £5

House from the Heavy Rain bunch, bringing the best in house, garage, future music and bump’n’grind. FRIENDS IN COMMON

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

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, £2 BEFORE 12PM

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. BARE BONES

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

Three floor club night touting indie/electro, classic rock’n’roll and punk/rock. SATURDAYS AT SANKEYS (JAGUAR SKILLS + BEARDYMAN + RICH REASON)

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, FROM £10

Saturdays at Sankeys always means some of the biggest DJs around dropping to the longrunning club for a spin. TIM WRIGHT

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

New Saturday resident bringing the dancefloor classics all night long. NINE LIVES

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:30–03:00, £4

Nine Lives launch with the help of Swamp 81 and Loefah. Q LAUNCH PARTY (ILL + LIINES + RACHELE WHATEVER)

BANGKOK BAR, 20:00–04:00, £5

Fri 21 Nov WELL FUTURE

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

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

MINT LOUNGE, 22:00–04:00, £3

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

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

Serving up the best of the 60s, ranging from psych and ska to britpop and funk. FRI251

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. STUART RICHARDS

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

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar every Thursday, offering a night of disco, funk and house. ENGLISH DISCO LOVERS (ZERO & JONNY SHIRE + FULL STOP!)

ROADHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4

The English Disco Lovers come to Manchester! The acronym redefining disco loving folk of the EDL return to spread their “Don’t Hate! Gyrate!” message, as well as to raise money for local charities. TRIBAL SESSIONS (DARIUS SYROSSIAN + JOSH BUTLER + JOZEF K + SOUNDSTREAM + MORE)

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, FROM £10

Launch night for Q, a new night promising an eclectic mix of girl punk, riot grrl, ska, sleazy electro, alternative, jungle, metal and dub. Plus the mightily excellent Ill on lives duties!

The legendary Tribal Sessions are back, featuring the usual selection of world-renowned spinners across all genres.

Tue 18 Nov

All your favourite hits from the 90s in one glorious evening.

GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–02:30, £4

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’. STUDENT HOUSE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

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

Wed 19 Nov JUICY

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, £1.50

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk. BLOW

XOLO, 20:00–04:00, FREE (£5 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Student event night promising to to blow your head off! With cheap drinks and not anything more violent we presume.

Thu 20 Nov MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM (£5 AFTER)

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £3

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

Black Dog Ballroom’s latest resident. LA LA LAND

XOLO, 20:00–04:00, £1

Student night bringing you deep house from the XOLO residents and occasional special guests. DLR ALBUM LAUNCH PARTY

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £5

100% vinyl DnB event Acetate returns with a special album launch party for DLR’s Seeing Sounds.

PUMP UP THE JAM

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

03:59 (ARUN VERONE + IN 2 DEEP + RYAN CROFT + MIKE LAVERCOMBE + MORE) MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 23:00–03:59, £4

New night Friday club night featuring all of the house, both deep and tech.

RASCALIZE! PRESENTS: DANI LESS

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

The Spanish-cum-Manchester based Djing duo invite Benicassim resident Dani Less to takeover the decks.

PARIAHS (TOM BOOGIZM + DUKE ST WORKSHOP)

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £TBC

Club favourite Tom Boogizm brings the party in his second home of the Soup Kitchen basement. A DANCEFLOOR WITH TONY HUMPHRIES

SOUTH, 22:00–04:00, £10

Wiggly Worm Records presents DJ Tony Humphries, inspiration for the likes of Louie Vega and Kerri Chandler among many others. THIRDEYE (WADE + RHADOW)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, FROM £8 (£7.50)

Moan Recordings and Suara’s Wade and Cadenza’s Rhadow headline the third ThirdEye party.

Sat 22 Nov FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5

Mancunian nightclub institution &ndash; delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. DROP THE MUSTARD (DETROIT SWINDLE + FRITS WENTINK + SAM GRAHAM + XXXY + MORE)

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, FROM £10

Drop The Mustard rolls on, mixing it up with some of the finest DJs worldwide and their ever-knowledgeable roster of residents. MEANDYOU (SVN)

ROZAFA, 00:00-6:00, £5

A meandyou special as the collective take to Greek restaurant Rozafa for an after hours party featuring Sex Tags’ SVN. CLINT BOON

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £5

Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon. FRIENDS IN COMMON

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

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks.

FACTORY SATURDAYS FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, £2 BEFORE 12PM

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by funktion one sound. SOUL GARDEN (GILES THORPE + OWEN D + NORMAN ANTHONY)

BAND ON THE WALL, 23:00–03:00, £10

New skool soul night playing modern soul and contemporary RnB with a splash of reggae and some soul classics too. BREAK STUFF

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 23:00–03:00, £3

UPTOWN THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

The best in disco, funk, boogie and party classics. TRIBAL SESSIONS (DARIUS SYROSSIAN + SIDNEY CHARLES + HECTOR COUTO + SANTE MYSON COLLECTIVE)

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, FROM £10

The legendary Tribal Sessions are back, featuring the usual selection of world-renowned spinners across all genres. TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:00–04:00, £3

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £13

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.

MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM

Playing exactly the sort of music you’d expect from a night named after a Limp Bizkit song. RELAPSE: ED RUSH & ICICLE

Two drum n’ bass legends come together for the latest Relapse. ROADHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £12

Community and So Flute combine for a night of Detroit-inspired disco and house grooves, from German artist Motor City Drum Ensemble. NEWHAM GENERALS + ELIJAH + SKILLIAM

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £8

Grime trio Newham Generals return to Manchester, with endorsement from Dizzee Rascal among others. TIM WRIGHT

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

New Saturday resident bringing the dancefloor classics all night long. ENSEMBLE PRESENTS GIFTED & BLESSED

ISLINGTON MILL, 22:00–07:00, £8

Ensemble present Gifted & Blessed, who’ll bring his penchant for 80’s hardware to the Mill, with support from some of Ensemble’s favourite DJs.

Tue 25 Nov GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–02:30, £4

FRI251

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. RIOT JAZZ

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £4

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

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

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

03:59 (ARUN VERONE + IN 2 DEEP + RYAN CROFT + MIKE LAVERCOMBE + MORE) MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 23:00–03:00, £4

New night Friday club night featuring all of the house, both deep and tech. JONAS KOPP

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £8

The Tresor DJ tours his renowned three-turntable set following the release of his debut album. JAMES WELSH (SAM GRAHAM + SIAN BENNETT + OLSEN + RELAY)

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, £5

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’.

Four20 presents up and coming producer and Futureboogie artist James Welsh.

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

Sat 29 Nov

STUDENT HOUSE

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

Wed 26 Nov BLOW

XOLO, 20:00–04:00, FREE (£5 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Student event night promising to to blow your head off! With cheap drinks and not anything more violent we presume.

Thu 27 Nov EXAMPLE

O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £27.50

The English electronic singer/ songwriter (aka Elliot John Gleave) tours his latest LP, Live Life Living. MURKAGE

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £3

House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, 99P BEFORE 12PM (£5 AFTER)

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–04:00, £3

POP

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4.50

The biggest hits from the last 40 years of popular music. FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5

Mancunian nightclub institution &ndash; delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. HORSE MEAT DISCO + HUNEE

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 23:00-5:00, FROM £6

A special back-to-back between two DJing stalwarts known for throwing the unexpected into their sets. CLINT BOON

SOUTH, 23:00–04:00, £5

Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon. REACH OUT

SOUND CONTROL, 23:00–03:00, £3

A night of 60s sounds, with Motown and soul on the agenda thanks to Sound Control resident, Daniel Deighan. FRIENDS IN COMMON

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

Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. NICKY ROMERO

VICTORIA WAREHOUSE, 21:00–03:00, £TBC

The electro house producer &ndash; a tireless advocate of the EDM scene &ndash; take to the decks as part of his UK Reboot Tour. FACTORY SATURDAYS

FACTORY 251, 22:30–04:00, £2 BEFORE 12PM

JACOB COID

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

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

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £14

Black Dog Ballroom’s latest resident. LA LA LAND

XOLO, 20:00–04:00, £1

Student night bringing you deep house from the XOLO residents and occasional special guests.

KELE

The Bloc Party frontman takes to the road to showcase his new LP, Trick. REBEL BINGO

SOUND CONTROL, 20:00–22:30, £4

Fri 28 Nov

The souped-up game of bingo returns, complete with a cast of dancers, callers, DJs and glitter cannons.

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

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

WELL FUTURE

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

TIM WRIGHT

New Saturday resident bringing the dancefloor classics all night long.

THE SKINNY

Manchester Clubs Sun 30 Nov

SATURDAYS AT SANKEYS (STEFANO NOFERINI + LEFTWING & KODY + CRISTOPH + JUST JORGE + MORE)

SANKEYS, 22:30–05:00, FROM £10

Saturdays at Sankeys always means some of the biggest DJs around dropping to the longrunning club for a spin.

Liverpool Clubs Tue 04 Nov DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Liverpool Clubs DEFMODE (JON 1ST + PIRI PIRI + SERTONE) THE MAGNET , 23:30–06:00, £5

Sessions faction and Good Vibe Magazine team up to bring a new night of underground music to the city featuring top spinners from all over the globe.

PURE SATURDAYS CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £TBC

Smoonth RnB and urban floor fillers.

HUSTLE PRESENTS TODD TERRY

THE MAGNET , 22:00–07:00, £15

Mon 10 Nov

Original House Music pioneer Todd Terry makes a long overdue return to Liverpool courtesy of the Hustle crew.

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

24 KITCHEN STREET, 20:00–03:00, £5

UNIBAR MONDAYS

The self-proclaimed longest running student night in Liverpool.

Tue 11 Nov DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Wed 12 Nov TRAUMA

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £2 (£3 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

MUTANT VINYL

The alter ego of Edwin Pop provides a ferocious mix of dub, jazz and funk in an intoxicating blend of sax-induced goodness.

Mon 17 Nov UNIBAR MONDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

The self-proclaimed longest running student night in Liverpool.

Tue 18 Nov DIRTY ANTICS

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Rock, metal and alternative.

Wed 05 Nov

Thu 13 Nov

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £2 (£3 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

Wed 19 Nov

TRAUMA

Rock, metal and alternative.

Thu 06 Nov

CHIBUKU (FRENCH EXPRESS FEAT. MOON BOOTS + JONAS RATHSMAN + ISAAC TICHAUER)

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 23:00–03:00, £12 (£10)

Chibuku returns for its Autumn program of internationally renowned guests. GOSSIP

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights. SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 22:00–05:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests.

GOSSIP

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights. SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 22:00–05:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests. VIBE THURSDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

R’n’b, hip-hop and urban floorfillers. LOEFAH + CHUNKY (NO FAKIN)

24 KITCHEN STREET, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

Loefah, the man behind one of the UK’s most exciting new imprints, Swamp 81 drops in for a special set, alongside resident Swamp 81 MC Chunky.

