.CO.UK
INDEPENDENT FREE
CULT U R A L
J O U R N A L I S M
Northwest Issue 08 November 2013
MUSIC Wooden Shjips Connan Mockasin Cinema Soloriens MiSTOA POLTSA COMEDY Josie Long Liam Pickford FILM Blue Is the Warmest Colour Computer Chess THEATRE In Doggerland CLUBS Recondite Evian Christ ART David Ogle Homotopia Jeremy Bailey TRAVEL Malawi BOOKS Nicola White FASHION Amy Davidson
ON STORIES AND THE SONG MUSIC | FILM | CLUBS | THEATRE | ART | BOOKS | COMEDY | FASHION | TRAVEL | FOOD | DEVIANCE | LISTINGS
Remember, remember the 7th November... The Manchester College Open Event 5pm-8pm For more information about the open event or to find out where our campuses are please call 0161 203 2100 www.themanchestercollege.ac.uk
Tuesday 29 October
Wednesday 20 November
Saturday 21 December
Wednesday 30 October
Thursday 21 November
Wednesday 15 January
Friday 22 November
Sunday 19 January
Friday 22 November
Friday 24 January
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS O2 APOLLO | SOLD OUT Friday 01 November
LUKE SITAL-SINGH DEAF INSTITUTE Saturday 02 November
THE STAVES RNCM
BETH HART THE RITZ
THE CHAMELEONSVOX THE RITZ
THE RIFLES MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2
FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINALS MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL
AKALA GORILLA
DEER TICK THE DEAF INSTITUTE
HALF MOON RUN ALBERT HALL
JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL
Friday 22 November
Wednesday 06 November
TURIN BRAKES GORILLA
THE LUMINEERS O2 APOLLO | SOLD OUT
JUANA MOLINA SACRED TRINITY CHURCH
AMBER GULLIVERS
LONDON GRAMMAR MANCHESTER ACADEMY 1
Wednesday 27 November
THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3
Friday 08 November
Wednesday 27 November
Saturday 08 February
Saturday 09 November
Thursday 28 November
Saturday 08 February
Saturday 09 October
Sunday 01 December
Thursday 13 February
ZEBRA KATZ SOUP KITCHEN
Thursday 06 February
KEVIN DEVINE SOUP KITCHEN
THE LEISURE SOCIETY RUBY LOUNGE
POLICA THE RITZ
SON OF DAVE THE DEAF INSTITUTE
THE BOXER REBELLION SOUND CONTROL
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT GORILLA
SATELLITE STORIES SOUP KITCHEN
Sunday 10 November
Wednesday 04 December
Saturday 15 February
Monday 11 November
Thursday 05 December
Wednesday 05 March
RADICAL FACE THE DEAF INSTITUTE
KEATON HENSON MANCHESTER TOWN HALL | SOLD OUT Tuesday 12 November
DAN OWEN THE CASTLE HOTEL
Tuesday 12 November
KINS GULLIVERS
Wednesday 13 November
DEATHFIX SOUP KITCHEN
Saturday 16 November
DAVE HAUSE GORILLA
Saturday 16 November
RUARRI JOSEPH SOUND CONTROL
BRAIDS THE DEAF INSTITUTE
PHILDEL SACRED TRINITY CHURCH Friday 06 December
LA FEMME SOUND CONTROL
Friday 06 December
NIGHT BEDS GORILLA
Saturday 07 December
THE PUPPINI SISTERS RNCM Friday 13 December
SIVU+MARIKA HACKMAN MANCHESTER GULLIVERS
November 2013
HATCHAM SOCIAL SOUP KITCHEN WILDFLOWERS THE CASTLE
I N D E P E N D E N T
Friday 21 March
Issue 08, November 2013 © Radge Media Ltd.
Tuesday 25 March
Get in touch: E: hiya@theskinny.co.uk T: 0161 831 9590 P: The Skinny, Second Floor, Swan Buildings, 20 Swan Street, Manchester, M4 5JW
BILLY LOCKETT SOUND CONTROL STU LARSEN SOUND CONTROL
J O U R N A L I S M
Tuesday 8 April
E: sales@theskinny.co.uk
CHRYSTA BELL SACRED TRINITY CHURCH
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the explicit permission of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within this publication do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the printer or the publisher.
Friday 16 May
Printed by Mortons Print Limited, Horncastle ABC verified Apr - Jun 2013: 18,505
BELINDA CARLISLE MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL
Monday 16 December
ASGEIR THE DEAF INSTITUTE
alt-tick THE SKINNY_126X314_NOVEMBER.indd 1
Contents
C U LT U R A L
The Skinny is distributing 18,505 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.
/ 08 4 ets .co.uk
Editorial Northwest Editor Film & Deputy Editor Events Editor Music Editor Books Editor Comedy Editor Deviance Editor Fashion Editor Food Editor Travel Editor Staff Writer
Lauren Strain Jamie Dunn Laura Howarth Dave Kerr Ryan Rushton John Stansfield Ana Hine Alexandra Fiddes Jamie Faulkner Paul Mitchell Bram E. Gieben
Production Production Manager Designer Sub Editor
Amy Minto Thom Isom Kristian Doyle
Sales/Accounts Northwest Sales & Marketing Manager Northwest Sales Executive
Caroline Harleaux Issy Patience Rob Hannible
Lead Designer
Maeve Redmond
Company PA
Kyla Hall
Editor-in-Chief Sales Director Publisher
Rosamund West Lara Moloney Sophie Kyle
Printed on 100% recycled paper
*FREE ENTRY SHOW - FACEBOOK.COM/MUSICINBETA
4
P.41 Evian Christ
Wednesday 29 January
NICK MULVEY THE DEAF INSTITUTE
POKEY LAFARGE GORILLA
P.25 Amy Davidson
LINDA ORTEGA THE DEAF INSTITUTE
Friday 08 November
SAN FERMIN SOUP KITCHEN
P.20 Computer Chess
Friday 24 January
Tuesday 26 November
Thursday 07 November
P.12 Wooden Shjips
4 85 4 1
3 48
23/10/2013 11:34
THE SKINNY
Photo: Andrew Ellis
WARPAINT MANCHESTER ACADEMY
Contents Up Front 06
Opinion: Jacque Fresco gets the Hero Worship treatment; Claudia O’Doherty fails her citizenship test, and Mystic Mark reconfigures his BALLS. Plus: Shot of the Month, Stop the Presses, Skinny on Tour, and Online Only.
Lifestyle 25
26
Travel: Our reporter visits Malawi for the City Of Stars Festival and stays on to explore the 'warm heart of Africa'.
27
Deviance: One writer investigates if you can find love via your smartphone, while another broaches a contentious topic.
Heads Up: Something to do for every
08 single night of this month, and also
what’s left of October, and also a couple of days into December. No biggie.
Features
10
12
You might not think it, but Julia Holter’s new album Loud City Song is something of a response to 1950s musical Gigi. She explains why, and considers how the power of stories with fundamental human questions at their core can transcend time. Ripley Johnson's team of bearded psych shamen Wooden Shjips went cosmic with 2011's West, now they've gone Back to Land.
13
Sun Ra Arkestra-collaborator James Harrar brings his audiovisual Cinema Soloriens experience to Liverpool this month to celebrate its 20th anniversary. He relates the project’s history, and his relationship with the cosmic leader himself.
14
The tenth edition of Liverpool’s Homotopia festival boasts a strong visual arts strand and an encouraging focus on trans* participation and representation. Exhibiting artists April Ashley and TradeMark talk.
15
16
17
19
Actress Adèle Exarchopoulos discusses the controversy around her Palme d'Or-winning film directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue Is the Warmest Colour. Fans of icy techno rejoice: German don Recondite unveils his debut LP for Ghostly International, Hinterland, this month. He delights in the process of recording natural phenomena, and tells us about his well cool grandparents.
28
Showcase: Liverpool-based David Ogle performs inexplicable magic with light.
31
Food and Drink: In debate: the rise of both ‘street food’ and bile for bloggers. Clearly this issue we’re either feeling righteous, or asking for trouble.
Review 35
Mumblecore originator Andrew Bujalski
20 tells us why he chose to make a movie about computer chess programming.
23
The winner of this year's Dundee International Book Prize Nicola White discusses her controversial modern classic In the Rosary Garden.
24
The transition from comedian to filmmaker has been a rewarding journey for young comic Josie Long – she gives us the lowdown.
Music: Garagey noiseniks MiSTOA POLTSA are our New Blood; plus this month's albums in review including The Cosmic Dead's split with Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (hey, fans of counting! That’s seven), Cate Le Bon and Midlake, live reviews of John Grant, CHVRCHES and Machinedrum, and yer Gig Highlights for November.
41
Clubs: Kanye West’s man in Ellesmere Port, Evian Christ, argues for a return of unpredictability to pop (and looks bonny in blue); plus, this month’s top nights in Highlights.
43
Comedy: Self-described ‘provincial gorgepot’ Liam Pickford woos us with his words (seriously, the whole Skinny office has fallen for this dude).
44
Film: Reviews of Blue Is the Warmest Colour, Leviathan and Future My Love on the big screen.
45
DVD/Books: We know you have a onesie. Here’s some stuff to wear it to.
46
Art: The Narrators at the Walker/Royal Standard and Jeremy Deller’s All That Is Solid Melts Into Air in review. Plus, win tickets to see Low and a lovely deer head – that’s not as Godfather as it sounds – in Competitions.
Tom Morton-Smith’s new play In Doggerland sees a brother and sister looking for new lives at – literally – the edge of the earth. New Zealand songwriter and beatsmith Connan Mockasin invites us to his house and takes us through his new LP for Phantasy dressed in a lovely robe with a cup of tea.
Fashion: Manchester School of Art graduate Amy Davidson’s laser-cut leather bags have caught the attention of Mulberry – we find out why.
47
48
Theatre: Dragons and Firearms & Fingertips come to the Lowry and the Royal Exchange. Listings: Shit to do.
LIVERPOOL LISTINGS NOVEMBER 08 MONEY the blade factory 09
PHOSPHORESCENT the kazimier with evol
12
SWEET BABOO leaf
13
LANTERNS ON THE LAKE the kazimier
15
JULIA HOLTER leaf
18
LOW the anglican cathedral
24
CRYSTAL STILTS the shipping forecast
29
JONATHAN WILSON the kazimier
DECEMBER 04 YO LA TENGO east village arts club JANUARY 25 LINDI ORTEGA leaf FEBRUARY 11 CATE LE BON leaf
Tickets on sale from ONLINE: Ticketweb / Bido Lito! / Ticketline IN PERSON: Probe Records (School Ln) & The Brink (Parr St) FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @HARVEST_SUN @LPOOLPSYCHFEST
FG F Live Performances & DJ Sets:
The Bay Horse
35-37 Thomas Street
Every Week Northern Quarter
thebayhorsepub.co.uk twitter@TheBayHorsePub facbook.com/thebayhorseMCR
Free Gig Friday At The Bay Horse from 9pm
WHAT’S ON IN NOVEMBER MONDAY 4TH TRANNY BINGO Grab your dabbers and head down for a fun night with Sheila and Grace
FRIDAY 1ST NOVEMBER:
TUESDAY QUIZ NIGHTS NOELS HORSE PARTY QUIZ 5TH
FRIDAY 8TH NOVEMBER:
MICHAEL CLAPHAM QUIZ 26TH
FRIDAY 15TH NOVEMBER:
EVERY WEDNESDAY OPEN MIC
CORVIDS & III
CHEESUS CRUST RECORDS PRESENTS THOSE ROTTEN THIEVES & GC HOLMES
Interested in playing? Contact Matt & Edwin at Facebook @openmic@thebayhorse
FRIDAY 22ND NOVEMBER:
SPEED PETS & DAY GUN FRIDAY 29TH NOVEMBER:
ASH MOUNTAIN & THE THIN MEN
T HE B AY H ORSE
35-37 Thomas Street, Northern Quarter, M4 1NA PHONE : 0161 661 1041 twitter@TheBayHorsePub facbook.com/thebayhorseMCR Any bands wanting to play at The Bay Horse contact Yvonne on bayhorsegigs@gmail.com
November 2013
NOVEMBER 27 DEAD SKELETONS & FÖLLAKZOID pzyk night @ the kazimier
SATURDAYS NEW LINE UP OF DJ’S WITH TOP OF THE POPS 2ND TRANARCHY 9TH & 30TH FREE RADICALS 16TH NICKS PICKS 23RD SUNDAY 3RD SUNDAY SESSIONS We are launching Sessions (previously at Thomas) on the first Sunday of the month starting this November with some very special artists playing from 5pm
Contents
5
Editorial
Testing: Claudia O’Doherty The wide-eyed comedian comes to Manchester to spread her knowledge of this fair isle with the cream of the crop of young stand-ups Interview: John Stansfield
“T
his happens every year...!” marvelled The Skinny’s designer, Thom, gazing in wonder out of the office window at a sky thick with night at just 6.35pm. Yes, Thom, yes it does. Seriously though. It’s November innit? Oh hey November. Perhaps appropriately to any given cliché about how an encroaching winter encourages introspection and isolation, we learn a lot about the normally closed-off artistic process in this issue, from the remote walks in the wild that inspire (and provide the field recordings for) Recondite’s frosted techno, to Connan Mockasin’s reasoned withdrawal from much of popular culture (“there’s just too much music,” he says, enrobed in silk and preferring to chat in bed). If almost total shutdown results in records like his lucid new release Caramel, mind, we figure we’ll let him off. On the flipside, we hear how Wooden Shjips’ Ripley Johnson and wife and musical partner Sanae Yamada gave up two years of solitude in the Colorado mountains to head to Portland, where a more settled, “lush” environment and a respite from travelling has contributed to a new sense of comfort and comfortableness on the Shjips’ new record, Back to Land – while in Film, Adèle Exarchopoulous reveals as little as possible about the already endlessly dissected shoot behind Palme d’Or-winning film Blue Is the Warmest Colour, preferring her work and that of her co-star Léa Seydoux and director Abdellatif Kechiche to speak for itself. The story of our cover star Julia Holter’s latest album, Loud City Song, is perhaps the most unexpected one: having written a song based around a bar scene in 1950s musical Gigi,
Maxim’s, she decided she’d need to construct a whole album just to house that one track. The result is a third record that bewitches no less than 2012’s breakthrough Ekstasis and, with its sense of unspecific yearning, perhaps demonstrates even deeper the power of, as she puts it, “something there that isn’t being said;” a “nostalgia” for something we maybe never had in the first place. As usual, I’m running out of room, but there is of course tons of other fascinating stuff in this issue: read Computer Chess director Andrew Bujalski on the sinister side to us willingly giving ourselves to our machines, and comedian Josie Long on her new short film projects with Doug King; and find lots of things to argue – sorry, debates senisbly – over in the pub, from Food and Drink’s defence of food bloggers to Deviance’s investigations into the world of app dating, to just how Showcase artist David Ogle manages to make light... do... that. This issue of The Skinny was brought to you by a torrid love/hate relationship with the new Katy Perry album. Why not enjoy it (the magazine, not the record, dear god not the record) over a coffee and a snack from the outlet you voted Best Café in our first annual Food and Drink Survey? What, you didn’t? Oh, um. Hey. Here’s the link: www.tinyurl.com/foodsurveyNW. [Lauren Strain] ON THE COVER: Julia Holter, by Ye Rin Mok Ye Rin Mok is a photographer living and working in Los Angeles. Her work has been featured in Apartamento, Dwell, Monocle, W and Wired. www.yerinmok.com
L
ondon-based production company The Invisible Dot are fast becoming the voice in comedy cool. Consistently putting on great gigs with exciting young comics in the capital, they are now touring the country with The New Wave, their pick of up-and-coming stand-ups. On 22 November, they visit Manchester’s Dancehouse Theatre, with Mark Watson serving as MC. For this Northwest outing, Watson will be joined by 2012 Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Claudia O’Doherty. After another successful turn at this year’s Fringe (which received a five-star review from us), the Australian is also coming off the back of an amazing series of Blaps for Channel 4 online, in which she explored the nature of her recently adopted homeland of England, while simultaneously launching her career as an actor and illusionist. To quiz her knowledge of this fair isle we’ve gathered together some of the questions from the Life in the UK Test the Home Office doles out to those seeking to settle here. Judging by her answers, she may not be intending to stay for long. How many parliamentary constituencies are there? 50, as many stars as there are on the flag. Many job applications will require a covering letter and…? Bra size. What is a quango? A fruit made from a bird. What is the correct speed limit on single carriageways? Medium. When is a by-election held? Mid-way through the election.
Which countries make up the UK? Dublin and France. Mary the daughter of Henry VIII was a devout Catholic and persecuted Protestants, she became known as… Proud Mary. Julius Caesar led a Roman invasion of Britain in 55 BC but this was unsuccessful and for nearly ______ years Britain remained separate from the Roman Empire. Zero years. Trick question. What is the Grand National? Horse party. What must buy if you have a device that can be used for watching or recording TV programmes? A TV. What kind of bird do people usually eat on Christmas Day in the UK? Squab. Drugs such as heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis are…? Offered to the top people at the party. Anne of Cleves, the wife of Henry VIII, was a ______ princess. Married. Who is the head of state of the UK? Lady Quango. The New Wave 2013 Tour comes to The Dancehouse Theatre, Manchester, 22 Nov, 7.30pm, £10 (£8) www.theinvisibledot.com/events/206-the-new-wave--2013tour featuring Ivo Graham, Mae Martin, Liam Martin, Ellie White and Claudia O’Doherty
The Skinny on Tour Shot of the Month Ghostpoet at The Deaf Institute, Sat 19 Oct, by Michael Barrow
This month, two Skinnies felt there was gigantic cause to visit a huge formation between a massive ocean and some less-big landmass. The theory goes that the supposed bridge was originally built to link their holiday destination to our sister paper’s motherland. Rather than return all stoney-faced, we heard their weekend break rocked. For your chance to win The Vampyre Family: Passion, Envy and The Curse of Byron by Andrew
6
Chat
McConnell Stott (courtesy of those lovely folks over at Canongate), just head along to www.theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and tell us where you think this Skinny reader is holidaying. Competition closes midnight Sun 1 Dec. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within one week or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Full T&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms.
THE SKINNY
Hero Worship: Jacque Fresco
BALLS. with Mystic Mark
Filmmaker Maja Borg chooses 98-year-old futurist Jacque Fresco as her hero. She admires him so much, in fact, that she’s made two films about him
Photo: Maja Borg
I
first met Jacque when I was making a short film called Ottica Zero that was celebrating people who were proposing solutions, rather than just pointing out problems. He’s a futurist, and his big social design, which he’s been developing since he was a teenager in New York during the Great Depression, is a new economic system that is based on available resources rather than monetary value. He has an honesty in his analysis of the world, which I think is unique. He looks at very pragmatic possibilities of change, but he operates in an area with a lot of peace organisations and other communities that are not seen as scientific in any way, but he’s very much a scientist trying to design a world of peace. He’s a kind, sweet man, but when I first met him I was quite provoked, and I think a lot of people are. And it’s one thing I deeply admire about him: he’s incredibly undiplomatic. He’s also incredibly, incredibly honest. He won’t finesse his words or change his behaviour to better fit with your world view, which is something I think we’re quite used to. People tend to repackage their opinions and phrase them in a way that will suit you, and Jacque really doesn’t do that. He sort of goes the other way and questions things he realises are precious to you. So with me we had lots of debates about things that are close to me, like art. Jacque is very much of the opinion that any
kind of poetic language is dangerous, he prefers the scientific language – direct communication – because then there can be no misunderstanding. For him a blueprint is more beautiful than any painting, because you can send it to anywhere in the world and another scientist who can’t speak the same language can turn out the same car or whatever. That’s the language that he loves. I’m not sure Jacque would be very keen on being the subject of this article. His whole philosophy is about being able to be free and a society with no kind of leadership. He talks all the time about the importance of not making statues of people and not cementing ideas on to one person. He’s a social scientist, and, like any kind of scientist, you invent something and then other scientists build on it, it’s just a progression of ideas, through people, through history, so he’s very against the notion of hero. Since meeting Jacque I’m a lot less angry, I’m less frustrated with the world. By showing me the analytical tools that allow you to look at why things are the way they are takes away a lot of frustration. That’s a really huge gift he has given me.
A whole plethora of stuff in Music, including SPENCER KRUG aka Moonface sharing his tips on how to lose one’s mind in the creation of art; Shearwater’s JONATHAN MEIBURG laying out his unique approach to tackling an album of cover versions; PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING’s J. Willgoose, Esq. talking us through the stock footage-loving band's new DVD; an introduction to our sister paper’s New Blood, Vangelis disciples
November 2013
CANCER Your rippling arms and legs seem somehow out of place on your wrinkled, emaciated torso.
LEO In November your third House of Love burns down completely after you fall asleep smoking a cigarette in a dream.
VIRGO You like your sex like you like your movies: two hours long and genuinely frightening.
www.futuremylove.com
The GREATER MANCHESTER COMEDY FESTIVAL comes to the newly refurbished King’s Arms Theatre this month. Running 1-10 Nov and packing in over 50 shows from the likes of Aaron Twitchen and Tony Jameson, tickets are available now – and all are under a fiver. www.kingsarmssalford.com
Eyes to the website
Stand-up comic-turned-literary biographer ANDREW MCCONNELL STOTT discusses his love of Lord Byron. www.theskinny.co.uk/books
SCORPIO This month you are passed files by a whistleblower documenting the unimaginable atrocities committed by the A-Team in Vietnam. The shocking images show Face, grinning and eatTAURUS Attending a ‘tea picnic’ ing a human heart while standing in front of hun hosted by Russian spies you suspect dreds of skinned bodies; Murdoch making balloon foul play after they spike your drink animals out of a mother of two’s intestines; and a with polonium-210. Collapsing, you reel of grainy footage which shows Mr. T tearing a gasp for air and accidentally suck a bee off a toddler in half like a phone book. In a cruel twist, daisy. In defence it stings you on the tongue the dossier also mentions that, after escaping which, combined with the radioactive power, turns you into BEE MAN! Weeks later, fighting your from a maximum security stockade, the A-Team first crime, you sting an escaping mugger and created a hubristic piece of video propaganda tear your own arse out. Slowly bleeding to death painting them as do-gooders aiding members of on the pavement you crawl around in circles say- the community with extreme acts of charity. ing “bzzzzzzzzz� with your human mouth, wishing there was a boot big enough to finish you off, SAGITTARIUS You join a delusional although realistically you were going to die off in cult who believe the crackpot idea that winter anyway. events in your life are connected to the month you were born and that clues to GEMINI This month you have full sex your fate can be found printed amid the text of with an adult female. national newspapers.
Jacque Fresco is one of the subjects of Maja Borg’s Future My Love, which is released 15 Nov
Online Only He's not just a haircut and some dick jokes – DANIEL SLOSS is delivering on his early promise. Just don't call him 'young’. Plus, Northwest comedian FREDDY QUINNE considers the effect of small comedy nights on the big clubs, and vice versa. www.theskinny.co.uk/comedy
ARIES This month God breaks millennia of silence to speak directly to you, telling you that he thinks you probably have schizophrenia and you should get some help.
UBRE BLANCA, and BEN WEINMAN, the man behind Dillinger Escape Plan, sharing ten classic albums that shaped his approach to music. www.theskinny.co.uk/music KMS Records founder and Detroit techno legend SAUNDERSON talks about DJing with his son. D'awww. www.theskinny.co.uk/clubs You’ve heard from Jeremy Bailey on page 23; now read our in-depth preview of WARRINGTON CONTEMPORARY ARTS FESTIVAL’s visual strand; plus, as GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART gear up to launch their newly revamped, state-of-the-art Vic, our sister publication looks back at why the venue has played a defining role in the city's cultural landscape. www.theskinny.co.uk/art Reviews of A Clockwork Orange at The Lowry, and more. www.theskinny.co.uk/theatre
LIBRA You find the editor of the listings magazine you’ve been writing for has been unusually lenient about the borderline misogynistic, obscene, nauseating and ill-advised little column you write with your disabled thumb-like retarded little girl fingers.
CAPRICORN This month, you win the lottery.
AQUARIUS Leave hydrogen alone for a few billion years and it will start writing horoscopes.
PISCES With only weeks to live and all your options exhausted, your doctor explains that he knows a guy, and he could totally get a rat’s brain and put it inside your ball sack and see what happens. There’s no guarantee it’ll work. But dammit, he says, it’s worth a shot.
Congratulations to the winners of two recent NORTHWEST WRITING AWARDS announced during Manchester Literature Festival. In the online writing world, Blog North handed out its six awards, ranging from best personal blog to best food blogger (see www.blognorthawards. com for full results). The Big Issue in the North, meanwhile, celebrated the great fiction writing happening locally with its New Writing winner. From the 111 short stories entered, ten stories were shortlisted, with the overall prize going to Anthony Howcraft for Killer. The ten finalists’ works are published in an anthology collection, which can be purchased from Valley Press, with at least 50% of the proceeds going to the Big Issue in the North Trust. www.valleypressuk.com/ books/bigissueshortfiction2013
The shortlist for the TITLE ART PRIZE 2013 has been announced. Twenty-four artists, from any background and working within any medium, have made the cut. The Title Art Prize exhibition takes place at BLANKSPACE on Hulme Street, Manchester, from 7 Nov to 1 Dec. More information can be found at www.blankmediacollective.org The winners of the 2013 UK THEATRE AWARDS have been announced, and Manchester’s theatre scene has been recognised. Cush Jumbo won Best Performance in a Play for his role in A Doll’s House for the Royal Exchange; Jonathan Fensom and Charles Balfour were awarded Best Design for their work on The Accrington Pals, also for the Royal Exchange; and Contact theatre took the award for Promotion of Diversity. For the full list of winners, head over to www.tmauk.org/theatreawardsuk
Dean Blunt
One half of legendary underground bass duo Hype Williams, DEAN BLUNT comes to Liverpool’s Blade Factory on 30 Nov, 7pm, performing solo for the first time, and with support from upcoming dub/noise producer Lord Tusk. Tickets are a tenner advance. www.deephedonia.com
Chat
7
Heads Up Compiled by: Laura Howarth
We’ve inadvertently put together an all-girl calendar, with Warpaint, Deap Vally, Cassie Ramone and Julia Holter providing the soundtrack to the month. And we unforgivably dropped the C-bomb a little early this year (see 28 Nov), soz mate
Tue 29 Oct
Wed 30 Oct
Thu 31 Oct
All-female Californian quartet Warpaint return in the midst of a world tour to show just what they can do with the indie-rock template, taking in shades of goth and dance dripping in ethereal harmonies and grooves. If their recent Love Is to Die teaser is anything to go by, they’ll hopefully give us a sneaky peek at some new stuff. Manchester Academy, 7pm, £15
Spoken word event Bad Language returns to The Castle Hotel for another night of new writing, inviting local author Marli Roode to take the headline spot. The South Africa-born, Manchester-based writer penned her first novel, Call It Dog, while studying at The University of Manchester. Neato. The Castle Hotel, Manchester, 7.30pm, Free
Once you’ve grown out of asking strangers for sweets (who are we kidding, you never grow out of that), you’ll be left seeking alternative ways to celebrate Hallowe’en. Enter promoters everisland and their Hallows Ritual, a night of spooky tunes, otherworldly decorations and performance artists summoning spirits an’ that. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 8pm, £6
Marli Roode
Bird
Warpaint
Fri 8 Nov
Having formed in the unlikely setting of an LA crochet lesson back in 2011, primal, bluesy rock'n'roll duo Deap Vally went on to piss folk off by being talented while wearing hot pants. No pleasing some people. Catch them on the UK leg (oof, soz) of their tour as they share their debut album, Sistrionix. Club Academy, Manchester, 7.30pm, £10.50
The mighty Frightened Rabbit – long-time favourites of our sister publication up North – return from their tour of the US with a bang, playing a series of dates up and down the country, including a stop in the Rainy City where they’ll be giving their newest album, Pedestrian Verse, a well-deserved airing. The Ritz, Manchester, 7pm, £13.50
If you like your comedy served with a side of music and, er, food, you’re in luck, as a new monthly comedy night is cropping up at The Castle promising just that. For their inaugural event, Sham Bodie host Manc megaband PINS, while Mr Susie and Liam Pickford’ll make you laugh. And there’ll be dead good chat too, so we hear. The Castle Hotel, Manchester, 7.30pm, £10
Unlike Zoolander, art can turn left, as is demonstrated in the latest exhibition to pitch up at Tate Liverpool. Art Turning Left shines a light on art in relation to politics, as opposed to runway habits; see how Marxist views changed and influenced art between 1789 and 2013. Tate Liverpool, until 2 Feb 2014, £8 (£6)
Deap Vally
Frightened Rabbit
Liam Pickford
Photo: D&H Photographers
Thu 7 Nov
Photo: Daniel Harris
Wed 6 Nov
Photo: Bryan Sheffield
Tue 5 Nov
Art Turning Left
Thu 14 Nov
Hailing from the North Wales countryside, Sweet Baboo (aka Stephen Black) seemingly cropped up out of nowhere and brought with him a solid contender for our favourite album of 2013. All sparkling melodies and deft lyrical turns, Ships shines with Mr Baboo’s country roots and psychedelic influences. Leaf, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £7
Los Angeles-based musician Julia Holter tours her third LP, Loud City Song, again displaying her gift for merging high-concept compositional prowess and experimentation with a true pop sensibility. Catch her in a live setting for one of her two Northwest appearances (she also appears at Leaf in Liverpool on Mon 15 Nov). The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 7.30pm, £12.50
In this unique film and music event, Vikki Bennett – queen of the A/V collage genre – presents her latest film, Notations, made up of hundreds of video clips that will serve as ‘instructions’ for a group of improvising artists to perform live as a visual score. Kraak, Manchester, 7pm, £7
Sweet Baboo
Julia Holter
Photo: James Robinson
Wed 13 Nov
Photo: Owen Richards
Tue 12 Nov
Notations
Thu 21 Nov
Experimental-soul producer Autre Ne Veut, otherwise known as Arthur Ashin, ventures across from his native stompin’ grounds over Brooklyn way for one of only a few UK dates. Known for toeing the line between fragile delicacy and raging intensity, he delivers deeply involved and emotive live performances. Altogether now: “I just called you up / To get that play by play…” The Kazimier, Liverpool, 7pm, £6
Dave Haslam continues his Close-Up series, this time giving Pixies frontman Black Francis, aka Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, a right old grilling prior to the Pixies’ sold out show at Manchester Apollo the following day. The newly opened Albert Hall will serve as a backdrop for this in-conversation event. Albert Hall, Manchester, 6.15pm, £12
Grimm Up North are joining forces with the British Film Institute to haunt your dreams with a series of screenings planned for the coming months. For the Vampires edition, catch the 1922 classic Nosferatu, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and short The Gloaming. This ain’t no Twilight mush. The Dancehouse, Manchester, for times and prices check www.grimmfest.com
Autre Ne Veut
Black Francis
Photo: Matt Wild
Wed 20 Nov
Photo: Jody Rogac
Tue 19 Nov
Nosferatu
Wed 27 Nov
Thu 28 Nov
Fri 29 Nov
Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts graduate and winner of the Musicians Benevolent Fund’s National Songwriter of the Year Award Dan Croll takes a break from touring with Imagine Dragons and Bastille to play a couple of shows closer to home turf, as we still eagerly await the release of his debut album. The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 7pm, £7
As part of Homotopia’s 10th anniversary, catch April Ashley: Portrait of a Lady, an exhibition exploring the life of the Liverpool-born Vogue model and actress who also happens to be one of the first people in the world to undergo gender reassignment surgery. Works will be exhibited alongside a variety of life stories. Museum of Liverpool, until 21 Sep 2014, Free
Now that it’s close enough to the event to drop the C-bomb, enjoy Christmas at Islington Mill, taking the stress out of Christmas shopping by taking the Christmas shopping out of the Arndale. Munch mince pies, sip mulled wine and buy hand-made gifts to the sound of the BBC Philharmonic string quartet. Yofucking-Ho! Islington Mill, Salford, 4pm, Free
As Movember draws to a close, you may want to take your newfound face furniture to a place where it will truly be appreciated. Thank fudge for Camp and Furnace and their annual Beerd Fest, celebrating the hirsute pursuit with a beard competition – categories include best goatee, best fake, and freestyle. Camp and Furnace, Liverpool, 7.30pm, Free
Dan Croll
8
Chat
Photo: Richard Manning
Tue 26 Nov
April Ashley
Christmas at Islington Mill
Beerd Fest
THE SKINNY
Sun 3 Nov
Mon 4 Nov
Inviting two legends of Warehouse Projects past to headline, the Bestival folks curate a night that will have you moving to the sounds of Hot Chip and Chic until the early hours. Also on the line-up are Krystal Klear, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, and Bestival and Sunday Best founder, Rob Da Bank. Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, 8pm, Returns only
Tranarchy return for the sixth outing of Manchester's most fierce Hallowe’en party, Zombie Pride, to the intimate setting of Islington Mill. The undead among you will have the chance to strut yer stuff with the Zombie Catwalk Face Off and there’s a show in the bog with Kurt Dirt’s Toilet Tour, and that’s all washed down with banging Euro-pop sounds. Islington Mill, Salford, 11pm, £4
Static Gallery open their doors for the afternoon for the Static Gallery Sunday Market, with sellers offering up treats of all shapes and sizes, from art and fashion to geeky gadgets and fresh produce, and even records and posters. There’ll also be craftfolk in the realm of guitars and bikes. Static Gallery, Liverpool, from 11am, Free
Catch a unique musical project by Radwan Moumneh, blending contemporary Arabic music with electronics and 16mm film projections, and finally adding spacealtering light shows. After eight years of performing, Jerusalem In My Heart has still declined to be documented or recorded, making it a must-see kinda thing. Islington Mill, Salford, 7.30pm, £6
Zombie Pride
Static Gallery
Sun 10 Nov
Mon 11 Nov
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Cinema Soloriens is a multi-media performance project blending James Harrar’s films with live soundtracking by Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Following the launch of the exhibition on 8 Nov at the same venue, catch this live audiovisual performance featuring Harrar, Allen and Rogier Smal. MelloMello, Liverpool, 8pm, £12
In this latest Cornerhouse Projects exhibition, you’re invited to judge books by their covers, as Urgent Copy explores the way Anthony Burgess’s writing has been interpreted and represented in book cover art, drawing on rare materials on loan from the International Anthony Burgess Foundation to do so. Cornerhouse, Manchester, until 7 Jan 2014, Free
One third of Vivian Girls embarks on a solo minitour this autumn, stopping by The Castle for her only UK date. Cassie Ramone, who also appears in The Babies’ line-up, brings her lo-fi, barely there guitar sounds and perfectly paired vocals to the intimate setting of that fairy-lit back room. The Castle Hotel, Manchester, 8pm, £6
Cinema Soloriens
Photo: Matias Corral
Sat 9 Nov
Jerusalem In My Heart
International Anthony Burgess Foundation
Cassie Ramone
Sun 17 Nov
Mon 18 Nov
Those cutting-edge Berlin-and-Manchester-straddling party-throwers, Fortsetzen, will be taking over 2022NQ with their electronic sounds, this time inviting icy techno duo Ghosting Season to take care of proceedings. They’ll be joined on the night by R&S Records’ Cloud Boat and Sankeys resident Jozef K. 2022NQ, Manchester, 11pm, £5
Producer and founder of pioneering record label Border Community, James Holden takes to the Liverpoolbased Freeze-affiliated clubnight Little Sister to present a showcase with fellow electronic types Luke Abbott, Ghosting Season and Adele Moss. The Kazimier, Liverpool, 10pm, £12
The final day of Louder Than Words festival sees the organisers offering up a programme exploring the language of music, with events including the Women in Rock panel hosted by Lucy O’Brien and Zoe Howe. The Palace Hotel, Manchester, 15-17 Oct, £9 single session (£45 day/£140 weekend)
The Minnesota-formed indie-rock ensemble Low – composed of founding members and married-with-kiddies coupling Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, joined by Steve Garrington on bass – head out on the road to showcase their Jeff Tweedy-produced new LP, The Invisible Way. Liverpool Cathedral, 7.30pm, £19.50
Ghosting Season
James Holden
Lucy O'Brien
Photo: Joe Mabel
Sat 16 Nov
Photo: Shaun Bloodworth
Fri 15 Nov
Low
Sat 23 Nov
Sun 24 Nov
Mon 25 Nov
Following its première at The Lowry, Box of Tricks theatre present Tom Morton-Smith's In Doggerland, which follows a brother and sister as they arrive in a coastal town looking for answers – she wants to hold on to the past with photographs, while he's looking for a fresh start. Both stand on shifting sands. The Lantern Theatre, Liverpool, until 23 Nov, 8pm, £10.50 (£8.50)
Tri-Angle’s prodigal son and Kanye West collaborator Evian Christ brings his self-curated Trance Party to Manchester’s basement venue 2022NQ, where he’ll be joined by Holy Other (making his DJ debut), and Arca, Vessel, Wanda Group and Lukid. 2022NQ, Manchester, 10pm, £12
See MelloMello transformed into a vinyl junkies’ haven as the Right On Record Fair pitches up for one day only – dare we hazard a guess that this edition might even take on a festive theme? Local labels, distro folk and bands will be selling everything from rare releases to merch. MelloMello, Liverpool, 12pm, Free
Formed from the remnants of two young, DC-based indie bands, The Impossible Five and its follow-up, Colour, Dead Meadow emerged in 1998 as a stoner rock/neopsych trio. Still going strong some 15 years on, their appearance in Manchester is highly anticipated, following their stunner of a set at Liverpool Psych Fest earlier this year. The Roadhouse, Manchester, 7.30pm, £10
In Doggerland
Photo: Oscar Pettersson
Fri 22 Nov
Evian Christ
MelloMello
Dead Meadow
Sat 30 Nov
Sun 1 Dec
Mon 2 Dec
For the final Warehouse Project event in November, WHP join forces with Paxahau to bring Movement Detroit to Victoria Warehouse for one night only, towing with them a line-up of house and techno at the hands of Sven Väth, Damian Lazarus, Joy Orbison and Andrew Weatherall, to name but a few. Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, 4pm, Returns only
No stranger to the touring circuit, Jason Byrne brings his quick-witted self to Liverpool for his latest show, Jason Byrne’s Special Eye, a prime example of his ability to make a funny out of just about anything, in this case, his lazy eye. He’ll also make funnies based on things that the audience do. No pressure. Liverpool Empire Theatre, 8pm, £18.50
Blank Media Collective present a group exhibition exploring how we sculpt our own identities and re-imagine reality through false images and alter egos. Invented Identities responds to Contact theatre’s autumn theme of puppets, fairytales, gender confusion and conflicted selves. Contact, Manchester, until 6 Jan 2014, Free
The Warehouse Project
November 2013
Jason Byrne
Invented Identities
Chat
9
Photo: Dawn Woolley
Hot Chip
Photo: Thom Isom
Sat 2 Nov
Photo: Stuart Fullerton
Fri 1 Nov
Tales as Old as Time Julia Holter’s previous albums have explored poetry and Greek tragedy. The LA songwriter and composer talks to us about how, with its themes of celebrity and the loss of love, a 1950s musical has influenced her new LP, Loud City Song Interview: Sam Lewis Photography: Ye Rin Mok
I
n The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon describes the joy of the simple pop song: ‘When those kids sing about “She loves you,” yeah well, you know, she does, she’s any number of people, all over the world, back through time, different colours, sizes, ages, shapes... And the “you” is everybody. And herself.’ There is at the heart of pop culture this strange vagueness, especially in the music and cinema of the 1950s and 60s. Before the introduction of precise demographics, before home entertainment and the internet allowed culture to be fractured into a thousand different genres and niches, pop culture really was mass entertainment. Tens of millions of people watched the same shows, and bought the same records. IMDb has 2,201 films attached to 1958, and 8,261 for 2012 – in the 1950s, there was simply a bigger captive market and fewer cultural products. One of those 1958 movies was Gigi, a watchable but modest musical starring Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier. Julia Holter was working on Ekstasis, her second album, when she wrote
10
Feature
Maxim’s, a song about a scene in Gigi. “I wrote this one song,” she explains over the phone as her tour rolls out of Nashville, “and then I was like, ‘this doesn’t work, I need to make a new record for this song,’ so it would fit. And then I thought, ‘what should it be about?’ And it just happened, it came in an instant – the story of Gigi! It’s just really easy for me because I grew up watching it, it was at my grandma’s house.” Born and raised in Los Angeles, both of Holter’s parents are historians, although her father also played guitar. “He used to play labour folk songs,” she recalls. “He’s a labour historian, studying miners. As a kid at least I think he’d sing songs to us like I’ve Been Working on the Railroad. He does a lot more music now, but growing up it wasn’t a particularly musical household.” Holter herself “just really wanted to make music. I played a lot but very secretly, I didn’t take it seriously. I wanted to play piano, mainly, I started doing that when I was eight.” Following her parents’ academic bent, she enrolled to study composition at CalArts. She started
writing at 16: “It wasn’t really ‘songs’. I started composing music first, for other people to play.” Indeed, Holter explains, “I still think of myself as a composer in a way. ‘Composer’ gives you more freedom. I don’t want to always perform my own music necessarily. But I’ve mainly been writing songs for the past few years and I find it hard to do anything else, musically, I don’t know why that is. It just happened; writing music was so hard until I started doing that, and it was so much easier for me to work intuitively than it was for me to have to think everything out.” So was songwriting a counterpoint to her education in composition? “I wasn’t doing it to rebel,” she assures. “That’s not really my personality, it was just so much easier for me to do. Well, it’s not always fun, it’s hard, but it came naturally.” Of the process of writing about Gigi she explains, “it was just really easy – things that come easily are the things to do, whether or not they’re the things you think are the coolest! If it’s something you know you have a good sense for, I think it’s worth trying.” It’s a theme that crops up
MUSIC
repeatedly, Holter explaining that she gravitates towards what feels ‘easy’ or ‘natural’ – partly, you sense, to pre-empt overemphasis on the intellectualism of her work. Nevertheless, Holter’s music reflects her background, both studiously composed and artistically freeform. Each of her records has toyed with a ‘theme’ – 2011’s Tragedy was based on Euripides’ Hippolytus, 2012’s Ekstasis engaged with the poet Anne Carson’s work, and now this year’s Loud City Song tackles Gigi, both the film version and Colette’s source material. Her songs are full of overlapping vocal layers, fluttering keys and rich harmonies; they are complex, kaleidoscopic pieces that are often driven by strong narratives, with Holter herself lost somewhere in the middle, her voice inhabited by other voices. “With a lot of my music,” she admits, “it’s hard to detect where my actual experience of life comes in.” The idea of exploring other texts is one driven by her background – “that’s what composers do traditionally, they don’t write down lyrics,
THE SKINNY
they use other poets’ lyrics. When I started writing I would usually not use my own text; when I started recording my songs they were usually songs where the text was from somewhere else.” It’s an impersonality that suits the tone of Loud City Song; Holter’s voice lurks somewhere in the background of the story, watching the characters and the city they inhabit drift around each other. The album’s final track, the jazz-inflected ballad City Appearing, describes people leaving a restaurant, swimming, standing on a roof. One of the themes of the album is celebrity voyeurism: the outside world spying on an individual, or, as Holter puts it, “a failed love life in the public eye”. “One of the things I mention,” she explains, “is the [Parisian] tabloid called Gil Blas. The weekly edition had this illustration on the cover that was the latest celebrity intrigue and romance. You see it in the story of Gigi, how the love interest is this wealthy guy, this socialite guy, all his romances are talked about and gossiped about – that was their version of that. And you have this really obvious and intense thing going on in the world now where everyone watches reality TV. It’s really crazy, it’s exponential, the intensity of celebrity and the interest in celebrity.”
“With a lot of my music, it’s hard to detect where my actual experience of life comes in” Julia Holter
As such, Holter’s records are less ‘concept’ albums than explorations of other voices, closer to the poetry and literature that inspires her lyric writing. One influence was the American poet Frank O’Hara, whose work often anthropomorphises the world around him, invoking discussions with a leaf, or the sun. So Holter, on Ekstasis, inhabited a statue: ‘I can see you / But my eyes are not allowed to cry.’ She says she likes “to play with words a lot and I like things like games, ways to generate poems, without it necessarily just being free.” Predating her first album, she worked with a John Cage piece that calls for the performer to transcribe a text into sound – Holter duly created a mesostic poem from a 1920s cookbook, accompanied by field recordings around LA . The Cookbook piece betrays a fascination with the incidental – Holter’s interest in Gigi was first piqued by a scene in the Parisian bar Maxim’s, when the singing stops every time a new character enters the room, leaving a strange hush for a few seconds. “I just like the sound of movies, the ambient atmospheric sound and the foley art, the sound of people running, people whispering.” Loud City Song’s second track, Horns Surrounding Me, begins with the unsettling sound of footsteps crunching on leaves, then a woman’s hurried breath as she escapes paparazzi, with marching horns mimicking the photographers’ chase. “I like the idea of making music that’s like a film, in a way. Like you’re listening to what’s happening; rather than listening to a person recall a story, for it to be the story. I
November 2013
think I want to make it even more like a film, what it sounds like to listen to a film. I’ve never really done it completely, as extreme as I want to go.” Perhaps the appeal of Gigi for Holter was its amount of incidental detail. In the film, young Gigi’s mother is left unseen; we only hear her singing in the next room, in a scene that works its way into the lyrics of World, the album’s opening track – ‘Mother, mothers of the world... Singer on the fifth floor.’ We get to talking about David Lynch, whose exploration of Roy Orbison’s songs excavates a similar mystery from 1950s pop culture. “I do really like his work and there is in his work and the stuff I like to do this interest in making the most of mystery, letting yourself take some paths and not question what that path is. I just have a sense that when he writes his stuff he doesn’t plan out the thought logically. It just
feels right for some reason, there’s always some darkness and mystery.” She pauses, momentarily. “We just passed a town called Lynchburg, by the way, right now!” Holter explains how the inclusion of an eerie cover of the 1963 Barbara Lewis song Hello Stranger was intended as a mirror of Gigli’s song I Remember It Well, where two older characters misremember an old romance. “I grew up listening to Hello Stranger, the original, and I loved it,” she says. “I thought it would be nice to include on the record, it’s this moment of sudden introspection and nostalgia, similar to I Remember It Well. These songs are being nostalgic about some past love without any details that are firm, everything’s so hazy and mysterious. In the Barbara Lewis song it’s very unclear what happened, except for the basics that her heart was broken.
MUSIC
She’s saying ‘please don’t leave me like you did before, I still love you,’ and that vagueness is really appealing to me. It’s really powerful because you know there’s something there that isn’t being said.” The culture of the period was vague, perhaps, because it could afford to be – it was appealing to a truly mass market. But by leaving details out, it let as many people as possible – including Holter – fill in the gaps in the narrative to make the stories their own. As Loud City Song weaves in and out of Gigi’s narrative, it explores the specifics, the mystery, and the strange silence when the story stops. Julia Holter plays The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 13 Nov, and Leaf, Liverpool, 15 Nov. Loud City Song is out now via Domino www.juliashammasholter.com
Feature
11
Home Comforts If previous album West was a story of outward-looking horizons, then Wooden Shjips’ follow-up Back to Land retreats to the familiar – and there’s nothing wrong with that, argues Ripley Johnson
Interview: Simon Jay Catling
Wooden Shjips
“I
n a big city you have to be driven because the scenes there are so competitive and people really take it seriously. It’s nice here; you can take it easy and not have to worry about that sort of stuff too much.” For Ripley Johnson – follicly abundant frontman of Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo co-founder with wife Sanae Yamada, and firm advocate of the psychedelic reel – moving to Portland from San Francisco has been a relatively easy choice. Driven off the west coast by rising rent prices, Johnson and Yamada spent two years based out in the still wilderness of the Colorado mountains, before relocating to the Oregon city with the former’s Shjips bandmates in tow. “I actually love it,” Johnson adds over the phone. “It’s very lush here. We get a lot of rain and we have a nice summer, it’s a good balance of seasons. It’s affordable so there are a lot of artists here and a lot of the houses are single family homes so there’s a pretty big basement scene. Most bands rehearse at home; it’s very freeing, not having to worry about having to spend all this money down at the studio or having to lug gear around.” Having any place to call home has been refreshing for Johnson, after nearly two years of constant touring and releasing records with both the Shjips and Moon Duo. Confessing that he’s “exhausted,” it won’t be long before he takes to the road again, with Wooden Shjips’ second album for Thrill Jockey due this November. Back to Land contrasts with the group’s previous LP: where 2011’s West had a loose thematic structure around the idea of America’s Manifest Destiny – the 19th-century idea of its peoples’ expansion to new horizons in the west, having first settled in the east on arrival from Europe – so Back to Land is more introspective, a retreat to the familiar that was written during a rare opportunity last winter for its chief creator to spend some time at
12
Feature
home, revisiting old possessions and returning to his record collection. “All our things had been in storage for the previous two years while we’d been in Colorado and on the road,” he explains, “so when we got them out, I went straight back to my old records and listened to them all winter while I was writing the album. The process of moving into a new house and listening to all this comfort music put me in a frame of mind about accepting influences and feeling open to bringing that into our music.”
