Arts, Music & Events Preview, February 2011 (Part One)

I dislike introducing these with a comment about the weather, but often the temperature does correlate with event attendances. The clear blue skies are hopefully indicative of more plentiful audiences to come; here’s where you should be:

Tonight (Tuesday 1st) there is another instalment of the Manchester Salon discussion group at Tempus Bar on Oxford Road. Entitled First Tuesday, the premise is to discuss and debate current affairs on the first Tuesday of the month; this month focussing on Egyptian politics, Wikileaks and the various permutations of conspiracy and general arcane stupidity of the backward-thinking pundits at Sky Sports. You will likely have opinions on all three, so this is a chance to talk the ear off some fellow opinionators.

Cool Runnings once more brings its feel-good reggae vibes to a corner of Fallowfield on Wednesday 2nd. The corner in question being The Corner. Y'know, the one with the mannequins outside.

An Outlet’s Some Drum I Would Never Hear monthly showcase dips once again into the musical mixed bag on Thursday 3rd; picked out this time are Run Toto Run and two-fifths of Slow Motion Shoes to cement an overriding electro-pop vibe, while performance poet Martin Visceral is also welcomed alongside resident PJ Harvey clone Eleanor Lou. Across the Northern Quarter there’s a penultimate show for Kin before relocation forces a band dismembering. That’s at Gulliver’s. Neither will take any of your recession pennies when you step over their thresholds to entertainment.

Local filming fanatics MCR Scenewipe are staging a talented triangle of local ladies on Friday 4th; Liz Green, Josephine and Naomi Kashiwagi are at the vertices and you can catch all 180° for free at Fuel in Withington.

The weekend of 5th and 6th sees a rearranged art exhibition courtesy of Lead Pencil and Kraak Gallery. It’s called Pluto and Uranus are Missing. There’s an intergalactic theme; check it out. Gigs-wise on Saturday 5th, Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six stride the Dancehouse stage again – this time with John Otway in a performance planned to be recorded for longevity and released through Debt Records soon afterwards on Monday 7th. To sweeten the deal, your entry fee also secures your sobriquet in the record, Get Religion’s, sleeve notes.

For those looking to bounce to the beats of minimal tech and house, Content have booked in Agnes at Joshua Brooks until the early hours. But don’t forget that Sunday 6th is the last chance to submit some scribbles for Art Corner’s latest display, Theories of The Grotesque.

Closing in on the halfway point, there are a few clubnights that’ll agreeably bang aural hammer to anvil; Dots and Loops for a Tiger Lounge mash of lo-fi indie kraut-tronica on Thursday 10th; Hot Milk’s dancehall dub at The Roadhouse on Friday 11th; more from This City Is Ours’ regular electronic soiree at An Outlet on Saturday 12th. Follow all that up with the second of Hoya:Hoya’s Secret Series at The Roadhouse.

Catch your breath for a second then seek out a V-Day record release from Red Deer Club towers. Stealing Sheep’s The Mountain Dogs follows the RDC penchant for girl-group folk-pop (Sophie’s Pigeons, Sarah Lowes) with an EP littered with melody and expansive harmonies. The overall tone flitters from chirpy to twisted, sombre to sunny, but you’ll settle on the title track; it’s a real treat.

Words: Ian Pennington