Fri 14 Nov

VIBE THURSDAYS

LESS EFFECT (A MADE UP SOUND + 2562 + HODGE)

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

24 KITCHEN STREET, 22:00–04:00, £5

R’n’b, hip-hop and urban floorfillers.

BENNY PAGE AND NUCLEUS ROOTS

24 KITCHEN STREET, 22:00–04:00, £5

The latest installment of Hot Plate sees drum n’ bass producer take to the stage.

Fri 07 Nov TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house. DJ CHRIS “SHOWBIZ” CONNOR & FRANCIS VOLANTE

CHAMELEON BAR, 19:00–04:00, £TBC

Everything from chart and commercial tracks to RnB. THE AFTERPARTY

BOUTIQUE, 00:00–06:00, £TBC

New after hours party from the Boutique team for those of you who never want the night to end. ABANDON SILENCE 5.2 (MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE + JEREMY UNDERGROUND)

THE KAZIMIER, 22:00-4:00, £15

Berlin's Motor City Drum Ensemble and Jeremy Underground bring a slew of house and boogie cuts with them to the regular club night.

Sat 08 Nov RAGE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes. BEDLAM

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5 AFTER 2AM)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie. OUT OF THIS WORLD

CHAMELEON BAR, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

Chameleon Bar presents an out of this world Saturday night, with guest and resident DJs taking care of the sounds. PURE SATURDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £TBC

Smoonth RnB and urban floor fillers.

November 2014

Hard-hitting night of bassline, dubstep, house and techno. TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house. DJ CHRIS “SHOWBIZ” CONNOR & FRANCIS VOLANTE

CHAMELEON BAR, 19:00–04:00, £TBC

Everything from chart and commercial tracks to RnB. THE AFTERPARTY

BOUTIQUE, 00:00–06:00, £TBC

New after hours party from the Boutique team for those of you who never want the night to end.

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

TRAUMA

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £2 (£3 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Rock, metal and alternative.

Thu 20 Nov GOSSIP

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights. SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 22:00–05:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests. VIBE THURSDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

R’n’b, hip-hop and urban floorfillers.

Fri 21 Nov TREND FRIDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house. DJ CHRIS “SHOWBIZ” CONNOR & FRANCIS VOLANTE

CHAMELEON BAR, 19:00–04:00, £TBC

Everything from chart and commercial tracks to RnB. STATIK SELEKTAH + SKINNYMAN

THE MAGNET , 22:00–03:00, £10

A double headlining bill of some heft, with some East Coast flavour combining with one of UK hip-hop’s finest. THE AFTERPARTY

BOUTIQUE, 00:00–06:00, £TBC

Sat 15 Nov

New after hours party from the Boutique team for those of you who never want the night to end.

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

Sat 22 Nov

BEDLAM

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes.

RAGE

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes. GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5 AFTER 2AM)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie. HANNAH WANTS (BONDAX DJ SET + BODHI + KARMA KID + DJ BARELY LEGAL + MORE) ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £16 (£14)

The up and coming house producer brings along an array of guests for this late night party. MODU:LAR (TINI + SANDER BAAN + LAUREN LO SUNG + NERRAM + MORE) CAMP AND FURNACE, 22:00–06:00, £15

Aiming to broaden the horizons of an already burgeoning electronic music scene, MODU:LAR pitch up with their latest event - welcoming Munich artist tiNI and Berlin regular Sander Baan. OUT OF THIS WORLD

CHAMELEON BAR, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

Chameleon Bar presents an out of this world Saturday night, with guest and resident DJs taking care of the sounds.

RAGE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

BEDLAM

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5 AFTER 2AM)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie. OUT OF THIS WORLD

CHAMELEON BAR, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

Chameleon Bar presents an out of this world Saturday night, with guest and resident DJs taking care of the sounds. PURE SATURDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £TBC

Wed 26 Nov TRAUMA

THE MAGNET , 22:00–05:00, £2 (£3 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Rock, metal and alternative.

Thu 27 Nov GOSSIP

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £4

Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and occasional theme nights. SUPER RAD

BUMPER, 22:00–05:00, FREE (BEFORE 11PM)

A night of classic rad sounds spanning indie, rock, crunk and disco, with free gin and juice for the first 100 guests.

Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Gym COMMON WEALTH: NO GUTS NO HEART, NO GLORY

5–8 NOV, TIMES VARY, £11 (£6)

Fri 28 Nov

Opera House

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £2 (£3 AFTER 12:30AM)

17–22 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

TREND FRIDAYS

AGATHA CHRISTIE’S BLACK COFFEE

Everything from chart and commercial tracks to RnB.

New adaptation of Agatha Christie’s first play, focusing on a character who went on to become the most famous detective of all time and the only fictional character to receive a full-page obituary in the New York Times – Hercule Poirot!

BOUTIQUE, 00:00–06:00, £TBC

23 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £19.90

Everything from R ‘n’ B to old skool garage, hip-hop and deep house. DJ CHRIS “SHOWBIZ” CONNOR & FRANCIS VOLANTE

CHAMELEON BAR, 19:00–04:00, £TBC

THE AFTERPARTY

New after hours party from the Boutique team for those of you who never want the night to end.

Sat 29 Nov RAGE

THE KRAZY HOUSE, 22:00–05:00, £3

Mixed-bag night spread out over all three floors, serving up indie, rock, alternative and dance tunes. BEDLAM

GARLANDS, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5 AFTER 2AM)

Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with resident entertainers, including Foxy Grunt and Barbie. OUT OF THIS WORLD

CHAMELEON BAR, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

Chameleon Bar presents an out of this world Saturday night, with guest and resident DJs taking care of the sounds. PURE SATURDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 22:30–04:00, £TBC

Smoonth RnB and urban floor fillers.

ALT TRACKS CLUB NIGHT (KILLAFLAW + MONO LPS + STEREO ELECTRIC MISTRESS) THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 23:00–03:00, £5

Mixing live music with club classics, featuring a host of up and coming acts.

Mon 01 Dec UNIBAR MONDAYS

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

The self-proclaimed longest running student night in Liverpool.

Manchester Theatre Capitol Theatre THE LONG ROAD / FIVE KINDS OF SILENCE

5–8 NOV, TIMES VARY, £8 (£5)

Two plays for the price of one with Shelagh Stephenson’s play of redemption and forgiveness, The Long Road, joined by Five Kinds of Silence’s focus on a controlling husband and father whose family can’t even leave the house without his permission.

10–15 NOV, 11:00AM – 1:00PM, FREE

CHAOS TO ORDER: FOLK/TALE

The self-proclaimed longest running student night in Liverpool.

This specially-commissioned intimate theatre piece invites participants to step into a 60-second world of collaborative storytelling…

Tue 25 Nov

Contact

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11PM)

25–27 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £12 (£7)

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

The acclaimed comedian recalls encounters with past flames, exfriends and people who no longer like him in an attempt to work out where it all went wrong.

R’n’b, hip-hop and urban floorfillers.

Mon 24 Nov

DIRTY ANTICS

THE WORST OF SCOTTEE VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 1 AUG AND 22 NOV, TIMES VARY, £9 (£5)

Based on interviews with Muslim female boxer, this site-specific play explores being young, fearless and doing the unexpected.

VIBE THURSDAYS

Central Library

UNIBAR MONDAYS

Manchester

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

Smoonth RnB and urban floor fillers.

CAMEL CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £TBC

Theatre

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Peter McMaster’s take on the Emily Brontë classic sees roles performed by an all-male cast.

WEST END WOMEN IN CONCERT

West End leading ladies Kerry Ellis, Joanna Ampil and Ria Jones join forces to celebrate their careers, by singing tunes from Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Cats and Wicked and more. SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER

25–29 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Brand new stage production of one of the most-loved dance stories of all time. No John Travolta, but plenty of Bee Gees hits, including Stayin’ Alive, Night Fever and Jive.

Palace Theatre DANCING IN THE STREETS

13 NOV, 14 NOV, 15 NOV, 26 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, PRICES VARY

Singalong celebration of the music that came from the heart of Detroit. NORTHERN BALLET: CINDERELLA

18–22 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £13.90

Northern Ballet perform their majestic take on the classic fairytale, telling the story of Cinders, her ugly step sisters, wicked stepmother and a run in with a dashing prince. BARNUM

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4-15 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £15

Musical retelling of the life of Phineas T Barnum, the American showman and businessman best remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Royal Exchange Theatre CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

30 OCT – 29 NOV, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, £15

James Dacre returns to direct Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, with life and death crashing in all around it. GROUNDED

4–8 NOV, TIMES VARY, £12 (£10)

The Fringe First Award 2013-winning play comes to Manchester, its tale focusing on a fighter pilot who becomes pregnant and finds her career in the sky over, and her new position of controlling drones over the Middle East from her home city of Las Vegas.

Taurus Bar JOHN AND MARK

12–13 NOV, TIMES VARY, £9

This theatre premiere sees the infamous Mark David Chapman visited by the ghost of John Lennon in his prison cell - the very man he shot dead years earlier.

The Dancehouse FRISKY AND MANNISH

28 NOV, 7:15PM – 9:00PM, £13.50

The sell-out cult cabaret duo host a pop education of sorts, with their new show Just Too Much.

17 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £5

Three Minute Theatre

THE UGLY GIRL

10–14 NOV, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £9 (£7)

FROM THE SHADOWS

Ad Hoc Dance present a new piece of choreography. 21 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, FROM £8

RENT 8 NOV, 6:45PM – 10:00PM, £15

LS Theatre Productions present Jonathan Larson’s ever-popular Tony and Pulitzer prize-winning musical.

The King’s Arms THE DUMB WAITER

6–19 NOV, NOT 9, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £8 (£6)

A slapstick play providing a comic twist on the stereotype of a queer, disabled, intellectual troublemaker. BAG LADY

22 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £12

Marcia Layne’s new play aims to challenge and celebrate the notion of the angry and strong Black woman. GRIME

Ransack Theatre return to the King’s Arms with their criticallyacclaimed dark comedy adpatation of the Pinter classic.

24–25 NOV, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, £8

5 NOV, 5:00PM – 7:00PM, £TBC (FESTIVAL PASS £10)

MATCH

RAMPANT CHAOS FESTIVAL: KISS

Part of Rampant Festival, aiming to push artistic boundaries, open up new ideas, collaborations and presentations.