“There are moments when you rebel against things from your past and there are moments when you embrace them” Ripley Johnson
As such, Back to Land glows with a warm familiarity; it was recorded and mixed to tape by Quasi producer and Elliott Smith archivist Larry Crane at his own Jackpot Studios, and the erosive nature of that process gives the record a slightly worn feel, evoking a sense of history and a story to tell within its aural fabric. Beyond that, it loosely echoes the ghosts of classic rock bands like Crazy Horse and Creedence Clearwater
Revival, even as it pushes Wooden Shjips’ own sound further on from their one-chord-one-riff beginnings on their Sick Thirst-released 7”s and Holy Mountain material of the previous decade. “In the past we’ve definitely been more wary of these classic rock touchstones, like Neil Young or Creedence or The Stones,” Johnson admits, “but there are moments when you rebel against things from your past and there are moments when you embrace them. These records ultimately influence you and contribute to making you who you are as a person. So you realise it’s not simply the past, it’s actually who you are.” Larry Crane’s involvement marks only the second time in their career that Wooden Shjips have allowed an outside producer in to work with them, following 2011’s collaboration with Trans Am’s Phil Manley on West. Listening to Crane’s previous work alongside Back to Land – be it Portland garage rockers Quasi’s 1999 LP Field Studies or, more recently, his remastering of Elliott Smith’s debut Roman Candle and mix work on Grandaddy man Jason Lytle’s 2012 solo album Dept. of Dissappearance – it’s clear that he’s translated his verve for adding a light touch and working to separate elements to this new record. “It feels more hi-fi than previous albums,” agrees Johnson. “You can hear these little touches and nuances.” Having Crane involved, though, wasn’t wholly comfortable for a band still not fully used to allowing an additional voice into the creative process. “I actually really liked the process of us doing it ourselves and being totally responsible for everything, pushing through the gear we had in that room and our limited skills. Now it’s become an exercise in letting things happen and letting go, to allow the process to take care of itself.” Back in 2011, with Moon Duo still in their relative infancy – albeit with several releases
MUSIC
already out, including debut LP Escape – Johnson gave the impression in interviews that he rarely wrote to specific projects, pointing out to The Quietus that it only differed when it came to recording: “It doesn’t really matter which band does it. The approach will be different, because it’s different people.” Two years on, though, he has started trying to draw lines between the minimal set-up and maximal imaginations of he and his wife’s side project, and the more dextrous, swampy tones of his older outfit. “I get in a different mindset between one band and the other,” he says, “but then the line isn’t too hard to create. Wooden Shjips is just ‘a rock band’ – just a bunch of guys jamming, y’know? We don’t talk about things much; we just play, which is really freeing. But with me and Sanae we can discuss what to do for the next album and can be more experimental with it because we’re on the same wavelength.” However, it was Moon Duo’s 2012 album Circles that, in part, influenced Back to Land. Written by Johnson while he and Yamada were living in Colorado, it was initially put together as a skeleton entirely on acoustic guitar. “I’d not done that before,” he recalls. “Where we were moving to up there was so isolated that we thought we could make all this noise. But actually being there, the silence was so powerful that it felt really weird to be so loud! So I started writing on this acoustic guitar, which gave Circles that strummier sort of feel. It pushed my songwriting in a certain direction and that’s carried over.” Underneath the sun-scorched riffs of Back to Land tracks like Ghouls and In the Roses – their stoner fuzz harking back to the San Francisco they’ve now left behind – the album is laced with acoustic guitar, threaded in and out of thicker slabs of noise, and trickling through like a nattering stream through great crags of sound. It adds a heightened serenity and reflective evocation to the album, and is at its most overt on closing track Everybody Knows; it’s possibly one of Wooden Shjips’ most subdued songs to date and, within their music’s own wider personality, not like anything they’ve ever put to record before. “I’ve written songs like that before and set them aside thinking, ‘this isn’t very appropriate,’” Johnson says. “But it goes back to me embracing these records I’ve always loved and opening up, so for this album I just thought, ‘heck, let’s do this.’ In the past, I’ve just left them in case I ever thought to do an acoustic solo album.” Going back to the past to produce in the present is something familiar to Johnson, a man with a firm sense of belief in the Buddhist view that “the end is the beginning and everything else is just circling around.” For Wooden Shjips, their music transcends time even as it borrows from it, its component parts making up something that is more physical immersion than something to detach yourself from and analyse academically. Another cycle is shortly to accelerate again for them: “Part of the problem with touring is you’re playing the same stuff over and over,” Johnson comments. “Even if you mix up the songs they’re still your songs, and you get sick of yourself. It can feel very self-absorbed, like ‘look at me! Look at me!’ every night. I’m more of an introverted person, so that can be a challenge, but generally I like it.” Playing Back to Land, at least he’ll always have something to remind him of home. Back to Land is released via Thrill Jockey on 11 Nov. Wooden Shjips play Scala, London, 10 Dec, and Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 11 Dec www.woodenshjips.com
THE SKINNY
Captured in Sound As his Cinema Soloriens project comes to Liverpool this month, former silent-film maker James Harrar celebrates 20 years of collaboration with Sun Ra Arkestra’s Marshall Allen
W
hen silent film maker James Harrar made a short film, For Sun Ra, after jazz musician Sun Ra passed away in 1992, he set off a chain of events that would result in the great cosmic philosopher remaining a huge influence on his creativity for the next 20 years. Attending a concert of the remaining Sun Ra band, The Arkestra, Harrar got talking to their chief saxophonist Marshall Allen, with the veteran musician inviting him to show him For Sun Ra at his home. “Marshall immediately saw the musical structures within it, and was singing to it and voicing rhythms,” Harrar says. From there, he was introduced to another Sun Ra member, Tommy ‘Bugs’ Hunter, who drummed for and sound engineered Sun Ra during his early New York City period. “I would spend days at [Hunter’s] apartment listening to the most obscure Sun Ra recordings,” Harrar recalls. “Once he took me out to a jazz club and on a napkin starting writing out musical notations of what the band was playing. He offered me a ‘key’, guiding me on a new way to listen to music. At that moment it enabled me to anticipate the notes each musician was playing before they played it. It was like hearing music for the first time. Then he told me, ‘you have to take up an instrument, you need to make music for your own films.’”
It was these meetings that proved the catalyst for the pair’s project Cinema Soloriens, a collaboration that celebrates 20 years this year, and which comes to MelloMello in Liverpool over the second weekend in November (with an exhibition, archive footage screenings, a talk and a workshop with Allen on 8 Nov, and the full live performance from Allen, Harrar and percussionist Rogier Smal on 9 Nov). Described by Harrar as “an attempt to reveal deeper levels of interpretation within the visceral film poems,” Cinema Soloriens sees Harrar’s own images and prose combine with a live soundtrack that has been created by a revolving cast of musicians over the past two decades, including but not limited to: Solar Skeletons, Bardo Pond’s Michael Gibbons, and Daevid Allen (Gong, Soft Machine). Others have become core members of the group. “Everyone brings their own style of cooking,” Harrar explains, “but I’m looking for more than just getting a group of talented people together and falling down the rabbit hole.” The director’s films are highly structured, he says, with all collaborators receiving detailed notes before pouring their musical flourishes over the moving images. “The core meaning of my films haven’t changed over time,” Harrar comments. “My work centres around several
Marshall Allen and James Harrar
common themes: spirituality, nature, beauty, magic, perception, ritual, alchemy, sensuality and poetry.” Like the music, which rolls around different sound environments, touching on various world folk, as well as jazz and more direct psych rock, Harrar’s films allow for plenty of grey area, warping and bending images to test the senses. He took early influences from Berks Filmmakers while at college at Pennsylvania, and cites Kenneth Anger’s Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome as having an early impact on his work. “It forever changed how I perceived visual art. Even poetry was no longer a word puzzle for me to explicate, but a living organic language that revealed itself clearer,” he remembers. As Cinema Soloriens has developed, Harrar has taken to exploring his own heritage through his lyrics and imagery. He and his mother are Native American and, after visiting his mother’s
old Tiwa reservation in New Mexico, Harrar researched the Tiwa dialect: “There was almost nothing,” he says, “save for one text from the 1800s that was a poorly translated Tiwa folk tale.” The filmmaker took it on himself to incorporate it into the performance. “If a language is lost, we lose a little bit of our collective human heritage. It is like losing a shade of a colour.” Cinema Soloriens 20th Anniversary Celebration, MelloMello, Liverpool, 8-9 Nov 8 Nov is free and sees the launch of an exhibition, archive footage screenings, and a workshop and Q&A led by Marshall Allen (bring an instrument), plus music from Dead Hedge Trio 9 Nov is £10 and sees the full live Cinema Soloriens performance, plus support from Paddy Steer www.mellomello.co.uk www.cinemasoloriens.com
Friday 8 November, 7.30pm The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester Gianandrea Noseda Conductor Renaud Capuçon Violin
Verdi
Nabucco – overture
Bruch
Violin Concerto No.1
Beethoven T EMA EL. 0161 VISIT IL. CE 661 4 . WW NMA 201 W.M N@C ANC ERVA HEST NTE ER.C S.ES ERVA NTES .ES
Symphony No. 3, ‘Eroica’
Inspiration with every note bridgewater-hall.co.uk | 0844 907 9000
November 2013
MUSIC
Feature
13
Photo: Cees van de Ven
Interview: Simon Jay Catling
Celebrating the ‘T’ in LGBT Queer culture in the Northwest is being celebrated this month with work from John Waters, Boy George and many others appearing at the Homotopia arts festival
Interview: Ana Hine
T
his year’s Liverpudlian festival of queer culture, Homotopia, returns for its tenth birthday with a distinctly trans* friendly flavour. The history of early gender reassignment surgery is explored in the documentary I Am a Woman Now, showing on 16 November at the Museum of Liverpool, which traces the patients of Georges Burou, the man who pioneered the surgery in Casablanca in the 1950s/60s. April Ashley, MBE, the first person to transition surgically in Britain and a Liverpudlian herself, is featured in the film. A separate exhibition from her personal archive, April Ashley: Portrait of a Lady, at the Museum should also provide a glimpse into our under-reported history. Of the exhibition, which runs unil 21 September 2014, Lou Muddle, a member of the Homotopia team, said: “[It] tells her story, but tells her story alongside the legislative and social changes that have affected trans* people.” This community side to the show includes a timeline of events and people of significance to transgender and transsexual history. When asked to pick a particular development that helped trans* people throughout the UK, Ashley said: “The most marvellous thing for me was when groups like the Beaumont Society and Press for Change and Mermaids were formed. “I had been receiving letters for years from trans* people looking for advice and support which I wasn’t qualified to give professionally. I still offered these people support and gave them my phone number if they wanted to talk but I was able to tell them that were proper support organisations that could help them.” Another trans* celebrity whose presence can be felt at the festival is Divine, the star of many John Waters films. Through the regional premiere of the documentary of her life, I Am Divine, on 10 November at FACT, the late diva remains with us. And for Waters fans the director and actor will be appearing on 8 November in a one-man vaudeville show at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. Cross-dressing is also the topic of Neil McKenna’s book Fanny & Stella, which is about the sensational trial of two young Victorian men. A solicitor and bank clerk respectively by day, the pair dressed in women’s clothing to act and work in the sex industry. McKenna will be giving a talk on 6 November at the Bluecoat. He says: “Were they ‘trans’ in the modern sense of the word? Or were they camp, and was their effeminacy the only identity they could find for their sexuality? I’m not sure. And I don’t think we have to be too sure, rather just glory in Fanny and Stella’s wonderful personalities.” Other wonderful personalities feature in This Way Out, a collaborative exhibition by Boy George and Mark Wardel (aka TradeMark) at Camp & Furnace on Greenland Street. Running until 25 November, the show explores themes of gender, sexuality and constructed identities. Mark, who is himself from New Brighton in Liverpool, says of himself and George: “We’ve known each other since the late 70s and for gay men of our generation you were almost forced into taking on a false identity... Being gay was looked on more as a shameful secret. So from being a child or a young teenager you became practiced in the art of deception.” He and George were inspired by David Bowie and the idea that you didn’t have to conform, didn’t have to be the person that society had conditioned you to think you were.
14
Feature
TradeMark and Boy George
The exhibition is very much about the people who have inspired Mark and George and been part of their lives and circles. This Way Out is the first time Boy George’s photographs have been publicly exhibited. Alongside Mark’s paintings and other media their collaboration can be seen in the repetition of subjects. For instance, George once overheard a drag queen in New York insulting another by calling her a “cheap version of Naomi Campbell,” according to Mark. Both their versions of ‘NoMoney Campbell’ will be displayed at the show. There are also pieces that reference cosmetics surgery, which Mark says is another way that people can enhance or change their identities. He has worked with Homotopia over the years and says he can’t believe the time has gone so fast, a sentiment echoed elsewhere. Mark
says: “When I was growing up as a gay teen in Liverpool I couldn’t have imagined these kinds of events on behalf of LGBT people here. Society’s changed so much and Homotopia’s been a big part of that.” For Gary Everett, the artistic director of the festival, the ten year anniversary is a chance to reflect on how the LGBT arts community in Liverpool has grown and what still needs to be done. He says: “Mark is older than me but his story is something I hear a lot from many older trans people, gay men and older lesbians. Historically, Liverpool for all its vibrancy, energy and creativity was a tough port city. It must have been difficult for many, apart from the brave queens who didn’t give a fuck.” Everett feels that Homotopia would not have enjoyed the amount of civic support in the 70s and 80s that it does today. He particularly
ART
praises Liverpool City Council for their support. In many ways this year is all about the visual focus. Luca Bartozzi is curating two shows that explore punk through a queer gaze: Germfree Adolescents, and England’s Erotic Dream, both of which run from 31 October to 24 November. He says: “[Punk is] often inappropriately portrayed in popular media as an overtly machoist movement.” Bartozzi says that the works vividly expose moments of gender performativity, and that the DIY punk attitude encouraged people to experiment rather than conform to strict models of gender. For him one of the merits of Homotopia is that it’s “proudly visible.” As one of the only festivals in Europe dedicated to LGB (and particularly) T arts, hopefully we’ll be wishing Homotopia a happy 20th birthday in another decade. www.homotopia.net
THE SKINNY
Media Circus Amid a flurry of activity before Blue Is the Warmest Colour’s UK premiere, we sit down with its star Adèle Exarchopoulos to discuss this controversial Palme d’Or-winning film and its even more controversial shoot
Interview: Tom Seymour
Blue Is the Warmest Colour
A
dèle Exarchopoulos is in London for the city’s 57th film festival. She has just done a photo shoot for a big glossy. Yves Saint Laurent were asked to supply a dress for her to wear on the red carpet for Blue Is the Warmest Colour, and press are kept hovering in the hallway of the Mayfair Hotel while she tries it on. When I’m summoned for the interview, she’s sitting among a bombsite of clothes and beauty stuff and camera equipment and handlers, a black cocktail dress hugging her, a stylist fussing over her hair. In two hours, the Palme d’Or-winning, sex abuse claimtrailing Blue Is the Warmest Colour will premiere at the London Film Festival. Then it’s a sponsored dinner, an afterparty, a flight out to another junket and premiere. I navigate my way to a seat next to Exarchopoulos and introduce myself, but there’s not a hint of response. I lean over and place a dictaphone in front of her, but she doesn’t seem to realise she’s being interviewed. She pushes the creases of her dress and shares a joke with the guy doing her hair. Then she turns and raises her eyebrows, as if to say, ‘You should begin.’ How does she find speaking to the press? “So many times I have done interviews. In Cannes, after Cannes, every day for two months. And you, you all speak about the same things. That’s why it is really boring, because you all reduce the film to sex and controversy.” You’re frustrated by it all? “Yeah I was frustrated but now I don’t care. Now I understand I can do nothing. So many people have said to me, ‘In my article I’m really going to understand the controversy. I’m really going to understand what nudity is for you.’ They try to turn things away from the film.” “I’m really sorry,” her stylist interrupts, and blasts her hair with an industrial-sized dryer. Exarchopoulos is 19, but she doesn’t seem
November 2013
very awed by all of this. The daughter of a guitar teacher and a nurse, she was born and raised in Montparnasse, near the Place des Fêtes on Paris’s Left Bank. She has Greek ancestry and two younger brothers and, until the age of ten, was almost wordlessly shy. Her parents encouraged her to act to help her anxiety in public. By 12, she had her first film role. By 13, she had an agent. Blue Is the Warmest Colour, for which she shared a Palme d’Or with her director, Abdellatif Kechiche, and co-star Léa Seydoux, is her tenth film.
“Once we were on the shoot, I realised that the director really wanted us to give him everything” Adèle Exarchopoulos
And what a film. It’s a genuine five-star trail-blazer. A love story about – and a love letter to – sex and youth and pride and the loss of innocence, powered with incredible force and commitment by Exarchopoulos and Seydoux, and by the intimate courage of Kechiche’s direction. Set in the northern French city of Lille, the film charts a love affair between Adèle (Exarchopoulos), a 17-year-old student from a lower middle-class family, and Emma (Seydoux), an openly gay twenty-something artist from an
affluent, liberal background. Yet it is Adèle’s story we are told; from the moment she first becomes aware of her desires, to an abortive early attempt to have sex with a boy, to meeting and falling headlong for Emma, to leaving school and becoming a nursery teacher, to trying to support the more career-driven Emma in an artistic pursuit that is at best private and remote. The sex scenes in this film are explicit and unflinching – one continuous sequence lasts for 12 minutes. Yet they’re also powerful and moving. It’s a film capable of making you feel like a teenager again, capable of bringing back what it felt like to have sex for the first time, how life-altering and fundamentally significant it all felt. It’s a film of unbridled emotions and intensity that does not for a moment feel forced or melodramatic or ratcheted beyond itself. Instead, and despite a runtime of over three hours, we’re left feeling deeply invested in a tiny chapter of these characters’ lives. We’re left desperately wanting more. Kechiche succeeds in asking a basic but needling question: why are we so accepting of sensationalised violence on screen but so scared of turning sex – something we all do, and into which we all have a degree of insight – into something heightened and cinematic? In talking honestly about this, the film has mired itself in a controversy partly authored by Exarchopoulos herself, and which now bugs her so much on the press circuit. Talking to The Daily Beast shortly after the film’s world premiere in Cannes, Seydoux revealed she and her co-star were “made to feel like prostitutes” on a “horrible” set, depicting Kechiche as an aggressively extorting director who would throw things and scream at them if he didn’t get his way. The 12-minute sex scene allegedly took ten days to shoot, with the actors asked to do take after take after take – no pre-direction, no choreography,
FILM
three cameras surrounding them. “Once we were on the shoot, I realised that he really wanted us to give him everything,” Exarchopoulos told The Daily Beast. “Most people don’t even dare to ask the things that he did. They’re more respectful.” Both have vowed never to work with him again. Kechiche has responded by talking of his own “humiliation” at their behaviour. He’s been totally absent from press duties in London, and has basically disowned the film since, saying to the French magazine Télérama: “I think this film should not go out, it’s too dirty. The Palme d’Or was a brief moment of happiness, then I felt humiliated, disgraced. I felt it’s a rejection of me, a curse.” Does Exarchopoulos now regret talking about the humiliation she felt at the hands of Kechiche? “I don’t regret. I stand by what I said. I regret that people speak a lot about it because they don’t know what they’re speaking about. You can’t presume or summarise a human adventure.” Did she expect such a fevered reaction to her comments about her experience on set? “No, never. I didn’t realise the impact it would have. It was very surprising. It hasn’t sunk in because it was so crazy.” How did she feel on the shoot? “I had a bit of a continuous feeling during shooting, but I was helped by the fact that we shot chronologically, as I could understand what was happening all the time.” Would she change anything, if she could do it all again? “No, nothing.” Blue Is the Warmest Colour has not reinvented the wheel. Few national cinemas lionise youth as brazenly as the French; few seem so earnestly enamoured of first love, sexual awakening and innocence lost. Over the last year, Olivier Assayas has released Something in the Air, about the serious art of chasing girls in the pseudo-revolutionary 70s, while his partner, Mia Hansen-Løve, has talked openly about the teenage love affair that led her to make Goodbye, First Love. The godfathers of French cinema were at it too: JeanLuc Godard’s Pierrot le Fou is a young love story, as is François Truffaut’s Baisers volés, the sequel to Les quatre cent coups, and Eric Rohmer’s Full Moon in Paris. Blue Is the Warmest Colour is more than a match for its contemporaries, even good enough to be compared to the best of the New Wave, because it’s taken something familiar and pushed it to its limits. Using methods that appear brutal in their antiquity, Kechiche has forced his actors to go to places they will probably never go again, and framed every moment – sexual and otherwise – in delirious and exacting close-up. First love was so intense, so immediate, so possessed of life, and he has managed to recall it in unvarnished honesty. Despite the Palme d’Or, Exarchopoulos and Seydoux may secretly regret the experience. Despite their claims of his genius (which Exarchopoulos reiterates during our interview), they may have been exploited. Despite his lofty proclamations, this film seems tinged by Kechiche’s own latent desires. But nevertheless we now have a film, a creation of body and soul, that will live on in undimmed romance. Exarchopoulos is right; we can’t really know what it was like. But thank you for going through it. Blue Is the Warmest Colour is released 22 Nov www.artificial-eye.com
Feature
15
Melody and Melancholia From field recordings to video games via Metallica, we get to know what informs the sparse, seasonal sounds of Hinterland, the sophomore album from German techno head Recondite
Recondite
B
ack in the 17th century, melancholia was kind of a big deal. Frowning became a favourite pastime among poets, playwrights and painters. Well-known works of art began to document depression and the potential lack of any real physical meaning. Take Hamlet, for example, the sensitive bastard. He’s not exactly a barrel of laughs, and yet the audience of the time would have been truly captivated by his sour-faced monologues. Why? Because he showed us then that melancholia is an introverted and essential process; hidden away, it lies dormant until we begin the impossible challenge of considering our own mortality. Meet Lorenz Brunner. He’s another fan of melancholia. Indeed, his alias Recondite is even synonymous with words such as ‘difficult’ and ‘mysterious’. Brunner first began gaining attention as a producer a few years ago following a series of EPs via his own Plangent imprint. Since then, he’s been pushing the darker side of his techno capabilities for quality labels like Dystopian and Hotflush. Brighter elements began to emerge last year when he cracked out the 303 for his first full-length On Acid (for Absurd Recordings sub-label Acid Test), a record of gentle quasi-acid house – and his debut LP for Ghostly International, Hinterland, lands on 11 November, the latest weighty release in the label’s impressive catalogue. As far as reflective homages to the German countryside go, we’re in for a right treat. “The region where I grew up is called Lower Bavaria,” Brunner says, calm when he talks and happy to help with geographical formalities. “Southeast Germany, between the Bavarian forest and the Alps. It’s remote but settled, so
16
Feature
there’s more than enough room to build audio and visual sensitivity. Hinterland is about looking at where I come from and using it as an inspiration. Not just regarding natural aspects; rivers, lakes, forests, yes, but also the character of the people who live there. I tried to recreate the hidden atmosphere with all its fragile shapes and shades.
“My parents, auntie and uncle still go out to Godspeed You! Black Emperor gigs, which is pretty uncommon for 60-year olds living in Bavaria” Lorenz Brunner
“There’s a definite intention of seasonal progression within the tracks, too,” he continues. “Leafs is a spring track; it has that early morning, dewy feel. Stems is for summer; quite dry but also quite heavy. Rise is summer, too – uplifting
and upbeat. I’ve got a track called Floe, which is beatless and definitely represents winter. For that, I actually recorded a sample of myself walking through the snow on my phone. It might seem unspectacular but I only need a raw copy of the sound itself to then modify it through a sampler. The footsteps turned into this atmospheric, crackling soundscape; like the slow motion of a frozen river.” Brunner goes on to explain how Hinterland was originally intended to be a concept album entitled Seasons. He, along with the head of Ghostly, Sam Valenti, debated the idea for some time before deciding that it might be considered an exhausted concept. (Nobody wants the pissed-off ghost of Vivaldi on their back.) Field recordings played a significant role in giving the album its brooding tone and formidable depth – helpfully, you don’t have to spend hundreds on equipment to execute the organic idea of capturing a specific element of a natural environment and using it to create an audio equivalent, and, as Brunner notes, “people can relate to certain sounds because they subconsciously hear them every day. They become ingrained. Things like wind blowing or footsteps are really fun to sample, because you can do so many crazy things with the audio and it still seems familiar. “One synth on the album is actually made out of crackling dry leaves together,” he continues. “I played it really slow on a narrow loop, added some filter and oscillation and ended up with a trance pad.” When asked about the rest of his studio setup, Brunner admits that he “ended up using Ableton Live for the album and nothing else.”
CLUBS
Photo: Shai Levy
Interview: Daniel Jones His decision to step away from hardware may anger the more pedantic of purists, but the guy has a few good reasons why he chose to go down a newfangled software-only route. “I’ve used outboard gear for years, that’s how I learned the basic technique of synthesis,” he says. “I wanted to make Hinterland with as few hindrances as possible, in the most efficient and comfortable way for me. I got tired of finding loose cables and invasive sounds all the time. I’m also very drawn to the idea of losing the physicality of music production. For me, it is all about the result, the feeling, the emotion. I’m not the type of guy who gets pleasure from twisting knobs all day,” he chuckles. “Pleasure comes when I can step away from the session and feel relieved when listening back to what I have done. “Also, when I sit down to make a track,” he quickly adds, “I try not to be too aware of what mood I am trying to emulate. I really wanted to tap into the way I subconsciously make music to make the album flow naturally, organically. It’s a lot like playing the Playstation; I just sit down and play and then what actually happens is another story.” On the release front, Brunner confirms that the decision to go with Ghostly was an easy one to make. “I got into the label early on but it was Lawrence’s Spark EP that blew me away,” he enthuses. “I really connected with that track and it actually made me dive deeper in my own productions. I thought about releasing the record on Plangent but it made sense to have a group of skilled people, who can do a much better job than just me on my own, to help facilitate the vision I had for it.” Hinterland is certainly not intended for the dancefloor, but, as its creator points out, “it is something you can use carefully.” Dixon has been hammering lead track Abscondence in recent mixes, and we have it on good faith that Scuba’s taken quite a shine to Stems, using it as an atmospheric tool. The album is tremendously versatile and reflective in that way – able to draw out the listener’s hidden emotions in order to establish a mindset that, like the seasons, is both fragile and completely transient. But where exactly does Lorenz’s passion for musical melancholia stem from? “Growing up, my family listened to a lot of strange rock music,” he laughs. “My parents, auntie and uncle still go out to Godspeed You! Black Emperor gigs, which is pretty uncommon for 60-year olds living in Bavaria. Alice In Chains, Overkill and Megadeath were part of everyday life. Those types of bands were a little too aggressive for my taste and I started to connect more with the progressive, anthemic tunes. I loved Metallica’s Black Album, especially The Unforgiven. It had that layered, mournful side that I could really relate to.” By the end of our chat, it is clear that years of influence and thought have gone into making Hinterland, an album that documents an entire vista of emotional nuances, blending them together to tremendously sombre effect. In it, Brunner has succeeded in his dissection of human sentimentality – and his resulting, instinctual monologue is easy and engaging. But where can he go from here? That is the only question. Hinterland is out 11 Nov via Ghostly International www.ghostly.com/artists/recondite
THE SKINNY
Living in Phantasy Land New Zealand’s psychedelic son Connan Mockasin returns with Caramel, transferring his interest from dolphins to humans, and creating pop music on a whole other plane
C
onnan Mockasin hails from Te Awanga, New Zealand, a sleepy coastal idyll where the sheer force of the tide is so great that it’s eroding away the coastline at almost world-beating levels. As a younger man, he watched the property of one of his closest neighbours gradually fall into the sea. His own parents still live a few hundred metres further inland, but he simply remembers that his family had, in fact, “always wanted the beach house.” A defining sense of optimism and curiosity took Mockasin and his then band, The Mockasins, to London in 2006, where, despite running out of money very quickly, their initial style of psychedelic 60s beach pop caught the attention of various indie labels. Despite prolonged courting, eventually they all demanded a creative control that was unsurprisingly rejected by a man who would soon return to New Zealand to complete a 30-minute concept LP about a man falling in love with a sea mammal, Forever Dolphin Love. Ariel Pink might be one comparison, or even Bowie at his most experimental, although crucially, it sounded like little else of the moment. But that was then, and this is now, with Mockasin having recently finished his beautiful, occasionally beguiling follow-up, Caramel, recorded in a nameless, faceless Japanese hotel room and released as quickly as possible at his own insistence. Far from Tokyo, New Zealand or even Shoreditch, Connan Mockasin is sat with his feet outside a patio window in his current home in Whalley Range, Manchester. Wearing a silk dressing gown and rolling a cigarette, he admits that he’d planned to do the interview upstairs in bed (it is Sunday morning after all), but the hefty, heated laptop necessary to record the whole affair might make things awkward.
“Psychedelic? That just means drug music, doesn’t it?” Connan Mockasin
It goes without saying that there’s an air of otherworldliness to Mockasin and his music. As well as his unusual recording methods, he has had the incredible good fortune of an accidental career that has seen him tour with Radiohead and Grizzly Bear, work with Charlotte Gainsbourg, and make a fan out of Tyler, The Creator. A recent Guardian interview perhaps overstated an admission that he hadn’t really listened to a record since Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, way back in 2003, irking several vocal readers, much to Mockasin’s bewilderment. (‘I’m an amateur producer and quite often come across other producers that do not listen to others’ craft’, observed one commenter. ‘Personally I find them to be self absorbed and full of their own creed.’) And yet, Mockasin is far from full of his own creed, and over the course of a morning in his company, it becomes clear that there’s a well developed logic and direct method to what many industry-led performers might see as madness. “Maybe when I settle down, have a house, then I’ll get a record collection. For now, there’s just too much music; I can’t be bothered,” he reasons. “Also, when you’re working on a record, you can’t listen to other music. You can’t focus on
November 2013
Interview: John Thorp Photography: Elinor Jones
what you’re hearing in your head.” Purity of vision seems to be a major priority. “Working out of a studio, there’s almost too many options,” he explains when asked why he chose to record Caramel alone in that aforementioned Japanese hotel room. How did the management take to his unscheduled residency? “We kept it pretty quiet in the room, it’s all just me really.” Occasionally throughout, chattering female voices float into the mix, as if the listener is inadvertently tapped into a strange, faintly melancholy party. The music on Caramel utilises a four-track, Mockasin’s bluesy guitar, a microphone and little else. “I like to try and make it sound as good as it can with as little that I’ve got,” he says. “Keeps it exciting.” But while he’s unable to even remember the name of said hotel, Japanese culture, and it must be said, Japanese girls in particular, feature heavily in his oeuvre. As if to illustrate this point perfectly, Mockasin’s beautiful Japanese girlfriend graces the lounge in a timely fashion. “She’s on the record actually,” he says, flashing a warm smile. “I just really felt at home in Japan. I really like the films of [Studio Ghibli founder] Hayao Miyazaki, and Japan itself has a similarly mysterious feel.” The surreal press photos for Caramel detail Connan in bed, surrounded by yet more Japanese girls. While Forever Dolphin Love was a narrative laced with fantasy, with whole songs concerning unicorns and other associated whimsy, Caramel is a much more sensual, perhaps more physical, but undoubtedly earthier release. “It’s definitely a little bit sexy-ish, a little bit flirty,” he coyly agrees. “It’s quite slick, or as slick as I could make it with the little equipment I used. I find it quite difficult to be flirty in reality, so I can do it safely on the record. Also, I was around people this time, so people were a big influence.” Indeed, I’m The Man, That Will Find You is a proper, longing love song that sees Mockasin’s falsetto croon sound determined, while Do I Make You Feel Shy?’s ‘Take me to yours and I’ll leave you / Book that hotel and I’ll please you’ goes some way to suggesting that Mockasin, terminally relaxed though he is, remains frustrated by the same desires as the rest of us. After an opening gambit of what unexpectedly resemble three-minute pop songs, the centrepiece of Caramel unfolds: five largely instrumental pieces entitled It’s Your Body. It’s credit to Mockasin’s soulful guitar work that the album remains compelling in the absence of his distinctive vocals, and that Why Are You Crying? confronts listeners with over a minute of unedited female weeping to get to it. “That’s real crying,” he explains. “It didn’t start off real, but by the end, it’s real crying.” Spontaneity apparently remains key to Mockasin. Upon his return to New Zealand, Forever Dolphin Love was only recorded at the request of his mum, and wasn’t intended to be shared with anyone in particular, nevermind with the likes of club DJ Erol Alkan, indulging his more offbeat tastes when releasing Mockasin on his carefully curated label, Phantasy. Nonetheless, he regards his continuing success as something of a fluke. “It’s just a sort of hobby that’s turned into a job,” he shrugs. Alkan is hugely attracted to Mockasin’s recording methods, not to mention his minimal record collection. Does Mockasin ever fear he’ll falter, or transpire to contrive something supposedly curious? “If I get bored or it feels like a chore, I’ll just move on and do something else,” he concludes. A brief divergence from
Connan Mockasin
the topic of Caramel reveals a glimpse at the potential of ‘something else’. Right now, it could be illustration, it could even be stand-up comedy, but it might be neither. The sheer, understated confidence of Mockasin’s vision is easy to underestimate, and it’s similarly easy – not to mention frustrating – for the occasional Guardian commenter to wonder from where he draws such conviction. “My dad was very intelligent, he could have done much more, but he’s really quite safe,” he recalls. “Both he and my mum were very supportive of me and my brothers.” When his dad fell seriously ill earlier this year, Mockasin flew home immediately, which inadvertently allowed him the time and situation in which to record Caramel. “It was at least a well-timed illness,” he acknowledges. Given his general unfamiliarity towards most aspects of popular culture, it proves fruitless to ask Mockasin where he feels he fits among the emerging roster of psychedelic acts such as Hookworms or Melody’s Echo Chamber. In fact, he’s not sure how to feel about the ‘psychedelic’ tag in general. “I just say sensitive rock,” he stresses. “Is this new record that psychedelic? It
MUSIC
just means drug music, doesn’t it?” On the subject of the music industry and any surrounding expectations, Mockasin seems savvy to his options, understandably keen to let little outside influence interfere with his work. However, he describes his art and creative process with such charming light-footedness that probing his methods feels somehow like asking a child how he thought a magician managed to hide a whole, living rabbit within a man’s hat. “It’s neat that people make music that can achieve a good feeling or a good mood, or a great atmosphere, that’s really nice,” he offers. “But the amount of seriousness around it, it is funny, it is a bit of a joke. And because people take it so seriously, people take things I say out of context. But I don’t even write much, I just hear things in my head and then I’ll write it down. If I think it’s good enough, I’ll record it.” Caramel is released on 4 Nov via Phantasy Sound. Connan Mockasin is playing The Warehouse Project, Manchester, on 8 Nov (DJ set), and Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 24 Jan www.facebook.com/connanmockasin
Feature
19
Man vs Machine Andrew Bujalski talks to us about resurrecting video technology from the 60s to create Computer Chess, the year’s most joyously idiosyncratic movie
Interview: Jamie Dunn
ndrew Bujalski’s name might not be on every film fan’s lips, but it is likely to live on in future cinema history textbooks. Not necessarily for his films (Mutual Appreciation, Beeswax), although they are wonderful, but for the ramshackle, lo-fi film-movement they heralded: mumblecore. It’s a much maligned sub-genre, mocked for its cardigan-wearing protagonists and their first world problems (dating disasters, post-graduate malaise, rent control), but in the sure hands of a director as sensitive to the complexities of the human condition as Bujalski you have films with an elegant emotional register that are as far removed from their closest mainstream equivalents, romantic comedies, as their budgets are from Hollywood’s multi-million-dollar coffers. “I never thought of it as an artistic movement,” says the Boston-born filmmaker down the line from his Austin home when I sheepishly bring up the m-word. (Quite rightly, Bujalski and his peers have never been keen on the clumsy moniker.) Movement or not, Bujalski’s films have been influential, and not just on the bona fide mumblecore directors, like Lynn Shelton (Your Sister’s Sister) and Aaron Katz (Quiet City), who followed in his low-key wake. Their loose structures and organic rhythms have begun to bleed into the wider film culture. It’s difficult to imagine the rise of Lena Dunham without Bujalski, for example, or the recent success of Frances Ha without its near namesake Funny Ha Ha (Bujalski’s 2002 debut). “For my own sake, you know, I wish that now, retroactively, Funny Ha Ha were commercial and I could go make a million dollars off of it,” he says wistfully, “but I don’t think it works that way.” Does he ever anticipate making films that make it to the multiplex? “I’m probably not going to change, but lord knows I’m trying to learn to get my head in a place where I could conceive of something that would be a little more financially viable.” He’s certainly trying something new with his latest movie, which takes him, for the first time, from the contemporary world of inarticulate twenty-somethings, their poky apartments, their hipster parties and their unmade beds, into the realm of science fiction. Set in the early 1980s, Computer Chess plunges us into the not-so-highoctane world of competitive computer chess programming. “I didn’t sit down and consciously think, ‘What’s a good topic for my next movie? Oh, I know: computer chess pioneers,’” he says, regarding the film’s peculiar premise. “None of this was too consciously constructed. A lot of the heavy lifting of building this happened in my subconscious and I wasn’t actually privy to what I was thinking.” For Bujalski, form came first; the spark for what would become Computer Chess grew out of the director’s desire to work on the old Sony AVC-3260, a 60s video camera so obsolete that the only place you’re able to find any is in junk shops filed next to Betamax players and Stereo 8s. “I came upon some footage from old cameras and really fell in love with it,” he says, but he was also attracted to the challenge of using them: “How could we tell a story in those kind of images? And what would that story be, I don’t know. There’s so much about this project that’s not rational, just from the practical standpoint of filmmaking, and that was, of course, part of the joy of it.” Initially Computer Chess, with its spot-on period detail and grainy image, seems to take the form of mockumentary. We’re invited to giggle at these terribly dressed nerds as they schlep their
20
Feature
Computer Chess
One computer refuses to play against its peers: at one point the opponent’s queen is up for grabs and the glitching machine merely nestles its rook up beside her. It’s only when it takes on a real human challenger that it perks up its game, that it becomes more aggressive. It begins to dawn on Peter (Patrick Riester), the gangly junior programmer trying to debug the erratic software, that it has somehow become sentient – it has a soul. Think of the film, then, as a genteel prequel to James Cameron’s Terminator. “I feel like Terminator was something that everyone got back in 1984, and still basically everybody gets and makes sense of it now,” suggests Bujalski. It’s transmuted a little bit, though, he admits. It may not take the form of a cyborg that looks like Arnie, but the filmmaker reckons there’s still plenty of reason to be wary of our laptops: “Now the biggest threat that computers pose to us on a daily basis is that they just suck all the time out of our lives – someone who has spent all day on Facebook has, in some sense, been thoroughly defeated by their computer.” Andrew Bujalski With his love for 16mm film and the grainy black and white images he captured using the Sony AVC-3260 for Computer Chess, it would be “Ultimately I think it is a very human enfair to class Bujalski as a technosceptic. As we deavour,” explains Bujalski with regards to his speak I picture him at the other end of the line characters’ aim to create a machine that will speaking into a wall-mounted candlestick-style trounce a human in a tactical battle of wits. “You telephone. “It’s more like a 1990s phone – nothdon’t try to create an artificial intelligence uning special,” he laughs. “But yeah, of course, I like less, on some level, you’re trying to understand old technology. As I’m speaking to you I’m looking something about your own organic intelligence. at my poor, ignored Steenbeck editing machine It always points back to the great philosophi– I don’t know if I’ll ever get to use it again. This cal questions, How do humans think? How do we is not a novel idea, but with every technology we play chess? Why do we play chess? You have to be adopt they are things that are gained and there asking that question somewhat if you’re program- are things there are lost, and of course I mourn ming a computer to do it, and so I could identify the things that are lost and I do have a real affecwith all that.” tion for the technology that I grew up with.” As these questions begin to be asked, the Why does he think that is? “Maybe that was film’s high-concept narrative spirals off from the the last time I felt comfortable with technology, chess competition to much more freaky territory. when I felt I was the master in that relationship. wardrobe-sized hardware to a drab hotel for a weekend of pitting their chess playing software against each other’s in a round-robin tournament. The film, though, soon shifts to something more subtle, philosophical and humane.
“Someone who has spent all day on Facebook has, in some sense, been thoroughly defeated by their computer”
FILM
Now I certainly don’t.” He says this, but Computer Chess is also another first for Bujalski: it’s his first dalliance with digital filmmaking. “There’s a lot of power in CGI,” he tells me. “You feel like George Lucas and you say, ‘Wow, I can do anything I want to this image.’ It’s really remarkable and exciting what technology is able to do. Now, very clearly, if you look at what that’s produced in our culture: has that greater power over the image given us better movies? Absolutely fucking not.” Bujalski didn’t get drunk on this technology, though. The CGI in Computer Chess is used primarily to tweak and accentuate the natural flaws in the Sony AVC-3260’s cinematography: light floods the lens, images ghost across the screen as the camera and characters move – at one point the image inexplicably becomes a photo negative. “They are a lot of little glitches in the movie,” he explains. “Some that we tweaked for what felt like narrative purposes. Most of them are really just oddities that are camera produced, and that’s part of the joy of shooting on these old analogue video cameras: they were unpredictable.” You could almost say they’d a mind of their own... “Yeah, that irony didn’t escape me,” he deadpans. “Ultimately I came to feel the same way about the camera as I tend to about actors, which is that they are not entirely under my control. You can give them direction, you can try and get them to do something like what you envisioned, but they’re always going to bring something of their own, and that is really exciting. That became part of the fun of this camera. And it wasn’t always good: sometimes it would glitch out in a way that we couldn’t use, but sometimes it would glitch out in ways I just thought was glorious.” Computer Chess is released 22 Nov by Eureka Entertainment
THE SKINNY
Photo: Eureka Entertainment
A
The must visit
SHOPPING DESTINATION McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Cheshire Oaks is the UK’s largest designer outlet, with over 145 stores including famous designer fashion brands – all for up to 60% less
W
e’ve got it all. From international designer boutiques to high street fashion and homeware, we have everything you need for a luxurious shopping experience. Our many cafés and restaurants provide the perfect place for you to recharge your batteries, while our children’s play areas and ample parking make us perfect for families too.
Ted Baker £49 Outlet Price £30
Links of London £350 Outlet Price £145
Reiss £225 Outlet Price £150
Kurt Geiger £85 Outlet Price £59 OSPREY LONDON £545 Outlet Price £375
The ideal location
Situated just north of historic Chester, Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet is easily accessible from Manchester and Liverpool. Just off Junction 10 of the M53 motorway, you can easily reach us by coach, car, rail or bus.
CheshireOaksDesignerOutlet.com Products featured are subject to availability. All prices are correct at time of going to print.
November 2013
FILM
Feature
21
LOUDER THAN WORDS FESTIVAL
Join authors, artists, journalists, poets, performers and aficionados in this brand new literary festival celebrating words of the music industry. Featuring Wilko Johnson, Zoe Howe, Tim Burgess, Hugh Cornwell, Stella Grundy, Jah Wobble and others. The Palace Hotel, Manchester. 15 –17 November, 2013. Tickets and information www.louderthanwordsfest.com
15% OFF WHEN YOU SPEND £50 ONLINE + FREE P&P ON JEWELLERY USE PROMO CODE SKINN13 excludes prints and tickets
shop.balticmill.com 22
THE SKINNY
Literary Prizefighter Fending off competition from 350 other entrants, Nicola White’s In the Rosary Garden is the winner of this year’s Dundee International Book Prize. She discusses the road to success and the controversial themes of her novel Interview: Ryan Rushton
O
ffering £10,000 and a deal with Cargo Publishing, the Dundee International Book Prize is unique in what it offers a writer attempting to get a work into print. No other award offers such a large cash sum for an unpublished book, with the opportunity to get copies into the hands of a waiting readership surely just as attractive. On the 24th of last month, on the opening night of the Dundee Literary Festival, the announcement was made that Nicola White had won the coveted award for her tale of sexual politics in the Catholic backdrop of 1980s Ireland, In the Rosary Garden. “I’ve been aware of the prize for years,” White tells me. “But I thought the more conventional route – to find an agent who would approach publishers – would be easier. It didn’t prove to be. Publishers praised the book, then gave wildly various reasons why they couldn’t commit to it. I think it’s not an easy time for debut writers – mainstream publishers are not wild about the untried or untested.” It is undoubtedly true that finding a publisher with faith in an original voice is one of the largest obstacles a debut novelist has to overcome these days. One only has to look at the boom in self-publishing and the path trodden by authors such as Sergio De La Pava (whose self-published book, A Naked Singularity, ended up winning the
PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize) to see that worthy work is struggling to find a home. White had almost given up hope before submitting In the Rosary Garden to the all-star judging panel: “I was disappointed, but not discouraged, and decided I’d just get on with writing a second book. Yet all the time, the fact of the first book’s existence niggled at me. I entered the prize on a whim, to be honest – I didn’t expect to get this far.” Fortunately for White, judges as diverse as Brian Cox (actor, not physicist), Lorraine Kelly and AL Kennedy agreed her book was the best of three strong finalists. In the Rosary Garden begins with the shocking discovery of a dead baby in the grounds of a convent school and weaves in and out of various genres, while exploring the contentious issues of abortion and sexuality as a whole within Ireland at the time. “I left Ireland in 1984,” White explains. “So that time is particularly resonant for me; a time of bitter debates over reproduction and women’s rights, and also the year when the book is set. It was prompted by my interest in a case known as The Kerry Babies, also from that year, which involved the finding of two dead infants in close proximity. My book doesn’t mirror that story at all, but the germ of the idea started there.” With a subject that continues to be so contentious, the question of a specific agenda or
Nicola White
intention in White’s book is the obvious one: “I don’t think an agenda is a good starting place for a novel. You need to surprise yourself,” she says. “In the Rosary Garden started with an image, a scene that came to me of a child finding a dead newborn hidden away in a box, and not really understanding what it was. The story spun out gradually from there.” No doubt questions of this kind will abound as reactions to the book begin to trickle in. For now, though, White is enjoying the award, telling me: “It feels a tremendous
piece of good fortune, and I hope that the book will find its audience over the coming months.” On the subject of the cash prize, she answers as a writer in it for the long haul should, thinking in terms of the precious commodity of time and the freedom to keep on writing: “What’s definite,” she says, “is that the money will buy me a precious chunk of time to press on with other ideas stacking up in my head.” See our review of In the Rosary Garden on page 45
About Face
Toronto artist Jeremy Bailey works in digital and new media to blur the boundaries between the seen and the unseen. He appears in disguise as a mythical being to introduce a project coming to Warrington this month Interview: Lauren Velvick
J
eremy Bailey – or his alter ego, Famous New Media Artist Jeremy Bailey – returns to the Northwest this month as part of the Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival, with his Master/ Slave Invigilator System. This participatory, multiuser performance was premiered at Abandon Normal Devices (AND) festival in Manchester in 2012, returned earlier this year for AND in Liverpool, and will now be solving the problem of how to invigilate a whole festival, in Warrington. The work draws attention to the ‘invisible’ role of the gallery invigilator, as Bailey explains of his alter-ego: “He tried to reinvent the role of invigilator; the person who assists the public in understanding the work, [because] the role has become a glorified security guard over the years, it has diminished... I’m approaching the role of invigilator, and making it into a super-visible role, an ego-centric role,” he says. He achieves this super-visibility by dressing his ‘slaves’ in striking futuristic costumes (designed by Manchester collective the Volkov Commanders) that feature a screen over the face, projecting the artist into multiple venues simultaneously. The performance functions as a playful and humorous critique of how contemporary art galleries engage with the public, and it advocates a more reciprocal relationship. As with all Famous New Media Artist Jeremy Bailey’s work, Master/ Slave Invigilator System also enacts and questions the role of technology in our lives – and in
November 2013
art – while playing with notions of visibility, invisibility and disguise. The slave invigilators’ identities are concealed by a video-call direct from the artist, in a happily failing attempt to highlight their role: “The technology itself is not that impressive, and it shouldn’t be,” Bailey says. “It’s really the combination of all the things together that make a statement about a state of being that we all currently occupy. This demand has been placed on us to be everywhere at once and constantly available – increasingly, in my case, availability via video in some way. There’s a telepresent forcefulness in society at the moment, but not everyone’s using it! “There’s quite a hostility towards video,” he continues. “I notice that you chose not to make a video call in the first place,” he says, “because there’s a protection in not appearing” – but I was glad I did eventually, when Famous New Media Artist Jeremy Bailey appeared as a digital unicorn complete with majestic, flowing rainbow mane. Bailey’s use of local artists and performers as his invigilator slaves (with Volkov Commanders themselves occasionally taking part) has, he explains, led to modification of the costumes. “The first version was very uncomfortable to wear... we feel like it’s important as we make modifications to know how the slaves feel.” During his performances in Warrington, Famous New Media Artist Jeremy Bailey will move around the festival using his invigilator slaves like gadgets – “there’s
Jeremy Bailey: Master/Slave Invigilator System
a black one and a white one. They are supposed to be like consumer products, i.e., the iPhone comes in black and white” – to engage with visitors. He explains that giving tours is the best part of invigilating, and so in solving the problems of invigilation – badly – the Master/Slave Invigilator System fails at this. The artist doesn’t necessarily want to explain the art, however, and he says: “All art is very intimidating to audiences. I always say it’s the only business where the audience or the customer is always wrong. Curators and
BOOKS / ART
artists are always complaining about audiences, but I have the opposite philosophy. I really love the people that I get to meet and talk to and be with, so I try to give them as much as I can and to learn about them as much as I can – and talk to them about art. It’s not my job to tell, I’d rather connect.” Jeremy Bailey: Master/Slave Invigilator System, Golden Square/Town Centre, Warrington, 9 Nov, 12-2pm www.jeremybailey.net www.warringtonartsfestival.co.uk
Feature
23
Let’s Go Adventure Indie-kid comic Josie Long has added yet another string to her bow – she tells us about making films and why Glasgow’s “prettier than Paris”
M
ention Josie Long’s name and you’re likely to be greeted with chirps of approval. She’s arguably the most upbeat comic on the circuit, and mind-bogglingly inventive; you’d be hard pushed to find anyone who doesn’t think the sun shines out of her corduroys. It probably does. At just 31, her CV reads like an indie-kid’s dream: award-winning stand-up comedian, writer and broadcaster –and now she’s adding film-maker to that list. Embracing the DIY spirit with her pal Doug King, they’ve made two short films, Let’s Go Swimming and Romance and Adventure. The pair are hopping in a camper van, and bringing them to an indie-cinema near you, on their Let’s Go Adventure Tour. We caught up with Long to find out a bit more about it, and what she’s been up to... Films! How exciting! Where did the ideas come from, and how did you get from the ideas stage to here? I’d always wanted to make short films but hadn’t felt like I’d had a good enough idea or met the right people to work with. Then two and a half years ago I had a bit of a personal crisis – I kind of lost faith in the life I’d made for myself in London; I ended up leaving someone and it was really painful and just broke me a bit. And much as that was no fun, I really felt like it was a massive thing, and that I wanted to try and make sense of it and write about it. Then two years ago I met Doug King, my director and collaborator, and felt like we really should work together, so it grew quite organically from there. We meet up and talk in quite a heavy way for a week, I write it up and put some jokes in and then we make it! The other actor in the films, Darren, is Doug’s best friend who’s been in his films for about 20 years, and we have a really good laugh filming together. The first film was such an exciting process that we wanted to make another one straight away, and use the same crew, locations and actors in it.
Interview: Vonny Moyes
ever want to stop writing and touring shows, but I’m hoping that I can keep doing both things as much as is possible, as making the films was the most fun thing I did last year. I think I was starting to feel a bit worn out by how ephemeral stand-up is: even if you record a show you never manage to capture the atmosphere of the night, which is great, but a bit hard to look back on all of your work and feel like you’ve not got enough that’s permanent to show for it. I wanted to work in a medium for a bit, where the finished project lasts a bit longer, just for my own sanity really! I also wanted to make a sad comedy, which is so much easier when you’re making a narrative thing, than onstage when people start crying or asking for refunds. What are you looking forward to most about this tour? Is there one date in particular you’re looking forward to? I’m not trying to suck up to Scotland but the Glasgow Film Theatre is the one I’m most excited about; it’s beyond my hopes for the films that we are able to screen them there. It’s so beautiful and cool. A lot of the films are about me idealising Glasgow a bit and I do love it as a city; I think it’s prettier than Paris and more fun than anywhere else in the country, so it feels really special to screen them at the GFT. You’re making another film; what can you tell us about it? It’s a low (possibly no at this stage) budget feature film that’s kind of building on the two short films we’ve made – it’s set in Glasgow again, with the same main characters, and Jesse Armstrong is helping script edit it. It’s another sad comedy about a similar character – a woman who
is desperate to make a difference in the world around her but doesn’t know how, and who doesn’t get the love back that she gives out. But it’s also silly and about people mucking around with their friends and playing silly games. I’m writing the screenplay and Doug and I are currently in this weird cult-like state about it where most nights one will text the other ‘This has to happen! I am so excited!’
“I did gigs in Berlin and people there were so laid back I felt like Margaret fucking Thatcher” Josie Long
2013 has been a really exciting year for women in comedy, with big wins at the Fringe; do you feel the political tide is changing in terms of women’s voices? Oh gosh, I really hope so! I was thrilled when Bridget won the comedy award; she’s amazing and I feel like her show winning will be a good thing for all of us. We are still so drastically underrepresented though – not just on TV (although, defs on TV!) – but in most aspects of public life. When I think about how few women there are in the cabinet I feel embarrassed in front of all of the proper, grown-up countries.
What’s happening with Arts Emergency? Two years on, have you made the progress you’d hoped? How can we help? YES! Arts Emergency is going great, thank you – my co-founder Neil works full-time for it and this year we finally established as a charity, with a proper board of accountants, lawyers, journalists and other good people. When we started out talking about the idea three years ago we had no notion of how slow and complicated a process it is to start up an organisation like ours. Every step of the way there are a hundred questions and things to be considered! We currently have 22 young people in Hackney being mentored, our pilot year is just coming to an end and I think it’s been really successful. We’ve emboldened some young people to go to university, and to study what they love, we’ve helped connect them with all kinds of helpful people. It’s been so cool. The big thing we are doing is called the ‘alternative old boy’s network’; it’s a way for anyone who’s an arts graduate, or a creative or creative professional (or simply agrees with us that art is vital and important for society, and that your background shouldn’t be a barrier to doing what you love and having the life you want) to be ‘on call’ for the young people we work with. You guys should join up at www.bit.ly/altoldboy And finally, Peter Capaldi as The Doctor: how do you feel about that? I am so happy about it. Anyone who isn’t excited about Peter Capaldi playing Doctor Who is dead inside, 100% fact. Catch Josie and Doug on their Let’s Go Adventure Tour across the UK from 2 Nov-2 Dec Details at www.dougandjosie.com
You’re only 31, and you’ve contributed to a scary number of wonderful things. Do you think it’s your success as a stand-up that has given you the confidence to branch out into new areas? Ah, what a nice question! Nobody ever says ‘only 31’ to me! I think finding something that I loved doing when I was still a teenager has definitely helped me to have an attitude that if I’d like to make something happen then I should try, and that it might be possible. I think too, that I’m quite greedy with my life – it’s like a buffet and I want to try everything. I also think growing up loving DIY music, zines and comics has meant that I like having an attitude that’s like, ‘let’s just do this, and do it ourselves, and do it quickly. It might be a bit shoddy but we’ll have fun.’ How do you find the energy and the motivation to do so many things? Ha! I don’t know! I just really like the stuff I do and I want to get as much done as possible. I wish I did a lot more; I was recently in New York and people there are so productive I felt ashamed! But then afterwards I did gigs in Berlin and people there were so laid back I felt like Margaret fucking Thatcher or something. Cinema is quite a big departure from straight stand-up; do you see yourself going back to that, or is this a new direction for you? I really love being a stand-up, and I think I won’t
24
Feature
Josie Long
COMEDY
THE SKINNY
Intricate Architectures Inspired by the Gothic, Amy Davidson’s laser-cut leathers have taken her from Manchester to the Royal College of Art. She discusses her influences and aspirations
Interview: Jessica Campbell
R
ecent Manchester School of Art graduate Amy Davidson has many talents. In addition to putting together a beautifully sculptured yet intricate graduate collection, Davidson proved her versatility by creating a range of bags that led to her success at Graduate Fashion Week earlier this year. With her suitcase-style bags reflecting her collection concept of Gothic architecture, Davidson caught the eye of a panel of judges at Mulberry, impressing them with her ‘incredible attention to detail’ and ‘beautifully considered use of material.’ She went on to win the prestigious Mulberry Accessories Award outright. “I couldn’t believe it,” she says. “The competition was tough this year so I was overwhelmed with joy. It also gave me the confidence to keep designing and thinking of new ideas.” This was an exceptional achievement for any designer, but particularly for someone like Davidson, who has had no formal training in accessory design. She explains why she chose to include bags alongside her womenswear collection. “It’s good to have an open mind when I’m designing,” she says. “In my fashion studies I always used wood and plastic and attached them to garments, so I tried to use the same materials in accessories and I really enjoyed the new process.” Growing up in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, Davidson explains how she has always had an artistic side. “I always loved to draw and sew,” she recalls. “I wanted to choose something where I could do both, so I studied fashion and fell in love with it.” Her fashion journey began at Tameside College, where she studied Fashion and Clothing, before going on to study a BA (Hons) in Fashion at Manchester School of Art. She credits the School of Art for helping her achieve her chosen career path: “I couldn’t have done it without their support,” she says. Like many designers, Davidson undertakes an extensive design process before she can achieve her unique creations. “I like to spend a lot of time researching and collecting great imagery to influence my design development. Then I try to find fabrics and trims that relate to my project and then put the two together.” Describing her work as considered, original, and creative, Davidson believes that studying in the Northwest has inspired her work. “It influenced me to look at architecture, and I learnt how to translate inspiration that is not typically fashion-related into a garment or a bag.” It was this architectural influence that ended up literally shaping her graduate collection. “The inspiration for my collection came from my travels in France last summer,” she says. “I visited a few cathedrals and fell in love with the intricate details found around the buildings and on the ceilings. I also love things that are delicate, like lace; you can see the skill and time that went into making something like that. My fascination with both these things led me to design detailed laser-cut patterns inspired by Gothic imagery. I chose to use the colours black and silver because they are the colours most used in my research and work best with the look I tried to achieve.” The development of her laser-cutting technique and her use of unfashionable materials made such an impact that she hopes to rely on the same techniques in the future to create something new and exciting. Now living in London after being accepted to one of the most distinguished and sought-after
November 2013
MA courses at the Royal College of Art, Davidson is on track for success. For her MA she has decided to focus on menswear accessories, an intriguing choice for a designer who produced a womenswear graduate collection – yet this is another exciting dimension to Davidson’s work, and proof of her versatility. Davidson’s transition to the Royal College of Art has affected her work in a positive way. “My workplace at the Royal College is beautiful, I’m on the top floor and I have a great view across London and of the Royal Albert Hall. We have industrial leather sewing machines that help us work to professional standard.” Once she has completed her MA she hopes to go on to work in the fashion industry. “I would love to have my own brand one day but I want to have enough knowledge and understanding of every aspect of a brand before I do it on my own.” With this in mind, her dream career plan is to firstly work with fashion and accessory giants Mulberry or Marc Jacobs. “They design stylish accessories that are clean and sophisticated, which I’m really interested in,” she says. “I love the quality of finish and the craftsmanship in each item.” Davidson also considers J.W. Anderson as a designer she would be honoured to work with, due to his understanding of “the balance between menswear and womenswear” and how
he “isn’t afraid to switch roles by having a man in a ‘feminine’ lace top.” His androgynous style is an element she likes to reference in her own work.
“I love things that are delicate, like lace; you can see the skill and time that went into making something like that” Amy Davidson
soft skirts and skinny jeans with shirts. It’s no surprise, then, when she claims Alexa Chung to be her fashion icon. “She is effortless in the way she dresses. She does not try to stand out and is not too glamorous, she mixes tailored pieces and feminine classics.” Ever ambitious, Davidson spent some time during the summer finalising her bag designs to a professional standard. Alongside her studies, She now has a sideline selling her accessories on Etsy. She also makes bags to order, with prices ranging from £40 to £200. (Any enquires should go directly to amydavidson@live.co.uk.) There will also be the opportunity to catch Davidson’s work when she showcases and sells pieces at Lustre, a contemporary craft market in Nottingham’s Lakeside Arts Centre, on 9 and 10 November. With her unique designs and clever ideas, Amy Davidson is definitely a designer to watch. The question is, will she focus her craft on accessory design or return to her former roots as a womenswear designer? Or maybe she’ll excel at both practices. With her obvious talent, anything is possible.
Compared to her own exciting yet relatively conceptual fashion designs, Davidson opts to dress herself casually for everyday. She describes www.amydavidson.wix.com/amydavidson her down-to-earth personal style as “usually practical and functional.” She tends to wear com- @Amyloudavidson fortable clothing such as textured jumpers with
FASHION
Lifestyle
25
Malawi on My Mind Our writer takes a trip to Malawi, the ‘warm heart of Africa’ Words: Gillian Provan
K
eep your head down, avoid eye contact and ignore strangers on the street – that’s how we go about business in the UK. After spending time in Malawi, a country where greetings, waves and even hugs are offered unconditionally to visitors, it’s difficult readjusting to the guarded British way of life. They don’t call it the warm heart of Africa for nothing – the southeastern country is credited as having the friendliest people around. And those people are the reason why my two weeks in Malawi, and my first proper visit to Africa, were among the most exciting, cheap and safe days I’ve ever spent abroad. As someone who would never even have the confidence to take a solo trip to the cinema, the thought of taking three flights and then travelling for 24 hours to spend a fortnight in a strange country on my own was a prospect that concerned me. However, backpackers, locals and guidebooks assured me that with English as an official language and low crime rates, Malawi is one of the safest places for female travellers to go. Jumping into a taxi (between $30 and $40 from the airport to Lilongwe) to get to my accommodation, everything is so new and fascinating. On what appears to be the main road in and out of the capital there are few cars, but cyclists can be seen pedalling furiously in the heat, and people are walking everywhere. Stands selling mobile phone top-ups in the middle of a barren stretch of land, men taking a rest under traffic signs and ladies balancing water on their heads and carrying babies on their backs instantly tell me I’m far from home. My few days in Lilongwe are split between backpacker favourite Mabuya Camp, and the pricier $59 a night Kiboko Hotel. At Mabuya travellers can stay in the luxury of a chalet for $25 a night or camp for $6. Lilongwe is such a spread out city that it’s impossible to take it all in by foot. The state-ofthe-art Parliament built by the Chinese stands proudly in Area 40 beside conference centres and offices, while only a few streets away there are people selling wooden carvings and paintings in the Old Town. There’s little in the way of green space in the city, and for those longing to find
26
Lifestyle
somewhere to rest from the heat, the Lilongwe Nature Sanctuary is the ideal place. While there are few opportunities for people watching, there’s an unusual collection of birds and a network of trails through the forest lining the Lingadzi River. Entry is under 50p (200 kwacha) and it’s worth it to get an escape from the chaotic, traffic-jammed city life. Next door is the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, a rescue shelter where hourly tours treat visitors to sightings of blue monkeys, leopards and of course Bella, the one-eyed lioness who was rescued from a zoo in Romania. My visit to the capital is for the City of Stars Festival – a two-day programme of music, comedy, theatre, film and dance organised by the team behind the Lake of Stars Festival. Fringe events, including a poetry night at the National Library featuring iconic Malawian writer Jack Mapanje, reveal the dynamic arts movement thriving in the city. The Living Room in Area 4 now hosts weekly documentary film, acoustic and poetry nights and there are slots for local musicians at Serendipity in the Old Town Mall. Darkness may loom at 6pm but it certainly doesn’t mean bedtime in the city. Although the festival bill, which included Glasgow DJs Auntie Flo and Esa Williams, and Edinburgh band Bwani Junction, is unlikely to return to Lilongwe, the event signals an ideal way of attracting backpackers to the often forgotten capital. Growing up across the bridge from the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre, I was keen to visit the Blantyre in Malawi. While politicians and ambassadors favour Lilongwe, bankers and financiers can be found in Blantyre. Multistorey office blocks and banks fill Malawi’s oldest city, and after wandering around the commercial districts I’m relieved to find a Tourist Information centre where I make plans to go to the Museum of Malawi. This marks my first experience of a Malawian minibus. Arriving at the stop I’m bombarded by men asking where I’m going – who can fill up a minibus first seems to be an ongoing competition between the drivers. I’m redirected onto a 16-seater vehicle, and before I can even question the lack of space I find myself sitting on
some poor passenger’s knee. My visit to the small museum coincides with the recent launch of National Museums Scotland’s exhibition celebrating the bicentenary of Dr David Livingstone in collaboration with their Malawian counterparts, with letters, sketches and objects from the explorer’s travels are on display. With newfound confidence in my ability to navigate the minibus network, later in the week I take a trip to Mulanje – the tallest mountain in south-central Africa. A hike up the mountain and stay in the huts takes two to three days, involves lots of planning and booking a porter but I just want to see the landmark and the tea plantations that surround it. The two-hour trip, which costs 1000 kwacha (less than £2) is certainly memorable. I see men run off the bus and board again after the police checkpoint. I’m crammed beside two men and a family of four in a four-seater row, and at each stop the bus is surrounded by people knocking on windows selling water, rolls, corn on the cob and cabbages. Mulanje town is a nice break from city life and my walk up through the tea plantations ends up being a really special afternoon when I bump into motorcycle instructor Wycliffe on his lunchtime jog. For the next few hours Wycliffe tells me about the politics, economics and health problems of the region, and I’m warned that it’s dangerous to walk alone on the mountain – not because of thieves or gangs but because the spirits do not like foreigners. Close to Blantyre is the Liwonde National Park. Unfortunately I run out of time for a three day safari there but I’m told there’s no shortage of operators who can organise trips to see the hippos, elephants and crocodiles at the game reserve, or there’s the option of hiring your own car to do it yourself. With a limited amount of time I instead choose to visit the country’s famous Lake Malawi. Two hours out of Lilongwe is Senga Bay, one of Malawi’s biggest fishing communities. By day the beach is lined with boats getting ready for an evening hunting for kapenta fish and by night it’s a twinkling sea of torch lights searching for the creatures. Cool Runnings is a guesthouse overlooking the gorgeous sandy beaches and tranquil Lake Malawi. It’s definitely my favourite lodgings of the fortnight, with delicious food and quirky furnishings, and a host of opportunities for volunteers ranging from blood donations to coaching
TRAVEL
football teams in the village. Walking along the water-front reveals much about local life. I find children running up to me for hugs and photos, ladies washing their clothes and men sewing their fishing nets. For $50 I take a trip out to Lizard Island, a craggy rock which is a popular spot for swimming and snorkelling. For a little more money you can sail out to the tropical fish and crocodile farms near Kambiri Point. It’s worth noting that bilharzia – an infection caused by a parasite worm – can be caught swimming in the lake, so it’s important to check in with the doctor when you return home. From Senga Bay I decide to see more of the lake around the Mangochi area, and in planning my journey completely forget that African time is more leisurely and laidback than British time. I end up waiting three hours for the coach to Mangochi. I have to stand on for two out of the five hours. The cramped and claustrophobic conditions are worth it, though, for the gorgeous views and quiet beaches at Monkey Bay. A combination of poor research and forward planning leads me to spend two nights in the oldest building in Mangochi town – the Villa Tafika Lodge, where for 20,000 kwacha (or £40) I, as the only guest, have to haggle with taxi drivers, fight off salesmen and dine and dress by candlelight when the electricity cuts out. A short drive out of town, and I’m given the chance to visit the home that cares for up to 40 young orphans in Mangochi. I pop into two of the project’s nursery schools and feeding stations that educate hundreds of children in the area. At the Open Arms Mangochi facility it’s emotional to meet the 27 babies, aged between one day old and two years, who have been abandoned by their families or lost their parents through HIV/AIDS and other diseases. A team of 35 staff care for the orphans during the most vulnerable first two years of their life and then, where possible, the child is reunited with a grandmother or aunt. Spending time playing games, singing and feeding the children is a day that will stick in my mind forever. As a tourist Malawi is a stunningly scenic country with fantastic people, gorgeous sights and great culture. There is poverty and a real need for foreign aid, but it shouldn’t just be viewed as a charity case. With sun, sandy beaches and delicious food it is a perfect holiday destination just waiting to be discovered.
THE SKINNY
Fancy a Date Sometime? App-solutely!
Do mobile apps that offer the chance to meet new people live up to their promise?
Words: Naomi Bridges Illustration: Caroline Dowsett
L
ike many young women, I’m disappointed when I hear people joke that women only go to university to find husbands. The idea that degrees, achievements and lifelong friendships mean nothing in the face of looming spinstery is, of course, rubbish. Yet it’s an idea that’s still oddly persistent in society. I love being single. I don’t have to make time for anybody and I could potentially take any job anywhere in the world without discussion. Maybe in the future I’ll feel that tug towards homeliness and quiet Sundays with a significant other, but not just now. I like being able to date, hook up and have fun without having to listen to anybody talk about their feelings.
“A tasty dinner with nice company is better than a poke in the eye” However, I attended my friends’ wedding a fortnight ago, and while I have no immediate desire to tie the knot I couldn’t help but be reminded that I had emerged from four years of higher education without a single long-term or serious relationship under my belt. I had some valuable romantic experiences, and some I’d rather forget, and I was recently seeing a good guy but it ended when I moved away. Missing a bed warmer and recently finding myself with a lot of spare time on my hands, having moved back home without a job to walk into, I decided to foray into the world of online dating. I downloaded a few free dating apps – Skout, BeNaughty and Badoo – and, with some measure of apprehension, signed up. The moment I signed into one I was inundated with messages of ‘hi, hello’, ‘where are you?’, along with nudges, pokes and winks; and this was without a picture or even any acknowledgment that I was reading their messages. Another dating app seemed to be composed mainly of adverts telling me that there were ‘hot, single women in your area now!’ I wasn’t looking for hot, single women in my area; I am a hot, single woman in my area. None of these apps seemed to be particularly female friendly, allowing me to browse at my leisure, undisturbed, the handsome young men proffered up. Women should be able to cruise the cyber joint without worrying about their safety.
Then I tried Swoon. The Android version of Tinder, Swoon gains access to your Facebook to pull your profile picture and users swipe your picture to the left or the right of the screen depending on whether or not they like you. Features include setting a search radius to find users in your area, and if two users like each other then the app alerts you both, allowing you to start a conversation. In this way, I got chatting to a nice young chap not too far away and within minutes we had set a date for that Friday. What was originally going to be drinks turned into a tapas meal and, while I was worried about potentially spending an entire meal on a dull date as opposed to a drink that could be chugged if necessary, I found
myself applying make-up on Friday with more than a few butterflies. We met in the restaurant and, after a strange should-we-shouldn’t-we-handshake-orkiss-let’s-do-a-half-hug-awkwardly, we sat down for our meal. The conversation flowed reasonably easily, but I knew from the first few minutes that I wasn’t interested in him romantically now that we were meeting in the flesh. His photo wasn’t fake but it was from a distance, a gamble I knew I was taking with an online date. But a tasty dinner with nice company is better than a poke in the eye. We shared a bottle of wine and the cost of the meal and made tracks at a respectable hour,
heading to the station where we could get the train and tram respectively. At the train station I decided that a kiss would be a nice way to end the evening; even if I didn’t see our relationship developing into anything more, the right kind of kiss could still change my mind. This kiss wasn’t the kiss to end all kisses so I don’t think I’ll be going on a second date. The next day, I signed into an alternative Android app, Swipe, that uses the same idea as Swoon to scope the new talent; I saw my date with the same photo on this app, too, but swiped to ignore. How can I stay single and fabulous if I keep repeating the same dating patterns?
Bisexuality and Fertility One writer poses a pertinent question
A
bisexual man recently told me that a casual sexual partner of his was getting an abortion. Over the course of the conversation it emerged that this woman was not the first of his partners to terminate a pregnancy. This guy, who is in a long-term relationship with another man, said several women he had been involved with over the years had had abortions after sleeping with him. This was because, he said, he didn’t like to use condoms. The vast majority of same-sex relationships
November 2013
Words: Luke Cockayne
are not naturally reproductive, apart from those with trans or intersex partners. Maybe he has just forgotten that sleeping with women might result in pregnancy? What worried me about the discussion was that it implied, to me at least, that he had got out of the habit – or never got into the habit – of taking women’s reproductive health or his own fertility seriously. And then I started to wonder, perhaps unfairly, whether this sort of behaviour is common
among bisexual men. Bisexuality presents, in a sense, a choice between potentially reproductive and non-reproductive sexual encounters or relationships. Does this element of choice, or the reality that less time might be spent in fertile relationships, allow a certain subsection of bisexual men to skip the ‘not being an inconsiderate arsehole’ part of sexual education? Because abortion is one of those contraceptive methods – if you want to use that term
DEVIANCE
– where the physical impact on the (usually) female partner can be fatal. Has been fatal. Repeatedly. Without trivialising the emotional impact of abortion on all those involved, it cannot be denied that having an abortion is a serious undertaking in terms of a woman’s long-term physical health. The fact that in this country we have a hard-won right to terminate pregnancy in its early stages does not mean that men should be using abortion as a safety net. But maybe it was just him.
Lifestyle
27
08005 (2011)
PINK - ORANGE - YELLOW - GREEN (4) (2013)
28
SHOWCASE
THE SKINNY
08019 (2013)
David Ogle D
avid Ogle is a Liverpool-based artist and PhD researcher at The University of Liverpool in collaboration with FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology).
“Exploring the concept of drawing has remained central to my practice for some years now, asking what it is to generate marks and to describe with line. “The nature of line itself has become a key consideration in much of my work and I have increasingly begun to regard it as a fundamental element, one that transcends mediums and emerges within numerous disciplines. “Line begins, it spans a distance, and ultimately it ends. It is durational; it traces a progression from one place to another. From the marks of a pencil, to a flow of prose, to the sustained oscillations of a musical note; the spatial
November 2013
and temporal actuality of line charts its course. Investigating an understanding of line in this way has led me to a practice and working methodology that is, in a sense, self-reflexive; marks that describe the process of their own making – a drawing of drawing itself. “Line can multiply across a surface; it can trace paths through space and even navigate along with the passage of time. What, then, is line, and how can we categorise its materiality and formal properties? “Flatness is perhaps the property that we most associate with drawing, but line is not restricted to a two-dimensional plane. Line can navigate space just as it does surface. The capacity to emerge within both of these contexts reveals line as something neither wholly flat nor wholly spatial; it is an abstracted, conceptual form, one whose formal properties are not
anchored to material. Not flatness then, but masslessness; it is the absence of materiality that characterises the nature of line. “This, however, raises a problem, as it is objects and their material elements that frame our experience of even the most conceptually driven work in a visual medium. How can we perceive line without material, without mass? In pursuit of this, I have attempted to work with line using a medium that is divorced from the static and sculptural nature of physical material, one that flows in constant motion and is the weightless foundation of visual perception itself: light. “Using light as a primary medium, I have increasingly questioned its connection to empty space and the reciprocal relationship that exists between light and dark – whereby one cannot exist without the other. “Just as we require silence for a sound to
SHOWCASE
come to the fore, and blankness to understand a composition on a flat surface, it is only in darkness where one can witness light return. There is a co-dependence between these opposites; they are dualities of being that are tightly bound to one another. “Our relationship to light in nature is one that is based around this duality, the daily shifting of night into day. I think it is in these transitional stages that our connection to light is at its most profound; the spectral effects of sunlight drawing a line along the passage of time as the sun arcs from horizon to horizon.” www.davidogle.co.uk Exhibiting at: ‘Making Sense’, Fallout Factory, Liverpool, until 8 Nov; Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival, until 22 Nov; ‘Crystallize’, Old Billingsgate Market, London, 4-6 Nov
29
BIERKELLER-Skinny Christmas Advert 126x314mm_Layout 1 23/10/2013 16:09 Page 1
THE LOWER TURKS HEAD
An upmarket traditional pub with a quirky and classy edge. Our drinks selection include 6 fine cask ales, premium lagers, beers & an exquisite wine selection.
The Lower Turks Head, 36 Shudehill Manchester M4 1EZ
ATW8 0
CHRISTMAS
0161 834 2910 07814 184 384 Phil Ainsworth Director & Landlord
Our first floor bar offers you a wonderful dining experience with a delightful menu, or else alternatively somewhere for you to relax and unwind in the afternoon or evening. We also have a beer garden terrace with plenty of seating area, over looking out beautiful city Manchester. The Lower Turks Head will offer you a fantastic atmosphere & ambiance, somewhere for you to enjoy a evening out with friends or just somewhere for you to unwind with one of our many tasteful drinks.
Perfect for your Christmas party with exclusive areas to hire for smaller more intimate parties & groups. You can pre-order some of our custom made Christmas beer suitcases, or sample some of our brilliant Christmas cocktails. To complement your drinks we have on offer a delicious range of food from across the globe, creating a truly unique Christmas experience.
B IERK ELL ER
CHRISTMAS The Bierkeller brings the festive spirit to any occasion. Choose from our extensive range of packages and we'll do the hard work for you! Make sure you celebrate in style this Christmas. Hog Roasts, Bavarian Packages and more available!
SH OOTERS
CHRISTMAS If the name of your game is entertainment for your christmas do, why not book Shooters as your destination? We have Xbox gaming areas, American pool tables, lounge seating, and full AV equipment, with packages to suit all your needs.
ENQUIRIES CALL 08455 333 000 OR EMAIL info@atw80.com . info@thebierkeller.com info@shootersportsbar.co.uk 6 Thomas Steers Way, Liverpool One, L1 8LW
30
THE SKINNY
Meals and Wheels All this talk of ‘street food’ – but with the term being applied fast and loose, has it lost its meaning? Interview: Jamie Faulkner Illustration: Beth Crowley
A
t last month’s Manchester Food and Drink Festival, you’d have been hard pressed to find but a handful of actual street food traders in the ‘street food’ line-up. From All Star Lanes and Chaophraya to Zouk and Harvey Nichols, restaurant-backed stalls dominated. In part, that’s because many of the city’s traders are doing their own thing. Guerrilla Eats (GE) is a street food collective created by two traders, Dirty Dogs and Fire and Salt BBQ, who “found the bureaucracy and charges of traditional markets prohibitive for them to trade,” and wanted to start something that “mixed food with a good night,” according to Sarah Tarmaster, who handles their marketing. Currently, you can apply to be a trader through the Council-run Manchester Markets, but expensive pitch costs can eat into potential profits. GE’s aim, meanwhile, is to keep “trader fees as low as possible” and “support up-and-coming traders.” Their events are also an alternative to the city’s other markets, which tend to capitalise on city-centre footfall rather than creating a “buzz around street food” by supplementing the food with a bar and music. More than that, though, street food, and GE by extension, is a way for aspiring restaurateurs to cut their teeth: hone your product by testing it out on hundreds of eager mouths, build up a fanbase, and eventually move off the streets. In the capital, Pitt Cue, Meat Liquor and Pizza Pilgrims have all made the leap from street to seat. Several of Guerrilla Eats’ traders did a popup in Chorlton-based The Beagle’s kitchen this
summer, which proved an invaluable experience: “The guys at The Beagle gave our traders a great opportunity to see how a professional kitchen works – this was great as many of our traders would like to take the step into having a restaurant one day,” says Tarmaster. Some restaurants are likely to see this as an unfair advantage: Richard Johnson, founder of the British Street Food Awards, has written about the tensions between bricks-and-mortar businesses and street food vendors in the Guardian. Following the opening of a new market on Briggate in Leeds, he reported in 2012, ‘one street food trader says that he had a parcel of fish guts dumped on his van’ and another was apparently threatened with a blockade ‘if she dared to come back’. In this way, the street food movement can be seen as a new, threatening business model – a symptom of a high street and economy we’re always told are failing. After all, why not start out on the streets? Getting a business loan, kitting out a premises, and employing/training staff without having a clue whether what you’re doing will work is risky to say the least. In that respect, GE has similarities with Liverpool-based Can Cook, which provides a Kitchen Share to support and train food businesses to grow. And where is Liverpool in all this? Well, Guerrilla Eats have been drafted in for a couple of the city’s major events this year, including Summercamp festival, indicating the need for new blood and that a grassroots street food scene at least has the potential to spread. Perhaps the entrepreneurship of it all is why
arguments against street food are rarely fully articulated. Criticism has come, couched in class politics: Michael Hogan, writing in the Telegraph, resents ‘paying over-the-odds for for food served out of a twee vintage VW camper by some gushing “gap yah” type called Seb, Jocasta or Benji’, as well as the ‘smugness’ of the scene. And it’s not difficult to find grumblings about perceived ripoff prices and ‘hipsterification’, as Hogan puts it. Certainly, for a generation many of whom have travelled to India, South East Asia and South America (those bastions of street food), the grub on offer needs to be cheap; and who isn’t tired of hipsters (and the ubiquity of the word)? But GE are mercifully un-hip, and have talked of keeping prices at a maximum of £5, with the odd exception. Whether that can last remains to be seen, but it is difficult to begrudge independent traders a decent profit (if they even make one) when we’re talking about the livelihood of one or two industrious people who are passionate about food.
But does street food really have a future in England, inclement weather aside? Tarmaster believes so. “With work it can – I think we just need to get away from the idea that quantity is better than quality, which is so endemic in the British culture. Unfortunately many councils in the UK still equate street food with cheap trailers and football crowds.” Not Manchester City Council, though. They’ve embraced the movement, with posters advertising the ‘tastiest street food’ and calling for traders to join their ranks at the Piccadilly markets, which now take place three times a week (whether or not they’re offering true ‘street food’, or just jumping on the bandwagon, is arguable). For now, it seems that GE are currently driving the bandwagon in the city – and so long as they don’t re-brand their ‘street food party’ as a ‘food rave’, we’re fine with that.
Stanley retorted on Twitter thus: ‘nobody cares what you write on your self gratifying [sic] blog … So fuck off back to your classroom you fat knob’. The reasoning usually degenerates into insults (as in chef Ernst Van Zyl’s tweet referencing ‘a review a few weeks ago by a man with tastebuds like that of a dog that licks his balls & arse daily’), and revolves around bloggers not knowing what they’re talking about. But guess what? We don’t. We’re not chefs, restaurateurs, or journalists. The problem seems to be with the premise that that’s what a great
number of people who read blogs want to hear: opinions and observations from someone like them. The man in the street, the woman in the cafe, the dude in the takeaway, the lass in the pub, the bloke in Aldi. Of course, some bloggers are self-obsessed, freebie-chasing hacks who got into food writing for all the wrong reasons – but your common-or-garden food blogger is just your average food nerd who wanted to write down what they ate, and talk to other average food nerds about it.
To find out about upcoming events from Guerrilla Eats, check out their website at www.guerrillaeats.co.uk
Eaters Gonna Eat
In defense of the admittedly not always humble food blogger Words: Jason Bailey Illustration: Will Ballance
F
ood bloggers, eh? Don’t you just hate them? Well, some of you do, and it only takes a quick shufty around the Twittersphere to happen upon criticism ranging from the general backhanded slur (‘tosspot blaggers’) to the vein-popping Stone Cold Steve Austin-style tirade (‘YOU ARE A STAIN ON SOCIETY’). Hating bloggers seems a strange preoccupation when you really think about it, like despising a swimming club that you aren’t a member of: essentially, anybody on this planet can decline to have anything to do with them and go on with their lives in a happily-everafter fashion. There’s no need to firebomb the local piscine for their stance on the backstroke. The big question is, what motivates this verbal assault? Maybe we bloggers deserve an online beatdown every now and then? The most common caricature of the blogger is the catchy term ‘blagger,’ although I’m not sure if it’s the weapon of choice due to its core of truth or the fact that it handily rhymes with blogger. The truth is, a lot of bloggers do accept invitations from restaurants and brands to review their efforts, but there isn’t necessarily a problem with this unless the review that follows is biased. As a fellow restaurant punter, I don’t give two hoots if a restaurant has decided to comp some food in the hope of some decent PR (and it’s questionable anyway that the reach of
November 2013
bloggers is a sound investment); while, as a blog reader, I’d like to think I’d pick up on those nasty pasties who consistently pay their dinner bills with public praise, and an unfollow would follow. If I ever find a blogger who doesn’t write negative reviews (and I have), then I’m not interested. Nobody’s that lucky. Negative reviews: maybe that’s it? Maybe it’s all those restaurant-destroying, livelihood-nuking shitty reviews that bloggers are always writing? Do you remember the time that one blogger wrote that bloody review, and that top-notch restaurant had to close, and that genius chef lost his job, and his likeable family had to live in a poorly maintained static caravan in Doncaster? You don’t? That’s because it didn’t happen. I’ve tried in vain to find one example of a restaurant being damaged by a single blogger’s review. In the age of social media there are myriad outlets for thousands of opinions on every establishment; one dissenting voice in a sea of praise isn’t going to cause a restaurant meltdown. Obviously there’s one subsection of the culinary world that will never appreciate food bloggers’ negative reviews: the chef who’s being criticised. In my local ’hood of Manchester, there have been one or two spectacular reactions to negative reviews in recent memory. In response to a review of his restaurant Damson, chef Simon
FOOD AND DRINK
Lifestyle
31
Around the World in 20 Drinks: Australia
Food News Street food goes indoors, absinthe makes a comeback, and a couple of bartenders done good Words: Jamie Faulkner Illustration: Josh Hurley
In the penultimate stop on our booze-soaked tour of the globe, we visit a country where size and strength are everything, and the animals go on drunken rampages
N
Words: Peter Simpson
A
ustralia has what one might deem a ‘complex’ relationship with alcohol. It’s a relationship best summed up through two recent anecdotes. We’ll start with the one involving the pig. Swino was a feral pig who achieved considerable fame earlier this year when he broke into a campsite in northern Australia and drank 18 cans of beer left unattended by campers. Once spotted, Swino ran away, tried to fight a cow, then fell in a river. Swino hailed from the same part of the country as the Darwin Stubby, the world’s largest commercially available bottle of beer. It measures up at 2.25 litres, and is an ideal gift for the beer fan in your life who also has a soft spot for The Borrowers. 2.25 litres, by the way, is just under seven cans’ worth, or fourtenths of a Swino. Now Victoria Bitter is one of Australia’s most famous beers, and something of an iconic beverage in the country. Several years ago, its makers decided to fiddle with the formula a little, with one of the changes cutting the alcohol content by three-tenths of one percent. Here in the UK, the natural response would be to start some kind of twee social media campaign with hashtags and the like, but one Australian man
Victoria Bitter
decided to use slightly simpler methods to get things sorted. “I am not f***g happy with the taste of the ‘new’ product you are providing,” the anonymous consumer wrote, “and you can shove it up your arse! Next thing you know I’ll be drinking f***g lattes on the side of the road ! So what the f**k is going on?” Needless to say, the letter went global, and things were soon back to normal thanks to one man’s mildly aggressive yet deftly censored letter. So that’s alcohol and Australia – there’s lots of beer, the pigs get drunk, and the drinkers come over all poetic if you mess with their booze. All of a sudden, the huge annual gap year exodus to Australia makes a lot more sense...
ovember has come around again, as it tends to at this time of year. Stoptober’s nicotine patches give way to Movember’s questionable facial hair, and everyone starts filling out their annual Northwest Food and Drink Survey. They don’t, you say? Well, they really oughta. You can do yours over at tinyurl.com/foodsurveyNW. Plug unabashedly out of the way, let’s get down to bizniz. Breaking Bad has finished, leaving a giant, Albuquerque-shaped hole in all our hearts. Thank the Lord, then, for Liverpool export Lucha Libre’s (that’s a lotta l’s) new Manchester venture, serving up the finest in Mexican street food. And if you thought that was a blatant non sequitur, consider this: Albuquerque is not that far from the Mexican border, and we’re pretty sure they’ve got Mexican food there. Link explained, we’re expecting a wave of Instagrammed Pil Bil Tacos and Baja Fish Burritos from everyone’s new favourite place. @LuchaManchester, lucha-libre.co.uk. For our next topical reference, if Miley Cyrus’s left butt-cheek is the definition of overexposed, then Some Place is its polar opposite. It’s the boozy brainchild of the guys who brought you what is now Liverpool’s second most reclusive cocktail bar, Berry & Rye. ‘Your Green Fairy-Tale Starts Here’ is the motto, the green in question being absinthe. They’ve got a dedicated absinthe fountain so you can drink it proper-like, bask in the room’s emerald glow, and imagine you’re Baudelaire. Ponce! @Some_Place_ , some-place.co.uk. Back to Manchester, and the chain-magnet that is King Street has attracted some
independent and young-ish blood in the form of The Liquorists’ pop-up Reserve. A spiritsshop-cum-tasting bar, it’s a collab between Manchester’s best-surnamed bar consultants, Jody Monteith and Tom Sneesby, and drinks brand behemoth Diageo. Expect a lot of not-sosubtle product placement in the form of expertly mixed cocktails and Masterclass evenings on the likes of Ron Zacapa rum and Don Julio tequila. @KingStReserve, theliquorists.com/reserve. Getting hold of a decent shawarma has never been a problem for Mancs, what with the thriving Middle Eastern scene down Rusholme way. But in Liverpool, that hasn’t been the case – until now. Cue Bakchich on Bold Street, whose aim it is to educate us all about Arabic food culture by providing an impressive array of Lebanese street food. If there were restaurant awards for most punning taglines, their ‘The Best Route to Beirut’ would be a sure-fire winner. @Bakchich_Boldst, bakchich.co.uk. Any events you think we should know about? Email our Food and Drink editor at jamie.faulkner@theskinny.co.uk
Phagomania: Dude, Where’s My Food? Meet a wild maverick, breaking all the rules and spreading the joy of crazy food and potential health complications. Could DudeFoods be our greatest Phagomania guest ever? Interview: Lewis MacDonald
I
f you mash together popular US TV guzzle-’emup Man v. Food with the bizarre and unsettling antics of Heston Blumenthal, the smashed patty that remains is Nick Chapman of DudeFoods. com. An alchemy of meat, cheese, desserts and frying, what Nick hasn’t turned into a taco, burger or sandwich isn’t worth thinking about. Nick’s work consists solely of the type of ideas we Brits may talk of but would never dare try. Here’s a brief menu of Nick’s recent creations: crumbled Oreo-coated deep fried cookies with cream ice cream; a hash brown bun breakfast sandwich (his answer to September’s ramen noodle burger); sweet and sour chicken in a wonton cone; chicken and waffle wings (chicken wings ‘breaded’ with actual waffles); beer and baconbattered deep-fried Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Yep, you read right. Then there are the ‘sandwiches’, if they can be called that. There’s the Inside Out Grilled Cheese Sandwich – cheese, bread and cheese – or the 100% Cheese Grilled Cheese Sandwich
32
Lifestyle
(cheese, cheese and cheese). Or maybe you fancy the Bacon Weave Taco, or its Choco brother filled with vanilla ice cream. I know what you’re thinking: how bloody American? But Nick has been approaching these heavyweight knockouts with craft, humour, and even a bit of finesse. Working hard at it like an outsider artist, Nick had no previous chef experience, which may be his secret. “The fact that I’ve never even worked in a restaurant helps me as well because I really have no preconceived notions about what should or shouldn’t go together in the kitchen,” states Nick, “so I’m just experimenting all the time to come up with this stuff.” Experimenting in public has certainly paid off for Nick. His crowning achievement has been his insatiable McEverything. This simple stunt involved ordering and piling high (bamboo stick aided) the full 42 burger menu of McDonalds. I know what you’re thinking: how wasteful? Profligate even? “If I was just making these ridiculous creations and then throwing them away
Bacon Weave Taco
then yeah, go right ahead and criticise me,” Nick retorts. “But I’m really not wasting any of it. The truth is, I eat every single thing I make and never throw any of it away.” I know what you’re thinking: how nutritionally unsustainable? “At some point it might catch up with me, but it definitely hasn’t so far,” Nick reflects. “It’s like running a race, you don’t just one day say, ‘hey, I’m going to compete in this marathon,’ you have to work up to it. I’ve
FOOD AND DRINK
pretty much been eating this way forever so I like to tell people that I basically trained my whole life for this.” This marathon isn’t ending anytime soon, so keep up to speed with DudeFoods’ crazy concoctions on his site. Let’s hope we see Nick at the finish line, and that we can match his hectic pace. www.dudefoods.com
THE SKINNY
EVERY MONDAY Movie Night Monday*, classic cult movies with a pizza and beer or wine for £6.95 and 50p a bag of popcorn
EVERY TUESDAY Let’s get Quizzical, £1 entry incl. free pizza and cash prices
EVERY THURSDAY One More For the Road with Terry Gray, the only open mic with FREE SCOUSE ON THE HOUSE
EVERY FRIDAY The Hatch acoustic session, live acoustic music from local and travelling souls
THE 1ST SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH Open Soul, a night of acoustic music from a spectrum of genres including folk jazz, blues and funk, £3 entry
THE 3RD SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH Hobo Bazaar from 12-5pm, a unique shopping experience
EACH SATURDAY Join us for the unexpected. HOPSKOTCH Street Kitchen & Bar \ THE HATCH Mathew Street Liverpool L1 6AU 0151 908 0098 hello@hopskotchliverpool.com hopskotchliverpool.com
Other discounts apply to student card holders *10” margherita pizza, bottle of beer, small glass of wine applies
November 2013
33
16:07
LISTINGS
18/10/2013
NOVEMBER
1
the the
Skinny quarter NOV 13AW.pdf
Friday 1st November
Saturday 16th November
+ LACUNA COIL & KATATONIA
+ SPECIAL GUEST
PARADISE LOST Friday 1st November
CLUB CROSS X OVER
+ SPECIAL GUEST
+ SPECIAL GUEST
REEF
Wednesday 6th November
Wednesday 20th November
+ SPECIAL GUEST
+ MARTIN HARLEY
BETH HART
Thursday 7th November
Thursday 21th November
+ LAPALUX
+ SPECIAL GUEST
THE NAKED AND FAMOUS
Saturday 9th November
Saturday 23rd November
+ A DEAD FOREST INDEX
+ SPECIAL GUEST
Sunday 10th November
SOLD OUT
KODALINE
+ SPECIAL GUEST
SAVAGES
SOLD OUT
HAPPY MONDAYS Monday 25th November
+ MANCHESTER BLUES SPLASH
BUCKCHERRY + HARDCORE SUPERSTAR
Monday 11th November
Tuesday 26th November
+ MIKE HOUGH
+ CHILDHOOD & TELEGRAM
WALTER TROUT
MUTYA KEISHA SIOBHAN
PALMA VIOLETS
Wednesday 13th November
Wednesday 27th November
+ SPECIAL GUEST
+ GOODNIGHT LENIN
SO SOLID CREW
STORNOWAY
Thursday 14th November
Friday 29th November
WITH FULL LIVE BAND Ft CARON WHEELER
+ SPECIAL GUEST
SOUL 2 SOUL
Y
Sunday 17th November
Monday 18th November
STEVE MASON
MOUNT KIMBIE
M
NEW MODEL ARMY
Saturday 2nd November
FRIGHTENED RABBIT
C
TICKETMASTER.CO.UK : 0844 248 5166 TICKET ENQUIRIES : ritz.boxoffice@mamaco.com mamacolive.com/theritz
THE GAME
Friday 15th November
Saturday 30th November
+ SPECIAL GUEST
(1977 Line-Up Jimmy Pursey, Dave Parsons, Dave Tregunna)
HAPPY MONDAYS www.facebook.com/mamaco.theritz
SHAM 69
Whitworth St West, Manchester, M1 5NQ
CM
MY
The Ritz Skinny Advert November 2013.indd 1
22/10/2013 15:35
CY
CMY
K
34
THE SKINNY
Gig Highlights
Beats, Rhymes and Shite
November brings a gig schedule fit to bursting, from the gentle chaos of Julia Holter to the electric dreampop of Mt Wolf, plus a rare appearance from those old school proto-punks Television
Waiting for the death of Words: Will Fitzpatrick the hip-hop super-ego Words: Bram E. Gieben
T
W
METZ
depending on how you look at it). An early flurry of shows should thrill those who favour life on the raucous side – seminal Australian heroes The Saints brave these shores with a trip to the Night & Day, Manchester, on 5 Nov, before the underappreciated and astonishingly brilliant Enablers squeeze in a trip to KRAAK (6 Nov). Frontman Pete Simonelli’s dark poetry meshes perfectly with their math-tinged post-punk, while their live performances are simply essential viewing. Soup Kitchen has its fair share of highlights too – the gloomily pretty Mazzy Star-isms of Dark Horses (15 Nov) and a rare visit from Detroit noisemongers Wolf Eyes (21 Nov). The latter have been making a gleefully abrasive racket for over 15 years now, drawing from hardcore, industrial and electronic influences to stunning effect. Best bring your earplugs for that one, mind. You’ll need to ensure they work for Norwegian heroine Ane Brun, who’s likely to be thoroughly unsettling and bruisingly beautiful in equal measure over at the Ruby Lounge (15 Nov), while over at Fallow Cafe there’s hypnotic, electronic dreampop from Mt Wolf (5 Nov). Exciting times are also a-brewing at The Castle, where you can catch the Trouble In Mind label’s new favourite son Jacco Gardner (6 Nov). His 60s inspired chamber pop should draw in the crowds, as will Vivian Girls/Babies singer Cassie Ramone (11 Nov), whose intimate acoustic performance provides an intriguing contrast to
Photo: Beth Chalmers
he depths of autumn: grey-brown skeletons of trees hang ominously over the dark, dank streets, while short-fused rows over whether to turn on the central heating settle into teethchattering agreements that yes, it probably is a bit nippy after all. Meanwhile, the gig calendar rolls on, undaunted by concerns for our cold cash and colder fingers. Liverpool’s ever-reliable EVOL kick off the month in style, bringing Future of the Left to East Village Arts Club on 6 Nov (also at Gorilla, Manchester, 7 Nov). If Falco and co’s brand of teeth-rattling snark doesn’t raze the town to ruins, there’s also chances to catch up with fuzz-mopers Yuck (The Shipping Forecast, 13 Nov) and Sub Pop’s own Daughn Gibson, whose square-jawed fusion of country and dense electronica shakes East Village on 24 Nov. The good folks at Harvest Sun are no slouches either, hosting Sweet Baboo’s hooky soft psych (Leaf, 12 Nov – also Night & Day, Manchester, 7 Nov), the gentle chaos of Julia Holter (Leaf, 15 Nov), and some Velvet Underground-inspired miserabilia courtesy of Brooklyn’s Crystal Stilts (The Shipping Forecast, 24 Nov). They’re also responsible for one of the month’s clear highlights, when Minnesota trio Low make the Anglican Cathedral all the more magnificent by illustrating just how their beautiful slowcore made them indie-rock royalty (18 Nov). Elsewhere, there’s treats-a-plenty for fans of esoteric sounds. MelloMello invite you to a very special two-day residency (8-9 Nov): Sun Ra Arkestra band leader Marshall Allen is part of the group behind Cinema Soloriens, which features interpretive live soundtracks to James Harrar’s explorative, abstract films. Next, the uniquely odd Joan of Arc return to the Kazimier on 15 Nov in support of latest album Testimonium Songs – a typically ambitious suite composed to accompany modern dance and experimental theatre. Posh, eh? And that’s before we even get to Autre Ne Veut’s appearance at the same venue (19 Nov). His luxurious, avant garde approach to soul is both immersive and thoroughly beautiful, so miss him at your peril. At the other end of the East Lancs Road, there’s plenty more to excite discerning giggoers (or to make ’em fear for their bank balance,
the rough’n’ready sounds for which she’s known. There’s also joyous surrealism from Post War Glamour Girls (14 Nov) and lo-fi splendiferousness from Dumb (23 Nov), if your interest hasn’t already been snared by the nu-psych stylings of Dead Skeletons – in which case you should make a beeline for Band on the Wall on 26 Nov (also playing The Kazimier, 27 Nov). Those dreaming of more shows at The Ritz can get excited for visits from electronica duo Mount Kimbie (7 Nov) and Matador favourites Savages (9 Nov), who should both do more than enough to get that rickety old dancefloor bouncing. The Deaf Institute is also doing more than its fair share of providing the unmissable: Swiss Lips’ electro-squelch gets toes a-tapping on 7 Nov, and New Pop revivalists Summer Camp hit town (22 Nov) before METZ (22 Nov) remind us how grunge should be done. There’s just enough space to mention two very rare and special performances by reformed visionaries – NYC proto-punks Television squeeze the sprawling white heat of their dualguitar magnificence into Manchester Academy 2 (17 Nov), while the versatile dynamics of Kentucky post-rockers Slint promise to bend minds at the Albert Hall (28 Nov). This hectic schedule may not care one jot for the well-being of our finances, but it beats the hell out of the autumnal blues.
Do Not Miss Autre Ne Veut + Tropics + Beluga The Kazimier, Liverpool, 19 Nov eleased in February this year, Arthur Ashin aka Autre Ne Veut’s debut for the quietly impeccable Software label, Anxiety, has become one of the sleeper releases of 2013, its by turns fretful and fearless synth-soul – for want of a better term – having finally come to wider attention with the recent Jacques Greene remix of single Play By Play. Informed by the Brooklyn-based auteur’s growing understanding, through psychoanalysis, of the condition of the title, it’s a histrionic, harmonic record, of which the highlight is the aforementioned, elaborately stacked and tiered Play By Play, whose squeezed strings and almost abashedly gushing vox seem to move through eight choruses before flooring the listener with a final, ecstatic lurch. Pop songwriting this ambitious would seem overreaching if it weren’t for the way Ashin’s decadent cadences are anchored
November 2013
Autre Ne Veut
by a near-classical composer’s ear for the path least trodden, his melodies never taking you where you think you’re going to go. Where contracted Hollywood writers give you the hit – in both senses of the word – you want, this is pop built to last; and despite all its bedroom-production hallmarks, to call it lo-fi would be to do a disservice to its dreams.
With Ashin joined by backing singers and a drummer, his live shows – including to a twice sold-out Birthdays in London earlier this year – have been garnering a rave reputation, and this Liverpool date is his only Northwest stop on an otherwise brief UK tour. Able support comes from Planet Mu’s Tropics, and locals Beluga. [Laura Swift]
MUSIC
Photo: Jody Rogac
R
hat the fuck happened to mainstream hip-hop? Why have all the artists I admire, almost without exception, become hollow, money-obsessed, misogynistic shills fixated on celebrity culture? Why are all the new rappers fevered egos with no regard or passion for lyrics? 2 Chainz – I mean seriously, come on. Fucking Nae Chainz, mate. Kendrick Lamar? Kendrick Lamer, more like. Mac Miller? Try Wack Miller. The 90s, where underground rap began to bubble up into the mainstream with the likes of Wu-Tang Clan and the Queensbridge crew – Mobb Deep, Nas and others – seem awfully distant. I’m tempted to blame Eminem. It was his decision to foist 50 Cent on the world. Nothing ever measured up to his debut album. His latterperiod lyrics showcased a solipsistic style of storytelling that would come to dominate the culture at large. Slim Shady was reduced to a whinging shade of his former self, bitching constantly about the pressures of fame, and addiction. New track Rap God promises much, in terms of razor-sharp, Ritalin-chomping speed-rap. But it’s paired with a lazy trap-lite beat, and the next single features Rihanna. You broke my heart, Marshall. Blame P. Diddy. His shameless cash-ins on the legacy of the superlatively talented The Notorious B.I.G. ushered in the era of ‘bling’-obsessed hip-hop, and made it the norm to nick a whole chorus of some shite 80s pop song rather than actually focusing on samplecraft. He re-emphasised the street economics of hiphop as a corporate endgame. Lots of people got rich, not least Jay-Z. And they rapped about being rich. A lot. Blame Kanye West, who in recent years has taken the money-fetishising greed of hip-hop to its logical conclusion. He is a self-proclaimed God, a man who shakes hands with a fake Jesus as part of his show; who believes 300 was about Roman history and doesn’t care that he’s wrong. What happened to hip-hop that was about something? It’s 20 years since Ice Cube’s seminal Lethal Injection, a direct response to the beating of Rodney King and the subsequent LA riots. Where’s Cube’s 20-year anniversary box set? Perhaps he’s too busy making family-friendly movies to even give a shit. More likely though, he’s smart enough to realise that in the current climate, it wouldn’t sell. And yet. Perhaps the hip-hop super-ego’s days are numbered. There has been a resurgence, from the underground rap community, of brain-bending, tongue-twisting battle rhymes of the kind Eminem used to write – see Run The Jewels, the collaboration between Killer Mike and Company Flow/Def Jux founder El-P, which gets a physical release on Big Dada this month, as evidence. The apocalyptic doom-rap futurism of Death Grips no longer seems like a lonely peak in an arid desert, although few if any rap artists out there can touch Exmilitary, The Money Store and No Love Deep Web for content, impact and intensity. Lyrically, it’s time to embrace the radical tradition once more. We’re getting there. Lakutis, Heems and Kool A.D. of Das Racist display more incisive wit than Eminem can muster these days. Action Bronson and Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire do hood rap better than it’s been done in years. Tyler, to the kids who follow him, is like a God – and in a much more real sense than Kanye’s nauseating self-deification.