RAMPANT CHAOS FESTIVAL: FAUNA

6 NOV, 12:00AM – 1:00AM, £TBC (FESTIVAL PASS £10)

Part of Rampant Festival, aiming to push artistic boundaries, open up new ideas, collaborations and presentations. FOOL FOR LOVE

9–12 NOV, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £10 (£8)

Sam Shepard’s new play, directed by Helen Parry, focuses on the bleak past of a young woman and rodeo performer Eddie. DISTANCE BETWEEN STARS

19 NOV, 20 NOV, 22 NOV, TIMES VARY, £7 (£5)

A new play about grief, extraterrestrials and ginger custard, focusing on Elliot who is on the mend from a nervous collapse.

7 VEILS: AN EVENING WITH MATA HARI 20–23 NOV, TIMES VARY, £8

A new play by Faro Productions based on the real life story of exotic dancer Mata Hari, who was executed as a spy by a French firing squad in 1917. HONEY

25 NOV, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, FREE

The Sally Lawton-written play takes direction from A Taste Of Honey, with Lawton holding a Q+A after this work-in-progress. PORNO CHIC

26–29 NOV, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £10

Vertigo Productions present a play based in 1970’s New York and surrounding the infamous 1970’s adult movie Deep Throat. GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS

28 NOV, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £10

Theatre featuring new adaptations of classic spine-chillers.

The Lowry Studio RISING

28 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £14

An evening of works performed by rising star of British South Asian Dance, Aakash Odedra, featuring solos choreographed by Russell Maliphant, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Akram Khan and Odedra himself. WOYZECK

19 NOV, TIMES VARY, £10

Madness, murder, passion and, um, peas abound in Splendid’s adaptation of Georg Büchner’s gothic classic. BLIND

13 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £12

UK beat-boxing champion Grace Savage delivers an energetic and powerful show. CHEWING THE FAT

7 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £12

A cross between the confessions made over coffee at weight watchers, and sloppy drunken story-telling over a 3am kebab in this one-woman show. A NOVEMBER DAY

9 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £5.50

A war story featuring puppets as a woman discovers the story of her grandfather. STILL ILL

14–15 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Set in post-Troubles Ulster, this play follows the plight of two Smiths fans who become embroiled in a dangerous affair that pulls them back into the midst of violence. OF LAND AND TONGUE

16 NOV, TIMES VARY, £14

A series of short plays inspired by Grimm Fairy Tales and set in the urban backdrop of modern day Salford. 30 NOV, TIMES VARY, £8.50

Festive play based on Hans Christian Anderson’s classic tale, The Little Match Girl.

The Lowry: Lyric Theatre AL MURRAY

MR COURTNEY’S BROOD

Pulse Mcr’s latest production is a musical comedy of modern manners and political incorrectness: The Courtney family are a living testimony to the British values of hard work, honesty and fair play.

Waterside Arts Centre HOT MIKADO

11–15 NOV, TIMES VARY, £12 (£8)

East meets West in this 1940’s style update of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic.

Z Arts VEIL

8 NOV, 11:00AM – 9:00PM, FREE

Digital art installation and performance piece fronted by poet, writer and theatre maker Kay Adshead, exploring stories and working with women from all ethnic Muslim backgrounds. A collaboration between art forms, artists and stories.

15 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:15PM, £26.50

Alastair James Belshaw once more dons his Pub Landlord persona, serving up the ale-inspired acumen and bar-room buffoonery, as per. LA TRAVIATA

19 NOV, 21 NOV, 7:00PM–10:00PM, FROM £17.50

Opera & Ballet International present Verdi’s interpretation of one of the most popular love stories of the 19th century, La Dame aux Camelias. JEEVES AND WOOSTER IN PERFECT NONSENSE

4–8 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £17.50

James Lance stars in this new play adapted from the works of P.G. Wodehouse, with a trip to the countryside soon taking a turn for the absurd. DESH

13–14 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, FROM £17

One man tries to find his balance in an unstable world in this Olivier awar-winning performance by celebrated choreographer and performer Akram Khan. THE BARTERED BRIDE

18 NOV, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, FROM £17.50

Comedy opera dealing in a simple tale of young love triumphing over cynical calculation. Just like it does in real life of course.

Liverpool Theatre Liverpool Anglican Cathedral SILENT NIGHT

20-21 NOV, 7:30PM-9:00PM, £8 (£6)

The famous tale of the Christmas Eve truce in 1914 during World War I.

Echo Arena

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

28–29 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Jeff Wayne’s musical version of the HG Wells novel tours for what will be its final arena swansong.

Epstein Theatre HAIRSPRAY

14–15 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £11

Toe-tapping musical based on the film by John Waters, following the tale of a girl with big hair and an even bigger heart. MUSIC HALL TAVERN

8 NOV, 6:30PM – 10:00PM, £20

22 NOV, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, FROM £17.50

Apparently it was the most successful show in the Canary Islands, and now it’s coming to Liverpool. A night of music, laughter and razzamatazz.

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

28 NOV, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £15.50

THE CORONATION OF POPPEA

An early opera masterpiece, brought back to life by Tim Albery and his assembled production. 19–29 NOV, NOT 23, 24, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

The Tim Burton classic is given a resplendent makeover courtesy of renowned choreographer Matthew Bourne. And some shiny scissor hands.

The Lowry: Quays Theatre OTHELLO

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 AND 29 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £20

Frantic Assembly provide an electrifying take on Shakespeare’s classic thriller-tragedy of paranoia, jealousy, sex and murder. THE FIVE AND THE PROPHECY OF PRANA

11–12 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:15PM, FROM £15

Five young troublemakers are drawn into a power struggle in an action-packed adventure set in Tokyo. A FAREWELL TO ARMS

13–15 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £17

An adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s First World War novel.

The Plaza Stockport

RUSSIAN STATE BALLET: SWAN LAKE

18 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £20.90

Russian State Ballet’s retelling of the classic love story, brought to life by Tchaikovsky’s haunting score.

THERE’S A LOT TO GET THROUGH

A packed variety fund raising evening for Liverpool Heart and Chest Appeal including live music from The Spinners Folk legend Hughie Jones.

Everyman Theatre THIS IS MY FAMILY

4–8 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £12

A fast-moving new musical from Tim Firth, the writer of Calendar Girls and Flint Street Nativity, which asks exactly what is the point of family in the modern age? SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER

18–22 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £12

New comedy from director Conrad Nelson which sees young gent Marlow ensconced by bar maid Kate Hardcastle.

Liverpool Empire ANNIE

27–30 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

Contemporary musical favourite telling the tale of little orphan Annie. SWAN LAKE

18–22 NOV, TIMES VARY, FROM £5

The English National Ballet’s retelling of the classic love story. DANCING IN THE STREETS

13–15 NOV, 26 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, PRICES VARY

Singalong celebration of the music that came from the heart of Detroit. CARMEN

7–8 NOV, 7:15PM – 10:00PM, FROM £6

The Welsh National Opera perform their rendition of the timeless musical,

A dance of odd sensations and unnameable experiences.

Listings

Theatre Liverpool

STONES IN HIS POCKETS 10 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, PRICES VARY

A rural community in County Kerry is turned upside down by the arrival of an American film crew on location to capture the ‘real’ Ireland.

THE RAT PACK VEGAS SPECTACULAR SHOW

24 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, FROM £19.90

Rat Pack-styled musical favourite, taking a trip back to the glitz and glam of 50s Las Vegas.

Royal Court Theatre

SCOUSE OF THE ANTARCTIC

21 NOV – 1 DEC, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FROM £13

The Royal Court Christmas show is back! This year, US and Russian submarines race up to the Antarctic in a battle for recently-discovered minerals, only to discover a scouser with a bobble hat on and a student banging on about global warming. BADFELLAS

7–8 NOV, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, FROM £3

Brand new fairytale action in which the land of Talewood has become a murky place, a far cry from its creator Dalton Wisley’s dream of creating a place where heroes and villains from books, films and video games could exist together. TERRIERS

5 NOV, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £5

Peer pressure play which sees its 15 year-old protagonist stuck between joining one of the gangs that dominate his council estate neighbourhood, or giving himself the chance of a better life.

St Helens Theatre Royal THE NUTCRACKER

7 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £19 (£17)

The Vienna Festival Ballet’s retelling of Tchaikovsky’s dance classic, ripe for the festive season with its dreamlike narrative and magical journey of discovery. NIGHTS ON BROADWAY

8 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £17.50 (£16)

A musical retelling of some of Manchester’s favourite disco-loving sons, the Bee Gees. BLOOD BROTHERS

17–22 NOV, TIMES VARY, £27

The classic tale of Liverpool life comes to St Helens 24 year on from its West End debut.

The Bluecoat DADAFEST: UNSUNG

22 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FREE

A new play telling the story of Edward Rushton, Liverpool Human Rights Activist and anti-slavery Abolitionist.

DADAFEST: WELCOME TO DADALAND

23 NOV, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

An introductory day of DaDaFest performances featuring Lisa Simpson (not that one) and RAWD. DADAFEST: BROUGHT TO LIFE

23 NOV, 2:00PM – 3:00PM, FREE

Choreographer Lisa Simpson’s work brings digital and natural worlds together, with dancers responding to themes of virtual and natural environments growth and change. DADAFEST: HOW TO FALL IN LOVE

23 NOV, 3:00PM – 3:30PM, FREE

A self-styled rubbish love story exploring how quick we are to throw away a good thing and the search to find someone special. DADAFEST: THE UGLY GIRL

26 NOV, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £10 (£8)

A comic twist on the stereotype of a queer, disabled, intellectual trouble-maker played out in front of a dysfunctional family. DADAFEST: BACKSTAGE IN BISCUIT LAND

1 DEC, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £8 (£6)

Two-woman solo show focused on tourettes, mixing comedy with puppetry and singing.

The Brindley SWAN LAKE

21 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £14

UK Ballet Theatre present their take on the classic ballet.

Listings

SILENT NIGHT 4 NOV, 7:30PM-10:00PM, £10

The famous tale of the Christmas Eve truce in 1914 during World War I. ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

11–15 NOV, TIMES VARY, £15 (£14)

Tony award-winning version of Irving Berlin’s classic musical, now with added Jason-bloodyDonovan. DOWNSTAIRS, UPSTAIRS, THEN AND NOW

7 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £8 (£7)

A play incorporates a saga of romance, wealth, class, relationships of tragedy and resilience, relating to a family’s true life events, before the First World War to the present day. THE LION IN WINTER

21 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£8)

James Goldman’s renowned play is brought to the stage by Minimum Wage Theatre Company, as King Henry II’s three sons battle over who should get to succeed him on the throne. YULETIDE PARADISE

28 OCT–28 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10

A raucous Christmas performance taking inspiration William Morris’ Earthly Paradise by Brindley artists in residence, the Suitcase Ensemble. SWEET DREAMS

28 NOV, 7:00PM – 9:30PM, £10 (£8)

Split Ends present their festive special on the classic tale Sleeping Beauty, featuring plenty of laughs.