Preview
35
Album of the Month
The Cosmic Dead / Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
Djamba / The Wizard & The Seven Swines [The Old Noise, 8 Nov]
rrrrr
The Glasgow-based psych stalwarts return with a split 12” on Newcastle’s The Old Noise label. Flip it and you’ll find The Wizard & The Seven Swines, the debut recording from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. There’s a challenge for the name-droppers out there. There’s a musical challenge, too; The Wizard... is 21 uncompromising minutes of whip-crack guitars and driving, pounding rhythm. Reverb-soaked vocals are guttural and half-screamed, and there’s a hint of early Hawkwind in there somewhere. Arresting stuff, but not, you suspect, for everyone.
Crystal Antlers
Public Spaces
rrrrr
rrrrr
rrrrr
Following 2012’s swooning Underrated Silence, Ulrich Schauss and his occasional Engineers bandmate, guitarist and producer Mark Peters, have produced another album of such glittering, sun-drenched niceness that it sometimes borders on the twee, but for the most part, it’s a rich and musically complex addition to the catalogue of electronica combining diverse elements from shoegaze, folk, post-dubstep and ambient. Peters’ playing in particular – gently bent and plucked strings looped and swathed in effects – is technically brilliant, providing moments of dreamy, narcotic bliss on tracks like Das Volk Hat Keine Seele. Fragments of electro (on Inconvenient Truths), minimal disco (Bound By Lies) and shoegaze-y synth-pop (Walking With My Eyes Closed, which features vocals) leaven the mix, making this a diverse listen – if there are criticisms to be made, it’s that the tones and effects used on Peters’ guitar lines are rather staid and traditional, in sharp contrast to the arrangements. A little more experimentation and this could have been a classic. [Bram E. Gieben]
Sebastien Tellier
Confection [Record Makers, 18 Nov]
rrrrr
France’s Sebastien Tellier has always been a difficult figure to pin down. Having worked with Daft Punk, Mr Oizo and the legendary Nigerian drummer Tony Allen (who reappears here), Tellier is a respected figure in the French electronica scene; on the other hand, he’s a one-time Eurovision contestant whose compositions can seem kitsch and superficial. Confection is a series of mainly instrumental pieces that, for many, will confirm that perception. The lush, glossy strings and cheesy synth lines on pieces like Adieu Mes Amours, for example, wouldn’t sound out of place on a Ferrero Rocher advert (appropriately enough, given the LP title). Nonetheless, there’s an atmospheric allure to Tellier’s compositions that will work a strange magic on those willing to go along for the ride. There’s no profundity of emotion here, but there is a Badalamenti-esque, cinematic oddness to Confection which, despite surface appearances, gives it an endearing, melancholy charm. [Sam Wiseman]
Nothing Is Real [Innovative Leisure, Out now] Tricky things, influences. You can reference all the Dinosaur Jr. licks or Fugazi rhythms you want, but no-one ever fell in love with tasteful record-collector rock. We want our ears blown out! Our hearts torn asunder! Our senses ragged and ruined and reborn while the riffs roll by! Even if their speculative shots don’t always hit the target, this Californian collective thrill so effervescently because they never aim for less. Take the climax of Archers of Loaf-esque mosh-along Licorice Pizza, where the turbulence subsides and everything skids to an abrupt halt. A previously undetectable sax skronks frantically; flailing messily like a body hurtling through a windscreen. It’s Nothing Is Real’s defining moment – the point where Crystal Antlers truly flick the safety switch to ‘off’ mode. Rattlesnake and Persephone provide additional boneshakers, but to prove the band ain’t just kids playing with matches, there’s wistful moments like We All Gotta Die that balance their brute force with admirable finesse. Pretty great, all told. [Will Fitzpatrick]
Generated in Glasgow from the collective efforts of Lewis Macdonald, double bassist Alastair Quietsch and a host of collaborators, this album takes the template of rough-hewn, experimental art school noise and feeds it through the lucid filters of pop-industrial; couples it with the growling, foreboding storytelling of Tom Waits, and adds a dash of genuinely frightening found-sound abuse and musique-concrète techniques. Constantly threatening to collapse into shambolic, abstract dissonance at every turn, it pulls back from the brink with distorted robot voices or visceral bursts of punk energy. A success where so many ‘noise’ projects fail, these artists have embraced both structure and narrative as the focal points for their transgressive sample-craft. Two highly inventive musicians pushing analogue and digital gear to its limits, but anchoring the results in a bedrock of feral jazz, snarling blues and brutal industrial rhythms. Outstanding, challenging, transgressive, it will undoubtedly prove too strong medicine for some. [Bram E. Gieben]
T.R.A.S.E.
rrrrr
rrrrr
Lanterns [Joyful Noise Recordings, 4 Nov]
Some albums wantonly thrust their virtues upon the listener; others guard them like a secret to be teased out over time. Lanterns, Ryan Lott’s third album as Son Lux, achieves both: on first encounter, the melodic intelligence and invention lassos attention, while a dozen listens later there’s still much to discover. Ascribing genre is next to meaningless, though comparisons could be drawn with Lott’s s / s / s bandmate Sufjan Stevens: both are classically trained, and serve their abundant ambition with orchestral flourishes and imaginative, layered production. But Son Lux emphatically takes a path of his own making, mixing up haunted hip-hop beats and choral moans on Pyre; offering dystopian-edged mechanical minimalism with a lullaby tint on Enough of Our Machines; and rupturing a hushed digital waltz with heartbeat horns on Easy. In sum, Lanterns is the sound of a maverick talent edging ever closer to his full, stimulating potential. [Chris Buckle]
Chantal Acda
rrrrr
rrrrr
On Julia…, Spencer Krug confirms Moonface as the most diverse of his storied musical projects. After solo synth-prog debut Organ Music… and 2012’s fullband, rock-slanted Siinai collaboration Heartbreaking Bravery, he could arguably have taken his sound absolutely anywhere, so the decision to contrarily turn inwards and produce a stripped-back piano and voice collection feels instinctively like a stroke of genius – a purified reminder of his core compositional abilities, and a more complete exploration of a side to his writing previously only glimpsed. With so little adornment, the poetry of Krug’s words (delivered in that inimitably baleful croon) is inescapable. Opening lines are invariably arresting (for example: ‘And if I am an animal I am one of the few that is self-destructive / I have chewed through my beautiful muscle / I have chewed through my beautiful narrative’), and throughout, the originality of his themes and metaphors places him in the upper echelons of lyricists. [Chris Buckle]
KP-LP [Electropapknit / Dirty Beard Monthly, 4 Nov]
Son Lux
Moonface
Julia With Blue Jeans On [Jagjaguwar, 4 Nov]
Review
The Cosmic Dead play The Roadhouse, Manchester, 2 Dec
Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters Tomorrow Is Another Day [Bureau B, 25 Nov]
36
Stick with the A-side because, much in keeping with the colour and shape of their recorded output to date, The Cosmic Dead’s similarly lengthy Djamba is epic and relentless. It’s built around a deep groove, but an emerging narrative highlights a level of ambition beyond mere texture and sonics. Guitars chime and swell. Much of the psych-rock juggernaut gradually gaining a foothold of late can seem wilful and attitude-led, built on wobbly foundations, but The Cosmic Dead’s continuing adventures are ever more accomplished. Djamba takes intriguing detours on its way to a disquieting comedown, its various ‘movements’ artfully meshing arrangement and structure in a package more accessible than you might expect. [Gary Kaill]
Let Your Hands Be My Guide [Gizeh Records, 11 Nov] Though billed as her first ‘real solo record’ (following a trio of softly sumptuous slowcore releases under the Sleepingdog moniker), Chantal Acda’s Let Your Hands Be My Guide comes courtesy of a raft of esteemed collaborators, including composers Nils Frahm and Peter Broderick and Múm cellist Gyda Valtysdottir – all figures well-practiced in the subtle-yet-soaring arts in which Acda is specialist. Her unhurried compositions aren’t afraid to fade to nearsilence, exhibiting such gentle poise that listeners would be forgiven for nodding off mid-song – not a charge of tedium, but an acknowledgement of the lullaby effects of Acda’s refined songwriting, with minimalist arrangements allowing her attractively light voice the muted spotlight. Pushed for highlights one might identify the twinkling ether of My Night or the duet at the core of Arms up High, but it’s as a delicate whole that Let Your Hands… conveys its true gossamer beauty. [Chris Buckle]
RECORDS
Tape Recorder And Synthesiser Ensemble [Finders Keepers, 4 Nov] Given the current popularity of retro-futuristic synth music, it is a joy to hear this long-forgotten prototype from the early 80s, made with bedroom recording equipment and a self-constructed synthesiser by the teenage Andy Popplewell, who would go on to be an engineer at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Occasionally accompanied by his younger brother on guitar, these instrumental takes on the synth-pop sound are the 16-year-old Popplewell’s attempts to mimic and recreate the sounds of early Gary Numan, Human League, and the soundtrack work of John Carpenter. In many ways these minimal, stripped-down compositions equal or even better the artists he was emulating. Gently shimmering synth layers breathe and interact over linear drum patterns while gentle eddies of guitar echo in and out. A preparedness to let simple melodic sequences play out recalls Music For Films-era Eno, but the hooks are undeniable. This is not just a fantastic record, but something of a revelation. [Bram E. Gieben]
Melvins
Tres Cabrones [Ipecac, 4 Nov]
rrrrr
Despite growling their way into middle age, the Melvins never really seemed the sorta band who’d bother to grow up. The snickering nastiness of their metal-soaked hardcore always felt too gloriously delinquent to age truly gracefully, and indeed album number 19 sees them reaching back into their past. The return of founding drummer Mike Dillard sees long-term sticksman Dale Crover switching to bass (“As close as we’re willing to get to the 1980s lineup,” explains Buzz Osbourne helpfully), and the results are raucously wonderful. The Black Flag rage and sludgy riffs of Dr. Mule put us in familiar territory, arching sinister smiles around tightly-gritted teeth, while Stick ‘Em Up, Bitch conjures up images of Lemmy staring down the barrel of a nail gun. Just for laffs, there’s also a handful of truly terrifying campfire singalongs – old fellas they may be, but the Melvins’ capacity for demented glee remains happily undimmed. [Will Fitzpatrick]
THE SKINNY
Midlake
Antiphon [Bella Union, 4 Nov]
rrrrr
These are make-or-break days for Midlake. Stripping any band of a member will prompt doubts about the future, but in the case of the amiable Texans, it’s songwriter and lead singer Tim Smith that’s jumped ship. Guitarist Eric Pulido has already lent his backing vocals to memorable 2006 breakout The Trials of Van Occupanther and its rather aimless follow-up The Courage of Others; on Antiphon he steps up to frontman. It’s a smooth enough transition and for the first time Midlake actually feel like their own men, rather than aping Fleetwood Mac or Fairport Convention. The dreampop of The Old And The Young and the albums title track plants their feet in new terrain, while Vale’s psych rock is tougher than a pair of old cowboy boots. There’s the odd meandering misstep as they undergo this renewal, but there’s still plenty of evidence here to suggest an interesting new chapter for the band. [Stu Lewis]
Talulah Gosh
Was It Just a Dream? [Damaged Goods, 4 Nov]
rrrrr
Superseding the increasingly hard-to-find Backwash compilation, Was It Just a Dream? is the complete Talulah Gosh: 29 tracks encompassing every EP, single, radio session and demo that the twee-pop icons committed to tape in their brief but influential mid-eighties existence. For dyed-in-the-wool fans already in possession of Backwash and the 2011 Demos EP, there’s nothing here you haven’t already spun to death; no new archival discoveries, just a welding of the two into one package. But for anyone too young or otherwise engaged to have enjoyed the band at the time, Was It Just a Dream? contains compound delights. Tracks like Bringing Up Baby wear their quarterof-a-century so well a newcomer might swear they’d been knocked together moments earlier by one of Amelia and co’s numerous disciples, and it’s this long-term freshness that makes the album far more than a niche nostalgia hit for the Sarah/K Records appreciation societies. [Chris Buckle]
Magik Markers
Surrender To The Fantasy [Drag City, 18 Nov]
rrrrr
For their pithier advocates, Sonic Youth’s venerated legacy represents an untouchable milestone in the history of rock music; an unrepeatable, nail-biting scene where dissonant avant-gardism and trashy punk irony collide spectacularly. So how fucking refreshing is it when a band seems to view the likes of Daydream Nation and EVOL as a gauntlet thrown down before it? Magik Markers’ umpteenth effort Surrender To The Fantasy rattles and rolls with the fresh-faced energy of a debut. It’s ragged yet quietly assured among long-fuse incendiaries like WT and American Sphinx Face, where Elisa Ambrogio’s eardrumlacerating feedback squalls stab viciously throughout. The softer Mirrorless represents a particular highlight, resembling Yo La Tengo whispering country classics at the bottom of a swimming pool, but the best moment comes in the shape of Bonfire – a pedal-to-the-metal ramraid of da Yoof’s signature tricks, executed with a devious flair that’s all their own. Kill yr idols indeed. [Will Fitzpatrick]
L.B. Dub Corp
Unknown Origin [OstGut Ton, 11 Nov]
rrrrr
Luke Slater’s dub-influenced moniker as L.B. Dub Corp does a convincing job of polishing up the dub techno sounds pioneered by the likes of Basic Channel and adding a slick house and traditional techno sheen, aiming the results straight back at the dancefloor. The presence of radical poet Benjamin Zephaniah on Take A Ride and I Have A Dream adds some lyrical heft, and although he is underused on the former, the latter is a rousing political anthem. The piano-led, echoing house of Ever and Forever acts as an earworm, balancing a simple melodic hook with drifting synths and understated percussion. L.B.’s Dub adds some skanking digital dub to the mix, while the driving Turner’s House takes things in an electro direction. The pulsating, echoing synths of Any Time Will Be OK are a particular highlight, while Function’s appearance on closer Roller adds some darkness with layers of static and minimal synths. [Bram E. Gieben]
November 2013
Shearwater
†††
rrrrr
rrrrr
Fellow Travelers [Sub Pop, 25 Nov] Like live albums and B-side compilations, cover version LPs usually occupy a fringe position in an artist’s discography, and Fellow Travelers is no different. But as far as stopgaps go – bridging last year’s Animal Joy and next year’s in-the-works follow-up – Shearwater’s ten-song tribute to/collaboration with past touring partners is more attractive than most. Few recordings rival the originals, but most offer something of interest: for example, a take on Xiu Xiu’s I Luv the Valley OH! doesn’t come close to the original’s intensity, but fashions a more conventional rock song out of the ingredients; similarly, St Vincent’s Cheerleader loses a lot of its poignancy in translation, but at least the gender switch invites new lyrical resonances. Less effective is a cover of Clinic’s Tomorrow, which smudges the original’s cold precision without subbing in any distinct character of its own, making Fellow Travelers a mixed bag in terms of quality as well as source material. [Chris Buckle]
††† [Sumerian Records, 25 Nov]
Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno has kept himself busy with the release of the excellent Palms earlier this year, but he’s also been making dramatic, electronic-tinged rock as ††† (or, for simplicity’s sake, Crosses) with Far guitarist Shaun Lopez. The outfit’s first two EPs from 2011 and 2012 are included here, resequenced, essentially rendering this an expanded reissue or deluxe mixtape. Though it serves as an excellent retrospective of their work thus far, the short supply of new material is something of a let-down. Luckily, the original songs are just as strong – †he epilogue is a seductive slice of dark pop, and the brooding bi†ches brew gloriously erupts into blissful catharsis in its final minute. Moreno’s iconic voice is right at home within the context of laptop click tracks and keyboard melodies. He’s been transcending genres for years now, but it’s only recently that he’s begun to prove himself as a master of the hook. The proof is right here. [Ross Watson]
Connan Mockasin
Cate Le Bon
rrrrr
rrrrr
Caramel [Phantasy Sound, 4 Nov] It’s been a busy period for Erol Alkan’s Londonbased Phantasy Sound label, with this second LP from New Zealander Connan Mockasin following the release of Daniel Avery’s widely-acclaimed Drone Logic in October. It’s indicative of the adventurousness of the label that the two releases could hardly be more different: where Avery specialises in ornately wrought techno, Caramel sees Mockasin moving away from the twisted psych of his debut Forever Dolphin Love towards a bizarre blend of soul, funk and downbeat electronica. Beneath this woozy, soporific mix, Mockasin remains a singer-songwriter at heart, and on highpoints like Nothing Lasts Forever, there’s a tenderness which permeates the tremolo-heavy guitar work and sparse percussion. At other points, the lack of a clear sense of purpose can be frustrating. With his intuitive, idiosyncratic approach to arrangement and composition, however, Mockasin hits upon those moments of intimacy enough to make Caramel a strangely arresting record. [Sam Wiseman]
Mug Museum [Turnstile, 11 Nov]
You’d be forgiven for thinking Wales a sunny place, hearing Cate Le Bon’s third jaunty, psychedelic record Mug Museum. Wales isn’t, of course, but its musical output’s pretty sun-soaked (look at pals Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci or Super Furry Animals); this LP’s no exception. Much like the Welsh themselves, though, there’s a charming stoicism here, a maturity beneath the folk-pop, and a darker turn since 2012’s CYRK. From the off we’re assaulted with cheeriness, tickling boardwalk organ here and cosily strummed guitar there, all belying Le Bon’s moodier lyrics. But when the album’s volta, Wild, excavates some darker fuzz, we’re taken deeper into antsy gloom. Her whimsy teeters into weirdness on Mirror Me, a lonely sax spiralling over the mantra-like refrain; Cuckoo Through The Walls unravels with a similar thumping madness. The emerging chaos risks muddying her message, but instead bolsters it; like dappled shadows cast by clouds against the sun, a beguiling melancholy. [George Sully]
Steve Ignorant with Paranoid Visions When...? [Overground, 11 Nov]
rrrrr
While much of the music that dominated the UK underground in the late 70s and early 80s holds an uncanny sway over current trends, anarcho-punk feels more distant than ever – despite some key similarities in our political landscape. The title of this collaboration – between the former Crass frontman, and a Dublin outfit who followed in that band’s wake – would have felt like a call to arms in Thatcherite England, but now feels bitterly ironic, given the depoliticisation of ‘alternative’ culture. Musically, When...? is mostly what you would expect: anarchopunk always prided itself on immediacy and simplicity, and the urgency of the frazzled riffs, edgy leads and ranted vocals here shows that neither party have lost their rage. The lyrical topics have been updated – Log On/Bog Off attacks the age of government internet surveillance – but this remains an anachronistic, refreshing reminder of an age both less cynical and more angry. [Sam Wiseman]
Maria Taylor
Something About Knowing [Saddle Creek, 4 Nov]
rrrrr
Maria Taylor’s fifth album, Something About Knowing, is quintessential Saddle Creek: production from label founder Mike Mogis; a musical style that gently browses country-soul and dream-pop; and that warm, familiar voice, recalling past Creek peaks as half of Azure Ray and as backing vocalist on I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (among other things). As well as echoes of Bright Eyes’ full-on alt-country period, the work of erstwhile Creeker Jenny Lewis is evoked on a number of occasions, with songs like Folk Song Melody eerily close to her post-Rilo Kiley solo work. Unfortunately Taylor has a more pronounced saccharine streak than either of the aforementioned, and, with her young son an expressed influence (‘I heard the sweetest voice call me mommy’), you may be inclined to agree with Cyril Connolly’s warning about the pram in the hall as the enemy of good art. Those with a metaphorical sweet tooth, however, will find much to savour. [Chris Buckle]
RECORDS
OvO
Abisso [Supernatural Cat, 4 Nov]
rrrrr
Halloween may be done with for another year, but there are plenty of long nights ahead; plenty of inky witching hours crying out for a suitably unsettling soundtrack, preferably one with a daft edge so as to keep the demons from taking over. Italian doom-sludge-droneetc. duo OvO are specialists in such matters, and latest LP Abisso proves as dark as its namesake but with moments of silliness that depressurise the oppressive atmosphere. Whether the latter trait is wholly deliberate is another matter, though Grand Guignol titles like I Cannibali and a final track of squeals and screeches (plus drummer Bruno Dorella’s tendency to perform wearing a luchador mask) all suggest awareness of the absurdity underlying their ghoulish façade. As on past releases, Stefania Pedretti’s idiosyncratic vocals are key: whimpering, growling, gibbering and screaming, her range stops their simple setup from growing repetitious, though also earns the album its ‘approach with caution’ epithet. [Chris Buckle]
The Top Five 1
The Cosmic Dead / Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
Djamba / The Wizard & The Seven Swines
2 3 4 5
Magik Markers
Surrender To The Fantasy
†††
†††
Moonface
Julia With Blue Jeans On
Son Lux
Lanterns
Review
37
The Skinny Ad Quarter Page October 2013_Layout 1 24/09/2013 15:58 Page 1
NEW EVENTS NOW SALE ARDAL O’HANLON
Saturday 2 November 8pm £20, £26 – Homotopia Festival 2013
SANDI TOKSVIG: MY VALENTINE
CLASSIC SLUM presents
OCT 27 - HONEYBLOOD + THE SYSTEMATICS + THE SLOVACS @ FALLOW CAFE OCT 29 - STEVE CRADOCK + guests THE GRAMOTONES + THE GREETING COMMITTEE @ THE CLUNY, NEWCASTLE NOV 1 - RIDING THE LOW featuring PADDY CONSIDINE + guests BONE-BOX + THE JUNGFRAUS @ THE RUBY LOUNGE NOV 2 - RED KITE featuring DANIEL FISHER from THE COOPER TEMPLE CLAUSE + THE RED SUNS + ANTELOPES @ THE RUBY LOUNGE NOV 5 - THE SAINTS + guests ENEMIES EYES @ NIGHT & DAY CAFE NOV 7 - THE GODFATHERS + guests HEY BULLDOG + WAREHOUSE RIOTS @ THE RUBY LOUNGE NOV 9 - CUD + guests KINDEST OF THIEVES @ THE RUBY LOUNGE NOV 14 - THE BLOCKHEADS + guests ANISEED + JERAMIAH FERRARI @ THE RUBY LOUNGE NOV 25 - JASON ISBELL (DRIVE BY TRUCKERS / THE 400 UNIT) + guest AMANDA SHIRES @ THE RUBY LOUNGE NOV 28 - JONATHAN WILSON @ GORILLA NOV 28 - HAPPY MONDAYS + guests THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND + SULK @ O2 ACADEMY, LEICESTER NOV 30 - HAPPY MONDAYS + guests THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND + SULK @ O2 ACADEMY, LEEDS DEC 5 - DEAN WAREHAM (GALAXIE 500 / LUNA / DEAN & BRITTA) + guests JASON QUEVER (PAPERCUTS) + I SEE ANGELS @ THE RUBY LOUNGE DEC 6 - JAMIE ISAAC @ FALLOW CAFE DEC 7 - HAPPY MONDAYS + guests THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND + SULK @ O2 ACADEMY, LIVERPOOL DEC 8 - EMILY WELLS + guests RIVAL ELK @ THE RUBY LOUNGE DEC 12 - HAPPY MONDAYS + guests THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND + SULK @ O2 ACADEMY, SHEFFIELD DEC 14 - EDGAR JONES + JOHN HEAD (DOUBLE HEADLINE SHOW) + guest DANNY MAHON @ THE RUBY LOUNGE DEC 14 - COLD CROWS DEAD @ FALLOW CAFE FEB 21 - THE BEARDS @ THE RUBY LOUNGE MARCH 8 - DAVE ARCARI @ FALLOW CAFE MARCH 12 - DAR WILLIAMS @ THE RUBY LOUNGE MARCH 28 - CURTIS ELLER’S AMERICAN CIRCUS @ THE RUBY LOUNGE ---------------------------------------------
@CLASSICSLUM I CLASSICSLUM.COM ADV TICKETS -
TICKETLINE: 0161 832 1111 / TICKETLINE.CO.UK SEE TICKETS: 0870 264 3333 / SEETICKETS.COM AND OVER THE COUNTER AT THE SUPERB PICCADILLY RECORDS, OLDHAM ST, MANCHESTER
38
Tuesday 5 November 8pm £20, £26 – SO L
BRYAN FERRY
DO UT
Wednesday 6 November 7.30pm £35-£75 – Homotopia Festival 2013
JOHN WATERS IN THIS FILTHY WORLD Friday 8 November 8pm £20, £26
ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA: ROXY & ELSEWHERE
KATE RUSBY AT CHRISTMAS
KT TUNSTALL
ANGELITE
Friday 15 November 7.30pm £29.50-£39.50 – Saturday 16 November 8pm £17.50-£27.50 –
GREG DAVIES: THE BACK OF MY MUM'S HEAD Monday 2 December 8pm £25, £31 –
MADELEINE PEYROUX
Tuesday 3 December 7.30pm £24, £30
Tuesday 10 December 7.30pm £24, £30 – The Bulgarian Voices Tuesday 17 December 7.30pm £20, £25
St George's Hall Concert Room
–
KERFUFFLE
Tuesday 17 December 8pm £14 The Epstein Theatre
–
TRANSATLANTIC SESSIONS
Tuesday 4 February 2014 7.30pm £25-£33.50
Box Office liverpoolphil.com 0151 709 3789 Image: KT Tunstall
presents
MADEL EI NE PEYR O UX DATES
Thu Nov 28
MANCHESTER Bridgewater Hall www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk / 0844 907 9000
Tue Dec 3
LIVERPOOL Philharmonic Hall www.liverpoolphil.com / 0151 709 3789
“The enigmatic Madeleine Peyroux had a packed house eating out of her hand” Evening Standard NEW ALBUM THE BLUE ROOM OUT NOW ON DECCA madeleinepeyroux.com
For full ticket details go to serious.org.uk
THE SKINNY
Raising the Standards Their live shows are chaotic and they’re constantly broke, but Manchester trio MiSTOA POLTSA explain why neither they nor their contemporaries are simply pissing about
“S
ion said he couldn’t be here, he’s playing some game that looks like a really boring spreadsheet, but if he makes £7 billion he can build a meth lab on the moon.” It’s one of the stranger reasons we’ve heard for a band member missing an interview, but if you take even a couple of steps into MiSTOA POLTSA’s warped musical world of helter-skelter riffs played with devil-may-care malice, fleshblistering percussion and acidic, cerebrumscrambled stream-of-conscious lyrics, then it becomes entirely believable that their drummer is indeed plotting to build a lunar-based drug hideout. “I’d been out of work for too long and needed something to do,” says the trio’s shockhaired frontman Mark Javin, nursing a coffee out of the Manchester rain, eyes heavy from a house party that lasted most of the weekend. Without a job or money, but also without any time constraints, Javin has always written prolifically; and the spatial convenience of a large empty room in his house has allowed him to develop it into something more. “When I’m on my own there I can just lose myself in writing and recording,” he says. “I need to, really, but it’s the only thing I ever really want to do as well.” The room soon filled up with others: he already lived with Sion – who makes his own sense-bent, off-kilter lo-fi recordings under the acronym Llion Swyd – and got in touch with Robin Edwards, an old friend from his native Cheshire, to play bass with him. It was a familiar tale of small-town boredom that initially brought both Javin and Edwards to Manchester. Edwards is from Warrington, Javin from a small town outside of that – and neither place is going anywhere fast musically. “You just pass through it, there’s no reason for you to stop there,” Edwards comments. “Saying that, there are some lovely people there and some really good musicians. I think they all choose to lock themselves away in their rooms
November 2013
Interview: Simon Jay Catling Illustration: Rachel Davey
and record, instead of hanging out with all the scallies round there.” Since forming, MiSTOA POLTSA have been relentless in treading the city’s boards, whether it be propping up support bills, or playing basements, bars, house parties or warehouse units. They’re a true band of addicts in the sense of a Jay Reatard or Ty Segall – not just in making and releasing music as soon as they have it (there have been three EPs and an album in the past year, with a further tape on the way), but also in pulling themselves around the live circuit. Javin is a firm believer in creating in the moment; the group’s viscerally breakneck debut album, When Jesus Glassed God, released in the summer on cassette label Number4Door, was recorded and mixed within three hours at the increasingly infamous Sways Records Bunker in Salford. “It’s such a great feeling when you listen back to it and think, ‘fuck, that was really good,’ and it’s your first attempt on a track,” Javin says. “There’s a lot more to appreciate there because it documents something honest and in the moment. It was totally unforced and it just flowed out naturally.” Not many will have heard it, but When Jesus Glassed God is one of the most thrilling punk releases to have come out this year – the sort that leaves you breathless just sat by your speakers. The reductionist, lo-fi feel of its production adds an abrasive conflict to the ambition of its spiralling guitar lines, blasted shards of distortion and fibre-tearing drumming; the band tumble through ten tracks scratching and clawing at each other with gloriously aggressive abandon. In its feel of sonic decay, the band unintentionally re-claim ‘lo-fi’ as a true test of creative ambition versus limitation – more in historical keeping with someone like R. Stevie Moore – and take it away from 21st-century grunge dullards like Yuck and DIIV, who make it an aesthetic choice and a cloak behind which to hide their lacklustre songs about nothing in particular. “The trouble with the lo-fi thing now is that
for a lot of bands it’s not just the production, but the music and the songs have all started to sound like every other band as well,” agrees Edwards. “I like that kind of music,” adds Javin, “but we just don’t have the gear to make it sound that pretty. I wish I did have a bit more control over it. At Sways it was alright, obviously, but when I record drums at home I’ve got one mic for the whole kit. I don’t want them to get so fucking peaky!” The live show is where the bristling, instantaneous, angry energy of their music really spills out. At one particular gig this year, Javin turned up just 25 minutes before he was due on stage, sleepless after a night of high hallucinogen in the Lake District. It mattered not; as the sound engineer desperately hung on to his levels at the desk, the rest of the room was entranced as the three plugged in and flung themselves through an utterly deranged set where the wheels creaked and strained without falling off – all this while their hysterical frontman flung himself against the venue walls, then licked them. “Glasgow was another good one too,” he recalls. “We were supposed to play in the basement but no one was there, so we told the promoter we were going to play in the bar and brought all their PA upstairs. It got proper messy. I hit some dude in the face with a microphone during the set.” Edwards laughs. “Everyone got taken out; I smashed someone in the face with my bass by accident, Sion’s drum stick flew out and leathered someone half way across the room.” MiSTOA POLTSA are among the loudest of a sprawling city of bands, DIY labels and promoters who slip between short-lived acts, put each other on, and release each other’s cassettes. Sways Records and, more prominently, MONEY are linked with it, while PINS will be putting the trio’s next release out on their own Haus of PINS label – and that’s just the top of a scene that’s constantly restless and re-configuring in a way that, Javin claims, is wholly supportive of its participants.
MUSIC
“It does feel like a community at the moment,” he says. “You can’t complain when you’re playing every week with Sex Hands, Fruit Tones or Temple Songs. They’re my favourite bands to listen to at home anyway! I guess all these bands cropping up and putting each other on is just a release from doing nothing, and creating our own thing.”
“When I record drums at home I’ve got one mic for the whole kit. I don’t want them to get so fucking peaky!” Mark Javin
Only Joking Records recently saw fit to issue Manchester Standards, a compilation featuring Javin’s old band Butchers among a dozen others plucked from this community’s flux. It’s garnered positive reviews, although some place more emphasis on the dumb fun and hi-jinks than the fervour with which those involved approach their craft. “There’s a lot more to it than that,” says Javin, unimpressed. “We’ve all been writing for years. We’re not pissing around, y’know?” MiSTOA POLTSA’s cassette We Knew It Was Alive When It Died is out this month through Haus of PINS They play Big Hands, Manchester, 1 Nov, 8pm, £3 www.mistoapoltsa.bandcamp.com
Preview
39
Korova, Liverpool, 4 Oct
CHVRCHES
CHVRCHES
The Ritz, Manchester, 14 Oct
rrrrr
Get ur freak (and geek) on. CHVRCHES, for all their winning artfulness, for all that savvy remodelling of 80s synth-pop into something farreaching and vital, are 2013’s most unassuming new act. They’re absurdly un-cool, unconcerned with the usual hollow manifestos, seemingly incapable of pose or posturing. The pitch is irresistible: musical journeymen with analogue programming nous and library-sized record collections hook up with singer with voice to die for. Initial adventures bring forth rush of tunes and attention of BBC’s Sound of 2013 list. Non-stop touring cements live reputation, builds fan-base. Debut album goes top ten. Hey, who doesn’t love a happy ending? Tonight confirms that larger halls suit the
Photo: Chris Payne
rrrrr
scale of their sound, and a beefed-up live presentation gives their set focus and punch. Despite a full house, they still wrestle with their onstage awkwardness: Lauren Mayberry stomping and bobbing, tangled in her mic lead; Martin Doherty careering centre stage during Under the Tide. They’re lost in, swallowed by, their music. “Give me the bones of what you believe / Maybe they’ll save you from me,” demands Mayberry on the pounding Strong Hand, the album’s title track of sorts. Lies and Recover, as ever, catch fire. But it’s their freshest material, in particular the unashamed dance pop of Night Sky and By the Throat, that casts CHVRCHES as more than mere electro-revivalists. Their encore choice, a sharp reworking of Whitney Houston’s It’s Not Right But It’s Okay, confirms their range. Exiting to a roaring ovation, the band return the crowd’s applause – geek love reciprocated. And, on this evidence, it’s getting serious. [Gary Kaill]
“Can someone turn that light off?” asks Dean Spunt, referring to a tiny bulb that illuminates the front row. “I think it’s making you guys a little self-conscious.” He’s half-right. There’s certainly a little discomfort among the hardcore fans gathered before them, but self-consciousness isn’t the cause. It’s more of a disconnect between the party kids out to jump around, deliriously spilling their beers along to trashy favourites like Teen Creeps, and the chin-stroking types who’d really prefer to appreciate Randy Randall’s wickedly gnarly guitar tones, or bliss out to new LP An Object ’s hazier flashes of electrified psychedelia. With some faces getting grumpy, the tension threatens to engulf the entire show – but as No Age’s
No Age
Machinedrum
The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 16 Oct
rrrrr
Washed Out
Gorilla, Manchester, 22 Oct
rrrrr
Washed Out, a venture begun by Georgia resident Ernest Greene, take to the stage in modest fashion. Sweetly greeting the audience with little more than a few words, the band’s demeanour suggests that they’re just really happy to see you tonight, and are glad that you came. A single note of synth gently ushers forward sprinklings of harp and dashes of the hi-hat, and we begin: Paracosm’s It All Feels Right falls over the audience. The introduction to Greene’s show is a backto-back of old and new; his teaser into his latest Sub Pop release is shortly paired with a track from his first EP, High Times. Belong’s dreamy
40
Review
psychedelics entice old-time fans, this melodic, shimmering number visibly uplifting the crowd. Greene revels in the past as the audience are treated to a – ’scuse me – Life of Leisure as Feel It All Around swims through, the vibe evocative of an unhurried walk along the beach under a warming sunset, before making way for the distorted synths and thumping bass of Get Up. Washed Out’s performance feels like it’s come to an early end as timid waves and head bows are delivered to the audience; but of course, we should’ve always known that Greene wouldn’t let us go home unsatisfied. The crowd’s appetite for his warm, sensual notes is pleased by an encore, with Eyes Be Closed closing tonight’s set, the audience basking in the glow of a heartfelt performance. [Edwina Chan]
Photo: Richard Manning
Wednesday night club events are usually the sole reserve of students and die-hard fans. As such, it’s no surprise to find the Oxford Road corridor’s premier intimate performance space brimming with bass-leaning scholars for Travis Stewart aka Machinedrum’s first appearance in town since unveiling his recent album, Vapour City. Following a warm-up (if you can in fact call it that, tough as it was) of upbeat, chunky new house tones intermixed with post-dubstep and a little footwork, finally – for those with work the next day – it’s time for the main attraction. With Stewart taking to the stage to rapturous applause, it’s clear expectations are high as the first spatial harmonies emerge from the rather
Washed Out
performance gets rowdier, so too does the crowd surrender to rambunctiousness, building to a raucous moshpit climax as the band cover that old Black Flag standard Six Pack. They know what the kids want. It’s no real surprise, then, that the more upbeat selections of newer material get the best reaction – Lock Box (introduced rather earnestly as a “dance number”) gets heads a-nodding, while the mosh-worthy C’mon Stimmung sees the first outbreak of sweat-sodden hair flailing among clenched fists and spasming limbs. Recognising that the (cough) ‘artier’ themes of this latest opus are probably better suited to home musing than the live experience, the band just kick up the volume and switch their dials to ‘party’. Eventually, that offending lightbulb gets unscrewed, but the incandescent No Age burn so bright that no one even notices the darkness. [Will Fitzpatrick]
John Grant
East Village Arts Club, Liverpool, 18 Oct
rrrrr
A tall, boxy figure, imposing yet with the gait of one unsure what to do with his strength and dimensions, John Grant stands centre stage in a room immobile with over-attendance, his band and their impressive battery of hardware and keys crammed in around him. He sings with his hands out in front, palms turned inwards as though in surrender to himself, and adjusts them in accordance with the song’s swell or ebb. It’s an almost operatic method, this measured, squarish motion the only outward expression of the otherwise invisible control behind his caramel tenor – and a calm performance style that belies the rigorous staying power and concentration needed to execute the one-note sustains of Marz, the staccato vowel-play of Black Belt and the rousing carousal of I Hate This Town (that saloon piano slip-slopping from bar to door).
MUSIC
serious-looking equipment that takes up half the stage. Immediately silencing, it’s apparent things are going to get rather deep. As he launches into summer single Eyesdontlie, the crowd already seem to be falling under the spell of his ethereal hypnotics. The vocal repetition and that percussive section, which nods to liquid drum‘n’bass, build to a peak-time crescendo before the real rhythms kick in. The result is easily the most zealous crowd reaction of the night, causing heads to be thrust downwards while fists punch the air. As tight tonight as he is on record, Stewart’s unarguable talent is abundantly clear – layering and layering sound into sound, he creates beautiful cacophonies tinged with enough rave influences to escape any downtempo cul-de-sacs, made to both move feet and engage the brain. [Martin Guttridge-Hewitt] It’s also an appropriate partner to the central principle behind Grant’s music – that is, as evinced on his two solo albums since splitting from The Czars, 2010’s Queen of Denmark and this year’s Pale Green Ghosts, a deliciously misleading combination of brutal lyrics delivered satin-wrapped in strings, midnight piano and that velveteen, half-askance vocal. His is an arresting – in the truest, schismatic sense of the word – deception, and one that has clearly connected deeply with tonight’s adoring attendees, whose jubilance as they raise their voices and drinks to the chorus of GMF is really something to behold. As Friday nights go, there’s nothing quite like a room full of people triumphantly claiming, “I am the greatest motherfucker that you’re ever gonna meet / From the top of my head down to the tips of the toes on my feet”, blasted in hot yellow light and united in crescendo. [Lauren Strain]
THE SKINNY
Photo: Michael Sheerin
No Age
Fight for Your Own With one of his two self-curated ‘Trance Parties’ coming to Manchester this month, Ellesmere Port’s Evian Christ talks dealing with the limelight and buddying up with Kanye
Interview: Bunny Intonamorous Photography: Andrew Ellis
Evian Christ
J
oshua Leary, also known as acclaimed electronic producer Evian Christ, has had a whirlwind year and a half in the music industry. After making a few tracks – heavily inspired by both American trap and a more esoteric form of ambient music – over the Christmas holidays in 2011 while studying to become a teacher in Ellesmere Port, Merseyside, and uploading them to YouTube, he caused a flurry of attention from labels, eventually settling on working with rising London/New York-based independent label Tri-Angle. This spawned a pressing of those tracks onto vinyl in the form of the well-received February 2012 LP Kings and Them. The record was so well-received, in fact, that it caught the attention of mega-star rapper Kanye West, prompting him to enlist the young producer’s skills on his latest effort, Yeezus, around January last year. By Leary’s own admission, this immediate attention given to his output has been almost overwhelming. “I was kinda thrown into the deep end when Kings and Them came out, because it received way more attention than I was expecting, or was ready for,” he says, “and then all of a sudden it becomes your full time job.” He admits that this has had a marked effect on his current production practices. “Now when I’m making music I’m acutely aware of the amount of people who will hear it, judge it. I have to think about how this music is going to work in a live setting, who do I want to mix it, to master it, what do I want from the artwork... It’s all really basic stuff,” he concedes, “but I was kinda blissfully unaware first time round, whereas now it’s kinda suffocatingly important for me to make sure I’m 100% happy with everything I release. “It’s kinda like the difference between singing into a mirror in your bedroom and then suddenly having to do it in front of people,” he continues, explaining the chasm of difference between writing his first EP, and writing music now,
November 2013
in the public sphere. “Doing anything in public is a really fine line between hugely humbling and really daunting, I think.” This situation was somewhat exacerbated by working with West, one of the most prominent and outspoken musicians of the current era, on the track I’m In It. Yeezus was praised for its cavalier attitude towards the expectations placed on a major-label album, something Leary believes is a good thing: “I think hopefully what he did was give everyone a different perspective on what a worldwide number one album can sound like. Pop music desperately needs that. “It seems like 99% of pop records are put together on the premise of something else having already been successful,” he says. “So right now everyone will be fighting for a Pharrell-produced single or a Justin Timberlake feature, and the public are less stupid than major labels think they are, they have a short attention span and constantly want something different, something new. I think labels are so slow when it comes to being receptive to that. Like, they stumble on a Mike Will Made It-type figure then milk it to death, on every single record regardless of whether or not it’s appropriate. I love Mike Will but I hate that process.” However, this situation isn’t necessarily all doom and gloom, nor inescapable, he says. “Hopefully, Kanye working with me, Arca and Brodinski and people like that will serve as the first piece of evidence in a while that you don’t need to go through this revolving door of majorlabel-verified producers and songwriters, and pop records can be made, in part at least, by up-and-coming independent artists and still sell.” Leary says his first major experience of working as a producer for a rapper was an entirely positive one: “I had really good fun working with him – he’s one of my favourite artists ever, and also a great guy, so I couldn’t ask for more, really.” He also reveals that there’s more to come
from the pairing in the future: “I just signed with him as a producer, too, so I’m part of that whole set-up going forwards, which is great.”
“The public are less stupid than major labels think they are” Joshua Leary
The 24-year-old seems to have a found a permanent home with his initial choice of record label, the emphatically forward-thinking and critically lauded Tri-Angle, which, in the early days of its existence, got firmly placed in the witch house camp with releases by artists such as oOoOO and Manchester’s own Holy Other. Since then, however, the label has expanded its role to well beyond the purview of witch house as a genre, with recent acclaimed releases from Yorkshire’s The Haxan Cloak and the Wirral’s Forest Swords. “It’s strange because if you took two people at either end of the spectrum of the label’s output, like Holy Other or The Haxan Cloak, it might seem hard to draw the lines between why both of those guys are on the same label, but like, as a whole it all seems to make complete sense despite the variety,” Leary says. “That’s something I really like about the label personally. We all get on really well too – the British guys on the label are among my best friends in music.” Leary’s close kinship with his labelmates has led him to curate a series of ‘Trance Parties’, featuring Holy Other and Vessel, both on Tri-Angle, as well as esoteric beat artist Arca, and the noise
CLUBS
and musique-concrète artist Wanda Group. The series’ title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the trance-inducing nature of the assembled artists’ work, but also, as Leary points out, a reference to the Dipset Trance Party mixtapes. There is also an element of reappropriation at work, he states, in “taking away from the meaning of trance as a genre and back to what it actually means,” but says that the original impetus behind setting up these gigs was far less ideological. “Basically, I’m a complete control freak about my shows, and the other people I’m playing with, and the venue etcetera are really important to me when I’m considering whether to perform or not, so putting on my own shows with a promoter to help back it was a really obvious way for me to be happy about everything.” With seemingly non-stop international touring, production opportunities and a whole host of other distractions, it’d be easy to wonder if Leary has had the time to actually write more music – but he confesses that although it’s been “way too long” since he released something of his own, he’s sitting on a large amount of work. “I made 70 plus tracks this year I think,” he says. “My own release has been messed around so many times by various artists holding my tracks for their own projects, which is partly my fault for letting them do that, but I’m really keen to make a dent in that world, as a producer for other people. I’ve let my own output slip a little, but the idea is that I’m hopefully going to drop a song in November then come out with an EP early on next year.” Given the buzz around Evian Christ right now, all we can do is wait with bated breath. Faktion presents Evian Christ Trance Party with Evian Christ, Holy Other (DJ), Arca, Vessel, Lukid, Wanda Group, 2022NQ, Manchester, 23 Nov, 10pm, £12. He also plays at The Warehouse Project, Manchester, 2 Nov www.soundcloud.com/evianchrist www.tri-anglerecords.com
Preview
41
Clubbing Highlights Remember, remember, the fifth of November? With our guide to the month’s top appearances, from Patrice Scott to Ben Pearce via Amir, we’re afraid you probably won’t Words: Daniel Jones Illustration: Lewis Loughman
G
uy Fawkes: nice plan, shame about the execution. Seriously though, being set ablaze on top of a big pile of sticks every year for 400 years is a pretty raw deal for anybody to take. Anyway, here’s a selection of nights that you’ll probably struggle to remember, remember. Pinch, punch, first real night of the month comes at Islington Mill on 1 Nov, when the guys at Bohemian Grove bring in one of the true rulers of the deep, Patrice Scott (£10). Head of Sistrum Records, Scott has worked closely with the likes of Efdemin, Fred P and Levon Vincent in recent years and will no doubt deliver a set of high-grade hypnotic substance when he rolls into Salford, beanie hat and all. The night runs from 10pm to 8am; encouraging news for any morning larks hoping to catch the first train home. If that’s not for you, there’s Wet Play’s Supernatural Showbiz Jamboree with Johnny Abstract at The Dancehouse (£5), or you can go see Dauwd play 2022NQ under the Coded Rhythm banner on the same night (£5 early birds). He’s what Burial would sound like if he spent less time moping around abandoned car parks. The second part of a quickfire double at 2022NQ sees So Flute team up with Kat and No Fakin on 2 Nov to present the musical fountain of knowledge that is Amir. One for all the boogie freaks out there, he’ll be connecting the dots between funk, soul and R&B while laying down timeless disco cuts from Boston, NYC and beyond (£6 early birds, £8 advance). Your other choice is to head over to Soup Kitchen to catch Bleak and South London Ordnance causing havoc below Spear Street. If you somehow manage to get your hands on the last bowl of soup of the day, then expect Jurassic Park-style ripples minus the T-Rex (2 Nov, £6 early birds, £10 advance). Early action in Liverpool includes a fairly fresher-friendly Chibuku lineup: Redlight, Breach and DJ Fresh all play the East Village Arts Club on 2 Nov (£16), while the following weekend (9 Nov) gets into gear with Medlar in the Shipping Forecast basement. One of three resident producers for WOLF Music, Medlar has been on fire for the past two years churning out a string of EPs and quality edits for the likes of Steffi, Noodleman and James Welsh. The first batch of tickets sold out, but get down early enough and we’re sure the boys from Hustle will squeeze you in for less than a tenner. Fast-forward to 16 Nov and Chibuku flex their promoting-fund muscles again by hosting another load of household names on one night: Dusky, T Williams, Cyril Hahn and Klangkarussell all feature at East Village Arts Club, as does Manchester’s own Ben Pearce (£16). Five days later, and Abandon Silence round off the autumn season by delivering Bicep for three hours straight. The Belfast duo have catapulted themselves even closer to superstardom this year, having hooked up with Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford on cheeky 12” single Sacrifice. Support comes in the form of LA-based wonderboy Urulu (21 Nov, £10). Back in Manchester, and it’s a big one as
42
Preview
CLUBS
Joshua Brooks opens its doors to Parisian funkateer and all-round badman Arnaud Bernard – aka Onra – on 8 Nov (£10). Expect therapeutic hiphop flecked with R&B and Vietnamese pop of the highest calibre. Props to Hi Ku for securing both DJ and live sets too; the prospect of witnessing this guy’s dual MPC skills firsthand is a very rare treat indeed. A week later at Soup Kitchen and it’s a welcome return to the Northwest for Night Slugs’ prize jockey Jam City (15 Nov, £5). With only his name on the bill, it’s shaping up to be a one-man, five-hour slugfest of epic proportions. Elsewhere on 15 Nov, 2022NQ provides shelter for Ghosting Season with Cloud Boat, Oli Byrne and former Sankeys mainstay Jozef K (£5); alternatively, get the talc out for Black Bee Soul Club at Kraak Gallery, where residents Paul Bailey and Sam McEwen will be exhibiting proof that you don’t need a thumping 4/4 kick in order to get down with your bad self. They’re joined on the night by Brent Howarth and Brian ‘45’ Phillips – great value for £3 advance. Now, if we told you that Dave Seaman was DJing down a series of labyrinthine underground tunnels somewhere in Edge Hill then you’d be forgiven for thinking that we at The Skinny are a few sarnies short of a picnic. In fact, the Dave Seaman in question is former editor of Mixmag and current head of Selador Records, and has never sported a ponytail in his life. It’s worth heading down on 23 Nov just to check out how Liverpool’s Williamson Tunnels fare as a venue (£10); while on the same night at HAUS Warehouse there’s a night of psytrance courtesy of Soma Sonic. It’s their eighth birthday party, featuring Kasatka and Orchid Star (23 Nov, £10). Young gun Lauren Lo Sung and dubmaster general Benny Page are both in Manchester on 22 Nov at Kraak and Sound Control respectively (both £5). Decisions, decisions. There are even more choices to make the following weekend, as Santé rocks up to South on 29 Nov alongside floppy-haired honey magnet Sidney Charles (£10 early bird, £12 advance), and Dry Bar welcomes the prolific Belgian producer Kolombo for the Symmetry launch party (£15). On that Friday in Liverpool, you can also catch former Haçienda DJ Greg Wilson going back-to-back with longtime school friend Derek Kaye at Fallout Factory (29 Nov, £13.50). The Warehouse Project draws the month to a close on 30 Nov with Movement Detroit: it’s a mixed bag as Chez Damier and Levon Vincent are joined by Loco Dice, Scuba, Marcel Dettmann and headliner Sven Väth. The only two guys who are actually from the D are best mates Kyle Hall and Jay Daniel, the latter being the latest bright DJ talent to emerge from the Motor City. Oh, and Andrew Weatherall will surely shake things up as well, like the proverbial cat among pigeons that he is. It's sold out, but keep your eyes out. Me-ow. Ticket prices are advance unless otherwise specified; some events may be more on the door
THE SKINNY
Spotlight: Liam Pickford
BAND ON THE WALL
THE HOME OF REAL MUSIC
BOOK NOW: 0161 832 1111
Friday 1st Nov
manchesteracademy.net
In the first of a new series introducing exciting new voices in the Northwest, Liam Pickford identifies losing out to an Irish dancer at a talent show as the catalyst for his career
NOVEMBER The Boomtown Rats Friday 1st
Saturday 2nd Nov
IllumiNaughty – Halloween Central – Killerwatts Tristan / Avalon / Electrixx / The Freestylers / Hedflux / Red Sky Noise / Extra Love Saturday 2nd
Interview: John Stansfield Illustration: Camille Smithwick
MR SCRUFF KEEP IT UNREAL
Watsky Tuesday 5th
Thursday 7th November
3 DAFT MONKEYS
Bring Me The Horizon Monday 4th Joseph Whelan Monday 4th
Friday 8th November
Deap Vally Tuesday 5th
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DREAD ft DADDY ENGLISH + PHILLY B + MIKEY D.O.N
Dillinger Escape Plan Wednesday 6th Public Service Broadcasting Thursday 7th Unknown Mortal Orchestra Friday 8th Demons Of Ruby Mae + Delamere + Shanty + Mercury Field Saturday 9th
Saturday 9th November
HONEYFEET
Alice In Chains Monday 11th
Friday 15th November
The Wonder Years Wednesday 13th
THE HELIOCENTRICS
Gary Numan Thursday 14th
Saturday 16th November
Steven Lynch Live Thursday 14th
SECRET AFFAIR
Laura Veirs Friday 15th Road To Warped Tour: Escape The Fate + Chiodos Friday 15th
Friday 22nd November
CORNELL CAMPBELL MEETS SOOTHSAYERS
Vice Squad Saturday 16th Naughty Boy + Ella Eyre Saturday 16th
Tuesday 26 November
Television Sunday 17th
DEAD SKELETONS
Hayseed Dixie + Tom Copson Tuesday 19th
Friday 29th November
They Might Be Giants Wednesday 20th
DA LATA + DJ PATRICK FORGE
The Rifles Thursday 21st The Virginmarys Friday 22nd
Saturday 30th November
Lee Nelson Saturday 23rd
L
iam Pickford is a 24-year-old stand-up from Ashton-under-Lyne who for two years has been confusing and amusing crowds on the Northwest circuit. Winning the Manchester heat of BBC Radio’s New Comedy Award in 2012 and in the same year making the semi-finals of industry springboard the Chortle Student Comedy Awards, Pickford has continued to impress in the early stages of his career. Here he gives us the sum of his experiences so far. And his opinion on dogs. Influences: “The soft, forlorn rumblings of the relentlessly stamping jackboot of time. Russian books. Wacky, weird, legendary, mad, sick, lush stuff what people who are poor say on the bus.” First gig: “I did a talent competition when I attended university and they only put me through to the final because one of the jugglers did a racist ball routine. I lost to a girl who did Irish dancing in the final. I wish her all the very best. I went my own way on to the School of Facetious Answers. I think she’s either on heroin or a witness protection programme. I can’t say too much about it. The book will be out soon, though.”