FEAR2 13–14 NOV, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £10.50 (£8.50)

Local theatre company License To Thrill cram four plays into two hours, blending comedy with horror and eroticism, in the style of the French practice Grand Guignol.

Manchester

27–29 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10.50 (£8.50)

XS MALARKEY (STEVE BUGEJA + DEAN MAVROS + JACK WARNER)

[TITLE OF SHOW]

The Tony Award-nominated play follows the story of two struggling writers from New York on their journey to create a show stopping musical...the show you see before you tonight.

The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

6–8 NOV, TIMES VARY, £8 (£4)

Based on the novel by Shepherd Mead, LIPA’s third-year dance students tackle this Pulitzer and Tony-Award winning Broadway musical. AUGUST OSAGE COUNTY

20–22 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £8 (£4)

The third-year acting students of LIPA tackle this Pulitzer Prizewinning play. PERICLES

27–29 NOV, TIMES VARY, £SOLD OUT

Adapted from the original Shakespeare play, Pericles is a romantic adventure story about families fragmented by shipwreck and mistaken deaths. THE 2014 CHRISTMAS VARIETY SHOW

28 NOV, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £6 (£3)

The Capstone

Students, graduates and members of the LIPA academy present a night of song, music, dance and illusion.

20 JUL, 25 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£7)

Unity Theatre

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

A new adaptation of the classic 1873 novel. BEAUTY OF THE BEAST

22 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£7)

An exploration of masculinity and male group behaviour through the medium of dance. MARY PEARSON

18 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £12.50 (£9.50)

The improvisational performance maker and dancer performs her solo show The Sand Dog Cometh. ASCENSION

26 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£7)

A show that aims at redefining dance in a technological age. The event features a selection of exciting and original work created and performed by North West Dance artists and international digital artists. FLIGHT TO ARRAS

29 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£7)

A poetic retelling of the penultimate flights and autobiographic thoughts of Antoine de SaintExupéry over occupied France, based on his book of the same title.

The Lantern Theatre BROKEN BISCUITS

9–11 NOV, TIMES VARY, £10.50 (£8.50)

A tale of two best friends whose friendship has spanned over 20 years until Rita’s son James took a fatal bullet in Afghanistan saving Maggie’s son Paul. AMSTERDAM

15 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10.50 (£8.50)

Fusing spoken word, physicality and music, Amsterdam is a 21st century play of love and lust. STILL ILL

21–22 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Set in post-Troubles Ulster, this play follows the plight of two Smiths fans who become embroiled in a dangerous affair that pulls them back into the midst of violence. JOHN AND MARK

6–8 NOV, TIMES VARY, £9.50

This theatre premiere sees the infamous Mark David Chapman visited by the ghost of John Lennon in his prison cell - the very man he shot dead years earlier.

Comedy

THE BOY WHO KICKED PIGS

20 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12 (£10)

A darkly comic story based on a book by Tom Baker, which sees 13 year-old Robert Calligari face his comeuppance in the form of... death. BLACK

6–7 NOV, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £12 (£10)

Starring cabaret legend Le Gateau Chocolat, who has performed everywhere from Sydney Opera House to La Clique. Part of Homotopia Festival. JARMAN (ALL THIS MADDENING BEAUTY)

4–5 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£8)

Inspired by queer icon Derek Jarman, this new show looks at his life and legacy. Part of Homotopia Festival. UYT YEP SHOWCASE

8 NOV, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, FREE

A combined showcase featuring members of both the Unity and Everyman Youth Theatre groups. TRIPLE DANCE BILL

11 NOV, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£8)

Darren Pritchard, Connor Quill and DeNada Dance Theatre present new work as part of Homotopia Festival. ECCE HOMO

14–15 NOV, TIMES VARY, £10 (£8)

Intimate cabaret starring Naughty Nickers, as part of Homotopia Festival. MOJISOLA ADEBAYOR RETROSPECTIVE

15 NOV, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £8 (£6)

The acclaimed queer performer presents excerpts from her most successful shows, including I Stand Corrected, a response to the equal marriage debate and recent hate rape of lesbians and trans-men in South Africa.

Tue 04 Nov

PUB/ZOO, 20:00–23:00, £5 (£3)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans. SOS TV LIVE (PETER SLATER + LEE FENWICK + MORE)

THREE MINUTE THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

The Superstars on Saturday bunch present an evening of silly character sketches. AN EVENING WITH ANGELS

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £5 (£4)

An evening of satirical sketches aimed at the art and political worlds from the new Manchester comedy group. TONY JAMESON

THE KING’S ARMS, 21:00–23:00, £8 (£6.50)

Tony Jameson recalls how the game Football Manager ruined his life. We’ve all been there.

Wed 05 Nov

COMEDY BALLOON (ANDREW MARSH + DANIELLE LONGWORTH + JAMIE HUTCHINSON + JOHN LEAN + MORE ) APE AND APPLE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Manchester’s oldest underground comedy club returns with a bang, continuing their quest to put fresh comedic talent in the spotlight. CHRIS RAMSEY

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

After being booted off the Soccer AM sofa, Chris Ramsay takes his musings on saying the wrong thing at the wrong time on the road. MARCEL LUCONT

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:30, £13

Witty Frenchman and awardwinning comic does his endlessly charming thing. ONE OR MORE OF MY FAMILY DIED

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £1

Work in progress show promising to take audiences on an emotional journey. STEVE BUGEJA

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:45–22:00, £3

Steve Bugeja puts some new ideas in place, fresh from supporting Russell Kane on his national tour earlier this year.

Thu 06 Nov

BIG VALUE THURSDAY (ALASTAIR CLARK + JOE GUY + STEVE SHANYASKI + MC TOBY HADOKE)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £9 (£6)

A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value. ROBIN INCE

THE DANCEHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £13 (£11)

In a fast follow up to In (and out of) His Mind, Robin Ince continues to prod into our brains with a sharpened pencil to try and work out just how much free will anyone can have. MARCUS BRIGSTOCKE

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

Podium dancer, oil rig worker, food addict, musical theatre enthusiast, posh, eco-hypocrite, ex-Goth, award-winning comedian and chief beverages operator at the Little Chef - screw politics! Let’s talk about me. NOT QUITE A FULL SHILLING

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £3

18–19 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Manchester’s own Stephen Kelly talks past and present in his hilarious new show.

SONG OF SEMMERSUAQ

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:45–22:00, £2

VÄSTERBOTTEN

A musical storytelling based in the Swedish province. 21 NOV, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £7 (£5)

Semmersuaq is a 7ft tall Chief’s daughter from a tribe who live in a world of snow. She meets a shorter stranger in her quest to marry who helps her sing her own song.

THE MAN WITH THE CARRIER BAG AND FRIENDS

A selection of dark and twisted comedy characters are introduced by the strange Man with the Carrier Bag.

Fri 07 Nov

BARREL OF LAUGHS (BRENDAN RILEY + STUART MITCHELL + STEVE SHANYASKI + MC TOBY HADOKE)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.

COMIC FX ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE, 18:00–19:30, FREE

An evening of free stand up comedy, with this edition bringing Dave Twentyman and Lewis Charlesworth to the stage. KABARET NEO-NOWKA

THE DANCEHOUSE, 19:00–20:30, £22

One of the most popular Polish younger generation comedy groups, the trio create distinct and sophisticated characters designed to mirror of the Polish mentality, virtues and vices. KABARET NEO-NOWKA

THE DANCEHOUSE, 22:00–23:30, £22

One of the most popular Polish younger generation comedy groups, the trio create distinct and sophisticated characters designed to mirror of the Polish mentality, virtues and vices. LAUGH LOCAL (GAVIN WEBSTER + MITCH BENN + JONNY PELHAM + MC JUSTIN MOORHOUSE)

CHORLTON IRISH CLUB, 18:30–22:00, £12 (£10)

Comedy comes to the suburbs as the folk behind Bop Local present an evening of comedy, with Justin Moorhouse leading the flock. MARK STEEL’S BACK IN TOWN

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £14

Ever-changing live show from the writer and stand-up comic, for which he’ll write new material based on interesting aspects of every town and city he visits.

COMEDY SCRATCH NIGHT (RICH DAVENPORT + THOMAS RACKHAM + LUCY THOMPSON + DANNY CLIVES)

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:45–21:45, £4

A one-hour four-comedian showcase of gut busting laughs. Ew.

Sat 08 Nov

BARREL OF LAUGHS (MICKEY D + STUART MITCHELL + STEVE SHANYASKI) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.

THE DEN OF VARIETY (BOB BLACKMAN’S TRAY + BIG BREN + MAJUS B AND HIS STRANGE CREATURES + CHLOE JONES)

THREE MINUTE THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £10

Comedy variety show courtesy of Three Minute Theatre, featuring a range of off the wall comics and off-kilter delights. BEST OF BUZZ COMEDY

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 20:00–22:30, £12 (£10)

John Simmit is the latest comedian to call in to the regular comedy night. HAL CRUTTENDEN

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

As seen on The Royal Variety Performance, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and The Rob Brydon Show, Hal Cruttenden brings his usual brand of simultaneously warm and catty stand-up to the Northwest. JANA AND HEIDI

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:30, £12

Mother-daughter comedy duo, exploring the ins and outs of their 32 year relationship. THE ANTI-DUHRING BATTALION SHOW

THE KING’S ARMS, 18:15–19:15, £5

From the radio show of the same name comes the Edinburgh Festival-lauded variety show of character comedy, burlesque and political satire. A SPAGHETTI NORTH WESTERN

COMEDY SCRATCH NIGHT (JENNIFER BANKS + STEPHEN ARMSTRONG + ROS BALLINGER + SEAN THORPE) THE KING’S ARMS, 20:45–21:45, £5

A one-hour four-comedian showcase of gut busting laughs. Ew. JOHN COOPER

THE KING’S ARMS, 22:00–23:00, FREE

Better known as the character Danny Pensive, John Cooper strips back his persona tonight to reveal his true self.

Sun 09 Nov FASCINATING AIDA

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 19:30–22:15, FROM £21

Comedy cabaret trio, performing new numbers and a fair few old favourites (and, yes, Cheap Flights is a guarantee). MARK WATSON

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £17

The English comedian and novelist returns with his darkest and most personal show yet, humourously exploring human character defects and the effects his own considered flaws have had on his life. ANDY ZALTZMAN

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:30, £13

One half of the global smash hit topical podcast The Bugle, Andy Zaltzman returns to take satirical commissions from you, the public. PICNIC

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:45–22:00, £5

Comedy magician and general goofbag El Baldiniho hits Manchester for a set of under-rehearsed magic japes.

COMEDY BALLOON (CHARLEY MANTACK + JON NEWALL + HAROLD HUNTLEY + TODD WILLIAMS + MORE)

APE AND APPLE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Manchester’s oldest underground comedy club returns with a bang, continuing their quest to put fresh comedic talent in the spotlight.

Thu 13 Nov

MIRANDA SINGS (COLLEEN BALLINGERS)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 18:00–22:00, £22

The Youtube sensation attempts to find out whether people will find her as watchable in the flesh by going on tour.

BIG VALUE THURSDAY (MICKEY D + CHRIS BETTS + JASON SIMMONS + JOHN WARBURTON + MC DAN NIGHTINGALE) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £9 (£6)

A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value.

ADVENTURES IN LIMITED SPACE

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £4

Comedy show from Jordan Brookes, a human person who loves nothing more than sitting on a chair doing nothing. He’ll probably stretch to a joke or two tonight though. HEAT PUMPS, KATE GARRAWAY & OTHER NICHE CONCERNS

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:45–22:00, £3

Phil Lucas and Julie Oliver hit the road fresh from a month at the Brighton Fringe, making audiences cry with laughter through their PowerPoint-assisted show. ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING

THE KING’S ARMS, 22:00–23:00, FREE

Late evening laughs with a dash of culture and a sprinkling of silliness, starring the four Bards... Rocky, Punky, Cheesy and Bolshie. THE ANTI-DUHRING BATTALION SHOW

THE KING’S ARMS, 21:00–22:00, £5

From the radio show of the same name comes the Edinburgh Festival-lauded variety show of character comedy, burlesque and political satire.

Mon 10 Nov BEAT THE FROG (MC ALEX BOARDMAN)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £3

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal! URMSTON UNUSUALS COMEDY SKETCHES

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £3

A comedy group with a difference, this collective came together while undergoing group therapy at the Urmston Institute for the Comically Disturbed. THE ANTI-DUHRING BATTALION SHOW

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £5

From the radio show of the same name comes the Edinburgh Festival-lauded variety show of character comedy, burlesque and political satire. THE WORST COMEDY NIGHT IN SALFORD

THE KING’S ARMS, 00:00–01:00, FREE

Tue 11 Nov

EL BALDINIHO: TOTES AMAZEBALD

Bad taste director John Waters leads a spoken laughathon taking in stories of childhood and early influences, through to his Hollywood highlights and (hopefully) some Divine reminiscing.

Sham Bodie returns with another rib-tickling evening of music and sketch show comedy.

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:45–22:00, £2

Will Setchell brings his new workin-progress show onto the stage. “Breathless storytelling timed to perfection” according to us!

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £30 (£25)

SHAM BODIE (KIRK MCELHINNEY + ANDREW JAMES + DAN LEES + LIAM BOLTON + MORE)

An evening of Stand Up Comedy, Art and Literature with Bilal Zafar and Immodium Nitrate.

Keeping expectations low with this night of open mic stand up, opening up the stage to anyone willing to give it go.

ONE DAY ALL THIS WILL BE FIELDS

JOHN WATERS

THE KING’S ARMS, 18:15–19:15, FREE

An hour of stand up and sketches from comedy trio Joe Hughes, Gary Lunt and Matthew Gabrielli.

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £3

Wed 12 Nov

XS MALARKEY (JOSIE LONG + IAIN STIRLING + TEZ ILYAS + CLAYTON JONES)

PUB/ZOO, 20:00–23:00, £5 (£3)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans. CHAOS TO ORDER: JOSIE LONG

CENTRAL LIBRARY, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

A specially-commissioned one-off routine from the popular comedian, exploring the theme of Chaos To Order.

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £5

Fri 14 Nov

BARREL OF LAUGHS (MICKEY D + FELICITY WARD + JOHN WARBURTON + MC DAN NIGHTINGALE)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. JOHN BISHOP

PHONES 4U ARENA, 18:30–22:00, £35.45

The marketing director turned comedian takes to the road with his new tour of confessionalstyled stand-up. MARK GRIST

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

If you’ve not seen Mark Grist taking down his students in rap battles on Youtube, then you really should. Or just come and see him at the King’s Arms.

Sat 15 Nov

BARREL OF LAUGHS (MICKEY D + FELICITY WARD + JOHN WARBURTON + MC DAN NIGHTINGALE)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. PAUL SINHA

CONTACT, 20:00–22:30, £14 (£8)

Stand-up comedy from the former Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee. JOHN BISHOP

PHONES 4U ARENA, 18:30–22:00, £35.45

The marketing director turned comedian takes to the road with his new tour of confessionalstyled stand-up. AL MURRAY

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 19:30–22:15, £26.50

Alastair James Belshaw once more dons his Pub Landlord persona, serving up the ale-inspired acumen and bar-room buffoonery, as per.

Sun 16 Nov JOHN BISHOP

PHONES 4U ARENA, 18:30–22:00, £35.45

The marketing director turned comedian takes to the road with his new tour of confessionalstyled stand-up. TONY LAW

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, £14

The multi award-winning Canadian nonsense-maker pitches up with his particularly addictive brand of silliness.

Mon 17 Nov

BEAT THE FROG (MC DAVID LONGLEY)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £3

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal!

Tue 18 Nov

XS MALARKEY (ANTHONY J BROWN + HARRIET KEMSLEY + RICK MURTAGH + GRAHAM MILTON) PUB/ZOO, 20:00–23:00, £5 (£3)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans.

Wed 19 Nov

COMEDY BALLOON (CHRIS KEHOE + PAUL NIGHTINGALE + MATT LEIGH + LUCY THOMPSON + IAN RACKHAM)

APE AND APPLE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Manchester’s oldest underground comedy club returns with a bang, continuing their quest to put fresh comedic talent in the spotlight. MARK THOMAS

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 19:30–22:00, £15 (£10)

All-new material from the renowned political comic, telling his true story of how Britain biggest arms manufacturer (BAE Systems) came to spy on a comedian. A tale of hubris, planes, demos and undercover deceit.

Thu 20 Nov

BIG VALUE THURSDAY (JEFF INNOCENT + TOM LITTLE + RUTH E COCKBURN + DALISO CHAPONDA + MC PETE OTWAY)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £9 (£6)

A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value. THE EXEC-FACTOR

CONTACT, 19:30–22:00, £15

Several North West Business leaders swap the board room for the stage for one night only. Good luck with that one. THE WORST OF SCOTTEE

CONTACT, 20:00–22:00, £9 (£5)

The acclaimed comedian recalls encounters with past flames, exfriends and people who no longer like him in an attempt to work out where it all went wrong. SEAN HUGHES

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:30, £15

The Anglo-Irish comic tackles all nature of human foibles, taking in older brothers, The Human League and an Italian hooligan.

Fri 21 Nov

BARREL OF LAUGHS (JEFF INNOCENT + MIKE NEWALL + DALISO CHAPONDA + MC PETE OTWAY)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. THE WORST OF SCOTTEE

CONTACT, 20:00–22:00, £9 (£5)

The acclaimed comedian recalls encounters with past flames, exfriends and people who no longer like him in an attempt to work out where it all went wrong. JOHN SHUTTLEWORTH

THE DANCEHOUSE, 19:15–22:00, £17 (£15)

Planning to share fond memories of past weekends, a typo on the poster means that John Shuttleworth’s A Wee Ken To Remember now sees the comic paying homage to his next-door neighbour Ken Worthington. Foolish. NOEL FIELDING

O2 APOLLO, 20:00–22:30, £25

Former Mighty Boosh dandy attempts to keep his off-the-wall improv comedy going long enough to fill the allotted time. WES ZAHARUK (KEITH CARTER AS NIGE + NICKY WILKINSON + MC PHIL ELLIS)

MANCHESTER RUGBY CLUB, 20:00–22:30, £10

Triple headlining bill of bellyholdingly good comedy.

Sat 22 Nov

BARREL OF LAUGHS (JEFF INNOCENT + MIKE NEWALL + DALISO CHAPONDA + MC PETE OTWAY)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.

THE SKINNY

THE WORST OF SCOTTEE CONTACT, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£5)

The acclaimed comedian recalls encounters with past flames, exfriends and people who no longer like him in an attempt to work out where it all went wrong. JOHN SHUTTLEWORTH

THE DANCEHOUSE, 19:15–22:00, £17 (£15)

THE DANCEHOUSE, 15:00–17:45, £17 (£15)

Sun 23 Nov DAVE GORMAN

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 16:00–18:00, £21

Dave Gorman continues to tour his latest show, a double-act of sorts with a projector screen. DAVE GORMAN

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £21

Dave Gorman continues to tour his latest show, a double-act of sorts with a projector screen.

Thu 27 Nov

BIG VALUE THURSDAY (JONNY AWSUM + OMAR HAMDI + ALISTAIR WILLIAMS + PHILBERTO + MC BARRY DODDS)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £9 (£6)

A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value. DEBS GATENBY

CONTACT, 19:30–22:00, £9 (£5)

New show from the comedian that looks at how mental illness affected her and her mum.

Fri 28 Nov

CHRISTMAS BARREL OF LAUGHS (JONNY AWSUM + PHILBERTO + MC BARRY DODDS) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £16 (£8)

Three top-notch comics providing the festive laughs, alongside a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. SCOTT CAPURRO

THE KING’S ARMS, 21:45–23:00, £12

The San Franciscan comic does his deliberately provocative thing, taking in gay marriage, his third mid-life crisis and the Koran.

OFF THE RAILS (CAIMH MCDONNELL + SEAN PERCIVAL + ADAM ROWE + MC ROB RILEY) ROYAL GEORGE, 20:00–22:30, £12 (£10)

HENNING WEHN

A host of comedians ready to tickle your funny bones in aid of the Oldham PHAB.

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

Sat 29 Nov

Jolly stand-up German comic, who pretty much seems to have self-appointed himself German Comedy Ambassador to the UK, mores the joy.

ENGLAND ROLLER DERBY PRESENTS: THE GRIN BIN (PHILL JUPITUS + BETHANY BLACK + KEITH CARTER + WILL SETCHELL + MORE)

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–22:00, £10

The England Roller Derby present a comedy fundraiser with a mighty impressive line-up indeed, helmed by the mighty Phill Jupitus.

Mon 24 Nov

BEAT THE FROG (MC BARRY DODDS)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £3

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal!

SIDEKICK COMEDY (KATE MCCABE + LEWIS CHARLESWORTH + SARAH PROFIT + MICHAEL DOLAN + MATT FONG) VIA, 19:30–22:00, £2

A monthly comedy gig offering an alternative to the usual comedy nights, offering a new take on the template with a nerdy-cool vibe. HENNING WEHN

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

Jolly stand-up German comic, who pretty much seems to have self-appointed himself German Comedy Ambassador to the UK, mores the joy.

Tue 25 Nov DEBS GATENBY

CONTACT, 19:30–22:00, £9 (£5)

New show from the comedian that looks at how mental illness affected her and her mum.