Worst gig: “Definitely Epsom Racecourse last Christmas. It was akin to standing bereft at the precipice of a
November 2013
Ms Mr Sunday 24th Vuvuvultures Sunday 24th
Tuesday 3rd December
Barenaked Ladies Monday 25th
JOHN SMITH
The Fratellis Wednesday 27th
Thursday 5th December
The Dismemberment Plan Wednesday 27th
HIDDEN ORCHESTRA
Hudson Taylor Thursday 28th
Friday 6th December
Dan Baird Friday 29th
Circuit favourites in the Northwest: “I like Jayne Edwards, Jack Evans, David Stanier, Rachel Fairburn, Danny Sutcliffe and Fern Brady. They’re dead good.”
The Complete Stone Roses Saturday 30th
XFM FIRST FRIDAY WITH DJ JO GOOD
The Doors Alive Saturday 30th
Friday 13th December
Favourite venue: “The Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, which hosts the excellent Pigeon Hole comedy night, is lovely. It’s like a nan’s living room that’s been spaffed on by a cock of pure future.”
Papa Roach Thursday 5th
Best heckle: “There’s this bloke on the circuit who wears a papier-mâché dolphin mask and does fish puns. Someone shouted ‘They’re mammals!’ at him. It’s funny, informative and scientifically accurate. I don’t really remember any putdowns as I’m too busy being a cuddly Northern funster. I once ran at a heckler with a bin in Liverpool. That did the trick and gave people a thing to put rubbish in, which was nice for them.”
Alabama 3 Friday 13th
Flux Pavillion Saturday 30th
Aspirations: “I just want to be every household’s favourite cuddly northern funster, and host Saturday night gameshows like ‘Who’s Hiding In Barry?’ and ‘Punch the Pauper!’” Cats or dogs: “Both move about which is awful, but it’d have to be cats. Dogs are terrifying. They might look cute but if you look at them for long enough, you get the feeling that they’re thinking about woofing at your gran. Woofing the shit out of your gran.” Catch Liam at Sham Bodie, The Castle Hotel, Manchester, 7 Nov, 7.30pm, £10
BRAND NEW HEAVIES
DECEMBER Capercaillie Sunday 1st
Thursday 19th December
ROY AYERS
Watain Thursday 5th
Friday 20th December
White Lies Friday 6th
BAKED A LA SKA CHRISTMAS KNEES UP
Dutch Uncles Friday 6th For Those About To Rock: Livewire AC/DC & The ZZ Tops Saturday 7th
Saturday 21st December
CRAIG CHARLES FUNK & SOUL CLUB ft. HAGGIS HORNS LIVE
Gogol Bordello Saturday 14th Primal Scream Sunday 15th Levellers Friday 20th
Tuesday 31st December
2014
MR SCRUFF KEEP IT UNREAL NYE
The 1975 Monday 6th January dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip Sunday 19th January
Saturday 11th January
ERIC RANDOM + WRANGLER
Mayday Parade Thursday 30th January John Newman Friday 31st January Less Than Jake + Reel Big Fish Monday 3rd February
Tickets / Info:
bandonthewall.org ticketline.co.uk 0845 2 500 500
Ron Pope Tuesday 4th February Protest The Hero Thursday 6th February Phoenix Tuesday 11th February Architects Friday 7th March
Band on the Wall, Swan Street, Manchester M4 5JZ
Kodaline Wednesday 14th March Franz Ferdinand Saturday 22nd March Jagwar Ma. Saturday 10th May The Orb present ‘adventures beyond the ultraworld & UFOrb’ LIVE + Dr Alex Paterson presents ‘orb in dub’ Saturday 18th October
For full listings visit manchesteracademy.net
Photo © Rosanna Freedman
Best gig: “The Comedy Store in Manchester the other month was alright. Jack Whitehall was there and let me have the last beer in the fridge, which is the least he could’ve done really. All the women came up to me after and said ‘Hey, Liam, you provincial gorgepot, can I touch one of your right broad and gorgeous shoulders?’ and I said ‘Look, if you wanna see the ass, I gotta see the cash.’ Then one of them swooned at my face as I leapt onto the saddle of my supercool, flash burgundy mobility scooter and careered into the canal like Thelma AND Louise. Both of them. At once.”
CRAIG CHARLES FUNK & SOUL CLUB ft JUNGLE FIRE LIVE
Absolute Bowie Saturday 23rd
cold, lifeless chasm of colourless fire. The audience just weren’t ready for the soft power of my happy-go-lucky, cheeky, cuddly, cheeky, cuddly, Northern funster everyman persona. They just wanted dead baby jokes and more pâté. ‘More pâté!’ they cackled, as they mercilessly flung barbed insults like ‘fat bugger!’, ‘dweeb!’ and ‘dumbo!’ at my shot and shattered soul.”
XFM FIRST FRIDAY WITH DJ JO GOOD ft. CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN LIVE
@ImLiamPickford
COMEDY SKINNY.61x314.Master.indd 1
Preview 22/10/2013 16:40
43
November Film Events Let’s reappropriate Movember this month by cramming in as many mo-vie events as we can Words: Simon Bland
Computer Chess
Computer Chess
Blue Is the Warmest Colour
rrrrr
rrrrr
Director: Andrew Bujalski Starring: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, Wiley Wiggins Released: 22 Nov Certificate: 15
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche Starring: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux, Salim Kechiouche Released: 22 Nov Certificate: 18
A cursory glance at the new movie from Andrew Bujalski, which centres on a programming tournament taking place at a crummy hotel in the early 80s, where men (and one unicorn-like woman) with terrible clothes and hair do battle to see whose fridge freezer-sized computer is best at chess, might suggest a Christopher Guest-style satire. But it’s much more. This is a philosophical comedy as dense and complex as any programing algorithm. Like Bujalski’s previous wonderful films (Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation), Computer Chess is concerned with loneliness and miscommunication. And it’s not only the humans struggling to connect. One melancholic computer refuses to play against its fellow hardware: it will only match wits against a soul. Captured on vintage black and white video cameras that were obsolete decades ago, the aesthetic is as glitchy and idiosyncratic as the characters and their programs. Bujalski is credited as the inventor of the mumblecore sub-genre; this bracingly strange, often surreal movie requires a new classification. But, for now, let's go with brilliant. [Jamie Dunn]
Blue Is the Warmest Colour made history at Cannes this year when its leads, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux, shared the Palme d’Or with director Abdellatif Kechiche. In truth, the two stars might be more deserving of the prize than the filmmaker: it’s their astonishing performances that hold this sprawling film together. Over three hours, Kechiche explores the tumultuous relationship between Adèle (Exarchopoulos) and Emma (Seydoux), allowing us an extraordinary sense of intimacy not only through the sex scenes but also through their arguments, laughter, debates and many scenes of eating. At its best, Blue throbs with a vivid sense of real life and appears to be propelled forward by its characters’ emotions and choices. The experience of watching the film even comes to resemble the feeling of being in love – it’s a messy, unpredictable affair that provides both moments of exhilaration and moments of agonising emotional pain – but at the end of it all you’ll be glad you experienced it, and it’s something you won’t soon forget. [Philip Concannon]
Philomena
Don Jon
rrrrr
rrrrr
Director: Stephen Frears Starring: Steve Coogan, Judi Dench, Michelle Fairley Released: 1 Nov Certificate: 12A
In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Don Jon, the first-time director stars as the beefcake of the title, a cocky stud who has no trouble picking up women, but who still can’t resist the lure of internet porn. Sadly, it’s quickly revealed that this is about as deep as his characterisation goes, and GordonLevitt can’t do enough with this protagonist to justify building an entire feature film around him. Instead, Don Jon settles for repetition and crude gags, before opting for the kind of fake romantic-comedy epiphanies that it has earlier decried. Gordon-Levitt shows ample confidence, and some of his choices do pay off (e.g. unearthing Tony Danza), but he too often mistakes rapid-fire editing and boisterous energy for filmmaking style. This is the work of a young director reaching to impress without having fully formed ideas, and in a film about the objectification of women, it’s a shame that fine actresses such as Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore are stuck in such reductive roles. [Philip Concannon]
Future My Love
Leviathan
rrrrr
rrrrr
Might society soar if only we discharged the economic ballast? Such notions illuminate Swedish filmmaker Maja Borg’s debut feature, Future My Love, which flicks gracefully between documentary, road trip and love story. Journeying across the US with cardboard signs and candyfloss, Borg traces the indelible footsteps of Jacque Fresco to The Venus Project in Florida. Here, she speaks with the nonagenarian visionary who continues to self-subsist and hone his holistic model of a resource-based economy. Further inquiries connect everything from the price of tomatoes to the atom bomb. Super 8 footage and colour HD are delicately knitted together, and Borg’s poetic vision of her muse, Nadya Cazan, is enchantingly abstract. Complimented by a resonant orchestral score and feather-soft narration, Future My Love is beautiful, but never flimsy. While its originality resides in the suggestion we are married to damaging societal structures, its ambition lies in its faith we would ever consider a divorce. [Kirsty Leckie-Palmer]
44
Review
till in Hallowe’en mode? Liverpool Horror Festival gives Grimm Up North a run for its money by closing out their frightening fun at Eric’s Live on Matthew Street with Evil Dead Live on 1 Nov. This ear-shattering event will screen Sam Raimi’s 1981 splatter classic and Fede Alvarez’s admirable 2012 adaptation simultaneously, throwing in some live music for good measure. If you survive that, head to Liverpool’s FACT on 10 Nov where you’ll catch the eye-popping doc I Am Divine. This outrageous yet touching biopic of iconic drag queen Divine (aka Harris Glenn Milstead) boasts never-before-seen interviews – including one with Milstead’s late mother – and chronicles Divine’s hilarious path from bullied misfit to John Waters’ cinematic muse. Loud, proud and not to be missed. Meanwhile, My Noir season at Cornerhouse Manchester has a few more bleak beauties hiding up its sleeve, with Kiss Me Deadly (3 Nov), Mulholland Drive (19 Nov) and The Killing (27 Nov) screening this month, complete with postscreening chats.
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson Released: 15 Nov Certificate: 18
Philomena’s premise couldn’t be more hokey. Based on true events, the film is an odd-couple road movie following smart-aleck journo Martin Sixsmith (Coogan, giving off only the tiniest whiff of Partridge) as he investigates a human interest story about Philomena Lee, a little old Irish lady (Dench) searching for the child she was forced to give up for adoption after getting up the duff while training to be a nun. Director Frears knows a tale this sweet needs plenty of sharpness. Instead of some sickly mismatched friendship forming (see The King’s Speech), the class/age chasm between Philomena and Sixsmith remains uncrossed – in fact, a thin veil of prickly contempt hangs over the relationship ‘til the final scenes. This salty-sweet flavour is enriched by a consistent flow of gags. But what makes Philomena so winning is the sophisticated way in which it condemns the behaviour of the Catholic Church without denigrating people of faith – a delicate tightrope act that has given plenty of more high-minded films vertigo. [Jamie Dunn] Director: Maja Borg Starring: Jacque Fresco, Roxanne Meadows, Nadya Cazan Released: 15 Nov Certificate: 12A
S
Director: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel Starring: Fish, Fishermen, Birds Released: 29 Nov Certificate: 12A Paravel and Castaing-Taylor’s non-narrative, anthropological collaboration – both a documentary and an abstract horror film – depicts the mayhem of life and labour on a large fishing vessel through chaotic, overwhelming first-person footage on the ship, under it and even above it. The name comes from that biblical terror from the sea, and the film is a thundering beast itself. In its opening stretches, what’s on screen feels almost primordial. The world is clearly our own but unrecognisable; the visceral noise, rusty colours and images, like fish-blood geysers from the side of the ship, feel straight out of some vision of the apocalypse. It’s this quality that makes a late sequence that simply observes an exhausted man staring at a television, and looking almost like a husk, a profoundly moving sight after the prior sensory rush. Leviathan is likely like nothing you’ve ever seen, with filmmaking methods you can barely comprehend, and it absolutely demands to be seen on the big screen. [Josh Slater-Williams]
FILM
It Happened in St Tropez
Next up, Lebowski-fest comes to Manchester to revisit Coen Brothers’ fan-fave The Big Lebowski at the Dancehouse Theatre on 14 Nov. Tickets to this Kahlua-fuelled night come complete with a White Russian and two more Kahlua cocktails to keep you happy while you watch. The Dude abides and you should too. White Russians not your thing, man? Why not exchange Lebowski for the innovative Notations at Manchester’s Kraak Gallery, also on 14 Nov. Created by Vicki Bennett, this visual and aural experience combines hundreds of clips featuring gestures and instructions that are to be conveyed on stage by a team of improv artists picked specifically by Bennett herself. The end result promises to be a completely unique and energetic performance. Manchester also plays host to the 17th UK Jewish Film Festival this month with a handful of screenings spread across Didsbury and the city centre. There’s lots to see but if you can catch only one, make it French rom-com It Happened in St Tropez on 3 Nov at Didsbury Cineworld. And finally, the Flashback Film Series keep us warm ‘til Christmas by showing a classic movie every Monday evening. Starting from 4 Nov you’ll find Full Metal Jacket, Stand By Me, Fargo and Cocktail to keep you smiling as the nights get darker.
THE SKINNY
Red River
8½
The White Dove / Josef Kilián
rrrrr
rrrrr
rrrrr
Director: Howard Hawks Starring: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift Released: Out now Certificate: U Howard Hawks made so many great films that it’s inevitable a few are unjustly overlooked. One such film is 1948 western Red River, which offers a prime example of Hawks using a tried-and-trusted template to explore complex themes. It’s a fascinating study of masculine codes and an attempt to de-mythologise the legend of the cattle trail, but that subtext is in service to a grandly entertaining adventure, which ranks alongside the finest work of all involved. The central conflict between Wayne and Clift brings the best out in both actors (“I didn’t know the big son of a bitch could act,” John Ford said of Wayne after seeing the film), but Hawks also makes sure the men don’t have it all their own way. The scene in which Joanne Dru shrugs off an arrow to the shoulder to trade flirtatious dialogue is perhaps the most Hawksian moment in a film full of them. [Philip Concannon]
Director: Federico Fellini Starring: Marcello Mastroianni Released: 11 Nov Certificate: 15
Director: František Vláčil Starring: Karel Smyczek, Vjaceslav Irmanov Released: Out now Certificate: PG
Eight and a half films into his career, Fellini decided it was time to turn the camera inward. 8½ is a portrait of a creatively blocked filmmaker (Mastroianni) reaching crisis point, beset by memories and fantasies as he searches for the right path. The path Fellini eventually chose proved to be colour – 8½ was his last black and white film and marks a clear divide in his career – but the images captured here by the great Gianni Di Venanzo are some of the most memorable in cinema. From the opening dream sequence, Fellini dazzles and confounds the viewer with one extraordinary scene after another, finding endless beauty and mystery in the women from Guido’s past, including Claudia Cardinale, Sandra Milo and Anouk Aimée. This singular film is playful, bitter, enigmatic and undeniably self-indulgent, but it’s also one of cinema’s most extraordinary acts of creative expression, and grows more stimulating and ambiguous with each viewing. [Philip Concannon]
Before Kes, Czech master František Vlácil’s 1960 feature debut The White Dove told of another young boy caring for a prized bird, here a carrier pigeon intended for a small island in the Baltic Sea that gets lost in Prague along the way. Míša (Smyczek), a child seemingly unable to walk, shoots and injures the bird with a pellet gun. His artist neighbour seeks to make the boy feel the full weight of his actions regarding this likely fatality, but it is Míša’s faith that helps rehabilitate the bird, as well as conquer his own psychological condition. Thriving as both humanist tale and survival fable regarding totalitarianism at the time, this is a haunting film of oft-stunning visual poetry – its haunting imagery is enriched by Zdenek Liška’s frequently otherworldly score. Pavel Jurácek and Jan Schmidt’s Kafka-inspired comedy short Josef Kilián, once suppressed after the Soviet invasion, is paired with Vlácil’s film in this set. [Josh Slater-Williams]
Halloween
The Heat
Hummingbird
rrrrr
rrrrr
rrrrr
Director: John Carpenter Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis Released: Out now Certificate: 18
John Carpenter’s iconic horror defined the slasher genre and for many it’s never been bettered. Looking at it today, it’s startling just how simple it is, free of the dreaded bloat of more modern horror films that can’t help but over-complicate themselves. ‘The Shape’ is a nebulous terrifying boogeyman stalking Lori Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), the perfect ‘final girl.’ Carpenter lets us use our imaginations to fill in the blanks and the result is one of the most effective, frightening films there is. This 35th anniversary release adds an all new hour-long documentary filmed at HorrorHound 2012, where Curtis made a onetime-only appearance to meet lifelong fans of the series. Anchor Bay have also revisited the visuals and produced a much better transfer than the previous Blu-ray release. This, plus a newly recorded audio commentary from Carpenter and Curtis, makes this an essential Blu-ray for fans. [Scott McKellar]
BOOK OF THE MONTH
Director: Paul Feig Starring: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy Released: 25 Nov Certificate: 15
Bridesmaids definitively proved for the umpteenth time to a sexist Hollywood that, yes, women can be funny, and yes, they can be funny without the film descending into a Bechdel test-failing slushfest. Director Paul Feig returns along similar lines here, but, without the benefit of a razor-sharp Kristen Wiig script, it’s not quite the surprise triumph that earlier film turned out to be. Painted with broad, crowd-pleasing (and studio-pleasing) strokes, the laughs come a little clumsier and more cartoonish than you might hope, but at least they come. Sandra Bullock – alumni of many of those aforementioned slushfests – plays a tough and unlikeable career-driven FBI agent, who finds herself unwittingly thrust into buddy-cop territory with brusque Boston beat detective Melissa McCarthy. McCarthy, a comedy juggernaut, comfortably steals most of her scenes, and while the script rarely surprises, it is often funny. And on that point, happily, gender is irrelevant. [John Nugent]
Bang Said the Gun
Director: Steven Knight Starring: Jason Statham, Agata Buzek Released: Out now Certificate: 15 If you’re expecting another manic actioner, you could be disappointed by Jason Statham’s latest, which swaps OTT gunplay for religious symbolism and a broken man struggling to do the right thing. After being attacked while sleeping on the streets, a homeless ex-soldier (Statham) starts squatting in a rich businessman’s flat and becomes embroiled in the London underworld. As he makes a name for himself, he’s forced to choose between revenge and possible redemption through the love of a young nun who runs a local homeless shelter. What’s most unexpected about Steven Knight’s film is a very committed performance from Statham, who clearly isn’t afraid to take chances. Yes, there’s some action here and there and a few sly nods to his gay fans, but Hummingbird shows that he’s quite capable of being a credible actor when pushed. It doesn’t all quite come together, but it’s a worthy attempt by the Stath to stretch himself. [Scott McKellar]
The Vampyre Family
By Various
rrrrr
By Andrew McConnell Stott
Personae
rrrrr
By Sergio De La Pava
In the Rosary Garden
By Nicola White
rrrrr
rrrrr
Postmodern to the core, Sergio De La Pava’s Personae starts out telling the story of Detective Helen Tame – musical prodigy/polymathic essayist extraordinaire turned homicide cop – as she tries to impose order on the chaos of the cosmos one case at a time. De La Pava’s boundlessly kinetic prose, however, sends it tearing off away from this conventional central narrative, touching down in existential quandaries, metatextual discourses on the art of writing, intertextual dissections of the work of the great Gabriel García Márquez, hallucinogenic theological debates in the jungle of Colombia and a two-act play that reads something like a mesmerising marriage of Samuel Beckett and Lewis Carroll, before briefly checking in with the original story once again. There’s a moment during the play in which one character, to the total disbelief of his compatriots, suddenly and inexplicably pulls a sword out of thin air. At many of its more mindbending twists and turns, Personae often leaves the reader with a similar sense of dumbfounded perplexity, but by combining its absurdist wit and fierce intelligence with a core of heartfelt emotion, it remains completely irresistible even when it’s being more than a little incomprehensible. [Ross McIndoe] Out now, published by University of Chicago Press, RRP £12
The Bang Said the Gun anthology has been described as a collection for ‘people who don’t like poetry.’ Indeed, those unmoved by gushing sonnets, couplets or quatrains will be relieved by the collection’s accessibility, but for those that know a thing or two about a canzone, they too will be able to marvel at the collection and its deceivingly simple form. This anthology has the ability to unify both sides by compiling a miscellany of modern voices who skilfully address contemporary conditions in contemporary terms. As Ian McMillan outlines in his foreword, Bang Said the Gun developed from a poetry night at The Roebuck in the seventies. Forty years on and the night is stronger than ever. This anthology brings together the big noise poets such as Kate Tempest, Hollie McNish, and Rob Auton who have ‘experienced sublime delight of the BSTG vortex’ of The Roebuck. It is a kaleidoscopic literary treat, packing in rants about air hostesses who refuse to give pens, the Jolly Green Giant and the bitter-sweet innocence of an autistic child. This collection of twenty-something poets is pulsing with energy, bringing the mundane to life with smack and sardonic tone. [Maria Whelan] Out now, published by Burning Eye Books, RRP £12
Halfway through the book, there’s a quote from Samuel Johnson: ‘The best advice to authors would be, that they should keep out of the way of one another.’ To say The Vampyre Family bears out this dictum is putting it lightly indeed. In the summer of 1816, a group of authors – Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori – came to the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva. Stott’s group biography covers the build-up to and aftermath of their stay, paying particular attention to the group’s lesser-known members, John and Claire. The former, who also served as the group’s doctor, is best remembered for writing The Vampyre, an influential if creaky gothic novel, while the latter, Mary’s half-sister, had her astonishing precocity arrested and her life ruined by a maniacal devotion to Byron, who fathered her child but couldn’t have cared less. It’s a meticulously researched book, but for the most part it wears its research lightly. The narrative is brisk, vivid and sinuous, skilfully taking in the larger Romantic milieu while sticking close to the fiery interactions of the principal characters – and with his loving focus on hitherto sidelined figures, Stott manages to illuminate and revivify a brief moment in history that’s been all but written-out. [Kristian Doyle]
Nicola White’s debut novel begins with the shocking discovery of a dead baby in the grounds of a convent school in 1980s Ireland. From there we follow the stories of Ali Hogan, the young woman who finds the baby and is promptly brought to national attention by a vampiric media, and Detective Swan, who is assigned the task of discovering the infant’s fate. For the latter, White moves seamlessly into the tropes of the detective genre, giving Swan his own troubled personal life, useless partner, and steadfast determination to get to the bottom of the case. Ali’s attempts to find her own voice and position as she is paraded on national television allow an exploration of the novel’s central examination of sexuality, religion and, most centrally, abortion in the Irish state. In the Rosary Garden is an accomplished debut that handles its difficult themes with care, guided by the natural voice of an author who lived in Ireland at the time and witnessed the maelstrom of issues at the forefront of society. While the treatment is hardly groundbreaking, the novel deftly weaves together its various elements to present an engaging, non-didactic look at how this issue affected and continues to affect a developing Irish identity. [Ryan Rushton] Out now, published by Cargo, RRP £8.99
Out 7 Nov, published by Canongate, RRP £25
November 2013
DVD / BOOKS
Review
45
(Left) Nashashibi/Skaer, Ambassador (2005) (Right) Liliane Lijn, What is the Sound of One Hand Clapping? (1973)
The Narrators
Salt Mine, Cheshire (1814)
between artists working generations apart reveal something special in both the historic and contemporary works. A distinct lack of directions inadvertently rrrrr The slogan ‘Heroin Kills’ in cold granite is not leads the visitor on an art treasure-hunt within something you expect to see among the Walker the Walker’s historical displays. There is, howArt Gallery’s Victorian portraits. A work by artists ever, a map to direct you to the second strand of Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan, this interven- the exhibition, hosted by independent artisttion is part of the Walker’s latest exhibition, The led space The Royal Standard, which explores Narrators, where modern and contemporary art- alternative narratives around existing objects, works from the Arts Council Collection have been archives and collections. It has a multiplex cinema feel; entering a large, darkened room, you’re selected to create new language and meaning within the Walker’s collection of fine and decora- bombarded with noise from all films simultaneously until you decide where to focus your attentive art – for example, on the gallery’s first floor tion. Simon Martin’s video Carlton closely scrulanding, Becky Beasley’s black-and-white sculptinises a wacky 1980s room divider – an analysis tural photographs are placed in visual dialogue that later develops to decipher the work’s underwith Auguste Rodin’s 19th-century sculptures lying connections to art and society. Although a from the Walker’s collection (Rodin was one of the first sculptors to use photography in the pro- different narrative angle on the Walker’s delicate interventions, the selected films maintain the cess of making sculpture). desire to source new and alternative meanings. Stand-out interventions include the rarely [Emma Sumner] exhibited Suncycle by British concrete poet and artist Kenelm Cox, exhibited within a cabinet of Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, until 16 Mar, Mon-Sun 10amthe Walker’s neoclassical sculptures, and the 5pm, free subtle inclusion of E’wao Kagoshima’s Stopped The Royal Standard, Liverpool, until 17 Nov, Fri and Sat 12Liquid (cup), its pouring motion resting perfectly 5pm or by appointment, free within a cabinet of Victorian decorative art. www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker These clever exposures of unexpected parallels
Jeremy Deller: All That Is Solid Melts Into Air
WIN A DEER WALL ADORNMENT!
WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO SEE LOW IN LIVERPOOL!
Walker Art Gallery/ The Royal Standard, Liverpool
www.the-royal-standard.com
Manchester Art Gallery, until 19 Jan
rrrrr
Like the lines of a family tree, Jeremy Deller uses artworks, objects and historical accounts to create a personal view of the cultural, sociological and technological impact of the Industrial Revolution today. The cities of Manchester, Preston and Salford, among others, provide Deller with a wealth of material and bring an interesting local perspective to the exhibition. A set of rules from c.1830 for the workers in the Church Street Mills in Preston acts as a particularly chilling reminder of factory working conditions of the 19th century – while contemporary working conditions are also a focus through the work of Ben Roberts and Ed Hall, with Roberts’ photographs of Amazon.com’s cavernous warehouses presenting a shiny, sterile working environment that is not that far removed from the 19th-century Mills. Hall’s banner, emblazoned with a text sent to a worker on a zero-hour contract, hangs next to an Amalgamated Engineers Union banner from the 1890s that conversely celebrates the working week shortening by one hour. Images and ideas reoccur throughout the exhibition;
the apocalyptic fires in John Martin’s The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah are repeated in the video of a steelworks in 1945, and again in a mural behind a jukebox full of folk songs and industrial sounds. It is through this repetition that Deller is able to finely tune his narrative. Today’s audiences are all too familiar with the idea of the rise of a ‘nobody’ to a celebrity (see: The X Factor). Here, Deller tracks Brian Ferry, Shaun Ryder and Noddy Holder through their family’s working history. All three from industrial working class origins, they have become world-famous rock stars transcending their family lineage – and their family trees echo the story of wrestler Adrian Street, which is played out in a film made by Deller. Connecting the past with the contemporary general public is a major role that museums play, and for All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, Deller performs the role of curator, historian and sociocultural anthropologist, successfully collecting ideas and narratives to create an aesthetic experience that captures the past and connects it in new ways to our present. [Ali Gunn] Mon-Sun 10am-5pm, Thursdays until 9pm, free www.manchestergalleries.org
Low
With a fantastic range of designer homewares, statement jewellery, artist-led gifts, prints and posters, BALTIC SHOP is perfect for saving your Christmas shopping from dullsville. BALTIC SHOP can be found at international art gallery BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, and sells online all year round. If you’re not heading further North soon, order online at shop.balticmill.com and have everything delivered to your door. There are gift wrap options too. Get 15% off when ordering over £50 by using promo code SKINN13.
46
Review
BALTIC SHOP is giving away this striking acrylic Miho Unexpected Deer Head to adorn your wall. For a chance to win one from a choice of white, mint green or black, simply head over to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and correctly answer the following question: Whose first single was called Lovely Head? A) B) C)
Goldfrapp Oasis The Beatles
Competition closes midnight Sun 1 Dec. 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 terms and conditions can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms.
Storied indie rock trio Low are set to play an allseated concert in the magnificent surroundings of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral on 18 November, in their only Northwest date.
of 2013’s most memorable gigs.
Touring in support of magnificent new LP The Invisible Way, the trio turned in a majestic performance on Later… with Jools Holland earlier in the year.
To be in with a chance of winning one of the pairs, simply head over to theskinny.co.uk/about/ competitions and correctly answer the following question:
Produced by Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, the group’s tenth album showcases the band’s slowburning melodies and wondrous harmonies to dazzling effect, and was the recipient of huge critical acclaim.
Which legendary US indie label are Low currently signed to?
Folktronica act Barbarossa provide excellent support. The Memphis Industries signings led by James Mathé released lauded single The Load in April, prior to the release of a highly anticipated second album. Don’t miss out on what will be one
ART / COMPETITIONS
Thanks to Harvest Sun Promotions, we have two pairs of tickets to give away.
A) Matador B) Sub Pop C) Jagjaguwar Competition closes midnight Sun 10 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 terms and conditions can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms.
THE SKINNY
Firearms and Fingertips
Firearms and Fingertips Royal Exchange Studio, Manchester, 27-30 Nov
Spencer has been shot. He’s lying in a hospital bed, in an operating room. Doctors are swarming all around him, and his mother is waiting desperately at his bedside. It doesn’t look good – Spencer is going into shock. Now enter Chalice and Brown – two agents of death looking to kill some time until the Grim Reaper comes to call – who pull Spencer into their twisted game show, cheerfully called ‘This Is Your Death,’ and while away the time by messing with his head, pulling him further into their deathly antics. Such is the plot of Firearms and Fingertips, a dark comedy and very modern tale about the effect of gun crime on society. It’s a grim and serious topic, and at first look this isn’t a play you might imagine yourself laughing through – yet comedy it is, and it incorporates multi-media facets, including a live soundtrack presented by DJ Rasp, to tell its story. Liverpool-born director James Shaw wants to stress that this is a play written to entertain, and that it should be enjoyed despite – or rather, subversively, because
of – its grave subject matter. “Hopefully you’re just going to be sitting there laughing, and thinking, why am I laughing?” he says. While Shaw says it’s not written with any particular audience in mind, Firearms and Fingertips is a play about young people – main character and gunshot victim Spencer is only 15 years old. “It’s a play for anyone who wants to see it,” he says, “but it’s under the umbrella of gun crime and things like that – certain circumstances for young people today… access to guns is quite big, especially for young people, they can just get a gun easily. ” That said, Shaw stresses that he isn’t trying to lecture or patronise his audience. “I just want it to be something that’s good to watch. Especially for young people who wouldn’t normally want to go to theatres. It hasn’t got this moralistic lesson in it,” he continues. “It’s got no message – it’s a dark comedy and it’s just got this ‘what happens if you play with guns?’ question.” [Conori Bell-Bhuiyan] Royal Exchange Studio, Manchester, 27-30 Nov, £12 (£10) www.royalexchange.co.uk
Dragon
Dragon
The Lowry, Salford Quays, 8-9 Nov From the first glimpse of the cotton wool clouds hanging from a brooding sky, it is with a sense of wonder that you watch Dragon. Wonder at the choreographed dance of events, wonder at the precise execution of the story and wonder at the glorious dragons brought to life by puppetry. Co-produced by Vox Motus, National Theatre of Scotland and the Tianjin Children’s Arts Theatre, Dragon is full of wonder, and is wonderful. Since his mother’s death, Tommy’s life has taken a nose dive. His dad is catatonic with grief, his sister barely sees him and he’s being bullied at school. All alone and with no-one to turn to his life changes when one night he looks outside straight into the eyes of a dragon. The dragon enables Tommy to cope with all the change. It has many guises: a wooden dragon with a devilish sense of humour morphs into a
“A panto th at’s ahead of its streets rivals” LIVERP OOL POST
wispy one who entices and then transforms to give him courage and flight. Another feeds and needles him before a massively beautiful one is tamed. Tommy’s relationship with his dragon and thus himself is ever growing and changing. The play finally heads towards the climax where Tommy realises he can neither outrun his dragon, nor his own anger. Endlessly creative, superbly balancing pathos with humour, the adventure transforms Tommy from boy to young man, and this being a play without words ensures that everyone gains some insight alongside him. With seamless performances from the ensemble, Dragon is a play for older children and adults alike. [Susannah Radford] The Lowry, Salford Quays, 8-9 Nov, £9, £10-14 www.thelowry.com
“Will have any audi ence leaving the theatre with hu ge plastered all over th smiles eir faces” LIVERPOOL SOUND
AND VISION
“Everything ap funny, magic anto should be – al a bit bonkers and more than ” LIVERPOOL ECHO
In Association With With
Press reviews and photographs from the 2012 Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto
November 2013
THEATRE
Preview
47
Manchester Music Tue 29 Oct ROBERT PLANT
O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, FROM £40
Aye, him of Led Zeppelin fame takes his rock’n’roll self out on the road solo with his Sensational Space Shifters. ALLO DARLIN’
SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £8
Musical-magpies Allo Darlin’ borrow from a variety of classic indie-pop acts for their homagestyled indie-pop loveliness. OZRIC TENTACLES (FORKED TONGUE)
BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £13
INNER SENSE PERCUSSION BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £10 ADV. (£14 DOOR)
30 performers take to the stage for a samba extravganza, celebrating their 25th performance as Inner Sense Percussion.
Fri 01 Nov
PARADISE LOST (LACUNA COIL + KATATONIA)
THE RITZ, 18:00–22:30, £22.50
Longstanding gothic metal-styled hellraisers, taking to the road in celebration of their 25th anniversary.
The psychedelic space rockers take to the UK armed with a 28-strong back catalogue of albums, celebrating 30 years of music-making.
RED KITE (DAN FISHER + THE RED SUNS) THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £6
Alternative six-piece outfit hailing from London, signed to The Shipping Forecast label.
Sun 03 Nov
THE ICARUS LINE (OUR MAN IN THE BRONZE AGE)
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £8
Joe Cardamone and his band stick to what they know best: untamed rock’n’roll performed with bags of confidence. TRC
SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–23:00, £7
Aggressive hardcore seven-piece hailing from
London, blending street punk with underground hip-hop.
BOY GEORGE
ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–23:00, £25
GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £11
Wed 30 Oct
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS (SHILPA RAY) O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT
Throughout his thirty year career with the Bad Seeds, Nick Cave has nary put a cloven hoof wrong – with newest LP, Push the Sky Away, further testament to that. Go clamour for a ticket to the album’s live airing. SUEDE (TELEMAN)
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £26.50
The Brett Anderson-led alternative rockers continue to ride the wave of their reunion. RAFFERTIE
SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £5
The sharply-dressed, Ninja Tune signee, Raffertie brings his unique style of electronic music to Manchester. VISTA CHINO (MONSTER TRUCK)
THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £17.50
American rock band formerly known as Kyuss Lives!, touring under their new line up that excludes a certain Mr Josh Homme. HUMANFLY (CYRIL SNEAR)
KRAAK, 19:30–23:00, £5
Leeds-based four-piece making ‘impossibly long songs’ take their latest release, Awesome Science, to a live setting.
Thu 31 Oct BAD GRAMMAR
DULCIMER, 19:30–22:30, £5
Riffy, fuzzy pop songs from the Manchester-based duo, Ben Forrester and Lucy Brown.
A SPECIAL CHARITY CONCERT FOR ST MARYS HOSPITAL BABY UNIT (DUB SEX + MARK BURGESS + THE CORNELIUS CRANE + MARY JOANNE AND THE SOUTHERN ELECTRIKK) THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £10
BEATY HEART (ETCHES) THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £5
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £7
BEAR’S DEN
LUKE SITAL-SINGH (ADY SULEIMAN)
Promising young London singer/ songwriter with an innate ability to capture the raw emotion of a moment in song. FREE GIG FRIDAY (CORVIDS)
THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £8
London-based trio led by folkster Andrew Davie (formerly of Cherbourg). NO JOY
NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £6
Canadian shoegazing duo made up of Jasamine White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd.
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £7
A unique performance combining Arabic and electronic music with 16mm film projections and light projections aimed to alter the space; no two JIMH performances have ever been the same, and even after eight years has resisted official documentation.
RIDING THE LOW (BONE BOX + THE JUNGFRAUS)
Five-piece rock outfit, fond of lo-fi, raw guitar sounds.
JOHN WIZARDS (THE YOSSARIANS)
SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–23:00, £5
Hailing from Cape Town, and formed by chance after John Withers and Emmanuel Nzaramba shared their love of music and pieced together an ensemble to help translate their travels and influences into songs. HOWLING RHYTHM HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA
NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–03:00, £5
Howling Rhythm returns for a Hallowe’en special, with live sets from The Suns and The Wax Collection, followed by soul and Motown belters from the Howling Rhythm DJs. BOMBINO
BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–23:00, £10
Desert rock pioneer, aka Omara Moctar, hailing from Agadez, touring with his latest album, Nomad.
Sat 02 Nov SPECTOR
GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT
The happy-go-lucky London ensemble churn out the pop tunes, still riding high on the release of their debut LP.
JERUSALEM IN MY HEART
ISLINGTON MILL, 19:30–00:00, £6
SIR SLY
SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £7
Self-described sly-fi trio hailing from California, made up of Landon Jacobs, Jason Suwito, and Hayden Coplen, touring on the run up to the release of their likely synthladen EP, Gold. COVER DRIVE
SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £8.50
Touring with their debut album, Bajan Style, the Caribpop fourpiece bring the easy breezy sounds of their native Barbados to the UK for their tour. BLOOD ON THE DANCEFLOOR
MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £9
Electro-pop duo based in Phoenix, Arizona, touring with their latest album, Bad Blood.
Tue 05 Nov
THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND (KINO DINOSAUR) GORILLA, 19:00–23:00, £12.50
ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:00–23:00, £14
The self-proclaimed ‘party band’ hit the road for their current UK tour, all beats, bleeps and rousing indie choruses.
STEVE MASON
MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £10.50
THE STAVES
The Beta Band frontman plays a solo set, still riding high on his early 2013 LP, Monkey Minds in the Devil’s Time – a catalytic call-toarms with a mantric message sure to get the blood a-pumping.
Listings
Mon 04 Nov
Fill your Friday night with free live music – guests and DJs selected by a different band each week.
SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–23:00, £5
48
TUNDE BAIYEWU
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £19
Nigeria-born pop and soul musician, touring with his new album, Diamond In A Rock.
Headline set from Communion Records all-female folk harmony trio.
Following the release of their debut album, Infatracts, the Philadelphia-based duo, Metasplice, bring their industrial rhythms and reverb-drenched sound to the Northwest.
Following his sell-out Meltdown performance, the 80s new romanticist returns with his first new studio album of original material in almost two decades.
London-based three-piece making psychedelic pop music – formed at Goldsmith’s College out of a video-art and music collective.
A special evening raising money for St Marys Hospital baby unit, with live music from local Manchester bands. METASPLICE
SKINNY LISTER THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £8 (£7)
Apocalytpic pop from the Melbourne-hailing artist, mashing up kraut, punk, surf and pop into one psych rock whole.
North Wales singer/songwriter all sparkling melodies and deft lyrical turns.
NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–02:00, £8
ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, 19:30–23:00, £10 ADV. (£12 DOOR)
THE SAINTS
On and off rock lot formed in 1976 in Australia, back on the road following the release of their latest album, King of the Sun.
THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £16.50
DEAP VALLY
Primal, bluesy, LA rock’n’roll duo consisting of crochet pals Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards, out touring their rather fine debut LP. WATSKY
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £12
The emerging San Franciscoan hip-hop chap does his slam poetry thing, still riding high on his 2011 viral track, Pale Kid Raps Fast.
EMILY BARKER AND THE RED CLAY HALO
Australian folk singer/songwriter with keen pop sensibilities, touring with her 2013 release, Dear River.
Wed 06 Nov
36 CRAZYFISTS (ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE + THERA + THIS IS TURIN)
NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–02:00, £7
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £12.50
BIG DEAL
Experimental London duo, all ethereal and lovely like. TURIN BRAKES
GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £20
The London folk rock ensemble perform their classic album, The Optimist, in honour of its 10th anniversary. BLANCMANGE
THE BIRTHDAY SUIT
PARQUET COURTS (MAZES + HOOKWORMS)
Man of many talented guises – amongst them filmmaker, pianist, author and composer – Michael Nyman plays a live set, composed of music from his Peter Greenway soundtracks.
RICH MCNEVIN-DUFF THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £TBC
ROADHOUSE, 19:00–22:30, £7
After their meteoric rise, the all-female Californian quartet return to show just what they can do with the indie-rock template, via shades of goth and dance dripping in ethereal harmonies and grooves.
MICHAEL NYMAN
NATIVES THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £7
The original 80s English synthpopsters take to the road again.
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £15
ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–23:00, £27.50
SWEET BABOO NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–02:00, £7
SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £18
WARPAINT (PINS + MARTINA TOPLEYBIRD)
The NYC ensemble make their way to the Northwest, mixing up punk-rock and indie in their own inimitable way.
JACKSON SCOTT SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £5
Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones plays with his new band, The Birthday Suit – an ever-changing collective of musicians. FRIGHTENED RABBIT
THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £15.50
The mighty F’Rabbit take some time out from conquering the US-of-A – where they’ve spent the past two months – to play a series of UK dates, a selection of new tunes quite rightly in tow. JACCO GARDNER
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £6
Baroque pop multi-instrumentalist from the Netherlands, creating a unique sound by combining the sounds of harpsichord, strings, flutes and other classical instruments with raw psychedelic effects. ENABLERS (MIKE O’NEIL + MONSTER ISLAND + WOLVES IN THE GAY MEADOW + LOCEAN)
KRAAK, 19:30–23:00, £6
San Francisco indie rockers featuring the poetry/spoken word of Pete Simonelli. FYFE
GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £5
Fresh-faced Londoner, providing a hefty blend of folk meets electronics layered up with moody vocals. DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £14
Hardcore metal four-piece from New Jersey, touring their latest album, One Of Us Is The Killer, with a slightly modified line-up of players. KAL + SATELLITE STATE DISKO
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £10
KAL tour their new abum, Romoloy, while Manchester DJ collective Satellite State Disko provide some Balkan beats.
Thu 07 Nov VESSELS
SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £8
Impressive Leeds quintet trading in jilting melodies, soaring waves of feedback-driven noise and vocals that possess an almost crystalline clarity. FUTURE OF THE LEFT
GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £10
The Welsh alternative rockers tour their current re-jigged, beefed-up line-up. MARK LANEGAN (DUKE GARWOOD)
ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–23:00, £20
Mark Lanegan brings his soulful baritone to bear, touring in celebration of his eighth album – a collection of his favourite songs including covers of Andy Williams, Nick Cave and Frank Sinatra – playing with recent musical co-pilot, Duke Garwood. PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING (STORY BOOKS)
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £18
Experimental duo who sample old public information films and archive material and set them to new music, making for a pretty special live set. SWISS LIPS
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £7
Mancunian quintet of the danceable electro-pop variety, fizzing along on Balearic-esque beats.
Alaskan heavy metal outfit, still going strong some 18 years on. THE HALLÉ
BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11 (£3)
The Hallé orchestra perform pieces by Stravinsky, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky, conducted by Sir Mark Elder. BISON AND WOLF (BLOSSOMS + BEARS OF BRASOV + MIDDLE FINGER SALUTE + NATURAL TENDENCY)
ROADHOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £TBC
Staffordshire-based four piece likened to The Maccabees with a nod to Biffy Clyro, named after a BBC documentary following a pack of wolves as they hunted a bison. MOUNT KIMBIE
THE RITZ, 20:00–23:00, £12.50
Minimal electronic duo, made up of Dominic Maker and Kai Campos, touring their second release, Cold Spring Fault Less Youth. 3 DAFT MONKEYS (CHRIS OSTLER) BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £10
The Cornwall-hailing trio making acoustic alternative folk head out on the road to show off their latest album, Of Stones & Bones.
Fri 08 Nov NICK HARPER
THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–20:30, £10
The English singer/songwriter and guitarist does his acoustic folk-rock thing, complete with trademark acerbic lyrics. MARILLION
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £25
Steve Hogarth’s longstanding band of rockers, currently also writing and recording their 17th studio album. UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £12
Portland-based three piece making alternative indie-rock with a healthy dose of electronic influence.
FREE GIG FRIDAY (CHEESUS CRUST RECORDS PRESENTS)
Hampshire-hailing pop-rockers formerly known as Not Advised. MT. WOLF
FALLOW CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £6
The South London dream folksters do their thing in a suitably intimate setting, all hazy electronica, acoustic guitar and whisper-quiet harmonies. HONEYFEET
BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £6
Singer/songwriter hailing from Manchester, formerly of the Acoustic Space Monkeys.
Sun 10 Nov
THE BOOK CLUB (LIBERTY SHIP)
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £3
Sheffield-based four-piece, currently signed to Linky Records. OBLIVIONIZED
KRAAK, 19:30–23:00, £5
The Manchester-based six-piece, making raucous and rowdy folkhop, led by the distinct vocals of Rioghnach Connolly.
Dark metal bunch hailing from London, embarking on a Europewide tour with their latest release, This Septic Isle.
THE DANCEHOUSE, 19:30–23:00, £11.50
Mon 11 Nov
MONEY
The Manchester outfit, recently signed to Bella Union, take to a live setting with their new album, The Shadow of Heaven – a gem of an LP with with Jamie Lee’s soft crooning vocals once again taking centre stage. POKEY LAFARGE
GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £14
Country blues and early jazz restyled for the 21st century, thanks to the suited-and-booted St Louis musician. THE BLOW MONKEYS
SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £15
Mid-80s pop ensemble led by Robert Howard (known rather freakily to his fans by his Beatles-inspired stage name, Dr. Robert). ZEBRA KATZ
ROKIA TRAORE
ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–23:00, £15 (£13.50)
Mali-born singer/songwriter and winner of the 2003 BBC Radio 3 World Music Award, touring with her fifth album, Beautiful Africa, featuring lyrics sung in her native languages of French and Bambara, with some English. ALICE IN CHAINS (GHOST + WALKING PAPERS)
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 18:30–23:00, £27.50
The US-of-A rockers tour offa the back of their fifth LP, with new vocalist William DuVall at the helm. MUTYA KEISHA SIOBHAN (MIKE HOUGH)
THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £17.50
The Brookyln-based musician, Ojay Morgan, taking both the fashion and hip hop worlds by storm.
Aka the Sugababes to anyone who remembers the early 00s, back and touring with the original line-up of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy.
FALLOW CAFE, 20:00–00:00, £3
O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £26
SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:15, £8
TEMPLE OF COKE (GORGEOUS BULLY)
Sheffield’s very own sludge rock trio bring their riff-loving selves to the Northwest. HALLÉ POPS: THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £17
The Hallé orchestra perform a selection cinematic scores under the theme The Battle of Britain, conducted by Stephen Bell.
THE NATIONAL
American indie rock band made up of singer Matt Berninger, twin brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and regular brothers Scott and Bryan Devendorf. CASSIE RAMONE
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £6
The former Vivian Girls and The Babies vocalist and guitarist steps out on a solo tour.
Tue 12 Nov YOUNG KATO
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8
Breakthrough indie-pop lot hailing from Cheltenham and Birmingham. ROBYN HITCHCOCK (ROZI PLAIN)
BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £12
Self-described as making ‘paintings you can listen to’, the
THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE
Fill your Friday night with free live music – guests and DJs selected by a different band each week. NICK MULVEY
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £7
SO SOLID CREW
THE RITZ, 18:30–22:30, £13.50
The long-awaited return of the Battersea-based garage, grime and hip hop collective, responsible for such earworms as 21 Seconds. JULIA HOLTER
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £12.50
The LA-based musician tours her third LP, Loud City Song, again displaying her gift for merging high concept, compositional prowess and experimentation with pop sensibility. HOT CLUB OF COWTOWN
THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £17.50
The US-of-A-hailing trio tirelessly blend hot jazz with Western swing, all awash with three-part harmonies. QUADRON
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8.50
Soul duo hailing from Copenhagen, taking their latest up-tempo folk/ pop offering, Avalanche, out for a spin. DEATHFIX
SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–23:00, £10
Fresh from the studio creating sounds and rhythms of the glam and prog rock variety, Fugazi’s Brendan Canty and remix master Rich Morel take to a stage as Deathfix, fortified with the considerable talent of Jerry Busher and Mark Cisneros. ED TULLETT (SCRIBER)
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £6 ADV. (£8 DOOR)
Melancholic singer/songwriter from Uckfield, navigating alternative folk with his dulcet tones. THE HALLÉ: SIR MARK ELDER
BRIDGEWATER HALL, 14:15–17:00, FROM £10 (£3)
The Hallé orchestra perform pieces by Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Stravinky, conducted by Eduardo Portal. DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH (AMON AMARTH + CARCASS)
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £18.50
Mini showcase of some of the biggest, best and brightest stars on the metal scene today.
Thu 14 Nov
POST WAR GLAMOUR GIRLS
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £5
The alternative Leeds quartet make the trip up’t north, taking a decidedly heavier bent of late.
Bedroom project turned six-piece live band, blending hip hop with bass heavy dance music.
IMAGINE DRAGONS (DAN CROLL)
O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £16
SAN FERMIN (WOMAN’S HOUR + GYMNAST)
Beat-heavy indie-rock, laced with raspy vocals and infectiously catchy lyrics, as the Las Vegasdwellers embark on a Europe-wide tour with their latest album, Night Visions.
SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:15, £7.50
Brooklyn-based alternative lot led by composer Ellis LudwigLeone.
THE BLOCKHEADS (ANISEED + JERAMIAH FERRARI)
PURPLE HEART PARADE
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £18
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £5
Mancunian stargazing five-piece, making dreamy pop songs with a unmistakably Northern psych edge.
Londonbased singer/ songwriter tours with his latest album, Love From London.
Sat 09 Nov CUD
DAN OWEN
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £12.50
THE RITZ, 18:00–23:00, £15.50
Pop-punk collective from Philadelphia, led by vocalist Dan ‘Soupy’ Campbell, and named after the American TV show that basically ruled our lives from 1988-1993.
The electro-pop pioneer presents a selection of tracks taken from him newest LP, Splinter.
PAPER TIGER
London-based foursome bringing the noise with their howlin’ mix of psychedelia, complete with dubtinged rhythm section.
THE WONDER YEARS
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £12
GARY NUMAN
ROADHOUSE, 20:00–22:30, £5
SAVAGES
Wed 13 Nov
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £27.50
The founding member of Portico Quartet does his solo singer/songwriter thing, touring with his new single, Fever To The Form.
Longstanding Leeds-based indie-rockers on the go since their formation in 1986.
London-based folk group, fronted by Dan Heptinstall and Lorna Thomas, delivering a reliably foot stomping show.
THOUSAND FINGERS (OUT FOR TOMORROW + FOREVER CAN WAIT + SAFEHOUSE) FALLOW CAFE, 18:30–22:30, £6
Four-strong line-up spanning everything from melodic rock with Thousand Fingers, to Forever Can Wait’s alternative rock stylings.
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £8
Young Shrewsbury lad catapulted to fame after Mick Fleetwood took him under his wing. THE NATIONAL
O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £26
American indie rock band made up of singer Matt Berninger, twin brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and regular brothers Scott and Bryan Devendorf.
A slightly augmented line-up sees the punk generation legends take to the stage to share their genre defying jazz, rock’n’roll, funk, and reggae sound. TEMPLES
GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £10
Neo psych bunch hailing from the midlands/the early 80s, built on frontman James Bagshaw’s impressively polished vocals. SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £10
Formed after the arts council commissioned Dom Howard, aka Ruckspin, and Ranking Records to write and perform a live dubstep piece in Yorkminster – now touring with their debut release, Finest Hour EP.
THE SKINNY
STEPHEN LYNCH
SHARON SHANNON
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £20
ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, 19:00–23:00, £17.50
Multi-talented stand-up comic, musician and Tony Award-nominated actor tours with his latest album, LION. THE HALLÉ: EDUARDO PORTAL
BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £10 (£3)
The Hallé orchestra perform pieces by Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Stravinky, conducted by Eduardo Portal. ORPHANED LAND
Irish accordionist known for her collaborations – from Bono to Shame MacGowan – touring on the back of her latest LP, The Galway Girl. THE PRETTY SHAPES (RADIO NASTIES + POLARS + RACING GLACIERS)
ROADHOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £TBC
Four piece pop rock lot from Manchester, made up of Shasha, Will, Benny and Mike.
SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:30, £14
Sun 17 Nov
CAMERA (SPARROWHAWKS + BABY BRAVE)
ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:00–23:00, £22.50
Three-strong line-up from the Drum With Our Hands lot, with alt folk, pop and indie on the menu.
THEA GILMORE
The folky singer/songwriter celebrates the relase of her new CD, a collection of unrecorded Sandy Denny songs.
GESAMTKUNSTWERK (PHARMAKON + DWELLINGS + YES BLYTHE) ISLINGTON MILL, 19:00–00:00, £5
The gesamtkunstwerk crew assemble to shred up conventional electronics and reconstruct the remains – basically just the elec-
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £TBC
Mon 18 Nov SUMMER CAMP
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £9
New indie-pop project from London chap Jeremy Warmsley, accompanied by Elizabeth Sankey on softly, softly vocals. GAZ COOMBES
ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, 19:00–23:00, £15
The Supergrass frontman goes it alone, playing tracks from his first solo offering, Here Come The Bombs.
Israeli breakthrough band, pioneering the Oriental metal genre. TELEVISION
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–23:00, £20
Influential rock band from the US-of-A, part of the 70s New York rock scene along with Blondie, The Ramones and Talking Heads.
DRY LIVE, 19:00–23:00, £5
Four piece alternative rock lot hailing from East Manchester, straying from the mainstream with their edgy riffs.
Fri 15 Nov FENECH-SOLER
GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £12.50
Polished electro-pop foursome, fresh from a string of festival appearances. ANE BRUN
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £12.50
Scandinavian singer/songwriter riding along on her mid-Southern vocal twang, backed by delicatelyplucked acoustic guitars, piano and strings. TYLER WARD
SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £15
Denver-based singer/songwriter and producer whose interests apparently include cheese pizza and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We hear you, Tyler. HAPPY MONDAYS
THE RITZ, 18:30–22:30, £33.50
For the first time in 19 years the full line-up take to the stage – as in Bez, Gary Whelan, Mark Day, Paul Davies, Paul Ryder, Rowetta and Shaun Ryder! SCOUTING FOR GIRLS
O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £22.50
The English pop trio play showcase their third album, The Light Between Us.
ROAD TO WARPED TOUR (ESCAPE THE FATE AND CHIODOS + THE COLOR MORALE + CYTOTA) MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 18:30–23:00, £15
MALLORY KNOX (BLITZ KIDS + CROOKS)
Sat 16 Nov
Pop-meets-rock quintet named after Juliette Lewis’ psychopathic character in Natural Born Killers, in case you were wondering.
Co-headline tour blazing a trail through the UK this November. NEW MODEL ARMY
THE RITZ, 18:30–22:30, £20
Hard-rockin’ five-piece from Bradford, named after the English revolutionary army of Oliver Cromwell. ALEX TAYLOR
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £TBC
London-based acoustic troubadour and youngest son of celebrated jazz legends John Taylor and Norma Winstone. SECRET AFFAIR
BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £12
Rock, soul and Mod revival act formed way back in 1978 from their previous incarnation as New Hearts. THE BRAKES (THE MONTOYAS + BLUE NATION + THE SPIRIT VINES + BRAD WILDE)
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £4
Indie blues five-piece from Manchester, offering up catchy riffs and sing-along cho-
VAMPIRE WEEKEND (NOAH AND THE WHALE)
PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, FROM £22.50
The NYC-hailing indie rock quartet tour the hell outta their latest release, Modern Vampire of the City. MORCHEEBA
GORILLA, 19:00–23:00, £20
The darlings of downtempo return to a live setting to give their new LP, Head Up High, the live treatment. COLLEEN GREEN GULLIVERS, 19:30–23:00, £5
Stoner pop sounds from the west LA-hailing lo-fi artist, Colleen Green.
The sleazy-styled American r’n’b singer/songwriter (aka Sean Matthew Tilmann) does his thing, hopefully wearing nowt but a pencil moustache and white y-fronts. DARK HORSES
SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £6.50
Brighton-based gloom merchants probably best described as ‘motoric kraut’.
November 2013
THE FAMILY RAIN (DARLIA) THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8
Bath-based band of brothers who had previous projects before embracing tropical indie-rock as The Family Rain. THE HEAVY
GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £12
Bath-based alternative punk lot dosing out a mix of guitar-heavy rock using crunchy guitar, funky horns and Curtis Mayfield-like vocals. REEF
THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £21
The Gary Stringer-led 90s wonders celebrate their 20th anniversary with a hits tour. JUANA MOLINA
SACRED TRINITY CHURCH, 19:30–23:00, £12.50
Argentinian singer/songwriter and actress, touring with her 2013 release, Wed21. BLUE OCTOBER
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £16
SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £10
Twee-clad chaps hailing from that lesser known Mecca of punk rock delinquency, Oxford. HUDSON TAYLOR
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £17.50
ruses in equal measure.
NAUGHTY BOY (ELLE EYRE)
MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £11
The English songwriter, producer and musician (aka Shahid Khan) tours in support of his new gospeltinged LP, Hotel Cabana. DAVE HAUSE
GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £9
Philadephia-based musician who cut his chops as a roadie before becoming a performer proper. RUARRI JOSEPH (LILY AND MEG)
SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £8
Edinburgh-born, New Zealandraised acoustic folk singer/ songwriter.
THE HALLÉ: EDUARDO PORTAL BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £10 (£3)
The Hallé orchestra perform pieces by Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Stravinky, conducted by Eduardo Portal. AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE
SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–23:00, £12.50
Heavy industrial rock sounds from the might US-of-A giants, disbanded in 2009 only to start rehearsing again in mid 2011. THE JB CONSPIRACY
ROADHOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £7
Seven piece band from London, making amped up ska rock tinged with reggae influences, all amped up with brass, keys and synth. CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE TRIO
BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–23:00, £15
The renowned American jazz bassist takes to Manchester as a trio, along with pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens Jr.
New Orleans singer/songwriter and keyboardist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s as a member of NYC outfit Swans. WOLF EYES
SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £8
Post-industrial noisemakers from Detroit, which began as a solo project of former Nautical Almanac member Nate Young, with Aaron Dilloway joining in 1998 and John Olson in 2000. HEIDI TALBOT
ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:30–23:00, £16 (£14.40)
Irish folk songstress, formerly of the Irish-American group, Cherish the Ladies.
Dublin-based brother duo made up of Harry and Alfie Hudson-Taylor, who honed their craft at an early age busking the streets of their hometown. WHITE DEMIN
GORILLA, 19:00–22:30, £16
Bluesy, jazzy, garage-rocky Austinites, self-described by frontman James Patralli as attempting to turn abstract paintings and philosophical tracts into music. CALIFONE (TONY DEKKER)
ROADHOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £9
Experimental rock band hailing from Chicago, touring with their latest album, Stitches. ACCESS ROYALE THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £TBC
Alternative indie trio made up of Vee on lead vocals and guitar, Charles on Keys and Robzie on live drums, fleshed out with bass for live performances.
latest solo LP, Gathering Mercury, a live airing. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, £32.50
The Josh Homme-fronted five piece take to the UK as part of their current tour, ahead of the goshdarn exciting news that they’ll co-headline an Australian tour in March 2014 with the mighty Nine Inch Nails.
THE MONSTER NME RADAR TOUR (CEREBAL BALLZY + THE AMAZING SNAKEHEADS) THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £8
NME present a showcase line-up of up-and-comers, including New York punk lot of the highly dubious band name, Cerebral Ballzy. MÚM
GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £15
Returning to Manchester for the first time in four years, Icelandic four-piece, Múm, bring the captivating soundscapes built up with unconventional instrumentation. WAR CHILD (EMBERS + KULT COUNTRY + CAMP STAG)
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8
The Warchild TuneUp tour continues, with the Manchester-based four piece, Embers, headlining the night, along with support from Kult Country and Camp Stag. THE WHITE PANDA
SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £10
Playing one of their only UK dates in Manchester, catch the experimental mash-up duo, Procrast and DJ Griffi in a live setting, complete with panda masks. ITCH (RDGLDGRN + THE HYPE THEORY + GHOST TOWN)
ROADHOUSE, 18:00–22:30, £8.50
A four-strong line-up cherrypicked from the Vans Warped Tour line-up.
Thu 21 Nov
THE NAKED AND FAMOUS
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £15
London indie-rock outfit on the go since 2003, when principle members Joel Stoker and Lucas Crowther met at college. BAND OF FRIENDS
BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £12
A selection of former band members and friends celebrate the musical output of Rory Gallagher.
Founding member and one-half of the songwriting team behind Squeeze. FOY VANCE
GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £12
Bangor-based musician influenced by the southern states of America, touring with his latest album, Joy of Nothing. HAPPY MONDAYS
THE RITZ, 18:00–22:30, £33.50
For the first time in 19 years the full line-up take to the stage – as in Bez, Gary Whelan, Mark Day, Paul Davies, Paul Ryder, Rowetta and Shaun Ryder! THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £10
BATHS
ISLINGTON MILL, 22:00–03:00, £8
MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £8.50
The stage moniker of bedroom producer Will Wiesenfeld, known for his layered up, experimental sounds, employing some unusual ambient sounds.
THE LUMINEERS (THAO AND THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN)
Polish pop-rock songstress whose debut LP was nominated for the Fryderyk Award (the Polish equivalent of the Brits).
Alternative, blues-drenched rock’n’rollers formed between London and Glasgow in the summer of 2011. O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £22.50
Denver folk-rock trio awash with timeless melodies and soulstirring lyrics. FREE GIG FRIDAY (SPEED PETS + DAYGUN)
THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE
Fill your Friday night with free live music – guests and DJs selected by a different band each week. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS (WONDER VILLAINS)
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £10
The Brooklyn originals (aka John Flansburgh and John Linnell) play a set cherrypicked from their new LP, Nanobots – their boundless creativity and live spontaneity all well and in place. CARA DILLON
THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £20
Singer-songwriter from Ireland, touring on the run up to the release of her next album, scheduled to be released in Autumn 2013. EDITORS (BRITISH SEA POWER)
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £20
The Tom Smith-led ensemble cut the anthemic romanticism deep, playing a set of new tracks (taken from 2013’s The Weight Of Your Love LP) and old favourites. AKALA
GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £9
Award-winning hip-hop artist and younger brother of rapper, Ms. Dynamite, currently carving out his own path with his rap, rock and electro influences. BOHREN UND DER CLUB OF GORE
ISLINGTON MILL, 19:30–00:00, £15
NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–23:00, £6
THE RIFLES (DEXTERS + THE MONO POLYS)
GLENN TILBROOK
THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £17.50
HALF MOON RUN
SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–22:30, £7
Dunfermline quintet who specialise in a self-styled brand of dirty rock’n’roll.
Sat 23 Nov
Dark and atmospheric electronica from Katie Stelmanis, Dorian Wolf and Maya Postepski (aka Austra), touring with their 2013 album, Olympia.
Alternative fivesome hailing from New Zealand, who do a good line in getting NME’s pants in a twist. 12 DIRTY BULLETS
THROUGH COLOUR
KRAAK, 19:30–23:00, £6 ADV. (£7 DOOR)
Rock/pop five-piece hailing from Holyhead and Manchester, touring their new EP, Somnium.
AUSTRA
German ambient jazz four-piece, crafting cinematic soundscapes reminiscent of the film noir tradition.
THE RITZ, 18:30–23:00, £15
Folsky harmonies and tribal beats from the Manchester-based four piece.
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £10
THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT (JOSHUA JAMES + SAMUEL TAYLOR)
THE YOUNG KNIVES
DEPECHE MODE
JARBOE (DIE HEXEN + LEDA AND THE SWAN)
SACRED TRINITY CHURCH, 19:30–23:00, £10
Talented young trio from Ottawa, Ontario and Comox, British Columbia, working their magic across elements of indie, pop and folk.
US novelty metal legends playing a mixture of hard rock cover versions and original compositions.
PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, £45
Charles, Kim, Joey and Dave bring their reunion schtick back to Manchester, for which you may well have to beg, borrow or steal your way in.
ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £12
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £17.50
Fill your Friday night with free live music – guests and DJs selected by a different band each week.
VUVUVULTURES MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–23:00, £9
The Toronto-based grunge trio bring the energy and volume as only they know how.
HAYSEED DIXIE
THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE
THUGS ON WOLVES THE CASTLE HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £6
METZ (THE WYTCHES + CHEATHAS)
Tue 19 Nov
FREE GIG FRIDAY (THOSE ROTTEN THIEVES)
PIXIES O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £27.50
Fri 22 Nov
Shimmering rock lot hailing from Texas, touring with their latest album, Bleed Out.
London-based quintet cruising along on their quintessential vintage West Coast sound.
HAR MAR SUPERSTAR
American singer/songwriter who found fame with LA Song, which aired during the final season of Beverly Hills 90210. Yeah, that famous.
THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £13.50
Dublin-based indie-rock quartet who use their music as a form of therapy (i.e. they write about being dumped).
TREETOP FLYERS
SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:15, £12
BETH HART (MARTIN HARLEY)
THE RITZ, 19:30–23:00, £21
KODALINE
NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–02:00, £8
Boston musician set apart for his expressive playing and technical skill, most significantly his inventive use of alternate tunings and partial capos.
O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £27
Lemmy et al take to the stage for their now annual sell-out November tour, letting rip with a growl of incomprehensible lyrics and battering of thrash metal.
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £10
Husband and wife duo made up of Ruth and Brookln Dekker, loved equally for their indie-pop goodness and hand-knitted merch.
ISLINGTON MILL, 19:30–23:00, £5.50
MOTORHEAD (SAXON + SKEW SISKIN)
tronic/house/techno sounds we’ve come to expect of the Mill.
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £7 ADV. (£9 DOOR)
GLENN JONES
Frank Zappa’s eldest son and his live band perform a selection of Zappa classics from the seminal decades of his career.
The Grammy Award-winning frontman of Men At Work gives his
RUE ROYALE (COUSIN JAC)
The Essex electo-rock legends return to the touring circuit with their latest studio album, Delta Machine, in tow.
BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–23:00, FROM £29.50
THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–22:00, £20
YELLOWCARD
POLYBIRD (THE DEVIL WITHIN + SEROTONIN)
ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA
COLIN HAY
ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:00–23:00, £17.50
The indie rock lot present their 2003 album, Ocean Avenue, in an acoustic setting.
Wed 20 Nov
PATRICK GREEN
Manchester-based experimental multi-instrumentalist, taking care of the percussion, mandolin, harmonica, slide and regular guitar, piano and vocals, all by his onesie. KASSOMA EP LAUNCH (THE RESTLESS VENTURE)
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £6
New blood from Manchester, serving up intense, anthemic indie rock – celebrating the launch of their EP on the night. THE BACKHANDERS
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £6
Manchester-based four-piece, made up of Stephen, Peter, Ashley and Matty.
PATRYCJA MARKOWSKA
ROADHOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £20
TOO MANY T’S
KRAAK, 19:00–23:00, £TBC
Alternative/party hip-hop duo from London, out on their banterrich Beats We Wish We Had tour. KING KURT (CHEAPSKATES + WASTED DAZE)
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £12
Musically bizarre five-piece from London, mashing up rockabilly sounds with African rhythms and pop sensibilties.
London-based four-piece crafting dark synth pop sounds with a skuzzy edge and unmistakably catchy vibe, fronted by Harmony Boucher’s distinct vocals. THE HALLÉ: VERBI-BOITO
BRIDGEWATER HALL, 15:00–16:00, £15
The Hallé orchestra present a an introduction to the Verbi-Boito story, with Sir Mark Elder and Jonathan Keates. THE HALLÉ: VERBI-BOITO
BRIDGEWATER HALL, 17:00–18:00, FROM £11 (£3)
The Hallé orchestra present a an introduction to the Verbi-Boito story, with Sir Mark Elder and Jonathan Keates.
THEWEEKND (ZANE LOWE + BANKS)
O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £24.50
Canadian singer/songwriter and producer, making PBR&B – a mash up of Pabst Blue Ribbon, and R’n’B, a nod to Brooklyn-based hipster subculture.
Mon 25 Nov MARCUS BONFANTI
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £TBC
The London-born bluesman plays with his live ensemble, featuring Scott Wiber on bass and Alex Reeves on drums. BELL X1
BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £16.50
Damien Rice’s former group do their strings and melodies-laden indie troubadour thing, as part of their current acoustic tour. DEAD MEADOW
ROADHOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £10
Influential Washington DC stoner/ psych lot, formed in 1998 from the remnants of two young indie DC bands – The Impossible Five and its immediate follow-up, Colour. BARENAKED LADIES
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £27.50
The longstanding Canadian rock quartet take to the road to mark their 25th anniversary, playing tracks offa their new LP (the first on Vanguard Records), Grinning Streak.
Tue 26 Nov GOLD PANDA
GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £12
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £12
After the outta-nowhere success of debut LP, Berlin-based beatsmith Gold Panda takes his kaleidoscopic new album, Half of Where You Live, on the road – containing enough intermingling layers so as to constantly toy with the senses.
THEWEEKND (ZANE LOWE + BANKS)
THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £11
DESERTS XUAN (GAMES WE PLAY)
Taiwanese singer/songwriter, widely regarded as one of the leading alternative musicians in the Chinese music industry. O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £24.50
Canadian singer/songwriter and producer, making PBR&B – a mash up of Pabst Blue Ribbon, and R’n’B, a nod to Brooklyn-based hipster subculture. DUMB
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £TBC
Birmingham-based four-piece, mashing up US college rock influences with their inescapable Britpop heritage. PENTATONIX
ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:00–23:00, £15
Vocal quintet from Arlington, Texas, presenting a instumentfree brand of electronic pop.
SEAWAVES (LOST CASSETTES + JULY OR NEVER + ASHLEY SHERLOCK) DRY LIVE, 19:00–23:00, £5
Manchester’s dream pop duo, Seawaves, take to the stage with their audio/visual show reflecting dream-like states and exploring emotional perceptions. Deep.
PALMA VIOLETS
South London rock’n’roll quartet, who’ve spent the year touring with the likes of Alabama Shakes, Django Django and Savages. BILLY BRAGG
BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–23:00, £20
After his 2012 solo tour, Billy Bragg returns to a live setting to air his first new album in five years, Tooth & Nail – which takes a more personal bent, ala his Wilco-collaborating 1998 album Mermaid Avenue. DAN CROLL (FYFE)
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £7
Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts graduate and winner of the Musicians Benevolent Fund’s National Songwriter of the Year Award Dan Croll takes a break from touring with Imagine Dragons and Bastille to play a couple of shows closer to home turf. NATALIE MCCOOL
THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £6
MS MR
Kick starting her autumn show with a home town show, Liverpool’s Natalie McCool takes her delicate fingerstyle and formidable riffing style out on the road.
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £11
SOUND CONTROL, 19:30–22:30, £12.50
Sun 24 Nov
RAVEN + GIRLSCHOOL
New York-based duo, made up of vocalist Lizzy Plapinger and producer Max Hershenow, who also run indie label Neon Gold Records.
Double-headline set of rock, made up of all-girl rockers Girlschool and metal-tinged sonic batterers Raven.
PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, £29.50
BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £10 ADV. (£14 DOOR)
THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS
American alternative rock outfit fronted by Jared Leto, taking in the UK as part of their epic world tour, with their latest album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams in tow.
DEAD SKELETONS
Icelandic experimental rock’n’roll trio, embarking on their Dead Comet tour.
Listings
49
Wed 27 Nov STORNOWAY (GOODNIGHT LENIN) THE RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £14
Alternative indie-folk band hailing from Oxford, built on the crystalline vocals of Brian Briggs and Jon Quin’s delicate arrangements. WEDNESDAY 13 (SISTER)
MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £13
Murderdolls frontman Wednesday 13 is off on a new project, still heavily into the horror punk. THE LEISURE SOCIETY (ALESSI’S ARK)
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £12
Lovely folk-pop lot lead by Nick Hemming – of early 90s indie fame with former group She Talks To Angels – drawing comparisons to the Fleet Foxes, which is hardly a bad thing. MELT YOURSELF DOWN
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £8
Bright new jazz, improv and post-punk collaboration featuring ex-members of Acoustic Ladyland. THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–23:00, £13
Washington DC-hailing punk lot, taking their naame from a stray phrase uttered by insurance salesman Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day.
Thu 28 Nov HORSE
BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £17
The inimitable Scottish singer/ songwriter and her live band showcase, simultaneously celebrating the release of her new (ninth) LP and the 20th anniversary of her acclaimed second LP, God’s Home Movie. JONATHAN WILSON
GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £12
Alternative country mover and shaker paying homage to early-70s country rock. ARCANE ROOTS (EMPIRE + VERSES)
THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £8.50
Surrey-based rockers adept at pushing the genre in fresh and unexpected ways. THE MAGIC NUMBERS
ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, 19:00–23:00, £15
The sibling ensemble play an allacoustic set of harmonised tunes. MADELEINE PEYROUX
BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–23:00, FROM £19
The acclaimed American jazz singer, songwriter and guitarist takes to a live setting for a set of her reworked and contemporary classics. SON OF DAVE
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £12.50
The Canadian singer/songwriter and former Crash Test Dummies guitarist, otherwise known as Benjamin Darvill.
Fri 29 Nov CRYSTAL FIGHTERS
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £6
The all-screaming Basque folktronica five-piece tour the hell outta their new LP, Cave Rave. SARAH BLASKO
THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £10
DAN BAIRD AND HOMEMADE SIN MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £12
The Georgia Satellites frontman returns to Glasgow with his rockin’ and rollin’ live band, Homemade Sin. FREE GIG FRIDAY (ASH MOUNTAIN + THE THIN MEN)
THE BAY HORSE, 21:00–01:00, FREE
Fill your Friday night with free live music – guests and DJs selected by a different band each week. BIPOLAR SUNSHINE
GORILLA, 19:00–22:15, £8
Solo project of Manchester-based musician Adio Marchant (formerly of Kid British fame), touring with his newly-released EP, Aesthetics. THE GAME
THE RITZ, 18:30–23:00, £25
American rapper, aka Jayceon Terrell Taylor, Dr Dre protégé, and multi-platinum selling artist. BASEMENT JAXX
O2 APOLLO, 19:00–23:00, £25
Electronic dance duo from London, made up of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe.
Sat 30 Nov DUB PISTOLS
SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £8.50
London-based dub ensemble chewing up hip-hop, dub, techno and ska-punk and spitting it out in a renegade futuristic skank. SHAM 69
THE RITZ, 18:30–22:30, £15
Old school-styled English punk ensemble formed in Hersham way back when (aka 1976). AVENGED SEVENFOLD
PHONES4U ARENA, 19:30–23:00, £28.50
California-based rock five-piece, tour with their 2013 album, Hail to the King. HALLÉ: POPS: CLASSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA
BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £17
A classical extravaganza from The Hallé Orchestra, taking on Brahms, Strauss, Beethoven and Mozart, conducted by Jamie Phillips. FLUX PAVILLION (DATSIK)
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £14.50
English dubstep producer, fresh from his tour of the USA.
Sun 01 Dec CAPERCAILLIE
MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £22.50
The Karen Matheson-fronted Scottish folk ensemble continue with their modern reinvention of Gaelic music.
WOE IS ME (OUR LAST NIGHT + EMPIRES FADE + TREASURE THE MOMENT) SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £10
Sludgy hardcore metal bunch hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, touring with their 2013 release, American Dream. LITTLECRAZY (SOUR CHERRY + RUNNING WITH LIONS + ANGELS IN CHAOS + ONE MAN DOWN)
MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £6
Formed in 2010 by reunited school friends, Jamz Pringle and Daz Rodgers, the Sheffield-based five-piece deliver their take on the indie pop template. WHITE FENCE
ROADHOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £10
The brainchild of Tim Presley, delivering tripped out, psychedelic pop sounds.
Mon 02 Dec THE COSMIC DEAD
ROADHOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £6
The Glaswegian space rockers par excellence take to their spiritual home of the 13th Note.
Liverpool Music Tue 29 Oct
THE WEDDING PRESENT
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16
Some 25-odd years after forming, David Gedge takes his cult 80s concern out on the road for a rare spate of dates, performing the A-sides of the twelve singles that formed their record-breaking Hit Parade series of 1992. THE CULT (BO NINGEN)
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £30
The Ian Astbury led rockers continue their Electric 13 tour, playing their Rick Rubin-produced third album, Electric, in its entirety. STEPHEN FEARING (TJ & MURPHY)
UNITY THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £10
The Canadian, JUNO award-winning folk and blues singer – known for his collaborations with Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris – takes his eighth studio album out on the road.
Thu 31 Oct TOM ODELL
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT
Chichester-born singer/songwriter who studied at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music.
Liverpool Music Fri 01 Nov ENEMIES
THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 20:00–23:00, £6
Blissed-out rock four piece hailing from Ireland, touring with their second LP, Embark Embrace. THE NECKS
THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–23:00, £16.50 (£14)
The Australian trio, still going strong after 25 years, bring their mesmerising improvisation style to Liverpool for a genre-defying show. THE VIKTOR NORDBERG BAND
MELLOMELLO, 21:00–02:00, FREE
Latin jazz trio begin their residency at MelloMello, bringing the groove-tastic, samba filled sounds. RIOGHNACH CONNOLLY DUO
STUDIO 2, 21:30–23:00, FREE
Blues, jazz and swing duo, enriched by Rioghnach Connolly’s warm vocals.
Sat 02 Nov
POETS OF ANARCHY (JOE SYMES AND THE LOVING KIND + VENDETTES + ELECTRIC LIPS )
THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 20:00–23:00, £5
Liverpudlian funk rock’n’roll four piece celebrate the launch of their new single. MAUSI
THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 20:00–23:00, £5
Electro pop four piece with a distinct feel-good vibe, hailing from Newcastle via Milan.
RORY & NED ALBUM LAUNCH (PETE BENTHAM AND THE DINNER LADIES + DINGUS KHAN) MELLOMELLO, 20:00–00:00, £3
Boogie rock’n’roll duo, Rory and Ned celebrate the launch of their album and music video with a fun jammed night of music, fortune tellers, stilt walkers, piñatas, party bags and more. LIVERPOOL HORROR FESTIVAL (EL DIABLO)
ERIC’S LIVE, 13:00–00:00, £10
As part of the Liverpool Horror Festival, catch this all day hallowe’en event, taking over Eric’s Live with a costume party, spooky shots, horror-themed burlesque, Mad Butcher’s Feast and more. BREABACH
LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–23:00, £15
GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £20
EVERISLAND: HALLOWS RITUAL (BIRD + ZOMBINA AND THE SKELETONS + LOVECRAFT + SANKOFA + NADINE CARINE + WHITE BLACULA)
JESSY LANZA (BERNARD AND EDITH)
An evening of rituals and devious occurances as the Kazimier celebrate All Hallows Eve with live music, unearthly décor, a mystic’s booth, and, er, celestial sacrifice.
Aggressive hardcore seven-piece hailing from London, blending street punk with underground hip-hop.
STUDIO 2, 21:30–23:00, FREE
STUDIO 2, 21:30–23:00, £5
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT
Active between 1989 and 2005, the punk rock outfit from San Diego reformed earlier this year for a reunion tour of Europe. SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–23:00, £5
Hyperdub’s latest addition brings her impressive vocal talent to Manchester for her first show in the city, bringing her debut LP, Pull Your Hair Back, along for the ride.
THE KAZIMIER, 20:00–02:00, £6
THE SPEAKEASY BOOTLEG BAND
Hailing from New Orleans, this tin pan alley three piece bring the sounds of the turn of the 20thcentury to Liverpool.
Scottish folk ensemble powered by flute, fiddle and double bagpipes. Yes, we did say double bagpipes. TRC (ASTROID BOYS)
THE PICKET, 19:00–23:00, £7
EMPIRICAL
Four piece jazz lin-up, touring with their fourth studio album, Tabula Rasa.
Dapper Aussie indie-popstress and one-time front-woman of Acquiesce.
BIPOLAR SUNSHINE (TAYLOR FOWLIS) EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 18:30–22:00, £6
Solo project of Manchester-based musician Adio Marchant (formerly of Kid British fame), touring with his newly-released EP, Aesthetics.
Sun 03 Nov HAZEL O’CONNOR
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £15
Cult movie star turned singer/ songwriter returns to the touring circuit with a full band to deliver a live show crammed with all the Breaking Glass hits. ROBYN HITCHCOCK
THE KAZIMIER, 20:00–23:00, £10
Self-described as making ‘paintings you can listen to’, the London-based singer/songwriter tours with his latest album, Love From London. CHARLIE LANDSBOROUGH
LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–23:00, FROM £19
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. BREABACH
LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–23:00, £15
Scottish folk ensemble powered by flute, fiddle and double bagpipes. Yes, we did say double bagpipes. VILLAGERS
EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £12
Conor O’Brien-fronted folk outfit that began life as a nameless collection of musical poems (penned by O’Brien), currently out and touring their new album. NO JOY (FEAR OF MEN)
EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £6
Canadian shoegazing duo made up of Jasamine White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd.
Mon 04 Nov GABRIELLE APLIN
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £14
Experimental singer/songwriter working her magic over the folkpop template, all hints of choirs here and twinkly noises there. JESSIE J
ECHO ARENA, 19:30–23:00, FROM £28
The feisty popstress (aka Jessica Ellen Cornish) continues on her quest for world domination. GRASS HOUSE
KOROVA, 19:00–23:00, £5
Outsider pop from the Yorkshirebased four piece, taking their début album, A Sun Full and Drowning out for a spin.
Tue 05 Nov 36 CRAZYFISTS
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £12.50
Alaskan heavy metal outfit, still going strong some 18 years on. TURIN BRAKES
THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £20
The London folk rock ensemble perform their classic album, The Optimist, in honour of its 10th anniversary. PARR JAZZ: PARTIKEL
STUDIO 2, 20:30–00:00, £3
Par Jazz present their weekly jazz night, featuring a line-up of international guests and local artists to perform. LLOYD COLE
THE CITADEL ARTS CENTRE, 19:30–23:00, £20
NATALIE MCCOOL (RAVENS)
THE KAZIMIER, 20:00–23:00, £5
Kick starting her autumn show with a home town show, Liverpool’s Natalie McCool takes her delicate fingerstyle and formidable riffing style out on the road. BIG DEAL
THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, FREE
Experimental London duo, all ethereal and lovely like.
FENECH-SOLER (NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB + DUOLOGUE)
EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £12.50
Polished electro-pop foursome, fresh from a string of festival appearances.
Fri 08 Nov
MATT RIDLEY QUARTET
THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–23:00, £14 (£11.50)
Modern jazz quartet trading in toe tapping grooves, tour their latest album, Thymos. GYPSY FIRE
EPSTEIN THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £15
Four-man gypsy jazz get-up.
STEPHEN SIMMONS (DAN WILSON)
VIEW TWO GALLERY, 20:00–23:00, £6
Multi-talented musician/artist/ writer hailing from Tennessee, blending alternative country with Americana and roots rock to suitably fine effect. JO HARMAN
STUDIO 2, 21:30–23:00, £5
Gospel, blues and soul influenced singer/songwriter from Devon, touring with her independently released album, Dirt on my Tongue. MONEY
BLADE FACTORY, 19:30–23:00, £8
The Manchester outfit, recently signed to Bella Union, take to a live setting with their new album, The Shadow of Heaven – a gem of an LP with with Jamie Lee’s soft crooning vocals once again taking centre stage.
Sat 09 Nov TEA STREET BAND
THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £7
A genre straddling band that invites many a reviewer to pair together the most unlikely of comparisons, as in, expect a mash up of styles. HAWKWIND
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £20
The seminal spacerockers tour their new studio album, Onward, headed up by original overlord Dave Brock. CATALYST
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £6
Classic rock five piece playing tributes to all the classic rock era greats. PHOSPHORESCENT
THE KAZIMIER, 20:00–23:00, £13.50
Matthew Houck, aka Phosphorescent, out on a Europe-wide tour to showcase his fifth studio album, Muchacho – delivering experimental alt-indie/folk, all saturated with reverb and those distinct vocals. CINEMA SOLORIENS
MELLOMELLO, 20:00–00:00, £10
THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 20:00–23:00, £5
ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–23:00, £15
Moniker of Brighton-based twostep beat master, James Berkeley, mixing up dreamy with haunting. BRYAN FERRY
LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–23:00, £SOLD OUT
The Roxy Music frontman takes to the road for the first time since 2007, featuring his usual live band, plus The Bryan Ferry Orchestra who accompanied him on his The Jazz Age LP. FUTURE OF THE LEFT
EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £10
The Welsh alternative rockers tour their current re-jigged, beefed-up line-up.
Listings
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £12.50
Little Lucy Spraggan, of X Factor fame, now a fully fledged touring musician making ‘flop’ – that’s folk meets hip-hop for the uninitiated.
Wed 06 Nov KING DINOSAUR
50
LUCY SPRAGGAN
Multimedia performance project blending James Harrar’s highly personal and experimental films with live soundtracking by Marshall Allen of The Sun Ra Arkestra.
The Lloyd Cole and The Commotions mainman plays as part of his solo acoustic tour.
CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE
Thu 07 Nov
BRIAN, MOLLER AND MOLSKY
Three international folk musicians band together to blend their Celtic, Nordic and Appalachian styles into one cohesive sound. JULIA BIEL
STUDIO 2, 21:30–23:00, £5
Contemporary singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, peforming her unique signature sound, landing somewhere between jazz, pop and soul. STILLIA
THE CITADEL ARTS CENTRE, 19:30–23:00, £5
St Helens-based indie pop bunch, built up from an acoustic trio to their current incarnation as a fourpiece rock’n’roll band.
Sun 10 Nov TOSELAND
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £8
Ex-superbike champion, James Toseland goes it solo after parting with his band, Crash. BLIND MONK TRIO
STUDIO 2, 20:00–23:00, FREE
Three Northwest musicians putting a fresh spin on the classic, chordless jazz trio format.
GLASS ANIMALS (WOMAN’S HOUR + ETCHES)
EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £7
Baroque folk trio with distinct pop(ish) influences, launching their new limited-edition double A-side single.
Mon 11 Nov CRAIG COLTON
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £8.50
X-factor contestant currently making his own way with a PledgeMusic campaign.
Tue 12 Nov
SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA
THE KAZIMIER, 19:30–23:00, £10
Formed after the arts council commissioned Dom Howard, aka Ruckspin, and Ranking Records to write and perform a live dubstep piece in Yorkminster – now touring with their debut release, Finest Hour EP.
JOAN OF ARC THE KAZIMIER, 20:00–23:00, £8.50
Chicago-hailing math rock bunch, formed from the ashes of Cap’n Jazz back in 1995. BROTHER AND BONES
MELLOMELLO, 20:00–02:00, £7
Blues-meets-folk-meets-rock quintet moving from the delicate to the, well... let’s just say they’ve got two drummers. JULIA HOLTER
LEAF, 19:30–23:00, £13.50
The LA-based musician tours her third LP, Loud City Song, again displaying her gift for merging high concept, compositional prowess and experimentation with pop sensibility. ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA
LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–23:00, FROM £29.50
Frank Zappa’s eldest son and his live band perform a selection of Zappa classics from the seminal decades of his career. SILENT SCREAMS
THE PICKET, 19:00–23:00, £7
Coventry-based hardcore metal five-piece, taking to the UK for a mini tour in support of their new single, The Way We Were.
Sat 16 Nov DELTA MAID
THE ZANZIBAR CLUB , 19:30–23:00, £6
THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–23:00, £14 (£11.50)
Singer/songwriter from Liverpool, carving out her own path in the acoustic American roots scene.
SWEET BABOO
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £18.50
THE CONE GATHERERS
Pianist Branka Parli presents an evening of new music from the ex-Yugoslavian region. LEAF, 19:30–23:00, £7
North Wales singer/songwriter all sparkling melodies and deft lyrical turns.
Wed 13 Nov
THE MAINE + WE ARE THE OCEAN (FORT HOPE) O2 ACADEMY, 18:30–23:00, £13
Arizona-hailing five-piece, The Maine, tour their most recent release, Forever Halloween, playing a double headline set with Essex-based rock quartet, We Are The Ocean. LANTERNS ON THE LAKE
THE KAZIMIER, 20:00–23:00, £8
More fragile and cinematic folk soundscapes from the Newcastlebased sextet. YUCK
THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £10
Noise-pop 90s revivalists, building their sound around the lullaby-lilt of Daniel Blumberg’s ghosting tones. BLANCMANGE
ERIC’S LIVE, 20:00–23:30, £15
The original 80s English synthpopsters take to the road again. CLIVE CARROLL
LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–23:00, £12
Acoustic guitar afficianoado, drawing on a range of influences, from traditional Irish to fusion jazz.
ADRIAN EDMONDSON AND THE BAD SHEPHERS
Punk outfit crafting their sound on folk instruments – catch them touring with their 2013 release, Mud, Blood and Beer. STEPHEN LYNCH
EPSTEIN THEATRE, 20:30–23:00, £20
Multi-talented stand-up comic, musician and Tony Award-nominated actor tours with his latest album, LION.
Sun 17 Nov
THE VIRGINMARYS (VOX EMPIRE)
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £7.50
Macclesfield rock trio led by Ally Dickaty on vocals and guitar duties. THE MONSTER NME RADAR TOUR (CEREBRAL BALLZY AND THE AMAZING SNAKEHEADS)
EAST VILLAGE ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £8
NME present a showcase line-up of up-and-comers, including New York punk lot of the highly dubious band name, Cerebral Ballzy.
Mon 18 Nov EDITORS
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £20
The Tom Smith-led ensemble cut the anthemic romanticism deep, playing a set of new tracks (taken from 2013’s The Weight Of Your Love LP) and old favourites. LOW
LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL, 19:30–23:00, £19.50
Twee-clad chaps hailing from that lesser known Mecca of punk rock delinquency, Oxford.
Minnesota-formed indie-rock ensemble composed of founding members and married-withkiddies coupling Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, joined by Steve Garrington on bass guitar, out touring their Jeff Tweedyproducer new LP.
THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £6
Tue 19 Nov
Thu 14 Nov
THE YOUNG KNIVES (RALFE BAND)
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £10
KINS + FRANCIS LUNG
Icy guitar pop four piece hailing from Brighton, fronted by Thomas Savage. THE ICARUS LINE
THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £7
Joe Cardamone and his band stick to what they know best: untamed rock’n’roll performed with bags of confidence. GREG ABATE
STUDIO 2, 21:30–23:00, FREE
Jazz saxophonist, flautist and composer from Rhode Island, educated at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. 12 DIRTY BULLETS
KOROVA, 19:00–23:00, £5
Dunfermline quintet who specialise in a self-styled brand of dirty rock’n’roll.
Fri 15 Nov
COHEED AND CAMBRIA
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £18.50
The American hard rock powerhouse return to the live arena. THE SPARES
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £6
AUTRE NE VEUT
THE KAZIMIER, 19:00–23:00, £6
Experimental soul producer hailing from Brooklyn, known for flitting between fragile delicacy and raging intensity, and his deeply involved live performances. THE ROYAL WEDDING
MELLOMELLO, 21:00–02:00, FREE
Liquid drone meets ambient jazz from the Liverpool-based space age improv artists. CLAIRE MARTIN AND THE BBC BIG BAND
LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–23:00, FROM £18.50
Jazz singer, Claire Martin, takes to the stage with some hefty backup from the BBC Big Band for a night of classic songs celebrating the Big Band Divas – think: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday et al. PARR JAZZ: BENN CLATWORTHY
STUDIO 2, 20:30–00:00, £3
Par Jazz present their weekly jazz night, featuring a line-up of international guests and local artists to perform.
Americana duo hailing from over Chicago-way, touring with their latest album, Everything Is Easy.
THE SKINNY
Wed 20 Nov Molotov Jukebox
The Kazimier, 20:00–23:00, £10
Genre-dodging London sextet layering the sultry tones of lead singer Natalia Tena over a pretty damn inventive rhythm section. Thao and The Get Down Stay Down
East Village Arts Club, 19:00–23:00, £7
Thao Nguyen-fronted alternative/ folk-rock vibing trio, visiting all the way from San Francisco to show off their latest album, We the Common. Dexters
Korova, 19:00–23:00, £6
Indie rock five-piece hailing from East London, more than apt at penning catchy guitar anthems.
Thu 21 Nov Too Many T’s
The Shipping Forecast, 20:00–23:00, £5
Alternative/party hip-hop duo from London, out on their banterrich Beats We Wish We Had tour. Dilated Peoples
East Village Arts Club, 19:00–23:00, £13.50
Hip hop trio hailing from Los Angeles, bringing the underground sound to the Northwest prior to the release of their sixth album.
Fri 22 Nov Foy Vance
Epstein Theatre, 20:00–23:00, £12 adv. (£14 door)
Bangor-based musician influenced by the southern states of America, touring with his latest album, Joy of Nothing. Catfish Keith
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 20:00–23:00, £sold out
The blues singer/songwriter and master of the slide guitar plays a live set. Alex McKown Band
Studio 2, 21:30–23:00, Free
Fresh-faced blues guitarist, playing a set with a full band. Poets of Anarchy
Korova, 19:00–23:00, £5
Liverpudlian funk rock’n’roll four piece celebrate the launch of their new single.
Sat 23 Nov The 45s
The Zanzibar Club , 19:00–23:00, £5
Carlise-based rhythm ‘n’ blues outfit, formed by four school friends back in 2012.
Make some Noize: Event 2 (Bad Habit Boys + Ultrabeat + John Cotton + Lee Bulter)
O2 Academy, 21:00–23:00, £12.50
Sun 24 Nov Rue Royale
The Zanzibar Club , 18:30–22:00, £5
O2 Academy, 19:00–23:00, £12.50
Bedford-based rock quartet touring on the release of their debut album, Priorities.
O2 Academy, 19:00–23:00, £22.50
MelloMello, 20:00–02:00, £tbc
Scouting for Girls
The English pop trio play showcase their third album, The Light Between Us. Crystal Stilts
The Shipping Forecast, 19:30–23:00, £8
Post punk/psych bunch from over the pond – Brooklyn to be more precise – touring with their third LP, Nature Noir. Bruno Mars
Echo Arena, 19:30–23:00, £43
Mainstream American singer/ songwriter and producer, aka Peter Gene Hernandez. Catfish Keith
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 20:00–23:00, £12
The Harlequin Dynamite Marching Band
Raggle taggle collection of musicians, formed by Stealing Sheep drummer, Lucianna Mercer back in 2011 for a special Krunk Fiesta performance. David Lyttle + Interlude
Studio 2, 21:30–23:00, £5
Touring with his latest album, Interlude, which blends soul, hip hop and jazz with David taking care of the keyboards, bass, drums, cello and vocals, talented fellow that he is. Son of Dave
East Village Arts Club, 19:00–23:00, £13
The blues singer/songwriter and master of the slide guitar plays a live set.
The Canadian singer/songwriter and former Crash Test Dummies guitarist, otherwise known as Benjamin Darvill.
East Village Arts Club, 19:00–23:00, £9
Blade Factory, 19:00–23:00, £10
Daughn Gibson (Brokeback)
The Pearls & Brass drummer embarks on a solo project, doing a mashed up electronic-meetsChristian-folk-thrift-store-finds thing, layered up with booming vocals and served with a side of piercing eyes.
Mon 25 Nov
Public Service Broadcasting
East Village Arts Club, 19:00–23:00, £12
Experimental duo who sample old public information films and archive material and set them to new music, making for a pretty special live set.
Tue 26 Nov
Parr Jazz: Ollie Howell
Studio 2, 20:30–00:00, £3
Par Jazz present their weekly jazz night, featuring a line-up of international guests and local artists to perform. Findlay
Korova, 19:00–23:00, £6
London-via-Manchester singer/ songwriter, likened to Deap Valley and The White Stripes – all chock full of strut.
Wed 27 Nov
Go West + Hue + Cry (The Christians)
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 19:30–23:00, From £26
Germany-bvased dance/techno collective Bad Habit Boys, headline the Make Some Noize tour. The Shipping Forecast, 19:30–23:00, £5
East Village Arts Club, 19:00–23:00, £8
Post punk meets electronic duo hailing from the mighty US-of-A, embarking on a Europe-wide autumn tour.
Don Broco
Husband and wife duo made up of Ruth and Brookln Dekker, loved equally for their indie-pop goodness and hand-knitted merch.
Triple headline thing featuring three of the 80s more enduring bands, responsible for the like of We Close Our Eyes and Call Me.
Tempers
Sat 30 Nov
Hacktivist
The Milton Keynes-based fivepiece grime outfit embark on a UK headline tour.
Dean Blunt (Lord Tusk)
One half of Hype Williams takes to the Northwest with his recent album, The Redeemer.
Sun 01 Dec My Life Story
O2 Academy, 19:00–23:00, £12
Orchestral indie pop lot, celebrating 20 years of doing what they do. Exit Calm
Korova, 19:00–23:00, £6
Alternative four-piece hailing from South Yorkshire, awash with psychedelic influences and drawing comparisons to early My Bloody Valentine.
Mon 02 Dec Electric Six
O2 Academy, 19:00–23:00, £12
Detroit underdogs with enough joyful hooks, mischievous wordplay and unexpected pathos to worm their way into your heart. James Walsh
The Kazimier, 19:30–23:00, £10
The Starsailor frontman plays it solo, his enormous yet fragile vocals all well and in place. Roddy Woomble
East Village Arts Club, 19:00–23:00, £15
The Idlewild frontman plays solo acoustic, drawing on songs from his new solo album, Listen To Keep, as well as handpicking tracks from the Idlewild back catalogue.
Manchester Clubs Tue 29 Oct
Four-piece electro noise bunch hailing from Liverpool, mashing up elements of jazz, tribal beats and break core.
East Village Arts Club, 19:00–23:00, £10
The Deaf Institute, 22:00–03:00, £4 adv. (£5 door)
The all-screaming Basque folktronica five-piece tour the hell outta their new LP, Cave Rave.
Legendary bad boy, mixed-bag night that invites use of the term ‘carnage’.
Echo Arena, 19:30–23:00, £41.50
Fri 29 Nov
Wed 30 Oct
Nickelback
Responsible for the most (over) played song of the 00’s, the Canadian mainstream rock stalwarts return for a European tour. UB40
Liverpool Cathedral, 19:00–23:30, £32.50
Internationally renowned dub reggae band, formed in Birmingham back in 1978 and featuring a lineup of culturally diverse musicians; catch them as they ride the wave of their revival years into unique and unusual venues. The Retrosettes Sister Band
Studio 2, 21:30–23:00, Free
Vintage band offering a modern twist on sounds from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Gold Panda
East Village Arts Club, 19:00–23:00, £12
After the outta-nowhere success of debut LP, Berlin-based beatsmith Gold Panda takes his kaleidoscopic new album, Half of Where You Live, on the road – containing enough intermingling layers so as to constantly toy with the senses.
November 2013
Crystal Fighters
Jonathan Wilson
The Kazimier, 20:00–23:00, £12
Alternative country mover and shaker paying homage to early-70s country rock. Vuvuvultures
The Shipping Forecast, 19:30–23:00, £7
London-based four-piece crafting dark synth pop sounds with a skuzzy edge and unmistakably catchy vibe, fronted by Harmony Boucher’s distinct vocals. Rioghnach Connolly Duo
Studio 2, 21:30–23:00, Free
Blues, jazz and swing duo, enriched by Rioghnach Connolly’s warm vocals. Mostly Autumn
The Citadel Arts Centre, 19:30–23:00, £15
Classic Rock Society invite the British rock outfit, Mostly Autumn, back to the Northwest following their appearance in May.