XS MALARKEY (JONATHAN MAYOR + ROB ROUSE + JAYNE EDWARDS + LAUREN PATTISON + COLIN CHADWICK) PUB/ZOO, 20:00–23:00, £5 (£3)

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans. THE WORST COMEDY NIGHT IN SALFORD

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, FREE

Keeping expectations low with this night of open mic stand up, opening up the stage to anyone willing to give it go.

Wed 26 Nov DEBS GATENBY

CONTACT, 19:30–22:00, £9 (£5)

New show from the comedian that looks at how mental illness affected her and her mum. COMEDY BALLOON (LAUREN PATTISON + MIKE MILLING + SAM POTTER + BEN SUTTON + MORE)

APE AND APPLE, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Manchester’s oldest underground comedy club returns with a bang, continuing their quest to put fresh comedic talent in the spotlight.

November 2014

CHRISTMAS BARREL OF LAUGHS (JONNY AWSUM + PHILBERTO + MC BARRY DODDS) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £17 (£10)

Three top-notch comics providing the festive laughs, alongside a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.

Sun 30 Nov

LAUGHING COWS (HAYLEY ELLIS + MC KERRY LEIGH)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £7

All-female line-up of comics from the Laughing Cow bunch &ndash; a group that has helped the likes of Sarah Milllican and Jo Brand launch their careers. SHITS & GIGGLES

ANTWERP MANSION, 19:00–23:00, £5

Antwerp Mansion’s monthly comedy night. GERVASE PHINN

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

The comedian regales audiences with tales of being a schools inspector in the Yorkshire Dales, amongst other things. BRIDGET CHRISTIE

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, FROM £12

The self-aware British comic riffs on why Bic think women need special biros to write with, amongst other things. SARA PASCOE

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:30, £12

Clever comic Sara Pascoe turns her attention to history in her latest stand-up show, which contains wars, witches, Kim Yong-Il and your ex.

OFF THE RAILS (GORDON SOUTHERN + DAN EVANS + DAVID JORDAN + MC MICK FERRY) ROYAL GEORGE, 19:30–22:00, £8.50

A host of comedians ready to tickle your funny bones in aid of the Oldham PHAB.

THE MARPLE BRIDGE COMEDY CLUB (DAN EVANS + GORDON SOUTHERN + JOHN WHALE + MC RAY BRADSHAW) NORFOLK ARMS, 19:30–22:00, £TBC

A trio of some of the comedy circuit’s most active talents, linked up seamlessly by MC Ray Bradshaw.

Mon 01 Dec BEAT THE FROG

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £3

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal!

GEIN’S FAMILY GIFTSHOP’S BARGAIN BASEMENT

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:30–22:00, £10

New sketches and material drawing inspiration from misery and human suffering, with the Giftshop now in hot demand following a successful Edinburgh Fringe.

Liverpool Comedy Wed 05 Nov

THE LAUGHTER FACTOR (MC PAUL SMITH)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £15

A monthly event giving comics the chance to try out new material before the weekend shows – it helps if you think of yourself as a comedic guinea pig.

Thu 06 Nov

MICKEY D (RAY BRADSHAW + LIAM BOLTON + MC JONATHON MAYOR)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Tue 11 Nov DAWN FRENCH

LIVERPOOL EMPIRE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £22.90

The longstanding British comic takes to the road for her first ever solo tour, based on her life and career – a period of time that amounts to 30 million minutes. MIRANDA SINGS

ECHO ARENA, 19:00–22:00, £22

The Youtube sensation attempts to find out whether people will find her as watchable in the flesh by going on tour. DAVE GORMAN GETS STRAIGHT TO THE POINT

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–22:30, FROM £20

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Dave Gorman continues to tour his latest show, a double-act of sorts with a projector screen.

Fri 07 Nov

Wed 12 Nov

NOEL FIELDING

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–22:30, £25

Former Mighty Boosh dandy attempts to keep his off-the-wall improv comedy going long enough to fill the allotted time. MICKEY D (JOHN LYNN + JOEL DOMMETT + MC JONATHON MAYOR)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

BOILING POINT (DALISO CHAPONDA + ADAM ROW + MC PAUL SMITH) HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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. MARKUS BIRDMAN (STEVE SHANYASKI + KEVIN DEWSBURY + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £15

BEAT THE GONG

COMEDY CENTRAL, 19:45–22:00, £5

An open mic night for up and coming comics to test their wit!

Thu 13 Nov DAVID MILLS

UNITY THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10)

As part of Homotopia Festival, American comedian David Mills brings his sharp-suited cocktail swagger and biting rants to Liverpool.

BENNY BOOT (ROGER MONKHOUSE + LEE BENNETT + MC MARTIN MOR)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. KEITH CARTER AS NIGE

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £12

Keith Carter brings out Liverpool’s best loved scally for a night of surreal humour and hilarity.

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

Fri 14 Nov

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

MARK THOMAS

Sat 08 Nov

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CELLAR

THE MAGNET , 19:30–22:30, £12

The Liverpool Comedy Cellar brings you the cream of Stand Up from the international comedy circuit every Saturday. BOILING POINT (STEVE ROYLE + ADAM ROWE + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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. NOEL FIELDING

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–22:30, £25

Former Mighty Boosh dandy attempts to keep his off-the-wall improv comedy going long enough to fill the allotted time. MICKEY D (JOHN LYNN + JOEL DOMMETT + MC JONATHON MAYOR)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. STEVE SHANYASKI (MARKUS BIRDMAN + KEVIN DEWSBURY + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk. MARK THOMAS

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £15

Sun 9 Nov

TESTING THE WATER (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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.

BENNY BOOT (ROGER MONKHOUSE + SILKY + MC MARTIN MOR)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

BOILING POINT (SILKY + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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. GLENN WOOL (PHIL NICHOL + KEITH CARTER AS NIGE + MC CHRIS CAIRNS)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

Sat 15 Nov

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CELLAR

THE MAGNET , 19:30–22:30, £12

The Liverpool Comedy Cellar brings you the cream of Stand Up from the international comedy circuit every Saturday. BOILING POINT (SILKY + MC PAUL SMITH

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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.

BENNY BOOT (ROGER MONKHOUSE + SILKY + MC MARTIN MOR)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. PHIL NICHOL (KEITH CARTER AS NIGE + GLENN WOOL + MC CHRIS CAIRNS)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk. GRAHAM NORTON LIVE

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–22:30, FROM £30

The late night chat show host takes to the stage to tell all in support of his new memoir The Life and Loves of a He Devil.

Sun 16 Nov

TESTING THE WATER (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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.

Wed 19 Nov JASPER CARROTT

THE BRINDLEY, 20:00–23:30, £26

The veteran comedian returns with Stand Up &amp; Rock! A mixture of his comedy stylings and musical performances from guests including ELO’s Bev Bevan, The Move’s Geoff Turton and Quill’s Joy Strachan-Brain.

Thu 20 Nov TOMMY TIERNAN

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

He once set the World Record for the longest stand-up comedy show at 36 hours and 15 minutes. Expect something a little shorter from the Irish comedian tonight though. JEFF INNOCENT (DALISO CHAPONDA + JON WAGSTAFFE + MC JONNY CANDON) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Sun 23 Nov

TESTING THE WATER (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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.

Tue 25 Nov LEE MACK

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–22:30, FROM £27.50

The multi-award winning comic takes to the road for his first live tour in over four years, trademark high energy banter and sharp oneliners all well and in place.

Wed 26 Nov

HOBGOBLIN COMEDY AWARD

COMEDY CENTRAL, 19:30–22:00, £6

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Regional heat of the beer’s extensive search to find the nation’s finest up and coming comic.

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £14

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–22:30, FROM £27.50

TONY LAW

The multi award-winning Canadian nonsense-maker pitches up with his particularly addictive brand of silliness. DEBS GATTENBY

THE LANTERN THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, £8.50 (£6.50)

The Manchester Polytech graduate introduces Hi Anxiety, a one-woman comedy laughathon that tackles the issue of mental illness and how it has affected the comedian.

Fri 21 Nov TOMMY TIERNAN

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

He once set the World Record for the longest stand-up comedy show at 36 hours and 15 minutes. Expect something a little shorter from the Irish comedian tonight though. BOILING POINT (SUSAN MURRAY + FREDDY QUINNE + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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.

JEFF INNOCENT (DALISO CHAPONDA + ADAM STAUNTON + MC JONNY CANDON) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. JASON COOK (SILKY + DUNCAN OAKLEY + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

Sat 22 Nov TOMMY TIERNAN

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

He once set the World Record for the longest stand-up comedy show at 36 hours and 15 minutes. Expect something a little shorter from the Irish comedian tonight though. LIVERPOOL COMEDY CELLAR

THE MAGNET , 19:30–22:30, £12

The Liverpool Comedy Cellar brings you the cream of Stand Up from the international comedy circuit every Saturday. BOILING POINT (SUSAN MURRAY + DANNY MCLOUGHLIN + MC PAUL SMITH) HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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.

JEFF INNOCENT (DALISO CHAPONDA + ADAM STAUNTON + MC JONNY CANDON) COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. JIM TAVARE (SILKY + JASON COOK + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LEE MACK

The multi-award winning comic takes to the road for his first live tour in over four years, trademark high energy banter and sharp oneliners all well and in place.

Thu 27 Nov

DADAFEST: YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE – A KING OF A LOVE STORY

THE BLUECOAT, 19:30–21:00, £8 (£6)

Terry Galloway had been deaf since she was nine; this comedy show explores how she adjusted to regaining her senses after a cochlear implant. PAULINE DANIELS

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 18:30–21:00, FROM £13.50

Acclaimed as both a comedian and actress, the Liverpudlian returns home with her latest show.

JONNY AWSUM (PHIL ELLIS + JAMES ALDERSON + MC LOU CONRAN)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Fri 28 Nov

JONNY AWSUM (PHIL ELLIS + PRINCE ABDI + MC LOU CONRA)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone. BOILING POINT (JOHN HASTINGS + LIAM BOLTON + PETER OTWAY + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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. JUSTIN MOORHOUSE (RORY O’HANLON + KAREN BAYLEY + MC CHRIS CAIRNS)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

RORY O’HANLON (KAREN BAYLEY + JUSTIN MOORHOUSE + MC CHRIS CAIRNS) THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk. LEE MACK

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 15:30–18:00, FROM £27.50

The multi-award winning comic takes to the road for his first live tour in over four years, trademark high energy banter and sharp oneliners all well and in place. LEE MACK

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–22:30, FROM £27.50

The multi-award winning comic takes to the road for his first live tour in over four years, trademark high energy banter and sharp oneliners all well and in place.