The Warehouse Project: Haunted House (Knife Party + Zane Lowe + Flosstradamus + dillon Francis + Monsta)
Victoria Warehouse, 20:00–03:00, £19.50
Knife Party bring their Haunted House to The Warehouse Project, with support from Radio 1’s Zane Lowe and more. Afterlife
South, 04:00–07:30, £6
The official Warehouse Project afterparty, taking revellers into the small hours led by a selection of DJs from the night. Slow Down
Soup Kitchen, 23:00–04:00, £tbc
Old school hip hop and random rap served up by Violators Of The English Language (VOTEL), Seam Demsike and Benjamin Hatton. Erasmus Latin Crash
The Ritz, 22:30–03:30, £5
Long-running club night organised by UKISSocial for international students.
A Hit & Run Halloween (Om Unit + Joe Ford + Ape Cult + Chimp) Mint Lounge, 23:00–04:00, £3
Hit&Run offer up a Hallowe’en special, with the London-based electronic producer, Om Unit headlining the event, and Hit&Run year passes up for grabs for the best two costumes.
Fri 01 Nov Revolver
The Deaf Institute, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£4 door)
Gold Teeth
Reasons To Be Cheerful
The Deaf Institute, 22:00–03:00, Free
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. Wet Play (Supernatural Showbiz Jamboree)
The Dancehouse, 21:00–03:00, £5
Wet Play returns, this time taking to The Dancehouse for a full on drenching with residents and guest DJs taking care of the tunes. Well Future
Common, 21:00–02:00, Free (£2 after 10)
Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future.
Bohemian Grove (Patrice Scott)
Deep house and techno from the Bohemian Grove collective, with one of Detroit’s top producers, Patrice Scott playing an intimate set. Under (Shaun Reeves + East end Dubs)
Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £8
Under return to Gorilla with their forward thinking music and big rave attitude. BPM
Roadhouse, 23:00–04:00, £2
A night of grime, garage and experimental bass from the club night turned record label, BPM. XFM First Friday (Jo Good + Catfish and the Bottlemen)
Band On The Wall, 23:00–03:00, £4
Coded Rhythm returns with the mighty Dauwd making his Manchester debut, with the dancefloor destroyer from Portugal, Trikk, bringing the 90s house sound.
Joshua Brooks, 23:00–03:00, £1.50
All party no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.
Thu 31 Oct Murkage
South, 23:00–04:00, £3
House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. Shakedown
Black Dog Ballroom NQ, 23:00–04:00, Free
DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep.
Sat 02 Nov
Casa De La Musica (Jon Fitz + Dave Ellis + John Steward + Sick Elektrik) Venus, 23:00–06:00, £10
Vocal house, funky house and commercial house, with headline sets from Hert&Fitz’s Jon Fitz, and an afterhours set taking you on well into the morning. illumiNaughty (Halloween Central + Killerwatts + Tristan + Avalon + Electrixx + The Freestylers + Hedflux + Red Noise + Extra Love)
Manchester Academy 2, 22:00–05:30, £17
Psy-trance multimedia dance event, throwing predictability out of the window. Remake Remodel
The Ruby Lounge, 23:00–03:30, £4 (3)
A night of alternative rock’n’roll shenanigans. Girls On Film
The Deaf Institute, 22:00–04:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)
Mint Lounge, 22:30–03:30, £5 adv. (£6 door)
Top Of The Pops ‘13
Gorilla, 22:00–04:00, £7
Juicy
Afterlife
South, 04:00–07:30, £6
The official Warehouse Project afterparty, taking revellers into the small hours led by a selection of DJs from the night.
Mint Lounge, 22:30–03:30, £2
The gig and club combo night continues, with a live set from the rock’n’roll quintet, Catfish and the Bottlemen.
Split venue hallowe’en party taking over Sound Control and Gorilla with their shaky, bass-driven beats.
The Ritz, 22:30–03:30, £4 (£5 after 12)
Monthly alternative club night offering an eclectic mix of rock, grunge, metal, hip hop, industrial and more courtesy of their resident DJs.
Pink lady cocktails, disco balls, glitz and glamour – a monthly club night where you’re free to let your inner 80s child loose.
New weekly event, with the ever-charming Duncan from Dutch Uncles taking to the decks for a vinyl only set of golden ago pop and disco. Bass Face (Fright Night)
Club X Over
Manchester’s premier 60s party, now a bi-monthly reason to get excited. Expect 60s pop, garage, motown, rock’n’roll.
Islington Mill, 22:00–08:00, £10
Thu 28 Nov
Barberos Fundraiser
MelloMello, 20:00–02:00, £4
Manchester Clubs
Coded Rhythm (Dauwd + Trikk)
2022NQ, 22:00–03:00, £5
The Warehouse Project: Bestival (Hot Chip + Chic ft. Nile Rodgers + 2ManyDJs + Rob Da Bank + Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs + Toddla T + Aeroplane + Waze & Odyssey + Horse Meat Disco + Maribou State + Krystal Klear + Sophie (Numbers) + Pedestrian + Drop The Mustard + Now Wave DJs) Victoria Warehouse, 20:00–04:00, £sold out
A stellar line-up curated by Bestival, inviting back two legends of Warehouse Projects past; Hot Chip and Chic. Mogadisco
Soup Kitchen, 23:00–04:00, £3 (£5 after 1am)
A night of African rhythms, spanning Afrobeat, Jùjú, Highlife, Disco and more.
Funkademia
Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. Clint Boon
South, 23:00–04:00, £5
Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon.
illumiNaughty (Halloween Central + Killerwatts + Tristan + Avalon + Electrixx + The Freestylers + Hedflux + Red Noise + Extra Love)
Manchester Academy 2, 22:00–05:30, £17
Psy-trance multimedia dance event, throwing predictability out of the window. WhoSaidWhat?
Black Dog Ballroom NWS, 22:00–04:00, £2
Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. Selective Hearing (Bleak + South London Ordnance + Setaoc Mass + Reflec + Bones)
Soup Kitchen, 23:00–04:00, £6 earybird (£10 thereafter)
Following their sell-out BYOB warehouse party, Selective Hearing return to Manchester for a more intimate affair, bringing Swedish techno artist, Bleak along for the mini-rave. Friends in Common
Common, 21:00–02:00, Free (£2 after 10)
Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. SO Flute (Amir)
2022NQ, 22:00–03:00, £10
So Flute serves up their usual smorgasbord of world music, connecting the dots between genres. Afterlife
South, 04:00–07:30, £6
The official Warehouse Project afterparty, taking revellers into the small hours led by a selection of DJs from the night.
Metropolis (Wilkinson + Marky + Shock One + Northbase) Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £tbc
A genre-straddling night of drum and bass, dubstep, electronic and garage, with Wilkinson and Marky at the helm. Mr Scruff Keep It Unreal
Band On The Wall, 23:00–03:00, £11 adv. (£12 door)
DJ set from the musical mastermind, known for mixing a junkshop bag of sounds and bringing his beats to life with squiggly, scribbled animations
The Warehouse Project: Curated by Four Tet & Caribou (Four Tet + Daphni + Doom + Madlib + Ben UFO & Pearson Sound + Thom Yorke + Joy Orbison + James Holden + Floating Points + Evian Christ + Kyle Hall + Wookie + Happa + DJ Barely Legal + Iration Steppas + Jonny Dub)
Victoria Warehouse, 20:00–05:00, £sold out
Top Of The Pops ‘13
Friends in Common
Mint Lounge, 22:30–03:30, £2
Common, 21:00–02:00, Free (£2 after 10)
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.
Venus Evolution (Dirty Freek + Chris J Frater + Mark Lightfoot + Ryan Stent + Lewis Grundy)
Band On The Wall, 22:30–03:00, Free (£5 after midnight)
A night of house and electro with Dirty Freek and Chris J Frater taking care of the room.
Night of the Living Dread (Daddy English + Philly B + Mikey D.O.N)
Manchester’s biggest and friendliest reggae party returns. Pumping Iron
Common, 21:00–02:00, Free (£2 after 10)
Common invite their buddies to take over the decks.
Venus, 22:30–05:00, £7
Resonsant MCR 1st Birthday (Jon Gurd + Sy Chan)
Joshua Brooks, 23:00–04:00, £6 earlybird (£8 thereafter)
Four Tet and Caribou join forces to curate the night, inviting hip-hop heavyweights, Doom and Madlib to Manchester.
Mixed-bag night of nu cosmic Italio, vintage avant garde disco and lo-fi rhythmic punk funk, as you do.
Techno night, Resonant turns one, with techno producer, and Primal Rhythm label boss, Jon Gurd taking to the decks to mark the occasion.
Islington Mill, 23:00–04:00, £4
Roadhouse, 23:00–04:00, £tbc
The Ruby Lounge, 23:00–03:30, £4 (£6 after 11)
Zombie Pride
Tranarchy residents bring Manchester’s most ferocious Hallowe’en party to the Mill, complete with Zombie Catwalk Face Off, Creepshow, and Lipsynchs, all washed down with banging EuroPop sounds. Beatnik Vs Concrete Music
Joshua Brooks, 22:00–04:00, £10
Bringing the undergrounds sound as per, going head to head with underground dance and bass night, Concrete Music. No Hassle: Prince Club
Sound Control, 23:00–04:00, £10
New event taking to the Sound Control, aiming to deliver the best in underground house music. Thefft
Roadhouse, 23:00–04:00, £5
808101 bring the electronic producer, self described as really organised disorganisation, Jack Robertson, aka Thefft to Manchester. Social Beat
The Ritz, 22:30–03:30, £5
New weekly club night taking the GoGo spot, relaunched as a house party mash up. Top of The Pops
The Bay Horse, 21:00–01:00, Free
DJ set from Chris Massey, serving up the hits of the decade along with some guilty pleasures.
Mon 04 Nov Switch
Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £5
A new weekly event at Gorilla from the people that brought you Bass Face, offering a mash up of house, hip-hop and bass. Rum & Reggae (Jpey B + Samrai)
Soup Kitchen, 12:00–23:00, Free
Rum & Reggae returns as a monthly event, with music from Holmilk’s Joey B and Swing Ting’s DJ Samrai, and Caribbean treats, like rum cocktails and goat curry.
Tue 05 Nov Gold Teeth
The Deaf Institute, 22:00–03:00, £4 adv. (£5 door)
Legendary bad boy, mixed-bag night that invites use of the term ‘carnage’. The Sunshine Underground Aftershow
Sound Control, 22:30–03:00, £3
Following their set at Gorilla, The Sunshine Underground will take to Sound Control for a special DJ set.
Wed 06 Nov Reasons To Be Cheerful
The Deaf Institute, 21:00–01:00, Free
New weekly event, with the ever-charming Duncan from Dutch Uncles taking to the decks for a vinyl only set of golden ago pop and disco.
Thu 07 Nov Murkage
South, 23:00–04:00, £3
House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. Play Doubt
Mint Lounge, 22:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 11pm)
New monthly event moseying on to the nightlife scene, offering up hip-hop, dubstep, garage and more. Shakedown
Black Dog Ballroom NQ, 23:00–04:00, Free
SO Flute
So Flute serves up their usual smorgasbord of world music, connecting the dots between genres. Afterlife
South, 04:00–07:30, £6
The official Warehouse Project afterparty, taking revellers into the small hours led by a selection of DJs from the night.
The Warehouse Project: Annie Mac Presents (Major Lazer + Chromeo + Annie Mac + Diplo + Duke Dumont & Mnek + Cyril Hahn + Cashmere Cat + T. Williams + French Fries + Erol Alkan + Daniel Avery + Nadia Ksaiba + Connan Mockasin + Ghost Culture)
Victoria Warehouse, 20:00–05:00, £sold out
An unforgettable night curated by the legendary Annie Mac, with two of dance music’s top live acts, Major Lazer and Chromeo, topping the bill. Hi Ku 1st Birthday (Onra)
Joshua Brooks, 23:00–04:00, £10
Disco, funk, hip-hop and house lot, Hi Ku, celebrate their first birthday, inviting international, eclectic beat-maker, Onra, to mark the occasion.
Subliminal (Route 94 + Jaxx B2B Just Jorge + Boku + Tom Foolery)
South, 23:00–04:00, £8 earlybird (£10 thereafter)
Launch party event with two-hour set from Route 94, taking over the main room while there’s a rave in the courtyard. Swing and Shout
Bassment, 20:00–03:00, £5 adv (£7 door)
A mixed bag night of gypsy, ska, punk, electro, swing and everything in between.
Rong (Solarstone + Sneijder + Photographer + James Rigby + Liam Wilson + Pete Bromage)
Hotmilk: hotmilk
Roadhouse, 23:00–04:00, £tbc
Guiding Star Hi-Fi leads the way for a night of dancehall, soul and dirty south. Social Beat
The Ritz, 22:30–03:30, £5
New weekly club night taking the GoGo spot, relaunched as a house party mash up. Tranarchy
The Bay Horse, 21:00–01:00, Free
The Manchester-based music and DJ collective prove their worth as seasoned party-throwers. Expect glitter.
Mon 11 Nov Switch
Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £5
A new weekly event at Gorilla from the people that brought you Bass Face, offering a mash up of house, hip-hop and bass.
Tue 12 Nov Gold Teeth
The Deaf Institute, 22:00–03:00, £4 adv. (£5 door)
Legendary bad boy, mixed-bag night that invites use of the term ‘carnage’.
Wed 13 Nov
Reasons To Be Cheerful
The Deaf Institute, 21:00–01:00, Free
Nick Warren
Thu 14 Nov
EDM producer and DJ Richard Mowatt, aka Solarstone, headlines this edition of Rong. Sound Control, 22:00–04:00, £12
Progressive house scene legend, Nick Warren takes to the decks for a night of staggering melodies and driving percussion. Sauce (Jane Fitz)
KRAAK, 22:00–04:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)
Sauce returns to Kraak with their mixed bag of records courtesy of resident DJs, Dave Owen and Asher Jones, with special guest appearances from Jane Fitz, who recently made her debut at London’s Fabric. Pandemik (Gramlinz + Clarity B2B Overlook)
Dry Live, 23:00–03:00, £5
A night of cutting-edge drum’n’bass from the Pandemik lot, presenting sounds form the present and future.
Sat 09 Nov
The Underground (Finnebassen + Adana Twins)
Murkage
South, 23:00–04:00, £3
House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. Shakedown
Black Dog Ballroom NQ, 23:00–04:00, Free
DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep.
Fri 15 Nov Top Of The Pops ‘13
Mint Lounge, 22:30–03:30, £2
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.
Black Bee Soul Club (Brian ‘45’ Phillips + Brent Howarth + Anthony Davies) KRAAK, 23:00–04:00, £3
Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £12.50
Up-tempo Northern Soul in the Northern Quarter – inspired by the underground clubs of the 60s and 70s.
Funkademia
Common, 21:00–02:00, Free (£2 after 10)
Music Man’s Deetron, aka Sam Geiser serves up some warm techno with Detroit soul. Mint Lounge, 22:30–03:30, £5 adv. (£6 door)
Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. Clint Boon
South, 23:00–04:00, £5
Fri 08 Nov
Black Dog Ballroom NWS, 22:00–04:00, £2
Juicy
Lowdown: Alex Metric
Sound Control, 23:00–04:00, £10
For the latest edition of Lowdown, they invite OWSLA label DJ and producer, Alex Metric for a night of electronic rave sounds.
New weekly event, with the ever-charming Duncan from Dutch Uncles taking to the decks for a vinyl only set of golden ago pop and disco.
Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon.
Gorilla, 22:00–04:00, £3
Total 80s night, serving up the likes of Bowie, Depeche Mode and Duran Duran.
Venus, 20:00–05:00, £13
DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep.
All party no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.
Scary Monsters
WhoSaidWhat?
Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure.
Well Future
Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future. Ouse (Jaxx + Murr + J. Meehan)
Venus, 22:00–05:00, £8
House heads Ouse return for another run, this time bringing Jaxx and Murr along for the night. Dusk Till Dawn
The Ruby Lounge, 23:00–03:30, £5 (£4)
Tequila drenched night of classic sleaze and hard rock – expect Aerosmith, Motley Crue and Misfits to name a few.
Listings
51
Manchester Clubs mute! (Waxwerks + Tristan Da Cunha + Frency) South, 23:00–05:00, £3
Leeds nightclub, WaxWerks takes a trip over to Manchester, with Throwing Shapes founders taking to the decks. In The Loop
Roadhouse, 23:00–04:00, £tbc
Monthly hip hop night taking to The Roadhouse. Bop Local (Chris Bridgett + Mike Joyce)
The Klondyke Club, 20:00–01:00, £5 adv. (£7 door)
Giving folk out in the ‘burbs something to do on a Saturday night without the trek to town, Bop Local kicks things off early so you can get home at a decent time. Jam City
Soup Kitchen, 23:00–04:00, £5 adv. (£7 door)
Jack Latham, aka Jam City, takes to the Soup Kitchen basement for an all nighter, serving up toughened drum patterns alongside neon synths. Fortsetzen (Ghosting Season + Josef K + Cloud Boat + Oli Byrne)
2022NQ, 23:00–03:00, £5
A night of cutting edge electronic music, cherry-picked from a variety of genres by the line-up of guest DJs.
Scary Monsters (Diamonds Are Forever) The Ruby Lounge, 23:00–03:30, £4 (£6 after 11)
Total 80s night, serving up the likes of Bowie, Depeche Mode and Duran Duran. Vice Squad (The Potential Victim + DJ Jake)
Manchester Academy 3, 20:00–01:00, £8
Punk rock four-piece formed in 1978 in Bristol, re-formed in 1997 with a new line-up made up of former members of The Bombshells. Social Beat
The Ritz, 22:30–03:30, £5
New weekly club night taking the GoGo spot, relaunched as a house party mash up. Free Radicals
The Bay Horse, 21:00–01:00, Free
A night of beat laden disco and grooves.
Sun 17 Nov Haxan
Common, 16:00–00:00, Free
Micheal Holland and Boomkat’s Conor, dishing up radiophonic disco and film score techno. Kodaline After Gig Party
The Ritz, 22:30–03:30, £3 (Free with gig ticket)
Following the Kodaline gig, stick around for the afterparty.
Mon 18 Nov Switch
Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £5
The Warehouse Project: Disclosure (Disclosure + Pusha T + Breach + Bicep + Dusky + George Fitzgerald + Justin Martin + Flume + Oneman + T. Williams + Tourist + Zed Bias + Krysko + Greg Lord + Now Wave DJs)
Mon 25 Nov
Sat 30 Nov
Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £5
The Ruby Lounge, 23:00–03:30, £6
Victoria Warehouse, 20:00–04:00, £sold out
Tue 26 Nov
Disclosure present a night of house, techno and hip-hop, with a rare appearance from Pusha T. Total Garage
Venus, 22:00–04:00, £7
Venus serves up a night of all things 2-step with a side of speed garage. Big Up
Sound Control, 23:00–04:00, £5
Drum and bass, jungle, dubstep and bass from Up, with Benny Page, Dawn Raid, DJ Nuera and more taking care of the decks.
Secret Friday Night Beach Party (Lauren Lo Sung) KRAAK, 21:00–04:00, £5
House and techno night bringing the summery vibes back to the gloomy winter season.
Sat 23 Nov Funkademia
Mint Lounge, 22:30–03:30, £5 adv. (£6 door)
Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. Clint Boon
Switch
A new weekly event at Gorilla from the people that brought you Bass Face, offering a mash up of house, hip-hop and bass. Gold Teeth
The Deaf Institute, 22:00–03:00, £4 adv. (£5 door)
Legendary bad boy, mixed-bag night that invites use of the term ‘carnage’.
Wed 27 Nov
Reasons To Be Cheerful
The Deaf Institute, 21:00–01:00, Free
New weekly event, with the ever-charming Duncan from Dutch Uncles taking to the decks for a vinyl only set of golden ago pop and disco.
Thu 28 Nov Murkage
South, 23:00–04:00, £3
House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. Shakedown
Black Dog Ballroom NQ, 23:00–04:00, Free
DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep.
Fri 29 Nov Top Of The Pops ‘13
Sat 16 Nov
A new weekly event at Gorilla from the people that brought you Bass Face, offering a mash up of house, hip-hop and bass.
The Deaf Institute, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£4 door)
Tue 19 Nov
Soul Boutique (Mike Stephens + B.I.Z.Z.Y.B + Paul Mac + Chris Box + Gold in the Shade)
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.
The Deaf Institute, 22:00–03:00, £4 adv. (£5 door)
Band On The Wall, 22:30–03:00, £10 adv. (£14 door)
Common, 21:00–02:00, Free (£2 after 10)
Revolver
Manchester’s premier 60s party, now a bi-monthly reason to get excited. Expect 60s pop, garage, motown, rock’n’roll. Funkademia
Mint Lounge, 22:30–03:30, £5 adv. (£6 door)
Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. Clint Boon
South, 23:00–04:00, £5
Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon.
Relapse (Doc Scott + Equinox)
Sound Control, 23:00–04:00, £8
With a music policy spanning drum and bass and jungle, headline DJs Doc Scott and Equinox take care of proceedings. WhoSaidWhat?
Black Dog Ballroom NWS, 22:00–04:00, £2
Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure. Friends in Common
Common, 21:00–02:00, Free (£2 after 10)
Common invite their buddies to take over the decks.
Venus Classics (Tony Walker + Mark Tillotson + Dave Ellis + David Dunne + John Steward + Tom Da Lips) Venus, 23:00–06:00, £10
House DJ, Tony Walker is joined by Dave Ellis and more for a night of Venus Classics. Afterlife
South, 04:00–07:30, £6
The official Warehouse Project afterparty, taking revellers into the small hours led by a selection of DJs from the night.
Rum&Bass (Toyboy and Robin + Taches) Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £6
Rum and Bass return with their latest monthly event, this time bringing London house duo, Toyboy and Robin to the Northwest.
The Warehouse Project: BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix Live: The 20th Anniversary Party (Pete Tong B2B Eats Everything + Sasha + Booka Shade + Stevie Lawler B2B Hot Since 82 + James Zabiela B2B Paul Woolford + Skream B2B Jackmaster + Derrick Carter B2B Krysko + Yousef + Bondax B2B Monki + Gorgon City + Justin Robertson + Greg Wilson + Moxie)
Victoria Warehouse, 20:00–05:00, £sold out
Celebrating 20 years of the Essential Mix, BBC Radio 1 curate a line up featuring some of the finest dance acts of recent days, with a special appearance from Booka Shade.
52
Listings
Gold Teeth
Legendary bad boy, mixed-bag night that invites use of the term ‘carnage’.
Gesamtkunstwerk (Pharmakon + Dwellings + Yes Blythe) Islington Mill, 19:00–00:00, £5
The gesamtkunstwerk crew assemble to shred up conventional electronics and reconstruct the remains – basically just the electronic/house/techno sounds we’ve come to expect of the Mill.
Wed 20 Nov
Reasons To Be Cheerful
The Deaf Institute, 21:00–01:00, Free
New weekly event, with the ever-charming Duncan from Dutch Uncles taking to the decks for a vinyl only set of golden ago pop and disco. Hiatus Kaiyote (Riot Jazz Brass Band + Walk + Chunky) Mint Lounge, 21:00–03:00, £10 earlybird (£14 thereafter)
The future sould quartet from Melbourne, made up of Nai, Perrin, Paul and Simon, tour their latest album Tawk Tomahawk.
Thu 21 Nov Murkage
South, 23:00–04:00, £3
House, hip-hop, grime and garage from the Murkage residents. Shakedown
Black Dog Ballroom NQ, 23:00–04:00, Free
DJ Da Funk taking over the decks for a night of hip-hop, funk and dubstep.
Fri 22 Nov Rebel Music
The Deaf Institute, 22:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)
Resident DJs spin the very best of the last six decades of controversial icons, from Elvis, The Clash, Chick Berry and Snoop Dogg. Top Of The Pops ‘13
Mint Lounge, 22:30–03:30, £2
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. Well Future
Common, 21:00–02:00, Free (£2 after 10)
Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future. Afterlife
South, 04:00–07:30, £6
The official Warehouse Project afterparty, taking revellers into the small hours led by a selection of DJs from the night.
South, 23:00–04:00, £5
Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon.
A night of glamour and drop dead gorgeous dance floor-filling tunes. WhoSaidWhat?
Black Dog Ballroom NWS, 22:00–04:00, £2
Mint Lounge, 22:30–03:30, £2
Well Future
Guest DJs on the decks, bringing you music from the past, present, and well, future. Holy Circus
The Ruby Lounge, 23:00–03:30, £4
Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure.
Blissed out night of indie, rock, lo-fi garage and all in between; expect to hear The Smiths, Talking Heads and The Cure.
Common, 21:00–02:00, Free (£2 after 10)
South, 04:00–07:30, £6
Friends in Common
Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. Afterlife
South, 04:00–07:30, £6
The official Warehouse Project afterparty, taking revellers into the small hours led by a selection of DJs from the night. Nothing Else Matters (Mark Knight + Danny Howard) Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £10
New night from Danny Howard, launching a musical crusade to showcase the best of the UK dance music scene.
The Warehouse Project: Chibuku (Nero + Boys Noize + Redlight + Gesaffelstein + Jack Beats + B-Traits + Jaguar Skills + Shy FX + Mistajam + Friction + Breakage B2B Dismantle + P Money + Kove + Northbase + Numbers + Jackmaster + Spencer + DJ Ex + Special Request) Victoria Warehouse, 20:00–05:00, £sold out
Dubstep trio, Nero and German electronic producer, Boys Noize headline this Chibuku curated night. Plush Presents
Venus, 23:00–06:00, £10
Plush present their winter warmer, featuring two rooms of funky sound, with Tim Owen headline the main room and deep house from Ryan James in room two. Social Beat
The Ritz, 22:30–03:30, £5
New weekly club night taking the GoGo spot, relaunched as a house party mash up. Nicks Picks
The Bay Horse, 21:00–01:00, Free
Nick picks some rare and private press rock, punk and psychedelia. Evian Christ: Trance Party (Holy Other + Arca + Vessel + Lukid + Wanda Group)
2022NQ, 22:00–03:30, £12 adv. (£15 door)
Tri Angle’s prodigal son and Kanye West collaborator Evian Christ brings his self-curated Trance Party to Manchester’s basement venue 2022NQ, where he’ll be joined by Holy Other (making his DJ debut), and Arca, Vessel, Wanda Group and Lukid.
Afterlife
The official Warehouse Project afterparty, taking revellers into the small hours led by a selection of DJs from the night.
Aus Music Records (Will Saul + Leon Vynerhall) Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £6
Leftfield sounds from the Simple sister label, Aus Music, formed by Simple boss, Will Saul, and Ninja Tune’s Fink.
The Warehouse Project: Hospitality (Netsky + Camo & Krooked + High Contrast + Danny Byrd + S.P.Y. + Fred V & Grafix + Nu: Logic + Etherwood + Zinc + Dub Phizix & Strategy + Roska + Mele + Hannah Wants + Paleman + Indigo + Rich Reason + Calibre + Marcus Intalex + d-Brdige + Enei & Kasra + Kl) Victoria Warehouse, 20:00–05:00, From £22.50
The London-based drum’n’bass brand, Hospitality bring an explosive line-up to the Warehouse Project, with appearances from Netsky and Camo & Krooked. Lean 002 (Mickey Pearce + Chunky)
Joshua Brooks, 22:00–04:00, £8
Swamp 81’s Mickey Pearce plays an extended set of all things swampy: expect UK funky, house, garage and tropical. Convert NEON (Sante + Sidney Charles)
South, 23:00–04:00, £12 (more on the door)
Covert goes all neon as the club space is transformed into a neon arena with sets from Sante and Sidney Charles. HHR (Tidy Boys + Ilogik + Ben Stevens + Sam Townend)
Venus, 22:00–05:00, £15
Tidy Empire founders, Amadeus Mozart and Andy Pickles, aka The Tidy Boys, headline the night. Da Lata (DJ Patrick Forge)
Band On The Wall, 20:00–23:00, £10
The Afro-Brazilian beat smiths, made up of a family of worldwide collaborators, bring their latest release, Fabiola, to a live setting. Kolombo
Caged Asylum
Straight up rock and metal night with DJ Mikee Diablo on decks and a dress code that encourages fancy dress. POP
The Deaf Institute, 22:00–04:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)
Pop classics in the music hall and glitzy girly disco in the main bar – all of which is designed to keep you dancing all night. Funkademia
Mint Lounge, 22:30–03:30, £5 adv. (£6 door)
Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective. Clint Boon
South, 23:00–04:00, £5
Mixed-bag night from local DJ ledge Clint Boon. WhoSaidWhat?
Black Dog Ballroom NWS, 22:00–04:00, £2
Regular Saturday-nighter, packed with disco, house and funk, with a dash of hip-hop and reggae for good measure.
Liverpool Clubs Tue 29 Oct
Get Down (Real Connoisseur + Carlton Hudson + Or:la + Tom Davies)
The Shipping Forecast, 22:00–03:00, £5 door
Get Down takes to The Hold, bringing Purp and Soul’s youngest addition to the roster, Real Connoissuer.
Wed 30 Oct
Revolution (Halloween Ball)
O2 Academy, 23:00–03:00, £2.50
Grab a slice of the midweek rock action with a night of alt, rock, metal, punk and emo with exclusive DJ sets and giveaways – this time with a Hallowe’en theme. Medication
Nation, 22:30–03:00, £5
Award-winning student night serving up three rooms of house, electro, chart and r’n’b – complete with visuals and occasional fancy dress.
Thu 07 Nov
Wed 20 Nov
Garlands, 22:00–03:00, £4
Nation, 22:30–03:00, £5
Gossip!
Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and the occasional theme night.
Fri 08 Nov
Chew Disco Vol 12 (Ms Vaginal Davis + Shopping)
The Kazimier, 22:00–04:00, £7 (£5)
Chew Disco returns for their 12th outing, this time inviting dragpunk icon, Ms Vaginal Davis along for a night of DIY discotheque. Damon Days
Korova, 23:00–04:00, £3
Blur/Gorillaz club night, brought to you by Liverpool’s No-Wave.
Sat 09 Nov Bedlam Saturday
Garlands, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5)
Medication
Award-winning student night serving up three rooms of house, electro, chart and r’n’b – complete with visuals and occasional fancy dress.
Thu 21 Nov Gossip!
Garlands, 22:00–03:00, £4
Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and the occasional theme night.
Abandon Silence (Bicep + Urulu + Makes No Sense)
East Village Arts Club, 22:00–04:00, £8 earlybird (£10 thereafter)
Abandon Silence brings Bicep to Liverpool for a three hour set, joined by Urulu and Makes No Sense.
Craig Charles Funk and Soul Club (Jungle Fire)
Thu 31 Oct
Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with Avant garde entertainers – where the crazy club kids of Liverpool come out to play.
Band On The Wall, 21:00–03:00, £13
The Shipping Forecast, 23:00–03:00, £3
Korova, 23:00–02:00, Free
Sat 23 Nov
Hustle (Medlar + Rich Furness + RoBaSca + Jimmy Allen)
Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with Avant garde entertainers – where the crazy club kids of Liverpool come out to play.
DJ and actor Craig Charles will be manning the decks until 3am, playing his picks of funk and soul. Friends in Common
Common, 21:00–02:00, Free (£2 after 10)
Common invite their buddies to take over the decks. Afterlife
South, 04:00–07:30, £6
The official Warehouse Project afterparty, taking revellers into the small hours led by a selection of DJs from the night. Solar (Monika Kruse)
Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £10
Juicy
All party no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk. Hip Hop Karaoke
Brooklyn Mixer, 21:00–02:00, £tbc
Roadhouse, 23:00–04:00, £tbc
The Warehouse Project: Movement Detroit (Sven Vath + Loco Dice + Maya Jane Coles + Nina Kraviz + Adam Beyer + Chris Liebing + Marcel Dettmann + Damian Lazarus + Scuba + Chez Damier + Joy Orbison + Levon Vincent + Kyle Hall + Andrew Weatherall + Jay Daniel + Means&3rd + Krysko & Greg Lord) Victoria Warehouse, 20:00–05:00, £sold out
Detroit festival, Movement, comes to The Warehouse Project for one night only, bringing the house and techno sounds. Bitch (Prok & Fitch + Lempo + Chris J Frater + Pete Mobey) Venus, 23:00–06:00, £10
Long-running club night, Bitch, welcome dj and producer duo Prok and Fitch to the decks for a night of house grooves. Social Beat
The Ritz, 22:30–03:30, £5
New weekly club night taking the GoGo spot, relaunched as a house party mash up. Tranarchy
The Bay Horse, 21:00–01:00, Free
The Manchester-based music and DJ collective prove their worth as seasoned party-throwers. Expect glitter.
Mon 02 Dec Switch
Gorilla, 23:00–04:00, £5
A new weekly event at Gorilla from the people that brought you Bass Face, offering a mash up of house, hip-hop and bass.
A night of forward-thinking electronica, EDM and house from the Riddance DJ collective.
Hip Hop Karaoke returns for a Dead rappers delight fright party this halloween, with a costumer competition, gross out drinks and god-awful karaoke all night.
The Shipping Forecast, 23:00–03:00, £6.00
Garlands, 22:00–03:00, £4
Sun 10 Nov
Gossip!
Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and the occasional theme night.
A series of events focussing on Sean Stephenson all-encompassing techno, letting The Shipping Forecast, 22:00–02:00, Free everything but the music slip away. DJ set from the Shipping Forecast Hoya:Hoya resident, SS. Stephenson. Hoya:Hoya returns with their rotation of residents, including Chunky, Eclair Fifi, EMN, Fox, Illum Sphere, Jon K, Jonny Dub, Krystal Klear and Lone.
Riddance
Fri 01 Nov
Root (Soom T + Extra Love + The Corinthians + Lohi + Buddha)
An experimental night of hip-hop, boogie, UK garage and Detroit techno from Hit and Hope imprint boss, Medlar. DJ Isocore
MelloMello, 18:00–02:00, Free
The UpItUp records legend provides the ambient sounds for an evening of alt disco twists.
Wed 13 Nov Medication
Nation, 22:30–03:00, £5
Award-winning student night serving up three rooms of house, The Kazimier, 20:00–03:00, £7 adv. electro, chart and r’n’b – complete (£9 door) The launch event for new club night, with visuals and occasional fancy Root, aiming to revive the Liverpool dress. dub and reggae scene, inviting Thu 14 Nov Renegade Masters’ Soom T to get Gossip! things rolling.
Sat 02 Nov
Chibuku (DJ Fresh + Redlight and Dream MC + Breach + DJ Ez + Pause DJs)
East Village Arts Club, 22:00–04:00, £16.50 (£14)
A legend in the Liverpool clubbing scene moves to a new home in the recently opened East Village Arts Club – still offering up electronic music by the bucket load. Bedlam Saturday
Garlands, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5)
Garlands, 22:00–03:00, £4
Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and the occasional theme night.
Korova, 23:00–02:00, Free
A night of forward-thinking electronica, EDM and house from the Riddance DJ collective. Subvert (Plump DJs + Lewis Jardine)
Revolution (Albert Dock), 22:00–04:00, £3
London-based producer duo, Andy Gardner and Lee Rous take to the decks at Liverpool’s Subvert, joined by Lewis Jardine.
Wed 06 Nov Medication
Nation, 22:30–03:00, £5
Award-winning student night serving up three rooms of house, electro, chart and r’n’b – complete with visuals and occasional fancy dress. Nostalgia
The Lantern Theatre, 19:30–22:00, £8.50 (£6.50)
An experimental theatre piece exploring the notion of home and memory in an ever-shifting world.
MelloMello, 22:30–02:00, £tbc
Afterparty following the Too Many T’s show at The Shipping Forecast. Bedlam Saturday
Garlands, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5)
Riddance
Korova, 23:00–02:00, Free
A night of forward-thinking electronica, EDM and house from the Riddance DJ collective. 303 (Dave Seaman + Selador)
Williamson Tunnels, 21:00–04:00, £10
303 presents a Selador Records showcase, pitching up at Williamson Tunnels for an underground house and techno party – literally.
Soma Sonic (Kasatka + Skyhighatrist + Orchid Star + Vert3x + Gacid + Lloyd Positivist + Xymox + Psionic Entity) Haus Warehouse, 22:00–10:00, £10
For their eighth birthday, Soma Sonic are planning a full on sensory experience, with the dancefloor set to be transformed into a holographic temple of the imagination.
Wed 27 Nov Medication
Nation, 22:30–03:00, £5
Sat 16 Nov
Award-winning student night serving up three rooms of house, electro, chart and r’n’b – complete with visuals and occasional fancy dress.
The Garage, 22:00–03:00, £9 earlybird (£12 thereafter)
Thu 28 Nov
Rubix (LEON + ReeLow + Chris McGee + Phil Fearon + Lee Charnock)
LEON of Music On and D-Floor records sets this tone for this 1st birthday celebration for Rubix, wth Inmotion Music’s Reelow also on the bill.
Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with Avant garde entertainers – where the crazy club Chibuku (Dusky + T Williams + Cyril Hahn + Ben Pearce + kids of Liverpool come out to play. Klangkarussel + Andy Hill + Riddance
Fire Beneath the Sea + Too Many T’s (Afterparty)
Holly Lester)
East Village Arts Club, 22:00–04:00, £16.50 (£14)
A legend in the Liverpool clubbing scene moves to a new home in the recently opened East Village Arts Club – still offering up electronic music by the bucket load. Bedlam Saturday
Gossip!
Garlands, 22:00–03:00, £4
Student night with 5 rooms of music spread over 2 floors and the occasional theme night.
Fri 29 Nov
Motion (Greg Wilson B2B Derek Kaye)
Fallout Factory, 22:00–05:00, £13.50
Greg Wilson goes back to back with Derek to mark one year of motion, promising a night of disco, electro, house and techno.
Sat 30 Nov Bedlam Saturday
Garlands, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5)
Garlands, 22:00–04:00, £10 (£5)
Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with Avant garde entertainers – where the crazy club kids of Liverpool come out to play.
Riddance
Korova, 23:00–02:00, Free
Extravagant and flamboyant club night complete with Avant garde entertainers – where the crazy club kids of Liverpool come out to play. Korova, 23:00–02:00, Free
A night of forward-thinking electronica, EDM and house from the Riddance DJ collective.
Riddance
A night of forward-thinking electronica, EDM and house from the Riddance DJ collective.
Border Community (James Holden + Luke Abbott + Ghosting Season + Adele Moss)
The Kazimier, 22:00–04:00, £12
Freeze return with another oneoff show, this time inviting Border Community label boss, James Holden for a night of electronica and trance.
Dry Live, 22:30–04:00, £15
Belgian house producer, Kolombo, aka Olivier Grégoire, brings his strict house music policy to Dry Live.
THE SKINNY
Theatre Manchester Capitol Theatre Kindertransport
6–9 Nov, times vary, £8 (£5)
A harrowing new production set against the backdrop of Nazi Germany as Jewish parents attempt to get their children out of the country. The Lower Depths
27–30 Nov, times vary, £8 (£5)
A new production of Maxim Gorky’s The Lower Depths – first staged in Moscow in 1902 and one of his best-known plays – depicting a group of Russians living in harsh conditions in a homeless shelter.
Contact Beats
16 Nov, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £11 (£6)
Coming of age tale told with lots of techno – following teenager Johnno when the 1994 Criminal Justice Act comes into play, effectively outlawing raves. Tomorrow’s Parties
30–31 Oct, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £14 (£8)
Intriguing performance piece from Forced Entertainment, as two figures wreathed in light present a multitude of hypothetical situations, including utopian and dystopian scenarios and absurd fantasies. Just Add Water: Bobby
8–9 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £9 (£5)
Dark tragi-comedy charting a young boy’s journey towards the fate that befalls him as a man, told through physical theatre, music and puppetry. Box Clever: Romeo and Juliet
19–21 Nov, times vary, £11 (£6)
Royal Exchange Studio Flesh
6–9 Nov, times vary, £12 (£10)
Monkeywood present a new play following three young people as they walk the path the parenthood. The Futureworlds Project
14–17 Nov, times vary, Free
Young people from across the north west present a big blue box, filled to the brim with their visions of the future, this exhibition and installation will paint a vivid picture of the youth of today. Pat Kirkwood is Angry
24 Nov, 7:00pm – 11:00pm, From £12
Opera North and the Royal Exchange Theatre present a show about the Manchester-born actress and singer, Pat Kirkwood – see her life and songs brought to the stage by Jessica Walker. Firearms and Fingertips
27–30 Nov, times vary, £12 (£10)
A modern drama about morals and gun crime, written by multitalented musician and filmmaker, James Shaw with a live soundtrack provided by DJ Rasp.
Royal Exchange Theatre Sweeney Todd
various dates between 1 Nov and 30 Nov, times vary, From £10
Stephen Sondheim’s epic musical thriller. Dark and comic, wonderfully macabre and gruesome story of betrayal, love and bloody revenge.
Royal Northern College of Music City of Manchester Opera: Macbeth
Box Clever present a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, set against the backdrop of a heart-shaped metal set, and live DJ soundtrack.
15 Nov, 17 Nov, 7:30pm – 11:00pm, £18 (£16)
29–30 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £11 (£6)
Sweet Mandarin
Bryony Kimmings: Credible Likable Superstar Role Model
Award-winning artist, Bryony Kimmings and her nine-year-old niece attempt to make fictional pop star, Catherine Bennett, world famous.
Manchester Piccadilly Suitcase
21 Nov, times vary, Free (booking required)
A unique theatrical experience in which the audience journey through Piccadilly Station and stumble across scenes played by refugee children, foster parents and Kindertransport organisers – marking 75 years since the first arrival of Kindertransport.
Opera House Singin’ in the Rain
9–30 Nov, times vary, From £15
The West End production of Singin’ In The Rain arrives in Manchester, drenching audiences in feel good vibes with their fizzy re-telling of the first Hollywood musical making its way to the silver screen.
The City of Manchester Opera present Shakespeare’s finest tragedy, Macbeth, conducted by Nigel Machin and directed by Juan Ortuno. Yellow Earth: Dim Sum Nights
5–7 Nov, 7:00pm – 10:00pm, £12 (£6)
Bite-sized comedy served up in a unique setting by British East Asian writers – with a side of dim sum, sold separately.
The Dancehouse The Green Eggs and Glam Burlesque Revue
2 Nov, 8:00pm – 11:00pm, £12.50 (£11)
Variety burlesque show, complete with showgirls, clowns, circus freaks and all manner of delightful debauchery.
The King’s Arms Posh Tramps and Papooses
10 Nov, 7:30pm – 8:30pm, £5
Another surreal political satire from the MAD theatre company, following the Longbottom family and their dysfunctional holiday to Chorlton, on the tram. The Seance of Dickens
29 Oct, times vary, £5
Palace Theatre
A one-man show following Josiah Drood, a man who claims he can contact the dead, and the events that lead him to be possessed by some of Dickens’ most famous characters.
1 Dec, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, From £15
30 Oct, 7:30pm – 8:30pm, £8 (£7)
Christmas With The Rat Pack
Christmas version of the musical favourite, taking a trip back to the glitzy and glam of 50s Las Vegas. Rent
29 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, prices vary
The ever-popular Tony and Pulitzer prize-winning musical celebrates 20 years on the stage. Wicked
24–16 Nov, times vary, From £20
The captivating and oft-sold out musical, telling the story of how the two witches of Oz came to be known as good and bad, through song ‘n’ all that. A Christmas Carol
19–23 Nov, times vary, From £15
The Christmas staple takes to the stage thanks to an adaptation by the Northern Ballet Theatre company, starring everyone from Scrooge to Tiny Tim.
November 2013
Stephen King’s Night Shift
Ian Winterton, Ross Kelly and Baz Greenland present an adaptation of three classic stories from Stephen King’s Night Shift. Dead on Arrival
13 Nov, 14 Nov, 16 Nov, times vary, £8 (£6.50)
A daring adaptation of the 50s noir classic by 1956 Theatre, telling the tale of Frank Bigelow after he has been poisoned and spends his final few hours on a witch hunt to find his killer. You All Know Me, I’m Jack Ruby!
22–24 Nov, 12:00pm – 1:00pm, £7 (£5)
A new drama piece written by Clifford Barry, telling the story of Jack Ruby, the Dallas mafia man who gunned down suspected President John Fitzgerald Kennedy assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald in the Dallas Police Department.
Embryo 82
Wanted! Robin Hood
Cats
True Colours
Earthfall: Chelsea Hotel
29 Nov, 7:30pm – 8:30pm, £5
various dates between 29 Nov and 11 Jan, times vary, prices vary
various dates between 15 Aug and 7 Dec, times vary, From £10
8–9 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £10.50 (£8.50)
1–2 NOV, times vary, £16
Mixed bag night that acts as a platform for performances currently in development – you’ll see anything from short films and comedy to poetry and bands of all genres.
The Lowry Studio Best of BE Festival
6 Nov, times vary, prices vary
Showcasing three of the best shows from Birmingham’s BE Festival, including physical theatre piece Al Cumbo, award-winning show, Tao Re and Next Door, a moving tale exploring human connections. The House of Nostril
31 Oct – 2 Nov, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £12
Sketch comedy from the Casual Violence bunch, following Roger Nostril as he returns home from a 20-year war with Amnesty International. Expect terror, tyranny and taxidermy. In Doggerland
7–12 Nov, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £12
A UK première from Box of Tricks, presenting Tom Morton-Smith’s In Doggerland, following a brother and sister as they arrive in a coastal town looking for answers – she wants to hold on to the past with photographs while he’s looking for a fresh start. The Statement of Randolph Carter
15 Nov, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £12
Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s classic horror, follow the occultist, Harley Warren as he ventures deep underground for a ceremony while on the surface his assistant, Randolph Carter, listens to his progress over a telephone wire. Toro! Toro!
21–22 Nov, 1:30pm – 4:00pm, £12
A family friendly (8+) adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s tale of a young boy raised on a cattle farm in the south of Spain trying to save his favourite bull-calf from the bullring.
The Lowry: Lyric Theatre
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
6, 8 Nov, 7:00pm – 10:00pm, From £17
Britten meets Shakespeare in this classic comedy tale of unrequited and unwanted love. Fiddler On The Roof
various dates between 29 Oct and 2 Nov, times vary, From £19
New production of Jerry Bock’s favourited musical, directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood (aka him offa Strictly Come Dancing). Peter Grimes
5 Nov, 9 Nov, 7:00pm – 10:00pm, From £17
Opera North present Britten’s Peter Grimes, set against the backdrop of an English coastal town and following the drama as an outsider arrives in town. Death in Venice
7 Nov, 7:00pm – 10:00pm, From £17
As part of the Britten 100 series, Opera North present Britten’s final opera, a sensual affair tinges with mortality and brought to life with an exotic orchestral score. Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
12–16 Nov, times vary, From £22
Matthew Bourne (y’know, he who is tirelessly reimagining just about every classic in theatrical existence) presents a re-telling of the modern day classic, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. War Horse
20–30 Nov, not 24, times vary, From £23
War Horse returns to Manchester, telling the story of Albert and his beloved horse, Joey, adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s novel.
A family-friendly new adaptation of Robin Hood – arriving just in time for the festive season – following a fearsome soldier on his return to the rule-ridden Nottingham, and the band of outlaws in Sherwood forest, gearing up to fight for vengeance.
New adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s favourited production, adapted from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. And featuring cats. Loadsae human-sized cats.
8–9 Nov, times vary, £10
The English National Ballet’s retelling of Tchaikovsky’s dance classic, ripe for the festive season with its dreamlike narrative and magical journey of discovery.
Dragon
New family friendly show by National Theatre of Scotland, Vox Motus and Tianjin Children’s Arts Theatre, following a young boy in the wake of his mother’s death, and the dragon that follows him, burning with the anger and hate that he feels. Nobulus: Out of the Shadow
15–16 Nov, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, From £15
A unique dance performance presented by a ten-strong dance crew, popping and locking their way through a mix of breakdance, contemporary dance, ballet and acrobatics.
Three Minute Theatre
Love, Youth & Shakespeare
7–9 Nov, 7:00pm – 10:00pm, £7.50 (£6.50)
Three university students attempt to bond, complete a group assignment and navigate their turbulent love lives with a little help from good ol’ Shakespeare. Women in Theatre Double Bill
21 Nov, 7:00pm – 10:00pm, £7.50 (£6.50)
As part of the Women in Theatre double bill, catch Love Letters an Other Pointless Scribbles, a poignant look at the drama before and after a break up, and Woman Scorned, a chilling account exploring just how far a wronged woman will go for revenge.
Z Arts
Stacy Makishi: The Falsettos
29 Nov, 7:30pm – 11:00pm, £8 (£5)
Hawaiian performance-maker, Stacy Makishi presents a solo show mashing up the gangster genre with domestic drama.
Liverpool Theatre Echo Arena Rent
30 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £30
The ever-popular Tony and Pulitzer prize-winning musical celebrates 20 years on the stage. Cirque Du Soleil: Alegria
30 Oct – 3 Nov, times vary, £50
A cast of 55 performers and musicians from 17 countries perform gravity-defying acrobatics in a high-energy aerial show.
Epstein Theatre Handel Furioso
2 Nov, 7:30pm – 11:00pm, £15 (£12)
Isle of Noise Opera present this love story – spanning childhood to old age – told through arias and duets. The Classic Motown Show
23 Nov, times vary, £10 (£5)
Positive Impact present a trip down memory lane with some of the biggest and brightest stars of Motown. Music Hall Tavern
29 Nov, 7:30pm – 11:00pm, £20
Paul Carroll’s sequin-emblazoned theatrical delight makes its way from the Canary Islands to the Liverpool stage. World Stars of Magic
30 Nov, 7:30pm – 11:00pm, £15
The Lowry: Quays Theatre
A family-friendly evening of magic and illusions from a line-up of internationally-renowned magicians.
10 Nov, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, From £13
Liverpool Empire
High Tease
An evening of authentic burlesque, featuring razor-sharp wit and cheeky antics galore. Earthfall: Chelsea Hotel
19 Nov, 20 Nov, times vary, £16
Earthfall take us on a trip to New York’s iconic Chelsea Hotel, and bring to life the famous inhabitants – from Jack Kerouac to Patti Smith – through song, dance and music. Part of Homotopia.
Blood Brothers
28 Oct – 9 Nov, not 3 Nov, times vary, From £10
The favourited musical tale of separated-at-birth twins who grow up on opposite sides of the tracks.
The Nutcracker
various dates between 25 Aug and 23 Nov, times vary, From £10
The Slipper & The Rose: The Cinderella Musical
13–16 Nov, times vary, From £15
The Sherman Brother’s adaptation of the classic fairytale, Cinderella, brought to life by Richard Chamberlain as Prince Charming and Gemma Craven as Cinderella.
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
John Waters: This Filthy World
8 Nov, 8:00pm – 11:00pm, From £20
Writer, director and actor, John Waters present his one man show, embarking on a devious monologue romp through his life, career and obsessional tastes. Part of Homotopia.
MelloMello The Seance of Dickens
13 Nov, times vary, £5
A one-man show following Josiah Drood, a man who claims he can contact the dead, and the events that lead him to be possessed by some of Dickens’ most famous characters.
Royal Court Theatre
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To Fazakerley various dates between 22 Nov and 11 Jan, times vary, £14
A journey into the absurd, just in time for the festive season, taking the audience on a romp through space with an all-singing, all-dancing cast.
The Black-E Casus: Knee Deep
7–8 Nov, 6:30pm – 9:00pm, £8 (£6)
Australian contemporary circus company, Casus, present a new physical theatre work testing the boundaries of four performers, complete with thrilling physical feats.