The Liverpool Comedy Cellar brings you the cream of Stand Up from the international comedy circuit every Saturday. BOILING POINT (KEITH CARTHER AS NIGE + LIAM BOLTON + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £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. JONNY AWSUM (PHIL ELLIS + PRINCE ABDI + MC LOU CONRA)

COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Photography exhibition courtesy of the Companions which attempts to shed light on the homeless situation in the UK. THE FUTURE: CONTEXT

29 SEP – 19 DEC, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE

Cornerhouse

Showcase night for up-andcomers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don't mind being a comedy guinea pig.

Mon 01 Dec GERVASE PHINN

THE BRINDLEY, 19:30–22:00, £16.50

The comedian regales audiences with tales of being a schools inspector in the Yorkshire Dales, amongst other things.

Manchester Art Bury Art Gallery and Museum ASIA TRIENNIAL: SCINTILLA FROM OUR SUN

6 SEP–29 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Taiwanese artist Hsiao-Chi Tsai teams up with Japan’s Kimiya Yoshikawa on a sculptural exhibition exploring colour, shape and form derived from post-industrial materials.

Castlefield Gallery

ASIA TRIENNIAL: HARDEEP PANDHAL

27 SEP–23 NOV, 1:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Fictional characters and narratives arise from Hardeep Pandhal’s multi-disciplinary work, which balances trauma with laughter.

Central Library CHAOS TO ORDER: THE READING ROOM

14 NOV, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, FREE

WHAT’S LEFT UNSAID

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CELLAR

FUTURE FIRES: THE NEGATIVES

29 SEP – 19 DEC, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE

HOLIDAY INN, 19:00-22:00, £3 (£1.50)

TESTING THE WATER (MC PAUL SMITH)

Sat 29 Nov

THE MAGNET , 19:30–22:30, £12

Contact

Sun 30 Nov

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–22:30, FROM £27.50

The multi-award winning comic takes to the road for his first live tour in over four years, trademark high energy banter and sharp oneliners all well and in place.

Manchester

A series of individually designed typographic prints by The Future’s Lisa Mattocks, featuring commissions by Marina Abramovic, Quarantine’s Richard Gregory, Forced Entertainment’s Tim Etchells and more.

The renowned Quarantine provide their take on the library reading room, with mass readings, choirs of public voices and theatre.

LEE MACK

Art

Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 26 SEP AND 17 JAN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Burgeoning artist Susie Tang is the latest graduate showcased by the Centre For Chinese Contemporary Art in their ongoing series.

Common

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. FLAGS FROM ANOTHER PLACE

25 SEP – 1 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Aliyah Hussain’s Flags From Another Place focuses on an imagined visual identity for a fictitious world that may or may not be like Earth, using only the flags of each country as a form of expression of individuality for these potentially complex nations.

HOW TO BUILD A BODY WITHOUT ORGANS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 16 OCT AND 25 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

A selection of works curated by University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Alessandro Bucci, featuring artists’ reflections on the process of clothing the body, emphasising the role of dress in creating the whole ‘self’, or building a ‘body without organs’. PLAYTIME

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 22 NOV AND 15 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Nine artists come together using comedy, space and sound to encourage exploration and play in the Cornerhouse for the final time before its 2015 move to HOME. Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Naomi Kashiwagi, Gabriel Lester and Jan St. Werner present new work. A FLOURISH

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 27 NOV AND 6 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

A series of ornithological drawings by artist Fran Giffard.

Federation House TOAST

21 NOV, 7:00PM – 12:00AM, £DONATIONS

Manchester film collective TOAST present an video art performance as part of As We Are Away.

Gallery of Costume SOMETHING BLUE

1 AUG – 15 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Eighteen wedding dresses, worn by mill workers to woman serving in the air force as well as art world figures Kathleen Soriano and Maria Balshaw, are exhibited in a celebration of bridal fashion over the past 100 years.

Imperial War Museum North

ASIA TRIENNIAL: IMRAN QURESHI

22 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Pakistan’s 2011 Sharjah Biennial Prize winner and Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year Imran Qureshi exhibits as part of the Asia Triennial. ASIA TRIENNIAL: ZARINA BHIMJI

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Former Turner nominee Zarina Bhimji exhibits a photograph from her work Here was Uganda, as if in the vastness of India, 1999-2001.

ASIA TRIENNIAL: BASHIR MAKHOUL

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Installation artist Bashir Makhloul explores the kinds of spaces that emerge in sites of conflict, from mock cities built for military training purposes to temporary settlements constructed for refugees. ASIA TRIENNIAL: SHEZAD DAWOOD

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Working across film, painting and sculpture, Shezad Dawood appropriates imagery relating to ancient magical systems and feminine cults in exhibition Babalon Rising. ASIA TRIENNIAL: ALINAH AZADEH

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A British artist of Iranian heritage, Azadeh’s exhibition Child’s Play is a sculptural installation that assesses revolution and displacement by conflict.

Listings

Manchester Art ASIA TRIENNIAL: SOPHIE ERNST 27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Dutch video artist concerned with political turmoil.

ASIA TRIENNIAL: SHAMSIA HASSANI

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Afghani street artist who’s graffiti is set to takeover the exterior of the Imperial War Museum throughout the Triennial. ASIA TRIENNIAL: NALINI MALANI

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Video artist inspired by writings by Christa Wolf and Rainer Maria Rilke, and concerned with the status of women in Indian society. ASIA TRIENNIAL: AMAN MOJADIDI

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

LEAD THE CHANGE

Mojadidi is American-born but now lives in Kabul in Afghanistan, where he’s been credited with the resurgence in the turbulent city’s art scene. ASIA TRIENNIAL: DARK BORDER DEVELOPMENTS PRESENT POP-UP REPUBLICS

27 SEP–23 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Invited artists from the US, UK, Japan and Taiwan will – through their own practices – produce micro-nations capable of existing within a shipping container.

Islington Mill TEAM BUILDING

13 NOV, 6:00PM-10:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of collaborative prints that sees Islington Millbased artists DR.ME, Steve Hockett and Savwo work in conjunction with Berlin's Palefroi.

MMU Special Collections MATERIAL MATTERS

22 SEP – 12 DEC, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of historic and contemporary objects exploring how different materials have been used in art, craft and design over the centuries, and the ongoing importance of materiality to the artist and designer.

Manchester Art Gallery 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.

NATURAL FORCES: ROMANTICISM & NATURE 12–12 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

A collection of early 1800s Romantic works focused on the idea of nature as a force. THE SENSORY WAR

11 OCT – 25 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Join us in the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter. Hyper Island designs learning experiences that challenges companies and individuals to grow and stay competitive in an increasingly digitized world. Our range of immersive programmes and courses seek to equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to lead the change and begin a journey of lifelong learning. Applications now open for the following programmes: Digital Media Management MA Experience Design MA Digital Apprenticeship in Interactive Design and Development

www.hyperisland.com

Listings

To mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I this special exhibition looks at ways in which artists have interpreted and re-imagined the events of the conflict. Featuring work from Henry Lamb, CRW Nevinson and Paul Nash among others.

Paper Gallery PAPER #18

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 8 NOV AND 13 DEC, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A new group show, Everyday Illusions, features work from artists including Hermione Allsopp, Alan Baker, Carole Cluer, Michelle Rheeston-Humphreys, Conor Rogers, Jenny Steele, Eleanor Watson and Rachel Wrigley.

Salford Museum and Art Gallery SELECTION FROM THE COLLECTION

18 OCT – 15 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

To celebrate Chinese New Year, the gallery delve into their catalogue to present depictions of the horse (2014) and the sheep (2015). IMMORTAL LOVE FROM SHANGHAI

15 NOV – 15 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

A traditionally-slanted Chinese art exhibition, depicting the history and development of the Chinese Dragon, paintings showing symbols of wealth, love and friendship and traditional Chinese watercolour paintings.

The Holden Gallery

(DIS)ORDER: A COMPULSION TO COLLECT 27 OCT – 12 DEC, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 10:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

A group shows that explores the idea that it is only when we see a collection of things in one place that we have a better understanding of difference. Across different mediums, artist including Ian Hamilton Finlay and Susan Hiller look at the gap between order and disorder.

The John Rylands Library ECHO AND NARCISSUS

11 AUG – 9 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Echo and Narcissus pays tribute to literary heroines through the ages in a series of photographs, mirrors and etchings.

The Lowry BEHIND THE MASK

20 SEP – 11 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

A collaboration between photographer Andy Gotts MBE and The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Archive, Behind The Mask seeks to ‘unmask’ the well-known faces of BAFTA nominees and winners since 1954. AKRAM KHAN: ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER

15 NOV – 1 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

The second of The Lowry’s exhibitions inviting performers to become curators, sees choreographer Akram Khan brings together elements of performance and live installation work alongside sculpture, painting and film.

The Portico Library LARISSA MOSKALEVA

7–29 NOV, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

Siberian-born, Hebden Bridgedwelling artist Larissa Moskaleva works primarily in acrylic, and has a particularly fascination with painting the interaction between unusual landscapes and the people in them, her work often straying into the surreal.

Manchester Craft and Design Touchstones Centre ASIA TRIENNIAL: SANCTUARY ASIA TRIENNIAL: SWAGS AND TAILS

27 SEP–31 JAN, 10:00AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Textile artist Kashif Nadim Chaudry’s work draws on his journey finding an identity as a British-born, Pakistani, gay Muslim.

Manchester Jewish Museum MADE IN MANCHESTER

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 24 OCT AND 29 MAY, TIMES VARY, £4.50 (£3.50)

The first retrospective on Manchester-based artist, teacher and writer Emmanuel Levy for 30 years, highlighting his Northern heritage.

26 SEP–28 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Sanctuary draws on the fusion of artist Rosa Nguyen’s Vietnamese and French background and imbues her interest in Buddhist and Zen philosophies within her installations.

Various venues ASIA TRIENNIAL: HARMONIOUS SOCIETY

26 SEP – 23 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

A collection of over 30 Chinese contemporary artists that responds to the Triennial’s theme of conflict and compassion.

Art

THE SERVING LIBRARY 7 NOV – 8 FEB, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

FACT

Including a collection of art works, artefacts, books and other materials, The Serving Library asks visitors to reconsider the traditional role of the library. Featuring around 100 objects, including work from Chris Evans and Muriel Cooper.

9 MAY – 31 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Bluecoat

Liverpool ELLIE HARRISON: EARLY WARNING SIGNS

Touring exhibition of Harrison’s four signs that utilise brash marketing techniques to draw attention to climate change. TYPE MOTION

13 NOV – 8 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Co-produced with ZKM and Media Karlsruhe, Types Motion features an archive of clips from more than 20 countries, dating back to 1897, alongside over 200 examples of text and typography that explore our relationship with writing and moving image.

International Slavery Museum

DADAFEST: ART OF THE LIVED EXPERIMENT

8 NOV – 11 JAN, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A group show addressing the idea that both art and life are in a state of continual change and uncertainty. Both are subject to flux and transformation.