The Capstone
Traffic of the Stage: Much Ado About Nothing
14 Nov, 7:30pm – 11:00pm, £11.50 (£9.50)
A fast-faced adpatation of Much Ado About Nothing, set against the backdrop of 18th century Spain and all decked out in costumes of the time. Natasha Davis + Two Destination Language
15 Nov, 7:30pm – 11:00pm, £13.50 (£11.50)
Double bill performance with Natasha Davis presenting Internal Terrains, a performance playing chords with films, crows, cages and electric shocks, and Tow Destination Language’s Near Gone, a heartfelt story about survival.
The Lantern Theatre Cinderella
26–28 Nov, 7:00pm – 10:00pm, £8.50 (£6.50)
Slapstick pantomime, getting us all geared up for the festive season, telling the story of Cinders, her ugly step sisters, wicked step mother and run in with a dashing prince. 1994
7 NOV, 20:00–22:00, £8.50 (£6.50)
Lena Simic takes on 1994 in this solo performance/homage to Kurt Cobain, spanning everything from the rise and fall of Nirvana to Kurt’s eventual suicide.
A modern play about a retired Yorkshire miner and a Pakistani nurse as they’re forced to confront what it really means to be British in modern society when their worlds collide. Nostalgia
6 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £8.50 (£6.50)
An experimental theatre piece exploring the notion of home and memory in an ever-shifting world. Over The Garden Fence
1 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £8.50 (£6.50)
A two woman show starring Annabelle and her Grandmother, as they delve into the past and bond over family history and longforgotten stories. In Doggerland
22–23 Nov, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, prices vary
A UK première from Box of Tricks, presenting Tom Morton-Smith’s In Doggerland, following a brother and sister as they arrive in a coastal town looking for answers – she wants to hold on to the past with photographs while he’s looking for a fresh start. Arise Love Goddess
15 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £12.50 (£9.50)
An evening of music and dance exploring female power with belly dancers, drag queens, burlesque dancers and more. Wrong ‘Un
16 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £10.50 (£8.50)
A one-woman musical written by Boff Whaley and directed by Justin Audibert telling the story of a Lancashire mill girl turned Suffragette and her journey from school room to prison cell. Last Tango at St Leonard’s + Pipedreams
18–19 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £10.50 (£8.50)
A double bill performance featuring Mari Lloyd’s farce drama about NHS cuts, and Pipedreams, a oneact play about the perfect day. For Emily
29–30 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £7.50 (£5.50)
One act play about a young girl who retreats to a world of fantasy to escape her turbulent life caught in the middle of an abusive relationship between her parents.
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts The Wiz
7–9 Nov, times vary, £8 (£4)
A souped-up version of the Wizard of Oz, told through brassy musical numbers with a rock, gospel and soul twang. 3 Sisters on Hope Street
28–30 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £8 (£4)
A funny and moving story set against the backdrop of Liverpool’s Jewish community following the Second World War.
The Playhouse Aladdin
various dates between 29 Nov and 18 Jan, times vary, From £10
A rock’n’roll panto adaptation of Aladdin, complete with a rave in a cave and some frothy dance moves. 1984
various dates between 4 Aug and 3 Nov, times vary, prices vary
Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan take on George Orwell’s classic novel in this new adaptation set in the oppressive Oceania, where Winston spins between hopes of love and threats of torture, as his every movement is tracked. The Grand Gesture
12–16 Nov, times vary, From £12
A man on the verge of ending it all attracts the attention of a host of ne’er-do-wells, all wanting to claim his grand gesture for their individual causes, ranging from love, politics, religion and the rising price of fish.
Unity Theatre Alice in Wonderland
19–20 Nov, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £12 (£10)
Volcano present a radical reworking of Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland, sending audiences tumbling down the rabbit hole into a strange and unfamiliar world.
Fri 01 Nov Alexei Sayle
Earthfall take us on a trip to New York’s iconic Chelsea Hotel, and bring to life the famous inhabitants – from Jack Kerouac to Patti Smith – through song, dance and music. Part of Homotopia.
The Lowry: Quays Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £17
6 Nov, 7:30pm – 10:30pm, £10 (£8)
The Best in Stand Up (Adam Bloom + Charlie Baker + Steve Williams + Carey Marx + MC Dave Williams)
Dickie Beau: Lost In Trans
A new performance piece from renowned gender disillusionist, Dickie Beau, exploring issues surrounding sexuality through a blend of multi-media, found sound and lip synching. Part of Homotopia festival. Of Saints and Go-go Boys
6–7 Nov, times vary, £10 (£8)
Inspired by Jean Genet’s novel, Our Lady of the Flowers, PanicLab present a hedonistic tale mixing fantasy and reality, as three outcasts navigate a world of cheap glamour. Contains very explicit content. Part of Homotopia. Dance Triple Bill
9 Nov, 7:00pm – 10:30pm, £10 (£8)
Catch an evening of new works performed by a group of all female dancers, works include: Young Man!, Cameo Cookie and Variations of the Heart. Part of Homotopia. David Hoyle: In The Company of Friends
9 Nov, 9:00pm – 11:00pm, £12 (£10)
Avant garde performer, David Hoyle presents his unique brand of performance art, blending poetry and music, interspersed with appearances from guest stars, Gerry Potter and Julie Holestar. Part of Homotopia. Caz n Britney present Mis Les
13–16 Nov, times vary, £14 (£12)
Caz and Britney, stars of Scottie Road The Musical, take on Les Mis with rainbow flags hoisted high about their heads as they journey from the barricades to... who knows? Part of Homotopia. Le Gateau Chocolat: Black
14–15 Nov, times vary, £10 (£8)
The internationally-renowned Nigerian-born singer presents a new solo piece for Homotopia festival, exploring Le Gateau’s life, love and fears. Part of Homotopia. Beauty & The Beast
22–23 Nov, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £12 (£10)
Impobable present a multilayered fairytale like no other starring British disabled actor, Mat Fraser and former Miss Exotic World/Miss Coney Island, Julie Atlas Muz – contains all manner of nudity.
Manchester Comedy Wed 30 Oct
Stephen K Amos: The Spokesman
The Lowry: Quays Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £17
The master of feel-good comedy hits the road with a brand new show, fresh from the Edinburgh Festival.
Thu 31 Oct
Phil Jupitus: You’ve Probably Wondered Why I’ve Asked You Here
The Lowry: Quays Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £16
A three part performance starring three unlikely characters calling on the help the curious audience (that’s you), to find out more about them. Big Value Thursdays (Nige + Mickey Sharma + Lee Peart + Roger Monkhouse + MC Toby Hadoke)
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–23:00, £9 (£6)
A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value. Bright Club: Manchester Monster
Gorilla, 19:30–22:00, £10
Manchester’s Bright Club goes all spooky for Halloween, as part of the Manchester Science Festival.
The English comic returns to the live circuit with his first stand-up tour in 16 years, at which he’ll be test-driving a selection of new material.
The Comedy Store, 20:00–23:00, £18 (£9)
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. Barrel of Laughs (Nige + Pete Otway + Roger Monkhouse)
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£8)
Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. Aaron Twitchen
The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £5
Forget kissing frogs and marrying trolls, let’s rewrite the rules and bring back princess power – interactive and personal dating how-to. Maxine Jones
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £5
Maxine Jones lays bare her experience of hiding her jaunt into comedy from her three sons – told through stand-up and a short film. David Stanier’s Silly Party
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £2
Winner of the BBC New Comedy Award 2012 Wildcard Choice throws a silly party with silly party jokes and silly party games.
Sat 02 Nov Jeremy Hardy
The Lowry: Quays Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £17
The former Perrier Comedy award winner and Radio 4 stalwart does his stand-up thing, hopefully touching on his adventures in tracing his family history. S.O.S.
Three Minute Theatre, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)
The Superstars on Saturday crew have assembled an evening of character comedy and sketches, featuring Peter Slater, Lee Fenwick and more.
The Best in Stand Up (Adam Bloom + Charlie Baker + Steve Williams + Carey Marx + MC Dave Williams)
The Comedy Store, 19:00–21:00, £20 (£10)
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.
The Best in Stand Up (Adam Bloom + Charlie Baker + Steve Williams + Carey Marx + MC Dave Williams)
The Comedy Store, 21:30–23:30, £20 (£10)
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. Barrel of Laughs (Nige + Pete Otway + Roger Monkhouse + MC Toby Hadoke)
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–02:00, £17 (£10)
Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.
A Complete and Utter Rubbish History of Pop Music With Tony Harries The King’s Arms, 15:45–16:45, £3
Manchester’s Tony Harries returns to home turf with his stand up show exploring what might’ve happened to the history of pop music if he’d been controlling the charts. James Anfield
The King’s Arms, 15:45–16:45, £3
A compilation show featuring four new up-and-coming comedians. C3467X
The King’s Arms, 17:00–18:00, £5
The London-based improv group – hailing from North America, Australia and the UK – bring their quirkly and playful freestyle show to the Northwest. Kids Over 18 Welcome
The King’s Arms, 18:15–19:15, £tbc
Star of the hit show, The Undateables brings his award winning show to the Northwest along with the amazingly funny and confident Russ Bland, known for being a bit of a hit with the ladies. Socially Immobile
The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £1
Socially awkward individual Martyn employs the help of a team of professionals (comedians) to explore ways to improve his social skills.
Listings
53
Comedy
Manchester Baxter Glennon & Co Ltd The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £2
Absurd comedy from an evergrowing cast of humans, animals and everything in-between. Abi Roberts
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £2
A work in progress show from a rising star on the comedy circuit.
Kids Over 18 Welcome The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £tbc
Star of the hit show, The Undateables brings his award winning show to the Northwest along with the amazingly funny and confident Russ Bland, known for being a bit of a hit with the ladies. Cock-Kane The Clown UK
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £3
Northwest comedy showcase night, putting folk on stages before they make it big.
An outrageous hour of ‘traditional’ enterainment from Cock Kane, aiming to cure the nation of Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, through Sexy Clown Magic and Alluring Music.
Sun 03 Nov
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £5
Joe White
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £tbc
Ardal O’Hanlon
The Lowry: Lyric Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £21
He of Father Ted fame brings his mild-mannered and sharp wit to the fore with his latest stand-up show, presented in his default expression of utter disbelief. Alex Horne: Lies
The Lowry Studio, 20:00–22:00, £12
The BAFTA award-winning, Platinum-selling R&B artist, Alex Horne presents an hour of observational stand-up and lies. King Gong (MC Jason Cook)
The Comedy Store, 19:30–21:00, £6 (£3)
The night when ordinary folk can have a bash at stand up-all in hope of being crowned King Gong, until next month. Prestigious. Scott Bennett & Phil Pagett: True Bromance The King’s Arms, 15:45–16:45, £4
Yorkshire-bord Scott Bennett and one-liner merchant, Phil Pagett share the stage for one hour of highly contrasting comedy. Real Men Have Beards
The King’s Arms, 17:00–18:00, £4
Chris Tavner takes a comedic romp into the world of beards and asks what significance they hold in the 21st century. Kids Over 18 Welcome
The King’s Arms, 18:15–19:15, £tbc
Star of the hit show, The Undateables brings his award winning show to the Northwest along with the amazingly funny and confident Russ Bland, known for being a bit of a hit with the ladies. Staple/face: Bathtime With Tom’s Dad The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £5
New sketch show from three wholesome young men, all freshfaced and full of energy. Tickle Your Town
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £3
Bruce offers a light-hearted look at real-life in Oz through song and poetry. Kevin Dewsbury: Out Now
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £5
Kevin Dewsbury aims to debunk stereotypes of the ‘gay’ scene through song, jokes, stories and some tales of a more graphic nature. Wes Zaharuk
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £5
The Prop man, known for incorporating power tools, bananas and film noir into his routines. Too Cool to Care
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £5
Lolie Ware presents a comedic look at her life as a carer, offering bittersweet material that will make you want to laugh and cry.
Mon 04 Nov
Beat The Frog: World Series (Alex Boardman) The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–23:00, £5 adv (£3 door)
Dan Nightingale presents the final of The World Series – with the final 8 acts competing to beat the frog, with audience members deciding the winner. Dead Cat Comedy Crèche (Red Redmond)
Sandbar, 20:00–23:00, Free
Tony Burgess
Stand-up comedy from the Manchester-based Tony Burgess.
Tue 05 Nov
Cissie and Ada: An Hysterical Rectomy
The Lowry: Quays Theatre, 20:00–22:00, From £17
Lew Dawson’s immortal comic characters are brought to life in this play written by Graham Warrener in collboaration with Terry Ravenscroft.
XS Malarkey: Marlon Davis (Steve Bugeja + Sean Cannon + Tez Ilyas + MC Toby Hadoke) Jabez Clegg, 19:00–23:00, £5 (£3 members)
Marlon Davis present his unique brand of soul-baring comedy. Erick McElroy
The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £5
American stand-up, Elrick McElroy takes a look at US politics and the recipe for becoming president – a touch of God, freedom and a flatbed full of firearms, apparently. The Worst Comedy Night in Salford
The King’s Arms, 20:00–21:00, Free
Keeping expectations low with this open mic night of stand up, all are welcome to give it a bash. Tony Cowards: Bespoke Joke Show
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £5
Tony Cowards presents a night of stand-up tailored to each specific crowd, as in, you’re the source of the funnies. Hecklers Will Be Shot
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £3
A night of new comedy from some up-and-coming talent, highlighting the lesser known styles of comedy, from the offensive to the obscure.
Wed 06 Nov Right Up Your Street
The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £5
Foghorn Improv create a riveting soap opera from start to finish, using nothing but audience suggestions.
The Best in Stand Up (Jarred Christmas + Addy Van Der Borgh + Steve Harris + MC Imran Yusuf) The Comedy Store, 20:00–23:00, £18 (£9)
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.
Barrel of Laughs (David Longley + Johnny Kats + Alex Boardman + MC Phil Ellis) The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£8)
Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. Hiding Behind Imaginary Walls
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £2
Three comedians take you on a journey of jokes, japes and story telling. PowerCouple
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £tbc
Stephen and Gary take a real-life romp through the two sides of every relationship, from meeting the friends to deadline with the ex.
Sat 09 Nov
John Aiden shares the 10 films that defined his relationship with his dad, spanning his childhood to the present day. Glen Maney: The Prostate Years
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £3
Glen Maney takes a look at his half a decade on the planet, asking how things have changed for the better, and for the worse.
Thu 07 Nov
Big Value Thursdays (David Longley + Harriet Kernsley + Alex Boardman + MC Phil Ellis)
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–23:00, £9 (£6)
A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value. Sham Bodie
The Castle Hotel, 19:30–23:00, £10
Yellow Soul
Sketch troupe from the University of Salford, bringing an hour of funny, quirky and at times worrying sketches about every day life.
Obie: Hostage: A Captive Audience
Steve Hughes: While It’s Still Legal!
Cheekykita
The Australian comic and ex-heavy metal drummer delivers his beautiful live rant of a thing, out on the road for his second solo tour.
An emotional roller-coaster of a show, with Obie taking his audience hostage. The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £3
High energy, oddball character comedy, from the all singing, all dancing Cheekykita.
Sun 10 Nov Hal Cruttenden
The Lowry Studio, 20:00–22:00, £12.00
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. New Stuff (MC Toby Hadoke)
The Comedy Store, 19:30–21:00, £3
A chance for those on the circuit to test out some new, never before heard or seen material, with MC Toby Hadoke. Jason Byrne’s Special Eye
O2 Apollo, 19:00–23:00, £17.50
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.
Barrel of Laughs (David Longley + Johnny Kats + Alex Boardman + MC Phil Ellis) The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–02:00, £17 (£10)
Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. All The Fun of the Fairburn
The King’s Arms, 17:00–18:00, £3
Juliet Meyers: You’re Klever
Juliet Meyers takes us on a journey through her pet hates, including drama students and the definition of clever, and irrational delights, including dogs and Yoko Ono. PowerCouple
The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £tbc
Stephen and Gary take a real-life romp through the two sides of every relationship, from meeting the friends to deadline with the ex. Paul Mutagejja, Pete Ffoulkes, Broady and Dave Marshall
The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £2.50
Yorkshire night, Fancy a Gag comes to Manchester, brining with them a line-up of hilarious circuit comedians. Life of Pie
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £3
Award-winning comic, Alex Perry, presents a show about pie, damned pies and statistics. Chris Purchase
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £5
Life-affirming stuff from everfunny Chris Purchase, whose life philosophy states that everything will be ok, because if it’s not ok, it’s not the end of the story.
What Would Beyoncé Do?
The Lowry Studio, 20:00–22:00, £12
The fringe-favourite solo show from Luisa Omielan. Free-wheeling jokes, improv and a power ballad to tackle the big question – WWBD? Big Value Thursdays (Steve Shanyaski + Jonny Awsum + MC Dave Williams)
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–23:00, £9 (£6)
A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value.
Fri 15 Nov
The Best in Stand Up (Tom Stade + Paul Thorne + Matthew Osborn + MC John Fothergill) The Comedy Store, 20:00–23:00, £18 (£9)
The King’s Arms, 17:00–18:00, £5
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£8)
Squeaky Dirty Stand Up
An hour of stand-up from this collection of social misfits, proving that if you scrub hard enough, it all comes out in the wash. The Murderettes
The King’s Arms, 18:15–19:15, £5
Using audience cues, The Murderettes will commit a murder for everyone’s enjoyment, giving the hero the length of the show to discover whodunnit. Harriet Dyer
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £4
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £tbc
The Comedy Store, 21:30–23:30, £20 (£10)
Thu 14 Nov
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.
The Comedy Store, 19:00–21:00, £20 (£10)
The Best in Stand Up (Jarred Christmas + Addy Van Der Borgh + Steve Harris + MC Imran Yusuf)
The Comedy Store, 20:00–23:00, £15
Jason Byrne returns with his brand new show, effortlessly conjuring a night of hilarity via new stories and props.
Sangry – sad and angry – standup comic shares her eccentric escapades that often leave folk questioning her mentla health.
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.
Wed 13 Nov
The King’s Arms, 22:00–23:00, £5
The Best in Stand Up (Jarred Christmas + Addy Van Der Borgh + Steve Harris + MC Imran Yusuf)
The King’s Arms, 18:15–19:15, £5
Aidan Goatley
The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £3
Listings
Fri 08 Nov
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £3
The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £5
54
Two comics present their contrasting style, from the laid back tales of modern living from Ben Wearmouth, to comedian/ cartoonist Mike Milling’s high energy style.
BBC New Comedy Award finalist presents a punchline-packed show about hip-hop.
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £5
New monthly comedy night, with the inaugural edition seeing Manchester super-band, PINS providing the musical entertainment, while Mr Susie and Liam Pickford provide the funnies.
Tony, 33, wonders: could he have achieved more in life by not spending 20 years playing video games? Join one of the north-east’s hottest talents in his debut hour to find out.
Ben Wearmouth and Mike Milling
The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £3
Dark comedy from Rachel Fairburn, who observes that life would be more fun if it wasn’t for people, places and things – join her as she explores what life would be like on her terms.
Chris Turner: Pretty Fly
A brand new comedy night for brand new comedy, offering comedians the chance to hone their craft in front of a friendly crowd (that’s you!). Tony Jameson
Steve Allen The King’s Arms, 20:45–21:45, £5
Topical stand-up comedy show from news addict, Steve Allen, presenting his SomeNews show that aims to answer some pressing questions, including: how do we fix the UK? And which of Jewward would you eat first in a celeb version of the film, Alive?
3 Ways
Three comedians with very differing styles present an hour of comedy, with the oh-so unPC Nathalie Kerrio, Freesat spokesperson Sara Mason and master of one-liners, Collin Galletly.
Mon 11 Nov Alistair McGowan
The Lowry: Quays Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £16
Can’t get in to Sarah Millican, Kevin Bridges, Andy Parsons, John Bishop, Micky Flanagan and Jack Dee? Don’t worry! McGowan does them all! Plus, sports stars, TV stars and a song about butter. May contain puns.
Beat The Frog: World Series (David Longley) The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–23:00, £5 adv (£3 door)
Dan Nightingale presents the final of The World Series – with the final 8 acts competing to beat the frog, with audience members deciding the winner. William Regal: an Audience With A Wrestling Villain
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 23:15–23:00, £sold out
Death is inevitable and universal. Let’s laugh in its face while our hearts still beat and our jaws are still attached.
Tue 12 Nov Bo Burnham: What
The Dancehouse, 19:15–23:00, £16
Following a sell-out run at Edinburgh’s Fringe festival, young gun, Bo Burnham brings his trademark sophisticated wit to the Northwest. Sean Hughes
The Lowry: Quays Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £15
Dealing with his dad’s death the only way Sean can, this hilarious yet poignant tale looks at the lighter side of dying, how ridiculous life is and how quickly it can be taken away.
XS Malarkey: Silky (Phil Wang + Adam Rowe + David Elms + MC Toby Hadoke) Jabez Clegg, 19:00–23:00, £5 (£3 members)
Comedian, writer and musician from Liverpool, with a stand up show chock full of self-effacing charm.
Barrel of Laughs (Steve Shanyaski + Sam Avery + Jonny Awsum + MC Dave Williams)
Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.
Tue 19 Nov
XS Malarkey: Mike Newall (Sean Moran + Peter White + Steve Titley + MC Toby Hadoke) Jabez Clegg, 19:00–23:00, £5 (£3 members)
Mike attended six weddings in eight months and applies what he’s learnt from an expensive and emotional year to his own hopes and fears of settling down. The Worst Comedy Night in Salford
The King’s Arms, 20:00–21:00, Free
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.
The Best in Stand Up (Tom Stade + Paul Thorne + Matthew Osborn + MC John Fothergill) The Comedy Store, 21:30–23:30, £20 (£10)
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. Barrel of Laughs (Steve Shanyaski + Sam Avery + Jonny Awsum + MC Dave Williams)
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–02:00, £17 (£10)
Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.
Sun 17 Nov
Rob Newman’s New Theory of Evolution The Lowry Studio, 20:00–22:00, £12
Writer, comedian and political activist, known for his work with fellow Cambridge classmate, David Baddiel. Craig Campbell
The Lowry: Quays Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £16
Campbell returns with yet more of his yarn-spinning, full of whimsical personal tales and a unique ability to find humour in, well, anything. New Comedians (MC Alex Boardman)
The Comedy Store, 19:30–21:00, £3
Alex Boardman presents a line-up of up-and-coming comics, trying to make it on to the circuit. Be nice.
Mon 18 Nov
Beat The Frog: World Series (Danny McLoughlin) The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–23:00, £5 adv (£3 door)
Dan Nightingale presents the final of The World Series – with the final 8 acts competing to beat the frog, with audience members deciding the winner. Dead Cat Comedy Club (Red Redmond + Kiri PritchardMcLean + Peter Brush + Sully O’Sullivan) Sandbar, 20:00–23:00, Free
Dead Cat Comedy invades the Northern Quarter sci-fi bar with their unique night of alternative comedy.
Fuel’s free stand up night returns for another night of – let’s face it – slightly bizarre comedy.
Mon 25 Nov
Dan Nightingale presents the final of The World Series – with the final 8 acts competing to beat the frog, with audience members deciding the winner.
Micky Flanagan
Phones4u Arena, 20:00–23:00, From £24.50
The toustle-haired English comic draws on his East End background to ruthlessly deconstruct the Cockney myth with his usual razor sharp observational wit. Jimeoin
The Lowry: Quays Theatre, 20:00–22:00, From £14
Inspired ramblings from the standup Northern Ireland comedian and actor (aka Jimeoin McKeown). Big Value Thursdays (Charlie Baker + Dan Nightingale + MC Jonathan Mayor)
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–23:00, £9 (£6)
A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value.
Following a successful UK-wide tour and a run at the Edinburgh Fringe, The New Wave comedy night hits the road, bringing a selection of new comic material to the Northwest.
The Comedy Store, 19:00–21:30, £20 (£10)
Quippopotamus Fuel Cafe, 20:00–23:00, Free
Thu 21 Nov
The Lowry Studio, 20:00–22:00, £12
The Best in Stand Up (Tom Stade + Paul Thorne + Matthew Osborn + MC John Fothergill)
A new comedy night from The Lowry theatre, hosted by Manchester comedian Hayley Ellis.
Beat The Frog: World Series (Pete Otway)
Fri 22 Nov
Writer, comedian and political activist, known for his work with fellow Cambridge classmate, David Baddiel.
The Comedy Network
The Lowry Studio, 20:00–22:00, £12
Keeping expectations low with this open mic night of stand up, all are welcome to give it a bash.
Sat 16 Nov
Rob Newman’s New Theory of Evolution
Sun 24 Nov
New Wave Comedy
The Dancehouse, 20:00–23:00, £10 (£8)
Micky Flanagan
Phones4u Arena, 20:00–23:00, £29.50
The toustle-haired English comic draws on his East End background to ruthlessly deconstruct the Cockney myth with his usual razor sharp observational wit. The Best in Stand Up (Tom Wrigglesworth + Ian Stone + Geoff Norcott + Rob Rouse + MC Dave Johns)
The Comedy Store, 20:00–23:00, £18 (£9)
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. Barrel of Laughs (Charlie Baker + Michael J Dolan + Dan Nightingale + MC Mike Wilkinson)
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–02:00, £16 (£8)
Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ.
Sat 23 Nov
Simon Munnery: Fylm
The Lowry Studio, 20:00–22:00, £14
Simon Munnery stabs at the void between dead film and live theatre in his latest fylmtastic fylm. The Best in Stand Up (Tom Wrigglesworth + Geoff Norcott + Rob Rouse + MC Dave Johns)
The Comedy Store, 19:00–21:00, £20 (£10)
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. The Best in Stand Up (Tom Wrigglesworth + Geoff Norcott + Rob Rouse + MC Dave Johns)
The Comedy Store, 21:30–23:00, £20 (£10)
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. Barrel of Laughs (Charlie Baker + Michael J Dolan + Dan Nightingale + MC Mike Wilkinson)
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–02:00, £17 (£10)
Three top-notch comics, a sprinkling of Frog compere funnies and a late night disco courtesy of the resident DJ. Lee Nelson
Manchester Academy, 19:00–23:00, £22.50
Simon Brodkin’s alter ego, aka the chavtastic Lee Nelson.
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–23:00, £5 adv (£3 door)
Dead Cat Comedy Club (Red Redmond + Jack Campbell + Dan Nicholas + Steve Shanyaski) TV21, 20:00–23:00, Free
Dead Cat Comedy invades the Northern Quarter sci-fi bar with their unique night of alternative comedy. Sidekick Comedy
Via, 19:00–23:00, £3 (£2)
A monthly comedy gig with a line up of delightfully hilarious circuit funny folk.
Tue 26 Nov
XS Malarkey: Andy White
Jabez Clegg, 19:00–23:00, £5 (£3 members)
Energetic Brummie comic, impartial to the odd Star Wars impression.
Wed 27 Nov
Charity Night: Shits and Giggles (Kiri Pritchard-Mclean and John Cooper) The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–23:00, £10 (£5)
Charity comedy night in aid of Chrohn’s and Colitis UK, with stand up comics, and performances by Salford sketch group, Yellow Soul.
Thu 28 Nov
Big Value Thursdays (Geoff Norcott + Mick Ferry + MC Ray Peacock)
The Frog and Bucket Comedy Club, 19:00–23:00, £9 (£6)
A Frog flagship event offering up four great acts for stonkingly great value. Comedy at the Kings
The King’s Arms, 19:30–20:30, £3
An evening of live stand up comedy and a cake raffle, what’s not to love?
Fri 29 Nov
The Best in Stand Up (Roger Monkhouse + Steve Shanyaski + Phil Nichol + Josh Howie + MC Ian Moore)
Liverpool Comedy Wed 30 Oct
Failure (and other opportunities for non-linear success)
Unity Theatre, 20:00–21:30, £10 (£8)
A one woman show combining comedy, social commentary, contemporary dance and an element of visual absurdity. Mary Pearson explores life when consumed with delusional fantasies of commercial success.
Thu 31 Oct
Keith Carter as Nige (MC Jonathon Mayor)
Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £15
Keith Carter presents the lovable scouse, Nige, renowned for securing Liverpool the title of Capital of Culture, so they say. Paul Sinha
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £13 (£11)
London-based GP turned comic, known for his high pun concentration.
Fri 01 Nov
Milton Jones: On The Road
Echo Arena, 20:00–23:00, £22.75
The neurotic English comic takes to the road with another tour – imaginatively entitled, erm, On The Road – rich with one-liners, and some pictures wot he drew specially. Keith Carter as Nige (MC Jonathon Mayor)
Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £15
Keith Carter presents the lovable scouse, Nige, renowned for securing Liverpool the title of Capital of Culture, so they say.
Joe Lycett (Seymour Mace + Chris Cairns + MC Neil Fitzmaurice)
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £15
Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.
Sat 02 Nov
Keith Carter as Nige (MC Jonathon Mayor)
Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £18
Keith Carter presents the lovable scouse, Nige, renowned for securing Liverpool the title of Capital of Culture, so they say.
Seymour Mace ( Joe Lycett + Chris Cairns + MC Neil Fitzmaurice)
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £17.50
The Comedy Store, 20:00–23:00, £18 (£9)
Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.
Sat 30 Nov
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 20:00–23:00, From £20
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. The Best in Stand Up (Roger Monkhouse + Steve Shanyaski + Phil Nichol + Josh Howie + MC Ian Moore) The Comedy Store, 19:00–21:00, £20 (£10)
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians.
The Best in Stand Up (Roger Monkhouse + Steve Shanyaski + Phil Nichol + Josh Howie + MC Ian Moore) The Comedy Store, 21:30–23:30, £20 (£10)
Regular night of stand up with five world-class comedians. Group Therapy (Adam Buxton)
Gorilla, 19:00–22:00, £10
Get your giggle fix and see off the week in Group Therapy – often includes award winning funny folk. This month, catch YouTube-loving funny man, Adam Buxton.
Sun 01 Dec King Gong (MC Justin Moorhouse)
The Comedy Store, 19:30–21:30, £6 (£3)
The night when ordinary folk can have a bash at stand up-all in hope of being crowned King Gong, until next month. Prestigious.
Ardal O’Hanlon
He of Father Ted fame brings his mild-mannered and sharp wit to the fore with his latest stand-up show, presented in his default expression of utter disbelief.
Mon 04 Nov
The MelloMello Comedy Knight
MelloMello, 20:00–02:00, £donation
Mello Mello’s very own alternative comedy night, dishing up original new comedy.
Tue 05 Nov
Sandi Toksvig: My Valentine
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 20:00–23:00, From £20
The panel show regular, author and novelist returns to her stand-up roots to promote her new novel, Valentine Grey.
Wed 06 Nov The Laughter Factor
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £5 (£3)
A monthly event giving comicsthe chance to try out new material before the weekend shows – it helps if you think of yourself as a comedic guinea pig.
Tina C: Where The Hell Were You
Contact, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£7)
The inspired alter ego of Christopher Green, Tina C struts her way – most likely in cowboy boots – through a series of comedy, satire and song.
THE SKINNY
Thu 07 Nov
Rob Rouse (David Longley + Harriet Dyer + MC Dave Twentyman) Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £15
Crude comic par excellence, Rob Rouse is back on the road following the birth of his second child, for which the majority of his chat centres around, well... pretty much crapping and peeing.
Fri 08 Nov
Rob Rouse (David Longley + Nick Beaton + MC Dave Twentyman)
Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £15
Crude comic par excellence, Rob Rouse is back on the road following the birth of his second child, for which the majority of his chat centres around, well... pretty much crapping and peeing. Paul Foot
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £12.50
Thu 21 Nov
Jeff Innocent (MC Phil Ellis)
Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £15
Burly East End geezer and comic – could be mistaken for the bouncer – but more apt at delivering sharp witted social observations. Tom Stade
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £sold out
The shouty Canadian monster that is Tom Stade takes his 2012 Edinburgh Fringe show on the road, imbued with his his refreshingly laid-back and unconventional ethos on life.
Fri 22 Nov
Jeff Innocent (Dan Nightingale + Joel Dommett + MC Phil Ellis) Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £15
Burly East End geezer and comic – could be mistaken for the bouncer – but more apt at delivering sharp witted social observations.
Rant-heavy comedian from Bucks, with a Guild of Connoisseurs, rather than fans – as you do!
Justin Moorhouse (Ste Porter + Brendan Dempsey + MC Chris Cairns)
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £15
Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.
Daliso Chaponda (Kevin Dewsbury + Keith Carter as Nige + MC Ste Porter)
Malawian comic, with a career spanning Canada, South Africa and more recently, the UK.
Sat 09 Nov
Rob Rouse (David Longley + Nick Beaton + MC Dave Twentyman)
Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £18
Crude comic par excellence, Rob Rouse is back on the road following the birth of his second child, for which the majority of his chat centres around, well... pretty much crapping and peeing.
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £15
Sat 23 Nov
Jeff Innocent (Dan Nightingale + Joel Dommett + MC Phil Ellis) Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £18
Burly East End geezer and comic – could be mistaken for the bouncer – but more apt at delivering sharp witted social observations.
Ste Porter (Justin Moorhouse + Brendan Dempsey + MC Chris Cairns) The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £17.50
Tue 12 Nov
Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.
Echo Arena, 20:00–23:00, £27.50
Sun 24 Nov
Micky Flanagan: Back In The Game
The toustle-haired English comic draws on his East End background to ruthlessly deconstruct the Cockney myth with his usual razor sharp observational wit.
Wed 13 Nov
Micky Flanagan: Back In The Game
Echo Arena, 20:00–23:00, £27.50
The toustle-haired English comic draws on his East End background to ruthlessly deconstruct the Cockney myth with his usual razor sharp observational wit.
Thu 14 Nov
Benny Boot (Paul Tonkinson + Peter Philipson + MC Barry Dodds) Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £15
Aussie observational comic, known for having a giggle at his own gags.
Ed Byrne: Roaring Forties
Liverpool Empire, 20:00–23:00, £23.50
Self-confessed miserable git, Ed Byrne takes his mid-life crisis of sorts on the road as he embraces middle age with open arms.
Ex-English lit teacher turned comic, known for his high energy style, and for Occasionally Selling Out. Daliso Chaponda
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £12
Malawian comic, with a career spanning Canada, South Africa and more recently, the UK.
Fri 29 Nov
.Geoff Norcott (Mick Ferry
Aussie observational comic, known for having a giggle at his own gags. Chris Cairns (Tom Stade + Steve Royle + MC Neil Fitzmaurice)
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £15
Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.
Sat 16 Nov
Benny Boot (Paul Tonkinson + Loretta Maine + MC Barry Dodds) Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £18
Aussie observational comic, known for having a giggle at his own gags. Steve Royle (Tom Stade + Chris Cairns + MC Neil Fitzmaurice)
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £17.50
Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.
November 2013
Ex-English lit teacher turned comic, known for his high energy style, and for Occasionally Selling Out.
Phil Nichol (Daliso Chaponda + Chris McCausland + MC Neil Fitzmaurice)
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £22
Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.
Sat 30 Nov
Geoff Norcott (Mick Ferry + Mike Wilkinson + MC Toby Hadoke) Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £18
Ex-English lit teacher turned comic, known for his high energy style, and for Occasionally Selling Out.
Chris McCausland (Phil Nichol + Dalison Chaponda + MC Neil Fitzmaurice)
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £22
Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.
Sun 01 Dec
Jason Byrne’s Special Eye
Liverpool Empire, 20:00–22:30, £18.50
Jason Byrne returns with his brand new show, effortlessly conjuring a night of hilarity via new stories and props.
The Gifts of the Departed: Alinah Azadeh
12 Oct – 23 Feb, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
various dates between 23 Nov and 1 Mar, 10:00am – 5:30pm, Free
A new exhibition bringing together the work of over 70 artists across photography, film, sculpture, oil paintings, prints and book works to explore our changing perceptions of conflict in a time when our reactions are so influenced by the media.
Interdisciplinary artist, Alinah Azadeh presents a new exhibition of work exploring communal rituals and the process of wrapping and exchanging gifts.
Manchester Jewish Museum
The Portico Library
Islington Mill
Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art
Three years on from their first joint exhibition, Alex Humphreys, John Powell-Jones and Barry Steadmund are reunited to showcase new works.
An exhibition showcasing work by some of the most famous Jewish artists in history, including work by Marc Chagall, Chaim Soutine, Lazar Berson and Sonia Delaunay.
MMU: Special Collections
Manchester Museum
various dates between 23 Sep and 20 Dec, times vary, Free
10 Oct – 17 Nov, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
Will Kwan: Breathe Residency
various dates between 3 Sep and 23 Nov, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
Hong Kong-born and Canadabased artist Will Kwan explores the post-industrial landscape of Manchester, inspired by Engels’ 1844 text, The Condition of the Working Class in England, and utilising video and photo work to explore the new economies created.
Wendi Xie: First Step Showcase
various dates between 21 Sep and 21 Dec, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
Recent MA Ceramics and Glass Design graduate, Wendi Xie presents a collection of work using fibre glass, plaster, clear glass and plastic to reimagine the use of classic craft materials. Cao Fei: Haze and Fog
various dates between 26 Oct and 7 Dec, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
An ambitions new film commission by Chinese artist, Cao Fei, taking on the zombie movie genre and exploring class structures and powerlessness.
Contact
Blank Media Collective: Invented Identities
various dates between 12 Sep and 14 Dec, times vary, Free
Double Indemnity
various dates between 14 Sep and 5 Jan, times vary, Free
A new group exhibition taking inspiration from Billy Wilder’s classic film noir, Double Indemnity, exploring desire, possession and complicity and featuring two newly commissioned works by Ming Wong and Anicka Yi. David Chadwick: We Were All Here, Once
various dates between 3 Oct and 5 Nov, times vary, Free
Manchester-based artist David Chadwick presents a collection of rarely seen images of Manchester nightlife from the late 70s and early 80s, documenting the punk, new romanitc and rag-doll scenes of the time. Urgent Copy
various dates between 7 Nov and 7 Jan, times vary, Free
Anthony Burgess’ book covers enjoy a moment in the spotlight in this new exhibition exploring the way his writing is interpreted and represented by artists, drawing on rare materials on loan from the International Anthony Burgess Foundation.
Gallery of Costume
Christian Dior: Designer in focus
12 Jun – 12 Jan, times vary, Free
A unique exhibition of Christian Dior’s work, including London and Paris couture with highlights including a piece from his New Look collection, a 1949 black ribbed silk cocktail dress commissioned by the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson.
Imperial War Museum North Sean Smith: Iraq
4 Jun – 2 Feb, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
A photographic exhibition by the award-winning British war photographer, Sean Smith, documenting the collision of two worlds as local Iraqis and military personnel are forced to co-exist.
The Ball Is Back
1–9 Nov, not 3, 4, 5, 1:00pm – 6:00pm, Free
The Language of Process
A new exhibition exploring how new materials and technologies are changing digital product design, with design work from some of the world’s leading creative designers, including Assa Ashuach, Tom Dixon, Patrick Jouin, Ingo Maurer and Marcel Wanders.
Manchester Art Gallery Radical Figures: Post-war British Figurative Painting
16–16 Mar, times vary, Free
A new collection of works that explore the role painters such as Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud and David Hockney played in the reinvention of figurative and realist art in post-war Britain. Home, Land and Sea: Art in the Netherlands 1600-1800
24–23 May, times vary, Free
Bringing together over 50 paintings from the Manchester City Galleries’ 17th and 18th century Dutch and Flemish collection, including portraiture, landscapes and seascapes from Pieter de Hooch, Gerard ter Borch and Jacob van Ruisdael. Channel Crossings
11 Jul – 6 Dec, times vary, Free
An exhibition of English and French Impressionist and PostImpressionist paintings, exploring the allure of French art for a generation of English and Scottish painters. Alison Erika Forde: The Tallest of Tales
27 Aug – 10 Nov, times vary, Free
Explore the playful yet uncanny world created by Manchester-born artist Alison Erika Forde in this new exhibition; inside the custom built hut – reminiscent of a fairy tale – you’ll find salvaged mass produced images and charity shop bric a brac. A Highland Romance: Victorian Views of Scottishness
20–1 Sep, times vary, Free
A collection of some of the most popular 19th century paintings and works on paper by Scottish artists is shown alongside visions of Scotland by artists from England, exploring the changing view of Scotland and Scottishness over the past two centuries. All That Is Solid Melts Into Air
12 Oct – 19 Jan, times vary, Free
This new touring exhibition curated by Jeremy Deller explores the impact of the industrial revolution of British pop culture through music, film, photography and objects, with Deller’s approach to the materials likened to that of a social cartographer. GrAyson Perry: The Vanity of Small Differences
24 Oct – 2 Feb, times vary, Free
Inspired by William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress, artist Grayson Perry created six tapestries to tell the story of class mobility and the influence of social class on aesthetic taste.
Chagall, Soutine and the School of Paris
various dates between 20 Jun and 24 Nov, times vary, Free
90 Degree Citizen
As part of Platforma National Refugee Arts Festival, Virtual Migrants partner with Street Level Photoworks to present artworks by a group of artists exploring the broken line between homeland and destination through photography, painting and print-making.
National Football Museum
True Colours: Stuart Roy Clarke
12 Jul – 31 Dec, times vary, Free
A raw and gritty collection of photographs shot by Stuart Roy Clarke, captured throughout the 2012/13 football season, capturing the passion, joy and loyalty of fans.
North Tea Power Barry Steadmund: Stay
1 Oct – 14 Nov, times vary, Free
New drawings from elusive artist and this month’s Skinny Showcase Barry Steadmund, whose practice involves parapsychology and marshmallows.
Paper Gallery interim PAPER
various dates between 5 Oct and 16 Nov, 11:00am – 5:00pm, Free
PAPER bring together the work of 13 individuals currently undertaking postgraduate research at the Manchester School of Art in an exhibition exploring uncertainty, exploration, private study and public dissemination.
The John Rylands Library The Polari Mission
16 Aug – 2 Feb, times vary, Free
As part of the Manchester Pride Fringe festival of events, two artists are embarking on a mission to protect and preserve Polaris – an ancient and endangered language – with an exhibition that examines how LGBT groups identify with Polari today.
The Lowry
Defining Me: Musical Adventures in Manchester
28 Sep – 23 Feb, times vary, Free
An exhibition charting the Manchester’s rich musical heritage through ticket stubs, posters, video and photographs; spanning everything from the Hallé Orchestra’s first performance in 1858 to the present day musical landscape. Alison Goldfrapp: Performer as Curator
19 Oct – 2 Mar, times vary, Free
To kick off their Performer as Curator series, The Lowry invite English singer/songwriter Alison Goldfrapp to curate an exhibition of work offering insight into the singer’s personal inspiration through paintings, film, illustration and photography.
The Museum Manchester of Science and Craft and Design Industry (MOSI) Brains: The Mind As Matter Centre 20 Sep – 4 Jan, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free Forming Words
various dates between 13 Jul and 9 Nov, 10:00am – 5:30pm, Free
A group exhibition in which the artists explore different aspects of text, words and the meaning of communication, using everything from embroidery to jewellrey to explore these themes.
Synthesis 25 Oct – 10 Nov, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
A futuristic exhibition merging art with science in a variety of formats, including installation, paintings, sculptures and cinematic experience works, by artists such as Luke Jerram, Gina Czarnecki and Jo Berry.
Photographer Jon Parker Lee presents an exhibition of work spanning ten years of freelance photogaphy behind the scenes.
Cornerhouse
Geoff Norcott (MC Toby Hadoke)
Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £15
Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £15
Jon Parker Lee
22 Nov – 7 Dec, not 24 Nov, 1 Dec, times vary, Free
Comedy Central at Baby Blue, 18:00–22:30, £15
Hal Cruttenden
Benny Boot (Paul Tonkinson + Loretta Maine + MC Barry Dodds)
2022NQ
Thu 28 Nov
The Slaughter House, 20:00–23:00, £12 (£10)
Fri 15 Nov
Manchester
The latest exhibition by Blank Media Collective explores ways in which we sculpt our own identity and re-imagine reality through false images and alter egos.
+ Mike Wilkinson + MC Toby Hadoke)
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.
Art
Catalyst: Contemporary Art and War
On display for the first time outside of London, MOSI present a collection of artifacts, including real brains, artworks, manuscripts and more, showcasing our relationship with this most vital of human organs.
Paul Brotherton: A Retrospective
3–31 Oct, not 6, 13, 20, 27, times vary, Free
An exhibition of work from the Cheshire-based artist Paul Brotherton, best known for his boundary-pushing methods of painting and his wide-ranging exploration of artistic movements, including abstract expressionism.
Liverpool Arena Gallery
Fiona Philipps: Psuedopodia
various dates between 31 Oct and 14 Nov, 11:00am – 5:00pm, Free
Inspired by the complex systems and structures at work in the human body, Fiona Philipps presents a new collection of work using paper, textiles, wire, pain and ceramics in experimental ways.
Camp and Furnace
This Way Out: Boy George and TradeMark
1–25 Nov, 11:00am – 5:00pm, Free
For the first time ever, Boy George will be publicly exhibiting his photo and graphic artworks in collaboration with club culture painter, TradeMark, in an exhibition exploring identity and constructed identities. Part of Homotopia. Postcards from the Edge
5–10 Nov, times vary, Free
An exhibition of postcards collected by disability charity, United Response, inviting people who care about disability or mental health to share what matters to them using only a blank postcard.
Exhibition Research Centre Bob Cobbing: ABC in Sound
9 Oct – 22 Nov, weekdays only, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
An exhibition of documents, books, films, prints, musical instruments and sound pieces from Bob Cobbing’s collection, a British sound poet best known for his anarchically stretched language interspersed with recognisable spoken work.
FACT
Headspace
26 Sep – 1 Dec, times vary, Free
Taking over the FACT foyer with their art-exhibition-meetsscience project, Headspace aims to build a database of head shapes to assist with paediatric Craniofacial surgery research – with added interactive art and workshops. Mark Boulos
3 Oct – 21 Nov, times vary, Free
Artist and filmmaker Mark Boulos presents a solo exhibition of work, the centrepiece of which will be Echo, an immersive work that will present the viewer with an eerie, interactive doppelganger, utilising every neuroscientific trick in the book.
British Dance: Black Routes 13 Sep – 23 Mar, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
A new exhibition exploring the experiences of Black British dancers from 1946 to 2005 and shining the spotlight on their contributions to British dance, through jazz, contemporary, ballet and hip hop.
Lady Lever Art Gallery The Drawings of Edward Burne-Jones
14 Jun – 12 Jan, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
A collection of 26 drawings by the Pre-Raphaelite master, comprising of independent drawings, preparatory studies and designs for stained glass.
Merseyside Maritime Museum
Titanic and Liverpool: The Untold Story
30 Mar – 31 Dec, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
A collection of previously unseen archive footage and materials that document Liverpool’s central role in the Titanic story. The exhibition marks the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic.
Met Quarter Germ Free Adolescents
various dates between 31 Oct and 23 Nov, 11:00am – 5:00pm, Free
Documenting the life and music of iconic Poly Styrene, this exhibition features rare and original artefacts from the LJU Special Collections and Archives, donated by former X-Ray Spex manager, Falcon Stuart. England’s Erotic Dream
various dates between 31 Oct and 23 Nov, 11:00am – 5:00pm, Free
An exhibition of photographs from the LJMU’s Special Collections and Archives, including the Jon Savage archive, turning the spotlight on London’s early punk scene, charting the defiant attitude to gender and sexuality.
Museum of Liverpool April Ashley: Portrait of a Lady
27–21 Sep, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
A exhibition exploring the life of April Ashley, the Liverpool-born Vogue model and actress and one of the first people in the world to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
Open Eye Gallery
Tim Hetherington: You Never See Them Like This
various dates between 6 Sep and 24 Nov, 10:30am – 5:30pm, Free
A new exhibition celebrating the work of the late Tim Hetherington – the Liverpool-born photojournalist – on display will be a collection of photogrphas and film work taken during his time with American soldiers in Northern Afghantistan.
Sudley House
20th Century Chic: 100 Years of Women’s Fashion 21 Aug – 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.
Fallout Factory
Tate Liverpool
various dates between 11 Oct and 8 Nov, 11:00am – 6:00pm, Free
8 Nov – 2 Feb, 10:00am – 5:00pm, £8 (£6)
Making Sense
An interactive exhibition of works that capture the senses with light, sound and colour, encouraging the viewer to explore their surroundings using their senses.
International Slavery Museum White Gold: The True Cost of Cotton
1 Jun – 31 Dec, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
Art Turning Left: How Values Changed Making 1789-2013
The first exhibition of its kind exploring how left-wing values have influenced the production and reception of art across historical periods and geographical locations – artists include Jeremy Deller, Iwao Yamawaki and Tim Rollins.
The Bluecoat
3am: Wonder, Paranoia and the Restless Night 28 Sep – 24 Nov, 10:00am – 6:00pm, Free
A group exhibition featuring the work of Francis Alÿs, Tonico Lemos Auad and Sandra Cinto, exploring our current state, represented by 3am; a darkened hour filled with dreams, nightmares and the feeling of dread. Deaf School: The Art School Dance Goes On Forever
19 Oct – 15 Nov, 10:00am – 6:00pm, Free
Celebrating 40 years of Deaf School, formed at Liverpool College of Art, this exhibition will feature an art/pop crossover of posters, vinyl sleeves and previously unseen films and photos.
The Liverpool Academy of Arts Jill Zhang
12–22 Nov, weekdays only, 12:00pm – 4:00pm, Free
A solo exhibition of intricate oil on canvas works by the Liverpoolbased Chinese-British artist, Jill Zhang.
The Royal Standard The Narrators
various dates between 11 Oct and 16 Nov, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, Free
An exhibition of film, video and sound looking at the way in which the works create new narratives around existing objects, archives and collections – artists include Liliana Lijn, Simon Martin and Elizabeth Price.
Victoria Gallery and Museum Remember Them.
various dates between 27 Sep and 1 Feb, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
In Cuidad Juarez in Mexico, over 2000 women have been murdered or have disappeared since 1993, as the families struggle for justice, this exhibition brings together the work of artists trying to raise international awareness, and commemorate those lost.
Walker Art Gallery
Every Man and Woman is a Star: Photographs by Martin Parr and Tom Wood
7 Oct – 9 Dec, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
Photography exhibition that explores the similarities and differences between the work of Martin Parr and Tom Wood – comprised of photographs taken in the late 70s and early 80s in Liverpool and Ireland. Draw Tomorrow
18 Aug – 9 Dec, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
An exhibition of drawings by architect and town planner Stanley Davenport Adshead (1868–1946) in which he presented a new vision for the centre of Liverpool in 1910. New Works at The Walker
7 Oct – 23 Feb, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
Keep up with the ever-growing collection of work in the Walker Art Gallery with this exhibition of recently acquired works, including pieces by Anish Kapoor, Louise Bourgeois, Paula Rego and Yoko Ono. David Hockney: Early Reflections
11 Oct – 16 Mar, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
A unique collection of work charting the early development of a British icon with almost 40 pieces on display, dating from between 1960 and 1978 – catch a unique insight into Hockney’s early years. The Narrators: Works From The Arts Council Collection
11 Oct – 16 Mar, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free
Visual dialogues are created between contemporary and modern works in this exhibition of work from the Arts Council’s collection of decorative and fine art, running parallel to a collection at The Royal Standard.
A colloborative exhibition with the Environmental Justice Foundation exploring how the cotton supply chain works and our roles as consumers in this chain.
Listings
55
20 FEBRUARY − 2 MARCH 2014
+
GLASGOW YOUTH FILM FESTIVAL: 2–12 FEBRUARY GLASGOW SHORT FILM FESTIVAL: 13–16 FEBRUARY
We turn 10 this year − come & help us celebrate! Expect a great line-up of films, guests & unique live events. Our programme goes live in January WWW.GLASGOWFILM.ORG/FESTIVAL