DADAFEST: RACHEL GADSDEN: AL NOOR – FRAGILE VISION

21 NOV – 6 DEC, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Exhibition by Rachel Gadsden exploring themes of fragility and resilience, in partnership with DaDaFest and the result of collaborative project between UK and Middle East communities.

LIBERTY BOUND

DADAFEST: SYNDROME - MUSIC/ BRAIN EXPERIMENTS

4–5 APR, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

28 NOV, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, £6 (£4)

Lady Lever Art Gallery

Victoria Gallery and Museum

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.

STYLE FROM THE SMALL SCREEN

10 OCT – 18 JAN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Ten dresses created for the Downton Abbey TV series, if that’s your thing.

The latest Syndrome mixes science, music and the visual arts to explore the nature of performance and deafness, using realtime brainwave scanning to generate a live improvised score.

NORTH WEST AND BEYOND: JAMES HAMILTON HAY

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 22 APR AND 29 AUG, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Merseyside Maritime Museum

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.

16 MAY – 1 JAN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 11 OCT AND 19 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

SAIL AWAY: LIVERPOOL SHIPPING POSTERS

THE AUDOBON GALLERY

An exhibition charting the evolution and design development in shipping posters between 1888 and 1980.

Permanent gallery of wildlife artist and naturalist John James Audubon.

Open Eye Gallery

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 5 JAN AND 30 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

ROBERT HEINECKEN: LESSONS IN POSING SUBJECTS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 7 NOV AND 15 JAN, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

This posthumous exhibition shines a light on Robert Heinecken, widely regarded in mainland Europe as one of the finest post-war photographers on the continent. Relatively unknown in the UK, Lessons In Posing Subjects illuminates his work and life.

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.

Tate Liverpool DAZZLE SHIP

24 JUN – 31 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Venezuelan artist Carlos CruzDiez 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.

BRITISH ART

Permanent collection including work by Joseph Wright of Derby.

Walker Art Gallery

JOHN BATES AT JEAN VARON

13 MAY – 31 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A collection of 12 outfits from John Bates’ Jean Varon label go on display at the Walker Art Gallery, including a red velvet mini dress worn by Twiggy in a Vogue photo shoot in 1967. JOHN MOORES PAINTING PRIZE

5 JUL – 30 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The prestigious painting prize returns for another year, with an exhibition of work by the 52 shortlisted artists working across landscapes, portraits, abstract and sculptural works. See the full list of shortlisted artists here. THE GANG

4 OCT – 15 FEB, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Photography exhibition from US photographer Catherine Opie, whose portraits of her friends from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer community aim to subvert American archetypes.

TRANSMITTING ANDY WARHOL

7 NOV – 8 FEB, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8 (£6)

The first exhibition of the famous pop artist’s work in the North of England includes major Warhol works including Marilyn Diptych, Dance Diagram and Do-it-Yourself, as well as an evocation of the artist’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable. GRETCHEN BENDER

7 NOV – 8 FEB, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8 (£6)

The first solo exhibition of the late multimedia artist’s work in the UK showcases a selection of her immersive pioneering multimedia installations, including a reconstruction of 1987’s Total Recall across a 24-monitor multiprojection screen.

THE SKINNY

Under the Influence: Brann Dailor Heavyweight bills are what Mastodon do best. As the Atlantan monoliths return to our shores with Big Business and Krokodil in tow, drummer Brann Dailor offers a personal tip of the hat to ten landmark releases by a few of their most memorable alliances

2. Metallica – Ride the Lightning [1984] The influence that came from Cliff Burton – when you look at a track like The Call of Ktulu, where there are all these movements and it goes through all of these changes before it links back up at the end – it just sounds like classical music. Those tones – it’s very dark. At this point they were slowly becoming the band they were gonna be, but this record is just the pinnacle. It’s a huge leap from Kill ’Em All – there’s a maturity to it that wasn’t there before. To me, it sounds very adult, when you consider how young they were at the time. There’s something sophisticated about Ride the Lighting, I think. 3. Slayer – Reign in Blood [1986] When I first heard Reign in Blood it pretty much rendered the rest of my album collection obsolete. This is the first Slayer record I heard back in 1988, right around that time there was a Geraldo special called ‘Exposing Satan’s Underground.’ I recall being excited that Slayer and King Diamond were going to be featured on there – all these bands that I liked. It definitely provided a vehicle for a young kid at 13 years old to feel evil – it made a defiant teenager out of me. You wear the t-shirt, you get the looks at the grocery store – they know not to mess with you. Clearly you’re into evil shit and darkness. ‘Don’t mess with that kid!’ Which was so far from the truth – there wasn’t anything evil or dark about me. But with Slayer playing you kind of felt that way – it was fun to pretend. ‘Learn the sacred words of praise, Hail Satan.’ That was a mainstay at every backwoods party I was at. From start to finish, a brilliant piece of work – an undeniable thrash classic that still holds up. 4. Clutch – Passive Restraints EP [1992] So I’d go to the record store each week to see if they had the Clutch record – I didn’t know when it was coming out and neither did they. Finally I go in one day and they have this EP, which had three songs on it – it was just totally different and just what I was looking for at the time. Me and my little group of friends played that non-stop, then when the record finally came out we caught them on their first tour which came through Rochester, opening for Voivod and Damn the Machine. We were there to see Clutch though, the four of us; we all slam danced through their set and bought

November 2014

Photo: Emily Wylde

1. Iron Maiden – Piece of Mind [1983] The first record I ever bought; I was eight years old when this came out. There was something about that Iron Maiden record that blew my dress up, so to speak. I just loved it – listened to it constantly and tried to draw Eddie over everything at the time. That started a long love affair and set me on the path of being the metalhead that I was back then. At eight, I was into Judas Priest because my mum was, but I felt like Iron Maiden was my own discovery. It’s like walking into my childhood home when I put this on now; there’s something very comforting about it.

the t-shirt. I remember Neil Fallon coming out and gathering us four up and saying ‘hey man, I think the ink on those shirts is fucked up – here’s my address. If you wash it and the logo fades away then mail it back to me and I’ll mail you a new one.’ Every time I get drunk around those guys I tell them that story. When we first started touring with Clutch that blew my mind.

“There was something about that Iron Maiden record that blew my dress up” Brann Dailor

5. Alice in Chains – Dirt [1992] This was a game-changer. They were so mysterious and just the shot of cool that the rock and grunge world needed at the time. They were a little heavier and melodic but they were so slow and had this Sabbath thing going on too. Almost death metal style riffs going on there sometimes – like Obituary sounding stuff. The vocal harmonies between Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell were key with those boys, it’s really a trademark. I liked the variety that they encompassed, but you always knew it was Alice in Chains. They’re one of those true original bands. 6. Melvins – Houdini [1993] Melvins were a common denominator for Mastodon from early on; one of the bands – especially for Bill and Brent – that we could agree on. They’ve been a barometer for us, a place to look and see where we wanted to go and how we wanted to conduct our business, artistically. My introduction was Houdini, which I heard around the time it came out. There was a record store called Record Time in Rochester and there were these two cool dudes who worked in there. I’d just turned

own band.’ A good mentor – that’s why we try to 18 and used to be in there almost every day to include him on most of our records. see what was new. Those guys introduced me to Houdini. Some of my favourites – Hooch, Sky Pup, 9. The Mars Volta – DeNight Goat, Goin’ Blind – that KISS cover. That Loused in the Comatorium was on a million mixtapes I made – always on the [2003] ‘must’ list. I’d never really heard At the Drive-In, but I remember a lot 7. Deftones – Around the Fur [1997] of people were excited about When Deftones first erupted them; they got really big and with Adrenaline – I wouldn’t even broke up as soon as they got huge. I thought that listen to them. I was adamant took a lot of balls. People were always going to that they were just another in be interested in what those two guys did next. a long line of Korn imitators We were setting up at this club in Georgia and and this nu-metal scene that had popped up was someone had demos of the first Volta album something I had no interest in listening to. So I playing over the PA – it hadn’t even come out yet. sorta wrote them off. Then one night I ended up I said ‘Goddamn, who is this band?’ Oh, it’s the at this party at a friend’s house and he’d put on guys from At the Drive-In. Volta were the only Around the Fur – loud. So I sat down on the bed modern day prog band breaking through to the and just started listening to and falling in love mainstream. I can’t remember the names of every with it – it’s kinda dark, like ‘What the hell is this?’ drummer, but they always had someone ridicuHe says Deftones. I’m thinking ‘Fuck!’ Oh man, lous sitting back there. Like Jesus, where do you I can’t deny this... so good.’ They’ve maintained find these guys? I picture Omar in a van with tintthat cool ever since. There’s so many different ed windows parked outside of a musician’s instiinfluences that they’ve somehow woven togethtute. It inspired us to go out on a limb a little bit er – they’ve got this whole Cocteau Twins/4AD more. We’ve always had the prog thing in there, vibe coupled with super-heavy guitar. It works but Mars Volta definitely set us off. This is just a so well – from Chino’s voice to Abe’s drummonster. It’s non-stop and it’s a beautiful piece ming. His style’s so unique and he’s got all that of music – all of these intricate compositions, groove. I love that band beyond belief; I’ll fanboy while also maintaining true songs that blossom those guys to death every time I’m around them. out of the madness. That’s hard to do. We were They’re like ‘Okaaay, security – get this guy out driving around in our van listening to this record of here.’ non-stop for some time. 8. Neurosis – Times of Grace [1999] When Bill and I were in Today Is the Day, we toured with Neurosis while they were on the road with this record. They played most of it every night – just to be able to experience the sheer power of Neurosis at close quarters like that was really incredible. The intensity, the places they can go musically – it definitely taught me that there’s a deeper place you can go. At the time, I wanted to go there but I just really didn’t know how. That was Bill and I’s first tour of Europe; they’d been at it for ten years plus and taught us a lot. That line-up of Today Is the Day broke up over there, and that was the catalyst for Mastodon starting. It had a lot to do with that tour and mainly Scott Kelly, he was really supportive of us and said ‘You don’t need anyone else; just go start your

MUSIC

10. Baroness – Yellow and Green [2012] We consider Baroness a sister band, cut from the same cloth, and this is an incredible record. They really have come into their own with this one; it’s gorgeous… a really beautiful piece of music. This is another group where you can hear some of that old 80s 4AD influence shining through – like This Mortal Coil and Dead Can Dance. It’s not an area of music I feel is talked about often enough, at least not in the context of heavy metal. Baroness are back up on their feet, out there doing it and they’re about to make a new record. I’m excited about that. John’s voice and guitar playing is amazing. Mastodon play Manchester Academy on 24 Nov with Big Business and Krokodil www.mastodonrocks.com

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